TOUGH WEEKEND

Uh - yeah. Wow! That part about how one treats one's child really hits home. I never thought of it like that!!! Dina

Ah, Jen, your post means so much...I can't thank you enough. I read your response yesterday at work while in the middle of 100 different projects so couldn't respond then, but I can tell you this -- before I read it, I was feeling very lelthargic and was talking myself into not doing my workout; your message lifted me up and out of that blue funk and I had a great workout. Thanks for that. There is nothing I admire more in people than having the courage to share themselves in a totally honest, fearless way -- people who take risks and put themselves out there -- like I tell my son whenever he's afraid to be himself...it's okay to feel afraid, but it's not okay to let that fear take over your life. Face your fear and do it anyway -- whatever "it" is, even if "it" is just being yourself, who you are, what you're about. I'm rambling and I'm trying to convey what your post meant to me and I bet to a lot of other people on this board. Thank you. I'm so sorry you had such a tough time of it as a kid and I'm willing to bet a lot of us did and that's why food became our substance of choice to abuse, to hide behind, to hurt ourselves with. And, you'd be a great mom -- any kid would be blessed to have you as a mom. Thanks so much for talking me down off that cliff. Take care, Reenie

Jen, somehow my response to your post didn't go where it was supposed to! Scroll down!! Reenie

Hey Jen... That was a posting for the ages!! You should send that in to a couple of the newsletters on this subject. It's a brilliant piece of writing and obviously heartfelt and well thought out. You have gotten to the heart of the matter in a few beautiful clear concise paragraphs. Thank you for sharing them with us. I've printed your post out and I plan to refer to it often. Thanks again. Mike

Maureen! I am there with you. I went to a bridal shower yesterday and man! I had the following: 3 stuffed crab mushrooms, 2 tiny finger quiches, 4 cauliflower sprigs with a little dressing, 4 crackers with crab dip, about 3 oz of champagne punch, 1/2 a piece of strawberry shortcake (oh man! the best I ever had) and 1 bite of chocolate cake. 'SIGH' SO moral is... sometimes it just hits us and its hard to say no. Its something that we all need to continue to work on. No one is perfect...not even the skinny women who never were obese. Even they struggle. I mean this is the United states...we are slammed with food commercials and temptation 24/7. Stress ... and just other things come into play. Times where we are just tired of stressing over logging every little detail and ALWAYS trying to pay attention to what we are placing in our mouths and is it pouch worth and just constantly having to think about it can be an overload.... I think our minds just go.. OK ENOUGH... time to splurge. As long as we can stop ourselves and not let it continue on for more than a day I think we will be alright. However...I need to stop it in its tracks for a while heh... since I have so much more to loose. Sure there will be those splurge days, but I have to make it like 1 or 2 days out of the month instead of 1 or 2 days out of the week which it has been lately. I wish I could pin point why it happens... but I think it varies for me. Sometimes I am just bored. Sometimes I am stressed. Sometimes I didnt plan right. Sometimes its just there. Sometimes I just dont think about things. There are always going to be sometimes out there but as long as we can control it I think we will be alright. LIke right now. IM just hungry and dont feel like dealing with the lunch planning...BUT its monday and I KNOW that I have to be careful. So today is going to be a good day. THe sun is out and summer is on its way! For me ... I am going to do something girly... like tan and then maybe this weekend I will get my toes and nails done. ... somethign that will make me focus on improvement to keep myself in that mindset. So for me and maybe you can try... do something different even if it is subtle each day for yourself and your body... like maybe wear a new pair of earrings, maybe add a new lotion or maybe sit out in the sun or something that keeps us focused on improvement but in a fun girly pampering way Hang in there we are all going through our bad days! OH by the way!!! speaking of lotions... NOW this is surely NO miracle lotion... BUT I bought this cellulite lotion from Avon and I am actually seeing a little bit of a difference!!!! I was and am shocked! Now by AAAALLL means I still have terrible saggy bumpiness and I will STILL need plastic surgery to help but any subtle difference is good! Just thought I would share Elizabeth M

Elizabeth, the important things is that we admit or own the things we are doing that we know we should not be doing. Only then can we begin to effect positive change, and that's what we need to do for the long haul. Thanks, sweetie. Maureen

God I love this place. Reenie your amoung friends. Old obese friends who've had the surgery and are going through the same exact things you are. I sure do wish they'd had a web sight like this way back 30 years ago when I was trying to figure out how to breast feed my oldest! Oh sure sounds easy to do but geesh the kid just didn't want to eat. Took me forever to figure it all out. He's survived and is going to be 30 this summer. So he didn't suffer. I've had similar things happen in the past few weeks. Seems like all of a sudden my old urges have bloomed again and I'm working on them. All those years of reading and weight support groups are paying off. I am remembering the whys and hows to work this out. Finally I have figured out that I eat when I'm stressed. Geesh if I'd only realized years ago!!! My job is very stressful but it pays the bills so it means that I need to listen to my head better. Do you ever feel like you have two little Reenies one on each shoulder? I do. One is in a devil suit the other is a angel. I'm working very hard to listen more to the angel one and less to the devil one. Sometimes the devil wins some times the angel does. Now I can identify the stress. I'm realizing which is stress which is hunger. Then I work with it. I'm drinking fluids when it hits thats been a help. Then if I'm still hungy I will start off with my carrot sticks. They fill me if that doesn't work I break out the prunes 3 are only 60 calories they are filling, sweet, and help with other "issues". Its very rare when that doesn't help if it doens't then I figure I must be really hungry and thats when I'll take a look at what good for me thing to eat. Also the time change effected me that plus I'm getting up early to go to Curves. Silly me didn't stop to think that if I'm eating my breakfast and hour and half earlier than usual that it makes sense I'd be hungry for my snack or lunch an hour and half earlier. We all have worked so hard to become what weve always wanted. None of us wants to be the one that failed. Weve have to many failures to many diets or programs that we've failed at. We expect it. But we need to remember that we now have super powers! We have a pouch and rules! we will never become what we were before. HERES TO ALL OF THE SUPER GASTIC HERO'S!!!!!

Thanks, Pam, you're right. I would be lost without this board. Reenie

Prodigal daughter checking in! I have the same issues Maureen. I find myself eating sugar now since I know I can get away with some things. I had a bag of red vines in the car that I was eating when I was driving the other day. Found myself eating the whole bag before it was over (not in one sitting though - that would make me sick. That's the only difference between now and then). I do find that I snack with crap more when I am really hungry for protein. I guess years of Atkins has shown me that some of my cravings are phantom cravings that are usually quelled by a decent meal. But still, when you are not paying attention and you don't have time or access to something meaty, it's easy to grab the crap and go with it. These ARE our old bad habits sneaking up on us. I know for me, I would eat crap many times because I just didn't have time to find a decent meal when I was hungry. Maybe if we commiserated and then shared what we think has worked for us in the past - even if only on occasion it would help. For me, some strategies that have helped me at times: 1) Drinking my protein drink first. I drink the Protidiet drinks which are gelatin based and have no fat in them. They really help boost my energy and help quell cravings. 2) Jerky. If I keep it around it can help quell cravings. 3) Apples. They fill me up physically. But I can still be craving afterward, so I've found adding a little peanut butter or cheese or something like that helps kick it. 4) Protein oatmeal. I cook it with Carb Countdown milk, splenda and cinnamon. It's quite satisfying. 5) Instead of going for candy or other treats, I will sometimes get some honey roasted peanuts. This helps my sweet tooth and gives me the protein and fat my body is craving. But if I can keep away from the sugar for a week, my cravings go away. The key is to not get complacent and let it creep back in when I'm rushed. Dina

Great suggestions, Dina. This is the sort of exchange of information that is so helpful to all of us; while I understand we are all experiencing good days and bad days, it's what's going on for us on those good days, educating ourselves about that "good" behavior and then applying what we've learned to our own lives on a daily basis, that's what will keep us moving forward successfully. And you're right (as always!!!) -- complacency is the undoer of all good things! I'm so glad you've stuck around because I really, really missed you! You are of such tremendous help to this board, try not to stray too far or for too long...Hugs, Maureen