It is hard to do the right thing about bullies. In the long run, allowing them to bully you or others diminishes their potential too. I have found that being honest and sincere gives them an opportunity to see their impact and perhaps do something about it. No one wants to have others think poorly of them, not even bullies. I will send you good thoughts to get through your difficult task. Emergen-C is a vitamin drink that you can find in most health food stores in Canada and I saw some in the States too. It tastes like crap, but it is full of wonderful things that are supposed to do wonderful things for us. They come in little packets that you sprinkle in water (lots of flavours, but none that I like). I look at them like protein drinks, a necessary evil. I decided that I would not be able to go through caffeine withdrawal as well as food withdrawal so I decided instead of non-fat lattes, that I would have coffee with cream in it. On Atkins, cream is less evil than non-fat milk, so I think it will affect my ketosis attainment less than 8oz of non-fat milk. The higher the fat content in the cream the better for the Atkins plan... go figure. I remember when I worked at Starbucks many many years ago, there was this ultra slim woman that used to come in and order a latte breve which means made with half and half cream. She said that she was following atkins and this was her treat... My co-workers and I tried one, and it tasted nasty, like sucking a bar of lard, but she loved them and it worked for her. My 2 day plan is to stay on protein drinks only, with coffee and cream. I am hoping that this is going to work with the antibiotics that I am taking for the stupid staph infection that I have in my knee incision. It seems that I am not getting off easily this time from surgery. Holly

What is emergen-c??

It makes me so cross that people feel that they are able to make personal comments on our size - as others have said - comments when we were obese, and now comments that we are too small, or 'don't lose any more' kind of thing. What gives them the right to be so rude - the trouble (for me at least) is that I allow them to. I don't tell them they are being rude, I laugh it off, and yes, in the past I have turned to food. The comments that hurt me are from my husband - from other aquaintances I let it roll off me - they have no idea what I weigh or what size I take - I know I need to lose more even if it makes them feel insecure. But when hubbie makes unthoughtful comments it really cuts deep. he doesn't mean to hurt - he is just thoughtless, and yes, as Andi said, he is very sorry after, but as I say to him, are you sorry for saying what you did and hurting me or sorry that I am mad at you now??? Deep down I know the answer as he does it over and over again, so doesn't make enough effort to change!!! It is so hard to put ourselves first and not allow what others think of us affect us. We have to go by what our doctors say - if they feel we are getting too thin, if we are below the guidelines then we need to listen, but other than that, we need to listen to our bodies and where they are happy. It is hard though when hubbie likes a certain size. hugs to all dealing with this.

Hey Jean, I know the feeling only to well. My family says things to me that are hurtful, they used to hurt alot and I would revert back to the old me and just stay silent about it. My sister told me the other night that she is glad I lost weight and got healthy (this was a major step as she was quite jealous in the beginning) She is over weight but not enough to have the surgery so she just makes comments such as.....well, I am happy fat and I dont need to lose as much as you did so they wont do it. Then she has to throw in the negative comments like...you look old now....all your skin is saggy in your face. It isnt saggy, I just dont have the fat in my face anymore to fill out the wrinkles...I figure I am 50 yrs old and have been thru alot in my life and those wrinkles...I earned! I have come to far and done to well with this journey to let her snide remarks get me down. She even went so far as to say that others in the family have said the same thing but not to my face. I look at it like Andi does...I didnt have this surgery to make them happy. I did it to get healthy and make myself happy. And I am seeing more every day just like the rest of you that its hard to handle some issues when you dont have the old fat person to hide behind. We have earned the right to have a voice and we need to learn to take that step out of the box and speak up for ourselves. We dont have the old us to hide behind anymore. It's difficult sometimes but you just have to do it. Like my surgeon told me when I asked him about the losing....he said our bodies just know when we are done losing. He said it will level out where it feels most comfortable. Mine has and I feel great. So learn to feel good in the skin you are in. We have been successful in this journey and dont let anyone take that away from you. I look at it like this....I have been on a million diets in my lifetime and always and I mean always gained it back and then some. I dont look at this as a diet...its my life. One thing I always keep in mind is where I have come from and where I am now. And believe me...I will never go back where I came from. It's been a fantastic journey and its time to enjoy where we are now. I used to worry about things like....will I get down to a size 6? But I am actually happy wearing a size 8-10 I am tall and rather big boned and at my lowest weight I did look rather thin. My weight is up about 6 lbs from that and its just right now. I have maintained this weight now for about 5 months and its my spot so to speak. Just be happy for you and your successes. Maybe everyone is just jealous. Remember you cant make everyone happy.....you just need to make you happy. You started out on this journey for you and to get healthy and you succeeded. Kel

Well ladies, today i have to fire someone who deserves it but she scares me to my core. She's got anger issues and they flare up at work ALOT, which is really ugly. She's been with the company for the last 14 years and no one had the uhhh balls to say to her your behavior is unbecomming a catholic charities hospital but i have no problem doing that. She is vindictive I know she'll be retaliating in some way and I'm not sure how but I can handle whatever she dishes out. Wish me well ladies, this is weighing heavily on my soul, I hate hurting people but really she's not right for this position and she's bringing the rest of the staff down. Today is day one of the new eating plan, i'm going to be in ketosis if it kills me and it just might at this point. I've got my vitamins in and 24 ounces of diet/decaf tea in me and it's only 6:30am. I'm very proud of myself. My plans are for bringing a veggie burger to work for lunch with lettuce, pickles and onions. I have cheese sticks for snack and i'm not sure what to do about coffee, i need some but no milk products.