Hi Everyone,

Wanted to report in-- yesterday was my weigh in day. I did have a good week-- 2.5 lbs gone. I'm only 8 lbs away from being in my "ideal" weight range. That is very exciting to me, I can hardly believe it! I still have about 26 lbs to go to my goal but I'm feeling pretty positive about it. I've been considered overweight or obese my entire life-- even though I'm pretty active. I think I'm at my lowest weight since 5th grade. (Edited to add, I've lost about 50 lbs since January 1, just so you know where I'm coming from.)

Right now DH and I are training for a big 60 mile bike ride/charity event on October 4, so it's motivating me too. We ride to and from the event, so it ends up being about a 75 mile day all told. Tomorrow I have a "gym date" with a friend who wants me to show her how to use one of the machines there. Every time I go to spin or to the gym, I just think about this ONE GIGANTIC HILL (affectionately known among cyclists as THE WALL, for good reason) on the big ride. I just envision myself climbing and climbing and climbing it until it's over. Last year I walked it-- I want to do better this year. :-)

Oh yeah, and I have to get that darn Halloween quilt off my rack this weekend so I can think about my other projects!!! :-P

I received a beautiful pink FQ from PenniF yesterday. I was doing really well this week on my eating, until this evening. We were supposed to go out to dinner to the restaurant of my choice for my birthday. Well Dh got home late and we had somewhere else to go afterwards. We ended up with hoagies from the local pizza place. Still not too bad as I had planned for the extra points for dinner. Well they had popcorn where we went next and I had a bunch. Still not too much overboard. My Dh gave me a big bag of peanut M&M's for my birthday, opened them and left them on the table next to me. Even after I asked him not to. Well one led to another and I was soooooo bad. Back on the wagon in the morning. I really need to grocery shop.

Happy Birthday, Pat!! Hard to ignore peanut M&M's when they are staring you in the face. Tomorrow will be better.

Happy belated Birthday Pat!!! Peanut M&Ms are one of MY weaknesses too...Growing up my kids only ever had the plain ones in the house...those i can walk right past - no problem...but i can NEVER the peanut kind.

Nice thing about WW to me - every day is a day to start over....you're working on a life style change, not a "diet".

Also - when i successfully did WW in the past i gave myself "No points days".....Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, my birthday - for that one day i don't count points - I need that one guilt free day every once in a while. And the next day it's back on program --- too much "depriving" makes you act nuts i think. Beside, i find i can't eat as much as i used to anyway.

Just checking in - - feeling much better and back to work this week (that was hard). I am now at 175 lbs. and I am 5"7" - - really would like to loose another 10 lbs. My daughter is getting married Valentine's Day 2015 - - so I want to be able to fit into a cute red dress. Wish me luck:)

I received a FQ today from Jeanne. My birthday is today. I am going to spend the evening sewing. My kids at school didn't know it was my birthday but they were pretty good today. My student that is a pain and they are planning on moving to the emotionally disturbed class was really good today. Actually answered a couple of questions in social studies. I had to give him the answer but he spoke loud enough for the teacher to hear him.
I bought myself a ticket to the Jenny Doan trunk show next weekend. There is also a quilt show.My DH gave me some money I will buy myself something with it. Probably some more fabric I don't need.
I have been making a bag for myself for weeks. I'm not making much progress. I finally have it cut out. I am going to sew it tonight. I have a quilt I made for my brother I need to bind. I need it finished by the beginning of October.
I need to go take my SIL dog for a walk and wear him out so he will sleep tonight.

Happy Birthday Pat! I hope you have a wonderful birthday weekend. As for the Peanut M & M's I second the others in this post. There is something about them that calls to me. The only ones worse for me than the Peanut M & M's are the almond ones. Yum. I cannot have them around here.

Just thought I would let you all know that I became a first time Grandmother on Saturday, Sept. 6th. My grandson weighed in at 9 1/2 pounds and was 21 inches long. He is so beautiful and I am counting down the days until I get to meet him. I need to work on his quilt in earnest now. I plan to bring it to MN with me when we fly out on Oct. 1rst. I work the next four days 12 to 15 hour days, but then I will be off for a few days and should be able to finish off most of it. Any hints on machine quilting will be appreciated. I was going to hand quilt but someone pointed out to me that if I want it to be used and loved, the machine quilting may be better due to frequent washings. Any thoughts?

Mateoh, can you post a pic of your quilt?
Yesterday I got to spend a few hours in my sewing room. It's going to take many, many hours to get everything organized. I babysit this weekend but then I don't have my DGD until a week from tuesday. I hope to finish my room and then do some sewing.
I have been so bad with my eating and also not exercising much. Today I decided to start tracking my food again. So far so good.

Ok girls. We have to stop the pmm talk. I was at the grocery store tonight and thought I would buy a small 1 serving size package. Scanned them on my cellphone. 7 WW points +. I didn't buy them. But I still want them.;)

I weighed in this morning. Down 4.4 pounds. Finally the scale is moving in the right direction again. Still a long way to go. I did count the bad things I ate on thursday. I do need to have a treat now and then.
This week at work is going to be hard. I can't remember the reason but we are having food every day. Monday is sweets, Tues we are ordering lunch and people are bringing cool drinks. I can't remember what Wed and Fri are but Thurs is football snacks. I might have to eat lunch in my car.
My DH gave me money for my birthday. I bought myself a fitbit and a ticket to see Jenny Doan next weekend. I will probably spend the rest at the quilt show. I decided to skip the local shop hop this year as I knew I would just buy too much. I really enjoy them. I went to the grocery store today. I plan on heading up to my sewing room for the rest of the afternoon.
Pat