Mapleleaf~ Way to go at the conference! Way to go on the loss too.

Happy Saturday all....I'm off with my daughter and a friend to Walmart and grocery shopping. The closest Walmart is 30 miles in one direction and about 38 in another and 40 in another.

Later today I play poker with my mom and cousin and his boyfriend....we always have a meal and today is american chop souy, I think I will take a big salad to go with it so I don't eat so much of the main course. I am going to make the dessert...a low fat one of course...not sure what yet. My mind is going to cake made with a can of diet coke.

The scale was showing a 9 lb loss total for this week so far, Monday is the official change the ticker day...just need to make it through 2 weekend days. Breakfast this morning was a grannysmith apple, a yogurt and some cocoa almonds...and coffee...now gotta switch over to water for the day. Lots and lots of water.

Ok, headed out the door...hope everyone has a wonderful day.

IM doing a happy dance here, Im down 25lbs since Jan 1. I still have to relose 17 to be back to my lowest a few years ago. I can do this!! woohoo!!

Hi all!

Cuter Where do you live in relation to Toronto? I know you said east.

Sandys Thanks and I always have a great time at the pool. Poker sounds fun. I don't play but I love board games and euchre.

Dgramie Congratulatins!

Mnem Not sure of my WL goal either but in my 30's I got down to 180 and was really happy there. Sadly it did not last long.

I am going to see an amateur production of "Joseph and the amazing technicolour dream coat". I saw it years ago with Donny Osmond. DH and I are going for a pub dinner and a few games of pool this afternoon prior to the play.

I might skip WI tomorrow just because I had a bad week but maybe I should WI? Thoughts? Do you WI if you had a bad week or take a break?

Hey ladies, its been awhile but I figured I would stop in and say hi and see how everyone was doing. Hope you all have a great weekend.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. The ends of the weeks tend to be busy for me, so posting can be a problem. Just know that I usually can log on again on Saturday.

dgramie- That is awesome! One step at a time, and I hope I can celebrate the small intervals when I get there.

To the Member who lives in Huntington, WV- Sorry I didn't remember your name, getting caught up after a few days is rough! I actually live less than 15 minutes from Jungle Jims. They usually have the best produce in the area, and I love shopping there for fresh things and specialty items (they are expensive on the everyday groceries however) I mean where else in March can you get all colors of peppers for 6 for $5?

MapleLeaf- congrats on the conference, though I don't travel often, I have always found that the fatigue of the road causes me to be tempted and overeat! I am happy you resisted temptation.

betsy- I have done that in the past, and I try to make every day better than the last. I also relish the scale going down.

PluckyPear- Joseph is an awesome show no matter who does it. I often find the community productions are more fun. Enjoy the time with your husband.

We have been preparing for the "White Death" here in Cincy called snow. I swear this city is petrified of two inches! I made the obligatory trip to the grocery store for a couple of staples, since I hadn't gone recently.

I did weigh myself today, and I lost 2 pounds :carrot: Not bad considering it wasn't a full week of exercise and I wasn't terribly strict on my diet. It was the last week before spring break, and I did have a couple of the small foil chocolate easter eggs. I tend to stress eat.

I'm planning on getting to the healthplex before the bad weather tomorrow, then bunkering in so I'm not out with the crazies who can't drive in the snow.

HOpe everyone is having great weekend!!

Pear I am in Oshawa. *grin* Needless to say I am in the city at least 8 times a month, and any time I see fit.

Hi Everyone! I am new to this thread so I just wanted to say hi. I just finished my 4th week of ideal protein and things are going well. So anyways good luck to all of you guys and I look forward to reading more of your posts!

:wave:Alaskagirl....nice to meet you. I used to belong to this board a very long time ago...years...but back since Monday and trying to learn my way back around. Look forward to getting to know you.

WOW....that is amazing...36 lbs in 4 weeks. I'm at 24 lbs in 8 weeks.
What have you been doing ?Strictly following Phase 1?

Hi ladies.. I'm back from vacation. A few pounds up but allready one down again. So I'm hoping that maybe slipping while on vaca will help my plateau a little. We had so much fun and a cousin of mine that I didn't even know lived in Cali called us and met up with us. It was nice to see him. He said we can come back anytime and crash with him. So were definetely going back in may.
I'm glad my work week is almost over. I hope you ladies have a great Sunday!!

Just posted this recipe over in the recipe section.

I got it on Pinterest...and I made it this morning..."Wow" this will be a keeper.

1 box Angel Food Cake Mix
1 (20oz) can of crushed pineapple

Mix em together with a mixer till mixed well and foamy, put in a 9x13 pan and cook for 30 minutes at 350.

A definite keeper.

Now I am playing in the kitchen to make a low fat/cal broccoli cheese soup.
I chopped some onions & celery threw it in a sprayed pan and added some mushrooms...sauteed for a bit then cut up a bunch of fresh broccoli sauteed that for a bit and then added some ff chicken broth...cooked for a bit then added more water...threw in a pack of Knorr brand rice and cheddar cheese...this is one package to the whole pan of veggies...so it won't be bad...now waiting for it to get done and going to add a little skim milk and then see if I need to thicken it or not with cornstarch and maybe add some garlic powder...trial and error...hope it's good, I plan on having it for a few lunches this week for work.

NSV- wore my size 18 jeans yesterday.Its been over 2yrs since I fit in them. Cant wait till spring to see what else may fit now. :)

Cuter - you know, it's really interesting because I think what you are reacting to is that feeling of being out of control, and I can totally see how that would freak you out. The weird thing for me is that right now I feel really, really in control of my life, what I am eating, my exercise, and a whole bunch of other things. I just feel in charge in a really great way. Which I appreciate it, and having it wholly out of my hands WOULD be tough.

I'm really glad you spoke up in your support group, though, and am SUPER glad that there were other folks there who felt similar.

MapleLeaf - so glad that conference went well! And that you felt in control around the buffet. It's weird, I feel pretty good about buffets like that (with finger foods, et cetera) too, but when I go to my parents' house for the weekend where there's good ice cream in the fridge and pretzel-crackers readily available, well, I have a tougher time.

Congrats on the losses!

sandy - you are definitely in the country! I live in a rural state, but in a fairly populated area and I am pretty sure that there is a wal-mart at every other interstate exit from here to the state capital. Hope your shopping went well!

Your recipes sound really good! Though if you are doing the soup for lunch I might add a bit more protein. Maybe some 'real' cheese or some diced chicken or low-fat ham? (I am not sure what sort of meat would go as I don't really eat meat.) Or just supplement with a protein-ish snack. Oh, and! I have found that fat-free half-and-half does a nice job of "thickening" cream soups. Also I might puree a bit of it with an immersion blender, then blend that back in?

Congrats dgramie - that is such an amazing loss! You must be feeling so very proud of yourself. You are going to have to return your dress for the wedding for a smaller size! Also size 18s! That is awesome.

pluckypear - aww, man. I love musicals. I've never seen Joseph but I would love to see it some day. I hope you had a great weekend.

Hmm. III have also debated with myself when to weigh-in and when to skip. In the end, I always make myself get back on the scale. AFter New Year's I thought, maybe I'll wait a week to weigh-in, but for me the discipline of regular weigh-ins is necessary and motivating, even dealing with the negatives.

So I might weigh-in, as long as I'm mentally prepared for it. However: you know yourself better than I do. Would you be tempted to skip next week's too? Or, would it help your focus for this week because you just want to see consistent losses? I can get behind skipping this week if you have a drop-down line in the sand to WI by ___ date. :)

hiya Jaqs!

MelodyMarch - haha, that is so close! I'm envious. Yeah, I couldn't shop there for every day stuff, but I love their selections in the produce department, and the cheeses! And the international oddments. I always treat myself to a new sort of veggie when I go there, and some sort of different cheese. And some artichoke salsa, and I am in LOVE with this soda you can get there: Diet Coconut Soda (Coca Rico, I think, is the brand, from Puerto Rice). It is delicious, not too sweet. I recommend it if you like coconut.

Oh, and there is a bagel place (The Bagelman?) someplace near, hmm. Blue Ash that also has these really lovely mini-bagels that I like to pick up. They are a treat.

Alaskagirl - congrats on your losses thus far! They are amazing. hope you are enjoying it!

sassyangies - welcome back from vacation! It sounds like you had a great time, and I hope that the vacation helps your plateau, too. Sometimes you need a bit of extra freedom to really get back into it.

I had a good weekend, nothing exciting. I did buy some new sneakers this weekend, and got some really good deals. I bought a pair of casual K-Swiss sneakers (they are supercute) for $10 and a pair of Nike Reax running shoes for $25. They were on clearance sale (basically the last pairs in the store) and in my size. Which is apparently down to 7.5 again. The last time I think I consistently wore 7.5 shoes was in high school, and I am well beyond high school. I still really need wides, but with tennis shoes you can loosen them and they work fine.

Oh, and I was looking at jeans this weekend. Tried on two pair of size 18s (well, 18W), both of which were snug but fit! It is hard to find jeans b/c they often have more room in the legs than I need, but one of those pairs was slim-fitting and looked really good. I decided against buying them, but the NSV was nice, especially since TOM looms with all the usual blips that entails.

Hi everyone, sounds like there's great progress being made! Yay Mnemosyne on the jeans NSV!

I have no idea what I weigh right now, my scale seems to be crapping out on me, I know I was off plan Saturday and I had a small cheat yesterday but that hardly causes a 111 pound gain!:?: Oh well. I'll order a new one and live with the suspense for a while. I tried new batteries, but to no avail.

I had some photos taken of me this weekend, and they're making me really ambivalent about my progress and the whole process. I won't get into it because it's long and whiny, but suffice it to say that the mental blocks that come along with being this big are killer. I've lost 100 pounds, and yet I see some photos and I can't see any difference whatsoever. Not to mention the mental butt kicking you give yourself over letting yourself get to the point where you have to lose 250 pounds.

Ok. Done being a downer. I swear!

We did Easter Bunny pictures at the mall I work at on Saturday. I had two good friends trade off wearing the costume and they loved it. It's so cute to see all the little ones get excited about meeting the big pink bunny! We went out Friday night and had a bridesmaid "planning" night for my SIL's bachelorette. It was quite fun, but all of this made for a cheat heavy weekend. Worth it though. Some days you just miss good food!

mnem_ I wont be taking back the 20 dress. Its really form fitted and even if its a bit loser in the hips it will be fine.I do have some super cute spring things I want to try on...if we ever get spring type weather.