Ah, Polly, my plank used to be my pride and joy. I could hold it forever. Do you ever do the plank and leg lifts at the same time? It's a killer!! Now I have more weight to hold up and it's more difficult so it's a work in progress for me now. I have a love/hate relationship with my trainer. He loves doing this "Ready, set, go!" thing with me so I'll squeal "Wait, wait!!" It tickles him every time. Also, I'm totally there with you on the heart disease. My mom had a heart attack at 54 and it's the big killer in my family. When I was younger, vanity was my main reason for losing weight but I guess it wasn't enough motivation. When I turned 40, all of a sudden I realized that I only had probably a dozen more years to live if I didn't lose the weight. Now that is a motivator. Gibby - I'm anxiously awaiting to be where you are now! Congratulations on hitting your goal! I've been curious about something and please feel free to ignore my possibly intrusive question. With a prosthetic leg, how do you gauge your body weight? Did you establish your goal weight on just what feels best for you or did you work off of a table like BMI or something? Bethpen, so sorry to hear about the bicep tear. I know exactly how you feel. You're going along just great, feeling like a champ and then BAM! sidelined and feeling down in the dumps. I eat the worst when I feel sorry for myself so all I can say is that it will heal and you'll be back on top in no time! Hhireno, try to get that weight lifting in your schedule. Nothing burns more calories than having muscle - and it looks good too! Sue, Gibby has great advise about the eating. I'm sure you probably already know what to do - it's just a matter of listening to yourself which is the hardest part of all. If it were me, I would set a plan for the following week to come out of the gate running and start physicing myself up for a great week. I purchased a Bodybugg last year but didn't really get into it - just wasn't in the right frame of mind. My subscription ran out and I remembered that I had it this week. Wow, it's been a great tool. You plug into the program how many pounds per week you want to lose and it tells you how many daily calories to burn (resting metabolic rate + activity) and how many calories to consume. I said I wanted to burn three pounds per week and it told me I need to burn 3050 calories and eat 1550 calories per day. That gives me 100-200 calories more than I have been eating. So I weighed myself this morning and have lost four pounds for the week! I didn't really lose anything last week so some of that is probably left over but I'll take it. Also, I'm winding down the juicing. It really helped me get some control over cravings and I really don't care to eat any sugar. Another benefit, is that I have no desire to eat red meat. We have been a big steak and potatoes kind of family and DH, DS & me are just not into that stuff anymore. I'm going to try to stick with a more vegan with fish sort of diet, it seems to suit us pretty well.

Bev....here's an easy "recipe" I developed when I was on a diet once. I think you'll find it enjoyable and "braces friendly"! Sorry, I don't have measurements, I just dump...you'll have to figure out what works best for you! But I'll put in some guestimates. I usually make this with frozen dark pitted cherries, but sometimes I use frozen mangoes and pineapple and leave out the baking cocoa. You can really experiment with different frozen fruits and you could even add extracts for more variety, such as adding coconut extract when using frozen pineapple. You must use frozen fruit in order to get a thick shake-like consistency....I don't really care much for fruit smoothies, but this is VERY shake-like. Easy Chocolate Cherry Shake Frozen Dark Pitted Cherries (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups) Milk (about 1/2 cup or more if needed for consistency) Baking Cocoa (maybe 3 T more or less to taste) Sugar substitute (I used Splenda. Use to taste) Nuts (optional...add if you need more protein) Put all ingredients into a blender and blend well. Salijo

Violet, I had this same problem two years ago. I got the flu, and it went into my lungs and stayed there for two months. Even after that I was weak. Then, six months later, I got it again for two more months. Then, a year and three months passed, and sick again for two months. Same thing, coughing and coughing, completely wore me out. I have tried EVERYTHING known to modern medicine and natural healing, holistic, etc. A virus can feel like bronchitis, but not amount of antibiotics will cure it, so stay away from them like the plague. They are lifesavers for sure if you have something bacterial, but if you don't, they wreak havoc with your immune system!! A good diet for restoring your immune system includes lots of whole foods, yes soups, and lots of vegetables for the anti-oxidants. Juicing could be good, my SO swears by it but I just ate a lot of vegetable based soups. Limit carbs and sugars! I'm not an all-or-nothing person, but I had to really watch that as I am a carb-a-holic. Probiotics, the ones that you get in the refrigerator section, and 30B count. Forget yogurt and sauerkraut unless you make it yourself, what you get in the store is dead, despite what the label says. Lots of fluids. The only herb that helped me was olive leaf, it is a strong anti-oxidant. I tried them all. I took a codeine-based cough syrup at night in order to get some sleep. Nothing over the counter worked. I only took it at night, so did not get addicted. Then, just rest, rest and more rest. Exercise did not help. Yes, maybe walk and stretch/yoga just to keep your muscles in shape, but exercise helps prevent your getting this, but once you have it, you just have to let your body rest. One day it will leave. Until then, listen to your body. Go on sabbatical. Rest. GET HELP! My house went to heck in a handbasket. I had to pay someone to help me dig out. And so it goes. If sis is coming, maybe she can help. If she can't, and it is stressing you, either get some help ahead of time, or reschedule the visit. You are on time out!!!!! Rest and time, that is the only thing you can do. I wise doctor told me that, one who had been through the same thing herself. She said sometimes the body just goes into this mode due to having absorbed a lot of stress for a long time. She got it after med school and the birth of her first child. Sometimes the body needs to reset itself. On the plus side, I haven't been sick like that for over two years, so you can get over it!! We want instant fixes. Sometimes we just can't get them. But you can move through this eventually! Allow yourself the time to heal.

I started up the line thanking your posts and just decided to say THANK YOU to everyone here in my reply. I really appreciate the perspectives on this situation. I come bearing good news: my son is doing much better today. We are not out of the woods yet but the doctor is pleased with his progress and we are so relieved. Thank you all for your thoughts and good wishes. Also the mother of the teammate who hit him called me last night. She was told by another parent what had happened and, of course, she felt badly. We had a nice conversation and I told her how much I appreciated her call. So all good on that too. Oh these high school sports. Interesting stories above. My DH and I both played in high school but that was a long time ago. All my kids play sports and they have learned some great life lessons about health, teamwork, respect, listening to authority, self-control. What I notice though is the year-round emphasis on strength and conditioning training at the high school level. This makes for strong teams and players who are resilient. But it also makes for a lot of teens who develop the muscles of men with the brains and decision-making skills of boys. Girls are strong and competitive too but somehow they seem more level-headed. Editing for brevity. I tend to write war-and-peace posts.