Sugar Shakers - Sugar Busters Weekly Support Board 9/10-9/16

This is the SUGAR BUSTERS WEEKLY SUPPORT BOARD where all of you who are following this WOE, or are thinking about doing so, are welcome to come join in and be a part of our wonderful group.

Other than finding support and friendship on this board, we also try to do something during the the week to add a little difference to our board.

MONDAY-MOTIVIATIONAL MONDAY
TUESDAY-TUESDAYS TIP & CHAT AT 9:15PM EST
WEDNESDAY-WEIGH-IN WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY-THURSDAY RECIPE DAY
FRIDAY-FRIDAY FIT FACTS

Please visit our LATEST BIO BOARD where you can learn more about everyone who is on this board:


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?postid=34143#post34143

Please make sure you post your BIO on the NEWEST VERSION of our BIO BOARD everyone!!!!


Our SEPTEMBER 2001 RECIPE BOARD can be located at the link below:


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=9038

We have SEVEN INFORMATIVE BOARDS!!!! Please take a few minutes to visit them! New information is continually being posted, so please make sure you visit them often-make sure to visit our newest board, MY FAVORITE SB LEGAL FOODS at the link below:

THE RECOMMENDED READING BOARD:


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=2342

THE TOOLS & TIPS BOARD:


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=2344

THE FOOD INFORMATION BOARD:


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=2365[/url

MOTIVATIONAL & INSPIRING THOUGHTS BOARD


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=2359

and our newest board MY FAVORITE SB LEGAL FOODS


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=5005

We also now have a SB WEEKLY EXERCISE BOARD that you can log your daily/weekly exercises on:


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=9251

WANT TO POST YOUR WEEKLY WEIGH IN INFO?? Go to the WEEKLY WEIGH IN BOARD below to post your stats!


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=9250

VISIT OUR NEW SUGAR BUSTERS 2001 PICTURE GALLERY at the link below. You can upload pictures or post links to pictures on this board:)


http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7954

NEWBIES! (aka new members) If you would like to REPLY to any of our threads, please hit NEW REPLY not NEW THREAD, then type your message in and hit SUBMIT REPLY. If you need to edit your reply, just click on edit located in the body of your post and make changes as you need to, then hit SUBMIT NOW.


WELCOME! :D

We have one birthday to celebrate this week which is RALYNNE'S BIRTHDAY SEPT. 11th which is tomorrow!!

GOOD MONDAY MORNING EVERYONE!

Don't have time to post right now, have to get Michael off to school soon then come home for my walk, but wanted to make sure I got our MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY done early in the morning, so here's my contribution for MM:

http://members.aol.com/debelli/monday_morning_thought.jpg

NO MATTER WHAT

You can do whatever you decide to do. You can accomplish whatever you commit to accomplishing. It pays to keep reminding yourself of that, day after day. Because circumstances will often leave you discouraged. Because things often fail to go your way.

And yet, with each disappointment you gain new strength. It may not seem so great at the time. Life can certainly be painful. Even when it is, though, your possibilities are still with you. With each setback your determination grows stronger. And you learn. Today you will learn some new lesson about what works for you and what doesn't. Tomorrow you'll have the opportunity to apply that newfound knowledge.

Stop for a moment and consider what an incredible opportunity that really is. No matter what life may throw at you, you can use it to move toward whatever you've decided to accomplish.

So by all means decide on something clear and specific, something that's meaningful to you, something that's wonderful and joyful, exciting and fulfilling. You can get there, no matter what.

-- Ralph Marston


Gotta run, be back later!!!

Debbie
194/12?/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

GOOD MONDAY MORNING!

We had a great relaxing week-end at the beach. It was cloudy and overcast in the mornings, but it was kind of nice because it kept people away from the beach so we didn't have to share too much. :cool: We discovered a nice little seafood place Saturday night and went back for lunch on Sunday it was sooo good. We are going to try a 'personalized' version of the salmon we had sometime. Salmon stuffed with creamed spinach and baked inside filo dough (is filo legal?) or inside parchment paper with a cream sauce over the top. Our suite had a full kitchen so we made mini pizzas on WW pita bread from Publix and it was yummy! We'll definitely do that again!

We walked on the beach and played in the waves so much that I don't know if my calves are EVER going to quit hurting! I also jammed one of the toes on my left foot and aggravated it in the waves. It's swollen, so I'm glad that I don't have to put on high heels for any interviews until at least Wednesday at this point.

We stopped at the Sugar Mill Ruins park on the way home and it was really kind of neat. I wish there was more of it surviviing, but oh well. When we got home we got unpacked and promptly set about to 'burping' the new bed. You have to get all the air out of the mattress before it's ready to be used. When we went to bed last night Vince wasn't really tired and I was alternating between really hot and really cold and trying to get comfortable. Vince slept in the 'old' bed for a little while so he wouldn't keep me up with his tossing and turning (and vice versa, probably). I don't think either one of us slept too good last night - but I don't think it was the bed's fault. Hopefully tonight will be better. He had to work this morning so I haven't talked to him, but hopefully he'll be able to stay awake at work.

I'm putting my resume on Monster.com today. I e-mailed it to a very good prospect for an analyst position. Wednesday I have an interview with a bank for a Branch Mgr. position. I have a pretty extensive sales background, but my true love is computers. The bank position is a lead from my dad and he's sooo tickled about me working there that I don't know what I'm going to do if I get a cmputer geek job that I prefer. The bank position will be mostly sales and overseeing tellers and their sales and quotas and commissions and all that. I just don't get into all that - I can do it - I just don't like it all that much.

Anyway, better get back to the grindstone of finding a job...... I'll try to check in later and get some personal responses going. I haven't even checked on my Mississippi State Bulldawgs this week-end.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL YOU LIVELY LADIES!!!!!!

Morning Again Everyone:wave:

Got in my walk/jog, usual 4.5 miles, 3rd best time, 50:23-can't complain. Really didn't feel like going out, wanted to sleep, but of course, I couldn't had carpool this morning, then rushed home to get in my walk before Lauren had to go to school. Of course, as usual, I'm glad once I've gone that I went.

Scale is still up for me, TOM is ending today, I believe, so I hope the scale will start inching it's way down again-up 2.5lbs from my low, but at least I never went up past my goal weight!! Today is 3 months since I hit my goal!!!! Time sure does fly!!! Can't believe it will be
1 1/2 years on SB on Sept. 22nd!

Again, please, let me assure you, that Suzanne and Jennifer have no plans to close the board down, but please do remember that the board will be down for about 3 days in the near future. Suzanne will post a message to this effect of when this will take place. During this time, for those of you who I have an e-mail address of, we will communicate via e-mails-I for one know I will have board withdrawls!:eek: Again, if you are not listed on the BIO BOARD than I probably do NOT have your e-mail address. Anyhow, if any of you would like to e-mail Suzanne & Jennifer from 3FC'S and tell her how much this board REALLY means to us, you can e-mail them at: boardhelp@3fatchicks.com

BEE, got you PM and got your e-mail address-thanks!:)

FLY, I won't even attempt to go in Michael's room-dust bunnies, lets talk about dust dinosaurs! I have to threaten him with not being to go out on the weekends for him to do his room-he does it, stays neat for less than 24 hours-can't wait to see what he does when he goes out on his own to college! At least he'll know how to do his laundry, something I refuse to do anymore since I would find clean clothes strewn on the floor, back in the dirty laundry, under the bed, etc. etc. What's BAND OF BROTHERS? Let us know if Peter joins you on SB! Senior Member, maybe that's when you've posted 100 times-really not sure.

LINMAE, glad to hear you had a good time. I didn't win anything while in Vegas-usually I hit a small jackpot of some kind (meanin 100 nickles, 300 nickles, something), but not this time. I played conservatively-but I had fun. Each time I hit the casinos I seem to play less-I'd much rather be out shopping at Trader Joes!! Keep up with your water-it really DOES make a difference!

RHROO, glad to see you on the board-what kind of books are you buying? Trash picking hubby, sounds like my Father-he does that, literally! Hope your daughter does better at school today-good luck on WIW!!!

MELF, welcome back home!!!!

SOL, welcome back home too. Glad to hear you had a nice weekend! They have a WW or SPELT Phyllo dough at the WHOLE FOODS down here-so I know they do make it, so you may want to check out your stores up there. Dish sounds yummy! Hope you sleep better tonight! Good luck with the interview Wed., and with posting your resume as well-I hope you get a job you'll really enjoy, life is too short to settle for less, better be happy than miserable:)

A reminder thatTOMORROW IS CHAT AT 9:15PM EST I plan on being there, esp. since BIG BROTHER is on at 8:00PM it won't interfere with the chat time-so BOB, I expect you to be there too!!!!!!!! Oops, just realized, I'll have to tape BB-I have a meeting at the school tomorrow night-but should be home in time for chat!!!! Yuck, I have Acadamey Night on Thursday night as well-geez, going to miss BB again on Thursday-boy, this sucks!!!

Well, that's it for me for now. Going to go make some breakfast and then glue my butt to the couch to watch John Edwards' Crossing Over-you can't find me on the computer from 10-11am anymore!!!!

Have a wonderful SB WEEK everyone!:D

Debbie
194/126.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

I'm sorry to hear about all the muddle on the board with the site. That was horrible to read the 3 fat chicks journals, you could just feel how defeated they feel. I wish the good out weighed the bad. How can we protest????

Listen to your heart, and more than toys or money, or power, seek wisdom. It lasts longer, it won't wrinkle, and they don't tax it! Follow your dreams. It's alright to use goals in the pursuit of dreams, but never get the two confused. And finally, action counts. In the end, it's
what we do with our "four score and ten" that matters. It's the people we've touched, the things we've built, the values we stood for that will endure.
Philip E. Humbert, PhD

No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, but my life certainly has been spiraling uncontrollably as of late. Two weeks ago Wednesday, the side of my face was swollen and I couldn’t talk. Cause…an infection in the surgery site….Result…I lost my implant and very well could have lost my bone graph. What we do know is that the surrounding tissue basically died. Although all labs were not back, as they were running cultures, the Dr’s theory is that in some non-cancerous tumor cases, bacteria lies dormant in the jaw bone and surrounding tissue, when further surgery takes place it stirs up the bacteria. In addition, the infections have occurred when artificial tissue has been surgically placed. I checked out dental implant failures on the internet. There are studies that back up what Dr. Sternlieb is telling me. I’m encouraged to know that I can trust him, he’s one of the very best surgeons in our area.

On the same day I had surgery, my 2 ½ year old son, Michael, had his asthma flare up. By last Thursday we were back in the Dr.’s office , resulting in pink eye, sinusitis and bronchial asthma, the next day it worsened and after a chest x-ray it was determined that he also had a “touch of pneumonia”. He had an attack this morning, but overall I would say that his condition is improving and thank goodness no hospitalization.

Needless to say, I have not been at 100%, still maintaining 156-157, not really caring what I eat, but finding that sweets are too sweet and that other junk tastes like just that junk. I had a salad for lunch today, didn’t realize how much I missed it. I also started really working on the gardens. This is helping the stress level and giving me some badly needed exercise.

I hope all is well on the board. I honestly probably won’t be able to sit down and enjoy posts for sometime. I will though, drop a letter now and again. Please email me directly, if you have a spare moment. I would like to know how you are. ldblond@hotmail.com

Love and Hugs,
Lara

Of the soft and weak things in the world, none is weaker than water. But in
overcoming that which is firm and strong, nothing can equal it. That which
is soft conquers the hard.

- Lao Tzu

{{LARA}} Im so sorry to read you are right in the rough of it all at the moment. I hope you and your son get back to peak form quickly, with such a lot to have to deal with at once.

Well I have now lost 5 lb WOOHOO :D
I am also feeling better than I have done in AGES!!
and NO HEADACHES

I got the munchies yesterday again and actually got out the sugar,butter, bowl and was just getting the flour to make some cookies when i had to be honest and knew that if I made them i would eat some of the mixture before it got as far as the oven and i put it all away again
:smug:

Than when Lisa got home she made some (she NEVER cooks anything) so it was like it was meant to be !!
They got their cookies and got to eat them too and I didnt have to .....well anything :?: what a change and a relief!!

Hey!:wave:

Seems like Mondays are slow on the board-everyone recuperating from the weekend??? Actually, board's been slow for the past month, I usually expect this the week before Thanksgiving until after the New Year, then we lose some who've succumbed to the holiday treats and can't get their rear back in gear, and gain newbies who have made a New Years resolution to lose weight, some stay, some go-it's a vicious cycle. Actually, the b*tching starts around Halloween and continues until before Thanksgiving, then the whole holiday cycle starts right where it's left off-watch, you'll see how right I am (though I hope you all prove me wrong).

I did a little updating on the BIO BOARD instead of doing a new bio board-I deleted those who have not posted in more than 2 months-so if you posted before and are just lurking at this time, please know it's nothing personal, just figured after 2 months, you no longer are posting. There are a few more that will be up for deletion in the next 2 weeks-I feel like BB!

Has anyone heard fro AdamsRib? I keep e-mailing her, but they keep being returned.

Finally made the FEARN CAROB CAKE MIX, it's wonderful! Michael had just got home when I had taken it out of the oven, he loved it-asked for more! Of course, as usual, I went a bit overboard-had about 1/3 of the cake!:eek: Why don't I have control over stuff I bake and I do with everything else?:?: I cut up the rest and wrapped it in cellophane in hopes not having it just sitting on the counter in the open will help! UGH!

Found something interesting the other day, SGWW egg roll wrappers. I didn't buy them for two reasons, 1, they are dusted with corn starch (probably wouldn't hurt a flea) and the exp. was short, actually, 3 reasons, didn't have a clue what to make with them, they call to be deep fried-any ideas?

NANCE, :cry: boo hoo, I missed your I/M! My butt must of been glued to John Edwards' show at that time-sorry! What's new???

LDBLOND, thanks for checking in and letting us know what's going on with you! Sorry to hear all that's happened, but do know our thoughts and prayers are with you!!! Don't worry so much about the WOE, focus on getting better> {{{{HUGS}}}}

BEE, 5lbs, wonderful-you're back on track! Those cookies seem to keep calling your name, and you seem to hear them, then they must fade out again-keep strong and don't give in to that temptation-unlike me, who can't eat just a little of something I bake!!!!

Feeling hungrier than normal today-really don't know why, but seems like nothing is filling me up today-happens once in a while during the month, so I know I will get through it. Guess I'll go see what I can make for dinner-hate cooking more so lately than ever. Michael wants one thing, Lauren another, me something else and Eli, he's so easy, he'll make something for himself-oye, Lauren just asked me what's for dinner, gave her some choices, she doesn't like any of them-my response to her-"then make something yourself!" Geez!!!:rolleyes:

Have a good night everyone, I may not get on til tomorrow morning!

Debbie
194/126.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

Wow--where is everyone today? Oh well so few posts makes it easy to respond to everyone.

Lara--it really sounds like you have been having a rough time. It sounds like you are doing well to be eating anything at all! I have the most profound sympathy for those who are undergoing dental problems--nothing is worse than mouth pain! It sounds like you are on the road to recovery--and I hope your son is too! please come back to us soon!

Deb--wow has it really been three months since you hit goal? You have achieved your cushion as well! I take hope from that because I remember how you seemed to be stuck for awhile right before you hit goal--and then all of a sudden your body stopped resisting--the rest is history!

Sol--don't think Phyllo is legal, but the salmon stuffed with cremed spinach sounds yummy. When's dinner? I'm coming over. I'm having a porkchop, butter beans and maybe a1/2 a baked sweet tater tonight.

Nance--the internet seems to bring out the nasty in people. I had given up on participating in internet discussion boards because people are so mean and nasty on them. Then I found this board and it is the ONLY one I participate in on a regular basis:D .

BOB--we both have big weeks this week. UT will have a tough time with Florida. If we don't play defense all four quarters (the D only played 3 quarters last week) our goose will be cooked. Where is our gator gal?

I got to the gym today and did 30 minuted on the bike, 32 on the treadmill and added an extra set of reps on my upperbody weights. I AM wonderwoman!;)

I haven't weighed for two days and am not going to until Wednesday. I'm too preoccupied with the scale so I'm going to try to weigh only once a week for a while. If I have to I'll put the scale away and weight on WEdnesdays at the gym

I hope everyone has a good evening!

Susan

Yes DEBBIE COOKIES ARE MY NUMBER ONE RED LIGHT FOOD next would come doughnuts. Must be the mix of high fat and sugar :devil:

They are like drugs to me, big time!!
Just the smell of them at the moment and my saliva glands start gushing :lol: , true!
Stay away I must at all costs :)

You get around your 4 1/2 miles very quickly! , takes me that long to do 3.

I have a question for those of you who have lost a large amount of weight--or anyone who has dealt with getting older.

I have found that as I lose weight the skin around my chin and neck is beginng to sag crinkle--big time! Where my third chin used to be is like a turkey gullett hanging down.

Last weekend when I was in NC--everytime my SIL and I were in the mall, I stopped at whatever cosmetic counter we happned to be passing and applied whatever firming creme they happened to be selling and then annoyed my SIL my stopping at every mirror to see if it was working (yes, she reminded me many times that they don't work instantly--if they work at all). In the throes of an obsession, logic is completely wasted.

So those of you who may have dealt with this---did you find anything out there that helped to tighten things up a bit???????

I'm not looking for miracle cures (well, okay, I am), but I'll settle for noticable improvement.

Stop laughing. I'm serious.

Susan

EVENING EVERY BUDDY!!! :D



Oh my...Skeeter is barking at the winning question bells on HOLLYWOOD SQUARES!! WHAT IS A MOTHER TO DO??


SUSAN I agree, playing ALL FOUR QUARTERS is a must! UNFORTUNATELY...MY TEAM didn't even show up until the FOURTH QUARTER!![/b] We needn't worry about GATOR ...she will [i]REAR HER SNOUT before the week is out!

FLY GET THAT MAN on the program....how much does it cost....I like that one...did he think you were going to an outside vender to lose weight?

DEB Yes, I'm try my best to be at chat tomorrow night..Should prove to be a good BB....I promise not to say anything...You tell me first thing if you got o see it or not!
Well, the President has landed, and the Governor was in tow too! Everyone will be headed to one of the elementry schools in MY AREA around 8am tomorrow...I better not have a problem getting to work...
What's up with ELI??? He's being awfully quiet!!

MELF Glad you're back home safe and sound...Hope your
NOGGIN is feeling better.

NANCY HAVE YOU GIVEN ME UP FOR LENT??? No buzzing....NOTHING!!!

LARA We've got to get you better....You've basically missed CORN ON THE COB season...Wish you were close enough to see my cousin the "tooth dentist" Hope this surgeon can straighten you out...I've got all fingers and toes crossed!!


HAPPY B'DAY RALYNN!!!!


I'm off to lurk children....Have a GREAT EVENING!!!!


BOB

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. I really appreciate it.

Just got back from Columbus- 7 hours- record time and no speeding tickets. I'm really exhausted, so this will be a really short post, then into bed. Hopefully, I won't be passing semi's in my dreams.

Got dd more or less settle into her house with 4 of her team-mates (lacrosse players), spent 2 days assembling furniture, hanging curtains, and alienating another mom by telling her I wasn't going to scrub the second floor bathroom even if she had done the kitchen. The girls are 19 years old and if they want a spotless bathroom they can sure as ** clean it themselves:devil: I don't think I got mom of the year award for that one. Anyway, I miss her already, but is sure was nice not to trip over her running shoes when I walked into the house. Somehow we got stuck in the middle of campus just as 118,000 people all poured out of Ohio State's new stadium, so I spent a large portion of my birthday watching tailgate parties from the luxury of my air-conditioned car.

I managed to stay OP (except for the water-just couldn't get it all in cause eventually it would have to come out and the rest stops are pretty far apart on the PA turnpike! I didn't eat well, but at least it was OP. I don't think I'll weigh til Wednesday, tho by then TOM should be in full swing:(

I haven't read through the weekend posts yet, so I hope you are all well, lighter, and rested.

Tomorrow after my morning hours at work, I'll send off my resume to 2 different jobs I found on monster.com. I haven't worked full time in the computer field for ten years- kinda scary. I feel like a dinosaur:p

Good nite- mel

It's late, but wanted to get a quick hello in. Had a great birthday. The only thing I ate that wasn't OP was the roux in the crawfish bisque and the sauce poured over the fish. I tried to eat as little of the liquid in the bisque, just fished the crawfish tails out and gave the rest to my daughter. And there really wasn't much in the sauce. The entree was WONDERFUL! It was a charbroiled filet with crabmeat and crawfish tails in this light sauce. I had asparagus instead of dirty rice. AND NO BREAD! I did have one glass of Chardonnay. All in all I was proud of myself. I enjoyed myself and didn't feel guilty about splurging.

A funny story. We have 3 Pappadeauxs in the Dallas area. We are on the east side and decided to try the restaurant on the north side of the Metroplex. We drove all around but couldn't find it. So I headed down the freeway to the downtown restaurant. This is covering an area of about 20 square miles. On the way home my DH asked which part of town we were going to drive around in next. :lol:

Bee - Congrats on the weight loss. And the win over the cookies. I had to make dessert for a lunch on Sunday and was able to make 3 dozen Snickerdoodles (cookies) without even nibbling a bit of the dough. I can't believe that I'm actually cooking without tasting. That has been a fatal flaw all my life.

my computer just got possessed there. Sorry about that.

Melf- Hope you had a great weekend. Seems the rain just won't go away down your way. How's the bod feeling from the slip?

BOB - Congrats on the Vols win. I'm surprised the difference was as small as it was. Sounds like a "thunderous" game. If you've never been to a game in hog heaven, it's unbelievable how much noise they can make. My sister was parking cars in my nephew's yard, just a block away from the stadium.

Deb - Way to go on your 3 month "anniversary" I admire you for running that far. I am doing really good to get my 20 minutes on my exercise bike. I know the best time to exercise is early so the motabolism is up all day, but I am not a morning person.

I am going to have to start writing notes while I'm reading posts so I'll remember who to respond to. I'm sorry. I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow.

Jeanie

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BIRTHDAY GALS!
http://www.shapeshakers.com/pics/sunflower.jpg
FILLISE, MELF, MELIRIS, JRED and RALYNNE!

Sorry to be late with my birthday greetings. I haven't even checked in here in a week.

Marie
Too funny on the "boob fixing." I don't know if anybody else here has this problem: but I lost practically ALL my boobs when I lost some weight. (Okay slight exaggeration) So I wear bras that wear themselves! and all is well – smooth lines under any sweater. ;)

Fly
Thanks for the "teenage code of ethics." I reposted it in my forum with credit of course!

Jred
Welcome to the board! I've been MIA lately but used to be a regulah (as we say)

Mel
Welcome! And congratulations on the 15 pounds gone FOREVER, many more to follow! You are a really enthusiastic participator I see, no lurking for you! You go, girl.

TV
I don't know if you remember my rollerblading phase but I did 81 miles in the month of April and was so stoked! Started off not being able to go a quarter mile without dying or falling or both, but now I look DAMN good (if I don't have to stop or do hills) It's so much fun! And glad you're bonding with the kid. So awesome.

Deb
Thanks so much for the encouragement, you really are the SUPERMOD!!!! About the Carbolite, I was laughing, 'cause you ARE honest with us and that's ONE of the great things about you. I always find that when I'm honest it's so much easier to stay on track, but it's still difficult sometimes. Especially when I've built a certain "image" for myself if you know what I mean.
I still think I have to weigh daily, at least til the New Year, THEN, I'll hide the scale and bring it out only on WIW. I'll believe it when I see it, evil grin.

Susan
Great job on passing up those nasty donuts. Sometimes the little victories are the BIGGEST, because before you know it, passing up those former temptations is easy! (Okay I lied. But you know what I mean) I think that resisting sweets is like a muscle, mine was really weak and it was hard to pass up ANY food. Then I got stronger and it was easy, but when I go back to eating a little this and that, it gets weak again.

About your saggy face woes. I don't have facial sag YET being 28 but because I was so huge, as I'm complained about before, the skin on my lower abs is totally stretched out. It looks like cottage cheese gone mutant and flapping in the breeze, with actual pockets of empty space where there used to be nice, plump lard. ;) The only other problem is my upper arms, which used to be big as hams. They look really nice and almost BUFF on the TOP, but there are these strange, incongruous flaps of flab crowding up underneath the muscle, looking just like they are trying to hide! Like those last few cockroaches in my kitchen that know I've killed off the rest of them. My point being, especially as the rest of me gets nicer and I start to actually care about what I look like instead of hiding in baggy clothes thinking about killing myself, I have less hesitation thinking about spending money for SURGERY to get rid of the small annoying details.

So a question for open discussion: What do you all think about cosmetic surgery? Do you have any moral objections? Do you think it's a waste of money? Or that the risks are too great? Just curious to know what others think.

Sol
Hey, waterbed huh? Very romantic!

I was SHOCKED to hear that you are now looking for a job. This economy is so uncertain that it can happen even to a good worker with an excellent disposition like you are! But you will do fine I can already tell you have a great attitude! Remember, YOU'RE the one who is interviewing companies not the other way around! I have helped with hiring a lot in my career as well as gone on a lot of interviews, and know that the employers are just as uncertain and human and eager to find a good employee as the person who is being interviewed. (Man we interviewed some real beauties. We NEVER did hire anybody who lasted!)

I don't know what the sugar mills ruins park is, but we have something like that here. As you know Hawaii's most important agricultural product was sugar for a long time, but now almost all the sugar mills are closed down. On the North Shore there is an old sugar mill with all the big gears and stuff painted bright colors and scattered about the grounds on the side of the road. Next to it is a little cafe and the original white shrimp truck.

Bee
"If you can't make me thin, make my friends fat!" LMAO!!!! Too funny.

Kim
Always great to hear from you. You and hubby walking every night is a real inspiration.

Okay took a break to drop the car off to get detailed, and run to Wal*Mart for a new garden hose to wash our new truck. How many pages is this thread???

Lara
My good thoughts are with you, sorry to hear about the surgery complications. Sounds like you are maintaining pretty well in adverse circumstances.

To everyone else, congratulations on your successes not just on the scale! Keep up the good work!

Wow I don't check in for a week and miss all the excitement. So here's a letter that I just wrote to Suzanne & Co.:
Dear Suzanne, Jennifer and Amy,

Although I am a bit late reading about your hardships, I wanted to express my good wishes and support for the forum and thank you for all the hard work you put into this site, which I consider the best weight loss community on the Web.

I have been posting in the Sugar Busters forum for months now and the support there has absolutely turned my life around. I would not have been blessed with the same success without the forum. Before that, you were very responsive to forming an Overeaters Anonymous forum, in which I participated actively for quite some time and which was the beginning of my recovery from compulsive overeating. Suzanne, you also kindly answered my email when I had a question.

My roommate and dear friend runs a high-traffic VB forum and so I understand everything that's involved in keeping a site like yours going: a lot of thankless hard work, and since advertising revenue has dropped drastically, very little chance of breaking even financially, let alone making any money. My roommate also gets a lot of hateful posts and e-mail for nothing but putting time and money into keeping his forum going. Some have even accused him of fraud and theft for asking for donations and have encouraged people not to click ads because it's "morally wrong" to do so.

There will always be some hateful, small people out there who will decry your efforts. But I'm sure you have received an outpouring of support showing that the majority of people do think that what you have done with this remarkable forum has made a difference in their lives. But there are still bills to pay. I hope the upcoming move to the new server makes things a little easier and that those who can't afford to donate will keep clicking!

I applaud your work and devotion and wish you success both with the forum and with your personal lives.

Much aloha,

Chris (SparkleScamp)

As I have posted I went through a period of about a month when I wasn't doing too well mentally and physically. Like most people I don't feel like talking when I'm not doing well so I must be doing better now! ;)

I want to use the word "abstinence" but realized that it means many different things to different people. So allow me to explain. From a very personal viewpoint, abstinence means completely following a certain pre-defined way of eating, whatever that might be to me at the time. Part of the problem with being "abstinent" is that one slip means I'm "unclean." That way of thinking has gotten me into lots of trouble. So that being said, what I was gonna say is that it's not so easy to go back to being "abstinent" when I'm not mentally prepared to do so. Because no matter HOW I define abstinence, I'm going to do something to break it if I don't examine (without wallowing in) the reasons why I let food get out of control.

So for the past week and a half I have been doing a great deal of mental and physical "housekeeping" without letting myself feel guilty about my eating (specifically sugar). That's why I don't feel like I'm "off the wagon" just because of sugar, it's more about getting my WHOLE life under control, not just this one specific thing. Although my goal is to get that under control too.

Did anybody read "Bridget Jones' Diary?" HILARIOUS book and a definite recommend to everybody. (Dying to see the movie) There's this one scene where her apartment is so messy she can't find anything clean to wear to work or any pantyhose that don't have runs. So she doesn't get to work until 10:30. I laughed at that scene thinking it funny and ridiculous.

Well, by Wednesday two weeks ago I didn't think it was unrealistic OR FUNNY. I'm picking through this enormous mess and have nothing to wear. Get to work late and am grouchy and unproductive all day long. I haven't paid my bills in two months and my checkbook register is growing mold in the dust layers. (Meanwhile the ATM card is smoking from overuse.) After three years my credit card debt STILL hasn't gone down and my spending is (or was) TOTALLY inappropriate.

That was the day I realized my life was out of control. Throughout my recovery (another word that needs a definition: recovery from letting my life be totally ruled by food and being overweight), I have had periods of ups and downs. The downs lasted as long as ten years and the ups usually lasted a few weeks during which I would lose 10 to 15 pounds. Well in the past 1 1/2 years I have still had downs but the ups have been drastically better, thus I'm almost 50 pounds lighter. I have come to accept that there will ALWAYS be ups and downs, but this time the downs are going to continue to do less damage. Of that I am sure.

So my "housekeeping" involved cleaning my room and the rest of the house, of course, balancing my checkbook and cleaning my desk instead of just shuffling papers from pile to pile, but further, doing some DRASTIC planning in the way that I buy and prepare food.

Since I work full-time, like most downtown office gals I eat lunch out often. In addition there are all sorts of tempting distractions (do you notice food is entertainment?) in downtown Honolulu that you don't find in some other places. Most of them are an easy walk (the newest craze is Bubble Tea....OMG.....heaven) from the office. Breakfast, a specialty coffee or tea drink, lunch, and various stuff at the drugstore or Ross (another lunchtime distraction) can add up to over $20 a day!

Even with Sugar Busters and preparing most of my own food, not enough planning has gone into it. I realized when I sit down and actually calculated the food I would need for a week, that I had no idea how much a serving of something costs.

So now I have a detailed shopping plan that involves buying ONLY staples from Costco and fruits and veggies from a LOVELY Manoa farmers' market my Mommy showed me, along with one restaurant meal per week. I blocked off time Sunday to prepare lunches for the week for myself and my roommate (the fact that I'm cooking for both is a long story that involves the new truck). So I was cooking all day: chicken and veggies and rice; 2 loaves of bread etc.

I realized that I have been spending ALL my energy obsessing about things that, by my vast age, should be routine already: buying and eating food, going to the gym and keeping a clean house. I should already have my systems in place to take care of those things so that I can spend my energy on my higher goals: saving money to buy a home, advancing my education and career, improving my relationships with loved ones.

I have a theory straight from some self-help book or another (actually The Solution). As a child, my basic needs were FAR from being met. Thus I learned to compensate for what was lacking in self-destructive ways such as overeating. I'm still doing that, and that keeps me from getting above the "survival" level and pursuing higher goals. But that's all in the past. I'm an adult now and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I'm tired of struggling with food and living paycheck to paycheck. NO MORE!

So this week things are getting back on track. I went to the gym this morning for the first time in a week and a half or so (I've been getting up too late to do ANYTHING). I felt good running, it felt right to be on the treadmill. I didn't try to go to fast (34:28) and did my full three miles. I carried a whole BAG full of food with me to work, LOL.

Having realized that I've been wasting so much energy, I thought about other ways in which I've been wasting energy. And a big one is getting upset over stupid sh*t that doesn't matter anyway. People in traffic, unbrilliant customer service reps, and inconsiderate wenches in the locker room are three good examples. I just tell myself, "Let it go. Let it go." (That works a quarter of the time).

Notice how when somebody does something ugly it makes a huge impact on you but how long do you remember the kindnesses?

When I was showing my car I'm selling I was trying to get my bike out from the rack and another bike's handlebars fell in the spokes. I'm trying to untangle it but I don't have enough hands. So this man runs over and grabs the other bike and helps me, saying, "just hold still, you don't want to break your spokes!" Which I really didn't because after many months I finally got EVERYTHING working just right on my bike. I asked, "oh is this your bike" and he said no. He just ran over to help me because he was being kind. THAT's the kind of thing I should remember.

Okay this was way longer than expected but I'm sure ya'll don't mind! ;) It is great reading about all your successes and your HONESTY. May the board live forever! :)

Much love,

Chris

164/148 (two weeks ago, frightened to weigh myself)/139

New signature picture of Asuka:
http://www.shapeshakers.com/asuka/asukabathing.gif

(I'm working on a whole page of Asuka's pics when I have time!)

Hello All :wave: MIA???/

Thanks for the birthday wishes and the card. Sorry I haven't been on and keeping up. Still real busy and behaving myself. Working out and I'm busy getting everything around for starting our plow business. Constantly busy in my house. Well all you girls have a great week and if I remember tomorrow I'll WIW. Last I knew I was 155lbs, but pants are baggier so I'm on the right track here. Did have a couple homemade choco chips cookies on Sunday though. Baked cookies for the kids for school, those are just irresistable.

Well Take Care :dizzy: :wave:

Due to what is going on with our country today, I am cancelling tonight's chat. What a terrible day this has been for out Nation. We all need to say a prayer!!!

Debbie:(

I agee with Deb. I am atching the news in shock and horror. I'm thinking that three months ago today I was with my 13 year-old niece in NYC. We were taking pictures of buildings that no longer exist. We were unafraid. I can't stop thinking about the people today who were also going about their business unafraid. I pray they did not suffer. I pray that those who are trapped somewhere can be rescued and that those who are hurt can be healed.

I am amazed that I am even able to get on the web this morning.

God bless all of you everyday--but especially today!

Susan
In shock

Is this whole world NUTS??? I really don't know what i am feeling right now -to many feelings. One thing I do hope is that the President shows what he has when we find out what is going on! I know that eye for an eye thing, buttttttttttttt....

Maybe we can chat soon! thanks for all the replys

Sparkle i loved your post.

Rhonda

201.2/13????tomorrow?/135ish

Bless my Mommy who was calling me to wake me up from 4:30 -- in other circumstances I would have killed her! ;) So I finally woke up at 5:30 and cried like a baby when I first saw those two towers collapsing on the news. My prayers to all who are in the affected areas and may be even be personally affected by these tragedies. It's still only 6:30 and **** if I'm going to be staying in an office building in downtown Honolulu all day long!

~Chris

Also my boyfriend is on the White House staff and I think he's okay (can't get through on the phone) but this is just the beginning of a really tough time for him. :( :( :( Normally he travels with the President I think he's home now but I don't know what's going on at this point.

So many of us are going to be affected in some way by this terrible tragedy. I'm thinking of all you and praying that you and your loved ones are safe. May the Lord help all of those who have losses to find peace.

I was going to do a long post, but have been glued to the TV all morning. A neighbor ran out of her house this morning while I was doing my run, to see if I'd heard about the 'accident'. At first I thought there had been a school bus crash, she was so hysterical. My boss then called me to tell me not to come to work, he was too upset because one of our consultants is in mid-town Manhattan today and several of our clients are(were) in the World Trade Center. I felt so safe living here in my idyllic suburban home, but the tentacles of madmen seem to reach everywhere.

Sparkle-I do so hope your boyfriend is safe and sound. Washington is not a place I'd want to be right now. Also, your long post was very eye-openning. I need to re-read it and really think it through. So much of what you said applies to my life, even though I think we are probably far apart in age and immediate family situations. Its amazing how some of the struggles we all deal with are the same, no matter where we are in life. At 47, I thought I would have gotten rid of some of the baggage by now.

My immediate concern is that I can't find my mother and step-father. They were leaving on a very early flight today out of Denver, to JFK, then to France. I think their plane took off from Denver, but who knows to where- they may be stuck in Calgary for all I know. I guess that's probably the best scenario.

mel
175/158/130ish SB since 7/24/01

I just can't believe what is going on in your country at this time. I've been sitting in front of my t.v in shock since I got home at noon. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Marie.

In Honolulu, the National Guard is on alert and schools on the military bases are shut down. Ala Moana shopping center is shut down (go figure) and the Big Island schools. Everything else is business as usual. I got a hold of my boyfriend in DC. He is way too busy to talk but okay...it was great to hear his voice! OMG I was so worried.

I hope everyone is okay.

Mel I'm sure your mom and stepdad are okay, just a little delayed at this point. About the post, I grew up thinking I was the only one who knew the pain I'd been through but through boards like this have found out that many people can understand.

*praying*

Chris

Will post later, but...I went to see Eli at STARBUCKS and THEY WERE CLOSED! Now come on, that's crazy!!!!!:spin:

I'll post my post from this morning a bit later.

Debbie

I can't believe these things have happened in our country. God bless all of us and especially those who have been left behind by the ones so tragically taken from this world.

On another note - I just got my bloodwork results and my TSH level this time was 11.25!!! I hadn't asked what the number was, but last time it was 17.66!! :o Normal is .5-4.5 - wow, there is definately a problem here!! He is increasing my meds again. Anyone out there with any advise or experience with this??

Will check back in later.
tv

Everything nuts here too. Parents pulling students out of school because we are in such a high military area. Military soldiers outside the base gates with M-16's. The schools locked kids in for security reasons.

Everything is so sad. I've been praying all day different prayers. Wisdom to our country leaders, support for all the families of lost people.

My love to you ladies and prayers that you do not have any loved ones involved.

Love fly

I am so sorry for the shock and horror you guys are obviously going though in all the chaos that has hit.

I woke this morning to it coming over the TV and I could barley believe my eyes, then it came up saying 'if you have just tuned in this is not a movie' sure did remind me of 'Independence Day'
How anybody remotely 'human' can be so evil and perform such an underhanded ,cowardly and unprovoked act against innocent unsuspecting victims is totally beyond comprehension.

You have my deep and complete sympathy.
It is shocking enough witnessing it from the other side of the world so I cant imagine how shocked you must all be.
Jenny

Evening Everyone.

What a terrible day in our Nations history, I'm sure we are all feeling some sort of despair during all of this. I pray for those who have been hurt and for those who had family members killed in these incidents, and most of all, I pray that none of you know anyone who has been effected by this directly. The image of that plane going into the second tower, and people jumping from the building will haunt us all for a long time. When something of this magnitude happens, it makes you stop and think what's REALLY important to us! Appreciate each and every day you have, no one knows when their time will be up. This effects ALL of us, no matter where we live in this world!

I have a cousin who works for the Dept. of the Interior in DC, so I was worried about him, but found out he was fine from his sister, and he also E-mailed me as well. He said it's awful there, took him 2 hours to go home (rather than about 15 minutes). I forgot that my cousin Bennett was in his first year (how about first month) at NYU, but I hear they were bunkered down in their dorms and all was fine there. Aunt and Uncle were suppose to fly to Paris tomorrow, of course, they cancelled the trip.

Eli said had one store in each WTC building, and they pray none of the workers were hurt. Of course, you think that they were probably on the first floor. Still, was surprised that they closed here. But, many places closed, so they weren't the only ones.

I did a long post this morning and thought at the time it wasn't appropriate to post, but I will do so now, and just add to it with replies to those who posted since I wrote it and edit it a bit. We can't let this tragedy disrupt our entire lives, so we need to get back to some type of normalcy.

Got in my walk, no jogs, didn't feel like going, but comprimised and just did a steady walk and got in my 4.5 miles:)

Scale is still stuck on the upswing for me, hoping since TOM ended now that I will see a downward trend. Surely doesn't help that I ate all that cake yesterday-I don't care even if it's SB LEGAL, too much of anything isn't good. I've come to realize that if I bake something, I can't do so until I've figured out the nutritional information first. I think that's why I've been able to easily stay away from already made items, I know that it's too high in something or other, vs. what I make and not knowing, so somewhere inside me must think it's a green light for eating it all! I will say though, when Eli came home he tried a piece of the cake, then asked for seconds!!!! It's a keeper for sure, in the taste dept AND in the ease of making it as well!

Today is TUESDAY TIPS and the following could fall under this or FRIDAY FACTS, but since tomorrow is WEIGH IN WEDNESDAY I thought I'd get it posted today instead. I think I had posted this possibly long ago, whether I did or not, it's bears repeating:)

WHY THE SCALES LIE

We’ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can’t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can’t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it’s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale.

Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body’s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don’t understand what’s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it’s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water.

Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium. Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it’s easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn’t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That’s why, when it comes to eating, it’s wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains. Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen dinners.

Women may also retain several pounds of water prior to menstruation. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives. Pre-menstrual water-weight gain can be minimized by drinking plenty of water, maintaining an exercise program, and keeping high-sodium processed foods to a minimum.

Another factor that can influence the scale is glycogen. Think of glycogen as a fuel tank full of stored carbohydrate. Some glycogen is stored in the liver and some is stored the muscles themselves. This energy reserve weighs more than a pound and it’s packaged with 3-4 pounds of water when it’s stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you fail to take in enough carbohydrates. As the glycogen supply shrinks you will experience a small imperceptible increase in appetite and your body will restore this fuel reserve along with it’s associated water. It’s normal to experience glycogen and water weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day even with no changes in your calorie intake or activity level. These fluctuations have nothing to do with fat loss, although they can make for some unnecessarily dramatic weigh-ins if you’re prone to obsessing over the number on the scale.

Otherwise rational people also tend to forget about the actual weight of the food they eat. For this reason, it’s wise to weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you’ve had anything to eat or drink. Swallowing a bunch of food before you step on the scale is no different than putting a bunch of rocks in your pocket. The 5 pounds that you gain right after a huge dinner is not fat. It’s the actual weight of everything you’ve had to eat and drink. The added weight of the meal will be gone several hours later when you’ve finished digesting it.

Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact it’s not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, it’s likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, it’s only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, it’s physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What you’re really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle.

This brings us to the scale’s sneakiest attribute. It doesn’t just weigh fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, internal organs and all. When you lose "weight," that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve lost fat. In fact, the scale has no way of telling you what you’ve lost (or gained). Losing muscle is nothing to celebrate. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you’re just sitting around. That’s one reason why a fit, active person is able to eat considerably more food than the dieter who is unwittingly destroying muscle tissue.

Robin Landis, author of "Body Fueling," compares fat and muscles to feathers and gold. One pound of fat is like a big fluffy, lumpy bunch of feathers, and one pound of muscle is small and valuable like a piece of gold. Obviously, you want to lose the dumpy, bulky feathers and keep the sleek beautiful gold. The problem with the scale is that it doesn’t differentiate between the two. It can’t tell you how much of your total body weight is lean tissue and how much is fat. There are several other measuring techniques that can accomplish this, although they vary in convenience, accuracy, and cost. Skin-fold calipers pinch and measure fat folds at various locations on the body, hydrostatic (or underwater) weighing involves exhaling all of the air from your lungs before being lowered into a tank of water, and bioelectrical impedance measures the degree to which your body fat impedes a mild electrical current.

If the thought of being pinched, dunked, or gently zapped just doesn’t appeal to you, don’t worry. The best measurement tool of all turns out to be your very own eyes. How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? Are your rings looser? Do your muscles feel firmer? These are the true measurements of success. If you are exercising and eating right, don’t be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal. Expect them to happen and take them in stride. It’s a matter of mind over scale.

**********

FILLISE, yep, 3months at goal and almost 1 1/2 years on SB! I would of never thought the time would fly by like it has! Hopefully, the body will stop resisting again and the scale will go down, a little lower than before-would be nice. Good luck with keeping the scale away from you, you have more self-control than I do! Good going at the gym WONDERWOMAN!!!!!:D Oh yes, I can relate with having a turkey neck! Mine has folds, it's gross and I look forward to having it tightened sometime this year-I find myself pulling the skin back to see how I'd look with it taught, at almost 40, it makes me look older, I think. Truthfully, I need a whole body make-over,:eek: but I have to start somewhere!

BEE, I'd have to say the best thing is to totally stay away from all that junk food as well, only spells trouble, esp. when you know it's a trigger food, even if it's SB LEGAL! Thanks for your prayers for us here in the US.

BOB, Hope you made it okay to work. Eli's been working more hours than I care to count lately, lots of things going on with SB, and they will be opening a store closer to our home in a few months and he's the one they picked to open it, meaning to hire and oversee things-he may apply for to be the Mgr of the store, it's right across the street from the community college and about 3-4 miles from the house-very convenient. Did you buy anything from the anniversary-he said things were selling like hotcakes-they have a anniversary blend coffee out as well, smells great-very limited supply though.

MEL, glad to have you back safe and sound. Sounds like you were really busy and through it all, stayed OP as best you could-kudos to you! Honey, I'm with you on the bathroom deal-I wouldn't of done it either, nor would I of done it just to impress another Mother-Mother of the Year I am not! Good luck to you on the resume, seems you and SOL are looking for a job working with computers.

JRED, glad to hear you had a good bday-dinner sounded yummy and interesting! Congrats on overcoming the taste test syndrome, it's amazing when you think about all the little tastes we take how they can add up, and quickly at that!

SPARKLE, thanks for e-mailing the 3FC'S, I'm sure they appreciate all the support and knowing that we are all behind them through thick and thin. Yep, I'm honest, sometimes a little too much, but that's me!:) I haven't read Bridgette Jones, but do have the book-wanted to see the movie. Glad to hear your BF is okay.

RALYNNE-HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I hope you were able to enjoy the day somewhat, despite the happenings that went on today. Good luck tomorrow on WIW!

ROSALIE, thanks for your thoughts as well-I'm sure you're feeling some effects in Canada by taking in so many Americans today-guess that wasn't a stop they were planning on taking. I'm sure Eli's sister must be busy with all this, she works for American in Toronto, remember?

TV, not sure what those numbers mean, but sounds good to me!!!!:)

MELIRIS, PLEASE let us know what's going on with your parents!!! Have you heard from them as of yet??

Well gals, I'm gonna go, made some awful seafood for dinner-Eli's not home, so I (tried) to cook-YUCK!:p I wish us all good luck for WEIGH IN WEDNESDAY TOMORROW!!!!

Nite!

Debbie
194/126.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

OH....MY....GAWD!!!! :?:


THIS IS A QUICKIE....


Chris....loved your post


DEB.... ALL STARBUCKS WERE CLOSED TODAY!!! :(


J RED....If you've never been to NEYLAND STADIUM..home of 107,000 SCREAMING VOLUNTEER FANS.....YOU AIN'T LIVED GIRL!!!! ;)

FLY....STAY SAFE!!!


I'm just appalled...to say the least...this is ABSOLUTELY UNSPEAKABLE!!!

Cutting it short and hoping everyone is SAFE and SOUND!!!


BOB

I worked today & saw very little of what was going on, by choice mostly. Every time I walked into a patient's room the TV was on , but after I saw the collapse of the towers, I tried to avoid seeing anymore. Instead, I focused on praying for our country, our leaders, & especially those in the immediate areas of danger, for those families that were directly affected. How my heart goes out to them.

Meliris I do pray that you will soon hear from your parents if you have not already heard from them & that they are indeed safe. Our prayers are with you.

I have wondered about LinMae today because I know she is from New York. I have no idea how far away from NYC she is, but I do pray that she is alright & has not been affected directly.

How about VAButterfly???

I have a niece & a nephew in the Marines & they are both in VA somewhere. I think they are both ok.

It's really hard to be about business as usual, but as all of you, I am trying my hardest to do so.

Hi all! Not alot happening so Ive been lurking. Was out on the golf course today when I found out about the attacks. Ive been glued to the tv all day. My heart goes out to all who have lost loved ones.

I will try and check in later this week. Have a full plate tomorrow and Thursday.

I tried to post earlier today but couldn't get it to the server. I'm praying for all of you affected by today's tragedy and can't imagine what you are going through. As someone else said, it was like watching a movie. The destruction is unbelievable and the ramifications will last for a long, long time. I can only hope those responsible for this destruction will come to justice.

Don't know when I'll have time to post again. I have a really long article about drinking water that I want to either post or find the web site, so I'll be working on that. Here's some info I got today:

Chocolate and Addiction

Sept. 10, 2001(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A recent study of brain activity may help explain why some people exhibit addictive behaviors.

Researchers at Northwestern University used positron emission tomography to measure the brain activity in people eating chocolate, specifically looking at areas of the brain they believe are responsible for addiction and eating disorders. The study found that the areas of the brain that were activated by eating chocolate as a reward were quite different than those areas activated by eating too much chocolate (an aversive behavior). By differentiating the brain regions involved in reward, researchers believe they can better understand addiction.

The study labeled chocolate as a "primary reinforcer," which is any stimulus that an individual doesn't have to learn to like, but is enjoyed from birth. Fat, sweets and even addictive drugs are considered among the primary reinforcers. Chocolate was chosen for the study since it is reported to be the single most craved food, possibly even addictive. Fifteen study participants ate between 16 and 74 squares of chocolate while researchers measured brain activity as the eating went from being highly pleasurable to very punishing as participants reported becoming too full.

Lead study author Dana M. Small, Ph.D., says that studying the brain's response to eating a highly rewarding food provides a model of addicts at a healthier stage. "The problem with studying addicts to understand addiction is that we don't know what their brains were like before the addiction and we therefore can't determine which brain functions have changed," said Small.

SOURCE: Brain,2001;124:1720-1733

Click here if you would like to receive a FREE weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs.

Copyright © 2001 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.

I have to confess that I'm less and less OP and I can't see to get a grip on this. Please, everyone like up and give me a swift but effective kick in the ****!!! I'm feeling like I used to feel every time I started a diet that lasted for a day and then I would eat something I wasn't supposed to and completely give up. I have tried to tell myself that it's a new day and I'm starting all over, but it seems like now I have to do this every meal. When I started this WOE in Jan. I was so determined that it was very easy to do. Now I just can't seem to get with it.

In the big picture, my complaints are nothing compared to what was going on today. I'm not giving up, but I'm just not motivated and I somehow have to find a way to reach down deep inside and find that spark again.

Karen

Thank you all who expressed concern about my parents. Turns out, they were just boarding the plane in Denver when they were told to get off and go home. They dawdled a bit in Denver, then went to visit a friend in Boulder who has cable TV ( they live on a mountain 10 miles outside of Boulder with no cable TV ) and stayed there most of the day. Finally thought to email all the kids .

My son is very fearful and clingy tonite- I keep telling him there's no reason for anyone to target where we live (there just ain't nothing here!) but everyone is shook up, the elementary school told the kids stories about spraying the fields so they had to stay in for recess. The kids were then sent home with notes that they weren't supposed to read for their parents, which maybe worked with little ones, but Andrew is in 5th grade and knew something was up about terrorists and police at school. It's so hard to explain something unexplainable!

But tomorrow's a new day, I plan to do my run and hope none of you have been touched personally by today's tragedies.

mel

Response time:

LinMae-so glad you stayed op @ casinos. I hear they ply you with alcohol. That could be a problem for me. I love margaritas. Though they may not love me. I remember what happened when I ate illegal pizza.

Rhoo-so sorry about kindergartener. My youngest was like that and tears on both sides and three months later tears on my side. He wanted to stay longer when I picked him up. Kids are so fickle. Awesome exercise soccer practice. Aren't you smart! Way to go on 137.

Rosalie-Your response to 3 sisters problem couldn't have been said better. Thanks for your support from Canada. I sure hope they rebuild the World Trade Center. That would say alot for our spirit.

Raly-Happy Birthday. Sorry it's such a sad day.

Sol-So glad you have fun on your secluded beach. How are those calves? I lol about the burping bed. Ours has a lot of air loose on a nightly basis. I'm pulling for the "geek" job. Sugar Mill Ruins sounds intriguing. Is it a Civil War site?

Deb-Congrats on 3 months at goal. Re: Michaels room. I did find a lot of missing items in Ben's room. One was my sewing kit. Go figure. Band of Brothers is a Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg miniseries on HBO. It's about WWII paratroopers. I tend to go overboard on legal stuff too (ex. Triscuits/easy cheese). Lauren & Ben must've studied at the same "drive your mom nuts over dinner" school. Hope that happens to them when they are parents too.

ID-Really liked your motivational piece. So sorry about the implants. hugs. You sound like you're not letting it get you down. My heart goes out to Michael. Hope you both get well quick. And have fun in the garden too.

Bee-Yeee Haww 5 lbs! Great job resisting the cookies. You're right cookies are like drugs. I miss White Chocolate and Macadamia nuts fresh from the oven. Though I doubt I could eat them without my tummy erupting.

Fillese-You'll have to shove me over at the table for the Salmon & Spinach. It does sound good doesn't it. Way to go Wonderwoman!!! Gosh, sorry haven't found a firming solution yet but will let you know when I do.

Bob-Give Skeeter a great big old hug for me.

Mel-Glad you had a successful trip. I definitely wouldn't have scrubbed the bathroom either. Good luck with the resumes. Heard from mom yet?

Jred-Dh sounds like a great guy. Or at least has a great sense of humor.

Chris-Hey girl. My two cents on plastic surgery. If you have the money and want to do it. You should. I am going to read "Bridget Jones Diary" I need a laugh. Glad to hear boyfriend is ok.

TV-Sounds like the TSH levels going in the right direction. Hang in there.

Well, exhausted emotionally from the scenes on tv. Physically I'm fading too. I'm wearing black tomorrow.

Night 'fly
sb since 6/29/01
185/164/145

Good Wednesday Morning Everyone.

It's still hard to imagine what took place yesterday-you wake up wanting it to all of been just a terrible nightmare. I can't even being to inagine the full magnitude of what took place. We can just continue to pray for all of those who were affected.

It's a bad weather day here in Miami, rained all night and continues this morning, just heard thunder, so I guess that's my cue for taking the dayoff from exercising.

Has anyone heard of this stuff called DERMALIN-APg? I got my REDBOOK MAG yesterday and they had an add for it. Going on the web and looking for more information about it and if it seems to work, sounds interesting and too good to be true. Here's just one of the links, from the company who makes it (cheaper elsewhere though):

http://www.dermalin.com/store/dermalin/dermalinpg1.html

It's WEIGH IN WEDNESDAY TODAY and I'm still up 2lbs from my lowest, but down 1/2 from yesterday. As long as I stay under that 129, I should be happy, but really, I want to stay under 125 now. I hope you all faired better than I did on the scales. If you'd like to post your WIW results on the WI BOARD, here's the link:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/sho...p?threadid=9250

I hope BEACHFAN isn't overwhelmed at work, she works for the Red Cross, and I know they are really busy doing blood drives all over the US.

MELF, thanks for reminding us that LINMAE is in NY. She's more upstate, but did send her an e-mail just to make sure she's okay:)

MELIRIS, how far away are you from where the other plane went down? Thanks for letting us know you heard from your parents. Thank goodness that's where they live and were able to go home, so many people are stuck in places that they can't call home at this point.

CATLOVER, thanks for checking in!

KAREN, thanks for posting that chocolate article, was very interesting. I could only imagine if someone had probed my brain when I ate chocolate out of emotions before, the findings would of probably been wacko! Ever see a ninja? That's what I must of been like in one of my chocolate feeding frenzys! Thanks again for taking the time to post that! Okay, on being OP less and less, what do you FEEL has made a difference on how you view the plan now vs how you felt about it back in Jan.? I find that many people have a downfall when they have a small cheat and nothing happens, they don't gain, so they do so again, and then it gets to be more and more and then, it's unstoppable-do you relate to this?

FLY, I can always find missing things in Michael's room, even though he'll claim they aren't in there, telephones, scissors, tape, etc. etc. I too hope my kids will experience some of the same things with their own one day, as my Mom always said "paybacks are a b*tch!" I can now relate to that!!!

BOB, hope you don't get any of this bad weather, though I hear it's bad in Naples area. I thought of something last night, do you think they told those in the BB house about what happened? They aren't suppose to know what goes on in the outside world, but I think that would be cruel if they didn't. Michael mentioned that Monica is from NY as well.

Eli's off today, but at work. They're putting a new system in, so he had to go in at 5am to make sure it went smoothley, he's like the guinea pig, first to have it go live. Not sure when he'll come home or what we'll do today, but it will be close to home, no Broward, no Ole Ole today:(

Remember, TOMORROW IS RECIPE DAY so if you have any SB LEGAL RECIPES you'd like to share with the board, please, try to post them tomorrow.

Have a good day everyone!

Debbie
194/126/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

HI Ladies...

Just wanted to hop on to exrpess condolences for anyone personally affected by this tragedy. AS you know, we're from NYC and still have lots of friends and family there. My fil works one block from the WTC and was evacuated at 930...he said people were just milling about, sightseeing - he managed to get a subway out and got off the subway in Brooklyn covered with soot. So far, everyone we know or have heard of is okay. We have a large social event to go to in WEstchester this weekend - 150 people, many of whom work in the city... don't know what's happening with that as of yet.

The most frightening thing was that my 80 yo mother had been here to visit for two weeks and took Unitd out of here at 6am yesterday am - she landed just as the first attack happened. She is now stranded in Chicago. I was able to speak with some United staff at OHare and they found her and actually got her into a hotel when they evacuated OHare. She is now just biding her time.

I had been IM-ing my financial advisor, who was looking out the window when this was all happening - he works right across the street. The one word that sticks out in my mind is when he wrote: "Armageddon".

DH works in tv news and has been burning the candle at both ends...one of their weathermen's bils was on one of the Boston flights. A friend of mine is a teacher in Norwalk and said it waspandemonium, as many of the kids have parents working in the city, on Wall Street.

May the people responsible for this burn.

Hugs and hope to you all,
Viv
Simsbury, CT

Viv - I hope all your friends are ok and that your mother gets home soon. Thank God she wasn't on one of the flights that were hijacked.

I couldn't help but think of the kids going home last night to no parents. My heart breaks for them.

Karen

Damn! It wasn't a nightmare--it was real. I'm still in shock. We had a prayer service last night--it was very emotional. A lot of folks in our community have children and grandchildren working in New York's financial district or the Pentagon. Fortunately everyone had heard from their loved ones, though several lived in areas that had been evacuated and did not know where they would sleep last night.

people slept last night?

I napped fitfully on the sofa with the tv on all night.

If any of you are interested, I wrote a column that is posted on

purepolitcs.com (http://www.purepolitics.com)


Today is weigh-in Wednesday, but worrying about my weight seems insignificant to me right now. Though I did flirt with a major binge last night--but I decided that if I gave in to it I'd be letting those *******s win one more victory. I'm stronger than they are.

I hope everyone has located loved ones or friends.

Susan

But I did go down 1 pound.

Fillise - I too wanted to sit and gorge myself in front of the TV and had the same thought-won't give them 1 more victory! Glad all your friends and neighbors have located their loved ones.

Viv- Sure hope you mother is OK and gets home soon. Turns out mine never left Denver and will try again on Thursday. Tho I'm not sure you could pay me to go near an airport, much less get on a plane this week. Glad to hear all your friends and family are accounted for and OK.

Chris- my thoughts on surgery: I'm scared to death of it and not into self-inflicted pain, but if I had the money, I'd go for it. A few of my friends have had neck and eye jobs already and swear they feel like new people. My problem is I need new skin, not just less of it. My first pregnancy left me with belly skin that looks like a two week old helium balloon that got popped. Really, really gross. So if it will make you feel like the person you know you are inside- GO FOR IT!

Deb- That cream stuff sounds great! I remember reading about it several years ago in a hard news article. Kind of expensive- you try it first and let us all know if it works. Sounds like a very attractive alternative to crunches and squats. Or at least a good way to see the results of crunches and squats. As someone said last week, I know I've got six pack abs under there somewhere! Also- send some of that rain north- we haven't had any to speak of this summer and blue sky is getting depressing.

Rosalie- We used to live in Toronto and my husband grew up in Welland. Where are you from? We received so many calls and emails from Canadian friends yesterday -just really appreciated the concern they all had for this country. My dh loves to bring up the mouse and elephant analogy to explain his feelings about living here now, but this time the elephant got stomped on.

Sent off my resume this am to 2 computer geek jobs-we'll see what happens. I don't feel ready to work full time. Sure will mess up my work-outs and tennis game!!

Good luck to all for WIW!

Mel

Like everyone else I have been glued to the TV. Right now it is turned up loud enough so I can hear. Good thing no one else is home!

The sheer magnitutde of it all. So many innocent lives lost, the fortitude of rescue workers. The strength of the American people that we will not be overcome by any force. The terrorist attack has only brought the community of America together.

My one concern is that there will be people who will lump other people of the same ethnic race as ther terrorists into one lump. There are many Muslims and Arabs that are friendly to us. We do not want to see the backlash against those living among us as there was after WWII when concentration camps put in place for American Japanese.

I was only 5 when Pearl Harbor happened, yet today I can remember the way the adults around me were reacting. There was extreme saddness and uncertainity. I was told that some people had done something bad but not to worry it couldn't happen here! Times have changed.

On a lighter note, I am still here and beginning to feel better, the weather is nicer and that has a lot to do with it.

On a same old thing note I did not lose anything and as a result I drowned my sorrow in extra legal carbs, which when over done is not legal!!!!

Let all remember the families that are left behind not knowing the fate of their loved ones and can only imagine the worse.

Shirley

Viv, glad to hear that your Mom is safe & hope that your friends are too.

Karen, you are soooo right...poor kids that had to go home to face a house empyt of parents that were killed in that booming, or in one of those planes!

Fillise , if only it had been a nightmare! I went to that site you posted, but which of the articles is yours???

Fillise & Meliris, funny how we think when we're under stress. Both of you talked about going on a food binge...I also almost dove into the box of donuts yesterday at work, but I talked myself out of it thinking that it would not serve any other purpose than to make me feel guilty later. It sure would not have changed anything that happened. But strange how we do want to revert back to food at a time like that.

On a brighter note, I did lose another pound. I was down to my lowest weight of 143 this morning, just 3 lbs from goal.

174/143/140

EVENING EVERY BUDDY!!! :(



NASTY NIGHT over here on the WEST COAST OF FLA....rainy, ucky, thunder, lightening....TROPICAL DEPRESSION #8 soon to
GABRIELLE!! We're not supposed to get anything bad. A lot of rain mostly...

DEB Coastal flooding mostly...yes, it's bad down in Naples..reminds me of the day I motored over to see you...
Tell ELI to be careful...there are some NASTY PEOPLE out there, and I wouldn't want anyone to think he's from the "bad side of the desert" !!
No, I haven't tried the ANNIVERSARY BLEND a friend of mine says its GREAT...so I'll have to have some this weekend...

I'm sure that all of you by now have heard about the training that these mop headed, camel jockey SOB's got in VENICE<FLA.....that's the town that separates LAURIE AND ME!!

KAREN ....shhhhh......listen....hear that???? IT's ME BOB....i'm here to pick you up....bring out all that nasty sugar for the horses....CLIMB ON UP IN THIS WAGON AND HOLD ON!!
I'll be happy to kick your butt....it helps...if you don't believe me, just ask DEB how good it felf to kick my big old ARSE back into gear!!

FLY SKEETER has quit eating DOG FOOD!!! Yes, taking him off the wheat based food helped his allergy problem..His little ears are more clear than they ever have been...BUT now he won't eat DOG FOOD AT ALL!!! Of course, he's still getting his string cheese and bologna SO...HE'S NOT STARVING!!
I'll be sure to give him a "rub" behind the ears for you ;)

MELF My back is aching for you! I know you only saw stars, but the back pain radiated to me! Hope your mouth is feeling better..

One of the Teachers (at the school where he "BIG SHRUB" was yesterday here in Sarasota) BIL worked at the first building on the 87th floor...he was on the phone with his wife when the first plane hit...told her "something has caused a lot of smoke to come in here...I'll call you back"..... To my knowledge, they still haven't heard from him. So please include him in your prayers tonight.

Ladies, I'm sorry, I just can't address each of you.. let the :angel:
watch over all who need their services.

Oh, according to the chat board for BB....it won't be on for a while, but check just to make sure. They didnt' tell them what happened, but did tell them about a plane hitting the WTC. They evidently checked with Monica's sister to make sure she had no relatives that worked there.

And if you've noticed all the athletic events that have been cancelled ???? NOT THE TENNESSEE-FLA GAME!!! How about yours SUSAN...FRUIT.... GATOR WHERE ARE YOU? After all of this, I'll need a good football game to build my spirits on Saturday...

Later
BOB

Greetings Gals!

Well, like the rest of you, I've been sitting here soaking up as much news coverage as I can. I can't say my feelings any better than you all have already done. Just so shocking and so incredibly sad and disturbing that even ONE person in this whole world would have that much hate inside. God help us all. And God help the victims and their families. And God help the people trying to rescue. My heart was breaking last night as I thought of all those loved ones who would not make it home. The whole idea is simply numbing that something like this has happened.

God bless you all. I'll post more later.

Kim

Good Evening

This is just terrible. Very hard to put into words the feelings I have right now. FiIrst and formost I have to be so thankful, I do
not have any family or friends in the worst areas. I do feel terrible for the fact that some people at work did have people in the Towers, and a few know that family or friends did not make it out. I feel helpless, well not totally, because I can pray. I would like to donate blood, but I can't even do that due to having cancer three years ago.
But like BOB said down here in SOuth West Florida we are getting ready for rain. Work is already getting ready for possible flooding, and I am on call on Friday, Saturday and SUnday, and in the hospital at times like this they sometimes make us stay there.
So it could be a long weekend.

WIW wasn't great for me, up a pound, but like others said, that doesn't seem really important tonight.

Well I am sending my prayers to all who have been touched by the pain and saddness of yesteday, sending my wishes of a better day tomorrow, and I am hoping that we all can see what we can and need to do to make this a better place.
Laurie

Hi everyone

I've been in front of the t.v. on and off all day. It is so depressing to know that so many lives have been lost and my heart goes out to all the victims and their families. What a tremendous job the rescue workers have.

Mel - So glad to hear that your parents were safe. That must have been a scary time you had wondering where they were.

Viv - Glad to hear your Mom is safe and hope she is able to get home soon.

Deb - No I have never heard of Dermalin but just as you said, to me, also, it sounds too good to be true. I'm just too much of a sceptic to believe in things like that. Probably someone trying to make a fast buck.

Fillise - I don't know what you consider a large amount of weight, I have lost 39 pounds in the last two years but certainly qualify on the getting older bit. I haven't noticed any sagging under the chin yet but I am keeping a close watch on it. Soon as I start to get wrinkles or having a sagging chin or neck then I will have to stop trying to lose. Where I do notice sagging though is under the upper arm but at least this can be covered up. Does anyone know of any remedy for this. Would weight lifting have any effect on it? I hade to smile at you looking in the mirror after trying out the different skin creams :lol:

I am down another pound this week, now 196 lbs. That's six pounds from my initial goal. My next goal will be 180 lbs depending on how I look (see note to Fillise above).

Good nite.

Marie.

Hi everyone I'm so glad I found this site. I've been posting on SB site. I'm horrified at whats happened in our country yesterday. Have been glued to the TV most of the day. Finally had to turn the channel this evening. Am praying for those who have lost their loved ones and the ones that are still lost but hopefully will be found alive. Never in my 39 yrs have I ever saw anything like this in the USA. Never thought I would see it either. Loved reading all your posts they are very good for the moral of this WOE. I have been overweight most of my later teens and up till now. I started SB July1, 2001. I was so depressed and wouldn't hardly go anywhere unless my husband made me go. But now I feel great and wake up every morning ready to greet the day. I weighed 264 lbs bigger than I've ever been in my whole life. But in July I lost the first 18lbs. In August I lost only 9lbs (but I lost them . Then this month I've lost 7 so far and am enjoying the comments and looks I get from the family. My husband has been working since the first of this month and will be home on the 20 this month....He hasn't been here for the last 10 lbs:smug: Boy will he be surprised at the change in me..;): Again praying for everyone who lost loved ones. Hope everything turns out ok.

Greetings thunderwoman62, so glad that you found the board! Sounds like you've really made a dent in the weight deptment. Your dh will surely be surprised when he gets home this month, huh? :lol: Hey, we're neighbors across the way! I'm south of I-10 & I believe you're north of Alex?

Marie, another pound! WHOOHOOO!! You're really getting down to business :D

BOB, no my back is fine. No problems there. As a matter a fact, I didn't even hurt the next day from my fall. I am getting use to the splint the dentist made for my TMJ, but I'm afraid since late yesterday evening I have been having some returning pain from the neuralgia. Again tonight I have felt the old familar tooth pain that had been completely gone for the last month or so. GRRRRRR

Laurie, sure hope they take it easy on you & not work you too hard this week end. Hope you & BOB don't have too much flooding your way.

Kim, I know...it's hard to stay away from that TV. It's hard to see all of that & yet we still watch it over & over. It just doen't make any sense that anyone could hate us that much.

Debbie, sorry to hear that you're getting so much rain too. Too bad Eli had to work today when you were stuck inside alone:o :lol:

Well ladies, I bid you all good night & pray that tomorrow will be a brighter day. :wave:

Hi Gals,
We got back from our vacation in southern PA this evening, and I just had to check the board first thing.
We intended to leave from PA today and arrive home tomorrow, but our planned route was down I-95 through Wilmington, Baltimore and Washington DC. We were eating breakfast at our darling accommodations and happened to turn on the TV just in time to see the second plane fly into the WTC. Horrible! Unbelievable!
We knew then that going through DC would be a nightmare, so we left a day early and drove west to Gettysburg PA and then south, finally getting I-95 in mid-Virginia.
MELERIS--We were in Montchanin, just about 2 miles west of Wilmington, and south of Chadds Ford. We drove up to Lenape to visit Baldwins Book Barn. We had a great time. There is so much to do there.

SolShine--I’m sorry to learn about your loss of job. I hope you get just the new one that is made for you!!!
Hope by now you are enjoying your waterbed. We’ve had one for years. Probably at least 15 years and really love it. We bought an almost totally waveless one about 5 years ago and are almost uncomfortable on a “regular” mattress. I just love how you can get into bed on a cold night and it is already warm and cozy for you.

Hi Big Orange. I just read on the Gator board that the SEC is giving $1 million dollars to help the people in NYC. In addition, they will be taking any offerings people wish to give at the gate. All SEC games will be played this weekend, with a special program regarding the acts of war committed against our country, and our resolve to stand strong. Apparently Friday will be a national day of mourning, according to that Web site. We plan to be in Gainesville on Saturday. My husband says that we will not live in fear, and that would be doing what the cowardly perpetrators intend.

Well, I’ve got to go. Just wanted to check in. But I’ve still got to unpack and get the stuff off my bed so I can go to sleep. Take care.

Hi everyone - here's hoping the rescue workers can find more survivors today and that others who are in such pain from the loss and the unknown will find some comfort.

Gator - glad you were able to avoid the trouble spots. You sure have been on the road lately. I must have missed any post you previously made, but did you have fun in Wisconsin? Hope you had good weather.

Deb - Yes, I can really relate to eating something not on program with no bad effects, and then it escalating. More of a problem for me is the "last supper" where I "promise" myself that after this last meal I will get down to business and stay OP and not go off program again. I can find myself doing that every meal. I'm still fighting to stay OP though. The scale only said 2 lbs more than the lowest number I reached, but that was back in May or June and I get disgusted with myself for the time I've wasted. I realize that now is the time to get a grip and back OP before all the holiday eating starts, and that is my immediate goal.

Sol - I'm sorry I'm so late in my acknowledgment of your job situation. You seem to have a good frame of mind about it from your posts, but I'm sure it's a very difficult situation. I'm so glad that you seem to have a lot of leads on other positions and hope that what you decide on is better than what you left.

I better get back to work. Take care and stay safe.

Karen

Good Thursday Morning Everyone:wave:

Just got home from taking Lauren to school, the roads are wet and some areas are flooded, so traffic to say the least is worse than normal, which is pretty bad most days.

I got in my walk and have a new second best walk time of 49:45, just 24 seconds longer than my best time. I was walking and thinking about what's transpired in our nation the last two days and started to do my jog, well, to go explain, when I walk/jog I'll walk then go into a jog usually from one light pole to a few away (usually anywhere between 1/10 of a mile and 1/5 of a mile), then I go back to walking for a bit and start over again. When I came to where I would normally go back to walking, to the point I thought I couldn't jog anymore, I thought about all the victims that are possibly still alive by the grace of G-d in the rubble of those buildings and thought how they must feel, how, if anyone is still alive, how some will give up and others who think they can't go on anymore but find the strength to hang on in hopes someone will find them. Thinking about that I had the strength to continue on where I did my jog, then the part I usually walk, I jogged and then continued on to the next part I usually jog (did I lose anyone ?) I did this 4 times in my walk, which gave me my good walk/jog time as well as something to really think about while I was doing it.

In talking to so many, I think what's bothered me personally the most, besides this entire incident are 3 things-seeing the 2nd plane fly into the 2nd Tower, seeing people jumping to their deaths and seeing the heartless Palistinians celebrating. Unfortunately, from what I hear on the news, people here in the US are blaming all Arabs in general, which is not right and thus not only shows their prejudices, but they're lack o knowledge. People like this would rally against anyone who in not white American-black, Chinese, Jews, etc. etc. I'm sure there are many Moslems that are fine people, just like there are in most religions/races-and all sects of society have their bad apples. Eli has always told me what fanatics the Moslems are and how even the Christians in Lebanon are fearful of them. He explained to me they are taught to kill, it's in their Bible. I've met Moslems that are nice and then questioned him about that, then why don't all Moslems kill, he said, to give you an idea, it's like Christians, many people say they are of this faith, yet, you'll find many going against the faith (sleeping before marriage, having affairs, etc). He said the TRUE Moslems are the fanatics and you should be fearful of them. Before Eli came to this country, his home was raided by Moslems who wanted to take over the territory in Southern Lebanon. He lost EVERYTHING. He came to the US with a briefcase and the clothes on his back, nothing more. Everything he worked so hard for in Lebanon was gone-they trashed his entire home, down to the tiles on the walls. I saw pictures of what they had done-it was nothing but a shell-even the toilets were gone. He did nothing, they knew nothing of who he was, they only cared that he wasn't one of them - Christians there in Lebanon are the minority and looked down upon by the Moslems. Anyhow, I guess my point is that we, as a Nation, can't start picking on anyone with an Arab sounding name and attacking them, it just makes us as bad as the scum who did this to us.

Okay, back to some normalcy here...

VIV, boy you must of been relieved to know your Mom was okay-what a day for those who were on flights while this was going on. What's the latest status for her? Any idea when she'll be able to get a flight out? Thanks again for giving me a heads up on Tuesday, I don't know how long I would of sat here not knowing what was transpiring if it wasn't for you!:)

FILLISE, I felt exactly like you when I woke up, that it was just a dream/nightmare-I'm sure we all thought the same way. I went to the site you linked with the column, but I couldn't find it-am I looking at it and not realizing it??? Good for you for staying strong against wanting to eat emotionally!!!

MELIRIS, yes, our weight seems so insignificant compared to what's going on, but still, life does go on and we have to concentrate on things that keep us going on a daily basis. Congratulations on another pound off!! I may just try that cream, lots cheaper than surgery, which will come in the future, I may treat myself to it with whatever b.day money happens to find it's way into my hands in a few weeks:^: Good luck with those job prospects!

SEF, as you can see above, I totally agree with you and what you said about lumping all people together because of their race. Glad to hear you're feeling better!:)

MELF, CONGRATS, back down to your low and only 3lbs from goal! You're almost there girl!!!! Congrats for turning up your nose at those doughnuts! Yeah, it stunk that Eli had to work, but he got home in time for us to go to lunch at SHORTY'S-BOB liked that place!!

BOB, hope the rains don't flood your area down there, lots of rain here, mostly been at night though. Seems Lake Okechobee is finally rising a bit! What's new on your end??? When you coming for a visit again? Has that teacher heard anything from her BIL???? I pray so!
How can BB not be on, I mean, I know because there are more important things right now, but aren't they suppose to get out of their soon, do HOA, and so on? At least they told them about what happened-seems from what I read they know, but not the magnitude of it all-I'm surprised at CBS not letting them see what's happening!

QUILTER, how are the walks with Paul going???

LAMAP, hope you don't get too much bad weather where you are. Don't worry about that pound, I'm sure you aren't, you've been doing so well, you know it's just temp.

ROSALIE, WOO HOO! Congratulations! Another pound!! Is this now your lowest since starting SB??? I'm awaiting some e-mail replies from people who posted on a board about using the stuff, some seem to think it helped, but since that was about 3 months ago, I e-mailed them to see what they had to say as of now, waiting for replies. I think it's actually a large company called KLEIN BECKER that makes the product. I'll let you know if I decide to splurge.

THUNDER, WELCOME TO THE BOARD!:D Glad you've decided to join us! Sounds like you are doing well on SB thus far and are headed in the right direction. Don't ever say I've only lost XX amount of pounds-be proud for each and every pound you lose-we all know how much of a struggle it is to lose and we congratulate every ounce we/you lose!!! I can so relate to where you've been with your weight, my highest was 284lbs, and I'm only 5' 1.5" tall (take a gander at my fat picture on our PHOTO ALBUM BOARD). Just keep focused and you'll get to your goal weight-of course, stick with us-you won't find a better support system than right here-these gals have kept me going for 1 1/2 years now!!!! I'm sure your hubby will be pleasantly surprised at the "new you" he comes home to find-you'll have to let us know his reaction!!! BTW, you're our second SONYA! SOLSHINE'S real name is that as well :) AGAIN, WELCOME!!!!!

GATOR, welcome back-glad to hear your back safe and sound-where are you going next???????

KAREN, my sentiments exactly about them finding more people. It seems, from what I hear on the TV that the centers were connected underground and that one of the people who's worked there for over 19years thinks many are down there and possibly alive. I wish there was a way to speed things up, but I'm sure they're doing whatever they can. As for eating, get a grasp and see what you are saying-that you are only 2lbs higher than your low-if you don't take charge, you will be saying only 5lbs, only 10lbs. I've been there! When I lost weight last time, the only successful time I guess one could say, and then I started to gain I would get on the scale and find myself up 5lbs and swore I wouldn't go up to 10, before I knew it, I was saying 15, then 20-well, before too long I had gained 65lbs-something I swore would never happen again. Grab the bull by the horns before that bull crops up behind you and gnaws your ***! THINK before you eat something and I bet if you THINK about it, you'll THINK twice about eating it. Don't undo everything you've done.

Whew, where did the time go???? I must jump in the shower now-haven't done a darn tootin thing.

I will get a few recipes posted on the RECIPE BOARD later today.

{{{HUGS}}} to you all!

Debbie
194/126.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

The following was printed in yesterday's MIAMI HERALD by columnist, LEONARD PITTS. I saw someone else had posted it on the 3FC'S site and went to the Miami Herald site and copied it from there.

WE'LL GO FORWARD FROM THIS MOMENT

It's my job to have something to say.

They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable *******.

What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.

Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.

Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.


IN PAIN

Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.

But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future.

In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.


THE STEEL IN US

You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.

As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.

So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started.

But you're about to learn.

This is Pitt's article from today in the MIAMI HERALD:

HATRED IS UNWORTH OF US

Episodes from the aftermath of tragedy:

In Colorado Springs, Colo., four men threaten to burn down a mosque.

In Irving, Texas, someone fires shots into the Islamic Center.

In Chicago, a passerby threatens violence against an Arab man.

The sad and awful truth is, you knew this was coming. Could have predicted it the moment four stolen planes plowed into a nation's heart. This is, after all, a troubling strain of our national personality that rises reliably to the surface in moments like this.

During the First World War, Americans of German heritage were widely treated as traitors and spies. During the Second World War, Americans of Japanese heritage were rounded up by the government and interned. During the Iranian hostage crisis, Americans of Middle Eastern heritage were reviled amid loose talk of mass deportation. And Tuesday afternoon, a friend of mine -- though in that moment, I was embarrassed to call him that -- said we should search out everyone in this country from the Middle East and send them back home.

In the wake of sentiments like those and against the backdrop of our history, let me say just one thing to my sister and brother Americans.

Don't. Please, don't.

Do not give terrorists the victory a hundred Pentagons and a thousand World Trade Centers could not. Hatred on account of culture or religion is unworthy of us at any time. But in the wake of Tuesday's events, it's tantamount to giving aid and comfort to the enemy, a group of petty thugs who tried to bring us down to their level, make us just like them.

I'm reminded of something I heard a man say on the radio Wednesday morning: that it's important that we save Americans, but also important that we save America.

As we grapple with the unthinkable, it occurs to me that his observation, which came and went in the media maelstrom of experts and pundits, encapsulates much of what is ultimately at stake here. Meaning human lives, yes. But also, that which ennobles them.

As these words are written, brave and sweat-streaked women and men sift the rubble of iconic office buildings in Manhattan and greater Washington and a crash site in the Pennsylvania countryside. The work of saving Americans continues apace.

But the work of saving America is a trickier, knottier task whose results are less readily seen. Because it is the work of saving an ideal and an identity, preserving -- and uplifting -- the best of who we are. Meaning, an experiment in individual liberty, a research project in human tolerance, a people bound to one another not by blood but by fealty to a extraordinary ideal.

And if you don't understand that ideal, well . . . you could pore over the Constitution, you could read the thoughts of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King. Or, you could simply recall the five words at the end of the pledge we once said as children. ``Liberty. And justice. For all.''

In this moment when emotions are high, it seems prudent -- vital -- that we stop and remind ourselves of what is meant by ``all.''

Every one of us, no one left out. We are not a nation that is only white or only Christian. We're a people of rainbow hues and multiple faiths.

If that heritage has taught us nothing else by now, it should have taught us this: It's ignorant to think you can judge a man's soul by looking at his face. Yes, I saw Arabs cheering our pain in the West Bank. I also saw them issuing condemnations in Washington.

Take it as a reminder: The enemy is not Arab people or the Muslim religion. The enemy is fanaticism, extremism, intolerance, hate. The madmen who commandeered those planes don't represent the followers of Islam any more than the madmen who blow up abortion clinics represent the followers of Christ.

Yes, we're angry. We're supposed to be angry. We have a right to be angry. But at the same time, we must be wary of the places to which we allow that anger to bring us.

If we let it deliver us to the doorstep of fanaticism, extremism, intolerance, hate, we might as well give up now. Because everything that matters has already been lost.

Deb, thanks for posting those articles. I had received the first at work and was just about to post it to the board. Isn't that a powerful piece?


Karen

Thanks for that last post. I whole-heartedly agree with the writer of that piece. We must NOT give into hatred, not try to lump all races or religions into the same pile. We are NOT all the same.

The enemy is not Arab people or the Muslim religion. The enemy is fanaticism, extremism, intolerance, hate. The madmen who commandeered those planes don't represent the followers of Islam any more than the madmen who blow up abortion clinics represent the followers of Christ.

Let us all remember that & not put the blame where it does not belong. Yes, someone is the blame for this mess, but they will get their justice when the time comes. It is not our place to try to punish anyone. Our duty is to raly together, to pray for those involved directly, & to continue to hope & pray that others will be found alive in the rubble as they did this morning. And also to pray for our leaders, that they will make the right decisions for ALL concerned.

Saw this on the e-diets web page and thought you might be interested:

Weighing The Pros & Cons Of The Scale

by Dr. Susan Mendelsohn
eDiets.com Psychologist

Do you use your scale as a way to seek approval? Or to tell you how “good” you are doing on your diet? Do you feel the scale is your best friend or your worst enemy?

Some of us may use the scale to tell us how we are supposed to feel, but at times it may result in a form of punishment.

Let me relate an example of what I'm talking about. Let’s say we overeat in a certain situation. At this time our thought process kicks in telling ourselves that we are a failure, we have no willpower, etc. This in turn, compels us to jump on the scale solely to prove what a failure we are, giving support to our irrational thoughts in the first place. This vicious cycle only serves to punish us over and over again for being human. In this case, does the scale really seem like a logical tool in helping us improve?

If this pattern of behavior sounds like you, I strongly suggest that you get rid of the scale! It is now time to listen to your own feelings and start to focus on the process of becoming healthy and listening to your own internal messages. You can trust yourself!

The scale really only tells you how much your physical body weighs. It does not take body composition (muscle weight, fat tissue, water, etc.) into account, nor does it account for your bone structure. The scale tells you how many pounds you may have lost, but certainly doesn’t tell you how much fat tissue you have lost, how much muscle weight you have accumulated, what types of nutrition you are getting, and so on.

In addition, the scale will even show when there is an increase in weight but not give you any indication that it may be muscle mass (which weighs more than fat) that you have gained. (Muscle actually takes up one-fifth of the space of fat which results in inches lost, not weight lost.)

In my opinion, I’d much rather lose inches than pounds because feeling good in my clothes is far more important to me than what the scale tells me. Losing pounds does not guarantee comfortable fitting clothes.

Most importantly, the scale does not account for your emotional weight. Emotional weight refers to the 5 pounds of guilt, 20 pounds of loneliness, 10 pounds of pain, and so on, that also becomes a physically visible part of your body. Beauty comes from within and projects outward. The emotional pain of gauging your process through the scale may be what is keeping you from seeing that internal beauty.

For many individuals the scale only serves to make you feel more frustrated, guilty, anxious and worst of all it makes some feel like a failure. Thus, the vicious cycle of emotional weight gain continues.

Here's the problem with relying on external cues. After someone compliments you on how good you look, this euphoric feeling disappears after a couple of hours and you find yourself searching for another “fix.” This can cause that dangerous roller coaster effect. By this I mean if you are looking for another compliment and not getting one for a great deal of time, this may cause you to spiral back into your old habits of negative thinking, overeating and sabotage.

The scale also serves as an external control. Jumping on it all the time in hopes that you will find a loss of pounds, only to find that you have maintained your weight one time, and put on a pound the next, will cloud your perception of your true success. Constantly searching for that external reinforcement prevents you from focusing on what is truly important for your health and well-being.

Therefore, internal controls will serve to help you accomplish not only your weight loss goals, but your internal happiness objectives as well.

By sticking to internal controls, you and only you are in charge of how you feel. No one or nothing else has that control over you! Looking inside yourself will provide more consistency and more hope for the future. When using your internal controls, you take full responsibility for your behaviors without blaming others for your failures. There isn't a person or thing that can make you think or act in a negative manner unless you allow them to.

Relying on the scale is not a good measure of whether or not you are a successful dieter. The scale only has the power you give it. It will not provide you with a sense of accomplishment. This sense of achievement comes from within. Behavioral techniques can replace your scale to provide you with the sense of accomplishment that you require to stay motivated.

Behavioral techniques include counting caloric/fat/protein/carbohydrate intake; documenting your exercises (amount of time spent, heart rate, type of exercise); journal writing; number of times you are consciously aware of your intake prior to eating; number of times you were able to say “no” to your trigger foods; number of times you were able to substitute an alternate activity for food; inches lost; fat tissue count; and so on. These behaviors will all give you that sense of control that you require to succeed.

Find peace and fulfillment from within and begin connecting with others in a more healthy manner rather than for “dieting” approval.


Dr. Susan Mendelsohn is a licensed psychologist who works with a variety of addictions and specializes in managing eating disorders. In addition to teaching and maintaining a private practice, she counsels eDiets.com members online.

Karen

For those of you who went to the Purepolitic web site, I guess it didn't occur to me that you don't know my fill name. Here is the speific URL that will take you directly to the article.

Susan's terrorism article (http://www.purepolitics.com/Fillippeli.htm)


I'm still in shock. I heard today from the one friend I was worried about. Thank God!

The worst thing about terrorism is that is really provokes everyone to operate out of hatred and fear. At the prayer service I attended tuesday evening, we had to remind ourselves that these terrorists are no more representative of all Moslems than KKKers are representative of all Christianity. None of us are immune from the dangers of fanaticism.

Deb--It sounds like Eli had it rough and was very strong to come over here and start over again. My grandfather's family did something very similar when their farmlands were siezed by the italian criminals (think mafia) and drove them to this country with nothing more than they could carry.

BOBand Gator--I have to admit I am ready for the diversion of a football game. I feel guilty for that. I was talking to the wife of Auburn's president and he was very worried about asking 90,000 people to gather in one place when we don't know who is still out there and what they might do. I think if he had made the decision we wouldn't be playing.

Everyone else--hang in there. We have to keep going--though most of the time I want to lie down and cry.

Thunder--welcome--it sounds like you are off to a great start!


Susan

Hey All:wave:

Thought I'd get in a quick post before Eli gets home.

The local news had two things that I found a bit unsettling, one was a terrorist who is dead, and they didn't say when, who, or how-could of been one in the plane for all I know, lived in Kendall, where I live, still would like to hear more info on that. The other is that they have a BOLO (be on the look out) for a rental car with 2 Middle Eastern men who stopped and asked for directions to Turkey Point which is just south of here and is a nuclear power plant!:eek:

I picked up a couple books at the library, one is the SB for KIDS, just to see what they have to say in there, and another is the GLUCOSE REVOLUTION LIFE PLAN-will give you a review of both when I have them read.

Did good with my water today, didn't yesterday, so making up for it today-praying I'll see a loss on the scale soon, it seems not to be going much in either direction, but I would like it to go in the southern direction!

AMSER sent me a site that has a wonderful poem about what happened on Tuesday, written by a 17 year old. It's worth reading, so here's the link:

http://www.minibite.com/wtcpoem.htm


KAREN, loved the article you posted on the scale! Thanks so much! I answered yes to all 3 questions in the first paragraph!

FILLISE, that's a wonderful and powerful piece you wrote, thanks for sharing the site so we could read it.

BOB & LAMAP, seems you both are going to get some nasty weather from Gabrielle-let us know how things are with you two!!!!

Okay, going to start some salad-I'll try to check in later. I hit the hay last night around 9pm, I think I was more emotionally tired than physically. Hope I can stay up a little later tonight!

Hope you all have a nice evening!

Debbie
194/126.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

wHO CAN TEAR THEMSLVES AWAY FROM THE TV? I FIND I CAN'T. I GO ABOUT DOING THINGS AND HAVE TO RETURN TO SEE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS.

IT IS ONLY A LITTLE THING, PERHAPS. BUT TODAY MY HEART HURT FOR ONE OF THE RESIDENTS AT THE NURSING HAPPEN. TODAT WAS CURRENT EVENTS AND BOY WAS THERE INTEREST!! oNE LADY WAS SO UPSET BY IT ALL. HER SON WORKS AT NASA AND SHE WAS WORRIED ABOUT HIM AS "THAT'S WHERE THEY MAKE ALL THE ROCKETS AND THINGS, WHAT A TARGET THAT COULD BE!"

SHE FINALLY GOT TO TALK TO HIM THIS MORNING AND SHE SAID SHE FELT BETTER BUT STILL WAS WORRIED.

TO ME, IT BROUGHT HOME THE FACT THAT EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE WEREN'T AT GROUND ZERO, THERE IS A RIPPLE EFFECT AND IT REACHES US ALL. YOU CRY WITH THE FAMILIES SEARCHING HOSPITALS AND CENTERS FOR LOVED ONES, WITH THE RESCUERS WHO HAVE FOUND SOMEONE ALIVE, WITH THE RESCUERS WHO RAISED THE AMERICAN FLAG, WITH CHILDREN WHO HAVE SEEN THE EVENTS ON TV AND DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY ARE ACARED AND WORRIED, THE PEOPLE WITH REPIRATORY OR HEART PROBLEMS THAT HAVE EXACERBATED BY THIS EVENT. THE LIST CAN ON AND ON.

BUT WE WILL SURVIVE! wE ARE AMERICANS!!!

SHIRLEY

Sorry I got carried away with my thoughts, a senior moment!

Oh, please not nuclear power plants- that's the only thing near here that my ds pointed out could be a target (25 miles away).

Gator- Glad you enjoyed Southeastern Pa. I live about 5 miles up the road from Baldwins Book Barn, one of my favorite places. I remember as kid racing through the place from floor to floor, hiding behind the rickety shelves. As an adult, I went there less because my kids did the same thing and I was afraid they'd fall through the floors! To add some local color- Ted Baldwin is in jail now (or maybe recently out) for augmenting his income by masterminding a scheme to steal platinum from a local precious metals reclamation plant. It worked for a few years before he got caught. I grew up in NW Wilmington and went to school with a lot of the Montchanin, Greenville and Chadds Ford folks. A lot were named Du Pont. They had some great birthday parties! It really is a lovely area.

Karen- The scale article was all too true. I was devastated this morning that my 1 lb loss had reappeared even tho I'd done a great weight workout and a run yesterday and eaten really well. Felt depressed all day- tho there are plenty of other reasons for that! But the article rang all too true.

Thunder- WELCOME This is a great community. I'm new here too, but the support and inspiration I've received has been invaluable.

Deb- Eli's story sounds heartbreaking but I'm sure he's and incredibly strong person. One of the things Fillise said made me think that so many of the people in this country are HERE because of forms of terrorism in their or their ancestors' homelands. My family fled Russia and Germany in the early 1900's when Jews weren't real popular there. Not sure there ever was a time when Jews were real popular there....Speaking of which, how in the world am I going to make an SB legal latke??? It seems doubly unfair that people who have fled one place because of terrorism, persecution and injustice now have to live in fear again.

Here's a recipe I found on another 3FC board- someday when I'm really bored I have to try it. It's not entirely SB legal, but sometimes allowances have to be made!

BAKED CHICKEN

6-7 lb. chicken
1 cup melted butter
1 cup stuffing
1 cup uncooked popcorn
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush chicken well with melted butter; salt and pepper.

Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn.

Place in baking pan in oven.

Listen for popping sounds; when chicken's *** blows out the oven door
and flies across the room, chicken is done.

I guess you could substitute olive oil for the butter:lol:

Mel

EVENING EVERYBUDDY!!! :(


Still sitting here STUNNED!!! Still can't believe I've seen this happen in my lifetime....here on American soil!!
What's to keep them from starting a war over here? I'M MAD..DAMN MAD
Did you all see on the news what the Queen had the band do at the "changing of the guard" today? She had them play the STAR SPANGLED BANNER!!


SUSAN & GATOR NO GAMES AT ALL THIS WEEKEND...GATOR, they are saying that we might not even play our game...that there might not be a need for it. Evidently they might wait to see what's going on at the end of the season...
So, unless you're just going to sit and have a picnic or something at the stadium Saturday....don't make the trip...stay home and sit by that beautiful pond in your back yard..

[b]MEL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT GOOD LAUGH THAT I JUST HAD COURTEST OF YOU!!!! :lol: I definately needed that!

LAURIE Be careful...this is supposed to hit us first but get worse as it moves up the coast..

WHERE IS ANN???

QUILTER Glad to hear from you. Say hello to Paul and Andrea for me....and give MADDIE GIRL a little rub behind the ears will you?

KAREN Just hold on, we'll make it...this is a LONG HARD JOURNEY that we have undertaken...the road is long with a lot of BUMPS!!!

DEB I hope that no one has said or done anything to ELI...I know he can hold his own, but there have been some really big problems with that kind of thing all over today..
RAINING here as we speak....100% tomorrow....70% on Saturday and Sunday....LOVELY WEEKEND I MUST SAY!!! It's a good thing my house needs cleaning!!!


I'm off to lurk in other places.....STAY SAFE EVERYONE!!

BOB

BOB - I'm glad you are on your way! Don't know if I can hold out much longer!

Karen

Just a quick note...

Mom is still in Chicago - OHare has not yet been opened.

Our schools have been gathering supplies for the Salvation Army and it was heartening to see all the bags and boxes we all brought. And it's also nice to see all those flags beginning to fly outside homes.

Hope everyone's friends and families are well.

viv

Hi Karen2000--Yep, we enjoyed Wisc. immensely. I think I wrote a post to you a couple of weeks ago all about it. I forget what I said by now. We had pretty good weather except for one day in Door County, which was a great place to visit. The American Club in Kohler was fine. I had a facial and a pedicure there. Almost fell asleep during the facial.

Debelli--I agree with you when you say that we would be just as bad as the scum who did this to us if we trash someone just because they are Arab. I personally don’t understand how anyone could worship a god that gets pleasure from the killing of innocent people. It seems that that kind of god just gives permission for men to act out their depraved natures that came when sin entered the world. That kind of god is a false god, no better than a piece of wood or carved piece of stone.

Meliris--thanks for the “local color” regarding Baldwin’s. It makes it even a more fascinating place. Yep, the duPonts really have added to the area. We spent a day at Winterthur. I LOVE that place. I arranged for two private tours, one on Penn. dutch folk art, and the other on china ware. Very interesting. We saw a great fireworks show at Longwood. I highly recommend it if you ever can go. Tickets were $22 but worth it. I got them almost 6 months ago.

BOB--We got the news this afternoon about the game. We had invited friends, had a cottage reserved at a great little B & B in Gainesville, and I had my menu all picked out. But we’ll have to wait. I wasn’t sure if we would get to play UT at all. Hope so. Guess we’ll spend the weekend around the TV. It is supposed to rain anyway, like it has done all day. I even flew my American flag in the rain. I was determined to fly it. We invited our friends over for dinner tomorrow night, so we will do something else instead of going to the game. I have to admit, I can’t imagine cheering very heartily at the game. After all of this, a football game is not all that important. Actually, it was not all that important before, but just FUN.

Gotta go and clean up the kitchen. Take care all, and pray for our country.

Sorry for being so remiss in posting, but I, too, have been glued to the tv when not doing the job hunt stuff. It's been 3 whole days since this happened and I don't feel any better than I did when the attacks first happened.

I'm so glad to hear that everyone here is safe and that families are all accounted for. We have a family friend who was a wine steward in the WTC restaurant, but, thankfully, she had quit recently. I'm sure she lost a lot of friends, though. One of Vince's co-workers has a brother in law who owns a company with almost 1000 employees who all work out of the WTC. The owner decided he didn't feel like going to work on Tuesday so he didn't. He escaped the horrible attack, but is now desparately trying to locate his employees. I'm sure all of us have stories like that. It truly is a far reaching attack.

BOB, I did see a tape of the changing of the guards this morning and got tears in my eyes seeing all those people gathered around the wrought iron fence crying and holding articles about the attacks.

It is certainly hard to get "pepped up" for interviews this week. I had an interview Wednesday with a company my dad used connections to get for me. It's a sales position, though, and I'm so darned tired of sales - that's why I became a computer geek. :) After much deliberation and stress I decided to withdraw my application and sent thank you letters to that affect. (They will probably be relieved as I'm sure I didn't come across as an enthusiastic sales person with all that's going on and my ambivalence about the position.)

WIW was good to me - back to 197. I see Marie is now 1 lb. ahead of me. We'll cross that 180 lb. mark together, I'm sure!! :D Keep up the good work!

DEBBIE - I wondered how Eli was doing with all this going on. I hope he doesn't run into any ugly situations. MSU is where many, many Middle Eastern men come to study engineering since we're among the best in the nation. I think small town mentality can be the best or the worst depending on the people (thankfully, nothing bad has happened in Starkville). Hopefully Miami and other big cities have enough diversity for people to realize that you can't pigeon-hole people.

Thanks for all the support and condolences on my job search. There sure isn't a lot out there, but I keep telling myself I only need one! I do have a great lead on one job that would be with a great company. I turned in application information and am waiting for them to check it and get back with me about the next step in the interview process. I sure hope they hurry! COBRA is expensive as sh**, but I've got to continue my insurance with all the meds I'm on. Unemployment doesn't pay much, either.

I'll write individual replies when I can. Gabrielle is going to come see us after she leaves BOB and LARA's neck of the woods. They said to expect 6-10 inches of rain today and lots of tornado warnings.

Today is the 5 year anniversary of Vince and me getting married. The stinker bought a beautiful flower arrangement and the sweetest card for me yesterday since he's working today. I'm fixing to go to Publix and get a card and some cookies and sweets to take to the police department. Women like flowers - men (and their co-workers) like food! :lol:

:wave: have a great day everyone!!

I am still here, but I've been permanently changed. I have been obsessed with the news to the point that I've taken my portable tv to work the past 2 days.

PLEASE PRAY for our nation's leaders, the heroic acts of people who are rescuing and recovering victims, and those who've lost loved ones. Pray for our enemies that they will see the error in their thinking. I pray that none of you were impacted by the terrorists' acts. I pray that future attempts to terrorize Americans will be thwarted. PRAY for PEACE.

I have family members who are former military who are eager to return to service immediately. My first thoughts are NO! But I must realize that this may be what it takes to return peace to this world. Support our Patriots who will defend the flag and the nation without regard for themselves. If you have a flag, please display it.

Please give blood if you can, donate money and/or volunteer at releif agencies, do whatever you can. I am going to the Red Cross to answer phones. It is the first thing that I believed I could do to help. I will keep looking for ways to assist, I hope that you will too.

As much as I love chatting and reading with you all, I am having trouble making posting here a priority. I'm sure that you are all feeling similarly. Let's try to continue to touch base with each other when we can.

As always,

PEACE,
Frog

Good Friday Morning Everyone!:wave:

It's an ugly morning here in Miami, but probably not as bad as it is up were BOB and LAMAP are-they are going to be a lot worse today. After I took Michael to school I went for my walk, exchanging my water bottle in the holder for my umbrella. To say it was dark out there was an understatment. BUT, as stubborn as I am (sometimes), I went out, half way through it started lightening and then 3/4 of the way started to rain lightly and the winds picked up. I wasn't even in the house 10 seconds when it started to down pour and the electricity flickered-lucky to make it back when I did. Even through that, it was a great walk/jog!!!! I had a NEW SECOND BEST TIME!!!!! I did it in 49:29, just 8 seconds slower than my best. BUT what I really was proud of was that I did some of the longest jogs ever! After I dropped Lauren off at school I went in the car and measured where I had jogged-1 time it was over 1/2 a mile!:spin:

Still more news on our Nation's tragedy, so many connections from Fl, it's scary. Not sure what to believe anymore, seem all the nuts are coming out of the woodworks now. I continue to pray for those who've lost loved ones and for those that may still be trapped and alive in the ruble.

I have to run and get in the shower. My Mother needs me to sit in for her at her building today and I have to be there at 9:30am, so I have to skiddadle. I'll be back later this afternoon and will reply to everyone then. Just wanted to get in this quickie that I had a chance to write before I had to take Lauren to school.

I hope you all have a good day today despite the chaos that's been happening. Just remember, tell those you love how imortant they are to you while you're here, we never know when our time is up in the world. And on that note, you all MUST KNOW just how important you are to me:) To those who've I had the pleasure of meeting in person and to those I've only had the chance to know via e-mail and this board, no matter what, you're all important to me in my book!!!!! {{{{HUGS}}}}

Later!

Debbie
194/126/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

I just finished watching the national prayer service. It comforted me--a small victory because it means we can begin the long healing process.

I'm not much in the mood to talk about food today--but so far so good. I did go out with some friends for Sushi last night, but I needed the night out. Sushi rice is like the highest GI for rice, but I made sure that rice was the only starchy carbs I ate yesterday--everything else was protein or veggie. No difference on the scale today, but sometimes it takes a couple of days to show up if it is going to. I'm back OP today--and hitting the protein hard again.

I'm going to workout in a little while too. That will get my third session in for the week--so on that level it's been a good week.

Sol--Happy Anniversary! Vince sounds so thoughtful--get him some delicious cookies!

Frog--Know what you mean. I come back here to keep myself grounded.

Gator--sounds like you have good alternative plans. It sure seems like the SEC was shamed into postponing this week's games.


Susan

I got sent this, this morning and have my candle burning here in NZ.

http://www.top-greetings.com/cards/298/


Am thinking of you all as is the world, well those that deserve earth space anyway IMHO


When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.
There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall --
think of it, ALWAYS.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

good evening ladies.
Hope those that have or had to contend with Gabrielle are fairing okay.

Still glued to the tv. Still cant believe it happened. Glad to hear that no-one on this board lost or is looking for loved ones. I just cant imagine what those people are going through. I pray that the good lord eases their pain , and guides the President in making his decisions on retaliation. Deb read those articles from Mr. Pitts and the article from the canadian. I am going to print them out and do something with them. I also agree with you on not taking out agressions on people who might be the same nationality but not the same religions as the cowards who attacked us. Hope Eli doesnt come across any of those kind of idiots.

Welcome to the newbies. Glad you found us. You will soon learn we are a caring and enthusiastic bunch. Deb is awsome. Quite an inspiration to us all.

Sorry I didnt check in WiW but nothing new to report. Weight has stayed the same. Havent been exercising, so my Sept goal is shot. Did manage to mow the front yard earlier. Golfed Sun,Mon,Tues and Thurs, so I guess that counts as some form of exercise. At least I get my water in.

Well ladies its time I say goodbye for now. Have to get my dinner ready, and get tuned back in to Cnn to catch the latest.

Will catch yall later.

Hi everyone

I managed to see some of the memorial service to-day (while at work) and am sitting here at home with my candle burning and thinking of you all.

There've been a few problems in TO to-day with people verbally abusing moslem women and children. I just hope people can keep their sanity and this behaviour doesn't escalate. Too bad that the women and children are targeted , but the moslem women are easily identifiable as most of them wear the hijab (headscarf).

Solshine - Happy anniversary. Yes, we will keep each other company on the way down to 180!

Deb - Congrats on your second best time. Didn't I read this yesterday? At this rate you will soon by surpassing your previous best time. Glad you got home before the storm really hit. Hope all is O.K. with Eli.

My prayers and thoughts are with you all.

Marie.

Evening All:wave:

Not much new going on down here-life's a bore, but I guess that's not such a bad thing sometimes.

Poor Eli is bushed, working long hours and going in so early-I told him to go to bed at 9pm, gives me some time to get in my post.

SEF, I couldn't agree with you more, this has not only affected those who's lost loved ones, not only those who live in NY & DC, not only Americans, but the whole world. To see other countries on TV singing our songs and showing their respect, it shows the whole world, at least those who have a heart, that have all been effected by this tragedy.

MEL, had no idea you were a member of "the tribe". I never thought about Turkey Point much until this happened to our country. I can't obsess over things like that though, it doesn't help, I'm not moving, at least not right now-if it's my time to go, it's my time-I truly believe everything is destined. Don't worry about a SB legal latke, it CAN be made with sweet potato, or you could even make zucchini latkes! I've postd a wonderful recipe in the past for Mandelbrot-it's too good!!! Interesting recipe you posted;)

BOB, did you get bad weather there? Are you and Skeeter treading water??? Let us know what's going on there!!!! No one has said diddly to Eli, anyone who knows him wouldn't think of it anyhow-anyone who doesn't know him, well, you know how he can play games with people-crap, he could say he's French if he wanted to, he speaks fluent French, so who would think differently. I'm not worried, he's not worried. We had falafel today-thought of you;)

VIV, has you Mom come back yet?????

SOL, glad to see you are down another pound-CONGRATS! I think you and ROSALIE have broke through that stinking plateau finally! Eli's doing fine, nothing said to him and I doubt anyone will say a thing anyhow-he feels the same way about the extremists as we do. Good luck on getting that one position you'd like to get. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY-hope you had a wonderful day with Vince celebrating it.

FROG, thanks for checking in, I know the board's not a big priority, but for me, it's what's keeping me somewhat sane and focused on not giving in to letting those *******s (aren't I putting it nicely) the upper hand of obsessing over what they've done, or what they may do next.

FILLISE, I'm not sure about the rice being as bad as we think. I just got the Glucose Revolution Life Plan book from the library and glanced at different sections, one with rice-I'll have to post the info another time, maybe we can make sense of what it says about the different rices-plus, I wouldn't worry so much about it, I'm sure the protein that was in it brought the GI of the rice down a bit.

BEE, thanks for posting that site, it was nice:) It's so nice to see people all over the world mourning with the US!

CAT, those were powerful pieces I posted and I know the one by Pitts has circulated all over the US, and probably the world. Eli's fine, no one better mess with him!!! :lol: Why throw out the baby with the bath water? Meaning, why say your goal is shot for the month? Just reaccess your goal, make a few changes and make a new goal, you still have more than half a month;)

MARIE, there are Moslems here as well who are afraid to even go out now. It's sad, but I'm not surprised, there is ignoramuses everywhere! Yes, you are correct, I did post my second best time the other day, but beat it today! I hope I can beat my best time ever soon-which shouldn't be that hard to do once the weather starts to cool down a bit. I may of been able to do so today if it wasn't for the rain and wind. I never thought I'd be jogging in my life and I thought about why I was doing it now (besides doing it to boost my metabolism), and I thought, BECAUSE I CAN!!! One day, I won't be able to do it, but I can now, so why not! I've NEVER been able to run in my life. I remember when I was in elementary school and we had to run a lap, I couldn't do it and almost died when I tried-it was terrible back then, but now, at almost 40, I CAN DO IT!!:)

Ladies, I'm outta here. Hope to catch a few garage sales tomorrow, but there's not many, so I'm sure I'll be back home quickly.

Have a good weekend!

Debbie
194/126/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

Good Evening

Well, something to be thankful for. The storm came early and quickly so we only got 5 inch of rain instead of the 10-15 they said we might get. I didn't have any damage and got to work with out to much difficulty. Looking forward to seeing the sun tomorrow.

I am glad the this week is behind us and we can start a new day and a new week. I need that as far as my eating goes, or maybe I should get on the wagon with BOB.

Deb ....good going on the walks and jogs. Must feel so wonderful to be able to to that.

Bee125 I really thought that was a great site you sent us to.

BOB- did you have any water damage??? I think that you might have gotten more rain than me. I am just glad that it is gone.

Well, I hope everyone has a restful, peaceful weekend and enjoy your families and friends....we have learned just how quickly things can be wiped out. And thank you all for being here, supporting my weight loss journey.
Laurie A Proud American

AMSERAPHIM, How are you? Hope you get some sunshine your way soon. Enjoyed the chat yesterday & look forward to our next one. Glad that your weight is maintaining.

SEF, It sounds like you are really in-tune to your residents. It good that you are there & can help them, even by letting them know that you care. How do you like this cooler weather we're been having? Have the mosquitoes let up any your way?? They sure haven't here. There are worse than ever.

Meliris Thanks for the :lol: with your chicken recipe. We all need some of that right now. At first I thought well popcprn is not legal! duh! :lol:

Bob Hope you're staying afloat with all that rain you're getting. Loved your "United We Stand" ribbon!!

VIV, Thanks for the chat yesterday. I hope your mom was able to get a flight out today! Still praying for you & yours.

Solshine, I know it's late in the day, but hope you & Vince had a great Anniversary! We also have many Middle Eastern students in our area, especially at our university in Lafayette. As far as I know, there has not been any problems. At least none that the media has mentioned. I sure hope that it stays that way. Hope your job search is fruitful!

FROG, Good to hear from you. Volunteering your time at the Red Cross center sounds like a great idea.

Debbie You were walking in the rain with your umbrella??? That is wanting to walk really bad! :lol: No kidding, I really do admire you for your strong will. It's amazing that you did such a good time with those conditions. Debbie, you are so important to us too!!! I am so ashamed of the attitude of some people in this country toward people of other cultures. Obviously if they were happy with their country they would still be there instead of here in the US where they can be free & have a better life. Sounds like Eli had it pretty rough back in his country before coming here too.

BUTTERFLY, Hope things are ok with you. I talked to my sis today for some news of my niece who is in the National Guard Reserves & my nephew in the Marines. They are both in Virginia, not far from DC she said & on alert.

QUILTER/Kim, Hope you are doing ok.

Bee, Thanks for posting that neat site. Loved your quote from Mahatma Gandhi too & the picture you posted. Hope things are going better with you & your daughter.

ROSALIE, I didn't get to see any of the memorial services except what they showed later in the evening, but what I did see brought tears to my eyes. We burned our candles here too. That is so sad that people would verbally abuse ANYONE of other cultures, Muslim, Arabs, or NOT! The article Debbie posted from the Miami Herald said it best The enemy is not Arab people or the Muslim religion. The enemy is fanaticism, extremism, intolerance, hate. If we show hate & intolerance to these innocent men, women & children just because of their race or nationality, then we are no better than the terrorists that did this to us.

LAMAP, So glad to hear that the rain went through quickly & that you faired well. Maybe now you will get some rest instead of having to put in OT this week end. Hope so anyway.

Well Ladies, thanks to all of you who are so supportive here on this board. I am so happy to be a part of this board & a part of the friendship that transpires here. I treasure each & everyone of you. It's been a really strange week, but together, we have managed to keep our heads above water & our wits about us. Lets continue to pray for our leaders, that they will have the wisdom to make the right decisions & not jump into anything that will cause more of what we have witnessed this week.

Well I need to get a uniform ironed & hit the hay cause it's back to work for me in am. Will try to check in tomorrow evening. Nite all! :wave:

Good Saturday Morning:)

Went to a few garage sales, very few of them and really wasn't in the mood to go out, but thought it was better than sitting home, did buy a pretty Murano glass bowl, doesn't go with my decor, but I'll find a place to put it.

A bit worried how BOB is doing. I heard on the radio that downtown Sarasota was flooded and 400,000 people are without electricity. If we don't here from her on the board today, I'll call her this evening. So BOB, if you're lurking, give us a holler and let us know that you and Skeeter are doing okay!!!

LAMAP, glad to hear you didn't have it as bad as you thought up there. We so need the rain here in Fl, but not all at once.

MELF, yep, walked in the rain, it wasn't raining when I started, but you could see the ugly skies out there. I have one of those micro umbrellas that are really small and easy to carry, I just stick that in place of where my water bottle goes. I didn't have to use it though, the rains were light towards the end. I really hate not walking and feel like I am letting myself down if I don't. Only Saturdays do I not feel that need to go, I feel the need to find bargains instead. What you said in regards to people coming to the US: "Obviously if they were happy with their country they would still be there instead of here in the US where they can be free & have a better life." is oh so true!!!!!

That's about it for me, for now at least. I'll try to check in later this evening to see what's going on on the board.

Have a good weekend!

Debbie
194/125.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

BOB--Are you and Skeeter drying out yet? Thought about you yesterday and Gabrielle moved across Florida. Let us know you are ok when you can.


I hope all the other Floridians are not treading water by now either!


Put a candle on my front porch last night. I've been lighting a candle every night since this happened. There are worries here about the Auburn Islamic community. Like Starkville, the university draws a lot of foreigh students and faculty. I know there are folks in the community working hard to make sure nothing happens.

It is gorgeous here today--a cold front is supposed to come through and drop the humidity--so we may get our first taste of fall.

I got my workout in yesterday---62 mintues cardio plus I upped the weights on my upper body strength machines. I get to add the lower body strength machines back next week. Laying in bed this morning I felt a strange lump on my hip--ohmygosh--is that actually a hip bone making its way through all that fat?

I'm going to clean my house today--do laundry--and if I get all that done I'm going to catch a movie late this afternoon.

Susan

My mood is still quite somber. Left a candle lamp burning in the window all night, afraid the old house will burn down if I left a true flame going. We have the flag out and a red, white and blue bow tied around the big old oak in the front yard.

DH confirmed what I thought he was feeling last night. If there's a call for him to return, he'll be there ASAP. It came as no surprise to me, he's a true warrior and a patriot. I told him that I realize that I must be brave, that we need people with his will and skill to defend our nation. Please pray for him and others like him.

Am planning to go for a run in about an hour or so. Marathon seems unimportant to me now, certainly doesn't seem as that plan will ever come to fruition. But I need the stress releif and to move away from the t.v. for a while. We are invited to a small party tonight and I think that we will go. Not really in the partying mood, but life must go on. We need to be with friends and love ones, and to count our blessings.

I don't want to sound like a hypocrite; I haven't been to Church in many months, but I went yesterday and plan to go tomorrow. I hope that you will attend your house of worship and continue to PRAY. That is the most important and immediate thing we can do for our nation.

I hope you all have a pleasant weekend. The weather here in north central NC is beautiful. Feels like a fall day. Too bad there isn't college football to go along with it. But there are matters that are more important than sports, so I cerntainly understand. I hope those of you who are feeling the effects to the storm that is dumping wind and rain on FL are doing OK.

And one more thing I would like to add to my friends outside of the U.S.A., THANK YOU for your KINDNESS and CARING. I pray that your countries are not subjected to this horror.

PEACE,
Frog

GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.

Hi all,

testing.

Good afternoon, ladies. Congratulations to all who have lost this week. It must be a little harder for us all who are glued to the TV set instead of getting our regular quota of exercise.
Debbie--keep on "truckin' " with that jogging and walking. Pretty soon you'll be doing 100% jogging, and then you can enter a 5K race. Just to finish is a victory.

The rains here have slacked off. We had some torrential water coming down, but, luckily, our house in on one of the highest spots in the two counties here, and so we did not have any flooding in our neighborhood. I only had to worry if I went anywhere.

The grocery story is about 1/2 mile away, and not too many low spots on the way there. I went to the store yesterday, and it was a zoo because everyone was "stocking up" for the storm. Actually, we didn't experience anything more than some bad rain. We've had worse winds and rain on some summer afternoon thundershowers.

There is a new health food store that has opened up right next to the Publix grocery store. It is owned by a man who looks to be middle eastern descent. I feel so sorry for him. I walked by his store yesterday, and there he was, all alone in his store, sadly looking out. This may end up being such a tough time for him that his store won't make it. And he must have had loads of capital sunk into all those vitamins and supplies on his shelves. The problem is that the terrorists lived in our country as normal people, renting apartments, going to movies and shopping in our stores, enjoying the benefits we enjoy here, all the while planning to do things to destroy our country and freedoms. So, the suspicions that people feel and the rage they (we) have over this attack on our country may end up being directed at people who are, in fact, loyal americans of middle eastern descent. However, there very well may still be arab islamic fundamentalists still in our country just planning another way to strike fear into us and to wreak havoc. This same problem was behind why all the Japanese-Americans were detained in camps during WWII. Who's to know who is who? It's a hard problem. Eli could give us all a ton of insight into some of this.

We had friends over for dinner last night, and I had a totally legal SB meal. Fairly low cal, also. We had planned to attend the UF-UT football game with them in Gainesville this weekend, but since all the games were called off we just had them over for dinner instead. We want to get back to some normalcy. Here's the menu:

Grilled salmon with lemon-papricka sauce
White bean salad with spinach chiffonade,
garlic and olive oil
Grilled vegetables-summer squash, peppers,
onions and eggplant
Fresh sliced tomatoes from Penn. Yum!
Zucchini pancakes

Dessert: Fresh sliced peaches from
Penn. topped with a dollop of
whipped cream.

The recipe for the zucchini pancakes called for a cup of flour, but instead, I used a half of a piece of WW pita bread and pulverized it in the food processor, kind of like they do with matzoh during Passover. Instead of matzoh meal, I used pita meal!!

BOB--You OK?

SolShine--Hope your anniversary was special.

Take care all.

I don't mean to be redundant, but the information in the first few paragraphs of this DC. newspaper article illustrate the problem I was raising in regards to the problems citizens of mid-eastern descent will be facing--and the problems our country faces as we try to protect our infastructure.

http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-200191545836.htm

It's a gorgeous day here in SE Pa. Very cold this morning- I did my run with long spandex on for the first time since last March. Didn't exercise at all yesterday- watching the services on TV and more pictures, I just couldn't get my mind in gear or my butt off the sofa. But today I felt incredibly strong, added some heavier weights, did the whole 4 miles running, all the uphills and kept thinking how hard all the rescue workers were pushing themselves. So what's one more uphill?

Then it was off to soccer games. The kids all observed a minute of silence before each game and sang "America the Beautiful" as the adults sniffled. At one point during the game 3 fighter jets went over and every kid on the field except one stopped in his tracks and stared up. That one little bugger went in and scored. And it counted.:mad:

I've been amazed at the thoughtfulness of people around the rest of the world towards our nation and individuals. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman I worked with in Toronto 18 years ago who was an Auschwitz survivor- she was very young and lost most of her family at the age of 8! We talked for a long time about fear and fanaticism and revenge versus justice.

On a lighter note: Glad you Florida gals didn't drown! We sure could use some of your rain here.

Deb- Not even I am crazy enough to go walking/running in a lightening storm! Especially with an umbrella. Wouldn't you be just a mobile lightening rod? I've run in snow, ice, and rain, but surely not lightening. Re Latkes: I tried putting some sweet potato and shredded carrots in last year just for a change. Boy, that's one thing you don't change in this family. What a revolt I had! I guess I'll just have to make different ones for me. My dh was the worst, complaining about messing with tradition, and he's not even Jewish!

Gator- Your dinner menu sounded so good I raced to the freezer to take out some salmon steaks. I won't be as ambitious with the rest, but hope you have a good time. My mouth was watering while reading.

Fillise- How funny about your hip! I look in the mirror this am after my weights and thought "oh my god, I have a tumor near my neck. Turned out to be the collar bone I haven't seen in 5 years:o Not that there are exactly hollows- but it's nice to know I do have bones above my knees.

About the rice thing-- DOES THAT MEAN I CAN EAT SUSHI?? I really miss it, but I've read that sushi rice is the worst.

Gotta go work on my dead lawn for a while. Dh went and played ice hockey last night and hurt his back so he says he can't rake out the dead weeds with me. I keep telling him he's too old for ice hockey, but he just keeps getting heavier padding.
(Not the kind I have- his comes from Sports Authority).

Here's to a better week, peace and justice to all.
I'm so glad I found this place.
Mel

Howdy

Sorry I've been missing...just so taken up with everything that has been going on. I feel like I have been watching tv every free minute, and needed to give my mind a mental break and went for a drive today and just got home. Good to get out in nature and also see all the flags of the Americans everywhere. We couldn't find one to buy :( Went to seven stores and they are all out :(
Dan the Man is on two hour notice for the Army....he's at a meeting today and hopefully will come home with some information about the possibility of him having to get into active
duty again. This situation has saddend me so much, things that I would normally enjoy, just seem pointless right now. I hope everyone is doing well. Love, Nancy

You and Dan are in my thoughts and prayers. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need to talk/chat.

Now is the time to be brave.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Your friend,

Peace,

Frog

Evening Everyone:wave:

Eli's in the kitchen making dinner, where all good men should be;) He's making fish, which should be interesting, he's never made fish for me before:eek:

Eli's friend Hanni called us from Paris this evening. Of course he asked us how things were here in the States and told us what they saw on the news over there is more than what we've seen here, but probably that they wouldn't show that footage because it would just be worse for the American public. He said a journalist had 5 hours of video at ground zero with a lot of gorey images and that the FBI seized the tape. He also told us that the flags in France are flying at half mast, and that this is only done when a President dies. They are all feeling a great loss over there for us over here. Also, anyone who has a cellular phone was given 20 free minutes to call the US, which is another reason why he was calling us.

I was listening to the radio in the car which has one of the TV stations on it and it was a program with kids and their questions and view of this tragedy. One kid mentioned that in all his history classes he's been taught "united we stand, divided we fall" and that we are all standing united! Small statement with a lot of meaning.

Tried calling BOB at 7:15pm, no answer :( Will try again later.

FILLISE, we got some rain here, but nothing like BOB and LAMAP must of gotten. I too lit a candle last night at 7pm, placing it outside, butit was so windy it kept going out, finally had to bring it in.

FROG, I hope your hubby doesn't get called up, same with NANCE and Dan-but know if the call comes, we'll be here for you no matter what! I'm sure it's not something you are welcoming to happen. But I guess that's what they mean by "when duty calls." You go, and you go proudly. I hope you got your run in and had a good time at the party, it's good to try and get back into some type of normal routines.

GATOR, thanks for the pep talk, though I doubt I will ever do a complete run, just the fact that I can do any kind of run is truly amazing to me! Each time you post a menu you make me hungry! Liked your idea of "pita meal!" LOL!

MEL, sounds like you had a good workout today-kudos to you!:D Hey, I'll trade you some rain if you'll send down some cooler air-deal? Okay, I'm not totally nuts (though some would argue with me on that one), but it wasn't lightening at the time I went out to walk, it started half way through, I sure wouldn't of gone if it was doing so at the beginning, trust me, suicidial, I am not! With the latkes, make the regular ones for the family and make a few for yourself. FYI, I have a good book you'd probably by Kinderlehrer, it's a natural Jewish cookbook. If you are interested, I can send you a link where you can order it CHEAP! They also have 2 latke recipes that are sb legal, one for cheese latkes, the other WW cheese latkes. Whenever we have dinner at family for occasions I make SB LEGAL dishes to take, and usually, no one complains. Last year for Thanksgiving I made a delicious cranberry sauce-totally SB LEGAL too!!!

NANCE, been meaning to e-mail you. Been thinking about you and Dan, knowing Dan's in the reserves and praying he won't be called. I know you must be on pins and needles thinking about all this, don't let it get to you, please! Look, just tell them if they call that Dan can't go because there are no Starbucks close by!{{{HUGS}}}

Since starting this post, I already ate dinner. When Eli was making the fish I was a bit skeptical, from the looks of it, but boy-oh-boy, was it DELICIOUS! Don't know all what he did, but I'm really looking forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow!!!!!

He's off tomorrow, not sure what we will do, but I told him to go ahead and go to church tomorrow and we'd do something when he got home. I'll get in my walk tomorrow morning, weather permitting of course;)

Hope you have a good evening!

Debbie
194/125.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't posted the last couple of days have been glued to the TV. Such a sad week for our country. Have been praying for everyone. Have did so-so this week on exercise haven't been outside during the day except to pick up my 3 3/4 yr old from school. I worked out with my weights and inside exercised inside this week. I loved the chicken recipe it was a great laugh and those are far and inbetween these last few days. My hubby is also a diabetic so this WOE is great for him also. But he likes his chips so much I don't know how I'm going to get him weaned off of them...lol:dizzy: Glad to know everyone else is ok. I have relatives that live in Florida to. A step-aunt and a step-uncle...hes my age and is a college proff. She is a Food Nutri. Her husband is a surgion. I am a little worried about them because they live there because of the storms and everything else thats going on there. Well I've lost another lbs the last couple of days, going to have to buy new underwear soon...:lol: . Its trying to fall off:o . My wedding ring is also going to have to be resized:p thats a first. Going to have to be sized down 2 sizes:D . From a size 11 to a 9 yikes haven't worn a size 9 ring since High School;) . Also this week I bought a size 18 blouse and it fit:D . I'm so glad I have somewhere to talk to other people in the same boat as me. I cooked a pot of pintos with sausage and tasso today boy where they good :s: . And had a salad with it. I could be called the lettuce queen :lol: I've eaten so much lettuce. I almost forgot in Alexandria yesterday a store owner that my sister knows was attacked and had guns waved in his face and they broke windows out of his store. He is a American-Muslem....was born in this country so to me he is American, so sad to see people reacting this way to them. I hope people in our country don't all react this was to citizens of Muslem faith. God help us and God bless our country and our president and our people. Also how does everyone attach the flags to their messages.

Gosh--I'm going to add the folks who may be getting called up into my prayers--and their families. Quite frankly I wish I could go. I want to DO something. I want to go dig rubble with my bare hands. I want to put my arms around those looking for loved ones and listen to their hopes and fears. I want to hold the hand of someone who is in the hospital recovering from their wounds. I can't stand sitting here not doing anything anymore.

I do want to tell you a story about talking to my nine year-old niece about the attacks. I called Tuesday night and she answered the phone. She immediatly wanted to know what was going on--her parents were glued to the TV and everyone was sad. I asked her what she knew--and she told me that something bad had happened and it seemed to involve a plane, a building, and some people named Jack. I admit I did smile a little at that--then, of course, I had to explain what a hijacker was. She is now mad because when we take our trip to NY in a few years she won't be able to see "those buildings."

Still no word from BOB--and other soggy western Floridians. Glad to hear that Gator weathered the storm without too much difficulty--I'm having a hard time deciding whose house I want to go to for dinner tomorrow night--Deb's or Gator's. Better be Gator's, I'm afraid that if I get too close to Miama I'll get tossed in the dungeon!:o

I cleaned like a mad woman today. On the days I've gone to the gym this week, I've had an outlet for my frustration. Today is not a gym day, so I took out my frustration on the dust bunnies (actually some of them were more like dust godzillas!)

Will go to Church tomorrow--thankfully no meetings tomorrow--just worship--which I'm sure will be tearful. I've shed a few tears, but this sadness is welling up inside me and at some point it is really going to hit me andthe floodgates are going to open. Either that or I'm going to burst.

Susan

Just a quick to note to say hi, and hope everyone is doing okay. Still a somber mood
over here. Plan on going to church today to pray for the people in New York and
the President who has alot to deal with now.

Thuderwoman - Try making pita chips for your hubbie. I make them to take the
place of chips. Can be dipped in sauces,cheese dip, etc.


Take whole pitas and cut to make 2 whole rounds
I spray mine with butter or garlic flavored cooking spray
add seasonings (I use garlic powder, or Tony Cachere's seasonings, or whatever seasoning you want)
cut into triangles
put in a 350 preheated oven
bake until crisp

Another treat is to season almonds and walnuts.

melt some butter in microwave
add almonds and or walnuts, add seasonings, mix all together, then spread on a cookie sheet
put in a 350 preheated oven and bake 5 or more minutes depending on how baked you want your nuts.
Seasonings Ive used cinnamon and splenda, garlic powder, Tony Chachere's, or whatever seasoning you want

Everyone else have a good and safe Sunday.

Good Sunday Morning Everyone:wave:

Just got in from my walk-tied my 2nd best time today, but what was really great is that I jogged longer sprints than ever before! I probably would of beat my best time if I would of gotten an earlier start, but I slept in a tad and it was already hot out there, though not as hot as it has been. So, I'm happy, my day started has started out well.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday when I was listening to these kids on TV talk about what had happened, was they were talking about those here in the US who were retaliating to those Arab-Americans, just because of who they are, and one of the kids said they too were terrorists because a terrorist instills terror in someone, and that is what they were doing th the Arab Americans. So true!

Has anyone heard anything about BIG BROTHER? It hasn't been on, at least not down here, so was wondering what was going on.

Still nothing from BOB! I tried calling her at 9:45am at holme, now answer, no answering machine-called her cell phone, gave a message that her line was unavailable, I e-mailed her-nothing. I'll try again later, otherwise, will try to call her at work tomorrow. BOB, if you're out there-post or call me!!!!!!!

THUNDERWOMAN, we're going to have to come up with a nickname for you-THUNDER maybe? Congrats on losing another pound!!!! LOL! Your underware is falling off??:lol: That's a great sign for sure! That's great that your ring needs to be resized-you should keep the extra gold and make some sort of a small pendant from it when you lose all your weight you want to lose as a reminder of how far you've come:) Maybe stick a diamond in the middle of it;) Okay, what's TASSO???? To get a image on your post, go to one of the pictures, like my flag below and right mouse click on the flag, and choose SAVE PICTURE AS and then it will come up as AMERFLAG and click on SAVE. When you go to post your message, near the bottom, under the box where your message is, it will say BROWSE, click on that, then fing the AMERFLAG that you saved in your files and click on that and it will put the info into that box to the right where it says BROWSE and then just submit your message and it should show up:)

FILLISE, thanks for sharing the story about your niece, kids are so innocent! I am with you with wanting to do something, but what, is hard to say. Prayer seems to be the one thing everyone can do which helps them and hopefully others. Dinner, not that I wouldn't want to have you over, but, I'd personally rather go to GATORS house, she's a far better cook than I am and you're sure to eat something at her house!!! LOL!! I mean, who'd want to come here to the DETOX DUNGEON if there's a place to go with some good grub! But then again, if you are into slaying dust dragons, you can come here and I can throw you a few measly pieces of SB LEGAL BREAD and give you some water while you work!!!

CAT, glad to see you on the board-some good tips for TW you posted for her and her hubby. I love the pita chips-we never throw out pita bread-it's great for salads as well:)

Well gals, I'm gonna go get something to eat and get in the shower. I told Eli to go to church and when he gets home we're dropping Lauren and a friend at the mall and we're going out to lunch, hopefully, Ole Ole-but we never know.

Please remember, TOMORROW IS MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY and this Monday, we can really use all the positive thoughts we can muster up and post on the board, so if you have any words you'd like to share with the board, please, try to post them tommorrow!

Have a good day everyone!

Debbie
194/125.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

Hi

Just wanted to let you all know that parts of Sarasota are still with out electric and some have no phone service so that may be why we still have not heard from BOB There is alot of flooding around here and they are working hard to get all the service restored. I hope this is why we havn't heard from BOB.

I just got back from taking my Mom to the airport. She is going to Newark to go on vacation with my aunt. ANd she was determined to go. Nothing was going to stop her. She did go, but the plane was an hour and a half late in leaving, but she is flying. I will be glad when she calls from my autns tonight.

I wish you all the best for the rest of the day.
Laurie

:wave: :wave:

Debelli

Tasso is a cajun smoked spicy ham. We season a lot here in Louisiana with it. It has a great flavor and has all the fat trimmed off of it and no sugar is used in the smoking process. Its also great to season cabbage and gumbo. Thanks for the pita chips recipe catlover I will have to try it out on the hubby. Everyone have a great day.:dizzy:

Catlover--I agree with you about pita chips being so great. I use the Toufayan WW pita that I can find easily at Publix. That's what I used for the "pita meal" that I used in place of the flour. I have often made pita chips, but never thought to flavor them. That's a great idea. I normally just cut them in half, separated the halfs, and then cut into 4 wedges so I got 16 wedges per pita loaf, and then oven toasted it at 350F. No nuthin' on them except hummus or whatever I wanted to "dip." But just plain chips flavored with garlic powder, or whatever, as you suggested, would be great.

I haven't hit a golf ball since before we left on vacation. Catlover, I'll really be rusty!

Debbie--See!Everytime you go out to run/walk you do it a little faster, with more jogging each time. Just give it time, and one day you'll get "runner's high" during one of those jogs, and you'll not want to stop at that telephone pole or what ever. You'll just keep on running, feeling like you could run for ever. Maybe within 6 months!

Right now I probably could also be considered a detox dungeon. Both my DH and I came back from vacation committed even more to being much more careful about staying fully legal. I was doing a lot of "slipping off plan" before we left, but we actually ate pretty healthily on our trip. The challenge is to still cook "gourmet" but to also cook healthy and SB legal, so that I will not get that deprived feeling.

Has anyone used SF jello on this plan? Debbie, is SF jello OK? I'm looking for something that I could make a sweet "dessert" salad type thing for one of our trips to Gainesville.

With the changes in airline flying, we are considering cancelling our plans to go to the LSU game in Red Stick. I expect we'd have to get to the airport a couple of hours early. Here in Orlando they have closed the main airport parking, which covers a huge amount of cars. We've always parked off-site but if everyone now has to do that, it will become really hard to find a place to park anywhere. We haven't made up our minds for sure. Also, we are considering driving to Calloway Gardens where we will be staying for the Auburn game. We figure that the 7 hours up there driving would not be more than 2 hours longer, if that, than the length of time it would take us to fly, counting driving to the airport, parking, etc. Things are changing!

Well, gotta go. We have a group that we are part of on Sunday afternoons, and I'll have to get ready.

Hi all ; just a quickie.

Deb - Ive read over on the other SB board that white basmati rice and Uncle Bens converted rice are okay to eat. Are they?

Gator - I played enough golf for the both of us last week.
I usually hit in the 60's for 9 holes but last week I hit 70 for 9 holes. Just couldnt seem to hit my driver, or my irons. Such a frustrating game, but Im not gonna give it up.

Bob - hope you are safe and sound, and didnt sustain any damage to you or your house during Gabrielle. Glad to hear the others faired okay.

I went to church today for the first time (not counting my dads funeral last October) in about 8 years. I am trying to find a church where I feel comfortable. I was raised a Catholic, but the Catholic church here just didnt feel right. So I went to a Church of God this morning where a friend of mine's husband is the Pastor. A very moving service today. I came home and felt an inner-peace, something I have not felt in a long time.

Well guess I will say good-nite till next week.
Everyone have a good and peaceful Monday.

another Laurie

Evening All!:wave:

Had a nice lunch at Ole Ole, desert of Carbolite, Milkyway and Vanilla, stuck to a small this time:^: Went to Walmart and got some more DINOSAUR PLUMS, went to WHOLE FOODS and got some ASIAN PEARS and went to the Italian Mkt and got 25lbs of chicken breast (5 for me, 20 for my sister)-that's all we had time to do by the time we left the house today.

LAMAP, thanks for letting me know more about Sarasota. I tried BOB at home and her cell numerous times to no avail. Def. going to call her at work in the morning to see what's going on! You're Mom is a brave soul!!! Hope she had a good flight.

THUNDER, thanks for the tasso explanation, sounds interesting!!!

GATOR, you may be right about the jogging, I find myself each day I decide to jog doing a bit longer and better. I may just surprise myself, as I have done so many times already. Some days I just walk, but I think as the weather gets better and cooler down here I will find myself doing more jogs and less walking-which actually is what I did today, at least I'm pretty sure about it. SF jello is fine, just use it in moderation as it does have fake stuff in it (aspertame). I just started using the individual SF jello snack size ones when I want something in a pinch, one of the very few things I do use that has aspertame in it-hate that stuff. I think my parents cancelled their trip to Chicago that they were suppose to go on a week from this Tuesday-if you do go on your trip, do they have an airport shuttle that picks you up at your home, we have them down here-saves from having to bother with parking!

CAT, I don't remember off hand, but I know ROSALIE posted something to this effect long ago. Let me dig out my book so I can give you a better answer-until then, here's what Rick Mendosa's site says about it:

Rice and potatoes are some of the foods most tested for their glycemic indexes. They are important both because most of us tend to eat a lot of rice and potatoes and because they can have a high glycemic index. Professor Brand-Miller reports the results of 49 studies of rice and 24 studies of potatoes. The results for rice ranged all the way from 54 to 132 and for potatoes from 67 to 158.

What could possibly cause such tremendous variation? According to Professor Brand-Miller, for rice one of the most important considerations is the ratio of amylose to amylopectin. She says that "the only whole (intact) grain food with a high G.I. factor is low amylose rice, such as Calrose rice...However, some varieties of rice (Basmati, a long grain fragrant rice, and Doongara, a new Australian variety of rice [which is not available in the United States] have intermediate G.I. factors because they have a higher amylose content than normal rice."

Wallace Yokoyama, a research chemist working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Albany, California, gave me a comprehensive explanation. There are, says this noted rice specialist, four types of rice: long-grain, medium-grain, short-grain, and sweet rice. Sweet rice is also known as sticky or waxy rice. It makes the best sauces and gravies, and is usually the rice used in Asian restaurants. Sweet rice has no amylose, Yokoyama says. In other words, it is the rice that has the highest glycemic index. The three other types of rice have lower glycemic indexes. Among these types, long-grain rice has the highest amylose content and short-grain the lowest.

Of course, each of these three types of rice may be brown or white. Brown rice has a lower glycemic index than white rice, everything else being equal. Therefore brown long-grain rice—or if you can find it—brown Basmati rice—will probably be your best best for a rice with a lower glycemic index. White Basmati rice had a glycemic index of 83 in one study. Brown Basmati rice can be expected to have a somewhat lower index, but we don't know precisely what it is, because the studies haven't been done yet.

Well gals, time to go-I'll have the new board for the week up and running in the morning.

Have a good night!

Debbie
194/125.5/129
SB since 3/22/00
Reached goal 6/10/01

Good evening everyone.

Tonight I sense that the world is getting ready to try to get back to normal. President Bush is telling everyone to go to work, Mayor Guliani is telling everyone to start buying Broadway tickets again---And I guess that is the most important part of the healing process. We've paused to absorb the shock, to grieve, and to mourn, and now we have to figure out how to begin again.

I thought I'd never find a parking place at church today--a sliver lining. I hope everyone will take this opportunity to find a place where they can feel peace and comfort and where they can find their spirituality--no matter what their religion or belief.

The weather here was gorgeous today--was able to turn off the air conditioner and open the windows. It will even be a little cool tonight.

Deb--I guess you are really getting to the "good" part of the year in Miami. Maybe you'll be running marathons with Frog before it is all over! I cooked some trout tonight. I sprayed aluminum foil with olive oil--gave the filet a spriz as well. Then seasoned with ginger, dill, and lemon juice. Pop it into the oven for about 30 minutes in it's foil packet--and YUM! This works for any kind of fresh fish except for tuna--not so good on the tuna!

Gator--please let me know when you head up this way for the Auburn game! We have to get together! I think your house sounds like more fun than Debs--not only does she throw you into the dungeon--she makes you clean as well:o .

Thunder--I'm going to try those pita chips too! Sounds yummy. This is one reason I like newcomers on the board--the rest of us learn new things from the questions y'all ask!

Cat--thanks for the info on the pita chips--I think I'm going to make some for our next tailgate!

Sweet dreams everyone--talk to you tomorrow!

Susan

Quick Sunday night check-in

Hello ladies! I'm sorry I don't have time to catch up, but a little is better than nothing. I'm so glad that everyone here is safe (as far as I can tell) and that the love for our great land runs true among us!

I have gained even more inspiration from DEBBIE -- chick, you aren't using this disaster as an excuse to stuff your face any more than you did your Las Vegas vacation!

I pray for the continued safety of us all. However I am not deluded for a moment into thinking this is over. I think it's only the beginning....I have many friends in the armed forces although most of them are in the Navy ;) so I am looking to be strong in the coming months.

As I have posted my eating and my life were spinning out of control well before Tuesday, at least for a few weeks and the tragedy didn't help matters any, but am happy to report that in the last 4 days I have not only gained a good measure of control over myself but have made some important breakthroughs -- with the help of therapy and some good friends!!! I know that staying strong in the routine things, in the here and now, is going to be important to the future.

Having completely revamped the way I buy and prepare food, I've been spending the day cooking as is my new tradition: 2 loaves of bread and enough lunches for myself and Martin for the week. I went to the farmer's market and got plenty of fresh produce, and I feel very good. Very centered.

Hip hop dancing class is going very well, it's lots of fun! And Martin finally found a boxing gym and has promised to teach me to box. It's hard because I wear glasses though.

Lots of love to all,

Chris

It's a NEW WEEK and a NEW WEEKLY BOARD HAS BEGUN!!! Just click on the link below to get to the new board:



http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=9465

See you there!:D