Good morning!!! I am sorry I have not been around as much as usual lately. I had a 5 and a half hour meeting mp3 to transcribe verbatim and have been typing solidly for the last three days.. thankfully I finished it at 4:00 yesterday. Understandably I was totally burned out on typing!

I have dropped weight! Mostly because I went back to one full Lasix pill a day instead of a half.. I am drinking a lot of extra water and taking that pill and once again have dropped weight and stopped coughing my lungs up. I now really don't care what the Doctor says, this is absolutely NOT lymphatic but heart, I am feeling a ton better and more ready to exercise, I can breathe again.

I now have a nice wardrobe of summer tops thanks to Secondhand Curves but I didn't have any luck with nice summer pants. Anyone know a good place for those not too expensive?

As for any other conversation mind is a blank.. take it away guys!

Morning folks! I approve of myself and my diseased eye! Seriously, lately it is every morning waking up to another new ailment. This started last night but I was hoping a round of pink eye drops and some rest would help. Serious pain and have a hair appt this afternoon. Who is going to want to do my hair when I am.pretty much a Cyclops? ????

Morning, all. Not gonna start with "fake" approvals of myself. Not feeling it at the moment. I know I will be better later. My guy is having a really rough time. Today is his 41st birthday (and also our unofficial anniversary, since we have zero plans on getting married), and he had a lot of life goals he'd hope to achieve at 40. He alternates between being really on fire with making those goals happen and being so depressed he just wants to crawl into bed until the storm passes/it is all over. Because I was in a smaller town when he traveled 5000 miles to come home to the US, it has made finding work in his profession (security) very difficult - and finding work at all the same as this is a college town, he is 41, a disabled Veteran, and has more experience that most people in positions of management (they are either scared he'll take their jobs, can't pay what they feel he's worth, convinced he isn't going to stay because they think, "Why would he?" (despite the fact that like me, he has old school work ethic and values), and all sorts of other and sundry excuses. The last two years have been difficult at best. And because of all his ups and downs, I'm just...exhausted. Yes, some of it is related to PTSD, and dealing with that is tiring, I'll be honest, but I love him, and so I try to see past it (and do, most of the time). Anyway, I don't know if I am 100% off the wagon, but being so broke and out of sorts, I'm eating far more like I used to that I want to do... It is frustrating. I don't feel like walking, and I just want to take a month off, but I know that won't solve anything... Anyway. Sorry this is such a down, y'all. Just realized I needed to let it all out before I go home for lunch so I won't unfairly take out my overall frustrations on someone who doesn't deserve it.

Carly in OK, where the rain is trying to wash us away today - praying it washes away all the negativity and bad juju!

Cari,

I do a number of things for energy, but I have yet to find the magic combo. #1 thing - get enough sleep. #2 - get the right kind of foods - since I've been so broke I couldn't pay attention the last couple weeks, I am dragging tail far more - too many carbs, too many calories! Way, WAY worse than my normal. #3 - get rid of as much stress as possible. Hormones released related to stress interfere with us in all kinds of ways. #4 - find food combos that provide energy combos - apples and cheese or apples and peanut butter are supposed to be a good one. Natural sugar, fiber, protein, and good fats, etc. Balance. #5 - find a safe supplement. Like you, I'm a fan of 5-hour and pills because crap like Monster doesn't work for me. My favorite so far is honestly Purple Tiger energy supplements. Mostly herbs you can figure out where the originated, but expensive. Straight caffeine works a little for me, but not as well as the ones with vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Candy works but very short term. #6 - get moving. Go for a walk, do some non-jumping jacks, anything to get your heart rate up. When you get moving, you push oxygen through your body - it's a natural wake up. Just make sure you eat well around it, or you will crash harder. #7 - listen to music. I personally love loud, angry rock music when I need a boost of, well, just about anything. Sometimes I want all the love songs I can sing along with, but I always come back to rock. Our moods are so affected by music, so try it out sometime. #8 - aromatherapy. Citrus, mints, etc., especially in combinations, make good mood lifters. I had an oil custom blended for me that was Sweet Orange Oil, Spearmint, and Bergamot. I'll tell you, I literally felt a pulse of energy hit me when the spearmint hit the sweet orange oil as the man was blending it. It was the craziest thing. #9 - Rule out meds. Make sure none of your meds cause drowsiness. #10 - make sure to take care of yourself. Having enjoyed your morning routine and having an afternoon/evening routine you look forward to makes time fly by!

I'm sure there are dozens of other ways, but these are just a few I like.

Best of luck...
Carly in OK

P.S. Just make sure to keep an eye on your blood pressure if you use any supplements regularly. (hugs)

Carly,
just wanted to give you a big {{HUG}}. Wish I had some words of wisdom to help but I don't.(or a magic wand!) Don't give up on your weight loss though. Maybe don't put so much pressure on yourself about it, but don't give up. And vent away to us any time you need to!

HUGS!

Diana

Carly- Big hug hun, I have been where you are and if you need to take a break do it, just try to maintain! I didn't and those pounds came back so fast making everything 1000 times worse. You have worked so hard to lose just about 90lbs, don't lose sight of that now no matter how tough things seem.

Cari- Again, so proud of you for taking this approach. This the right way. Find your patterns and address them One by one! As for energy, hmm...still looking for the magic cure here. I will say that one thing truly works for me and it is Advocare's Spark energy drink. I AM a distributor, but not really an active one meaning I am not out there pushing people to buy it but if they want to, they can get it from me. So full disclosure upfront. That being said, it does give me the boost of energy I need. Its the only thing I've ever noticed that does, not coffee, monster 5 hour energy or anything else. Which reminds me I really need to order some for myself!

Thanks for the link Karen. I had a great day....did my exercise, stuck to my caloric intake, work went well. Not sure I have lost any weight this week, sort of afraid of my weigh in tomoro...but life goes on and we keep going!! Can't believe June is almost over!! Where does the time go??
As far as energy goes....I occasionally take the caffeine tablets...but as it gets me going, I seem to come crashing down in about 4 hours and need to take a nap!! So I only take them in the late afternoon at work...then take a nap when I get home!! I also find 'cat naps' (quick power naps of 15 minutes gets me energized again too. The energy drinks are to high in calories for me....the caffeine tabs are a better choice for me. I also feel that if I oversleep, I am tired all day...problem is I haven't slept more than 6 hours in years! lol That is all I need. I kept thinking I needed more...but guess I don't....just a power nap every now and then for that afternoon boost occasionally!

Norah...FANTASTIC news about getting into your 'old' or now 'new' clothes!!! Heather....sorry about the eye infection! No fun!!

Sorry for those of you struggling or not doing well today. I hope tomoro is better for you.
Cheers!
Nancy

Good Afternoon,

Today is my 1st Wedding Anniversary. The hubs made it a whole year without me taking him out...praying mantis style! (Just kidding)

We are going out to dinner this evening, so I will have to be careful what I order...so far I've stuck with the no breads challenge! I don't know what I'll do when we get to no grains because without my bread I turned to rice a bit yesterday.

Cari, just remember...us larger gals need more sleep. Sleep is absolutely VITAL to weight loss. Also, remember to make lateral shifts in your diet...Rome wasn't built in a day! Think of each step as what can I ADD that is healthy...eventually the healthy stuff will crowd out the non-healthy stuff. I usually start with water.

Carly, Although my situation is not the same... I am currently dealing with my bipolar husband who no longer wants to work as a teacher, yet cannot decide what he wants to do with his life. He has been applying for tons of jobs, with no success. He was absolutely miserable this past year (a stupid jerk-face bully of a principal) and vows not to return to teaching next school year! It has me completely on edge because our finances barely work now...they will never work on just my salary. I want him to be happy, but I am entering into the time of my life where I need to try to have a child if I'm ever going to get the chance...and I want a child more than anything!!! I also try not to let it get me down...especially on a day like our anniversary...but it is a daily mental struggle for me.

Angie

I had multiple posts typed out while I spent 3.5 hrs getting my hair done today, but something always came up before I hit reply so I will just quickly post the hair since it is way past kiddos bed time.

Ignore the face and nasty looking eye. Couldn't exactly do my makeup today with that thing going on.

Ok so photbucket pretty much cuts off my hair and focuses on the nasty eye. Nice. Well I can't fix from phone will fix from pc in morning.

LOVE the hair....and sorry about the eye....but on the POSITIVE side....you look GREAT in PINK!!! :-)