Hi Margaret
I seem to recall you posting your weight loss in stones on your diary; where abouts are you in the UK, if I may ask? My relatives are in Scotland and I've had the grand pleasure of visiting there. Would love to get back in the next few years.

Hope you are having a good weekend
Janice

Hi Janice,

I live in a fairly quiet place to the west of London. I was born and brought up in Newcastle upon Tyne though - that is where my parents live. My husband is from west London.

When I was a child I went on several family holidays to Scotland - and it was very nice so I am not surprised that you enjoyed it there. As a seven year old child I fell into Loch Ness within half an hour of getting there. My parents were very amused - they thought that I had gone looking for the monster!!!!!!!!

I have had a really busy day Saturday and a quiet day Sunday. Very pleasant. My weekend is pretty much over - it is after midnight on Sunday and I am off to bet in a couple of minutes.

I hope that you are having a good weekend too.

Take care
Margaret

Good Luck this week on the weight loss ABBA, looks like you and I are the same age, LOVE IT!! Your doing a fabulous job keep it up!!
HUGS!
Kim

Hey ABBAgirl!

Circuit Training? Interesting? What is circuit training? lmao I am so clueless ..

Hun I have been meaning to stop in at your diary ... Great loss! 2.2 pounds.
You go girl!
I had a loss myself ..but we will see if it stays off
going for a walk tonight, but will only be a half hour ..its late out ..it will be dark soon and I am going in the dark..
ttylater hun

Hope all is going well!

ttylater
always
natalie jo

Hi Kim
Thanks for the kind words. I am a bit nervous about the scale this weekend, as I feel I overdid it somewhat with Thanxgiving dinners. Not terribly, just feeling more full than I'd like. Sure was a treat to spend time with my folks and brothers. My contribution included sweet potato casserole, brocolli merangue (sp?), butter tarts, truffles, and Waldorf-type salad. OMWord, it was SUCH a feast! The good news for me is that I don't seem to struggle with my sweet tooth anymore. One butter tart and I was totally done with dessert! Hurray for me!

Hope you're well
Janice

[QUOTE=Omega;331799]Hi Janice,

When I was a child I went on several family holidays to Scotland - and it was very nice so I am not surprised that you enjoyed it there. As a seven year old child I fell into Loch Ness within half an hour of getting there. My parents were very amused - they thought that I had gone looking for the monster!!!!!!!!

Hi Margaret
That is too cute about you visiting Nessie close up! Where I live in Canada we supposedly also have a lake creature. He/she is called "Ogopogo" and lives in Lake Okanagan. The First Nations (native Indian) folk have believed the legend for years, and who knows? We seem to have lots of sightings - and it is great for tourism! The one thing I found funny while visiting Loch Ness was that the figurines of Nessie they sell are IDENTICAL to Ogopogo - and both say "Made in China!" LOL

Hey, if your weight is listed in pounds, you are getting close to me! I am currently at 186 lbs, aiming for 155.
Cheers from

What the heck is broccoli merange??? Sounds intriguing
Hope everything is going well, I haven't been in here for a while (my bad )... Have a great day tomorrow, and I'll talk to ya later

Hi Janice

There is probably loads of other monsters that they use the same models for. I wonder if there is a Chinese one though.

As far as weight goes - we are broadly similar (although I am still a bit heavier). I know that I have a small frame and at only 5ft 3 inches I know that I need to get a good bit lower than 155 (although - lets face it - most weights are better than 294). Pre-PCOS I really only felt happy if I was between 8 st and 8 and a half st (112-119). I remember considering myself fat when I went up to 9st!!!! Happy days!

Take care
Love
Margaret

Morning Margaret! I too would have had a cup or two of the sweet potato casserole, I was never a fan of sweet potatoes as a child, but I love them now!! MMMM one of my favorites! and your right, I'm sure with your new found body and lifestyle even your cravings for the "bad" stuff tend to fade in time. I feel the same way, I used to be a CHOCOHOLIC a few years back, but I rarely have a craving for it anymore, thank goodness!! It's okay to have these day's or even a weekend when you eat out of the norm, I'm almost certain you will not see it reflect on your scale, as we all need what they call Time Off or a Break for the routine every once in a while. It sounds like you had a lovely time, and I'm so happy you did, everyone deserve some good time off, STRESS FREE! it's the way to be! Have a great day today, and enjoy your beautiful walk!
Kim

Hi Jess
Thanks for stopping by! Broccoli Meringue (yes, that is truly how it is spelled!) is basically a yummy and healthy substitute for doing broccoli in a cream sauce. You whip up egg whites until they have hard peaks, then mix with light mayo & onion powder, sprinkling parmesan over top. Bake for 20 mins and voila! I was amazed my family not only tried it, but actually LIKED it! LOL Well, that is to say my parents and siblings; not my DH and kids! Oh well. But it really turned out well.

MARGARET:
I am not much taller than you at 5'4", but I do have quite a large frame. YOu would not confuse me with petite, even when I weigh significantly less. On my wedding day I weighed 155 lbs, and was VERY curvy and healthy-looking, IMHO. I went all through high school at 170 lbs, and did not feel "fat;" however, I definitely looked better at 155, so that is what I am shooting for. OMGosh, I don't think I weighed 120 any time after I was 10 yrs old, no lie. My 10 yr old is only an inch shorter than I am, and she weighs 139. She has my tiny waist (comparatively tiny, that is) and is already developing an ample bust line, so she looks to be turning out like me. I do hope she has at least one more growth spurt, however. Life is simply easier on those who are a few inches taller, so the flab can be more spread out! It's strange us almost being the same height now. I don't like it. But what can I do, other than wear heels all the time? LOL

I have gone for the most splendid walk today. It is a beautiful Fall day, though I had to wear my ball cap to try and shield my newly-bleached facial hair from the sun. I have never bleached it before, but absolutely ABHOR the fact that I appear to be growing a mustache! I tell you, my late 30s have not been at all kind. It is all related to the PCOS, I think. My periods are incredibly heavy and painful now, so much so that I don't dare even go to work on day #2 of Aunt Flo's visit. This was never a problem before this year; at least, not to this degree. I guess I need to go in for an internal with my doctor, since it's been a couple of years. Did I mention that aging STINKS.

Well, I am off to work this evening, so need to get my cottage cheese and fruit ready. Oh, BTW, my brother convinced me to try a protein powder in my drink instead of eating so much cheese. The whey powder has (per scoop): 125 calories/1.5 grams of fat/26 grams of protein. This means a much lower fat and calorie intake than I was getting with my cheese (which I still love, BTW). I generally mix the powder with a cup of 1% milk, and it tastes very yummy. Does anyone else do this, or have any thoughts on it? I guess we shall see in a while if the scale reflects my cheese sacrifice...

Have a great day,
Janice

Good for you on trying the protein powder, I love it with some fresh fruit, like banana in it, mmmmm it's so good for you and really helps jump start your day. "You have such a good brother" I have to say your right getting older SUCKS! but, I just make due with what the good lord blessed me with, and a lot of maintenance. LOL LOL I'm so sorry you have such bad periods now, mine are pretty decent anymore, It last maybe 3 days and the first day is the worst, not to bad after that. But my BF suffered for years with severe stomach cramps and she finally had surgery to correct it, but WOW nobody should have to suffer from periods, NOBODY! Well, I hope your day tomorrow is a good one!!! Keep up the good work, you really are trying hard and you'll see weight loss, no doubt about it!!! Chow
Kim

Hi Janice

Cheese: See if anything happens to your weight as you cut out cheese. I love cheese but was trying to be moderate with cheese because (having counted calories so many times in the past) I know that you have to watch it - but when I started weighing myself every day I discovered that for me if I was an absolute saint for the rest of the day (high stepcount, good with food) I would put on 2 pounds if I had a slice of wholemeal bread no butter and a dairylea cheese slice. When it happened for a second time I pretty much swore off cheese and havent touched it since. It doesnt make sense - it bore no resemblance to the amount of calories I consumed that day and there were no external factors (e.g. period due). I put it down to PCOS making my body do wierd things.

Talking of PCOS - you bleach. I tried that when I was 25. I found it messy and not really satisfactory - especially when I got a greater quantity. I had electrolysis for a long time - but that was painful and the job was never over - whatever they imply / promise. I had about 6 months of electrolysis twice a week, years at once a week, more years at once every two weeks and more years at once every three weeks. In the end I gave up electrolysis as never getting to where I wanted to be. I get lasered now and straight away there was an impact and I could leave it 2 months between visits. I strongly advise you to get lasered. My problem is that I am older than you and laser was not available when I first got PCOS. I now have the problem that laser does not work very well on white hair - only certain places have machines that make that claim.

Also - I would tell your doctor about your heavy periods. I had a lot of trouble with my periods when I first got PCOS - although I did not know what it was at the time. It started with being heavy and getting them much more often than normal. Too much to call spotting. It ended up with me stopping ovulating for a number of years. I always was crap at biology - but I remember being really confused when the doctor told me that I had not been ovulating and saying "but I have been having periods - even though they have been a bit irregular". He looked at me as if I was mad.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Hey, Janice.

Thanks for stopping by my journal again. I wasn't around for a while simply because I've been really busy with work and school and friends in from out of town.

I wonder if we are built similarly. I'm also 5'4" with a large fram, I think. I mean, I've never had a professional tell me I have a large frame, but I'm rather busty and I have pretty wide hips and my rib cage isn't terribly narrow and I have large wrists. So, I'm guessing I'm large-framed. Unlike you, I have never been thin as an adult, so I have no idea what a healthy weight is for me. I'd really like to look like CurvieGirlie (Valerie). She's got some pictures up in the Before/After section. I think she has a really healthy and strong looking physique. Anyway, maybe I don't really need to get down to 130 or 135. I guess I'll just know when things are right when I get there.

About protein powder: How do you like it? I use the soy powder, which isn't optimal, but since I'm vegan I won't do whey powder. The sucky thing about the soy protein powder is that it cuts the sweetness of my smoothies!
The good thing is that it gives me lots of protein!!!

And yes, I think I am hot on your WL tails. Though, I have the advantage of working with a trainer/nutritionist. And I also don't have kids and a family, so I suspect things are easier for because of that.

Take care!

-Tamara

I have PCOS too .. I haven't had Aunt Flo for almost seven to ten years... I have her now because or the northidrone that I take every two months. I take it for ten days and than I get my monthly, but not so monthly, for seven days and very lightly.

I ..this month. Just got a flow this week and it was not from a pill... I don't know why and even the doctors, my gyn is quizzed out by this. He doesnt understand. All I can think is that is builded up so much that I am flowing now. The exercise is helping right now. Its painful, but its helping get rid of so much flow. I am actually flowing harder because of the cycling I did today ... which is good ...its better to get the flow than not.

I have abnormal cells because I don't get Aunt Flow and I need Aunt Flow .. I am thirty now ..just turned in October ...

You should go to the doctor ABBAgirl ..it would be a good idea. A lot of women who have PCOS form abnormal cells and have to have them removed when they turn pre cancerous. You should go once a year until they possibly find the cells ... than its every three months...with a colposcopy ..which is a biopsy .. I stress dont wait a few years to go ever now at this age ..go yearly ..until your doctor says so ...

PCOS can lead to cervical and Uterain Cancer ..which is a dangerous game to play, because it can spread to the rest of your body very quickly ...

I have read all about it, because I have abnormal cells.

I wish you the best hun
and awesome kicking the weight loss ass!

I hope you have a good day ...
but do look into seeing your gyn .... you will be protecting your future...

best wishes
natalie jo

Okay, I haven't been around for a week or so because I have been IN THE HOSPITAL WITH SHINGLES!!! I was in tremendous pain for several days, and they could not diagnose why. After several CT scans, ultrasounds, blood tests, and ridiculous doses of morphine, my pain was still there and they could not find anything wrong! Finally, after about day 5, the rash showed up and my doc diagnosed me and sent me home ($200 poorer for medication).

So I have been home now for about 3 days. My pain is lessening, but is still there. The most intense pain was in my back and groin. Shingles is caused by the chicken pox virus, which lays dormant in your spine after your childhood pox. Severe stress or poor immunity can bring it back as shingles, which is much more painful and severe than chicken pox. The nerves in your back get totally inflamed. It felt to me very much like the back labor I endured with the birth of my second child, like it was the looooooooongest, most painful contraction ever, with no break.

Our hospital (where I work, how ironic) is grossly overcrowded and understaffed, so I did spend a large portion of time (my most agonizing night and day) on a gourney in the hallway. Not good. I wept in pain, and begged my EVIL NURSE for pain meds - which she refused me. She was the only nurse who was really, really bad. Very cold and discompassionate, treating me as if I were just a drug addict. I am still quite upset by her behavior, actually. However, my brother is also a nurse at the same hospital, and I am hesitant to make any waves in case they could affect him. We'll see how mad I get, I guess!

At any rate, my house is a mess; no laundry or real cleaning has been done not to mention cooking) in quite a while. I am still very weak from no food, and now that I'm home I still can hardly bring myself to eat as the meds are making me very nauseous. I did eat an egg and a banana with some pnut butter today; I know I need energy to recover!

So think of me and say a prayer. It hurts my back to sit at the 'puter to type, so I won't be back on for a while.

Take care, and TTYS, weight loss buddies.