Bonito flakes are dried fish flakes. I've used them in cooking Japanese soups. There is a great book called "Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat" that I picked up on a whim. I wouldn't necessarily follow the plan as my primary plan, but it has some interesting info and some AMAZING recipes.

:wave: Hands up. Remember I am nosy. What do you use fish flakes for and do they taste fishy?

Diva ~ Your welcome. I try to be helpful but think I become obnoxious at times. LOL! I just like to share stuff because who knows, maybe it will help someone.

I make broth out of them. You boil water, add the flakes, let them sit for a few minutes, and then strain it.

Grammy - Thanks for the links as well - I don't think that you're nosey or obnoxious at all... just very helpful and motivating. :D

I had another bad bday today... 1880 cals - that's 380 over plan. The problem - I got in a rush for dinner because I left work late, and had to get my DD to drum lessons on time... that mean drive thru food :(

I'm going to weigh in tomorrow since I'll be gone all weekend. send some :goodscale: vibes my way... I've been stuck at #182 - #185 for 3 weeks - and I'd LOVE to see a change! I've had 5 on plan days out of the last 7, so that';s an improvement. I still need to up the exercise. One step at a time right?

GrammyL~ Scenestealer explained it! Have you had miso soup at Japanese restaurants before? They use bonito fish broth to make it (the broth is called dashi.) Bontio is type of tuna I believe. It's very popular in Japan. I love miso soup and that's why I keep bonito flakes in the house. The Korean chili flake is a special kind of dried chili pepper that I use to make the kim chi I was talking about before. :D I love all Asian cuisines! Lately I've even been trying my hand at Thai food (low-fat coconut milk of course.)

I've eaten fairly healthy most of my life, but I used to eat some junk with the healthy food too. I've gotten more into being healthy lately because of family health history. I feel that I need to be careful, so I can live a long life.

Diva~Teenagers can sure drive you crazy can't they? You are doing the right thing getting right back on track! You can do this! Just a thought, maybe it'd be helpful to get temptations out of the house? Then if your son aggravates you, there's nothing to binge on? I know that's hard to do with other people in the house, but it's good for their health too. ;)

Scenestealer~ I know I've said this before, but I loved that book! Just for the recipes and the stories. I have several of the recipes written on cards in my recipe box.

Now I need to go back and check out those links!

Laura and Zenor ~ Thanks for the information on the Bonito. No, I have never had it and unfortunately all we have is one good Chinese restaurant in our town. The rest are the icky junk buffets.

Zenor ~ I wish I ate even remotely well most of my life. I was a boxed food fan and I could make hamburger a 1000 ways. So this is a huge change for me. I am interested in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine. I was trying to find a cook book in the store last night and they had everything but Indian and Middle Eastern. I will either have to order one off line, ask them to order it or wait till we go to Barns & Noble again. I like all the Oriental type cooking but find I prefer the Indian/Middle Eastern. I don't know why because we never had it growing up. The good thing is I work with people from all these cultures and they introduce me here and there to their food. The one thing you never say to people from India is I used Curry Powder. LOL! They are quick to tell you Curry powder doesn't exist that the British created it.

Enygirl ~ How was your weigh in? I know how hard it is to be a busy Mom. I have two girls, my DH has always worked out of town and I have always worked full time. It can be SOOO draining. I wish I had my current knowledge back then. I know week portable healthy snacks available that can take the place of a meal if need be or just carry me over until I can get a good meal. I keep things like string cheese, healthy bars (LaraBars, Luna Bars, Clif Bars) around, lots of fruit, cook extra falafel that can be warmed up quickly and made into a sandwich or wrap, that type of thing. Just a few ideas for you in case your interested. They even have those soups in hand now but I think they are rather high in sodium but probably still better than fast food.

By the way, I saw a news report that Campbells is redoing some of the foods for kids so that they are low sodium and can be called "healthy". For some reason 475 mg or lower sticks in my head as part of the qualifications to be considered healthy.

I was down to 170 so I changed my ticker. Not a huge loss but considering that I have been sick all week and TOM is trying to visit I will take it. 1 more pound gone and I am moving in the right direction, what more can you ask for? Well other than I feel fat today. LOL! Every have days that you just feel bigger than you are, that is me today.

Well I am off for now and I will talk to you all later.

Happy Friday (and leap day!) ladies!

I'm feeling pretty awesome this morning, and here's why:

-I'm down a smidge over last week, despite my splurgy birthday weekend (and TOM).
-I'm actually down 2 lbs from yesterday, a lot of which is water, I know, but it just goes to show that I WAS losing some fat during this whole week when the scale seemed to say otherwise.
-I started walking part of the way home instead of taking the bus. With rush hour traffic it hardly takes any longer, and I get a beautiful 2 mile walk along the river. It feels so good. I walked a total of 10 miles and ran 5 this week!
-We had our weekly catered lunch meeting yesterday, and I ate totally sensibly. Lots of salad, no cookies, no gross bright pink punch. AND my roommate came home last night with a totally decadent apple cobbler, and I had a bite, thorougly enjoyed it, and then stopped. :)

Hope you're all doing well!

Diva~ Grab onto whatever you can! If junk makes your completion pasty and that helps you then I'd say you must look pasty when you eat junk! Lol. It sucks when not everyone is supportive, but you are doing this for yourself and YOU CAN DO IT!

GrammYL~ I love love love Indian food! Middle Eastern too, but Indian food is a favorite. Yum! Do have a local library? Maybe they'd have some cookbooks? I'm always surprised by the selection at the libraries I've been to. If you have to order online or drive to B&N look for Indian Cuisine books by Madhur Jaffrey (sp?) She's one of the best Eastern Indian cookbook authors I know of. Also, A Fistful of Lentils is a good Middle Eastern Jewish cookbook. It can be hard to find though. I'm hoping it comes out in paperback soon. The author is Jewish of Syrian decent. The D'jah Mish Mosh (chicken with apricots) is amazing!

coldbright~ We posted at the same time. Lol. Congrats on the loss!

Lara -- I know what you mean about feeling fat some days. For me it totally has to do with what I'm wearing, whether I worked out that day, what I ate, plus some totally random variations... who knows where they come from. It's so weird how you can look and weigh the same thing on two different days and FEEL so different.

Diva -- I don't think you're making it up. Eating poorly, but especially eating lots of sugar, makes me feel sluggish and weird, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it shows up in your skin too. And hey, if it works, it works, right?

Zenor -- I'm totally with you on Madhur Jaffrey. I love her cookbooks. I really want to check out that Fistful of Lentils now, too.

Zenor ~ Thanks for the cookbook information. I will have to check it out. I might be able to find them some where else here in town. I can also check out the library here at CMU. Some times they have things but you just never know.

Coldbrightday ~ I have to say I think you are totally right. I worked out last night, I am tired and TOM is trying to come.

Has any one heard of Ten Years Thinner? I read reviews and a little about the author and it sounds interesting, mainly because she says and does some things that I have already thought about and started doing. I just hate to spend $26 on another diet book and the libraries don't have it. ARG! The book place didn't have it either.