Ivamae, I am keeping you in my prayers.... I am still numb and just finding it so difficult to come to grips with losing my beloved husband.... I have a wonderful suppport system with my church family, but the crying just seems to come and go and I don't know how to get it to stop. I wrote this tribute to him that a friend of mine will read at the memorial service on Valentine's day.. ********************************************** It seems like such a long time since yesterday When Bob was right here with us. Though growing old and sometimes struggling, He brought us so much cheer with his hugs, and little kisses of love But now as we stand upon this shore, We cannot trace the path Christ leads him down, We only know that since yesterday He sees his Savior's face. His first day home since yesterday! We wonder at that thought! One day we will know that special joy That moment must have brought him No clouds, no mists, no rain since yesterday, No pain, no questions, "Why?" Unshadowed now he sees the sun and time has passed him by. We miss him so since yesterday, Each memory rises up in our minds, And for just a moment he again is here alive. How we long to share & see his smile, And feel his special love�.. Yet, could we call him back again, To leave the delight of his soul?? To leave the gladness of the morning For one more pain filled night? Ah, no, we release him to the Lord, To let him go with joy, Because we will meet again one day and We would not want to take away the joy he's known since yesterday. We cannot deny the special gift the Savior had to give? For he who struggled so for life, has just begun to live! I am relieved that he is no longer in pain, but my selfish side wants him home with me again.... but one day we will be together forever... As for weighing, I have no idea, and I eon't really care right now.... I have no appetite, so my interest isn't on food.. but I eat to stay alive.. anf that's about it... Maybe I will have more to offer after this is all over and I can get back to som semblance of normalcy again.

Gretchen, I am all about eating within my points! Actually, the whole grain stuff is much lower in calories, so it pays to eat whole wheat pasta (3 points per cup) than the white stuff (4 points per cup). I tried to do it within the context of SS, but I get to eat more and be more flexible here. Most veggies are 0 points per cup (including raw carrots!), so I bring at least 2 cups of veggies with me to work each day....grape tomatoes and celery sticks, or cucumber slices and baby carrots...you get the picture. Most fruit is 1 point per serving. I think that you personally would probably be able to eat at least 20 points per day (goes by present weight and gradually goes down as you lose in order to lose more), so you see how great it is to fill up on veggies! They give you 35 flex points per week to use all at once, or spread out---however you need them. There is a website that gives you the points of most foods. Here is my day of eating (note that I like to eat all day, so I spread out my food intake...no set rules at Weight Watchers...they say "you can eat anything, just not EVERYTHING" LOL): 8 am: 1 cup Kashi cereal (dry) with my decaf coffee 10 am: 6 oz Dannon Fit and Light Yogurt Noon: 1 sandwich w/ low fat ham, ff cheese, mustard and "diet bread" (2 slices = 1 point); pickle, 1 cup of cherry tomatoes 2:00pm 10 baby carrots 4:00pm 1 pear 5:00pm exercise class (you can get back 2-3 points for this!!) 7:00pm 1 salad w/ oil vinegar, 1 large portion of fish (7 oz), asparagus, 1 cup of rice 9:00pm 1 point sugar-free Edy's all fruit ice pop I may still have points left, because I haven't done the math for my dinner here. I've listed approximations here...I would only use 1 tablespoon of olive oil for a 3-point salad, etc. You will get used to the measurements. Anyway, I hope this helps you. I've eaten pizza, ice cream, lasaagna, and still lost weight...you just need to count the points and plan the rest of your day/week accordingly! Here is a link that might be useful: WW Points

Harold, glad to hear the surgery went well. Recovery is pretty quick, isn't it? Don't strain your eyes while you wait. I had LASIK about 9 years ago and remember having to be very careful for a few days not to get poked in the eye or anything, wearing sunglasses even inside for the first day or two. Silversword! You are just rockin', girlfriend! I am amazed at you. 129--one TWENTY nine! Woo-hoo! Here's something some of you might be interested in. There's a site at www.weightview.com where you can upload a photo of yourself (in somewhat form-fitting clothes) and plug in your current and goal weights. Then they will adjust the photo to give you an idea of what you'll look like at your goal weight. It's free, but you have to have a Facebook account to log in to their FB page where they will post your altered photo for you. (They don't post your weight or any info about you, and even though there is a weigh-loss community there you can join, you don't have to do it.) I did it today (it's totally free) and got my photo a few hours later. Of course, I don't know how accurate it is, but if it is on target, then I might want to drop my goal weight a little more. I don't know. My body type is really weird. I wonder if I'll ever really be happy with my end results. I doubt I'll ever look sleek or svelte, always "matronly." Here is a link that might be useful: Upload your photo and goal weight for a preview

From a website: Our ancestors - for thousands of years, ate all day long. A bit of food here, a bit of food there. The last 400 years we decided to eat 1, then 2, then 3 big meals a day. The problem is our bodies are not "programmed" to eat 3 meals a day. You eat, then do not eat again for hours and the body responds by storing body fat because your body literally thinks you are starving! Include the foods we eat daily - highly processed foods that we digest in less than 1 hour - we are hungry all the time! So we eat, and eat. So how to eat now? Eat portion foods. A portion is a small hand-full of food. Every 2-3 hours, eat one portion. As you go along through the weeks, you will re-teach your body that your are not starving, so the portions will get smaller and smaller. You will never be hungry again. What to eat; fruits, vegetables, nuts, and ONE protein serving. Again, our ancestors ate very little protein. A can of white chicken breast, small can, in water, will give you all the protein you need each day. Throw away the water. Try different foods to see what you like, and do not. Fast food? Get the kid-size burger, kid-size coke.