Denise - I agree with Karen - you're the glue that's holding us July babies together. The way we go up and down, maybe we should consider ourselves 'on the elevator' instead of 'on the train'!! LOL I've been doing very well. Back on track - not having cravings since all of those carbs are basically out of my system. I was 170 this morning - I've lost about a pound a day this week so I'm happy and motivated. I'm hoping to get to 163 - that is my personal goal. I'm only 7 lbs away, so I'm going to work hard. The more difficult part will be maintaining at that weight. Gotta get going on that exercise - starting my tap lessons on 9/18. Anyway, I don't know what I would do without you all - lots of love going out to all of my July baby sisters.... Hugs, Nancy

Good Morning Denise, You deserve the medal for keeping us together. Thank you for continuing to keep the train going. I often just read the posts but it is great to see something in print each day. I will be away for a few days but hope to get back on track next week. Carbs are my problem and I really need a few days of going back to the basic liquid. That for me is the only thing that turns my sytem around and stops the craving for the nasty carbs. Hugs to all.....we have all come so far on this journey and I feel personally that the fall is going to be a time of renewal. A time to stop and take a look at how I can fine tune my habits to get to goal. I am so busy and that is the trouble. With a family....who comes last...well good old MOM does. Hugs to all of us....we are all very special and need to have tee shirts made in neon colours to remind us of that. Karen

Hi Pamela! My day wasn't all that great yesterday either. I followed plan all the way up to dinner and suddenly... I had a big fat peanutbutter attack. I have no idea where this came from. I ate two peanutbutter sandwiches with white bread! I bought stuff for my daughter's lunch and suddenly I had to have it!!! It wouldn't have been so bad if peanutbutter, not to mention the white bread, wasn't so high in calories! I think I ate 1700 calories yesterday. My goal is under 1200... So here's today's plans: Breakfast: Tilapia Applesauce Snack: AchievOne Lunch: Chicken Breast Mixed greens Salad dressing Snack: AchievOne Dinner: Ground Turkey Calories: 1155 Don't remember the rest, it's on fiday Exercise: 75 minutes -water aerobics 30 minutes walking... I'm holding steady at 222, but recently found I could wear a size 16 pant and 14 top (I'm such a pear).. so I'm losing inches... HOORAY!!! Have a great day!! Denise

I've been really busy. It normally takes me a full week to recover from a long camping trip, but I've had to rebound AND put the finishing touches on back-to-school preparations all at once. Talk about stressful! I got a look at my work schedule this year. I'm going to be in CWCs (class within a class) 4 hours a day, while the teacher I work with will have 2 students at a time. I am responsible for 7 7th graders those four hours, which means that I am responsible for making sure they know what they are supposed to do and helping them get it done. And yet, I make less than $10 an hour and she makes 35k a year. Hardly seems fair... Okay, done with griping. I have lost SOME of the water. I'm still a little puffy, but not horribly miserable, and the scale was back down to 222 today. That's still 4 lbs above where I was, but I can't complain, expecially considering what I ate last week. I've been doing pretty well this week, although not perfect. Today, I ate part of a DQ Blizzard as a last HURRAH to summer. Tomorrow, though, my healthy routine will go back into effect. I will be eating lunch at 10:30 am (that's AWFUL!), and I will have to schedule a snack at school and then one again when I get home, as dinner isn't usually until 6. I really need to ditch the crackers at lunch (but I love them, and they're only 100 calories!) and add a little protein to breakfast. Snacks MUST be a fruit or vegetable! For dinner, I really want to focus more on protein and less on carbs, but I'm not sure what sort of ratio I should be looking for. I have no interest in actually counting protein and carbs...I just want to measure it out by portion of plate it takes up. Does that make sense? Gosh, I did it again...went on and on. I'll keep it short tomorrow! B: bagel L: 1/2 Bread Company turkey sandwich, cottage cheese, pineapple D: sloppy joe, beans, green beans S: granola bar, DQ Blizzard (3/4 of a mini), MAYBE some carrots Exercise: probably not, too much yet to do Cheers! Pamela