Good Morning!
Last week I started Atkins/Grain Brain induction. I am happy and proud to report that I have gotten rid of 5 pounds!
Donna today is a great day to get back on plan! I hope you can find out what is bothering your son. Do not feel guilty about your benefits. What kind of a world is this when we no longer look out for one another? I love coffee with a friend. Have a nice visit.
Terra today is also laundry day at my house. Do you find that when you wake up you make all these plans for the day but somehow the work does not always get done? That is the story of my life.
Sam that is good news about your husband. I too could use something to get my butt in gear. What is your favorite thing to juice? In a little over 4 pounds it will be time for a new picture!
shan nothing like loss to make us eat. I think you have made huge progress in the last months. I am with you on any weight lost is reason for celebration! Good job!
Well off to do more housework on my long to do list.
Have a peaceful day.

Good morning all. Don't know what I'd do without 3 things in the morning: reading the posts from this group, having coffee, and watching the world out of the picture window by my kitchen table. It's such a calming, wonderful way to start the day......so much better than when I was working and left every day when it was still dark out, came home in the dark, and worked in a data center with no windows for security purposes. Once again, it's the little things in life that bring so much pleasure.

Ubee -- 5 pounds. Way to rock it. :carrot::carrot::D:smug: OK, you're giving me motivation because to answer your question about how I did this week, it was a roller coaster. Stay warm up there (guess it would be more accurate to stay across there, wouldn't it) as it looks like it's going to be an early and long winter for the Midwest.

Donna -- Hope the appointment in Cardiff goes well and you're able to get through the assessment with a minimum of anxiety. You are entitled to these, you paid into the system, and a truly civilized society finds way to take care of its citizens. Hope your little guy is feeling better soon. So many things affect kids at that age. Glad you had a great weekend -- sounds like you had a lot of fun.

Terra -- Glad you're beginning to get a little more sleep -- seems like for awhile there you were only sleeping 2-4 hours a day. Glad you had a good weekend.

Sam -- There are just some days when being anyplace other than where we are would be so wonderful. And it's ok to have what I refer to as a slug day every once in a while. When I have a slug day, sometimes I don't even manage to get dressed -- talk about being lazy!

Shan -- Sounds like you have made so many very positive changes in your eating habits already. And you're right -- any weight loss is good.

Just entered my food in MFP and now the challenge is to stick to only what I've planned for the day! We're supposed to have clear weather for the next couple of days, so I'm going to start on getting the garage cleaned out. I'm going to have to borrow my BIL's truck to take some stuff to the dump and then another load to Goodwill. I can still get the car in, but have to move through a lot of the garage sideways. It's a 3 bay garage that was built to allow for lots of storage racks......and it's packed to the rafters with junk that made it to the garage and no further. I'm going to the gym, but figure that all the sorting and bending and pushing and swearing will count as exercise as well. Well, maybe not the swearing, but I'm sure there will be a little involved since I will undoubtedly drop something that wll take an hour to clean up. OK, off to the gym, pick up Becky so Toby can play and then tackle the garage. Have a great day.

Well, I crashed and burned. I got so distracted by the Qigong, the cats' illness, Bob leaving for the farm with his mother (who is so demented he's not sure she knows where she's going), plus collage, mail art, etc.... that I messed up my medications and ran out of a couple of them. Got into severe depression pain, especially this afternoon: minus five on my scale. But I gotta take care of myself before I can take care of the kitties, so I pulled it together enough to order some expensive refills, then really had to work to pull it together enough to drive to the COOP and pick up my meds. But I did it. Now I'm up to minus one. Maybe tomorrow will be better, now that I have my meds.

But in order not to be entirely downbeat, let me give you a link to my latest collage: "a man's reach should exceed his grasp.". As usual, if you want to see a larger version against black, just click on the collage image. =smile=

Good Morning.
Fi glad you were able to get you more meds. Kitties are a very good reason to get up and face the day. I like your newest collage. It reminds me of weight loss, except our goal needs to be with in our reach.
Betsy sounds like you have your own BERP. Mine is in stacks and corners in my house and garage. I should get it under control before it grows back into the monster it was.

We ate out on Sunday and today we are eating out twice. One place does not even offer a salad. What do they put in their food that I can gain over a pound from my baked chicken and small Caesar salad??? OK enough grumbling.
Have a peaceful day.

Ubee— The goal is within our reach, Ubee, and my collage says that it is: "a man's reach should exceed his grasp" means he can reach further with his heart, mind, & soul than he can grasp with his hand. Your heart, mind, & soul are the extension ladder that takes you behind the feathers and beyond. =big smile=

It's only 8:30 in the morning, but already I can tell it's going to be a better day, maybe even a 0/0/0 day. White clouds moving over blue sky, over orange trees, over piles of brown leaves....I love autumn.

I love all the seasons, actually. Here in Maryland the winter is relatively mild but still has snow, and the summer is hot and humid the way I like it, being from Houston. I feel for you guys in the Midwest where the winters are harsher and longer. =pout=

Fi.......when I read your post I was saddened that you had such a crash....and then I found a chink of light.......you know your meds work and you are not taking anything you don't need to! I hope the scores will be back to their previous level. I loved your collage...it was a really powerful image...thank you for sharing them with us. How are the kitties?

Ubee....congrats on the weight loss. I sympathise with eating out woes. I resent paying a small fortune for salad when I eat out......luckily we are too broke to go out at the moment. The one exception is meeting a friend for coffee occasionally.

Sam I hope your hubby is managing to focus....sending you big hugs.

Silent.....thinking of you too.

Terra......glad you are getting more sleep.

Shan....I lost alot of weight in 2012 and, like you, feel somewhat ashamed that I have put most of it back on. HOWEVER.........there is no shame in not succeeding the first time.....you have made some huge changes....giving up soda etc....and these will make a big difference over time.

Betsy your schedule is hectic! You are allowed a certain number of expletives whilst clearing out the garage, shed, attic or cellar......truly AWFUL jobs!

Well I woke up this morning feeling rubbish to say the least. I didn't sleep well after yesterday and my kneeing was stiff and achy from the driving. I was VERY close to saying "Nuts" to the gym.......but I went after dropping young man at school and although I felt I was walking through treacle, I am glad I went. I did a slightly longer workout than I did last week and my knee coped OK though is grumpy now.

I nearly did myself a mischief getting off the recumbent bike as my left knee doesn't quite bend enough to get on and off elegantly! Ah well, at least I am giving it a go!!

Then I met my lush friend Angharad for coffee. She is Welsh speaking first language and likes to test me!! It's one way to make me shut up!!!

Food choices have been OK and I am writing it all down now.

I hope you all have a great day.
Donna:carrot::carrot::carrot:

Ubee ~ Yeah I do laundry every week usually on Friday or Saturday. Nope I'm not the same way, When I make plans to do things I make sure to get them done but thats okay that your plans dont always happen.

Betsy ~ Yeah for awhile there I wasnt getting alot of sleep, I hope you had a good weekend also.

Donna ~ Yeah I'm glad I'm getting more sleep also.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and I wanted to turn over and go back to sleep but my med's doctor said I only needed 8 hours a night and I had 8 hours by 6 a.m. so I went ahead and got up for the day at 6. Its now around 8:30 and I've ate breakfast already and I let Clyde outside and I got his food ready for him to eat later on today. Right now I'm just watching t.v while posting on here and on 2 other forums. Today my plans are to do my 2 miles with my dvd twice today once before lunch at 11:30 a.m. and again at 7 or 8 p.m. tonight after my mom goes to sleep. Yes Yes Yes I STILL need to fold and put away my clothes so those are my plans for today.

Good morning all. We've got a high pressure system sitting offshore, so it's a beautiful but very cold morning out there. I think we finally had a killing frost so maybe the leaves will finally fall. Toby is out romping around -- he is so happy with all his thick hair to get colder temps. I'll bring Becky over and they can run around all afternoon.

Terra -- I agree with your doc that 8 hours is enough sleep......normally. If you have the urge to sleep longer, it may be your body trying to catch up on the missed sleep from the last few weeks. How did the walks go?

Donna -- Way to go on the gym visit. It is so hard to make yourself go when you don't feel good, isn't it. Hopefully, it kept your knee from being even grumpier than it is right now. Had to look up treacle. I thought it was a kind of pudding maybe, but Google says that it's molasses (or, Google could say that molasses is treacle!). Love that you have a friend whose first language is Welsh -- definitely helps with your learning it. Keep writing down everything you eat (a reminder to myself that the lack of any significant weight loss might just be due to not writing down every morsel that gets stuffed in my mouth!).

Fi -- So glad to see you back and posting. I was worried that when we didn't hear from you for a couple of days that you were having depression pain. Glad the meds are doing the job. Love the collage -- maybe we should adopt it as our official logo for this chat group!:^: Hope Bob and his mom can enjoy the trip to the farm. Are you going ahead and having her sign it over to you?

Ubee -- What can they put in chicken and a small salad to cause a pound weight gain? Salt. I read some place that restaurants use a ridiculous amount of salt as seasoning in all foods -- both for taste and to get people to drink more. It is almost impossible to eat out and not gain weight unless you can find a vegetarian or health food restaurant which is like finding hen's teeth.

Nothing got done on the garage yesterday as it got very cloudy and windy in the afternoon. I worked on sorting pictures so that I can get the boys' calendar put together for next year. I do a calendar of the grand nephews each year and give one to each family member. Since they run about $15 a piece, I decided last year not to do one and told everyone to save their calendars that came in the mail. Well, you would have thought I'd committed treason from the reaction. So, I'll keep doing the calendars.

Still really struggling to get any weight off that stays off. Yesterday I thought I ate pretty well, but ended up 2 pounds heavier this morning. I added in a bowl of bean with bacon soup and had mashed potatoes at supper time and evidently I'm now so carb sensitive that it just threw me off. I'm going to really start watching the carb intake as there's a lot of diabetes in my family.

Off to the gym and then we'll see what the weather is doing. Hope everyone has a great day.

Happy Tuesday to all of you ladies!
Seems like it has been forever since I've been on here. Lots of reading to catch up with everyone and see how you're all doing. Let's see.. House hunting has been a little bit of a pain. We found one that we like (not an amazing house but has potential) but having a little trouble with the lenders because of a small issue with the property.. ugh.. so now, we have more houses we're going to look at. The one thing that kind of stinks is that my hubby needs a garage (or shop) because he builds and refinishes furniture and is in the middle of a few projects. That seriously cuts down the choices we have. Anyway, enough complaining. So glad to even be able to have the opportunity to buy our first home!!! :)

I did really well yesterday morning for breakfast. I made a smoothie with raspberries, strawberries, bananas, watermelon, carrots, ginger and plain non-sweet yogurt. Sounds weird.. I just put in what we had. I wanted to add spinach but we're out. :( It was amazing!! My body was so energized with all the real food (instead of toast or fast food!). My hubby came home last night and had planned a little stay-home date. He made smothered burritos (oh yum) and bought a Marie Calendar's Razzleberry pie.. not even remotely a "healthy" meal but it was so sweet.. we watched a movie while outside it got below 0.. YUCK! It is snowing today and the temp says 5 degrees, feels like -18. So glad for a warm house!

Betsy, hope you get a chance to clean out that garage soon. I can't clean out things very well.. I get so easily distracted and want to go thru everything and look at everything. So when I pack the picture albums.. hahaha.. It takes forever!

Fi, hope you get to feeling better soon! And the kitties! I'm a little jealous of your winters.. :) It is so cold here and our little yard and driveway is set up to where we get massive drifts every time it snows. Hahaha.. We live in a wind tunnel, I think. :)

Terra, glad you're able to sleep more! I don't know if the same would work for you, but if I work out a few hours before bedtime, I sleep so well that night! Also, I always drink Sleepytime tea (celestial seasonings I think) before bed and it seems to help. :) Is Clyde your dog? I haven't gone back far enough to figure that out. What kind of dog is he? We used to have a great dane as well as a corgi mix.. they were pretty good friends. The corgi (Blue) was a smart little girl but the dane (Jewel) was dumb as a box of rocks. Haha! BUT, Jewel was also the most gentle and careful with kids.

Donna, SO PROUD OF YOU for going to the gym and doing a good workout! And don't worry, I trip over my own feet on a regular basis so I can sympathize with the bike incident. ;) How's your son feeling? Both kids I babysit had nasty colds last week.. I think they're on the mend this week but the runny noses get old.. yuck. :P

Silent, I think so long as you are able to sign in and just read encouragement from others, you'll be doing well. Not everyone wants to share or feels the need to share so just make sure you're doing well and sticking to your weight loss goals! We're here to encourage you!!

Sam, can't imagine what it felt like to hear your husband's confessions but what a great opportunity to help build him up! So glad you made it clear to him that you were there to help no matter what. Also, glad it wasn't drugs again! Way to stick to your plan in light of all the circumstances you've been through. And so excited for your weight loss!!

I know I missed some people on here but I'll sign in again and write a few more personal messages.. The baby is waking up and it's time for him to eat. I think I have the easy part of having kids.. I get them during the day but they go home to parents at night.. hahahaa.. Anyway, have a great day all of you ladies!!

Betsy ~ Yeah your probably right about if you get 8 hours and you need to sleep more then 8 hours then its probably your body trying to catch up on the sleep you've missed. I'm no longer walking outside since its gonna too cold but I've been doing my 2 miles with my dvd though.

Bllondy ~ Working out for a few hours??? I've only been able to walk out to an hour so far, I couldnt imagine doing it for 2 hours. I would try the tea but I dont like tea. Yes Clyde is my dog, He is a long haired Chihuahua. He's 16 years old, He turned 16 on Aug. 1st of this year. So do you have any pets anymore? Just wondering

In response to y'all's queries about my kittens: I'm afraid they're not doing all that well. Their breathing is noisy, and they cough and sneeze a lot, and their ears are just about bald from the ringworm. (I have ringworm, too: itchy spots all over my arms.)

They love the steam treatments I'm giving them: all I have to do is say the word "steam" and they head for their crate and walk right in. I put the crate in our tiny master bathroom, set the shower nozzle to extra-fine spray, leave the door of the shower open, and fill it all up with steam. Don't worry: it doesn't get very warm, just very humid. Their breathing is noticeably improved after about 20 minutes of that.

Nothing slows them down, and nothing stops them from being mischievous and having a good time. Their favorite game is soccer, for which their favorite "balls" are crinkled-up backing paper from my sticker machine. (I have two sticker machines for my collage, because I like their glue.) They're still at the stage where absolutely everything is potentially a toy, so constant supervision is a must.

Here's a photo from this morning. I apologize for its being on Flickr. I hope you don't get an ad. If you do, just click it away.

Betsey I need a doggie door something fierce. Toby got spoiled with the swinging door at my moms and now being his doorman is a full time job :)

I have some serious joint pain due to the cold snap. Add to that I fell today. Everything just hurts. Still OP. Weight is the same but that's ToM.

Fi...sorry about the ringworm! Your poor kitties....though they sound quite lively despite being poorly! My 2 pups are 6 months and 3 months respectively and every evening they chase each other around the back of the sofa for about 15 minutes before crashing in to a heap. We don't really need TV!

Bllondy.....your smoothie sounds great until you get to the carrot part! :dizzy: Are you moving far? We moved into our current home just over a year ago and have vowed NEVER! to move again! I really loathe brown boxes and parcel tape! How old is your little one? And you manage to fit in exercise? Way to go!

Ubee...sheep update. We have a pregnant ewe who has taken to coming down off the top of the mountain and munching the lush grass in our neighbour's garden. The neighbour is working away and we use his drive to park our car so every morning we are greeted by a wet woolly sheep!

Betsy...that is an excellent point about salt....and it is sneaked in just about everywhere. I think it's a bit like sugar. Our palates have become so used to over sugared and over salted things that food can taste bland without them.

Hi to everybody else!
OK so far so good. Food choices OK.....am managing NOT to have sugar on my porridge ( I don't do well with artificial sweetener).
Magnus ( my left knee) is grumpy today and I was limping when went down the town this morning. It is really badly arthritic but if I went for treatment I would only be told to lose weight before they even thought about a washout or whatever....sigh.....
Today is housework day. It is piddling down with rain and will do so all week so quite how I will dry my washing I don't know! It is mild (sorry to those in the grip of a freeze) so we hardly have the heating on. We are all running out of undergarments (we call them pants....what do you guys in the US call them?)
Have a great Wednesday.
Donna:carrot::carrot::carrot:

I split my pants! :o Feel free to laugh and give a witty comment.
Now that, that is out of the way...
Good Morning!
Donna you will quickly get used to not having sugar on your porridge. Love the sheep story! The big snowstorm missed us but further north they got 16 inches. I am so happy to see grass and leaves today. Our furnace has been running since the end of Sept. It is 21 degrees (-6 Celsius) today. We call the underpants, panties, granny pants, bloomers, knickers, it goes on and on. As for a lush friend, here in Wisconsin that means she is drunk. (Love the different meanings.)
Jane sorry about the fall. Good job staying on plan. Do you need to get a doggy door with a special collar for Toby so other less undesirables don't get in?
Fi sorry to hear the kitties are not back to full health. Glad to hear they are not letting it slow them down. When I go to Flicker it wants me to sign in to see your picture. I don't think it is an ad. :?:
Terra are you cooking anything fun at school this week?
Bllondy your smoothie sounds delish minus the spinach for me. I love watching House Hunters but do not want to move. Stay warm and consider buying a house with a wood stove/fire place!
Betsy imagine if we had a scanner that would record every bite as we put it in our mouth. I would be a beeping machine spitting out a constant receipt. OK that was a weird image. Sorry. Love how the nephews let you know you were not getting away without a calender. Mine are the same. You know in their eyes we are just another mom.
Gotta run meet a friend for coffee.
Have a peaceful day!