Goob mornik! My box of tissues and I are up early due to not being able to breathe. Poor DH! I'm sure I sounded like a train last night when he was trying to sleep. But the good news is that I'm starting to feel better and am planning on the gym this morning. We're due for snow here for the next few days, so I'll hit the gym and grocery store and be home by 7:30 am.

How is everyone else feeling? It seems like everyone around here is sick, probably due to the crazy weather ups and downs of the past few weeks.

I made orange roughy last night, simmered with tomatoes, onions, garlic, Italian olives, and a little wine. Soooo good, and so few calories! And I have lots of leftovers (cooked three pounds).

I've just started reading In Defense Of Food by Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore's Dilemma) -- anyone else reading it? His mantra is: Eat food (he means whole foods, as opposed to manufactured food-like products), not much, mostly plants. The first section, which is as far as I've gotten, is an attack on "nutritionism", which is scientists and food manufacturers trying to break whole foods down into constituent parts and getting us to eat "nutrients" instead of foods. He details some of the spectacular failures of nutritionism over the last 30 years, like pushing a low-fat, high-carb diet (remember Snackwell's?). His point is that we can't isolate out the healthy elements of fruits and vegetables and synthesize them with manufactured products because we just don't know how they all work together or really, how they work at all. If anyone else has read the book, what do you think?

OK, time to make a grocery list. I'm craving oranges for some reason. Check in and tell us how things are going, especially our preggo ladies!

Good morning! And I hope you'll get better soon, Meg.

(I'm keeping my fingers crossed...I haven't been really ill since last Easter, which is a feat in and of itself, since colds are usually my weakness.)

I haven't read the book you mentioned, but I've heard of it. When I have money again, maybe I'll give it a shot. I tend to be more interested by this kind of reads than by "traditional diet books", I guess.

I resumed weight-lifting Saturday morning (the campus gym was closed for the holidays season ), and I thought I wouldn't leg-press as much as before Christmas to make sure I wouldn't overdo it. Well, guess who forgot to count the weight of the press when she loaded it with weights? And then I wondered why it was soooo hard, and oh, oops, is it my knee that I heard cracking just now? Fortunately, for once I decided to be careful, immediately stopped, and it looks like I didn't hurt myself, at least. I'll sure be less of an air-head next time...

Kery, I have to agree with you about "traditional diet books". I've yet to read one that says anything new - at least that's scientifically valid. It seems like they're getting more and more wacky in an effort to cash in. I mean, the Genotype Diet? Seriously?

The Genotype diet? Isn't that from the same guy who did the Blood type diet or something? Do we have to get a print of our karyotype or something now to eat better?

Bingo! Same guy, trying to cash in yet again.

How much do you want to bet that all six "Genotype plans" involve eating less and moving more?

I don't know about the fingerprint analysis, but leg length measurements and dental characteristics are diagnostic of whether you're a saurapod or an allosaurus. And everyone knows that too many ferns can may an allosaurus look fat...

Did I mention we're in full-on dinosaur mode around here?

Had a bad weekend, foodwise. Don't know what it was, but I ate like ... well, an allosaurus. The now extinct toffee-loving kind. As opposed to any other kind, right?

Meg, I hope you feel better. Sounds hopeful, if you're well enough for gym & shopping.

Must. have. coffee.

Kim

Snort, I almost spit my coffee. Thanks for the chuckle.
The weekend was just ok. Saturday wasn't bad but Sunday was a bit of a disaster. Four small coconut donuts at church (love those), took dd to a party and did my shopping while she was there, then came home and ate too much because I was starved, then, REALLY bad, I fed the baby at 3am and watched Persuasion (Jane Austen on Masterpiece Theater) and ate two big cookies. Eeek! Obviously being tired and rushed are not good for my good intentions. Well, on to today. I have to have the dog at the vet's at 8:30 so hopefully I will get all the housework done this morning so I can walk this afternoon. Have a great day all!

Good morning, everyone!

Lisa, I think you were the one who asked if the doctor said no running. She did, in fact. I had a little scare after running twice in the early weeks. I think it's more about peace of mind than the running actually causing a problem. If I went for a run and something bad happened, I'd always blame myself. It might be different if it had only happened once. But yes, the doctor did advise switching to walking.

I'm hoping to get in a walk after school today, even if it's on the boring dreadmill at school. I've definitely been eating more than I should lately, and not always the right things. I really have to try to do a better job! It's all I can do to keep my eyes open, so I've been kind of easy on myself about EVERYthing!

Meg, I've been meaning to read both of those books by Michael Pollan but haven't got around to it. They sound informative and interesting. I like reading about food and health in general, and not the crazy diet books. Yes, the blood type diet -- how absurd! What's crazy is that people still recommend these things to me sometimes even though I've lost over 100 pounds without crazy nonsense! "Oh, you're right...I must've lost my 100 pounds all wrong. I'll gain it back and then do it the right way, according to my blood type. Thanks!"

Good morning everyone.

Well the weather people had us all shaking in our snow boots yesterday. We were supposed to have this huge snowstorm overnight. Luckily - they were wrong - again. There's nothing on the ground. Zero, nada, zippo. I couldn't imagine being so consistiently wrong in my job and not getting fired.

Anyway, I hope everyone if feeling better soon. My hubby and daughter both have colds and I'm hoping they're not in a sharing mood.

Meg, those books sound interesting. Someone here at 3FC, I can't recall who, has that in their signature. The eat food, mostly plants line. I like it every time I see it.

I happily maintained this week. A good thing, since I'll be heading away for a week. We're leaving bright and early, well at least early, Thursday morning for our trip to Florida. Lots and lots and LOTS to get done before we go.

Have a great day/week everyone.

My fern fetish has been outed! It's all because Fitday doesn't list ferns, so I've been calling them a free food ... Busted!

Lisa, I still get those comments too, that I do/did it all wrong. Can you believe it? The ironic thing is that most times they come from someone who is still overweight but who just "knows" the right way to lose weight.

Congrats on maintaining, Robin - it's always a victory. We're only getting a little bit of snow here, but are due for more. I'm so darn cold!!!

Joy, being tired is just a recipe for diet disaster. And you with a baby ... it's hard to avoid.

Time for a protein shake with ferns -- er, blueberries.

Ah, ferns. Now I understand how I gained all this extra weight!

Somehow my inner logics must be flawed. Really, why do something as simple as eat healthier foods and moving a little more when we can have crazy blood-type diets to follow? (Who, me? Being a smartass? Never!)

The fern diet... Maybe that's an idea.

I might as well post here since I seem to be maintaining whether I want to or not.

I have an issue with Michael Pollan in that what he is saying is the same stuff that other people have been saying since the 1970s, but he gets all golly-gee-whiz about it as thought he personally invented this. And he likes the sound of his own voice way too much. That said, many of the points he makes are valid, so if you can bear to read him, you'll learn something.

Like the point about nutrients. No, we can't separate out the "nutrients" and expect the same results as with a "whole food." Just as we can't separate out the "active ingredient" in a medicinal plant and think we are using the same thing as if we use the whole plant. That's straight-line thinking, and the world is much richer than that.

OK, thanks for listening!

Jay

Wow, long thread already, and I fully expect at least one more person to pop in before I'm done posting! Morning everyone! I just poured my coffee. Half decaf, sadly, but coffee all the same.

I made the 2 hr pilgrimage to IKEA yesterday and bough new curtains for the bedrooms in the house. For the record, I did this because I've been meaning to for some time while the progesterone poisoning has been interfering, and not because my mother said my blinds were scuzzy over Christmas. For the record. Just in case anyone needs to know. Really. DH asked very carefully why we needed a new bedspread too. To match, obviously, duh. He muttered something about nesting and returned to his CSI marathon.

I have no idea how I'm eating. It seems like half great and half awful. I can't seem to remember from one second to the next, so I quit writing it down a lot. Well, a lot for me, considering I've done it every day for 5 years, unless I've been in the hospital or something. I think (hope) it looks like I'm on track for about a 40 lb pregnancy, which probably sounds terrible, unless you consider that I went 60ish the first time around. No exercise to speak of. My back hurts and aliens have taken over my brain. I can't seem to get past it. I can't even get my 20 minute deal going.

OK, I'll try at lunch. 10 minutes out. 10 minutes back. I have customers in this afternoon, and could use the break. Public shaming just might shake those aliens loose.

Ah, aliens and dinosaurs. Quite the thread we have going this morning. Kim, you almost made this preggo wet her pants.

Discovery Health body challenge is on TV and new for 2008. Four episodes each dealing with a set of identical twins. I really like watching it, except that Pamela Peek sort of bugs me on TV, but she's only on at the beginning and end of each episode.

Meg, I think ferns have a lot of good antioxidants and phytonutrients proven effective for fighting colds. Eat lots. Hold the ranch. Listen to me--I did it right!! Kery, be careful! Joy, even your post made me tired. Lisa, I'll have a long rambling email with TMI for the board shooting at you in a few. Robin, have fun in Florida, just in case there are way too many posts for me to deal with and I hide away and don't post again until next Monday at 6:30 a.m. when there are only 20.

Hello, all you wise maintainers who sleep in!

Anne

I was wrong. Fitday has FIVE listings for ferns.

I didn't know it was possible to laugh so much before one's coffee had taken effect on a Monday morning... ferns... down here in Florida we just chew on the palmettos. High fiber content, you know.

I had a brief meltdown Fri night that involved BF swearing we'd be home a lot sooner to cook the healthy dinner I had planned, esp. since I was really tired. He claims had no idea I was upset b/c of food, despite 2 1/2 years of my telling him "I need to eat when I'm hungry!" plus my going nutso when I don't eat in an OP/timely fashion. I ended up explaining how hard it is day to day for me...he says he had no idea at all, since he's always said he 'didn't want to talk about dieting'. (Which, btw, he also doesn't remember saying.) I swear, he is going to give me gray hair. He is so wonderful 97% of the time and the rest of the time can be so dense! But all is well now.

I finally got in a good FBWO Sat, biked Sun, and ate OP the rest of the weekend. My roommates made homemade chocolate chip cookies, margaritas, and Mexican food, and I ignored them all - at this point I view them (the foods, not the roommates) more with scorn than longing. Perhaps this is a defense mechanism? BF and I went sailing Saturday and couldn't believe the weather was so nice in January.

Anne, I'm sure your new bedspread and curtains look lovely. Men are clueless anyway (see 2 pg. up for example). Hang in there!

LisaMarie, you hang in there too!

Kery, ouch, be careful! Knees are important!

Meg, are you saying I shouldn't be following an O+ diet? Jk...I have been wanting to read The Omnivore's Dilemna for quite some time, I just haven't crossed paths with it at the library yet. Let us know how Pollan's new book is.