40-Somethings - 40-Somethings August Week 3 Chat

OK, I'll kick off the new week!
OMW - Michigan actually went and made a law that no schools can start before Labor Day. We're a big tourist state, and right now that income is huge for us. God bless you, Carol, for doing the HARDEST job in the world - guaranteeing our future. I tried it, and couldn't hack it - I just couldn't give that much. :hug:
Heidi - Great job with the workouts! Sounds like your scale is absolutely top of the line (that was me that asked about it). Not sure I'd want to have one that awesome, because I can still have just a little fantasy left about rounding errors with mine. :lol:
dancer - DH and I approach our weight issues separately. He's begun to ask questions about calorie counting, though. He's the kind of guy who will do all his research first, and then jump in and never look back. He's thinking about it ... he's about 6'1" and is probably up around 215 right now. It's too much for him, and he knows it - he's got the beginnings of arthritis in his ankles, and he's already had one knee arthroscopically cleaned up.
patchworkpenguin - BEST WISHES on your surgery! Will be thinking about you and sending good thoughts ...
marie - I'm looking forward to hearing about your swim - open water, or your pool? I have a little blender that's like a Bullet, and agree totally - they are WONDERFUL for small batches of salad dressing, pesto, protein shakes, chopping onions, salsa, chutney ... ad infinitum! And my DH can blame a lot of his waistline on beer, too. He's going to have to make some some decisions there.
hotsplashes - I'm with you on the tomatoes - bring 'em on. I prefer my tomatoes with higher acid, but truly, I've never met one I didn't love. We can talk tomatoes in EVERY thread (shucks, let's devote a thread just to tomato chat!). There was a recipe just this weekend in the local paper for Savory Tomato Pie ... it looked pretty darn good but working it into a calorie count long enough to get it all eaten might be a little tricky. One of our favorite salads at home is 50% tomato/50% cucumbers chopped up, and dressed lightly with a vinegar/Miracle Whip/black pepper dressing. Celery leaf is good in it, and so is a tiny-diced jalapeno. mmmmm! WAY TO GO with responding to the *****. Some people just weren't raised right, and need to be knocked off their high horses. :high:
gardenerjoy- WELCOME aboard! I'm a whole-foodie calorie counter and journaler. I've tried it ALL before, and this time, with the support of the 3FC'ers, I am in the process of making lifetime changes.
nell - welcome back, and great job practicing for maintenance!
pres - congrats on your new decade! And we knew you were too full of love to not have some new furbabies soon ... and of course, we will want pictures!

I had a busy weekend, but I am very pleased to report that I discussed my career plans with DH, and he thinks I've got a very solid plan. It's conservative (as am I), and I can make the turnaround with keeping my secure day job (well, as secure as any job is in these times). So now I'm proceeding to the writing of the business plan, and scheduling a meeting with DH's accountant to figure out the timing of incorporation. He went down the entrepreneur road 2 years ago - I learned what sort of questions to ask. First order of business is to clear the decks - I have two more writing assignments to finish for a course I'm taking, and I am going to remove as much clutter from my house as I possibly can so that I can focus my energies on this venture. Thanks to everyone for the support! It's very exciting to actually want to get out of bed in the morning. I realized I've been in a cubicle for TWENTY years... and enough is enough!

presmaggie: Congrats on the new decade!
when I'm feeling lazy, I sometimes make a peanut sauce that is just peanut butter thinned with equal parts of apple cider vinegar and low sodium soy sauce. It's good on veggies and leftover rice steamed in the microwave. Also, I kid you not, it's good as a dressing for sliced cabbage -- I consume huge cabbage salads in the winter with that.
Let me know how the greens recipe goes. I find stir fry recipes intimidating at first, but by the second or third time I make them, they seem easy.

Marie: Thanks for all the pointers. I think I'm probaby quality over quantity, too, or I would be if I can get myself to slow down when I eat. And I've been discovering the last couple of years, that I like lots more vegetables than I thought -- the trick, for me, is to eat them in season and locally grown if possible. I suspect that I will also end up committing to daily weighing and food logs to keep me on track for the rest of my life.
I hope your swim went well!

Patchwork Penguin: holding good thoughts in my heart for your surgery today

OnMyWay: holding good thoughts in my heart for you and your students today

ICUwishing: You've got a great plan! Good for you for taking the steps to get where you want to be.

I ate well yesterday and lost a pound! All water, I'm sure, but it's an encouraging start. I'm continuing to work through Beck and make some other goals and rules for myself that will help me along this journey. Also, I walked on the treadmill since it was raining when I wanted to take my walk.

Penguin, I ‘m thinking of you today. I hope that this 2nd surgery is as successful as the first. And the buzz, set a timer if you need, but not listening to the swish of the washer and hum of the dryer far outweighs not hearing the timer. Trust me on that one!

ICU, isn’t it frustrating to find a tasty recipe but know that if you had to work it into your calorie budget for days to make it all go away a pain??? I think I’d be more adventurous trying new recipes if it was a small, 1-2 person, serving. Great news on moving forward with the business plan. You mentioned a gemologist. What exactly do you want to do?

Joy, YEAH on the lost pound. :carrot: Never discount any weight loss. Perhaps it was .5 water and .5 fat pound. You never know and it is encouraging. I too am a fast eater when I’m hungry. Try some of the old standby tricks – drink a huge glass of water , have a cup of hot vege broth soup, a vege salad lo-cal salad dressing (aka no croutons ,bacon bits, cheese, etc). Truly when you’re not starving, it’s way easier to eat slower. And great job on getting the exercise in regardless of the weather.

I did the swim. Since I’d made my declaration yesterday, I procrastinated until 6 in the evening. But I decided I didn’t have to do the whole thing if I didn’t want. Then as I started, I couldn’t stop because I do this annually and if I didn’t do the mile, then I’d feel the need to do it next weekend. So… I kept going until the mile was done. My reward??? Another pound lost today. As my losing week of my cycle is over now, I won’t be posting losses (except the small .2’s) for another few weeks. But I just love the 3rd week of my cycle.

I must end my break and start working. Yes I took a break here as soon as my computer was logged in. It’s Monday and who really wants to just right in???
Marie

Marie - I'm going to pursue certification as a registered gemologist/insurance appraiser, and combine that with a web/internet marketing course I took two summers ago. I've discovered a sweet spot in the market that is not being covered by ANYBODY - and while the demand isn't astronomical, it is most definitely there, in a niche that has dollars to spend. I have some groundwork to do over the next couple months that will help me figure out my timeline - obviously, I have to go back to school and I know this program is rigorous. There's a lot of content for the website that has to be written up, but can be done ahead of time. There are insurance issues, safety concerns, and incorporation ... just to start! I've wanted to work for myself for a long time, so I started researching what was involved several years ago. Only a few days ago, though, did I finally figure out the business concept, and over the weekend confirmed that there is nothing like what I want to do out there already. Color me "enthused"!

ICU - you are an inspiration! Good for you for going for your dreams.

Marie - so how long does it take to swim a mile? That sounds like a loooong way in a pool.:) Thanks for the comment about the furbabies. They have been such a comfort to me. I still miss my old cat, but these two are so much fun, too. Well, they will be when they are a bit quieter at night. I think they were a in sort of cat house at the breeder's and they are a bit too talkative and nocturnal for me to sleep well. I've been combing the internet for help and one person said that they must have been rewarded for being noisy before (ie. attention) and that I have to learn to only give them attention when they are quiet. So far, it has already worked to some degree.

gardenerjoy - I'll tell you how the recipe went once I have tried it. Thanks again. My dh is cooking tonight - a Jamie Oliver recipe for Salmon Cakes - I'm drooling just thinking about it.:lol:

Patchwork - :hug: thinking of you today.

dancer - my dh followed my lead when I started exercising and eating better. He has more to lose than I did, so I'm glad that he's working on it. He already has lots of risk factors for diabetes (mom had it) and cardiovascular disease (dad had it) without the extra weight.

Today's workout went a lot better than Friday's. I made sure that I ate more carbs last night and my energy and recovery is much better today. On Friday, my cardio portion was really hard, but today's was much easier.

Hey all! My second cataract surgery went well, but I think it triggered a migraine and my stomach is very upset. The vision in the new eye is blurry but I can tell its a big inprovement! there's a lot of gunk in there still so it will take a few days to clear out. I get to throw away my contacts and solutions, and donate my glasses. I got a new set of drops for the right eye and now have to keep the left drops seperate from the left's drops so I don't get them confused!! But if this is the worst I have to complain about, I feel I'm doing fine. Thanks for the prayers and well wishes.

Patch, Glad to hear your surgery went well. Take it easy but enjoy your new eyes!

presmaggie, Great job with the workouts. It's a great feeling to feel things getting easier. Keep up the good work! Salmon Cakes for dinner! Yummy! Can I come over?

ICU, sounds like you have a great plan. You have put lots of thought into everything. We'll be cheering you on!

Marie, congrats on losing another pound! Way to go on the mile swim! That's awesome!

Gardenerjoy, A pound is a pound! you're off to great start!

My first day with kids went great! We have a pretty small group. (I work in a special ed preschool room) Got up early and got my walk in before school. I'm hoping I can continue to do that at least until the time changes. Then my plan is to do the treadmill. I would much rather exercise first thing.

DH just got home from work. He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was posting to my fat chick friends. He said it shouldn't be called that, it should be former fat chicks instead. I thought that was pretty sweet of him!

My neighbor came over late last night with a big bag of cherry tomatoes from his garden. Guess what I had for lunch?

Hope everyone had a great day!

I FINALLY lost a 2nd pound! I'm sooo impressed with what everyone on this site is doing and am hoping maybe the weight is starting to budge so I can report some good progress too : ) Did great with my eating today and went to the gym on my lunch break to walk on the treadmill. Went out to dinner with a friend but I think I did ok, in spite of the small icecream. I started taking some of the herbal life products again, so I'm not sure if that's what's helping, or being really strict with my eating as well as trying to keep up with the walking. Tomorrow is my friday, woo-hoo!

Hello everyone. Just stopping by quickly to check on everyone and especially Penguin!

PEnguin... Congrats on the successful surgery... I hope you feel better soon!!

See everyone tomorrow!

Marie, I like the new avatar

Very quick note to say, MARIE!!! I love your new avatar! What a great photo; you look wonderful -- slim, confident, happy. You are quite pretty!

Hello Ladies,

Let me introduce myself. I am a 40 something, mom of 4, Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Reiki Master Teacher.

I have just joined '3 fat chicks'. I have visited this forum a million times before I decided to join. I typically don't do this sort of thing, but, I have enjoyed reading numerous posts, and thought, this is a great group to be part of.

I wasn't sure where to start until I saw the '40 something' heading. "that's me" :)

I have just started my weightloss journey as of 7/27/09. So far, so good. I have already lost 11lbs and am very motivated.

So I would like to thank you in advance for any advice, support, motivation, etc...

Thanks again, and I wish all of you much success on your weight loss journeys!

Checking in before school. DD's first day of middle school is today. She's been up since 5:45! Had everything ready last night. She didn't want me to walk up to the bus stop, so I waited on the driveway. She's growing up!

marie, GREAT avatar. You look beautiful!

Weightlosswanted, Congrats on another pound. They all add up! Keep up the good work. Don't worry about a little ice cream as long as it's not a whole gallon! You have to have a treat every now and then.

WELCOME madison. This is a great group. We're glad to have you with us! 11 pounds is a great start!

Hope everyone has a great day!

Good morning everyone. Wow, all the back-to-schools already! My boys go in a week from Thursday (8/27).

Congrats on the pound lost, GardenerJoy! And on the swim, Marie!

I'm glad you're feeling better, PresMaggie. And I'm so glad that your surgery went well, Penguin. I hope your migraine is gone today and your sight is restored. What a wonderful feeling that must be!

I'm glad that work is off to a great start, OnMyWay. Do you teach the same kids each year, or do you start off with a new group each time? I'm glad your daughter was so excited to go off to school today. I don't think it will be quite the same scene in my house next week...

Congratulations on the 2nd pound, WeightlossWanted. That's all it is, right? One pound after another, just strung all together. You're off to a great start! What kind of work do you do, where today is your Friday (lucky you!!).

Madison27, welcome to the group; I'm glad you've found us! Congrats on your 11 lbs, you are doing great!

As for me, I'm doing well. Sticking with my exercise routing (arm weights, followed by a dab of ab work, followed by 40 min of cardio) and I am really glad I came up with the idea of the large print books. It is making all the difference for me! Wrt food, I've screwed my head back on and am back to healthy foods / portion control.

I'm trying not to hyper-obsess about the scale. Looking at the big picture, I lost 5lbs each in Feb, March, April, and May, and have maintained for June, July, August. I'm pretty happy where I am, but I want to lose more. The scale read 165.0 this morning and I am confident I can get it down more...

Oh, and Sunday was the Super Bowl Party I was so concerned about. My MIL put on quite a spread so I was able to enjoy raw veggies, fresh fruit, a handful of nuts, some guacamole, and a cheese cube (which was smoked cheese -- yuck, I don't like that! Made it easy...). I declined having anything to drink just by being honest that it was too early in the day for me. And that was that.

The party itself was silly, if you ask me. We sat around and watched TV for hours on end, which just isn't how I normally choose to spend my time. I knew that bringing a book would be considered rude. So I just sat patiently facing the TV, letting it wash over me, until it was time to go. Although at one time DS8 started acting up (he couldn't stand sitting there any longer, either!) so he and I scooted out and walked to Starbucks in the 90-degree heat together. Then straight back to the TV cave... Ugh.

Marie: Yay! A mile swim is very impressive.

Presmaggie: Salmon cakes sounds yummy -- especially when they are cooked by DH. My DH likes Jamie Oliver, too. He seems to have made cooking cool for men, even when it's not on the grill.

patchworkpenguin: I hope your healing is going well and benefited from a night's sleep.

Onmyway: I'm so glad that the first day of school was great! Good for you and good for the kids! And yay for you for walking before school.

weightlosswanted: Yay for pound 2! I hope to be right behind you!

madison27: Welcome! And, yay, I'm not the newest member anymore (and it only took a few days).

Say, weightlosswanted and madison27, the links to your blogs aren't working. It's a bit tricky what they want in that field of your profile to make the link work -- it's just the username for your blog, the part between the last two slashes. I'd love to read your blogs. I'm finding mine very useful.

newleaf123: Yay for being back on track and for doing so well at the party.

My weight was down again today and I'm still enjoying reading weight loss books while I try to figure out exactly how I want to do this. No hurry when I'm losing weight by just eliminating my worst eating habits and increasing the consistency of my exercise.

gardenerjoy - dh and I watched Jamie Oliver's series from Italy last year. Jamie drove around Italy, sampling the fabulous foods and showing how to make a lot of the dishes. I bought dh the cookbook for Christmas. Then, the newest one for Father's day. heh heh. Dh used to do almost all of the cooking pre-kids, when he would get home 2 hours before me in the evening. He didn't know how to cook, but I showed him and he quickly surpassed me in the will to try new things. The salmon cakes were amazing, by the way. They were better than a lot of the ones I've eaten in restaurants. Yay Jamie!

newleaf - I'm with you on the sports. Last week, we watched Jerry McGuire (a movie I've always liked) and I fast forwarded through the football scenes, to my husband's surprise.:lol:

Onmyway - I wish school started here, soon. Unfortunately, it's still another 3 weeks until they start. My younger son is sooooo excited about starting kindergarten.

madison - welcome!

Marie - I like your new avatar, too! It was a little more difficult to see your face in the old one because of the sunglasses.

weightlosswanted - slowly and surely wins the race!

patchworkpenguin - congrats on the surgery! Hope you're on the mend.

I had a non-scale victory today. My size 14 jeans are getting loose and I tried on some size 12 ones at the store. They fit! I haven't worn size 12 since I was in my 20's! Okay, the waist gives me a bit too much muffin top to wear them in public, but the butt fits fine. Can you tell I'm an apple shape?;)

Bet you guys thought I couldn't find you again...but here I am.

Hey everybody...just stopping by to say hello. Been with my mom after her double knee surgery yesterday. Slept at the hospital last night and will again tonight. Then will go home tomorrow evening so that I can get my 2 oldest kids off to college Thursday (DS) and Saturday (DD).

Very tired and VERY off plan. Eating has been not so good and exercise has been nil although I am taking the stairs whenever possible. I have not exercised since Friday morning except for a half hour on an ancient treadmill...didn't even have a cup holder for my bottle.

No time for personals...don't even have time to check the pages of posts on all the threads I follow. I do hope EVERYBODY is doing great!!!

Joci

I'm feeling much better today. I had an appointment at the Dr's office and he was happy with my progress and healing. He gave me a perscription for more drops for the right eye but told me I could quit the drops in the left! Yay! Hubby fixed me blueberry pancakes this morning, since I didn't get breakfast yesterday.

Tomorrow is going to be busy but not much going on today. Its been raining off and on, which has made is slightly cooler but much more humid. Pffft!

Welcome, Madison!

Good Evening Ladies!

Marie: A MILE??? HOly Crapoly Batman!! You are Wonderwoman! I start "adult swim" classes this September. It'll be awhile before I catch up to you!!lol

Presmaggie: You will love the Ragdolls. Lovely Kitties, very laid back and very tolerant. Did you get the Siamese colored ones? It's wonderful that you did a "Rescue". I eat my carbs later in the day too. KEeps my blood sugars going. But I can't eat them too late or I'm up all nite.

patchworkpenguin: Keep up the eyedrops!! How happy are you with the surgery? I have always thought about getting it?

Onmyway: Awww.. you know they are growing up when it's not "Cool" to be seen with mom. But now you can tease her and say you'll walk her all the way to the bus... or forget her lunch and run to the bus calling her name very loudly!!lol

weightlosswanted: Good Job on the weightloss! Keep it up!

madison27: Welcome to the group!!!

weightlosswanted How did you put yoru blog on our profile? I have one... and would like to put it up.

newleaf123: A SuperBowl Party? In August? Good for you for staying on track!!

Gardnerjoy: Congrats on the weightloss! Sometimes it's as simple as cutting out the junk food.

ICU: You have found a "Niche Market"!!! Nab it and become the Queen of it!! You just may become a gemologist Millionaire!!!

Seems we are missing a few ladies.. I wonder where they are???

And I remember the words "We could start a thread on Tomatoes!".. Just found out that some Students in my neighborhood have been raiding my garden... I am not impressed...

The heat wasn't so bad today because the humidity was down and we had a good strong wind. The Thunderstorms swept past us leaving it nice and sunny and I didn't have to tranq Old Dobie dog. Seems Terrorist Dog is not liking the heat as much. She's not eating like she usually does.. she's healthy.. nothing wrong.. just eating slower than usual.. which is nice.. she's usually a nonstop eating machine and always overweight!lol

The horses are not happy with the bugs. But they are loving all the grass! All my horses including my Thoroughbred are round and sassy. My 2 quarterhorse mares and their babies are just the fattest little herd of horses!!lol Toobad my butt is as big as theirs are!

I'm trying really hard to up my water intake. And I've started a fiber supplement. Got word from the doctor today that I am going to start seeing a Physiatrist. I've never even heard of that kind of doctor before!! But if it keeps surgery at bay..I'm all for that alternative!!

gardnerjoy and hotsplashes : not a clue about the blog, thought I followed the directions from somewhere : ) I'm technically challenged! Haven't actually kept up with it but need to start again.

I'm so impressed with what everyone has accomplished, such positive energy ya'll are putting out : )

Marie: a mile swim? you're my hero!

Hostsplashes: I'm jealous of the horses, started riding last year and now I don't know if I can go back to it because of my herniated disc : (

*I think I fixed the link to my blog, can someone let me know if it works for you?

splashes, I had cateract surgery because I got to the point where my retina specialist couldn't see in the back of my eye anymore, couldn't put it off anymore then. My vision is clearer than it has been in years but its like wearing the contacts on the inside of my eye now. Funny story, Hubby and I went to Lowe's tonight and it was raining, I was walking along and realized that the raindrops were hitting my eyes, that was just creepy, I don't remember ever feeling raindrops hit my eyes because I've been wearing contacts since I was 12!

Good morning chicks! Just a drive by post before school. I'll take time to write more later. I'm down 2.5 this AM. YAHOO! I knew getting back into my school routine would do it! Hope everyone else is a loser today!

g' morning all.
Just poppping in to announce that I lost another 2 pounds! Hooray for me.
I am going in for Lasik eye surgery today. I hope it goes well.
I will be MIA for a bit.

cheers!

Howdy everyone - I have a lot of catching up to do. I do see that some amazing things are going on - Carol is on the move again, Patch had successful surgery, Marie's wrist survived the mile in the pool, Hotsplashes is having tomato thievery and fat horses... and much more!
Alley - good luck on the Lasik!

Back at lunchtime. I have to go to my performance review. Such fun!

presmaggie: yay for size 12 jeans! And I'm glad the salmon cakes were good. Living (and growing up) in the midwest means eating seafood doesn't come naturally to me, but I think Jamie Oliver's salmon cakes might work!

patchworkpenguin: looks like the healing is happening as it should -- that's great!

Hotsplashes: hope all goes well with the physiatrist -- my sil was helped by one

weightlosswanted: the blog link still doesn't work. Gee, does my link work for you? Maybe I'm just kidding myself that I got it right.

Onmyway: Yay for the 2.5 lb loss and using structure to keep things on track for yourself!

AlleyTD: Congrats on the weight loss. Sending healing energies your way for a quick recovery from your Lasik

ICUwishing: Sending you positive energies, too. I hate performance reviews so I'm really hoping that yours is everything that you want it to be. And I'm glad you have a plan to get yourself into a life that doesn't include them!

My weight was down again today. I'm loving this start-of-the-diet phenomenon. Especially when I haven't even selected a diet yet. I'm really thinking I may do this my way -- lots of exercise and lots of eating healthy at home without a real food plan. That should be good for at least the first 40 pounds. I can re-assess at that point.

Hi, everyone. Glad to see everyone is doing so well.

Thanks for popping in, Alley!! Great job on your weight loss, good luck on your surgery...

ICUWishing - ugh, reviews. Say no more.

Jacque - sorry to read you're having a tough time of it. You have done so well, come so far. I'm confident that you will be back on track; you probably already are, knowing you!

GardenerJoy, I'm glad things are going so well for you. It sounds like you have a plan, even if it's not a formal plan. You are on the right track!

Me, I'm wearing old size 12 jeans today, so that is motivating. They fit nicely. I'm looking forward to them being saggy baggy and not looking good; that's my goal! I am still weighing daily, and I took measurements last night, I have not put any centimeters back on. Now to start losing again.

Review - no big deal. Glad to see that my boss and I totally agree that I need to work on my perfectionist bent. What the poor guy doesn't know is that I've been trying to fix it for 42 years and haven't made a whole lot of progress. The best I've been able to do is force myself to send stuff out slathered in "DRAFT". :)

Newleaf - YAY jeans! It's such a bear to find jeans that fit, so when they do ... woohoo! And it can be good/bad moment when those same jeans pass into the "too big" pile. More good than bad, but I get a moment of panic wondering if I'll ever find another pair that fits as well. And the worst of it is that what was a superior fit in a certain brand at size 12 could very well be a terrible fit in the same brand at size 10 - and the whole search has to start over! I'm on the cusp with a pair of newer 12's myself - and my old 10's still make me look like a sausage. Grrr!

Gardener - I can't say I've got a formal plan either. I like to believe that I have a good grip on what constitutes good nutrition and for the most part I've never been that much into processed food either. The accountability and social support that I find here is probably the secret weapon that's helping me succeed this time around. I know I lose faster and am more satisfied with a higher level of fat than most people would find acceptable, but did not figure that out until I gave myself the freedom to modify like crazy.

pres - Happy jeans for you too!

madison - welcome aboard!

Jacque - sorry you're going through the rough patch, but you know how to do this and I am sure that you will move on past. :) We miss ya!

gardnerjoy: your blog link works. mine is set up the same way as far as I can tell, so I'm stumped as to why it isn't working : (

ICU, your new career sounds like fun – and even better is that there’s a market and no one filling it. I bet you’re going to succeed. I’m betting the performance review will be wonderful. And they won’t know what hit them when you’re the millionaire gemologist.

Presmaggie, I didn’t time the mile but I know it was after 6 and I came in before 7. But I really don’t remember how long between seeing the 6 on the clock before I went swimming. I’m glad that the new furbabies are fun. They’ll learn not to talk in the night. Big grin on the NSV! I just love the muffin top description. Every time I read it, I get a visual image. This time it was a muffin with jeans and your avatar on top! Can you tell I’m very visual???

Penguin, I’m thrilled the surgery went well. Even better that you get to stop the left eye drops.

OMW, tell your DH that he’s sweet correcting our title to former fat chicks. I think in my heart I’ll always be fat and I think that’s the tool I’ll use to make sure I maintain when I get there. WTG on the 2.5 pounds. You are definitely back in the groove. 2.5 pounds is great!!!!

WLW, great job on another pound being history. Give yourself the credit not any product. Hope you’re enjoying your “weekend”. I can’t wait for mine. At least it’s the halfway point.

OMW, Presmaggie, Newleaf and Penguin, I thought that the old one was outdated since it was 20 pounds before. DH takes crappy pics of me so I found the tripod and learned how to use my cameras digital camera’s self-timer. I had fun taking some shots with Kai Bear, but the aim had been a new avatar. Thanks for the compliment.

Madison, welcome to the thread. You’ll find LOTS of support here. I love this group. And CONGRATS on the 11 pounds. You are one your way!

Newleaf, maintain your loss for 3 months is wonderful. I bet you’ll see a quick drop now that you’re back to healthy foods and portions. You had a self-induced plateau. Sometimes a great idea. And whoa on the MIL party. It sounds horrendous. TV for a whole glorious day off from work. You are MUCH nicer than me. I would have stayed at Starbucks.

Joy, I had to smile at the “just eliminating my worst eating habits” statement. I’m pretty sure we all know down deep in our hearts what made us fat. So eliminating them will definitely breed success!

Joci, I hope your mom is recovering nicely and that you’re life won’t stay in flux long. No bottle holder would be reason to take the treadmill to the trash. Drinking my water is the only way I stay semi entertained on the treadmill. But… at least it was there to use.

Hotsplashes, don’t let the distance fool you. I am an endurance person. I can walk, bike, swim, rollerblade, etc forever. What I can’t do is sprint very well. So for the last 6 months I‘ve been doing interval training on the elliptical and that has helped but I don’t have the sprint endurance for long. I’m guessing it has to do with the asthma because I’ve been working on it since March. Tomato thieves are the worst. You much call Batman to the rescue (sorry I couldn’t resist).

Alley, best wishes on the Lasik. I love the results of my Lasik surgery 10 years ago.

Marie, I think I'll always think of myself as fat too. Nice thing about DH is he doesn't think I am at all, never has. He compliments me on how I have done but clarifies by saying he didn't think I really needed to lose. He truly is an example of love is blind. Lucky me!

Newleaf, way to survive the super bowl party. Sounds extremely painful to me but sounds like you were a very good sport. Hooray for size 12 jeans. Can't wait til I'm there!

Gardener, The start of a new diet is the best. It's the boost we need to stick with it! I think since I maintained most of the summer it's almost like I'm starting new. Sounds like your plan is your non plan! That's OK! Whatever works!

AlleyTD, glad to hear from you again. Hope your Lasik goes well!

Weightloswanted, Great avatar! Nice to put a face to your posts.

Patchwork, sounds like your second surgery was also a success. What project are you working on now?

ICU, I also despise reviews. I get very uncomfortable although I know I am a great employee. Really wish we didn't have to do them!

Hotsplashes, what is a physiatrist? I had to reread your post because I thought it said psychiatrist!

Presmaggie, Yeah for loose jeans! 3 more weeks of summer, that's how it should be. I do think we start way to early here but nobody asked me!

Jacquee, hope your mom is doing better after her surgery. Thinking of you!

I hope I haven't missed anyone, if I did I didn't mean to! My loss this morning is really giving me the willpower to not snack right now!

Wow, I missed a lot!

Presmaggie and Marie - love the new avatars! Presmaggie - your face looks so slender - how fun! Marie - You are so pretty now that we can finally see your face beneath the sunglasses!

Presmaggie and Newleaf - so jealous of you gals in your size 12s! I'm still fighting the good fight in my size 14s - aargh! Can't wait to be in (dare I say it) single digits!!

Madison - a belated welcome! Come and tell us how you're doing!

Jacqui - Sound like a tough time - hang in there!

ICU - what fat percentage do you aim for if you don't mind discussing it? I was intrigued by your comment : )

Alleytd - hope the surgery went well! And congrats on the loss!

penguin - loved the rain hitting your eyes story!

Back to work...

marie - count me in with the chickies who think you're gorgeous! And thanks for the kind words on the career change. I'll provide more details as timelines and task lists develop. :)

dancer - experience tells me that when I get below 30%, my skin flakes, my hair is brittle, my nails all split and I'm as ornery as a hornet on a hot day. Let me eat an avocado ... and I become a nice person again. I currently am pushing about 33-38% fat, mostly coming from avocado and coconut, and nuts and seeds. Dairy (organic wherever possible) would make up the next biggest category. Dr. Mercola has some theories that your historical lineage (where your ancestors came from) have a lot to do with where you "thrive" diet-wise - the more tropical your background, the higher your carbs need to be, and the more frozen/Arctic, the higher the fat you can process. Me, I'm about 95% German, Russian, Scot, and English. Maybe he's right. All I do know is that I have tried low-fat diets and that's exactly what got me to my highest weight. Low simple-carbs worked a little better but my bloodwork went bananas - high LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. In general, I guess I'd call what I do a low-glycemic load, high "good fat" diet. Total cholesterol remains high (it runs in the family) but HDL is very high, and tri's went way down. And even better, I am very happy, losing weight, and not hungry - I can live with this! Hope that helps!

OMW - in many industries, "performance evaluations" are pretty much history. Give me some objectives with measurable metrics, and I will find a way to meet them. Not always a good idea to probe how I did it! I thought my manager, who's a guy younger than me, did a great job doing his HR homework, and he's very perceptive. I might be less nervous than most because I've never bought into the notion that my job defines me - I can take it or leave it. :)

Heidi - nice work with the party! Polite and IN CONTROL!!! I am sure your scale will reward you this week!

Off to complete a short story that's way overdue ... see y'all tomorrow! No unplanned snacks!

Funny, I remember how upset I was when I first had to buy size 12 jeans. Now I would be dancing in the street if I could get back down to a 12! I am determined to get there, ya'll are such an inspiration : ) I take terrible pics, even when I was thin. Not sure why, but I always squint or close my eyes!

Thank you ladies for such a warm welcome. I've read all of your posts and you'll have to pardon me, it's gonna take a while before I can remember all of your names. :)

Everyone seems to be doing great on their weightloss! Great job everybody!

I was just wondering what type(s) of nutritional plan(s) are you using and your fitness routines.

Thanks so much again for the warm welcome. I am excited to be part of such a great support team!

Thanks EVERYBODY!!!

I did get up and go to boot camp...going to make a healthy breakfast...no more hospital food...yippee!!! And then we will hit the road to college.

Hope everybody has a GREAT day!!! Will check back later.

) I take terrible pics, even when I was thin. Not sure why, but I always squint or close my eyes!

I think you are selling yourself short -- I love your avatar, and I'm assuming that's you. It's a great pic!

PresMaggie - I love your new avatar photo -- you look great!! And with a jewel-toned top, to boot! It was you who said always a jewel-toned top, right?

newleaf - yep, I'm the jewel toned top girl. I think patchworkpenguin is keen on them, too. That top is one that I bought on the way up and I've been using it as an incentive. It had been too tight until the last couple of days.

Jacque - good luck on your trip to college!

Madison - I'm using the Sparkpeople site to count calories and a personal trainer to set up a weight training/cardio plan at the gym.

weightlosswanted - I remember my first pair of size 12 jeans, too. That was a long time ago and a sad day.

ICUwishing - when do you start your gemologist training and how long will it take?

dancerindenver - thanks for the comment about my avatar. I'm now in the size range where my face really changes as I lose weight.

onmyway - congrats on the 2.5 pounds. I guess that routine does really help.

Alley - I'm another one who is so glad I had laser eye surgery. It made life so much easier not to be worrying about glasses that fog up. I used to live in an extremely cold climate and it was really a pain to deal with that.

I had a pretty bad day for eating yesterday. However, I had a great workout and my body feels so great this morning. What an incentive to keep going. I have so much more stamina now.

I can't remember who asked about my ragdoll cats, but one is siamese colored and the other one is white with a grey face. They are fabulous cats and I've found out that they are spider killers - my heroes. We have these big spiders called wolf spiders that are bigger than anything I ever saw growing up in a colder climate. I found the crumpled bodies of 3 spiders this morning and I had no idea there were so many out and about at night.

newleaf: yay for size 12 jeans!

Marie: thanks for the confirmation about knowing deep in our hearts what makes us fat -- that's exactly what's happening for me. A kind of waking up from a fog of denial.

Onmyway: yay for the motivating power of a downtick in the scale to keep you on track!

ICUwishing: I'm glad your review went well. I'm encouraged that you have lost weight on a non-plan and that 3FC made the difference -- I'm hoping that works for me, too!
I'm really impressed by your awareness about what your body needs. I'm reading lots of diet books right now for motivation and it's pretty funny how each one is so adamant that their way is the only way -- and the next one is just as adamant with the opposite point! I really do think that everything works for someone, but nothing works for everyone because we're all different. Now, I just need to figure out what makes my body tick.

madison27: I'm just starting, too, so I'm not really into much of a routine yet. I've eliminated eating in the car; eating things that I buy at a gas station, drug store, or mall; eating after supper except from a small prescribed list. That's the situations where I've experienced binging behavior so I wanted to put a stop to it. Over a year ago, I got into local and all-natural foods, so now that I got myself to eating most of my food from home again, that's what I'm doing. It's a good time of year for that -- I'm eating vegetables at all three meals! For exercise, at the moment, I'm just doing something every day -- usually walking. I may set a more firm goal for September.

weightlosswanted, hotsplashes, and others: Here's how I got my blog link to work.
My blog's address is
3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/gardenerjoy/
At the forums, I click on UserCP in the purple bar to get to my profile page. Click Edit Profile in the left menu. Scroll down to the Diet-Blog section and I have "gardenerjoy" in that box (without the quotes). Hope that helps someone!

I'm still riding the wave of new diet syndrome with lots of energy and enthusiasm. I'll take that as long as I can get it!

Good morning ladies.....

I am home but have major catching up to do both here online and around the house.

The cruise was GREAT even with daily rain; unfortunately I came back with a sore throat and sniffles. I'm up 2.8 lbs. but considering what I ate and drank I'm very happy. I had camera issues so many of my pictures did not come out. What I do have I will post on Flickr.

I'll be back later today or tomorrow to catch up.

Hello Ladies.. gonna be quick... Got 8 more articles to write before deadline at midnite.. been putting it off for 2 weeks..

Physiatrist is a medical doctor who works to heal your skeletal structure holistically without surgery. I prefer that over being Sliced open!!

Penguin.. Cataract Surgery..I was thinking Lasix!!lol And yes..odd the raindrop on the eyeball thingy!!

My blog link isn't working yet either and niether is my ticker... what's with that???

OK.. writing articles between loads of laundry... sheesh...

Take care and see everyone tomorrow!!!

Cindy - welcome back! Isn't Alaska AWESOME??? (even with the weather)

Hotsplashes - deadlines, ewwww. My sympathies. Are you the sort of person who does their best work under a little pressure?

gardener - thanks ... yes, I've worked way harder than I should have to figure out what I can live with, diet-wise. Never, never, NEVER give up - as you said, there is something that will work for everybody. Maybe the new field of nutrigenomics is the answer we've all been waiting for - we'll be able to give a DNA sample and they'll be able to tell us what we should be eating!

pres - I love your new picture too, and any cat that kills spiders is welcome in my house. I know of those wolf spiders - we used to catch them up at school in coffee cans, and toss them down in the basement. We believed that they were keeping the mice under control. (goosebumps). I expect to get started with my certification training sometime in early October. I have a lot of things I need to get in order before I start this. I'm not sure exactly how long it will take - it's self-paced. A year, I think?

Decent day so far. I'm anxious to see the next scale drop - I've been waffling at 157 +2 since July 31. Much as I'd like to see this happen faster, I'm just not willing to cut back any more. :)

gardnerjoy: oic! I think I got it this time : )
newleaf: thanks, but my friends will tell you most of my pics have my eyes closed or squinting (or they get a pic of my hand). a friend posted a pic of me when I was 15 - with my eyes closed. I'm working on not doing that anymore!

the hat in my avatar was purchased just for fun, but I live in it when I'm out riding the buses on my days off. it's sooo hot here in south carolina and I burn easily. it also makes my hairdresser happy because I'm not bleaching out the pretty color I spend so much time and money on!

Hey all! While Mom and I were busy at CBS workshop on Wed Dad and Hubby put tile on the floor in the bathroom. YAY! We {Hubby, April, and I} spent the night at my parent's house last night. Hubby and Dad are putting the toilet back in as we speak, and will grout the floor as well as add more grout to what's in the shower, which came out very dark.

My right eye is doing much better! My vision was a little dark and had a green overcast but that is gone now, I'm still having a little trouble with the double vision and may now need more surgery to fix that but hopefully my eyes can figure that out on their own!

Madison, I'm trying to count calories and stay away from choc, not cutting it out entirely just cutting back! But no specific eating plan. I nomally exercise about 1 hour a day {alternating days of weights or cardio} but have cut back due to the surgeries and recovery {and it just so stinking HOT in the summer!]. I do workout videos at home, and run on the treadmill with audio programs.

Cindy, welcome back! I’m glad the cruise was good. I gained 5 pounds on our Alaskan cruise so you did great!

OMW, I’d have to say your DH is lucky to have you. You’re clearly a wonderful person!

Dancer, dare to say single digits. I thought I’d be ecstatic with 12s (and was) and now I’m eyeing the 10s as my 12s are getting a little big. Since I just bought a pair of shorts, I wish I’d bought the 10s. So I’m wearing my white shorts (yes a NSV) every day till Labor Day since they’re getting big. But I do like big and roomy… ;)


ICU, you’re right on about the genetic regions being an influence on the body. My dr. actually asked my ancestry last year and said I was unrealistic about being thin based on my genetics. I guess we all have to find where we reside in the scheme of all of it.

WLW, you’ll get to the 12s. Just never give up. Like you I always am photographed with my eyes closed. When I looked at the self-timer shots, I was amazed how blue my eyes were in some. In the mirror they look blue-green. In photos they’re always vibrant blue but only if the camera caught me with my eyes open. And your look like the perfect southern belle in your hat. I love your avatar.

Madison, I count calories. I use a great iPhone application (Lose It!) that was free and better than I ever had with my paid computer apps. I always have the iphone with me, so no excuses not to log. BTW, it works on the ipod touch as well. I also walk 1.5 miles daily, elliptical 5X/week and on those other 2 days I usually bike or swim. Exercise is good for the brain – aka depression…

Joci, yeah on no hospital food. You do know that they give that stuff just so they can make money on hospitalizing you with poisoning or clogged arteries.

Presmaggie, wonderful that your top is no longer tight. Isn’t that the biggest motivator. When you shrink back into favorite clothes. It’s like a shopping success. :carrot:


Joy, I think that 3FC helps the energy and enthusiasm wave go on and on. There are depressing threads but not this one! Our chickie friends here are the best motivation and cheerleaders.

Hotsplashes, thanks for the dr definition. I hope it works. I totally agree with no surgery. My wrist is on the orthopedists surgery radar so I just won’t go back.

Penguin, here’s keeping the fingers crossed the double vision heals itself.

Work is crazy, life is busy. In other words, nothing new… :D

Marie

I got up early Wed morning to get ready for Bible study and for the first time in my adult life I didn't have to put my contacts in as part of my morning routine. I was so confused, it blew my whole routine! I wandered around the house wondering what to do first or next??? I finally figured it out and got ready to go, LOL>

Sleeping in a different house and bed last night was weird for both of us! Poor April kept trying to leave the room and go downstairs. I don't think she figured out we were spending the night until we climbed into bed and turned off the light.

:carrot::carrot: Happy Friday!!!:carrot::carrot::carrot:

It's Dancing Carrot Day because I got my first FULL SIZED carrot out my garden!! And it was one of my Creme Delite yellow Carrots!!:carrot::carrot:

Cruise Cat~! Only 2.8 lbs Up!! Wonderful Job!! I came back from Cuba 5lbs up. Friend of mine came back from Jamaica 9lbsup!!! Hope you are feeling better soon! We want to see pictures!!!

ICU~ Waffling with that weight? Just do a bit of changes, up your exercise... or change your diet a bit.. Don't cut back.. just make changes. Eat your carbs early in the day. Have only protien and veggies for supper. Change regular bread for diet bread. Just little changes like that can make a big change! And yes.. I work better under pressure!lol Got them all done during the Tornado last nite. Typing by candlelight while the laptop ran on batteries!!lol

WLW~ I love your hat also! And I am sure your stylist loves you for it!lol I'm surprised at what it costs to get my hair done these days. $200 last time I did it. The last 6 months I have doing Boxed color from the drugstore and my friend does my trims as she is a stylist on Mat leave!lol

Penguin~ Glad to hear your vision is getting better!lol ANd now it's time to make up a new routine!lol How is the visit going? Does April travel well? My JRT travels well, but Dobiedog has severe anxiety issues. Enjoy your weekend!

Marie~ Do you have Carpal Tunnel? What are you doing for your wrist? And single digits in clothing? I haven't seen that in... 4 years. I would like to be in Single Digit clothing by Xmas.... Your Dr. is basing your weight on your ethnic genetics? Gees then I'm doomed. 3/4 Sicilian and 1/4 English.. Doomed to Pasta and Fish and Chips!!!

If I missed anyone... I'm sorry!! But I wish everyone a Happy Weekend!! Time for the Carrot Happy Dance!!!:carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot:

presmaggie: hope your eating day went better yesterday -- I found exercise motivates better eating for me, too. Apparently, something that Time article from the other thread missed.

CruiseCAT: glad your cruise was great and that your weight was within reasonable range for the event

ICUWishing: DNA analysis -- that sounds so futuristic! But, of course, I'm typing on a machine that was Star Trek material when I was a kid!

weightlosswanted: Yay! The blog link works!

patchworkpenguin: hope your eyes and brain figure out the double vision thing! and LOL on the morning routine. It always messes me up when my husband is in the car because he wants it started and the air conditioner turned on. But that's five steps into my routine! I can't figure out how to do it.

Marie: thanks for the encouragement to make use of this thread for motivation and cheerleading. I feel like I'm posting every day just to say "everything's still going fine." But I want to establish a habit so that when I do have challenges, posting every morning will be part of the routine.

Hotsplashes: Yay for carrots from the garden! I haven't tried growing carrots yet, maybe next year. I'm intrigued by the varieties that you can leave them in the ground and harvest in December. And congrats on finishing up that writing by the deadline!

Everything's still going fine. But I do have some challenging situations this weekend that I'll try to work through in my morning posts.

Penguin, how wonderful to have that contact routine gone forever. Trust me, you’ll find plenty to fill up those extra minutes. If I had to scrunch contacts back into my morning routine, I’m thinking it would be impossible. BTW, my doggies are crappy travelers. Hence the doggie sitter.

Hotsplashes, no kidding you produce under pressure. Writing your articles during a tornado watch/warning. Me I’d be in the basement corner cowering. I grew up in the Midwest and am terrified of those storms. Thankfully the high desert doesn’t have them. Give me the earthquakes any day. And savor every morsel of your carrot. My wrists are in bad shape from years of falling on them. I’m as speed junkie – skiing, rollerblading and biking have made the bones deformed (according to the ortho and radiologist). The last rollerblade fall, last April, broke three bones and one didn’t heal correctly. Surgery is mentioned. I have a high tolerance for pain so I figure that’s not an option as it’s not too bad in my opinion.

I ditto the TGIF from hotsplashes. I have the unfortunate task of working tomorrow but it will be from home. That I can take. I’ll be with the doggies and working in my PJs is so superior to being in my office.
Marie

We went shopping for a new sink cabinet and came home with a pedestal sink instead. We bought it at a local surplus store so I can't link you to a picture but its white and on the decortive side with a big ledge around the back and sides, and only cost $70 as compared to a sink cabinet at $200+. We have a medicine cabinet and linen closet in the bath so storage shouldn't be a huge problem. Dad and Hubby are going to install it tomorrow! We have a working toilet and bathtub {no shower yet!}, but will have a sink tomorrow. Yay! We also bought a piece of trim to go around the bottom of the walls where there used to be black tile. There was some damage to the wall behind the sink that we assumed we were going to cover with the sink cabinet so now we have to fix the wall behind the pedestal, which hopefully is only going to involve spackle and not sheetrock. but mostly we are so excited to be so close to having a finished bathroom again.

I got up this morning and walked into the bathroom, exclaiming "Hubby, wake up, someone came in the house overnight and tiled the bathroom floor" He didn't think that was as funny as I did! Cackle, cackle!

April thinks every time she gets into the car she's going to the park {which is mostly true!], but the closer we get to the park she whines louder and louder! The harder we try to get her to stop the more she whines, it kinda sucks all the fun out of taking her anywhere! She whined all the way to M and D house but on the way back from the park {or wherever} she's quiet and just lays in the back seat. Crazy dog!

Splashes, Yay on the :carrot:!

patchworkpenguin - it sounds like your bathroom is going to be really nice when you're done!

Marie - that's interesting about your genetics and weight. What basis is that done on? For instance, if your ancestors came from colder countries is it less likely that you'll be ultra thin? Just curious.

gardenerjoy - hope your weekend is ok.:hug:

hotsplashes - you're a writing machine. I have a friend who's a TV writer and she says the same thing about deadlines. I wonder if the lack of time makes a person write with less second guessing?

weightlosswanted - a hat sounds like a good idea in your climate. A lot of the Asian women where I live wear hats in the sun. It's probably a good idea...

ICU - you threw wolf spiders into your basement? Yikes. I can't imagine you went down there too often.:lol:

CruiseCAT - welcome back! Looking forward to pictures when you have them.

Yesterday I ate really well and today I had the bad carb cravings in the afternoon again. After Googling my issue, it seems that I need to eat more complex carbs within an hour after finishing my exercise. Instead, I had been eating my usual protein/veggie combination and then getting these carb cravings a few hours later. My exercise sessions are about 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of weight training and both days that I had the bad cravings were workout days. Hopefully increasing the carbs will solve that problem.

I am so glad it's friday! It's been a great first week back at school with kids. We have a really good group this year. There will be some challenges but for the most part, I'm expecting a great year!

DD is loving middle school. She's up and ready to go early. It's nice to see her so excited about school. I'm taking her to see Mary Poppins tomorrow night. I can't wait, I heard it's very good!

DS (20) begins his paramedic training tuesday. One if his friends has been staying with us this past week so I've been cooking alot. I'm amazed that it was so easy to get back into the routine of packing my lunch and eating better. Anyone else notice that you don't or can't eat near as mcuh as you used to?

Welcome back cruise, can't wait to see pics of your trip! Bet Mack was happy to have you home again!

Presmaggie, good that you found a possible solution to your problem with cravings. Let us know if changing things up with the carbs helps.

Patchwork, your new bathroom sounds nice, you are lucky DH is so handy. We had our main bath gutted in the spring and signed the contract to do our master bath next week. This weekend we will be picking tile and fixtures. DH is handyman challenged!

Gardener, hope you make it through your challenges this weekend. Posting here has been a great support for me. I've been on 3FC for about 8 months.

Hotsplashes, typing by candlelight during a tornado! You rock!

Marie, Sorry you have to work this weekend. Hope you have some time to do something fun!

WLW, love the hat! Smart to wear one to keep sun away. Looks cute too!

Anyone else I missed, Hope you have a great weekend!

Yay! It's the weekend!
The first major canning project of the season gets under way today. We don't count the jams/jellies/syrups as major - those are small-batch deals. Today will be salsa and ketchup, and tomorrow is peaches. So the kitchen will be trashed non-stop! It's always worth it in the dead of winter. Still clearing clutter and getting stuff out for my Freecycle group. There's something magical about digging up something you don't have a need for, posting it, and somebody comes to your house and whisks the thing away to a new life. I love it!

Marie: thinking of you working in your PJs today -- hope it's productive.

patchworkpenguin: I love pedestal sinks -- you may be surprised how much bigger your bathroom looks and feels.

presmaggie: good job researching your carb cravings issue; complex carbs after exercise sounds like a strategy that could really work.

Onmyway: congratulations on surviving the first week back at school! I'm glad it went well. Would it be okay if I PMed you about your bathroom remodeling. We're planning to do that in the next year, too, and I'd love to know any insights you have on local companies.

So, today's challenge is driving about an hour and a half out in the country to an Old Thresher's Show. I have no idea what kind of food will be available there. It could be as limited as an old guy at the Optimist's Food Booth asking whether we want ketchup or mustard on that hot dog. Fortunately, DH is even more opposed to hot dogs for lunch than I am (he's allergic to beef and pork), so I've convinced him that we'll either pack a lunch or eat lunch early at home and pack a snack. So, I'm going to pretend there is no food and concentrate on taking cool photos of old farm equipment.

There's another possible challenge which would be if DH decides he doesn't want to go after all today. That's fine -- it's more his thing than mine and I certainly have plenty of fun things I can do at home. But, I sometimes don't do well when plans are changed and engage in emotional overeating just because I'm feeling a off-center. So, that's something I want to watch out for and avoid. Let's see, if off-center is the issue, maybe doing some Qi Gong would be helpful.

Morning all. Hubby got up early this morning to go to the junkyard {I slept in}, and when I got up I went outside to throw the toy for April and stayed outside to work in the backyard. Its breezy and 85* outside in the shaded back. I reclaimed two beds from the weeds and decided I need to move a few things and divide some hostas later. Fun, fun!

Hubby grouted the floor last night and is currently washing the extra off the floor, more like scrubbing, they make it all look so easy on TV. I read him the last paragraph and now he's making jokes about DIY shows! The whole project is turning out well and he's doing a very good job for having never done this before!

Joy, Hubby has been dragging his feet about finishing this project so we haven't had a sink in the {only} bathroom in over a year, so adding anything is going to be weird. We put it in the correct spot and it looks good! Its nice that you and Hubby do things together, Hubby and I can't agree on much that we think is fun, if he's having fun I'm usually bored, and vice versa.

Oh, great, we get to go to Lowe's again.

Penguin, sometimes men just don’t have any sense of humor. I thought it was funny that you woke him up to tell him that he’d installed the tile. :D

Presmaggie, I remember her talking about the cold and packing the pounds on for winter, etc. To be honest, I really didn’t listen as I didn’t need to hear excuses why I was overweight – I wanted help so that I wouldn’t be. I figure next time I go in I’ll shock her. :smug:

OMW, I have noticed I don’t eat nearly as much but I think there’s still a send deep in me that wants the huge platter of food. I can’t figure out how to make that instant urge disappear. It’s really quick when serving up a portion but it’s there. That’s still my weakness. I know from experience that the stomach will grow if I eat large portions so I must keep the monster at bay. Portions are my key to success, both at losing and maintaining.

ICU, you can your own ketchup??? Wow, is it fantastic? And peaches – oh I love peaches. I always figured they were God’s gift to dieters.

Joy, not wearing the PJs (had to take the doggies out for a walk) but I am working. It’s odd, I brought my work Mac home so I could use the Windows partition on it to remote control my workstation. Convoluted yes… Anyway, my co-worker reset the network login screen so that workstation only doesn’t work. If I’d known yesterday I’d have changed the setting but I didn’t. So I’m typing here on the work Mac and my personal Mac is controlling my work desktop. I feel backwards. So as I type, I am re-indexing our student information system. After it’s done (about another 3 hours of monitoring, then I have to upgrade the program. Not hard work, but I can’t leave it.

So this morning the doggies and I had dog training again. Kodiak is angry – no other way to describe it. He is a defiant alpha dog and is very displeased with that I have taken the alpha status back. Liz (dog behaviorist) agrees we’re getting to a critical point and that’s why he’s even more defiant before performing commands. Actually when she left she said, “Oh you’re going to have a fun day.” But I won’t leave the great room so he can’t show his lift the leg defiance. I will win but he’s not quite ready to accept it. Mostly he’s been really good and the walks have been so improved but I have to be alpha over him 24/7 and that’s a lot of work. Lucky for me, he’s napping at the moment. BTW, Siberian husky males are jacka$$e$. Although wonderfully loyal and loving. :love:

Another stormy day here in Niagara, ladies! Storm then sun, Storm then Sun.. I've been timing the doggie walks with the weather.

Penguin, my geriatric Dobie does teh same thing.. Cries and cries all the way to the park.. then nothing coming home. Go figger JRT doesn't care either way.. she just wants to drive!

Marie, Is your other dog a Husky as well? Don't worry abou tthe Alpha thing... you will master it in no time!lol Is Kodiak fixed?? My friend raises and races Samoyeds. She's got the only full team of Sammies on her sledding circuit. Her males are the same way.. stubborn, but loyal and loving.

Gardner Joy, I hope you got to do something fun today. I love old farm shows! You can get some great pictures there. Either way I hope you had fun.

ICU.. I am making Spaghetti Sauce today!!! LOL a slow and boring proccess but boy does my house smell gooooood!!!MMmmm Peaches.. I have just recently gotten over my "Fuzzy Fruit Phobia" and now I love peaches!!

Enjoy the weekend ladies.. Mine is filled with Laundry, house cleaning, and making Spaghetti sauce...

Just popping in to say hello. :wave:

May you all have a wonderful weekend!! :)

Hi everyone...
I had my Lasik done and I CAN SEE :smug: !!
Things are still a bit hazy (healing) so I can't stay on the computer long.
But, I had to pop in because I am very excited to add my new blue cheerleader to my signature. Another 2 pounds gone :carrot: for a total of 10 pounds.

Very happy here.

Alley, I'm very happy you can see! and the extra 5 lbs is great too! How wonderfull for you!

Splashes, LOL, on JRT wanting to drive! At least I don't get that with April. She didn't start whining as badly until we got rid of the station wagon, she may be mad because she can't see, can't be with us as much, she's kinds trapped in the back of the cab, but mostly I think its just excitment!

Marie, You would think after 12 years of marriage Hubby would be used to my sense of humor, its just like my dad's.

I spent a great deal of today outside weeding! I tried out a new bug repellant, the Off! that sprays on dry. Its very good! I was pleased with the dry feeling on me, and thought it worked fairly well. I found its easier to apply to spray my hand and then rub it on my arms, it was windy and I seemed to waste a lot if I tried to spray just my arm.

I had major camera issues while on my trip so only posted a few on WebShots. I was almost in tears several times after coming back to the cabin each night uploading 100's of pictures only to find most did not come out.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/574265894LIcSww?vhost=outdoors

I knew it was time to replace our Sony CyberShot but because this was a short notice trip I did not have time to do the research to purchase a new camera. I am looking at DSLR's and would appreciate any advice you might have. I especially like the Canon t1i.

Cruise, Thanks for sharing the photos; they are beautiful! I liked the videos also. Were the fish salmon??

My parents went on a second Honeymoon to Hawaii in the early 80's. My dad took a helicopter ride over the island {he used to fly copters in Vietnam} when he tried to get the pictures developed he realized that the film hadn't loaded correctly and was blank!

ICU: One of the things I miss about living in upstate ny was all the fresh and canned fruits and veggies from my ex-inlaws garden. They pickled EVERYTHING! We have a great restaurant here that makes their own condiments, I'm hooked on their ketchup: )

Penguin: Sorry, but I love shopping at lowes, though I'm not very handy myself. I love the tile joke, that was too cool!

OMW: When I grow up I want to be a teacher too, middle school english : )

pressmaggie: I had a similar issue but it was due to not eating enough carbs before a workout. almost passed out one day and was texting the neighbors to bring me down chocolate or a soda, then remembered I had some fruit juice in the fridge!

Marie: I feel backwards most days : )

Hotsplashes: I was dodging rainshowers today myself, made for a spectacular sunset! You can avoid fuzzy fruit phobia by removing the skin : )

Joy: sure do hope you had a great day! do you take photos for fun or profit (or both)?

I had my first "bad" food day in a few weeks, but tomorrow I'll start over with a clean slate. My supervisor brought in my favorite bagels for breakfast and since one of my best friends is moving away we went to our fave chinese restaurant. Being good was NOT on the menu! Got some great "new to me" furniture, an older drop leaf table and hutch that reminds me of the one my mom had when I was growing up. Saw a pair of adorable ****zhu (sp?) doggies the other day in their own dog carriage. Too cute! And very tempting, sometimes I really want to get a dog again.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

oh my! they bleeped out half the name of the puppies, how funny : )

Penguin: Sorry, but I love shopping at lowes, though I'm not very handy myself.
About the third trip a day for the past few days and Lowe's gets BORING! I did pick out a nice paint color for the walls in the bathroom, we put up a few rows of 1" tile as an accent around the shower enclosure, and the paint matches one of the colors.

http://i554.photobucket.com/albums/jj427/penguinspics/100_3222.jpg

I need to get Hubby to download more pictures for me to post.

[QUOTE=patchworkpenguin;2889305]About the third trip a day for the past few days and Lowe's gets BORING!


lol, I would think that might be frustrating. I could spend hours window shopping and dreaming of what I could do when I buy my own house.....someday. but multiple trips would be a pain. is lowes close by?

There's a Home Depot about 3 min away but Hubby insists on going to the Lowe's that is farther away because he likes that store better. I don't care either way as long as they have what I want, but the prices and selection seem better at Lowe's.

Mostly the mulitple trips are "i forgot this' or "we got the wrong size" just little things like that. I ususlly end up at the paint chip place looking for ideas, or flipping through the books.

penguin: I prefer lowes too, hubby has good taste : ) I get in trouble in the gardening/plant section!

ICUwishing: How is the canning going?

patchworkpenguin: sounds like great progress in the bathroom. I like the one inch tile border -- good job on finding paint to match one of them. That should look great! Looking forward to more pix! We may have a bathroom project in our near future.

Marie: good luck with the dog-training. And, I thank you for all the people you pass on your walks for working so hard on this. I love it when it's obvious that people are in control of their dogs rather than vice versa.

Hotsplashes: Are your storms the remnants of Hurricane Bill? We had a horrible time with Hurricane Ike last year--even though it wasn't really a hurricane by the time it got to Missouri!

AlleyTD: yay for healing and yay for the weight loss! Lovin' the blue cheerleader.

CruiseCat: I just got a Canon Digital Kiss -- that's the Japanese-branded version of the Rebel xTi. I got it used from KEH.com and I'm quite happy with it. And with the shopping experience at KEH including the price.
Also, whatever you get, I recommend taking a short class to get past the scary part of understanding aperture and shutter speed and the like. I took a 4 week continuing ed course at my local community college and it got me going much faster than I would have going it alone. Actually, it was worse than going it alone -- it was having my husband explain it all in minute detail when I needed to know one little thing and confusing me in the process!
Looks like a wonderful adventure -- you saw bears!

Weightlosswanted: didn't get to the Old Thresher's Show after all so no pix, but I take photos for fun. Mostly flowers. It's a new hobby of less than a year and I'm having a blast.

As I mentioned to weightlosswanted, we didn't make it to the Old Thresher's Show, but we had a nice, quiet Saturday that we both enjoyed, so good enough. No pictures, though!

Today's challenge is a family dinner. It's potluck. I plan to fill half my plate, or more, with salad. I'm bringing a roasted eggplant salad and my mother in-law will bring something, but her salads often are loaded with mayo, so I'll load up on mine. Sometimes the meals are kind of missing carbs, especially good ones, in my opinion, but if that's the case, I'll just skip the carbs and have something when I get home. I'm not quite prepared to forego dessert when it's offered, but I'll take a small piece and share it with my husband. Also, the family is in the country, so I'll try to take advantage and walk a lot when we're not eating.

Hotsplashes, yes all my dogs are huskies and they all want to be the alpha. Surprisingly, Kodiak was an angel yesterday. I think he’s trying to outsmart me. I’m thinking he knows I’m more stubborn than him but it just goes against his grain to relinquish the alpha without a fight. This morning he was the best one on our walk. Training 3 dogs by myself on a walk is quite interesting. BTW, when you’re done with your chores, come to my house. Especially if you’re making spaghetti sauce – I’ll make the fresh pasta. :D


Yeah Alley on the blue cheerleader and being able to see. Lasik is a miracle for those of us that had never been able to see the clock in the morning.

Penguin, my offer to hotsplashes goes for you as well. My pool area needs weeding and you wouldn’t even need Off. No bugs. Then hotsplashes and I will feed you spaghetti. Heck I’ll even make homemade sourdough bread.

Cruise, I bought a Nikon D60 from Costco last February. I did a lot of research between Canon and Nikon. This website, www.imaging-resource.com (http://www.imaging-resource.com/) has provided me with the best knowledge base. My complaint with digital cameras has always been the lag time between pressing the button and the camera taking the pic. This site tests pretty much all of them. I chose the Nikon because the features were similar to the Canon I was looking at but for about 200 less. Then I bought it at Costco for the main online prices I found in a package that included at nice zoom lens for the same online price (for without that zoom). I’ve always loved the Nikkor lens so the choice was easy. BTW, you will love a digital slr. And I swear your Alaska023 shot is identical to my shot of a trail climbing Mt Robert in Juneau. Your pics look good regardless of the faulty camera.

WLW, too funny about the bleeped name of the doggies. I can’t imagine not having doggies. Perhaps you should go back and choose a puppy and name him/her bleep. I’m with penguin in that Lowes is pretty boring. But I do “like” it and hate our local Home Depot. It’s about 20 miles away and Lowes is 80 – we still choose Lowes hands down.

Joy, I have the utmost faith that you’ll eat on track today. And I’ll have to check out the website you recommended to Cruise. I love toy websites. ;)

I did it yesterday. While working my 15 hour day, I ordered 2 pairs of size 10 jeans. I also ordered new bras. I found my tape measure and measured, re-measured and measured again. According to every website I perused for determining the right size, I should be a 32F. Ha!!!! The 34D’s are too loose around the ribcage so I know the 32 is right but the D’s aren’t totally filled on the 34Ds. So much for measuring. I ordered 32Ds so that the band fits right and sites said the cup size get smaller as the band size goes down. Why the heck do they do that? :dizzy:They shouldn’t make it a guessing game. I should be able to measure the ribcage for the band (but no, you add 4-5” for that measurement), then the full part of the boobs and determine cup size. But no, let’s make it an art not numbers. Then the jeans, my Levi 12s are getting baggie but my Lee jean shorts size 14 are just starting to get baggie. Then I measured the waist and hips (haven’t done this in years). If I went by strict sizing guidelines I should be a 14 on top, slightly less than a 14 on waist and a 10 on hips. No wonder between manufacturers I can’t just choose one size. Figuring out sizes has turned into rocket science. I figure the hips being out of proportion now (certainly not in the past) is due to the 4 years of lower body workouts. My upper body is ridiculously weak. Looking in the mirror I look in proportion to me but the tape measure argues something different according to US size charts. OKAY my sizing rant is over. I decided to go with what I knew – order the same style jeans in one size smaller and the bra one size smaller. So we’ll see when the orders arrive.

Marie

Patch... yep all the fish in the streams were salmon; either sockeye (red) or Chum (dog). I saw eagles both golden and bald; and lots of goats, sheep and bear. OK... not lots of bear, but I did see four.

Thank you Joy & Marie for the camera info. At this point I think I am leaning towards the Canon because it does video in HD and has 15 mp. I have found a kit for under $1000 (no tax and free shipping) that has 5 lenses, hard case, soft case, and lots of extras that seems like a good deal. Went to Costco today and they wanted $849 and it only included 2 lenses. BTW... does anyone know how much in one of their berry smoothies?

Joy - Hope all went well at the pot luck. I'm like you and always take something I know I can fill up on.

Patch - I can relate to the multiple trips; anytime we do a "project" it includes at least two extra trips to Lowes. We are thinking about doing our bathroom and are going back out today to price stuff we think might work. Has anyone done an entire bath before? We would like to do it ourselves but plumbing is not Mack's strong point. It's just replacing stuff.... how difficult can it be?

Marie - Thanks for reminding me it's time to get back to training Hogan and getting his certification. He has his CGC but I really want him to be a therapy dog before the end of the year.

Speaking of dogs, our genetic mess Tucker is not doing well. We always said he would be lucky to make it to five and he met that milestone back in February. We have increased his meds but also are preparing for the inevitable.

WLW - I see you are in SC. My son and his family are in Myrtle Beach and I am there at least twice a year. Next trip will be for Noah's 2nd birthday in January.

Hi, everyone. Just popping in real quick, I have lots of catching up to do... Welcome back, CruiseCAT!!! I can't wait to read all about your trip! Quick skim and I know your camera was a bust -- I'm sorry to hear about that!

We were camping this weekend, had a great time. Beautiful location, wonderful bike trail, great hike.

Tomorrow will be really busy with just lots of misc. stuff. BUT, the weight loss work begins again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting back into the rigor.

Just popping by.

Cruise I am so sorry to hear about Tucker... but I am sure he knows he is well loved even for the short time he has had. My Dobie is 12, 4 years past the average for a dobie. I have been preparing for the inevitible for 4 years now. Give Tucker a hug for me.

Marie! Congrats on the 10s!!! Bra sizing sucks. If you went down to a size in band.. you sometimes go up in cup. So say you were a 34C.. then if you go down you would usually go into a 32D. It's a weird process but I learned the art of fitting bras from a European expert when I worked at a Bridal Shop many years ago.

GardnerJoy, I hope you won the challenge at teh Family Potluck!!These storms are coming in from the MidWest and then over the great lakes. We do get effects from Hurricanes in the Gulf and from the East coast sometimes.. usually the Gulf tho.

NewLeaf.. where did you go camping?? And good luck on your new challenge starting tomorrow!

Home Depot is the only BigBox hardware store we have here. THey are trying to get a Lowes in... we shall see. We ARE getting a Walmart SUperStore!!

Dr. BF came back from out west bearing gifts.. some new cloths.. and these Asian Dessert Buns.. called Pineapple buns... But I don't think they have Pineapple in them... but boy are they good. His mom made them.. she knows I love them... and hers are sooo much better than when we go to China Town in Toronto to get them!!

See everyone tomorrow on the New Thread!!!

Hi, all!
Alley - congrats on the new eyes!
Cindy - The pictures are excellent, but aren't the memories even better? Alaska is ... AMAZING!! We never saw bear nor moose - but did see "scat" from both. (ew)
Marie - Isn't finding clothing just a trip? Doesn't make a bit of sense. I can relate about the weak upper body -you'd think swimming would be great for that, but somehow the pull in the water doesn't translate to anything functional on land. I am going to start doing the "Royal Court" from Matt Furey's program tomorrow and see if I can build up something I can actually use. :) Sounds like you're having fun with taking back the alpha position! ;)

Canning was good and everything turned out well. DH put our homegrown garlic in the salsa and it's WAY stronger than last year (cool spring/summer?). Should be interesting! My GF was over working on peaches with my MIL and DH - she suggested we use the extra peach juice for ... are you ready? ... peach Mimosas. As in, peach juice and champagne. Yikes! The ketchup is unlike anything ever put in a bottle - I don't know how to describe it - it's DH's semi-recipe (he won't write anything down) and it has garlic, chipotle pepper, and a little allspice. Smoky and zingy. Makes a wicked BBQ base too!

Not a great weekend. I fell prey to some old bad habits and will need to clean that act up immediately. I am sure there will be some punishment on the scale in the morning.

Cruise....welcome back glad you had fun...sorry to hear about Tucker.
Everybody...:wave: Hope you are all doing well!!!