Roll Call: Maysters

I'm here... sorta. LOL! Actually had a decent day. Not much on the chest pain front. Just small twinges. I cannot say I'm doing much differently but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth either. Started back at the gym yesterday after a month off. I did walk every day while in NY though and had been walking at lunchtime at work most of the time. Yesterday did lower body and some cardio. Today upper body and some cardio. Tomorrow I'm going gyming it. Thursday will be lower body and Friday upper again. Feels good to be back at it. I haven't started my plan to try to burn more fat with the information I got from the PT during my metabolic testing. I decided to start that the beginning of August giving myself the next few weeks to work myself back up to my more normal workouts. My weight is fairly stable at 162-163 and I'm not complaining. Think I'm finally hearing twangs of "You are done losing, right? You look good as-is." I think I'm pretty happy here but would like to build some muscle and lose some fat so however that plays out on the scale is fine with me. I also haven't evaluated what I'm eating calorie-wise to go with the metabolic information we got. One of these days, I will. LOL! Rich is doing well. The results of his bone marrow biopsy aren't back yet but should be later this week. The blood work the hematologist ran before that didn't show anything interesting... no rare genetic disorder afterall. I guess that's all from here. Show your face. Post a hello. Let us know how you are doing. Whatever! Kathy

Howdy! Well, I'm doing just fine in sunny and hot Las Vegas. I am diligently working out 5 days of cardio and 3 days of weight training. Yep, after about a year of going to gym, I think it's finally becoming a habit, and one that I can be proud of! My scale hasn't moved much, but I am working with my nutritionist on this. I still have about 29 pounds to lose to reach goal, which I'm not sure will happen at this point. I don't know that I'll be disappointed if I don't reach goal, but I want to look better than I look right now. I still have a lot of fat in my tummy (some skin, but I was a low end loser from the beginning). I still battle eating like a demon on unplanned snacks in the evenings and sometimes the weekends. I'm sure this will forever be a battle, and I'm still looking for those things that will satisfy me more than my need to eat. But I have learned that I can do this for life -- which is amazing for me. Our next BIG project . . . getting pregnant! We are on the track to hopefully having a baby sooner than later. We have been trying since 1999, and we are more than ready to make this happen. It's tough for both of us to be the oldest children in our families and watch all of our younger siblings have kids. We are really ready to be there. So, we're having fun at it and I hope to have big news for you all sometime in the near future. I am going to make it my mission to update my picture here -- I can't believe the picture is about 11 months old. Everyone else say howdy, too! Angie

Hi there! Things are good on this front. I'm getting ready to slap down a down payment for PS to be scheduled in mid-December, the only time I can afford to take off work and school for 2-3 weeks, minimum. On one hand, I wish I could do it....uh... tomorrow... but, on the other, I know it's for the best. I'm going to use this time to get my body fat percentage down and quit smoking. My body fat percentage, per my home scale, is around 27% - I'd like to get closer to 20% before surgery - according to what I've read, 30% is the highest side of normal... Currently resting at 151.8. I've been bouncing back and forth between 151 and 155 for the past several months and like you, pretty much feel like I'm done. Doesn't mean I still wouldn't love to see it settle on 149. Just 'cuz... My eating goes in spurts... I can go several days eating very well, on plan, with no deviations. Other days I snack a lot more, and make less than great choices. A lot of it has to do with how prepared I am for the day and how structured my day is. Weekends are worse because I don't structure my day. I have been working on logging my food again on Fitday, just to sort of get an idea of how I'm doing... Other than that, nothing really earth-shattering going on. For the most part, the "newness" has worn off, I think about what I eat, still read labels obsessively, but it's such a normal part of my life now, I just feel.... normal. That's not a bad thing, yannow?

I'm around. Still very busy at work. Like others, unplanned evening snacks are a struggle. I think for me, cold turkey is the only way to go - no more eating after dinner. Period. I eat dinner late anyway, around 8 or 8:30, so there is no earthly reason why I feel the need to stuff my face at 10. I'm not even hungry! Anyway, I haven't started my no eating after dinner rule yet, but no time like the present, right? I am giving another talk to a group of preops at the end of the month. I am hoping to weight 163 by then so I can say I've lost 140 pounds. This morning I weighed 164.5. Maybe the plateau is over? I hope so because I have been bouncing between 168-178 for a couple of months. I desperetely want to get into the 130's and get into size 6-8's. Right now, I'm still in the 160's and size 12/14's, so I obviously have more work to do. Anyway, that's all that's going on with me.

All is wel in Texas. I have only 3 more weeks of summer left until I start "new teacher orientation"...I'm new toe district so I have to have a week of training...ugh! Eating isn't too bad. Sometimes a little too much snacking but it's not generally on stuff too bad for me. Exercise could be better. We aren't home too often during the week. We travel to visit relatives for a few days here and there and then people come to visit us so life is a bit crazy. Next week should be nice and sweet. Weight still hovers around 130-132 and that keeps me happy and knowing that I'm on track. I'm ready for a new exercise regimen to recharge! Other than that I feel great and healthy! ana

I'm here and tired, LOL! Been super busy this week. The kids have Vacation Bible School at our church and I've been running them there every morning. I took a course in Counseling through my church and I missed a sessions while we were on vacation in February, so the course actually ended a few weeks ago and I finally got around to making the ones up that I missed. I've been making the rounds to the local farmer's markets (we've got some GOOD ones here) and I've bought 1/2 flat each of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and 2 pounds of cherries. They are all SOOO yummy!! I've been eating the blueberries like candy. They're a superfood, super low in calories, high in nutrients and taste like heaven! I love it when I've got good fruit in my house because I'm much more inclined to eat it than when it's just blech or so-so from the regular grocery. I'm getting mentally prepared for my tummy tuck. It was so funny, the other night I pulled my pants down below my panni and got on my hands and knees and showed my kids my skin (in this position it hangs down a good 6 inches near my ribs and 10-11 under my belly-button). My kids just were grossed out - they wouldn't touch it cuz they said it felt gross. My son finally did and then he kept wiping his finger on the carpet like he was trying to get rid of it. Anyway, because of this and these persistent rashes, I'm so ready to have this done. I don't know when/if I have ever had a flat tummy. I'm sure I did at some point. Right now I'm about the size I was when I graduated high school but of course the weight was distributed a little differently but I still didn't really have a flat stomach. I keep pulling it to the side, hiding it with a towel or something and I just can't imagine what it's going to look like. I'm in the process of coordinating a church-wide event that is a blast. It's called "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and we have people sign up to be a host and people sign up to be a guest. The host says that they can host up to 10 people, so those that sign up to be a guest are put at their house. Now the host will know how many people are coming but not who and the guests will get an address but not a "who" to where they're going. It's so much fun and I've coordinated this in a few other churches and we've had such a good time. That, on top of all of my Ombudsman duties/meetings and such have been keeping me super busy. In September I start taking classes again and start teaching two Ancient Egypt classes and one Creative Writing class for the homeschool group that my kids are part of, so I should be good and busy then! I am such a type A it's not even funny. Michelle

Oh, on the back/neck pain front things are a bit better. Per my PT I'm still very weak muscularly in the lower abdomen and lower back so still no fast walking, running, biking, etc., etc., etc. It's so frustrating looking at my body and knowing what it is potentially capable of and not being able to do any of it. I'm down to only having REAL pain about 3-4 days a week instead of 6-7 so I suppose that's a good thing. The food is 9 times out of 10 good. I eat about 4-5 times/day depending and I try to keep the food that I do eat healthier choices. Not always the case, and as many of us have posted nighttime snacking is the worst for me. I eat dinner anywhere between 4:30-6:30 depending on what we have going on in the evenings and I'm almost always going for something to eat anywhere between 8-10. Sometimes a few times between 8-10 like I'll have 2 string cheese & a handful of kashi crackers. Then about an hour later I'll have some yogurt and fruit or tortilla chips and cheese. Then a little later I may have a few sf cookies, etc. That sort of thing. I'm trying to make my evening snacks much more nutritionally sound. Because I don't go to bed until at least 11 most nights, so if I eat dinner even at 6, that's five hours and yes, I do get hungry within five hours, so I do need an evening snack, but the choices that I make and the quantities are the issue. Workin' on it!!

OMG Michelle, I swear you just described me.... I stand in front of the mirror every morning pulling my skin this way and that, standing strategically sideways and pulling it to the side to see what it would look like without it... Aaron walked in one day and said "What in the H$LL are you DOING, woman?" Hope to be putting my down payment next week and getting a date for mid-December, the only time I have a 2-3 week break from school. Work is easy, I've got benefits, but I can't afford to miss school right now...

Im still here and NOT PREGNANT I might add. I took a test just to ease my soul and it was negative. Terry was so dissapointed! I still am undecided on the whole pregnancy thing. Just scared really of gaining X amounts of unwanted weight and going through post partum depression again. Ive finally reached a medium with my weight, I flucuate on a daily basis between 145 and 150. Ive totally neglected my exercise regimen for the past month I think. I know I need to start back soon. I have mostly good days with my eating but still struggle with bindge eating and grazing. Ive been potty training Chandler for a little over a month and I think we finally got the hang of it! He does wonderful with very rare accidents. I still let him wear a diaper at night. Im so glad because there was a time when I thought hed be in diapers until he was grown. He is so funny, hell come to me and say Momma, I got doos doos in my butt! LOL! Thank god for the article I read in Parenting, its what saved us. We put a "Potty Paige" on the refridgerator and when he does a pee in the potty he gets one sticker to put on the paige and if he does a doo doo in the potty he gets two stickers. I didnt want to reward him with food because I live in constant fear of him having a weight problem like Momma. He even weighs with me every morning, LOL. All 31.5 pounds of him. Candy

Hello! I am still here. Haven't been around much - my internet service has been down since our move in June. Every once in a while I lurk from work, but we have been busy and I was on vacation recently too. We went to Block Island for a week. We had a great time, beached a lot, did not feel uncomfortable in my bathing suit, even with my wrinkly baggy skin. If you don't like it - don't look. I am loving being active in the warm weather, riding my bike, walking, swimming, etc. Even playing frisbee is more fun now. I am still paying attention to what I eat - good or bad. Although it was only sugarfree or low sugar - I have recently given up icecream. It was starting to become a habit that I don't want to start up again. I am a little jealous of all Maysters that are getting ready for, or have already had ps. I would love to get rid of some of the extra skin. That is something that I just cannot justify with my budget. I hope all is well with everyone and that you all are enjoying your summer! Take care, Carol