Twilight

Hi ladies. Just a few minutes before my tutoree comes but wanted to check in. Went to the chiropractor today and feel a little better. Tonight will be my real test. I'll tell you tomorrow. I'm not sure what all I ate today. Went to chinese for lunch and not sure how to track that since it was a little of this and a little of that from the buffet. Dinner was 1/2 cup of fresh pinapple and 1/2 cup smoked turkey sausage. Skipped bfast since I was late getting out of house...was going to get a burrito at mcd's. Will probably have kashi and yogurt for snack tonight. Was going to try to up my protein but I don't think I managed it. Jeff bought a new snowmobile today. He thinks he's going to ride it but I'm pretty sure it's going to turn into mine. It's electric start and has reverse. If he thinks he gets those goodies and I don't, he's nuts. Okay...better go. Have a good night ladies.

Hi ladies! Biggest loser hour on QVC! I must be in heaven. Tomorrow going to chiropractor. I hope he can do something for me. Jeff swears by him. My dogs are snorring. Jeff is snoring. My kids are snoring. I guess it should be a hint or something. grrrr. I got a little housework done. I wouldn't be quite as horrified if my MIL/FIL came in now. Oh well. Too bad if he was appauled. Gotta get... have a great day tomorrow!

Janet, I know how you feel. I've been that way a lot in my life. Now I am trying to just enjoy my kids when I feel like that. They have been amazing me a lot lately. I am truly blessed....even when they are driving me NUTS!! Donna, I've been unplugged for awhile also. It was WONDERFUL! I thought of everyone a lot, but enjoyed the unplugged time. Happy new year to you! Okay ladies....time to get off my butt and get this house cleaned. I hate to do it, but have no choice. My FIL showed up and I wanted to crawl into the piles and hide. I'm sure he'll go home and say something horrible to my MIL....or to Jeff. I try to pretend it doesn't bother me but it does....so I'd better get it started. I'll see you all tonight.

Good afternoon ladies!! I'm getting back into the routine. Spending nap time on the computer getting a few things done. Putting off cleaning the house since it looks like a tornado hit it and I don't even know where to start. Nick said something about Grandma coming over and my heart dropped cuz I would be appauled if anyone saw my house right now. It is beyond horrible. Maybe I'll get up the urge this afternoon. Janet, you do sound blue. I was starting to feel that way before I took my break. I don't think it was that I needed a break from here, but that I needed a break from EVERYTHING to get everything back into perspective. I just spent time doing what I WANTED and not what HAD to get done. It helped that I was away from home for a lot of the time because then I didn't see all the crazyiness stairing me in the face. Maybe you can take an inventory of what really matters. Just you. Just honest. Hard to do and hard to be that honest even with ourselves. I know I always think about what SHOULD be on the list and when it isn't I start feeling that guilt. But try to be super honest and look at what is happening in your world when you're feeling blue. Is it because what is really important to you isn't what is happening there? Just a thought. Maybe I've been reading too many self help books. I just hope you feel better soon. Hard to see you blue. Phyl, I can't imagine Earl getting a new car after all the fuss over the economy but if he goes for it, you'll know he's over the economy. It would be a good sign. Good luck with that. Denise, I chuckled at your story. I'm always worried that something like that would happen. But my big fear is that I'll be a day late like your secretary. I was always worried that would happen. I can't tell you the nights I woke up worried that would be the case. Candice, if you are sick much longer I would make an appointment to see a doc. It doesn't sound good. In fact, if you're like me, make an appointment for a couple days from now and you're bound to feel better tonight. I always do. Might be worth a shot. Nothing much happening here today ladies. Hope all is well there. Hugs to you all.

Hi again ladies. Just wanted to check in before I turned in for the night. Went out to dinner with friends. It was nice but of course too many cocktails. I did make sure to Jillian before I went though, so that's good. totals for today: Totals: 1,257cal 18g fiber 37g protein I need to up my protein. I'll work on that this week. I forgot to mention that I've done pretty well the last couple of weeks at getting in all my liquids. I bought a 36oz nalgene bottle and that has helped a lot. Karri, I hope you don't stay sore for too long. I'm sure it felt good to push through. Candice, your quilts are wonderful. I have done a couple of table runners but I quickly lost interest. I still have 4 cut out that I haven't bothered to sew up yet. Imagine that. ADHD to the rescue! Okay....off to facebook for awhile. I'll see you all in the morning.

Good morning ladies. or good afternoon. Not alot happening today. I'm going to go be a driver for Jeff in a little bit. Sit in the truck while he fixes another one. I have a book to read. I woke up with a killer headache this morning. I don't usually wake with one...this one was really bad. It was after 11 before I could manage to move without pain. I moved my ticker finally. Gotta go. Jeff's ready. Talk to you later ladides. Happy Sunday!

I disappeared for awhile, but I'm back. I was busy busy in December .... actually since a week before Thanksgiving I've been swamped. So I'm back. Didn't have the greatest holiday season, but I'm back. I'll post progress tomorrow.....I need to weigh in in the morning but I know I'm up probably 10 for the season. Don't get discouraged Chris. I'm still out here. BTW, do you facebook? You can always find me there.

BTW Phyl, I forgot to tell you how wonderful your latest picture was! What a difference you have made in such a short amount of time.

Denise, what a wonderful card to get from your husband. It would make me cry too. Phyl, it is very cold...and colder now that I don't have all the insulation I used to. I had some kashi go lean crunch and a banana for dinner. My totals for today: Totals: 1,261cal 14g Fiber 41g Protein

Good evening ladies!!! I made it home. Actually about 3 hours ago but we've been getting everything unpacked and taken care of. Now I just have to work on this mess of a house. I left it a disaster. However, I did take a break to do my 30 day shred. I'm actually seeing progress. I was able to do a whole minute of bicycle crunches without stopping. I also did 30 seconds of push ups the first time without giving in to collapse....but the second time I didn't make it. So I have this idea...it's two fold I guess. Part one is that it is supposed to take 30 days to make something a habit. So after 30 days of this, I will have a new habit...of being active EVERY DAY! The second is that I am going to get this last however much I have left to lose ASAP. I know that the only way I'll feel successful is to get to goal...and the only way I'll be able to succeed at maintenance is to become a person who exercises every day. I'm going to try out my Jillian Wii game tomorrow. I'll let you all know what I think of it then. Today's food has been a wash. I had a breakfast burrito from McD's, a few more snaps and mini butterfingers (those are gone now), and a thing of yogurt. I'm going to figure out something for dinner still, but can't figure out what I'm wanting. I need to total my cals and such. Candice is right, it's what will keep me on track. I'll post them when I have figured them out. Until them ladies....I hope you had a great Saturday.

Good morning ladies!!! I beat Janet! How does THAT happen? Anyways....just a cold report so that some of you can enjoy your weather so much more. It is 8am and -29 degrees...for our Canadian friend....that would be Fahrenheit. With the wind chill it feels like -48. The sun is shining and the cars are moving out there so I think we're going to try to venture out. I hate doing that with my little ones in the car but I have emergency gear and there should be a fair amount of traffic on the road. I'm going to insist on taking the road most traveled today, against Jeff's objections I'm sure, but the one road we usually take can be quite deserted and I want to at least HOPE someone will see us if we have a problem. But please...don't worry about me...this IS normal January weather. Denise, facebook is fun for the sudoku and kidnapping that goes on, but it isn't something that I would leave here for. The only reason I was there and not here the last month is because I could do it brainlessly and I can't do this without thinking. I'm not leaving my 7's!!! Don't worry. But if you join, let us know so we can add you and you can see us there too. I'm surprised that my legs don't hurt more after an hour on the elliptical yesterday. The 3 days of Jillian must have really helped. I thought I would have been DYING! So YEAH for that. Okay...gotta get breakfast for the kiddos, pack up and hit the road. I'll see you all tonight. Have a great Saturday ladies!

Hi again ladies. Janet's right. That one pot wonder was probably awesome. I have a gag reflex problem with cooked cabbage. I know it is mostly in my head, but that doesn't mean I can make it stop. Okay....for dinner I had a mushroom swiss burger sans bun (about 3/4 of it) and about 1/2 c. cottage cheese. I then came back to the hotel and did another 1/2 hour on the elliptical so that made 2 and a half miles. I really had to fight the demons that kept trying to talk me out of finishing that second half hour, but I sure felt powerful pushing through it. It was sad to see the machine say that 1/2 hour only burned 120 cals though. The way I was sweating, you would have thought I had burned 1000. Almost depressing to work that hard and have only burned a cheese stick. oh well....I can't look at it that way I guess. Okay....off for a bit. Going to go to the hotel lobby and get myself some hot tea and snuggle in for the night. For those of you keeping track....roads are closed for 100 mile radius, it's 10 below zero, and the winds are making it feel like 40 below.....ain't life grand????

Hi ladies. I'm here. I was going to be traveling all day but instead we got stranded in Havre. That's about 3 hours from our starting spot in Lincoln...but it took us over 5 to get this far. We decided it was a better idea to just stop and call it a day and hope the blizzard conditions will let up by tomorrow. I told Jeff we should have left yesterday but he wasn't ready to go I guess. So....I stressed the drive this far....and when I am in that kind of panic I eat. I had stopped at a convenience store and bought candy snaps and some butterfinger bites. I knew that to keep my sanity I had to have something to chew on and gum wouldn't cut it. I guess I was probably rationalizing a reason to fill my belly with junk but it's done. I can't do Jillian's 30 day shred today so I went and did 30 minutes/ 1.25 miles on the eliptical. It almost killed me but I stuck it out. It's still pretty early and nothing to do in the motel so I may go try to do a half hour on the recumbant after dinner. It beats sitting in this room doing nothing but watching tv. I could play a bunch of games of sudoku but....now that I know Phyl's cheating by playing the games twice...so she can beat her previous score.....tsk tsk...Just kidding Phyl. I wouldn't do any better the second time...I don't have that good of a rememberer. So...I'm going to have a nice healthy dinner....and get some more exercise in. It's great to be back. Sorry I was gone so long. Love you ladies!!!

Okay ladies. I'm not going to try to catch up before I post anymore. I just can't seem to get it done. I've tried 4 different days to read the 12 pages and I've not gotten it done. I have really been busy. It's been a crazy holiday season. Between shopping, the standards stuff, family, holidays....I just don't know where the time has gone. Oh....and then there is the crazy Sudoku that Phyl has gotten me hooked on. I can do sudoku while watching tv but can't seem to read this stuff while I do. I need to focus more when I'm here I guess. Maybe if I focused more when I played sudoku Phyl and Earl wouldn't consistently kick my butt....but whatever works. as far as my weight...it sucks. I know it is because I have less fill in now than when I had surgery done. I know I need to go in, but it just wasn't happening this month. I will call tomorrow for an appointment and go in on the 12th. I have almost no restriction and can eat as much as often as crazy as I want. It's been nuts. I try to behave, but every day seems to be a fight that I lose. On the positive note, I did buy Jillian Michaels' 30 day burn. It has 3 different workouts....3 different levels. She talks about 20 intense minutes. I've done it 3 days in a row. They say give her 30 days and she'll take away 20 pounds. I don't need the 20 pounds but I do need to get into shape. I'm so out of shape. I've gotten in a whole boat load of bad habits it seems. I'm really good at talking myself out of working out. My back has been killing me. I've pinched something. I went to the doc and he gave me some muscle relaxers, pain meds, and a brace. I haven't had time to let it relax and know that there would be no real healing until my abs got stronger. I'm going to get stronger. I'm back on track that way. Right now I'm at mom's house. I am going home tomorrow. So tomorrow I won't be online. The next day I should be. That is if the weather cooperates. I will not bore you guys with the whole "the weather stinks here" because I saw that you all have your own weather troubles. I will check my weight when I get home and update my ticker. On the upside. damnit!!! My 4's are getting tight. As well as my 6's. I will get it back down. 30 day shred!!! I haven't tried my Jillian Michael's wii game. The outdoor adventure is a lot of fun....but I skinned my knuckles and I haven't been able to do much since. It really does suck! But until I can do that with the kids I will do the 30 day shred. My body aches from my thighs to my ribs and my shoulders to my neck, but it's a GOOD hurt. I forget how wonderful I feel after I workout and almost keel over from the push. Tomorrow I'll be driving cross country so no Jillian, but the next day I will be back on track. Can you all tell I LOVE Jillian? And the next Biggest Loser starts soon!!! Okay... It's almost 11 and I've taken my pain pills so I'm getting loopy. I'm glad to see you all had great holidays. I hope you all have a terrific new year!!!!! One resolution I made...to get back in touch here. I'll see you all soon.

Hi guys. I'm back home now. I have to go back and catch up on what all I've missed but wanted you all to know I WILL be here tomorrow.!!!! I've missed you all.

Hi ladies. I tried to type to you all earlier but then my littlest darling hit the back button and all was lost. I'm not avoiding you all because of anything bad...just super busy. I'm watching loser now...so I'll chat with you all later. I just don't want you to think I'm not doing something.

Hi ladies. Hope you are all having a nice day and relaxing this weekend. I slept in today and it was glorious. Then we all sat around in our jammies (except dh who was up and gone by 8) until 11. Then we went to the store and I picked up a couple of names from the angel tree and dh and the two youngest will be going out shortly and shopping for them. There were hardly any young ones left on the tree and I wasn't sure about what's in town for the older ones so I held off on getting an older name. But will probably go back for one. tonight dh and I will go out playing cards. Usually a good time and nice because there are no snacks during playing and dinner afterwards is usually some sort of stew type something so I don't eat and stay very busy. It's so nice. I suppose I need to get something done. I'll talk to you later.

hi ladies. Had a pretty decent day. enough water, no horrible foods. I did pick up some dried cherries at the store to curb my sweet tooth. I've been going NUTS for something sweet. It has worked....and I didn't need a ton of them to curb it. Watching 'The Notebook' with Jeff. we did Wall-e as a family show earlier. Candice, I hope your government figures itself out. Karri, you are doing super with your willpower. You never fail to amaze me. Denise, I sure hope you feel better very soon. The whole family got flu shots a few days ago. Jess swears it made him sick but I think he just wanted a reason to complain....like most men. Phyl, I can't wait fo you to tell us about one pot wonder. And so glad you are online for real now. I'm sure you're crazy over the moon about that. I'll talk to you ladies tomorrow. Have a great night.

My very favorite.... 1 lb chopped chicken breast (browned) 2 cans cheesy broc. soup 1 box chopped broc (chopped small) 1 pkg fresh mush sliced 2 pkg of uncle ben's wild and brown rice Mix it all up, put it in a casserole dish, top with either crushed french fried onions or shredded cheddar, bake at 350 until bubbly. It's delish!!!!

It works just fine on carpet. The only problem I have with that is when I do the running, but you do that out in the fresh air so you shouldn't have any problem.

Hi ladies. I hope you are all having a great day. I'm doing alright. I need to get in some more liquids. Yesterday was pretty good until I felt compelled to clean my children's plates. How frustrating. I did great about putting only enough on my plate...and I was full, but then I cleared the table and couldn't keep the extra out of my mouth. GRRRRRR So Karri and Car we all have habits to change. I know I haven't talked about my wii lately....because I haven't been using it...but thought I would let you all know that I bought two more activity games and they should be delivered some time by the beginning of next week. They are the outdoor adventure game and the Jillian Michaels challenge. I can't wait to get them and get excited about moving again. I love Jillian. I would love for her to be my trainer...but she'd probably make me cry daily. She amazes me though. Okay. I need to get doing some other stuff. I'll talk to you all later. Hopefully I'll get to check back in tonight. If not, love you ladies.

Hi ladies. Just a quick check in before I feed the kids lunch. Confession must be good for the soul because I felt much more in control of myself yesterday. I drank lots of water and made decent food choices. Not the best but at least they were within boundaries that I could live with. So far today I've had 20 oz of liquid, a box of raisins with Jai, and some cereal for breakfast. Not sure what I'm going to do for lunch, but probably something with a salad. I need to do another bottle of water before I think about that though. I'll talk to you all later ladies. Thanks for all your well wishes.

good morning ladies! I know I've been MIA for a bit. Honestly, if I'm going to be honest with you and myself, I think it's because I'm struggling. Thanksgiving wasn't good but I can't blame it on that....it's me. I'm making horrible choices. I'm high carbing it again. I'm munching all day every day. I can't seem to quit feeding myself. And it used to be because I was upset...but that isn't the problem. It's like I can now so why not? I'm struggling with the idea of getting a fill this month. Pros...it will stop with the overeating and possibly stop me from eating the things I shouldn't (high carbs). Cons...when I'm so restricted the band does the choosing, not me. I honestly believe that if I made better choices at home (I do really well when I eat out I think), only eat 3x a day, and get my butt out exercising, I can do this without the restriction that I had that was making me miserable. I know, I have the band I should use it, but the way I've been using it, I haven't been learning to control myself, I've been starving myself. I just don't know. When I eat a good meal I feel full after about a cup. I can drink my water as fast as I want. My struggle is in the snacking. grrrr. Anyways...that's why I've been MIA. I don't know. I shouldn't disappear like that because here is where I need to be to get back with the program. Stupid me. So...I'm back. I'll be better. Congrats on your run Karri! That is beyond awesome! And then to be caught up for the next 3 weeks so you can take care of yourself! That's even better. Enjoy the time you can relax a bit. Okay...off to get some work done. Talk to you later ladies.

Hi ladies. Hope you are having a wonderful day. I just wanted to pop in and let you all know what the doc said. He really thinks the problem is my blood pressure but he doesn't want to rule out the hypoglycemia. He wants me to keep my glucose monitor with me at all times and if I do start feeling horrible to take a reading. He did caution that if I felt THAT bad to eat FIRST and then take the reading. It doesn't happen that fast so I'm not too worried about that. As for the blood pressure he said biggest issue is staying hydrated. He likened it to trying to push too little water through a hose. If you are dehydrated, I guess your blood doesn't have the volume???? Anyways. He says that when you stop drinking at 9pm or so, that by the time you get up your body is basically a quart low of fluid. If I then don't drink something because I'm busy or not drinking that day, by lunch I'm worse than that. Anyways....then when I'm dehydrated, not only do I lose blood pressure, but I also get my electrolytes out of balance. So he suggests when I get up in the morning to drink an 8oz glass of fruit juice. It not only gives me a sugar boost for my glucose level, it also has enough salt in it to bring up my blood pressure. He said he looked back and since my blood pressure was always on the lower side of normal when I was heavy, now that I'm pushing 90 lbs gone, my body is bound to have a little trouble figuring out how to deal with it. He even went so far to call it "traumatic". I think that's a little dramatic, but okay. Anyways...his final suggestion was to make sure I keep some kind of sugar with me at all times. Which I'm going to struggle with because if I have it, I want to eat it. The bottles of juice won't work in the winter because when I need it, it will be frozen if not the bottle broken. Anyways....I will figure it out. I know I will. So you all can stop worrying about me. My doc is sure I will be fine.

good eveing ladies. I hope you all had a great day. We were very busy today. The kids did Sunday school at the nursing homes in town so after church at 8:30 and then home to get some lunch, afternoon was busy doing that. This evening DH and I watched Beowulf. Or rather, jeff watched. I listened while I tried to kick Phyl's butt on Sudoku on facebook. She's killing me. Poor thing though. I don't have any other friends willing to play with me so she's probably REALLY tired of playing all the challenges I've presented her with. It was beautiful here today. It was almost depressing for me. I was wishing I was up sipping cocoa with Candice (SF of course). I am not in the Thanksgiving feeling yet. It's too nice out and I want snow. Don't get me wrong....I have TONS to be thankful for and I count my blessings....but I so very much want some snow. Come February I'll be complaining though so I'm trying not to get too pouty about it. Denise, you get to the doc too. I go tomorrow to get my blood work results and see what doc says about that. I'm guessing he's going to tell me nothing is wrong. Just like a mechanic. As soon as you complain you can't find anything wrong. But you'ld better go see. I'd start with a gp and see where they say to go. Never fool with pain under/around your breast. Phyl, I am so glad you had a great party. I think that is wonderful! And your sweatshirt is so beautiful. Now you have even more to push you to that 100 pound mark. You really do need those earrings....and they will just sparkle so beautifully with those stars. Janet, love the new pic....and the progress pics of you and phyl were wonderful! Thanks for that. Okay...I've gotta get to bed. I'll see you all in the morning.