hey music addict, how was Cuba? We are thinking of going for the first ime this January with our 4 year old son, who LOVES the beach/ocean/sand :smug:
Did you like it? Which are did you stay in? I don't know between Varadero and Cayo Coco ?! Any suggestions appreciated!!

I believe in rewards every 10 pounds. I usually get something like, earrings.
perfume,flowers anything but food.

Perfume would be a perfect reward! I love it. I rarely buy perfume for myself. I'm going to have to think of some nifty non-food rewards so that I'm tempted. :D

Tinky ~ WTG on the loss!

Carrie ~ Glad you could stop in. WOW, this is really happening fast. I don't think I could be ready to move without small children. My thoughts are with you!

Yes, half days are working out excellent and my weight is starting to come off fast because I am not sitting on my rear half the day. HEHEHEHE! I do miss posting so much but I guess now I post about the same as everyone else.

Calories for Wednesday: 1284

Breakfast: Basil/Tomato patty (MorningStar) 1/2 c. fiber one, 1/2 c. strawberries, 1/4 c soy milk.
Snack: Missed it
Lunch: Smart One (can't remember what), 1/2 c. peaches, salad
Snack: 1 c. carrots, 4 Tbsp. FF hummus
Dinner: 2 Chik patty salad, 1 oz 1/2 calorie potato chips
Snack: 100 cal pack popcorn, 1 Turkey Frank

Activies: 30 minute walk, Curves, clean house after DGS, moved 10 bins and Christmas tree out to the shed, fed animals, cleaned my blazer out.

As if that wasn't enough last night I started right back up this morning. Walk the dogs 20 minutes, rode my horse and cleaned the horses leanto. No wonder I am finally starting to lose weight. Tonight I am going to clean some more of the spare bedroom, clean the garden and flower beds and who knows what else I will come up with. HAHAHAHA!

Well I better get going because I almost answered the phone and I am off the clock. HAHAHA! I can't give them any more time, my boss would have a fit. He gets mad at me when I work for free.

Have to get going and I will talk at you all later. I don't know if will be able to get on this weekend or not. I am off tomorrow.

Originally Posted by crafty mommy:
Do you ladies reward yourself when you reach a short term goal? I don't think I'll do it with food rewards; I was thinking of buying myself a nice shirt or something from Michael's. A little something that says, "yay! Way to go!" to myself. ;)

The first time I rewarded myself was when I weighed under 200 and I got my nose pierced. Well, re-pierced, I had to let it close up a few years ago for my job.

Lately, my rewards have been buying clothes that fit. I don't like wearing stuff that's super baggy.

omg....
Well I had weigh in today, and bc I didn't have a good week (again), I was shooting for maintenance..and i lost 1/2lb! which was nice.
But afterwards I had a treat meal, which consisted of a honey ham turkey club from Quizno's (9"!!) with a minute maid lite lemonade..and then, the worst part, I asked dh to stop at timmy's for an iced capp. Well well, we were at the speaker and dh asked for a small butter caramel iced capp and we thought the girl said "With cream"? bc usually they ask if you prefer it made with milk or cream. So I said "half and half" so that at least it woudnt be 18% cream in it, kwim??
Got it, and it's half full I think with whipped cream!! lol So she must have asked "with whip cream?" as the butter caramel is an iced cap supreme..and when I said half and half, she actually put half whipped cream in the cup. The worst thing? I still drank it!:?: :o :?:
SO I have no freakin' clue how many calories that little escapade was but it feels like my arteries are clogging as we speak. Good thing I ordered a small! lol
no more "supremes" for me! And , onward and upward! [again]:dizzy:

HI sounds like everyones doing good......Has anyone else seemed to have just eat less after while i'm not that hungry anymore after i started counting my calores? Anyone know anything about pepper? is is good for you? Because i eat alot of it....... The kashi was really good thanks for the advice. Well I've lost another pound but im not ready to move my scale just yet... Well I'm going to go for tonight talk to you all later

Calories for today~ 1463
Fiber~ 33 grams

Dh had his phone interview today. He thinks it went well. We should know something in a week or so. The job is in upstate NY. That would be quite an adventure! Even if this doesn't pan out, it looks like we will be moving out of California. All of the other opportunities are in other states (OK, FL, WA...) We shall see. I think I need to start packing soon.

Cjc~ Any tips on moving?

Natalia~ Half whipped cream??? Lol. That's a funny story. Try not to beat yourself up over it. :hug: Tomorrow is another day, you can get back on track!

Meg~ What kind of pepper? Black pepper?

:broc: Congratulations on all the loses! It seems like there is one everyday now! Everyone is doing great!

Yeah Black Pepper..Theres no calories or fat in it...;..Is it bad 4 you?

Meg~ As long as you don't have stomach problems I think black pepper is fine. I know it's considered an "irritant" by some doctors, but if it's not causing you problems I think it's fine.

Oh, I have read that you should stay away from pink pepper corns. They apparently have something in them that isn't good for you. Of course, I don't know all the specifics on that. It's just what I've heard.

Hey, strange fact for the day: Did you know black pepper isn't a pepper? It's a berry from a plant (can't remember the genus off the top of my head.) Also, cayenne pepper is actually healing not an irritant like black pepper can be. You'd think it'd be the other way around!

Hey everyone:)

I'm trying to be a better mom/wife and actually cook meals instead of serving ingredients (does that make sense? cottage cheese, beans, chicken, blobs of single foods) and its making it hard for me to keep my calories down.

I made a delicious "lentil loaf" and its so good, and good for me, but a little goes a long way and I want more! lol

I planned on a couple pasta dishes too, and that's really going to be tough.

I might need to go back to my boring blobs of ingredients. LOL

Zoe
I know what you mean.
I made stuffed manacotti for hubby, and you know I ate 2 of them. with a little of the spagetti sauce.
And you have to eat garlic bread with that. So I ate a very large salad with it. I am stuffed! ;) like the manacotti.

I do know what you mean though. My seperate items together make my meals. When I cook for the family... it seems so unhealthy, to me now.
Thats a good thing for me, I think.
I don't do much pasta or garlic bread. But it was yummy
If I behave tonight. I should be ok. calories so far-1167 I eat about 14-1600 a day.

I cook almost all our meals, but I have had to change how I cook. I don't make anything that makes over 4 servings now (since it's just the two of us) and once we are served I put the rest away for our lunches. It's hard to be tempted when it's already in the fridge. If I want to make a recipe that makes 6-8 servings I'll cut it in half. I've also cut way back on the amount of oil and salt that recipes call for. If you cook on a slightly lower heat you can use a lot less oil (I was amazed!) When I'm making a stirfry I will use a few Tablespoons of water to finish cooking if it looks dry (what would you call that? Stir-steaming. Lol.)

I bake a lot and I discovered that you can substitute flax seed meal for fat. It's a 3:1 ration (3 of flax to 1 of fat.) It works for most baking recipes (I haven't tried with cookies.) It cuts the calories considerably and you get some omega-3's in. You just have to watch them closely since they brown faster. I cut the amount of sugar in recipes too.

I also, cut cheese way back in recipes and I have yet to hear DH complain (and he LOVES cheese.) I've also discovered that there are some good low-fat cheese out there now. I try to find ones that don't have any weird fillers; just made with low-fat milk, salt, & rennet. I was surprised that they were good.

Oh, and when I make pasta, I only make enough for 2 servings. That way, it's not possible to binge.

Littlered~ Look at your hair! You are so lucky to have long straight red hair. It's beautiful!

yep, I had a bigger serving again tonight. Good ideas Zenor. It gets tricky with kids, and making enough for leftovers. I need to find some healthier recipes. I think I'm actually going to get a recipe box and start collecting the keepers. (a huge change for me, since we've always been go-out-to-eat kinda people.)

Littlered, I agree your long hair is beautiful! I've been growing mine out for over a year now. I'm finally at scrunchy bun stage. LOL

Calories for today~ 1420
Fiber~ 33 grams

I had to go to the DMV today to renew my license. Thankfully I was only there for 45 minutes (really not that bad everything considered.) It was kind of fun to be able to change the weight on my DL and get a new picture.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Mine still says 115. LOL

That's something that I can't wait to do (go change my license) I hate the picture on mine. My first license I loved the pic, but since then they got worse. And now some say I don't look like it. Which is good I think....

Well I have been doing good. Finally broke the 140's. I have been 139.something for the past 3 days. It keeps going down by .2 so that is all good. Hopefully it will keep going down like that this weekend. Well gotta get my daugther up and ready for the princess interview today. Talk to yall later!
Mary

Total calories for yesterday were 1343 with 15% coming from fat.

Two months, two weeks, three days, 17 hours, 59 minutes and 35 seconds. 1574 cigarettes not smoked, saving $472.50. Life saved: 5 days, 11 hours, 10 minutes.

Calories for today~ 1466
Fiber~ 39 grams

My count is probably a little higher due to a lunch out. I tried to choose as best I could, but estimating measurements was a problem. I did the best I could though and it wasn't too bad. Good thing I'd planned a low-cal dinner.

Tinky~ Look at the sandwich as a few too many good calories. If you don't go over (or not too much) does it really matter (as long as it's occasionally)? I think we should be able to enjoy life and lose weight! :D

Speaking of driving on a CA DL in another state, what are the rules? How long can you wait before you have to get a new one? Since we are more than likely moving out of state I'm curious.

Petra~ What's a princess interview? Did I miss a post?

Originally Posted by Tinky009:

As for DL, here in WA state, you must apply for a new license within 30 days of moving here. You gotta take a written or computer test, but if your DL is still valid then you don't have to take a Behind the Wheel test. I'll be doing that sometime soon. LOL

Huh! Thanks for the info!

Hey everyone- The princess interview went good I guess,lol. According to her, she's 7. I told her to remember that we are just doing it for fun and even if she don't win she is still my princess!! Calories were good!!! I did take a few drinks of dh's pop(soda) but I didn't drink the whole thing. And it's amazing that now I really don't love the taste like I use to. As of this morning I am down to 138.6!!!!!! YAH!!!!! I have broke through that plateau I had for 2 weeks!!! I think that I will make my original goal no problem. But I am thinking of changing it to 125, not for sure just yet but I am heavily leaning towards it. I don't know if part of the weight loss was the amount of hair I got cut off yesterday? Could be it looked like a whole head of hair on the floor when she was done (I have really thick hair). It was just past my shoulders now it's chin length. I think that I like it, but will have to wait and see when I finally get the chance to do it.

Zenor77 The princess interview was for a local festival. Just something for the little girls to get dressed up like the queens. I found out yesterday that the father's have to walk the girls on stage, when I told DH that he was like I have to???? I said yup!! Which I think will be cute. They do the results and all that stuff next Friday night. So I will let everyone know on Saturday morning probably. I remember when I was in the running for Homecoming queen and my mom walked me down, she said something to me that I will never forget "I am proud of you, you are the first one to do this!!" Meaning that none of my older sisters (who did just about everything in school) ever were in the running for Homecoming queen or anything along the lines.

Well off to do some laundry and that before we head to the cell store to switch coverage!! I always feel like I am going to get screwed when I go with a new provider. UGH!!

Morning everyone!
Hi Diva, nice to see you.

How about a weekly wrap up? I have averaged 1756 cals per day and lost .3 of a pound.

Hi Susan,
Nice to see ya again.
Yeah! on your weight loss.


Your idea of checking your calories for the week is good. It reminds me that I did not do as bad as I thought for the week.

My ave. calories for the week is 1538.
fat: 25%
carbs:48
Protein: 27%
fiber ave. for the week is 41.
sodium: 2884 mg
average water intake is 12 glasses per day...96 oz.
Weight has bounced between 162-163 lbs.

I'm a big fan of perspective. Although some days I feel like I eat waaay too much, it evens out over time. If I focus on the doughnuts or beer or sausage on a bun, I think UGH! So I need to step back and look at the bigger picture.

I highly recommend that ;)

Hello to you, Susan!

My gym closed down yesterday. I am irritated!!!

Anyway, yesterday's calories were 1314 with 14% coming from fat.

This site is slow in posting replies today. Anyone else having problems?

Didn't mean to ignore you, Little Red. It's early...

;-)

I'm so tired from my trip! So much walking around, but then again, alot of eating too. I haven't weighed to day out of fear that I gained weight, which I know I did, but my main concern is : how much?

My favorite meal on our trip was at a tea lounge. It was gorgeous, and just wonderful.

Okay, I read the first few pages, so here are my 'replies'.

Clairinator ~ August 6th is when I start off to college! :) Oh, and :welcome3:

To all the other newbies! ~ :welcome3: There's quite a few of you!

I'll write more later, but I've got to unpack! TTYL! Bye!

Here are my weekly averages~

Calories~1457
31% fat
53% carb (I added my 2% of alcohol in there~why do they separate it?)
16% protein
Fiber~36g
Sodium~1563mg

Charlene~ Welcome back from your trip! I'm glad you had fun!

Diva~ I'm sorry to hear your gym closed! I'd be irritated too.

Littlered~ I stopped straightening my hair when I started growing it out this last time; too much effort. I do need to get it layered soon, because my waves get weighed down when it gets long. When you get it cut I would go mid-length first and then go shorter later if you want. That's what I did when my hair was down to my waist. It wasn't as much of a shock to do it in increments. I ended up with really short hair (I change it a lot!) Short hair is easy to deal with, but after while I got bored with it, so out it grows. :D

I think your fluctuations may be the salt. That week I went over board on Thai food (lots of salt) I was bloated for 5 days and then it all came back off. It was weird. That had never happened to me before.

Petra~ That sounds like fun! I still love dressing up! Lol. I hope your daughter does well and has fun. Hopefully your Dh doesn't get stage fright. ;)

I'm down two more pounds (for the last 2 days the scale stayed.) Which means, bye bye 160's! Yay! It looks like I will make my birthday goal. I wasn't sure for awhile there.

Hi,
Just a quicki before work.

Zenor
Congrats http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/happy096.gif http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/dance001.gif http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/dance015.gif http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/dance011.gifhttp://www.freesmileys.org/emo/dance004.gif
158 lb. Oh you are good!
Keep it up Girl.
Boy, I hope you are right about the sodium. I am going to try to be very careful this coming week.
Does anyone know the sodium requirements for a day?



Diva,
So glad to see you back. hang around and make me laugh like old times.
http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/happy020.gif

Susan,
thanks for making me look at the big picture. I need that sometimes.

well, its time to get moving .

later
http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/happy055.gif

Littlered~ I think the FDA (or is it USDA?) recommends no more than 2400mg of sodium per day.

Calories for today~ 1454
Fiber~ 38 grams

Petra/Tinky~ I too have thought about tweaking my goal, but not much. I promised DH I wouldn't go below 145. I have a large frame (according to my elbow bone size) and when I get below 145 he says I have "bobble-head syndrome." Lol. I don't want that!

I have tomorrow off from work (they changed our schedule and we are working Friday instead of Monday.) I think it's time to start packing. It's so hard to start since we don't know exactly where we are moving. I need some motivation to start me packing up stuff!

I tried posting here earlier today and it just got stuck and wouldn't post! So annoying.

I lost 3 lbs last week!! And that was between Mon - Friday! I really started seriously doing calorie counting AND exercising on Monday and it really worked for me!

I stayed at about 1530 calories/day and 30 mins of treadmill Mon-Sat. I took today off for exercise but tried to keep to the calories (even with the Father's day mexican restaurant dinner!).

Hope you all have great week!

Oops! :corn: I gave in to a popcorn craving after I posted my calories. So, my actual calories for today are 1540. We were watching the original (1954) Godzilla (in Japanese with subtitles) and I really needed something to munch on. At least it was air popped right?

AnnaA~:congrat: on the 3 lbs loss!