opal24 Member

That is absolutely amazing. You look wonderful - congratulations!

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday (the day after pancake day, or Shrove Tuesday) and goes until Good Friday. I know I would have learnt its significance in school, but I'm afraid it's long gone now. Have just looked on good old Wikipedia and it says it's the time the faithful use to prepare for Easter. And yes, it's true about…

SW: 231 CW: 208 GW: 168 (or less, will see when I get there!)

I'm watching with great interest to see how the post-Lent drinking/not-drinking goes. I still have no idea how I'll feel when my year is up! I don't miss the alcohol at all at the moment, but I think that's because my brain has completely switched to acceptance of not having any for a set time. And I agree, I don't think…

Bump

Hmm - does this mean that it hasn't helped, I wonder? Pamela - I haven't lost a huge amount, but I am feeling lighter. I do have little or no pain now, but I honestly don't know whether that's from the weight loss or from my spine finally settling down properly after my surgery. I'm now 8 months into my recovery and was…

Salty snacks!!! Sat and ignored a whole table full of cakes and pastries this morning - no problem! If they'd been potato chips - I'd have had to leave.....

Hi - I can totally relate to your back pain and the problems it causes. I had spinal surgery last year and am only just really able to get back into much in the way of exercise. I'm also in this for the long haul, so feel free to friend me and we can cheer each other on. I log in every day, so am always available for…

It's better to take the stone out of your shoe than learn to limp comfortably and one that was shared on Facebook today: If you don't like where you are, change it ............... you're not a tree (I seem to be all about changing things!)

Ummm yes - I'm at work at the moment............

My now 30 year old daughter has still not forgiven me for the fact that I ended up so desperate at the constant re-infestations that I cropped her shoulder blade length hair! It was her hair or my sanity and the sanity won :bigsmile:

Funny story - went out to dinner last night with 5 friends who used to work together. We were going to farewell one of us who's moving back to Kansas City (her hometown) for a year with her husband and kids. We hadn't been all together for probably 5 years and the last time we met all of us were wine drinkers to a greater…

Well clothes will be essential! But my real treat will be a new iPad - don't need it but WANT it!

I think it partly depends on how much you have to lose to begin with. I''m 5'7", started out at around 230 lbs and have lost 21lbs, but it's barely noticeable except in my face and in my clothes looking baggier, so I'm really not expecting other people to notice for quite a while yet. If I'd started maybe 21lbs over my…

I've been losing consistently without any exercise to speak of, just by sticking within my calorie count and going for the healthier food options. I'm now at a point (after some medical issues) where I think I'm ready to start exercising, but because I'm going so well anyway I'm not going to beat myself up over it. So yes…

Funny - I just opened this up to ask you how the weekend went Vacherin and I didn't need to. I'm glad it went well, and that you stuck to your commitment, without having to justify your self again. Nice to have the comment made about your jeans too! I'd definitely say there's a little of the green-eyed monster involved in…

Fantastic achievement! Can't wait to be posting the same message!

It's probably going to take me a year to get to goal, so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it to take at least a similar amount of time to establish a healthy maintenance programme. So yes, I'll keep on tracking for at least that long and then review. There's no way I want to go through the hard work of losing the…

Congratulations! Fantastic achievement! Can't wait to join you there :happy:

Hi Vacherin It must be really hard feeling that you're getting no support from a friend - and not just no support, but active discouragement. I have a feeling that your husband may well have hit the nail on the head in that it's simply sour grapes on your friend's behalf, but that doesn't make it any easier for you. I'm…

This - at the doctor's yesterday I was asked how much I weighed and told them down to the last 100grams!! The nurse looked at me as though I was mad!

My diary is public - I decided that it would keep me on track! And yes - how do you change the sodium setting? I keep mine as low as possible (under 1500 if poss.) but would really like to change the target to that. Help would be much appreciated.

Definitely not a silly NSV. It's all these 'little' things that add up to keep us motivated and on track. You should give yourself a pat on the back for your achievement - it's actually a huge step forward! Well done!

Great NSV! I get really frustrated when people say that you can still buy shoes if you gain weight because your feet stay the same size. They DON'T! Looking forward to seeing if I can eventually wear some of the really nice shoes sitting in my wardrobe...

LOL Vacherin - 70 tomorrow for me as well, but I still have 285 to go! My 365 days is up on New Year's Eve! And I think the great thing is that even though the craving's still there, you're resisting it (we'll ignore the chocolate and cheese!). Oh - and I didn't have to face the fear and do it anyway at the quiz night. I…

It is odd how quickly not drinking becomes the norm, isn't it? I was out to dinner with non-drinkers last night and whereas at one time I would have had the thought of a glass (or two) of wine in the back (or front) of my mind, last night I didn't even think about it until someone else mentioned a drink. And they meant a…

And mine! :laugh:

Two weeks is fantastic! Well done - is it becoming the new 'normal' yet?

I plan and track ahead. That way I adjust as necessary and then forget about counting. I do sometimes have to remind myself to eat my evening snacks though! If I didn't work this way, my calorie count would just be all over the place and I'd be constantly worrying about it.

My blood pressure is borderline high, so I am trying to watch my sodium and keep it to below 1500 if at all possible. I can't say that it appears to have made a difference to my BP yet, but I'm only just starting to exercise again after a long recovery from back surgery, so I'm hoping the combination of exercise and low…