Patrice - ive seen that same quote (or a version thereof) before, but it never really hit home that much = I totally agree tho; part of starting over for me was letting go of the dismay and embarrassment of having regained some of the weight I lost... not just say it, but believe it.. once I was like.. get over it, move on ... it really helped me wipe the slate clean and move ahead! thanks for sharing it!

lol I would JUMP at that offer Gail.. but i'm guessing they don't include Canucks!! wahhhhhhh.. holy moly tho.. what do you have to buy to get three $100 coupons??? i'm afraid to ask LOLOL

Would you believe I have never, ever bought anything other than a book online?
nope.
never!!
so I bow to you Gail!! you are my hero!

susan - its always so hard to get back to better choice after being pampered with fab meals so I feel for ya!! And understand the mental "back and forth" game... but I think you made an awesome and important decision to spend this week cooking healthy and watching portions... important because I think its a great step in recognizing the only way we will be able to maintain our healthy weights is to be able to incorporate those special times and enjoy them because we know its not our norm.... and that we can feel free to indulge and enjoy because we know as long as we return to good healthy stuff in between it will allow us to maintain.... i'm not there yet... but I think you making that decision shows you're winning the battle! good job!! havea great time (im not sure when spring break is in the u.s. so I don't know if you're already gone lol)

gail - toooooooooo funny!

Glad you enjoyed your retreat Carol; sorry about the head cold (or allergies); either way it sucks to have the stuffy head, drippy nose and general all around blech... hope you feel better no matter what ya have.

Susan - lovely to hear from you; I wasn't sure if you were already gone for your spring break trip or not LOL.. awesome to hear you are off to a good start with your mini goals - and love the toes pic btw!!

I am going to have to take some time today to plan some meals for back to work tomorrow; the guys tend to order in a LOT on this shift but as long as I have healthy food I also LOVE I should be okay; I have learned from experience that if what I bring is just "okay", i'll give in lol. so gotta plan some yummy delish stuff so im not tempted!

on a little side note; most of you know by now I not only hate cooking, I suck at it... I truly wish I was one of those people who enjoyed cooking and had the ability to create dishes by just adding a little of this and a little of that.. but its absolutely a chore for me.. I HAVE been trying tho. and recently expanding my horizons.. I found these frozen veg by green giant.. frankly only because they were on sale.. 2 bags for $5...

its called Fibre Essentials Asian Blend - its got broccoli, black beans, endamame, peppers, broccoli, green beans, carrot sticks water chestnuts and a few other veg... and I bought a stir fry sauce called General Tao ..(I tried a sweet and sour and another one but yuck) anyway.. I have recently discovered just sauteeing some chicken, nuking the veg for about 2 min then tossing it in with about 2 tbsp. of the sauce and a few raw cashews.. is scrumptious! So scrumptious I have to watch portion control LOL.. and I am doing the happy feet dance!

Now I realize a few of you may be scratching your heads thinking umm. really snooze? an easy stir fry?? But you gotta understand for years I have chopped veg for hours and tried every stir fry recipe in the world, none of which ever came out as more than palatable LOL. SO for me, this is a huge score - fast, easy, healthy and scrumptious ... I DID IT!! HAHAHAHA.. small joys, eh??

okey dokey.. better get to figuring out a grocery list... have a great day ladies and keep going after what ya want for yourself!!

Judy - welcome! Great to have you aboard!! and thanks for answering roll call!

Vail - thanks to you too for the roll call reply - and I totally feel for you with the combo of minor illness and busy - I think the busy times are actually the hardest for me... it just seems that the prep time needed for healthy eating goes out the window when life gets hectic.. its like it gets pushed to the back burner so to speak for me anyway... and reading your post made me realize that's something i'm going to have to really work on; making sure I put taking care of ME at the head of the line instead of the end... I truly seem to get my priorities mixed up when life gets busy - and you've made me think why I seem to think its ok to throw myself and my needs to the back of the line in those times. I need to remember the world can just wait while I take care of me, but that's def gonna take some work so appreciate your post!!

I seem to be finally getting back into a routine again with my eating; its been about 6 weeks since I started beginning to log again, and eater smaller amounts, etc.. taking a lot of baby steps along the way and a lot of stumbles again, but feeing a little more in control lately - seeing a bit of weight drop off too which has helped keep me focused on what I want for myself; but seems to be happenin soooo slowly LOL... however.. it IS happening and it feels good to be seeing some results again; I know it's going to take quite a while to lose the entire 25lb regain that's left, ( did did the math.. at 1lb a week.. 25 weeks.. 6 months.. yikes!) but I WILL be at least 1/2 way there by the time summer rolls around as long as I keep focused on what I want for myself. Easy enough to say now, but the question remains can I stare down a bag of lay's and walk away when the time comes LOL! have a great weekend everyone and keep on going after what ya want!

Patrice - I can totally relate to the struggle with getting back on track; especially the logging... i think it took me almost a month to start fully logging again.... cause i can admit i find it a royal pain in the butt.. lol Not that you asked my opinion, but i don't think letting the days logged lapse would be a good idea; maybe just turn off the notification of the number of days so you don't see it pop up.... is there any particular struggle that's getting to you or it it simply a lack of motivation all over?

I don't know if this will help.. but if you recall, YOU were the one who got me to finally jump on the scale and see the truth (with that PM you sent me)... and that was my moment.. combined with i will admit... the simple fact i cant fit into any of my clothes anymore. i will be flat out honest - my motivating moment was that i had to dig through a bunch of storage bins and drag out an old pair of uniform pants (yup i wear a uniform at work) from back in my fatter days, because i simply could not squeeze into the ones i got when i hit my goal weight. That .. was a humiliating.. and motivating.. moment... i had sworn i would never ever go back there, and here i was.. and i was in a bit of a panic because i was sure i had gotten rid of all the old ones.. thank god i found a pair... but every day i put them on... it is motivation for me. Better health? yup.. that's on the agenda... walking every day? yup for the diabetes... but the plain old truth is... those "fat pants" were the kicker. So maybe take a few minutes away from the world over the weekend.. and ask yourself what's stopping you deep down from starting fresh and getting what you want for yourself? Doesn't matter what the reason is for a lack of motivation, or for the reason to kickstart your motivation is either.. but since you helped me tackle my demons and get started again, if there is anything i can do to help you do the same, i'm there for ya.