Good afternoon!!!
I hope that everyone is having a great day- drinking all that water, getting excercise in and making wise food choices. (Hmmmmmmm, the last one is kind of tough with all the dumb candy around isn't it?)

Jackie!!!!!!!!I was such a burn out last nite that I forgot to congradulate you on the good mammogram results! What a wonderful answer to prayer- you must feel so relieved. (been there myself!) Those words "there is something on your mammogram" can really strike terror in our hearts. It will all be for good if you take your initial thoughts to heart and take good care of yourself. Please forgive my rude oversight last night, my friend! I rejoice with you today! And I look foward to whatever you glean from that book.

Speaking of books, I have one on order (should be here soon) on how our food choices influence our mood. Should be an interesting read! (can't wait to see all my favorite foods on the crabby mood list! So maybe then I can say that I have an excuse for being a crank! :lol: )

Another boo boo on my part! A belated Happy Birthday, Chrissy!:) I have no excuses for being such a lout this week, other than that I have been busy. I do hope that you had a great day!

If I stepped on anyone elses toes this week I am very sorry....

Well, today turned out just as I thought. My youngest is home with 99.5 temp. She looks so tired and has an awful cough (really deep and goopey sounding). She does not cough often, but when she does it sounds so sad. It has been fun having her home- she is such a great kid and a good patient.

As for me and my weigh in............ well I met our goal of 5 #. I had lost one before I really got serious, so I am down 6 # total.
I am going to strive for another 5 by Thanksgiving- which I know will be hard. Usually the first week you loose a lot (water I guess)- and then slow down to the 1-2 # a week rate on WW.
I guess I am banking on that I am retaining all kinds of water and my whole system goes awry the few days before TOM shows up.
I am planning on getting a quick walk in this afternoon after Ds gets home from school.
I am looking foward to everyone joining me on the Thanksgiving goal- the 3# that Jackie mentioned sounded good. (I am going harder on myself because I am, well at least today! in a motivated mode. I know how tough it is to get motivated only too well.)

My eating has been good. 1 bowl of oatmeal. 1 box of raisins (1 1/2 oz size) About 1/2 cup of cheese popcorn (sorry, I could not resist!!!!) Lots of water. And 3 cups of tea (bet all of you could have guessed that one!!!!!!!!) It is now 2:30 and I will hold out on all eating until dinner. DD; the 15 yr old, is having some friends over for tonite- so I am making chicken pot pie (a favorite and I want to be able to enjoy some). I think I will give up trying to measure that - I do make it rather low fat, and I will avoid the crust. And have a salad. Opps, I forgot, I also had a V8 (small can) So although I have not really counted, I guess I am somewhere at 6 or 7 points for the day.
Ok, you must be sick of me by now!! I hope that everyone is having a good day. If you need some incentive for staying away from the candy, go to the ediets web site. They had some really nasty information about the fat/cholesterol/carb counts on candy. Made you kind of sick.;)
Take care.
Ginny

Good Morning!

I'm not staying long, jusk checking in. So far today, I'm staying OP, but it's only 9:30 a.m. here. I've been up since 5:00 a.m. so, I think that I'm doing pretty good for a start! I'm also thirsty today, so my water intake s/b high today. The thought of another piece of chocolate gags me, so I s/b good in that area too today. I'm bound & determined to get a lot of housework done today, so that should keep me away from the "naughty" stuff too! Well, it looks as though that I'm on a roll & it's not going to be around my middle, but being productive! ;) Ginny: I can tell that PMS is really tearing you apart this month. Don't be so hard on yourself & pamper yourself with a bubble bath or something. Try & not be so negative on yourself, okay? I know.....PMS does this to us. The best part of PMS for me is that I'm not afraid to tell anyone off! :lol: "FYI": I'm done with this stage for another couple of weeks or so! :smug: Don't feel that you have to appologize for anything you didn't do, say or did do or say. Are you following me? :spin: I sure hope so, as I don't wan't to explain myself! Well, I'd better get back to cleaning & organizing. TTFN **Jackie**

Good afternoon!!!!!
This will be a short check in for me, as I am a bit tired, and have a headache. As soon as I log off, I am going in for another cup of tea (no fear, about half of these are either decaf or herbal) and maybe a few minutes of relaxation until DD (the big one!) gets home. I kept DD (5) home again, with a 100.5 temp. She stilll has the cough and looks so tired. So, I took her to the doctor- forgive me for sounding paranoid- but I wanted to get a medical history going on this infection with all the other nonsense that is going on (anthrax etc....) For those of you newcomers, we live in rural Orange Cty, New York- but it is only a bit over an hours drive to NYC. And I live near a bunch of NYFD -some are personal friends. Things are a bit tense, here on the East Coast.
Anyway, the Dr thinks that this is just a run-of-the-mill cold, which I am so thankful for!

Last nite, DD (15) brought a few more friends home than the original plan. My house turned into a zoo for a while- but honestly, the kids were loud but polite and pleasant. I think they had a nice time (and everyone went home around 9,except for those who were sleeping over). This adolescent thing is new for me.......guess I am learning!

I took DD (5) out to a few houses last nite to get candy. The poor kid, she was really tired but wanted to get out for some fun. (I am not really big on Halloween anyway, but because she was too sick to go to the party at my church, I let her go out).

Man, I am rambling on and on here!!!!!!!!!!!! So, now on for the nuts and bolts........ My total points are about 9 or 10 for the day.
I have had one single twizler (DD gave it to me, how could I turn it down!) and I have no idea what it's points might be. You know one of those lone single wrapped ones. Other than that I have had no candy. The rest of my eating has been fine, all healthy stuff.
And I got my walk in this am. Dh says he want to walk this evening, which would be nice.

Jackie- I hope that your day ended up well too! Good to hear that you stayed OP! Sometimes that is all we need to get off to a good start- and the rest of the day is easier to stay OP. (which is one reason that I have to start off with a quality breakfast, otherwise in my silly mind the whole day becomes a junkfest, with disasterous results!). Yes, I followed your thinking there. You know that I can beat up on myself fairly well, although I do not do it all that often (or so I think). I did all that apoligizing because it would really bother me if I did anything to prevent someone from posting here and getting the support that they might need. And as for my apology to you, it was needed!!!! I still rejoice with you!

Ok, time for tea!!!:lol: Have a great evening!
Ginny

Halloween was a total loss for me!
 

Good Morning Ladies :D
Hope you all are well. I am ok here. Well it is a new month and I am committing myself to the thanksgiving challenge. I would like to loose between 3-5# so wish me luck. I will say a prayer for all of you. I know what part of my problem is lately. I have not been focusing on some of the most important aspects of my weight loss. For me the biggest one is prayer. Since I have been home I have not took the time daily to have some quiet reflection and prayer. This is very important to me. Secondly I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself, and this is always a big problem. So I am putting this aside. Thirdly, I have not been walking. This too is a big problem! Fourthly, I found out that some medication that I have been taking is also part of the culprit. So I went to see the doctor yesterday, and she changed my meds. So from here on out I will try to keep a positive attitude, and apply these things daily, and I will have success, I did before.
Ginny-Sorry your baby girl is feeling bad. I hope all is well soon. It was smart of you to take her in to the doctor considering all that is going on. I know I will take no chances with my own. I will start over posting my food intake this evening, so hopefully it will help keep me honest.
Jackie-Congrats on the results of your mammogram. I have a family history myself, and need to be more vigilant in my self exams. My hubby said he is going to try to keep me home at least through the end of the year:dizzy: So that is wonderful, and after that I will look for parttime work. Will I still be able to post here if I am a parttime sahm? Hope so you ladies are great.
Well I know that I didn't talk to everyone, but the dh is wanting some breakfast so I have to run. I will talk to you all later.

Chrissy

I won't type much, as Erin is nursing, I just wanted to say :wave: and "I'm here". My eating hasn't been great the last couple of days but I have actually exercised this week! Twice, and am about to get off my duff and do it again today. *Patting myself on the back.*

Sorry for not responding to everybody--just one of those mornings, if you know what I mean. This, I think is my biggest battle--getting over the emotional eating! Some people have suggested finding low-point snacks for times like this but that just doesn't work. I need to replace emotional eating with something else entirely. Just don't know what yet.

Have a good one!

Forgot to add . . .
 

I was going to update you on the soda-less week. I'm on day 5 and boy, is it ever hard! I'm okay as long as I'm at home with none available. But every time I'm out I am just itching to take my refillable cup with me! Big triumph was Wed. when I had to eat out due to scheduling and had WATER!:) Now, as I mentioned before, I love water. But I love Diet Coke, too, and if it's available it is unbelievably hard to pass up! Once I get past my three weeks (maybe more, depends how I'm feeling then) I will allow myself to have it ONLY when eating out.

Hi!

It's hard to believe that it's Friday already! The week has really flew by for me. This de-cluttering my house is driving me crazy, but I like the results that I'm seeing. It's getting closer & closer to going to the "Y" again. For you newbies here, I promised DH a clean & organized house before I went back to the "Y" on a regular basis. After I'm done posting here, it's back to the grindstone again with the housework. (Maybe a 15 min. nap to get me charged up again.) I did a real good job staying OP for the most part of yesterday. I kind of blew it this a.m., due to going for breakfast with my friend. I ended up with an omelette & hash browns. I skipped the toast & juice to save a few points. I still feel stuffed, so this will be my lunch too.
With all the work I'm planning on doing today, this should keep me away from food. Ginny: I'm glad to hear that your DD doesn't have Anthrax. I was a little worried about her myself. I even worry about Anthrax here. Last weekend we stayed in Down Town Milwaukee, compliments of my DS winning 2 free nights @ the Hotel with Indoor Waterpark rights. Just a block down from where we were staying had an Anthrax threat in their Federal Building. The kids & I were real hungry, but were trapped inside the hotel due to the threat. DD started coughing this week, but it seems to be going away. Chrissy: Good Luck with the Thanksgiving Challenge! I'm with you on this one too! As to your question on if you can still post here after you get a part-time job, YOU SURE CAN! Ginny also works part- time & if one of us goes back to work full-time, that's okay too! I'm glad that you feel comfortable here. We all are going thru the same journey & it gets pretty tough doing it all on our own. Kerrie: Congratulations on getting your exercise in! For me, the only exercise that I'm getting is running up & down the stairs a zillion times a day & bending & stretching while I'm cleaning & moving things around in the house. Glad to hear that you are staying away from the soda. I'm sure you know this already...that coke & any other beverage with caffiene in it acts as a deuretic (sp?), which zaps the water right out of you & the end result is that the FAT doesn't get flushed out of our system like it's supposed to if we drink 8-l0 8-oz glasses of water p/day. Is it the flavor & caffiene that you like from the soda or the fizz? Another alternative that most weight loss plans allow is Crystal Light powdered drink mix in place of just plain old water. When I'm sick of just plain old water, I mix up a pitcher of Crystal Light. For your depression.....I know well what you're going thru. I'm supposed to "faithfully" take Wellbutrin, but just royally goofed up my schedule BIG TIME! (Now it feels as though I'm going thru PMS again.) :eek: I also found that if I'm feeling "blue", I come here to post & it makes me feel a lot better getting my feelings down in black & white. Well, the housework is calling out to me, so I'd better get going. Have a Great Weekend everyone! *Jackie*

Hi!!!!!:)
I am so happy seeing all these posts here to respond to! It is great that almost everyone checked in- I think I kind of needed some input from your lives today. Thanks to all of you for sharing.

MIL's b-day is Monday- so we are having MIL and FIL over for dinner Sunday . Our relationship, is well, polite but not exactly super warm, she can be difficult. Please pray for me, (those of you who do)- between TOM approaching (and I can feel it is dragging me down, I get sluggish a bit before and the first day) and her visit, this could be an interesting weekend!:dizzy:
Of course I am going to put on a big meal..........did most of the shopping this am. Now, if Dh would be cooperative.............he is usually great, but MIL is soooo moody, it makes us all a bit jittery anticipating her visit.

DD is still sick- taking a nap at the moment.

Kerrie- good job on the no-soda thing! You will be healthier for it. Jackie had a great idea with the crystal lite. I do not drink it all that much, but it is good.

Chrissy- I know what you mean about missing time for prayer. I too have been negligent in that area since DD became sick. I will resume tonite, when alll is quiet! I hope that you will be able to also, whenever it fits for you. If you can't get in a long walk, even 10 minutes is a good start. Then add more time when you can. Anything is better than nothing!!!!!!!!

Jackie-Hey there you cleaning dynamo!!!!! (I keep asking you to come to my house when you are done but you never show up? I know, afraid I am as insane in person as I am here!:lol: )
Sounds like you are doing a great job there- keep up the hard work! Your house will be in great shape for the Holidays!

Gotta go scrub a wall while DD is resting. I got my walk in (5am with Dh) and my eating has been good. I will not bore you with the details..

In case I can't get back on until Sunday nite or Monday, have a great weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take care and drink that water!
Ginny

Hey Ladies, I have thankfully had an OP day here:D

Here is the food for the day:
Breakfast- 2lg cups coffee w/fat free french vanilla creamer.(it is a weakness of mine)
small bowl of cereal w/fat free milk

snack-2 fat free strawberry newtons

lunch-bagel sandwich w/fat free turkey and fat free cheese w/lite miracle whip, honey mustard pretzels, and cup of pineapple

snack-1 apple

dinner-3 bbq chicken tenders, peas, and rice

I am now enjoying a cup of caffiene free herbal tea. I was wanting to eat some more and the tea seemed to curb that so I will try to keep it on hand.

As for the exercise, I will be getting on the treadmill shortly. I will do at least 30 minutes.

Well girls gotta run, I will check in tomorrow.

Chrissy

Confession time.
 

Ok here goes. I had a wonderful OP day all day long. I even got in 25 minutes on the treadmill. Than at about 10pm last nite that possessed halloween candy started calling my name. I heard it, it really did. Well to make a long story short I did have a few pieces(small ones) about a handful. So all things considered still not a bad day. It is that TOM so the cravings were in overdrive. So today I will try to refrain completely. I did notice that the hot tea in the evening really helped me tremendously to curb the cravings. I will pick up a few varieties of that at the store today. Well it is too early to post the food for the day so I am going to run for now. Hope you ladies have a fabulous weekend!

Chrissy

Good Morning, Everyone!

WOW!, our thread is burning. Usually this doesn't happen for almost a month & it's been since the 25th!! Yahoo!!

I've been keeping myself real busy around the house, so the "boredom eating" has ceased, thank goodness! The main level of my house looks great, with an exception of hidden areas in the end tables & coffee table. (Which I plan on going thru after I'm done posting.) This brings me another step further on going to the "Y" on a regular basis without feeling guilty. This week I've taken quite a few steps in the right direction when it comes to weight loss. l.) I've been staying OP for the most part. 2.) I'm drinking my water. 3.) I've been keeping myself physically busy around the house, which in return keeps me away from the fridge!

One last thing.......I've been reading one of these "mini" books that you pick up while you're waiting in line @ the check-out & it's pretty interesting. It's a book on healing & how to comunicate with your concious & sub-concious mind. It also has 2 chapters on what your dreams mean & how dreams deal with your sub-concious mind. It says that you are supposed to keep a dream journal next to the bed, so that you can remember your dreams while they are fresh. Once you have kept a journal for awhile you are able to compare one dream to the next & see if there is some kind of pattern to them. I guess dreams are supposed to bring out answers to why you feel the way you do, why you do the things that you do & what you really want in life. I'm going to start a dream journal & maybe I'll find the reason to my weight problem. Please don't think that I'm a witch or anything, as this book also has several chapters on prayer & the importance of prayer. Well, DS is waiting for the computer, so I'd better get going. Have a great weekend, everyone!

**Jackie**

Hi!
Ok, this is going to have to be really short (ha, ha)- Dh is roaming around the house and looking for me, I think!
First of all, TOM appeared late Friday- which is wonderful news- at least my hormones will be stable for MIL tomorrow. My mom stopped in for a while today, which added some sanity to the weekend. This am Dh was on the war path- for some unknown reason (nerves about His mother coming over, in part!). And I kept my cool (thank you Lord!) and also kept my mouth shut (no stress eating). Today has been a bit challenging- I have done a ton of cooking for tomorrow and left 99% of it alone without snitching!!! My eating was pretty good- I did have 3 mm's(yes, just 3) and a crumb of chocolate (yes, believe it or not, just a crumb). Had chinese for dinner- and really had to guess the point count. I tried to eat more veggies than anything else. All I can say, is that I have to lose- I am eating so much better than I did 6 # ago, how can I not?

Jackie and Chrissy- sounds as though you two are "locking in" also. Thanksgiving- here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta go before I get in trouble. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Ginny (forgot, no walk today:( but I have it all planned for tomorrow!)

Hi!
Hope that y'all had a great weekend! Mine was ok- but I am glad that it is over. Just a bit too busy for me and a lot of work.
The dinner for MIL went well. Someone had to be praying for me somewhere!!!!!!!! Things went too well for it to have been an accident. Dh was a monster yesterday- and somehow, I was able to keep him calm and placate Dh- they were nipping at each other's heels all day. I got lots of practice being a peacemaker!
Today was just a lot of work. I ended up making 90% of a Thanksgiving dinner (Dh's request), so I cooked and cooked and cooked. As I said, it went well. I sure hope that it was appreciated!!!!

Great news. Someone at church actually noticed that I lost weight! (without prompting). I got on the scale this am and lost another 2 # (for a grand total of 8). BUT - my eating was not so great -I let myself slip late in the day as my frustration grew over
Dh's crabby attitude and lack of help. (a rather bad excuse, isn't it!) But, all in all the day was not catastrophic - and I am finishing it up with a cup of herbal tea, so all is not lost! I got a walk in (only 25 minutes, but better than none!) and drank tons of water.
Hope to hear from everyone tomorrow. Have a great nite!:)
Ginny

Hi, everyone! I don't think I can manage to address everyone personally on everything--too overwhelming when you've been gone for days at a time! My dh was out of town last week, Mon-Sat. and I stressed out, some. Then when he finally came home Sat. I wanted to spend time with him (gee, why?!;)) and didn't get on here!

Jackie, I'm impressed by your decluttering--what plans are you putting in place to keep it that way? I'm just curious because I'm tired of decluttering! I want to keep me house less cluttered but it never fails--within a couple of weeks it's cluttery again! I guess that's where flylady comes in, though, huh? Maybe I need to try her again.

Chrissy, just remember, Halloween candy is EVIL!:devil: :lol: Actually, it was my downfall last week, too, so I really think it is. Good job on the treadmill, though, that's got to count for something. Fortunately I've eaten all the tempting Halloween candy already so it can't get me anymore--nanny nanny boo boo!

Ginny, thank goodness you got through the MIL thing! That stresses me out, too. And YAYAYAYAY for someone noticing your weight-loss!! That, to me, is THE biggest motivator, hands-down. Unfortunately I have to lose some for anyone to notice.:rolleyes:

You (Ginny) brought up something I was going to ask you all about today in any case--stress eating. Does anybody have a good alternative to food when you're feeling overwhelmed? That was my problem last week (I ended up not losing anything, thanks to the stress eating). I enjoy pounding on the piano to relieve stress, but I can't always manage it because of the kids (either needing attention or in bed). This is one of my base-line weight issues, KWIM? I know that if I'm ever to truly succeed in losing weight and keeping it off, I have to 'lick' the stress-eating. I don't think I can just take it away, I feel like I need to substitute something else . . . just don't know what.

Lots of TOM this last week! I feel like it's that TOM all the time! Urgh. I haven't had a period since Jan. of 2000. Believe it or not I actually wish it would show up! I personally think that's the biggest cause of my post-partum depression--I'm stuck in perpetual PMS! DD will be one Fri.:cry: so really, I think it's time for it to show up, don't you?!

I'm altering my Thanksgiving challenge since I just realized that it's only 2 1/2 weeks away. Instead of the 10# I originally set, I'm aiming for 5#. Actually, I think I CAN lose more than that, but I prefer those nice round 5/10/15/etc. type of numbers!

I've also altered my soda pop goal/challenge. I've decided that it doesn't cause me problems to drink it when I'm in a restaurant, as part of my meal. Problems are when I take it with me. So I'm allowing myself Diet whatever when eating out but if it's a fast-food place I cannot take it with me, and I won't be filling up my refillable 64 oz. cup at the gas stations, either. One week today!:)

I've really gone on, today, haven't I?! I'm in a chatty mood this morning, I guess, but it's time to go exercise.

Have a good one!

Good Morning!!!!!!!!!!
I have tons of stuff to do, but I could not resist saying hello to Kerrie. Glad that you have gotten rid of all of that miserable Halloween candy! One way or the other it is gone- and now you can start over fresh, which is great. WTG on continuing the soda challenge. It sounds as though you have that licked- you have figured out your biggest problem area and identified how to resolve it! Can I make a suggestion? Why don't you take the money that you save each time that you pass up one of those diet soda refills and put it in a jar. Then,when you have lost say, say 20# or whatever you choose as a goal- you get to spend that money on you for a special non food treat. As for me and stress eating- well, now you have unearthed me and a cup of tea. I drink tea when I am stressed now. And I tend to buy a lot of flavored teas, some herbal- so that they taste really yummy with no caloric abuse. It works for me- well sometimes.
BTW- I got my periods all different times with each baby- 2 out of 3 were after 1 year post partum. I hope that you got your excercise in.

I am doing fine- totally OP so far and with a nice 45 minute walk.
Gotta go do some work!
Have a great day!!!!!!!!
Ginny