Motivation and Support 12/21 - 12/27
 

Good Monday Morning to you all. Have you posted your weight on the Challenge thread yet? We only have two more times to weigh in before the challenge is done. Then we go back to just Friday weigh in unless you are up for a Summer Challenge, more about that in the new year. Christmas is only 4 days away. A lot of you are visiting with family or on vacation so it will probably be very quiet around here this week. I hope that you all have a safe and happy time and post when you can.

Hi Libby! I am here, for now. Have been crazy busy moving. Am taking allergy meds that I think are making me gain weight and have been making me feel crappy. Have been walking just about everyday, doing floor exercises, hope to get back to the gym.

How are you?

Hi Hope. I am stressed out. I had picked out some recipes for treats that I wanted to bake and DH made such a fuss saying that every one is on a diet and no one wants to eat that stuff. So now I am not doing any Christmas baking. The tree is up and decorated as of last night. Now the house needs a good cleaning to get ready for guests on Christmas day. I just need to calm down and enjoy the time because it will be over so soon.
I'm sorry that you aren't feeling well. Allergies are no fun. Do you have hives or breathing problems? I hope that you feel better soon.

I've been feeling crappy too. Well I guess you could just say I'm feeling soft and squishy. :eek::(

Libby, yep I'm sure it will be probably be quieter around here this week. I'll be up for a summer challenge! I hope others are too. I really like being accountable at the end of the week AND the beginning of the next week. It really helps me better over the weekends. Can we keep the summer challenge a Monday weigh in? Also, Christmas is notorious for stressing people out, so just take a deep breath and enjoy your holiday the best you can.

Hope, I'm so sorry you're not feeling well and the meds are making you feel crappy. :( I hope you start to feel better. I don't want you feeling blah and icky on Christmas!!!

Mike, you should join us in the New Year for a Summer Challenge. You may be feeling squishy now, but by summer you could be a hard body! :)

I will send out my Merry Christmas wishes now, but I'll be back in before then. Just want to make sure I get it out to everyone who pops in earlier rather than later.

Just checked in on the Challenge. I had a half way decent loss this week. Yea! I really didn't think I would have, but I'll take every ounce I can get. I'm on track to lose about a lb a week through the challenge period. That's not too bad, right??

Lisa, I'll have to do just that. I'd like to drop ~40 pounds. I might not be able to do it all by the summer but I'm going to give it hell. I think I can get 1/2 way there! January 1, it's on like Donkey Kong!

I know I keep getting lost and eventually find my way back.

I'm doing the resolution thing again this year, with a little bucket list added to the mix. But I am starting early so it becomes a habit.

First habit is recording foods.

News: My mom is now cancer free, but someone else I love has been diagnosed with breast cancer. I may go and help them in the late spring if I can. Of course that will be after my mom's radiation treatments.

I have gained it back. My scale doesn't register, so I will start by taking measurements and work on that first.
I won't promise to be here daily or even weekly, but I will stop in when I can. Record foods first, join the forum when I can.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or however you express this time of year--I hope it's wonderful for you and those around you!

I know I haven't been on very much lately--just dealing with life. I'm working more hours now and glad that I'm physically able to work more (it also helps the budget a bit!).

Weight wise, I now weigh less than when I had my daughter back in '88! And that feels SOOO GOOD! That also means I'm within just a few pounds of reaching my goal for the year's end!

Size-wise, I'm down to a 1X--that's 3 sizes lost this year. Bra size has gone from 48 to a 42--at least I'm going in the right direction!

Not enjoying this funny weather we're having--high temps, rain and wind in my area. It's not playing nice with my allergies or anything else for that matter! Found out yesterday that I have strep throat. I had it as a teen, but I don't remember it making me feel this bad. My hubbie said "40 years does make a difference." He's still alive and well, but he had to fix his own supper last night for that comment!

Even though I'm back on antibiotics (2 of them!) and cortisone, I've had no elevated temps today and haven't had to take any pain medicine; so that means I'm on the mend! Now, if my nose would only stop itching!

Again, Merry Christmas! Vicki

Just popped in to say a quick howdie do. No snow for Christmas, very strange weather. Still cleaning. Christmas service tonight and then to my Mother in laws. Tomorrow every one is coming over for supper. Still need to get groceries. Busy day. Not looking forward to weigh in tomorrow or Monday.
Merry Christmas to all.

Hi all!! Just popped in quickly to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and safe travels if you'll be travelling.

Libby - Such strange weather eh!! I have my windows open because the house is heating up too much.....I have a lot of large south facing windows. It's 16 here today!!! Lucky you, looks like you'll be missing the huge storm that's headed our way next week. They're forecasting 25-35 cm of snow here in the nation's capital. I hope the meteorologist is wrong!! Going from 16 degrees today.....to 25-35 cm next week.....oooh that's going to sting! ;)

Merry Christmas to you and yours! We had a nice Christmas Eve with family, opening presents, sharing some really good laughs...eating! btw, I won't be weighing in today.

I am down .3 of a pound since Monday. Any loss is good at this time of year.
Merry Christmas every one.

The damage is done. I am up two pounds today but it will be coming off soon.
It wasn't just the stuff but the volume of the stuff that I ate. I hardly ate all day until supper and then I was starving so I ate. I am sure that a lot of you can relate to this. Next is New years eve, party time. I don't think I have a shot at making my challenge goal now. I hope you all had a safe and Merry Christmas.

I've done a lot of damage too. I've been eating tons of candy. I can't say no to sweets, especially chocolate. Sara insisted we bake cookies tonight, since it's become a tradition and she wouldn't let me out of it. I only baked 3 dozen, and then left the rest of the cookie dough in the fridge. I'm actually getting candied out though. I'm looking forward to having no more in the house and getting back to my atkins with milk.

My pork roast for Christmas day turned out terrible. It was a different cut than I thought and it was soooooo dry, even being cooked in the crock pot. I just threw out a ton of meat because I won't use it in leftover anything, and I know no one's going to heat it up and eat it. Then I made 2 smaller cuts of pork sirloin in the crock pot today, and they were so dry they were like rocks. I'm sooo utterly disappointed in my pork purchases lately.

We had a really nice Christmas Eve with family. Christmas Day was quiet, just our little family here. Jeff took the kids to see Star Wars, and I was home feeling sad that Tyler wasn't here this year.

Jeff must have really been sick of me using his computer! He bought me a new Dell laptop for Christmas! It's a super nice one, too. I'm so lucky. :)

That's about all I have going on. I'm going to start fresh with vigor when we start our summer challenge. We don't do anything for new years, so there won't be any parties with fattening food or anything. As soon as this batch of chocolate is gone I won't be buying more and I'll get back on track, but as for the new year's challenge...I don't even want to see how much I put back on this week!!! I'll just be with my head in the sand for a week or so, by which I mean staying away from the scale.

Friday morning weigh in was good because I lost a little but yesterday and today the scale is climbing and all the goodies in the house are calling my name. My sister gave me the Reese peanut butter clusters and they are sooo
good. Besides that we have buttery cookies dipped in chocolate, pop and chips,
cashews, chocolates, and all manner of fattening foods. I wish that I could give it all away. I am glad that I didn't do any baking because all that would be in the house too. My son baked a healthy low sugar banana blue berry loaf and I served it with canned fruit and devon custard. We also had a Yule log that my sister brought. I have gained nearly 4 pounds in two days and it has to stop now. Tomorrow's weigh in will be bad but I don't want to continue this madness and make it worse so I will record it and move on.

Dr. Phil has a new diet book. Has any one read it and what did you think of it?
I am ready to try anything. Also I saw an ad for DDP yoga. Some people have had amazing results. Mike if this is inappropriate please delete it.

I'm sooooo ready for a new challenge!! I'm ashamed that I've bailed on the last two....but I'm determined to finish the summer challenge and actually accomplish something! ;)

Hey there Libby and Debbie! Libby, I've read what you said, and I've come to realize that hiding my head in the sand isn't going to help me. I will try to remember to weigh in tomorrow.

Sara and I are going to start walking nightly, beginning tomorrow. If I tell her I'm going to do something, you better believe that she's going to hold me to it. Otherwise I have to deal with the wrath of a 14 year old. lol

There's a woman on fb, an old high school classmate, who has been obese her whole life. As recent as last year she was *extremely* obese. She's lost sooooooooo soooooooo much weight simply by watching her calories, low carb and walking 2 miles a day. She has inspired me to walk (even though I hate it!). It will take me a while to get up to 2 miles, that's for sure. To start I'm going to make it to our neighborhood park and back. I don't know how far it is, not very, but it's a start.

Also, the junk food and chocolate is almost gone. It was super great to have a regular meal for dinner. Just scrambled eggs with ham and cheese. It was good to eat something healthy. I've missed that a lot this past week! I also had a ham sandwich today that was pretty darn good. Chocolate this morning and 2 chocolate cookies today. ugh. I'm chocolated out.

Time to refocus and get strong again. Back to Atkins shakes with milk for me!