Twilight

Well....a productive night, but not a productive night. I had my oldest son's piano recital tonight. Forgot about that when I planned my workout for the night. So that put me way behind tonight and I didn't do my 3 miles....but as soon as I got home I went out and walked...didn't have a lot of time so I really pushed myself. By the time I got home I checked and I did 2 miles in 30 minutes. How awesome was that??? Then after I came home I went down and tried out the total gym. I did 2 sets of arms and 2 sets of legs. It was good. I thought I was stronger than that but I guess...how could I be? I was a lard @$$ and now I may be losing it but I'm not any stronger, right??? Well...decided that I didn't need a bowl of kashi tonight, because I wasn't really hungry but needed something so had an extra protein drink....my protein grams are up at like 150% today. That was awesome! And that leaves my net cals really down. I was so excited to see that. I had better get to bed. It really has been a long day. Have a great tomorrow everyone!

Now who RAWKS???? You did awesome. You still have 3 days left and you'll be OVER your goal. That is too great for words. I haven't even set a goal yet because I wasn't doing it at the beginning of the month. I will set one this coming month though! I would do a pedicure before a manicure. I'm not much into massages but LOVE to have my feet done. And before the only time my toes EVER got painted was when someone else did them because there was NO WAY IN HELL I could reach them....but I digress...Just go in and ask them to clean up your nails and pick a nice soft pink or coral. You'll love it. It feels so great to be pampered. I'll be on water patrol while you're out girling up. Congrats on the graduation!!! That is just awesome. I know that my parents never thought I would finish either. Good luck on the sleep study. Have sweet dreams. I told everyone. And I still do tell everyone. I want everyone to know so that it gives them a better idea that it CAN be successful. And when I get skepticism I just shrug and say that I am better than that and I haven't had any problems. I also have many obese family and friends and want them to know that this is a viable option....and nothing to be ashamed of. I do say something like, "I had a lapband installed in December and now I am eating so much healthier. Also since my weight allows it now I'm exercising." It makes the lapband the minor part of the story and me and my doing much more important. My students have been so complementary today! It's absolutely amazing how nice they have been. They are really starting to notice the changes. I just checked the status of my total gym and it should be delivered today!!!! I'm so excited. I should be able to give you all a full report either tonight or tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to try to walk my 3 mile loop up to the dam and so I may not get any of the other in. I'll keep you posted though. Oh...and that is try to get the time to walk the 3 miles, not try to walk that far. I know I can do that.:tt2: Well, I'd better go get some water. I'm not doing so great today yet. I did start with a good breakfast today of Kashi, so that's good. And the Kashi nuggets are better than the mixture of stuff....but I do like them both. And what an awesome snack at night. Talk to you all later. Have a great day!!!

Good evening all. Just got back from playing cards with DH and thought I would share my news. I went out with mom today to go shopping. Well...I guess I was the one channeling Janet. She could NOT shop because I went way overboard. I just went downtown with mom to find a pair of jeans or two. So I tried on a pair. Or maybe it was six....I lost count. But Good Freaking Lord!!!! I fit into a size 14!!! Not a womens. A 14 misses. Now I do know that it was a fluke because I couldn't fit into a 16 in the same brand, but I bought them anyhow because how could I NOT??? Then we went to the bargain basement and found a bunch of stuff 60% off. And how do you pass THAT up? Down there I found a size 13 and tried it on just for a fluke. It was tight but it fit!!!! Then we went down to this other store. Now I NEVER buy anything in this store because it is way too rich for my blood. But while my mom was looking around I was looking at the lingerie and saw that they had spanx. I've been wanting to try those so I bought a bodysuit. With that on that size 13 fit wonderfully! How awesome is that??? What a wonderful today. It doesn't get much better than that! I didn't walk today. It was awfully cold today but I should have went any way. Tomorrow come hell or high water! Have a great night all!

Oh...that's right....peaches reminded me. Right now gas is $3.64 a gallon. Diesel was $4.29 a gallon. We always have the highest price in the state. Don't know why. Ahhhh...the joy of economics.

Good evening ladies....hope all is well in your worlds. We are sitting here watching Second Hand Lions yet again. I really love this show. It makes me smile and it makes me cry. It's just the perfect story. Made spaghetti for dinner. Filled up on salad so that I didn't eat a bunch of pasta. I only ate about a quarter cup of spaghetti so that was a real victory. I LOVE spaghetti and garlic bread. In my former life I would eat a big plate full and 2 or 3 pieces of garlic bread. Screw the salad it got in the way of all the yummy stuff. Now I eat a bunch of salad and only 3 or 4 bites of pasta. My totak gym was about $280 with shipping. I got it at qvc. It was a while supplies last price though and now they are almost $300 before shipping. I don't know how much they are elsewhere...I'm a qvc queen. I'm not sure about the scale. I'm not sure I need a new one because any scale is never going to be my friend. So why spend money on them? I just think it would be nice to have an actual number instead of a memory. Must be the number nut in me. I had the kashi cereal for breakfast. My first breakfast in a long time but it was alright. I added some splenda and that helped. I bought some that is more like granola chunks and might try that for snack tonight. I still have quite a few calories to spend. I went walking tonight with my mom. Having a really hard time with this....my mom is here for a couple of weeks. She said "I'll come with you" when I said I was going for a walk. Don't get me wrong, I love visiting with her. But I knew she wouldn't want to do the hill that is the beginning of my walk and couldn't make it the 2 1/2 miles that I want to do. We walk much slower and not nearly as far. .... I don't want her to feel like I don't want her, but I'm not really getting a workout. I want to go for a WALK, not a STROLL. She is walking as fast as she can...not just wandering, but she just isn't up to it. Now my mom is a skinny, but smokes and really doesn't exercise ever....so I want to get her moving with me. I just don't know what to do. I feel like if I go out after we have gone walking she will get the idea and feel bad. It is such a cunundrum. There was something else I was going to mention....but I can't remember who said what and what I wanted to say about it. Let's blame it on my cold and not my brain....yeah....let's go with that. Talk to you guys later. Have a great night

I'm staying on plan today because I don't feel good when I deviate from it. I'm sick enough these days without adding crappy food to the equation!

Great answers Karri!! I was going to come looking for you last night to answer this because the minute I read it, I thought, Karri would do this so much better than me! And you did. Thanks for the time you took. And you found it without me even going to ask you. How is that for ESP!!! You always give the best advice and you are definitely proof positive that this can be done! Whenever I am feeling like I can't do this, I look at your example and see "at goal" in only about 8 months. Absolutely amazing. If anyone doubts your wisdom, they just need to look at that. I hope I'm half as successful! Thanks

Holey Moley Guys! All day long the site is down for maintenance. Who the heck decided to do THAT during the day? That's what 3am-6am is for!!! Okay....just a little panicked that I couldn't keep in touch today. It is very frustrating. I sat here thinking to myself, "Where did I used to spend all my time?" and couldn't come up with an answer!!!! How is that for addicted? Not much to report. I still feel like crud and I pb'd on lunch but that was my own fault for attempting to eat school lunch today. It was so unhealthy and when I looked at it I knew I should just skip it but I didn't have the energy to fix my own today....so I attempted it. Now I'm really tight and can barely get my Water down. Next period I'm going to try coffee and see if the heat helps a little. I think my scale dropped a bit this morning. I have a rotary scale and it's really hard to tell when it goes down. It just sort of moves a little bit and you don't really notice it day to day. I've thought about an electronic but haven't heard anything about good ones that don't cost a hundred bucks! So for now I watch my little dial drop a bit and hope for the best. I want to be into the 150's by my scale by my neices' graduation. That gives me a month to lose 6 pounds. I really want to fit into this old pair of 14's that I found digging through stuff on Sunday. I can get them up and zipped but they look like my old 20's did in the beginning....just stuffed full and ready to pop. I can't believe I used to think that made me look better. Who was I looking at in the mirror??? Obviously I had a very distorted body image. Well...I just got a full study hall so I had better keep on them. They will do nothing if I let them. Talk to you tonight all! If you aren't around, have a great weekend. TGIF!!!!

I completely get waking up from this dream. I'm always saying to my DH that "the other shoe is going to drop soon." I think I'm just so used to being fat and dumpy and honestly believing that I don't deserve anything more because I couldn't get this weight thing right. So now that's a hard belief to get rid of. But it is silly and we DO deserve this. We are worthy....and we are NOT going to wake up fat again. Okay....kids are in bed (if not quiet yet) and my head isn't feeling like it is going to explode quite yet so I'm going to post a few more things I was thinking about while I was out walking.... Phyl, I was a bad daughter. My parents and I fought a LOT and it was ALWAYS my fault. I left their house one night when I was 21 and basically ran away to Missouri. We didn't speak for years. When my dad passed it has always been the time of my life I regretted. Sometimes though we stupid girls don't know how to fix things even when we know we need to. I regretted my decision from day 3 and didn't know how to go back and still have even a shred of my pride intact....and so it persisted. It took my dad being the bigger man to come and say it's alright. I don't know if that helps any, but maybe you'll find a kernel of something in it. Oh...my email is ssoderquist@gmail.com and anyone who would like to add me to their list, please feel free. Janet, please add me to the lucky 7 bandiversary exchange. I would love to Celebrate with you all! My diet seems to be doing pretty well as I keep track of it on daily plate but I'm pretty low in the Fiber part. Do any of you worry about too little fiber? I know that it can cause TMI problems but I don't have those. Are there other reasons I should up my fiber? I did pick up some Kashi GoLean high Protein high fiber Cereal. I'm going to try some tonight for my snack. I'm not quite at my protein quota and I still have calories to spend so I thought I'd give it a try.....anyone???? Hope you are all sticking out your Water wings. I've been working really hard to get mine in. I actually woke up this morning thirsty...and that never happens. Had a bottle of water before my coffee this morning even. Now that NEVER happens. I went walking tonight but only did about a mile and a half. It was only about 35 out and I really don't feel well. I made myself go and I took the hill instead of skipping it, but couldn't bring myself to go the rest of the way. Oh well....1 and 1/2 is better than the none I was getting this time two weeks ago. I can't wait for my total gym to get here!!! Then it won't matter if it's freezing out. Okay....my get up and go just got up and went. I'm going to go watch qvc for a few minutes while I eat my kashi. Night everyone. See you tomorrow.

Hi guys, Just a quick (for me anyways) check in to let you all know I'm alive. I think I have the flu....the actual flu and feel like horse pucky. More on that later after I go home for the day. I have notes here because I couldn't get on yesterday so let see if I can remember what all this chicken scratch means. Karri---fingers crossed on state job. They aren't always the best paying but the benefits usually outweigh the lower pay scale. As for finding a councelor, good luck. It's tough to get a good one. Suggestion may be to ask your pcp and see if they could make the appointment. It's amazing how much better they are at getting things done. Usually with one phone call. Jackie---I second the run around the house naked idea except that for me there is too much sag and so we have to do it in the dark....so that may be dangerous. Instead cook all the stuff the kids won't eat, sit in the dark and enjoy the silence.....or watch a really good funny movie. Like cheaper by the dozen :crying: Janet---Oh sweetie....you are allowed to complain. You are allowed to have a rotten day. Why wouldn't you be able to??? Have you not been the one cheering us all on while we whine???? You don't have to consider it a pity party. It is what it is. Disappointment and it it more than allowed....it is expected. Use the extra it gives you for motivation. You're going to kick that 5 pound's butt!!! Okay...there is more but my notes aren't meaning anything to me. I know they were inspirational 3 hours ago when I was writing them. You all have a good night if I don't make it back. I'll see you after a hot shower and some theraflu or something.....

Connie, Your meals look decent to me. I guess if you're really worried about it I would look into tracking your calories for a couple of weeks. Eat normally, measure your portions, track what you eat and see where you can make changes. It is amazing what I'm finding in my tracking. I use dailyplate, some use sparkspeople, and others fitday. I'm sure there are others. I do it online because I'm a gaget junky but I know others who keep a food log. Whatever works for you. Just remember to add in all your BLT's. (Those would be the BITES, LICKS, AND TASTES). They can be the killers! Do your last couple days worth of meals and see if you can spot the problem areas. I like dailyplate because it gives me alternatives with fewer calories for most foods....and honestly sometimes I just don't think about those alternatives. As for evening Snacks....I try really hard not to eat one, but I do about half the time. I bought some quaker rice cake snack packs, 100cal microwave popcorn, and some sf ice cream bars from schwans. Before I allow myself a snack I make myself drink a bottle of Water...then I have to wait at least 15 mins before I can eat the snack and by then I've usually forgotten about it for long enough that I don't really "want" it anymore. You might try that.....it's also another way to force me to get my water in. You can also track your exercise on dailyplate. I also make myself do my tracking before I get a night snack so I can see if I have calories to spare....and if not, no snack! Let us know what you figure out and what you decide to change. Your loss has been great so you should be proud of yourself.

Your progress is awesome Connie! Keep up the great work.

I wish I could forget to eat!!! I'm still obsessed with food! But the last week has been a great time for me because I keep getting all these people walking next to me saying things like, "You sure are looking good these days." and walking off. I just say thank you and smile. ... and maybe walk a little taller. It feels so good to have that happen. And even though I am MORE THAN HAPPILY married, men have started making eye contact and smiling more. And what woman doesn't want to at least be noticed???? My confidence is 1000% increased....and yes....I meant that many zeros!

Chris, I've been wondering how you're doing. I'm pulling for you! I started tracking my food and exercise on thedailyplate.com and that has helped. I can see what I'm eating and where I'm spending my calories. The charts are awesome because I don't even have to think about the numbers so much, just visually clue in. If I'm over 1/3 on anything but Protein I up my intake of it so that I'm balancing everything. Carbs are still a huge battle for me. Why does everything I LOVE have to be high carb???? And the only thing that wasn't, my diet soda, is off limits too!!! Oh well...I haven't missed the soda so I can't complain there. I found a diet schwans bar that I use for sweet snack if I've got calories to spare in the evening and that helps. I started walking.....and I'm taking no excuses. My back is killing me but after about 5 minutes of walking it feels so much better. I just have to up and do it and not make it a reason to stop. Most nights it is 2 miles but if I'm feeling strong I've been doing 3. I ordered a total gym from QVC last weekend and it should be here sometime next week. Again, no excuses. I was using the fact that we don't have a gym in my town and that I didn't want to spend the amount of money needed on an elliptical to say I couldn't. So that has helped. I may not be losing at the moment but I am feeling tons better...and since how I felt was more reason to get the band than how much I weighed I figure I'm succeeding. I hope you're doing alright! I can't wait to hear about your cruise!!!

Hi there Cajun! I'm so glad you stopped by and sent out a plea. It is a huge step to even stand up and say you are struggling. How many times in our lives have we not wanted to stand up and say "Help" and instead fed that problem? We all knew that we had a problem with willpower coming in to this. If we could just "say no" we would. If we would just "get moving more" we would. But if we want this band to work we need to do some things to help it along. It is going to take dedication and some tough love for yourself. Just remember that you are worth it! I have been very strict about following the band rules. I don't eat soft foods at meal time. I chew chew chew and I listen to my body when I think I'm full I stop. I make sure I eat my solid Protein first and then veggies. If I'm still hungry I eat my carb. I put my food on a small plate instead of a big one. I make sure that I get in all my Water. These are tough things to make sure I do. But those are the rules and I knew that going in. Notice that exercise was not one of the rules. I have been really bad about that. But as the weight has come off I've been more active in my house. I clean more than I used to. I park further away in parking lots. I take the stairs more. Now that I'm down to a weight where I don't hurt all the time I've amped up the exercise. I told myself that there were going to be no excuses. Honestly once I get out there I enjoy it, but it's the getting out there that is the struggle. I have set myself a goal of getting some sort of exercise every day. Friday night it was not possible, but it has been every other day. On Sunday I even went out when it was sleeting and walked. I cut my time in half because it was cold....but, no excuses, I went. When I made the exercise goal I also decided to start tracking my food intake. I do mine at Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plateand like it. There are others out there but that was the first one I went to. I've heard of fitday and sparkspeople also. Here I set my goal, I track my food and my exercise and I see where I am spending my food bucks (those are my calories). I think of what I can have as my budget and then I start shopping around more. I'm a little thrifty IRL so it works for me. I make sure my protein goal is met each day and then look at how my calories breakdown by fat/protein/carb. I'm not a lowfat sugarfree freak...I just stay under the blue line everyday. If I'm not under the blue line every day the next day I fix it. by doing it everyday I keep better track of my diet. Honestly, as a fat chick, I had no idea of portions or what the true calorie content in some of these foods are. Heck, some of the baked potatoes I used to eat are higher in cals than I should consume in two meals!! And when you see 1/2 your calories a day coming from fat it's quite an eye opener. My advice, pick one thing and concentrate on it for a week....maybe two. When it becomes second nature and not WORK anymore, add another of these suggestions into your routine. Again, when these are working successfully, you can add another.....until you find what works for you. Oh...the other thing I do is weigh every morning. I may fluctuate up and down a bit, but if I see any more than a 2 pound change I'm looking at my diet and my movement to see what the heck I did. You can do this. You can be successful. You have the tools, and with us you have support. Keep posting and telling us of your triumphs and trials. We are here to support, encourage, and applaud you. Good luck...I look forward to hearing great stuff from you.

Phyl, I thought I was going crazy looking back pages and pages to find this "75 pound loss" and awesome picture. You're being way too modest. You look fabulous! and 75 pounds??? Holy Cats that's a lot of weight! How much better you must feel. You look amazing. Don't downplay your pic. It's AWESOME

Holly Sue You have lost 50 pounds!!! That is an amazing accomplishment. You have lost an entire small child. My 3 year old weighs less that that. Can you imagine carrying a 3 year old around on your back all day every day....in the shower, in the car, walking up the steps??? You have made a giant improvement in your health and well being. Now if you had told us you GAINED 50 pounds we might have a different opinion, but we would still welcome you with open arms and ask you to join us so we could help you succeed at this monumental task! This board has welcomed me with open arms and I was banded 6 months after them. They have been encouraging. They have been inspirational....and when I needed them to, they have been the reason I didn't binge on that hot fudge sundae. (Honestly, I didn't want to have to come here and report myself.) But last Saturday I had a horrible food day....and they all said, "what is done is done, today is a new day and we need to recommit to living this healthy life." Think about all the reasons you had this band put in place. Remember why you went through major surgery (with risk of death attached) to improve your life. Those must have been some pretty powerful motivators. They aren't gone. Sometimes we just lose sight of them. When I get discouraged (and it happens to the best of us they tell me) I try to focus on that list of reasons....and ask myself if I have achieved my goals. If I can say those reasons are met and my goals are a reality, I'm finished with this fight and can begin to maintain. Until that time, I'm fighting the good fight. You can do that too. Join us on the main Lucky 7 thread. It is a powerful place. We will help you through this amazingly difficult time....and when we stumble and need a hand up, yours will be there among the others to help us to get back on our feet. You will be proud of yourself. We will help.

We get on the train on Thursday in Williston (at like 5pm) and ride through the night and arrive Friday morning early. He said we would probably need a taxi to the motel and back. Discussed renting a car but didn't know if we would really use it. We'll see what strikes our fancy when the spirit moves us.

Yes, he is coming....unless his construction project at work needs his attention that weekend, but I'm planning on us both coming. We're going to ride the train out. We'll get on in Williston ND so we should plan on looking for you and your DH. We can have a pow wow before the pow wow!!! It's going to be a nice break from the kids and work for him. He's looking forward to it.:rolleyes2:

Morning all,....or rather afternoon. I'm sorta late getting here today. Guess that means I'm working harder today than normal. Actually trying to find my son a therapist is taking all my free time. You would think I want to move mountains. Yesterday was a much better day food wise. I stayed under calorie, over water, and over protein. So I consider that a success. It was also very cold here....back to windy and freezing. I did go out for a walk but only walked about a mile instead of the 2 1/2 this time. I cleaned my basement for the whole day though so I stayed active. I wouldn't say it was quite the same but I slept like a log last night no matter what. Today has been good so far. Weekends are my hard times. It makes me worry about how I am going to deal with being off work all the time...but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Right now that is not my struggle. Ruby, when my dad passed away a couple of years ago there was nothing that my DH could have said to make it any easier. I know he felt helpless but it was something I had to come to grips with. It took about 6 months before it wasn't a daily battle. It still comes but not nearly as often. Just be there for him to hold onto....that's what he needs. Good luck and my prayers are with you. Jackie, I think I was channeling you this weekend. I was crazy about my basement. My DH even asked me who was possessing me. I just smiled. I feel more like I want to take care of things now that I'm not so fat and tired! It sure is a great thing. I want to know if you actually take the 4 days off. When I read that I chuckled and said "Yeah...sure she will." Do you think you can really do it? Phyl, I've got wii envy. I don't have one, have never played one but they sound like so much fun. I tried to talk DH into one at Christmas time but he wanted to do the xbox for the 13 year old instead. Now I'm really regretting that. Keep it up and your wii age will be down to 40 something soon. Janet, DH actually said he is coming to the m of a with me so that I don't go overboard at qvc. He hears me all the time say, "If I could see it I might buy it but I can't talk myself into it without touching it." He is definitely worried. He just rolled his eyes at the total gym. But I used MY money for it and not OUR money....so phooey on him. Whoever asked how much it was, it is about $280 with shipping. On qvc it was a little under $60 a month for 5 months. I LOVE their easy pay. Anyways, if a gym membership would cost me about $40 a month, it's only about 7 months worth...that was my reasoning. There was more I was going to mention but I don't remember what....so I'll talk to you all later. Going to go track my lunch so that I don't forget what I had.

Wow! Sure is quiet. It's 8:30 here and I just managed to get out of the shower. Drinking a proticcino. Replacing my bolthouse farms that is 170 cals and 10protien for this that is 80 cals and 15 prt. Not cutting out my creamer yet, just cutting it down a bit. My binge yesterday cost me 2 pounds. I know I didn't eat 7000 cals so I'm sure it has a lot to do with the amount of sodium in the crap I ate. Last night while I was walking I could feel my fingers swelling up like little sausages. Going to stick to super foods today like veggies and solid protein. Hopefully I'll turn it around. Wish I knew WHY I did that yesterday. I know I was feeling some stress and bored...but I've had that before and didn't binge. I guess everything was just right yesterday. Or wrong...whichever the case may be. The weather seems to be turning colder again today. Not as cold as you have it Phyl, but maybe we'll get some moisture out of it. Keeping my fingers crossed anyways. My FIL is getting a little antsy about the lack of moisture in the ground. It's time to start seeding. Well...have a great Sunday everyone. I'm off to church and then maybe I'll get two walks in today. One after church and one this evening....something to counteract my stupidity.

Jackie, Your little girl is beautiful!!! I can't even imagine my little girl growing up and going to prom. I know it won't be long....but it's hard to imagine. Again, absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing

Hi all. I had a pretty crappy day food wise. I just couldn't stop grazing today. Nothing too horrible but one chocolate chip cookie, but it was just WAY TOO MUCH food. I did go for a walk tonight and increased it to 3 miles. It sure felt good to get out and do that. I didn't walk yesterday and really regretted it. I got the exercise bug today and bought a total gym. I needed to do something for weight training....since there is no gym in town and the school weight room is usually full of teenagers....and qvc had a good easy pay. I figured if I didn't buy it I'd have another excuse and I don't want to excuse anything. Hell, if Chuck Norris says it's great how bad can it be???? I'm going to call it a night. I did get in all my water and then some today. About the only positive thing to come out of all of this. Oh well. Start fresh tomorrow. Maybe the increase in calories will boost my metabolism??? Nah...can't even sell that one to me. I hope you guys have a great day tomorrow. Good night.

Morning all. I am around but late for me today. I have had 24 oz of Water so far so it's going well there. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for lunch today but planning on pork tenderloin for dinner somehow. I'm dying for some good fruit and veggies. It never can get here soon enough. Peaches, I've started using thedailyplate.com for my calorie tracker. They seem to have a really good database of foods. It was the first one I went to, I didn't look at the others out there...it was good enough for what I wanted it to do. It has an exercise tracker too and that's nice so by the end of the day it tells me how many calories I have to spend or how many I still need to burn. So far for the week I am still in the clear. Oh...and it asked my height weight and normal activity level and my goal to figure out my calorie needs. It gives me 1180 calories a day (5'2, 172 pounds) to loose 2 pounds a week. Figured it was about what my nut said I needed so I'm calling it accurate. I'm not sure about the exercise calories burned because it depends on which "walking 3mph" you choose. I know I walk faster than that (measured with my gps) so I picked the high end. I'm always sitting at the computer it seems like. I have a laptop that I sit at while I'm watching tv in the evenings so I keep track of everything in my head and then type it in after I've done everything in the evening. If I still have calories left, I allow myself a snack. I bought some quaker mini rice cake Snacks 100 cal bags, some schwans sf ice cream bars that have 75 cals I think, or string cheese. I've decided that if I don't count my cals then I don't get a snack! This is my new habit for this week. It's working so far. Another thing to do with computer instead of LBT!!! Hope everyone has a great Saturday!!! Karri, take this week to really push the training for the 5k! You'll have a great race I'm sure!!!

Phyl, I think you might have something there. I think there is a much better connotation with the word choice than there is with temptation. Temptation makes it sound like something is "evil". Food isn't evil...our inhaling, indulging, overeating is. When we think of food as "tempting" it makes it sound super desirable and hard to resist. When we think of food choices we see it as a logical thinking process. And someone telling us that we will have "less" temptation makes it sound like we don't have the ability to make the right choice...that we are just a weak ball of blubber waiting to indulge ourselves. There's my take on it. I've been really good today. I still have 500 calories to eat if I don't go walking.....700 if I do. I don't even WANT to miss it tonight so I can't imagine not doing it. Family is coming for chinese food tonight. My MIL makes this WONDERFUL egg roll filling. We get together about three times a year and make a bazillion of them and binge for about 2 hours. We haven't done this since banding but I picked up some chinese veggies and some brown rice and will try to fill up on that and maybe just eat the filling out of one or two egg rolls. ...but I did save cals so that I didn't have to deprive myself. I'm so looking forward to it!!! I'll see you all in a bit. Have a great weekend. The weekend is officially on in ALL 4 TIME ZONES!!!!!