Thank you for the enthusiastic welcome Bootsie. I look forward to meeting everyone.

Good Morning Girls!
Nice to have two new Golden Girls, Welcome Stitches. I'm a calorie counter myself, tried every diet known but always come back to weighing and counting calories. You can use Fitday.com to help with recording them and also put all your ingredients for a dish into it and it'll figure out the calories per serving.
Zoe...I just checked out 4 books yesterday at the library, the latest Stephanie Plum and 3 new authors. I've not heard of Diana Gabaldon before, what type of stories does she write? I love reading too!
Jess...I snorted through my nose just reading about you snorting! It wasn't me either that makes up chip bags, I don't have chips in the house. Even if I purchased them for DH, I wouldn't touch them, the calories aren't worth it.
Karen31...I have facebook but don't use it much. I used to play the games but it got addictive so I quit. I don't have the time to mess with it in the summer.

Quote:
Anybody here have facebook?

Rosey...looks like I'm missing out on a good series, everyone is talking about the Outlander series. I only like mystery books, what's Outlander's about?
Karen3...I keep bags of frozen vegetables in the freezer and can/will eat a whole package with salt/pepper/seasoning and spray butter. It does fill us up. Try eating a bean-o before eating this Karen,
Hi Lynn...classes finished yet?
Freda...what's happening with you, are you still OP? You haven't updated your menu since the 'Chocolate to die for' entry.
I just saw a male Oriole trying to feed grape jelly to his young baby that's hanging on a grape vine. Too cute, I gotta go watch!
Have a great day everyone!

Bobbi, I got to work this morning (after 5 days off!) and discovered that I had my yogurt, a snack baggie full of blueberries and a snack baggie full of strawberries, but NO snack baggie full of Fiber One!!!!! (And after reading your post about fiber, too! I was SOOOOOO peeeeeeved at myself!) Diana Gabaldon’s books, Bobbi, are about a World War II nurse who walks through some stones while sight-seeing in Scotland (stones similar to Stonehenge, but smaller) and finds herself back in the early 1700’s. She meets – and marries (even though she’s already married back in the 1940’s) a young highlander named Jamie Fraser, and the books are essentially their story, which is filled with all sorts of suspense, MYSTERY, a bit of romance, intrigue, pathos and anything else you can imagine as well as much that you can’t. I’ve got to tell you that I am absolutely hooked on these darned books…
As for portioning things out in little bags…well, that only works for me when I’m actually taking them somewhere, and can’t get any more by virtue of not being near my refrigerator or kitchen cabinets. Portioning them out at home would just end me up like you, PT, with a pile of used baggies at my feet. (They don’t call us PT’s for nothing!) I have to make a concerted effort to only stock the house with healthy stuff, and then try not to have too much of it around, because when I’m on a feeding frenzy, I’ve been known to overdose on anything I can get my hands on…even the healthy stuff! Yep, we need to plan a GGgathering! What’s a central location?
Karen, an Iphone, eh? Kewl. I can’t even use half the functions on my perfectly utilitarian, non-distinguished cell phone. My daughter absolutely shocked me the other day by telling me I could actually take videos on my phone! Huh? No! Don’t show me how to use all those features! I have a perfectly good videocamera – and regular digital camera – in the closet that I DO know how to use. Why, I don’t even know how to text on my phone, although I’m told that I can if I want to. Keywords, I guess, are “want to”. Not me. I don’t even like talking on the phone when I HAVE to, and I only have my cellphone because DH – and my kids – INSISTED, because of all the driving I do on my job.
Rosey, I’m so glad you changed your avatar pic! This new one is really nice – and with the flowers, it just makes me feel good to look at it. I SO know what you mean about the satisfaction quotient in gooey desserts VS sf jello. Give me a gooey dessert any day! (Of course I shouldn’t have it, but…..)
Congrats on the new car, Karen3! Did you sleep with her?
Welcome, Stitches!
I ate a bit crazily while on my mini-vacay, but am back on track officially this morning. Didn’t gain anything, which is miraculous. Still 155. Always 155 <sigh> Maybe one day I’ll actually lose a few more stinking pounds!
Hi to all my dear GG’s (you know who you are) and enjoy your day! (Hot & humid here…high 90’s. Ugh.)

Z

Good morning everyone! I just joined a challenge on my outlook ministry called Bingo this morning and sounds like a lot of fun accomplishing my bad habit I started back up after four years...why after four years I started drinking diet soda's again, don't really know, just happened. Today I have to drink 10 cups of water which will be easy for me but give up diet soda for 1 day, if I give it up 1 day I am going to shoot for 2 days.
Have tomatoes to make sauce and peaches to put up that someone gave me. The mean old Grasshoppers ate my peaches and left the seed on the tree! I made some Hot sauce and put peaches in with it and served it over cream cheese for hubbie and he loved it!

Bobbi I have Fitday on a CD and put it on all my computers and I use it everyday, just love it!

Centralized location to meet for a Golden Girls week-end? Depends on who want to come.
Michigan
Massachusetts
Texas
Seattle
Buck County, Pa
Alaska
Denver
Missouri
Newfoundland
Florida
Minnesota......who'd I miss?
Sounds like Kansas City, Mo would be most central.

Thanks for reminding me about the Outlander series, it's one of my favorite. Went to my online library and downloaded the 1st book and will begin reading it tonight. I also noticed that the 7th book in the series has finally been released. I really like to read one book after another in a series, I hate to wait a year or more between books in a series.

Donna, I completely undestand what you mean about eliminating all sweets. I journal not only what I eat each day but make brief notes about how I'm feeling. Over a period of time I discovered that I MUST never eat anything chocolate when I'm stressed. The combination of stress and chocolate will make me spin out of control for days if not weeks. I try to find a different stress relef technique and when that doesn't work I just try to get through the "tough" time one minute at a time.

I don't do without my sweets, I have them, just like I can have 33 dinner mints for 150 calories or choc raisins 31 for 150 calories or 53 red hots for 60 calories, I just include them in my daily menu and if I loose I loose if I don't that week maybe the next and so far I have lost 16 pounds in 14 weeks. I think if I have my sweets it is easier to pass up other sweet stuff like cake and pies, cookies that really add up the calories. Am I wrong?

Morning everyone..raining today..i was up early a furry monster weighing 8# was jumping on my chest and wanted out..the cabin folks will be home today and ive got a small turkey in the oven..they are allways starving when they get home..im with you jess just dont have it in the house as i will eat it..darn capt crunch peanut butter cereal anyways..i snacked on and off all day yesterday on the stuff..i finally quit on a sugar over load..i vow to be good today.. Im now reading Into the Widerness by Sara Donati..another historical fiction similar to outlander but set in america a luv story ..so far its got my interest theres more than one book in the series..Another favorite author of mine is Wilbur Smith..i own 26 of his books and have reread them many times..my favorite being The River God and the Seventh Scroll has anyone read them? well here i am rambling about one of my favorite things to do..if i had to choose one pleasure for the rest of my life it would be books..have agreat day everyone (((hugs))) rosey

Evening all...We had sunshine today...1st time in 2 weeks. The sea breeze wall is building now and boomers are coming. I had such a treat last Sept. I had forgotten that i had the Donna Gabaldon book(when they are in Ga before war starts). Read it and was immediately hungry for next book. Bingo it was published that week. Each of her books are about 3-4 thick, hugh suckers and the cast carries over from each book. So if you are starting you have about 21-24 inches of books to read. hehehhee i love that.

Jess...are you reading South of Broad by Conway? Best I can tell you hang in it gets better after a few chapters. I swear his book The Great Santini was written about my Dh...

Rosey...I was looking for books on ebay and saw Wilbur Smith last night going back and check out if bidable. thanks and I'll look for Sara Donati,too.

We are looking at ourselves as why we can go into a feeding frenzy. I think we are all addictive personalities. Everything I do is in vast clumps. Like I play bridge 5 hrs a day and come home and play more online. I read probably 5 hours a day. When I was working I worked 10hrs and then did the bridge/reading/archery. When I cook...I COOK. Do nothing half way. Now reach a stage in my life where I just want to the things that make me happy. Tired of being the hostess with the mostest. Got old after few years down here...friends come stay 2 weeks and take you out to dinner once. hmmm pay for a motel room for the week on that bill. ha! We are a generation that had to clean your plate and always supposed to be a good girl. Not to mention we learned eat for everything happy or sad. Thats it....It's our Mother's fault!

Lights are flickering storm is getting close....hugskaren3

Karen thats 2 funny our moms fault lol i was itty bitty as a child and picky my folks used to bribe me with ahershey bar to clean my plate no wonder i love chocolate..wilbur smith books come in a series..theres several diff story lines..go to his website befor u buy as you need the sets to figure all of them out..rosey

Pat Conroy! North of Broad! It's sitting in a basket in my kitchen right this minute - on hold until I finish the Outlander series. I read 5 of the Outlander books about two years ago, recently bought the last two, but decided to start over from the first one to refresh my memory before finishing the last ones. Saw North of Broad when I was in Target shopping for something or other, and grabbed it because I LOVE Conroy's writing. Prince of Tides was amazing - and the movie they made of it was actually good, unlike most movies based on books.
I'd say you're pretty much right on about the addictive personality thing, Karen3. I know I started smoking late - when I was 28 - because everyone I knew then smoked, and it seemed like a very sophistocated thing to do. So I bought myself a pack of Benson & Hedges, and it was addiction at first sight. Within a year, everyone I knew had QUIT smoking, but I kept on until about four years ago. Good thing I was never one for drinking or drugging, or I'd probably be in a gutter somewhere by now. I have a really hard time, as I mentioned earlier, with just cutting down on something. With me, it's all or nothing, and unfortunately with food, you can't just stop eating entirely. I've really had to work at disciplining myself just to take off what I've lost to date, and for the past few months I've been in a holding pattern. I overeat, and then cut back drastically...and then overeat again, which so far has kept me at 155, but I'm not losing like I want to. I'd really like to get back down to 140 again, which is where I really think I look - and feel - my best.
Okay, got to get myself to bed so I can get up for work in the AM.
G'nite PT, Bobbi, Freda, Lynn, Isabella, Karens 3 & 31, Rosey, Bootsie, Stitches...etc., etc.

Z

Good Morning, Everyone,

This heat has been doing me in. Even though I am hiding out in air-conditioning, it still feels like the air is "heavy." I am feeling VERY lethargic. Even my cats slept late with me today!

OK - better late than never. It's after 9 and I am just about ready to get dressed and go to the gym (I usually hit the gym around 6am).

My course is over next week. After that, I will be able to check in here better and more often.

Has anyone ever heard of Dr. Siegal's cookies? Some kind of meal replacement?

Lynn

It was on TV once but must not of been much to it for never heard of it again until now.

akrosey49, is there bears running loose in alaska? My Grandaughter is headed that way next month, she is 15, and she loves all animals and wanted to warn her to stay away from them! I really love her they were visiting me and we were out walking and she says Oh..........look at that pretty kitty.....that was no kitty or maybe you can say it was, but it is what us Texans call a poo-cat! Skunk to the rest of the world, I grabbed her arm and hollered run!! Hollering Poo-CAT RUN!