Jody, I'm sorry to hear what a hard time you are having. Hope you can turn it all around. The "I forgot to eat" syndrome left me about 18 months out. I now definitely get hungry. I have found that eating 5 small meals a day works the best for me. Then less chance of additional snacking. So I really think you are OK with 5 to 6 mini meals a day --- many surgeons recommend that. I find that if I do carbs like crackers, bread, rice, pasta that I get hungier more often. If I do higher protein, low carb then I do much better. There are many protein choices that are pretty affordable like chicken and turkey. Do you like tuna or egg salad or hard boiled eggs? Do you like protein shakes? The shakes could be used as a meal substitute if needed. You need 60 grams of protein a day just to maintained normal muscle mass. Remember your heart is a muscle. So protein is sooooo important. Do you qualify for unemployment? When we left CA to move here, my husband could still draw unemployment from his job in CA. It might be worth checking out. Your pouch can still work for you if you let it. Get back on track (a meal at a time), get in your fluids, and start exercising. The exercise should help with your depression too. Whether you go out and walk OR dance to some music at the house, any exercise is better than no exercise at all. You can get the weight back off, don't give up. Remember you are not alone. We are all still having to work hard to maintain or not gain. We're here if you need us. Just let us know how you are doing.

You can tell how much I was paying attention. It sounds wonderful either way. I went on the site briefly and was taking that test. It looks like a nice site so far. Thanks Annette

Mary that sounds so nice. It is like you have found each other again. Thank you for sharing your experience. Annette

This is a weekly ezine that I get. Linda Spangle wrote the book ... Life is Hard, Food is Easy. I just picked it up the other day. She also has a book called 100 Days of Weight Loss. (NOTE: Permission is given in the ezine to distribute this e-mail to others - see below) The Wt. Loss Minute by Linda Spangle, RN, MA www.100DaysChallenge.com Great idea: Get into the experience, not the food Ahh...vacation. My husband and I recently spent a week in Eastern Canada, enjoying the best vacation we've had in years. We hiked, played tennis, or took long walks every single day. We monitored our food intake by splitting most of our meals and eating dessert only twice during the entire trip. We also browsed through bookstores, drank tea on outdoor patios, and had many long, meaningful conversations. But the best part of the vacation wasn't from the exercise and healthy meals. It came from a separate decision to avoid all work-related contact. That meant no cell phone or PDA, no voice mail, no web searching and no email for the entire trip. What surprised us was how freeing that was. In fact, not communicating in these ways became the most nurturing part of the trip. It reminded us how great it feels to be free of our electronic demands and deadlines. At the end of the vacation, we made another decision. Once we got home, we would do whatever it took to prolong this great feeling of being relaxed and mentally present in our daily lives. We would work shorter days, plan more fun and maintain the peaceful, feelings that resulted from getting away so completely. In other words, we would hold on to the benefits from the vacation and make them part of our daily lives. But...something went wrong. This noble intention lasted only a few days, and soon we were back to struggling with schedules and work pressures again. Even our goals around regular exercise and healthy eating slipped quietly away. By the end of the first week, we both felt exhausted and discouraged. The only solution was another trip, but since that wasn't realistic, we had to come up with something else. We decided to analyze our vacation and figure out what helped us relax and enjoy life so much. Here's what we came up with: * We looked for ways to be active. At home, that means we need to routinely put more activity into our lives. Walk everywhere possible. Exercise in the evenings before eating dinner. Schedule activities such as tennis and hiking into our weekly calendar. * We took time to talk, but not about work. To keep this up, we decided to set specific times for talking, but not allow any conversations related to work. I've known parents who've used a similar goal of briefly not allowing any discussion related to the kids. Not that these things aren't important, but sometimes we need to focus on other areas of life. We can always discuss work or kids (or money) at another time. * We built our days around experiences, not around food. We didn't have to eat a lot of food in order to have a good time. Instead, we enjoyed the experience of sitting on outdoor patios, having a quiet afternoon tea, and visiting local museums and places where we learned about history, crafts and artwork. When we placed the emphasis on having experiences and enjoyment, food became a side dish rather than the main event. As to re-capturing that wonderful emotional state we had on vacation, we may have to wait until next year to feel that again. But in the meantime, we are determined to hold on to our new insights, and to appreciate each day for the joy and beauty it brings into our lives. For more on how to enjoy the experiences around food see Day #40 in the book '100 Days of Weight Loss.' Know others who've got a minute? Forward this ezine and brighten their day. Copyright Linda Spangle, 2006. #0807, Weight Loss for Life, Inc. 5023 W. 120th Ave. #183, Broomfield, CO 80020 Contact: [email protected] www.100DaysChallenge.com 303-452-1545 or 1-800-298-3020

You will reach your goal and walk . You will be in my prayers for a full recovery. Good luck. Annette