ledom - So cool!! Told ya all that hard work would show!! I do pretty much the same with oatmeal - apple works good, too! What's cc? I'm gonna have to try pumpkin pie spice. Spin class is plugging along - yesterday I had a one on one with an instructor. She gave me a lot of good pointers on cueing (letting the class know when a new move is coming up). She wants me to tkae over her class - so she's motivated to train. Works for me

Sirak - aren't you a hottie!! I don't deal well with messed up sleep either. Here's to getting over the hump and coming out the other side well rested. BTW where is middle of nowhere TX? I work with a lot of people in Plano. I saw Dallas Arboretum and thought

So - I missed front day yesterday with the one on one...so I'll do it today. Eating has been on plan all week...cutting out my beloved ice cream has given me all kindsa control.

cc is cottage cheese - my diet staple

I make Irish Oatmeal which is a coarse grind. I am not even sure how many servings, but 4 or 5 when I follow the recipe on the pkg. I just put it in a container in the fridge and take out a serving. If it is a dry batch I might add a little water, but the juiciness of the fruit is really enough. I zap it for 2 min. in the bowl I eat it out of. Put on the splenda & cc after it comes out of the microwave.

Sirak, you look amazing. Really amazing. By the way, I am coming down your way next weekend for a conference in Arlington. I am so happy to be getting away a couple of days.

Chick, would you ever have imagined that you would be teaching spin classes a couple of years ago? What an accomplishment you have made. Many accomplishments.

Good exercise day. I did a modified back day and when I got home from work I got up on the Mtn. for some hiking. I am off tomorrow and am considering getting out on the water for a short trip. I bought a new kayak before the damn burst and still haven't got to try it out. I think it's time!

I grew up with Plano being down the road in Richardson. My old neighborhood was within four miles of Northern Telecom and some of the MCI offices.Erickson was not far down the road.Some of my dearest friends in my camping group had husbands that worked for EDS way back when Perot was in charge. There is one of those guys still left at Legacy. Plano went from a sleepy little town that had one big high school to this huge busy place. I go up there every once in a while- but have to be careful not to get lost.
I live about 50 miles from Plano in a semi rural area.There is a hundred acres of farmland across the street. At the end of my street there is one of the larger ranches in Kaufman County owned by Hunt Oil. One of the neighbors lands his little plane in his pasture. We have a Dairy Queen and a Sonic in Town. All the kids in the neighborhood ride the same bus.
I can see the lights of the Dallas skyline on a clear night from the middle of the field across the street.
I shampooed my carpets yesterday . If there was an Olympic event for wrestling Ikea slip covers off of furniture I would be at least a bronze medalist. I washed slipcovers and everyone's bedding. I know Jillian does not feature those things as exercise- but I got my workout in yesterday.
DD21's BF will be in this weekend and I am not sure about what I am cooking.I need to get my head together on that one and head for the store.

I never thought of cottage cheese with oatmeal...I'll have to try it. I do often add protein powder...and then extra water and fruit so it isn't cement-like. Ya know - before the lifestyle change I was NEVER into exercise or an active lifestyle. So....no...the idea of wanting to teach spin would have had me like this It is kinda amazing the difference adding a few new habits can make. It does keep me from worrying too much about ever going back to who I was. I still struggle...but I just can't see ever sliding back all the way to 264 ever again.

sirak - I work for EDS....I've only been to Plano once on the way to vacation in Mexico. DH and I considered moving there...but the crazy weather made me think twice. I do like the housing prices compared to CA tho. As far as housework as a workout goes - Jillian might not feature it...but it counts. Are the instructions for the slip covers in Swedish? Or they just fit really well?
I got front day in yesterday, back day today as there is a scooter rally this weekend. Dunno if I will get much workout time in. Have a great weekend chickies!!

Oh Chick - you are going to love what cc does to oatmeal. At least I do. I used to add protein powder as well, but at some point decided that would be a way to cut a few calories.

Enjoy your company Sirak. I am unpacking kitchen boxes today. Found the pots and pans!

Hmmm. Maybe it's the protein poowder you are using...I use the unsweetened kind, just plain whey protein. It's like 50 calories a scoop and has 12 g protein. I will try cc tho. And can you tell I can't focus on work today?

Oh no Chick you don't understand. Low cal chocolate protein powder AND lf cottage cheese AND some fruit. It is great and really not many calories. But when I am really trying to cut back I find I can leave off the protein powder and still love the breakfast.

The slipcovers are stubborn and don't always want to come off or go back on- very much like the Swedish American DH that is on the way out.
I feel like yuk DD21 came home with a recipe from the bank. You make a cake and then crumble it up. You mix 1/2 a can of ready to spread frosting with the cake crumbs. Then you make that mixture into balls.
You dip the balls into Almond Bark and decorate with white almond bark.
I had one.
I think I would call it redneck truffles. The site might kick me off if I offered any other names for this stuff.
Then I went into my stash and opened a package of really good sweet baking chocolate to remember what it was supposed to taste like. I told DD21 we could work on it( like chunk the funk and start over). It wasn't her fault- it was the combination of stuff.

ledom - ahh got it now. In fact gonna go make some this morning.

sirak - redneck truffles.... Maybe it's too early in the morning but that combination just sounds nasty.

It is nasty.DD21 woke up with a sugar hangover. She looks all bloated and has this horrible headache. I think she will take them to her bank job where the recipe came from and let them figure it out.
But the oatmeal and fruit...ahhhh
I use quick oats- only because we eat bunches of them in baked stuff. I added two chopped apples ( peel and all) to a two serving batch. I put some two heaping tablespoons of brown sugar splenda and some pie spice.I zapped it in the microwave and divided it into three servings. I ate one with 1/4 cup of cottage cheese . Oh wow ! The apples were not completely soft so they had some texture. The cottage cheese made it creamy. Just the basic apples and oatmeal will make a great snack for ever growing teenage son ! I can keep it made up so all he has to do is heat it up and add a bit of water. This one is a real keeper !

I cooked today. I even had dinner guests. I love my new kitchen - it flows. It's so pretty. I grilled a pork tenderloin after marinating it in rosemary, mustard, and garlic. I pan roasted two heads of cauliflower with garlic and sage. I made chicken casserole to take to a family reunion tomorrow. And I made huge breakfast burritos for supper tonight for two of my friends. I have missed cooking so much.

I have also exercised almost every day this week. I have gone on two good hikes and it is so nice out right now.

If only my house were put back together. I worked on it all day yesterday and just made a dent. I haven't even touched the multitude of work related stuff that is already overdue. I don't think my life will ever get back to normal! Sorry for the pity party.

Things are good and lots of new things on the horizon I think.

Hey gals, I'm back!

Glad to see you talking about recipes and cooking - I really need to get myself back on track with that. It's literally been months since I've made myself my steel-cut oats and/or cooked more than one meal in a week. And now, after the cruise food, I really need to get myself back on track. I don't even want to see what the scale says!

The good news about our honeymoon is that it was very busy and entailed a lot of walking. That is a good thing as I'm somewhat back in condition in terms of some endurance for physical activity.

Also, because of jet-lag I've been up since 5am this morning - perhaps I can use that to my advantage and keep this schedule. I really need to get up by 5:30 in order to get my workout schedule back on track!

Today will be about laundry, organizing, unpacking, grocery shopping and food planning, in no particular order. I loved the time away, but it's good to be home!
Cindy

Hey Cindy - Glad you're back. I know what you mean about it being good to be home.

I had one bad food day but not so bad as earlier and yesterday I was back on track. I am having a hard time getting workouts in. Simply do not have time - and you know when you don't have time to workout for yourself for an hour a day then something is wrong in your life.

I feel there is a lot wrong in my life right now. Last night I was just in tears from exhaustion. And I don't know what to do about it. If I take a day to try to put my house back together, and it is still in great disarray, then my teaching suffers. I just have gotten so far behind with all life's traumas that I can't get it back together. I know you guys have heard this way too much already, but you know what. NO ONE wants to hear it. I feel really alone right now.

But, I will plug away as best as I can. My body looks like jelly right now. Kind of like before a fat flush but I am pretty sure that is not what is going on. I think it is lack of weights going on two months. Bleahhhh.

So, I'll take my gloomy self upstairs and take a shower.

Hoping for some brighter days soon!

Ledom- my heart goes out to you. You don't see the amazing woman in the mirror-just a bunch of jelly ? Everything you have had was toppled over- your family and your house has done fruit basket turnover, you have dealt with some major care giver issues for your Mom, you have had a show( despite the flood) and you are still mentoring and inspiring students.
You have been through like a year's worth of stuff in the past two months. It has been a condensed compacted bunch of stress streaming from some unknown Pandora's Box.
You are allowed to cry.No matter how "woman of steel" tough you are- you, given the circumstances are allowed to let go because it has been so hard.
You aren't alone honey- I just broke into tears driving to the park yesterday.It is just so tough when you feel like your teeth have been kicked in, despite all that you have tried to do.
So let's think about 30 minutes of doing something fun-like walking around your yard and looking at the leaves. I know the chaos of the boxes and misplaced items in your house grates upon your sense of order- so just do one box in the morning and one box in the evening ?This will be a dance of babysteps . You have to balance things so that you can get a little done with the house, think about the teaching end and then take a Ledom break.
None of this stuff happened to us over night and it will take a while to get things back in order. The trick is to hang on hard to the diet so when you can make a 30 minute stress reducing hike or "roll around" the basement on the ball it will count.
Take off the superwoman cape look at the stress you have taken on ! You can get this back together- it will take time. Make a list and start marking things off. This stuff is not easy- I have my own list of stuff I have to do to get started on my new life.
Cindy- we all have been on some sort of break,except for Gina. This month might be the month that I will post no weight loss. The time will change at the end of the month and I am trying to figure out what that will do to the kid's sleep/ school schedules.Your 5:30 is a blessing !
Is it Friday yet because I really want to start this week over !

Thanks for your kind and wise words Sirak. I like your idea about 1 box in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. I can do that.

Another good eating day and a walk so not all is lost on the health front.

Sirak, I know what you and so many others are dealing with is infinitely more challenging. You hang in there. Without knowing the extent of your situation it sounds like just the unsettledness of everything would be wearing.

I do have a treat coming up tomorrow. I am driving down to Arlington with one of MY old professors for a conference. I think the trip out of town is just what I need. I will try not to think about how even more behind I'll be when I get back.