Evening Hatters.. just popping on for a sec; still can't see out of the eye yet (had a myopic cataract extraction and an intraocular lens implant and LRI astigmatism reduction as well, Charip). Which means they ripped the lens out of my eye and put in a fake one basically, and did somethint to rix the astigmastism. Not a happy camper cause having had bad sight all my life, means I freak out at anything even NEAR my eyes.. let alone a guy with a scalpel. Anyway.. can't stay on long but wanted to thank everyone for the wishes and see how the HAtters are doing..

LOVE the fact that the Hatters who had some discouraging scale moments are changing their old thinking and not giving up out of frustration or sadness, but recognizing its ok to be disappointed, but the number on that little machine is truly irrelevant to our long term goal of becoming healthy... To those of us who struggle with falling back into hold habits... it's taken us 50 years to make those habits.... cut yourself a little slack in learning how to break them!! If you trip on a stair, you don't throw yourself down the whole staircase because you tripped LOL..

Change is progress.. . and we're looking for progress in our battle; not perfection.

If we progress just a little each day.. or a little each week... we can't help but get to our destination!!

Loving the quotes from everyone - they ARE inspiring!!
Wish I could do replies but have to limit puter time; but will check in for a few minutes throughout the evening.
But IPOU's to all the hatters, for all the hard work you're putting in, and the courage to confront your fears and innermost doubts and even share them with each other here.. because there's nothing better than having a friend who.. just gets it.

Morning Hatters!!!

I know it's stil showing Monday chatter.... lol but since there hasn't been much chatter, and there are some excellent stories and inspirations.. I thought I'd just leave it on here til it gets unruly to move around.. any thoughts frome the hatters? would you prefer a new daily page or let it run for a day or two.. inquiring minds wanna know lol!

I gotta catch up on a few from yesterday and grab some brekkie to go with.. this morning I made a wee mess...poured the milk BESIDE my mug of tea instead of into it .. im thinking by the time im fully recovered it might be a good excuse to get a cleaning lady in for a day instead of doing the chores.. (it wasnt my fault.... i couldnt see the dirt on the floor, or the dustbunnies playing tag in the living room) yeah... hmmm... this might work!! lol :bigsmile: See ya in a few, Hatters!

Hairspray: that was me the day I got the so called "healthy muffin" and discovered to my horror the calorie and fat count .. and it was only 7am..! and like you.. knew I was going to need protein thru the day to keep me going..

This might be a good time to try that "zig zag" technique of keeping to the same weekly total of whatever your daily calorie goal would add up to, but zig zagging the daily numbers.. today could be your zig zag UP day! And bonus. that meal was right at the start of the week so you have lots of time to jig the numbers around and still get in your deficit for the week to snag a loss!

With this being a lifetime change now instead of another diet, it's going to be interesting seeing how we each deal with a day or two of high calorie intakes as we progress... changing the mindset from "i made a mistake" to "well.. today turned out to be a higher calorie count than I'm comfortable with now"... I'll either kick in some extra exercise if I can to burn it off, or I'll simply watch my calorie count for a few days to make sure this was an exception, and not an old habit creeping back..

but life is going to be like this for all of us from here on in.. daily choices.. every single day.. deciding for ourselves what we choose to eat, but NOT falling into the trap of thinking "I screwed up" "I messed up".. if we choose something. You can't screw up when you're NOT on a diet.... we made have made some less than perfect choices owards our weight loss goal tperhaps, but its not about dieting and denial anymore.. its about choosing what eat to keep us healthy, and how much we eat until we lose the excess weight we're carrying. Kinda nice feeling I think.. not being on a diet anymore??? :bigsmile:

The sun is setting on this Hatter’s day.. back from the doc’s with a couple more scripts and some instructions but it’s all good; might have to limit a bit of puter time for a couple of days as its pretty tough seeing at the moment; other eye has a heavy glasses prescription and now this eye is no script but not back to whatever sight its going to be at.. so it’s a little hard seeing anything between the two different views… add in drops that make them super sensitive to light (in the middle of summer and beautiful bright sunny days) so I’m wandering around with shades on in the house even with all the blinds closed… yep I’m one “hip” chick with the shades on indoors LOL!!

Clarified the exercise; nothing more than walking around here for a week or so because the lens is a “hanging” one and needs time to settle into its proper place or something.. but then I can start walking as long as I can see well enough not to kill myself tripping over something… BONUS: I live in a condo so I can walk up and down the corridors 100 times if need be.. and I will!! But until then am content to work on my eating and thinking about why I have always turned to food .. lots of time on my hands without being able to do much else.. so will utilize it to give the little grey cells a workout!!

But when I get the go ahead to go back to brisk walking, I’m gonna be looking to the Mad Hatters to kick my butt if I start to slide…. I love that I can be honest about my food and exercise diarys here.. I don’t have to say “Im not going to put that in…what will people think?” or whatever excuse I’ve used in the past.. because it’s all about progress.. and learning every day why I do some of the things I do and what it really is that can drive me to dive into a bag of chips when I’m sad or depressed or tired or whatever.. what am I getting out of that bag of chips, or think that I am getting back from them??? Love? Comfort? Friendship?? From chips??? Hmmmm Many things to ponder…. And lots of time to do it so might as well use the time to good advantage!!

My biggest challenge is going to be staying away from the puter for long periods!!! But lots of little short ones will get me around that LOL.. so.. a few quick replies til I shut down for an hour or 2..

Lindawoj: I know you said you were “afraid” to weigh in.. but remember..as one of the hatters said.. its just a snapshot of today… its nothing more than a tool to use, not the whole enchilada (hmm.. well you know what I mean lol).. use them if you need to keep yourself in check or to remind yourself that perhaps you’ve made a few extreme choices lately, but theyre no more than that.. a tool to remind you what youre aiming for, not a punishment. Use it for what it does for you, not what it does TO you! )

Time2: you must be exhausted, woman!! Take a little R&R if/when you can grab it!!

Tonya.. loved the three C’s!! And huge IPOU on taking the chance to make a change!!! Remember it doesn’t have to be a HUGE one… little ones add up over time to huge ones on their own.. so big congrats on making the decision!! Would love to hear any tips from any of the hatters too about the whole stress/emotional thing as that’s a big prob for me diving headlong into food as well…. So this week is my time to look at why and see what really lurks behind it!! Look forward to hearing how it’s going for you!!

KLB: Beautifully said!!! Yes!!! I used your words above cause they were so right on with it just being one tool.. AWESOME on the looser fitting scales.. woo hoo… that’s the real reward.. it’s not about numbers its about feeling great!! IPOU!

Charip: great idea focusing on the ounces… like the changes, they will add up to pounds eventually too!!!! Isn’t is strange how we all do that thing… eat well for a few days then say if it doesn’t show a loss to heck with it im gonna treat myself with something… it sounds so weird when I say it out loud… it really makes no sense at all lol.. and yet its something I’ve done reptetively for 40 odd years… but I still don’t get why I think I need a reward of something crappy…when I’ve just eaten well for a week….you’d think instead we wouldn’t even dream of having something bad if nothing has changed…. But no…we go immediately for crap…?? Its just so weird really.. and yet.. its exactly what I at least.. have always done too… (but that was whenever I was on a DIET.. which I’m never going to be on anymore.. ever!) HUGE IPOU on 29 lbs.. omg that’s AMAZING!!! I cannot wait til I can say that.. well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Doing the snoopy happy dance for ya! (oh.. and sorry to report.. I’m just a clerk in a government office LOL… I’ve never seen myself as any kind of motivator.. so it must be you wonderful hatters bringing a little out in me!)

Sorry guys eyes are hurting a little so very quickly

Kimberly so glad you had a n awesome weekend.. I was so jealous!!

Leslye: it was a man came up with that idea. Personally I much prefer the 5/4 (5 days one week.. 4 days the next.. get a long weekend every other week!

1slim…. I suffered badly with the hot flashes; found some triggers (like coffee in the morning always set me off. But I refuse togive it up so I suffered thru.. then they stopped for some reason during morning coffee lol. They tend to come and go now …here for a week..then gone… will keep fingers crossed they fade for a while at least for ya!

Merobi: thanks very much for the dictation offer LOL!! But I get so much motivation from you guys I don’t really see what ya get from me.. but as long as we all get something from each other, it’s a win win, right! And good reminder to be kind to ourselves…. And that we rock at HARD lol!

Flipflop so good to see you was getting a little worried abou ya! I think most of us are in the same boat with spouses and/or kids….. would that we could make them responsible for our own food choices… (and I completely salute anyone who has to cook for ANYONE more than themselves… I honest to god don’t know how you do it!) but alas.. we gotta suck it up and realize that ultimately we’re the only ones responsible for what we put in our mouths – and I hate that fact I really do LOL!! Hang in there sweetie; you’ve been sick too so take care of yourself!!

Gotta take a break.. be back later for the rest 