Hi everyone!  Hope you all are doing well and staying on track.  I have not been sleeping well at night the past two nights so today I have been dozing most of the day.  Hard to really get a good nap in knowing I have to pick the kids up from school in the afternoon.  Why can't I nap on the weekend? lol.  Anyway, hopefully my body will be better adjusted tomorrow and I am napping just because I haven't been sleeping well at night.  I don't need to be getting sick with anything right now, ugh.

Keep up the great work everyone!  I'll try to get online tomorrow sometime and see how everyone is doing!  Oh yeah, I have The Biggest Loser set up to be recorded, and I can't wait!

Take care!

Katie

 Hey Katie & Shelley & Welcome excellentjeni,

Shelley:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !! CONGRATS ! I celebrated mine in August. I had to buy a refill bottle too.... it is 60 something dollars but I purchased my 120 pill refill for 40.00 even free shipping on Ebay with a 2009 expiration. (watch the expiration if you buy on Ebay). By the way Shelley. I lost only 1 pound too. But I have lost a total of 14 inches. ( 8 inches this week alone)  I am so glad I measured myself because now I know I am still losing and I was still extremely happy with the inches lost. So if you have not go ahead and measure yourself.

Katie:

Oddly enough I have been having insominia too at least 2-3 times a week. I wake up and try & try to get back to sleep. I am very sorry for not posting. I am here and we are all going to make it through this journey together !!! So dont worry I wont leave you guys and let you down.You are so lucky I stayed at home for a while and just recently got a job to help out as things are getting so expensive. I envy you lol.

Anyways. I really enjoyed Biggest Loser ! Did you see that update on the Brown Team at the very end! Wow all that weight they lost is AMAZING ! They looked fantastic !!! Girls that is going to be us soon on South Beach in our bathing suits !!!  I wish I could get 1-2 weeks on that ranch and drop me some weight and take in some of the lifestyle changes they learn.

Welcome Excellentjeni ! Stick to the plan it works and if you need support me , Katie & Shelley are here !

See you all tonight Amanda

 Thanks for the kind welcome, Amanda.

Best wishes to all on this journey!

E

 Shelley ? Katie ? Where did you go? Been waiting for you to post. Had an ok day. My work had pizza AGAIN !! I had to suffer through it but did not give in....Did not want to sabotage myself or embarrass myself either by having to run the bathroom every 10 minutes LOL.  Well I have stayed on track and went for a full 4 mile walk today that took me 1 hour 30 minutes to finish. Really felt good to accomplish that. I bought some sugar free pudding in the singles and they are 60 calories a serving. I made it a point to my kids how good they were and they were sugar free my girls are 9,12 & 15 years old and the have been loving the new sugar free snacks. So I am hoping I am "training" my girls to be health conscious young ladies. I was talking to them on the walk about the puddings and letting them know that sugar free is alot more healthy and tastes just as good. I don't want them to make the same mistakes as me. I also got them hooked on crystal light. So they have rarely ever had Kool-aid and we only bring soda in for special occasions. Anyways So How are you ladies?? I miss you. Hope to see you soon.. Amanda

 I'm here!  LOL, I am hoping I caught up on my sleep the other day.  I swear, whenever I doze off the phone rings.  I tried to nap the other day when the baby napped, the phone rang.  It was my son's school nurse.  He had another nose bleed. (he gets them frequently, and has seen his pediatrician about it-nothing serious)  She just wanted to let me know that it did stop bleeding-I have told them to call me if it lasts longer than 15 minutes.  Anyway, her phone call woke me just as I was starting to drift off to sleep.

Amanda, I have the vanilla sugar free pudding singles!  They are good.  My daughter likes them, she's 12.  My son likes them, but has to be careful with artificial sweetener.  Oh, and the crystal light, yeah, I have them too, lol.  Have you tried the strawberry energy one?  It is very good and does provide you with energy!  After I have my high fiber cereals (1 1/4 cup VIVE and 1/2 cup Fiber One-mixed together in a bowl and 3/4 cup fat free milk-basically meets the fiber intake at breakfast alone, lol) I'll drink two 20 oz bottles of water, then I'll make a bottle of the strawberry energy drink.  Helps me through the day, lol.

We went to subway last night, first time we went out in a longgggg time...my daughter and I shared a sandwich and I was showing her the healthy options-she's all for it!  We chose a $5 footlong, chicken breast, on wheat bread (I gave her the option of wheat or honey oat-they were out of honey oat) lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, she had cheese on her half, I had no cheese, fat free honey mustard and pepper.  It was very good and very healthy.  They did buy cookies, they each had one and I didn't have any :)  I didn't miss it.  I don't seem to crave sweets as much as I use to.  I use to be such a sugar freak it was unreal.

I cannot wait for it to get cooler here in FL so the kids and I can take our tennis rackets and go hit some tennis balls at the court.  My daughter has been begging to go.  But they get overheated so quickly that I don't want to take the chance in this heat.  Even the evenings are still warm.

Well, got to go.  Trying to get my son in gear for school.

Have a great weekend!  Will try to get on here later today or tomorrow!  Keep up the great work!

Katie

Here I am Amanda and Katie.  I have had some very, very busy days this week and it cut into my computer time.  So sorry for that.

First I want to say welcome to excellentjeni!!!  It is so nice to meet you.  I hope you will buddy up with us.  We can all accomplish our goals together.

Did everyone see that Katie reached her first minigoal?  Woohoo!!!  Way to go Katie.  I am so proud of you. 

We just finished clearing off the the sunporch yesterday so now I have my treadmill back!  Yay!!!!!!  My DD got on it and did 2 miles.  I couldn't believe it.  She will start her alli next week too.  I can't wait to have her join me.  We watched The Biggest Loser and was so inspired to get moving.  We have the cookbook and calorie counter book.  Today we are going to plan out our menu for next week.

I haven't seen sigle serve sugar-free pudding.  Is this the powder or the little cups of ready-made?  I didn't think to check the dairy section.  I have the the boxes of chocolate sugar free pudding and love that!  It is so good.  I am not a Crystal Light fan (DD loves it).  I enjoy just plain water or plain iced tea.

Amanda...I'm so proud that you didn't fall for the pizza.  Great job sweetie.  You are determined and nothing is going to get in your way.  You have you hands full with the girls.  It is awesome that you are including them into your weight loss journey.  You are teaching them how to take care of themselves so they don't fall into the trap like we all have.  It's so easy to put the weight on and so much harder to take it off.  Uggghhh.  And thank you for the anniversary wishes sweetie.  Today is our special day.  My DH left me a beautiful card on my keyboard this morning.  It was such a nice way to begin my day.  You are such a sweetie for remembering us.  Thank you again. =)

Katie.....I have been having problems with staying asleep too.  I wonder if this is a side effect to taking alli?  Like today.  I couldn't fall asleep until 2 am and was awake on and off all night.  I am dragging here.  I have to care for my GD today so this will definitely be a long day for me.  We have done the Subway for dinner too.  It is so good and the options are endless. 

Well I must keep moving as my day is full.  Have a wonderful day and weekend ladies.  i will try very hard to get back here later today and throughout the weekend.  Hang in there ladies.  You are all doing a great job.  You are inspiring me to keep going and to get back on track.  Thank you. (((hugs)))

   hi  i think we a re  on week five here      yap yap   keep  it going  ,   good luck  kidss   ..

  sandy

 Hey Katie,Shelley,Sandy & Excelletjeni

Katie: My 12 year old has the nose bleeds too.... but has seemed to grow out of them.... she has them but very few anymore.... I always wondered myself what causes them..... she was my only "sickly" child. I hope your son is ok.

I will shop for the energy drink by crystal light today thanks for the advice. I love subway ... good thing you did not give into those cookies. :)

Shelley: Thanks ! Those puddings you can find close to where the keep the yogurt and dairy items.... they are the sugar free ones made with splenda. They showed this on the Biggest Loser last season as a snack you couls enjoy with lite cool whip and it be under 100 calories. If I get a choclate craving it is a wonderful 60 calorie snack. I again hope you have wonderful annivarsary !

Sandy:  I am just in my 6th week but I think all of us are within days of each other as far as start date. I love having you guys as my buddies I look forward to chatting with you online !!

Well it is Friday so I am going to go try walk some but I will be back on (off & on all night)

See you later !!!! Amanda

 Ok guys am I the only "scale junkie" ????? I step on it every morning I have to admit..... (you all are my friends so I must be honest) I lost only 1 pound last week but I know why. (Uncle Red & Aunt Flow) When they are gone my next weigh-in should be a nice loss. (i hope)   In the past when I have dieted I would never lose the week before  (Uncle Red & Aunt Flow) but the week after I would lose a nice amount of weight like 3-5 lbs. Do you do this too?  So I know we should only weigh once a week but its an addiction.  (my scale hopping)   I always post my Tuesday weigh-in but actually step on it every single morning LOL. I cant help myself.  I have told my husband when I dont step on the scale you should worry because that means I am not watching what I eat and I dont care what I weigh. And I am very unsociable,depressed and have bad self esteem when I eat wrong and have no self control over what I eat.  So I feel like I need to watch myself everyday to stay in control of me,   SO am I the only one ??? Or is this just madness ?  Amanda

Amanda....the scale and I don't like one another too much so I stay away from it as much as I can.  LOL  I swear it trips me every time I go in the bathroom.  TeeHee  Anyway, I only get on the scale once a week.  I took a peek yesterday and was very disappointed because I have put on two pounds.  Let me explain.  I had a hysterectomy when I was 27 but still have the ovaries so I get the full menstrual effects without the mess.  I still crave the foods, and binge like mad.  Bad, bad thing!  So this would have been the time for my normal cycle and I have been binging.  My will power sucks so much.

My precious DD is on the same cycle and has the same cravings.  We know we will have to be tough on one another from now on because we want this weight off.  My weight gain saddened me but I am not going to let it get me down.  I am to blame for the gain so I will have to put in more time on the treadmill and doing my aerobics.

Today we are going to be shopping most of the day.  Not to purchase as much as to get the walking in.  We love to walk around malls just for the exercise.  We do need to do a little shopping as my GD starts at a new daycare Monday and we need to send her with some supplies.  Other than that we are going just for the pleasure of walking alot.  I'm looking forward to it.  I hear "Nana" coming from the bathroom.  Guess I had better go and get ready.  Miss Chloe is calling me.  LOL

Have a beautiful day sweetie.  And thanks for the info on the puddings.  I am going to buy some while out shopping today.  Have you ever tried the Kashi bars?  They are good.  The ones I snack on from time to time are only 140 calories and 5g fat.  They are so good.  Will share more later.  I really have to run now.  Have a wonderful and blessed day sweetie.  (((hugs)))

 Shelley, Walking the mall sounds so fun ! I would love to do that..... only do it alot during the x-mas season..... then I go crazy..... the only thing is during that time me & my best friend always buy an big box of choclates and eat them while driving from store to store....I guess that is what could be a "trigger" I need to watch out for and have to break myself of. Did I tell you my Best friend will be 51 this March and 2 years ago she was over 300 lbs and is now my size 190's and size 16 she lost it just by cutting calories and of course she lost most of it before Alli came on the market. (she is an accountant and the co. she works for financial situation I THINK is the reason she lost most of it STRESS) but she looks great and I could not be more proud of her.... she has a grandson... and when you mentioned your gd it reminded of us shopping for him. Just really great times to think about and so much FUN !!!  Where do I find Kashi bars ? I will look today.  You have a blessed day as well. See you later. Amanda

 I get on the scale at least once a day. Sometimes twice. I get on every morning and sometimes before bed. It's kind of interesting to realize I lose .5-2 lbs just by sleeping. LOL. There are fluctuations throughout the week but I like knowing what my "high" and "low" were for the week as well as my weekly weigh-in. It gives me some perspective. I am a Tuesday weigh-in as well. Two more days to see another pound, or dare I hope TWO, melt off :-).

E

 Amanda, I hear you about the scale, lol.  It is really tempting to me too, so you are not alone.  I share the kids' bathroom due to my husbands work schedule I don't want to use the master bath because I don't want to wake him.  Anyway, I have the scale in plain sight in their bathroom and I see it every time I go in there.  I have to control myself when I see it.  My weigh ins are Friday.  I stepped on the scale today (Sunday).  I need to stop doing that, really.  I am going to try not to step on it again until my weigh in day, and hopefully will see a good weight loss.

I understand about Uncle Red and Aunt Flow.  Actually, this is weird and has never happened to me before so I don't know if it is because of dieting this happened but, I started on Monday and I still have a light flow today.  Usually my cycle lasts from 3-5 days, this is the first time it's lasted 7 days.  Would Alli have this effect do you think?  I've done nothing different except for watching what I eat and taking Alli.  I'm 36, do you think it is perimenopause starting to set in?  I have noticed in the past that I get really hot at times around my cycle and I did wake up one night with sweat pouring off me.  Ugh.  To think I have another 10-15 years of it, lol.  Although my mom said she was completely done by the time she hit 50!  Lucky her.  Maybe I'll be lucky and follow in her footsteps.

Anyway........

Gonna start a new thread, look for it!  LOL.

Have a great Sunday!

Katie

Hi Amanda,

How are you doing sweetie?  This morning I am going to hit my treadmill and do a little aerobics.  I am currently catching up on emails.  Boy am I evr behind.  Too busy these days.  I made the decision last night to restart on the alli program as I have wandered off the path completely.  I am so upset with myself for not sticking with it.  I am an emotional eater and with all the stuff I've had happen in my personal life the past few weeks I have been eating!  I hate it and am kicking myself in the butt for not summoning up the will power and strength to shed this weight.  So I am starting over with my DD and will move forward.  I hope that you, Katie, E and anyone else will continue to be my buddy. =)

I had to giggle about the chocolates while walking.  We all have things we do.  Several years ago my BF and I would go for a walk every night (2 miles +) and always grabbed an ice cream cone to have while walking.  We used to laugh about it.  Of course I was a thin size 14 at that time.  I wasn't walking for weight loss but rather for the exercise.  Golly I miss that.  I am so excited about being able to go back to that someday soon.

I buy the Kashi bars and other delish products of theirs at my local grocery store.  I have also bought some at Wal Mart.  The bars I eat the most are called TLC (Tasty Little Chewies) Honey Almond Flax.  My GD loves them too.  I also love the TLC (Tasty Little Cruchies) Pumpkin Spice Flax.  Those are great with a cup of hot tea (English Breakfast Tea or Earl Grey - my most favs).  Yummy!

Ok, sweet girl, I am going to keep moving here or else I will be behind big time.  That treadmill is calling me!  Have a wonderful day and keep up the awesome work you're doing.  Blessings for a great day.

 (((((((Shelley!!!)))))))  I hope these hugs cheer you up!  Wish I were there to give you a real one!  Please, please, please, don't beat yourself up over falling off the wagon.  It happens!  But the best thing is that you have realized it and are getting back on the program-GOOD FOR YOU!!!  You deserve this!!  Keep it up and don't give up!  I use to be an emotional eater too, and a 'bored' eater-you know, you don't have anything to do so you eat (hard to believe I ever got bored, wish I could have time to get bored now, lol).  Have you taken up a hobby to do when you get emotional and want to turn to food?  I have decided to clean when I get emotional. 

Please know that I am still here for you!  I find this board to be very motivational and it keeps me going when I feel like I need to slip up.  I come here and read how well everyone is doing reaching their goals and how much weight they are losing and it really puts me back in focus so I stay on track.  THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO POSTS!!!  It really does keep me on track!

Good luck and keep going!

Katie