Betsy ~ Yeah when you schedule alot of time for the doctor's, It doesnt take that long but if you dont then it takes forever and then you miss your ride.

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I'm currently previewing my new work out dvd. The reason why I'm previewing it and not following along is because I dont have my new exercise mat yet, I'll have my new exercise mat on Sunday and then I'll do the whole work out dvd again. Its Valerie Bertinelli's Work Out DVD called Losing It and Keeping Fit. I did my other 30 min work out dvd this morning though. That one isnt on the floor. I just got done previewing the first work out on the dvd and I found out that the last 5 mins is not on the floor so I just did the last 5 mins. I'm previewing the 2nd work out on the dvd. I'm doing everything on 2nd work out but the floor ones. Anyway today I was at school from 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. I'm glad that I'm able to stay home tomorrow though, I've been going somewhere for the past 3 days, Tues,Wed. and today. I'm looking forward to Sat. though Scott and I are going to see Jurassic World but we're seeing it in 3D. Anyway I hope everyone had a good day today.

Hi everyone.

Obsidian, good for you staying on plan and exercising while Aunt Flo visits. You're doing great.

Betsy, your comment about DH made me chuckle. He is not in the hospital, but he is lucky I love him. :) Did I mention he told me with fear in his eyes? I have a few weeks to get ready, which is more time than he usually gives me when he springs something like this. His son asked if he could have the party here because they live in an apartment complex and have no yard and DH can't say no to his kids about anything. He and his wife will help and buy the food, drinks and whatever. They are moving to South Carolina at the end of July so this will probably be the last time the whole family gets together.

I gave up diet soda earlier this year, which I never thought I could ever do. Now I mostly drink flavored seltzer or flavored sparkling water and of course plain water. Occasionally I will have a diet soda but find that now it tastes almost too sweet.

Fiona, I am so happy and relieved by the news from the neurologist and I can tell you are ecstatic to finally have the answer. It's been such a long hard road for you, and you have handled it so well. I know you probably don't think you have, but all of us here know you have. :hug:

Sam there are people who create their own drama, or consistently feed into the drama of others. Personally, I think life is too short for that nonsense. I'm glad tomorrow is Friday too, even though it will be a busy weekend.

Tomorrow evening my granddaughter and I are going to a card-making class. I found out the one two weeks ago was cancelled because no one could go, so this will be the first one of the season.

Saturday morning we have two baseball games again but at least they are morning games, then grocery shopping and home to clean the house. Sunday we hope to do some fishing if we don't end up exhausted from Saturday.

I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow.

Atkins Induction Day 51
 

I had a good day out in the sun building an enclosed trailer for my motorcycle. A little too much sun as the back of my neck is peeling.

Breakfast
Home Made - Extra Large Hard Boiled Egg, 2 egg
Kraft - Mayo, 2 Tbsp

Lunch
Usda - Pork, Loin, Whole, Roasted, 5.5 oz

Dinner
Jennie O - Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage (Lean), 4 link

Total: 1,367 Calories, 0g Carbs, 92G Fat, 124g Protein

Goal: 2,908 Calories, 48g Carbs, 194g Fat, 243g Protein

The reason my goal is so high today is that I recorded 4 hours of general carpentry in MFP and it automatically adjusts the goal. I do not eat back my increases from exercise.

Good morning all. What a change a few days makes -- just shut the window here by my desk because it's nippy out there this morning. It's in the 50s and probably won't make it out of the 60s. Perfect weather to tackle the weeding.

Fi :carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot: Sorry, but I'm going to emoticon back at you with such wonderful news!!!! Since you've already begun to make the adjustments to decrease the meds, hopefully with the rehab you can get back to doing the things that make you Fi. Truly, so happy for you (and Bob and Grace and the kitties).
Larry You hit the nail on the head in terms of the adjustments that MFP makes when you add in exercise. So, I just never add in exercise. You gave me a chuckle over only counting in whole pounds, not tenths. That definitely shows that your weight is coming off much faster. Every tenth of a pound that comes off for me is cause for celebration!
Terra Even if you had your new floor mat, watching the DVD first always helps me.......or makes me decide not to use that one! :dizzy: Can't even imagine watching Jurassic World in 3D -- it would scare the bejeebies out of me. One of those movies I'll watch at home so I can sit there with my hands over my face and watch through my fingers.
Sam Glad you found a psychiatric nurse who left a good first impression. It is hard to go over your past history, but hopefully it can be somewhat cathartic as well. You showed great will power going to Chick-fil-a and getting on plan items. A cup of ice dream would have been involved for me!
Cindy It would be hard to say no to kids when they don't have a place to have the party, and DH did have the good sense to have fear in his eyes. A little quivering would have been a nice touch, too. I'm obviously very close to my two nephews -- even more so since my sister's passing 6 years ago. I find that I have trouble with the no word with them as well. Your weekend sounds busy, but you two seem to always be on the go.

The trip to the dump was interesting -- it's a really well run and organized place as there are constantly garbage trucks as well as citizens using it. Glad to get that part of the yard recovery project out of the way.

I'm not sure what is solving the problem -- and maybe it's a combination of things -- but the arthritis is back to just being it's usual sore self instead of the debilitating pain. My warfarin readings are back in the normal range, and while I had a Diet Coke for lunch yesterday (ordered it out of habit at the restaurant before thinking!.....explains a lot about how I got to this weight), I've been drinking ice water with a squirt of lemon in it the rest of the time.

Off to the gym and then the kid is coming over and we are going to get some of the shrubs cut back from the house so that my nephew can get it painted while they're here. Perfect day for weeding -- won't be hot at all.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Cindy You're right. Life is too short to deal with drama! Sounds like you have a busy weekend planned. Hope you get to do some fishing. Where in South Carolina is DH's son moving to? I'm in Myrtle Beach :) Hope you get to enjoy the baseball game tomorrow and hopefully it will be early enough that it won't be so hot.

Larry Being in Florida I can imagine it's a lot hotter down there then it is here in South Carolina, but boy is it humid here today! I think it was somewhere in the 90s today and plans to be that way for the next week from the forecast. Vitamin D is good for ya though so sunshine is always welcome in my book.

Betsy Boy would I kill for some 60 degree weather here!! It's hot and humid here today and looks like it's going to be this way for a little while at least. I may be cutting anytime of outside activity to a minimum. I've got a few things I have to write down for the doctor's appointment on Tuesday but maybe this is just what I need to help me stay focused on everything that seems to go on in my life. Chickfila is one of my favorite places. I will admit I get their diet lemonade every time I go so that's my little splurge but it isn't that bad except for the splenda part. I've really been wanting to try one of those frosted lemonades that they have but when I looked up what was just in a small...I freaked!! 42g of carbs for a SMALL!! Yeah that was enough for me to stay away.

Today was busy at work and fried my brain for the week. Don't plan on using it much this weekend haha!! Got home and made a protein shake. I read on Instagram someone recommended that I add ice to it and put it in a blender instead of just water and powder mixed and it made it into like a chocolate milkshake it was so thick! I loved it!! This is my new treat that's giving me good nutrition and is tasty. Not sure if I mentioned this earlier in the week but I got the Quest Chocolate Milkshake protein powder. It's 110 cals, 0 Fat, 4 Carbs and 23 Protein per scoop. I almost feel like I'm cheating when I drink it...it's that good people. I got it on sale a Vitamin Shoppe and I definitely think this is something that I'm going to keep buying and maybe try other flavors because it's giving me the added protein I need without a lot of carbs and calories. I struggle with getting enough protein in me each day so I think this is going to help.

I wasn't going to work out today because of my timing with getting home and needing to make dinner. DH isn't too hungry so I ended up having the time to do a quick cardio session. I am dripping with sweat but feel great. I worked arms yesterday and although I didn't get to do all the different exercises I wanted to, I changed it up and did more reps and less sets of the ones I did do. I think it made a difference in my workout so I'm going to try that for a little while when working arms.

Not sure what's going on this weekend. I know I need to get my house in order and may try to find some sales on flowers for my balcony. Of course the farmer's market visit is in order for tomorrow but other than that I think it's going to be a pretty chill day. Oh and I need to get me a silicone cupcake pan. My metal one that I have is in bad shape and I've really been hating having to use cupcake liners to make my egg cups out of because peeling the paper off of eggs is kinda hard. I figured the silicone one would make it a lot easier and I won't have to use the liners.

Anyway I'm off to relax for the rest of the night. Hope everyone has a great evening!

Hi everyone!!!
I am alive and well. I was one week off on my plans but I should be showing up more regularly soon. I hope to get back to daily in no time.
Hope you are all well. Will try to catch up tomorrow.

Good morning. We continue to have this highly unusual stretch of nice warm days (those are days in the 70s out here.....we're a little spoiled) and gorgeous sun. This is very unusual for June but everyone is walking around soaking up their vitamin D early this year.

Larry I can see why you love Atkins induction. Good for you on finding the magic elixir for weight loss for yourself. Of course, a whole lot of it is your ability to stick to it!
Sam Any week of yours would wear me out. Thanks for the tip on the protein shakes. I've got protein powder that I've added to smoothies before, but would love something that I could just drink by itself. We've got a Vitamin Shoppe in town so I'll get some next trip. I well remember the 90 degree days and 90% humidity from when I lived in Georgia and NC. May be why I ran the AC from March till November! :D
Ubee Man, was I glad to see your post even if it was a short one. I was getting afraid that you'd just decided to stop posting and I would so miss you and your equally oddball sense of humor.

Quiet day today -- hope everyone is off doing something fun for the weekend. Today I'm doing inside "stuff" and tomorrow I'll be back to weeding. I volunteered to do the publicity for the annual Lions Club Arts Festival (this is its 45th year) and need to enter everything into the various online calendars. Lots of laundry to do. Need to make an appointment to get my car serviced. Have to call the provider for my bi-pap supplies and see if I can get a mess straightened out. Need to run the dust cloth over stuff. And I'm sure something else will pop up.

Have made out my food menus for the day. The calories are high, but the carbs are low -- mainly because I'm having a steak for supper. Time for coffee and the crossword. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Thanks for all the enthusiasm, folks! Just to top things off nicely, yesterday (the day that Grace comes over: Friday) our fully assembled cat tree arrived in a truck. Some many months back, Bob and I were planning to build our own modernistic cat tower, but with all that's been going on, we decided to just order one. There are so many options available on the web! It's a tall, skinny sort of design—sort of like a forest of five mushrooms if you can imagine the caps being upside-down. The company we chose builds them all from scratch, so you have lots of options. The main upright is wrapped tightly in sisal rope, while the other poles are bare wood. And the color of the carpet is a satisfying dark olive green. It blends nicely with the rest of the living room, and most importantly, the cats love it. (Not to mention the color harmony between their orange coats and that green!) The topmost level is 6 feet up, so there are numerous climbing and jumping options.

But my own transition from ecstasy to equanimity has a long way to go: I still can't stand (squat) for more than a few seconds at a time, and I have a lot of work ahead of me to get where I can walk again. =sigh= I'll be doing rehab several times a week, with Mike (QiGong) and with a more traditional Western approach, for at least 8 weeks, 3-5 days a week.

Meanwhile, though, I am 100% back on my modified Atkins induction plan. I'm not even hungry, with all this going on, so for the time being, it's easy-peasy.

Hi everyone. We are currently away. Not doing well on the diet front. My weight keeps going up and down, but not extremely up. Took the kids out sightseeing today. I hate this kind of stuff. There are always people who assume that I am completely stupid. They may be slightly right, in that I'm stupid at some things, but not all things. Case in point: I asked my daughter if she would like to take the escalor or the stairs. She's been riding the escalator up and down the entire day, just fine. For some reason, she has decided at this particular escalator, that she's scared, so she stumbles a bit and nearly drags me off balance. Let me note something here... If I fall on top of her, I would crush her. If my daughter let go, she would have been fine. She wasn't on the edge of her step or anything, so I said let go. She didn't, so I hauled her back up before she fell. There was an Asian lady behind me who isn't moving out of my way to allow me to take my daughter to the stairs. So, I try to tell my daughter when to go. The lady's solution: offer help, then grab my daughter's hand and haul her down. I wasn't polite to this woman, or exceptionally mean. I was curt because I was frustrated with my daughter because she suddenly decided to be afraid of escalators. This is someone that I don't know. For all I know, she could've snatched my daughter. I'm grateful for the help, and the spirit of it, but all she had to do was let us out to the stairs, and we could've gone downstairs just fine. She kept telling me, "You need to hold her hand. She might fall." My daughter isn't a toddler, and I explained to the lady that my daughter has ridden them the entire day just fine. She just decided to be afraid of this one. I just don't appreciate the assumption that I don't know my kids or how to take care of them. One of my kids has survived to 11. Yes, I make mistakes, I'm not perfect, but it didn't give her the right to treat me like she did. She talked to me like I was a five year old.

Edit: We are taking the stairs where available. Apparently older children have gotten seriously hurt on escalators. Usually it has to do with unattentive parents, but still. I had no idea that escalator accidents were that common. I do feel bad for being curt to that woman. Thanks for helping mystery lady.

Hi everyone. I hope you're all having a good weekend. I can't believe it is half over already.

Our grandson won his baseball game this morning. The championship game is Tuesday night and of course his grandparents will be there to cheer for the team. After his game at 8 AM this morning his brother had a game. He plays T-ball so everyone wins. After that DH and I stopped for breakfast, and yes, it was afternoon by then. Then we went grocery shopping and by the time we got home and got everything put away it was close to 4 PM and we were both exhausted. Needless to say, nothing else got done today except for throwing together a quick dinner. Tomorrow I will clean the house.

Ubee, and Tootsieroll, good to see you posting. I missed both of you.

I am too tired for personals tonight but needed to check in. Eating is good even with having breakfast out and I have lost another 2 pounds.

I hope you all have a great Sunday.

Ubee Thanks for checking in with us. Glad you're doing well!! Hope to see you more often very soon! :)

Betsy As much as I have finally grown to love the summer the humidity here kills me every year. I am a busy bee but I guess if I wasn't so busy I'd feel like I would fall into bad habits again. When I am bored that's when I always want to eat, so as much as I wish I could get a breather it is helping me in some way at least.

Fi That cat tree sounds awesome!!! That's something I need to get for my girls. They are big snugglers so I don't know how much they would use it, but I do have a few things that DH and I are planning to build this summer using pallets to maybe that can be one of them. You do have a long road ahead but you're closer to being back to your old self than you were weeks ago. I'm just glad you finally got the answers and are on the road to recovery!! Great job and hopping back on the weight loss wagon! Amazing!

Tootsie Sorry you had a falling out with a stranger. I don't like being talked down to either, hey I don't think ANYONE does right? Trying to help and being a complete C-word is a different story. Hope today was a better day.

Cindy Congrats to your grandson's team for making championships! And Congrats to you for another 2 pounds down!! Sounds like your weekend was just as busy as mine. Hope you got the things done today that you wanted to get done.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday guys...Wasn't intentional just was sooooo tired that I just did not have the energy to get on the computer. DH and I got up early on Saturday and went to the farmer's market. DH made the suggestion of going to one of our state parks and cook out for the afternoon and go hiking on the trails. We got some really good grassfed beef and made burgers. I hardly ever eat red meat so this was a treat for me. I did omit the bun and glad I did because I ended up over indulging in other things. We got some Pirate's Booty to snack on and a tall boy of beer a piece and with those together I went over in my carbs yesterday. Everything else was on plan except those two items and I over indulged a little. We went out to the beach after we ate and put our feet in the water for a few minutes but it was high tide so we ended up going back to the car and putting on our hiking shoes and hit the trails. It was great. I think we only did about 2 miles at the end of it but hey I got some great exercise. I don't ever drink alcohol anymore so DH ended up having to drive me home for once LOL....By the time I got home and got a shower, checked each other for ticks and all snuggled in the bed I just passed out and completely forgot to check in. That sun did a number on us because my day consisted of mainly sleeping today. I got up around 9:30 and had breakfast but I was so tired that I fell back asleep until about 2:00. Then I ran around town looking for a silicone cupcake pan for my egg muffins and sure enough no one in town that I could think of that might have them had any. So I'm going to use my old crappy muffin pan and the liners for one more week and going to order one online tonight. I managed to get the kitchen all nice and cleaned up and prepped my lunch and breakfast for the week. I was hoping to vacuum the house but my BIL is passed out on the couch so I'll have to get to that another day. DH has some pork cooking in the oven, not sure what we're going to do with it. Maybe tacos, who knows.

Oh and I forgot to mention, I'm down 2.8 pounds this week!!! Only 29 more pounds to meet my goal for the year!! I think I can do it guys!!

Well I'm off to shop online and wait for dinner to finish. Take care all!

Popping in again, and reading sporadically to kick up.

SamIAm: I really love those frosted lemonades. Alas, the frosted diet one has 240 calories (which I count instead of carbs, but that's mostly carbs, and I'm actually kinda surprised it's only 44). I have to limit myself to one a week, though sometimes I do manage to skip a week.

Fiona: My cats have always shunned cat furniture. It's like they know 'hey, this is for a cat, I shouldn't use this and instead should go shed all over the new sofa!' I bought a cat tree once, just a store one so not nice like yours, and they so rarely used it. The only cat things my cat likes is his window perch, and his cardboard scratchers.

Not sure if this link is allowed but this is my favorite cat furniture ever! It's called Hauspanther cat furniture, if you google it. It's so cool! But only available in Germany, I think.

I've been continuing to cook, though alas, not the healthiest of stuff this weekends. Calzones yesterday, and pancakes this morning, with cookies tonight. I did eat three teeny tiny ones but the rest are for work tomorrow. No wonder my weight is stalled! I really need to get back on track, eating a little less and walking a little more.

I took my DW Roberta to the ER last night. She was dizzy, very weak, and her vision got very blurry and her blood pressure varied from extremely low to very high. After numerous tests they admitted her for overnight, maybe longer because of an abnormal EKG. She does not have a cardiologist so my cardiologist is going to examine her this morning. The hospital is having a nuerologist examine her as well. A blood enzyme test that checks for heart damage was negative thank God. I will post when we know more. Please keep her in your prayers.

Good morning. I'm really trying to be my normal happy self, but I'm now in day 3 of having a non working kitchen sink. A plumber is on his way over and is going to stop here on his way into his real job. It is definitely cutting back on my cooking!

Fi I'm so glad that I'm not alone in totally spoiling the 4 legged children in the house! The cat tower sounds wonderful and I know your kitties will love it. And even though you've got a long rehab ahead of you, your whole tone in your posts is positive and hopeful. Just knowing what's causing a health problem is about 90% of the battle sometimes. Glad that you feel that going back on your modified Atkins Induction is doable now, too -- another positive sign.
Tootsie Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed!
Cindy So much fun to watch the grands win their games. But it is tiring to work all week and then be on the go all weekend. Glad you checked in with us.
Sam Your R&R even wears me out! :o Sounds like a great weekend, and taking a little nap is needed to recharge those batteries. Having a little off plan eating once in a while is not going to hurt things -- especially for you as you have tremendous will power and insight into staying on plan. I do believe losing 29 pounds by the end of the year is definitely doable. You are rockin' it.
Rabidstoat Love that cat furniture!!! How cool. I didn't eat very healthy this weekend either -- but I've be thrilled with stalled instead of up, up, up!
Larry So sorry to hear about the health issues for Roberta. Hopefully today you'll both get some more answers as to what is going on. You'll both be in my thoughts and prayers.

As I mentioned, I battled a clogged up sink all weekend. A plumber just came by on his way to work this morning and is coming back tonight at 6. He's found the blockage, but is doing this off the books as a favor so will have to work around his normal work schedule. So, I'm getting a chopped salad from Subway for lunch and ignoring the fact that I actually have 3 kitchens available -- another one in the downstairs apartment and the one in the RV!

That means that there is absolutely no reason why I can't work on the yard this afternoon. Ugh! Time to figure out something for breakfast and then off to the gym. Hope everyone has a good day.