Living Maintenance - Maintainers Chat: April 6 - 12

In my precoffee daze I just typed March instead of April, perhaps because we're supposed to get 1-2 inches of snow tonight and another inch tomorrow. All the blooming bushes and daffodils are not going to be happy (neither am I!)

But it's April and all of our taxes are done except for printing and filing. Whew! I'll take care of that today, along with my list of 15 tasks to accomplish and be ready for work starting tomorrow.

Last night I was tired and started thinking about the Easter candy I have for DH and DS. I even went and picked a bag up, but then read the calorie information and just couldn't do it. I mentally visualized what the scale would say this morning if I ate chocolate last night and that was enough to stop me. Perhaps that's a good reason for daily weighing! If I knew I had a week before I weighed, it would be a lot easier to pretend that I hadn't eaten something off-plan.

The gym opens in a few minutes ... Megan, color me impressed with your bench pressing too! :strong:

Michele, we're thinking of you today with your biopsy. :grouphug:

Check in and say hi and let us know how you're doing. :)

. . . and did I miss the memo:?:?

Rain/snow combo here today. I'm sure my little 1/2 inch tulip sprouts will be fine but I'm not looking forward to being out in this. But it only gets better from here on in, yes?

I'm taking my pants as my guide (see ticker) even though the scale says I've lost a pound. Took my measurements this morning and I'm up 1/2 inch on both waist and butt. No such luck with the boobs though :p.

I am getting serious about losing the winter accumulation - turned down ice cream literally waved under my nose :devil: last night in favour of a 100 cal bag of popcorn.

Have a great day all!

Dagmar :flow2:

It's snowing here in Indy too. :sigh: I'll be hitting the pool tonight since I don't want to run or bike in the snow.

Meg, I had an incident with nutritional information too. We had our monthly cooking club meetup last night and I made petits fours from a Martha Stewart recipe. The cake had almond paste in it, but it didn't quite use up my whole container of almond paste. So I took a bite of it, then looked at the nutritional information. 190 calories per tablespoon. :faint: Needless to say I didn't eat any more of the almond paste! :lol: Of course I did end up eating too many petits fours. Oh well.

My weekend was a mix of on-plan and off-plan. If not for the cooking club, I would have been 100% OP. However, making cake, especially late at night, leads to eating cake batter and frosting for me, and having cake in the house, especially when it is in individually-sized portions, leads to eating cake. Then at the meetup there was a huge dessert table with all sorts of my favorite foods. I told DH I should have just skipped the main courses and only eaten dessert.

As a result -- Sunday morning I weighed 146.8. This morning I weighed 148.6. Ugh! I was counting on the Passover diet to help me drop a pound or two, but my sister and her fiancee are coming into town this weekend. That plus two seders equals lots of eating out. I stupidly forgot that my sister's fiancee is a vegetarian (borderline vegan) and didn't plan accordingly. I also forgot that my sister is lactose intolerant, but luckily I remembered that much before I left the grocery store and managed to call her up and figure out what kind of soy milk to get instead.

Hello there. :)

Sunny and not-so-cold days are back, and I finally got out the little dresses and lighter clothes again. Not having to wear three turtlenecks under a heavy jacket feels nice. ^^

And I've accidentally realized the "benefits" of the Yum-Yum diet: this stuff is so bland (although convenient when you don't want to cook for work) that I never finish my bowl, and so of course it doesn't add up for many calories in the end. :lol:

Good morning maintainers!!!!

I am so excited because I am on SPRING BREAK!! I can actually get on this forum before I'm wildly behind. It is the small things in life that float my boat!!
Of course, the first morning I could have slept in (and planned to), I woke up before 6.... oh well...

I guess you all don't want to hear about my weather here in California. We had a beautiful weekend and today will be sunny and 76. Rain and colder weather is coming tomorrow though so I'll enjoy today.

Paperclippy-- wow! I would have no idea almond paste would have so many calories. What the heck is in that stuff?!?! Happy Pesach to you and your family. I am Jewish and dh is Catholic. I have never cooked a Passover meal. When I lived at home, we would go to a Passover Seder. Here, our temple has people host Seders in their homes. We just don't know people well enough yet to host or attend-- I know-- it is a dumb excuse.... Good luck with your Passover diet before your family arrives!! Your marathon is so soon!!!

Since dh is gone for two weeks, I thought we would skip Easter (my girls are Jewish), but dd said she wants to go to mass on Easter and out to lunch so we'll do that.

Good morning Dagmar! Sorry your weather is crummy.

Good morning Meg! Thanks for the well wishes for my biopsy. I had weird dreams last night so I know it is weighing on my mind. I'll let you all know later how it went. I hear you on the Easter treats. They keep calling to me at the store but I've ignored them so far.

It was easy for me to stay on plan this weekend as I'm on day 4 of an empty house. I didn't eat anything off plan, but I still had to battle the fat girl hiding within me. I could hear her arguing that I could stop and get fast food and no one would know since they are all out of town. Or cadbury eggs at the store.... or.... you get the picture.... luckily I didn't listen to her and the scale is cooperating which isn't always the case on a Monday!

My younger dd comes home late tonight from her choir trip to Boston and New York. Sounds like she has had an amazing trip and I can't wait to hear all the details.

I have so much to catch up on this week as I've put everything off until my Spring Break. I'm taking a class for my masters degree and I've put off all of my big projects. Since it is a children's literature class, I have tons of reading to do as well. That, and my poor house needs major cleaning. I have started on that this weekend which was nice because no one was coming behind me and messing it up!!

I'll check in after my biopsy..... good thoughts.......

Michele, good thoughts on you biopsy.

Kery, I think I missed the Yum Yum diet explanation!

Jessica, that tri is coming up soon!

Dagmar, all the spring is here. I'll try to send some up your way. Gorgeous today.

Meg, go get some coffee! I need some too.

Anne

Good morning everybody.

Raining and miserable here. I thought I'd get my walk in before the rain started. Well, I got part of it in. Was 1/2 way through and the skies opened up.

Just wanted to send good wishes to Michelle. I hope all goes smoothly. Will be thinking of you.

Jessica, I LOVE almond paste, marzipan - all that stuff. For a party I made in February I made almond horns, using almond paste. Oooh was it good.

Gearing up hear for the Passover holiday as well. I've been extra strict these past few weeks in anticipation of it. Been doing real well, until I started cooking this weekend for it. Did a little sampling. Nothing terrible at all. Just a few nibbles here and there. But that's all it takes for lucky me to gain weight. And of course the scale is up. Grrr.

Okay that sounded a little whiny. Perhaps because it WAS. ;)

Have a good one folks.

Good morning everyone!

I am so tired of this weather! It was 72 and sunny on Saturday while I was at the park, possible snow flurries tomorrow morning, 40 MPH winds this afternoon, 74 again by Friday. It is making me crazy...

Meg - I did the same thing with the Easter candy this weekend, too... Kept picking up the bag, putting it back down... We were already doing a not so good for us splurge dinner while watching the baseball game which I had carefully planned the entire day to be able to afford, couldn't add candy in...

Dagmar - sorry about the pants... Good job on bypassing the ice cream!

Kery - What is 'Yum Yum'?

Jessica - 190 calories per tablespoon! Wow! That is why I just don't bake - I would go way overboard on cake batter and almond paste and frosting... I have little willpower for those kinds of things...

Michele - enjoy your spring break! And, I'm sending positive vibes your way for your biopsy. :)

Anne - I'm just getting to my coffee this morning and I can almost feel my hands shaky... :)

Robin - It was sunny here for about five minutes this morning, clouds are back and no more sun in my windows... sadness... sorry about the scale this morning... :hug:

Our weekend was fine - stayed OP calorie wise for food, though some of those calories weren't used as wisely as they could have been. DH has a ritual for the opening baseball game that involves hotdogs, soft pretzels & cracker jacks. Well, fiddle faddle this time because you can't find cracker jacks in the stores anymore. I planned all day Sunday to fit it in, so didn't kill my calories. I did nap yesterday afternoon after DSS went home instead of putting together the treadmill... :headache: I had a headache that was beating my head into pieces... Didn't feel much better after the nap, should have put the treadmill together anyway, especially with this crazy weather coming up...
I did get up and exercise this morning, though. I'm feeling pretty good about that!

Good Monday everyone!

Oh, yeah, I needed coffee so bad I forgot what I was going to say.

I'm back out of the obese range and am more than 50 pounds down from my pregnancy high. Closing in on my pre-DS weight. I wore a pair of size 14 shorts out in public yesterday. And have worked back up to 3 miles of running.

Getting there. Again.

Hi Robin. Enjoy the Passover holiday! Sounds like you are gearing up for it.

Shannon. Opening day is once a year, right? Enjoy your coffee. Mine is done now. :coffee2:



Anne

Yum Yum is this: http://www.ctfood.se/u_img/yum_yum_-_duck_-_60g.jpg

Instant noodles, just add water. ^^

:lol: I think the almond paste is like 90% sugar and 10% almonds or something like that.

Anne, 50 lbs down! Congrats! The tri IS coming up soon, less than two weeks now. I'm terrified, but I doubt that there's much I could do at this point to make a difference one way or the other. I think we've somewhat revitalized the tri thread in the Exercise forum if you'd like to join us.

Kery - I read about all the protests near you in last week's thread, I hope you're staying safe!

Michele, I hope your biopsy went well!

Good luck with the Passover and Easter holidays everyone!

Kery - got it... Here they are often called 'Ramen Noodles'... I lived on those things in college... :)

Anne - once per year for me, twice, well sortof, for DH. :) There is opening Sunday night and then what he calls the real opening day Monday. I guess there are parades and festivities and stuff on the first Monday? Dunno... He typically takes that day off work and has a baseball, and often food, blowout. I participated in the Sunday night this year, but am not going to be part of any craziness today. He had to work today, so it could be a lighter celebration for him as well. Particularly with the basketball championship tonight, too. There are so many rituals when it comes to sporting events - he looked at me all kinds of crazy when I first asked what he wanted to do for dinner last night. Said 'opening game night'. As if I knew that automatically meant hotdogs and pretzels for dinner. :)

Almost done with my coffee...

Jessica, I've never cooked w/ almond paste, but I did make chocolate chip cookies to send my bf the other week, and I swear I was worried I wouldn't have enough to send him because I kept sneaking bites of the batter and "testing" cookies as they came out of the oven! Sheesh! I forgot how much i LOOOOVE chocolate chip cookie dough.

Dagmar, the pants-o-meter is not being friendly to me, either. Time to kick it into high gear! You're already on the way with turning down the ice cream!

Michele, my thoughts are with you and I hope all comes out well from the biopsy. I also hope you get to enjoy your spring break! =) You may have said it before, but what are you studying?

Anne, congrats on the 3 mile mark for running! I wish I could do that again... it's been almost 2 years now since I've done that. It really helped me stay in shape and I felt soooo good!

All the talk about easter candy is making me really miss the homemade peanut butter eggs that were sold for charity in my hometown.... *drool* It's probably a good thing I can't get my hands on them this year!

Okay, so here goes another week. I already feel better having had my coffee while typing this (we seem to be a bunch of caffeine addicts on this thread!) but I'm still anxious for my semester to end... then I'll be half way to a master's degree!

Michele, hoping your biopsy goes well today.

Anne, it sounds like you are doing fantastic with the exercise and losing the baby weight. WTG.

It is cold here, in the 30's with wind gusts strong enough to almost knock me over while I walk my lab's. At 3:30 today I take Lacy to retake her driving test that she failed last week. Wish us luck again.

Trying to keep my eating POP this week cause next weekend with Shane's home-coming celebration there will be tons of less than healthy foods around.

So far all the beagles I rescued are doing well. Eating like little pigs and starting to look less starved. Last night on the phone DH said "well, beagles are good dogs and we might just think about keeping them". I say "no way, caring for our Lab's is enough!" I'll try to have my girls take a picture of the beagles for me to post. Anyone want a doggie, LOL?

My son called last night and is having a blast in Florida. He will be returning home this evening. I'm really glad that he got to have this "vacation trip" with his buddies. He needed it. He plans to return back to work at his previous job next week. He says " not working makes me feel like I have no purpose". I thought he'd take a month or two off, but nope.

Our oldest SD's baby shower went well and she shouldn't need any baby girl clothes for a Long time. I was a tad bitter over her gift registry where the family was expected to buy her VERY expensive gifts. The cadillac of strollers with baby car seat and carrier that I ended up begrudgingly buying for her costed me a fortune! My little rant is she's had all this stuff with the other kids and never taken care of a dang thing! But, matching stroller, car seat, carrier, swing, baby bed, bassinet, walker, playpen and high chair is pretty brazen if you ask me for a FOURTH baby! I hate it that I feel this way, but maybe her and her husband should have bought some of this themselves instead of their blackberry phones! OK, rant over, I need to just get over it, LOL.

I had a busy weekend and didn't get online to check in.

Saturday morning I spent running errands and doing all the laundry I had forgotten to do during the week. I think I hit 5 stores! DH took DS to the ortho and then the two of them and DD went to DS's karate demo. DH was a bit miffed as the call time was 9:25 and the performance wasn't unitl 11:15. They had all planned on getting hair cuts before lunch. Instead they brought lunch home and then went for haircuts. Afterwards DD and I got pedicures which was interesting due to my foot having turned a very weird purple color in all places except where I injured it. After the pedicure I got a red dot on each tendon. It was the strangest thing. The pain is greatly reduced and the bruising is starting to go away today. I even did the treadmill and worked through the pain of having shoes on.

Saturday night we had a party. It was incredibly windy on Friday and they predicted more wind on Saturday, so when my in-laws said they were going to have a BBQ for all their friends who are leaving town, I suggested they change the location to our house which out of the wind belt. It was a very fun party and I'm glad we changed it. Everyone had a lot of fun.

Sunday was mostly relaxation and recuperation from Saturday.

Happy Monday morning everyone,

My end-of-week munchies last week carried through until Saturday. Sunday I woke up and said no more! Of course the scale seems to think I ate enough extra calories to bounce up the 5 lbs I'd bounced down the week before (I didn't eat that much, I assure you!). Oh well, what am I going to do but work out and eat healthily today? I'm sort of glad - someone brought brownies into our office again today but at least they did it on a Monday. I'm much better at resisting brownies on Mondays than Fridays. :dizzy:

Tonight I have a book club meeting with my friends. We take turns picking books and this month's book was/is "Twilight". I'm terrible, I was so unenthusiastic about reading it I started it yesterday and am only half done, and I don't feel bad at all. We're going to watch the movie anyway. I felt more guilty over checking the menu with my friend who's hosting. I didn't want to be rude, but if it was pizza or french fries I would have brought my own dinner. I can handle venison, potatoes, and salad (minus potatoes for me), thankfully.

Anne, congratulations on all the progress you've made since DS's birth! Sounds like you're getting right back where you want to be. :cp:

Shannon, are you having as much trouble as me staying upright? It's not as cold here, but sheesh, this wind! Hope your head is better today.

Robin, yeah, scales are totally illogical. That whole 3500 calories = 1 lb. formula just doesn't apply... I think mine is more like 500 calories = 1 lb. Today is a new day!

Michele, beat that fat girl down, tie her up, gag her, and stuff her in the closet! Don't listen to her! Good luck with all your projects.

Kery, I don't think the Yum-Yum soup was very aptly named. The package looks like Ramen noodles, but I'm guessing the Yum-Yums aren't deep fried like Ramen. Actually I think Ramen noodles taste good when you're hung over... :devil: How are the protests this week?

Jessica, sounds like you're also suffering from the illogical scale... darn scale! (I love how we personify the scale, especially in the accountability thread).

Dagmar, sorry to hear the pants-o-meter isn't cooperating, but I'm sure you'll get it turned around in no time.

Meg, way to resist that Easter candy! I'm still avoiding CVS and the Cadbury creme egg display by the register.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Jessica - Thanks. Things have quieted down now, so I think it'll be allright. The area where I live in wasn't the one where crap really hit the fan anyway, save for that Saturday morning protest (well, actually, the crap was carried to the frontier, where the two ID checkpoints were burnt down as well, but I'm not crazy, I didn't even try to set foot there).

Shannon - I'm not sure if it's the same thing as ramen noodles, but it may very well be. Anyway we just like to call them "yum yum" because we find that brand's name funny. ^_^;

Megan - I don't think it's deep-fried. There's a pack of 'flavoured oil' to pour in before adding water (which I never use fully, since it's quite spicy), but it doesn't look fried to me.

The protests due to the NATO summit should be over for now. Of course, we'll have others due to the whole strike, firings, angry teachers etc. I guess we always have to protest against something, huh.

Ramen noodles are deep fried? How did I eat a gazillion packs of those things in college and not know that? Wait, maybe it has something to do with the 'better when hungover' factor... :devil:

Kery - glad you made it through this round of protests safely! I was thinking about you this weekend watching the news.

Megan - we have a little break right now from the wind, but it is supposed to be back with a vengeance soon. They are calling for the 40+ MPH to be back right around the time I was planning to go run at the park... The lighter ones this morning were bad enough, I don't think I have it in my to go against 40 MPH...

Allison - glad your foot is feeling better. Red spots after the pedicure seem a little odd to me, though.

Lily - I totally agree on baby registries with really expensive items for the family to buy, even on first babies I think it is a little inappropriate, but especially on fourth! If they want the more expensive items they might have to buy them themselves, or have multiple family members contribute. I know some people see the registry as a wish list and will buy gifts not on it, or not expect to receive everything on it if they were the registrant, but a lot of people these days put big ticket items on there and then get really upset when they don't get them from someone. I had a friend who had her second baby ten years after the first and she had a $300 video monitoring system for the baby's room on there that she wanted, and lots of really expensive baby items. I went in with a few other women and got her the monitor and she was offended that we didn't each get a gift... Next baby I might just RSVP 'no' for the shower...

Iris - I know I've seen what you are studying written somewhere, but can't remember... What degree are you almost halfway finished with?

Salad for lunch. So far no snacking. Woo hoo!

Hi,

Today is the second sunny day here in I don't know how long. It's beautiful and supposed to be in the upper 60's to low 70s the next two days. <cough-cough> I think I'm coming down with the flu. Haha! I'm taking Friday off to go to Oregon for Easter, so even if I was sick I'd have to come in the rest of the week.

I went and ran some errands at lunch today, and on the way back I almost stopped at Arbys, but I talked myself out of it. With being on the road this weekend, I'm going to have too much fast food, so I need to behave this week.

Kery, glad things have quieted down in your neighborhood.

Megan, have fun at book club- I love books and always thought it would be fun to be in a book club, but now that I think about it I'm never good at letting others pick books for me.

Allison, glad your foot is finally beginning to heal!

Lily, the beagles sound adorable! Can't wait to see pics. We already have two more pets than DH would like us to have (we have a cat and a boston terrier). He puts up with them, but would freak if I even suggested any others! Those do sound like expensive gifts for a 4th child. I have difficulty buying things for people who don't take good care of them, so I'd probably have the same attitude.

Iris, I'm with you on choc chip cookie dough (or any cookie dough) Why does it taste so goooood before it's cooked? I know people who bake, but never eat the stuff. Not me, I can't bake without eating half of it in "little tastes". Congrats on the half-way point to your masters! wow! What are you studying?

Shannon, your DH and mine would get along well! He's a sports fanatic too - well, second only to music. He has like 4000+ CDs, but sports are a close second. He doesn't have parties, but when his teams are playing, nothing else matters!

Anne, congrats on getting back down after pg! That's always tough to do!

Robin, only a few nibbles? Your willpower is amazing! I'm terrible about tasting everything I cook. Have a great Passover!

Michele, thinking of you today - let us know how you're feeling after the biopsy. When will you get back results?

I'm out of time, but HI to everyone else!

__________
Shanna

http://tickers.tickerfactory.com/ezt/d/4;10708;3/st/20080501/e/reaching+Goal+Weight/dt/9/k/6e93/event.png

Shanna - I don't know which love is stronger with my DH between sports and music, he is very into both. His current music focus is on vinyl - I got him really nice turntable for Christmas (to replace the not as nice one I got him as a whim a few years back that resparked his vinyl habit...) and he now has somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 albums. We also have 3000+ cds, 500+ cassette tapes...

Iris-- I am taking classes towards my masters degree in Library Science. I am a children's librarian at an elementary school. I am slightly over halfway done but I'm only taking one class a semester since I work two jobs.

I am back from my biopsy and fairly crabby. I will get the results in a day or two but it is very likely that they will have to do surgery to get a better sample as they still had trouble reaching the problematic area. After 3 biopsies, multiple ultrasounds and a mammogram, the doctor was very unsure she had gotten sufficient tissue for sampling. I asked if it was difficult because I have so little breast tissue and I was told yes! Downside to weight loss in my case....I now have a giant ice pack (the ultrasound tech joked that she could give me a matching pack for the other side to even me out) and strict instructions not to exercise, do housework or any lifting today. I had hoped to exercise today but that is out of the question. I keep missing my Monday night gym class (boxing boot camp) and it is the best workout-- makes me grumpy!!

Megan-- I really enjoyed the Twilight series after my two daughters read them. The movie is nowhere near as good-- it is really cheesy actually-- low budget..... I would love to be part of a bookclub too!

Lily-- that would bother me too about the baby shower. It would horrify me to think that someone wasn't happy with whatever present I gave them, big or small. A baby shower for a fourth baby does seem extreme.

Guess I should do my schoolwork now as I can't exercise or do housework....

Michele, SO glad you are home and doing okay. I hope you heal quickly. That's awful that they have to keep doing this over and over. :hug:

Shannon, wow-our DHs really are alike! When he was in his 20s a family member took all of his vinyl out and broke every one of them, OUCH! So he's only collected CDs since, and now he's ripping a lot of them to our NAS (2 gb network server). The four tall cabinets he keeps them in were overflowing! He buys and sells on ebay a lot, does you DH do ebay? If so, they've probably bought or sold to/from each other. LOL! Wouldn't that be funny.

It's way too sunny outside to sit in my office. I want to go home!!!!
__________
Shanna

http://tickers.tickerfactory.com/ezt/d/4;10708;3/st/20080501/e/reaching+Goal+Weight/dt/9/k/6e93/event.png

Hi guys! Just a flyby!

Glad your son is back in the States, Lily.

Hope your foot is 100% soon, Allison.

Megan, I laughed at the venison, but certainly mushroom ravioli is a must on a Twilight book club dinner! I read the first 3 and started the 4th, but never finished. Just read City of Thieves. Great book. Disturbing yet hilarious. Pretty sure I'll never complain about anything in my life ever again.

Michelle, I'm no breast cancer expert, and maybe it is technically challenging to get a good biopsy for you, but your weight loss has given you some advantages. Obesity and breast cancer are linked, plus masses are a lot easier to feel on a normal weight woman than an obese woman. I'm crossing my fingers for you too.

Shanna - DH has done more buying than selling on Ebay, particularly lately :o, but he is getting into selling some more. He has sold equipment on Audio Advisor, I know. They might have crossed paths out there!

Michele - sorry you had so much trouble at your biopsy. Get some rest and feel better, there will be plenty of time for exercise and housework later! :hug:

Michele, ouch! Hope that they find out they did get enough tissue to sample, and that the results are negative. Sorry you had to go through that plus miss your boxing boot camp.

Two pages already and it's only Monday. Quite a chatty group!

We're enjoying several days of good weather so I made the most of it. This morning I walked 3.3 miles to my favorite coffee place, got a blended latte, drank it there while I read the paper and walked back home. My son called while I was at the coffee shop, wanting to take me out to lunch for my birthday, but I said that I'm a busy woman and he needs to schedule these things in advance. :) So he's taking me to lunch Wednesday instead, which is good because a restaurant lunch might do some damage after my blended (skinny) latte.

Hoping for good weather for all of you still experiencing a prolonged winter!

Hi :wave: Had a busy weekend and never logged on at all. Saturday I was at a church council retreat most of the day, and they we went to the hobo square dance in Anchorage. I did get some photos and will try to find time to post them. Sunday was laundry, church, groceries, more laundry and taxes. :) DH had brought back a final K-1 from from his mother's estate which significantly reduced our taxes, more than doubling our refund, and making us eligible for the rebate a lot of folks got last year, so we're pretty happy. Just need to double check the figures and get it e-filed so they'll send us $$. :lol:

Lily - hope you find the beagles a home. My nieces husband has beagles that he does competitions with (I don't know what kind) and they have a chocolate lab who is one of the most spoiled dogs I know, but great with the kids. And I agree, you shouldn't be asked to spend that much on a present for a 4th baby. A person might volunteer to buy that, but that's a whole different proposition.

Michele - sorry the biopsy didn't go any better this time. I could donate some breast tissue of that would help? :rofl: What school are you taking your master's classes through? One of my employees is getting ready to do this and is investigating schools.

Gotta scoot, it's a busy Monday as usual.

Sheila,
Is today your birthday?!?!
Happy Birthday!!!

What is a blended latte? I always get a nonfat latte or a nonfat vanilla latte but I don't know what blended is?

Pat,
I am taking my classes through TWU (Texas Woman's University). I am able to take 100% of them online, the program is ALA, and it isn't just for women. I have found the program to be awesome with great professors.

ugh, some people can be such SNOTS about baby and wedding gifts and things like that... I'm glad my friends have all been pretty down to earth so far. At least no complaints about a few of us splitting a large ticket item!

Michele, sorry to hear about the biopsy pain. I hope all comes out well.

I'm doing my master's in public health. I still want to apply to medical school, though. I think I just want to stay in school for as long as possible to avoid going back to dealing with a real job!

yeah, I think I was suckered into that expensive gift cause my MIL went shopping with me. Her exact words were "I'll buy the crib and you can buy the stroller/car seat thing". Since this whole set of stuff is pink I only hope her future baby #5 will be a girl too! I used to wish she'd stop having babies so ofen (four of them in 5 years) but now I just quit worrying about it and think "oh well, it's too late now so she might as well have a dozen of them". IMO she uses staying pregnant as a means to keep from ever trying to get an education or improve her life situation.

Shannon, the really bad thing was that I had already bought her 5 beautiful baby outfits and a case of diapers! So, I ended up having Lacy and Shelbey put their names on the gift tags for the clothes and diapers! The sad thing was I felt like the ladies at her work were roped into having her a baby shower! (they acted less than enthusiastic about it all).

Pat, one of the men that works with my DH wants the beagles if the owner doesn't claim them. They are very cute and loveable and seem very content to stay here and fatten up. Lol, I've always been good at the fattening up part! Plus, my 2 chocolate labs are very spoiled animals but excellent with the grandkids.

Midwife: thanks having my son back is wonderful. He is so happy! It sure seems like he's matured more from being in the military. Just very respectful of me and the girls now.

Michele, I hope they got what they need and you don't have to have surgery.

Oh, the GUILT!!!! I'm really close to my mother, and she sent me a very nice package for Easter that I received tonight. It included a really beautiful porcelain bunny :bunny:.... and the standard candy :chockiss:. I'm thinking great, I just re-dedicated myself... but I think I can pace this out. And share it. I think my night-class mates will appreciate it on thursday!

But... the guilt is about the fact that chocolate does NOT ship well to Arizona this time of year. A lot of things were wrapped in foil, so no big deal, just a little deformed. But then there was this plastic bag with a pretty yellow bow... and inside of it? Stuck to the sides? brown, melted chocolate goo.... one dead chocolate bunny. :bunny2:

Actually, it was pretty funny. I called my mom to tell her I received the package and thank her and have a giggle about the melted chocolate.

But here's the kicker - i felt GUILTY to throw it out. Seriously, what was I supposed to do? take a knife to open the plastic and lick the melted chocolate off?? Why do i feel so awful about this? I still feel like an ungrateful crud.

Iris We attach meaning to food. The food itself is just that - food. The Easter package was a symbol of how much your mom loves you :hug: and that she is thinking of you.

I'm sure she doesn't expect you to lick melted bunny :( off plastic. You have the porcelain bunny to look and remind yourself of how much your mom :val2: cares about you.

This post is starting to remind me of Lucy in the Peanuts cartoons :p.

Dagmar :sumo:

. . . with my whine :p.

I watched TV with DH last night and mindlessly :o ate a bunch of sugar covered rice cakes that he had bought. It was like eating sweetened styrofoam but I kept putting them in my mouth.

I'm stuck right now and don't have the energy to break out of this winter-induced rut. I should be focussing on the positive things to come in spring and summer.

I keep telling myself that I have time to lose the weight before shorts season. I thought I was past that kind of mind set.

I want to move forward but I can't right now. It's getting really frustrating :tantrum:.

There, I'm done ranting. If anyone has any extra positive energy :goodvibes please send it my way. I'll send it back when you need it.

Dagmar (we need a sulking smiley)

Dagmar-- I hear your frustration!!
I'm sending some positive thoughts up north-- do you see them?!?! You can have them....

Do you have an event or something upcoming that you want to look good for? Perhaps you need to set yourself a good old-fashioned goal and work towards achieving it? Or some sort of reward you will give yourself if you lose some weight? That always works for me-- I love the rewards!!

Hi everyone,

Book club was a lot of fun yesterday. Watching the movie with 8 other women was really funny. I was pretty bored by all the staring at each other/teen angst/throw in the vampire thing and probably would have turned it off if I was by myself, but my friends and I kept up a thoroughly entertaining commentary (fueled by their Bloody Mary consumption - get it, Bloody Mary). Plus my friend hosting lives in a duplex and since her male owner/landlord next door has a really big screen TV, she gave him the book, and told him he had to read it since we would be watching the movie at his place. So we had a token male to contribute to our commentary. Very entertaining.

Dagmar, I'm sending you good vibes! When I'm having trouble sticking with my food or exercise plans, or having trouble making a plan, I literally pull out a calendar and write down my plan for the next week. If it's food, I go through all my recipes etc. and try to do the prep work on a free evening, or Saturday or Sunday for at least a week. If it's exercise, I go through my workouts printed out from all over the place, or old Oxygen mags, and plan out a week (depending on what body parts I'm focusing on, or cardio, etc. it will vary). Having everything planned out and written out for me helps me to focus until I actually feel more inspired... maybe planning ahead could help you? I also try to change it up - try new foods, new exercise routines, walking outside instead of at the gym, whatever, to keep things exciting. :hug:

Iris, ditto what Dagmar said. You shouldn't feel guilty at all! Focus on the sentiment behind the basket, not the food itself. It can be hard with family to realize that food does not equate love, believe me I know.

Lily, the dogs sound very sweet! I can understand your frustration about the baby shower gifts too. Celebrations shouldn't be a way to "mine" your family & friends for expensive gifts, especially since most people are at least somewhat aware of the financial situations of those family & friends. At least put a range of costs of gifts on your registry, you know? I had to tell two friends yesterday that I couldn't afford to contribute as much as they wanted to get a 4th friend's birthday present - more this year than last year, more than the year before, etc. etc. The gift $ keeps creeping up but my salary hasn't changed!

Pat, how nice to hear good financial news (especially with the economy this way)!

Michele, I'm sorry to hear the biopsy was so difficult. Here's hoping it will be resolved with limited pain and the outcome will be positive.

Shanna, enjoy the sun!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Dagmar - think about how great you are going to look in those cute pink sandals you got! Now, pair them in your mid with a cute skirt and a snappy little top. Now, snap out of that rut and work towards that cute outfit! Here are some positive vibes... :flow1::sunny::dust:

Iris - my mom does the same thing with the Easter basket each year. Last year she left it in the car while we were at my grandparents and I didn't have the heart to tell her that everything melted! Feel no guilt over discarding melted candy. Or, over giving away good candy. It was a sweet gesture from your mom, and now you have the pretty bunny to keep.

Lily - I've been roped into hosting showers before, it is never a lot of fun that way... Wow, four babies in five years and she didn't still have a crib?

Shelia - did we miss your birthday? Oh no! Happy birthday!

Pat - tax refund, way cool! We owe money to federal but are getting back from state so almost break even.

Megan - sounds like fun last night! I'm not thrilled with the "Twilight" books so far, but I bet the commentary would have made it pretty entertaining!

Michele - hope you are feeling better this morning!

I had a great OP day yesterday. First POP day in over a month - no extra snacks or anything. Woo hoo! Hope to make today a good day, too. We also got the treadmill put together last night - DH gave up his baseball and basketball watching last night to put it together. I think there were other games on tonight that he wanted to see more than the ones last night. :)

It is snowing at this moment outside my office window...

Michele, I hope your biopsy results are good. Please let us know what is happening.

Good morning everyone!

Michele~hoping today is less painful for you and I hope they got enough for a proper biopsy (and of course, I hope the results of the biopsy are negative).

Megan~my DH is currently reading the series. My in-laws and son also read them, but DH is taking his own sweet time. He hasn't really said if he likes the books or not but we all went to the movie and it certainly wasn't anywhere near as good as the book (but few are).

Sheila~happy birthday!!! It was nice of your son to ask you out.

Dagmar~I wish I had some advice for you, but I feel like I'm stuck in a similar situation. Not so much with my DH bringing home snacks, but my eating what I bring home--and far too much of it, too.

On a good note, DS has been hesitant about retaking his black belt test in Karate. We told him he needs to make and appointment and talk to the Sensi himself. DH asked him last night if he made the appointment, but DS said he's decided to try harder this time and take the test! We're so proud of him. I think it will be easier for him this time as he won't be alone--there will be 1 to 3 other students testing at the same time.

Hi everyone, I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee now and it's quite delicious.

I learned that I can't trust my DH to ever shop a little for our house. He bought cheap dog food and toilet paper that feels like sandpaper. I've got to make a trip today to get more dog food cause Molly refuses to eat the cheap stuff. Plus, Lacy said she'd just as soon chip off some tree bark as to use that toilet paper, LOL. Shane called it John Wayne toilet paper cause "it doesn't take any crap off anybody". LOL.

I've been using my WW slider thing again and it's helping me to stay OP with my eating. I'd sure like to drop a few lbs. so my capris and shorts won't show any muffin top this summer.

Shannon , she doesn't still have any baby stuff cause she's been evicted from everywhere she's ever lived and each time she just took clothes and left all the baby stuff.

I did finally put my foot down though the other night. She asked me what gifts I'm buying for each of her kids for Easter. I told her that I can't afford it and that she needed to buy their Easter baskets. I am hosting the Easter egg hunt and providing all the candy and eggs for the kids already.

I think it's really twisted thinking that she told me "My kids will never do without anything cause they have you and dad". With my own kids I always thought "my kids will never do without anything cause they have ME". I never expected others to provide for my children!

Lacy passed her driving test yesterday. She drove herself to school today for the first time! Shelbey drove herself too. Now with 2 teen drivers , I shouldn't need to leave the house so often to get stuff, LOL.

Hi, I've gotten behind on my reading and replying.

It's beautiful outside again today - sunny and warm. But rain will be back tomorrow. I have munchies today, counting down the minutes until lunch. I should go outside and take a walk before lunch.

Lily, I loved it when the kids finally got their driver's licenses - made it so much easier! I got a while for the little ones though. lol!

Shannon, good job on your POP day. Did you get to use your treadmill? Sorry that it's snowing!

Megan, the book club movie sounds like fun! "Commentary" always helps, lol!

My mom called while I was typing this and now it's almost lunchtime. Woohoo! Maybe I'll go for a quick walk?

____________
Shanna

http://tickers.tickerfactory.com/ezt/d/4;10708;3/st/20080501/e/reaching+Goal+Weight/dt/9/k/6e93/event.png

A bit of my weight loss history (http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2683821&postcount=175) and a few pictures (http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2687449&postcount=136)

Haha, lily, I love the john wayne TP comment!

And Megan, bloody marys for twilight... nice touch. :dracula: I haven't seen the movie but I heard from other people as well that it wasn't very good.

Thanks to everyone for the understanding thoughts on the melted bunny. My roommate was NOT as helpful... this morning she said "WHAT?? you threw it out??!? Why didn't you stick it in the freezer and peel off the plastic? You could have still eaten it!" Easily said for the size 0 who walks around eating M&Ms!

Allison, I hope your son does well on his karate test.

Dagmar, I'm sharing with you the positive energy vibes I am attempting to channel for myself!

Iris - Ooo... tell your roomate that chocolate is never as good after it melts and then cools back down. It gets that white film on it and always seems grainy. Or at least that is what I tell myself when I throw out old and melted chocolate. :)

Shanna - didn't get to use the treadmill last night, it was 9:45 by the time we got it assembled and I was ready for bed... Got up and did some yoga this morning and am planning on using it tonight.

Lily - that sounds a little like the different dynamic between myself and my brother. I never had the habit of going to my parents for anything, my brother on the other hand will go to my parents when he wants things that he and his wife can't (or his wife won't, rather) afford. A couple of years ago Dad bought motorcycles for himself and my brother so they could ride them together. Read: my SIL put her foot down and wouldn't spend the money, bro somehow convinced dad it was a bonding thing and dad wanted to make up for lost time when he worked all the time when my brother was young... Glad you put your foot down on the Easter gifts...

Allison - good luck to DS on his retest!

I forgot to add earlier that this morning I got up and did an hour of yoga, yesterday got up and did an hour of strength training on the Weider. Two days of getting up to exercise down, how many more to make it a habit again? :)

Iris, it's weird what we can feel guilty about, isn't it? When my DD was living in the Virgin Islands, I sent her Valentine's Day chocolate, not even thinking about what it would end up like when it got there. I recently saw a thing on the Food Network about a chocolate place in New Mexico that puts the same kind of coating around their chocolate as the cheese people put on wheels of cheese. The coating makes the chocolate okay to ship to warmer states. Don't tell your mother, though.

Dagmar, I feel your pain. I'm going through the exact thing. It's frustrating. I'll send good energy your way, you can send good energy my way and maybe we can break out of this.

Michele, got any good ideas for rewards?

Megan, sounds like you had a great time. I like a book club with movies and refreshments. :) Good ideas for getting out of a rut. I know I really need a new workout routine--will have to check out some magazines at the library for inspiration.

Shannon, kudos for the POP day!

Allison, thanks for the birthday wishes. That's great that your son decided to retake the test. When's he doing it?

Lily, congrats to your DD on passing her driving test--I think. It's always nice that kids can start driving themselves places, but scary for parents. Sounds like SD has a bad case of "gimmes."

Shanna, we must be in the same weather pattern. Beautiful here today, but turning colder tomorrow, maybe some rain. But I know your spring flowers and flowering trees are further along than ours are. Spring was my favorite time in Seattle just because of all the blooming flowers.

Iris, does your roomie eat the cheese paper from a hamburger, too?

Had an exhausting day at the animal shelter--the kind that makes me question if I should keep doing the Tuesday evaluations. The pitbulls were at the end of the day again. Nice dogs, but so strong that they pull me every which way trying to get out of the kennels. And they have tails like whips. I end up with bruises on my legs from wagging tails. Started the day with two Shih Tzus that were so cute and a Jack Russell terrier that looked like a sausage on legs. I'd like to see if the people who turn these chubby dogs in are chubby themselves. I don't think I've ever seen a fat Jack Russell before and can't figure out how such an energetic dog could get that way.

Have a good Wednesday, everyone!

Sheila-- yes, I have good ideas for rewards!
I have done everything from a massage to a manicure or pedicure, to a new item of clothing. I have also done new books or anything else new that I've been eyeing but need an excuse to buy.

Since I've been maintaining (well since last August anyway-- I've been maintaining over a year), I have a pandora bracelet that I buy a new charm for each month that I am at or under my goal. I told myself that if I weigh on the first of the month over my goal, I will not only not get a new charm, but I will take it off and not wear it for the month. I haven't been over goal yet and I love choosing the new charms. I wear the bracelet all the time and it is an anchor to remind me of what I am doing and why.

Sheila :goodvibes to you.

Michele great idea with the bracelet.

Lily men and shopping :rofl:.

I'm starting to look at the people in my life in terms of their energy (more Cesar Millan stuff) - positive or negative. Everyone has both - bad and good days - but we generally tend toward one state.

I'm kinda weird in that I'm really positive when I'm with the dogs during the day. It's when I come home that all the negative stuff comes out. It may be through fatigue or anxiety - I'll have to monitor it to see.

I've been writing down everything I eat. Maybe it's time to start writing down how I feel instead.

Today will be a hard day because my car broke down yesterday. I'm going to try to see it as being a day to get through to the nice long weekend that I have off - positive - instead of grumbling about it all day - negative.

Have a great hump day all! The long weekend is coming!!!

Dagmar :flow2:

I'm behind in replying, but I promise I read everything!

Some chocolate companies ship with special packaging for summer. We ordered like 50lbs of chocolate from See's to use as favors for our wedding and it came shipped in ice packs. You do pay a premium for summer shipping.

Sheila - happy belated birthday!

Lily - :rofl: I love your son's comment on the TP!

I posted this on the no excuses thread already, but I have a portion creep problem. Yesterday I poured my usual-size bowl of raisin bran, then weighed it to check the portion. Turns out I'm eating TWICE as much as I thought I was. Crap! That's an extra 190 calories! No wonder I'm not losing any weight!

My sister and her fiancee are coming out tomorrow night for the weekend. Yay! I'm excited. They haven't had a chance to meet our dog yet. I also got an email from my mom this morning that she found a cheap flight and decided to come out next weekend to cheer me on at my triathlon. Two family weekends in a row though means I'll be pretty exhausted and food will probably not be great. I need a vacation. Maybe if our deadline at work doesn't get pushed back anymore and we're actually done May 1 I will take a few days off.

I posted this on the no excuses thread already, but I have a portion creep problem. Yesterday I poured my usual-size bowl of raisin bran, then weighed it to check the portion. Turns out I'm eating TWICE as much as I thought I was. Crap! That's an extra 190 calories! No wonder I'm not losing any weight!


Oh yeah. I SO do this. That is why I STILL weigh and measure everything after 6+ years.

Anne

Good morning everyone.

Sheila~his test will be some time in May, they haven't set the date yet. We're proud that he changed his mind. And if he makes it, we'll reward him with something extra special. I can't say what it is, because I don't want to give it away.

So here is my problem: good intentions turned bad. Every morning I get up and have a very OP breakfast and pack a very OP snack and lunch. Then I pick up DS and we go to Karate and I drink water. And I get home and it all falls apart. Last night I fell into a bowl of chips and salsa. Granted it wasn't horrible, but it happens day after day. I wish I could stay motivated all day. Any suggestions?

Good morning!

Dagmar -Funny that you should mention that about looking at people's energy today. I have been thinking a lot about that lately myself, and the reason why called me last night... I have been friends with this woman since college, so almost 20 years now. Sad thing is, we should never have been friends. She annoyed me from day one of meeting her. I was an RA at the time, and felt sorry for the fact that she had no friends, her roomate hated her, etc and couldn't make myself tell her to go away. Instead I continued to interact with her for 20 years, never strong enough to cut it off and expending a lot of energy complaining about it to other people. We have nothing in common at all, are completely different philosophically, no reason to interact at all.... but, on the other hand, she did all the friendship maintenance without me having to do any work, so I was weak and a user in the relationship... bad... I cut her out of my life back before Christmas because I can't take the toxic vibes anymore. When she called last night just seeing her on the CID made me feel run down and tired....Somehow she projected the negative energy over the screen! :) Didn't pick up and talk to her, pretty proud of myself. Also, I used to log my feelings when I was in therapy when I got divorced - it really helped me get a handle on my mood swings. Good luck!

Michele - the bracelet is a great idea!

Sheila - I didn't know a Jack Russel could get chubby! The ones I've seen are always running around crazy!

Jessica - I've seen the chocolate companies that package for summer shipping. Pretty neat. Enjoy the family visits! And, I weigh cereal for the exact same reason...

Allison -that is the same time of day when I fall into things, too. I drink a lot of hot tea during that time - I have a Keurig so I stock up on different blends. I also keep myself stocked with reasonably filling, healthy snack options so if I have to fall into something it is the graham cracker or pretzel or skinny cow instead of the worse things. I've found that planning out and writing down everything, including the evening snacks, makes me less likely to get into something else. It doesn't always work, but I'm still trying!

I got up this morning to exercise again - 60 mins of ball exercises, Weider & dumbbell work - three days in a row now that I've gotten up in the AM! :jig:

Good morning everyone.

Sheila~his test will be some time in May, they haven't set the date yet. We're proud that he changed his mind. And if he makes it, we'll reward him with something extra special. I can't say what it is, because I don't want to give it away.

So here is my problem: good intentions turned bad. Every morning I get up and have a very OP breakfast and pack a very OP snack and lunch. Then I pick up DS and we go to Karate and I drink water. And I get home and it all falls apart. Last night I fell into a bowl of chips and salsa. Granted it wasn't horrible, but it happens day after day. I wish I could stay motivated all day. Any suggestions?

Best suggestion, do NOT keep trigger foods in the house !!!!

Thanks guys, but it isn't food. It's more empty calories from wine or a whiskey sour (granted made with sugar free sour mix with zero calories) but one or two of those each day adds things up. Also, dinner portions seem to get out of control. I was measuring and weighing in January and gave up half way through February.

Sure last night I did break out the chips and salsa, but I'm relatively stingy when I have those. I'd say I had no more than 10 chips and salsa has few calories.

I must formulate a plan and stick with it. I know things will be easier in a few weeks when the in-laws leave town for the summer. I won't have to be making big dinners on Sunday for them. Also, when DD gets home for the summer, she'll be willing to diet with me, so I just have to persevere for a little bit and hopefully stop this gaining. My 10 pound gain from the past couple years turned into an additional 10 this year. Gah!

Allinell,
ditto here on the pound creep and portion creep. I have no solution, but I keep on trying.

rabbit

Allison, I think making a plan is key. It really helps me. I'll still deviate and over do it with wine/beer/munchies sometimes, but it's much less likely to happen if I have everything planned out and am conscious of the fact that that indulgence will take me over my limits. I know it even w/out planning, but somehow without a plan I can convince myself that one glass of wine is okay... then two... and boy do they add up!

I'm feeling surprisingly positive and healthy today. It's bizarre because my allergies are raging and my period will be here today or tomorrow - but I haven't over done it in the past 2 or 3 days, and I went jogging monday which really started the week off on the right foot. I even had a piece of "tiramisu cake" that someone made for a friend's birthday last night, and I enjoyed it without triggering anything else. I feel great and I really hope this feeling sticks w/ me! For now I'll try to radiate whatever positivity I can to everyone who's struggling.

t's more empty calories from wine or a whiskey sour (granted made with sugar free sour mix with zero calories) but one or two of those each day adds things up. Also, dinner portions seem to get out of control.

That's the problem with drinking, it tends to make you let go of the portion size controlling part of your brain. I like to have a glass of wine with my dinner some nights, but in addition to accounting for the calories, I don't let myself have it until I've actually put the food on the plate and started eating. :) Except for veggies/salad, I put the food on the plate at the stove, so it's out of sight. I also use luncheon plates for most dinners. Looks like more food than it is.

Allison, you might want to bring a planned snack to karate - it might help you stay out of stuff when you get home.

Happy belated birthday, Sheila! And I can't imagine an overweight Jack Russell, they are such hyperactive dogs! THey're cute as the dickens, but sure need a lot of work on the owner's part. :lol:

I don't have things like chips. candy, ice cream, pies, cakes etc.in my house because I am so weak willed. I can't eat juist one. So I don't keep them in the house. If I go out to a restaurant or to a friend's house I will eat an appetizer or dessert, just one....I wouldn't eat my hostess' entire pie...which could happen if I had one in my house. Therefore they are not allowed on my premises.

I've had a problem in the past with diving into the food (not junk food, but health food, since I don't keep junk food in my house) when I get home. I finally concluded that I just wasn't eating enough during the daytime, particularly (healthy) fats. I ended up having to add more food earlier in the day (started eating nuts as my afternoon snack). Eating more calories earlier in the day helped me eat less overall.

When I'm in strict losing mode, I don't drink alcohol at all, period. I don't like it (though I'd rather give up all alcohol than all sweets), but it's something I've accepted about how low in calories I need to go to really shake weight off my body. And if I have one glass of wine, I know I'll have 2 or 3, and then I often will eat too much too.

So I'm sorry if this is TMI but I need to tell someone about this (besides my BF who noticed on his own!) but my boobs are getting BIGGER! Yes I've put on a bit of weight in the last 3 years and have been above my maintenance goal for a while, but this is disproportionate. My boobs haven't been this big (I think they must be a C cup now!) since my highest weight of ~205 lbs in high school. First I find it upsetting b/c it implies my body fat is increasing, but I don't even know what to do with these things! They're ginormous! Sigh. I've been on the same BC pill for a year now so I don't see why they should start doing this now...

Jessica, eep, yah, I measure my cereal, oatmeal, shredded cheese, etc., still. The only thing I don't measure is probably veggies - I guesstimate a cup of broccoli or whatever - I figure 1/4 extra cup of broccoli would not be too bad for me anyway!

Happy belated birthday Sheila!!!

Have a happy hump day everyone!

Megan, I have to laugh at your boob problem! I can't see C-cups as being ginormous, but I think it's just because I've always been that size! I had a friend that was a D/DD and normal weight - now that's too much boob! She ended up having a reduction because they caused her so much back pain.

I don't usually measure my veggies very carefully either, although sometimes I am afraid I could be UNDERestimating my intake on them!

Megan - :rofl: I have to laugh about C-cups being ginormous too, because I wear a FF cup (and no, I do not have implants). I wish I was a C! Maybe your boobs are bigger because you've been working on bench presses so much and your pecs got bigger underneath?

Perspective is a funny thing, isn't it... I just spent a good chunk of money to get big boobs! :) (Settling at D/DD, though, so not ginormous IMO)

I weigh pretty much everything I eat, not veggies as much - but I do portion them out based on the number of servings I prepare.

Megan - I was thinking the same thing as Jessica, maybe they are increasing in size due to all the weight lifting?

Bargoo - I can usually have things in the house, but I go through phases where everything has to go. DH on the other hand tends to eat what is there. He is working hard on the 'don't eat if you aren't hungry' concept now with snacks and treats and such, seems to be working okay so far.

Pat - I portion at the stove, too. Out of sight out of mind... I also tend to only cook the exact amount for the servings for DH and I so there often isn't anything left to serve out. That helps a lot, too.

Allison - the mixed drinks add up fast... I do have to avoid those for the most part...

Just found out no DSS tonight, so no idea what we are going to do for dinner... It does mean that I'll get to run on the treadmill some more when I get home, though! Don't have my clothes with me or I would go to the park...

I almost never drink alcohol now because it is a major trigger for me to eat. My will power and portion sizes go out the window. Dh says I am very boring but I don't care. He and I went to a comedy club a few months ago and I said I would have one or two drinks. He ordered me a third when I didn't want it and I was trying to eat everything in sight! When we left, I was trying to find a place that was open late that had dessert. It was pathetic!! Most of the time when we go out I will order hot tea because I enjoy it and get to choose my flavor so I feel like I've got something special.

Megan-- you can give me some of your boobage! Mine are so sad. They seem to still be getting smaller which I didn't think was possible. I also bet your pecs are larger with your weight lifting. I couldn't believe when I asked the lady doing my breast biopsy if she was having trouble because I am so small and she said yes! :o She could have lied!! I just called for my results and they are still "pending" and I'm to call tomorrow-- hopefully that doesn't mean anything....

Shannon-- we just got a Keurig and we are enjoying trying different coffees and teas. What a fun toy! What do you like to drink? I'm eager to try more new things.... I wanted to try a hot chocolate but all of the reviews I've seen have been poor, plus I don't know if they have any calories and I don't like to drink my calories....

I'm enjoying my week off from work. I went to the gym for a 10:00 class this morning. It was so nice to get my workout out of the way for the day. :carrot:

About the alcohol. Strange thing with me. When I was very heavy I was actually afraid to drink. I was so uncomfortable with myself and so afraid that drinking would cause me to do something - stupid. I certainly didn't want to draw any more attention to myself then need be.

Then when I lost the weight, I would drink when I went out on the weekends with DH and friends. It was great to not feel so self conscious about myself and really let go.

Now that I'm further into maintenance and I realize just how quickly I put weight on - I almost always abstain from it. I can't remember the last time I had a drink. I've become too much of a calorie snob. I really, really need to chew my calories, not drink them.

But luckily, I've also realized that since I do have soooo much more self confidence, I don't really need the alcohol to lighten me up and have a good time!

We'll see what happens this summer. That's when I do a lot more socializing.

Michele - most of the hot chocolates k cups are weakish, even on the smallest size. The Timothy's White Hot Chocolate is good, 90 cals per serving. I think the Gloria Jean's & the Green Mountain are both 60 cals, the ghiradelli packets that come with the sampler are good, but high. I tend to buy small packets and just use hot water off the keurig. I'm into flavored coffees - I like the Timothy's cinnamon pastry, the Gloria Jean's mudslide, the Timothy's caramel vanilla nut. DH likes extra bold -we just got Timothy's Parisian Nights and he loves that, we also like the Diedrich French Roast, several others. The Twinings Earl Grey is excellent, as is the Gloria Jean's Oolong. Our current fave brand is Timothy's I think. I'll look at home and see what else we like. Amazon has the best prices, but www.bigcatcoffee.com will let you make your own neat sampler pack so I get it from there when I want to try new stuff. Love love love it - I think it is the best Christmas present I ever got...

Is a Keurig one of those coffee machines where you just put in the little plastic container? I had coffee from one at a meeting at someone else's office yesterday. THey just got it and are having fun trying all the things. She was offering something called Jet Fuel but I opted for plain coffee. :lol:

Is a Keurig one of those coffee machines where you just put in the little plastic container? I had coffee from one at a meeting at someone else's office yesterday. THey just got it and are having fun trying all the things. She was offering something called Jet Fuel but I opted for plain coffee. :lol:

Yep-- that's what it is. I don't drink much coffee so I can just make a cup when I want one and there are tons of flavors. There is no cleanup and you can make a cup at a time.

When it comes to alcohol, I don't seem to eat or over eat when I drink, but like someone said, one often turns to two. Frankly, back when I was losing, I would have a day every other week where "dinner" would be a glass of wine, 4-6 triscuits and a little cheese. It was usually because of a meeting where I'd get home at 8:30 and not feel like eating a regular meal. My current portion size dilemma comes from the fact that for the past several months I've been cooking the same amount of food that four of us ate, but now there is just the three of us, and since DH and I eat lunch together, I don't bring leftovers unless there is enough for both of us and there rarely is. So, while it is usually okay to have extra broccoli, it is not alright to have extra rice, and that's what I've been doing (usually the entree is meat and I'll fix only 3 portions). The other day I did succeed in keeping my portions regular and I ate the leftovers for breakfast. I really must start insisting that DS start eating more. He's such a skinny minny! He's 14 and just recently started to ask for more food for breakfast (which currently consists of a frozen breakfast burrito, 2 slices of buttered toast and 3-5 slices of melon). My breakfast is about 1/4 the size of his! But dinners? We tend to all eat the same portion size and that is the bad thing.

Pat - There are several different single serve pots available now. Senseo & Tassimo have pouches that resemble tea bags and are brewed through I think, Flavia has a rectangular packet with a plastic tab in the top that you slide into a channel that punctures the channel and pours water into the packet, brews, then splits open the bottom and pours. Keurig has little plastic cups with foil on top - sharp spikes poke a hole in the bottom and the top - water comes in the top, grounds inside, coffee dispenses out the bottom. Long answer for short question. :) Yes, you put in the plastic container and get coffee. The Jet Fuel is actually pretty good, but not as strong as you would think, IMO. :o I don't drink enough coffee to justify an entire pot - typically one cup most days, two or three on weekends. And, DH and I don't like the same types of coffee, so this is perfect for us!

My problem is that I was never afraid to drink alcohol :p.

Now I know it inevitably leads to a food binge so I just don't drink it.

The long weekend starts tomorrow :dance: - can you tell I hardly ever get a weekend off?

Have a great day all!

Dagmar :bunny:

Maybe your boobs are bigger because you've been working on bench presses so much and your pecs got bigger underneath?

Yes, that's what I'll tell myself! I had considered that but it still seems disproportionate to me... a little birdy named captain obvious just whispered in my ear to measure my chest. I don't measure often but I know my band as of 1-2 years ago was about a 35, and around girls was about 37-38. Just whipped my tape measurer out of my purse and I'm getting 34-39.

I know, C cup isn't huge, and I've always wished for a bigger chest, but I'm so used to small-ish and accepted it for what it was that I'm amazed and puzzled right now.

Today, could someone to remind me that it takes more than 1 1/2 weeks of eating "perfectly on (losing calorie level) plan eating and foodwise" to make a difference in our bodies? I'm being impatient with the scale.

Mmm, I fixed myself some coffee that's strong enough to be jet fuel this morning. :coffee2:

It's 8:38 in the morning, I'm sitting at work, and now I want a glass of wine, lol. (Part of that is not having had one for about 4 weeks now.) Is that wrong of me? :cheers: Have a wonderful day everyone!

Hi everyone, I didn't make it to the gym yesterday, but I got plenty of exercise playing 18 holes of golf with DS and DH. It was fun and other than the first hole, I did pretty dang good. I now have a sunburn though on my face, neck and arms.

DH is loving these beagles (and built them a doghouse) and I suppose it's gonna be hard for him to give them away. But, I don't want to have 5 dogs. The good thing now is they are looking very healthy after being fed twice a day for the past 5 days.

I woke up feeling sick today and will try to get into see my family doctor. (more sinus and upper resp. infection stuff again). Yuck! I was unable to keep my dinner down last night and am afraid to try to eat today.

Megan, I'm a C cup now and they seem smallish to me cause I was a DD before losing weight.

I eat more when I drink too. We don't drink much at home but we have an occasional glass of wine or beer with dinner. When we go out I usually have either wine, beer, or a drink. If I have more than 1 I end up eating too much. Funny how that works! You'd think there's more liquid in your stomach so you'd fill up faster!

I heard a story on NPR this morning about "brown fat." Apparently it is a different kind of fat tissue in your body which burns calories and produces heat. It's important in babies because they have no other way to keep themselves warm (they can't move around much or shiver), and they used to think that adults didn't have it, but it turns out we do! It gets activated at lower temperatures, and they said 3 oz of brown fat in your body could burn 300-500 calories per week.

AFAIK there is no way to give yourself more of it, but I think the take-home message was that if you keep your house at a lower temperature you'll burn more calories in general. That seems like common sense to me. OTOH I hate being cold! :lol:

Lily, do you have pictures of the beagles? Or of your other doggies? I love dogs!

Megan, I'm a C cup now and they seem smallish to me cause I was a DD before losing weight.

Me too. Exactly. I was a BIG DD, spilling out all over the place, and now I'm a small (barely) a C. Back size - that went down a tad too. I went from a 44 to a 34.

Lily, I hope you feel better - quickly.

Megan - It takes more than 1.5 weeks of eating at loss calories to make a difference! ;) I was thinking something similar this morning - I've eaten 100-150 cals less per day for the last five days and weighed two pounds less this morning. I know that the eating the last few days didn't do that, I'm just leveling back out, so I don't need to drop my calories back down again based just on that...

Dagmar - enjoy your long weekend! :)

Lily - he built them a doghouse? You might just end up with more dogs out of this deal! Hope you feel better soon! The pollen count here is insanely high, and doctors are saying that the blooming season wasn't spread out like normal (higher temps early caused everything to bloom all at once) so people who have never had allergy problems before are sick this year. Great news for people like me who already have allergy problems...

Jessica - brown fat, hmm. Interesting.

I don't drink much at all, mainly because I used to drink way too much when I was younger and then I spent five years married to an alcoholic. Now, a glass of wine or two, one mixed drink or cordial, or one beer is pretty much my limit. I don't get snacky when I drink, but I do get way snacky in the post drinking aftermath. So, not really drinking saves me that!

I didn't exercise this morning because I was planning a run at the park this afternoon, but the pollen is bothering me so might end up on treadmill anyway. It is only 1210 today, compared to 3545 on Monday, but considering anything over 121 is considered 'very high' I guess it still isn't a comfortable level by any means!

Good day everyone!

Good morning everyone. I had a great evening last night and my scale rewarded me with a 1.5 pound loss. Truthfully, it was water weight that I'd been carrying around due to TOM.

Who here get that nasty side effect from asparagus? I had asparagus with lunch and my pee stank for the rest of the day. So gross.

Y'all wanna see what a crazy lady looks like? I don't know why I did this, but DD took a picture of it and posted on Facebook: crazy. (http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs033.snc1/3239_83863826577_589641577_2906208_2367503_n.jpg)

That is just a fact of life with asparagus, the pee odor will only last a day,Allison I looked at the picture, it looks like you are about to stab somebody!

Allison - funny crazy lady pic! I saw your bruised foot pic too - weird... I don't get that side effect from asparagus, but I do from broccoli...

Just found out that the infection DH had last week seems to have popped back up, or at least the painful symptoms have. It was gone pretty much all weekend and the beginning of this week, came back yesterday. So now we both have doctor's appointments this afternoon to see if we are passing some bacteria back and forth... I haven't had any weird symptoms other than what was probably an undiagnosed yeast infection a few weeks ago, but we'll see. Hopefully I will be eliminated as a cause. :)

Allison-- thanks for the chuckle!! What were you doing? Looks like you were amazed about the wheat thins!!!

Lily-- it does sound to me like you may have 3 more dogs, but I understand you not wanting 5 dogs.

A long dog story...
We've always, always had 2 dogs. I worked for vets for years and notoriously rescued dogs, cats, etc. so we always had a multitude of pets. About 12 years ago (can't believe it was that long ago now!!), we had a Boston Terrier named Bubba and a Dachshund named Samantha (rescued from certain death as the pet store owner brought her into the vet when she was a puppy and told the vet to put her to sleep because she had hair loss and he couldn't sell her!!). Samantha at that time was aging.... I found two dogs roaming my neighborhood when I was out with a neighbor. One was a purebred Doberman and the other was a purebred Malamute though they were both skin and bones and filthy and looked like they had traveled for a long time. I fell in love with the Doberman and took her home. I could just tell she was a sweetie. My dh just about died when I brought this dog into the house and my then 1.5 year old dd ran up to her and put her arms around her neck and kissed her face! He had visions of this scary dog attacking her but I could tell she was a gentle soul. I took her to the vet and she had heartworms and BB's in her where she had been shot. We treated her heartworms, named her Annie (Orphan Annie!) and took her in. We didn't want 3 dogs but we couldn't pass her up. Samantha died about a year later bringing our count back down to 2. Annie was the best dog we have ever had (and we've had a lot), but unfortunately she developed bone cancer only a few years after we adopted her. There is no cure for bone cancer in dogs and it is painful. Your options are to put the dog to sleep or to amputate the limb which takes away the pain and holds the cancer at bay for awhile. We chose to amputate her front leg and she did amazingly well. Imagine how afraid neighbors and solicitors were when they rung the doorbell and a scary 3-legged Doberman ran and barked at the door!! She lived less than a year longer before the cancer spread to her lungs and we had to put her to sleep. We still miss and mourn Annie. We now have Ozzie (a Doberman) and Jozi (a Great Dane). While Ozzie is a sweetheart, he is the dumbest and least brave dog I've ever seen!!

So, a long story to say that you never know how/why pets enter our lives. Lily-- if you decide to keep the dogs, I'm sure they will bring much into your lives. If you find them homes, I'm sure they will enrich the lives of those who adopt them.

That's a nice story about your fur babies, Michele. I, too, am someone who has (since age 17) always had at least one animal. Right now it is the two Labs and I know soon we'll be down to only one. It'll be sad, but I've already started looking into rescuing another lab.

And what was I doing in the photo? I think I was just acting crazy because DD kept taking picture of everything! If I remember, I was just kind of screaming "aaaaahhhh!" Here's a good photo of my back yard with the party goers: backyard. (http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs033.snc1/3239_83863881577_589641577_2906213_3997740_n.jpg) DH is on the ground because he is turning on the propane for the firepit in the middle of the table. Here's another of the view east from my backyard: view. (http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs033.snc1/3239_83864081577_589641577_2906228_4694581_n.jpg)

And what was I doing in the photo? I think I was just acting crazy because DD kept taking picture of everything! If I remember, I was just kind of screaming "aaaaahhhh!" Here's a good photo of my back yard with the party goers: backyard. (http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs033.snc1/3239_83863881577_589641577_2906213_3997740_n.jpg) DH is on the ground because he is turning on the propane for the firepit in the middle of the table. Here's another of the view east from my backyard: view. (http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs033.snc1/3239_83864081577_589641577_2906228_4694581_n.jpg)

Beautiful yard and firepit! I'm jealous!!!:)

I love your backyard Allison! I'm jealous, too! My backyard overlooks the poured pads and empty lots on the road behind us... But, there are some nice trees on the other side of that road that I get a good view of with no houses there... silver lining. :)

This house is a huge step up from our old place. When we moved into the old place, we had a cement pad in the back yard and a couple of trees. No lawn. After 4 years we managed to put in sprinklers and sod which sure helped with the dust situation (but then we found out our Golden Retriever was allergic to grass).

And guess what? We have two fire pits! One is a permanent in-ground one on a patio off the living room. The photo of the table is on the patio off the family room/kitchen. You can kind of see the edge of the pit in this photo--it is in front of the couch in the back--right behind the blonde lady: other patio. (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2906198&id=589641577)

Cool pics!

Michele - my parents' last dog was also the best dog they ever had, and died from bone cancer. :( It went untreated for a long time because they (and the vet) thought it was just arthritis -- he was a large dog and was 10 years old. Now I am super-paranoid and I'm always watching my dog to make sure he's not limping! Although he, like all dogs, sometimes does stupid things, like the other day when he ran up the stairs without paying attention and whacked his foot on the stair. At least I saw him do it so I knew why he was holding his foot up!

Allison, your yard is gorgeous! Our backyard is just grass with one tree. DH has been digging more garden beds in it though. We have a "deck" (about 4 feet square) which we plan to replace with a stone patio when it rots.

Since we are sharing pics, here are a couple of my fur-baby! From any of these links you can get to an album full of pictures of him. :love:

in the snow (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4ZRnPuk1GozNB99k1hBUww?feat=directlink) in the rain (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FwZ_VTOwgzJcS2D13Zoc-g?feat=directlink) in the cold (that's DH on the edge) (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dUa1Wm93Y_8Pesi00xUQNA?feat=directlink) in his favorite spot in the house (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/yq_108wro8gGkkWsIjn98A?feat=directlink) staying safe from hunters out in the country (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LUm4tjFeWeQmlCXCzZ8xbw?feat=directlink)

Mini-rant/vent: I am so annoyed that our office (and my section in particular) are the dumping grounds for people's leftover sweets. One of my co-workers boyfriends loves brownies, so he will make a batch, eat 1 or 2, and send the rest to work w/ his GF even though he knows that two people have given up sweets for Lent, I won't eat them, and just about everyone else is trying to watch what they eat. He does this 1-2 times each month. So they sit by the coffeemaker (in front of my desk where I have a really good view) for a few days. Tempting me. Taunting me. Then my former boss's wife gave some cookies she made to our co-worker to bring in "for us" but it's the same deal. She wanted something but didn't want a lot to sit around her house. She used to send in stuff with her DH when he was our boss. Then there's always the leftover monthly staff meeting food (and our admin section complains every time if there aren't donuts provided - why don't they take them then?), other random baked goods, birthday cakes, Christmas cookies - there is food all the time!

I remember Jessica mentioning a dessert cookbook full of single or double-serving recipes once. Would it be wrong of me to get it for these people? Would they get the hint? It's not even just me, as I said, several people have cut out sweets.

I'll stop whining now.

Jessica, your dog is so cute in his rain coat!

Allison, I agree, your yard is beautiful and looks like a great place to relax.

Oh yeah, the asparagus smell is weird. But asparagus is so yummy!

I'm being hit with the afternoon slumps. Maybe I'll have half a cup of iced coffee before hitting the gym.

Morning. I had a 90 min dental appt and I'm sitting here 90 min later still quite numb! I am getting a new crown and this was the prep work. THe crown itself will take only about 30 minute in a couple of weeks. But the numbness is limiting my food choices - I'm trying really hard not to bite the inside of my cheek.

Jessica - I'm always cold too. In fact I usually have on several layers at work. We keep the library fairly cool as the people using it usually have on coats, and the staff out in the public area are moving around a lot. Those of us who spend most of our time being sedentary in front of our computers just dress in more layers. :lol: And we keep our house cool as our natural gas prices just went up another 20% - after a 13% increase last year. In the colder part of the winter (Nov - mid-March) we use a wood stove and can then have it as warm as we like. :) Last night I was at a friend's house, and like all good Alaskans, had my shoes off. While the rest of me was reasonably comfortable, by the time I went home my feet were freezing! Must remember to bring slippers next time.

Allison - your yard is lovely.

Here's part of my yard with a visitor last summer

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/pkilmain/th_100_1162.jpg (http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/pkilmain/?action=view&current=100_1162.jpg)

And my deck this winter

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/pkilmain/th_075.jpg (http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/pkilmain/?action=view&current=075.jpg)

My fur kids keeping DH company on the couch :)

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/pkilmain/th_070.jpg (http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/pkilmain/?action=view&current=070.jpg)

ooo, I love all the pictures this week! I'll have to post a few! Allison, I love your yard - I have always wanted on of those fire pit tables.

I've had a bit much sugar already today, but I'm carrying on...

here's my show and tell photo :):
waking up w/ the dog at my BF's place (http://starcat.shutterfly.com/212)

Awww, Iris, so cute!

Pat - isn't it scary to find a moose in your yard? :lol:

Pat - isn't it scary to find a moose in your yard?

It can be startling! Usually they're as startled as I am and run the other way. There was one in our side yard this morning eating bark off a large willow tree that I attach my clothesline to. When I left for work she was lying down - probably settling in for the day. :)

HI!

Yesterday was INSANE at work and I didn't even get a chance to pop in. :( Today, I just had to get caught up, but now that I've spent so much time reading, I don't have time to reply to everyone.

I got my eyes checked yesterday and ordered new glasses. I'll have to post some pics of the old glasses and new glasses when I get them.

I don't drink alcohol, anymore - in my 20's I had a great "diet plan" that consisted mostly of large quantities of alcohol with occasional snacks to keep people from noticing that I didn't eat.... kept me thin, but not so great on the health... but anywho... I do keep snacks in the house. There are things that I absolutely can't resist, and those I try to keep out of the house, but it's DH's house too and he's not willing to give up his snacks (yet).

If I find that I'm regularly having something in the evening that puts me over calories (usually ice cream) I just make myself plan in the calories - when I plan my meals, I'll start by adding up my breakfast, AM snack, lunch, & afternoon snack, then add in the evening "treat" that I say I'm not going to have but know that I'm going to give in and eat anyhow. At that point, I can see that I have, what, maybe 200 calories left for dinner - that's not going to work. When I make myself be honest with myself about it, then I can face the fact that I only have a couple of choices: 1) I can cut my meals/snacks down further in order to make room for the "extra", 2) I can cut down the amount or freqency of the "extra" or 3) I can gain weight. Pretty simple. :)

Alison, beautiful yard!! I love Southern Cali! I was born there and lived there as a young child, and then again for a year when I was 18. I'd move there if I could just get my entire (extended) family to go with me. :)

Pat, wow - beautiful! I've never been to alaska, but I'd like to visit! My cousin lived up there for a while and had a little girl while living there. The little girl was used to (elk? moose? maybe both) passing through the yard, but while visiting Spokane (when she was 3 yrs old tops) she saw a squirrel for the first time and was terrified. It was SO funny!

At my highest weight, I still was fitting (barely) into a C cup. At my current weight I can find B cups that fit, but if I lose that last 10 lbs, well, it gets too sad to talk about..... :cry:

I also have a long weekend - tomorrow we're leaving around 8 am for the maiden voyage in our RV - from Seattle to Eugene, OR. It should be entertaining anyhow. Hope we don't get stranded somewhere in mid-Oregon!

I won't have access to a computer again until Sunday night, so could you all please slow down with your posts a bit so I don't have quite so much to read when I get back? Sheez! It's like you don't even know the world revolves around me. ;)

Have a FABULOUS weekend everyone :hug:

____________
Shanna

http://tickers.tickerfactory.com/ezt/d/4;10708;3/st/20080501/e/reaching+Goal+Weight/dt/9/k/6e93/event.png

A bit of my weight loss history (http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2683821&postcount=175) and a few pictures (http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2687449&postcount=136)

Shanna~have fun in your RV. There is a BEAUTIFUL RV park in Bend called Crown Villa RV resort. I don't know how close that is to Eugene, though.

Bend is about 2.5 hours east of Cottage Grove, which is a tiny town south of Eugene where we are headed. We'll be going straight south down I-5 - about 4.5 to 5 hours from our house.

We're going to my in-laws for Easter and, unless we break down in the middle of no-where, we'll park in the area behind her house. Not really roughing it, but a good "first trip" to test out the appliances and make sure everything is working right.

Bend is beautiful though, we'll have to check out Crown Villa RV resort another time!

SHanna - no elk in Alaska, so must have been moose! And I agree, Bend is lovely. My BF moved to that area of OR 5 years ago, and I've been to visit her at least once a year. She lives in Crooked River Ranch which is near Terrebonne, but works in Bend. Have fun in your RV.

Somehow it got to be after 5, so I guess I'll go see if DH made it home. He went with a group about 2 hours north to watch raptors (hawks, eagles, etc) migrate through a narrow pass that's next to the highway - thus making the birds more visible. However, being that it's further north, and a pass, it's bound to be cold and WINDY there! Hope he dressed warmly :)

Hey! I was just reading that there are some elk herds in Alaska--but not on the mainland. Just on a few islands. Lots of caribou, though. :)

Jay

Darn it, that slight overdose of sugar this morning turned in to quite a binge.

Back on track tomorrow... yeesh!

Pat and Allison I love both your yards! So spacious and with so much connection to nature.

DH says if I had moose visiting our yard (no chance there - it's a concrete patio with a strip of grass surrounded by garages) I would probably start leaving food out for them and trying to get them to come inside.

Lily 5 dogs! I'm jealous that you are able to have so many pets but that's such a lot of work for you too. And beagles tend to bay at everything - noisy!!

Jessica and Iris Cute dogs! Mutts rule!

Allison A caption for your "crazy lady" pic - "ARRRGH I'm being sucked into the food processor"

To start off the Easter weekend I "hid" 3 small chocolate bunnies for DH last night. He got home really late and was super cranky so the bunny hunt made him smile!

I'm off to weight train and then I'm prepping a Moroccan lamb stew that we will eat with green salad for dinner. I seldom have time to cook "real" food so this will be fun!

Have a great Friday all!

Dagmar :dance:

Good morning everyone!

Jessica - your puppy is so cute in that jacket!

Megan - My house is always the dumping ground for DH's ex wife ad her baking... She is an excellent baker and is always makings stuff for people, or for her own dinner parties, and can't handle having the leftovers in the house. So we end up with cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, all kinds of stuff. I try my best to throw it all away right away...

Pat - I used to work up in the mountains and my employees would bring in pics of bears in their yards. I think I would have a heart attack if there were bear or moose in my yard... And, your yard is gorgeous!

Shanna - I had to do the same thing with the evening snack for a while. I knew i was going to have something bad, so i put it in my plan in the AM to see what I had to do to survive it... I've gotten better the last week about putting in not so bad for me evening snacks... Enjoy your trip!

Iris - good luck getting back on track today! :)

Dagmar - the bunny hunt sounds like fun! Has DH taken his test yet?

Allison - I was watching a HGTV show last night that was in SoCal and the backyard looked a lot like yours with the fire pits and flowers and such. I'm obviously living in the wrong part of the country, or just not maximizing what I have! :) I have a partially completed house to one side of me and a concrete pad to the other, neither yard has sod down yet... Until they get finished I can't put up a fence, and I don't really feel like putting much effort in back there because we get so many weeds blown over from the other yards... I have to figure out how to work around my excuses, I've been there 1.5 years now! :o

I'm out in the restaurants today training on the new I-9 form and there are supposed to be tornado warnings and thunderstorms all afternoon. Could make for a fun day. I'll probably try to knock off early and exercise or something during the storms... Being in my garage is safe in a severe thunderstorm, right? :)

Stayed OP yesterday - upped my plan for dinner and ate a little more because I was starving after the 5.5 mile run, and didn't want to set myself up to be starting all say today.

Good holiday weekend everyone!

Shanna~I hope you don't have any issues with your RV. I assume it is new--and often there are a lot of bugs and kinks to work out. Just learning how everything works is a chore! We've had our RV for 8 years now so it's old hat to us!

Dagmar~food processor! Too funny!

Shannon~I am thankful every day for what we have in that house. We spent 11 years in our old house--dreaming of the day we'd be able to build just what we wanted. Now the problem is that the kids are getting older and moving out and soon the house will be too big for us (4 bed, 4 bath) and we're wondering what we'll do next. Seriously, I don't want to move, but it doesn't make sense to keep such a big place. But I love my neighborhood so much! I have 5 years to decide for sure, so perhaps by then my mind will be made up.

I saw this on Neatorama this morning and thought of you, Megan:

Bra Sizes increasing (http://www.neatorama.com/2009/04/10/bra-sizes-increasing/)

JayEll, you are right! There are elk on an island off of Kodiak. I found this on the Alaska Fish & Game website ---

Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti) herds present in Alaska originated from a transplant of eight calves captured on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State in 1928 and moved to Afognak Island in 1929.

Elk are found on Afognak and Raspberry islands near Kodiak. Elk were transplanted to Etolin Island near Petersburg in 1986. Previous transplants to Southeast Alaska were unsuccessful.

And yes, lots and lots of caribou, mostly much further north from us. We do have some bears in our area since we pretty rural. I've never seen one in my yard though - and would prefer not to!! Moose are usually not aggressive (except moms with new babies) so it's more a matter of not startling them, but bears are a whole 'nother story. :)

Good Friday is not a holiday here, so I'm working, with a whole list of stuff to get done..... which I'd better get to, it being after 8 am.

. . . and I are :o to admit that I've never been larger than a 36B or C. Never wanted to be either. And my bra size is consistently sold out at most stores so I think I must be close to the North American average size.

Dagmar (flat is fine :D)

I figured I would share a picture of my house - can't find one of the but I think the front is pretty!
http://s429.photobucket.com/albums/qq12/ShannoninATL/th_S7001474.jpg

Looking for this picture made me realize that several years worth of photos are missing from my computer... I bet they are still on the laptop we set up for my stepson. I need to get those off of there...

I saw this on Neatorama this morning and thought of you, Megan:

Bra Sizes increasing (http://www.neatorama.com/2009/04/10/bra-sizes-increasing/)

Lol, thanks Allison. I would agree with the theory posted in here that with increasing weights and corresponding body fats throughout our country, bra sizes would go up too. I just don't want that to be the reason my chest is getting bigger! I'm 26, isn't my body supposed to be the same for a decade or two here?

I was out doing field work all day and just popping in to say have a great weekend, everyone! Tonight is BF's birthday and I'm making him a steak dinner (his request). As for the rest of the weekend, if the weather is nice I'm going to try to talk BF into taking me fishing - the pompano are running! I'm not sure what else but I'll find ways to fill my time and enjoy the sun. :)

My BF moved to that area of OR 5 years ago. . .

:lol: I read that as "boyfriend" until I got to the "she" part. For a moment, I wondered how long your DH had been out of town!

We're taking my DGD to church with us on Sunday so she can "participate" in the Easter egg hunt. The religious education director is going to find her a buddy to actually hunt the eggs (my DGD doesn't walk), which I thought was really sweet. DGD loves other kids and doesn't have much of a chance to interact with them so this should be fun for her.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lol, thanks Allison. I would agree with the theory posted in here that with increasing weights and corresponding body fats throughout our country, bra sizes would go up too. I just don't want that to be the reason my chest is getting bigger! I'm 26, isn't my body supposed to be the same for a decade or two here?

But in the end it states that more women are getting properly fitted and that's why the larger sizes.

I figured I would share a picture of my house - can't find one of the but I think the front is pretty!
http://s429.photobucket.com/albums/qq12/ShannoninATL/th_S7001474.jpg

Looking for this picture made me realize that several years worth of photos are missing from my computer... I bet they are still on the laptop we set up for my stepson. I need to get those off of there...

That is a nice house, Shannon!

Dagmar, I think a 36C is considered average bra size, at least in the US. When I lost weight I went from a 38C to a 34C. I'm glad my cup size didn't change, I think a C is the perfect size for me! =)

So far I am back on track today. I'm going out for dinner tonight, so I'm a little nervous about that. I know I'm going to get a stir fry with veggies and tofu and the portion is HUGE so I can't eat more than half! I'll stick to that!

Sheila :lol: I guess I should say BFF to be current, eh?

Nice house Shannon. It's fun to see where everyone lives.

Losing weight only caused me to go from a DD to a D, though the band size made a bigger change. I'm seldom able to buy smalls, as they're always too tight in the chest. :)

Except for church (and breakfast there) Easter will be a quiet weekend for us. I'm determined to push the button and e-file our taxes - we're getting a refund for a change, but we've had a couple of corrected forms so I haven't been able to file yet. Otherwise, I'll be doing laundry, grocery shopping, etc. I think DH is working at the Recycle center tomorrow. Oh and I should clean my house.....

hey people! Boy, it was a rough week-I hardly logged on to the internet at all, which means...I pretty much didn't do at least 50% of the food tracking I was supposed to. Still, I feel ok. I mean, I am more mindful regardless, so I don't think I blew it.

But I had some stressful times when I felt my self-esteem dip, and I didn't CARE whether I tracked my food or even really what I was eating. Not good. I think, for me, high levels of self-esteem and care are required to maintain a healthy weight. If I start to think negatively, I throw in the towel, so to speak, and say...why does this even matter?? I am working for nothing.

I had a big fight with my fiance. I have constant deadlines and stress at work, but with my bahamas cruise coming up next week, I feel more pressure than usual to get all my work off my desk and finished before I leave for a week.

And that brings me to my next topic--I am cruising to the bahamas next week, beginning April 18 and ending the following saturday. I already had one person gape at me when I said I didn't think the buffet style eating would be a problem for me since I have grown used to small portions. But really, I think it's true! I think the coolest thing about the buffets is that I can choose from a lot of different foods. I just don't want to eat til I hurt anymore--so why would I worry that I will....they look at me like I am a heroin addict going on a tour of Afghanistan. "But what about your DIET????" They say, looking horrified. And I reply, "What diet?"

I am not on a diet.

I'm not. Not anymore. I never was. I have always, from the start, though I made some mistakes, considered my eating habits simply that--habits that are part of my lifestyle as a whole. Does my lifestyle include monitoring my portions and making sure I eat in a relatively healthful way? Of course. Does that mean I am on a diet? no, NO. No.

My co-worker is on a diet. The Atkins diet--and whatever you say about it, I don't care. She is not very faithful to it, regardless. She spouts Atkins wisdom all day--especially when she sees me eating carbs...but for all her obsession with "Diet," be it what it may--she has lost and gained back the same twelve pounds for the last two years we have been working together. She will always be on a diet. I feel terrible for her when I think about it.

Anyway, rant over. I am not knocking Atkins in any way whatsoever. I think it works for some people--definitely not for me. But "diets" don't "work" for anyone. Changing thinking--that's what works. Caring what goes in your mouth and caring how much your body moves--forever--that works.

I guess I am pep-talking myself...sorry! It's just, if I think I am on a diet, I'll think there's an end point...a point where I can eat things that are terrible for me and lay around all day with no consequences. I'll think that since I have reached my goal weights a few times now that I can "go back" to not giving a rat's patoot what I do with my body--cause that's what skinny people seem to do. I'll think I can go on a cruise and not use the gym, and eat fried ice cream at every meal. But I don't think that. And that's my point.

Still, encourage me to do the right thing, please, lol! Anybody been on a cruise have any tips?? not just about food. :)

Thanks. :)

oh, and to tack on to the current convo---after 75 lbs, I only went down from a 40 C to a 38C. I can sometimes wear a 36, but Vicky Secret pros always measure me right at 38. It's maddening! But I guess I just have big bones. Really! lol

Have fun on your cruise, walk the decks and use the gym and you will do just fine!

tortuga, I agree that self esteem is essential for healthy habits. When I feel low, I just want to lay around and eat. NOT good!

I've never been on a cruise but it sounds like you have the right attitude - enjoy the food without stuffing yourself silly. And like bargoo said, get some exercise in. Have a great time!

I'm having some people over tomorrow for Easter dinner, so I'm trying to get the house a little cleaner for that! I think house cleaning will be my exercise for today. =)

Tortuga-- I've been on cruises pre and post my healthy lifestyle. I have another cruise coming up in August. Most of the time you have multiple dining options available including buffets and sit down meals. I prefer the sit down meals where you can order what you want-- there is almost always fish on the menu and I'll usually get that or a vegetarian entree. The portions are not that huge most of the time. Of course, buffets do work if you are careful, but you will find limited healthy options. Take full advantage of the gym and enjoy your meals. Don't worry too much about things and then if you gain a pound or two you can take them off later (that is my philosophy). I always try to have a little wiggle room before I go and then work real hard when I get back. Have fun!!!

If you have any trouble curbing your eating when you drink alcohol, avoid the alcohol as much as possible.

Do as many physically active things as you possibly can.

Remember that just because everyone else is eating, you don't have to.

Enjoy yourself! Have a good, safe time!

Jay

those are great tips! i forgot that I can do sit-downs, too! I think I may have become fixated on the buffet challenge when there is at least one very simple fix--order a meal at a restaurant instead, lol!

One more good thing--I don't drink. So no calories there, and no worries about getting out of control. My fiance is pretty active, and I am also adventurous, so I think we will be pretty busy doing things on the boat and off. He even wants to try a yoga class with me! We were just discussing which excursion to do (we budgeted for one) and I can't decide between a day at the water park or a horseback ride through the island beaches and eco-system. I want to do the horse one, but my love pointed out that I'd be eaten alive by bugs out in the "jungle" so I may not end up enjoying that one as much as I think. I don't know. But instead of worrying about eating too much, I am going to have as much fun as I can....I think it will all even out.

Heh. Do you ride often? If not, skip the horseback ride... It will make you very sore in unfortunate places. Take it from one who knows. ;)

Jay

It DID make me sore in unusual places....but it was totally worth it! I LOVED every minute, even as I was thinking....ugh...that's going to leave a mark...