I canNOT believe this... I had the most beautiful, touching, wonderful 1st post to this new thread and "POOF!" -- it's gone!

Maybe it's the cyber-world telling me it's time to get to bed... good night, my lovelies!!

Good morning ladies...

Ya know, all joking aside, I can not wait until after Christmas or New Years is over to start behaving and following the rules again. I am back up to 215.5 in a matter of Thanksgiving until now. If I wait another full week oe 2 I will be over 220 and I can't do that. I bring cheating to a whole new level. I am addicted and I need to stop. I have fallen off the wagon for a very long time and I need to get back on it and reclaim my sobriety today. Waiting until after Christmas or new years for ME is just an excuse to act like an idiot and not feel bad about it. :tt2: I need to get back into my 17 or 18something mentality. I am appalled and ashamed of myself. It would be different if I was just talking about losing 5 or 10 pounds after the holidays but that isn't what I am dealing with. Maybe next year I can try to have fun like that. Not this year....or at least not anymore this year! I have to stop myself because this is a train wreck in the making and I am putting on the brakes as of today! Wish me luck!

Make good choices....I AM!:laugh:

Good morning, Violets..

It's 9 BELOW zero out right now and I'm up to get ready for the church pageant rehearsal from 9-11 and then run to the theatre for an 11:30 call for our matinee. Then we have to strike the set and put all the costumes away. arghhhhhhhh

WARNING*** TracyK.. do not read the next paragraph!!!!

Here's the fudge recipe... but you can only make it to give away.. not to eat yourself!!!!

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

1 5 oz. can evaporated milk

1 7 oz. jar marshmallow fluff

1/4 tsp. salt

Cook in a saucepan til it boils, then continue cooking for 5 minutes stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add:

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir til the chips melt. Pour into a buttered 9X9 pan. Put in fridge for 2 hours.

It's very creamy, yummy fudge. I made this recipe, a batch of peanut butter, one of just milk chocolate and one of mint.

I use the Ghiradelli chocolate.

TracyK.. and all of us battling with the band. We need to get back to exercising. I really think that it crucial to our success. I have one more day of Christmas things to do and then I will buckle down and get serious about this again. TracyK.. you've kept 42# off and that's a major accomplishment!! Be proud and start again, knowing you did it once and can do it again, just like all of us. There's always a new resolve at New Years. But we're the lucky ones that have a tool to help us with that resolve. Let's use it... not abuse it!!!! You are not in this alone and you are not the only one struggling!!!!!! We ALL are!!!! Right Violets??????

I'm off to get dressed so I can head to rehearsal and then to the play. Everyone have a great day. Make wise choices. Report in and let's keep each other motivated and positive!! WE CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!

Pamela + Karioke = Hysterical Visual

I have no trouble believing they had to pry the mike from your hands!! Wish I was there -- sounds like a blast!

Tracy - I feel ya, sister. Hannah and her girlfriend made chocolate chip cookies last night and they each had ONE. Who eats ONE chocolate warm chocolate chip cookie??? So now there's a whole cookie jar brimming with 'em and when I was pouring my coffee this morning and staring at that jar (or rather it was staring at me...taunting me), I glared back at it and challenged myself for the day: Not One Cookie Today. Gosh, I remember "back in the day" you were so totally the model bandster!! You had your protein shakes, NO white foods, etc....and you were dropping weight like crazy and never said a word until somebody noticed your ticker! Well, we were all on fire then. But it was EASY when the scale kept rewarding us every day or two ! It's a lot harder now. I wonder how much of it has to do with our self-talk and expectations? When we were first banded we EXPECTED the weight to drop off easily and it did. Then when the seeds of doubt started to be planted (when the losses slowed down) our expectations of failure started creeping back into our thoughts and VOILA! ....our struggles began. Somehow we've got to find the fire again, adjust our expectations, check the negative self-talk, and yes-- stick to the freaking rules!!

The biggest rule violations I have allowed to creep in are these:

1) I allow myself to eat after 7:00p

2) I allow small sips of drink with my meals and don't wait the full 30 mins before resuming drinking regularly

3) Allowing all kinds of sugar and junk food!

4) Not getting near enough protein

5) Not getting near enough exercise

I can always choose differently! I have free will!!

Good Saturday Morn, Vi's~~

Today I'll be busy in the kitchen... I have 20 or so pumpkin breads to make this weekend, to deliver on Monday/Tuesday... + I want to start wrapping & organizing & making a FINAL list for my LAST (I hope!) shopping trip on Monday (no way jose I'm going out this weekend!! :laugh:)

All this work & a jolly old fat man gets all the credit! That's why HE'S jolly & by the big day I'm just TIRED!

Make it a good one Vi's! You go, Tracy!! Think of my vp who's on LIQUIDS now thru next month!!

Yikes!! We are at -12 degrees. 2-3 inches of snow expected tonight and 3-5 inches tomorrow. Fun, fun, fun!!!

You know it is so true...when we were newbies there was such hope and like Terry said the harder it got the more we lost hope. I was definitely a rule follower. I am an all or nothing kinda gal and i had no sodas, no drinking while eating, no bread, no pasta, no rice. I wish I could go back to the day I tried bread and talk myself out of it.

My case was mostly 'if I can't smoke, I will eat'. It was a conscious decision at the time....not knowing I could not relight the inner fire to lose the weight again. Sure, if I could do it over again I would have tried something else, who knows, maybe I would have never quit smoking? But, hindsight is 20-20 and I have come to far to start smoking again. That is not even something I allow myself to consider. I know if I started again I would never quit. So, with all that being said, we all need to find our fire. We have the gasoline but someone played a cruel joke and hid the matches! So, while some of you look for matches, I will rub sticks together. At least we will be trying, right? I have to get back to my 'all or nothing'.

btw....watch my ticker cause I will start silently losing again!

Good Grief,

8am and I have already placed an order for 5 large pizzas to be delivered at 1pm.

Will the food never end?????????????????

Today we are having our Christmas here at my house. Which is good because I have totes for everyone to take all the cookie, candy and pizza home with them.

Purple Power to my Janie Love you girl.

The house is ready and the food is all out. I just need to go change my clothes and go pick my Sis up. I'll check in later and post pics.

Have a great day.

Just popping in while the first batch is in the oven!

MMM... pizza party @ Suzie's! Wish we lived closer!!

I've got my eye on you, TracyK! :tongue_smilie:

That's just too cold, Judy!!

((Janie))

Off to do this & that... bbl...

good morning gals

what a day - we got Judy's storm yesterday, took me 2 hours to get home then was out snowblowing for 2 hours, mom had to be to work at 7am so i cleaned off her car and got her out. I'm so glad i could squeeze my car in the garage, cabinets are just about done

got up at 9 had some coffee and out snowblowing again. We are getting another 8-10 tomorrow - so glad i didn't have to work today

I'm going to scrub the kitchen floor today so i can finish grouting - but somehow one of my tiles got broken so i have to repace that

Any word on Jane

Trackyinks - I have popcorn for dinner ever night air pop then put real butter on it. It would taste even better if popped in a pot then butter, but i have to draw the line somewhere

I made a pulled pork last night, and just had a small bowl, it took 30 mins, but i ate it

I was catching up on post....

First.. Tracy - do the best you can - but I am with you on as soon as Jan 1 is here i'm back on track with you

Then Terry - loved your evaluation of what is different and I am with you

1. I eat after 7 (usually popcorn)

2. with no kitchen I don't cook at all, order out

3. gall bladder prevents me from eating

4. not enough Protein (or anything else at this point)

I just got a new bullet and going to start making Protein shakes again - or pudding with Protein powder to bring to work.

well - ds just came and gave me a big story about how he wants his room painted so i lost my thoughts...

My package was sent out priority yesterday morning so it should be there Monday -

anyway - have a great day everyone

I think in many ways when the year mark passes, we get complacent. It is like we have a goal for ourselves for that year mark, and if we meet it, we relax some, and if we don't, then we are rightfully proud of what we DID accomplish, and relax. I saw that happening with myself! In fact several of us who were banded at the same time discussed it, and we thought maybe if we went looking for it, we could capture some newbie spirit, and also guide the way for new bandsters.....so we come here to bother you as mentors!!! There were a bunch of us in April 06, tho not as many as you 07's. Slowly but surely the 06 support thread dwindled, members quit posting, not just to our thread, but altogether. Then several of the remaining 06'ers began running.....and our thread sort of became a challenge thread, to see who could beat someones time etc. Well I cannot run. Not the marathon type running they did. Hell I bust my butt running across the yard in Gruene!! LOL Seriously tho, it was very cliquish---and I was not getting much out of it. Then someone suggested (bless Betty --Guysis) that we mentor the April 07 group. There were times I wanted to cry, you guys were dropping weight like flies, and I wasn't!!! LOL But you gave me back the impetus I needed, and the support I needed, and the friendship in the band I needed! And you grew to be so much more than band friends!!

So 2.5 years out, I am and I do get tired of the eating regulations! And I am doing so many things wrong I don't even want to list them!

I know exactly where you are coming from TracyK....I do, there is a part of me that is raring to go too. But with all that is going on right now---I do not want to just set myself up to fail. I am conciously trying to adjust what foods I find myself snacking on etc. I tried today at my Aunts funeral dinner, to keep to the Protein and veggies, and avoid the sweets---telling myself, if I am going to cheat and ingest all those calories, I am saving it for fudge!!! Sad---but I did not eat the Cookies and the cakes! And I have no fudge here, it is at my MIL's---she makes a totally different kind than my Mom and I love them both! But I did not make any yet, and keep it! LOL

All this reminisching just to say THANKS!!! You girls have kept me going for the last year and a half! And made such an impact on my life--love you all!!!!!

Manda is finishing moving into her apartment as we speak. Jason did not leave her the key to the storage unit, and he left town, so she cannot move everything, but she will be able to survive.

Whether her dog does or not is another matter, he hiked his leg on my bed this morning--on the bedskirt I just bought! Talk about pissing me off!!

I am going to do my best to get through this....any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. He did it less than 3 minutes after coming in from outside. The bedding, the carpet, everything is new, never had an animal around it prior to mark it or anything.

Well, I am going to go get something accomplished -- has been a day where I got nothing done!!!

Wish I had Jenn's new kitchen....mine needs cleaned, sounds like a reason for a new one to me!! LOL

Talk to ya soon!

Kat

I am sick...feel like shit...but I love you all too!

Good evening, Violets..

Well, another day done, another program finished. Amahl had it's last performance today. It went very well. I'll post pics as soon as I get them from the photographer. She was going to make us CD's but didn't make it back before we all left for home.

The pageant rehearsal went well this morning. Now I just have my fingers crossed that we don't get hit too bad with the storm tonight and tomorrow morning so Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, angels and Kings can get to the performance on time!!

Don't know about playing flutes tomorrow night. It all depends on if we can all get there.

I got my presents wrapped for my church family and will deliver them tomorrow. Monday I will finish wrapping all the presents for everyone here.

We got the best present in the mail today. It's a book that is a computerized photo album. It has pics of Grandma and Grandpa and the the whole family. It's just the most precious gift ever.

I'm going to go get my nammies on and relax for a bit before heading to bed and worrying about the program tomorrow! Everyone sleep well.

PamELa.. hope you're feeling better. I started feeling a cold coming on and took my Zicam nasal swabs and feel so much better.

Jane..((hugs)) to you.

((Pam))... sorry to read that you're not feeling well!

Got my lab results from a couple weeks ago... cholesterol, triglycerides are good... but... "Slightly anemic. Vitamin D is low. A, C is up. 1) Stop sugar intake. 2) Take iron supplement. 3) Take Vitamin D 50,000 every week. 4) Recheck labs in 4-6 weeks."

Ok, I take 1,000 Vit D a day now... how the heck am I supposed to get 50,000/week? And when I take iron supps, then my poop gets all weird. And "stop sugar intake"? Have they met me?? YIKES!! Will I never be "normal"?

Off to bake more pumpkin breads... have done 12 so far, 3 more to go for tonight, I think...