Good Morning Chickies . . .

Another day with double digit temperatures -- getting spoiled. Rain in the forecast for tomorrow, though.

Good news on the tooth front, too -- absolutely no pain so far -- hope this continues. Good news continues to the weight front too, scale is down this morning (but who ever knows how long that will last). Unfortuntely, the BGL level is up. -- can't win 'em all, I guess.

Guess I'll have to agree with both sides of the 'Now vs Later' discussion -- my motivation for losing is to control my Diabetes better and get fitter so that I can have a better 'Later' -- but, you have to keep on making as much of your 'Now' as you possibly can. Those who put everything off, waiting for 'later' often find that it just never gets here.

Better get moving and shaking We are going to do the great mall-crawl today instead of tomorrow because of the weather. See you later, gang.

Hey JO! Yeah, when I wrote that reply to the "Brekkie" thread, I was thinking of you!

Yesterday I took a walk AND went to the gym. And today, I am tightening up my food plan for the umpteenth time...

meowee, glad to hear you are not having a lot of pain!

Jay

I think we all have a reason for our weight loss. One of mine is to be able to walk faster and longer. I want to be able to keep up with the crowd shall we say.
I was watching BL last night and heard the contestant Ali say "when did I lose myself?" Fabulous question. I think I lost myself when the kids were born. I did lose the weight from the pregnancy but add a little stress and boy that seemed to make the climb back there pretty easy.

Suddenly I had no time for me. But they are grown and gone now and I have to find the time for me. It is hard getting that shift going but I am working on it. I will keep asking myself that question to remind me.

Well this has been a good week for exercise for me. I made it to the gym on Monday and today and hope to go Thursday and Friday. I am keeping a spare calendar and I mark off the gym when I go and the food if it has been a good food day. I aslo wright my weigh ins on the same day every week.
Trying to stop weighing in every day. Once a week should be enough.

So hope everyone is doing well. I am also trying to tighten the food part of my life Jayell. It is hard but have really gotten better at portion control. It is those snacks at work that are the hardest when I am bored.

Have a great day everybody.......Jude

Hi All. Meowee, I'm glad your tooth is doing well. I've had root canals done and all on the one tooth over a period of a year and a half. Not nice at all. Ended up with surgery on the gum. Cost a small fortune by the time it was done. But all is well now.

I have all the same reasons for wanting to lose weight--health is #1 but I also have other reasons. I want to look good in my clothes. I want to be able to buy clothes that fit on the waist and shoulders. Right now if my waist fits the shoulders are drooping and if the shoulders fit, I can't buy the outfit. I also think people who lose weight look younger. I know that's not always true but I can hope. That may sound shallow but if I'm healthy, I'd like to look hot! (Well as hot as the cat's nanny can be.)

Hi all! Hope you are doing well!

retiredone - I think you are right. I think I look younger now that I have lost some weight. (others have said so as well) Of course, I dress in trendier clothes now because I can actually find cute clothes that fit. I also have a cuter hair style since my pudgy cheeks are gone. And cuter glasses too (for the same reason). And black and brown are not the only colors in my wardrobe.
On the downside - I have a lot more wrinkles on my face. All that fat did a nice job keeping the wrinkles at bay.

Jude - similar story here. I definitely lost part of me when the kids were born. "To everything there is a season" and this season is time for ME! DH has frowned a few times when I decided to do things for me instead of for us (exercise instead of cooking dinner for example), but he has come to understand that it is high time I put myself first for a while

Jay - I so admire your commitment to exercise. I still struggle with it. I do it, but it is hard to make myself get up early to work out.

Linda - glad the tooth is doing well! I have had 5 root canals (inherited absolutely awful teeth - both parents had full dentures in their 20s). Like "retired", I had one that eventually had problems and had to have surgery to fix it. I will know in 6 months if it was successful. The other 4 were less painful than getting a filling. I really couldn't see what people got into a tizzy about.

Pandora - loved your post! Like you, we are trying to balance the wine-n-dine vacations with activity. Having lived in a rural area most of my life, I LOVE traveling to cities. Dinner, theater, museums, zoos, all the wonderful cultural neighborhoods - we try to walk as much as we can during those trips. Hiking is a new love for both of us.

Jo - it is a blessing to enjoy your work. You do live in a wonderful part of the country! It is good to see you returning to the spinymouse we love. Give yourself time to heal. It has been a rough start to the new year. You have been filling your days with good things, and getting back to exercise is a positive step. I think of you often and wonder how you are doing. You are such a wonderful free spirit and I admire that so!

I tried a new jasmine rice and lentil recipe in the rice cooker - it smells about done, so I'm off to package it up for lunches tomorrow

Wishing you a POP day!

Good Morning,

Taking care of "us" is not something easily done. For one thing, there are always a few people who will say we're selfish. We spend our entire life taking care of other people. But if we're not well, who is going to take care of those people? And no one is going to take care of you, so it's up to YOU to do it. And if not now, when?

The older ladies in the hospital will always say "I hate to be a bother". I have yet to hear a man say that. They are used to being cared for. I think we owe it to ourselves and to our families to take as much care of ourselves as we do of other people.

And of course, looking good is a big added plus. Buying clothes that actually look good on you is a plus.

The more we move our body, the stronger we get. It's always hard to start. But after awhile you really miss it if you stop. I know I feel better, and sleep better when i get some exercise every day.

It's a beautiful day here but I can't motivate myself to exercise. I didn't go yesterday because I had to work, take son to orthodon, take care of a friends cat. I was going to go today but I have a sore throat, I'm tired, blah, blah blah.
Please, someone, kick my butt!!! LOL

Hi Pals -
Wow, Slim, that is really interesting that you never hear a man say "I don't want to be a bother." I'm going to have to think about that one! But it does not surprise me! Men and cats - independent and expectant of our service, both at the same time.

I've been surprised lately to find how wrong I was about something.... FIBER. I've felt like I've had a basic nutritional knowledge, but mostly about the macronutrients and I really never paid attention to fiber because I just assumed that because I like vegetables and legumes, that I was getting enough. NOT. After looking into it further, I definitely need more fiber. I never would have imagined that those vegetable potstickers with edemame and sprouts and spinach have only 2 grams of fiber per serving. Asparagus - one gram per serving. Wow! And I'm not going to eat cereal. *digs heels into ground*
So I've been deliberately trying to eat more fiber. A bit of a challenge since I want to eat real food (I don't consider processed cereals and nutrition bars made with psyllium powders pressed into them to be real food.) I read that our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate over 100 grams of fiber a day, and they didn't have boxes of Fiber One to gather up; they must just have eaten a lot of what they did eat. I'm struggling to get in the recommended 25 grams. Anyone else focused on fiber?

Spinymouse,
a third cup of almonds has 5 grams of fiber! and they are yummy! the chili and lime flavor is great!! i like the fiber 1 bars.....i have one a day with a cup of tea or coffee. it's a big treat!

Hey ziajojo!

I've never heard a man say "I don't want to be a bother" either. But my older women friends seem to say it all the time. It's as though their goal in life is to disappear entirely...

Spinymouse, I'd say don't believe everything you read. Our ancestors would have had to be grazing in the grass to get that much fiber!

Don't you eat whole grain products? They have fiber...

Here's a great list of high fiber foods:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hig...-foods/NU00582

It's interesting that lentils, black beans, and lima beans are highest on the list. Unfortunately, they are also high in carbs, alas... so it's a balancing thing.

Jay

Yes, I like whole grains, and nuts - not so much by themselves, but I do make a garden burger containing ground nuts, oats, mushrooms, and garbanzos, and whatever else I have that I think might work in the mix -- I need to make those more frequently! Thanks for the list and suggestions!
I think a garden burger patty with a couple tablespoons of spicy bean chili over it sounds good. No bun - enough carbs in there already.

I think most of your natural fiber is found in whole grains and beans etc. Myself I eat an oatmeal that has 3 different whole grains in it. I like it. Also if you do your food plan on Fitday it will tell you exactly how much fiber you are getting. It is one of the things that will protect one from colon cancer.

Whole grain - high fiber pasta is good too. I wish restaurants would use it. Why don't they? There is an Italian restaurant that I like, where they make handmade ravioli. The artichoke and feta stuffed ravioli with red pepper sauce is amazingly good; if only they'd use high fiber pasta it would be like gold.

I guess you have to go to a special "health food" restaurant to find things like that but why? Why are healthy choices a "specialty" thing rather than the norm? I keep hoping this will change in my lifetime!

Gosh, I don't like whole wheat pasta--it tastes like cardboard to me.

If that were the only kind available, it would sure help me cut down on carbs!

Jay