Oh Boy, I had one of those nights. After laying around the last couple days nursing my cold, it was a long and sleepless night. After tossing and turning most of the night I decided to get up and clean out an old dresser drawer that is full of momentos, etc. I hadn't looked in that drawer in some time and came out with a shoebox full of old pictures, news clippings etc. It was a walk down memory lane that I was not expecting. I think I had blocked some of this stuff out. There were about 3 photographs taken of me in the early 90's, my grad school years, a stressful time when I really let myself go. I remember getting well up into the 290's back then - I don't know how long I stayed there but I'd guess a couple years at least. As you guys well know I am a professional dieter, but it really brought home to me how far I have come. I felt so badly for myself when I looked at those photos (to add insult to injury it was when I first started going grey and thought I could remain a redhead with the help of Miss Clairol). This morning I weighed 221, oh so close to the 210's which I haven't seen in over 20 years. Over the years, all of this unsuccessful dieting, I have lost close to 80 lbs. Probably closer to a 1000 truth be told but that's another story. I don't ever want anyone to see those pictures, and yet I couldn't destroy them either. It was such a revelation that I am pondering. Anyway, this is the year girls, you are my witness. I will break 200 this year. I am so over being overweight. Too much time has been spent worrying and struggling. All of a sudden time has become a huge issue for me. I am bearing in mind the thoughts and quotes on patience, and I know patience is my friend. But my thoughts include patience, as well as determination and focus as I move into 2006. The fat photos are not all I found though, I also found a photo of me at a very low weight. Probably about 138 (diet center years judi) and you know what, that photo didn't look quite right either. I think my goal weight should be somewhere in the 150 range. Okay, thanks for listening to that.

Morning - did my midnight revelations scare everyone off?! Can't say I blame you . Let's blame it on the cold meds.

Things are pretty well here. Weigh-in was a huge disappointment this a.m. I was 2 lbs. lighter earlier in the week. I woke up with swollen eyes so I know I am holding on to some water. I am not even sure why. It is funny that my lowest weight this past week occured after laying in bed and not working out for 3 days. No justice!

How did everyone elses week go?

Ledom, it is good to take stock sometime and be pleasantly suprised about how far we have come. DH and I do that often about the money and wonder how we could have wasted so much...well no point crying over spilled milk...we are diff now.

You are so close to 200 mark...I know that is a big psychological break thru...when one goes 'OVER' it and even MORE so when one makes it back 'UNDER'. I hope to go under it this year. I know I need to focus more...I am such a let things slide person. You sound very focused.

The kid's have bought a Winnie the Pooh bed for our grandson so he has his own permanent spot in our house when he comes over. It is so much fun to have a grandchild. He is coming over to stay on Sunday until Monday night.

We are having some guests Sat. I am just going to make a typical roast beef dinner.

I watched Wedding Crashers, 40 Year Old Virgin...two movies that I wanted to see a lot ... I was 'mildly' amused by both of them. Things are so "piggish" in movies...it might be because I am a lot older (55 now) and movies are made by people so much younger than me...the movies just seem so inane now. I rarely see anything I like anymore...I have been reading a lot more simply because I can never find anything really good to watch and it is a shame because I have enjoyed movies all my life. Good thing I still like reading. But you know sometimes you just want to flop down on the couch and say "hey, somebody entertain me..."

We are on some kind of rain record here in BC...in the last 23 days we have had 8 hrs. of sunlight.

You're right, I think that about the money I have wasted too. And, like you say, what's in the past is in the past.

So glad grandson is bringing you so much joy. Sounds like a good weekend you have planned. I am having company tonight (full moon watch) and I am making a light supper that I am excited about. Rosemary Brown Bread and Butternut Squash soup. I have had these recipes for years, both from 2 seperate Shape magazines. I think I'll have a glass of red wine as well. I am just feeling a little weary today and hope that time with friends will perk me up.

I know what you mean about the movies judi - I feel the same way. While Wedding Crashers was ok, it seemed so pointless. I do still find movies I love though. This summer "Off the Map" really did it for me. I don't know anyone else who has seen it though. And then I love period movies, to me they are the best entertainment. Right now I am reading Bob Dylan's autobiography.

Seems like the world has turned upside down. Including last years averages we are about 20" short of rainfall. There was a forest fire here last week and the whole state is under a burn ban. I have been watching the west coast, if only we could have some of your rain. On top of that the winds are about 25 mi. an hour today. I hate wind. Thank goodness we have at least gotten a little rain in the last week, if a fire got out now it would be uncontrolable.

Take care everyone.

Hi talk about rain well we are getting our share to. I LOVE it i am enjoying it so much. if i walk just put coat on and out i go. do not mind at all. oh so good judi you can enjoy the grandson and all. there so fun. i wish i could keep mine like that and all. but have to except life as given to us. and i do. through all the years that is one thing i have learned and still learning it. ha i am finally on eating plan and feel better. got to stick to it. was down this am and this week from holidays so happy about that. we have been watching some good movies. but know what your talking about. well hey have a good day all of you. its a great one here. LaDean

Morning - LaDean and judi - what is the rain like out there? I read it described as more of a misty, foggy type rain in the northwest rather than a downpour. Is that right?

My evening was very nice. The wind died down enough so we were able to sit outside around the chiminea. My little supper was a big hit. The soup I made was from squash that one of my guests had grown which was way cool. The bread was lovely but I was a good girl and sent the leftovers home with my guests. I enjoyed the wine. It was my last hurrah for that sort of thing for a while though. Celebrating the end of my sabbatical. I also tried something that I had only read a description for. I baked dates so they were almost carmelized, stuffed with a bit of marscapone cheese and drizzeled with olive oil and a little ground salt. It worked great with the soup and bread. Wonder of wonders I was down a lb. this a.m. Dang water weight - I am tempted to change my ticker but will wait until official weigh-in day next Friday.

Speaking of which, all good things must come to an end. So I am off to the next good thing now. Will go to my office today, this afternoon, to get myself organized for the coming week. DD's play is in production at the university now so I will also go see that tonight. Of all things, I found out it is an Ayn Rand play "Night of January 16". Should be interesting.

Anyway, this morning I'll be doing my workout, getting some clothes washed, and cooking for the week. I am making turkey meatballs, chicken fingers, chili, cutting up a fresh pineapple, making some broccoli, baking a spaghetti squash and my low cal version of mashed potatoes. Should get me through the week.

Good morning - Well, up at 5 this a.m. Ready to get my workout in and try my new morning routine. No morning routine is complete w/out 3fc though. I hope all of you are doing well and ready for a great week. I got most of my cooking done - enough to get me through the week. Yesterday I hiked 8 miles. The trail wasn't terribly difficult but the distance was a challenge. To top it off I had promised to pick my mother up from church so I had to really hustle to get back in time. A little poor planning on my part + I was wearing a backpack. I had a bunch of camera equipment in it. I was pretty useless for the rest of the day. My hips and legs felt really stiff and sore. Much better today though.

Hello everyone! Can't believe I haven't posted in 5 days! Where does the time go????

Ledom, so how did your first day back go? Bet it was a difficult adjustment after all of that time off. Glad your legs are better today.

It's been bitter cold here the past couple of days. I was out 1.5 hours yesterday shoveling snow in 15F temps with a wind-chill of -5F! Good thing I was bundled up well. I decided that was my exercise for yesterday.

I'm sort of off today - "working from home"/MLK day - this way it's not really a vacation day, but I still can get some stuff done around that house - cooking, laundry, and get some work work done. I did my Cathe high Step video today for the first time - actually, I should say that I did the first 3 or 4 circuits of it - that gal kicks butt! I have a new goal - to be able to do all of that video! I plan to lift later tonight as well - really want to get back on my BFL-style workouts.

Food is planned for the week, but not prepped yet - will do that later today. Shopping is all done though, so the stuff's in the house.

Hope everyone is having a good Monday and MLK day.
Cindy

Morning everyone. Cindy good to see you. Sounds like you are getting back into the groove. Stay warm. Alice - where are you? Are you - reading this? What's Florida like right now?

Yesterday went really well. The artist whose show is in the gallery next brought his work and stayed and help me arrange it. He does bronze sculptures so that was a workout in itself and I really hadn't planned to do so much on the gallery yesterday but he seemed to want to and now that it is done I am so glad I had the help. Anyway, it was good to be reminded that I really do have a fun job that allows me to be around creative people and that was a good way to start back.

I was able to hit snooze only once, get up and do my workout, pack my food. I felt like I got it all in yesterday - just got to keep the pace for the long haul. I can already tell that the housework will be what suffers.

I feel like I have finally made my comeback from Christmas indulgence. Seeing some new numbers on the scale and maybe most encouraging. I had to keep pulling up my britches yesterday because they kept falling down, :-). That made me happy. I know for a fact these particular pants spent last winter in the closet because they were too tight. So that was an indicator I was really needing in this slow and arduous journey!

Anyway, students are back today, first class tomorrow, and tons of stuff to do so I better get with it. Thankfully today is rest day in my exercise schedule.

Ledom. good for you. that is great. i also am feeling better from holidays and all. today i have walked 2x good walks beat the rain with beau. but my walk i put that rain coat on and dripping and wet headed out. oh i felt so good. music on ears and all. it helps me to get out in the fresh air and all. then rode ex bike so far 3 miles and did 40 abbs so far. i have a thing that i lay back on and sit up. love it for my middle. where all my wt it. Oh i started planning to. your idea of it is great. sure helps to have it there and ready to eat and all. this has been a great day scales looking good to. oh its so good to come in here and get help from everyone and working together. thanks so much. good luck to all. hey you others get in here. your missed LaDean

Morning LaDean - way to go. Sounds like a great exercise day. Having food made and prepared in advance really helps me keep on track.

Ended up at restaurant for lunch yesterday depsite taking my own. The faculty invited me and I felt like I needed to be there. I had soup and salad and a piece of bread. All excellent and honestly the only thing on the menu that even resembled something light. I do think there was a lot of sodium in that soup though. The bread, dang it was just the best looking crusty loaf I'd seen in a while and I did stop at one piece.

Alice we miss you. Hope all is well with you. Hey to the rest of the gang as well.

Good Morning All!!

I haven't weighed yet...scared to...I haven't been eating a lot but I have drank no water for about a week and it makes a diff. on the scale for me always.

Ledom, your dinner with your friends sounded fabulous...the stuffed dates sound scrumptious...is it an easy recipe...if so what is it? I love cheese & anything.

Yes, the grandson was here on Sunday but it my D. had what I like to call a "Jerry Springer" moment and left in a huff and didn't leave him with us. But we do have the little 'Winnie the Pooh' bed all set up here and it is so cute. I have been battling with hanging on to feeling indignant and hurt...I just want to let it go.

I had my hair done yesterday...it is so cute even if I do say so myself.

Speaking of the rain...we were 1 day short of having the all time record for the most rain in BC. The day after the sunny break it began raining again. Good for you LaDean for getting out in it and walking and doing things...I really don't mind being out in the rain (DH hates it) but I never do it...it is just so easy to be lazy.

Exercise resolution has been hit and miss the other New Year's resolutions not so bad.

Something I discovered...if after you have a pedicure and if you don't paint your toe nails put Polysporin the ointment (not cream) on them. It makes them look really good and since it is anti-biotic it can't hurt. Have you seen all the things on CNN about the horrors of improperly cleaned foot baths and what it can cause? Just Freaks me out I think the next time I go for a pedicure I will drag my own foot bath along and it is a shame too because I love the big whirlpool one that salons have.

We had some friends here for dinner on Sat. it was fun. We are not given much to entertaining but periodically I like to do it.

I have been reading a lot and grocery shopping.

Hello everyone! Now we have the rain - it's rained here heavily for the past 24 hours! The temp went from 20ish to 60 in a matter of hours today! Very strange weather this year. It will be back to snow tonight as the cold front comes through.

Ledom- good for you for just having soup/salad and only one piece of crusty bread - don't know if I'd be able to resist that bread!

LaDean - good for you for getting out and moving in the rain. I won't - I don't like to get wet, especially when it's cold. So, as a result, I've not walked outside in about a week, and I miss it!

Esteban - interesting about the pedicure - I've never had one professionally, but I have a gift certificate for one, and will be sure to be careful about it.

I'm trying a new recipe tonight - actually already cooked last night. Not sure how I'll like it- called Thai Beef, and it's ground beef with leeks, garlic, tomato sauce, coconut milk, red curry paste and fish sauce. Very different smell while cooking - I'm anxious to see what it tastes like. Not sure how Pete will like it - I've got leftovers for a back up in case he won't eat it. You serve it over rice. I got this recipe out of Jan's Cooking Light - will let you know what I think.
Cindy

Morning everyone.

judi - this is how I did the dates. I pitted them and put them in a 350 oven with just a little water on the bottom of the pan and heated them until they were nice and soft (actually I think I might have left them just a tad too long), took them out and put a small scoop of marscapone in each and then drizzled w/ olive oil and the salt. I didn't have a recipe, just the description so I was making it up. I think it would be pretty hard to mess it up.

Ah, the DD's, well just remember the good advice you gave me and know that this too shall pass. As you had a bad time this week, I had a really good time. My D is so improved after our bad season. She dropped by after her therapy session last night and told me her therapist told her that she had graduated from therapy. She is doing so good now. I think falling in love was very instrumental in her cure. Still haven't met the boy but it sounds in a lot of ways like she has met her match. We had some good laughs last night, but the biggest one was when she told me about her new underwear that had the saying "Save the Drama, for you Mama" on it. I told her thanks but no thanks.

How did your supper turn out Cindy? That sounds really good. I think. I have never cooked with fish sauce. I like all the other ingredients. I had one of those chocolate protein pancakes for supper last night with a smear of cashew butter and sf syrup. I got two phone calls just as it finished cooking and I refused to talk to either party until I ate my supper. I was hungry! and craving that pancake.

I am home from work today. The first 3 days all went well. Tiring and I am really glad to be home doing prep work today. I got to sleep in a little. Must do workout and then get busy. I am on week 11 of the Jillian Michaels "Winning by Losing" exercise plan. It is the hardest workout I have ever done and the most effective. You do it 5 days a week. One day is an hour of cardio and the other 4 are strength, cardio intervals. Each of those days you do both upper and lower body. My butt and legs have really responded to this which amazes me because they are always the last to go. Not to say they still won't be but I am having noticable results that surprise me. I am pretty sure I am going to have a nice little loss tomorrow a.m. for weigh-in day. It has been a good week in that respect.

Well judi - lets all remember our water today!

Ledom - you've motivated me to get Jillian's book - and in doing so, I got sucked into also ordering her 5-DVD set of workouts. I'm on a bit of a DVD kick lately - don't want to get myself into the BFL-style workout rut that I did last time - I think that my failure to keep my fitness goals was somewhat due to the fact that I kept doing the same things over and over and not getting any further results. So, I was bored, and I wasn't making futher progress so I stopped. Not happy with where that got me, so I want to make sure history doesn't repeat itself!

Speaking of which, I actually dragged my butt to the gym this morning - so at least I've gotten 2 workouts in this week. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it's progress! I'm just really wanting to be able to workout at home, and I don't have the equipment or space, so it's not really possible. Unless I turn my dining room into a gym, which would actually be a better use of that space!

The Thai beef thing was disappointing - I think it might have been better if I'd eaten it right after preparing - it seemed to lose some of it's flavor and punch after sitting a day - the opposite of what you'd expect. That, and the addition of rice really diluted down the flavors as well. I probably won't make it again, but now will be looking for some Thai recipes to use that fish sauce in!