April, what a tremendous amount of stress you're under. I hope things improve soon; I'm sure it's extremely hard to get through the days. I know it sounds cliched, but please try to take care of yourself through all of this. He has people taking care of him, so that's not yours to do right now...yes, of course you will be there for him emotionally and nothing will stop your worry, but remind yourself that you will be better able to take care of him if you are at your best. I'm sure he's in good hands...and his response to you will likely be much more positive once he gets through the crisis and stabilization phases. Do you feel okay about the people working with him?

Sometimes when crises such as this happen, it helps to look at it as something that would be necessary to make things change for the better in the future. Take care.

Long day today; going to pack a healthy lunch and snacks to stay on track. Hope you all have a wonderful day :).

Oh April, I am so sorry for what you are going through, just know that I am praying for you and your family and we are all here for you. I am so glad you feel you can confide in us, it can help so much to have someone to talk to. You are absolutely doing the best possible for him and it sounds like he is in good hands. Please try to take care of yourself during these trying times so you are better able to handle everything. Take care,


Julie

It seems like a lot of us are struggling this week. I'm sending out a cyber hug to everyone, but especially to April and Tori.

April I have no advice to offer for your situation, just continue to be his mom in every possible way and let him know in no uncertain terms that you love him unconditionally. A good friend of mine has a step-son that is equally troubled, she's been through much of the same things you've been through these past few weeks. Her feeling is that although it's an insanely hard road to travel, God does not ask us to carry more than we are capable of. She does however say that there is no shame in praying for a lighter load now and again. You almost have to wonder if there wasn't something that set this off, a teacher, homework, a fear, a bully, puberty? I hope you get to the root of the problem and resolve it, or at least that he can find some help/peace and return home soon. Good luck honey, a big squeeze and we're always here to listen (well read really) when you need to vent, discuss or ask advice. We have shoulders, feel free to cry.

Tori honey, sorry that "basket case" won out, but you know I've long considered tears theraputic. So go ahead "cry it out", then strap on your shoes and go for a walk, in the end you'll feel better, bottling it up always seems to drag the misery out longer. Maybe Terri can spare a small cup of "shake it off and move on" for you. I love the tatt idea, sounds good to me, that's a great way to celebrate making it to your goal weight. Personally, I'm thinking about getting a little plastic work done when I reach goal. These stretch marks need to go away, and I wouldn't mind if the "girls" defied gravity a little/lot more.

Good morning all!! It sounds like everyone is off to a great start this week. I feel motivated just reading all your goals and accomplishments already.

Tori - I'm so sorry ur sad, like others have said, take care of yourself. Concentrate on your goals and do your best to improve yourself during this time. Lots of good vibes headed your way

Mike - I too am a PB@J addict, its my comfort food. I've recently fell in love with Nutella and jelly too. Yummmm

Mern - Doesn't the mindless nail biting drive you nuts? I look down and think...how did that one get all mangled???? ugh

Cassie - Hey there neighbor!! Great job resisting the fried chicken, you have some kinda willpower!! Congrats on your son making the tennis team. I have kid athletes, it can be very stressful sometimes. Good luck!

April - it looks like we are the same age, and I have teens too. Its a roller coaster ride, I feel you there!!

Almeeker - oh the joys of head lice!! My youngest DD got them 3 times during Pre-K, I swear they were living in her classroom or something. She is blonde and i thought i was gonna lose my mind....I hope your ordeal is behind you.

Monday Report card:
Fitness goals:
- >1400 calories daily Yep
- 2 tervis water and 1 soda Yep
- zumba on Thursday
- weights 2 days

Non-fitness goals:
- no nail biting had a moment of weakness at ball practice
- work 30 minutes a day in spare room No
- get kids sale entry done sent email

Thanks everyone!

Amy ... It does really seem like something triggered this to explode the way it has. Like I said, he has ODD so has always been a limit pusher and rebellious but this is a new level of rage. I knew that when he really hit puberty that it would amplify but this is beyond anything that we expected.

Cassie ... I really do feel that he is in a good place. The first place he was in had group therapy like once a day and met with a doctor a few times a week. This place meets with the doctor daily and has several group sessions daily. They are doing what they can to help him and what I do is try to be positive when he calls. I do have to ask him about the things that are going on there to get his view on it but I have to be careful because that can cause him to hang up on me. :( They are also thinking he may have conduct disorder on top of his ODD. And now the hallucinations? I don't know what they are going to think of that but they just started the night before last night. WTH would I do with that at home? That is what worries me the most. They are trained to deal with this and are having a little bit of a hard time.

Tori ... I am so sorry you are also having a tough time. I hope that you can find peace with your situation. It's hard to pretend you don't care when you really do care...so much! Hugs to ya girl!

Ashlie ... Welcome to the group! I've been distracted lately and I'm sorry if I hadn't welcomed you yet! Or if I have and forgot lol.

Darlene ... I am loving your puppy pics! They brighten my day. Her chewing is so cute. I would probably buy her toys that are all the wrong size! Chloe's bones probably weigh as much as Kaya does haha!

Sorry to anyone that I missed but this is providing me a nice distraction today and I welcome it.

Have you tried Nutella + PB (extra crunchy)? OMG, it's very nearly better than sex and you sooo did not hear that from me.

Well, I hope the worst of the head lice thing is behind is behind us, I'll be doing daily "bug checks" for the next 4-6 weeks, but that's really not so bad, the other stuff I find is pretty amusing. This morning we all put our hair up and spritzed it with this stuff that's supposed to make you less appealing to the critters, it stinks though.

Unfortunately I'm more seasoned at this than I care to admit. We had a rough run with it when our middle dd was best friends with a girl that had it constantly. That child was sent home from school at least once/month with a head full of it, unfortunately her mother was not the type who gave head lice the necessary due diligence. About a year ago that little girl and her sisters were placed in foster care in a different school district, Amen (believe me, there were a lot more issues in that house than head lice), our dd hasn't had it since. This time it was our youngest that came home with it. I've treated her and reported it to the school, so today they have to do a mandatory head check on the entire building, kids + adults (that should be fun eh?). Hopefully that will help, but probably not, there's always one family that can't seem to get rid of it. I'm going to hit the craft store later today and pick up the necessary ingredients to make homemade repellant. The store bought stuff stinks to high heaven, a teeny tiny bottle of it was $6, and if we're lucky, it will last the week. Our pediatricians office has a repellant recipe that you can add to your regular hair products, shampoo, conditioner, styling gel, detangler, leave-in conditioner, etc etc. I'm going to drop some in everything, not taking any chances.

Quick check in. Last night was a disaster, the chirrens made home made cookies and I went to bed too deficient. I woke up around 3:30am and went on a cookie raid. I'll adjust yesterday #'s.

Thank you so much to everyone for the warm welcome wishes! Nice to meet you all! :) :)

April, I am really sorry to hear what you're going through. Sending warm thoughts your way!

Tori, likewise, sending you warm thoughts during this difficult time you're experiencing. :(

Almeeker, sorry to hear about your head lice woes! But glad that it was an isolated incident. I nanny frequently for friends and have never encountered head lice myself, BUT it's definitely a phobia of mine so here's hoping it never happens!

Aw, sorry to hear Mike! Cookies are hard to resist for sure. But no worries, today is a new day! :D

Here are my stats for yesterday, *JUST* made it under my calorie goal, phew!:

1. Under 2000 calories - 1844, 1968, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
2. At least 72z of plain water only (NO crystal light!) - Y, Y, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
3. NO refined sugar except for 1 Luna Bar a day - Y, Y, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
4. NO fried food - Y, Y, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
5. NO dairy other than nonfat plain yogurt - Y, Y, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
6. Go to the gym at least once a day (400-500 calories), preferably twice a day (800-1000 calories) 900, 400, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
7. Do at least one full set of stretches after the gym - Y, Y, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?
8. Take supplements (B12, Calcuim/D/K) - Y, Y, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?

I was originally listing how many ounces of water I consumed, but yesterday I lost count! So I am just going to make sure that I get to at least 72oz, and write a Y/N entry instead of logging the actual amount.

Have a wonderful day everyone! <3

LMBO at Almeeker!! Your family sounds like mine, they keep me on my toes for sure. I try to keep them all clean but still find the occasional tick or flea on them....ew.

ima need that recipie!!! My DD5 still has long blonde hair she refuses to leave up in a ponytail. I might need it!!!

I'm gonna try the Nutella and PB, I love extra crunchy PB...

Oh no, you were a midnight, cookie monster, food porn star, sorry dude. Okay Mike, maybe you need to try having a bedtime snack, like a can of tuna, some cottage cheese, deviled eggs, a small protein shake, or some such.

Crunchy peanut butter, OMG heaven in a plastic jar... Haha, on the Nutella, I'm such a bad influence, no question about that. And if I can't talk you out of it and you're going to try it anyway you might as well put your PB and Nutella on butter crackers rather than bread, a much smaller sin that way lol. My whole fam is rocking ballerina buns today, self included. Oldest immediately pulled hers out and went with the "bandana" look, her hair is very thick but shoulder length, the rest of us have hair to the middle of our backs ugh. Would your dd wear a bandana? I'll post the repellant recipe later, I can't remember it perfectly, so I'll have to dig it out, it's in my cooking binder - somewhere. I used it last time and it did seem to help, well, it made me feel like I was doing something proactive anyway. Our pediatrician works with kids, has 4 of her own and she uses it daily. I think this time I'm going to add it to my fabric softener as well as the hair products. A little goes a long way and it's not expensive to make.

Oh no Mike! Homemade cookies? I have a container of them on the island at home too. White Chocolate Macadamia Nut ones! The thing that keeps me out of them is knowing they are 170 calories each one but the night I made them I ate about 5!!! Blaming the super bowl for that!

Monday Report

After I reported I didn't each much yesterday because I didn't have time to eat, I ate boneless, skinless chicken twice more, a piece of cheese, and some pork rinds. It added up to more than I thought, so I'll just post it along with the rest of the week as usual.

Red is a missed goal, blue is above or below targeted average for the week

Calorie limit 1600 daily 1270
Carbs less fiber limit daily 25g 21.4g
Saturated fat average 12% of total calories 13%
Fiber average 25g 11g
Cholesterol average 300mg 277mg
Protein average 120g 79g

Water 60 oz. NO
Exercise 5 days NO

Complaint to blessing: hate doing our income tax returns, but got them done and filed.

mh: Glad to see you checking in daily, weekly, whatever works for you!! Your life sounds hectic, but you also seem like you're enjoying every minute of it. Go get you some!

Cassie: I feel the same way about Ms. First Choice. I get the sneaking suspicion that the job I want is a back-up job for her (otherwise she wouldn't have asked to defer her decision, right??), so I'm hoping that it all works out for the best. She'll get the job she wants and then maybe I get the job I want! :) Thanks for crossing your spleen, lol! BF is definitely a keeper. He's been extra-awesome lately, not sure what that's all about, but I'll take it. I'm usually the rock in this relationship but he's definitely been both rock AND anchor for the past rough week for me. Kudos on posting when you had some food-danger. Fried chicken smells AMAZING, I am not sure I could have resisted!!! Congrats to your son for making the tennis team!

Kay: Awesome job getting that kettleball in AND getting in all those miles! Phew, I really have no excuses at all!!

Luv: Awesome to see you upping your goals every week. You're so mindful about your program and it's really awesome to read about. Good luck on your goals this week!!

Mea: Welcome, good job on your goals so far!!! Good luck getting back on track - warning, we are a chatty bunch here!

Julie: Thanks for the recipe, glad your muffins turned out so well!

Lizzie: LOL. Sing it about bras!!! It's amazing what a difference the right size makes!!!!!

Tori: Big, big hugs for you. Sorry that it's been so stressful to see CN off, I can't imagine all the emotions running through you. I'm sure Jas does know what you need, and so do you. Be kind to yourself, and see what each day brings in terms of motivation.

Mern: Back up your spreadsheets!! Haha, I tend to back up my computers fairly regularly, I'm glad my woes made you remember (at least something good will come out of it!!). The walking really does seem to help. I often go as high impact as I can on my high impact days - I'm entirely red in the face, sweaty, breathing hard, heart racing, and I think doing that and then just STOPPING if I cramp might not be the best for me. I need to switch it up, so I'm going to make a conscious effort to do so this week. I really need to start getting in the mindset of being active every day (or almost every day), even if some days are less than others. My body needs the change, and I have to make it happen!

Amy: ACK, HEAD LICE! The joys of parenting strike again -- every time I read your posts I think you're just SuperMom. I remember I got head lice one time and I was at my grandparents' house when it happened. She was a RIOT dealing with it, something about "I went through this once and the Lord makes me go through it again!!!" My parents were thrilled that she got "stuck with us" when we had it (me and my sister both) once they picked us up and only needed to go through the daily checks. I hope that teacher enjoys the checks, lol.

April: I'm sending you hugs and strength. You're going through something really difficult, but you know that you're his Mom, and you love him, and he might not be able to express or appreciate everything you're doing for him right now, but YOU remember it, okay? I can't even imagine the stress you're under, thanks for sharing it with us all here, and I hope it's eased you even a little bit.

Mike: Attack of the homemade cookies, oh no!! I hope they were at least delicious... of course they were, they're cookies! I hope your Tuesday is better than your Monday.


Weekly Goals

Food/Exercise/Lifestyle Goals:

1) Keep calories between 1200 and 1500 daily. Week average around 1300. No single day over 1600. M: 1,335 (Week Average: 1,335)
2) Exercise at least four times this week M: yes (small)
3) Calorie deficit of 5000 M: -676 (Week Total: -676)
4) Protein 25-30% average for the week M: 29% (Week Average: 29%)
5) In bed by 11:30 every night M: yes
6) No more than 1 lunch and 1 dinner out M: No eating out
7) At least 64-80 oz. of water daily. More is better. M: 80
8) Weigh in on Monday and Friday and report the weight here M: 161.5 (Superbowl, you do bad things to me)

Other Life Goals:

1) Make an effort on my appearance every day M: yes
2) Don't sweat the small stuff M: yes
3) Send in at least 5 job applications M: 2
4) Do something special for BF - he was a saint all this weekend. M: not yet - I need to come up with a good idea
5) Write something wonderful that happens every day M: Got my taxes done and am getting more refund than I thought.

I felt pretty good yesterday. I got 2 job applications done and am making progress on others -- a lot of it is waiting for recommendations and/or filling out silly useless information, but I think I got the two hardest/longest one done yesterday AND this morning I got a ton of recommendation confirmations in my e-mail, so my references are doing their thing too.

I gotta give props to BF yesterday - I did NOT want to work out, like at all, I got home and I was starving and a little grumpy and was thinking about getting my taxes done. He let me do my taxes (I usually procrastinate on it, so I think he was like "Well, if she wants to do them...") and then I was starting to gravitate towards the kitchen and he said "Didn't you want to work out today? It's Monday." I'm fairly sure I gave him a glare of death (I REALLY REALLY didn't wanna) and he just kind of raised his brow at me and said "I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do, but I want to encourage you. You know you can do it, and I want to see you make your goals even if you don't want to today." What a sweetie, right??? I was like d'aawwww. He's right.

I still didn't wanna, but I made myself do one of my shorter workouts after that pep talk and I was really glad I did afterwards. Dinner tasted much better. He's been on a roll, that BF of mine. I think I'll do a longer/more intense workout today and schedule a walk on my lunch break tomorrow to keep my muscles stretched out. I do want to do more walking, it really helps.

Happy Tuesday all!

~Terri

Terri ... I'm thinking also that since she deferred that she has a dream job somewhere else that she is waiting to hear an answer about too. ... Your BF is so sweet! He's definitely a keeper! <3

Just got the lovliest package delivered. I treated myself to a replacement knob for my "vintage" 1989 model year built-in oven. LOL It cost me $26 for the knob plus an outrageous $9.95 shipping and handling charge--$36 for a little hunk of plastic! For the past four years my "select" knob (to choose bake, broil, clean, or off) was missing due to breaking off. I kept having to remove the thermostat knob and put it on the select stem to choose the function I needed, and then replace the knob back on the thermostat stem--and I got so sick of having to do that. I had been unsuccessfully to trying to find a used knob on the Internet all these years and finally caved. Decided "Hell, yeah! I'm worth $36!" LOL

Cassie, kudos on avoiding the fried chicken! That's a hard one! Last night Burger King allowed me to substitute grilled chicken for a bunless "Italian Chicken" sandwich is usually a breaded fried chicken patty, marinara sauce, and Swiss cheese. May help that my daughter works there, but she works for a franchise store and she said they're always cordially willing to substitute within reason. Also, congrats on a wonderful Monday report and on your son making the varsity tennis team!

April, great goal to get back to faithfully logging. :)

Tori, big hug to ya over CN's departure.

Mike, wow, you really WERE short on food yesterday. I thought I was, but I was mistaken--I didn't have a big volume of food, but it added up to more than I expected. Aw, sorry for your 3:30 AM cookie raid--that is often a consequence of low food intake.

mh, congrats on that restorative walk!

Mea, we are very glad to have you as our newest member. :) Great reports so far! I, too, used to log my ounces of water but gave that up in favor of just making sure I get in my 60 ounces so I can just say yes or no. So much easier.

Amy, I feel for ya on the head lice. My youngest GD had them a couple months ago. No one else got them, either, BUT they returned twice despite routinely laundering her jacket, bedding, vacuuming the mattress, all that stuff. Couldn't figure out why she kept getting them back until I asked my daughter if she remembered to quarrantine the stuffed animals she sleeps with by putting them in a plastic bag on her sunporch for two weeks. Must have been it because she didn't get them back after that.

Darlene, GREAT Monday report! :) I'm so glad you enjoyed your walk and got some outside chores done. Our dog (long ago deceased) was such a chewer as a pup with really sharp teeth that he bit holes in our fuel oil tank line and we didn't know until we saw oil spurting out of it the next day. We lost a lot of oil and the cleanup was not fun.

April, I hope posting about your family crisis helped you feel not so alone. So many of us have that sort of problem with family members. Your son's behavior reminds me so much of my nephew's. My sister followed advice to take care of herself and try to convey to her son that unconditional love, while at the same time protecting herself, her husband, and other children. Be assured of my continued prayers, which you've had all along since letting us know you had a really serious family crisis. Know that we cyberfriends here are with you in spirit and in prayer. Huge hug to ya!

Ashlie, yeah, he mindless nailbiting drives me nuts. I now have six pretty ones, two so-so, and two really stubby. The saying "Variety is the spice of life" does not apply here. LOL Great looking Monday fitness report!

Terri, I backed up my spreadsheets and feel more secure now. I guess it depends on what each individual needs, but high impact exercise is thankfully not recommended for someone my age and fitness level. It's one of the perks of aging. LOL I'm no expert on exercise by any stretch of the imagination, so I can't say if a really hard occasional workout is preferable to consistent milder ones or not. But I sweat like crazy just walking two miles on the treadmill, so I know I'm getting a really good workout. DH won't even TRY to do our tax return (or even balance the checkbook, for that matter) and he asked me if I wanted to go to the Y with him when I was right in the middle of figuring out how to report some taxable income we never had before. I didn't go and never did get in my exercise, so my hat is TRULY off to you for your committment. So sweet that BF was so encouraging. I think DH invited ME to exercise because he knew I was miffed about hating to do our taxes, but I really wanted to get the taxes finished.

I had some casein protein right before going to bed. :(

Hello all. Thanks for all the warm wishes. Last night sucked, but I made it through. Maybe I shouldn't have spent the entire weekend with CN. Having been together 4 solid days made it a little bit harder to be alone last night. I think I finally got to sleep around 3 again. It hasn't been a great day, but being back in my routine has helped. I've faked it as much as I can, but it's really hard for me to hide how I'm feeling. Work has been a disaster. Worse than a normal Tuesday, and those are usually pretty bad. I know it only because they care about me, but seriously, how many times can you hear "are you okay?" or "what's wrong?" before you want to start throwing things?? I'm strapping on the brace and lacing up the tennies later today and getting back to what I need to do for ME. The rest will work out eventually.

April--so sorry that you're having to go through all of this. Sending you warm wishes and lots of positive vibes.

Mike--if you're not gonna share the cookies with the whole group, then stay out of them yourself. ;)

Gotta get back to work. Check back in later

April I am so sorry this must be incredibly hard on you. I am glad you shared it’s important that you have a support system around you so you share as much and as often as you want I will always listen and pray that your son gets diagnosed properly and that he can be surrounded by a competent and caring support team.

April We are giving her the same big buffalo bones with marrow inside that lucky gets and oh my its hilarious her whole head pretty much fits in the bone I will see if I have a pic. I have to admit the cute little organic peanut butter cookies we give her are the size of my fingernail and they make me go awww every time I take one out of the box.:D She can sit on command and is working on stay she is doing great on her house breaking and she thinks playing in the backyard is fantastic. Lucky is such a house dog she goes out does her business and comes back but Kaya has her outside playing 3 or 4 times a day it’s pretty amazing how a puppy can control an 80lb 12 year old dog to do things she normally wouldn’t do. I am super impressed by lucky though she’s really patient and truly likes her which was the main point of getting a puppy so soon after losing our beloved mocha but I think her presence is helping us all recover.

Amy Do you use teatree oil in the kids shampoo it’s supposed to help keep the little buggers away.

Mike You are supposed to be imitating the count not cookie monster, lol.:D

Mea Lots of green for you good start to your week. I can’t keep track of my water that diligently either so I just track bottles I do not struggle too much with my water intake though.

Mern Good job on getting your taxes out of the way I am still waiting for tax slips.

Terri Sounds like you had a great day I hope you hear something from your new job applications, I sent out one this morning also. Nice to hear bf is so supportive it’s always nice to have our loved ones encouraging us on when we need it.

Mern I bet your oven is awesome antiques are beautiful and certainly needs you to maintain its upkeep. I bet the oil cleanup was an awful messy job:eek: so far she has been pretty good she brings us most things she has and she really loves her chew toys so hopefully this chewing addiction she has won’t lead to too much trouble.

Tori I agree that lacing up your runners and just getting out their will help, feel better soon and know that it is ok to miss someone you care about.

I need to get out and run some errands I discovered that my favorite suit jacket has a loose seem in the back shoulder and since I do not sew I will need to drop that off and get it fixed before my next interview. I need to stop at the pet store and find a rake style brush for Kaya as her undercoat already feels a little matted, probably all that rolling around in the backyard. I have a meeting at the church tonight and so far today it’s sunny out so maybe if it doesn’t get to cold I will walk to it. I hope you all have a great afternoon.

This is the same reason that we got Chloe. We lost our boy Bones in November 2010. Macie seemed okay but a little less interactive. She is a bit of a loner but will play and snuggle when enticed to. We were offered Chloe in January and I jumped at the chance. It has been full on wrestling and playing ever since between those two. Macie will be 9 in April. Boxers usually don't live past about 12. Chloe is bigger than Macie too. But to watch them play and roll around is a thing of pure joy for me. I let them get away with making a lot more noise than I ever let the kids make when they were little, LOL!

Here's a pic of my boy Bones. He was my heart. But Chloe is helping to fill up the space he left behind. And he was a big boy.
http://i517.photobucket.com/albums/u...cie/bones5.jpg

He is so handsome :D I love the look of boxers they are very strong and regal looking dogs.

Attachment 299
Lucky's favorite place is on dd couch the dogs are not allowed on the furniture unless its her couch and it took no time for her to figure out how to be a first class couch potato.:)

As always a bit behind the curve on posting so apologies if I'm out of synch

Mern. Yes I saw that recipe and I may give it a go although I had wanted to be Ble to let my sister try them and she is a coeliac so no wheat. I could only find one brand of flaxseed meal here, guess we're not quite as geared up for healthy choices as you are.
I'm glad you treated yourself to that knob- you ate SO worth it.

Tori. My thoughts are with you having been through it and may have to do it again in Jan 2013. Never easy.


April. OMG what a terrible situation for you and your family, my thoughts and best wishes are with you and your son. We are so lost when our children are in pain and we feel that there is little we can do to help. I hope he gets the professional help that he needs and together with all the loving family support that i know you are giving him, he comes back from that dark place that he has retreated to.

M
 

Hi there everyone, hope everyone's day is going well. My day has been super busy at work, and I still have about 3 hours to go. Did get my treadmill in this morning, and my food is all logged for the day, even what I haven't eaten yet. Here are Monday's stats,



1200-1400 cals M-1279
80 oz water M-64 oz
Treadmill T-Th-Sat
5000 steps on non TM days 3479
8000 steps on TM days
Weights and Floor Exercises at least 3 times. No
Post here every day Yes

ToriI am sorry you are so sad, time doesn't really heal all wounds, but it does ease the pain a bit. Will you be able to keep in touch via email or facebook? That would help. I'm thinking of you

Mike I hope today has been better for you. Last Tuesday I came home to my house filled with the smell of chocolate chip cookies. My husband had made them to send our kids who are away at school. I was not happy, they smelled sooo good, but he followed me upstairs informing me they were for the kids so I walked away, but it was not easy.

Cassie I love fried chicken, my husband had it at the restaurant we went to over the weekend, and sat right by while I ate my salmon. Then of course offers me some, I told him to take it home and have it later, and don't offer me any more leftovers! Congrats on your son making the tennis team! My son has played soccer since he was 8 and now plays in college, so I know what you're going thru, it can be a wonderful time, but stressful too!

DarleneI love hearing about Kaya, she sounds like a little doll! My dog Buddy is 14 years old, and that is very old for the large breed that he is. We don't get to have puppies too many times in our lives, but there is nothing quite like them, they bring such joy don't they?

mh Good luck with all your college stuff, my son's girlfriend joined a sorority and she is unbelievably busy with that stuff, not to mention her regular class work. She loves it though! This is the best time of your life!

Mern I totally understand how excited you are about your new knob for your stove, I love to get things like that, it just puts a smile on your face doesn't it?

Terri Your BF is very definitely a keeper! Good for him to encourage you in such a sweet way, its easy to get a little annoyed when people try to help, especially if you're starving and tired, you just want to relax and feel better. It sounds like he knew just what to say!

AprilAnother big hug for you, I'm thinking of you and ready to listen when ever you need. I hope your visit goes well, take care of yourself.

Have a great evening everyone!

Julie

Chatting . . .
 

Zyxst ~ How are you? I hope you soon get your computer problems resolved. Keep at your fitness goals!

quinn ~ I love to watch you with your health goals. One of my many inspirations on this board.

Ashlie ~ Hello! Glad to meet you. Looks like you're on a great path again. It sounds like you have a busy, but fun household.

Mea ~ Welcome!

Cassie ~ Thanks --- I need motivational sayings/reminders to keep my mindset where it's best for winning. It's so easy for me to be negative or give in. How did your healthy eating go today?

Lizzie ~ Hang in there!

Mern ~ Oh my word!!! What a wonderful compliment to be up there with all these athletic people! The thing is, I'm paying for it now. But it does feel good to have more activity in my life. On the eating front: Do you remember the saying, "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach?" I think that's where I still am. I measure and all that, but I'm teaching myself that I eat a certain amt. Then if I'm still hungry & calorie count allows it, I can eat more. Sheeeesh! I feel like a kid sometimes. Self-control is quite a challenge.

April ~ http://yoursmiles.org/tsmile/hug/t4617.gifHugs. I hope you have lots of support around you. I'm so sorry for the pain that you go through. I'm thankful that you have a great place on this board to express yourself.

Darlene ~ Hope you meet your goals amongst all your business.

mhibdon ~ Thinking of you today! Walks can do wonders -- a wonderful stress releaser. Great going on that front.

Pam ~ I've been searching my current library of exercise DVDs. Found some with Abd/Core exercises. I think I have one that will work with the exercise ball. Thanks for all your encouragement. It means a lot.

almeeker ~ Hope the bugs are all gone for you - they have kept you quite busy. And then all those Kindergarten fees -- just something else to track.

Mike ~ No advice here. Try to hang in there with all your "busy -ness".

Terri ~Thanks for the compliment. Yup! I have to keep changing goals as my body changes & as I learn more about fitness. It's awesome to watch how people formulate goals & what it takes to meet them. Your BF is definitely someone who is supportive of you & your goals. What a keeper! (At least from what I can see on this side of my computer.)
..................................................
I'm finding my way thru strength training, especially with an emphasis to work on back muscles & abd muscles. It's a bit tricky with a currently weak back & yet the need to strengthen them. I'll be back later with goal updates.

Luv,

I really prefer doing the treadmill in the morning, especially in tax season when I work so much. The one thing I did about a year ago is get a book rack for my treadmill, it has made all the difference. Sometimes, I'm at a really good part of the book and I don't want to stop, can you believe it?? It makes the time go really fast too. It really does make feel good all day, plus just knowing its done for the day is really great. I try to do the treadmill every other day, and weights/floor stuff on the other days in the evenings. That way I have every other morning that I can sleep in a little extra. Hope you find a routine that works for you, if you dread it, its really hard to stick with it.

Julie

My attempt to play catch up....

Cassie--gah, you had to mention fried chicken, now I want some! at least you know your triggers and what you have to do to control them. i have yet to figure out all of mine, it's a work in progress. Congrats to the boy making the tennis team! and big hugs to you as you learn to let go. One day, when Jas wants to start spreading her wings, I don't know WHAT i'll do......;)

Amy--eww buggies are never good! my cousin's kids picked them up from THEIR cousins, and somehow I was the one who had to delouse the house (and their heads)......I ruined a wonderful sweatshirt that day......I agree on crying it out. and i allowed myself exactly one day to do so. my tears aren't going to make it hurt any less and there's nothing I can do about it anyway. so i've got to push through.

Terri---awww BF sounds like a WINNER!! i need me one of those that doesn't have a chosen career that puts his life in danger........sucks about the computer. consider my fingers crossed for the job too! my legs are crossed too, but that's just cause I gotta go potty :p LOL at your death glare. I've been told i give the Go to H*LL look quite often

mh---you apparently know how to handle those college years a lot better than I did. i didn't have nearly the fun, oh wait I DID have the fun. it's why I didnt actually get the degree......

ashlie--hi! thanks for the warm wishes. I'm a nail biter too...horribly so

Kay!--hope stats go well for you, and that you have no more bloody walks. UGGHH that's gotta suck!

April--hugs to you too! peace with my situation will come, its just a timing thing. and dangit it does suck when youre trying to pretend you don't care but you do. if it were any other guy that Id just started dating it would be no big for me, but it's CN. Ive known him going on 10 years, a we've been friends through a LOT of crap (both his crap and mine). and i guess THAT'S why im taking it so hard. he's not just "some guy" im seeing. he's CN. he's potential......

Darlene--i know that it's okay to miss someone. and i will, for a while. but i can't let it consume me. it's what Old Tori would have done. and it's NOT going to be what New and Continually Improving Tori is going to do.

mea--woohoo look at all that green in your goals. keep up the great work!

julie--I wish that I had the energy in the mornings to get my workouts in, but daggum it, I like my sleep! he doesn't have a facebook account, but we will be able to KIT via email and the occasional phone call. is what it is....ive done it before, i'll do it again.

lizzie--I"m with ya on needing new bras. the ones I bought back before this whole process of becoming a new me are too big now. time to GO SHOPPING

Mike--hope you actually get to eat today. that way there are no 330 cookie raids. how you coming on your policies??

Mern--how's it going with the energy saving? I'm SUCH a creature of convience that I don't know how I'd survive!!! glad you got your replacement knob. i had a similar issue with a dryer a while back. my uncle said "well I've got an old dryer if you want to grab the knob off of it and see if it fits" . it fit, but none of the markings lined up, so I got a marker and made my own. (I think that by admitting to this I've sealed my fate as a redneck. cause I'm not sure people other than 'necks do stuff like this). the dryer still works great I might add, but newbies using it have a TOUGH time figuring out my "system"

luv--you don't have to worry about 'leaving me out" I struggle horribly with trying to keep up with everyone. i realize that it's not intentional


My capitalization sucked, but it's because I"m in a hurry. I want to be able to get my walk in before my shows come on. Not sure if it's going to happen though. TIVO to the rescue....again

Yowza, only my second check in and it's after nine. Home at 6:30, starving (never good, never good), so threw down two homemade granola bars :mad: but recouped and ate a sensible dinner, fish, and then ran out again to a tennis parent meeting ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$). I am officially overwhelmed now. Time to chug some water, clean up, and hopefully get to some weights tonight, but it's looking a little hairy! Hope all are doing well today; will try to catch up soon.

Tori, no policies, no miles and my diet isn't any better today. How about you? :(

I actually managed to NOT cry at work. I teared up once but fought it back. Got in 2.5 miles, but WAY under on my calories, again. And I don't really want to eat this late. So, kinda flummoxed as to what to do.

Health/Fitness
1--calories 1300 or less--992, 1152
2--work out 3 times--day off, N
3--walk at least 3 times--day off, 2.5
4--lose 3 lbs--starting weight 209.0, Tuesday still at 209--at least it's not a gain


Today went alright. The day at work was hectic, but then again I didn't expect it to not be. I ate, not really well, but better than yesterday. I did get a walk in tonight, and that felt amazing. The muscles were hurting in all the good ways. This has been the first day since New Year's Day that I haven't spoken to CN in some way. Which has been weird, but I know that he'll get in touch with me as soon as he can. All I can do now is pray that all is going well. If I were a betting woman, I'd say that he'll call or email within a week. But you never can tell.

I have to work tomorrow, my normal day off, and I'm not really looking forward to it. But at least it will keep me busy and not sitting around and moping. I also am seriously craving a Chicken Pot Pie, so I think that's going to be supper tomorrow.

I also need to swing by the hospital tomorrow at some point. I found out about an hour ago that a life long friend had a heart attack around 2pm today. He works in a hospital, and was hurting so they made him go to the ER and then transported him to the bigger hospital in our county because it has a better heart unit. They rushed him into surgery and put a stent in. He had a 70% blockage. HE'S ONLY 34! He's MY age! In fact, he's exactly ONE MONTH OLDER THAN ME! It's insane. I can't imagine having a heart attack right now, and it just makes me even more thankful that I started with this life change before it was too late.

I am going to try and get to sleep a little earlier tonight. With me though, who knows when I'll actually fall asleep.

'Night!

Tori, I hope your friend recovers quickly. Like you need something else right now :(. Sounds like you are muddling through. Hang in there; cry when you need to, laugh when you can. That goes for you, too, April; hope all was well tonight on the phone. One day at a time.

Checking in:

1. Keep calories at 1300. 1259, 1299 lol
2. Follow my pie chart / fiber guidelines. Yes, Yes
3. 2 sports bottles of water. Yes, Yes
4. Take all vitamins and supplements. Yes, All except fish oil
5. Sleep 7 hours, at least. Not last night, Yes
6. Exercise 6 times. One
7. Check into FD 3 times daily and log everything. Yes, Yes

8. Get info and order new faucets for MBR.
9. Change doc appts. Done
10. Card for pediatrician.

Have a great night everyone; sorry no time to catch up individually. Too hectic today and tonight. My bad :o. I'm thinking of you all.

Hope you are all well, sending out extra hugs to Tori and April.

Goals:
Walk 25k: M=7.1k, T=6k
Exercise 5 days: M=Hike, T=Walk
Squats 5 days: M=Y, T=Y
Ab work 5 days: M=Y, T=Y
Calories less than 1400: M=1379, T=1501
Calorie deficit of 5000 for week: M=-753, T=-436
No sugar: M=N, T=N

One week to go til I see BF again. He has booked us into a really nice restaurant next Friday with an overnight stay in a small hotel. Last time it cost us £80 (about $ 130) in taxis from his house to town and back so he found a room for half the price and we get breakfast too! I have bought him a couple of little presents for Valentines including the latest Big Bang Theory DVDs which he loves, he's my Leonard.

Mern. I'm going to try again with the muffins but half and half this time, I'll be back in the kitchen on Sat, wish me luck.

Tori. Hope your friend is recovering well, frightening at that age. Go splurge on some nice lingerie, take a piccie and send it to CN ( as long as he keeps it private and doesn't put it up by his bed space) lol

Darlene. Ive been showing your pictures of Kaya to everyone, consensus is a big "so gorgeous" I would love a dog but as I live alone and work all day and have to be away a lot it just wouldn't be fair. My BF is a huge dog lover but he is in the same situations me, maybe when I retire..... At the moment I have my beautiful cat who behaves like a dog and my assistant at work brings her dog in each day and he greets me like a long lost friend every morning, that'll keep me going until I get my own little friend.

Have a good day everyone.

Tuesday Check-in

Health & Fitness:

1. Calories 1,400 week days, 1,600 weekends. 1,357, 1,699
2. 100 oz water. Y,Y?
3. 7 hours exercise. 50 min, 0 min (total 0:50)
4. Calorie deficit 5,000. -774, -427 (total -1,201)
5. Protein 25% or higher. 27%, 27%
6. Log & report everyday. Y,Y
7. Last Monday 165.8. Post weight: 164, 162.2, 162.2

Other stuff:

1. Finish 1 rabbit cage, cut pieces for 3 more. N,N
2. Finish my little part of the taxes. N,N
3. Housework 45 min daily +1 load of laundry. YY,YY
4. Write calendar for G.S. N, DONE
5. Distribute 4-H calendar. N,N
6. Cut out pieces for Betsy Ross costume. N,N
7. Write and send out Valentines. N,N
8. Write down the most wonderful thing that happened. This is going to sound strange, but the most wonderful thing that happened today is that our youngest was the only one to have a case of head lice. Everybody else in this house is louse-free. Ugh, this motherhood business is not for the faint of heart. Oldest DD was able to pick up some more books about Betsy Ross, I had a lovely chat with another mom friend, and got a call to do some free lance design/review work, which could work out beautifully.

Yesterday I was backseat driving on the struggle bus, no question about it. Things started off really well, but at lunch I switched out my salad for the chili leftovers I'd planned for dinner. At dinner I could not even look at that salad, so I had a sandwich (beef BBQ on Jewish rye bread with sharp cheddar cheese and spicy mustard), which was more calories than either the salad or the chili, and we ate an hour earlier than usual so we could make it to a 6:00 meeting, by 9:30 I was absolutely STARVING, far too hungry to sleep, so I ended up having 2 deviled eggs and a side of cracker chips. Which ended my day 300 calories over budget. Some days all the planning in the world is not enough. Yesterday it was cold and damp here, my whole body was screaming for hot comfort food, a cold salad was out of question. It's not enough that I watch my calories, and my burn and my pie chart, now I gotta check the weather channel too?

On top of veering off the food plan, my workout partner was supposed to show up at 2:00 for abs, she never made it. She called later to apologize, she works nights and overslept. It's totally not her fault, I could/should have done it without her, but I didn't. I really wasn't feeling it, and I was hoping her arrival was enough to pull me over the line, but it's totally not fair of me to make that her responsibility.

Today should be better, the kids are in the pool tonight, which almost always means I get a workout. I also MUST make headway on the rabbit cages today, that little one is a freakin' poop machine and I'm getting really tired of cleaning her cage every day.

Darn, I'm glad your puppy at least brings you the things she's chewing on, so you can salvage things before the damage has progressed too far. My parents had a puppy that just flat out ate things, bathing suits, barn boots, patent leather pumps, a turkey baster, if that dog could get her teeth around it she would chew it until the only evidence was a strange looking pile of poo. I love the "Dog potato" pic, what a lazy slacker dog you have lol. I believe tea tree oil is part of the repellent mix, I have to get on that TODAY. It also contains lavender, rosemary, and I want to say sandalwood? Good luck on the job apps, I do believe the economy here is starting to improve. DH is working non-stop and his profession is a harbinger of the economic future.

Mike, last night as I was getting ready to hit the hay, I got the worst hollow starving feeling, and I thought of your 3:30 cookie monster incident and made myself some deviled eggs, and totally slept through the night. I'm glad you got a snack in too.

Tori, when I was in college, I had a relationship I needed to move past. I had just gotten a new apartment, and one night out of the blue I went out and bought all new bras, all new underwear and strangely enough a big giant trash can. Believe it or not that really helped me. It was sort of literal and symbolic all at the same time. I tossed out all the old undies and dragged that new trash can to the curb. I'm not suggesting you throw out CN, but a whole new drawer full of stuff that fits along with that new place you've been considering, might go a long way towards easing your heart. At the very least it will keep your mind busy on something besides CN's deployment.

Terri, BF is very sweet, a keeper to be sure. I really wish that your dream job was here in my hometown, where maybe your BF could hang with my DH and be a good influence. Oh don't get me wrong, DH is very supportive, but we've been married a looooonnnngg time and he doesn't tread as carefully or as tactfully as your BF, lol. Because of the kids we have to coordinate working out, DH always starts the conversation, usually with a swat or a grab at my backside and says, "you going to the gym today?". Well, duh now that you've demonstrated how jiggly my fanny is, it's not really a question is it?

Mern, I'm cracking up over your new stove knob, good for you. It's funny how stuff like that goes a long way toward making your day better, isn't it? Recently we had to get some small plastic parts for the dishwasher, I felt like I'd gotten a whole new appliance. Before the fix I had to reassemble the broken part every time I pulled the top rack out. What a pain, but now it's fixed and you and I are living the high life again lol.

Cassie, congrats to you and your son on the tennis team. Wow that's very cool, and unfortunately overwhelming and CHA-CHING! I can totally relate. Our middle DD is insanely athletic. The swim coach thinks she has a really good chance to gold medal at the Championships this weekend in 3 events, so we've been paying for extra lessons all season. Which means I've had to buy extra swim suits and towels and swim bags, etc etc etc. All I can say is thank heavens the pool is close so the gas isn't killing me as well. I can't even imagine having to spend every weekend at a tennis tourney, but it's all worth it in the end. He's got a sport he can enjoy, take pride in and do well for the rest of his life.

Julie, thanks for reminding me that I have to get back to doing my am workouts. You're absolutely right, it's the best way to do it.

Mea, welcome aboard, don't worry about keeping up, most of us talk too much lol, but we mean well.

Fit, I think you've hit the nail on the head for me as well, self-control is a challenge! I'm going to print that off and hang it inside the fridge today.

Ashlie, have you tried Thumb? It's stuff you paint on little kids thumbs to get them to stop sucking on them. It works really well for nail biting too. You can buy it at the pharmacy.

Kay, Statistics sucks big time, but it could be worse, it could be ECON! Good luck honey. I feel your pain on that one.

Lizzie, you can't have Leonard, he's already married to me!!! LOL, my DH isn't exactly like that guy, but I can say there are a certain number of similarities between them... Most of his friends from HS and college are dead ringers for either Sheldon or Horowitz anyway (scarier still a combination of the two) LOL. Have fun this weekend, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. Um, although I have to say that doesn't put a lot of limits on you really.

Well I gotta get going, the DD's are up and need, everything all at once.

Oh no....one of the guys came up from headquarters and brought Belgian choc chunk cookies, I had it eaten before I even thought about it and I've just gone on to find the calorie content and it's a whopping 320. I'm horrified, so I've dropped my lunch to some mango, pineapple and cherries to make up for it and do you know, for once I really don't think it was worth it so next time I will have that number stuck in my head and will just say no thanks.

Amy. BF's brother is Sheldon but without the IQ....scary. Half the guys I work with think they are Horowitz .......even scarier lol

Thanks to everyone for kudos for BF! I'm tempted to pass them on to him but it might make the magic fade, he's been batting 1000 these past weeks and I don't want to jinx it ;) I've been sure to let him know I've been appreciating everything he's doing, though.

Mern: You are worth $36 and then some!! I love vintage stuff (even if it's "vintage") but the prices they often charge are ridiculous. I love my high-impact exercise because I really feel like I've WORKED for it by the time I'm done (I hate working out, but I love having worked out!). BF and I are lucky in that our taxes are fairly simple and straightforward every year (don't own a house, don't have kids, don't have a lot of assets). I had to file a Schedule C for the first time ever this year due to my small income from royalties writing the book, and I was like BLARGH about it. Hope I filled it out right!! Once you're in the mood to do the taxes, you just gotta do 'em.

April: I'm just keeping my everything crossed for the job (but especially my spleen). I hope everything is going well for you this week and your phone call went alright.

Tori: Just keep your head up and one day at a time. You're doing just fine. We women do perfect that "go to hell" look quite well, don't we? lol. You've got a winner too, and an honorable man who does so much for us and our country in the meantime. I know it must be awful every day knowing where he is and what he does for his job - you do a lot too just by being there for him and supporting him too! Chicken pot pie sounds divine. I need to learn how to make one of those! I'm so sorry to hear about your friend who had the heart attack. I hope he's okay and that he recovers well from the episode. Big hugs for you.

Darlene: Good luck on your job application!! I don't know if I've told you how cute your doggie is but OMGCUTE!

Julie: Good for you for getting your treadmill in during the morning. I am always in awe of morning exercisers, I simply cannot do it.

Luv: Can't wait to see what you figure out for your back muscles. It's hard when there's a core muscle like that which is out of whack, but it will feel awesome when you feel it getting stronger for sure. Sorry you feel like a fish this week - I'm always of the opinion that you should shoot for the moon, because if you miss, you'll at least fall among the stars. As long as you're not injuring yourself or truly overworking, I'll always say go for it! You can do it!!

Lizzie: Your getaway with your BF sounds awesome! I hope you two have a GREAT time.

Amy: LOL! Oh, BF, certainly has his grab-butt-and-jiggle moments. He's just been a superstar the past two weeks, I'm sure it a fluke. We also haven't been married as long nor had kids to make us crazy yet, so I assume this is some sort of leftover honeymoon period thing, lol. We've had our ups and downs as a couple to be sure, and 2008 nearly broke us up, but we came out stronger on the other end of it. He only knows that I like to work out on Mondays because it sets the tone for my week. I think I'm going to text him to tell him to make me work out tonight too if I get home before 8:00.

Cassie: Thinking of you too, hope you got good sleep last night!

Weekly Goals

Food/Exercise/Lifestyle Goals:

1) Keep calories between 1200 and 1500 daily. Week average around 1300. No single day over 1600. M: 1,335 T: 1,012 (Week Average: 1,173.5)
2) Exercise at least four times this week M: yes (small) T: No
3) Calorie deficit of 5000 M: -676 T: -797 (Week Total: -1,473)
4) Protein 25-30% average for the week M: 29% T: 35% (Week Average: 32%)
5) In bed by 11:30 every night M: yes T: No
6) No more than 1 lunch and 1 dinner out M: No eating out T: No eating out
7) At least 64-80 oz. of water daily. More is better. M: 80 T: 72
8) Weigh in on Monday and Friday and report the weight here M: 161.5 (Superbowl, you do bad things to me)

Other Life Goals:

1) Make an effort on my appearance every day M: yes T: yes
2) Don't sweat the small stuff M: yes T: Tried really hard
3) Send in at least 5 job applications M: 2 T: 0
4) Do something special for BF - he was a saint all this weekend. M: not yet - I need to come up with a good idea T: I have a V-day idea, but I want to do something non-V-day related.
5) Write something wonderful that happens every day M: Got my taxes done and am getting more refund than I thought. T: BF did the dishes :eek: IT'S A MIRACLE.

Seriously, BF never does the dishes. He worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant for 3 years and swore he'd never do another dish unless he had to. Our entire relationship, that's been "my" chore. I haven't minded, but yesterday I got home and he was all like "Well, I was bored, and you got home late so I figured I'd just do it for you." I about fell over. Normally, I try to do the dishes in the morning as one of my to-do-before-going-to-work things but I had totally spaced on it Tuesday morning and I guess the sink was full.

Didn't get in a workout yesterday after getting home from work at an ungodly hour - but I ate a fairly low-cal and very high-protein dinner (involving tuna) to compensate. Hopefully I won't repeat today, but this week has been jam-packed. I'm thinking I may go walk a mile at lunch just because. There's a track right next to my building and even though I'll be doing it in my work clothes, I can walk a mile to make sure I stretch out my legs, and I've got sneakers. If I get in a real workout as well when I get home, all the better.

Did a non-official weigh-in this morning and got 158.6 on the scale, so the Superbowl weight is off (wahoo) and I'm hoping to see 157 as the first three numbers by Friday. We'll see! As long as it's lower, I'll take it, though.

Happy Wednesday everyone. Got a busy day in front of me, time to tackle it...

~Terri