Ruth, My weight is at a standstill also...just can't get with it!! I guess with all the stress and the weather,one excuse after another,huh!!???? Well like you said it took me about 10 years to get where I was,so its NOT going to happen overnight!! I'm shooting for at least 30 pounds by May,my 2 year mark,maybe more!! As I am writing this ...have you tried the 90 calories mini delights quaker snacks? I got the chocolale mint and are they ever good! Well, my hubby has had job offers,with his experience,he won't have a problem. He was putting off until after the court hearing!!! (my bad!!!) He goes for an interview tomorrow and is going to a place he drove for before to see if they are hiring. Whats really bad right now is that its bad enought that the trucking compamy went under, but they bounced the check for over a $1200.00!!!!! That really sucks right after Christmas!! I can't wait for it to be over with this kids.too!! She has screwed up once already,so maybe this will keep going and look better for us! Did you have a good weekend with your hubby??? Sounded like fun to me!! Sure wish we could have some slone time now that he is home for while!!

http://cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2008/jan/07_0046.htm This is a very interesting article and below is a section from it which explains why it is harder to eat right when we are tired / stressed etc. Characterizing eating as an automatic behavior does not mean that human beings cannot bring eating under volitional control. People certainly can refuse dessert or resist the temptation of the chocolates in the jar on the desk. All automatic behaviors can be controlled temporarily. Human beings can consciously prevent themselves from smiling when amused, frowning when annoyed, or tensing their muscles when threatened. It just takes effort. But the amount of effort required to refrain from eating when food is present is substantial, and it is nearly impossible to sustain over the long term. For example, in a study on self-control, Baumeister and colleagues allowed members of one study group to eat freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies while members of a second group given access to the cookies were told to refuse them and were allowed to eat only radishes; members of a third control group had no food to eat or to refuse (38). Afterward, the researchers asked the members of the three groups to work on an unsolvable puzzle. Members of the control group given no food worked on the puzzle for 21 minutes before quitting, and members of the group that were allowed to eat the cookies worked for 19 minutes. In sharp contrast, members of the group that had to refuse the cookies quit after only 8 minutes, and they reported more fatigue than members of the other groups. The work of refusing tempting food required mental effort -- enough to deplete participants' ability to perform other higher-level processes. In general, human self-control over automatic behaviors is limited. Self-control tires like a muscle and taxes our ability to perform other tasks (39). And just as refusing food depletes a person's mental reserves, tasks requiring mental effort can reduce the ability to resist the temptation of food. In one study, people trying to maintain a diet who were deliberately frustrated with an unsolvable problem increased their food intake compared with people who were not trying to control their eating (40). The high mental demands of dieting may partially explain the commonly observed pattern of dieters initially losing weight and then gaining it back (41).

Well I haven't started mine yet! I was planning on starting the 5 day plan today, but didn't get organised and a bunch of other stuff that I could troll out as excuses, but won't. I'm just finding it hard to get into gear again after eating over Christmas. How are you doing? I read in one of Andi's posts the question, what small measures are you putting into place to make a difference (or words to that effect anyway - sorry if I've quoted you wrong Andi) I am trying to be more active generally - instead of asking daughter or hubbie to get something for me, I will get up off my backside and get it myself! I've bought myself a skipping rope - used it once so far the other week. I plan to do a little skipping every evening. As my daughter has changed schools I will also HAVE to walk 1 mile every day to pick her up (we reduced to being a one car family when I was in an energetic and money saving mood!!)

my conundrum is that I like hte Giants/Patriots/Dallas in that order and now i'm in a bind because everyone is going on to the big games! Dallas played an awesome game, we just happened to win, it happens like that some times but it's fun watching with die hard fans! Today i'm back on my program. I'm having my high protein hot cocoa and then i start on my fluids, my goal today is 72 ounces or more! Tell me what you're going to do today to bring you closer to your goal? Hugs, ANDI

Hey Di! You know what, maybe it's not about being perfect but about making better choices then we might have before. What if instead of exercising we vowed to park further away so that we'll walk more? Instead of saying I won't eat any carbs today let's say i'll eat moderate carbs or i'll weigh or measure them out so I can account for them. Small, measurable steps that move us closer to our goal. I ate poorly tonight and I'm paying for it but i got to watch the ball game with a group of folks from the pizza parlor and we had fun high fiving our win and that's what it's all about! May this week be uneventful or may you come on here more often so I know how to support you properly. ANDI