April's Journal

[April]

My boss, Neil, converted to low carb a little over two years ago when I told him of my success. He and another co-worker, Bill, quickly shed the weight they wanted and reached their goals early last year. Neil lost a little lover 40 pounds, and Bill lost 30. Since Christmas, Neil has been struggling to stay on plan, even though the side benefits of low carb have him off all meds, including prostate and blood pressure meds.

He went to the doc yesterday and found that he has gained 12 pounds in the past year and that his sugar levels are a bit high, as is his cholesterol. He looked right at me yesterday afternoon and stated: "April, I have a choice. I can continue to gain a pound a month and be right back where I was, or I can get back on plan and stay there."

His simple statement made me examine my own eating and the rationalizations I've made of late. Last night, it came down to me facing that stupid raspberry jelly roll on the kitchen counter (again) and I simply stood there and said in my mind: "I'm stronger than this. I have a choice." I sprinted back upstairs and counted to 100 and let the feeling pass.

I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought was: "I didn't cave in. I stayed on plan yesterday. I didn't eat that jelly roll."

Just my ramblings to help me through...

[Tina B]

April:

You didn't eat the jelly roll, which is important. I had a moment like that yesterday, when I went to have pepperoni pizza for lunch - stopped myself in the middle of sidewalk and said "don't do this....you know you feel better when you stay on plan" and went to get a salad instead.

Continue not to cave in - you can do it!

[Kumus]

Victory gives such strength! Proud of you for turning away from the evil jellyroll.

I'm realizing the same thing. In the past, I would have totally caved by now, AND probably have never looked back. Every morning when I awake, the R.A. is there to great me. This WOE/L is my lifeline. The people on this forum who care, keep me heading in the right direction.

[April]

Susan....where in Kentucky do you live? I lived in Northern Kentucky just before I moved here. I lived in Ft. Mitchell.

Before that, I live 15 years around Jackson, Kentucky (about 45 minutes from Hazard). I went to school in Morehead, which as a 2-hour commute both ways from where I lived.

[Kumus]

I live in western KY, approx. 2.5 hours SE of Louisville. I know very well the locations you mention. Some of my family lives in the eastern part of the state, in the Middlesboro area! My Mom actually has to go to Hazard to see her rheumatologist. I have lots of family in the Covington area.

[April]

Well, hell. I screwed up big time this past weekend. I dunno. Gonna hafta find a way to deal with stress besides eating things I shouldn't. Today's a new day. Thank God.

I have surgery on Thursday. Wish me luck.

[shannon575]

Good luck April. I'll pray for a fast recovery time with minimal pain.

I too had a terrible weekend. Didn't go off plan but emotionally I'm struggling with the constant battle b/w emotions and food.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

[MaryKay]

Hope it all goes well (surgery and your control).

and we start again. we went to the original pancake house this weekend, and of course - my weakness is crepes. I do get them plain (no filling) and just a little bit of syrup. Dog ended up getting about 1/2 of it though.

back to the low-carb life again. As long as you keep on trying, you are making a change. It would be if you just gave up that it would stop meaning anything.

[MaryKay]

Hey April - how did you get your little picture up?
I uploaded my picture in profile, and it's there, but when I try to save changes, it gives me an error.
Before I bother Andrea with it, am I doing it right?

I was glad to see the little 'snail' I could put with my signature.

[April]

Mary Kay:

This is how I did it:

Go to "User CP" (up at the top of the screen, next to FAQ)
Scroll down to "Edit Avatar"
Scroll down to "Custom Avatar"
I uploaded a pic from my 'puter after adjusting it to 80x80 pixels
Also, make sure that "Do not use an avatar" is NOT checked (the little radio button). I'm suite sure yours isn't since you are using one of the pre-defined avatars.

Now, when I chose to upload it, I got this error message and kept getting it. But then when I went back into the main forum, there I was.

Do you like the way I looked at age 6???? LOL

Also, I put a pic of myself at my current age on my profile page using a 100 x 100 pixel pic.

[MaryKay]

well, I don't get an option for custom avatar - so far the only ones I am seeing are the moderators. Guess it pays to have power. I'll send that to Andrea.
It let me upload the 100x100 pixel pic for profile, but then I get an error on saving.

probably only all-powerful moderators again

[April]

I got off my butt last night and went to Curves. I felt really good afterwards. I plan on going Wednesday night, too. Then, the surgery is Thursday and I dunno when I can go back.

I got up this morning at 5:40am with every intention of walking for 30 minutes, but sat here playing on boards, instead. *sigh* I do a lot of walking at work. That helps.

Stayed completely on plan yesterday. The upshot of the surgery (besides the obvious) is that I will be one-handed for a while and perhaps I won't stuff my pie hole this weekend with the kids' Easter goodies. lol I still haven't bought peeps, and I'm not gonna.

I wish to God that Andrew would take the pictures I need at work for the web site. I've got it all ready to go and I'm simply waiting on those pictures! He's going to Pennsylvania this morning for some sales calls, so I guess I'll hound him to do it tomorrow morning when he gets back.

Hafta get ready for work now.

[IronSquirrel150]

April~ just wanted to wish you the best with your surgery and I hope all goes well for you. And I can agree with you on the peeps, they used to be my favorite easter candy, but now I can't even stand the sight of them, guess it's a good side effect of this WOL. That's just WAY to much sugar for me. I'd probably lick the outside once and get sick! Ha ha, but seriously... glad you are doing well and I hope everything else transpires as successfully. God bless!

[April]

Oscar (our cat) apparently is finding plenty to eat at night while on the prowl. Each morning, he leaves little "presents" for us on the front door mat. Pieces of rabbit and mouse innards, and sometimes bird feathers. Yuck.

I dunno what to do about my flowers that I planted around the tree in the front yard. When I planted them in the Fall, I took dirt from the remants of a spacious garden plot in the back yard and filled the circle around the tree. Apparently, there's a lot of clay in the soil and it has turned nearly rock-hard so that some of the flowers cannot push through the hard soil. Perhaps If I put potting soil and water on top......I dunno. The mini daffodils came up fine, and a few of the crocuses, too. But, nothing else is able to push through at the moment.

Tomorrow's the surgery date and I'm kinda of scared. I know everything will be fine. I may not be online much, however.

Hafta get ready for work now.

[caroline81]

April, you'll have lots of thoughts heading your way tomorrow...I'm sure it will go well and then it will be over...good luck and we'll be thinking about you!