Hi all,
I am new here and not even sure where to begin with catching up. There seems to be gobs of information for dozens of pages so for now I will remain mostly a lurker/catcher up type probably.
Glad to be on Team Donald, though!
Jubilee
Don't even try to catch up! Just jump right in and let us know if you have questions! We are happy to have you.
I meant to get back on here last night and check in, but somehow I ended up looking at DVC resales. Anyone a DVC owner? Which resort do you have and do you think it's worth it? I tried to convince DH we should buy

A girl can dream!
I am off to get a few things done before my 1st class shows up (they have career class right now so I am delayed a period~yay). I'll check in later!
Jill
we have DVC. We own at SSR and BWV. We bought our two main contracts resale (before they made the change to only being able to use resale points for dvc properties--don't quote me on this, I can't remember the exact rule so I might not be remembering it exactly). Anyhow, we have also done add ons through Disney and all of our resale points were grandfathered in. We love it and for us it was totally worth the money. We wish we would have done it back in 94 when we first thought about it rather than waiting so long. But I will say, I am a hotel snob.

The really nice thing for us--even the studios have mini kitchens and we have an owners locker now too. Please let me know if you have any questions. There is also a dvc part to disboards where people are happy to answer questions. If you plan on using your points to stay on property I think resale is a great option. My BWV points were deeply discounted.
QOTD Wednesday, January 18
Weight watchers and lots of plans say that you can eat anything and lose weight. (Moderation of course!) And for the most part, I think completely depriving yourself of your favorite treats is a recipe for frustration and even a reason many people fall off the wagon.
Having said that, is there a food you need to avoid? One that you just can't have around or you go a little crazy? Do you have treats worked into your healthy living plan or are you avoiding somethings completely right now?
So before I went g-f last year I had a really good handle on this. I only ate my trigger foods out as a treat. My big trigger foods are french fries and potato chips--both with lots and lots of salt! Well, we very rarely eat out anymore and french fries out are a crap shoot--too many cross contamination issues. I now cook oven baked fries on my George Forman--makes them very crispy, but the problem--I now can have them any time in my house---so I have to be very careful to still look at it as a treat.
My other trigger foods--cookies--Oreos, etc. Well I can't have them anymore and gf premade cookies are ridiculously expensive--so I rarely buy them.
Being g-f and eating at home all the time, has made it harder for me cause I just do better keeping the junk out of my house. We have recently found this awesome bakery which always has a couple of gluten free desserts in stock. So we are trying to go there a couple times a month and see that as our new treat! And I try to save my fries out for when we go to WDW and they have dedicated friers!
Well.... there are definitely a few "trigger" foods that I have trouble being around. Sweet potato chips and peanut butter M&Ms come to mind first. But I CAN have them in the house, as long as the bag isn't open. But if I give myself permission to eat something like this (like having M&Ms at the movies) it is difficult to stay in control. What works best is if I preportion (using my handy-dandy digital food scale) the food into a ziptop baggie and ONLY TAKE what I can eat. Usually this means sharing a smaller bag with DD. The HUGE bags are just trouble for us!!
I do NOT buy these items any longer. I have NO control with the chips and I am the only one in the house who likes them, so best to not have them around. And the M&Ms only get bought if there is a movie on the schedule and I plan for the calories.
There are lots of munchie things that I have trouble controlling, but they weren't so wonderful that they were worth keeping in my repertoire, so I just gave them up...... trail mix, honey wheat pretzels, Lindt truffles (I will occasionally buy just 1 as a treat.... and I got a few in my Christmas stocking).... that is all I can think of for now.
That said, I do find room for a treat several times a week. It is getting harder to find "healthy" treats, since I am watching my carbs as well as my calories, but I am managing. Last night I had a carb splurg and had a TB of Nutella (DD's Christmas gift!), on a toasted low carb pita along with a cup of my special hot drink concoction. Too much sugar, but MMMMMM! It hit the spot! And a chocolate Vitamuffin makes a great treat too.
TTYL.........................P
I agree P, somethings I just still after two years can't control.
I used to see this as a weakness--but I have decide it is just an is.....It does not mean I am weak because I go a little crazy with some foods, (well maybe it does) but I am strong in that I have learned to work around it and still be healthy!
Rose I did manage to come up with some things I like about myself today (after a fellow team member pointed me in the right direction

)
1. I am kind-hearted
2. I am loyal
3. I am reliable and trustworthy
Perhaps not the most exciting list but waaaay better than what I had yesterday
My mum and I went and sat with my aunt again today (she in a coma but I think she senses us) and when I brought my mum home I made a healthy lunch and had bought ww cookies so I didnt binge on junk so I feeling quite positive today even though I know we have some tough days ahead of us as a family.
Thanks again for all your kind thought and words guys
That is a great list! I'm proud of you!
I don't know how to do the multi-quote thing!
I appreciate the words of encouragement from everyone after my disasterous day yesterday. While I wanted to detour to my nearest Baskin Robbins last night for a pint of yumminess, I didn't do it. I would have if we had the extra money, but we didn't, so it didn't happen. I woke up this morning feeling a little stronger and will hopefully have a better day.
I do want to prove the PA wrong. I'm still eating better (dry cinnamon Chex cereal for b-fast) and I know that I need an exercise plan. I will figure something out.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Hang in there Ruthie!
Baby steps. If you aren't doing any exercise now, start slow. Sparkpeople has some great articles about starting an exercise plan.
And I agree--try to add some protein to your breakfast. Why are you eating the cereal dry? Even skim milk would add some protein. You can do it!!
O
When my DH was in the hospital last year after an accident, I really had to think HARD about how I was going to react to the situation (in regards to food). At the end of the day, whether I ate CRAP or stayed on plan, my DH was STILL going to be in intensive care, he was STILL going to have broken bones, and I was still going to be worried about him. But I could be worried, but not stressed about overeating..... or worried AND stressed about overeating and beating myself up for eating junk. I never for ONE MINUTE regretted eating healthy during that time. And I can assure you, it was the one thanksgiving week of my ENTIRE LIFE that I LOST weight!! 
Excellent post!
Did everyone read this????
Exactly what I needed to read today. Thanks.
Now, for some tough love.

First, I want to say that you have received some excellent suggestions so far and I hope you find them helpful!
Thanks for sharing CC.
Rose&Mike, now that I've started walking/running to actually run/walk a race, I obviously need good shoes. Where is the best place to go, and what do you look for? (I'm really new at all of this.)
The best thing is to ask other runners what store they would recommend. Do you belong to a gym/Y? Are there local running groups with websites than link to stores? If you can't get a personal recommendation, then I would look for a store that videotapes you running/walking so they can analyze your gait. there are also places that have mats that you can stand on to see what your feet are doing. I started off at fleet feet. I have switched stores to a local store, but only because of physical therapy I know what kind of shoe I need to be in--so I went for the service from this local store.
The other thing I would say--if you are losing weight, have your gait re-evaluated after you lose the weight. I was a pretty good pronator when I weighed 50 more pounds. When I lost it I stopped pronating and now actually suppinate a little. Well, being in support shoes brought on a nasty case of itbs! And it never occurred to me or the therapist that I was in the wrong shoes until I was taped again on the treadmill. When I asked the person at the running store what would cause someone to stop pronating and she said not much--maybe a large weight loss. Bingo!
Last, a good running store will let you return/exchange your shoes. You might pay a little more, but this in my opinion is really important. While a shoe might feel great in the store, when you actually start going the distance in the shoes they might not feel so good. Once you find the right shoes, you can order replacement shoes online and then maybe just get re-evaluated every year or so or if you start having problems.
Hope this helps!