Hi hi hi hi hi!!!! So sorry guys. Last week just got a way from me. We're going crazy yard work at our house and I've been exhausted. Still have not exercised since returning but have done lots of heavy lifting, pushing and bending. I figure shoveling dirt for 6 hours should count for something, right? :) EK, I knew what you meant... no retraction necessary :) And maintenance is on my mind... Weight = 131 155/24/? I'm actually pretty happy at 131. I know I said 125, but this is feeling pretty good. I'm still watching what I eat, and want to exercise more, but for now it's about toning rather than loss. I fit in my size 6 pants. I fit in my size 6 dresses. I feel good taking pictures. Actually, it was the wedding pictures that made me feel pretty good about myself. When I saw how I looked (and we all know what the camera does!!!) I realized I don't really need to lose any more. I don't want to be (s k i n n y) if you know what I mean. I want to be fit and lean. I need to post some befores and afters. remind me, ok? Happy birthday to all birthday people. So proud of Ek for the BMI/15lb milestone success!!! WHAHOO!!! Betty, I know what your body was lacking....FOOD :) Harold, I love couscous too!! Everyone is doing so well... so glad to be a part of this team. Have a good week everyone!!!

Good Evening, I've had a busy day today. I did weigh this morning, but it isn't pretty. We'll discuss that later. Way To Go, Ivamae!! WOO HOO!! Congrats on the silver scale award. Keep up the good work. Harold, Great Job on those 2 pounds. You just keep knocking them off. I'm so proud of you. I know you will have a great time at your family reunion. Looking forward to your pics. Even though I had terrible numbers this week, I was downloading/uploading ( I'm so computer dumb I'm not sure which you call it) pics from my camera to my computer today and there was one of me holding the newest Grandson. I could see that I had lost weight. I think that may give me the incentive to get back in the swing and finish what I started. Ek, I wish you good health and safety while you are gone. You can tell us all about it when you get back. Jas, You just gave me an excuse for my bad numbers this week!! I had a very bad 'charlie horse' in my calf muscle day before yesterday morning. So bad that it woke me from a deep sleep hurting like crazy. So, I know I'm low on potassium. I couldn't keep that excess weight at bay!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it!! LOL Helen, I saved you for last because we were so close in our weight. You are doing so well and I'm proud of you. But, I think you need to give me a stern talking to. Not only did I not lose any weight this week, but I gained a significant amount. It is one thing to just hit a plateau for a week or 2, but I've been eating the wrong things all week and the scales show it. Last week I fell off of the wagon with chocolate ice cream several times. Then, friday I had chinese for lunch with my daughter. Then my son decided that night when we went school-clothes shopping that he wanted to eat chinese. So, Chubby-Butt here ate it TWO TIMES IN ONE DAY!!!! Saturday was a baby shower at 2pm (various snacks, a chocolate bon-bon AND a slice of cake)and an anniversary party at 7pm ( dinner AND a slice of coconut pie). OK, I've put it off as long as I can. My weight this morning: 163 pounds. If there was a 'broken scale award' I would win it this week. Betty

Hello, faithful weekly weigh-in-ers! A lot of good progress has been made since I've been MIA. Congrats to all of you. Harold--under 200! Wow! Way to go! And Jasmi, you are really down there! We've been through quite a bit of turmoil here: left for vacation; all was well. Didn't lose any weight while on vacation, but didn't gain either. Came home and put my daughter into school--a very hectic time trying to figure out how to juggle two very different school schedules (homeschool for one daughter and classroom for another), when what happens but we all, one by one, get struck with H1N1. (It's not as severe as the media make it out to be, but highly contagious and a concern for our two very little ones.) We survived, but then our computer crashed and we had to take that in for service after quarantine was over. So I've had it back for a little while, but lost all my bookmarks and have been so pressed for time that I am just now getting back those things that weren't absolutely essential for daily life. I hope to rejoin you. I have a goal of reaching 128 by January 1, when a dear friend is getting married. I have a dress I want to wear to that wedding, and I think I'll need to be around 128 for it to look good. I can get in it and zip it up, but it isn't pretty. For now, I am still at 137 after eating a little freely on vacation, and then eating whatever casseroles people were kind enough to give us while we were sick. Now I'm refocusing and trying to get the scale moving down again. Hoping for a good weigh-in next Tuesday. Good to "see" you all again!

I'm still at 139. While I'm not excited that I haven't lost the weight I gained when we had a visitor, I am excited that I didn't gain any more while traveling. Travel is so hard for me--sitting still a long time, eating restaurant food and all the special foods that the people you're visiting make to celebrate your presence (same thing we did when we had an out of town guest). But I'm back at home now and able to do my own food prep with full knowledge of all ingredients, so I hope to get back to losing again now. Harold, you are so right about a lifetime change. I'll have to always watch what I eat, when I eat, and how much I eat in order to lose and then maintain. There's no way I can ever hope to have this over with so I can go back to what was previously "normal" eating for me. Lifetime change. Yep. Ivamae, congrats on the one more pound, and on getting below 170! Harold, you'll probably have a melt this week since you didn't see a change on the scale. It's coming!