PatchworkPenguin - what an exciting experience, re: your eye!! Hopefully you can get the other one done soon, too. It sounds incredible.
PresMaggie - I would love to do the Peru trek again, with either my husband and / or my boys. That was the hard part about doing it with my sister -- I wished my husband were there, too! But the boys are too young and we don't like to leave them for a long time, so he stayed home. Your weight will come back down; you know what to do; don't worry about it. My ticker won't be moving for awhile, either -- between the camping damage and my trip to Florida tomorrow. Although my parents *aren't* a trigger so I think I should be okay there. No scale, though -- ack!
Penguin - That must be so rewarding to see such a difference in your vision! Hey - on the crockpot front, I use mine all the time to make shredded chicken that I use in other recipes like chicken chili, curries, soup, enchiladas etc. I cook the defrosted chicken breasts in a mix of water and skim milk (ratio doesn't seem to matter much) overnight on low then in the morning scrape off the kind of gross looking milk residue and the chicken breasts are just falling apart and are super easy to fork shred. If you get bored with your recipe book, give it a try.
presmaggie - From what you mentioned a while back, it sounds like spending time with your family can be hard on your self-esteem. Did you notice a difference this time since you've been making such positive changes in your life? Did they react to you any differently? I'm sure you'll be back on track in no time now that you're in your own environment.
Marie - so nice to have a fellow diet soda lover around! I'm with you on the having few other vices (apart from the occasional glass of red wine, which they say is pretty healthy) : ) By the way, I'm so impressed with your long and detailed posts that include everyone - I'm would like to be more that way but I lose track of everything on previous pages. I'll have to experiment with the quoting thing a bit to see if that helps. Waiting until September to see the doctor about your wrist sounds a little scary still. Are you wearing the brace in the meantime when you do things that are likely to affect your wrist? Does that help at all?
So, I took my up close before Botox pictures yesterday - let me just tell you that it's a pretty funny process to TRY to take unflattering pictures of your wrinkles - kind of the opposite of the usual process!
My cat got in touch with her inner wild animal yesterday and totally grossed me out. She's an inside cat but I occasionally let her out with me in the backyard as I did last night and my slightly chubby, lazy ball of fur promptly jumped onto the table then jumped in the air and caught a bird (probably a baby) and proceeded to eat it despite my efforts to convince her not to. Yuck! Now that's an appetite suppressant!
DancerInDenver - too funny about your cat. She sounds pretty skilled! One time my (indoor) cat caught a mouse in the house, and instead of killing it, he just kept letting it go, catching it, and playing with it. So I finally put him outside so he could dispose of the mouse out there; it was dark and there was a thin layer of snow. Boy, was he surprised!
Penguin, Glad to hear you are doing so well! Sounds like your surgery was a huge success!
Dancer, LOL about the cat! Can't wait to see your Botox pics!
Newleaf, Hope you have a great time in Florida. Don't worry about not having a scale. Make good choices most of the time, enjoy yourself and you'll do fine. I know what you mean about leaving the kids for any length of time. I took a cruise with a friend and DD was at my sister's for a week. She had fun and we emailed everyday but I still missed her alot!
Presmaggie, I hope you had a good visit despite the gain. Time to get back to work! You can do it!
Marie, That cake sounds great. You'll have to share the recipe with us!
Good news here, biopsy results were good! DD had a great birthday, got our nails done, did a little shopping and then swim meet last night. She was born at 6:00 p.m. and came over to give me a hug at 6 when she officially turned 11. Please tell me she will not be a rotten teenager in a couple years!
Wow!! I go away for one day and there are 3 pages to catch up on! This group rocks!!
ICU-Good for you for doing so well during your BBQ's! Sounds like you are going to be majorly busy this week. Hope it all goes well!!
newleaf-I do the same thing regarding "special" times. I just had S'mores myself with friends over the weekend. They really aren't too bad for you if you don't go overboard with them. I think we need to enjoy ourselves some too. Awesome job on tackling the hill on your bike ride! Bet it made you feel great!!
Jacque-Good to see you around!! Great job on making your goal!!!!!
diva-Good job on all the walking!! Sounds like a fun place!
Onmyway-I think it is ok to overindulge some on special holiday weekends and other celebrations as long as we get back to plan during the normal times. Good for you for checking nutrition info before going to Uno's!!
CAT-I am a major amusement park junkie!! The scarier the rollercoaster, the better! The one I went to yesterday is pretty tame compared to most but did have a nice hanging rollercoaster that was new. They also have a great waterpark that we all enjoyed. I love Disneyland and we also went to Knott's Berry Farm a lot when I was young. You should check them out!
jelder-As far as my car goes, that was a total mid-life crisis car for us. It even says it on our license plate frame. The kids had gone away for the weekend and we went out to eat. We saw the car on our way and planned on just checking it out on the way home. The kids said they weren't going to leave us alone again, LOL!! I am sure it isn't as safe as a hardtop car but it sure is fun! We have always had at least one fun car since we married but had taken a break for a bit. I was ready to have one again when we got it.
Hermit Girl-It definitely is very motivating the smaller you get. Makes you want to keep it up. The exercise gets much easier too but it makes you want to add more to challenge yourself. My daughter and I plan on doing another 5K soon and then plan on training for a 5 mile bridge run that is up north every year in Michigan on Labor Day. Can't wait!!
Marie-I love stained glass!! That is neat the you sold it all over like that. It must have been hard to give up but if it wasn't fun anymore then there is no point to doing it.
Penguin-Glad to hear the surgery was such a success and you are doing so well!! I bet you are thrilled!
Dancer-Congrats on the 3 pounds!! You rock! How I have found to reply to everyone is to open two windows with one the reply window and the other the thread to go through and answer. Works well for me!
presmaggie-Glad to hear laser surgery went so well for you years ago! I am thinking I may let my daughter have that done as a graduation gift or something depending on if they do it at that age or not. Don't worry about the slip ups food wise. You know what to do and will get back on track. Good luck!
Yesterday I fell off the wagon. Today will be spent in full focus of being on plan. (detailed account in my blog). Anyway, I've also decided a more reasonable goal weight is a little more forgiving, and realistic for my age. So, my total number of pounds to lose now seems a little less impossible.
Just read your blog Hermit girl. Boy do I have days like that. What is tobaluh (may have misspelled it since I am not looking back at your blog). I love water melon but am lazy and don't take the effort or time to cut it up and store it. Shame on me!
YUM! Looked back again and got more of a description of tabouleh. I love cilantro and am craving fresh veggies with summer here. Can you share the recipe? Thanks!
YUM! Looked back again and got more of a description of tabouleh. I love cilantro and am craving fresh veggies with summer here. Can you share the recipe? Thanks!
Thanks ! I'll be happy to explain my tabouleh.
Basic MidEastern tabouleh is almost all parsley and mint, with tomatoes, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil , bulgar, and tomatoes. I've had another tabouleh , maybe more Jewish, not sure, but it was almost all bulgar, with less of the parsley and tomatoes. I am loosely following Mark Bittman's "FoodMatters" philosophy, and I am going off of his recipe, but have made mine a complete food by adding lots of beans.... so, it's not even really tabouleh anymore, it's become more of a 'mediterranian salad'. Also, I tried the mint, but not sure I like it as much, so now I leave it out. Here is what I do generally (Note, I make it in huge batches to last days. You might try just reducing my quantities of ingredients and come up with your own combos) :
1. Start by soaking 1-2 cups bulgar cracked wheat (two kinds, cracked wheat is different from bulgar wheat, not sure exactly, but get the bulgar) , pour in enough boiling water to just barely cover. Should soak up in about 1/2 hour. If there is any residual moisture, push out through a sieve. I have been making it dryer these days because of the veggie content makes so much moisture it gets soggy, so the bulgar soaks up much of the liquid. It will have expanded to about 4 cups.
2. When bulgar is all done soaking , toss in juice of at least 2 lemons, about 1/3 cup olive oil (to start), salt and pepper to taste. I crush a couple of fresh cloves of garlic into it. Then I dump in almost the same amount of beans, maybe a little less, so it's a complete protein with the bean and grain mixture. I like garbanzos the best, but made a great batch with black beans (those need to be rinsed really well) , and today I tried lentils barely cooked.
3. Chop up veggies like crazy, finely, and toss in. I do about 2 cups each of finely minced celery and red onion. I love to chop up tomatoes too, when I have them, but they add a lot of moisture, beware. about a cup each of parsely and cilantro, finely chopped. a small can of olives is nice once in a while, finely chopped. Today I experimented with a red bell pepper. Nice flavor. Basically, all those 'salsa' type veggies.
4. Put in a large container and eat as much as you like , it should last several days if you eat a lot of it. I find it's a complete food, and all the flavors I like, perfect for summer. I use to add avocado, but now I'm convinced I wasn't seeing results on the scale due to that, and I eat so much of it, why bother.
Note: I find this tabouleh to be an excellent medium for my three daily tablespoons of ground flax, so my first bowl of the day, I just toss in the flax and mix it in. Really good.
Last edited by Hermit Girl; 07-07-2009 at 02:19 PM.
Jacque9999 - Smarter, maybe. I'm totally in denial on the older thing, thank you very much! But I must be getting older, because I keep forgetting this things - like how when I lose weight I can just bounce up 3 flights of stairs, leaving my in shape, welder husband in the dust.
ICUwishing - I think my son's precocious. At 5 I know they first words out of his mouth on the way home from the airport will be "Can I go to KK's?"
Marie - I'm the only person in my group who likes the crazy rides. It's kind of a bummer always riding them on my own. But I lived in the heart of ski country, 4 resorts within 20 minutes of my house, for 7 years and never did learn to ski well. It is just not natural to lean forward when you are going downhill. Too much in the way of self-preservation instincts.
And I really need your recipe for mint chocolate cake - that sounds totally yum!
Oh- and I'm taking the safety tactic the next time. I'm already looking up the safety ratings on the models I like. Unfortunately, he gets a newer truck next. Then we'll get a 3rd vehicle - an SUV or some such for hurricane evacuations and trips. And THEN, it's my turn!
And stained glass has always sounded like fun. I'd like to take a class, but I'm waiting until we move into a larger house where I have a craft room. On the someday list.
patchworkpenguin - I am so thrilled for you that the surgery went well. I still remember my joy when I was 5 and got my first glasses - I honestly didn't realize that you were supposed to be able to see the individual leaves on the trees. I had always seen them the way a 5 year old draws them. Then of course, getting Lasik 9 years ago was just incredible. Unfortunately, I think I need reading glasses now. Too much time doing close work and my eyes are blurry, even some double vision.
Hermit Girl - Congratulations on the scale moving!
presmaggie - I don't know how you do it with 2 of them! After one of his friends has been over for a day or so, I'm ready to tear my hair out! Or at least have a drink .. . But it's definitely easier to stay on my food plan without constant requests for tacos and hot dogs and mac and cheese. Mine's actually pretty good and helpful. I just don't get much "mama time" - if he sees I'm not working on something he thinks I should be playing with him.
dancerindenver - LOL - I can just see my cat doing that. She runs window to window stalking the birds. And heaven help any June bugs or moths that make in the house.
Onmyway - Glad to hear the biopsy went well. And I'm with you worrying that my little sweetheart will turn rotten. I just try to enjoy him every day, and hope for the best!
So far I'm surviving. But nearly cried when he didn't want to talk to me last night. He said no - he'd talked to me earlier in the afternoon thank you.
I'm a little bit reassured though - at least my MIL is taking a few things seriously. I think she thought I was psycho when I told her to be careful with the swimming - he's allergic to the cold so don't let him get chilled. Well, she bought him a neoprene shirt to wear after he broke out in hives all over!
Penguin, what great news!!! I’m so glad the surgery went better than you expected!!! Enjoy the time with your DH.
Cruise, I’m thinking of you and I hope your surgery goes as great as Penguin’s!
Presmaggie, it’s so funny how similar things are on this thread because of the common age. I had my Lasik done 9 years ago too. Seeing in the morning is fabulous. But now I have a slight reading glasses need. The 30 years of glasses makes me wear them only when I have no choice. Here’s a link to my doggies page that I never work on as I’m our district’s webmaster and I get sick of it. But there are three pieces here. http://www.mariesdogs.com/stainedGlass.htm
Dancer, after losing 2 posts last week, I figured a cool way to post. I’m typing in Word on one monitor and I have 3FC open on the other. So I read and comment at the same time. In other words, because I work in a technology dept, I have techie toys. Very easy though to split windows on one monitor as well. I tried the posting quotes and when I got to the point of responding, I couldn’t remember what I’d wanted to say. I guess the blond PLUS age is getting to me. BTW, my wrist is doing pretty good today. I’ve had many wrist injuries from my love for speed so some pain is now normal for me. I tolerate pain quite well so it’s rarely noticeable. And icky on the birdie episode. But picture yourself with the chicken crockpot recipe you gave penguin…
New leaf, what a way to introduce kitty to snow. Too funny!
OMW, I really can’t imagine a thoughtful 11 yo turning into a nasty teenager. Of course they start to pull away but the basic caring girl will still be there. The biopsy results are great news. You must be so relieved.
Beemer, they usually won’t do lasik until mid-twenties as the eyes keep changing through that point for nearsightedness. My DD is now 24 and thinks about having it done and her insurance would pay a chunk of it. I think it’s a great choice to do.
Welcome swtgila!!!
OK, since I whined about my wrist not being my fault I figure I should take blame when it’s due for injuries. I was washing one of my hummingbird feeders last night and was determined to get the last inch my bottle brush wouldn’t reach. So I pushed, figuring the diameter of the plastic holding the brush and the diameter of the bottle neck were the same. I figured the plastic would bend or break. No, the glass shattered and cut my thumb to shreds. It was late and I’d have had to go to the ER for stitches so it’s all bandaged up and very nasty. All night it felt like it was on fire. Now it’s just sore. Yeah for that. Boo for no swimming today. At least the hummers got a new feeder that was 100% clean…
Have a great day everyone. I’ll be back tomorrow! Marie
Ouch, Marie - that sounds awful - so sorry to hear about your thumb! And thanks for the posting tip - the one from Beemer sounds good too. As far as eating birds go, luckily there are no cute fluffy feathers etc on frozen chicken breasts or I would quickly go vegetarian!
Welcome swtgila!
Hermitgirl - thanks for the great sounding recipe!
Onmyway - so glad to hear about the good biopsy results and it sounds like you had a great time with your daughter.
