Amy, your post last night and this morning helped me so much. Thanks. I so much appreciate your encouragement to get back on the wagon and stay there. My mind was on how many days I failed-- but it SHOULD be on how well I can do in these next available 40 days before the test to manage my daily blood sugar. Also, I've been trying to put my finger on WHY I binge eat so often--trying to come up with some deep-down psychological explanation, and I think it IS as simple as the little voice saying: "you took one bite, and it was soooo yummy, so let's throw in the towel and eat the whole potful." But let's hide from Cassie the fact that we both hear voices. LOL Enjoy your school delay!

Will be back later--DH needs the computer.

Thanks for the reminder Amy. I feel soo much better when I get lots of water. And it is amasing how much it assists with the diet control.

Glad to see you checking in Quinn, was getting a little concerned. I hear you about thinking January is a nice month to hunker down, get those books read, letters written, and new recipes tried, meh... never happens for me either.

I'm feeling a lot better today. I actually got lots of little chore done on Monday, just none of the big projects I had antisipated. Now worries, there is always next weekend.

It's another frigid day in So Cal... all the way down to the 40s! How do we stand it ;)

Health / Fitness Goals...
1. 100oz water daily M: Yes,
2. One diet soda limit M: Yes (only 1/2 a can),
3. No added salt to plate M: Yes,
4. Walk on lunch 3 times M: 1.5miles in 27mins, T: Raining,
5. Exercise in morning 3 times W-F
6. Listen to body when full M: Yes,
7. Weigh and post daily M: 274.2lbs, T: 271.2 :) ,

Life Goals...
1. Keep hands busy in evening M: Yes,
2. Make yearly GYN appt M: DONE! It's on 02.27.12 at 3:15pm
3. Don't cause panic until I have facts M: Yes,

Yesterday was an awesome nutrition day and I got my lunch walk in. As a reward my scale is down 3 lbs today from yesterday! That would be the last of the weight that I gained over the holidays if it sticks. It also puts me back to 60lbs gone! I have to work hard this week to be sure that it sticks until Monday because that is when I count it as stuck. And then I can update my signature. I'm not sure what was going on last night. I was in a bit of an off mood and so was my hubby and it seemed like everything we did just irritated the other of us. All over we had a good evening it just seemed like we were both picky last night. Could just be the weather.

Hubby made deer jerky while I was at work yesterday. It is so good. I looked up the nutrition in venison and the package of spices he uses and the brown sugar that he added and I can eat 3 appox. 4" strips for like 75 calories. That is a great snack especially since it is a little tough (it's jerky LOL) so it takes a while to eat it. Not like some snacks you can eat too fast and be left looking for something else. Today I am very snackish though. I would be eating things if they were here. Thank God that I don't have anything with me. I ran out of my sugar free gum and I think that is why. My mouth has nothing to do. Mental? Probably but it can lead to a big downfall if I'm not careful.

Amy ... I do have a lot of energy to accomplish things but as soon as I sit down in the evenings that's it for me and I crash. ... What is wrong with your elliptical? ... Looks like you dropped your water weight yesterday too. Good goin! .. Your squash soup sounds awesome. I have never made anything with squash other than zuccini bread, fried zuccini and just cut up zuccini and put in a saucepan with a little margarine and mrs dash <~~ That one is awesome!

Darlene ... I am so glad that you have decided to share your journey with us. It is really hard for us to accept that we need help when we are the ones who everyone else looks to for help & support. I wish you the best possible outcomes on Wednesday.

Kay ... Good job on losing a pound! That was a great distraction technique to keep from over eating on Sunday.

Tori ... All you need is one more workout to meet that goal. I bet you can do it this week! ... If you aren't drinking enough water and only one diet dew, what else are you drinking? ... Your guy sounds great. I love that he doesn't want you to wait for him but still wants his chance.

Connect1 ... Welcome to the group!

Mern ... Awww a new great grand-daughter! How sweet! I hope she is close enough that you can go see her and get some snuggles.

Cassie ... You are doing great on your goals!

Pam .. Glad you are feeling better....what did you plan for your front bed? I have been trying to landscape our house on a small budget the past few years.

Joanna ... LOL! It may not be early to some but it is early to you since you aren't used to it.

Quinn ... Sounds like you need some me time. Then you can refocus your energy on everyone else's needs.

LOL, I think Cassie hears that same little voice. And you don't need to thank me, I'm just returning the favor.

I know a lot of people feel the need to delve deep and figure out why they binge. I've tried that, but have only ever come up with "I like to eat", no check that, "I LOVE TO EAT". We have to eat to live and dammit I'm a survivor! Actually I think after living for months on end at a deficit, the body is bound to muscle past the part of the brain saying "whoa" and shovel in some chow. Which is not to say that we don't have deep psychological explanations for binging, just that I've never nailed down anything earth shattering or specific for myself. I have always felt that some of my issues have as much to do with biology and genetics as they do with psychology. Did you know that during an epidemic that roughly 10% of the population will mysteriously survive? I sometimes wonder if the same isn't true in times of famine.

Me too!! ;)

I think in order to get over this, for one week straight you need to get up at 4:40am workout for an hour, fix breakfast and pack lunches for several other people, wait patiently for the shower while all the other people take freakin' forever to get done, finally get your shower but the water is cold so race through that mess, get in your car, deliver I don't know how many kids to school, race back home pick up all the crap they forgot, and make one more drop at school, all before 7:50am. Better yet you come be me for a week and I'll sleep in until 7:15am, lol.

Scrap all that, enjoy your 7:15 wake up now, believe me it will come to a screeching halt one of these days. I remember hating my 8:00am classes in college too, well that is until I realized that they flat out didn't have as many students in them as the same classes later in the day and many of the professors were much easier going first thing in the morning. You can also earn easy suck-up points with coffee and sweet rolls if it comes to that... I didn't start drinking coffee until I was 40, but in architecture school, I kept a Mr. Coffee in my studio space, bought me lots of suck-up grade points. I had one professor that was a total non-morning person. I would make coffee and he would stumble in every morning and say, "oh thank God there's coffee, love your work, mind if I help myself to a cup?". Like a charm...

My elliptical wasn't the most expensive model on the market, because I think they engineered it to profit from replacement parts for years to come. Ugh. Last time it broke I took it to a welder. This time it's a broken piece of plastic, but I think I'm going to see if the fix-it man can make me a replacement part out of metal. This is like the third or fourth time that piece has busted, and a new pair is $49.99 plus $15 S&H, (and of course you can't buy 1 they only sell them in pairs). It's the piece that holds the foot pedal onto the fly wheel in the back. It's basically a large plastic washer, or it was until it cracked in half. The welder only charged $35 and for that he fixed both the elliptical and the coat rack.

Give the squash soup a try, it's really yummy and filling, with hardly any calories.

Thanks, everyone, for your congrats on our new great granddaughter. I'm looking forward to seeing her this weekend.

Cassie, well done yesterday! I hope you can find your groove again--what will work for you NOW. Big hug to ya!

Pam, glad you're feeling better today. You did a pretty darned good job, Monday. :) I forgot I was going to set a goal of just plain water, but it'll be lower than yours because I count my decaf coffee and decaf tea and Crystal Lite as water, too, since a nurse told me our bodies don't really care where the water comes from. But I don't count alcohol or carbonated or caffeinated beverages. I'll change my goal to "Water 48 oz.--at least 32 oz. plain."

Darlene, yes, all our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids live within a 45 minute drive from us. One of my friends calls The Parable of the Persistent Widow "The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease." :) I will put you on my prayer chain today as hoping to hear that your lump is not cancerous and to be able to make to make it through this time of need with courage and strength in your faith in God's love and the support of your family and friends. I will update them when your test results come back. When my daughter was in an auto accident out of town years ago and I got a call from the sheriff that she was being airlifted to a local hospital here, before I even left the house I called the network of prayer because I didn't feel I could make it through alone. Just knowing Jesus, my guardian angel, and the prayer warriors were with me was enough to get me through. So I know frst hand the benefits of that support system. Call your prayer chain if you haven't already. I really think there are enough women here who have experience themselves or through friends with this sort of thing, so don't feel as awkward as you might expect in talking with you about this. I know people don't want false hope, but sometimes things happen that we don't know if was just a mistake or if it was a miracle. But in 2010 a friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer and in the end it turned out that two specialists out of three determined the initial pathology report was in error--that the tumor was benign. So I'm just sayin' again--try to not worry unless you know for SURE you have something to worry about. "I will keep praying and not lose heart." We're going to hold you to that. :)

Joanna, you poor dear. I understand your feelings. Having to get up early sucks! And hey, what you do IS a real job. LOL

zyxst, congrats on a job well done Monday. I make sure to keep lean protein in the fridge, often cooking up chicken breasts or buying low sodium deli turkey to keep on hand. I also rely on a low carb protein shake. Mine is Walker Diet Shake Mix Meal Replacement Drink, but I don't use it to replace meals--just as a snack or as part of a small meal. It's available online only as far as I can tell and is only one gram net carbs per serving.

Amy, way to recover from the weekend of indulgence with family. Oh, yeah, thanks for the FOOD PORN! LOL Glad you discovered that a lot of the gain was water weight, too. Holiday meals usually do contain a lot of sodium from the increased number of dishes available. One of the reasons I love this group so much is that we all do help each other. Sometimes it's the simplest little thing that means so much to help us overcome a problem area. You mentioned having to eat to live, and loving to eat. That's a great point. I was sitting here in the reply box and it dawned on me that I'm so far behind in my ME time duties to food, exericise, supplements, and FitDay today that it's already lunch time and I need to be sure to get in my avocado and almonds at lunch. Now, that's wonderful because I AM eating to live but I also really, really love those two foods that I use as part of my daily diet to lower triglycerides and cholesterol. Proof positive that healthful eating does not have to be a sacrifice. Aw, I hope you get your elliptical fixed soon.

Quinn, you are always missed when you're not here, but we do understand you have so many other obligations. I hope you got the elder care issues resolved. Oh, good for you for putting yourself first today. Amy and Darlene were just talking about how important that is--to do the best job taking care of others, we have to be in good shape ourselves. We both deserve and REQUIRE that ME time. Congrats on your simple goals. I hope the DRINK, drink, drink, means Water, water, water, and not Booze, booze, booze. LOL

April! Congrats on your spectacular Monday and that great 3 lb. loss! You worked hard to earn that! Hey, deer jerky surely keeps your mouth busy and if gum works to give your mouth something to do so you don't blow your goals, go for it! Mental? Amy hears VOICES and we don't care. Hee Hee Hee Yeah, our new great-granddaughter is only 45 minutes away. :)

I know it seems like they do make products to require parts so that they can continue to make money from you sometimes.

I have realized that I have undergone a change of mindset. I usually order BH&G magazine and hardly read them. I have a stack that is at least 4-6 issues that haven't had a page turned in them except to look in the back and see what exercises they are displaying that month (if any). I have let that subscription run out an in it's place I ordered Fitness magazine and Eating Well. I think that I will spend a lot more time at this point in my life actually reading those issues than the ones telling me what pillows go good with my wall colors. LOL

April and Amy, I was going to order some slush mugs (you know, like for home made Icees, Slushies, Slurpies for the kids) and when I went online to see if I could find it cheaper than the infomercial on TV, I saw they also sell replacement slush cubes (the soft salt water filled cubes for freezing) and I wondered "Why do they sell THOSE? Do people LOSE them?" So I looked for customer reviews of that product and found the slush cubes are soft and sometimes they get torn and the salt water then leaks into the kids slushy treat. YUCK! You'd think they'd come up with a better system to begin with instead of profitting from kids accidentally drinking the salt water.

April, I love Better Homes and Gardens but never have time to read it except if I'm sitting in a waiting room somewhere. Hope you enjoy your Fitness and Eating Well magazines. :)