Good morning and it's the last week of January!

I woke up with a sore throat so am kind of waiting to see if I feel up to the gym. We'll see if coffee does its magic!

DH and I got our new bed yesterday (who ever heard of a 7:30 am Sunday delivery? ) and it feels as wonderful as I hoped -- but it's so tall! It's been 17 years since we bought a new one and the world of mattresses has changed! The cats were all a bit stymied by the height but the ones who aren't good jumpers figured out how to jump on the nightstand and then the bed. I know at one point during the night we had three of the four cats with us. Which is another reason why we went from queen to king sized!

I've been in a food rut so went through my recipe files yesterday and pulled out some old favorites and new, then made my grocery list. So today will be a big bulk cooking day. Hungry Girl has a recipe for corn muffins using Fage 0% yogurt that looks really good. I'll also make chicken-black bean chili, meatloaf, and spaghetti squash alfredo -- winter comfort foods.

How was your weekend? Are you cooking anything good this week?

Not much new here. Dinner for tonite is made - cajun tomato thingee - and DH will be doing the last of the prep work as I'm working late all this week.

DH is making all the mistakes of dieting I made. I will only offer guidance if asked and will not critize backsliding. I have learned a lot from you all and it will be interesting to apply it as "Coach"

I switched to larger weights for my free weights and they didn't leave me sore as I expected they would.

Meg Which bed did you get? I'm probably buying at the beginning of February. I too have noticed the height has changed (I sleep in many different kinds of beds on house sits) as has the size of sheets for all the pillow top stuff. Hope the works for your throat!

I'm going to be working in the pouring rain today but it's better than having it snow!

Have a great day all!

Dagmar

Good Monday morning! It finally stopped raining here but it's supposed to be windy and cold. I will be finishing up stage 3 of NRLW this morning. Feeling stronger already.

I don't know what I'll be cooking this week. Last week I made Chickpea and spinach curry: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/re...cipe_id=354461 It was pretty good but a little on the soupy side. Also Easy garlic chicken (substituted splenda brown sugar blend): http://www.recipezaar.com/Easy-Garlic-Chicken-5478 That one went over pretty well with the family.

I hear that about the rain.

Meg, hope your sore throat peters out. Seems like a lot of people I know are getting sick right about now, but, at least where I live, it's been like a one day thing for all of them.

I finally discovered spinach (on Friday). So filling and for such low calories -- which means I can saute it up with a little olive oil, garlic and shredded parm. NEW LOVE. (Color me surprised.) I also have beets, though I have yet to try them. I'm reading another superfoods book so that is inspiring me to try the healthy foods I don't already eat. I am going to try tuna tonight for dinner but I'm not sure if I'll like it (have heard it is like red meat, and I tend not to like red meat). I bought it already prepared in a sesame-ginger sauce to baby myself, heh.

Re: weekend, I have other news there. My weekend was a lot of fun, but -- and this is kind of big for me, whoah -- I embarked on my weight loss 17 months ago and this past Saturday marks the only time in 17 months that I went over my planned calories. Knowingly, at least. I went over by like 500, too (I estimate I ate in the 1700s when I normally eat 1200).

Some high school girlfriends I see twice a year rolled into town and I went out drinking with them ... wine, cocktails, all until the wee hours. Holy cow. Had a great time, but I am amazed that I had such a high-cal day when I (/we) hardly ate (mostly empty calories!)

So after we finally dragged our hungover selves out of bed on Sunday, I resolved to have the most superfoodesque day I could --- oatmeal, canned pumpkin, my flax, spinach, more veggies, lots of water to replenish!

As has happened when I traveled and didn't work out, my weigh-in this morning was back down to 132/133 even though it was 134-136 these last 3 weeks. My husband joked that weight control will be a girl's night out here and there. Me, I am horrified at myself in a way but relieved in another way. During my active stage of weight loss I'm sure I would've tried to make up the difference, but I'm not trying to do that, not technically anyway. I logged it all as best I could (estimating the vodka and cran calories) and like yesterday, I'm going to eat my most nutritious foods today as well as at the lower end of my caloric range for maintenance.

I see here every day that people just get back on the horse and now it's my turn to keep an even keel. I had never fallen off the wagon during my weight loss but well, maintenance is forever and it's good for me to buck up, log it and get over it like the newly moderate and healthy person I am ... even though I dislike having my food log marred by such a transgression.

Ah well, so there it is. Feels good to tell 3fc! Father, it's been almost a year and a half since my last confession!

Morning all,

Sooo nice to have BF home. I spent the weekend relaxing with him, sushi night Saturday with the girls (yes, I ate too much ), and downloading sound effects and rehearsing for the play. The play is this upcoming weekend, which means long(er) rehearsals and some stress over the person who's supposed to be operating the sound effects. It's also been TOM, so despite staying mostly OP I feel terribly bloated... blech.

I did all my bulk cooking for the week yesterday, trying to stay ahead of the game. Last week despite being crazy I made it to the gym for 6 hard workouts, so I'm trying to repeat that this week.

I'm so annoyed b/c the CD/DVD drive on my new laptop isn't working! When I put a CD in it sounds like it's working to find it, but doesn't "see" it. Of course I've already spent a lot of time transferring files etc., and the nearest Best Buy is 1 1/2 hours away.

Meg, I hope you're feeling better! I hope you (and the cats) enjoy the new mattress. Way to show your doc the power of exercise!

Dagmar, good for you for increasing weights! Hopefully DH will further follow in your footsteps - past the usual dieting mistakes, into success at healthy weight loss.

WPF, I think of tuna as more like salmon, not exactly like red meat. At least you're trying new foods. I think it's ok to overindulge once in a while, as long as you do exactly what you're doing - getting right back on plan with healthy eating.

How was everybody else's weekend?

Good morning everyone!

Meg, you are superwoman! (This is in response to your knee replacements and squats, not to getting a new bed! )

Dagmar, great job on the weights! I hope your DH works through his problems and gets back OP!

Ward, those recipes sound yummy!

Fences, LOL about the spinach! I like raw baby spinach in salads, and I mix cooked spinach into casseroles and pasta, but I hate just plain sauteed spinach. Roasted beets are super-yummy.

Megan, good luck on the play!

This weekend I got some good exercise in, go me! I had a haircut at 11 on Saturday so instead of going to the gym I usually go to to swim (on the other side of town), I printed out a free trial pass to the LA Fitness that is across the street from my hair salon and went there (DH too). They were finishing up an aqua fit class so I had to wait for the pool, so I did some cardio. They had this crazy stair climber machine that was basically an escalator with only three steps. Much better than other stair climbers IMO because it is much more like actually climbing stairs! 15 minutes on that guy, then a 10 minute run on the treadmill (well, more of a jog), then the pool was free and I went and swam for another 20 minutes.

OTOH I ate a bunch of junk food. Oops. Actually it wasn't too bad, we went to dinner Saturday night and while I splurged on a cup of french onion soup and split dessert, I ordered seafood for my main dish and ate less than half of it. Yesterday I was too tempted at the grocery store and bought a Colts blue and white cupcake and a single-serve tiramisu, but split them both with DH.

I did a bunch of cooking yesterday -- made Cooking Light's Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza, which turned out great, and a big batch of beef stew for later this week.

I had a great weekend (went to see The Book of Eli) but didn't sleep too well last night. I woke up before 3 AM and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up a little bit earlier than my alarm so I could exercise. It felt great to be back at it, but just now (after 3 cups of coffee) I'm feeling the need for a nap! I guess it's time for cup #4 from the office Keurig machine!

Good morning everyone. I finally see some sunshine outside the window. Have to go to a visitation tonight for DH's aunt who passed away yesterday, but will definitely get to the park tomorrow after work. One way or another. I did exercise Saturday, but then ended up taking yesterday off. I felt kind of run down, and I'm sure the rainy weather didn't help. Feel somewhat better today.

Jessica - the deep dish pizza recipe looks great!

Megan - hope the bloated ick feeling passes soon. And that you get your drive fixed. Annoying.

WPF - I am often more annoyed with having to post my bad food in my nice log than I am by the eating of it! So, you eat at 1200 calories for maintenance? And wow - only one overage in 17 months! You are much stronger than me! On the tuna, I don't love it either. I like salmon a lot, though.

Ward - I can see wind blowing the trees outside my window... I was really hoping it would be a little warmer with the sun out. Sadness.

Dagmar - try to stay as dry as you can today! And on the heavier weights!

Meg - Hope your throat feels better. Mine was a little sore yesterday so I spent some time in bed with hot tea. It seemed to help. That and the comfort factor of lying next to my purring cat and reading. Let me know how the corn muffin recipe works out - I've looked at it but haven't tried it yet.

Good day everyone!

Meg, sounds like you're going to need all new sheets to fit the taller mattress. Corn muffins--yum! Hope you feel better.

Dagmar, it's hard to keep our mouths shut, isn't it? I'm finding that out with my DH, who has been wanting to lose first 5, then 10, now 15 lbs.

Wardhog, I never think of Georgia as cold.

WPF, ah, those liquid calories. They go down so smoothly, too, don't they? Glad had fun with your friends.

Megan, I can't remember what play you're doing and what part you're playing?? Sounds like you had a relaxing weekend, which we all need.

Jessica, you made up for the splurge with all that exercise, I'm sure.

Allison, sorry you're having trouble sleeping. That's the pits when you lie there awake.

Today is a banner day for me! I did the crossword puzzle without resorting to the online crossword dictionary--yay! I had to let it sit while I did grocery shopping, but maybe that's what helped.

I made an appointment with the dr. this morning because I've been having a lot of pain in the middle of my chest and after I eat. I take a generic fosamax, which is hard on the throat and stomach, but I also take acid blockers so I shouldn't feel like this. Thought I'd better be safe than sorry and get it checked out. On the positive side, I'm having lunch with someone I haven't seen in over a decade--she recently moved back. She's a lot of fun so I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

Have a good Monday!

Oh, I forgot - I've got to tell you guys this gym story from the weekend. I was benchpress training with trainer Tim & Cathy (oh yeah... I'm doing that benchpress/deadlift competition again this year). I forget what exercise we were doing but went to pick up a set of dumbbells from the dumbbell rack (you know, it's like a set of dumbbells 2 dumbbells for each weight, from 5 lbs through like 50 lbs. Weights marked by the manufacturer, not the gym). Tim was writing down what weights we were doing with each exercise... as I'm picking up the 10 lbs he says something like "oh the 10's, really the 12 1/2's". I said "what?"
T: "Oh those are really 12 1/2's."
me: "What do you mean, 12 1/2's? They say 10's."
T: "The # written on them just refers to the weights on either end of the dumbbell. The hand grip part adds 2 1/2 #s."
Me: agape, aghast, "What do you mean? All these years I've been going back and forth between these and actual 10, 15 lb dumbbells??? And I've been lifting more than I think with these?"
T: "Yes..."
me: "You should put a sign up or something!"
T: "Well all the people who need to know do."
me: (that last one upset me) "Well excuse me, no one ever told me! I feel I use them often enough that I should know!"
Cathy chimes in: "Nobody ever told me either!"
me: "Is this part of that testosterone-driven, secret handshake, grunting club that you men have over here in the free weights?!?!"
Tim just started laughing... I was still upset... (we know each other well enough that we weren't really mad at each other or anything) ok it wasn't that big a deal but pu-lease... don't assume that the weight written on the weights is accurate!

So you guys who are on Facebook and play Mafia Wars... I need a little help. I don't play the game myself, but am investigating an employee incident and am looking at the times they have Mafia Wars activity posted on their FB page. Are all of those entires triggered by a person actually logging in and playing the game at the time the post says or could some of them be automatic?

Shannon. I think I'd have to see the profile to tell you for sure. But from Mafia Wars, you can post things that will show up on your wall AND other people playing can post things to your wall as well. So not all posts will be from the user. I just spent a few minutes cleaning up posts on my wall and easily half were from other users.

Allison - hm. Would you mind looking at a screen shot if I clip it into a file and send it to you in a PM? I think most of these are initiated by the person - they are listed under his name and are the "xxx needs your help to ..." messages.

Sure Shannon, I'd be glad to help!

Ugh. Something funky showed up on my mammogram so I have to go back again on Wed. I am alternately freaking out and convincing myself that it's nothing. It has happened to me before, and it was nothing. Sometimes it's no fun being a girl.