Hi, I need some weight loss encouragement BADLY! May I join y'all? I hadn't been less than 150-something pounds in years. I retired Dec'07 and was doing great losing weight being really active. June 4,'08 my husband got hurt badly at work. 44 days of sitting in the hospital and eating, same thing after coming home. November last year my Dr. says I've lost 2" in height. So, I started eating 1 or 2 big bowls of reg. choc. ice-cream with lots of reg. milk at least twice a day. (I needed the calcium you know!:) My husband is doing great and started a new SAFER job last month. When I had to weigh at the DRs office last month when I had a sinus infection I weighted 187 pounds. The bad part is I just kept on eating. Sunday while getting ready for church I started having some pain in my upper back ,to my chest, and up my neck. I had done some yard work Sat and that may have caused the pain. Anyhow... It scared me. I dusted off my South Beach Diet book and started eating as well as I could with what I already had here. I don't have any scales here. I will try to go by the DRs office when I go out to pick up my son from track practice this afternoon. I'm sure I had gained even more after weighing last month, so I will just start from there. I jokingly told my husband that he got to have a physical therapist to get him back into shape, I didn't get one! Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to give y'all some background. I'm 54 years old Now 5' 4" Somewhere around 190 pounds(will let y'all know after I weigh). Weight goal: Somewhere in the 130s (One of the charts for my new height said 111 pounds) Who are they talking about? Not this adult!! Thanks for listening(reading!:) Harold, thanks for starting this thread. I had been reading all of the other threads trying to get motivated. BTW, I've never told anyone how much I weigh. Even my husband. Too ashamed. Betty

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, It is good to hear that everyone is doing well. Harold, if I don't get busy you will be zooming down past me so fast I'll get vertigo! I'm going to Walmart today and will try to find a pedometer while I'm there. Maybe that will get me out of this LONG holding pattern I've been in. I miss the time I spent here. But, right now life is soooo busy. I have been to a Dr's office 11 times this month. Most of those were taking Aunt B. Twice was for Son(sinus)and me(ear infection/shingles). 3 times with Aunt B I was also treated for either ear infections or shingles or both. Stress city here! I am trying to find an affordable sitter for Aunt B that can come in at least a couple of times a week so I can escape and have some ME time. It would be HEAVEN and I could at least go walking. If the new meds don't start helping more with the dementia/Alhziemers we will have to give in and find a nursing home. She has started to get mean (not physical yet) and since I'm her primary caretaker, I'm on the receiving end of her verbal wrath. My body is responding to the stress by getting sick and staying sick. The DR has already told me I can't do this much longer. The end of the tunnel is coming, but I can't quite see the light yet. Weight-wise I am at least satisfied that I'm still under 160 this week. Food temptations are strong and the only exercise I get is running around trying to keep house, do laundry, errands, etc. I have felt so crappy,health-wise, that I haven't taken the time to prepare healthy alternative snacks and meals for myself. I just do what I have to do to get something that everyone else will eat on the table so I can get the kitchen clean and fall into bed. I have enjoyed trying a few new recipes, but most aren't exactly what you would call healthy... LOL... I always go into a cooking/baking mode when fall arrives. The only good thing about that is, I take a lot of it to my sick neighbor. DH, DS(who never gets full), and Aunt B clean up the rest pretty quickly! I know this post is long and sounds really negative. I don't want it to BE negative. I love her and will never regret this time I've been able to keep her out of a nursing home and spoil her a bit. She never had kids and loves it when the Gkids are here. We've had some great laughs and, as much as her health and dementia will allow, she has been very happy since we brought her here in June. The day she has to leave will be a sad, bittersweet, day. I've been so busy that if I've checked in here at all it has been very short. Y'all are my cyber family and I just wanted you to know that I AM GOING TO LOSE SOME MORE WEIGHT and to take a minute to sort of fill in the blanks of this LONG STALL. SO.... I was 159 when I weighed this week. No loss, but no gain either. For that I am thankful. Keep up the good work, everyone. It gives me hope. Hugs, Betty