OK guys, its Monday morning. I need to get my butt back into high gear.

No weight loss, feeling slow and sleepy from all the holiday carbs, eating too much and too often.... I need help! So Im getting back to the basic's - Water intake!

I (honestly speaking here) am only drinking about 20 oz's a day - ouch! And I feel it.

So TODAY is the day!!!!

Ive got my two - 20oz AquaFina water bottles full and Im determined to drink each one - 2 times! So thats 80oz's of water, a little more then 1/2 a gallon. This should be enough to get me started in the right direction.

ANYONE else interested in this challenge???

Ive never done a challenge before, so I have no idea on the rules.

I just know that I need help.... YOUR help!!!!!!!

Wait just a minute, what the heck is a King Cake? How many more years have to pass before I make it to Mardi Gras?

mmmmmmm I love King cakes! My boss always brings one into work!

I'm doing good (knock on wood). Ice cream called my name when I went out earlier and I boldly and blatantly told myself 'absolutely NOT'. It went away. I have drank my water. I went 5 miles on the exercise bike. I had chicken breast and green beans for lunch and crabcakes and 3 asparagus spears for dinner. I have had some candy canes that were left over from Christmas, but you know what? They occupy me and if that keeps me from stopping by Wendy's for a Frosty then so be it.

My God Leatha... Thats GREAT! Even on a good day I cant hang with you!

Ive noticed that for me when I see the scale move down how its so motivating to eat BETTER?!?! Its when there is NO weight loss (and actually a gain) that I say what the hell and make bad food choices. Like right now :ermm

Lisa, you've never been to MARDI GRAS?????? Heck, right now is the time to make plans - its coming up. Its usually in February - this year its the 7 & 8th of February (always on a Monday and Tues).

If you like New Orleans and can handle the drinking, partying, bar scene - then thats the place to be. But from what I gather, these festivities extend throughout Louisiana and even into Texas.

Its actually an experience that I encourage folks to see (like my in-laws in N.C.).... but NOT the one in New Orleans, the ones in the smaller towns like Lafayette, here in Lake Charles, etc.

The costumes that the people on the floats wear are BEAUTIFUL.

And its not like other parades in other places where people just smile and wave - OUR parades (all parades) we have candy, beads and coins thrown to the crowds.

And the King Cakes are part of this celebration. Down here, we can find King Cakes anywhere - Walmart even sells them, but the good ones are from smaller bakery's. We can buy them from now till Easter time! Yummy!

FYI - Mardi Gras is French for Big Party!!!!!!

Oh, and it IS a religious thing (catholic actually), but 90% of the people that partake in Mardi Gras have NO idea what it means.

That Leatha is such a show off! LOL Leatha, would you come and give me lessons? I've lost my Bandster rules - along with my willpower!

Hey, if sucking on candy canes could keep me from eating, I'd buy stock in them. And no, I've never been anywhere near Mardi Gras (that's probably a good thing cuz me and wild parties mix too well.) You still didn't tell me what a King's cake is.

And since I stopped by here at the Water Challenge thread, I'll go down a bucket now.

The King Cake is iced in gold, green, and purple. This represents the 3 Wise Men. The different rises in the dough on top represents the Wisemen's journey through mountains and valleys to find baby Jesus. The cake has a little plastic baby doll inside (representing the Christ child) and the person who gets that piece gets a prize.

I have these facts from a true Cajun, our very own Paula! I love knowing the meaning behind different foods and traditions!

Showoff? lol. Me? The woman who's been bouncing from 183 to 186 to 189 back to 183 since Labor Day? Believe me, I have done nothing BUT make the wrong decisions, apparently. (And, I know you were kidding, Marie:p .)

I had company Labor Day weekend, from South Africa, so I wanted to share with her some of my favorites that she'd never heard of, such as Italian Cream cake. , Bluebell ice cream, so I gained 3 lbs that weekend. Then off on a tangent, these things just kept creeping into my behavior, so I've been bouncing merrily through the holidays making just enough wrong choices that I couldn't get past it. Thank goodness I could keep it under semi control or I'd be back to 200 by now.

I have personally proven that yes, carbs/starches/refined sugars are indeed addictive and yes, once you stray into them the THIQ(technical term I learned in Drug and Alcohol counseling school) in our brains is definitely alerted and begins seeking more. This happens in heroin addicts, alcoholics and those of us who seek food as our drug of choice. It really does release endorphins that make us feel better, like love or hugs and well, being single, my endorphins know there is no love or hugs so when I feed it, it doesn't know moderation, it just WANTS more!! I am a victim of my own inner endorphin monster:( , but I'm working on it. I've put him in a cage with a tiny silicone band around his little pointed head. That way he's unconscious MOST of the time. Like an addict, he sometimes wakes up and his withdrawals cause him to do things he wishes he didn't do, but he does them anyway and holds my body hostage until he gets what he wants. As long as I'm vigilent about doing my exercise and drinking my water and eating my protein, I can keep him unconscious, but when I slip one wrong darn thing in there, he wakes up and goes searching for more.

So, there's my confession. I, too, have a monster, just like Nancy and Lisa and Alex and Marie and Paula and Jack and Ryan and all of you other addicts. lol. I can't kill him, but I can darn sure cut off his oxygen supply long enough to regain control. I AIN'T NO QUITTER!!:banana

You're doing really well now, Leatha. Hang on to it! I've been getting my water in every day now and that is helping a lot.

getting my water and I'm eating better foods. I'm trying so hard to think about the changes that I need to make before surgery.I just wish i knew when that was. I"m waiting for Ins . Approvel!

So, Leatha, you're saying that this problem is a MALE? Well, that explains everything! Here's my deep, dark confession: I had a chili cheese tator tot pie for lunch yesterday (Leatha's fault about frito pie), oreo cookies for a late snack last night (Paula's fault about King cake), and blackberry cobbler after lunch today(I'll blame Betty since I can't think of an excuse). Now if I could just quit being influenced by all these sublimnal food messages on LBT! LOL

See, we're good for each other and we're BAD for each other! A real family!

Oh and Lisa, the king cakes that are GOOD usually taste like a giant cinnamin roll with some kind of filling oozing out of the sides like: cream cheese, cherry filling, blueberry cheesecake, CHOCOLATE, vanilla... like I said, YUMMY! And in each cake there is a little plastic baby hidden somewhere inside (too big to swallow though) and our tradition is that the person that gets the piece of cake with the baby has to buy the next king cake.

So, Leatha, you're saying that this problem is a MALE? Well, that explains everything! Here's my deep, dark confession: I had a chili cheese tator tot pie for lunch yesterday (Leatha's fault about frito pie), oreo cookies for a late snack last night (Paula's fault about King cake), and blackberry cobbler after lunch today(I'll blame Betty since I can't think of an excuse). Now if I could just quit being influenced by all these sublimnal food messages on LBT! LOL

OMG!! lol. you poor thing!

Okay Marie, I'm having brussels sprouts for dinner....

I had shredded chicken, marinated in Italian dressing. and I'm about to have some Dannon Light and Fit yogurt to take my meds with. However, I take off for St Louis again tomorrow, which means I'm back in the territory of traveling and well meaning co-workers. Ya'll pray for me.