Day 2 and all is well. I had a protein shake this morning and a yogurt with protein as a snack.(I hope this is ok, the rules didn't say anything about yogurt) I brought some of the sausage and pumpkin soup and also some progresso, carb monitor, chicken cheese enchilada soup to work with me for lunch. I do ok as long as I can eat something with a spoon. I don't think I could make it on just drinks. I did not like the split pea soup. I should have known better. Split pea just isn't my thing. I should have stuck with my first choice, the ham and cheese soup. Hubby liked it though and ate it all! Yep, the whole pot. I think it was supposed to be 12 servings. I am looking forward to day 3! Soft proteins, yummo. I have my food all planned out. I swear it helps just thinking about it. Hang in there. You know you can do it. Look at where we started after surgery. 5 days is NOTHING compared to what we have been through. Hugs, Valorie

Hey Julie - I've been slipping up a bit too often lately! Trust me ...I am not overreacting to a *small* slip up. I am talking *daysssssssssssssssss* you are right it take EFFORT each and EVERY day!!! hope you have a fantasic week ((thank you for your support)) hugs, Britt

Hi Bob thank you for the encouraging words of wisdom nice loss *6* pounds hugs, Britt

Good Monday Everyone! I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Mine was productive as we finally painted my spare bedroom in preparation to make it an exercise room. It is now a vibrant teal blue-green. Almost neon if you can imagine. Next step is to get the indoor outdoor "carpet" placed. I bought some fake grass looking stuff that is good for traction (idea stolen from my gym). It will just cover about 6 x 10 section of the room. The other part will be the nice cushiony rubberized interlocking pads. Hopefully we can get the floor finished this evening. On to the show! Last week: 209 Today: 205 Loss this week: 4 lbs Total Loss: 137 lbs I am on day 2 of the 5dpt. So far, so good. Of course the Krispy Kreme doughnuts on the front table of my office aren't tempting me at all today! I have the power to resist EVIL. I shall prevail. Britt, I am sorry for you difficult week. I tell you this, caffeine is EVIL! I never was a coffee drinker or big on any caffeine till after WLS. Now I love the stuff. I have found that it is my number one contributor to grazing. If I have coffee in the am, then you can bet that I will want to graze all day. Something in it triggers hunger. Cut the caffeine and I bet you will have far less temptations to snack. Have a great week. Valorie

My surgeon has a Yahoo group and I daily write a Question. I thought I'd share with you all this morning. I'd love to hear your answers. Good Morning - Boy I love my weekends but the structure of the week is a discipline I need. Have done all the things you need to to have a successful day. I hope you have and you are ready to face one of your best days yet. I have to tell you about yesterday. I told y'all that I agreed to foster another beagle - I've fostered before - but not when we already had 3 dogs. This was a special case though so I agreed. He started his journey in Sante Fe. NM and we picked him up in Abilene yesterday. Well - if you need to go to Abilene anyway - go to the zoo. It was a perfect day for it - a little windy but nice and warm. We had a great time. You can actually feed the animals there. They have a walkway over the giraffes. We were hand feeding them - that long tounge - yuck. Kathryn was petting them on the nose. Then we ate lunch, went to the mall - well honey now I am in my element. Clearance sales everywhere! I bought 8 pieces of clothing at Sears for 55 dollars (included tax) and some were like shorts from last season and capri's which was nice because I currently have none that I could wear. Then at Aero - my son's fav. I got him... 2 long sleeve t-shirts and 3 hoodies again about 50 dollars. Gap - I found pants for me for 6 bucks! Then a store called Steve and Barry - I had never heard of it but everything in there was 8.97 - I bought Jeans for Trey, Kathryn, shorts for Trey - a denim jacket. That is cheaper than Wal Mart. Then we get to mee Boo Boo - the new foster dog. He is a sweety!! I don't think there will be a problem getting him adopted at all. He took right to my other dogs, the kids, the cat. Loves to play. Well mannered - better than my dogs - he won't jump on you - when you start to pet him he sits - I gotta teach my dogs that. Anyway great weekend. Ok - now that I have bored you with my exploits you are thinking "Is there a QOD in there?" No there is not. You will have to read on. QOD: Can you forgive yourself? I've been listening to a song - sorry it is a compilation CD and I have no idea the name or artist but if you are all that interested I'll look it up. But the song talks about after all the things I"ve done, I've dragged You name through the mud time and time again. Will you still run to me and wrap me in your arms. Will you still call me son? Guess what -- You got it God is thrilled to see him. God forgives me everytime. I ask - but he forgives and forgets. He doesn't sit up there and think but yesterday Trudy you ate... or you thought... No he love me no matter what. I'm humbled. If you can't envision it think about the love you have for your kids - it is imperfect but you love them no matter what. Know think of God's love for you his perfect love. It overwhelms me. If God can forgive me then I must be able to forgive myself. I know that he doesn't want me to wallow in the sin or in the self destructive pain of reliving my indescresion over and over. He wants me to forgive and forget. He erases it totally! It is all gone - unless I drag it up. I need to learn from it sure - but then move on and live life so that others can tell I am loved. Sorry guys - got a little spiritual today - happens sometimes! How about you? Can you forgive yourself? Love ya, Trudy