Originally Posted by NCInkSlinger:
My long term goal is to lose 50 lbs. My immediate goal is to get started.

I actually turn 40 next month and this is one of my biggest motivators. I hope that by this time next year I will look & feel better than I do now.

Hi! I am new to the site as well. I am 40. I am just getting started AND I have around 50 pounds to lose. Let me know if you need an accountability buddy.

Good morning/day/evening to all...wherever you may be!

PP-I know, those grill pans are heavy, but I have gotten used to lugging it in and out of the cabinet and keeping it clean. I love using mine. Hope those endorphins got put to good use!!

Warrior-Welcome to the group, just jump right on in!!

Mirj-Wedding sounds fun! I'm such a grandma I probably wouldn't go on a weeknight and then have to work the next day. Glad you enjoyed it!

Sum-Hope today finds you improving even more. Get better soon!!

Zoradah-Welcome! Like I told Warrior...just jump right in! So much support and fun here.

Snow-pocalypse, Part Deux is set to begin late this afternoon. Was looking forward to enjoying the storm with the boys (maybe older son's girlfriend, too). Planning a nice supper. My ex called me on my way to work and wants them to go ahead and come over tonight since he thinks he may not be able to get out tomorrow to come get them (they go to his house on Weds and Thursdays). I think I am just going to tell him he will have to figure out a way to come get them tomorrow. Am I being a b*tch?? I really want to spend the evening with my boys tonight and possibly some time tomorrow (if our office closes....the jury is still out on that). It's not that far and he does have a giant truck to drive.

I think I feel PMS coming on...my mood is a bit darker the last few days and I hate it. It will get better.

P.S. While exercising this morning (a little over 4 miles, about 50 min.) I sure got a pain in my right knee. I toned it down and didn't so that particular move any more. Going to take some ibuprofen and hope it calms down.

Annie, does it ever stop snowing? I think you should huddle down with your boys and let your ex try and get them. I think the weather my be in your favor. Am I evil? :devil:

We have the other end of the stick. My husband's ex can't get rid of the kids fast enough. It was our turn last weekend to have the youngest (a 12 year old boy) but he got invited to his married brother's house instead. So this weekend he's supposed to be by the ex, but she said it wasn't fair that we missed our turn, so she's going to be the martyr and give up her weekend for us. We can have him instead of her. Isn't she wonderful? You would think so, except she "lets us have him" all the time. Their deal is supposed to be 50/50 custody, but he's at our house about 80% of the time. He loves it, my husband loves it, and I.... knit a lot. I'll probably deal with it a lot better when his voice changes and he becomes a surly teen who doesn't want to hang out with us all the time.

I think Alzheimer's is setting in. I made myself a cup of coffee, but can't find it. It's somewhere in the office....

Mirj-Here in Oklahoma, it is hit-or-miss with snow. We are right in the middle of the country, a bit to the south. We can get big snowstorms, but up until last week we hadn't had any snow to speak of all winter. But it's typical here in OK for just crazy weather. We always have crazy wind. One thing good about living here is that it doesn't stay around for months like it does in the northern part of the continent. We are supposed to back up to almost 60 by Sunday.:o

Glad your stepson has a place where he enjoys coming. I do feel that boys need their fathers (even if they are big buttholes like my ex) and that is one of the reasons I agreed to joint custody. I know he will make it to pick them up tomorrow....he only lives about 5 miles away anyway...

Thanks for the laugh as I thought about you wandering around looking for your coffee...:D

Good morning, everyone.

Ate well yesterday and had good exercise, but the scale was not budging. :( Well, at least it didn't go up.

Very good workout this morning, although my lack of focus was quite noticeable. Stuff going on at work--job change coming up, decisions to be made. Should settle down in another few months. Maybe by next year. :dizzy:

fruitlady--I used to be able to eat sweets when I wanted and leave it when I didn't; now, I can't be around the stuff. It's like a drug to me. Fortunately, I can control what comes into my house (work is harder). I feel for you, with other people bringing their sweets in--and not making sure you can't get to it. Better still if they just didn't let you know it was there!

jomatho--Interesting that you like tilapia because it isn't 'fishy.' I find tilapia bland.

Annie--I have a cast iron skillet-grill that I love. Cast iron is heavy, though.

warrior11--Welcome. I also cut out sugars and starches and most grains--I only found out recently that there's a name for that diet! I just do it because it's healthy and works for me. Dang, missed an opportunity to make millions marketing my diet.

Sum--I hope you feel better and can start exercising again soon. I have asthma--when it's acting up, there's no exercising, even after the medicine makes my breathing easier.

Zoradah--Welcome.

That's all for today, folks. Have a good day.

Fruit lady- it is great to have a husband to love you for you but I understand the other side you talked about yesterday too. Hope you have a better day today.

Jom – brownie waffles really!!!!! I LOVE a good brownie and I need to NEVER try making those!

Annie – way to go on the joint custody it is a win win for the kids.

Warrior – Welcome!

Mirj – the pic thing that is bizarre I actually thought of doing that a few weeks ago, but where do I put all the pictures while I am waiting, I would not want anyone to see them and often at family functions cameras get passed around….. nough said

Sum – glad to hear your breathing is better.

Well it is -22 I am hoping it does not get colder out or I will not go out at lunch, the only bad thing is my nose gets soooo cold and I even slather it in Vaseline as that helps keep it warmer and of course hat scarf, ear muffs etc. I am craving cappichino coffees lately there are like the ones you buy at a gas station from the machines and taste like syrup they are so sweet. Thank goodness there is no Tim Hortons nearby, but there is one place here that sells them and I usally make add 1/3 regular coffee to help but they are still sweet and I love them. Have not drank them for months and thought I had it beat.
On a sadder note I confess I ate the muffin last week, the whole thing sighhhhh

Originally Posted by Ashley777:
On a sadder note I confess I ate the muffin last week, the whole thing sighhhhh

:hug: You'll win next time!

Well, our office is closing tomorrow due to weather. This is good in a way: I don't have to drive in the snow....bad in that I will have to use vacation time (again) if I want to get paid for it....:mad:

Wow, you all have been busy in the past day or so since I last posted.

Kitteh-cod is great beer battered and fried but I don't think that is what you had in mind, LOL.

Warrior-welcome to the group. Just jump right in.

I can't believe how much snow everyone is getting. DH and I have been talking about moving to Arizona some day because he doesn't even like how cold it can get here in the winter!

I've had a couple people tell me recently that they can tell I've lost weight. Hard to believe that you can see 7 lbs but it has been more than once so maybe you can.

As for the picture debate. I used to have pictures once a month. You could start to see a difference afterwhile. I haven't had any for quite some time. I'm trying to get back on track. Work is a little better this week although there is more crap that is going to fly before the whole change in management is done.

Have a good week everyone and try to stay warm.

Annie,- you should keep your boys tonight! it is not your responsiblity to take them over in any way!!!! Enjoy your evening with them! Weather is weather and stuff happens.

Zoradah, Glad to see you here!

Ashley, but you resisted the muffins evil temptation for so long! That's a good thing, right? Baby steps!

Mirj, the wedding sounds wonderful. I enjoyed the clip you posted!

Annie, I've been trying to think of ways to use the grill pan, since you mentioned it. I was planning on using the skillet tonight to grill chicken for homemade chinese.

Kitteh, I get very frusterated about Mr Scale. I feel like I'm doing good, expect a loss and ...nothing.:( :?:

Sum, I hope your treatments are helping and that you are feeling better.!

Thanks chicks- Another so-so day, still craving chocolate, So i ate 3 chocolate rice cakes, 1 ounce of unsalted dry roasted peanuts and 1/2 oz. of unsalted dry roasted pistachio nuts. That was my weird lunch, but that's what I was hungry for. I'm gonna be way over my calorie limit again( 1900). I wish I could get back to normal, but it just seems to get worse everyday. Rode the bike for 33min.& went 8 mi. I'll do more tonight after dinner. Have a good day!

fruitlady-maybe if you make it the whole day without eating junk you should call it a win even if you do go over your calories. Maybe you are being too hard on yourself right now. You are still within 5 lbs of your goal weight. Any advice from the maintainers on this?

Try to name two positive things about yourself today!

thanks Annie and penguin, and yes I am a little surprised at how long it lasted that is a good thing.

Annie sorry you have to use your vacation day, do they allow you to make up time anywhere? like working thru lunch or coming early?

Fruit Lady - hang in there, your exercising that is great! and like Petra said your within 5 pounds of your goal don't be too hard on yourself.

this may or may not help anyone but due to I have had bouts of severe depression I tried to learn more about it and our brain etc. So chocolate had something in it that that helps our brain and I forget what it is but it can raise serotonin levels and that is what an antidepressent is. So i learned that bananas also have something in them that helps with our brain and depression. So I dunno are we craving chocolate cause of that sometimes. I know some days I can live without chocolate in any form but some days it is like 'hand over the chocolate and no one will get hurt'

With that being said there are hershey kisses galore in the office, sighhhhh, have not ate any yet but have a few in my desk, all my favorite kinds, caramel, hugs. I also know I can have just two and get a fix as long as they don't trigger a binge....

Got my lunchtime hike in, cold but sunny and exhilarating!

I almost forgot! It is "D" veggie week?????????????????????????????????????
Any ideas?

Ashley-I hope no one is offended, but you reminded me of this pic I have on my Photobucket account....

Attachment 37965
(click to enlarge)


.....we must keep our senses of humor about us, yes??:D


Jo-I'm not going to look it up right now....but are there any "D" veggies?? Seems there is a type of radish that begins with a "D"...

lol, yes we have to have humor, that is funny, I do believe 'just hand over the chocolate and no one gets hurt' is a book and yes I just checked amazon although I wasn't thinking of the cookbook one.

Originally Posted by Ashley777:
Try to name two positive things about yourself today!

#1 I am accomplishing tasks right and left today.
#2 It is 4:30pm and I am still 100% on plan today! :D

Here is a fish recipe I got on Facebook today. I probably would not bother with it as I am not a huge hot pepper fan (are anchos hot??) and I don't have a food processor. Thought I would post it if anyone wanted it. It does look tasty...

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/re...50400000109585

Today I did 16min on the TM, got bored, and did 30min of 10MS QS Pilates. Our computer "forgot' it has speakers again, and I couldn't get it to play anything to entertain me. {one of the many reasons we are saving for a new one!;)} I didn't want to take the time to fix it {again} so I stuck with it as long as I could and got off and did the pilates. While I was on, I got to thinking about yesterdays' late workout right before bath/bed, I feel I slept better last night so I thought I would try that again.

I finished Hubby's sock and washed it. We'll see if it fits him tonight so I can start on the second one.

I saw a sign yesterday that read "Chocolate...think inside the box"

Zoradah, Good job being on plan!

Jo, I was thinking about the D veggie week, but I couldn't think of one.:?:

Boy...a really bad day...
I had to take my car in to have rear shocks replaced. That was all planned.

My daughter fainted at school, and I had no car. I tried calling everyone, and it happened to be one of those days all my friends were somewhere...husband works over an hour away.

Finally, DD's boyfriend brought her home. Her front tooth was split in half :(

We spent the rest of the day at ER trying to figure out what is causing her to pass out. She passed out 2 weeks ago.

No results yet.

Tomorrow morning a root canal and temporary cap....

I feel terrible for her!!

Oh Sum, I am soooo sorry! You must have been panicked with no car!!! Poor baby, and her tooth, OMG. My heart hurts for you, I can only imagine... they will be able to fix that tooth right up. I hope you get to the bottom of things. Sometimes an ER trip isn't very helpful. Does she have a good doctor? Keep us posted!

Annie- that picture sounds like me!

Thanks everyone

I know I'm within 5 lbs of my goal, going over 110lbs is scary for me. I can feel every extra pound I have on my body at this point, I actually feel heavy and weighed down. I have been so tierd lately, I know it's the crappy chocolate I've been eating everyday & eating too much of any kind of food can make you feel lazy. I'm not even hungry, I eat anyway. I have a feeling I'll gain more weight from these high calories soon, it's gonna catch up. Maybe that is what it will take to get me back on track.

Sum-I'm so sorry to hear what your DD is going through. And I'm also sorry that you got stuck without a car to go get her.:hug: I hope they can figure out what is going on with her and she will be well soon. It is so scary when our kids are sick, no matter what their age.

Fruitlady-Keep on keepin' on...:hug:

It is freakin' freezing here! Temp has dropped by 20-25 degrees since I got home from work. Wind chill is below zero already. Snow is heading in and younger son is fretting about whether they will have school tomorrow. I know they won't, but he can't relax until he gets the official word. I let his Dad go ahead and pick him up....younger son really didn't care one way or the other....AND his PS3 is back from the shop and waiting at his Dad's house for him.:^: I had called fiance to see what he thought I should do and he asked me, "What if it was the other way around and you wanted to pick him up from Dad's before the storm started?" Yea, he is pretty level-headed and fair-minded.:) Also, the ex called back later in the day and was much nicer about working it out. You draw more flies with sugar than vinegar I suppose.

Older son is staying at his girlfriend's apartment in case he needs to help her get to work tomorrow....I have a problem with him sleeping over at her house...oh well.:(

I'm kind of dreading sleeping the next couple of nights. My bedroom is SO cold once it gets below 20 degrees or so. I'll just bundle up and I have a space heater to help out in there. It was an add-on to the original house and is not insulated very well. BRRRR! I better go drip the faucets now before I forget.

Additional 30min on the TM. 2.7mph; 1.3m; 3,243 steps;

total for day 46min; 1.9 m; 4,693steps.

I checked our weather and there's a 100% chance of snow tomorrow. I don't think I"ve ever seen that before!

Sum, I'm so sorry to hear about your DD and her tooth! I can't drive myself, and its very scary being home and needing to get somewhere! :hug:

Sum, so sorry to hear about your DD! We hurt when our babies get hurt, right?

I looked for D vegetables on this list that I have on the net and it came up with just dates (I don't think dates are a vegetable) and dried beans and peas. Feh! So I'm going to cheat and welcome you all to cheat along with me: the Hebrew word for butternut squash is dalorit. So this week I'm going with dalorit, who's with me?

Finally, finally, FINALLY got back in the gym today, after 6 days of not being there. I was watching the Israeli version of The Biggest Loser last night and I guess it gave me the impetus. Which made me think, is there such a think as The Diet Channel in the States? If not, there should be! They should just run lots of weight loss and exercise shows and diet shows over and over again, I think it would get people up and moving more and eating better. Here we have The Health Channel, but there's too much talking going on, lots of blah blah on other issues.

I'm actually up 100 grams since yesterday, but didn't misbehave foodwise. I'm going to blame it on the bowl of cornflakes I had at 8:30 PM (I usually never eat after 5 PM) and the fact that it's that TOTM...

The weather here is gorgeous today, I wish I could share it all with you.

Morning people,

Zoradah – way to go on staying on plan till 4:30, I often have to try and ‘get thru’ the afternoon at work and sometimes it is real hard I have to take it a half hour at a time.

Fruit Lady - I am sorry to hear where you are at, a tough place it is but you are strong you can do it!!

Sum – so sorry to hear about your daughter that can be overwhelmingly stressful, prayers for her.

Annie – hope you stay warm! And don’t get too bored at home. There is something about our boys that when they sleep over at their GFriends it upsets me too. Not sure why, as a woman I feel disrespected in some way……. Sounds dumb but true.

Mij- yay for dalorit, does that count for spaghetti squash? I am inspired by biggest loser too, I see these women older then me pushing themselves and working out hard and it has made me up my exercise and intensity.

As for the D – daikon, I remember it from working at safeway, dill pickle, does that count, so should we go eat a jar of pickles, sodium content would be high.

Woke up angrier then heck, not sure why but it has stayed with me for a while now, it is like this low grade anger and boy is it surfacing in spurts a lot lately. This isnt’ like me and I hate feeling this way. I have a lot of anger from my first marriage still and towards men who are not nice or men who are angry and I can sense it in someone and I am sorry but it pisses me off. I have been dealing with this and forgiveness for years, I know forgiveness releases us from pain and is more for us then the other person but what do I do with my anger. I guess I am not choosing to stuff it down with food and now I have to deal with it. It sucks, can we eat normally and still be sane? Maybe I can exercise it out that does help sometimes. No it is not TOM I don’t get that anymore due to surgery.

Mirj, thanks for the tip about butternut squash! I would consider dates a fruit, myself. We used to get a channel called FitTV which would air exercise , healthy cooking, and fitness shows. I discovered it when I first started to exercise and would tape shows to exercise to later which led to my workout DVD obsession! I did used to have it playing a lot just to remind me to keep moving/stay healthy. It kept me motivated. We switched companies and now I think its been cancelled.

Bible study was cut short today, and the school's are closing early. I just called Hubby at the airport to ask where all the snow was and he said its about a 1/2 hour from the house and we are going to get dumped on. {well dumped on for Memphis anyway}. A online friend in Arkansas {our neighbor to the left} said they expected 5" and got closer to 19" of snow. :(

Ashley, I'm sorry about the negative emotions. Do you know why you feel angry? Maybe knowing/thinking on the reason will help?:hug:

Fruitlady-I saw this on Facebook today and thought of you. Not sure if there is anything that would help you, but it is interesting.

http://thetwelve.cookinglight.com/20...eet-tooth.html

Ashley-I think exercising to get rid of the anger is a brilliant idea!! It sure couldn't hurt!! Good job on realizing you aren't trying to drown the issue with food.

We only got about 6 inches of snow here, looks like a waste of a vacation day to me. I probably would have gone on in to work if it hadn't already been closed. I suppose the safety of our patients is our first concern, but I know a couple of doctors who are going to be p*ssed that we closed for this....they are hard-core.

Slept in this morning and it sure felt good. Now I am going to get off my butt and try to get some exercise in today, go clear a bit of snow (it is so light and fluffy that you can just sweep it!!) and maybe clean my bathrooms so I don't have to do it tomorrow night. (I like to get my housework done on Weds/Thurs evenings when the boys are gone so I don't have to do it on the weekends. The new season of American Idol is cutting into my cleaning time. I'd like to get DVR so I can watch if AFTER my work is done. I may call about that today or tomorrow.) I think I will make myself a tilapia filet and salad later for supper.

Have a good, healthy day everyone!!

P.S. It is 13 degrees farenheit right now at 12:35 in the afternoon!!

PP-Looks like you are getting what blew through here! Hopefully it will blow over as quickly as it did for us!!

Wow-this place is busy! Hard to keep up.

Sum-hope your daughter is alright.

Fruitlady-our talk at WW this week was about eating for non-hunger reasons. They suggested we make a list of 10 other things to do besides eat and post it on the refrigerator so when we get the urge to eat for the wrong reason, we can look at the list first.....

Jo-Daikon is the only D vegetable I can come up with. Maybe there are some odd sea vegetables that start with a D?

I didn't have such a good weigh in today. In fact I need to change my ticker. I gained 2 lbs and that wasn't a big surprise. Ate WAY too much this past week. Got some good suggestions at my meeting and plan to get back on track. Also haven't been exercising like I should be. Need to work on that part too. DH is supportive. I just have to be a little more assertive about what I need to do for me. He has an active job and doesn't have to worry about his weight.

They have officially hired someone to replace my present boss. He doesn't start for another month but at least some of the details are starting to be worked out.

Ashley- Thanks, can we eat normally & still be sane? For me, no. Hang in there!

Annie- Thank you! the article was interesting, & very helpful. The snow storm you got, bypassed us here in Pa. somehow. 6in. isn't too bad

I'm thinking very deeply today about what's been going on with me and food lately. I've realized that I have a boring life w/ nothing to look forward to. I live the same day over & over again, with the same routines. I keep myself busy and active around the house all day while I'm thinking of what to eat next. Food is my only pleasure or escape, that's the problem. I need spring to come so I can get outside to walk, jog & hike. That's what I love to do from March thru December, I miss it. Being in the fresh air & away from the house is what i need. Also have been thinking about the way I obsess over what I eat. I used to have rules for myself, I recently let them go because it was taking over my life. I am still strict about what I will eat, but life happens. Enjoying junk food is something I can't stay away from for life, there has to be a way to keep my weight down & still indulge sometimes. I need a middle ground, I have to let this eat all or nothing habit go. That's why i go for days and weeks without having food I love. Once I start, i can't stop. Just keeps me wanting more & more, when I don't eat it for a couple days I'm fine til the craving gets so bad I have to have it. I want to loosen up & enjoy life!

Hi, everyone. Missed exercise this morning--just couldn't seem to get myself into gear. Maybe I'll get to the gym after work, although it will be crowded and far less pleasant than in the morning. Weight is down a pound, which you would think would motivate me to get to the gym! :dizzy:

Cooked my cod in paper last night--I think the French term is en papillote, or something like that. Anyway--bland. It needs more seasoning, so next time I will know that. I'll put tartar sauce on my leftovers, but I'd prefer not to do that every time.

Sum--sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope they can figure out what's causing the fainting spells--that's far more worrisome than a broken tooth. Even a front tooth, says one who knows. If you saw mine, you wouldn't know it was fake.

Ashley--Have you tried journaling? I find that it helps me to bring things to the surface when I don't know why I'm feeling the way I do. Since no one but you would read it (lock it away if you have to) you can write anything you want. Or destroy the pages after writing them, if you are concerned someone would see them.

Have a good day, folks.

I may be confused but I seem to remember there being a street in front of our house but I can't see it anymore. :p Sorry, snow-is-a-rarity humor might not go over very well right now. ;)

I did Firm Upper Body DVD with DePrise ~ 40min. It had a lot of repeated exercises though, when the instructor annouced the 3rd set of pushups, I skipped them!:o

petra- Thanks, that's a great idea from W.W I'm doing that!

PP-Aw, heck! May as well have fun with that snow! I'm trying very hard not to be bitter about using up another vacation day for this mess....VERY HARD. I really feel as if the doctors closed the office, they should pay us.:mad:

Day wasn't a complete bust....I got off my be-hiney and did a 3 mile walk w/ weights, took a break, then did a 2 mile walk wearing my 10 pound weighted vest.:carrot:

Having some grapes now and will fix myself that tilapia and salad later.

Originally Posted by AnnieDrews:
PP- I'm trying very hard not to be bitter about using up another vacation day for this mess....VERY HARD. I really feel as if the doctors closed the office, they should pay us.:mad:

I have to agree with you. That doesn't seem fair!:hug: Its not your fault it snowed!

Originally Posted by patchworkpenguin:
I have to agree with you. That doesn't seem fair!:hug: Its not your fault it snowed!

Yes, it is worse for those that didn't have any vacation time to use, so I'm thankful I did have some. Just would have rather used it for something much more fun.

BTW-Total exercise minutes today: 78 minutes!!

Wow 19 inches at once is alot.

Annie - DVR is the best thing and worth every penny, you can watch a one hour show in about 43 minutes, so if idol is cutting into your cleaning time you can watch it in less time! :) and my side of the world warmed up so we are warmer than you!

Feel better this afternoon, got mad at myself and said if those fat old ladies can bust their but on biggest loser then this fat old lady can take it up a notch.... my calves are sore... I don't want to be fighting this in my 50's. I even thought about stopping at the pool or gym at work after work to add a second workout, surely insane but I would rather swim than eat, not sure how doable that is with a few evenings already taken up but twice a week would be a good addition.

not sure what to have for dinner tonight although I now it will be protein, I crave protien more than anything (when on plan that is) and some frozen mixed califlower, carrots and broccoli.

Yes, Ashley, I think I may get the DVR....if I do, I plan to DVR a program and watch it AFTER I get my work done as a reward!! Also, on some of the classic movie channels (old black and whites, old musicals, etc) I always notice movies are on when I am unable to watch them, so would probably use it for that, too.

Also, good job on trying to get in more workouts during the week!!:carrot:

I need to get out before it gets dark and sweep off the sidewalk and porch and start my car and let it run a bit so the battery doesn't get too cold. BRRRR!!!