Wow, Marg, reading your last post has really inspired me. You've come so far. I'm so uberly proud of you!!

Back in the day, you were a Betty. Of course, you know this. You're still one, as hard as that may be for you to believe. In no wise are you unattractive. You're just so incredibly likeable. That's why I love visiting your journal.

You've lived one lifetime and yet, it's as if you've lived one-hundred different ones. That captivates me. You're just made of awesome in my book.

I hope you have a good Monday, hon!!

Thanks for visiting

Wishes

Some days it is so much easier to stick to the standard planned food with no extras. I am hoping that my firm control with food will return any day (preferably today!)

Kimberly

With me - the light can very definitely be on and no-one at home.

I know that TOM will be behind the weight gain - but eating extra shreddies will not be helping me fight against the water retention gain. Some people seem to drop water weight as soon as they start - but for me things just go higher then. It normally takes me until day 6 or day 7 to get back to where I was - so I am looking forward to Friday.

The price that your hubby pays for health insurance is most definitely affordable.

I do think that some people are superhumans because I really do not know how they fit in the time to do everything. I honestly do not believe that I have time to work and continue with my project at my current pace. I seem to be out walking or at exercise classes most of the day.

Angel

Thanks for saying such sweet things.

I cannot wait to get to 11 stone. That will be 10 stone gone which will be really good. I was saying this to a lady yesterday and she said - "I am 10 stone - you have basically lost one of me". It was so funny - because this lady is shorter than me and was decidedly plump. She was saying that she wants to lose weight. I certainly have loose skin - and a fair bit of it in some places - but you would never guess that it had held someone that size in addition to my current self.

There are negatives to all foods and all food will make you fat if you eat too much of it - but honey shreddies do at least contain whole grain. They taste nice and you get protein and fibre plus a string of vitamins. I think that my problem is that I like them too much and therefore am inclined to over-indulge. I keep telling myself that there are a lot of less healthy things to pig out on!

Rae

You always say the sweetest of things to me.

It surprises me sometimes that I have done the things that I have done - I actually dont feel old enough. I think that one of the biggest truths about me is that I really dont feel like I am my age. The whole age thing is the biggest con that I have ever come across. I get such a shock especially now that much of my weight has gone - when I see myself and think how old that I look. I used to convince myself that I looked older because of the weight. I probably did. I actually feel like I am still much younger in so many ways. It is so strange that I considered myself to be an adult (as did the rest of society apart from my parents) a whole thirty years ago.

Take care
Love
Margaret

If it's any consolation Marg, I think you look AT LEAST fifteen years younger with your weight loss. The difference in your pictures is extrodinary. I would have never guessed the person in the first is the person in the last. You truly do look amazing to me.

The fact that you don't feel old enough is great. This means you'll be feeling younger than you are for the rest of you life, regardless of your physical appearance. This is a good thing, hon. You'll be kickin' with a Bucket List at 105. Haha.

I hope you're having a good Monday, deary!! (((Big Hugs)))

Edit- I am such a goofy thing!!! LOL I just realized that I meant to leave this in your diary but some how got it in the wrong one. So here it is. Guess that is what I get for trying to post at 3:30 in the morning! hahaha
Good Morning Margaret!
Thank you for the kind words saying how I am inventive.
I think Kimberly's idea of the Omega3's would be a great team name what do you think?
I just got home from work. Man was it a looooong weekend. Normally I would just go straight to bed but I had a big cup of coffee not to long before I left work. I was so tired that I figured I needed the boost. But unfortunately now I don't feel tired and will pay for it big time tomorrow morning.
Thought you would also find it interesting to know that the temps here are hovering around 50*. Finally I think spring may be getting here.
I am hoping to get out for a stroll tomorrow. Especially if the sun is out. Hope you have a nice morning and a wonderful walk around the block.
Side Note- Never did make it out for that walk. Unlike you I don't enjoy to walk in the rain. And that is what has been going on here since about 9am.
We are suppose to get freezing rain tonight and more snow (AGAIN!!!! ) tomorrow!
Oh Well.....sigh~

Thanks for visiting. I hope that Monday is going well for you both.

Rae

Thanks for saying such nice things. I suspect that I will always feel younger than my years. I am having a very pleasant Monday. The weather has been pleasant and dry (although there is a definite coldness in the air - that is what warm clothes are made for). My walks are done and I enjoyed my keep fit class this morning - which included 30 minutes aerobics. My pedometer is over 30,000 steps so it is all looking good.

Dawn

I dont know how you could be lacking concentration at 3.30 in the morning after an exhausting shift at work!!!

I must admit that I thought that Omega-3 was quite clever and really funny!

I am happy to go along with whatever you both fancy.

The funny thing is that I never even thought of the fish oil capsules when I chose the name Omega for the forum. I just had to choose a name that I couldnt forget or how to spell that had not already been taken. Omega is used extensively in my family as a Christian name. People probably think that I am a real health nut!

It's a shame that you didnt get out on your walk - but I cannot blame you if the weather is bad. It is not that I like walking in the rain. The thing is that if I dont walk I know that I will certainly not lose weight and am more likely to gain weight. If you recall - we came to the conclusion a couple of weeks ago that you are more disciplined with unpleasant exercise because you swim - even in the coldest of winters - while I refuse to set foot near a pool in much milder weather conditions.

I am sorry that more bad weather is on its way for you.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Sunday 02/03/08

General Data:

Morning walk = 6.3 miles
Round the block = 5 times
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 11st 4.0 lbs (i.e. 158.0 pounds)
Steps = 26,690
Distance = 10.32 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
Continued my creaming regime – missed one bio-oil massage.
Continued ankle exercises

My Food / Drink:

Basic eating plan

1 banana
3 weetabix, sweetener, 350 ml skimmed milk
1 large handfuls honey Shreddies
1 large handfuls honey Shreddies
Pork loin steak
1 clementine
1 clementine
1 pear
1 pear
1 apple
40 grapes
2.5 litres of cold water
some diet cola

Roast pork, gravy, apple sauce, carrot, cauliflower, broccoli, spring greens, sprouts, sweetcorn
1.5 large handfuls honey Shreddies

Well, the Omega-3 it is then.

Margaret, have you taken the the "real age" test? It's pretty cool. It asks you a bunch of questions about your family medical history and lifestyle and then lets you know what your real age is. I'm sure yours would be younger than 48. It might make you feel better. And then there's the saying that you're only as old as you feel. I need to remind myself of that one tomorrow when I turn 36.

Here's the link for the test: Live Life to the Youngest with RealAge

Don't worry about your weight being up. It'll go down as fades into oblivion. And yes, you could most certainly eat worse things than shreddies for a late night snack.

i bet you can't wait. it will be alot of milestones for you. under 11 stones is also under 70kg so its a biggun that one!! bless the lady - i bet you felt great actually seeing how far you have come.

too right. the things i pig out on should be banned! lol! shreddies aren't half bad compared to rich chocolate and pizza nad whatnot! i will have to look into it.

x

Thanks for visiting

Kimberly

I took that real age test a couple of weeks ago. It is funny because I am sure that it robbed me because it insisted that one of my problems was that I do not have enough vitamin E. The thing is that I take Centrum performance and it has 26.8mg i.e. 268% of EC adult RDA in it - but the units seemed to be different from what they seemed to be looking for.

The bottom line was that it aged me as:
March 3, 2008, your RealAge is 42.3!

I'll retake the test again sometime. I think that I would prefer to be aged in my 30s. I am far enough down that it should be achieveable. Especially since one or two of the other things they aged me on seemed to be a bit silly.

So what age did it produce for you? Are you old enough to vote?

I hope that you enjoy your birthday celebrations and do not take too badly to having to associate a new larger number with your age.

I must admit - I will be pleased when my weight comes back down. I knew that this would happen - but that doesnt mean that I like watching it head in the wrong direction. There is some joy of anticipation in the morning when you think that there is some chance of getting a new low. Currently - the chance is so remote it doesnt even cross your mind.

Angel

An even bigger milestone is half a stone later. That will be when I half my start weight.

I havent really learnt not to pig out - but have got quite good at doing it on healthy stuff.


Take care
Love
Margaret

Omega, you astound me again and again with how well you know your body! It is just amazing! I am always feeling a pain here or there and I am like "That must be my period now!" and then 2 weeks later still nothing happened down under and I get another little pain and I am like "oh yeah THIS must be my period" and then a week later when I wake up perfectly painfree it suddenly comes...

Same for about everything (I do not even know if I do retain water... I guess I do, but who knows).

I think if you and hubster can live a fairly comfortable life with you not working but concentrating on YOU then that is definitely the way forward. My mom stopped working and then had cancer and didn't even try to go back to work and when I asked her she said "This is my time to be egocentric, a time to spoil myself!" I am glad she is spoiling herself, after having 3 kids and working 2 jobs most of her life she deserves it!
And so do you!

Camy

42.3 is really good! I'm sure you can get it into the 30s. I took it several months ago when I was 236lbs and it said 31.9yrs. Now that I'm down 17 more lbs it lowered to 31.4yrs. I'm hoping to get it into the late 20s.

Make that 30.3yrs. I realized I hadn't updated the whole thing when I last went through it. I guess I will be in the 20s for sure once I hit my goal weight. I'm sure you'll make it into the 30s as well.

Not to brag, but I hadn't done the RealAge thing in a long time - it says I'm 29.5 yrs! I wonder what it would be like if I did all that I could!

Just popping in to say hi and lend another voice of reassurance about the age thing. I've seen your pics, and you look fantabulously younger since your weight loss. Plus, what the hell is wrong with being an older woman? I'm sick of us feeling like it's all downhill after seventeen or thirty or forty or WHATEVER. Does it seem to be downhill for Helen Mirren? I'm pushing thirty and only feeling good about the years behind--and doing my best to make the ones ahead even better by getting a healthy body to use into my old age. That's something you've already done for yourself! You should be feeling nothing but proud and happy.

Thanks for visiting

Camy

Everyone tells us that it is wrong - but I believe that one of the best things for keeping a track on how my body is going is to weigh myself every day. Now some people might just think - so that is my weight today and if they do anything with it - it will be to make a list that consists of date / weight.
We all enter this project complete with the skills that we have acquired to date. You have medical skills. My skills lie in the area of building computer systems and data analysis. I cannot help myself from gathering more data and analysing it. Certain patterns kind of jump out of the data at me.

As far as getting a handle on your monthly cycle goes - I suggest that you open an account with
MyMonthlyCycles - Menstrual Calendar, Ovulation Calendar, Fertility Cycles
It costs nothing and you can track all sorts of things associated with your period. As you gather more and more month's of data it can get quite good at predicting when your next period will come. They even send you an email which says something along the lines of "guess what joy you will have tomorrow". You can track weight in there too. Also I know that you are thinking of having a family in a few years time - there is a facility to set a similar reminder to the period one when your most fertile days are about to start.

I suppose we also get back to the age thing! I have had a fair bit of experience of seeing how my body reacts - and that is likely to count for something too!

Kimberly

Despite being 36 now, Birthday Girl - you will definitely get down to the 20s at that rate. One of the reasons that it added on for me was that it said that I exercise too much. I definitely plan on reducing my exercise levels as I approach goal and try to work out a maintenance plan - so that should go some way towards bringing my age down.

Sweetpea

We all like it when it gives us something younger than we are. It must be lovely to be young! Realistically - I think that I would need to hack it to get down into my 20s and I think that would not be a good idea!

Sophie

Welcome to my diary. I am pleased and proud of my achievements - I just wish that I had managed it twenty years ago. Whether we like it or not - as women our bodies do change as we get older. We lose our fertility and things that were an option to us when we were younger (if we lost weight) are no longer an option. At your age - everything is possible and I really hope that your weight loss dreams come true this time around.

Take care
Love
Margaret