oh and about the landlord thing. The landlord is my father in law and we have spoken about it but we haven't found a solution yet. the good and bad news is he wants us to move to one of his other apartments so he can sell this house. Which means we would get a whole house t ourselves....bad thing is its a pretty wrecked house from the crackheads that have lived in it over the years and its on a not so nice street but well see what happens...I am a little excited a little scared.

Tinky ~ His heart was in the right place but it forgot to check the temperature. Sorry it was messed up but you are right, men are not good at timing.

Thanks for the congrats but the odd thing is I don't feel like I am doing anything to deserve the weight loss. I know I am but it is just dropping off of me. I used to put more effort than this into weight loss and gotten less results. I am not complaining, I will take it. Must be God's will because I have heard weight loss should feel effort less. I didn't think it was possible.

I didn't know it but I was having the same experience with meat. It was making me feel heavy. I will still eat it on the weekends but I am going to eat very little and during the week DH isn't around so I am going to stick with plant based foods. DH has to have his meat and I do enjoy it but I am fine with moderation because in reality I am not as big of fan as I always thought I was. Now if I stopped buying Boca and Morning Star products I would probably be doomed. I know they have their flaws but for me my instincts say its the way to go and that is what I am following these days, my instincts.

Irish ~ What is your FIL deal. Why would he move you and your DH into a bad area with his GS. Maybe he should move the losers down stairs from you over there and rent the apartment below you out to a nice little old couple. I am sure he thinks he is doing well by you because you will have your own house but it sounds like lots of repairs need to be done and with it not being a safe neighbor hood I see the catch your talking about.

Sorry about your kitty but he is in a better place. I know its hard to see that now and I know the pain you are feeling. Personally, I think you should cry and grieve, pets and animals deserve to be grieved over just like we would a human loss. They are a part of our lives and are just as special.

WOW! I am surprised your fingers didn't freeze off while he was putting your ring on. Just the same it was romantic.

I was going to share that the reason I am choosing to look into all kinds of food is because I have been trying to lose weight most of my life. The one thing that I haven't done is taking my weight loss into my own hands. I let this diet plan or that diet plan tell me what and when to eat. I have fallen into every trap and diet myth out there. Its time for me to learn about nutrition on my own and what works for my body. I need to create a program for me and trust my instincts.

DH gets frustrated with me because I don't give myself credit. He always tells me that I know the answers and wonders why I ask other people. I tell him that is how I learn and I like the reassurance. He mainly says this regarding my horses but I think its also true in many aspects of my life including nutrition.

Irish, I am sorry about your kitty, such a difficult thing to have to do.

I made Quinoa last night. I cooked it and then I put spaghetti sauce on it and 2 tomato basil Morning Star burgers with it. It was so good and filling to. I love it. I think I probably paid the higher price because it was an already rinsed kind and all you had to do is cook it. I can see where this bag will last a while because a serving is a 1/4 c. dry so it will last a while. I might try it on DH and DD this weekend.

Zenor ~ Lately I have been having black bean burgers for my breakfast, love them but I think they were giving me the gas. Today I paired it with 1/2 c. yogurt and Fiber One cereal and no gas. Maybe the trick is to eat a little yogurt when I am going to eat something that causes me gas. I am going to try that and see what happens.

I measured this morning and I have actually lost an inch off my waist. It has been a long time since I had a wast smaller than 40 inches. It was 39.5 this morning (I carry my weight in my torso) without sucking it in. That is so cool.

Lara - WTG on the inches lost! That's awesome. YOu actually seem very motivated right now! you go!

Irish - i'm sorry about the kitty, That's sad

I'm doing good - I'm working on day 3 of being OP - I have to be very good at dinner tonight - since I binged a little at lunch. I only have 465 cals left to consume today - which should be fine for dinner.

Alright - I should get some work done. I'll check in later!

Hi ladies! It sounds like you're all making awesome progress, which is inspiring to hear. I totally went OP again this weekend... it was for a birthday celebration (yeah, a second one, this time with my mom & grandma), so I was planning to splurge a LITTLE. Overall, I did pretty well, actually, but my mom had this amazing cheese plate that I just could NOT stop going back to. So that plus some water weight has really got me down. (Er... up, I guess.)

I do so well during the week... but I am TIRED of spending every week making up for the weekend. And I don't want to be a hermit, either, or avoid celebrations. I've got to find a middle ground between being completely in control and completely letting go.

Enygirl ~ Yes, I do have the go gettum attitude right now because the weight is coming right off. I have had this attitude off and on since the get go but this time I am doing it differently. I am not killing myself with exercise, fretting on what to eat or anything like that. Now, I am trying to find the healthiest forms of food and calorie control. Before I was always cutting good stuff to have ICK. Now I realize bad food and calories are just that. I don't care if it will fit in my calorie count it doesn't help my body in any way.

Coldbrightday ~ I hear you on the weekend thing. I allowed myself one off meal, which made me feel sick, over the weekend. The rest of the time I just ate healthy and did portion control. Well I did lose control on some healthy granola but it didn't seem to hurt me any. I lost another pound over the weekend, this is a rare thing for me.

Coldbright~ I firmly believe in birthday months! I just wish that people would give jewlery or something non-food to celebrate bithdays. It's hard not to splurge when it's a celebration around you though! I can totally relate. Maybe if you know it's coming you can cut back a bit at other meals or the next day? I know that's easier said then done, but I try to do that myself (try is operable word here. Lol.)

GrammyL~ The fat is just slipping off of you! That is so exciting! Congratulations on an inch gone forever!

Irish~ Sorry to hear about your cat.

Enygirl~ Keep up the good work. You are doing great!

Tinky~ You don't have your ring yet??? Men are so funny sometimes... good thing we love some of them! I'm sure they think we are funny sometimes too. You'll have to show us a picture once you get it.

Oh hey, Tinky, DH is flying out of SeaTac next week. Where's the good sushi in Seattle? Any places that do brown rice sushi?

Tinky ~ You know what the say, good things come to those who wait. Sometimes you have to wonder why but its usually true.

Zenor ~ I am trying to make it melt off. Actually its just happening.

I was naughty last night. We went out to eat and I did order a healthy meal but got more than I thought. First, they give free bread with olive oil/seasoning. I did eat some of that but stopped after a few slices. Then we ordered appetizers which I didn't plan on getting any until DD pointed out the fried zucchini and that she wanted that but wanted to share. So I did it and we split. I have to say it is a "comfort food" for me. When I was growing up this was a summer treat for us. Then my meal came with a cup of soup. I chose minestrone soup because I thought I would get a little cup, it was a full size bowl and beyond good so I ate almost all of it. Then the meal came and I ate all the fish but couldn't eat everything. So I am figuring close to 1000 calories in just one meal.

I am not going to beat myself up over it but I did say SHAME ON YOU! to myself and I did pay for it also. Yep that soup kicked in and wow, I needed to get home. It had a lot of beans and lentils.

Today, back on track and doing great. I think I am going to calm down a little on how much exercise I am getting. I tend to build muscle very easy and if I over do it I stop my weight loss. I know I am putting on muscle but personally I don't think I need anymore. I also find that if I do to much cardio it has the same effect. I know its probably water because my body is storing fuel in the muscle but I feel I am getting a little obsessed with it.

Well I better get going for now and I will talk to you all in a while.

GrammyL~ I think that's the big secret to losing and keeping weight off; if you eat too much you just get right back on track at the next day/meal. You are doing great! Plus, it sounds like it was 1000 calories of good stuff not junk. I love a good minestrone! I have some in the freezer actually, I think I need to defrost it!

Tinky~ Don't let that man make you wait too long! We must have our bling afterall. Lol.

Thanks for the info! I'll check out the locations on those and see what is on my way back to "the burg." I'm stopping at Issaquah to go to Trader Joe's on the way back too! I miss TJ's so much! Oh and I think I need to go to Uwajimaya, I keep hearing good things about that place! I've been having to order my bonito flakes and korean chili flake online.

GOOOOOD MORNING FRIENDS!

I took some advice from Zenor. I ate high with eating out so I ate low yesterday. It balanced out in the end. I wasn't very hungry yesterday and I am sure it was from the feast the day before. It worked for me because I was down to 170 this morning. Considering my body is thinking about TOM, debates with this perimenapause stuff, may happen may not but the night sweats and irritated mood yesterday is a sure sign it wants to.

The thing that I noticed when I did eat that much food is my mental thoughts that were going on. I kept thinking "I look like a ravenous pig" and felt like people were probably watching me scarf down all this food. It was all well spaced out and I would say we were there for an hour but that is how I felt.

Funny but feel bad for the day. Last night I didn't notice the electric fence was plugged in and didn't get shocked because I had rubber boots on. I decided to put our goat in with the chickens because it was going to be super cold and although the horses have a leanto its not good enough to keep goats warm. Well I was trying to pull him under the fence and he was just fighting me with all he had and I kept getting pocked by something really, really sharp and I couldn't figure out what it was but I wasn't giving up because I didn't want him to freeze. Come to find out, he was conducting the electricity to me and my hands were getting pocked. I felt so bad. I didn't even know it until this morning when DD told me she plugged the fence in. Now I now to pay attention. We never used to run a fencer but we have a miniature pony who doesn't stay where he is put and he was getting in with the round bales and we were afraid he would eat himself to death or that he was going to get shot by hunters because he was out in the woods a few times during hunting season.

What a morning for the copy machine. It has been running almost nonstop for 1 1/2 hrs. Of course it has taken me that long to type this also. LOL! Heavy exam week because next week is Spring break. I am looking forward to some quiet time. Just about everyone will be gone and I have a couple of projects I can work on.

Ok Zenor, what are bonito flakes and korean chili flakes? You really eat some unique stuff, have you always eaten this healthy?

Well I better get going and nose around some.