Hi ladies!

Exciting news from the gym today! In the last month, I have lost 10 lbs of BODY FAT and 9.5 inches from all over!

I went back and checked my records from Jan 1, when I weighed and measured. Since then, I have lost a total of 28 lbs and 36.35 inches!! Absolutely amazing!!

Kimberley: your fencing sounds so nice--very cottage-y!!

Jen--wow, that is awesome! Are you still doing the mostly-liquid diet?

Well, the weekend in CT is over. The reception for my sister and my now brother-in-law went well, but I left early. We flew up on Thursday night, and I worked from my parents' house for much of the day on Friday (at least it meant I didn't have to use any vacation time). We all went out for lunch together to my cousin's diner, and at night, Jeff and I went out to dinner with my friend from high school. Jeff and I actually had the same exact thing at the diner and then we both had sandwiches at dinner (Red Robin--I had a grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and a shake...not particularly healthy, but not too out of the ordinary).

Saturday morning, I woke up with a bit of a funny feeling in my stomach, but I woke up later than usual, so I thought I was just really hungry. I had a bowl of Special K with yogurt and berries with skim milk. That didn't help--my stomach started hurting more. It felt like sharp gas pains, but I wasn't, well, gassy. By 1pm, I was at the hall decorating for the reception, and my stomach was just gurgling and stabbing. Went back and napped for about an hour before the party started at 5pm, then went and bought some Immodium and a small bottle of ginger ale (I discovered that Pepto and Alka Seltzer both have aspirin in them, so I can't take them).

Once dinner was served at the party (buffet style), I sat in my seat and couldn't even bear the thought of food. Jeff tried to get me to eat at least a little something, so after dessert was served, I went in the kitchen and had 1 barbecue chicken wing (not at all spicy), 1 roll (potato bread, I think), and 2 stuffed strawberries. I hid out in the kitchen for a while because I just felt so icky--dizzy, lightheaded, headache, stomach pains...and then my face started feeling hot, almost flushed, but I was freezing. Yup--fever struck. Complete with stiff neck and sore muscles. Jeff and I left and went straight to bed at my parents' house. I woke up a couple times shivering despite the 2 blankets and Jeff laying next to me. Then around 11:30pm, I woke up SWEATING--woohoo, the fever had broken! What a miserable way to spend a party.

All day Sunday, my stomach was still very unhappy. I had some fruit salad and a small bowl of pasta and drank nothing but water and diet soda (in the hopes the carbonation might help my stomach), but as of this morning, my tummy is still not quite back to normal. Aah, well...hopefully it will be better tomorrow. I'll probably leave work early today--it's not a symptom I particularly care to share in a public restroom like here in the office But hey, if nothing else, it kept me from overeating during the party, right?

Hope everyone else's weekends were a little more pleasant

Sorry to hear you were sick, Jill! And that kind of illness I could definitely do without! Do you think it might have been food poisoning?

Yep, I'm still doing the mostly liquid diet. I keep my calories between 1000 and 1200. It's taken me 2 months to lose 20 lbs, which in the liquid diet world is considered a little slow, believe it or not. But I am not worried--this is a marathon, not a sprint, after all. As long as I can keep my ticker sliding down, that's all I care about.

Sounds like your weekend was really a mixed bag, Jill. Hope your tummy calms back down soon.

Jen, your stats are awesome! Wowee!

I am confident my weight will be down this week; I've been eating right and drinking my water, plus have been more active.

Our fence-neighbors have moved to their daughter's house. Yesterday, the daughter and SIL were at the house next door, and Howie approached them to tell them we'd hung lattice on our side of the fence. We weren't sure if they'd be tearing it down, and wanted warning so we could remove the lattice. They didn't have plans to tear it down, but after they came around back to see our pond and garden, the daughter said, "wow, that fence really looks awful from this side!" and told us we could tear it down if we wanted to.

IF??

Howie and I tore into it last night, removing the vertical planks. I wielded a big pickaxe and whacked those planks clean out. LOL A friend's coming by this week with his reciprocating saw to take down the posts. Woo!

Hi Ladies!

I had a rude awakening this morning. My period arrived at about 5 am--it was enough to wake me up from a sound sleep. It was sort of unexpected. Since it was due about a week ago, I thought I was skipping this month. I know that losing weight causes your cycle to go a little wacky, so it's to be expected I suppose.

So what's up with you all??

Okay, so it looks like I am talking to myself again today....

I got a call from my gynecologist--my pap test showed a low grade dysplasia. I am scheduled for my third colposcopy on June 8. Depending on how this biopsy comes out, the next step may be a LEEP procedure. I'm not well read about that procedure yet. All I know for sure about it is it will be done in the office with a local anesthetic.

On a lighter note: I was thrilled that Taylor won American Idol last night....can't wait to see what he does next!

Goodmorning! Things are starting to relax around here, I'm finally catching up on some sleep which is nice My next thing will to STOP eating everything in sight and to start exercising regularly again. I think I was lucky, I ate whatever I wanted for 5 weeks and didn't gain a pound, infact the first week I lost a pound and maintained that.

Jen - how old is Taylor? I caught a glimpse of him the other day on tv and was kinda shocked. I thought the cut off was like 27 for that show. What is dysplasia if you don't mind me asking?

Jill - yikes what a nasty sickness to have! Hope you are feeling better!

Kimberley - heh, that was pretty quick to take down that fence! Sounds like it was an eyesore!

I'm so happy for the long weekend (even if it's already over), it means I only have to work 4 days this week.. and that extra day off is going to be a very nice break K, I am off to eat!

-Aimee

You're not writing to yourself--I promise that even when I'm not posting, I'm reading Though our little group seems to have disipated quite a bit lately...

I'm way up in weight (still almost 290) and don't know why I can't get it together. My tummy feels better, so of course, that's the green light to eat anything and everything I want, right? Rrrright...

Jeff told me he's going to the movies with his friends tomorrow night. Boo. I won't force him to stay home--I have been in this area for over a year and a half now, so it's not his fault I don't have any friends. I just don't know how to meet people--I tried an all-women's social group, and I have fun at the dinners and whatnot, but it's always different people, and I never really connect with anyone. I have my weight loss group and I had joined a choir in Manassas, but the members of both are so much older than me (not that old is bad, but I'm not going to randomly call some 50-year-old married-with-children woman up on a whim to see if she wants to go see the latest computer animation or Heath Ledger movie with me, ya know?). Bleh. I thought about joining a book club, but then I remembered how much I dislike reading I put a "strictly platonic" post up on Craigslist, so we'll see if I get anything from that, but I doubt it...meh, c'est la vie.

I wonder if that's what's got me down and eating so much? I eat so poorly when I'm alone--maybe I am just sick and tired of having a lot of alone time! When I'm alone by choice, I don't turn to food nearly as much. Jeff's been working late to help some guy fix a computer he bought on eBay, so I've had more alone time than usual this week.

Anyway...enough pathetic babbling...work is still going well, and I've still got my health, right? ANd poor Jen...I should just be thankful I don't need multiple colonoscopies! Although from my last jon, I can tell you that colonoscopies are covered as a means of colon cancer prevention/detection for those with Medicare coverage (not that that relates to you, Jen, as you're not old enough for Medicare, but it's just one of those things I will probably never forget and yet never have a real use for ).

Okay, to clear it up: a COLPOSCOPY is where they use a highly powerful microscope to look at my cervix and take a biopsy. I definitely do NOT want a COLONOSCOPY unless I really really need it!! LOL

Jill, I have the same problems as you--I tend to overeat if left alone. That's how I got to be 340 lbs--too much alone time. Now, with Alan, we are rarely apart. We spend almost all of our time together outside of work, with a few exceptions. It's definitely helped with the extra eating.

Have you considered getting involved in community theatre? I found it to be a great way to get to know people while having a creative outlet at the same time. Some of my closest friends are in theatre. Just a thought....

Oh and Aimee: Taylor is 28 or 29...they raised the age at time of audition to 28 last year. Good thing they did--we would have missed some good ones!

Hi, girls -- I am just catching up.

Neither test sounds like much fun, actually. Are they ever, though, any of them? Keep us informed about how you're doing, okay?

We were busy working outside all weekend, then I did more Monday. Tuesday saw me tearing apart the living room and cleaning it, the kitchen and bathroom; a new friend I made through Freecycle came over for lunch Wednesday afternoon (thus my mad scramble to clean Tuesday!). Today I've pretty much vegged, really pooped. The dining room is next on my hit list for cleaning. Somehow the bedroom is always last...Maybe that's why it's not been really well-cleaned in, well, let's just not say how long.

Saturday we're having a garden party for some friends Howie's made at work. We're SO happy to have that fence down in time for that! The next-door neighbor's SIL will drop off his flatbed trailer tomorrow morning, early, and we'll load it up Saturday morning. The plan is, we'll follow him out to his farm and help unload it on his burn pile. We're thankful they offered to let us burn it all; they didn't want us to be stuck with a junk hauling bill after doing all that work on their fence's removal.

Not sure what we're doing Sunday, but Monday we'll have another cookout. Our best friends are coming over with their three kids. Hope we can keep 'em from picking the flowers. LOL

We had a couple of pizza nights this week, but other than that, we've been mindful of our eating. Being busy has helped a lot, as has working hard enough I am really thirsty; I've had a good bit of water every day that I've worked outside. Need to drink some today, though...Unless all my coffee counts. LOL

Good morning ladies!

Looks like lots of folks are doing cookouts! We're going to a pool party on Sunday, and will probably just grill out with our housemates on Monday. I'm looking forward to getting some rest this weekend. Obviously not the whole weekend, because we are going ballroom dancing Saturday night. At least that's the plan--I won't be going anywhere unless my cramps get better!

Kimberley, a garden party sounds so quaint!! Will you be serving tea and finger sandwiches?

No tea -- basically it's a cookout. We'll have grilled chicken and a veggie tray, and others are bringing stuff like twice-baked potatoes and other sides. We're calling it a garden party for lack of another name; since the people are all into gardening, that became the name. We're expecting nice weather, sunny with a few scattered clouds and a high of 83. They're not coming until 6:00pm, so it will be really nice by then.

I lost 2 pounds this week!

Great job Kimberley! It feels good to be in control doesnt it?

Yes, it does. I'm still not totally in control, but I'm much more in control than I was 2 weeks ago, and that's a good start.