M2G

Oh and earlier thing I said about how when we post in here it "shows" up under the Recent Topics...and then I thought maybe it didn't? Well, not sure what happened the other day but yep, when we post here it shows up under recent topics, so that is where people are probably learning that this thread exists yet they don't have "access" to it.

Oh my goodness Kelly (Chimera) love your painting. Wow. Very cool. I've been involved in "arts" one way or another for my entire career and that is what keeps me going because I never wanted to be someone who "hated" what I did for a living. If I love it then I feel much happier. I'm definitely at a crossroads for now and I don't like that part of it. The struggle to figure out a way to creatively earn income....so the struggle continues. Georgia (gosh I hope I'm remembering that right) YOU got cleaned out from the Target deal??? CRAP CRAP CRAP. My hubby is totally worried. We went to Target black friday (well actually grey thurs. a friend of my moms convinced us all to go out shopping after the turkey was done!) and holy crap. He is considering just canceling our Target card. We both bleed white and red though, funny side squirrel story...we MET while working at Target in college. We love Target thru and thru...so canceling our card well, that just seems crazy, but maybe notsomuch after hearing your story. WHAT A PIA! SO sorry!!! SherylJane great news about the 2 year and the checkups with plastics and all. That is generally one of my biggest worries...having to wait so long to feel 100% better. That and the fact that I would be paying off the plastics for ...oh just feels like forever. My quote for *just* a lift and TT was over $22K and I just can't see spending that kind of money. Sigh. Anyway, I put it all on the back burner and am just letting it sit there on "warm" for now. lol GT how cool that you are familiar with Denver...if you are ever in the area let me know!!! The wedding will be at the Curtis Hotel downtown...looks funky and cool to me. I'm so excited for this wedding! http://www.thecurtis.com/visual-gallery/ Dee, when do you get back into your home after the flooding repairs are done? Before Christmas? Thanks for the bday wishes for my girl. She had an awesome day at school, lots of friends gave her little homemade cards and decorated her locker. We are having a family only party for her Sat. am as she didn't want a real bday party. Made ME sad but also happy to only have to serve breakfast to a handful of family guests. I'm doing terribly with eating and the scale is showing it. Almost 2lbs out of my bounce range (my weight in Nov determined by me as "if I see this weight within 2 lbs I will be happy" and I've been seeing it all along except today I was up 2lbs over my range. UGH !!! Gotta rein this snacking in. I AM GOING TO FAST TODAY IF IT KILLS ME. GOTTA DO IT!!!

"It's all good!"...that is awesome. LOL, Wanda again thanks for the smile. And just so you know I can't carry a tune to SAVE my life. My girls are always like "no mom, please don't sing" but I do anyway. And horribly. I know I can't really sing well, but I can't help myself and gotta sing along... It's me who has the New YEars Eve wedding to attend. I really need to decide between 2 dresses, gotta snap some photos so you all can weigh in. Thank you all for the compliments, you are all so wonderful. GT maybe that will be my "next" career, just going back to doing art...lol. F*ck the computer graphics. LOL. I have one more class to complete and then I will hold a "Certificate of Web Tools" (alongside my Bachelor of Visual Arts from oh, 19+ years ago) Nothing like hitting the job market against 20 year olds. Sigh. Anyway, the fiber piece was done for a fiber class in college and I wish I could remember the tool I used to make it. The piece is small, maybe 3x6 inches and we used a hand-held tool that we fed thread through and it "punched" it through fabric stretched over a frame. I drew out the concept with colored pencil, but then to be honest I was truly amazed that it turned out looking like my vision. I thought I saw watercolor in your self-portrait, GT. I love the way you mixed your media. Watercolor is my all-time favorite medium. GT, what is it you want to go back to school for? Today my oldest daughter will be 13. It's official...I will have a teenager. She is currently the sweetest kid imaginable....totally a heart of gold, A+ student, loves her life...I really hope that doesn't change. The teen years seem to be the worst of all ...parents are like gimme back my 3 year old who threw tantrums on the floor. Next few years will be challenging for sure. I'm off to make her breakfast!

Okay dug around here are a few of my traditional art pieces: Watercolors Fiber arts And these are some of the digital types of things I used to draw on the computer: And this kind of stuff just for FUN!

LOL Wanda...mismatches and serial killers...thanks for just making me smile today. Florinda, and Kim AND Coops all have an artsy side I LOVE IT! Great self-portrait GT. What medium did you use? Background reminds me of watercolor but the illustration looks pencil/pastel. Maybe I should try to share some of my work here...so much of what I did for a career was boring (technical illustration within the cable industry) but I have some of my paintings and textiles hanging around my house. Maybe I should consider picking up the paintbrush again? SherylJane (I like that name for ya!) thanks for sharing the profiles...I agree Fraiser seems like the "it" man right now...keep us posted. And I hate to say it but I have to agree (even though I've never seen you in person) that your photos probably aren't doing you justice. Hum. I think more up-close ones and a few more that show your fab new body are in order. Was going to fast yesterday, then realized I had to pick up my dad from the airport and we ended up all going out to dinner. I didn't track what I ate but here it is: coffee, hardboiled egg, cheese stick, 1/2 apple w/whipped PB, some homemade beef jerky, 3oz salmon, couple of bites of pineapple, 2 broccoli spears, and about a handful of choc. covered almonds. Thank GOD the extra candy is now gone.

Niki, wow, a whole year? After the kind of year you've had, it's not just one of those "glad to have another year" noooo, you are BLESSED to BE here period. I'm sure you don't feel "blessed" by what has transpired this past year but you are an amazing testament of strength and resiliency. Amazing. I'm soooooo glad you are feeling better and being able to eat without suffering, what a wonderful gift. Thanks for the update, I'm so glad to hear things are looking up.

Well maybe I'm a big ole liar? I just posted to this thread and don't see it listed under current topics? Maybe Alex fixed that for us?

Sarah, I usually TRY not to fast on my double workout days but I can and I have, it's just not usually preferred for me. After working out for 2 hours I'm usually ready for some protein for lunch (workout from 10-noon 2 days a week) and on fast days I tend to skip lunch. But I might have to do it today because I had a bit of a bad day yesterday (more on that later). As far as us being "incognito" I don't think we ever have to mention this thread, but due to the nature of the new site, everytime we POST to this thread, it shows up under the Tab at the Top Labeled "Forums" and then it will "appear" to the right if you hover or click on that tab, over on the right it will say "Recent Topics" and for some reason today there is a lower case a to the right of the word Topicsa. Strange, never noticed that before. So we post. It appears under recent topics. Someone "clicks" on the recent topic of "How was your 5:2 day?" and they are met with the message of this being a private group that they don't have access too. Doesn't MATTER what we change the name to, someone, somewhere will click, be denied and COMPLAIN or WHINE. I'm fine with keeping things just as is (name, etc, people on this thread) and I totally agree with Sheryl (aka Jane). Florinda, wow, I'm so deeply impressed with how you are handling everything that has been thrown at you, especially regarding your health in the last few months. When do you have to make your decision by? The photos of Kris and her incisions also had me gasping in pain and sadness. WHAT? I've never seen on that looks so bad. She recently had her breasts done and had a horrible black (something or other) she had a name for it and just was told to wait for it to heal and fall off? Awful, just awful. She has a blog and I've loosely followed her blog from time to time. WOW. That looks horrible, like Florinda said it looks like a jr. high sewing project of someone who has NEVER met a needle and thread. I agree Sheryl, your incisions were so neat and clean. So debachery yesterday ...Last year after Christmas sale (75% off woo)I bought this awesome set of 4 candy dishes that are arranged on a wooden platter to give to a very good friend of mine. So yesterday I ran to the store and bought some bulk candy to put in the gift. OMG I COULD NOT KEEP MY F'ING HANDS OFF THAT DA*M CANDY. WTF? So I may have to fast today. 2 of the candies were chocolate covered almonds (OMG!) and cinnamon covered almonds. Then there were yogurt covered pretzels and spice drops. Can anyone else recognize my weakness for SALTY and SWEET? SMDH (There's one for ya...shaking my da*m head!!) Sheesh! On a different note, I have an upcoming event to attend that I need to dress shop for. Headed to ROSS and found 2 dresses and now I can't decide which one to wear. I may have to have your girls opinions if I can EVER find the time to photo myself in both for comparison. It's a New Years Eve wedding at a hotel in Downtown Denver. Lots of fun and so excited...it's a friend of my husband who is marrying again (first wife had 2 boys with him and then she decided to "see" other men...arrgh!) So this new gal he is marrying, well they had a baby GIRL in March of this year (totally adorable baby) and now they are getting married. So fun, the whole family is invited, so of course the girls needed new dresses also. You can't beat Ross for dress prices. One was on $14.99 and the other was on "clearance" for $16.99. See why I bought them both?

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/search/search.jsp?view=grid&_dyncharset=UTF-8&Keyword=food%20scale&pagSortOpt=Price-0&pagNum=1 I don't see it listed here but years ago I bought The Biggest Loser digital scale from BB and Beyond and you know they always have the 20% coupon...made it around $15 I think. I I use my scale daily. Not to make myself crazy but as a tool to help me KNOW what I'm eating. I'm not a fan of how MFP allows you to put your intake in. I use caloriecount.about.com and they have a ton of choices of HOW you can measure your food. For instance say you type in "carrots" well you will find about 10 choices of ways to enter the AMOUNT. Each one followed by a measurement. Like it might say cup, chopped (128 grams) and then you could enter 1/4 into the adjusting window. Or you could say 1 small carrot, etc. It also has things, like for instance pretzel sticks. It might show the serving size as 48, but you can make it say 1 instead or 10 or 20 or whatever. I like the freedom that cc gives in regards to HOW you enter your food. I understand what you are saying that you have already purchased so much, but the food scale is something I'm still using 3+ years later. Totally worth the investment, IMO.

Cathy I believe it's a TV thing...Maybe someone can provide the link.

Glad you made it to the hospital and as Kathy said that is too bad about another surgery to fix the bleeding, but I'm certainly glad they were able to go fix what was wrong. Also great news that your staple line is in excellent shape. I hope the road to recovery is much easier from here on out.

Yes, I totally agree, that nothing you put on the internet is private 100%, so please still be careful. I don't think that any other hosts can just come over here to read, Alex and Susan are both "Admin" vs just "Hosts" so I could be wrong about that. Last time I said Alex's name he trotted over here to fix an issue. Maybe Susan and Alex can shed some light on the privacy settings around here. Oh wow Florinda, I just don't know what I would do in your situation. I like Wanda's suggestion about pros, cons, etc. Can you make a more detailed list (not necessarily for us to see and read but for yourself) and get some people close to you to weigh in on it. So even though your medical care is "free" is it delivering what you need at the moment? I just ask because I honestly don't know but being back in the states would give you a lot more medical options than your current location, right? Ugh. Lots to think about for you...

Great point. I meant those people who are on our member list and have never posted to this thread. That is what I see as a non-poster. There are times I can't "get here" as much as I would like, but I chime in when I can. That is fine (in my mind) and I would even say Supersweetums needs to stay in case she decides to join back in. But I just see a few members on our "member" list who have never joined this thread in all 179 pages. Has Cheri returned yet?

You guys crack me up. Although I felt BAD for Susan who was determined to read this whole thread. THAT would be above and beyond my ability to focus for that long...especially since we have a lot of ~~~squirrel~~~ moments (for anyone who doesn't get that it's been used here to refer to us getting sidetracked off the original subject...comes from the movie UP if you are curious...lol!)

Georgia...beautiful! That sweater I LOVE it (I do love me some stripes) but yes much too big. Ah the downside of losing 30lbs this year...sigh. Such a problem to have! About the closed group, I saw that lady get all in a huff about this group also. (Good job LV diffusing the situation!) Like when it WAS available to everyone, all they had to do was do the 5:2 for 2 weeks and send a message to get in, and not very many people did that. Circling back to those on the member list who don't participate...should we PM and see if they still want in, or just say "if you don't post by XYZ date then you will be dropped?" Just wondering because we are "closed" but we have a few non-posters.

Wow, what an amazing transformation! In one year? Incredible. Congratulations. Indeed HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you!

Wow Cathy. Like LV and Lynda said...that fear is ultimately what drove me also. I'm so sorry about your friend and I love how you are determined to be an example and an advocate. That is a wonderful tribute to your friend.

Okay I thought about adding where you live because sounds like a couple of you live pretty close to each other without realizing it. So I'm including my location, and please copy and paste and add yours also. I live in Centennial, Colorado ...a suburb of Denver, and yep same city where the kid took a shotgun to HS and shot another girl, then killed himself. Not the same school dist. as my girls but same city if that makes any sense. Anyway please add yours and GT, we need your name! Ms. Skinniness= Dorrie Feedyoureye= Kim Sarsar = Sarah MG2= Sheila - Centennial CO Ccjane = Sheryl Georgia = Georgia Uk Cathy = Cathy Swizzly = Dee Brown= Wanda Globe= Florinda?? ...GT help! Susan= Susan Laura-ven= Laura Chimera= Kelly Supersweetums= Sheila Coops= Sue OrgeonDaisey= Denise

OH my gosh, yep, just again less than 24 hours and this lively thread just keeps on a moving...love it! Dee - wow, you are just beautiful. Your "cartoon" (Denise you too!) profile pic does NOT do your beauty justice! Laura and Dorrie - your daughters and their struggles. I have only daughters and my youngest is my total spitfire. LV we used to have to hold my dd down when it was time to trim her toenails...until she was like 5 and then it got better. But you would think we were cutting her skin and making her bleed the way she acted. I can only imagine what it's like to have to do that to your almost-grown daughter and for something more than cutting toenails. I'm sorry you guys have to do that, and I really hope the army helps her. Self-control like GT mentioned...that is something my spitfire struggles with also. Sigh. Dorrie, I hope you and your daughter will get to a better place soon. Her holding a grudge against you will accomplish nothing. CGJ - wow, those are some flashy shoes. I love that you had the confidence to wear them and it sounds like Fraiser was really overall a perfect gentleman. Certainly worthy of seeing again to see where it leads... Sarah - Sadness. Yes, (shoot can't remember who said it) yes we were used to numbing sadness with food. In fact sometimes I still do that. (Not a binger, but just when I feel the stress level elevate, I search for something with sugar...NOT a good habit to have) The difference now is that I can "recognize it" not necessarily STOP it but at least make my mind aware of the fact that I'm "using food to numb my feelings" so that even if I did find myself eating sugar just because it would temporarily take my mind off of whatever stress I'm feeling I can say to myself "look get your sugar, and then STOP because you know this won't make it any better" and so that helps me when I feel like that. To know that I can SNAP out of it instead of letting it just take over and be out of control. Chimera = Kelly YAY!!! I will try to repost the list with with this added. GT - wow, the process of your father's death, I'm so sorry, I guess I didn't realize that in Jan it will be a year. It sounds like you have started processing some of what you are feeling and that is good. And I had to laugh...there is SO much that goes into taking a good photo. Like I probably took 15 of myself before "settling" on having this one as my profile pic. Different angles, do my eyes look goofy, etc etc etc. Lighting...camera angle...OMG there is just so much to having that good pic. Thanks for making me smile. And I hope that by Feb you have some more things lined up...thanks for giving us a timeline so we aren't worried about you when you drop off the radar for a day or two. As for me, my daughters are feeling better but I'm bummed that I lost a WHOLE week during this busy time. I should have been out shopping/decorating/present wrapping, etc. while they were at school and instead I think I had MORE than one day when I didn't even get out of my fuzzy PJ's because I was sitting on the couch watching movies with my sick kiddos. Yesterday I had a "cleaning" day...I vow that NO ONE ELSE WILL GET THE FLU. SO I scrubbed all 3 bathrooms, wiped down the entire kitchen, cleaned every doorhandle, light switch, TV remote, nook, laptop and even the pillows on the couch. Phew. I felt better doing it even though sickness is sickness and you can't always prevent it. So far hubby and I are feeling fine. Oh it was finally warm enough to air out the house too, we opened windows and let sunshine and fresh air in here. Now I've got to scramble this week and FINISH up. Sheesh. And I only fasted (again!) one day last week, and I feel sluggish. I need to get a good two days in to feel better about my diet I think!

Dee, that is great that you *finally* got to watch it. I remember you months ago trying and for some reason could not view it. It's totally worth watching.

Thanks I can't take credit for it...a friend of mine had a HS-aged daughter who started the phrase. When she told it to me I glommed onto and use it quite often around here.

I am still quite curvy (never hit "goal" and even upped my original goal which is still another almost -20lbs to go) and I'm 3+ years post-op. So this is to say that I never did become a skinny bitch. LOL! I still identify with bigger women (although one of my greatest joys in never having to step foot in the "plus sizes" ever again!) but I view them with compassion, and love and the sisterhood of "getting it" ie understanding where they are. (I suppose that goes for men too, lol!) But here is something that will still startle me today. I will see a larger woman and I see the way they walk, and honestly it becomes a reminder...there are some (or many depending on how large you were) aspects to being morbidly obese that are physically uncomfortable. And when I see a larger woman (or person for that matter) I see the physical pain and it sort of jars me back to that time and place in my life when THAT WAS ME. As Gmanbat so eloquently stated I also do NOT feel the need to approach, speak to or in any other way tell them that they need help and that they don't have to continue living the life of a larger person. Everyone has to undertake their own journey and attempting to force what works for me on another person, well that just never works.

OMG, Laura did my kids come and invade the bodies of your children? "Chicken again....no I will do anything but chicken" - said from 11 yo who honestly avoided it for a while after dissecting a chicken wing in science class. But me? I do lots o chicken...ain't gonna stop now! "Healthy baking, MOM THERE IS NO SUCH THING...can't you just bake REGULAR" whenever I try to bake with things like applesauce, yogurt, egg beaters, Splenda, etc. "Why can't we just eat pizza" 11 yo requested pizza last night so I just threw one from the freezer to the oven. Then I lovingly prepared a cauliflower crust pizza for myself. I gave hubby the choice of freezer pizza or mine. He had both. Said mine was better. But you know what? Tonight I made a pork loin roast. Rubbed it with all kinds of good spices and roasted it in the oven for 3 hours. Then I sauteed some green beans and made baked potatoes. I did have half a (small) potato..hubby had the other half. There was lots of compliments and everyone was happy tonight. Guess it makes up for the other nights when it's leftovers or my all time favorite night of all... YOYO NIGHT. You're On Your Own for dinner. LOVE THAT NIGHT!!! :lol:

Well that is good to hear. I was like you...once I learned about the sleeve there was no turning back. I *knew* it was right for me!

OMG, Georgia. Wow just wow. You have rocked this 5:2 thing into the outer atmosphere!