Happy MLK Day! Is anyone off today? DH (who works for a bank) is happily snoring away this morning. I wonder how crowded the gym will be this morning? It's been absolutely so far this year.

I'm still chipping away at the few pounds I put on over the holidays. When will I ever learn that 1) the weight gain just isn't worth the momentary taste of X and 2) it takes freaking forever to take off the pounds that slide on oh-so-effortlessly? (smacks self upside head) But I can report that I'm totally back on track and really hitting it hard in the gym.

Unfortunately, I'm dealing with some back issues as well as two dysfunctional knees, so it makes exercise a bit of a challenge! But the good news is that I have a doctor who understands how important it is for me to stay active and fit, so he's willing to work with me to find ways around my issues instead of just saying 'no exercise'. I've added a ton of core work into my routine and think it's paying off since I am NOT anxious for surgery.

I made a big pot of chili last week for comfort food and am thinking about soup this week ... Got any good recipes?

Hi everyone, we have ice everywhere. But, still have power so this is good. It's very cold.

I'm ready for life to get back to "normal". I've had my step-daughter and her 2 kids here since Saturday due to the weather. I'm also babysitting my neighbors 2 kids this morning. My own DD is out of school today for MLK day. This place is hectic.

My eating hasn't been on track. Had chili last night. Made cookies the night before and of course, I ate some. I'll never learn. Just when I was back to my ticker weight. Now, I'll probably have lbs. to take off again.

I've had to reschedule my doctors appt. for tomorrow, the office is closed due to the ice storm. Oh well, I would have been afraid to make that hours drive on icy roads anyway.

It is cold here. Dropped to 20F this morning and that is unheard of for us. One of our pipes froze and now I'm waiting to see if it leaks when it thaws--there were no obvious ruptures. So no shower for me this morning.

I'm taking the day off work. I'm very sore from my half marathon yesterday, which was a very disappointing race since my ankle sort of gave out about 2/3 of the way in and I had a lot of walking to do (after the med station taped me all up). I was feeling strong from my training so I sort of feel like the whole thing was wasted. Ah well, I suppose there are worse things in life.

My parents have left as well, so now I officially feel like I'm in post-holiday mode. DD is at day care so I have the house to myself to lie around all day. That should be a treat. Only chore is to get to the grocery store.

All you who are iced and snowed up, be safe.

Anne

Hey guys, we've had 4 days of snow and it's still not melted yet! I'm going to brave the roads to go into work today. I lost the weight from Christmas, back under my "red line" at 128!

Hi everyone!

Last week I was going to post about a very telling dream I had, but then I got caught up with a huge rush at work. Anyway, I had this nightmare that I was sitting eating lunch at some picnic tables where there was a group of girls who looked about 14. They said "ew!" when they saw me and then proceeded to tell me how fat and disgusting I was and how gross I looked, and suggest ways to lose weight (to which I responded "I already do all that!!"). What a crappy dream! At least it wasn't real! I woke up thinking about when I was in high school and "Titanic" came out, and girls would look at pictures of Kate Winslet in magazines and say "She's so fat!" (Yeah, right, she probably weighed like 50lbs less than me at the time.)

Maybe my subconscious was just reminding me that I need to stay on track this year.

Lily, let us know how your dr's appt goes! If you are feeling much better maybe it was some kind of stomach virus?

Meg - I have developed a "minestrone soup" recipe (in quotes since I just made it up, it's not an official recipe) which I love for cold nights. I saute a chopped up onion and some garlic, then add about five chopped up carrots, six cups veggie broth (I use super-low-sodium bouillon cubes), two cans of Italian style stewed tomatoes, and boil until the carrots are tender. Then if I have fresh green beans I add those and cook about ten minutes. Otherwise I add about two cups of elbow macaroni and two tablespoons of salt-free Italian seasoning blend and boil it until the macaroni is done, then mix in a can of drained kidney beans and a can of drained green beans. It's thick and chunky and full of veggies, and doesn't take too long to prepare a big batch!

I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed Friday afternoon. Ouch! It was kind of funny, the doctor put in the IV and said "Okay, we're going to put you to sleep now," and then all of a sudden I was alone in a room and I couldn't close my mouth because it was full of gauze. I slept pretty much the rest of the day after drinking a big milkshake (doctor's orders, I'm not joking!). This weekend was spent entirely on the couch doing nothing. I'm hoping I can start eating normal food again soon. Since Friday all I've had is soup, applesauce, oatmeal, pudding, a couple pieces of bread (no crust), egg whites, and pancakes. Not the healthiest diet! At least there were pureed veggies in the soup.

I'm trying to figure out if I should hit the gym tonight or if that might hurt my recovery. Maybe I will just go for an easy stroll on the treadmill.

My mom is coming in to town Friday night and staying the weekend to go wedding dress shopping with me! My future mother-in-law and future sister-in-law will be coming along as well. I think my fiance will hang out with his dad and brother and watch football. I used to hate football because I didn't understand it, but now it's kind of fun (especially since our local team is doing well, go Colts!).

I hope everyone has a great week! Stay warm in all those winter storms!

Meg, the only good soup recipe I have is for baked potato soup. It's delicious, with bacon and cheddar cheese. I have a freeling that's not the type of recipe you're looking for but if you want it, holler. Try googling butternut squash or split pea and ham soup. There are some yummy, low-cal recipes out there.

It's been coooold here in Denver and I'm so sick of the snow I could scream. It's makes it so hard to get around. Everyone thinks of Colorado as a snowy state, and it is really snowy up in the mountains but we really don't get THAT much snow in Denver and when it snows it's usually gone by the next day because we're so sunny and warm. I still have drifts and piles of snow that are 2 feet high in front of my house. Now they're dirty and ugly and I am so ready for them to be gone.

Mel: Your mom shouldn't have any trouble getting into Denver. I hope the roads leading up to and around here house aren't too bad, though. I just heard on the news last night that we may get more snow next weekend. We're in some weekly snow pattern, I guess. Lily, I'm glad you still have power. That would be the pits to have the power go out with all those kids in the house.

My eating has been off track the last few days. It seems I do okay until afternoon and then have one little cheat, like a handful of peanuts, and then one turns into another and then another. Went to my nephews birthday party on Saturday night and had too many chips. Yesterday it was leftover birthday cake... Today I am definitely getting back on track, though. I didn't weigh myself this morning, which is dangerous because that can lead me into deep denial, but I just don't want to get way too discouraged either, because that can cause problems too. I have been exercising everyday, though, with 40-45 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes of weights. I'm off to the gym this morning... and then the rest of the day I will be on track with my eating (I'll think of what to make for dinner when I'm on the elliptical) and will weigh myself tomorrow.

You know, I was thinking about how funny it is that when I'm not eating what I should and when the scale is up by a couple of pounds, I feel fat, just like I felt before I lost 50 pounds. Why is that? I actually almost forget that I've lost weight and am wearing a size 6. Yesterday I was reading a magazine and paying close attention to the tips for plus sizes. Then I remembered, hey, i'm not a plus size! It's dangerous and can get me on the road to overeating again. I've never been able to maintain a weight loss for long but this time is going to be different and I know that these times where I have eaten more than I should and see a slight gain on teh scale is crucial and can make the difference between maintaining and the pounds creeping back on, bit by bit...

Pam

Here's my favorite:

Spinach Chickpea Leek Soup

1 tbs olive oil
2 leeks, sliced thinly (circles)
1 zuchini, chopped
minced garlic (I use tons)
2 14 oz cans tomatoes
small can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
4 cup veg broth
1 14 oz can chickpeas (gabanzo beans) drained
block of frozen spinach (thawed, drained)
1 tbs oregano
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh parm cheese for topping (if desired)

Heat the oil in a large sauce pan, add leeks and zucchini and cook briskly for 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, vegetable broth, chickpeas and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

Shred the spinach finely, add to the soup and boil for 2 minutes. Season to taste. (the longer it cooks on the stove, the better it is). Remove the bay leaf, sprinkle with parmesan cheese (if desired).

I'm happy to say that all kiddos have now been picked up. It's snowing here and the roads are icy so I'm staying home. I'm back on track today with my eating. Plan to get in some walking on the treadmill done. My car doors are frozen shut, so would have to stay home anyway.

Pam, I always feel a lot bigger too even when I only go up a couple lbs. I have caught myself reading the threads on here about Plus Size clothing and then realized that I don't wear these anymore. For me, taking off any gain quickly is very important. I'm now at 6 1/2 months of maintenance and this is the longest I've ever maintained a weight loss.

paperclippy, hope you are doing well with getting those wisdom teeth removed. I took my son's XGF to have hers out this past summer and remember how she couldn't eat anything but liquids for a while. She was pretty miserable with it.

I had mentioned last week that my DD is concerned about her weight and she weighed the same as me, 141. Well, she weighed this morning after only 1 week of cutting her junk food and exercising every day and is down to 135 again. She is thrilled and I'm happy for her. Her belly already looks smaller. She is asking for healthy foods only and requested that I not buy any junk for her brother or dad, so she won't be tempted by it.

Paperclippy-Weird what our subconscious produces huh. Oh, and GO COLTS!

Lily-I wondered how you'd fared in that terrible ice storm. I'm glad to hear you made it ok.

Anne-It froze in AZ. What weird weather..

All the kids seem to have recovered from the plague, er I mean flu so hopefully things will be back to normal here.

I had to make soup for dd's debate meet (they were the hosts) this weekend. I created something I'm calling Italian Vegetable-I put in chicken broth, water and a can of spaghetti sauce (Hunts vegetable) I added a can of italian stewed tomatoes, a potato and a frozen bag of green beans and carrots and a can of chickpeas. Oh, and I added basil and thyme. Everyone raved so I guess I accidently created something.

Pam, I am sending out huge amounts of hugs and well wishes to you. I first started posting on 3FC in October of last year ('06). I was at my maintenance weight and wanted to figure out how to maintain. I didn't figure it out. Instead I gained 30+ pounds. I, too, gained a couple and felt huge and struggled with the little bit here or there. I'm just posting this so you can see me, see my ticker, and REFUSE to go there! FIGHT THIS! Fight is as hard as you fought to lose the weight! Do not give in! Do not give up! Every day is a new day to fight this. And when I get there (again, sigh) please remind me!

Lindy

Meg, here's a great soup recipe:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99449
I've made it twice now. Even the kids like it.

It's been very cold here (albeit MUCH less cold than all of you!!). Yesterday on my weekly walk with DH and the dogs we had to deal with lots of ice patches on the sidewalks.

Paperclippy~my DD had her wisdom teeth out the Friday before Thanksgiving. She was finally able to chew on Thanksgiving. She didn't have too much swelling and her face never looked bruised either. I consider her lucky. When I had mine out years ago, I was black and blue followed by green and yellow. And oh so swollen. But DD did learn that McDonald's makes great shakes! LOL

Lindy: Thanks so much for the encouragement, reminder and kick in the pants. I can see how you have a feel for right where I am right now. I am definitely going to fight with all my might. I can see how easy it would be to just bury my head in the sand, coming out only to eat cake and peanuts! I already feel better because I worked out this morning and then, instead of going to Red Robin for my lunch as my daughter requested, steered us to Subway and got a 6 inch turkey with mustard and lots of veggies. Tonight is going to be a very light dinner. I think having one day of totally on-track eating will make me feel better and give me the ooompf to stay on track the rest of the week. I know you can get back down. You've done it before. I was reading that it takes several tries to finally break bad habits and change your ways for good. I think we're both fed up with gaining back weight and this will be the last time. Sure, I know I'm going to gain a few pounds as I struggle to figure out how to maintain, but taking them off quickly like Lily said is really the key, at least I know it is for me, because if I don't I will gain more and then pretty soon my new slim-fit low-rise jeans won't fit and I will be discouraged and all I will want to do is give up and eat and I AM NOT GOING THERE. I never want my pants to be tight again.
Thanks again for being so supportive and I hope to be there for you when you get back to your goal.
Pam

I just came from the pharmacy and getting non-prescription eye drops. My left eye was matted closed when I woke up. I cleaned it out and it keeps draining. It's red and my vision is blurry. It doesn't hurt and I sure hope I didn't get pink eye from any of the kiddos that have been here. None of them were showing any signs of it. I feel like I'm a train wreck sometimes.

good news is, I finally got my car doors unfrozen enough to drive and was able to get my errands done. Our ice and snow are starting to melt a little.

Can I jump in here. I was/am a maintainer...just lost my way for awhile. Gained 10 big ones, lost 3 so am on my way back to maintance.

Glory, I live in Bremerton and had several inches of snow this morning but I think all of Western Washington did. Hope you made it to work ok. I stayed in and hibernated on this computer all day.
Don't laugh but I haul my recumbent bike over here sideways to the computer and read and ride my way up to an hour. Of course I have to stop to post.

Hope it's all right I jumped in this thread.

Hi ladies,

Speaking of soups, I just ate some leftover fish chowder for lunch. Mmm. BF and I went camping and fishing last weekend (yes I really, really appreciate the nice weather here in northern Florida and people in colder places have my sympathy) and caught a bunch of fresh trout. I made it with half 2%, half skim milk and minimized the butter, and it also has onions, potatoes (a rare treat for me to eat white potatoes), fresh parsley and bay.

Oh, and I was really tired over the weekend and felt sick and overate on pizza. *sigh* Back on track as of yesterday.

Golden Girl and SlimLindy, good luck getting back to maintenance. You can do it!

lilybelle, I hope you don't have pinkeye!

paperclippy, I think about 2 days after having my wisdom teeth removed I got tired of the mushy food and started eating most foods. But I had a very unremarkable recovery, I think I was pretty lucky. I wish you a speedy recovery.

wndranne, doing a half marathon, even with a bit of walking, is something to be extremely proud of! Sorry you had ankle trouble, but be proud!

Hi everyone else.