200+ Hot For Halloween!

Hi, I'm brand spanking new here and would like to join please!

A bit about me: My name is Janette. I'm 41, married for 18 years, and we have 2 boys ages 14 and 11. I work from home doing taxes and personal finance. I wasn't overweight until I was pregnant with my 1st. I just never really lost it. Since my "baby" is practically a teenager I can hardly use the "baby fat" excuse anymore. LOL We live in VA but just moved here last year so I don't know a lot of the area yet. My hubby works for the government and part of his job is that he gets deployed. He's in Afghanistan right now and has been since Feb 4th. He will be back around the end of Oct though (YAY!) Sadly, I'm pretty used to him being gone. He was a National Guard reservist in MI where we lived most of our lives and was deployed to Iraq in 03/04. When he got home we moved to AZ. Due to financial tightening and not being able to sell our MI house he took a job as a contractor in Kuwait for 18 months in 06/07. When the bottom fell out of the economy he found a job in Germany in 09/10 but that time the boys and I went too. From there he got this job and so now we are in VA. Needless to say, it's been a pretty stressful decade. LOL

While he was in Iraq I did manage to lose about 90 lbs. I was so proud of myself! Then we moved to AZ and I found it again while unpacking. Next time I lose the weight I'm throwing it out for good. So now I'm back up near my all time high at 264. I'm sick of being fat. I'm sick of being embarrassed. My overall health is still very good but I know that won't last as I get older if this weight doesn't come off.

I know I can do it because I already did it once. It's just depressing that it takes so long to lose a pound but it's so easy to gain it. *sigh* My goal is to be at 250 by Halloween (my birthday). I know I won't be thin and sexy before hubby comes home but I hope I can at least be noticeably thinner. He was home for 2 weeks in August for R&R and I've already lost 10 lbs since then.

HOLY MOLEY this thread never stops. I HAVE been gone for a week but there are over ten pages!
Okay let me catch up with you all first, sorry if it seems like ancient history but I want to celebrate as many successes as I can with you girl!

Natalie – I like the money idea for every pound you lose. I might have to co-opt that for my own goals! I feel you on the chocolate bars… my weakness are those Ben & Jerry’s indiv cups… they look sooo small but are 240 calories a pop – yikes!

Kiki – you’ve been rocking your workouts and meeting your calorie goals – great job! I’ve been having a big problem with sodium too, I’m going to have to pick out the problem children of my diet and see how I can replace them. Even today I struggled because I still had like a thousand exercise calories to eat and only 105mg of sodium left on MFP goals. But it seems like freaking EVERYTHING has a ton of sodium in it! I was about to send my husband to the store for melons, grapes and apples and he was like, that’s ridiculous, you’re not going to eat two whole melons AND grapes AND an apple. But then inspiration hit and some of the Naked Juices I keep around for when I work early and don’t have time to make breakfast are low in sodium but high in calories. I like the NJ company model too. Anyway, I think I’m going to pound two of these babies (even though it’s considered 4 servings total) and hopefully it will balance out?

Sarah <WnT> - I’m glad to hear your friend’s surgery went well. Prayers for her continued recovery and for her family. And WOW you run a lot! Awesome job on the loss this week (EVEN WITH TOM! Yay!)! That Miss Piggy costume IS SO CUTE!

Amy – I liked your dentist story. My husband is the same way… he has NO knack for languages at all. It’s so funny. I hope you didn’t get sick before your trip!

Megan – Costume buying online IS scary but the selection is way better for my size than in any stores out here. Sometimes I will order a few to make sure I get at least one good one. And if they ALL fit… well theme parties are year round

Sarah <rain> - I get exhausted just from *reading* your posts lol! Go girl, keep it up!

Kendal – That ref costume will be soooo cute for work – you’re so va va voom – love it! And your soup recipe sounds great! Snack Day sounded tough – but I think that you DIDN’T fail it because you didn’t bring any home! I totally laughed at your “What I feel like when I run” picture – thanks

Kerry – It’s nice to hear about your successes! Trail running sounds fun and you sound like you are owning it! I wouldn’t worry so much about TOM bloat – you have progressed SO FAR and are still working SO HARD that I know you’ll get right past it! Did that 18 glasses of water make a visible difference? Thank you for continuing to post – you are an inspiration girl!

Pam – Wooohoooo on your nonstop 30 minute run! Congrats on the loss last week – it’s great to see that you had fun on vacay and still did good I agree with you on all the processed yuckiness in the grocery stores these days… I feel like they’re sloooowly bringing in more natural products but I wish they would step on it because I can’t afford to shop at those natural/organic stores all the time!

BMJ (sorry I forgot your name) – No worries, we all have weeks like that! Just get back on the horse!

Joy – Welcome!

Kristina – Thanks so much again for keeping track of all of us and good luck dodging the work food!

Rikki – X fest sounded fun! I miss big concerts like that. We don’t get too many great concerts in Hawai’I – something to do with the cost of moving all the equipment vs. renting it (both are super high). Anyway it’s hard to eat healthy when you’re on the go; maybe try packing lunches instead next time? If that’s allowed in the places you go I mean. Don’t be bummed about your friend losing faster than you, but get out of bed and take charge! Listen to these girls on the thread – they’ve all had their ups and downs too – stick with it!

Apryl – Yes everyone talks so much lol I can’t keep up either!

Ashleigh – Guests are fun but frustrating when you’re trying to get things done!

Heather – Welcome! You ARE already hot/sexy beautiful! Don’t let those icky days get you down! (Even TOM!)

Nava – Sounds like your birthday weekend was so much fun! Sorry your honey had move though  And your dog is absolutely positively adorable! What is she? I hope everything works out with the England/Joe thing.

Jenn – I’m sorry to hear about your student. Prayers and condolences for you and his family.

Jessi – Wooot! Way to go on week 1! How’s your tongue doing? And, how does one actually “sprain” a tongue? I’m glad you’re liking the Vicodin and hope you get better soon. Sorry your coworker sucks – I would just log everytime she oversteps her bounds and turn it over to the boss – maybe then they can get rid of her faster.

Crystal – Way to go on stopping smoking! We’ll be here for you – through bad moods and all And OMG your “stick” story is HILARIOUS! I seriously just laughed and my husband looked over at me like I was crazy.

Hosanna – I feel like I’ve missed a bunch with you this week. Okay, to start, your Montanna must have been sooo special. I have a special place in my heart for Rhodesian Ridgebacks – they are one of the best breeds I have ever gotten to play with. My old roommate had one and we would always have such a blast roller blading and running around. I miss that dog. On other topics – boo to exes! I’m glad you put him in his place! Way to go on C25K! Awesome job at staying on track EVEN WITH Hungry Jacks! And WOW – LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUR NSV! That’s woman power Hopefully your and Pam’s victories spur many many more here

Rachel – MFP has given me a lot of wakeup calls too! Taco Bell is awful! I am scared to go out to eat these days unless I’ve burned like 1000 calories already haha. Congrats on your 10 mile – keep at it!
Lacey – Glad you’re tearing it up over there, turning heads with your hot self Keep it up and enjoy the food! I wish I could go back to Paris, like, tomorrow!

Victoria – Way to go with all of your exercises and your loss!!!!! You’re a rockstar, lady! Hope your Bugg gets fixed soon. Your meal prep sounds very tasty, what a great way to lower cholesterol

Lori – Welcome!

Katheryne – Okay I have to ask… what the heck do you do that you get all of these wonky calls? You work for AK gov’t right? At least they make good stories… And I COMPLETELY agree with you on the chicken broth thing – don’t they know we’re trying to watch our sodium intake here?!?! However, I CANNOT agree with you on one thing. Brussel Sprouts?!? Ewwwww!

Qofsheba (sorry I didn’t catch your name) – You’ll get through that plateau girl! Congrats on the “new clothes” too – I can’t wait to be able to fit into my old duds

Hailie – Biiiiiiig huuuuuuuuugs! Stay out of that turtle shell! Remember to give yourself a big woooohooo on your C25K! Keep it up girlie – don’t let meanies get you down!

Jane – Congrats on the loss!

Janette – Welcome!

Everyone – Thanks for the bean info! Super helpful – will try it next week! And my current trash tv show is Storage Wars. My husband and I can’t help it – there’s a marathon on A&E right now and we can’t tear ourselves away!

P.S. I know I haven’t been around that long, but I am really loving how supportive everyone is of each other. You girls are incredible!

Okay now for what’s going on with me…

Sunday I sucked. I had all these big plans of exercising after football was over, buuuut I didn't because I was stressing about studying for my upcoming economics test. The only exercise I got in was the walk to and from the bar so I baaaarely made it under my calorie goal. Tsk Tsk.

Monday I had an extremely physical day at work doing floor moves, so I logged that as an exercise because I had the red face and sweat to back it up Then I ended up eating a ton , including a single serving of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream , and made TACOS for dinner (although THOSE *were* made from lean ground turkey, light on the accompaniments so maybe not so bad? Anyway I was really beating myself up about it so popped in the TJ 20 minute workout and felt better. AND came under calorie goal!

Tuesday was all about school; I studied all day, ate light, did TJ Fat Blaster and Ab Jam, and went to class. They had greek food for us for dinner so I had to estimate the calorie counts, but I tried to overestimate and still came in just barely under goal. Thank goodness for being careful earlier in the day!

Wednesday was tough, I definitely over ate. I've been feeling pretty off the past week or so, not sure why because I'm already done with TOM. Anyway I felt it Monday with the ice cream, and Wednesday I kept going to the fridge to look for something to eat. I tried to satiate myself with half a ham and cheese sandwich ... then some yogurt ... then ANOTHER half of a ham and cheese ... Ugh it was bad. Ended up using the taco leftovers to make NACHOS... Wow. The good thing was that I played hard that night... my kickball team was suuuuper short and I ended up having to put myself in the kicking order twice because we didn't have enough girls I had a ton of action on the field too, so thankfully I burned off a lot of calories. We won, btw - UNDEFEATED baby! Even with a crappy roster and an overfed coach/captain (me!)! Had a single beer at happy hour and ended up being only 50 over my calorie goal after ALL was calculated.

Thursday was another tough day (SERIOUSLY WTH IS GOING ON WITH ME THIS WEEK??) I have to admit I was pretty sore from the game the day before, and did not want to do a single thing related to exercising. I ate a lot fewer calories than I had all week, but without exercise I ended up going over my goal. And I went over exactly the amount that is in a single serving of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. Go figure. (It's because I ATE one!) Grrrr.

Then it was Friday. And I still felt weird, or off or sick or something. I wasn't getting anything done, was about ready to just call it quits and take a nap or watch junk tv or something. And I finally kicked myself in the a s s and said "Tasha, knock that crap off! You've been doing pretty good the last couple weeks, don't blow it now! Get back on that wagon!" I was still kinda sore, but I popped into WOWY and told it to put me down for some Punch, Kick & Jam and some Turbo Sculpt! Yeah baby, 90 minutes. I used hand weights for the first time in years for PK&J and I was feeling it. I was soooo tired for parts of it but kept pushing through. By the time I got to Turbo Sculpt I was like, "Tasha, are you crazy? You shouldn't do these two together!" but then I just pushed play and got through it using 5lb weights. Then I was like, "What the heck Tasha, you've been slacking all week, let's do Ab Jam too!" So I did it! And then I got a text message from my girlfriend asking if I was going to Hip Hop Hustle tonight at the gym and I was like, "I just worked out for almost 2 hours - sure!" And I rinsed off in the shower and got my gym bag together and then I was like, "Okay Tasha, now I know you really ARE crazy. NO, I'm not going, I'll end up hurting myself." So I didn’t.

And good thing too, because I rolled out of bed this morning (it’s still Saturday here) to go to my Zumba class at the gym and there was NO WAY I would have made it if I had gone to Hip Hop the night before. As it was, I was feeling pretty drained, but burned around 1110 calories between the class and jogging to and from the gym. Two days in a row I’ve had some serious calorie burning and have been having trouble eating back all my ex calories without going over in sodium or sugars. How do you girls combat that? I reeeeally have to do better about watching sodium the rest of the day; it’s killing me. Since I weigh 215, is it okay if I don’t eat back all my ex cals? I had good sized meals today and snacks and I don’t know what else to eat and MFP says I still have 400 cals to eat! I mean, if I’m not hungry, I have a really hard time forcing myself to eat when I just worked my a s s off, you know? But I also don’t want to go into starvation mode… ugh.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on that. Okay sorry for the loooooooong post – I have to do better about logging onto the desktop more regularly!

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!

Aloha!

Hello All

Day two of the 'new me'........only 98 more to go!!! So exercise 2/2 - cycled up hill for just over a mile, have walked at least three miles and still have dog to take out. Food choices good so far and still have rest of day for others - hurrah.

Janette - welcome.

Enjoy your day xx

Annette: You rock. I am so proud of you!!!

Tasha. Technically, I'm a legal office assistant. Kind of like a junior paralegal. Basically, i'm the personal assistant to two state's attorneys. My specific section is child protection. My attorneys represent the Office of Children's Services for all of the legal aspects of taking children from their parents when they are abused and/or neglected; and sometimes we get an orphan who just doesn't have anywhere else to go.. So, my day consists of prepairing legal docs for my attorneys, proof reading legal docs for my attorneys (one writes everything herself and wants me to proof, and the other wants me to draft everything and she proofs.) but the hardest part is dealing with the social workers. For the most part they are fine; however, i have a few that write at like a thrid grade level. Let me tell you, when I get a report that is 20+ pages, and the writer doesn't know to put a period after "Ms." or "Dr."; and can't tell the difference between "in March 22nd" and "on March 22" vs. "In March" and "on March" I can spend hours fixing it up enough so the judge doesn't laugh us out of the courtroom. Aside from having to read about the scourge of the earth on a daily basis, I love my job. Usually, they can't keep people in the position, they usually transfer out after about a year. I plan on sticking it out; however, as the paralegal for my section should be retiring in a couple of years. I want her job.

As for the phones, that is not technically part of my job. I just cover if there is no one else. (I HATE IT)

Jessie--yum yum on the quiche. My husband would never eat it. He's so picky.

as for me. I've managed to work out every day this weekend. I always have a problem with slacking off on the weekends.
Food is crap however

--katheryne

Rikki - *big hugs*

Crystal - BAHAHAHAHA @ Stupid people! One of my dogs seems to eat nothing BUT sticks, and he's all good! Thanks for the encouragement Also {{BIG HUGS}} for your situation.

Tasha - That sounds like a CRAZY week!!! And yeah, i really hope mine and Pam's victories can spur more, that'd be awesome!


I know that's a totally pathetic catchup, but yeah... it's been a big weekend.

Isaac's friend came to stay for the weekend, and all three of us enjoy a nice glass (or three) of wine, so we bought six bottles for the weekend, and he brought alng another...
We hit the wine saturday evening. My memory stops somewhere around the opening of the seventh bottle... And comes back in again at a point where i'm covered ith red wine puke and Isaac is helping me shower and stripping the bed.
Another memory lapse is then followed by me calling out to isaac, before starting to hurl my guts up all over the floor of our bedroom.

Poor Isaac had to try and clean it all up, while hammered, and deal with me. I love that man so much.

So yesterday morning i was down 2lb from the weigh in the morning before. Didn't eat anything until about 2pm when we got KFC. I tried to rehydrate, but kept saying hello to my water again, and had beans on toast for tea.
So sodium is a major b i t c h, and i'm now 2lb UP from saturday morning. Pleh. Oh well.

So i spent a great deal of yesterday rinsing and washing clothes that had been on the floor next to the bed, Trying to find hidden puke-staches that are still stinking out our room, and desperately hunting for my GLASSES!!! ARGH.

Oh, and apparently i also spilled red wine all over isaac's friend before demanding that he strip so that i could wash his clothes. I'm quite proud of the fact that even in my state at the time, i was thinking first "MUST CLEAN CLOTHES!!"
(It worked, there was no wine left on them the next day.)

Ok, so i have to go and find another puke pile... there's definitely still some in there. NO idea where though, i've cleaned that room top to bottom!

Hosanna - Sounds like QUITE the weekend! O.O Clothes would have been my first concern, too. :P

It's almost October (Sheesh! This year has really gone by fast...) and this may be out of some people's comfort zone big time, but every year Boobiethon (www.boobiethon.com) does a rather unique fundraiser for breast cancer research, and typically donates some of the money to a person with breast cancer who is struggling to meet their financial needs, as well. I have volunteered for the last 2 years; they need people to tweet for them (my account is jessica_culver, if you care to follow), to edit pictures to meet their guidelines (sign up info on their site), and to submit pictures - both clothed and bare. Men and women alike can submit pictures, and any female bare pictures are in a gallery you must donate I believe $20+ to get access to. It's a pretty awesome thing, imo, and I love participating. So, might be worth checking out.

Well, it has been a hard week over here. My friend is not doing as well as we would hope. She's had two blood transfusions in the past 24 hours and is still paralyzed. I spent 6 hours at her house today cleaning up after her family. She is hawaiian, so when the news came in that she needed surgery, EVERYONE flew in...and there were 16 people staying in her house. Now that life is "back to normal" for them and they are home, I came in with my cleaning kit and crew and went through her house and cleaned up from that. All I can say is...wow. *sigh*

My family has been very patient with me being gone so much and helping her family, but tonight, my hubby wants me to himself, so I'm glad I was able to get finished in time to have the evening with him. He is bathing the babes as I type this.

Foodwise it has been an easy week to make good choices. Exercise: I am tired from being gone so much but I am still getting it in every day...maybe not to the intensity that I would like, but I'm doing something... Today I got up at 4:30 a.m. and ran 11.7 miles, came home, got the kids and I ready for church, attended church, came home and grabbed a protein bar for lunch, cleaned for 6 hours and now I am collapsing on the couch with a pre-made chicken pot pie from Costco. The food database tells me it is 250 cals/ serving, so I'm having two...because I'm hungry and because I don't want to find another way to get my calories in.

Megan: I totally get the head games. It is a battle of wills vs. yourself. Do what it takes to make it to your mini-goals and you will be more motivated to make the next goal. My goal is to do this every day until Christmas. I LITERALLY have a chain of paper rings in my bedroom and I rip off another one every night before I go to bed. It was daunting when I hung it up, but it's getting shorter... Sometimes I rip it off knowing I did my best that day, and other days, I rip it off knowing i could have done better...but either way, I am doing it every day until Christmas.

Welcome, Maureen!

Hosanna: Oi. That sounds like a long weekend. If you have Oxyclean, it will take the vomit smell out of anything....even carpet. Make a paste with water, place it on the spot, let it dry and then vacuum it up. It will pull the smell and the stain out.

Jessi: that sounds like a great cause.

Kendal: I refuse pizza for that very reason...It plays with my head and I just don't like it enough to deal with that.

Lacey and Amy: I require more updates...please.

Kristina: Great job on hitting the groc store for the week. I know you will have a great loss this week for just doing what you're supposed to to get it off! You will be back in no time.

To the rest: I love you and I've read everything, but the hubby is clearing his throat over on the couch with our movie all cued up. I'll talk atcha later!!

Hi All, hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Ive been dreading posting as i know how awful my eating has been this weekend. Shockingly bad. Making me feel really down. I do so well for a week then it all goes out of the window. I really need to look at why i do this. What is going on in my head...
Self sabotage. Its like i say in my head this is what i do, eat healthy then binge, so i accept it, and then do it, but i shouldn't be, its really not healthy or right.
Feel super depressed today, let myself down, prob crashing from all the sugar i ate over the weekend too.
Im 154.2 this morn and at the end of last week i was down to 149.6.
4.6lbs in a weekend...urgh.
O well start again today.

************WI - 154.2*************************

Rachel- does a glass of chocolate milk curb those sweet cravings for you? I, too, love desserts, but found if I put 1% milk in a standard coffee cup (1 serving) and add the lite hershey's syrup to it, then i'll be good to go. And I savor it by drinking it out of the spoon i stirred with. Ends up being around 140 calories depending on how much chocolate you use.

also, all you pizza eaters- when i need a pizza, i bake one on a small flour tortilla with a dab of sauce, 1 serving of mozz cheese, half a serving (a whole serving is 17 slices) of turkey pepperoni, and veggies on top! I put it in a 425 degree oven and bake for 10 mins or so until everything is bubbly and the crust is crispy. comes to 80 calorie tortilla, 35 calorie pepperoni, 100 call mozz cheese, and 25 cals for the sauce. Any veggies you add are minimal calories. total is around 235 each depending on what all you put on there.

i eat them often. it is a good way for me to eat more veggies. sometimes i just put all the toppings in the tortilla and make a quesadilla then just dip it in the sauce. either way, they are quick and tasty!

On to another busy day... Yeah Monday (not). I much prefer the weekends. I failed to log again yesterday. Today, I will log everything. No ex yesterday... Today will be better.

Hi girls. I'm feeling awful as I haven't checked in with you guys in days! This weekend and most of last week was pure madness. Things should start to slow down just a tad. We were out of the state on saturday and then at an amusement park yesterday. Work and class today means not even a free minute to step on the scale, so I'm going to have to take my first ever pass. I'm really disgusted with myself, so I'm super motivated to crack down big time this week. The scale is up, I'm sure of that, and I need to be on the ball with drinking a ton of water. I also hope to cram in some running at the gym between work and school.

Catch up with you gals later!

Hey Ladies,

Could I join your group please?

I was a member of MFP before but stopped while pg with my son. I managed to lose quite a bit after he was born but now I'm back at work 3 days a week (sitting on my bum in an office), I've put a stone back on.

Anyhow, my name is Michelle, I'm 31, partner to Martin, stepmum to Lewis(14) and mummy to Elliott, who will be 1 on Friday.

My goals are:
to up my exercise, I don't do enough but struggle to find the time so could do with some tips.
to up my fluid intake, I don't drink nearly enough
to lose 1-2ib a week if poss, I want to lose that stone by xmas at the latest.

So, hello ladies. xx

Even though the scale doesn't show it, I did well meeting my exercise goals last week. Walked Lexi twice and went to the gym 3 times. I was on the elliptical 50 minutes on Friday, but it was split between a 15 minute session and a 35 minute session. I finally got on the weight machines for the first time since I joined the gym. Oh how I missed that feeling. Cardio is great, but I like feeling my muscles strain like that. They have this really cool ab machine where you sit straight forward with your chest against the pads, hold the handles and twist your legs left and right to twist at your waist. LOVE IT!!

Mr. Reunion and I went to the grocery store together last night. He's such a fantastic man and is doing everything he can to encourage and not derail me from losing weight. (not that he doesn't love me being the way I look now...) It's going to be tough to adjust to him and his "can eat fast food and junk food all the time without ever gaining weight because his job is so physical and his metabolism is so high"-ness. I told him to put his food in a separate cabinet (one that I hardly ever use anyway) so that I won't have to see it. I guess it's finally time to be introduced to Will Power and Self Control.

Sorry this post is all about me and I haven't responded to anyone, but please know that I've read everything and love you all. But I gotta get some work done now