Good Morning, Wish I was camping with Ekl. I bet she would really push me with that paddle. Reminds me of the time year before last when DH and I were camping and decided to float/paddle down the river. About halfway through, the sky blackened and I could hear thunder in the distance. I am terrified of lightening, especially anywhere near the water. Have had, locally, on 2 separate occasions in the last few years, a young boy struck and killed by lightening, near water. I grabbed the paddle and let me tell you I had an upper body workout that day! I think DH got a real kick out of watching me kill myself trying to get down river and off of the water before the storm hit. It wasn't a bit funny to me. Thank God, the storm turned and didn't hit us. I never could have out paddled it as far upriver as we were. SS, Thanks for the vote for the award. But remember, I only lost 5 lbs last week. The other 2 were from the weeks before. I've also found a big difference in weight with different times of day, different clothes, and after meals. I only go by 1st thing in the morning weight in my nightgown. Counting calories would be too hard for me. I am so lazy. I have found it easier to just forget the bun completely at BK and have the meat in a dish with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I have to have my mayo. I've never been big on bread anyway. Lots of meals I cook I just forget to fix any bread. Drives DH crazy because he feels he has to have it. But, he will settle for WW sliced bread with butter spread on it when I forget! Harold, How are those eyes doing? Can you see us yet?!?! Sorry we are confusing you with the multiple weigh-in days. Weekends aren't good to me, so it is best to have a day to get back on track before posting an official weight. 48 lbs lost! WOW! Such tenacity! If I can hang in, that would put me right around my goal weight. I shall set my sights there. Peg, 3 lbs! Great job! I can't wait to get below DH in weight. I HATE HATE HATE weighing more than him. That's why I get discouraged when I only lose 1 lb a week now. I think he hangs around high 150s -low 160s. Once I get below him I will be ok with "slow and steady wins the race". Can y'all tell I'm from the "I WANT IT NOW" generation? That's how I got so large. I wanted those 2 big bowls of chocolate ice cream everyday while I forgot veggies and exercise. Now I'm paying for it. Those chest pains were my gift from God to wake me up. It worked! Karen, I'm glad you held steady while being sick. Are you feeling better? I bet you are weak as a puppy. Take it easy 'till you get some strength back. I know what you mean about night snacking. DH eats stuff every night after we get in bed. Can't fall asleep because of all of that eating noise on the other side of my bed! Some nights it's peanut butter crackers, others it's 2 peanut butter sandwiches, chips & dip, whatever he can find in the kitchen. If I can't resist, I will do celery with a very little PB, or 15 or so pistachios (sp?) shelled and eaten very slowly while he pigs out. I try to resist "Roseanne" that is giving Silver such a hard time!!! Helen, Everybody needs some fun with friends occasionally. And to still lose a pound, how sweet it is! Jas, About the WW. If it helps you get where you are going sooner, it is worth the $8 weekly. I did WW for a while once. My meeting was about 40 miles from home, so I quit going. Being right at work would really help you. My friend does it and it has helped her. It's just about finding what works best for you. If you have friends who are doing it at work with you, that would really help you stick to your diet. Nothing like having that up close and personal encouragement. If it would still be you working alone and you can get yourself kick-started, Save the $8 to use at the grocery store on healthier foods and spend the time you would spend at the meetings working out, walking, etc. Check in here more often for encouragement and our tried and true diet tips that have worked for us. As you can tell from the length of my posts, I love to talk. I can talk until you beg me to shut up!!! Have a great day everyone, Betty

Good morning, Karen, take care of yourself and up the vitamin C. I hate strep. Being allergic to most antibiotics I have to go every day for a shot of the only antibiotic I can take. Such a pain. Let's look at the bright side... You may feel too bad to eat and lose a few extra pounds! :) Poor Baby. I'm not trying to make fun of you. Just trying to make you smile. Jas, 15 minutes from the beach! How awesome is that!!!! We started camping with a tent. Then a friend gave us a good deal on a older pop-up. Nothing fancy, but has air conditioning. The older I get the less I can handle these hot, muggy, sweaty days. Harold, I know what you mean about the glasses. I take mine off and turn off the light at night , wake up and reach for them first thing in the morning. Otherwise my world is REALLY fuzzy! Ek, That waist is so tiny I got my magnifying glass out to see it! Encouraging is what Harold does best. Which Carolina are you from? I love both. Our favorite vacation is Nags Head. If it is just the 2 of us we like the off season so we can have the beach to ourselves. Snuck away one New Years and it was GRAND! We were all alone on Pea Island and the sea shells were fantastic!!!! Dh and I have a running contest of who finds the biggest seashell and biggeat piece of sea glass. He ALWAYS wins. One year after a storm I found a gallon vinegar jar washed up and claimed the biggest sea glass for the day!! He said I cheated,but I don't care!! His favorite was when I found a tall wooden step ladder washed up and dragged it forever to reach the truck. Hey, it was already salt treated! I spent a week in Chapel Hill with my niece last May. Loved the shopping. It's a beautiful town. We finally made it to Hilton Head year before last with another niece. Even sneaked down to Savannah and had lunch at 'The Lady and Sons' and checked out the beautiful homes while we were there. I'm dreading starting to work out to tone and tighten. I really need inspiration for that. I can do the treadmill, no problem. But, I don't even want to talk about all of that ab, thigh, etc. I am lazy,lazy.lazy. I will get off of the treadmill and stand in front of the mirror and do maybe 10 bicep curls, tricep extensions, and side leg raises and that's it. Hopefully when I lose a little more weight I can get motivated. I've got this lower stomach thing going on that I've had since I had my hystorectomy 22 years ago. It almost looks like the Dr forgot to bring the muscles back down and sew them back together and they 'pouch' out, for lack of a better word. My niece says she has the same little area since her cancer operation. Maybe the Pilates would help with that? I hope everyone has a great day. Betty

Good Morning, Sorry to be MIA so much lately. So busy. I Have a new Grandson that was born on July 23rd. Can't remember if I've told y'all or not. I'm on my way out the door to take them back to the Dr. this morning. DH's aunt is VERY labor intensive and demands that I sit and talk with her every moment I'm not cooking, cleaning, doing laundry. She wants to eat constantly, so I'm cooking and serving a lot. It's hard to have any time for myself. Thankfully, I've still managed to hold on to the weight loss, but no further downward progress. Some days I give in to temptation and make bad choices. I still do well at home. Temptation usually gets too strong when I go out for Chinese. My favorite. The stress of never having any quiet time to renew myself is getting to me. I'm having a pretty serious bout with shingles right now. Had to go to the Dr and get some medication for it, but it is slow kicking in. I think I will look into a daycare program for her so our family can have a break. Right now her money (and ours trying to keep her fed!)is tight so there's not any money to pay for help. Keep me in your prayers. This week: Still holding on at 159 pounds. Hoping to carve out some ME time soon. I'm so happy and proud at everyone's numbers. Keep up the good work. It is encouraging to me. Helen, We are right together now. I think I will just determine to try to keep up with you. You will have to "Pull" me along with you!! LOL Betty

Good Morning, It was a good week last week for me. DH's aunt is becoming more demanding each week. I was so excited to get 30 mins on the treadmill last week, but she made it so hard after the first 2 mins! She constantly asked me to get off and come talk to her,asked how much longer, asked wasn't I tired, said it was too noisy, etc, etc. I finally just pretended that I couldn't hear her and keep repeating that I would be finished 'in a minute' to get those precious 30 mins in. What a hassle! Needless to say I haven't been back on the treadmill this week. I got on the scale this morning and even tried leaning to one side to get it to read a pound less!!!! It didn't work. Still 157 pounds. At least I didn't gain any. Have a great day everyone, Betty