Mommyandme -- Oh, to be young again is right. I turn 62 on Monday, and as I age it definitely gets harder. I used to be able to "think about" losing 5 lbs, and it was gone -- like your daughter. My daughter is a fitness nut, looks great, and has been a good encouragement for me. I'm working so hard at everything this week -- weighing and measuring everything, getting more complex carbs, drinking all my liquids, diligent about my exercise, etc.....so I hope I get better results when I weigh in on Tuesday morning. A friend has invited me to lunch for my birthday on Tuesday, so I'm going to use my WW 35 extra weekly points that day. I have never used the extra points before, so I'm hoping this doesn't blow everything I've lost. I love Thai food, and Pad Thai is my favorite. I'm really looking forward to that. So far, I haven't cheated hardly at all on WW. I'll just have to walk a little longer. Thanks for your encouragement. Good luck to you too.

Heather, I had an experience that was so real. I wanted to share it with you in hopes that it will help you with your loss. I know how hard it is to be here without your mother. My pain is great too but I was comforted by God. Here's what happened: I loved my mother so much. I was an only daughter so she was my mom, my sister, and my best friend. One day she was in the hospital, she had emphysema and I knew that she did not have much longer to live. I remember standing in the shower and saying prayers for her to get well. I live 400 miles away from her and could not be at her side. At the very moment that my prayer ended I received a reply. The response came to me first from my heart and then to my head. It said, "Why all the prayers if you do not go see the person?" At that moment I had greater wisdom then so many in my position. I ran from the shower dripping in a towel and hugged my husband in tears. I told him I have to go, my mom is sick. I have to spend as much time with her as I can. He said go. Be with your mom. I quit my job so I could spend as much time as possible with her. From that point forward I had four wonderful years with her helping to ease her pain and fear before she passed. And my story does not end there.... My mother did finally pass and of course I was devastated and beyond grief. I cried a solid two years. My heart would not heal. At night I would dream of her. She would be sick and I would be there praying for her to make it though it but she didn't and when I awoke, I knew the dream was for real. I had a very, very hard time moving on. I could not stop crying. Hardly for a moment. My face was raw from the salt of my tears. And then again one night I was having another nightmare dream about her. I remember sobbing in the dream. But this time a young man in a suit came a placed his hand on my shoulder. At that moment I felt safe and I just knew that he was an angel. I knew it was okay to go with him and I did. We began to walk and he spoke to me. I will never forget his words, "You have no idea how fortunate you are. You are going to have the opportunity to sit down and meet with God. So many people would love to have this chance that you are going to get. God wants to speak to you about your Mother. You are suppose to share this with others and he knows that you will." Then we reached a room and he said, "This is not how it is, we have created this for your benefit. God will come in and he will look like an ordinary man." In this room was a big desk with a chair in front of it. I felt like I was in a job interview. I sat in the chair and I waited for a moment. A tall dark haired man came into the room. I could not tell you all his features just that he was wearing a very nice suit and tie and he had big loving eyes. He knew my name reached across the desk to shake my hand and said, "Hello Nicole. How are you?" I must have squeaked a hello and a okay. Then I saw his big brown eyes. These eyes gave me a feeling of intense love. They seemed to look into my heart and shoot safe and soothing feelings at me. And he said this to me.... "Nicole, I want you to know your Mom is okay. She's not alone. She's with me and she's happy. It's okay, she's not alone." He seemed to know that a huge part of my grief was that I was separated from her and I didn't want her to be alone without the family. I knew that was a big part of my grief. He kept stressing that she was with him and not alone. Then he said, "She's happy, she's not sick anymore and she can breathe." I was sobbing at this point just sitting in that chair. I could hardly look at him. Then he asked, "Would you like to see her one more time?" "Oh, yes, please, yes, yes, yes!" was my answer. "Okay, we're going to set that up for you." and he called the angel back into the room. He told the angel, "We're going to go ahead and set it up for her to see her mom. Go ahead and take her to the room for her to see her." I was brought to a big room. It was lowly lit with chairs all the way around the room like a reception room at a doctor's office. There was a door across the room and through that door came my mom! She didn't look sick anymore. She looked like she did back in the 1970's. She was so pretty. She ran over to the chair next to mine and hugged and kissed me. I could smell her hair. I hugged her neck and kissed that favorite spot on her temple. I loved her so much. I told her that over and over. She told me she loved me too. The she spoke sharply to me, "Stop worrying about me. I'm okay. I'm not alone. You have a whole life ahead of you and a wonderful husband. Go back and be a good wife to him. Be happy again!" She was kind of mad at me. All I could say was that I knew she was right. Then she said she had to go back and I have to go back. I said okay. She got up and went back through her door and as she did, I turned and went back through my door. As soon as I passed though my door. I could see my body sleeping in the bed. I sped like a bullet to it and as soon as I hit my body I woke up. Then I went back to sleep and the whole dream came back to me the next morning. I hope this will help others with their grief. I have more to share if you think it might help. I don't know why I was chosen for this, I am an ordinary woman and not so perfect and good. I have sins too. But I do seem to have a special connection and I know that I am blessed. Respectfully submitted, Nicole

I chose to go gluten free, not because of Celiac, but because of thyroid issues. I have found a complete change in my body since then, and if I do eat something containing wheat, I definitely feel it shirtly afterward. I am Italian. Pasta and bread are an integral part of my life, but I have given up bread and switched to brown rice pasta. I dont really miss bread anymore, as Ive learned to substitute other things. I eat much more quinoa, and organic polenta. Also more rice (brown or forbidden). When I crave sweets I usually eat some fruit, but I will give in on occasion and have sime fat free whipped topping or some greek yogurt with honey. Im trying to adopt a cultural diet-eating more Thai, Indian and Mexican...lots of veggies and spices. Ive found if my mouth is hot from some curry or siracha, i am not so hungry later! Beans! Theyre your friend. A bit of baby mozarella with EVOO and kalmata olives makes a delish lunch. Add frsh romatoes & basil if you chose. Absolutely no deprivation! In my WW meeting last night the topis was portion size, and folks were discussing Hambuger Helper!!! Really? Id eaten rice, beans, veggies & salsa for dinner-could eat twice the portion size for half the calories! Its all about the food (fuel) you put in your body.

rob333 it really is that simple 12 flights! That's awesome!! I usually try to fill out my food log in the morning for the whole day. That way I can see what fits my plan before I eat it. (there's a mobile app too) If somebody treats cupcakes, I will look at my food diary and see what I want to give up to eat it - or not eat it. I usually decide it's not worth it. (a Panera vanilla cupcake is 450 calories - I can eat a whole meal for that - or walk 6 miles to make up calories. But the idea is to burn more than I eat, so....) I fully expect this to someday be a normal habit. As it is right now, I do put a good deal of thought and energy into planning. I usually walk 2 miles on my lunch break and if weather is bad, I go up and down the back set of stairs at work for 20 minutes. I usually put on a t-shirt and change back before I sit down again. I try very hard to not eat back any exercise calories. Another bonus is I am definitely more fit and firm in all the right places! So far it is working for me.