Good day! An extremely foggy day here today - noon and it's still hard to see very far. Carpet cleaners come in the next time block, so I'm taking a break from cleaning and putting a ton of stuff up. Looks like we're moving. I cannot wait for the clean carpets!! Bathed the pooch this morning and then showered since i was soaked. One big thing done. She's much better since we started doing it indoors with the hot water.

Annie- hope you're enjoying a wonderful day with your fiancee on his bday - how did the cake come out? Sounds scrumptious! You didn't get him a thong to go along with the card, did you ;) ha!

Lilly - Hope you had a fun time at the Christmas parade and the Year One party! What a great way to kick off the holiday season. Hope you're able to knock that cold out - treat yourself well!

Ange - are you traveling now? Hope you're enjoying a good weeked!

I am struggling with wanting to be eating a lot here since I ate more yesterday. Not sure what the deal is. We were working hard up until about 1:30 this morning and then I got the munchies (so did he) so I pulled out the Thanksgiving hummus - it was a big tub, so no one will care :) and we snacked on that a bit. It'll be just us that eat the hummus anyway, I think... his folks don't care much for it though they did when I called it dip last time.

This evening we'll do a homemade pizza and salad - his daughter asked me about it in the first 10 minutes I saw her last night...it's always FOOD sometimes, it seems. Have a great Saturday, all!

Hi Lilly! So glad you are here with us! Posting here really helps me. Good idea to log during the holiday season! I'm really trying to keep track and get this last 10 pounds off. I'm going to allow myself small amounts of the holiday goodies, that has been part of my plan all along because I know if I completely deny myself the things I love I won't be able to stick to my healthier lifestyle for life....and that is my long term goal. If I don't lose much over the holidays I am not going to panic. I just don't want to gain. Enjoy the parade!!

NP-Here's the cake!

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...2/SD532946.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...2/SD532946.jpg

I'll report back if it tastes as good as it looks!

Sorry you are wanting to eat more lately. Just be sure if you do that it is "on plan" stuff. How do you make your hummus?? The jury is still out on whether I like hummus or not. I've had some in the past that tasted like nothing and then I seem to remember having some I did like that taste of. Enjoy your time w/ fiance's daughter. Sometimes I wish I had a daughter, but with all of the teenage drama that comes with the territory, I think I'm glad I have boys.:D

We're doing wings for fiance's birthday, I'm going to try to eat as few fries as possible.;)

Here's a pic I guess would show my progress so far. I cropped it from a family photo taken today.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...SD532954-1.jpg

P.S. That's my little girl, Tootsie, in the pic with me!!:D

P.P.S. I saw a 149 on the scales this morning. I'm not going to claim it until I see it again. I doubt I will see it for a few days as I had 2 PIECES of cake today.:o

The cake looks so good! Did you say it was carrot cake? I love that. At baby's bday party just had a little piece of cake- not a big fan of regular bday cake anyway so it wasn't too hard.
Today, I'm baking biscotti and banana bread to take to my sister's house. Gotta keep myself from nibbling!! Anything sweet is definitely my weakness.

Time to make the coffee...

Good morning - it's a bit warmer here today - good for running a few errands. Have my fiance's daughter (13) here today while he's working. We'll run to Trader Joe's (my favorite store) among other things. I'm still in jammies eating breakfast. Lazy start. Had the carpets cleaned and scrubbed down a TON here. I was wiped out last night. Indulged in the homemade cheese pizza.

Lilly - I'm baking biscotti today, too! My friend's father is here for thanksgiving and asked if I could make some for him, as he really loved it last year. Now that my kitchen is clean, though, I hate to dirty it up :) Hope you're feeling better! Sounds like you did good yesterday with just a bit of the cake.

Annie - you look GREAT! You should be so proud of yourself!! I loved it when I was losing before and seeing steady progress. What did you do for dinner yesterday - out for a celebratory dinner?

I am unfortunately seeing progress the OTHER way here the past year! We'll see tomorrow morning what the damage is from the past few days. Tonight we'll be meeting at a mexican restaurant. I usually allow myself several tortilla chips (these are the ones made in lard, i know, at an authentic mexican place... TONS of them around here).

have a great Sunday!

Hello ladies! I slept VERY late today due to a very weird night! First of all, I stayed up way too late last night. Watched SNL with my son then got in bed w/ Stephen King....;) I bought his new book Friday and stayed up too late both nights reading. (Reading good books is a fav pastime of mine. I have had to cut back because I end up not getting enough sleep when engrossed.) Stayed awake until at least 0130 reading. Was awakened at 0500 by a noise in my bathroom. I never saw it, but something was scratching and pushing at the strainer in my bathtub drain and trying to get in!!:eek: I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack. It had to be a mouse, anything else would be too big to get into the drain pipe???:?: The shower curtain was closed and I was afraid to open it because it sounded like it was just sitting in the tub, the sounds were so loud. I woke up my younger son (14) and he sat on my bed (half asleep and thinking I was pulling a prank on him) for moral support.:rolleyes: I opened the shower curtain with a broom and fully expected something to jump out at me.....but nothing did! The strainer was still in place on the drain so turned on the water full blast and let it run for about 10-15 min. Then I put a glass bowl on top, just in case. I imagined I heard a few more scratchings after that but think it was just that....imagination. I finally got back to sleep (no Stephen King after that!! I did a crossword) and was awakened again at 0730 by one of my neighbors using his leaf blower....DUDE??? I got back to sleep again and slept for another few hours. I don't feel well rested and hope there is no drama tonight.

Lilly-Bakery/birthday cakes are one of my weaknesses. I actually used to just go buy one every now and then for no reason. I packed up the rest of the carrot cake for honey to take home with him. We have a 9" chocolate cake here at the house that I baked for the boys, so I'll have to be careful of that.

You both are baking today?? I had thought I might dive in and bake some Honey Pear Bread and take it to our T-giving meal on Thursday. Thanks for the inspiration!!

NP-I had thought we might go out to eat for fiance's b-day. I let him decide since it was his day....so we went and got take out at Wing Stop although I had really wanted to actually go somewhere. And of course he insisited on paying even though I had planned to treat him for a change. It was sure good!! Lemon Pepper are my favorites, he and the boys got Garlic Parmesan and Plain. I did have some fries with them, too.

We may be going out for Mexican today ourselves. I do have a few healthy options that I alternate between there, but I too always allow for chips, tortillas etc. If I didn't I would feel deprived and if I totally deprive myself I know I wouldn't stay on plan for life.

We may get out and work on picking up leaves later today. I think I will be raking until April.:mad:

Have an awesome Sunday everyone!

Just back from an indulgent Mexican dinner. I need to get RIGHT back on track tomorrow morning, and follow through with smart choices this week. Not much snacking this weekend, whcih often happens, but indulgent meals.

Been a day of errands and cleaning here. Still have a lot of laundry to fold, so that's my relaxing evening.

No activity this weekend, except for cleaning - scrubbing bathrooms, etc. This hasn't been a thrilling one. I'm starting to worry that I'm not going to be ready to celebrate xmas with his family in three weeks. Stockings and all. Yikes.

Back in the morning...

NP-I've already started to get that panicky "Will I be ready for Christmas?" feeling! I hate that feeling. I love getting excited about Christmas but don't want to stress. I am taking a 3 day weekend the first weekend of Dec. to get my decorating done. I like to do it on a weekend when my sons will be home to help and make it a family project.

On doing the house cleaning on the weekends: I have finally gotten in the habit of getting my regular maintenance-type cleaning done during the week on the evenings when my sons are at their Dad's. It makes my weekends much more enjoyable! I still have to do laundry, dishes, etc. on the weekends but at least I don't have a dirty toilet staring me in the face on Saturday morning.:D

We're having taco rice/beans w/ fruit for supper tonight. Salad for lunch.

I still need to get all of my recipes out for the week ahead and be sure I have everything I need for what I intend to make.

Have a great day everyone!! It's a short, 3-day week for me. So looking forward to having a 4 day weekend!!:carrot:

Hi All,

I am new and looking for accountability. Work has been busy the last couple of months, and I was down to 174. The pounds have started to creep up again. 178 now. I am getting off this merry go round. I gain at this time of year because I don't have as much time to exercises and because, well, I overeat. Usually I can maintain within one or two pounds at this time of year, but no deal right now.

It stops TODAY.

Hi Tea2!! Welcome to the group! Kudos to you for recognizing the pattern that causes you to gain and for vowing to be accountable.

I'm not sure if I can lose much during the holidays (I still have 10# until goal), but I sure want to at least maintain.

Glad you are here with us!!:carrot:

Hi Tea2! And welcome, as well! I've just been posting for a few days here but like feeling that I'm accountable in a way. I had an indulgent weekend with meals, but no snacking, and back on track today. I'd LOVE to lose a bit in the next month, but my realistic side says WHAT??

Annie - Did your fiance head back at the end of the weekend? How far away are you two? That'd be tough! Lunch today is less than a cup of my leftover pasta dish (bowtie, tiny pieces of hot italian turkey sausage, onions and peppers) and some corn. I was rummaging around on the way out the door. I'm debating running home at lunch to let the dog out because all she wanted to do this morning was sniff the wind, which was howling. It's bringing in warm temps - close to 70 today - crazy. But lovin' it!

NP-Fiance was just here for a few hours on Sat. then went home. He lives 45-50 miles away. We make it work, though.:)

It is spring-like here today, too. Feels weird but we know very cold weather is coming in just in time for T-giving.:bravo::mad:

Hi all!
Got my biscotti made, but not the banana bread yet. Biscotti turned out good, but still feeling crappy. Cough is out-of-hand- so stayed home today, saw dr, got med AND staying home tomorrow. Meds are putting me to sleep, so hopefully I'll sleep and get better :)
Guess I'm NOT making it to the gym, but should be able to fri/sat.
My goal over the holidays will be to maintain...
Annie- I have a dachshund mix- she's snuggling with me right now :)

Okay - rough evening - found out most likely we'll be going to court for a child support issue this week after being told it wouldn't likely go to court. So NOW all aggravated and frustrated BIGTIME at paying lawyers to seemingly put things off until the last minute and then not get things squared away in time. Determined that OF COURSE I eat when aggravated and trying HARD to not do that. Had a decent dinner (calorie-wise) but then followed with a mini baggie of M&Ms - the kind with 14 in there and two Lorna doone cookies. ARGH. SO irritated and feeling helpless. We'll see how it works out but I'm not feeling that it will go smoothly. Fiance's ex is trying to make things as hard as possible for us before the wedding and honeymoon - wish us luck.

Cutting it short to run an errand.

No biscotti making for me yet... probably won't get done now.

Thank you for the welcome. :carrot:

Lillydi and the other baking people: I do not know how you do it. Anytime I bake stuff it has to be fed to people pronto :D or I will eat the leftovers. What derailed me partly last week was having people over and having snacky/desserty leftovers around.

AnnieDrews: That is such a cute pup! I look after my friend's dax sometimes and he is a handful! You look great!

Hello everyone! Busy morning here, just now getting a chance to catch up. I was so excited for my son. He attends the Academy of Contemporary Music here in OK and went to a Master Class given by Jackson Browne last night! He spoke to the students and performed a couple of his songs. Son had called me last minute to see if I wanted to come, but I had too much to do at home.

I got all of my recipes out last night that I am going to need for this week. I think I am going to also make some Honey Pear Bread and take a loaf to fiance's family as a thank you for hosting Thanksgiving.

LillyDi-I hope the meds are helping and that you feel better for the holiday.

NP-So sorry to hear about the issues w/ fiance's ex and child support, etc. Luckily my ex and I have not had any issues like that. We've been able to agree on pretty much everything when it comes to our sons. That emotional eating is tough, just try not to let it derail you.:hug:

Tea2-I know what you mean about having the baked goods around the house. It is tough for me, too. I scarfed down a choco chip muffin last night without blinking an eye.:o

Yep, I love my little girl (Tootsie)! Sounds like alot of have a little bit of doxie in our lives.

Forgot to mention that fiance informed me we are having guests at his house this Friday/Friday night. Not thrilled as that was going to be my "take-it-easy" day AND my eat-on-plan day. Now I'll have to help him clean and then cook something. His idea his house being guest-ready and my idea of that are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I shouldn't complain I know, just a bit frustrating.

Okay, one more thing and then I'll shut up for a while! My 14-year-old son had outgrown a pair of 32/30 Levis. I was packing them up to drop them in the donation box down the street and thought, heck try them on and see if they fit.....the ALMOST fit! I could get them buttoned, but they were very uncomfortable. I'm not really built to wear men's jeans, but I am keeping them until I get to goal and see then if they fit or not.

Good early evening (in my time zone!) ... Hope everyone's on pace for getting things done at work/home for the holiday break here.

Annie - Great news on the jeans almost fitting - I'm way too curvy for men's jeans no matter what weight I'm at :)

Tea2 - What time does it get light/dark up there? We have longer days in the summer because we're WAY to the west in the eastern time zone where I am.

I think that I must be a slacker - I don't make anything special for thanksgiving - the desserts are bought and baked (pie) except for my pumpkin cookies ... and the rest of the stuff is EASY (mashed potatoes, garlic green beans, sweet potato casserole, etc.)

I guess that's a good thing as the evenings now have been discussing/prepping (?) for the court case. I'm SO SO frustrated about the whole thing and will be relieved to have it OVER tomorrow. Until the next time she runs to her lawyer for some thing. This should have been settled out of court, according to both lawyers. ARGH. Can you sense my irritation? PHEW. Had to unload. Thanks for listening.

I have a coupon for $10 off at Ruby Tuesday and I'm thinking of seeing if fiance wants to go there for dinner tonight. It expires Thursday and tomorrow I don't want to have to go out. I like their salad bar and usually take most of my entree home :) I can go broke "saving money"...

what's on tap for everyone this evening?

Well, it's about 5:00 right now and it's just got dark. Sun comes up at maybe 7:00? In the summer, sunrise 5:30 and dusk 10 p.m. Much better!

I'm sorry the legal stuff is stressing you out.

Test

Tea2 - that's nearly the same as we have it here! I LOVE the long light hours in the summer. Now when it's 7:30, it's like I'm thinking it's bedtime :)

Annie - Are you having connection/computer issues? Good luck getting things set for the Friday dinner and guests, too!

We ended up getting about four hours of sleep (and I'm NOT a light sleep needer; I need a lot) after finding out from the lawyer that we needed three copies of everything last night. Why not tell us a week ago? Grr. So dealt with that and sniped at one another a bit for added measure. Frustrating - hope we have everything resolved after the hearing, but I keep hearing from coworkers that that might not be the case anyway, so ... keeping my fingers crossed. Already was thinking that I "DESERVED" a treat of french fries on the way home from the hearing. WHAT?? I say that now - the "what" ... but I'm suspecting that I won't be thinking that way when I AM driving home - it'll be hmmm... I haven't had fast food in a few years, let's try the fries now that they're not fried in beef tallow :) or some such stupid thought...

Hey everyone! Last day of work for the week....YAY! So glad to have some time off. Was running very late this morning but still took the time to pack my lunch. I am trying to stay on-plan as much as possible with all of the goodies looming on the horizon. I baked some Honey Pear Bread last night. It smelled so good in the house! I'm planning to take my workout DVDs to fiance's this weekend and at least get one workout in while I'm there.

Still frustrated to be stuck at my current weight, but very thankful I am not gaining. I suppose if I look closely at what I've been eating I can see why I am not losing (carrot cake anyone??). I don't want to get too comfortable with my current weight because I am still in the "overweight" category BMI-wise and I want to get to my planned goal.

SO SLEEPY this morning. I have not been getting enough sleep lately for many reasons. Last night I had to literally go outside at 10 p.m. to ask the neighbors to stop hammering on their room addition project. 10 P.M.?????? And I ended up feeling like the bad-guy grumpy neighbor. Really ticked me off, but I tried to be nice. So yes, NP, I need my sleep, too. Lately it seems I can't be bothered with getting to bed early enough. I need to work on that.

NP-When I sign onto the site at home lately, I have trouble seeing recent posts....for example when I clicked "View First Unread Post", it took me to Saturday's posts and showed nothing after.....weird.

Did you go to Ruby Tuesday's for supper? I've never been there. There is not one close to me. I hope there are no more legal issues in the future. I have been in a court room just a few times in my lifetime and I hope to never have to be in one again. Very depressing and stressful.

I LOL'd at the "beef tallow" comment!!:D If you do break down and get the fries, just get the smallest serving they have. Usually the value-sized ones have the least fries in them.

Tea2-Ugh I hate the long winter evenings, too. With my work schedule I don't have time to do anything outside (if I wanted to) when I get home. It is getting dark already by that time. I already miss the warm summer evenings.

Have a good day everyone!!

Ugh. I just ate a big brownie from the lunch brought in by a drug rep. I had really hoped the off-plan items wouldn't start until tomorrow.

Good evening - survived the court hearing. Did NOT go well - frustrating because our lawyer only started really looking at our case last night and so much went un-challenged. Basically I was naive enough to believe that someone wouldn't lie when on the stand. BUT ... live and learn and pay out the ying-yang, I guess is the lesson. I'm frustrated beyond belief. Ended up skipping lunch until 4, having my leftover chicken from Ruby Tuesday then and then wanted to eat everything to fill the void that was left empty by the hearing. Decided to run to Target and ended up spending $50 - which I didn't need to (well, got a nice sweater that I could use for work and play - need clothes that fit me at this size, not just the smaller ones i can't fit into now).

Annie - don't stress about being the same weight - that is a major accomplishment this time of year!! And maybe take measurements - maybe you're going down (think of your son's jeans you tried on!)

Off to finish the baking and get to sleep - oh, need to get the turkey in the fridge, too. Happy early THanksgiving.

NP:hug: I'm so sorry the hearing was so stressful. I hope tomorrow is a better day and that you have lots to be thankful for.

I've spent the evening cleaning and cooking and just enjoying the beginning of the holiday season.

I'm pretty tired so will probably get to bed soon. I will try to check in tomorrow sometime. If I don't, I wish everyone reading a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving day.:)

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I got up and did a 5 mile workout this morning in anticipation of the eating I'll be doing. I'll try to get some exercise tomorrow morning, too.

I feel like I may be coming down with a cold. Hope I'm not.

I'll check in when I can over the weekend.

Love to all!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May your food choices be wise, your portions small, and your blessings be many!

Kathi

working today so my food choices are limited, though they are feeding us turkey dinner : )

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's been a good day. Woke up off and on thru the night aggravated at the way things worked out at the hearing, kept rethinking about things that the lawyer didn't follow up on (but me not sitting at the table with her prohibited me from pointing thing out to her), and just worrying every stupid detail. We'd said no matter what happened, we wouldn't let this affect our holiday weekend - but I'm doing just that, I realized. We both have the four-day holiday. YAY. So finally got up at 7 a.m. after tossing and turning for awhile and took a new mystery from the library and started reading then took the dog for a long walk in the rain. Put her waterproof "coat" on as she's poodle fur and the rain goes to her skin. Needed that walk - it was foggy and rainy and just trudged about on the trail. Then back and got thanksgiving going. Our guests just left and I'm back relaxing. Decided to look online for a few things and check in. My portions weren't that large, but I ate a great deal but it counted as lunch and dinner, I guess :)

Annie - hope you're not getting sick, that would stink. Get good rest and eat the spectrum :) What works for me is grape juice the first day I think i'm coming down with something. I usually stave it off if I can get that in me. Hope your day was great and that you get in SOME relaxing tomorrow despite a late-notice hosting deal :)

Hi Kathi - hope you had a good holiday, despite being at work. Can you relax a bit tomorrow or a regular workweek for you?

Made two quiche last night and sent my future in-laws home with some as well tonight - she came with lots of containers for leftovers, so packed up a good deal of stuff.

Anyone head out shopping tomorrow for Black Friday? I avoid it. At all costs.

Regular work week for me, but no supervisor breathing down my neck the last 2 days so that was a plus. Weird to come home the day after thanksgiving and no leftovers in the house : ( I hope everybody is enjoying the holiday weekend!

Kathi

Kathi - i'm eating the leftovers for you, no worries about that :) Ha ha.

I did get in a good bit of exercise today ... trail walk and several walks downtown. Walked a few miles to/from dinner looking at the lights. Went to the theatre for a performance of Dickens' Christmas Carol. Enjoyed it a great deal. FROZE though!! Wind was whipping through on our walk to/from the theatre. Now in for the night and going to enjoy a slice of apple pie and ice cream. Looked forward to it through the afternoon :) sad, i know :)

Have a good evening, everyone! Annie - how did your day go?

Hello everyone! Hope the holiday was a good one for all, even if you had to work (Kathi)...been there, done that. I am just now checking in even though I probably could have over the weekend. Just enjoyed time with family (fiance and his extended family) and friends who came to visit. Had an awesome football game to watch last night. It may have been the best game I have ever seen. INCREDIBLE fourth quarter and our team WON! Two grown men and I were hopping around the living room like a bunch of kids. Great fun! Did NO shopping....oh wait, I did buy one gift. A hula girl for my son to stick on the dashboard of his car!:D

Foodwise, it was not pretty. I enjoyed what I ate and tried to watch portion control, but I did let too many cookies and that type of thing take their hold on me.:o Had the requisite T-giving items at dinner Thurs. and they were delicious, but there was not one green item on the menu....not even green bean casserole (which I detest with all of my soul). I knew I should have taken a salad. But I did cut up some raw veg and made a relish tray to enjoy for the rest of our meals this weekend. For our out-of-town visitors Friday night I made chicken fried steak w/ gravy, mashed potatoes and corn. I did make a fruit salad as well. Then made bacon and biscuits and gravy for breakfast the next morning. I was going to make a full T-giving meal for Saturday just for fiance and his buddies, but we didn't do it. (I honestly wasn't sure if I could face one more meal that involved gravy!) I did warm up the smoked turkey I bought and we carved it and made turkey sandwiches.

Needless to say with all of the rich and fatty foods, my stomach is a little out of sorts.:( I did go to the store when I got home this afternoon and stocked up on all of my salad fixins and heathier items that are normally on my menu. I am NOT going to step onto the scales until at least Thursday or Friday. Hopefully I did no permanent damage to my weight loss.

So I'm glad to hear you all are doing well. Onto Christmas now for everyone!! I plan to start my decorating Friday and this coming weekend. I am taking off work on Fri. after attending the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert with my sons on Thursday. It will be our 4th year in a row and is becoming one of our traditions. If you ever have the chance to go, do it. It is awesome!!

P.S. Besides the 5 miles I mentioned on Thurs., I did a 3 mile walk Friday morning, but nothing else over the weekend. Back at it bright and early tomorrow!

Well, back to work this morning. Enjoyed the long weekend - did a little shopping Saturday and Sunday afternoons - not one for the Black Friday hoopla, but did want to make a little headway and not leave it all for after work in the evenings. We'll be celebrating with my fiance's family in two weeks (yikes) so hammered out the stuff for his younger daughter and got that all wrapped up last night, with a few exceptions. Watched the Colts lose again (grr).

With the early Christmas, baking for friends and coworkers, wedding planning and favor making, and Christmas for each other and my family, I'm starting to get stressed. Usually I'm pretty well-organized, but now I'm hoping things don't fall thru the cracks.

Got in a good bit of activity on the weekend - and think I have healthy options for this week's lunches and dinners. Fiance is back on nights this week, so I'm planning to get some shopping for him done, too.

What a boring note. I need to spice things up :)

Hi..
I am coming in simply because I liked the title of this thread.. I could use some accountability and conversation.

I have not posted in a while. I came in very early this morning (woke at 4am and could not sleep) and posted http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...desperate.html

I need to get back on track.. it's been a slide back down into food and a bit of despair lately.

Just wanted to come in and say good morning.. off to read the thread.. oh and gosh I need some caffeine!

Good Morning~

Hi Runundefined - i'm not around to chat cos it's bedtime for me (!!) but i see you're on line, and great that you've found this thread.

The most important thing for you is that you want to change and you're feeling motivated, so that's a great place to start! You can do it!!!!

One day at a time. That old cliche. And all you have to do is stick to your plan for guarranteed results!

Turn your early morning wake-up into a 'good eating' day today. You can't do more than that - then be proud of yourself by this time tomorrow morning.

And report back to us!

Happy Tuesday!! Is very cold and windy here today. bleh. I woke up with a very sore back this morning, I must have slept on it funny. (I've had back surgery in the past and this happens occasionally.) I was tempted to skip exercising, but chose a shorter and less vigourous workout than I had originally planned and did just fine. Stood under a nice HOT shower afterward and now my back does feel better. Oh, I took some Advil, too.

I have a confession to make...I was grocery shopping on Sunday to refill the house with healthy items and look what I came across:

http://www.momblognetwork.com/cookin...d-mallow-bites

I ate the entire bag on Sunday afternoon and evening. The entire bag was something like 260 cal. and 10 grams of fat. I know I could have chosen worse things to eat, but MAN were these good! I will have to avoid them. I just had no self control with them at all.

NP-Try not to let the holidays and wedding planning get you too stressed. Try to enjoy it as much as you can. When is the wedding again?? I know that lately I have been getting that panicked feeling regarding being "ready" for Christmas. I am going to try to just take a deep breath and enjoy. What gets done, gets done and that is just the way it is going to have to be. I think I'm already over-extending myself on what I feel I need to bake cookie/candy wise. I'm going to try to keep it from getting out of hand, though.

Hi, Runundefined!!!-I am so glad you are here with us. Congrats on your weight loss so far. I am thankful for this thread where I can stay accountable. I'm glad you've joined us as things have been mighty slow around here lately. You can get back on track and I know you'll do well.

Hey Ange! Glad to see you poke your head in!! How is the visit going??

Have to run for now, but will check back later. Have a great day everyone!!

Hi and Welcome Beach Babe - that sounds good with the winter months coming on here ... I posted on your other thread, but wanted to also pop a note here - I'm finding good coping ways with the Beck Diet Solution ... starting with making an index card listing all the reasons today why you want to lose weight - and then reading it several times/day. Maybe at set times and also when you feel the urge to eat something that's not on your plan. And to have another weight-loss plan in place for when you stray from the one you're using now... I kept the book from the library for eight renewals since no one else had requested it and finally got it off amazon since it was $6 there! :) ... but so far - I'm not fully committing to DOING what I need to do, so I'm not seeing the results I want to see at all. I'm doing it in word only, not action. But please join us here to check in - I've been checking in on LIFE and not my eating and want to change that :) add the eating/activity in so I'm more accountable to others.

Ange - good to hear that you're still around! Have a great start to your Wednesday - halfway thru the week :)

Annie - hope your evening was a good one. It rained for us nearly the whole night ... much warmer this morning and the temps will drop into the 20s this evening. Ran some errands last night and ATE EVERYTHING I COULD GET MY HANDS ONTO. ARGH. BREAD, BREAD, BREAD.

Today is a new day and I've started out with a 100-calorie arnold whole wheat thin with peanut butter and sliced apple on it. That was my "go to" breakfast for awhile and now switching it up with cereal and other things. Brought a healthy lunch. A friend stopped by out of the blue last night and brought my fiance a homemade pumpkin pie. He had a slice when he got home from work this morning (working 6p-6a and gets home around 7:20 or so) ... I want him to freeze most of it or I truly think it'll be gone in a few days. I don't like pumpkin pie, thank goodness.

What are your best tips to stop me from noshing on this and that - things I think of when I'm rummaging through the kitchen? Used to pop a bag of light popcorn and munch on that - and I still like that option - but last night I went straight for a cheese sandwich, turkey pepperoni, a Joe-Joe (peppermint oreo from Trader Joe's), hummus, and the list goes on. HELP! I need to reread the listing of why I want to lose weight, too. That seems to help me refocus. But now I KNOW I won't be losing much for the wedding so it seems futile.

Annie - think we were posting at the same time. Hope your back stays feeling better! Did you try those marshmallows in any hot cocoa? :)

Wedding is Dec. 30 ... a month from today. Worked on favors last night and with it being such a SMALL ceremony, that'll be easy. We're doing another dinner here 10 days after we get back home, so I'll do up favors for that, as well. They're turning out nicely, so that's good - finally figured out how to do what I wanted to do. This morning I decided i won't be doing the trays of cookies for friends and neighbors, but might just do coffee cakes (then it's still a treat, but not one that I can eat any of!) ... usually bake for the USO a few times/year - used to do it monthly but my life is getting in the way of that. But I'd like to drop off a few large boxes of cookies there, as well. But if i do that on the weekend and drop them off right away, I should be okay. Like you, I have that list of what I SHOULD do.

Hey NP! Here are a few things that have helped me during this lifestyle change: I pretty much have meals and snacktimes planned out. I know I always have a breakfast at 8 a.m. (oatmeal on weekdays) that is filling. I usually drink water throughout the morning and afternoon. Lunch is usually around noon. I always have an afternoon snack (at least during the week) and that gets me through until suppertime. Then I always have a bedtime snack (usually a serving of high fiber cereal w/ 2% milk). I know alot of people are against eating after a certain time at night, but that is when I like to have a snack and it works for me. The point for me is knowing something is coming if I really get hungry (and lately I have NOT been getting that hungry in the evening).

It is also helpful to not have things around that are a temptation to stray too far from your plan. (Can you say chocolate marshmallows, Annie??:p) I keep those 100 cal. snack packs, fruit, etc. on hand and my boys sometimes even will eat those. If I do have cookies or cake around (my biggest type of temptation....I rarely have a problem with things like chips, etc.), I try to limit my consumption (but don't completely deny myself because I know I can't live w/o those things for the rest of my life) or keep limited supplies of those things on hand. {For example: I wanted to bake a chocolate cake w/ white icing for my sons a few weekends ago. I knew that if I made an entire 13x9 cake that I would either eat a bunch of it or it would go bad before it got eaten. So I made it in two-9" square pans and froze one of them. I plan to thaw the second one this weekend and have it for the boys then.

I don't know if any of this makes sense, but it works for me.