Faerie - congratulations on your engagement! How exciting for you!

We had a great Thanksgiving (Canadian) weekend with family and friends. On Tuesday it really did feel like a fall day - yippee! I love fall.

I made stew for supper and soup for lunches tomorrow - I can now get back in to baking. Just picture me with a skull print apron and a mixing bowl in my hands - a gothic Betty Crocker -

Did you make the skull apron?

I am planning on doing some baking today myself-a healthier version of apple crisp. Less butter, skins left on the apples, more oatmeal and some wheat germ added, etc.

Autumn is my favorite time of the year as well.

Faerie, congratulations both on the engagement and the 50lbs lost. Well done.

We had a good Thanksgiving too - although I probably ate too much, not at the meal itself but over the past week with rich leftovers. Ah well. I think my weight will be up at TOPS this morning but that's partly due to still being sick (almost a month now) and not getting exercise. The drugs I've had haven't helped - they get rid of the cough but leave me with even less energy. My body doesn't like drugs. I think I'm getting over it finally but I thought that two weeks ago too. I've been spending far too much time sitting on the couch playing Oblivion this last few weeks. Not good for weight loss or getting stuff done around the house.

Aphil, your apple crisp sounds great. I never peel apples or pears when I cook with them. It tastes good and is much easier - especially if I use our apples, which are small and thus there would be that much more peel for the same volume of apples.

Mauvais - I like the idea of the gothic chef. Don't get into too much flour though - it will really show!

We've discovered that one of the apple trees in the yard produces edible apples, the others are good for jelly but not eating off the tree. Maybe large crabapples? But the good eaters are now ready in great abundance. Time to freeze some.

Everything looks wintry now since the huge wind yesterday blew most of the leaves off the elms and poplars. They were such nice colours too. Not as red as out east but beautiful gold. The boys thought the wind was cool since it blew them around on the way to school.

Have a great day all,
Jax

Mauv & Jax - Thank you for the congrats.

Gothic Betty Crocker ^^ hee hee


That's cool that you discovered edible apples growing around your house. I grew up with a crabapple tree in my front yard. They weren't good for anything but throwing at siblings

The leaves here are only halfway through changing. But it's all rainy right now, so those ones are coming down in a mess. I really love the colorful autumn leaves, so I hope we get some good ones around here.

faerie-congrats to you!!!

I am completely with you on the love for autumn leaves...it was the main reason that DH and I agreed to get married in October (23rd). We have been together for 10 years now, and here in a couple weeks it will be our 8th wedding anniversary.

I still remember it like it was yesterday...we decorated the reception with leaves, pumpkins, straw, and all the tones of autumn-red, orange, yellow, gold, brown, and a little black thrown in. Our cake had autumn toned leaves and flowers between the tiers. We actually had some of the buffet items served in cauldrons.

Thank you aphil ^^ That sounds so nice! How exciting to be together for 10 years and married for 8. My parents were married October 19th and have been together for 39 years. (I think a small part of me wants the October wedding out of superstition... to keep that longevity!)

I'm with you all the way about Autumn. There's something so magical about it for me.

I knew today's weigh in would depress me, but I'm going to weigh myself in once a week no matter what. It's that TOM but I was still hopeful that my exercise would still show a difference. Instead I'm .5 lbs heavier. Not that big a deal, but I really wanted to see a loss even though I was kinda expecting nothing.

I'm really just anxious to see 19-anything. I've been between 1200 - 1500 calories all this week, but I didn't always make the best choices for what those calories were made of, so I kinda blame myself. Bah. Well, I'm going to be on track for next week. I just have to remember to be patient and persistant.

Does anyone take Yoga by any chance?

Frog--I'm up on my weight from my trip, so if it makes you fell any better, I gotta get myself back on track, too. This thing would be SO much easier if I never left the house. I do yoga dvds at home...

Aphil--I thought Wheat Germ was used to gain weight. Is it not? And your ceremony sounds like it was phenomenal. Mine was in the courthouse and I loved all 2 minutes of it

Ditto on everyone's sentiments about autumn. I live in the northern part of my state which has lots of mountains (really big hills) and green turning colors right now. And the weather is sunny, breezy and 79 all day. It's perfect. Ah, to be perpetually October.

No-wheat germ is not used specifically for gaining weight. It is an extremely healthy grain source.

Back from the whole wedding weekend. I did well until late into the night of the wedding after I got home... crackers & cheese. Gah. Way too much of it. *sigh* I went up slightly last week, so I'm hoping all the exercise I put in this week will pay off.

I took a treadmill walk at the hotel that I stayed at (yay! no vacations from exercise ^^) and I tried out that yoga video twice that Ollie recommended. Very low key & introduction level. I like it a lot. And omgosh does it require more balance and arm strength than I thought! I'm planning on working it in more regularly into my week, and to use the book as a companion guide to understand the forms better.

Hey Frog - I understand about going up. I just hope it's not twice in a row. *deep breath* Every moment is a new chance for a better choice. Even if I end up going up again a little this week, I know I can do better! We can do it >.<!!!*determined face*

Thanks for the encouragement ollie and Faerie! I had a lil mope right after I weighed in, but I just started thinking about moving forward after that, so I feel determined too!

Hey, what yoga DVD are you guys talking about? I really want to get one but I'm like a super, super beginner with no upper body strength to speak of. I need something that goes at a relatively slow pace. I can't do a regular push-up to save my life, let alone a yoga one.

Frog - Ollie suggested a book written by "Megan Garcia entitled Megayoga and her DVD Yoga: Just My Size." I decided to go for it, and so far so good. Now, I've only gone through them a couple of times, but they're slow paced and easy going for beginners. I don't feel rushed or too confused. The dvd doesn't always fully explain things to my satisfaction (I like longwinded explanations of things) but the book has helped to fill in the gaps. The dvd's just setting the movement pace.

I'm totally with you on the upper body strength lacking. There aren't any push-ups on the video... but they have some positions that are testing my arm strength. (Like Warrior 2... keeping my arms out for so long... it's a good hurt!)

Anyway, I'm probably just blabbing on as usual because I'm excited about something new.... again... Thanks for being patient! -_-

Frog---yes! Move (hop) forward! .5 lbs. is nothing compared to the zig zags on scales that take place. And many people post about it, you are not alone!

Yoga dvd--I am so glad that the dvd is working out for you Faerie. After I was comfortable with Megayoga I decided to move it up a notch and got Suzanne Deason's Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss. She is the same instructor on my Balance Ball dvd so I knew ahead that I really liked her. This dvd is great b/c it has 4 different people doing the same routine with or without modifications. And Deason is so relaxing, really into your breathing whatnot. One thing I have learned about yoga--is that weight loss IS about centering the mind AND body. Everything must be in balance, in harmony, for the lifestyle change to truly take affect.

I'm having such a blah day. My work is taking me forever. (So what do I do instead of finishing it up? That's right... get distracted by the forums. Naughty me.)

I've got to get on the treadmill, too, and I totally don't want to do -anything- today. *sucks it up* Okay, I feel better after complaining. I'll feel better after I hop on the tread for 30 minutes anyways. Then I can go home and have some crab cakes for dinner! Yum!

Does anyone else get super nervous right before stepping on the scale? I have a weekly weigh-in day (not sure about how everyone else goes about this) and it seems that for a couple hours before I get weighed that I get all antsy & nervous. I'm not sure. Maybe I'm putting a little too much emphasis on the number instead of how I feel? Am I being strange, or do other people feel this way sometimes, too?

I'll edit and let you all know how the weigh-in went later...


Edited:
Down 3lbs this week! I'm psyched!