Ciao Ladies,

After tommorow I will have sent all my furniture away so I'll be living out of a bag and mooching off my buddies for entertainment.
Right now my daily diet since tuesday has been chicken noodle soup and robitussin. I can't taste a darn thing and I'm congested like you wouldn't believe. I hate being sick but all i can do is keep working and let it run it's course.

Holly- I can't imagine how much stress you must be dealing with right now. We can all relate the the feeling of having to practically starve ourselves to lose wieght while gaining weight is as easy as pie [literally]. But even through this tough time I'm happy that you're still making good decisions about eating healthier, (giving up sweets). I really hope everything gets better for you and don't worry about the evil scale, slowly but surely you will become friends

Cherie- You are doing so well! Keep up the good work. And I hope you were able to avoid the boss' treats By the way, this must be some kind of friend if he has you all excited that was so bad but at your pace you should be looking fantastic after your 4 weeks are up

Red- A contest, huh! You're already a winner to me [ gosh that was mushy, very un-soldier like] seriously, though whatever you decide, i think it's cool that you have such a good support group at the gym. Speaking of which, the gym crush that I had has been deployed to Iraq. So now it's up to me to motivate myself
But then again i do have you guys

Kempy- It seems that we're all coming down wit something these days. Feel better soon and take plenty of drugs

Angie- Kids can be such brats! I know this, I have 8 siblings, 4 of which are girls and sometimes you just have to put your foot down [or in their a**] to get them to do things. As far as your plan is concerned, to echo what was said earlier, you've done so well and you've come so far, you have to stay focused.

Julie- What's up girly, Don't beat yourself up over the chili and pasta. We all lose it sometimes. Stressing over it will only make it worse.

I really have to force water down today because I don't like to eat or drink anything when I'm sick. I'm going to go to the gym later to see if I can sweat this cold out. I can't take it!

-Dips-

It's not Friday yet??? sigh.... This has been such a long week at work for me.. I will be glad when it's over. I got most of my exercise in yesterday, however I was going to go and do the ellipitical machine last night, but my girls were still awake, and they had turned on their TV.. which is a HUGE no no. On top of that... I was recording the Bachelor in their room (they have the only VCR) and they turned it off to put their tape it!!!! This is the only time they have turned the TV on in who knows how long.. and it had to be when I was using it!!!! ARGH. Ok.. I am better.

Today, I am hoping my work will settle down, and I will get out of here a little early to go do my walking.

Dips... hope you get better soon! I just got over being sick for about two weeks.... bad stuff left after the first few days, but I've had a lingering cough that I can't get rid of. And yes.. you are right.. this is a very special friend! I have been dating him for almost 16 months now. The last 11 of them he has been in California, so I don't get to see him as often as I would like.

Julie.. I am doing Phase two of the South Beach Diet... so far it's been pretty easy to follow, and I am happy with it. There are just times when I crave the bad things because I am a stressful/emotional eater. I am learning how to control those craves. Right now.. I am on day 8 of my 21 day challenge of not having ANY chocolate.. so I feel like I am at least accomplishing something!

Angie.. you are probably already in swimsuit shape!!! Just keep working out and you will keep looking better and better in it! And girl.. I hear ya about the daughter. I have one that it is just a battle of wills EVERYDAY.. and she is only 3 years OLD!! I kept telling myself the only reason she is alive is because of her strong will.. (she was a premature baby, 3 months early, weighed 1 pound 10 ounces at birth). But geeze.. sometimes it would be nice if she would learn who the boss is! :-)

Holly.... we are close, yes we should team up to keep each other motivated. You are only a half pound more than me, but SEVERAL INCHES TALLER!!! Hahaha.. I am 5'2" with a small frame. I know 108 is a lofty goal, my REAL goal is 118, however, I am going to shoot for 108 and get somewhere inbetween and allow myself a little bit of room on either side.

Kempy.. hope you are feeling better today!

Ok folks.. back to work for me.... This better be an EASIER DAY... I've had three Monday's in a row!!!!

Cherie

Cherie- Gotta love those long distance relationships. I've had one for 5 years. My military carreer hasn't been too romance- friendly but he stuck with me [thank god] and we can finally start our lives together. So I share your excitement!

-Dips-

uggggh hello ladies! It is SO hard to keep up , hi to all the new people!!

well my life is so hectic lately, my father has been ill, and he lives alone, so pretty much I have been trying to juggle him, work, my family, and sleep! I have also been trying to get him on medicaid because he has no health insurance, and this will send him bankrupt if we can't get some help. Man! it is HARD to fill out all this stuff in a timely fashion and get it all handled. I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders. I am too tired when I get home to cook, so I have been either preparing fast fattening stuff, or eating out, usually eating out, pizza, fast food, etc. Totally stress eating, I hate feeling this way. I don't feel like exercising or anything... lucky something is going my way somehow, because I have only gained one pound.


Anyhow, hopefullly everyone is better, I was able to read back some.. but there are like 8 pages for me to still read, lol! Angie take care of that injury, hope it feels bettter! Welcome Cherie! and Grats Dips on nearing the 130's! feels good no?!

hrm anyone else ? well Helllllllllo! I gotta run, hopefully it will be more than 2 weeks before I get to check in again


have nice weekend ladies!

Hey Tonya! I think what you are doing for your father is wonderful. I bet some people would just try to pawn off their parents on someone else. I would feel terrible doing that. I know is it hard to eat good when things are crazy but don't beat yourself up when you can't be perfect. Think about the wonderful thing that you are doing right now. Keep your chin up.

Sorry I have been a little scarce lately. I am going crazy with this DU stuff and then yesterday was no help being sick. I still don't feel 100% but I am back at work. I was fighting with the e-mail all day trying to get this program ent to the printers and I finally figured it out. Tha is one thing off of my back now. I have been off the exercise wagon for the last 2 days adn i dont think it will be making any stops on my street until next Monday. Oh well, life goes on.

I will be leaving work in a little while but I wanted to drop a line.
I hope you all are doing great and I will be back tomorrow.

Jackie are you still here?

Hey ladies. I'm soooooooo busy this week I'm glad it's just one more day. Wanted to pop in and confess that I had a terrible day stress eating yesterday (dealing with the documentation for the dog incident + the stupid guy is not returning my phone calls! ) and well, breakfast was not the best of choices today (spicy turkey sausage with rice) but I am committed and I plan on having a totally legal OP rest of day complete with some evening exercise.

Kempy, glad you're feeling better.

Dips, hope you get better soon--better to be sick now before you ship out, than to be sick on your vacation!

Angie, hope your daughter is better today and hope you're doing feeling better as well.

Tonya, glad you could pop in. You're doing great things for dad and I'm sure he appreciates it. Hang in there.

Cherie, I like your avatar--it's always good to put a face with the name and personality. Love the red hair! Sorry your Bachelor show got cut off.

Julie, yeah eating all 6 ice cream sandwiches would kind of defeat the purpose of low-fat huh? Enjoy everything, but in moderation--that's my motto.

I gotta split for now. Hello to everyone else, I'll try and make it back later but I feel like I'm in a pressure cooker! Oh yeah one more thing--with all the sickness going around, don't forget to get your flu shots this year! There's lots of vaccine to go around and it's supposed to be a particularly nasty strain this year--don't wanna get SARS (shudder) .

Take care all.

Hi Tonya I am glad to see you back! I am so sorry your father is ill. It is so nice you are there for him. I hope everything works out. Hang in there hon!

Noelle don't stress about the stress eating. We all do it sometimes. Me to often . Great job staying op the rest of the day.

Kempy glad to see you are feeling a little better.

Dips also I hope you get better soon. It is hard to be sick when you are busy and got alot on your mind. Get well!!!!

Cherie I watched the bachelor last night, Yes I admit I love that show. I would fill you in if you missed some of it!

Angie hope your daughter is taking her medicine. Hows the weightlifting going?

Take care everyone! Hi to all! Julie

Hey Everyone..hope you all had a great Thursday.... Mine turned out good.. I got through another day of exercise and staying OP so I am very happy. I'm trying to give on last kick before September ends..

Julie thanks! I will try to watch the Bachelor this weekend... I did go to the website today and read what happened and who he picked... so I am pretty much up to speed.... but I will let you know if I missed anything important!

Noelle... sorry about your stressful day.... good plan you have of stopping it in its tracks and going back OP and exercising.... You are doing great! And the picture isn't the greatest.. but now you kinda know what I look like! :-)

Kempy take care of yourself and don't run yourself ragged! Get better!

Tonya you are a wonderful daughter... I know it's tough but just enjoy the time you have with him.... I really miss both of my parents now.... sending out prayers for him and you!

Dips.. yes.. it's exciting at times... and very frustating at others ... this long distance thing. I keep hoping that in a couple of years he will come back to this part of the states.. right now, he is needing to get out and be "single" for a while and run around and have fun etc..... so even though we are dating... we are not a couple per say.... he is free to date others as well as I... I just don't want to. And I don't think he has either... oh well... makes life interesting.

Ok... time to go get some rest.... Talk to you lovely ladies tomorrow!

Cherie

Good morning!! I have stayed OP for a few days, though yesterday was a BIG test of willpower. I took two of my children with me to the grocery store, and while going through the bulk foods section, they begged for candy. I almost gave in, but, realized that it isn't good for them, and, I would probably eat some, LOL. So, I bought dried banana chips, and the only one who liked them was my son. I know I like dried apples, and thought the bananas as well, but, BLECH , they were terrible! Last night the hubby was up to his "I am a man, so, of course, am going to saying something really really inappropriate, no matter what the topic" routine. I started to keep an exercise log, beginning 9/22/03, it reads like this: 9/22 walked 5 miles with WATP, 20 mins pilates (95 mins), 9/23 GFF circuit training, WATP 3 miles (65 mins), 9/24 WATP 7 miles, 20 mins pilates (125 mins), and 9/25 GFF circuit training, WATP 5 miles (95 mins). So, I showed my husband, and he says...you wasted all of that time exercising.....UGH, I coulda smacked him , . So, then I proceed to show him the results.....and he says, you are losing your curves, and I said, that's a good thing. See, he likes the curves, but, I told him to be patient, and he will see more tone in due time. Tonight I have the rehearsal for my best friend's wedding vow renewal (am maid of honor), and tomorrow is the wedding!

Cherie,

Good job on staying OP! I would say I am going to totally give September one last kick, but, I know with this ritzy Italian wedding tomorrow, there is going to be LOTS of yummy food!

Noelle,

I have never had the flu shot. Can you potentially get sick from the virus injected? My winter foe is usually bronchitis/pneumonia . I hear ya about the stress eating!

Tonya,

You are a great daughter! When my mom was ill, I, being the youngest of 7, and the only one with small children (all nieces and nephews were grown), seemed to be the one right by my mom's side. It is sooo important to cherish the time we have with our loved ones, and, it sounds like you are doing just that.
It seems like alot of us here are going through periods of stress eating for one reason or another, it's human, try not to beat yourself up (I should take my own advice in the future, LOL).

Angie,

Kids can be VERY stubborn! My youngest is our 2 year old daughter, and, boy, is she fiesty. Tells me no, runs away from me and giggles, throws holy fits, etc., our 3 year old has developed this whiny smart alic attitude (bothers hubby more than me), and our oldest at 6 1/2 is getting mouthy and encourages the younger ones to do things he KNOWS will get them into trouble!!

Dips,

I never had a long distance relationship. Almost got into one with a senior year flame after leaving high school, but, I was going upstate NY, and he was going out west, so, I knew it wouldn't have worked out. He wasn't ready to be serious about 1 girl, and, I could sense that. Now, he is going to be 28 this winter, and I will be 27, and I am married with 3 kids, and he is still single and dating.

Holly

Hey girls. I have missed so much. I am trying to get everything together for our trip this weekend so I have missed alot of the posts.

We tried everything to get the medecine in her...I put it in a strawberry smoothie,a slush puppy and the last bit of medecine left we held her down and put it in her mouth and she quickly spit it all over us. I could have smacked her so hard right then. Needless to say she didnt get ANY of the medecine and I told her fine then dont come *****ing to me when it gets worse. It pisses me off so bad because she is 12 and should be at least mature enough to do what HAS to be done. I really cant wait until they are all grown up.

Tonya, It is great that you are taking care of your dad.

Noelle, Stress eating? What's that? I have been bad all week myself. I plan a mini vacation and for some reason I feel that I can start it early with food. I am so screwed when we get ready to go to Florida. I will probably be swelled up like a marshmallow long before we ever get to the campground. Ouch a flu shot. YUCK YUCK

Holly,Hi. Keep exercising girl, you are doing great!

Jay has come down with my cold. I cant remember if I posted this or not but I changed our campground to Tropical Palms in Kissimmee. Now I have put us directly into the middle of the traffic. It is supposed to be one of the best campgrounds down there so I figured we might as well try it.

I have to go bake a couple of lasagnas for this weekend so I will try to check back before we leave.

PS: Cherie, Great picture!! You are very pretty! I like having a face to go with the name.

Ciao Ladies,

Oaky it's official, I have the most BORING rom on the entire base. I shipped every possible thing including my dear computer so I can only pop in at the office which is now my new home as I'll be watching the tv and cheching email.I also had to ship my digital scale so now I'm back to using my dial scale which I'll be happy to toss in the trash when I get ready to fly out of here. So now Im really feeling my transission now and it is so exciting

I really can't send out personal messages right now because i have to get ready for my farewell dinner and I'm living out of a bag right now so It's pretty hectic, But as soon as things are in order next week, I'll be sure to send my personal hello's

Later Girls.

-Dips-

Hello to Everyone!!! Sorry I have been gone for so long. Things at work have been hectic and I hadn't a chance to read all the posts. You have all been in my thoughts, though. It looks like I need to start posting regularly again because 1. It keeps me accountable, 2. I love the support and 3. It helps me retain my sanity. So I won't stay gone as long next time!!!!!

Dips- have a safe trip and I am so glad you are coming home. Welcome Back!!!!!

Ange- You have a great trip too!! Hope your daughter feels better soon!

Holly- Have fun at the wedding. Try to ignore the insensitive comments from others. I know it can be hard! Way to go on all that exercise!

Tonya- Your family is in my prayers.

Kempy- What's up girl? How is the bodyRX going?

PhotoGirl- I don't think I got the chance to meet you, but HI!!! I hope to hear more from you!! I gave up sugar 2.5 years ago and it really started the whole weight loss journey for me. I recently did South Beach to help move myself off my plateau. I was interested to see that you were doing Phase 2, and am hoping you have seen some good results. It definitely helped me to re focus myself and realize I was eating way too many starchy carbs (even though they were the good kind). Best of luck to you.

Noelle- Hey Girl!! try not to overwhelm yourself too much. You have a lot on your plate. Good luck with the dog/owner/humane society drama. I am thinking of you!!!!

To everyone else I missed, hope you are well. Talk to you soon!!

Hey ladies.. just thought I would check in....

Things are going good for me... had my normal weekend diet of two pieces of pizza on Friday, and a McDonald's Happy Meal today with my girls. I figure if I just do that on the weekends, then I won't feel so deprived, and I can actually accomplish my goals for all the rest of the days. I am going to go do some work on the ellipitcal machine tonight, so I don't think I did too bad!

I have 27 more days to work on my goal of 10 pounds off, I am down 2, eight more to go! I still feel I can accomplish this! I've set some exercise goals on the one week challenge page, and it's about the same as last week, so that keeps me pretty honest and motivated about my workouts. I am really enjoying the changes that are being made, and I love finally being in this state of motivation and determination... seems once I get in this mode... it's so much easier!

Redballoon.. sounds like you had a great night! I just went to bed early.. haha... hope you start feeling better soon! Red, I am only 5'2" so even though the lowest I have ever been has been 111, I feel that if I stay committed, then perhaps I can get down to 108. My ideal range will be 108 - 118. I know 118 is doable, but I still had jigglies then, so I would just like to lean up after that and see what I can accomplish! I understand about feeling like you can't see yourself at any other weight.. I've been around the 150 mark for about the past 10 years... and now I think back and remember how big I used to think I was at 132... I have adjusted my way of thinking... and I think it's for the worst... I need to have that mentality back of feeling huge at 132 then I won't allow myself to get this far out of hand again. So that is what I am fighting for now...

Thanks Jackie... I am still doing mainly Phase one.. but allowing myself some phase foods onces a day, normally one serving of something. It keeps me on the diet, and not feeling deprived, and with the exercise I am doing, I am loosing weight. Once I get to my goal, I just have to remember the key is to maintain, not forget about everything I have learned and to forgo exercise. I just need to make it a part of my life and enjoy it all!

Dips... good luck!!! Have a great visit home!

Angie.. aww, thanks for the compliment! I hope you had a great trip this weekend... are you ready to get back on track this week?

chikitababe how did your weekend go? Did you enjoy yourself? And a big thumbs down to your hubby... they just don't get it sometimes.. I know he probably didn't mean anything negative by it... but you just gotta remember, they are guys.. and they don't tend to think too much before blurting out something, and it's normally stupid.

Ok... going to go and see if I can get my VCR that my daugther broke to work.... I will see you all tomorrow!

Cherie