Hi all! Wow - such an active group!
Jay - glad you are feeling better - sounds like you are solidly OP - even with being sick!

Jada - RUNNING! Awesome! Fast walking is good too. My walks are definitely an important part of my exercise routine!

Lori - the weather is supposed to be better next week. And, you are getting close to Onederland! I can't wait until you get there - we need a virtual http://forums.site5.com/images/smilies/dancingparty.gif

I'm hoping to get some cleaning done this weekend. I'm so far behind! Working a 60+ hour week has left me zapped! But - tomorrow is another day :)

Enjoy your first spring weekend all!

Laurie

Hi there! congrats to everyone doing so well OP!!:carrot:
I am still bringing up the rear but am working with a positive attitude.
Hope you get well soon Jay. :wave:
Laurie I picture you with this huge house with endless housework. I so hate housework. I try and split it up so it is not so bothersome.
Linda glad you are enjoying a bit of spring. I have some flowers up in my garden but they are some hardy plant the comes up really early.
Jada you will be flying down the scale with all the new exercise your body seems to be loving. :cb::cb::cb:
Lori how is the bike riding going. I so loved to ride my bike and then it got stolen. Have not replaced it and am now afraid my balance is off. The traffic makes me nervous. Think I will stick to the stationary bike. :ebike:
I am at work and just finishing up my Friday.... I went to see the surgeon today and got bumped to a different surgeon. So have to start again with someone new. Hope it is all in place by June. We have great coverage in Canada but endless waits. :sp: Be glad when this is over.
Will be nice to have the weekend off. Going to fit in some exercise and some meal planning.
Hope you all have a great relaxing weekend. :balloons:
cheers.....jude

Good morning everyone! I'm getting over my cold pretty quickly. :broc:

And, I've dropped 2 pounds in the last week. :cheer2: :cheer3: I expect to bounce up a little, though. Weight loss due to being sick is often fleeting...

I'm trying to think of trips for this year. It might be nice to go to San Francisco to see my cyclist friend. Or, maybe Cape Cod. We used to go there every summer, just before the tourist season really, and stay for a couple of weeks. And, I could always visit Utah again--that's where I grew up.

Anyone being hit by the financial downturn? Some of my tax clients are having problems, but most are OK so far.

Jay

:wave:

Oh boy, yes -- being a retired person with investment income is not fun right now. I'm just trying to ignore things for the time being. What goes down, eventually tends to go up again. Not much can be done about it so there's not much sense in getting excited. :shrug:

Not much can be done about our weather either -- sunny and cold today -- at least it isn't snowing. :lol:

Jada - it is a turn of the century house which requires a bit more TLC than the average. I just hate to clean, so I complain about it more than the average person. ;) With 3 pets and 3 people living here - it isn't too bad.

Jay - Yes and no to the economy question. Both our jobs are fairly secure since we work for non-profs that provide needed services to the community. We both have enough seniority to ride out any downsizing that might occur.

That being said, the 403b and 457 accounts have taken a major hit. The State of MI is suffering some SERIOUS economic woes - so my healthcare and retirement may not be what I have been planning for and counting on when the time comes.

We WERE planning on early retirement (and some type of part-time second career) in 4-5 years. Now we are looking at me retiring, and DH going part time. And it may be 5-8 years instead.

We discuss it frequently, but are taking a que sera, sera attitude about it. While we would love to retire early, spend more time traveling and with the kids - it might not happen as soon as we would have liked.

One more reason to stay active and fit and healthy and on-plan. :yes:

In the scheme of things, we are most blessed - and we will make the best of whatever this economic uncertainty brings.

On the travel plans question - an update. The hotel we usually stay at in Kalamazoo is booked for the April trip. There are only 2 hotels within walking distance of all of our planned events that weekend. So - I found a wonderful Victorian B&B and booked it. We've never stayed in a B&B - I've poo-poo'd the idea in fact. The idea of having to be "social" during my stay is something that I wasn't sure I would want. Working with people every day, I kind of enjoy not interacting with folk when I travel. But then again, when I do - I seem to enjoy it. I tend to be outgoing in familiar settings, and shy in new ones.

I am a strange duck! http://www.comicguide.net/images/smilies/duck.gif

So, a new adventure awaits :D

I can still afford to buy too much food, so the economy has not hurt me.:cookie:

Jada, it's not the buying, it's the eating... :chin:

Jay

Jay: That made me laugh.:lol:

Jay - LOL! How true!

I ate very strangely today - not one meal - just lots of snacks.

I spent the day de-cluttering and cleaning the laundry, entry room. 9 hours later and it looks GREAT! It is amazing how much stuff accumulates in those spaces! I was actually able to make room for the recycle bins, which have been sitting in the middle of the room for as long as I can remember.
And now DH's beer making supplies are organized and labeled. The home brews are also easily accessible
And every cupboard is organized and labeled with its contents so I can actually find things like winter mittens and canning supplies.

I ate every hour or so - a small snack - to fuel my body and keep me going. It worked really well. It reminds me how sedentary my lifestyle is most of the time. It actually felt good to spend the day doing more physical stuff.

Hope you all had a good day as well!

Laurie

Jay: Good going on the 2 pound loss :carrot:. Losing weight is the only good thing about being sick, unless your like me. I never lose weight. Staying on the treadmill for long after being sick is quite an accomplishment in stamina. I'm glad your doing better :hug:. The salmon sounded good, so I ordered some from my grocer. I'm not much on eating fish, but that's going to change. It was interesting when you said you might visit Utah and you were from there, because I plan to move there when I'm 60. I already have the place picked out where I will live until I buy house, if I buy a house. The only thing that will hold me back is worrying about slipping in the ice and snow.

Jude: I'm thinking about buying a bike. The last time I used one, I was so sore, I never got on one again. But I think I'm ready to try it again for shorter distances until I get used to it.

Meowee: Sorry about your investment income. I have a lot of family who lost money on it, but they're surviving somehow, but still nervous. They have other income to fall back on, but it sure is disappointing all around.

CountingDown: The B & B sounds wonderful. I agree with you about the forced social thing. I worked in social work, and the last thing I wanted was to feel forced to socialize on my vacation. I just wanted to enjoy my family. But my husband was very outgoing and loved talking to everybody, so I just let him take the reigns.
Organizing your house sounds like a great release of energy. It feels so good to finally get things the way you want them.

Have a good night everybody!!:grouphug:

I was 229 this morning for my official weigh in. I stayed the same, but I was very happy. I'm averaging a weight loss of 1.3 lbs a week. Seems like I should have lost 20 lbs by now, but I'm happy. I need to stop putting the food in my mouth. I'm sticking to following the guidelines in the food pyramid, since it seems to be working :whoo:

:high: to the losers among us.

Not too great a day around here -- beginning to look like the promised snow may develop. :mad:

For some reason I cannot seem to get enough sleep at the moment and I'm thinking about a second nap for today . . . waking up at before 4 am may have had something to do with it, of course. :lol:

Hope the rest of you are having a great and fun Sunday.

Hi all! Still cold here, and we have an 18 year old cat that has been missing for two days. I'm getting worried. :(

Jada - the rate of loss may be frustrating at times, but - in the scheme of things - doesn't matter much. In fact, I think the slower loss can help with maintenance. It is a journey, and the length of it isn't what is important.

It took me a lot longer to lose weight this time around. But, I am actually far more confident that I will keep it off. :D

Gotta fly - gotta make the Sunday family phone calls, and then off to church for our Lenten study and a baked potato bar :)

Hope you are enjoying the day!

Wow, CountingDown, sorry about your cat. I hope he shows up soon:(
Meowee: Too bad about the snow after having it warm up.
I'm having a quiet day at home. I was going to visit family, but they're sick, and it's cold, windy and raining, so I'm watching movies. Staying OP.

Oh, CD! I hope you find that cat... 18 is pretty old to be wandering about. Is there any place it could have gotten shut in by accident? A car, a bin, a shed? Sometimes they dash in and no one even sees them.

Jada, where would you move in Utah? I'm curious...

Keep going on your plan!

I did a tiny amount of office straightening today, and it cheered me up a lot. Sometimes it doesn't take much...

We're off to the symphony tonight--a couple of my favorites and one piece I don't know at all.

meowee, not ****! Please!!! Tell me, are you safe from that by... um... June?

See ya!

:wave:
Jay

Hi to everyone,
The economy is hurting us. DH lost his job to downsizing (an example of where downsizing is a bad thing) a few years ago. He's looked and looked,but hasn't found anything. My job is secure for the moment, but I teach at a small private school. When people lose their jobs. Private school is the first to go. DH and I just budget and hope things will get better, I don't think it's going to be any time soon. Our 401 K has taken a horrible hit. We have our health, great kids, and grandkids. Life is good!!!!!!!!!!!

On a positive note (Good downsizing) I lost another 2 lbs. Onederland here I come!!!!!!!!!

Flowingair: What a shame your DH lost his job. I have relatives in your geographic area (I have relatives everywhere, except New York and Florida). Three of them moved back to Las Vegas. I hope things pick up soon. I worry sick about my sons being sent to war or losing their jobs.

Jay: I plan to move to West Jordan, a suburb of Salt Lake City. I like the new community, Jordan Landing. It's close to relatives and friends, but not too close. I like my space.

flowingair, always good to have you drop in! :hug: I'm sorry to hear that your DH hasn't been able to find more work. I know what you mean about hits to the retirement plan... I thought I would be all set by retirement age, but I guess not. Now isn't the time to change anything, though. :dunno:

Jada, West Jordan, eh? Interesting. I looked it up--I haven't been out there in many years. Have you visited there in the winter?

I'm a believer in visiting a place a few times at different times of year and staying for awhile before up-and-moving there. I moved from California to Massachusetts in 1990 without doing enough research... turned out I was allergic to everything that grew and came from a rather different culture in many ways... And by the time I figured this out, there was no going back! So I lived there 11 years.

I'm still on track here, but much more must be done today. I guess I'll get started with it!

Cheers, everyone! :wave:

Jay

Okay . . . weather whine . . . it's snowing and the infamous "they" are predicting 10 to 12 inches of the stuff. Oh how I love this Spring weather. :dizzy:

Actually, we will soon :crossed: be out the bottom of this -- since I moved down here in 1994, I haven't seen snow after mid-April -- hopefully this will not be the year that pattern changes. :lol:

Have to go to the doctor this afternoon and to the dentist first thing tomorrow morning -- so, naturally, the weather is being uncooperative. At least I don't have to drive too far. This kind of wet snow can make for really nasty driving.

Hope things are good in your area . . . :carrot:

My weight is going back down. It's nice to not count calories. I just follow the food pyramid and I'm good to go.
I'm retired and single, so I can get up and move if a place doesn't work out. I just wish I could afford to be like the snow birds in Las Vegas. They have a home in Las Vegas for the winter, and a home elsewhere for the summer. I have relatives everywhere, and I want to live by all of them. It's hard to decide. I can only afford one place. I remember coughing when I would visit my grandmother in Utah, so I worry about my allergies. In Vegas I don't have to take allergy medicine.

Good morning all.:coffee:
I am just back from the gym and wanted to say hi. :carrot::carrot:
Lori congrats on the weight loss. Sorry to hear about your DH job loss. It seemed like not that long ago every where you looked there were jobs. Hopefully it will come back soon. We are not quite as hard hit here in Canada.

Laurie your house sounds fabulous. A place for everything. I am like that too but only have myself to organize so everything seems to stay put.:cp:
Jay glad that you seem to be feeling better and the weight loss. Sounds like things are coming together. Hope work lightens up for you. Or maybe not?? :comp:
Linda too bad about the snow. We are good on this coast but it is not warming up fast enough for me.

As for me I made it to the gym yesterday and today. Food has been OP. I have been keeping my hands busy with some leftover knitting that I am finishing off. :stars:
It is a poncho done with big needles and a sort of lumpy yarn. It will be nice if I finish it. Not sure I would ever wear it but someone will.
I decided Sunday that the only thing that I coould change for sure was that I could do my program of healthy eating and exercise.
I struggle with anxiety and I am so tired of it. But that is like saying you are tired of having allergies and trying to wish them away. So the exercise helps and weight loss will help with sleeping etc. So I have made a commitment to myself to do that no matter what. The food plan is more difficult. The gym is just a matter of putting one foot in front of the other and going. :coach:
Had a beautiful sunny day yesterday. Spring is coming and I want to be able to enjoy it.
Jada do you like the winters? I am from the prairies and hate the cold and the allergies. I too would love to have a place to go to for the winter. Like Palm Springs. I have a friend and she may be keen on sharing with me. You can rent in Palm Springs for a few months in the winter. I am still working so that is a ways off. Actually it is October 1, 2013!! :celebrate:
But who is counting.
Jada tell me more about the Food Pyramind. I gather that is the Food Guide. Is it easy to follow? Are you counting calories?

Jay your meals out always sound fabulous. You are great at ordering just the right thing.
Hope everyone is having a great day. I will pop back later tonight.
Ciao...Jude :running:

Flowingair: Congratulations on losing 2 lbs!!!:bravo:

Great Jude on getting to the gym :cp:

I read and am following information on: mypyramid.gov
I counted calories at first to make sure I understood what I was doing. But, like everything, once you figure it out, it's simple. I don't count calories now, unless it's to see if a certain food fits in the calorie range I've set for myself, which is 1600. On the day I ran, I allowed myself 2000.
I eat a bowl of broccoli before lunch and dinner. I would like to do it for breakfast too, but it sounds too unappetizing :p

Hi all - a quick post tonight. Dinner is just about ready. Sounds like everyone is doing well! Great start to the week!

Still no kitty - all the neighbors have checked their sheds and garages and the like. I'm suspecting that he just went off to die. We may never find him. We are a block from a wooded area, and about 2 blocks from a large dairy farm (weird to have a dairy farm right in the middle of the city - but there it is!)

Gotta fly - the jasmine rice is smelling wonderful! I need to get the asparagus grilling :)

Hope you have a fabulous Tuesday - and Linda - I'm gonna try to send warmer weather your way!

Laurie

Oh please CD I soooooo need some better weather -- it is still snowing and blowing out there -- ugly, ugly, ugly. I definitely cancelled my dentist appointment this morning and will be going nowhere. Yuck.

Hope everybody else has a good day . . . :grouphug:

Hi Everyone,

It's still cold here, I think the high today was 45. And windy, which makes it feel even colder. Tomorrow is DS's birthday and I made cupcakes and the grands and i will decorate them tonight. They like to add food coloring to the white icing and come up with some pretty weird colors, but it tastes the same.

Flo, Michigan has really been hit hard with the job layoff's. My husband is still working, but usually gets sent home at least once a week for lack of work. and it has finally trickled down to my son too. His hours are cut. i am still working, the medical field is one place that there doesn't seem to be a problem.

Jada, if it works for you, it works!!! I think most of have different diet plan. You just have to find soemthing you can live with. I lovve broccoli but i'm not sure i could eat it twice a day, every day. I do have it often though, roasted, broccoli salad, in casseroles...

Laurie, I hope you kitty find his way home. Not knowing is nerve recking!

Linda, I would share some good weather if I had any,, sorry. It's got to stop soon, right?

Freda

I walked today in memory of Laurie's kitty. I will get down to 227 lb in his memory too. After having him for eighteen years, it must feel like a devastating loss. :hug:

Jude: Las Vegas winters are great as far as snow and ice goes. It depends on what elevation you live. The biggest problem in Vegas is floods, but you learn where the flood areas are and you stay away from them when it rains.

Linda: Too bad about the bad weather, especially when you have plans like going to the dentist. It's nice to go to the dentist and get it over with.

Freda: I know what you mean about the vegs, or other food, for that matter. I get tired of eating the same thing, and I have to change it or recreate it. Broccoli helped me to get down to where I am, and then today I bought a different vegetable for my sanity. I'm not much on vegs, anyway, except salad. :snooty:

Jada maybe try roasting your veggeis. It is something that Laurie does and I have tried it and it is wonderful.
Made it to the gym today. Happy about that. And am at work now. The food plan is coming along but not 100% yet.
Hope everyone is having a great OP day!!

Oh dear . . . not a good day for me . . . I've been on a starch binge. Tomorrow WILL be a good day. :yes:

Linda - windy today - but warmer - definitely some warmth heading east :) Step away from the starches! Get some protein in you - quick!

Jada - aw - thank you! You touched my heart!

And yes - try roasted veggies - they are WONDERFUL! I put spinach and grape tomatoes and broccoli slaw in my pitas too - with a bit of feta and walnuts and strawberries and a bit of low-cal dressing - scrumptious way to get in your veggies :D

Jude - congrats on the gym and getting your food plan closer to where you want it. You are coming along so well! Stick with it! It will make a difference!

A good - balanced day. I exercised after work - taking it easy on the upper body. I see to have gone overboard with Wii bowling and tennis and have developed tennis elbow - Jay, stop laughing - you saw it coming, didn't you? ;)

I made yogurt tonight - we are going through so much of it! Fresh fruit with home-made yogurt is just the BEST!

Gotta fly - I hear the dryer buzzing!

Have a GREAT hump day all!

Morning all,

It's raining here, again. Yeah I know, spring showers.....

Jada, I recomend the roasted veggies too. Even my sister, who eats no vegetables, likes them. It actually gives them a slightly sweet taste.

Jude, Good for you!! keep up that exercising. the more i exercise the less i want to eat bad. I don't want to mess up my good work.

Laurie, too bad about the tennis elbow! it will keep you out of the game for awhile.

Freda

Hi, folks! :wave: Way too busy here...

Jada--yeah, nice to be able and pick up and move, but unfortunately by the time I figured things out, I was broke. :lol: And the amount of stuff I have now doesn't just fit in the back of my car, sad to say. Oh well! The other part of it is that I really don't like moving any more. The last time I moved was about a year and a half ago, and it was way too stressful! :stress:

Hey Freda! Good to see you checking in!

CD, I guess no word on the cat, huh? :(

meowee, what the heck, eh? Get away from those carbs! Don't worry--the snow will be gone eventually--

The concert we went to was great. There was one modern piece, and you never know what you're going to get with those. But this one turned out to be very interesting. Modern music is like abstract painting--you have to let it wash over you and see what sort of feelings and responses you have. It's not always a pretty picture, but it's often quite novel. At once point, the cellos and basses seemed to "come in for a landing" like a B52 bomber! Heh!

The other two pieces were quite lovely. One was Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, and the other was Franck's Symphony in D minor, one of my all-time favorites.

OK, time to get back to it!
Jay

:wave:

I yearn for some rain . . . :lol: . . . the people officially in charge of measuring snowfall have issued their declaration -- we did not get 12" of snow yesterday as forecast, we got 16" (that's right sixteen inches). It was (and still is) so very windy that I don't know how they could possibly have measured it. In fact, as I look at my yard, I can still see spots where the grass is showing and others (up against my six foot high fence, for example) where it is well over 60" (yep, five feet).

I'm on track today in the eating world and definitely planning to stay that way.

See you all soon . . . :grouphug:

Jay - I hate moving too! The last time we did it was 20 years ago, and I still shudder at the thought of having to do it again!

The concert sounds like it was great! I'm not a fan of a lot of the more modern pieces, but the two classical ones are right up my alley!

Linda - more wind coming your way, I'm afraid - but the weather is much warmer today!

A busy day here - and - no - still no luck on finding the cat. None of the neighbors have seen or heard anything, and everyone has checked their sheds and garages and the like.

I had a very productive day at work, and then raked the dog "presents" for an hour afterward. NOT my favorite task, but it needs to be done every spring :(

At least it is done, and I got to spend an hour in the sunshine and almost 45 degree weather :)

Hope you all had a productive and OP day!

Did you check the local animal shelters, CD? Sometimes people pick up a "stray" and drop them off...

Jay

Jay - we called the shelter first thing, just in case. They do have some cute kittens up for adoption, though ;)

Good Evening all. :love:
Sounds like you had a great night out Jay. I have that on my plan of things to do sometime this year.
Laurie I am so sorry about your cat. I am a huge animal lover and miss the ones that I had for years. :hug:

Thanks for the encouragement Freda. I am still going to the gym every day. Something seems to have clicked with that. Not sure what but am enjoying how it makes me feel. :bubbles:
Food is not too bad but the interesting thing is that there are things that I craved that seem to be gone now. That is a big thing for me. I see that as part of a better big picture.
I would love the weight to drop off like it did one time. But now I am just trying to change my ways. :snail:

Had a busy morning. Drove down across the border for some shopping. Picked up some South Beach protien bars for in the car. They were on sale so that is a bonus. They certainly did have the best protien hit. Just going to leave a box in the car.

Laurie tell me about making yogurt? I have never tried home made. Do you use a machine? And how much can you make at one time. I only eat plain so is that do able? I find that yogurt is one pricey item these days.
So I guess I am asking can you make 2% that is plain that is not too runny?

Oh and my surgery that was for June has been moved to either August or September. Well gives me more time to lose some pounds. :D

Gotta get back to work.......Jude :mag:

:wave:

Jude: That is so great you are going to the gym everyday. I could relate to it making you feel good. When I stretch the muscles in my shoulder with the machines, it feels so good. What a shame they put off your operation.

Jay: Your symphony sounds like so much fun. I haven't been to one since I was a little girl. I'm a red neck who only goes where dancing goes along with the music, and I haven't even done that since the year 2000. Seems like my life has become rather boring since I became a grandma. I plan on changing that.
I can't afford to move, but I do it anyway, and then I suffer for half a year until I get back on my feet again. I'm getting tired of moving too. I keep thinking of just traveling more. I'd still like to be a snow bird, but can't figure out how to do it. I guess I'll have to talk to one of the Vegas snow birds to figure out how they maintain two residences. I would love to live in Utah for the summer, and then Las Vegas for the winter. Actually, I want to live in San Diego, California, but I can't afford to live there. :dizzy:

Slim me: My sister likes roasted veggies too. She makes them soooo good, but when I make them, they don't taste so good. My sister's veggies are so good, I eat them like ice cream. I follow the same recipe she uses. I just wait and eat them when I visit her.

Laurie: Tennis elbow sounds painful!! I hope it's something that goes away eventually. I do a lot of writing (typing), so I exercise my hands so I don't mess them up. An aerobics instructor showed me what to do. I also worry about hurting my knees when I run, but sometimes I just feel like running off the stored up energy from sitting at the computer. I'll have to start walking a further distance instead of running.

I'm happy to say I stayed on OP today. It wasn't easy. Yes, it was easy. An old boyfriend came back into my life, and instead of problem solving it with food, I drank a glass of ice water. I'm still problem solving it. I'll sleep on it, and figure out what I want to do tomorrow. Right now I don't want him back in my life, but I'll sleep on it, before I say something I'm sorry for.

There be sunshine in my world this morning . . . :yay:

:sunny:
Good morning everybody. It's nice here too. No wind. No excuses. Have to get out and walk today.