Good Morning all! Yikes, it's almost August. Where has the first half of summer gone? How is everyone enjoying the season so far?

Great week all!

Dagmar

I think I'll have to step away from the popcorn and diet soda when I go out to movies. I went to a rep cinema last night and had the aforementioned and was starving when I got home. I had a cheese sandwich and a banana but, coupled with the popcorn, that was a whole extra meal I didn't need.

Chips and beer. Popcorn and diet soda - where will it end ???

Seriously my body is now starting to reject the diet soda as absolute junk (which I've known it is for a long time). I'm addicted to the caffeine and some other chemical in it. I suspect that when I wake up at 3 in the morning feeling weird it's probably the start of "soda withdrawal".

That sounds downright but I think, in my case for my particular body, it's probably true.

I'm going to give the diet soda a serious challenge starting on Friday. I'm taking a 4 day weekend for our civic holiday so I can take a lot of water, instead of buying diet soda, along to all the things I'm doing.

I'm too cheap to pay over $2 for bottles of water at events but I'll have to overcome that. Maybe I can find a vitamin water without sugar - that will at least seem like something for my money.

Great Monday all!

Dagmar

Happy Monday all - I joyously slept in til my alarm clock (backup) woke me. It was cool enough last night to sleep under a sheet - but I refuse to think that that means that summer might end.

Dagmar - Glad you were early up to get this thread started. I don't think you're nuts to be concerned with your individual response to a food additive. I keep getting reminded around 3FC that we're each an experiment of one; stuff affects each of us more differently than we seem to intuitively expect.

Made my favorite white beans and tomatoes with Rosemary vinaigrette for lunches this week. I'm already thinking about it - even before breakfast, LOL.

Good morning everyone!

Grandma Meg, please check in and let us know how you, DD, and DGD are doing!

Bill, can you post your recipe for the white beans and tomatoes on the sticky recipes thread please? It sounds delicious!

Dagmar, diet soda really is junk. I mean, regular soda is junk, but diet soda doesn't even have anything in it! Maybe I just feel that way because artificial sweeteners taste like chemicals to me (or as DH says, "tastes like cancer").

Pretty good weekend here. We didn't do much other than exercise and run errands. Tried a Greek restaurant Saturday night which was pretty good. I bought a harness for my in-laws' dog and gave it to them. They have been walking this little dog (probably 40lbs?) with a gigantic choke chain that is big enough for a great dane for years. The dog never learned not to pull and the chain hurts her neck. I showed MIL and SIL how to put the harness on so hopefully they will have more success walking the dog now, and controlling her when other dogs pass by (this is the dog that got loose and attacked the neighbor's dog).

We trimmed Carter's nails last night. Put it off too long as usual and it was a big chore. He tried to escape after each paw. I got his front paws dremeled down okay although in between paws he jumped up and managed to whack DH & me with the nails of his paws that hadn't been trimmed yet (DH was really angry, he has an extremely low pain tolerance and gets super angry any time he gets a minor scratch or bruise). The quick grew out since we took so long to trim so I couldn't get them very short. He refused to lay down to have his back paws clipped (he lets us use the clipper on them, but not the front paws) so I did them standing up. He struggled so much that I rushed and cut the quick on the last nail. I had the styptic powder standing by so we got the bleeding stopped right away but I still feel bad about it. We have been trying for so long to make the nails painless for him so he won't freak out so much, then I go and cut too short. He was probably thinking, "See guys, I knew it was going to hurt, this is why I struggle so much!"

LOL Jessica on your nail fight with Carter. That's the way it is with Buddy. He HATES it! DH usually holds him down while I clip (can't dremel him as he's just too antsy). And as hard as I try not to, I always seem to get his quick and it makes me feel bad, too. I try to dremel Chico's nails every weekend, but I missed last week, so it was really necessary yesterday. He's so good about it! He lies on his back and is so totally relaxed--well mostly. Sometimes he flinches and it makes it a bit harder, but he's just so much easier than Buddy.

I want the recipe, too, Bill! I love beans! I've been known to eat them right out of the can!

Good luck with the no soda weekend, Dagmar!

I'm proud to say that I didn't gain over the weekend!!! So I'm starting the week off at a new low and hope to reduce that low by 1 or 2 this week. I still have a ways to go before I get back under red-line.

We went to see two movies this weekend--Salt and The Kids are Alright. Both quite good.

DD is coming home this weekend and we hope to have the kitty by then!

Dagmar, I think diet soda makes me feel funny a couple hours after drinking it too. For some silly reason I still drink it though! Sometimes at work I really just need a break and a trip to the soda machine works.

Bill, the bean and tomato salad sounds awesome!

Jessica and Allison, I sympathize with the nail trimming stories. I hated doing nail trims when I worked at the vet - nothing worse than hurting a dog that is already stressed. My dad started dremeling his rottie's nails every week when he was a puppy and he's adjusted fairly well to it. But he does get bribed with a treat after each paw! =)

I figured out my calories after my Saturday dinner out. I really thought I did half decently - I got what I wanted but only ate half of it - but add that to half an onion ring appetizer and two drinks, and I was in the ballpark of 2600 calories for the day. EEEK!! BF and I both love the restaurant, but now that I know they provide nutrition info. I am going to have to look closely and make some different choices next time.

I don't know where the weekend went, but I'm sure not ready for it to be Monday. *sigh* Time for more coffee!

Dagmar, caffeine withdrawal is NASTY. You might want to make sure that if you give up diet soda this weekend you might taper caffeine with another source. The memory of that headache still makes me cringe.

Bill, isn’t amazing how the fake foods affect us differently. Most people have no aftertaste with Splenda – I hate it with a passion. I can’t get rid of the aftertaste in my mouth for hours. Equal, I can’t taste any aftertaste.

Jessica, does the styptic powder really work? Where would I buy it. I hate trimming my dogs’ nails. Only one has long ones and I get the quick often. She fights me but I’m more stubborn.

Iris, how cool that the restaurant you love posts nutritionals. That makes life so much easier.

Allison, on the progress. You’re doing great.

I had a nice weekend. I didn’t go anywhere. Stayed home with the doggies. Yesterday I cleaned like a banshee. I steam cleaned my cabinets and walls (four dogs leave a oily/dirt line for the first 3 feet of the walls). It looks like a I repainted my house. DH called from work and asked how I was (Kody tripped me on our morning walk and I fell on my bad shoulder that I’m seeing the ortho for later this week). I told him I’d snowballed on cleaning. “You’re steaming the house on the HOTTEST day of the year???” Why yes, that was what I was doing.
Marie

Good morning all. I had an okay weekend - more junk than I wanted, but stayed more or less within a decent calorie range. Got great exercise in, so that is good.

Marie - sounds like me. I went out in a heat index of 105 & severe air warning yesterday to cut the grass. My parents used to get the styptic powder at PetSmart.

Iris - I've had some surprises from nutrition info before, too...

Allison - on the weekend low!

Jessica - I hope the harness helps your MIL with the dog! And sorry about the nail cutting drama!

Dagmar - I can't do diet soda at all, the artificial sweeteners get me every time.

Bill - the beans do sound good.

good day everyone!

Yikes! It is almost August!

Dagmar-- thanks for saying summer is "only" half over. Everyone keeps reminding me that summer is "almost" over and I am NOT ready to go back to work (school) in just a couple of weeks. I love my job but I really love my summers and they always feel so short!
And, yes, step away from the popcorn and diet soda!

Bill-- your lunch does sound delish! Our summer has been way too mild for my taste. The evenings cool off so much that the heat often comes on in my house! I love hot weather and it hasn't been hot enough for me at all. The highs this week are in the low 80s and it goes down to the 50s at night. Brrrr.... we are going to Maine next week and it will be even cooler there.

Jessica-- I can picture you guys trying to trim Carter's nails. Add me to the list of dogs that hate to have their nails trimmed. Unfortunately, my dogs nails are all black and I don't trim them often enough. Hope the harness helps for your inlaws dog. I use a gentle leader with my Dane and a harness with my Doberman and they both work well for the particular dogs/issues.

Allison-- good for you on your weight! You'll be sure to impress your doc at your visit. Glad kitty is coming home soon too.

Iris-- I am so glad that many restaurants now post or offer their NI. I take advantage of it to order. I like almost everything at a restaurant (I'm not too picky!) so I usually get the healthiest option. I tried an ice cream this weekend (sorry for starting the porn back up but this is a healthier option) called Arctic Zero. It had 128 calories for the entire pint and zero fat!! I stood in the store and compared it to Ben and Jerry's which had over 1000 calories for the pint! How does it taste? It's not Ben and Jerry's but for 128 calories it ain't bad! I sat and ate the whole pint and didn't feel guilty!!!!

Weekend was good, busy, and too short!! Saturday I did a 90 minute boot camp class at the gym and I totally overdid it. I haven't been this sore in forever! I can barely move. I'm hoping I can make it through my normal Monday night bootcamp tonight. Yesterday, dh and I walked to the library (100 minutes round trip) as they were having their book sale. Hardbacks for $2 and paperbacks for $1. I got a ton of books. My house is overrun with books. It is really an issue.

I am freaking out as I just realized that we leave for Maine next Monday early and I have so much to do! This will be a busy week! Dd is at camp so the house will be quiet but I need to do my schoolwork so I don't have to bring too much on the trip (taking a class that ends later this month). I need to call the kennel, arrange parking at the airport, go buy something for my niece that lives in Hong Kong that we'll be seeing in Maine (she's 3), etc.!! I don't know that I'll survive the Maine trip. Our family, like most families has "issues" and we'll all be staying in a house together. It will be myself, my dh and my dd (older dd can't make it), my in-laws who are celebrating their 50th anniversary and why we're all going (love them but they have ISSUES including alcoholism), my brother and sister in law from London (love them!), and my other brother and sister in law from Hong Kong with their 3 year old (they drive us crazy with their personalities and their parenting and they haven't been getting along with the inlaws so none of us have seen them in over a year and a half)..... should be fun!

Marie, yes, the styptic powder does work! I think we bought it at Petco, but you can get it at any pet supply store. It comes in a little tube with a cap on it, and you take the cap off, pour the powder into a depression in the cap, then put the nail right into the cap.

Nail trimming time with Carter is quite an adventure. It used to be that we had to take him to the vet and get him knocked out to have it done (even the vet couldn't do them without sedation, Carter completely freaked out). Now we've got a routine down so we can do it at home, but it's pretty complex. First we have to put his muzzle on. He's pretty good about letting us do that. Then we have to convince him to lay down. Then DH lays down next to him and puts one arm across his neck, one arm behind the elbow of whatever foot I'm going to trim, and a leg across his backside to hold him down. Then I get the dremel, which has an attachment so that the spinning part is far away from from the noisy motor part, and I dremel his nails. Then after a nail is done he starts bucking around, usually whacks DH in the face with his head, and scrambles his way up, paws at his muzzle, and runs out of the room. What a dog. We can't hold him down by brute force -- I've tried laying with my entire body weight on top of him and he can still get out from under me. He's like a doggie wrestling pro.

Michele, I hope you can manage to have some fun in Maine despite all the family! I've never been there but I've heard it's beautiful!

Iris, at least now you know about the restaurant and can plan better for next time.

Not trying to compete with Bill....who could! But I just saw this pop up on my aol page...

Italian Mozzarella Salad


Ingredients
Serves: 4
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1-1/2 teaspoon snipped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 15-ounce can black beans or garbanzo beans

1 15-ounce can butter beans or Great Northern beans

1 small cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced (1 cup)

8 ounces round- or log-shape fresh mozzarella or part-skim Scamorza, thinly sliced

2 red and/or yellow tomatoes, thinly sliced

4 green onions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup)

Fresh basil sprigs (optional)

Directions
For the Red Wine Vinaigrette, combine red wine vinegar, olive oil, 1-1/2 teaspoons snipped fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed, Dijon-style mustard, crushed red pepper, and garlic in a screw-top jar. Cover and shake well.

Drain and rinse beans; drain thoroughly. Combine beans, cucumber, and vinaigrette in a large bowl; toss. Divide among four dinner plates. Arrange cheese and tomato slices alternately atop bean mixture. Sprinkle with sliced green onion. Garnish with basil sprigs, if desired. Makes 4 main-dish servings.

Menu Suggestion: Make it a meal with crusty bread and chocolate-mint ice cream.

about this recipe
This vegetarian main-dish salad recipe, loaded with healthy protein and fiber, features beans and zucchini, tossed with red wine vinaigrette and arranged with fresh mozzarella and sliced tomatoes.

Morning. It's still raining here. I don't even care if we have sunshine and heat anymore - just dry!

Michelle - Maine has been having some very hot weather (my BIL and family live there) but a quick check of the weather pages shows they're back into the 80's. What part are you going to?

Love everyone's nail-trimming stories. We have always started clipping our cats' nails as kittens, and these two are not too bad. We try to do them every week. They're very good about using a scratching post but longer claws get caught in clothing, bedding, etc. Now if they were only so good about being brushed, esp the longer haired one.

We had a quiet weekend as well. I've still been feeling rotten with this new medication, and while I feel better this morning, I need to increase the dose on Wed to the final level, then a week or 10 days after that I should see the side effects decrease.....

Dagmar, I totally agree about diet soda, but I am struggling to give it up. I really look forward to having one around 3 pm (only 50 minutes to go!). But I think overall it doesn't make me feel *good.*

Iris, I had a delish restaurant meal yesterday. Looked it up online and a few sources said ~500 calories. I don't believe it (the restaurant does not post its own info). I booked it at 750.

Michele, wherever you live, I'm moving there. Highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s sounds perfect to me. And since reading your post I have found that my local Whole Foods carries Arctic Zero and will be trying it ASAP. I hope your trip to Maine is more sitcom than drama. We spent my in-laws 40th anniversary on a small boat for a week in France. Sounds nice, but did I mention my 3-yr-old and 1-yr-old?

Jessica, what kind of dog is Carter? We've had some nail-trimming ordeals but it sounds like you might be dealing with more poundage.

EZ, (can't remember your real name ) that recipe sounds wonderful (once I replace tomatoes with roasted red peppers!). Yum!

We had a crazy day yesterday. Ran 8 miles, had out-of-town friends over for breakfast, met another out-of-town friend for lunch, and then driving home got caught in an unbelievable thunderstorm while my phone squawked tornado warnings at me. Couldn't see with the wipers on high, branches falling left and right, and me driving into our neighborhood where the old trees arch all the way over the road. By the time I got home I was shaking and sobbing hysterically. Honestly I have never been so scared in my life. Today most of our county is without power, day camp is cancelled , traffic lights are out everywhere so traffic (normally horrible anyway) is impossible. At least it is cooler now, and I guess that is the silver lining to such a terrible storm. Two people were killed by falling trees (one just 6 yrs old, the other a 40-yr-old woman in a minivan). As a mini-van driving, almost-40-yr-old mother of a 6-yr-old, that really shook me up.

Reading Beck Diet Solution and hoping it will help with my hopefully-graceful transition to maintenance.

We are going to far Northern Maine-- Camden. It is near Rockport if that means anything. I was in Maine as a child when I lived in the East, but I don't remember it. We'll also be spending a couple of nights with my aging and failing Uncle and his wife in Providence, RI.

thesame7lbs (I can't remember your name!)-- I live in N. California. It is beautiful here but I really like the warmer weather (I'm from Texas). I'm glad you are okay after driving in such a terrible storm. I have quite a fear of driving in storms after losing my first car to flash flooding when I was a teenager. Living in Houston, I drove through many flash floods, tornado warning, etc. and remember many panicked drives where I prayed constantly.

My dogs are being silly while I'm "trying" to study (you can see how well it's going as I'm on 3FC!). My Dane, Jozi, is being "groovy" on her bed-- rolling around on her back making funny noises!!

Michele - I've heard of the Artic Zero, nowhere around me carries it. You can order it from Amazon.com I think, but it is expensive from them...
ETA - aha! They carry it at my Whole Foods now, too. And there are seven flavors now, last time I looked there were just three!