[RNMOM]

I'm up in the wee hours of the AM. Couldn't sleep, thinking about everything that needs to be done. I'm studying for a Statistics final and I'm brain fried. Tomorrow night is our last class and I'm sooooooo glad. I'm not a brain and I'm ready to be done.

Planted flowers yesterday in my yard..finally! I wanted to be like Mamacita and Ruth and all you that talk about your lovely flowers.

Haven't met with my scales for a couple of days, not sure if we're talking or not. Who was that that said they were so in love with them after a prolonged absence that they wanted to french kiss them????? Thanks for the visual!

Plan on studying for another hour or so, then go out for my walk/run. Off to work in the ER today. I'm orienting a couple of new nurses to our department so it should be a busy day.

Ya'll behave and play nice!

[Mamacita]

Good morning, Chicks~~

RNMOM, just noticed as I was walking out to the car yesterday morning, a brilliant purple coneflower peeking out from behind the azaleas and hydrangeas. Little things like that really make my day bright.

Who was it yesterday that commented that my entire post was about food? This IS a diet board, isn't it??? But if you really want the details...candles, feathers, lingerie, toys and games...and that's ALL I'm gonna say!

Took Miss Pepper (or Pester as we call her) Ann to the vet yesterday. She's a canine OCD and continually worries at her wrists, resulting in some infected sores. The vet gave us some antibiotics for her and recommended that we figure out some way to distract her from chewing on herself. Still trying to figure that one out, considering both of us work during the day and we have to sleep at night.

Had a little birthday wish come true this morning. Just yesterday I was wishing I could have the recipe for Ruby Tuesday's pureed cauliflower. Turns out it's this week's featured recipe at Topsecretrecipes.com

Well, time to finish getting ready for work.

Everyone have a great day on the Beach!

Mamacita

[Ruthxxx]

Morning, Mama and RNMOM! I am off to the big city at eight to visit my periodontist for follow-up. Now how the heck do I do six months of flossing in 20 minutes?

I had a huge reality check when I finally faced the scale yesterday! I won't change my signature weight until July 1, however. The good news is that I stayed absolutely on program yesterday. I even made my fitday public! There is a reserved sign on my ONEderland beach chair.

I'll be back in after lunch which just might be sushi - not OP but at least it's low calorie!

Have a great day!

[cac]

Hi everyone,

I have a very bad case of poison oak. Even though I had been using calamine (sp) lotion and I am on allergy medication the areas became big red welts that itch and burn. She gave me soem topical stufff to put on and they are not as welty as yesterday. If they don't go down by Wed morning, it's heavy duty medication. Trying not to itch is very hard. Sge recommended not xersizing until it is undercontrol, the sweat may have been what spread it.

cc

[Mamacita]

CAC, Yikes! That stuff is nasty! And yes, the urushiol oil (the stuff that makes you itch and welt) can travel along your body with sweat. That's why it's always recommended that you shower with lots of soap and water immediately after exposure. You poor dear! (((HUGS))) Hope the meds work quick!

Good morning, Ruth! Hope your perio visit goes well. Dentists are not my favorite health care professionals..nothing against them personally, I just don't like the discomfort that usually accompanies my visits!

HAGD~~

Mamacita

[justjodi]

morning chickies!!
well i had another false start yesterday, i did great op all day then last night i went totally off AGAIN. i read an article (i can't remember where) that suggested hormonal levels dictated what a woman craves. i.e. when your seratonin (sp?) level drops you crave carb laden forbidden foods ice cream, chocolate etc. anyone have any thoughts on this? better yet does anyone know of a vitamin or some other safe sort of thing you can do to keep seratonin levels up?? maybe i just need to blame my cheating on something . i don't know but this really made sense to me.

still hectic at work, one of the guys is out with kidney stones so dh has been running around like mad also trying to keep up woth both their work. i am still trying to get by with my summer work schedule (reduced hours) so i can spend more time with the kids but i think if this pace keeps up i'm gonna have to go back to regular after july 4th.

rnmom good luck with the class!! alas my scale jumps out and trips me everyday on my way out of the bathroom, lately it has been all bad news!!!

mama the food post was great!! i'm gonna take a look at that recipe. i was trying to think of that website the other day for something else and couldn't remember the name thanks for jogging my memory.

cac- take care of yourself!!! nothing worse than an itchy rash in the heat of summer.

ruth have a nice visit with the dentist maybe you could take in a bouquet of flowers to avert his attention from your unflossed teeth?? have a great day

to all the rest of you lovely beach beauties have a good one!!!

[Under a Palm Tree]

Good morning everyone! I'm back on track, recommitted to the plan and on day 2 of phase 1. Thank God for the bean cake. I think it's my saving grace. I made it into muffins. Easy to transport. Day one was pretty good. I worked out for 40 min. 20 min weights, 20 of cardio. I envy all of you with gardens, I love how they look, I just don't enjoy working in the dirt. I hope everyone has a great day!

[jenne1017]

Morning all.

Computer is still cr@pped out so here I am at work updating. I am starting Phase 1. Had a horrible eating day yesterday! My worst in 2 months.

I have 8 days to lose the 6 lbs to my goal. I am back to where I was at the beginning of the month -- still under 200 but not as much as I would have liked.

Where did my willpower go? If you find it, send it my way!

RNMOM - me and my scales are soooo not speaking, it's not even funny!

Mamacita -- hope the doggie gets better soon!

Ruth I thought that before I went to the dentist 2 weeks ago. Got cleaned and now must go back in 3 weeks to get 2 cavities filled and 1 re-filled [the filling cracked]. Who gets cavities at 27??????????? Me, of course. And she said it's from NOT flossing! But for these lousy 2 weeks until that appointment, I can't even floss everyday. What part of our brains is the "no flossing" switch stored????

Cac---feel better! Yikes! I had an allergic reaction [taking someone else's medicine!] to codeine and that was a pain in the @rse, I can't imagine poison oak! How did you get it??? I am just trying to get your fingers on the keyboard and not scratching!!!

Have a good day all...

Jenn

[Barb0522]

Morning, everyone! I just checked out the top secret recipe site and the Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli recipe looks like it is OP for Phase 2 as long as I use WW Pasta. I used WW pasta last night in my Ham, Zucchini Pasta recipe and my son asked for seconds. This is easier if I can get everyone to eat the same thing.

I am ALMOST to my June goal (of 5 pounds). I may be losing slowly but I am getting there. I can't believe how good it feels to be below 190!

[fuzzy324]

Morning, ladies--

Woke up with an awful headache this morning. You know the kind that feels like your brain rattles every time you move? Ow. The boss and office mate are gone again today, and I'm welcoming the quiet.

In other news, I am completely geeked out because I got tickets yesterday for a drum corps international competition that's coming to town on Friday. I was a MAJOR band geek back in the day, and I've always wanted to see the professional drum corps stuff in person instead of just on public TV. There's nothing like the sound of 50 trumpets to blow your hat right off and send shivers up your spine. Can't wait!

Seeing as how there seems to be an abundance of gardeners here, I have a question for yas. Something has been digging/munching on the petunias in my flower pots. Anyone have any critter friendly remedies to help me send a subtle "get lost" message to these uninvited guests?

Have a great day, all!

[Kiko]

Morning chickies...

Barb What is up with all of this rain????? It was nice this morning though when DH left for work- I rolled right back over and went to sleep to the sound of it.

Beachgal What is on the menu for today? I need something new to cook!

Back from dropping DD off at preschool, drinking my coffee and eating an egg substitute omelet. Today's plan includes getting this freaking laundry caught up!! This afternoon I am going to go visit a girlfriend of mine who has two twin boys. They were born very premature- 24 weeks, and are now a little over 1. She is completely house bound as one of the boys is still on a ventilator and requires 24 hour nursing care. Understandably, I think she is really dealing with depression as well as total exhaustion. Fortunately, the other boy is doing very well.

Hope that everyone has a super, OP day!

[ADDflower]

Morning all!

It's all June Gloom outside and I love it. I'm not really all that fond of hot weather.

RNMOM... what are you studing toward? Are you orienting new grads? I hope that when I start work I find someone as nice as you!

Mamacita... I had a cocker spaniel that used to lick his paws all the time, then we found out that he was allergic to corn... we changed his food and it made a HUGE difference. I don't know if your vet ever mentioned this as a possibility but I thought I would mention it at the risk of crossing over into *annoyingly helpful* and "running with scissors" (one of my nicknames is "runswithscissors").

I have to ask... what does "ONEderland" refer to? I have been trying to guess but I haven't figured it out yet.

Ruth... hope your visit to the periodontist went well. Make sure you brush well after that sushi!

cac... sorry to hear about the poision oak! Hope you feel better soon. Mamacita is right... sweat can spread the oils that cause the reaction. Take care!

Jodi... *big hug* For me the thing that made all the difference was having *safe cheats* One thing that I hadn't paid attention to the first time I was reading the SBD book is that you can have 75 calories a day of sugar free gums, hard candies whatever... but the real lifesaver for me was the Keto brand ice cream bars (vanilla ice cream with a nice thick chocolate coating... they make choc ice cream ones too) and CarbSolutions brand ice cream (I bought the mint choc chip but they have other flavors). I had desert every night. One bad day I had an extra ice cream bar in the afternoon. They didn't cause additional cravings for me, satisfied me and didn't prevent weight loss for me on phase one. Maybe it would work for you too? Just a suggestion...

Jenne... my neighbor (who refused to get antivirus/firewall program for the last two or three years) wound up with over 100 virus infections on her computer. What finally worked to fix things was to use the system restore thingy that winblows has... then I was finally able to download and run (successfully) for her an antivirus program. Interestingly enough we had run the online antivirus check and it didn't catch any of the cooties while they were running.

I had cavities at 27... I had 2 root canals on lower front teeth at 30... took pictures... wanna see??? if you find the flossing button let me know!!!!

WOW Barb! WTG... congraulations! does WW stand for whole wheat?

Well... I'm already past the time I said I wanted to spend on the computer this morning, my goal was to get off this evil machine by 8 a.m. and I haven't even looked at my own e-mail *sigh* it's 8:08 right now. I always feel guilty if I post about me without saying hi to everyone that has posted before me...

2nd Goal For Today: GET OUT AND BUY THAT DAMN SCALE!!!! (I should be able to accomplish that...)

Off to finish looking at mail and get my day on... have a great day on the beach all...

Lovingly,

[beachgal]

Good Morning, All!

Thanks for making my morning better with all your chatter! : I'm all grumpy because the darn scale has me back up at 287 and it's been there for two days now. :P (If I was still 3, I'd be throwing a hissy fit about now! ) I know...I am totally impatient! With all the exercising I've been doing, I have a pretty good idea that it's just muscle, but after seeing the scale down at 285 three times in the last week and a half, I hate seeing it back up at 287. *sigh*

RNMom, good luck on your final! Statistics are so tough--good for you on powering through this!

Oooh, Mamacita, you had a very fun birthday, it sounds like! You naughty girl! The coneflower sounds gorgeous! Have you heard about those pet pheromone scent thingies? (I describe well, huh? ) You can find it here: http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...=1087913123181 (If this doesn't work, try www.petsmart.com and search for "Comfort Zone Plug-In" and you'll find it.) This is supposed to release a dog pheromone that comforts and calms your dog. My sister-in-law has tried the cat one for her kitty and found that it works well. Worth a try! I hope that Pepper Ann can settle down, for her health and yours! My parents' cat is on Prozac because she is so nervous, she throws up constantly. It has helped her immensely! Maybe they make something similar for Pepper Ann? Oooh, Mamacita, thanks for reminding me of the Top Secret Recipes site! I haven't been there in ages and I love their stuff! Great idea! There is another site with similar recipes at http://www.copykat.com/.

Ruth, congrats on the OP day yesterday! Good for you! Hope the periodontist is very gentle! I love Jodi's suggestion...a bouquet of your flowers would certainly keep her from noticing the condition of your teeth! I look forward to hearing your weight in July. I'm sure it will be a fantastic report from your Onederland beach chair as you sip a nice frothy crystal light!

cac, you poor dear!!! Are you allowed/have you tried the Aveeno oatmeal bath? I stayed in one for most of my week and a half of chicken pox when I was 13. It was the only place where I did not itch! If you have access to a tub, and your doctor is okay with it, I would totally spend some time in one of those. Very soothing! I'm sending lots of ((((((((((((((heal quickly))))))))))))) prayers and vibes your way! :

Ah, Jodi, I am so sorry that you are having trouble. I totally agree with the article you read about seratonin, however, with this diet, I no longer get the same lows in the afternoon that caused me to eat. I do find that I treat food like a drug, eating things that give me a seratonin rush whenever I am sad, tired, bored, etc. Sugar and carbs do give you a seratonin rush. (that's the hormone that makes you feel happy and calm) I joined OA to help me deal with that food addiction. I know that I am addicted to and use food just like someone would use an "upper". Maybe you have the same issues, or maybe not.

However, I do find that the need for seratonin can only be truly fixed by taking meds. The only natural item I've found that helps is St. John's Wort, but there have been a bunch of reports of awful things happening when it is taken in conjunction with other meds, so I don't think you should try it without the advice of a physician. Seriously. If you think that your seratonin is getting low enough to cause cravings, you might want to think about seeing your doctor and/or a therapist or psychiatrist. JMHO.

Palm Tree, welcome! I don't think we've met before! Good for you on all your exercising and staying OP! I still haven't tried the bean cake...gotta do that. Is it fairly easy to make?

We had a good dinner last night-Middle Eastern turkey "meatballs" along with cucumber yogurt sauce (from the little Low Carb Cookbook I picked up at the grocery store checkout line) and tabbouleh (from the Open House Cookbook). Yum! The meatballs had cinnamin in them, which was different and very tasty. I might have to play with putting cinnamin and cloves in meat and see how that tastes. We're having chicken and broccoli with soba noodles tonight (Cooking Light recipe).

We're planning to go to VT, NH, and Maine over the 4th of July weekend, so I'm going to head to AAA to pick up tour books and maps at lunch. Going to heat a quick "cheeseburger" Boca Burger and have that at the office with bell pepper and hummus and carrots and dressing. I still feel guilty when I eat carrots...not sure why.

Did my first belly dancing video last night...did the Abs and Arms one from Veena and Neena. It was awesome! I really have a bit of trouble with some of the isolations...going to have to track down Mauvais (calling Mauvais to the SBD Forum.... ) and ask for some help on that, but the video was a great way to workout and have fun, too! The sit ups were so graceful...you combine your wavy arm movements with each one, so you feel so pretty and, well, graceful!

Have a wonderful day on the beach, lovely ladies!

[Barb0522]

Kiko - I am sick of this rain! I had to stop for gas this morning on the way to work in the pouring rain. Not fun! And my vegetable garden is very neglected because it seems like it's either too hot or too wet to garden!

Yes, ADDflower, WW stands for whole wheat. My husband found the WW penne pasta at Whole Foods Market. Target also has some types of WW pasta but the ones I got at Tom Thumb were not totally WW. Now if I can just get my DH to use up the rest of the regular pasta for his lunches. I grew up too poor to throw anything away.

[Under a Palm Tree]

Laurie, the bean cake is super easy. It's mixed in the blender. I put it in mini loaf pans and muffin pans for individiual easy servings. I didn't get the weird taste, I've heard others speak of.