Bless me sisters for I have sinned. Too many off-program meals this past month and I ended up gaining a pound instead of losing my target of five. Duh! No excuses - I know exactly how it happened.

July is another busy month but I am going to try very hard to make my health my priority. The requisition for lab work is still on the front of the fridge but it looks like I will be too busy again this week to drive to town to the lab.

Yesterday I crushed and packaged six quarts of strawberries to have in the freezer for smoothies. So nice to have when cold weather returns. Today I am making a sausage and pepper dish to freeze and will make chicken salad from a leftover chicken breast from yesterday. I have absolutely no "foodie" social events this week - a wedding on Saturday but I'll be snacky things, not a sit-down meal so I can eat around that.

So ... what are you planning to do for yourself today?

Ruth, did you buy the strawberries or did you grow them yourself. We have never had much luck growing them. I would love to be able to freeze meals ahead, but my husband won't eat things that have been frozen. He's afraid he will get sick. He would have just as good a risk of getting sick from my day to day cooking! LOL

We are working on trying to get our laptop back in service. Computers are nice, but they can be such a nightmare.

Carol Sue, my strawberry patch is very small - just eight plants. They are ever-bearing and give me a handful almost every day - unless the chipmunks or the cedar waxwings get there first. (You can BUY strawberries but you can't buy cedar waxwings!) I bought the berries from a farm just up the road a bit. It's a U-pick operation but Susie sells pre-picked too.

I wonder how your man developed that strange idea about frozen foods. I can't imagine not freezing things ahead!

Ruth, My husband's ideas about food can be maddening. He doesn't eat leftovers, either. Think's he'll get sick. He will eat leftover pizza, lasagne or stuffed cabbage rolls, but would never eat dinner leftover from the day before, such as chicken, meatloaf, etc. He will never bring leftovers home from a restaurant because he wouldn't eat them anyway. Wants freshly cooked food all the time. If we go to a party at someone's house he rarely eats because he doesn't know when or how they prepared the food. If I take something to a covered dish dinner he tells me "Don't tell anyone you made that yesterday." I guess after 35 years I got used to it. He came from a big family and his stay at home mom cooked everything fresh and there were never any leftovers.

Thanks for the Welcome back Ruth

I figured I'd move my update over here ...

I'm back and I hope this time I will stick around. I took my FBS this morning for the first time in a very long time. It was 183 and I was shocked that it wasn't in the 200's so that's a start. From January 2012 to current my life has just been one interesting whatever you would like to call it. My high weight for June is 197.6. I started June at 194.0. This morning thanks to a cabbage soup eating plan today being day 6 I weighed in at 189.6. I have never been so happy to see that 8 because I have been in the 190's for a long time now. I am so glad you ALL are still here.

now current ... this mornings weigh in 190 up .4. My calorie intake each day is too low but I'm not hungry. My fbs this morning was 174 better than yesterday. Yay me, though still not good I know. I am getting some movement in with my son using the Wii doing Just Dance. It's only 30 minutes then I am pooped but again I have to start some where

Ruth at least you have a plan, you know what happened and can take it from there, so good for you

Carol Sue, LOL on the frozen meals My husband didn't want to eat leftovers when we got married. But that was my fault, I would sit at my desk and look up different things when we were dating so there was always something new. Then the kids started coming and all of that changed but once he realized I wasn't gonna fix new things daily he quickly adjusted. He just told me this year that he hated spaghetti Wednesday. I would fix spaghetti on Wednesday before church because it was quick, silly man Wow lucky him (your hubby) on his Mom cooking everything fresh. My husband won't eat at other peoples houses unless I can tell him who cooked it ... but if the kids and I eat and he doesn't he'll stop some place on the way home to get something.

Good news! My bloodwork is going in the right direction sugar-wise. The doctor said just eight weeks in is too soon to really tell, that in three months when we check again there should be a world of difference. But in that eight weeks my fasting was down to 130 (it had been in 200s) and my other number was normal. So, not off any meds yet, but I'll get there, as this is long-term for me. More good news is my triglycerides were normal, have been as high as 400 in the past, she says that is all watching the sugar and carbs. And my blood pressure is PERFECT. She told me to keep doing exactly what I'm doing. GREAT ADVICE!

So, I'm always hoping for more: getting off the meds, losing more weight than I have, FBS lower. But for today, I'm going to be happy with this 21 lbs. in 8 weeks (Lost another lb. last week, YAY) as I feel it's a solid achievement and I'm ever moving in the right direction. Yesterday 3 people mentioned they could really tell I was losing, what am I doing, etc. And so it begins! The good part, wearing smaller clothes, having my clothes be too big instead of tight, feeling better when I wake up because my sugar is not so high.

Thanks for being here! It helps.

Nibblegranny, that's great, I'm happy for you

I can't wait until my fastings get that low (and lower). So far the lowest I've seen is today 163. Not great but not in the 200's like you said.

Here's to a good read in the morning

Happy Wednesday Everyone ...

weight 190.6 up .2 and fbs 160, -3 from yesterday. Hoping to keep this going, hope you all are having a great day.

Rennie - My Mil had 5 boys, and there was a new, freshly cooked dinner on the table every night. Never any short cut meals for her. No one ever had a weight problem, and all 5 boys grew up to be upstanding citizens, never one in trouble with the law. We don't know how she did it.

My husband is the same, not eating at other people's houses. He either eats before we go, or stops somewhere on the way home. Bad thing is, when he stops on the way home, he wants me to eat too! The only exception is if they have cookies. He will have cookies and coffee. Loves his sweets too much to turn them down.

Good luck with the FBG. I haven't checked mine the past few days.

Carol Sue, glad they turned out well. Bless her heart. I use to cook daily using my Friday as a pot luck day to clean out the fridge but would still sometimes need to add to it. And I was working full time most of that time. But what I was saying about my husband is he was expecting a different meal everyday as in something totally new because I would look up dishes on the interenet that we had never had before and cook them (before marriage). He missed that, but he got home cooked meals and a full breakfast on the weekends. But I fell into a routine of knowing what I was gonna prepare so there were no surprises unless I happened to feel like trying a new dish and there were always left overs which he didn't care to eat. But since he doesn't cook he ate it anyway most times. My boys cook now, unless I tell them that I will, we have a great system. They're great guys. They'll make great husbands in 10-15+ years. My daughter just started taking on the roll of cooking and cleaning because her husband would always do it. She sent me a text saying it felt good to see her hubby smile when he came home from work because she had dinner ready and household things done. I told her I'm glad for her now keep it up

my fbs this morning was 185 didn't eat dinner and forgot to take my Met until around 10ish with an 8oz glass of milk (makes me nauseous on an empty stomach) but back to plan today

fbs 180 this morning weight up .2 to 190.8

Hope everyone has a great day

Rennie, if there is food leftover at our house my husband says to throw it out because he will not eat it, so why put it in the refrigerator. He says the food goes bad and he will get sick. I try not to make more than we are going to eat at a meal so there's no waste. He will eat leftover lasagne, or stuffed cabbage rolls. I don't know why. He really surprised me yesterday. There was some potato salad leftover from the 4th and I got it out yesterday to have some and he actually asked me to save some for him and he ate it, leftover. He never eats potato salad except when it's freshly made because of the mayonaise, and he won't eat potato salad from the deli. But he said this potato salad was really good. Maybe he saw that I didn't get sick from it so he ate it. LOL I always tell him the next time I get married I'm going to marry a man who will eat whatever I put in front of him.

My step son learned to cook after he moved out. He is involved with the volunteer fire company and he cooks for all their affairs. He is a very good cook! Learned from the other guys. He grows a big garden and makes his own salsa and cans tomatoes etc. He even makes home-made saurkraut.
His wife works late so he usually had dinner ready by the time she gets home. He cleans too!

Happy Saturday, chickies. Sorry I've not been in much. I have been working flat out all week but tomorrow will be a relaxation day.

Still have not had time to go to town for bloodwork at the lab and it looks like it won't happen next week either. Weight is fluctuating a lot although I've been eating correctly. I imagine it's water retention because it's been so hot and humid here. FBGL is fine though.

Tonight is Rachel's wedding and I'm really looking forward to it. I took a trip to a lavender farm during the week and loaded my car with the wonderful stuff. I am working with a florist friend to do the flowers for the wedding and have done the flower girl basket and the boutonnieres for the guys. Today we will do the bouquets and corsages and keep them in Nicole's walk-in cooler until late this afternoon. So nice to have a florist friend!

I'm not sure what I'll wear to this event because it'll still be pretty hot but I don't dare go naked! Food won't be a problem since it's not a dinner but sort of canapes passed around.

Hope you folks can stay cool if you are in this tropical weather.

Aw Carol Sue wow that sounds good (stuffed cabbage rolls) please share your recipe. Is it healthy for us? My Mom makes potato salad and throws it away like that because it has mayonnaise in it. I think that's crazy. I could easily eat a huge bowl of it I don't know how to make potato salad and my MIL makes the best potato salad that I have ever had so I know my husband wouldn't be satisfied with mine. I don't dare try LOL on the next time you get married! What is his response to that statement? I'm still working on the cleaning part with my children. I keep telling them, "You all aren't raised like that so why do you keep such a mess?" I have to usually take something from them to get all but one to clean and clean correctly.

Ruth, LOL on the going naked I need to have blood work done also. Have fun at the wedding and stay cool. Great job on the FBS

scale up one pound to 191.8, but fbs down to 168

Have a great day everyone

Ruth - I hope the wedding went well. I like the idea of canapes passed around. You can easily choose how much you will eat. Whatever you ended up wearing, I'm sure you looked beautiful!

Rennie - I'm sure my husband would also have a few traits he would require for his next wife! I'm far from perfect.

I'm not sure how healthy my cabbage rolls would be. I think it would depend on the meat used. I use ground beef because that's what my husband likes and I buy the leanest grade I can get. My SIL uses ground turkey, which would be healthier. I core the cabbage and blanch it in boiling water to loosen and soften the leaves. I pare down the large vein in each leaf for easy rolling. I mix the ground meat with rice, parsley flakes and seasoned salt. (I usually use cooked minute rice, but some people put the rice in raw.) Sometimes I make my own seasoning with dried spices making sure to include garlic powder and paprika. That way I can omit the salt that is in the commercial seasoned salt. That makes it healthier, but then my husband will just shake salt over it when he's eating it! LOL I place a portion of meat mixture on the cabbage leaf. I fold over one side of the cabbage leaf, roll and then tuck the other side of the cabbage leaf into meat mixture. It makes a tight seal so they don't open up while cooking. I put them in a roasting pan in the oven with canned tomatoes and drained sauerkraut and bake for 4-5 hours. In the summer, I use an electric roaster and put it outside so I don't need to have the oven on. The whole neighborhood can smell the cabbage cooking! I make a big roaster full and pass them out to family members. I do this several times a year. We really like them. The amount of rice is by choice. Some people put a lot of rice in it, but I cook just a cup of rice for the whole roaster full of cabbage rolls and sometimes have rice left over. My MIL used to put a lot of rice in hers and when you cut into it the filling was loose. Mine stays in a little ball, like a meatball. This is a recipe that is well known and used a lot in the Pittsbugh area. My husbands family is Slovak, and the recipe also comes from the Polish, Ukranian, Croation background that is so prevelent in the area.

My 2 step children were raised in our home and my step-son is clean and neat and my step-daughter is messy. Kids all turn out different.