:welcome2: Mari!!! Wonderful to have you here!

:wave: Morning Bep!!! Top of the mornng to you too!! Just wanted to say hi and chat later!! lol

I have to get to work!! My boss said so.....dang.

Was up all night with Gaby. I took her to my mothers this morning, she didn't go to pre school. She whined all night and complained about her mouth. Teeth coming in?? lol...............feel so stupid. Don't teeth have to come out before teeth can come in??? :dizzy:

blah - blah.... I will catch up slowly through the day.....

Michelle......question on those videos!! What kind of exercise equipment do you need???

Ginny - Yes, Hawaii. It was offered from Rocky. He has 2 round trip tickets and he wants Gaby & I to come over sometime this summer. Also , I meant Nov 04, not 05 that I went......seems just yesterday.

yak, yak.....
ewwwww - had a cold Atkins and banana for breakfast. Still tatse icky. I don't remember those shakes being so chalky,,,,,,ewwwww....BATHROOM!! yikes......gotta go..........

Shawna :bravo: on the compliments that you are getting!! You deserve that! I was a heavy mom when Rach & Beck were in grade school. It was a private Catholic school on the coast. I was always in the back waiting for the girls to come out of class. I remember the back stairs that you would have to climb and I would be huffing and puffing.....only like 8 stairs....determined to be an active mom in my childrens life.

Deb Where ARE you ??? We miss you!!

I better go. Had some bad news $$$$ wise this morning. Blow.....need to scramble and figure out some bills and what gets paid the next 2 months..lol

oops.......ya, I want a tropical vacation!!:beach:

Thanks for the great welcome!!

Michelle: About the stroke, they never pinned down one thing that caused it but here is what they say:

In Nov. 2002 we had our second child Julia and she was born premature at 24 weeks but did not survive past an hour. We had 4 miscarriages in the previous 24 months so we were so excited when we made it past the 3rd month. We finally told Ryan he was going to be a big brother soon. Then three months later, with no warning I went into preterm labor and the rest is history. One doctor thought I might have had clotting problems and it could have resurfaced a year later.

In September 2003, I was laid off my job that I was at for 16 years and ten days later my husband was laid off from AT&T and he had been with them for 11 years. So we went from 2 income family to zero all in two weeks. So my neurologist thinks it could have been a combination of stress and my cholester was really high!! 325 when I had the stroke and my weight was around 260 so as you can see there was a variety of factors that led up to it.

I was in the hospital for about 8 days and fully recovered my left side functions within about 48 hours but was slow for around 3-4 months. I thought I would never get better! For two years I went back and forth to the hospital for relapses and more TIA's (ministrokes) and I have been relapse free since November 2005. When I would go on the treadmill or diet I would get sick again. It was very discouraging.

As soon as Dec 6, 2005 came around I knew my chances of having another stroke went down dramatically and I decided to take back control of my life. So Jan 1st, I started Jenny Craig, used my treadmill and drank liquid amino acids and I have been trying to stay focused. OF course I really would love to just go and eat whatever I want!!!!! But I have to think about my son and his future since he almost lost me and I can never let him have that fear again. he is still verrrrrrrryyyyy close to me and unfortunately his teachers think he is not independent enough but they don't know the history.

Okay this was sooooooooo long and I am so SORRY!

:coach: :dance: :fr: :cp: Kindergarten Reminder!!! 4 days until Monday weigh in!!!! Claim your victory over the scale:boxing: :goodscale :goodscale :goodluck: lol

That is really a powerful story Mari on human strength that we all have. You are such a strong person in all that you have faced. I have never had the physical problems - though I did overcome years of bulimia.
Just amazing. We are strong people. This weight thing is a piece of cake......ok, not cake....lol

HUGS Mari and thanks for sharing that!!:)

Susan ~~ You don't need any equipment for WATP except your body!:D The hand weights you can get as your progress and there is also an ab belt and stretchie band you can buy to use in all different videos that use boosters in them.;)

Mari ~~ Thank you for sharing your story with us.:hug: You have really been through a lot, and have come so far since then! You have really done good losing all of your weight just since January 1st! Glad you were able to take control of your life and get back on track now!:hug:

Michelle argh....was afraid you were going to say I needed my body involved in the exercise! lol How do you do the walking?? Just walk in place??
Working on my water right now......and thinking of taking a walk.
Katy The lentils sound so good. Bean soup sounds really good to me right now. You are a very dangerous lady with that yarn!! :D lol.....cute saying.

anyway....back to files!!!

Michelle I love all your avatars but the one with your daughters I enjoy the most. Just my vote! :)

Susan ~~ I also like the one of my daughters, but something happened with my avatar sizes about a week ago. They all shrunk down and I don't know how to enlarge them like the size they used to be. About the exercise, you don't need a large amount of room, because you are moving a lot in one place, but you do side steps, and also forward and backward steps. The thing that really helps, is she has you moving a lot with your arms also, so the workout uses your whole body.:D

I also have a picture of my younger daughter and myself from last summer in Iowa, but I can't figure out how to transfer it to this site from another site I'm also on.:(

Michelle
You might ask that in the help forum or try photobucket...lol...whatever that is to resize.... . I know others talk about that....or maybe one of the other ladies knows. Our office assistant left her mini donuts on my desk!! They are screaming my name!!! lol....
My head hurts bad.....need lunch!
Cristi Hey!! Where ARE you? Leave some of that yard work for Josh!! lol....come chat with us. Ever watch the Twilight zone?? Ever feel like you are in one?? hehe

Hiya Ladies...

SUSAN...you silly woman! :) Not doing yard work today and I AM hoping Josh will do it when he comes home. I'm sure he will...he gets bored easily so...Was doing some cleaning this morning before heading out to It Figures and one of the neighbors caught me, ugh! She doesn't live on this block and I have never met her, until today and boy does she like to talk, gossip...didn't think I was ever going to get gone. But I did, 20 mns. later. She's friends with the neighbor across the street and was waiting for her to go for a walk. Geez, I put the trash out and she started yelling from halfway down the street "Did you sell your house?" LOL Too funny. And yes I do watch the twilight Zone and do feel like I am in one sometimes, lol! Hey, guess I missed that Rocky wants you and little Gaby to visit...that would be so cool. Maybe that's what you need...a break from everything.

WELCOME MARI! :welcome: Glad to have you here and don't worry about your post being long. We LOVE long posts but I am so very sorry to hear all the news. (((((HUGS))))) to you and your family! :hug: :hug: Glad to know that things are getting better.

KATY...thanks for the info. I have seen several recipes with the bulgur and they looked and sounded really good. Just never had the stuff so was wondering if it tasted good. I remember taking swimming lessons at the REd Cross when I was young. They had 12 stations they called it. I made it to five, lol! Never did learn how to swim. My brothers and sisters made it to 12 and I remember seeing them jump off the diving board, the big one! I could swim under water and learned the jellyfish and how to float on my back, lol! What a goof, lol! For some reason I was afraid of the water.

JULES...did someone mention my favorite...Olive Garden? I could eat there every day. Okay, well, maybe once a week. Every day I would get sick of it. I think you appreciate it more and it seems to taste so much better when you don't go often. My DD has a beanie that is pink with a white skull, it really is cute and the bag would be pretty those colors. Whoever makes one make sure you share pics!

GINNY...hope you have a GREAT day! And WTG on the bike riding again. I had DH ttake my bicycle :bike2: out of storage so I can ride it through the neighborhood. He adjusted my seat for me. Probably should get a helmut. They had the law here in Wichita for people riding bikes but not sure about where we live. We live in a different county. What cracks me up is they have a helmut law for bikes, but not motorcycles-doesn't make sense at all to me. Keep up the good work. :ebike:

MICHELLE...you know, you really do get a good work out with the WATP videos. You sound like me. I was doing good with the walking and eating and lost 13 pounds and then gained some back. Just quit walking and blaming it on the cold. Well, I have been working out now for almost a whole month and I've lost one or two pounds. :( Very frustrating when you know you are trying and nothing. Of course it is TOM so that could be part of it. But this time I REFUSE to quit. That is why I joined It Figures...I figured having to pay for it monthly would definitely keep me going and so far it has. And I know it's a lifetime thing, not just temporary which is my problem. I lose some and slack off then start over. So just trying to work on the mental part and tell myself it's not temporary, it's forever. That kind of scares me though, lol!

Hi BEP & SHAWNA & DEB and anyone I may have forgotten! :wave:

I have some laundry to get done and need to vacuum. Then take a shower and get ready for a party this evening. One of my neighbors who just moved in over winter came by Tuesday and is having some kind of candle party. Well, she thought it would be a great opportunity to meet her neighbors by inviting them to join her and her friends. Thought that was kind of cool so I said I'll be there. Will try to chat later this evening. Not sure how long this thing will last, it starts at 6:58 which I thought was odd. Why not 7, lol?

Have a good day ladies!

Cristina ~ I know exactly what you mean with the mental thing!:dizzy: It drives me crazy when my mind will not cooperate with my body and get in gear! The WATP are a great workout, when I do them!:( I had been doing so good, and now I just cannot seem to get going again, but I'm tryin!:o

Cristi Yes, I need a break!! I just ate my lunch of turkey salad. I dribbled beet juice right on a bosomy spot:o ....cute. Pisses me off.
Rach called and she is home!! yay, can't wait to see her. Miss my Gaby. Called my mother and Gaby is still on the couch resting with a fever.
Rocky mentioned the trip just recently. I was surprised, I thought he was wanting to come here. He just said let him know the dates (2 weeks!! yay) and he would get the tickets. I am looking for Sept or Oct. to go.
I had a bill from years ago finally nip me in the butt. Going to have a garnishment of $580 for 2 months .(580x2).......I need to get a weekend job.....or need to get a carrot sheet cake to deal with this stress.....lol

I am Dorothy in Wizard of Oz....clicking my heels....."There is no place like Hawaii, there is no place like Hawaii!!!!!!!"

MICHELLE...that's all that matters...you are trying! Because that means you haven't given up. You'll find the motivation again...I go through the same a lot but through it all I have never given up. And coming here really helps! So hang in there missy. :hug: