CASSIE ~ hang in there; that's not bad considering what it could have been. I moved last year, and it took almost all winter to recupe. Welcome back ... :)

SUE ~ I am plugging away at it; one day a time. Don't want to obsess about it, or I may jinx it ... eeks! The afternoon is my most difficult time for snacking right now. Interesting, I have homemade Muesli in my cubby but I keep a 1/4 cup measuring cup in the container; I measure 1/2 cup and that's it. I had that once last week. The one I have is only 120 calories for 1/2 cup; the one you have is very high. If it is a trigger food, then that's not good for you.

I have to watch the peanut butter; I have to limit myself to having it with carrots, or on 2-4 wg soda crackers, or on apple slices. If I am low in calories, I may have some on a slice of wg bread; but not all the time. The only other cereals I like are bran flakes and shreddies, but I measure everything. In winter, I may have oatmeal and/or natural cream of wheat; I switch to the cold cereals for the summer.

DIANE ~ I agree, just keep chipping away at it; all of a sudden, something will click; and things will get better. You are practicing eating in a healthy way. Think of it as learning to ride a bike; when you fell, you just got back up and tried again. It's the same principal. My youngest sister needed training wheels, so it just took her a bit longer. The smile on her face when she could ride with those extra set of wheels was priceless; and worth every hard-earned penny my Dad paid for them. She so wanted to ride a bike like everyone else. It's the same with this; we'll get there, with a little help from friends along the way ... :D

Ya, Caroline ~ good for you; putting on a bright, sunny dress and facing the day with a smile. You know it will come off eventually; and you will enjoy that trip anyways.

Hope you all have a Marvellous Month of May ... I plan to! :flow2:

Rosebud, Honestly I guessed/used a "homemade granola" number I found on sparkpeople. It may not be as bad as I thought when I actually calculated it.
How's my math, guys?

ingredients
1/2 # butter 1626 calories
1 C brown sugar 1670
1 C honey 1031
1 # Oats 1500
4 C Rice Krispies 384
2 C almonds 1092
1 Cinnamon stick = 7303 calories / approx. 22 @ 1/2 cup servings = 160 calories per half cup


directions
Preheat oven to 325°
Spray 2 cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray
Bring honey, sugar and butter to a boil.
Mix dry ingredients
Toss dry ingredients with honey mixture
Spread evenly on cookie sheets
You may add raisins in the last step as well.
Bake for 10 minutes
Cool and crumble

SUE ~ did you put in 10 cups of oats or was that 1 cup oats @ 150 calories. That'sa lotta butta ... that'sa lotta suga ... that'sa lotta honey ... that'sa lotta nuts ... and that'sa lotta calories ... :yikes:

OK, here's my recipe: 1/2 box quaker granola + 1/2 box fiber one cereal; add in 100 gram bag sliced almonds. Sometimes, I added a TBL of raisins on top when I ate it. Then I'd just take 1/2 cup for my serving. 1/2 cup granola = 120 and 1/2 cup fiber one = 90 -- so together is 100 calories, so I added 20 for the nuts, but it may not be quite that high for a few slivers of almonds.

Just recently, I added 1/2 small package of leftover trail mix, but it was only sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and raisins becuz I had eaten the other nuts out of it already. That could bring it up to 140 per 1/2 cup, I guess. However, if I add more granola to the mix, it would be 130 per 1/2 cup again. OK, I'm a mad food scientist ... :lol:


Ummm -- EDIT TO ADD ...
OOPS! Gee, 7303 divided by 22 servings is 330 calories; this one is way too high for sure! ;) You would be better off making a healthier version of your own.

That's 1 pound of oats, approx 5 cups. I told you the stuff was deadly and I don't even like granola! I'm staying far, far away.

Hey All...

Wow just got a new computer so i can actually post :0 what a difference... my old one crashed and everytime I try to post on my phone it just doesnt work right....I think is is total user error ;)

Anyway ......its great to see so many people doing so well and even just sticking to it is an accomplishment....

As for me, Im doing good,sticking to plan and it seams to be working. I just have to make myself keep it up for the long haul.

I'm here and just trying to make it through the week. Life is on fast forward right now as we count down the days left of school.

195.6 this morning. That's another half pound up, give or take. AWESOME.

It's mostly water retention, because I haven't gone above my calorie range at all, and also I haven't been peeing nearly as much as I usually do. Normally I am thirsty all the time and I half to pee constantly, but the past few days I am still drinking as much as ever, but not making nearly as many trips to the restroom.

It's gotten very humid here recently, which causes water retention, so that might be part of it. Anyway I hope something gives soon, but there's still nothing I can do about it except keep going.

I have more pressing things to worry about at the moment anyway, like getting work sorted so I can take almost two weeks off. Also last night my lawnmower died, so now I have to figure out what to do about that. I don't really mind being single until something goes wrong with my house. That's usually when I wish there was someone else around to share the burden of the stress (and splitting the financial strain would be nice, too.)

Whatever, I'll get it worked out. If I need to I can pay someone to mow my lawn and sort the lawnmower situation when I get back from vacation.

Sue, that granola sounds delicious and terrifying. I'm going to pretend I didn't see the recipe.

2thinme, welcome back! Computer issues are frustrating; glad you got your sorted.

texscrapper, hang in there! You'll make it through.

Hi to everyone else! I hope you're having a great Thursday.

Happy Thursday :wave:

Caroline, the gain is tough to take but you know it's just a blip on the scale. You're doing all the right things so TTSP! ;) I had to chuckle at your single/lawnmower issue. I'm married to a wonderful man and I'm not sure he could start the lawnmower if his life depended on it! (He does, however vacuum like a demon so I'll take that trade off any day!)

texscrapper, Isn't he last few weeks of school just a whirlwind? All the activities and stuff are making my head spin!

2thinme, welcome back! I was having trouble with the boards in IE8 and finally and to switch to firefox to be able to post. Weird.

I carefully planned my day yesterday and then drink plans with my out of town cohorts turned into dinner. I made such good choices I ended my day at only 950 calories even after a before bed snack! I guess that makes up for the evil granola the night before :devil:

Back on track today but a busy/social weekend is headed my way so I'm sure it'll be all over the map food-wise. Have a great day everyone!

hey there...

I hear all you about the last few weeks of school....when school gets out this time we will be moving and its a little scary especially since I havnt got the ok to lift anything heavier then 5 lb...makes packing kind of hard.

As for the scale and me....I think im having a love hate relationship with it today....I steped on it and it said I was at 287....I had a cup of coffee and it went up to 289....Im sticking with the pre-coffee weigh in but gosh....I wish It was more stable....how can one cup of coffee jump it up 2lb? Anyways ...good luck to all of you :)

Happy Friday! :wave:

Went over my calorie limit yesterday by about 100, but was way under the day before so I'm calling it even :) I have today's meals and snacks carefully planned but tomorrow is gonna be a crap shoot. We have plans to meet friends for dinner but no decision where.

The rain continues today, I'm getting tired of not being able to walk outside. Hopefully we replenish the reservoirs and then have lots of warm sunshine to follow.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Ugh, I would give a lot for someone else to do the vacuuming. That is my least favorite chore of all. Enjoy your dinner out tonight! Remember that one meal isn't going to break the bank, so to speak.

2thinme, that happens to me with my scale sometimes. I can get on it and get one number, then half an hour later, even without any food, and *after* going potty again, I can get back on it and see a higher number. It's disheartening, but so far I haven't learned to just stay off the darn thing.

Count the lower number! The rest doesn't really matter.

The good news is that my lawnmower is working again. I didn't even have to change the spark plug, though I should probably do that when I get back from my trip. I think it's probably going and that's why it was giving me trouble starting on Wednesday. At least my lawn is more or less presentable for the time being, so the neighbors won't start a petition.

I am at 195.2 this morning, which is down 4 ounces from yesterday, but still quite dire. I am just way too close to 200 for comfort, and I don't want to come back from New York and get on the scale to see I'm back over 200. Even if it's just travel water retention, I wanted a bigger cushion than that.

Oh, well. You can't always get what you want, as we all know. I don't leave until Wednesday, so perhaps a miracle will occur between now and then! I'm not holding my breath.

Busy day again for me at work. Glad to see a Friday! Need to regroup ...again... this weekend. Just surviving the week isn't helping me lose any weight. Need to get back to planning.

Hang in there, Caroline. It will go down again, but just not when you want it to! Like a spoiled child, it will do it when it is ready!

Have a good weekend everyone!

:wave: It's nice and :sunny: here today; a bit cool, but not too, too bad. Supposed to be sunny all weekend and in the mid-60's. Have a wonderful OP weekend everyone ... :D

Hi relosers.... I am checking in. It's been several weeks. I had a good long visit with my sister in California. She's not doing very well even having four back surgeries. It was good that we had such a nice long visit. However, it's hard to see a loved one in such constant pain.

I saw my new granddaugher for just a day and I will be going back to visit again next week. Today we have a wedding today to attend. On Monday, will be the funeral of our Aunt, who is the Grandma of today's groom. Many emotions with happy and sad feelings all racing in my mind.

I have gained some weight back. I know that I don't need to wait until Monday to start making healthy choices.

I got a new computer, Goodbye to my laptop- RIP. A real goodbye to my desk top that I used for emails in the meantime. My desk top computer is 10 years old. That's like 'dog years' in terms of technology. There have been many days of not having internet access - however, recently it has come down to willingness to post when struggling. I know that we've all had our struggles with food and need not stay away out of shame or not willing to reach out.

So - I have my journal and will take it one day at a time. It's time to learn from the past, plan for the future... but, take it one day at a time.

Thanks for listening.

Welcome back, Beverly. You've had a lot going on, so a small gain is understandable. It's hard to stay on track while you're focused on taking care of other people.

We all know how important it is to our success to keep checking in here, which is why I keep showing up when I don't really feel like it.

Having said that, I am back down to 194.4 this morning, so some of my water weight has subsided. It's nowhere near the progress I'd hoped to make, of course, but at least I will feel a little better in my clothes. It's amazing the difference just a little water retention can make.

I have a busy weekend ahead, trying to get stuff done for my friend's baby shower and also getting ready to leave town on Wednesday. I will stay on track food-wise and get some exercise in as well.

Have a great weekend, everyone.