Down another 1 and 1/2 pounds!

2-21-06 I have lost 107 pounds in 5 months. 

......I think I can...........I think I can...........I think I can....

Missy
365/258/115

The Little Engine That Could

http://tigger.uic.edu/~plotnick/littleng.htm
Author is unknown

The story of "The Little Engine That Could" (aka "The Pony Engine" and "Thinking One Can") was one of my favorites as a child. As I have grown I have continued to cherish the story and the moral of not giving up even in the face of unlikely success.

After I had been on Nutrisystem for just a little while and I was having such phenomenal success I realized that I was ready to "declare" myself and set up a profile. One of the things I wanted was one of the weight tickers that give a graphic representation of where I had come from, where I am at, and where I hope to be.

I went to the ticker factory and looked at everything they had. At first I was looking for a running person, but I didn't see one I liked. Then I thought perhaps a car, but there was no road I liked. Then I realized there was an engine and a railroad track. This brought to mind the story I have loved for so long. So I decided to go with the little engine on the railroad track. Then I decided I really wanted to allude to this childhood story, for not only did I enjoy it as a child, I continue to read it to my first graders as a public school teacher. So I added a line of my own right underneath it! "I think I can.... I think I can.... I think I can.... I think I can...." I attach this to most of my posts on the NS and Jazzman boards.

One time in a thread on the NS board one of the other posters told me that I should change my message under my little engine to "I know I can... I know I can... " I replied that this message is part of my own motivation. I look forward to the day when I am at goal and can change my little engine's message to "I thought I could.... I thought I could.... I thought I could.... I thought I could...."

If you are unfamiliar with the story of "The Little Engine That Could" there is an embedded link just under the title at the top.

Here is one very short version of what might be the original story: "Thinking One Can" 1906. The earliest known published version appeared in Wellspring for Young People, a children's Sunday school publication. The author is unknown. This was reprinted in 1910 in a D.A.R. publication. Here is the complete version of the story as it appeared:

A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill "I can't; that is too much a pull for me," said the the great engine built for hard work. Then the train asked another engine, and another, only to hear excuses and be refused.

At last in desperation the train asked the little switch engine to draw it up the grade and down on the other side. "I think I can," puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train. As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

Then as it neared the top of the grade, that had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly, but still kept saying, "I--think--I--can, I--think--I--can." It reached the top by dint of brave effort and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself, "I thought I could, I thought I could."

To think of hard things and say, "I can't" is sure to mean "Nothing done." To refuse to be daunted and insist on saying, "I think I can," is to make sure of of being able to say triumphantly by and by, "I thought I could, I thought I could."

......I think I can...........I think I can...........I think I can...........I think I can.....

Missy
365/259.5/115

Food for Thought - Great Analogy

I wish I knew who wrote this. If you do, let me know and I will add a byline to give them the credit.

Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four wives.

He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another.

He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide
in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.

The King's 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her!

One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, "I now have four wives with me, but when I die, I'll be all alone."

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I have loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"No way!", replied the 4th wife, and she walked away without another word. Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"No!", replied the 3rd wife. "Life is too good! When you die, I'm going to remarry!"
His heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I have always turned to you for help and you've always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?"
"I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!", replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave" Her answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.

Then a voice called out: "I'll go with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go."
The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was very skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly grieved, the King said, "I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!"

In truth, we all have the 4 wives in our lives: Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die.

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others.

Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world. However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow
us wherever we go.

Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of us that will follow us to the throne of God and continue with us throughout Eternity.

Thought for the day:

Remember, when the world pushes you to your knees,
you're in the perfect position to pray.

4th Time to the doctor in 3 weeks

I am actually sicker than I was before. But he said I have been doing a great job on taking care of myself - doing everything on time and getting in all my treatments and meds. However, I have picked up a secondary bacterial infection in my lungs and I have a lot of irritation. So he had them give me a shot of Kenalog (some kind of cortisone) which he thinks will knock it out and stay with me for 3-6 weeks, plus he put me on an antibiotic Doxycyclin Hyc 100 mg twice a day for 30 days. I don't think I've ever been given an antibiotic I was to take for 30 days! They are a very pretty color of blue! He was so kind and I could tell he was frustrated and concerned! I am still at the maximum dosage on all my other meds and he gave me another prescription for the Xopenex with 6 refills. Of course, I don't get to start exercising on Monday after all! Hopefully, this will do the trick. Just pray for me!

Consider Today

I found this poem on a box of

Celestial Seasoning's

Raspberry Zinger Herbal Tea:

Consider Today
John Kendrick Bangs

Is anybody happier because you passed his way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

This day is almost over,
And its tolling time is through;
Is there anyone to utter now,
A friendly word for you?

Can you say tonight in passing,
That you helped a single person,
Of the many that you passed?

Is a single heart rejoicing,
Over what you did or said?
Does one whose hopes were fading
Now with courage look ahead?

Think not on yesterday, nor trouble borrow
On what may be in store for you tomorrow;

But let today be your incessant care-
The past is past, tomorrow's in the air.
Who gives today the best that in him lies
Will find the road that leads to clearer skies.

Mount Saint Helens Volcano

A nutrisystem friend passed along this webcam site for Mount Saint Helens Volcano.
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
It gave me some new thoughts I thought I would pass along.

It looks so beautiful! I remember so well the sadness when it exploded and the people who had stayed too close not realizing the devastation that would result.

Just think of all the heat right there under the snow!

Just like the thin energetic person buried inside so many of us.

Our goal: to release the hidden energy without destroying the world around us!

Did I Resist Chocolate on Valentine's Day?

A friend asked me if I had resisted the temptation to eat chocolate yesterday.

I hadn't thought about it until she asked, but yes I did! I didn't even choose a chocolate dessert yesterday. I had BBQ soy chips.

I even baked chocolate chip cookies for my sons, since I haven't been able to get out and get them any valentine gifts. I usually give them a small stuffed animal or key ring or something like that. I had already gotten my mom a small chocolate sampler. She came over and I gave it to her and it was kind of fun to see her eat one piece. She will put it away and eat it a little bit at a time. (She has no problem keeping her weight right at ideal and with my dad being a diabetic, she never buys candy to have at her house, so it was a real treat.) I only made 2 dozen cookies. I did not lick the bowl, my fingers, or anything. I baked them one hour before the guys were due home from school and put 8 nice sized cookies into red-lidded gladware containers. They were thrilled. I had them put the leftovers away in their rooms, so that I wouldn't have to see them today!

I am down another 1 and 1/2 pounds, but still struggling to shake this pneumonia. I'm staying right on my eating plan and drinking lots of water. I think maybe more of this congestion is breaking up as I've had some longer coughing jags this morning. Strangely enough my sister called earlier today and she now has pneumonia. We kind of laughed about her catching it from me over the phone, as she lives 970 miles away. I haven't seen her in over a year, but I talked to her on the phone last week.

Missy
365/263.5/115

What do I do about weighing and recording?

I usually weigh every single day. However, sometimes I am running late and don't weigh. I enter mine every few days (if there's a loss!) I don't enter if I go up! I just ignore the gains. This keeps me on my toes and works for me!

This article explains some of the reasons why I try to weigh every day:

Daily Weighing Helps People Lose Weight, Prevents Gain
By Milly Dawson, Health Behavior News Service

People who are trying to either lose weight or avoid gaining do better by weighing themselves daily, according to a new study in the December issue of Annals of Behavioral Medicine. The research team evaluated self-weighing practices of more than 3,000 people participating in either a weight-loss or a weight-gain prevention program.

The study's key finding: “Higher weighing frequency was associated with greater 24-month weight loss or less weight gain.”When people weigh themselves daily, “something is going on. It’s independent of things such as diet and exercise, so it may be worth recommending,” said lead researcher Jennifer Linde, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota. “If people see that their number has gone up they may realize it's time to do something. It's probably easier to make that small correction,” Linde said, than to try to compensate after gaining a lot of weight.

The first study group consisted of 1,800 obese or overweight adults enrolled in a weight-loss program. Participants all had a body mass index (BMI) of at least 27. They were randomly divided into three groups: a telephone-based weight-loss intervention, a mail-based weight loss intervention or a usual-care control condition. The researchers weighed them every six months for two years. “The average 12-month and 24-month weight losses of 1.3 and 2 BMI units respectively … were in the clinically significant range,” reported the researchers.

The other group consisted of 1,226 overweight adults — BMI above 25 — enrolled in a weight–gain prevention program. They were randomly divided into either an educational weight-control intervention, the same educational intervention plus a reward for returning self-monitoring postcards or a minimal-contact control condition. The researchers weighed the participants at
the study's outset and every year for three years. For the weight-gain prevention group, the researchers found that “the control group decreased weighing over time and both intervention groups increased weighing over time.” Even though weight maintenance was the goal for this group, daily weighing also led to weight loss at the 12- and 24-months time points.

Well-known behavioral programs such as Weight-Watchers(TM) have not widely recommended that followers weigh themselves daily; instead, many programs recommend weekly self-weighing. Public health recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control do not
include self-weighing at all.

The researchers say their results suggest that “clinical as well as public health recommendations for regular weighing should be considered.”

“It is not surprising that daily weighing correlates with success — people who do well like the feedback,” says Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. “I suspect it helps people who are succeeding and is a problem for people who are not losing or losing slowly, but the only way to tell is with a randomized trial that assigns people to different
weighing schedules.”

Why did I choose 115 as a goal weight?

I found the lowest and highest weights for my height that would put me in the BMI category of normal and then averaged the 2 numbers. I then asked my doctor and he agreed that I should weigh that amount.

How do you figure your BMI? This is a great web site to use:

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm

It allows you to enter your height in feet and inches and your weight in pounds. So no calculating needed.

My first BMI goal is to get out of the morbidly obese category and into the obese. Might not seem like much to some, but it will be a day for rejoicing for me. When will it be? When I weigh 211 or less!

So many questions to get to know me

Here are some questions I was asked and answered on February 6, 2006. Feel free to respond with your own answers to these questions.

1. What time is it? 6:14 pm, eastern time
2. My name: Melissa
3. Nickname: Missy
4. Pierced ears? no
5. What is the most recent movie you've seen in the theater? Star Wars Episode 2
6. Eye color: Blue
7. Place of birth: Montana
8. Favorite food? Mashed potatoes
9. Ever been to Africa? No
10. Ever been toilet papering? No
11. Been in a car accident? Yes
12. Croutons or bacon bits? Both
13. Favorite day of the week: Friday
14. Favorite flower: Silk
15. Favorite sports to watch: Diving off the cliffs of Acapulco
16. Favorite drink: Faygo's Diet Red Pop
17. Favorite ice cream: Butter Pecan
18. Disney or Warner Brothers: Disney
19. Favorite fast food restaurant: Taco Bell
20. What color is your bedroom carpet? oak parquet - no carpet
21. How many times you failed your driver's test? zero
22. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Krogers
23. What do you do when you are bored? Play the piano
24. Bedtime: 9:15 - I wish! But seldom happens!
25: Who do you hope will respond to this questionnaire? everyone
26: Favorite TV shows: Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis
27. Last person you went to dinner with: Tim, Dan, Joe (my sons)
28. Ford or Chevy? Dodge
29. What are you listening to right now? Stargate SG1
30. What is your favorite color? Blue
31. How many tattoos do you have? None
32. How many pets do you have? Dan has 1 guinea pig. I personally have 0.

Bring on the Delusions!

QUOTE (dalemarc @ Feb 6 2006, 10:42 AM)

If being happy and feeling good about yourself is delusional...BRING ON THE
DELUSIONS! I think what you've done is terrific and you SHOULD be
happy! Keep up the delusions!!!Dale

I agree with Dale. BRING ON THE DELUSIONS! I know that perception is reality! I weigh 267 pounds and at 5'1" that is morbidly obese on every chart! But last night when I was down on the floor and back up again over and over BY MYSELF putting together my Tony Little's Gazelle Freestyle Crosstrainer Pro which had just been delivered I felt thin. Back in September I couldn't even get down on the floor by myself. And at 2:30 AM after a breathing treatment when I was putting away my breathing machine in the dark in the room where I forgot that I had set up the Gazelle and I tripped and fell backwards into it (fortunately the foot platforms were locked into place on the swing arms) and I landed on my tailbone and was able to get up without calling for help, I felt fit! I say "BRING ON THE DELUSIONS!" I like being thin and fit! Even when I'm the only one who perceives it as such. Am I going to keep on staying on plan? You bet! Do I need to keep on losing weight? Of course! Do I care how others perceive me? Uh, yeah! I am a human being! Does their perception kill my Delusion? NO WAY!
Written on February 6, 2006.

Home Scale vs. Doctor's Scale

Unless you are planning to weigh every week at the same doctor's office, I would stick with my home scale. I have regular visits (but not weekly) to 3 different doctors and they weigh me at every one of them. Even when I have gone straight from one doctor's office to the other their scales did not agree, so don't sweat it. Your goal is for the numbers to go down - not to match! Just keep going down everywhere and don't worry about it.

20 Things I Want to Do

Twenty things I would like to do that I haven't done because of my weight. I hope to do or be able to do them when I get to goal.
1. Go on every ride at Kings Island or Six Flags and be able to walk the entire park and not even be tired or have pain.
2. Go up in a hot air balloon.
3. Parasail over the ocean
4. Sky dive
5. Fit in the wet suit at the Indianapois Zoo so I can swim with the dolphins.
6. Sit in any chair at people's house, without having to ask if it is sturdy enough to hold me.
7. Sit on the edge of my son's bed without bending the aluminum bedrail.
8. Sit in a lawn chair at my sons' soccer games without having the chair collapse or sink a foot into the grass.
9. Being able to get up from chairs and couches at friends' houses without help.
10. Being able to get up off the ground or floor when I have fallen without someone needing to find at least four weight lifters to help.
11. Being able to roll over in bed without the use of the iron bars at the head of my bed.
12. Not having to check the weight limit on every cot, chair, exercise machine, etc.
13. Being able to ride the suspended unicycle at COSI.
14. Being light enough for one of my teenage sons to pick me up and throw me in the swimming pool at the family reunion.
15. Being able to walk through the aisles in a classroom or a store without knocking things off with my hips.
16. Being able to play hide and seek and actually finding a place to hide.
17. Being able to change a light bulb in the ceiling fixture without collapsing the step stool.
18. Being able to sit on an ottoman without causing the foam to sink all the way to the wooden frame.
19. Being able to ride on a plane without having to take my 88 pound son with me, so that I can overflow into his seat.
20. Being able to ride in the back seat of my parents' car and being able to actually put the seat belt on correctly.

Need I go on?

100 Pounds Gone 4 Ever

Weighed in on Monday, February 13, 2006 and I am down 100 pounds from when I began Nutrisystem on Thursday, September 22, 2005. I love Nutrisystem food, and the support from everyone, and the convenience. The whole experience is almost surreal! My whole life has changed and continues to change. What a rush!

Missy
365/265/115

In Home Walking DVDs

No equipment necessary. You can play it in your DVD player or I play it on my computer, so that I can watch TV while doing it (after I have learned the routine). Leslie Sansone's Walk Diet is low impact, simple. It has walking in place, gentle kicks, slight knee lifts, and small side steps. Anything that you can't do she encourages you to just keep walking in place. She is very kind and encouraging. The people doing it with her are real and she introduces everyone and talks a bit about their families. I really recommend it.

Nutri-Bears

I called the first time, when my bears were not in my auto-ship, ever since they have come each time. Just 2 a month - so I have 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80. They are WONDERFUL and the first thing I find when I get my box. I introduce them to each other. I've taken them to work and the doctor's office to show them off. My mom told her Ladies Bible Class about them and then she had to take them all in, because they wanted to see them. They get a little bit lighter each time. That is Pound (10) weighs more than Commitment (20) who weighs more than Community (30) and so forth! I thought maybe I was imagining this, but my mom got out her postal scales and WEIGHED ALL THE BEARS! It is hard to explain how motivational these little guys are. They are about 9" tall and about 5" wide. They each have a little tag attached telling their names and a motivational blurb. One thing that was kind of cool for me is that I read about Tony Little's Gazelle that was special priced on HSN here on Jazzman's board, so I ordered it. The UPS guy delivered the boxes of my NS food and my Gazelle at the same time. My bears that day? "Willpower and Workout" How appropriate! I will never forget that!

Making Things Work in a Busy Home

Here are some things that have helped me. Prioritize. Don't sweat the small stuff! Try to spend 10 minutes on each thing and then move on so that nothing gets too far behind. Deal with mail as soon as it arrives so you don't have to look at it more than once. Process food into portion sizes when it arrives and freeze it. Set alarms to tell you when to stop cleaning, when to move the laundry, etc. Stop every 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours and spend time doing something with the children. (Talking to them, listening to a song, play a hand of rummy, read them a poem you wrote, or a joke you heard.) Have a special place to leave the children notes of encouragement. "Thank you for taking the recycling to the curb. Love, Mom" "Thank you for vacuuming the living room. I appreciate it! Love, Mom" "When you get a chance the light over my exercise bike is burned out and needs a new bulb. Thanks, Mom." Listen to Alexander Scourby reading the Bible on CD while you fix meals or do the bills. Keep note cards by the phone, so that when you get a call that someone is sick or had a death in the family, you can stop and write a note right then. Put a 50 foot tube on your breathing machine so you can go anywhere in the house while doing your breathing treatments. Use styrofoam plates, bowls, cups and plastic silverware whenever possible. Take the time to teach the children to do their own laundry, fix meals for the family, clean, sweep, vacuum, etc. - then don't criticize their efforts or re-do what they did. Accept help from those outside of your house when it is offered and when it will really be a help. Don't be afraid to say "No thank you" if it will add to your workload. If you accept more tasks than you can handle, confess right away and let something go. Don't own problems and tasks that are not yours. Periodically - drop everything and do something for fun with the children! They do not stay young for very long! Hug them every single night and tell them you love them! First person home welcomes everyone else as they arrive. Welcome them home every time they come home, even if it is the 5th or 6th time for the day! Smile a lot!

Warning: If you become short of breath slow down.

Still sick. Couldn't get an appointment till tomorrow. Argued with all of my kids either last night or this morning. My fault: I'm suffering from oxygen deprivation. Mom called, I cried and whined. Then said, "I'm sorry I'm whining and crying."

Got off the phone, put on my Alexander Scorby reading the Bible aloud CDs and started hanging up laundry, went through the clothes in my room and packed up all the 6X, 5X, and 4X clothes and put them into labeled boxes. I'm wearing 1X and 2X whenever I go anywhere now, but I am not ready to give up my 3Xs. Not that I am going to regain any weight, it is just that at times like right now, when I am having so much trouble breathing even my clothes leave me feeling claustrophobic. Having really loose, big things to wear around the house, really helps. I've taken the 6X black pants, and the 5X black shirt that I was wearing in my before NS picture and put them in a labeled ziplock bag in my dresser. I am saving them. I will probably put them on again at -150 and -200 and -250 (goal), and perhaps at some other milestones!

I got out some computer paper and a pair of scissors and cut out the following shapes: a phone receiver, a lightbulb, a trashbag tied up, 2 recycling bins connected together, and a bed. They were all about the size of my hand. I wrote thank-yous and apologies on them and taped them on the appropriate boy's bedroom door.

Mom came over and picked up Joe's 2 pairs of broken glasses that he has only had for 6 months (one of the things that I argued with him about) and took them to the vision center. They were still under warranty and they think they may have the new ones in tomorrow. That's good news!

Mom came over again later and played some Phase 10 with me. Timothy came home with his papers for next year's schedule. Tim and I made our peace. Joe came in needing homework help, so Mom left to get her work done at home. Joe and I made our peace and he got his homework done and his flute practiced. Then Dan came home and things were good with him. He really liked the notes.

The doorbell rang and it was the UPS guy. He had 2 big boxes for me. My NS order with 2 more Nutribears and the Tony Little's Gazelle I had ordered from HSN. Yeah, what a day! I opened my NS order to retrieve my bears and introduce them to the ones I already had. Then Joe and I played Phase 10.

Later, I set the timer and started putting together my Gazelle. I had read lots of posts from people complaining about the difficulties of putting them together and about how they had done it wrong and about how some parts didn't fit and how things were broken or missing. So I read everything very carefully and inventoried all of the pieces and laid an old sheet on the floor and started methodically falling the directions. I started the timer before I cut the first plastic binding and only stopped it after the entire Gazelle including the electronic timer and the water bottle holder and the resistance pistons and everything was all put together and Timothy and I had both tried it out including the electonic gizmose. 2 hours and 37 minutes. I thought that was pretty good. Because I did all by myself, except for having Tim come in and lift one of the swing arms to help me position it when I was putting the crossbar through them and again once to lift the whole thing up off the ground to spread the legs and wrench tighten the frame bolts. The rest of the time I was gettting up and down off the floor and crawling around on my knees and sitting on the floor putting nuts and washers in and thinking about the progress I had made since September.

I then glided 1/10 of a mile with the resistance pistons engaged before I started coughing quite a bit and decided I better wait for a while to really exercise with it. I sat down and read the booklet and it said, "Warning: If you become short of breath, slow down." I thought, "what if I started out short of breath?" I am so happy to have it though. Now when I am well I will be able to ride my exercise bike, walk with my in-home walking video, and cross-train with my gazelle.

Now I've just got to get this chest congestion, or bronchitis, or asthma, or pneumonia, or whatever it is under control! Sure hope the doctor has a great idea! I do not like this short breath. I want nice long breaths that I don't have to think about!

Missy
365/267/115

Taking a Deep Breath

All my life I have struggled with breathing. I spent many days in an oxygen tent as an infant and as an adolescent. My teen years were some of the worst. I can remember long nights in my dad's lazy boy chair struggling to inhale and wishing I was dead. One of the toughest things at that time is that there were so many doctors that thought that asthma was a psychosomatic illness. The acceptance of asthma as a real illness is just one of the positive steps in its treatment. There are more drugs. There are more therapies.
Now I still struggle at times with it. No - I don't want anyone to start telling all the things that have worked for them and I hope that this does not elicit an onslaught of commercial e-mails. I just wanted to say I really enjoy life when I can breathe and it is not so good when I can't. Right now I can't.
Missy
365/267/115