Hi Ivamae Thats nice .. I havent had a chance to weigh this week. I am in a maintenance mode from past 3 months .. So am really happy as long as I do not gain any weight. Thank fully I did not gain any weight in Holidays but do seem to have been binging a lot this month with quite a few Bday parties around. Anyway, I have to get back to my workout schedule and reduce another 10 pounds to be on the slimmer side. Harold.. hope you are doing well too. I will post my weight tomorrow. ;-)) Cheers and take care

Good Morning, As the kids used to say- "Go Jasmi, Go Jasmi, It's your Birthday"!!!! 'Slim in 6' sounds like a killer that just may work if you can hang with it without getting hurt. I can't wait to break into the 150s. We've moved DH's 76 year old aunt in with us. She has no children, has gotten her finances in a mess, and is getting feeble and forgetful. It is hard on me because she has been alone for quite a while and doesn't want me out of her sight. She walks slowly with a walker and wants to sit and talk all of the time. I've got to carve out time somewhere in the day to get in my treadmill time. I had to go to the grocery store late last night after DH got home, dinner was over, and she had gone to bed. She wants to eat all of the time. YIKES!!! But, she is sweet and has been very good to me in the past. So... life goes on in the wierdest way. My scales said 165 this am. I hope it is true. Come on Ek, get on those scales. It can't be that bad. We still love you! Take my advice and throw that carrot cake away. She is not too dear if she is giving you carrot cake when you are trying to diet. Wish we could get more garden planted. DH tried to plant tomatoes Sat and a storm started before he could finish. Sounds like you have a great one going. Maybe I can get a nice fall garden going this year. We are zone 7 and can extend it into early winter with some protection (according to the books!) I really need more green leafy anything and groceries are REALLY getting expensive. Helen, I love retirement. But, I have been busier than I've ever been since I retired! Have you found that to be true also? I know what you mean about thunderstorms. Last night when I went grocery shopping the sky was lit up continuously with lightening and it started pouring before I could get back home. Crept the last 4-5 miles straining to see through the wall of water. I backed the car right up to the deck steps and carried all of the bags I could get on both arms in at once. The rest stayed in the car overnight. DH brought them in this morning before leaving for work. The driveway has ruts washed in it from the storm. Bummer. Where are you, Harold? Have a great day, Betty

Good fricken early 4:30am morning! (Had to pee, of course once I'm up I WANT COFFEEE!!!!! So here I am. Bright eyed and bushy tailed. Crappy weather day yesterday. Crappy body yesterday - just wanted to sleep all day long. I get those every so often. So I slept on and off all day. Totally lifeless. Dinner was with friends on their deck over looking a pond. Listened to the birds, frogs, wild turkeys. Had a huge serving of bean salad. Forgot about bean salads - they are soooooo gooooood. Since I'm more with it today, going to get out some chicken to bake tonight. Too much red meat lately. Dee your planning is smart. I love salads especially in the summer. Zumba classes, eh? Is that the mad cycling thing? I'm a happy camper this morning, my neighbour said I could have some of their wild rose bushes. Yay! Their small and have a light scent and spikey stems - wildlife leave them alone. And they also said I could have some of the white anemone that Phil has in abundance in front of his pond - yay! Catherine gave me a tray of small different coloured pepper plants - I told her I don't buy pepper seeds in packets. I take them from the peppers I buy, dry them for a week and then plant them. Talk about 110 percent germination. These are mini bell peppers she had in salad different colours - now I have a tray full to plant. I'll be keeping seeds for next year. Garden, garden, garden. That's my life and home gym club. I need to get out into the fields a bit to get some tree limbs to make plant supports - there's tons of small trees crowding each other out to trim. I'll enjoy the walk. Thursday I'm going to a diabetic clinic at our local medical center. First time in over a decade - great medical center for a small town. I'm not on medication but I want to keep an eye on things. One of the reasons I've been working at getting my weight down. All part of my healthy lifestyle plan moving forward. Hubby is also booked since he had a glucose fasting test which turned out 'funny'. They say he is pre-pre diabetic whatever the hell that means. Heck we're just abnormal which is normal for us. I'm shocked he's agreed to go. Dave is going to be 50 this year and thinks he is now closer to dying with living. Good heavens Charlie Brown! Okay, he has horrid joint problems from old military training, football and hockey injuries - he is finding it hard woodworking on large projects - his body lets him know. But after a desk job career without exercise no wonder he's feeling it now. He has lost weight since moving out here but is still heavy. I keep reminding him Rome wasn't built in a day and things will get done in good time. At least he is going to the clinic. Whether or not he goes back is another story. Today is an outside day - no rain clouds! Yippppeeeee. Fresh air, bugs, birds, dirt - the final frontier. What's on your plate today? Getting out for a walk? Taking a cue from Dee and planning ahead? How ya all doing? Let's make this a great day! Cheers, Peggy

Good Morning, Soooo sorry I'm late to the party. First, WELCOME Beth! The more the merrier on this journey together. We encourage and lift each other up as we are heading to a healthy weight. Tell us about yourself. I woke up one morning and while getting ready for church I started having the worst pain that started in my mid-back and came straight through my body to my heart and up the left side of my neck. That was classic female symptoms of heart trouble and it scared me plumb to death! That was my wake up call. I started that day to watch what I ate. It took me a week or so to get to the store and buy a set of scales. When I weighed the first time I was 180. I think that was sometime in March. Basically, I'm trying to stick to a modified version of the South Beach diet. That works better for me than any other diet I have ever tried. I say modified because I've got lots of allergies and can't eat onions, garlic, and most cheeses(due to the naturally occuring mold that happens in the process of becoming cheese). The SB diet has those as well as lots of fish. I HATE FISH!!! The real secret to the SB diet is low carb and heart healthy eating. It works for me. OK...... I have a confession to make, guys. Monday was my 55th birthday. We also had a Lady's meeting at church. Pastor's wife made these decadent mini-cupcake type thingies with melted dark chocolate poured over them. I ate one as well as LOTS and Lots of fruit INCLUDING watermelon. Y'all know my weigh-in day is Tuesday. I got on those scales Tuesday and it said 164lbs. I wouldn't log on and report that number because it would give me a 2 pound gain. I was ashamed and embarrassed. Yesterday morning I was back to 162 and would have come here and reported that number, but it was such a busy day and everytime I came near the computer there were people in the room. And y'all are the only people in this world who know how much I weigh. They say confession is good for the soul. I know I've felt guilty ever since I wouldn't come tell y'all the truth. So... there it is. Just like you, Harold - it is what it is. This morning I got great numbers, but I will stick with the true number that was there Tuesday morning and share the good number next Tuesday. Thanks, Harold for being honest. It really helps me to be accountable and true to myself. I got fat by not being honest with myself about my weight and what it was doing to my life and health. I don't want to go back there. I hope everyone had a great Holiday weekend. Lots of stress here. Still haven't made time for the treadmill. Swamped with paperwork trying to get DH's aunt's finances in order since we moved her in with us. Too many bills and not enough $$. The extra mouth to feed is hurting our already tight finances, too. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel which we may get to in about 4 months, but the stress getting there is much greater than I thought. Every day brings more bills in the mail that we didn't know she had and she either forgot or just doesn't want to face. I'm a stress eater, but she is labor intensive and I think that has helped me to keep a lid on the overeating (execpt for last monday night!). I missed logging in and spending time with y'all during the week. I will try to do better this week. Everyone except Harold and me had a good week weight wise. Keep up the good work. Silver, you have set such a good example with your diet and exercise for us all. Don't wait too long to get motivated again and backslide on us. GREAT numbers for you both Ek and Jas!!!! Helen, A loss is a loss and you had a loss! I'm PROUD ;~) Have a great day, Betty