Weight Loss Buddies

aj - it sounds great - if a company is willing to invest in you, it never seems like a bad thing. The more training the better - you can almost always get something out of it, even if only relationships/networking with your fellow participants.

Doing okay food wise - still planning on staying around 1400. How did everyone else do with eating today?

Dance- Thanks so much but I am 100% sure now it is a scam. I almost gave away my fiends and families information including cc #'s to them.

I am so messed up emotionally right now I don't trust a soul. I just want to go to taco bell and drink mt dew and eat cheese.

AJ - wow, I'm so sorry - that must be incredibly disappointing. But you are a strong, intelligent, beautiful woman - way too strong to mess up all of your progress with emotional eating, right? It's not like we ever really feel better AFTER a bunch of emotional eating and it definitely doesn't fix anything. If you're not going to work today, go to the grocery store and get some healthy ingredients to cook a good-sized batch of something healthy so you'll have that nearby to ward off temptation. And come post all day and vent about - I'd be interested to know how you figured out it was a scam. Hang in there, sweetie! You will find a job that is worthy of your talents is this isn't the one.

Stuck to plan yesterday and the vacation water weight is off and I'm back to 170. I have to get the front yard straightened up for them to take exterior photos today so I'll definitely get some exercise from that and will also go on a run at lunch.

What's everyone else up to today?

AJ: Hon, I am so sorry about the possible scam at work. You poor thing. Don't let it get to you. I agree with Dance, you are a smart, intelligent woman and you were smart enough to know not to give out your friends info. Now is the time to refocus on yourself...you'll find you are stronger than you ever knew you could be! We're here for you.

Dance: So jealous of your vacation! I wanna go on one so badly, but time, money, child, etc. keeps me from doing that. What can ya do?

As for me, the shame spiral continues. Started off well with fruit and oatmeal, then had Chipotle for lunch, which is horrible for you, but soooo good. Then didn't really have a dinner and then had a Culver's concrete mixer for dessert last night. Ok, that's enough! I'm back on the wagon, I have scrapes on my butt from falling off so many times in the past week!!

I had eggs and 1 sausage link for breakfast (trainer says I need more protein). Had a 1/2 cup of hashbrowns and am now chewing gum so I don't eat the goodies we're having here at the office. Gotta get back on track.

Hope everyone else is doing better than I am. Have a great day!

maddiesmom - good idea on the higher protein breakfast! AJ got me headed that way a while back and having two eggs for breakfast has really helped with carb cravings for some reason. Hope it keeps you away from the concrete mixers! (whatever they are, they sound dangerous )

Dance: a concrete mixer is the same thing as a Dairy Queen blizzard. I have mine with peanut butter cups! Sooo good, but sooo bad for you. I told the hubby...that's the last one for a very long time.

Morning girls-

AJ- dont beat yourself up too much about it, it happens, these scam artist are pretty dang slick, I mean...look at Nicholas Cage, he has tons of people working for him and he got caught up by a scam artist, just glad you caught it in time. Are you still working at the medical office?

Maddiesmom - a seriously think a high protein breakfast is what helped me the first time around with staying on plan. I would eat 3 egg whites and 4 pieces of turkey bacon and if I was REALLY hungry, Id throw in some black beans. How is the trainer working out these days? Are you still working with Mr. Hott? lol

Dance- yay, so close to closing on your home--Im so excited for you! I admire your action plans to get back on track, its amazing. I need to follow your lead. I dont really care for using the daily plate (although I know its great), so I started writing things down again. One habit that has defiantely hurt me is hat Im back to drinking soda pretty much every freakin day, its so bad. I started leaving my wallet at home again to avoid the fast food and soda trip, extreme measures yes, but what can I say.

Stacie - saw you moved to the venue, cant wait to see the pics. Are you able to get in exercise with all this going on? I imagine walking around the venue is exercise in itself, lol.

Well girls, it looks like there is a pattern here, we all fell off the wagon and I think its safe to say that it may be because of the fact that we dropped off from each other, which just proves the point that we NEED to log in on a more regular basis. I VOW from this day forward to log on at least once a day everyday during the work week.

As for me, not too much to report, we have a "cold front" here again, lol...its comical to say cold front when its only the 60's but anyway...I got out and did my morning run. I do have a bit of bad news---I canceled my gym membership. This is just recently. I was reading an article in prevention stating that if you can just get some jumping jack, push ups, running, free weights and you would get the same results, so I decided to test that evaluation, lol--we will see. I just canceled it, its not indicative of my weight gain in the past month. OH and for those of you who asked up the party - it was INSANE, lol...the pics on my Facebook tell a story, nothing like a bunch of immature drunk adults, lol.

maddiesmom - okay, we're going to hold you to that promise!!

lindy - are you quitting the gym to save a little money? I think you can defnitely get a basic workout at home with some minimal equipment (mainly your own body weight) as long as you can get your cardio running or with videos. I haven't belonged to a gym during this whole process and the weather (despite the odd cold snap) is definitely better for outdoor stuff where you are! I'll have to check out your party photos on fb - I'm way behind there. On the soda front, can you stash a few of those crystal light individual packs in your purse? That is really helping me avoid sodas a lot. I always love your wallet tricks! And totally agree on posting being key - that's why I'm driving you guys all nuts with my gazillion posts a day right now as I try to get back on non-vacation plan I know you are one competitive chickadee - wanna see if you can beat me to 165?

Sandy-that would be so awesome to see 198. I havent been doing so good with my eating so I dont know.

Staccie-must be exciting moving onto venue. I think we will all be keeping up with you on FB. I'm excited for you to get to experience this. Gotta stop adding those bad things back into your diet and make sure you are getting enough water. Dont stop now girlie. Oh and we need to see you in that uniform.

Lindy-I think you are right, we all need each other to stay on plan. I know I havent posted in a few days and my eating has been total shit. Sounds like you had a blast at your party. I'm gonna have to check out your pictures.

Dance-its always tough to get back into the swing of things after vacation but posting here should do the trick. Youve already gotten back down to 170. YAY!!! Oh and I got up at 930 this morning. Still not early early but early for me. I'm getting better at it.

Tiff-wow down 3, good job. How is you ankle? It so exciting going down sizes. Next thing you know you will be in a 16.

AJ-so sorry about the scam at work. What happened. How is your eating today?

Vicky-I've been on a downward spiral too. I had taco bell for lunch. YIKES!!!! Back on plan right now. I need to add more protein to my breakfast so I dont get so hungry so quick.

Yep, I had taco bell. Cant go back and change it now but can stay on plan the rest of the day and the day after and day after, etc etc etc. TOM is just evil. I want everything I see. I will cook dinner tonight. I'm heading to the gym after this for my 3 miles and maybe some raquetball or volleyball. Gotta keep the boys tonight and one of them tomorrow. We're gonna go sledding so I'll be climbing hills all day, good workout. Just hope it doesnt rain again. My driveway is a sheet of ice.

I'm gonna log on here everyday and post at least once too. Gotta get back on track. Get to 199 is driving me nuts and I'm not helping by eating crap. I actually stayed off the scale today!!!! Trying to stay off until Sunday, not sure if that will happen but gonna try. Love ya girls!!!

burgundy - woohoo for 9:30! If you can stay on plan (or pretty close) through the craziness of TOM, I know you'll be having a breakthrough to onederland by the weekend. I'll join you for three miles today. AJ - you in too?

Thank you all. I really need you more than ever right now.

**:Skip this if you want to:**
Here is what happened. It was a company that "sold" bulk perfume. And on the first day of training they told us it was important to learn sales so that you can manage the sales teams well. Well they tell us to go home and sell to our friends and family and it was a contest. So I did... but as I collected 400 cash and 4 (including Lindy's) CC info, name, address, cvv2 codes and every thing...
It started to STINK I didn't wan to because I need the job so bad but I googles the LLC tax info. It had just opened Dec 28th. Even though they said they were 15 years old. Well they are. Under different names. All scams. They steal peoples money and promise people management jobs while actually sending the out to sell perfume form their cars. Here is an article about the same company... dif name. (Same people involved)

http://www.abc15.com/content/news/investigators/story/Ads-promising-management-jobs-dont-add-up/nxHKrDjLHkyMN1TxrkFnlw.cspx

Same story as mine.

So I swallowed a ton of benadryl last night and went to sleep.

I woke up feeling devastated, violated, victimized and embarrassed! I went out job hunting this morning and had an interview so I am still on my game but I feel like I can't trust anyone and my confidence is GONE!

I want to move back to Denver to work now but I am not sure I can find a job there either. Dance... Any ideas... LOL.

Well Enough about me. Moving on.

Rayne- I am doing okay. On plan but prob not enough as of now. Its hard not to eat what ever and now back on a tight budget... not sure I can afford the healthy stuff.

Dance- I am in but I am going out to walk. Not staying in doors because then I just think! So estimated 3 miles.

Nikki- THank you. Love you. I am sorry I almost screwed you!

Vicky- No more ice cream!! Your making me hungry!

aj - good for you for listening to your instincts. I'm sorry you had to go through all that. Did anything ever happen with the census job? I'll keep my ears out for any good opportunities in Denver. As for healthy food options, how about a big pot of vegetable soup? I grew up making an easy version with half v-8 and half chicken broth as the base and a big bag of frozen veggies (not sure which ones you're allowed on your plan right now). If you're in the mood, you can add shredded chicken or turkey breast. You will get your confidence back - you just need a little time to recover which is totally understandable and normal.

Burgundy and AJ - if it weren't for you guys, I know I wouldn't make it out running today - I'm totally whupped from a bunch of yardwork this morning but I know I need the cardio. I'm going to head out in an hour and will come back and post when I'm done just to make sure I follow through.

Wow AJ. I am going to be your silver lining right now. You were smart enough to look into the company and not get scammed like so many others have. That is saying something. I mean that really sounds like a sophisticated, in-depth scam that is fooling plenty of people. So be happy for that one thing if nothing else.

I just came back to work from my lunch time where I went to go see Don at lunch. On my way back I was in the lane to go to Burger King and get a medium shake (and possibly more to get my debit card over the minimum purchase). But at the last second, I swerved across three lanes and got in the correct lane to go back to work and overcome my craving. So, at the moment I am really wanting some junk food, any kind, and I have no food left here (except pb&j, but I am not sure the bread is any good). But the tiniest sliver of me is proud of myself for not going. I have already had about 1200 calories today. I got a can of smoked ham and made ham salad with mayo and then demolished a whole pack of club crackers. The plan was to eat half the ham salad and crackers, but that flew out the window. So now, I have to have a small dinner and work my butt off at the gym. Didn't go to the gym last night because we have been procrastinating hanging things on the wall since painting, and finally said we had to do it and that we would run on the street when we were done. Well, we didn't get done until 9:30 and I decided that was too late and watched TV instead. Ugh. Now I am realizing how much salt must have been in that crap this morning cause my fingers are bloated.

Anyways, I am glad so many of you are here with renewed focus to get back on the program hardcore. I just NEED to keep my focus for 3.5 more weeks until the wedding. But I feel like I'm never going to get below 285. It's like that number I have gotten to twice before and then kept screwing up and gaining. Hopefully 3rd time is a charm. Every morning I weigh I am fluctuating around that weight for like a week now. Never below though...lol always above or at.

Lindy, I can't wait to go home and see the pictures from your party.

Burgandy, how can you be worried about a 5k with all the mileage you are doing??

Maddiesmom, I too love your new picture with the super slim face!

Back to crappy taxes. Which by the way is a whole different crappy topic for me. I can't get any done! Just stuck! UGH.

tifftiff - woohoo for milkshake resistance!! You are going to look so gorgeous at that wedding. And you will blow right through that 'magic number', especially if you keep up the exercise like you've been doing. Can you bring a bag of cuties or grapes to work with you? They are just sweet enough to help me through the afternoon blahs sometimes.

Dance-I am sure I will be up a lot earlier tomorrow. Gonna be with Waylon(hes 3) and when its daylight out he is up. I'm trying to be good until TOM is over and drinking a lot of water. And yay for running buddies. I dont know if I would keep pushing myself to finish if I didnt have someone doing it with me. Thanks.

AJ-so glad that company didnt reel you in and you were smart enough to see through the facade. Good luck with job hunting, you will find something. Did you get your miles in and clear your head?

Tiff-so proud of you for overcoming that craving. Doing that will help you see the number on the scale move. I'm having the same fight with my scale right now. I am always 201 or 202 so I have been staying away from the scale. Gonna try to wait and weigh on Sunday.

I got my 3 miles in today and I ran more of it than I ever have today and it felt great. I also realized that I wasnt really tired and probably could have done 2 more but my SIL wanted to play raquetball. Gotta work tomorrow but will try to make it to the gym tomorrow night if I get home in time.

Burgundy: You are going to hit 199 this week with the way you've been exercising. Way to go!

Sweet AJ: I agree with the other ladies...you were smart enough to know when something sounded "off" and you didn't give out that info, so kudos to you. You will find something soon. Just have to keep thinking positive.

Tiff: Way to go with skipping BK! It's hard to do, especially when you are stressed. Thanks for the comment on the pic...I really didn't realize how much thinner my face was until I got that one taken of me at Christmas.

Anyways, didn't go to the gym tonight, it's freezing here and I have no desire to drive 25 minutes in a cold car. I'm going to go downstairs and do some of the weight exercises Hott trainer gave me. I have to get into the routine of working out, and if I don't go to the gym...I really need to workout at home. Maybe I'll start the 30DS? Not sure. Gotta get on track though.

Hope you are having a good night. Back tomorrow.

burgundy - great job on the run! I ended up doing more yardwork instead of the miles and boy are my legs sore this morning - all those deep squats from crouching to pick things up, ouch! apparently I need to do squats as part of my exercise routine! Hope you were able to pop out of bed this morning. I couldn't get to sleep last night (stressing about house stuff) and am all groggy and unproductive feeling this morning

maddiesmom - is it a positive sign that you didn't mention your back pain in your last post? Hope so! And good idea on exercising at home, much warmer.

Off to work reluctantly....

Dance: My back is doing better. I'm in pain here and there, but nothing to the extent I was in before the shot. I can even stand up straight now, so that's a bonus! I am still watching how I move because I could always relapse...especially since it's due to a genetic disorder. Physical therapy starts on Friday and we'll see where we are from there. Squats are a killer, Hott trainer had me doing them last Saturday. I did as many as I could in 20 seconds, then had a 10 second break, then went for another 20 seconds. I did 8 reps, and man, it hurt!

Doing good food wise....turkey chili last night for dinner with fat free chesse and low fat sour cream. Then for breakfast, 2 eggs and a small serving of potatoes. I think I'll do subway for lunch since I have to run to the mall for some new clothes. I feel like I'm wearing the same stuff every week, so I'm going to hit some sales to see what I can find for "transitional" clothing, because I will lose this weight!

How is everyone else doing today?

I finally saw a number smaller than 285 this morning! Yay for that. 284. I'll take it. I went to the gym last night and did 3.2 miles on the treadmill in 54 mins. Certainly not what I was hoping for, but still ok I guess. I still have 2 more workouts to try to get that number lower. Don's goal is to finish in under 50. But I actually think the actual 5k should be better. Everytime I've run with him on the street, I post better times since I wanna go more up his speed. 3 days to lose 4 lbs. Probably not going to happen, but I still am going to come pretty darn close.

I have 2 eggs scrambled with cheese this morning for breakfast instead of my normal carb filled breakfast of pb&j, but it's 11:15 and I am pretty muhc starving. I want to hold out a bit longer so I can go to the grocery store on lunch and get some fruits and healthy snacks per Dancer's recommendation. Green grapes sound REALLY good right now.

Maddiesmom, I definitely know how it is with the gym being far away, although the cold part is kinda foreign to me. Our gym is 15-20 mins away depending on lights, and we have both decided that once our year contract is up, we are going to cancel the membership. It's $75 a month for the two of us, and I can think of much better ways to spend that money. Have I mentioned we haven't had a kitchen for 4 months? So anyways, we are going to get a cheap treadmill off craigslist, we already have a gazelle that somebody left at don's work (he's a property manager), we have a wii fit, and we have the Comcast on demand with free exercise videos that are constantly changing. SO, we have plenty of options to keep things interesting and have decided that the gym is a luxury we don't need anymore. $75 a month plus about $20 in gas a month to get there is money we can use towards many other things. We also thought about possibly getting one of those personal trainers that comes to your house, like maybe every other month or so and having them create a workout for us using the equipment we have. I am really excited to do that.

Dancer, sorry your sleepy and grouchy this morning. Don't let it affect your eating. I know that is a bad combination for me. Stress and Lack of sleep will usually cause a pigout for me. If you do feel the urge, think about why you actually want to eat. Then come on here and vent instead! I'm super excited for you to get into your new house. It's exciting to be in a new place (and good exercise to move).

Burgandy, did you time your 3 miles, what was it? Curious mind(s?) would like to know! I'm dealing with Tom right now as well and really trying to focus on the water. Haha, I just took a drink since I said that. Oh and I'm impressed about the raquetball. That sport is just not for me. It's funny though, I'm actually kinda decent at tennis and they are similar concepts, but in raquetball that ball just goes to quick for my reaction time I guess.

AJ, are you doing better today? I hope you are doing good with eating even though your budget makes that hard. That's actually why I am doing calorie counting still, even though I have thought about lowcarb. It allows me to eat the cheap crap in small quantities. So, I can stay ona plan and eat less, so in effect my diet helps my budget and vice versa. I would like to eat healthier foods, but that won't be possible til we get our kitchen back in place. Did you guys know how expensive it is to redo a kitchen?? It's obscene. We even already have new appliances we bought when we first moved in and already put new tile on the floor, but cabinets and countertops are insanely expensive.

Well, after that novel, I am back to work. Talk to you all later.

tiff - woooohoooo for the breakthrough! See, we told you you would blow right on through that Good job on the high protein breakfast! Maybe give three eggs a try on another day and see if that stays with you longer. I think it takes our bodies a while to adjust to needing different quantities of food - it's the transitions that are hard! And don't worry about how long it takes you to run your 5k - you burn pretty much the same amount of calories for that distance regardless of the pace and at any speed, it's great exercise! And the healthy snacks sound great. Thanks for the encouragement this morning - I'm going to try to not have all this stress mess up my eating!

maddiesmom - good plan on the transitional clothes! Clearance racks are our best buddies Some well fitting flattering clothes at each step along the way I think are a huge motivator, not to waste money but all it takes is a few pieces, right? Let us know how shopping goes...

Vicky- I am so glad to hear about your back! I feel so bad for you when you are in that much pain and I just prayed and prayed that you would get relief.

Tiff- Thank you. I do feel better. No more bitter anger or feelings of being victimized. I am just back to where I was no more and no less so I shouldn't complain. I have found a few cheap ways to diet low carb. 1. EGGS! 2. celery with pb, cream cheese, or hummus 3. pancakes made from ricotta cheese and eggs with cinnamon. SO GOOD and so cheep to make. Its just so much easier to just go grab a taco bell burrito for 79cents.

You are all doing so well. And I have great news! I am 156! Haven't seen that since beginning of Dec. Oh wow it feels good to be back here. Now 6 more lbs in 2.5 weeks and I have hit my goal.

I am happy again. I am glad I didn't go nuts after the job thing because then I would be fat, unemployed and unhappy! LOL

aj - wow, what a great way to bounce back from a tough situation! Congrats on the losses!!!

I dont know why but I am seriously struggling with my weight loss. I know I HAVE TO but I no longer want to care anymore about anything pertaining to weight loss, its driving me NUTS! I need to re-focus and appreciate your ideas and encouragement.

TIff and AJ - woot-woot on the weight loss front, thats awesome!

AJ- stop beating yourself up on the whole job thing, you were smart enough to look it up before it went through, so kudos to you...it happens, just move on. Im more upset that it wasnt a real job, as I know you have been searching so hard.

Tiff- OMG!!! I admire your strength for avoiding Burger King, I wish...wish...wish...I had the same will power these days, Im totally slacking and have lost all self control.

Maddiesmom - did Mr. Hot generate a a routine at home for the days that you are unable to make it to the gym?

Burgundy- I saw your post on the 3 miles, go you! You have really stepped up your game with walking and running. Do you have any interest in doing the 30DS challenge again? I would like to try to do it in February but I need someone to push me.

Dance- great idea on the Crystal Light, that was my saving grace when I first gave it up and I need to go back to that until I can diciplien myself to just say no all together. How are you doing on your food consumption today?

Ok, back to work. Ever since my boss got a promotion and he took me with him, my days are so incredibly busy, I used to have the most time, lol...dang it all.

Lindy - hmmm... maybe you're thinking about all of the hard work that it will take to get all the way to goal and it seems like too much to tackle. How about breaking it up into manageable pieces with rewards attached? 5lbs = massage or new shoes or whatever? Or a weekly schedule with targets for each week? Crystal light is definitely what helps me get my water in for the day - my soda consumption is way way down from this summer (aah, the days of diet root beer....) which seems like a good health change. Food is good so far today - two light yogurts - and I'm going to have a super late lunch as I wasn't able to get out to grab something before my 1:30 meeting. How about you?

Thanks lindy and Dance!!

Fox 10 news local here has agreed to do an on air story about it but they need to send in some spy's from the network to interview first.

As long as I am not in front of a camera (Flash backs!)... I am fine and want to educate people here in Phoenix.