Jay went shopping to two stores no smoked salmon. Can you believe we are famous for our salmon but no salmaon. I did look it up on fitday. And lots of omega 3!!

Jude--that's so hard to believe! I find the smoked salmon right next to the canned tuna. Huh! Boca Burgers are in the frozen foods, btw, in case that wasn't clear. They are usually close to Morningstar Farms foods in our stores in Fla. I do use FitDay and have done so all along. I find that if I just try to keep a count "in my head" I am not accurate, and I tend to fudge.

flowingair! What a busy time for you! Good luck with that wedding...

One of my favorite nighttime snacks for TV is fresh blueberries and fresh diced peaches, or other fresh fruit, with a third of a cup of lowfat yogurt and a teaspoon of maple syrup drizzled over the top. It is just as satisfying to me as ice cream, but much lower in calories. About 150 calories tops.

Laurie, have you read any mysteries by Ake Edwardson? Swedish writer, mysteries set in Goteborg. Quite good! I discovered him recently. I have several favorites including some standard writers--Eliabeth George, Martin Cruz Smith. But these are basically murder mysteries, not thrillers. I also like to read Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware books--they go fast and are interesting. Patricia Cornwell mostly disappoints these days, I'm afraid, although I still read them.

Went to step class this morning and for the first time made it all the way through the class to the very end! Just so I could say I could. But I think I'm OK staying with the 40 minutes I've been doing.

Jay

Jude - thanks for the picture comment! You WILL be in those smaller clothes one of these days. I'm with Jay - Fitday was a MUST for me. And a food scale. I needed to learn what a proper portion was, with no guessing.

Lori - I bet you will look FANTASTIC at the wedding. We will want pictures!

Jay - thanks for the author ideas. I'm always looking for new ones. With two books per month in my subscription, I LOVE to find new authors. And - I am in total agreement, I've skipped the last several PC novels - the reviews were abysmal and she seems to be phoning it in these days. Too bad, her earlier stuff was GREAT!

on step class! What an awesome accomplishment! WOW!

A good Monday here - very busy getting ready for the school board meeting, getting report cards out for students, and getting year end reports done.

I did start walking to work again, now that the students are out and I won't need to drive to all the schools. I love being able to get in two miles every day

We have a "guest" child for the next few days. DS2's BF (best friend) is staying with us while his grandma has displaced him at his house. Should make for an interesting few days. So far, I haven't seen much of him - the guys are "gaming" upstairs.

Well, DH is making dinner and it is almost done - I better go see if I can help.


Have a great evening all!

Laurie

Good Evening all...

Jay I was looking for fresh smoked salmon. I did not know it came in a can. That is fabulous and much more convenient. I will look next time I am in the store.
I have tried Italian sausage. I got some at Costco and it is relatively inexpensive but I find the taste a little strong. Still have some in the freezer for variety.
I usually cook a whole chicken and then work from there. Make my own chicken rice bowls etc.
Liked your snack idea though. I probably should get the Fitday going again as I think my portions may be too large still.
But I am still losing so that is a good sign.

Interesting all the mystry authors I will have to pick one. I tend to pull out the best seller list and pick off that. Right now I am reading a Jodi Picoult. I like her writing.

CD your block party sounded great. We used to have them in the old neighborhood when the kids were little. We moved away though. Makes me a little nostalgic. They were fun.

Jay you sound like you are really getting the exercise done. Way to go.

Count down to the wedding Lori... have a great time.

I have a sore hand today and so typing is a chore. Have to get back to some ice on it.
Take care....Jude

When do you do your fitday? I the morning? the night before? I went into it to day and it was malfunctioning.

Hey! I've heard that other folks were having trouble with the site today.

I use the purchased version, which I downloaded onto my own computer. I never have to worry about sites or the internet being down. And I can add custom foods to it, which means I can enter foods I eat frequently right off their nutrition labels.

Of course, if you don't have your own computer at home to download it to, this wouldn't work so well. Also, if you use it online, you can get to it wherever, like at work.

I plan my target calories and weight loss, and then I enter what I eat as I go throughout the day. When I first started out, I would plan days ahead of time--but now I know what goes into each meal or snack, so I only plan a day ahead if there is a dinner out involved or something like that. I have favorite combinations that I'm pretty much set up with otherwise.

I'm glad you figured out the smoked salmon, Jude! I like Alaskan wild-caught the best. Also, you can get it in pouches instead of in cans if that's easier to deal with.

I almost picked up a book by Jodi Picoult. She's not a mystery writer, though--just a straight novelist?

How's the house guest going, CD?

Back to work.

Jay

Jude - sign my name to Jay's post about Fitday - PC version, etc.

I haven't read Jodi, but she is an author I see good reviews for. I tend to just scan the mysteries and thrillers - but I should probably expand my horizons

Jay - I barely see the kids. They "live" upstairs. They come down for food and to use the bathroom, otherwise - you wouldn't know they were here.

Another busy day here - worked a 10 hour day, and then a 45 minute workout afterward. Just enough time to say hi, get some dinner and head to church to train someone on using the multi-media equipment. Then on to an administrative council meeting.
Maybe even some wii sports during the hockey game tonight - GO WINGS!

Laurie

I did get the Fitday to work finally. I have lots of custom foods stored even on the free program. Once you get your choices in there it is a breeze. It is a wakeup call to calories that is for sure. But sometimes when I am eating really healthy I am surprised a the amount you can eat. It is all about choices it seems. I just need to put down the bad choices.

Today for some reason has not been so great. I have some emotional stuff left over from yesterday. I am getting better at not using food as the solution but far from perfect.
Would you believe I received some gourmet chocolate in the mail!!! Along with some stuff from Lush. A gift from overseas. So wonderful to try the Lush products. I am a new customer.

But onward and upward. Don't want to lose the loss that I have. Still trying to get close to 220lb by the end of the month.

I got all dressed to go to the gym this morning and made one phone call to the Canada pension that set off my morning. Got busy on the phone. I was born in the USA but am a Canadian because my parents were. But they did not register me when we moved back to Canada. I was there only a year. So now I need to get a citizenship card or I will be on hold when my pension is supposed to kick in. Glad I found out now as apparently it can take up to a year. I have a few years to go. So that was interesting. Now I have forms to fill out and money to send in. Jeez.
I was born in Washington DC. My dad was a doctor and was doing his residency there. He ended up back in the states for the last years of his career working as Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles.

Jodi is an interesting author. Writes about different things. I have read most of her stuff so I am a fan.

So that is all my news for the day. cheers...jude

Two of Picoult's books I would recommend are My Sisters Keeper which they are making into a movie. Read the book. Or 19 Minutes. Both are thought provoking but a little sad.

Jude -
Progress, not perfection! Keep at it!

Sorry about the pension thing, but what a blessing that you found out about it!

Thanks for the book suggestions!

Another 10 hour day today - but DH took me out for lunch, so that made it seem much shorter

And - I did get in shape boxing and yoga workouts today! It is so strange that for almost 50 years I hated exercise - and now, I hate to miss it!

The weather is FINALLY warmer (in the 60s) so I think we will enjoy a beverage around the fire tonight.


Laurie

Good morning, all!

Jude, thanks for the recommendations. My library has most of her books. Is Lush the cosmetics/soap company?

Glad you got that pension stuff in the works. That could have been an unpleasant surprise down the line!

CD, did you have that beverage around the fire--outdoors, I take it? We're in the hot season now--92 degrees yesterday. It rarely gets above that on the thermometer, but the humidity often pushes the heat index much higher. One does not want to sit around a fire anywhere!

I hope you can get out from under those 10-hour days soon!

Well, today my average calories are STILL out of range by a bit, all because of that one day almost a week ago when I went over by so much. What a learning experience this has been. I knew that high cal days caused weight loss to stall, but I didn't know the specifics of the situation until now.

After an off day, one may think, "Oh, I'll just eat lower for the next day or two or three," but I have now demonstrated to myself that (a) it's hard to eat lower! I get hungry! and (b) it takes more than a day or two or three. I'm hoping that by tomorrow, though, I'll be back in range again. And of course, my weight has not dropped at all since that initial 3-pound drop. This is where the teeth-gritting comes in.

Jay

Yes Lush is the soap company. We have a couple here in Vancouver but have never been in their store. I do like their products though but definitely a splurge.

Laurie sitting round the fire sounds lovely. A little to warm for that around here. We have lots of forest fire warnings too. There has been a fire burning near here for about a week. Campers being careless.

I am feeling down this week. Trying to cut back and eat healthy is a great thing but the weight loss seems so slow. If I eat one thing I should not it stalls all together. I am not getting any exercise again either and that does not help.

How do people stay motivated? I guess I am just not there yet. Hope to get down to the beach for a nice walk this weekend.

Hope you all have a great night.....Jude

Yes, we have a stove-fire pit on our patio out back. We try to have a fire most evenings if the weather cooperates. We went out again tonight - it was 63F at 7:30 p.m. Pretty typical this time of year. It was 55F when we finally came indoors. It is a nice way to relax and connect with each other. With no electronic distractions, it actually encourages conversation.

Jay - hang in there - that scale will move again. It certainly seems unfair that it is so easy to go way over and impossible to go way under when it comes to counting calories.

Jude - my motivation came mostly from my desire to get healthy and fit. The scale cooperated most weeks and I had very few plateaus or gains. Even those weeks, I felt so much stronger, that they didn't bother me much.

I think keeping up with my exercise really made a huge difference - not only in staying motivated, but keeping me on track. It really makes me feel good about myself when I work out. The endorphins help, but just knowing that I am doing something positive for my body is a mood lifter

Hang in there - for me gradual changes led to permanent ones. I certainly didn't start out as an exercise fanatic - quite the opposite. I hated every exercise I ever tried. I hated to sweat, hated repetitive, rote routines (still do), and hated the THOUGHT of having to exercise.

Getting up and doing a yoga or balance ball or pilates routine at 6 a.m. really helped. I wasn't awake enough to hate what I was doing And, before long, I wanted to keep at it because I loved the results.

My cardio routines in the afternoon were walking or dance - I love the dance workouts - they are fun. And, since I have two left feet, concentrating on trying to do the steps made the time fly. I still have trouble with a couple of the Zumba routines - my body just doesn't like to move like that

So - I guess what I am saying is - get back at the exercise - it will help with the eating and getting that scale to move again! You really can do this. I know it is hard, but it is worth it!



Another long day for me today - an 11 hour day at work and then grocery shopping afterward. I did get in a workout after that - which helped relieve some of the stress from work.

Though it was a good day overall - contract negotiations and my yearly evaluation. It went very well.

Gotta fly - time to get my food for tomorrow ready, then off to bed.

Hope you all have a FANTASTIC Friday!

Laurie

Hi!

I finally got back to my calorie target! Now it's time to move forward some more. The good news besides that is that I have maintained the 3 pound loss, and that's right on target according to my FitDay plan.

CD, I'm glad your evaluation went well! Will you be receiving, er, better compensation? Hope so! You've really been putting in the hours... and not just lately.

Conversation... I think I remember conversation... Is it when you talk about something other than household finances and issues?

Jude, sorry you're having a down week. In my experience, which you've been reading about for some time , it's not that one eats "a" food that is off plan--it's how much is in "a" food and how often. One thing that helps me is to make sure I keep on tracking everything and don't just try to tell myself I don't have to list X, it was only a little bit. And, if I get the plan in place for the day, even if it changes later on, then at least I can see a direction to begin with.

Here's how I think it goes: motivation - commitment - discipline. Motivation is what gets you going. Commitment is what keeps you going on days when you aren't feeling motivated. Discipline is what saves your butt when you've even forgotten the commitment.

Think of it in a work context. You want to get the job done (motivation). You said you would get the job done (commitment). And even when you are tired and just want to go home and forget it, you know how to get the job done (discipline).

That last part is the "one foot in front of the other" part. It has managed to get me to the gym on many, many occasions when I didn't want to go.

I found out yesterday that my friend doing the bicycle ride from SF to LA got hurt in an accident. Another biker cut in too close and clipped her front wheel, and that was that. She had a serious concussion--she hit so hard her helmet cracked! Better that than her head! She's OK now--had the CAT scan etc. at the hospital--and is home. But that's not an ending to the story anyone likes--except that she came out OK.

Got to get to work here...

Jay

Hi Jay,
I don't know about additional compensation. The superintendent is recommending it to the school board, but they told him that he is to freeze everything right now - so it will be bucking their orders.
Thankfully, the board recognizes my service and several members are aware of the hours I put in as a salaried employee. I'm anticipating a 2% increase - which is great given the economy and school district finances right now.

Your advice to Jude is very wise. You are right - discipline is what kicks in when the other two seem to have flown the coop.

Sorry to hear about your friend - I have a friend that was hit by a car while riding her bike - she wouldn't be here except for that helmet.

A great Friday today - I took off a half day, and while I need to be on call, and check my email - it feels really decadent to be surfing the net on my couch at noon

Hope you all have a GREAT day!

Laurie