Just a quickie to say that I've lost 44.5 lbs todate and I have 3 weeks of liquid diet left to go. Haven't done as much exercise as I should be doing because I've been laid low by a cold but I'll have to get my butt back in gear soon. Sigh. Never easy!!!

I'm almost finished one crochet project: hooded scarf, which is good because it's cold out!!!

I'm at a stage of "hmm, is this ok??" with the bamboo cardigan I'm doing for my mom but will hopefully get that resolved this weekend.

I haven't done any dishcloths lately.

I'm definitely getting to the point that I'll be checking out knitting too. I found a cool knit/crochet hooded scarf that is calling to me so I have many knitting books coming in from the Ottawa Public Library this weekend :)

C'est tout!

Wow, I haven't been very good at keeping this updated!

As of today, I've lost a total of 35.5 lbs and my next weigh-in is tomorrow (Tues is a holiday so they moved us to Monday for this week). I'm not sure I'll manage the 60 lbs goal I had hoped to get by the end of the 12 weeks but I will likely make 50 lbs. But I'm still can hope for 60 lbs. People who don't know I'm doing this still haven't noticed and people who know what I'm doing say they see it in my face. I actually have a neck now, which is truly cool :)

I've been doing a fair amount of exercise to try to make sure I don't end up a smaller, saggier and wrinklier version of my fatter self. The exercise was harder the past week or so since I was so exhausted for some reason but today I seem to be back to the level of energy I've gotten used to after the first week or so of the program.

I've been crocheting up a storm and loving it. I have 3 projects on the go at once -- I can't believe that but it's good to jump to another when something gets confusing on one. That's what's happening with one of my projects right now -- the numbers just aren't working out so I've sent out a panic email to Chriss, she who teaches crochet, and I've jumped to working on my hooded scarf.

That's all for now.

Can't say I'm having a thrilling Thanksgiving but I'm doing ok. On Thanksgiving weekend, my mother always has her brothers and sisters over for a weekend of celebrating. They come from Quebec City and Thetford Mines and we have a great time. On Saturday, Mom makes Oktoberfest stuff and normally on Sunday, I make a beef bourguignon that I bring over. This year, Mom decided it was unreasonable to expect me to do that so she's made a turkey instead. In addition, she figured it would be very difficult for me to sit through the suppers so both days, I've spent time with everyone before supper but then when it's time for supper, I've come home. Hubby has stayed there and called me to pick him afterwards. It's wonderful support to really help me. And I'm getting lots of crochet done :) But I definitely miss the meals. Mom promised I can come over tomorrow to pack a lunch container that I can freeze to eat when I'm eating again. I'll be looking forward to that. She's also promised to make me a turkey during the Christmas holidays when we visit them in Florida. Looking forward to that too.

I'm reminding myself that I've lost 20.5 lbs to date and will lose more and I have to hang in there. I really have no problem with sticking to it but I'm just sad to have missed the suppers. At least I got some time for chatting before and I know they're all rooting for me.

I'll be slimmer and healthier to enjoy it next year.

Another 6.5 lbs for a total of 20.5 lbs. Wow, it's so amazing that this really isn't hard at all. I have cravings, of course, but they pass.

This week I really got into increasing my exercising, including back to some strength training. Muscle burns more calories than fat and a toned body makes it less likely that I'll end up all saggy and wrinkly -- yeech :(

I'm doing ok.

Lost another 3.5 lbs for a total of 14. More would have been nicer but that's the way it goes. Hopefully it'll be more next week.

I lost 10.5 lbs on my first week! I know it won't continue at that rate but it's encouraging. Definitely had headaches, "intestinal upsets", irritability and I was soooooooo tired because I got hit by insomnia but I managed.

I've been crocheting up a storm and having fun with relearning it. I'm lucky to have a lot of help. I'm at about 1/4 of the shawl I've started so that's encouraging.

That's all for now.

Well, I started the Optifast diet as of yesterday. It's a medically-supervised liquid diet for 12 weeks, followed by 5 weeks of transitioning back to food. It's a year-long program where I have to attend a 3-hr lifestyle management course every week for the first 6 months, then 6 more 3-hr classes over the last 6 months. The program is at: www.ottawahospital.on.ca/programs/weightclinic

So far, it's easier than I expected. I've taken time off work this week in case, because I had read about people having a really hard time the first week. So far, I'm ok but I'm glad not to be at work since I'm very, very tired.

I've re-started doing crochet as a something to keep my hands and mind busy so I don't eat. I used to crochet 20 years ago but haven't done any since. I took a refresher course at Wool-Tyme (http://www.wool-tyme.com/) last Saturday and I'm having a 1-hr private lession this Saturday. I'm having fun at it so far but I'm not particularly good at it yet. Doesn't matter, it's fun.

C'est tout, for now.

I've just read about Rosy Ghannai, a Canadian woman working hard to lose 150 lbs in a year. She was on the front page of the Ottawa Sun as having lost 100 lbs to date so I checked it out. They mentioned her blog so I checked that too. What a touching, inspiring blog:
http://www.rosyweightloss.blogspot.com/

I've been in a rut so it helped inspire me to jump on my exercise bike. I have to smarten up.

For the moment, I truly have nothing to say but I'll eventually think of something.