Updated my tickers and profile maybe thats overly optimistic but I was a nerd and just weighed myself nekked style (because that number is ALWAYS more fun than the clothed one) and saw a 318. I'm taking it and running with it.

Good afternoon, ladies. Got a late start this morning with the sun not coming up until almost 8. Anyone else totally tied into the solar patterns for determining their sleep patterns? This time of year, I end up sleeping a lot more than in the summer. And feel about the same.

MountainWalker -- So glad that it seems like the knee injury didn't turn out to be a bad one. And I'm impressed with swimming that much -- good for you. Your Molly sounds like she would be a sweetheart. Just having a dog in the house again after a year without has been such a blessing for me. Love you comment that coffee should taste like coffee. My BIL and I are considered to be in the old fogey category because we don't partake of all the various coffee drinks that are so prevalent here in the NW. There is a drive up coffee stand about every 2-3 miles including one located here in our little town of 2,500. Aside from the fact that I refuse to pay $5 for a cup of coffee that has been spruced up, the calories in some of them -- YIKES! I do admit that I like flavored beans though. Definitely a drink that has many options so everyone can find a favorite.

Ubee -- Now I have a picture of us marching along in a long hole in the ground from being in a rut. Mine is just the desire to change things up -- SilentArctic thanks for the hint on a site -- will look there and need to just be a little more creative and then put it in MFP recipe calculator.

SilentArctic -- Glad that you're beginning to feel better -- you've been through the wringer these last few days.

Perfect -- Pharyngitis sounds very painful -- glad that the antibiotics are beginning to work. Feel better.

Fi -- LOVE the two collages, especially the fish one. You are definitely talented. And I loved the red/green colors for our names -- so cheerful. Enjoy your Yule celebration with Bob. I had forgotten that the solstice is on Saturday -- ready for the days to start getting longer again. Bad news on the cookie front -- the boys called and have decided they want cookies. I'm going to bake them and then take them down to my BILs. He has unbelievable will power and will probably forget they're there until I pick them up next week. Sorry I got those salivary glands working. You do so well in avoiding them, and I doubt if anyone would think you're nuts if they heard you talking to the cookies as I doubt if you're alone in doing that.

I went to the grocery store today and successfully battled the chips and ice cream and the Jordan almonds and the candy. Man -- the cart was loaded up with veggies for my salads, but I wanted the other crap. Fortunately, someone has really burned something in the bakery so there was not much temptation to even get near the bakery aisle.

OK, guess I'd better balance the checkbook and write some letters and other "stuff" that will take the rest of the afternoon. Until tomorrow.

Hi Ladies!
I am in such a better mood. Tomorrow the workers will be done with the room we were having improved. I can start having my house back!!! I have ADD so while I hate having to be organized and have a routine my life is so much better when I submitt to the process. Just like with healthy eating and exercise. I am much better with my house then my body but I know I will get there. If I can get my house and life in order I can get my body in order. It will just take time.
So for my bright idea about making chex mix with butter so I won't eat as much because butter makes me sick. Well, you all know how that went!!!
notperfect, so glad you are feeling better. Take the five pounds and run with it!
Silent, welcome back to the land of the living. Good job moving your ticker down! I can not imagine living where you are. I am in the upper midwest and I think we are crazy for staying here. (Until we have our other seasons.) I understand some people may actually like it. Do you?
Betsy, I love how someone burned something in the bakery. If only it happened everytime. I went to visit my girlfriend in Seattle a long time ago. We spent the week drinking all kinds of coffee with sugary desserts. I feel sorry for anyone we crossed paths with. We were on such a buzz. I hope you have better luck with your cookies then I did with my chex mix.
Have a nice evening.

Had a crappy day for physical reasons: thanks to my flu shot, I presume, I didn't get the full-blown flu by any means, but I woke up kind of under the weather and with a truly annoying myalgia (muscle pain) in my right thigh. It was almost as if my right quadriceps muscle got the flu, but none of the rest of me did. It lasted about 8 hours and was the cause of much foul language & irritability, but is all gone now, and I feel back to normal. =grin=

Donna and Ubee asked about pagans and Yule traditions, so I will endeavor to explain a bit. Paganism and pagans are very broad terms for people who worship in a revival of the ways (such as we know them) of any of the pre-Christian religions of the world. There are as many types of pagans as there were/are different cultures with religious practices, but most contemporary pagans practice nature-centered religions, and are both animistic and polytheistic. In the US and the UK, pagans are most commonly wiccans or druids, or other folk with nature-centered religions of Western Europe, of which the the Celtic tradition is the strongest. ("Wiccan" is an outsider-friendly term for "witch": wiccans/witches can be both female and male.) The ancient Celts were a highly developed civilization spread across the British Isles and western Europe, especially France. They were encountered and battled by the Romans, who built their famous Roman roads right on top of the Celtic roads that were already there. Then the invadng Christians tried to convert the Celts, or if not, to wipe them out. This led to much animosity and bargaining between Church leaders and the druids, the priest class of the Celts, and ultimately to the infamous witchcraft persecutions over many hundreds of years, which contemporary pagans call The Burning Times. It's our Holocaust and pogroms, if you will.

The Christian church attempted to attract people to Christianity by building Christian holidays right on top of the eight Celtic High Holidays, the most successful of which has been Christmas, built on top of Yule. The Celtic Yule traditions, which date back a very long time before the birth of Christ, included decorating trees, inside and outside, large Yule logs in home fireplaces, feasting, drinking of hot cider and mulled wine, exchange of wrapped gifts, rituals to honor the return of the sun (the beginning of lengthening days after the Winter Solstice), and going from door to door in groups, singing and doing amateur dramatic performances. Contemporary France still has a Yule tradition of serving large rolled cakes in the shape of Yule logs, decorated with brown icing like bark, marzipan mushrooms, etc. But Yule is not the most important High Holiday from a spiritual point of view: that is Samhain (Hallowe'en), with the second most important being Beltaine (May Day).

Bob and I are druids, a religion derived from what we know about the ancient druids. Druidism has many points of similarity with Wicca, although their rituals (ceremonies on High Holidays & other important occasions) are different. We have a few personal Yule traditions which originated in the druid grove (witches gather in covens, druids gather in groves) we were in from 1991 to 2009. (Bob was the senior druid, the leader of the grove, for nine of those years.) We call our Yule tradition "the longest night's vigil." It starts with a ritual & a party, of course, starting at sundown on the Winter Solstice, with food & drink & presents. Actual druid groves gather in circles in wooded areas for formal high holiday rituals to honor the gods & goddesses of the season. I already mentioned the Yule log cakes, and there are other traditional Yule foods, Ubee, one of which is oatcakes, but I'm not a cook or a foodie, so I'm not up on that aspect of the holiday. As it gets later in the evening, we gather around the roaring fire, socialize, tell stories, and basically hold a vigil, by staying up all night (as much as humanly possible). When it's just starting to get light, we bundle up and go outside, and watch the sunrise, cheering and waving and doing whatever else comes to mind to greet the return of the sun and the beginning of lengthening days.

Since our senior druid (after Bob) died of metastatic breast cancer in 2009, our grove has scattered to the winds, so for the time being, it's just Bob & me at our Yule celebration. We sometimes attend rituals and "revels" (the feast/party after a ritual) with a grove in Baltimore, but mostly for Samhain (Hallowe'en), not for a lesser holiday like Yule.

I know my attempt at a summary of these very large topics probably raises more questions than it answers, but there's tons of info on the Web, if you google things like Yule, wicca, druidism, and ancient Celts.

Fi that was absolutely fascinating, thank you for going to so much trouble to explain it!
Well I am on a real low at the moment so anybody hoping for laughs and jollity ....please skip on!
I spoke to a really good friend of mine who is normally such a positive person and she sounded really low. Two people we used to work with as Community Therapists have passed away recently. One was around my age of 47 and one was 62 which was younger than my friend who herself has not been well.
I don't know whether it is the time of year or what but with all of this year's physical and mental health problems I feel really old and clapped out. Hurting my knee has just about been the cherry on the cake as my knees are bad in part due to my excess weight. So now the VOICE is telling me it's all my fault and what I deserve.
Added to this we are constantly short of money at the moment and I had a worrying conversation with my hubby of 3 years where for the first time he said that he has always lived " week to week" which I cannot cope with on top of my anxieties about everything else.We constantly seem to be in a position of scraping around to find coal money etc and he sees no problem with this. I had to cancel my post op follow up with the surgeon because we had no money for fuel for the journey and he thinks that's OK. I love him to bits and I know he loves me but this is a real difference of basic attitudes.
Oh I am so sorry everybody, my knee hurts, I haven't been in my new home long enough to make new friends and I am broke....I will try to snap myself out of it.Until then I could be glad I am broke and living in a village with no shop because I am sure the lure of comfort food would be too powerful to resist!

Good morning ladies. We had snow last night -- somewhere between a dusting and an accumulation. Toby LOVED it -- rolled in it (I hope that's all he rolled in!), got his nose under it and threw it in the air, and just romped around like the 5 month old puppy he is. Started off my day shivering but laughing.

Ubee -- So glad for you that your workmen will be leaving, you can have your house back, and things can get in order. I don't think I'm ADD, but I'm with you on wanting things in order. Add the work on your room to the normal stresses of the holiday, trying to stay on an eating plan, discovering that Chex mix made with butter is still edible, taking care of your family, and it's no wonder it's been a struggle. Not sure I would still be upright, so give yourself a pat on the back. Sometimes we're so bogged down by all the stuff going on that it's hard to realize that we're handling everything and doing a pretty good job of it.

Fi -- Thank you so much for your explanation on your celebrations. I knew a smattering of it, but will spend time doing some research today. Sorry the flu shot caused the issues -- and having discomfort in your thigh is definitely not what I was expecting you to say. Feel better.

MountainWalker -- I'm sending you a hug :hug:. You have coped with so much this year, are still going through the issues with your knee, and learning of the death of two contemporaries is always hard in so many ways. Wish I had some great advice about you and your husband having such divergent views on money, but I don't. Don't know if your husband would agree to this, but I had similar issues with mine, and I finally just told him I would be doing the bookkeeping going forward. Took away his debit card and credit cards and gave him an allowance. But he agreed to it because he didn't realize that if he wanted something he just bought it whether we could afford it or not. And tell that VOICE to go stuff it. You've done amazingly well coping with everything.

Yesterday was my first day of trying to get out of my rut mealwise. Had breakfast for dinner (bacon and eggs and yogurt and a piece of toast), my usual tossed salad for lunch, and some nuts as a snack. Got the two pounds of water weight off. Today I'm having a pork tenderloin cooked on top of apples and onions for supper along with broccoli spears and satsuma oranges. Tomorrow I'll fix a stir fry using some of the tenderloin. I'm determined to start looking at healthy meals with pleasure instead of as a sacrifice for what I really want.

Off to the doctor's to get my coumadin reading checked. Don't know why I have this appointment since I'm on home monitoring now and everything is fine. Guess I'll ask if she wants another appointment in a month. Hope everyone has a day that provides some smiles.

I'm here and kickin but exhausted,will try and properly update tomorrow just don't want you sending out the mounties... ;)

I had a bunch of holiday errands to run today, and I was a little apprehensive about venturing out into the Friday holiday scene. All turned out well, though: people were helpful and upbeat everywhere I went. They were even having a wine tasting at the Co-op, so while I waited for Bob's scrip to be filled at the pharmacy, I got to drink a couple glasses of Pinot Grigio, my favorite white.

My monthly weigh-in is usually on the 22nd, but I'm going to do it tomorrow, a day early, because I'm going to allow myself a bar of dark chocolate at our Yule celebration. I realized today that I don't even care about how much weight I've lost this past month, or if I've lost any at all, because I've just about wrapped up my mini-goal of 30 days of no emotional, compulsive, or binge-type eating. I can't believe how utterly changed I feel, to have that horrible monkey off my back. Cookies & candy & donuts & their ilk are no longer ordering me around and making me miserable. =whew= I have so much to be grateful for!

My best wishes to all of you for a lovely weekend filled with peace, comfort, and joy...

SO I had some sleep and feel a little better, trying to decide plans toay they should be house cleaning house cleaning house cleaning.

Happy first day of winter. I'm sure when the sun comes up tomorrow morning I'll definitely notice that extra minute of daylight that we'll gain tomorrow! :D

SilentArctic -- glad that you're beginning to feel better. Anyone who is focused on house cleaning is definitely showing signs of improvement since it's about the last thing on my list ALWAYS.

Fi -- Good for you on reaching the 30 days of no emotional eating (almost). You're right -- that's a big monkey off your back. Hope you and Bob enjoy your Yule celebration. Wish our Co-op sold wine! Good luck with the weigh-in.

Where is everyone? Hope all are ok.

Yesterday I made fudge and chex mix. Today will be the bar and drop cookies and tomorrow the rolled cookies. Obviously the boys convinced me that cookies were needed. Interesting thing is happening. Normally, I'd be nibbling away at the stuff, but while I tasted it, I don't have that overwhelming desire to eat until I am sick of the stuff. Fi, is this a normal reaction to reducing the number of carbs and/or sugar I'm ingesting over a prolonged period of time? I'm sure that I could still very easily go back to eating fast food, lots of carb laden foods, etc. with no problem. But right now it's almost like I look at the stuff and think that it's just not worth it. I've never had that happen before and just wondered if it's tied in to my body truly getting past the sugar withdrawal stage. Almost feels funny to not want or worse need to binge on the stuff.

Laundry today, vacuuming, and spot clean the bathrooms plus the baking so it will be a busy day. I did fix pork tenderloin last night, and it was a delicious, low calorie/low carb meal. Definitely made me glad I'd done it in spite of the extra effort required to get out of my rut. Have a great day ladies.

Well, I lost 3 pounds this past month. And I'm not disappointed, because of what I said in my previous posting. Figuring out my daily allotment of muesli, and how to adjust my non-carb eating the rest of the day so that I'm losing weight more briskly, is going to take a little time. I think that with the new year, I may go to weighing myself once a week, just to do some fine tuning.

Betsy— I definitely noticed myself, and other folks have reported as well, that after you've been eating a low-carb diet for a while, you don't really want carbs anymore. I really wish I could stay on the Atkins induction phase of less than 20 carb grams a day: I wish it hadn't made me go into that severe depression, because my body was comfortable with it and I wasn't craving carbs at all. At least the few raisins I add to the muesli don't tip me into sugar craving. I'm not eating any sugar whatsoever.

Except for tonight! I get a bar of very dark chocolate, one that has a little caramel inside each square. =broad grin= I hope I don't eat it all up at once, that I can make it last for a few days. Happy Yule, everyone! May your longest night be a warm one...

betsy - aw thanks for the well wishes I really don't WANT to do housework, its one of those, the house is reaching unlivability and its forcing me to clean (somewhat) I'm not getting much done I keep finding excuses to take breaks. Oh well it is slightly (if not much) more livable than it was when I woke up this morning. Afew more half-efforts and I'll probably let myself be completely lazy. I am still a little tired...

Fi - 3 lbs is actuall a good pace you really are doing amazingly! Enjoy your dark chocolate sounds like a good treat. :)

Send the mounties!!!! I am lost in a blizzard of chex mix and Christmas cookies!!!
Fi, your Yule celebration sounds awesome. Thanks for taking the time to explain it all. I hope your chocolate bar is satisfying. I am so happy for your 3 pound loss. If I couls lose 3 pounds a month and be down 36 pounds by next Christmas I would be on top of the world.
Donna, we are all here to support eachother. Please don't apologize for venting. I too am feeling the sadness that comes with middle age. Friends having sad health issues and even death from them. I found out about another friend yesterday and wanted to make it all better with a box of chocolate. I realized that a box of chocolate would only increase my chances for cancer. As for your $ issues. May I suggest you try Dave Ramseys website? He offers baby steps and encouragement. Financial accountability , getting rid of clutter and excess weight all go hand in hand in my book. Babysteps work best to make lifetime changes. Your husband may respond better to things in print. I know reading is better then hearing for me to see the light. Good luck.
Betsy, I am glad someone is enjoying the snow. Thank you for your kind words. Sometimes I get so busy doing all that needs to get done that I forget to give myself credit. It is very encouraging to hear of all your new ways of making healthy, good tasting foods. I hope to get there someday. I am trying new kinds of salads and dressings. Do not even think of joining me in the blizzard of sugar and flour. It is fine at first but now I am crazy with cravings. My chin is resting on my chest and my pants button will become a deadly weapon if it pops off.
Silent, good to see you! My house is looking so scary right now. It will take us weeks to sort through all the stuff thrown in boxes. We have a lot of tossing to do.
How is everyone doing?

Good morning fellow lifers (sounds like a prison sentence, but mean it in a positive way as in we're changing our lifelong habits for better ones).

Fi -- Congratulations -- 3 pounds in the last month is great. I'm with Ubee. If I could get to the end of 2014 and be down 36 pounds, I'd be happy. Hope your Yule celebration was a happy one with the dark chocolate bar being one of the highlights. If it lasts several days, good for you. My challenge would be just eating one bar, so making it last several days is a huge display of will power as far as I'm concerned. Sounds like you're in that same mental zone several of us seem to be in -- shaking things up and making adjustments to achieve the results we desire.

SilentArctic -- Your description of cleaning the house made me chuckle. Do you go to straighten out a pile of magazines or books or whatever only to discover an hour later that you're sitting there reading instead? What I could never figure out is how a soda and something to eat also ended up sitting there with me. Glad you're back on the way to livability. As I've gotten older, my standard of livability has slipped to deciding that if I likely won't get a disease from it, it's probably clean enough.

Ubee -- The mounties are on the way. Although I'm sure they would appreciate an offering of some chex mix and cookies. If that button pops, just pack those cookies away.

Remember my ravings about making all these cookies? Well, I did get the sliced refrigerator cookies done yesterday; and that will be the extent of my cookie making. I've done chex mix, the one big batch of cookies (you make sandwich cookies with icing in the middle like oreos), spiced pecans, and the dreaded fudge. That should be enough for neighbor gifts and to keep the boys happy and to take to the big family Christmas party and anything to get all this stuff out of the house. Taking my left over pork tenderloin and making pork egg foo young with lots of veggies and pork in it and sauteed in very little oil. Also, I don't make a gravy for it -- just thicken some chicken broth with some agar agar. No rice either. Hhhmmm -- now I'm hungry! Have a great day.

Ubee - I don't even make it that far, I'm still dealing with the superficial stuff, clearing the floors, and that sort of the thing.

Betsy - Naw I decide to make a cup of tea, watch an episode of this or that..use up my candy crush lives. I lack self discipline thats how I got this bad in the first place. But at least i keep going back to it this time. NO one else would know it but my house is quite a bit cleaner than when I woke up on saturday morning... still a mess to be sure but... slowly getting a little bit cleaner bit by bit..