Lois, you sound like you are recovering very well and congrats on no weight gain and not getting off track. Sheesh, sounds like you had a good time with your little grandchildren, too

My food selections were tough at Grandbabyland but I did okay with the weight. I came home with their colds so I don't really feel good and don't want to exercise. Soft bagels were my speed tonight for dinner, though I've tried to stay away from breads and carbs. I have one thing of soup in the freezer which I'm saving to take for lunch tomorrow but didn't feel like making anything when I got home tonight. I still need to finish up some stuff that has to be mailed to Alaska... sigh... gonna be a tough week by the looks of it.

Anyways...
LW 180.0
TW 179.6 The loss is slow but at least it is a loss I had set the goal to in the 170's by New Years, which means no gaining over the next couple weeks in spite of being exposed to holiday treats. Then I go back to my goal of making it to 165 by Feb. If I was losing at the rate Fitbit thinks I should be for my intake/burn, that would happen but I seem to lose about half as fast as they predict. I must burn less than they think :P

I meant to get back and answer threads but I am really crunched for time to finish up 2 things I'm making for the girls at the office and the stuff I'm sending to my brother in Alaska. I am quickly running out of time. :o0

Hi, Ladies,

Just popping in after logging and uploading to say hello. I just looked at my 28, 21,14, and 7 day stats, and they look good. I'm meeting my burn goals and staying within my intake goal. Yet instead of losing a half pound a week--I'm stalled. I walked more than 14,000 steps yesterday (yeah!), and even though I did volunteer work tonight (sitting, alas), I still got more than 9,000 steps in today. It's frustrating, but I will find the answer.

I hope everyone is doing well and managing the stresses that inevitably come at Christmas time. We dropped by a Target after doing the volunteer tonight, and there's few people shopping at 10:30 p.m. It was nice and quiet and I got one more gift bought. Only a few more to go.

Tomorrow is my last day at work. Saturday we cook and pack and then go to a friend's party at 4 p.m. Sunday we finish packing and getting the house in shape to leave, and we hope to be on the road by noon.

If I don't get back on thread, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and I'll be thinking about you.

Sarah, you always remind me that I really need to go back and look at the stat history. Thanks for that... will go do it in a few minutes Have fun on your days off work, get the walks and exercise in while you can. Congrats on the pound off... although you aren't celebrating it, a pound loss is still a pound lost

Lois, it sounds as if you are really busy busy and expecting a lot of fun family time I'm amazed at how much you are doing so soon after the surgery. Take care and try not to over do it.

I am off the weekends but working all week except for Christmas Day, which is why I did my Christmas early/ last weekend. I got all the presents done except for the one big thing for my family which is not going to get finished until after New Years I think. I am converting my dad's old family slides to cd's for everyone but stage 1 took longer than expected. I am taking a little time off this weekend to clean house, do laundry and do some make ahead meals for the freezer. I made some pizza (ham and pineapple) yesterday and just took a lasagne out of the oven. I have another turkey defrosting in the fridge to provide more of the lower calorie choices but every so often, I really feel like something different so the stuff I made last night/today will fill that void. It's really fun to do the make ahead stuff and makes pulling my lunchboxes together so much easier And I stopped at the grocery last night and got a bunch of veggies which I have really been missing. Got a Christmas quilt I want to put together on Christmas Day so everything over here is good... just gotta make sure to get some intentional exercise in there, too

And for those of you who will not be back on here before Christmas, once more I say Merry Christmas to each of you and may your memories be good ones...

Sarah, hope you have safe travels (and warm temps). Sorry to hear about your mom's heat pump going out- bad time of the year for that, and also about your sister's back pain. Hope she can hang in there without any more issues until her surgery. Nice of you to be doing the cooking to take along. I am sure that will help a great deal.

Hello, all,

We arrived back from NC last night. I haven't weighed since we left, and I'm not looking forward to it, and I also didn't even try to log food while we were there. I did wear my BodyMedia, but only once did I get a chance to get out and walk. We left at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, and arrived at Mom's around 4:30. We made good time despite the fact that it was raining most of the way, but there was little energy left after 10 hours on the road.

On Tuesday (Christmas Eve), it was very cold until mid-day, and by mid-day it was time to drive the 30 miles to my sister's home and take the food we prepared for her gathering. She was in severe pain that was complicated by nausea caused by a new medication, so she didn't even try to get out of bed. Christmas was also cold and we were on the go or had guests at my Moms, so no walking was done that day. The day after Christmas, the temps rose to the low 50's in the late afternoon, so we did take a nice hour-long walk before dinner.

I think the last time I posted I was concerned about a lack of heat in NC because Mom's heat pump went out. By day two, lack of heat would have been welcome! She still had the straight electric emergency heat, and I forgot how older people are always cold. She kept turning the heat up to about 80. I kid you not! And because I thought we might have only the gas logs in the fireplace, I took very warm clothing!

My Mom has severe spinal stenosis and has more or less given up. We could not get her to go out and do anything. She did go to my aunt's for Sunday brunch, but we could not get her to go out to dinner, to take a ride to see Christmas lights. She just sat in her rocker/recliner and read. It's hard to see a woman who was once so energetic and full of life like this. There was a time when I wished she was less feisty and "in your face." Now I'd like to see some of what used to be irritating characteristics.

Seeing older relatives--many with health issues that have a genetic component--reminded me that I need to do my best to take care of myself and stay as physically strong as I can. One of resolutions for the coming year is be more proactive about my health and make some appointments I've put off. Another is work on my upper body strength. And of course, I want to hit 130 again in 2014. I just saw a picture that I think was taken when I was in the very low 130s at the end of my first bodybugg year, and it made me remember how much better I felt then. Some things (my genes) I can't control, so I need to do the best I can with what I can control.

Lois, you're amazing to feed and entertain that many people. I'm glad you had a nice holiday with family and friends. I'm Also glad to hear that surgery helped your sister and appreciate your good wishes for mine.

I'll be back soon to post my weight and activity stats. I have to work on Monday and Tuesday and that will mean catching up on everything that came in while I was away, but I am going to try to stay more active here on the team thread. I helps me stay mindful and centered.