A Quote for today:

"A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear [that results] from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl."

- Stephan Hoeller

Spiny - I love that quote! Thanks for posting it! I definitely have experienced the most growth in my life when I faced hurts and hardships. I think there is a lot of truth there.

Jay - you had ice cream in the house and didn't eat it - what a huge victory for you! What a great start to the new year! I love baby carrots too. In fact I could easily eat a whole 1 lb. bag in a sitting - which isn't a great thing - actually

I am just craving fresh vegetables this time of year - I think I prefer sugar snap peas over cookies right now!

Nature Girl - other than shoveling and cross country skiing, I don't exercise outside the house all winter. I have slowly amassed a decent collection of workout DVDs (half.com is a great resource for these). http://www.exercisetv.tv/ has several free workouts online as well. I have found my fitness ball and my resistance bands and hand weights to be great tools and they weren't expensive

JLoubug - I had a terrible time throwing out food, and leaving food on my plate in restaruants. It was something I had to work at very hard. Fortunately, I finally broke through and I'm better about it - and carry out boxes in restaurants are a given. I ask for it at the start of my meal and package up half before I even begin to eat.

I'm not much of a concert goer - I think sitting through 11 years of school band concerts has soured me on all concert experiences Probably being hearing impaired is another reason - I can't make out the lyrics and have a hard time even hearing the instrumentation as it was meant to be heard.

I do like the theater though! And more and more theaters are "looped" or provide hearing assists to work with my aids

A good day here - good balance with OP eating, exercise, meditation and work. Just need a little play tonight and it will be perfect

I was also a picky eater as a child. My mother told me people thought I was malnourished!! I was the skinny sister too. My other sisters were overweight. Now they are thin and I am overweight... I was in shape until my early 40s. I guess that metabolism thing kicked in. I always ate pretty much whatever I wanted too, and I got over being a picky eater. I need to go back to being a picky eater! Only healthy foods!

At least going back to work made me plan my meals better. Had a bowl of cereal for breakfast, packed a nice spinach salad for lunch. For dinner I did have a pulled pork sandwich though. I left the table definitely still hungry, but satisfied. I snacked on celery and carrots at school and drank my water. Not too bad of a day.

I watched Oprah when I got home, she talked about her weight. Anyone else see it? I can't say it was anything I haven't heard before, but when she talked about her thyroid, (and not that I think I have a problem with it), but she said that the doctors told her to embrace hunger. Maybe that is a key for me. Not filling up until full, leaving the table a little bit hungry. I may need to start doing that. I do have a tendancy to overdo it, portions and all. Eat to live, not live to eat!

The students come back tomorrow! I need a diversion from the paperwork!

Everyone keep on keeping on!

OMG, you guys, I am so proud of myself! After reading your posts and some on an exercise thread, I told myself I'd better get my butt off the couch and do something. So I went to change and head to the Nordic Trak out in the barn. Something kicked in, though and I thought "So what if it's dark-I'd be in my very own pasture and it won't be much warmer in the barn", so I put on my long johns and headed out to ski in the moonlight! It was awesome! And tonight's 30 degrees is almost balmy after recent 4, -1, or 10 degree days. The fresh air and moonlight and quiet were great, and the 35 minutes I spent refreshed me for the lesson plans I had to work on before school starts tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration!

Good Morning Everyone

Spiny...Thanks for the quote, it really rings true

Jay...so glad you were able to resist the icecream!!!And as for working smarter that's certainly a better idea...sometimes it gets hard though if you're not sure the next really good paying job is going to come or not.

Jen..... volunteering at the theatre is a great idea to see concerts. Here in the sticks where we live there is no chance for anything like that, but I've never been that fond of them anyway, don't like crowds at all..I get panic attacks in them and always have. Never been able to conquer that demon.

Counting Down...Thanks for the web site, I browsed it a little and think I will be using it. I need some new exercise tapes. I know you didn't really leave it for me per say, but I latched onto it,,,Thanks

Nature Girl....Congradulations on the exercise...see it's not so bad..It does really clear your mind and give you some extra umph to get things done.

I have been doing pretty well so far this year, have lost the little I gained over the holidays and a little more to boot. I started eating just what I needed to not be hungry anymore, very slowly. I figure when I get hungry again there is always going to be more food. Sometimes I think we operate on starvation mode (at least I seemed to) If there was food and I liked it I had to eat it. I vowed to change that mind set this year. So far it is working great for me. DH is having a little problem, he is one of those who doesn't throw anything away. I guess when you are raised poor with 10 children and you have to eat fast to be sure you get enough before everyone else eats it,
you get in that mind set. It is really hard to get him out of it. I have to get up with my plate and throw it fast so he doesn't eat it, he DOESN'T need it either.

Anyway hope everyone is doing great...And THANK-YOU all for being here. You all motivate me so very much!!! It's really good to have somewhere to go where they understand the challenges you face......Pat

Hey everyone!

Well, our Aunt Hazel passed away early today or late last night--so the plans my partner had made to fly up are now defunct. She was going to go to see Hazel one last time, and if that's not possible, she sees no reason to fly up just for a funeral.

So--kind of sad around here, but we did see her last October. I'm glad she's no longer suffering. She had been ill for some time.
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Hey Jo, I liked your quotation for the day, too. Hm, wonder how much those pearls might be worth... heh heh.

CD, I'm just as glad the ice cream is gone and gone quickly, although I have to say, I didn't think about it much. Perhaps I'm getting free!

Pat, I know what you mean about that kind of "starvation mode"--which is, "We must eat everything because there will never be any more!!!" That's just so untrue. What they call "scarcity thinking." The problem in this culture for a lot of people if not most is that there is always more, and more, and more! I'm glad that I've gotten away from that for the most part. Why, I've even been known to throw food away. Yes. I have. Because saving it doesn't help anyone else, and it certainly doesn't help me.

Hey Freda!

Anyone seen Lori around? Yooo hoooooooo!

Nature Girl, I love your story about skiing in the moonlight! Gosh, what a great idea! I'm going to go swimming this afternoon--it's warm enough for a change (outdoor pool). So nice to be OUTSIDE sometimes!

Especially since my gym is suddenly full of people... yikes... I'm glad to see them, but I'm going to have to shift my gym hours to get there closer to 3:30 to avoid the rush. I'm lucky that I can do that.

JLoubug, I hope having the students back went smoothly. One thing to note--if you're used to overeating, it takes awhile for "normal" portions and servings to feel like enough, but it does happen! I used to be able to eat a LOT more, and now I feel quite full and satisfied after a regular meal. It's something about the "fullness receptors" in the stomach waking up again after being repressed for a long time. I almost never feel hungry--and if I do, it's because I forget to eat on time... heh!

You can see that I added a ticker to my signature again. I'm going to be accountable to you folks for my intentions. I figure that going in 5 pound increments will work for me this time.

OK, have a great day, everyone!

Jay

Jay - sorry for your loss - what a blessing you were able to see her last fall! Is your gym busy? I see a lot of folk around here complaining about the traffic at the gym.

Pat - slowing down while eating is something I continually work on. That - and mindful eating - thinking about what I am eating, being present in the moment and enjoying THAT bite - not reaching for the next one. I'm a work in progress on both of those topics.

Nature Girl sounds like you had a wonderful exercise workout skiing! There is nothing like the crisp winter air while skiing to clear the mind and refresh the soul!

Jen - I haven't watched Oprah (ever, I think) but I'm glad folk are finding her inspirational and helpful. I read (on 3FC I think) that she had a whole self-improvement theme week starting Monday. I definitely had to learn to recognize hunger to wait for it before eating. One think I like about eating several small meals a day is that I don't have to wait too long before it is feeding time again

A good day here - I spent an hour on the wii fit and then made a wonderful WW pasta dish for dinner, with steamed pod peas and portobello mushrooms. Hit the spot on this winter night.

Hope you all had a fun day!

Morning All

Just a quick fly-by to check in. not very talkative today. Got some bad news about my brother last night and still trying to process it.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!!
Pat

Hi there . . . the 12 days of Christmas did not treat me well this year . . . at least not so far as the internet was concerned. I was beginning to think I'd be better off going back to dial-up.

Hopefully things will stay connected now (although we do have another storm on the way) and I'll be back with you on a more regular basis.

Anyway, I've got a big bunch of reading to catch up on so will cut this short and hopefully get a chance to catchup on stuff over the next couple of days.

See you soon . . .

I, we, made a pretty delicious dinner tonight. Chicken with green beans and sweet potatoes-a new recipe I've probably had for months but didn't make. I started it, but when my DH got home, (he loves to stir things), he stayed in the kitchen and finished it. Good deal!

For lunch, I have been sticking with a spinach salad with various vegies, cheese or meat for lunch. I am loving that, wished I had been packing that all along. Still eating carrots and celery at work for snacks too! I did have a tiny cupcake in the afternoon. Those birthdays! A lot of times I just throw away the goodies the students bring in, you never know what they have been touching.

I went to the grocery store tonight. I avoided last night with the ice storm they had forecast. The store is always so packed when there is a storm brewing. Like there won't be another chance to get the groceries or something! Reminds me of that starvation mode. I was almost out of milk, but made it one more day.

Someone at work told me I look like I've lost weight. Well no, maybe a pound, but nothing really noticeable. It was a nice compliment, but I don't want everyone watching me; what I eat and stuff. I did get my hair trimmed and highlighted. It's sort of funny how people seem to notice somethings different, but can't quite figure out what.

I wish you all a good night. I hope tomorrow finds everyone with a better outlook! Talk to you all later. Take care.

Hi to all, You're probably wondering what happened to me. My Mom died over the Holidays; it was a sudden cardiac arrest. We flew down to Florida for the funeral and internment 10 days later. It was very difficult and busy. I wrote and gave the eulogy at the funeral Mass, one of the toughest things I've had to do. We worked on helping my Dad get settled and work through some of his lonliness. I have two sisters down in Florida so my Dad will have them to help through these lonely days. My Mom was a great lady and I will miss her very much. I hope everyone is well. I'll catch up soon. Lori

flowingair - My condolences for the loss of your mom.

flowingair...Very sorry to hear about your Mom, My best to you and your family, you will be in my prayers.

Good Morning'

The weather has warmed up a bit here, just enought for it to rain instead of snow. And then it gets cold again and the rain freezes. So, we're having some pretty bad weather here.

Lori, so sorry to hear about your mom. Prayers for the whole family.

Linda, Glad to see you back. You were missed!

Jay, sorry to hear about your loss . prayers for you and family.

Nature girl, I wish I could join you for the night time ski. Sounds so lovely. Since we have to do it anyway, we might as well make it fun!

Jen, Dinner sounds yummy! Who says you can't eat well on a diet?

Laurie, I'm craving fresh, healthy food too. too much junk during the Holidays! I always ask for a doggie bag first thing too, and put the portion of food i'm not going to eat out of sight. If I let it sit there, I will pick at it untill it's gone.

We do get used to eating larger portions and have to re-train our stomachs to what is a normal portion. I went out to lunch yesterday with 2 ladies and, like a good girl, I put half my food onto the doggie bag early. They ate everything, and we were given very large portions! Small changes make a big difference!

Freda

Lori-- We did wonder where you had gone, and I'm so sorry to hear the reason for your absence. I hope you are doing OK getting through your own grieving.

meowee--gosh--I wondered what had happened to you! Glad you're back on line again!

tryingitagain, I hope things are going OK with you...

Well, everyone, Keep on keeping on! Today is my day off from the gym, and I need it. I'll still go for my walk, though.

I've been doing good on my food plan. Now if the scale will simply reflect my good efforts, I'll be really happy...

Best to you all,
Jay