Ah, we had pancakes for breakfast. They were high protein, reasonably healthy ones, but maple syrup was still involved!

Will try to come back here more often. Or at least, I hope that I can safely check into "weight loss boards" now without getting in the bingeing mindset again >.< (yeah, to be honest, all the weight loss blog reading etc. that I was doing at the time kind of made it worse).

I can't even say "I'm coming back because I've regained everything" because actually, although not uber thin, I am maintaining what I've lost so far, and this is worth all 'goal weights' to me. It sure was *not* a given!

And things are going well enough. Pretty hectic on some points, and I'm not exiled 400 miles from my family and friends T_T, but since I haven't fallen into depression, I assume I'm well.

See you later when I'm back (and recovered from all the tiredness, haha).

No pancakes for me--but then I don't do the whole Lent thing, either. I probably have pancakes once every few years and they ARE good but they don't seem all that healthy so I avoid them. The last time I fixed them was months ago when I made them instead of toast with our weekly breakfast dinner. There was a time when I'd make them daily--but those were Meg's protein pancakes so I feel they were a bit better for me.

It's been a slow morning today. Not much going on except a call from our CPA about our taxes. He had an idea for next year that I now need to do a bit of work to implement. Nothing too major, though.

I got my car back yesterday. For Christmas, DH promised me either new wheels or to get my existing wheels chromed. I chose to have them chromed and the car had to be at the shop for the week it took them to ship them to LA to get them chromed. But they are beautiful! I got to drive DS's car for the week and although it is a nice car, I really prefer my own.

Michele~your DD will do fine on her test. Just remind her to pay really close attention to the road signs and obey them.

Shannon~glad things are working out with DSS and his mom. Sounds like the party was a success. Sorry to hear you're under the weather.

Jessica~hoping this is just a slight setback for Carter.

Megan~my lunches are ALWAYS the healthiest meal for me and DH. Not that I've bought and prepacked stuff, but we always have a Weight Watchers Smart Ones entree with an Activia light yogurt and a small piece of fruit. I imagine everything comes in at 400-450 calories for lunch and relatively lowfat. It does make things easier.

Well, better get back to work. Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Okay, now I'm pretty sure that Carter's issue is just an injury to the bottom of his foot. I put the boot on him and he's been walking around with it on just like he was walking a couple days ago. He doesn't seem to be in any pain when I feel around on his spine either, so hopefully that means he's not having any back problems. I will call the vet tomorrow to check in any case but for now if he's okay with the boot on I'm just leaving it on.

I think Shannon (?) was one the right track re the boot. If he's been wearing it for awhile the skin will have softened on the pad and be more sensitive to concrete. How about starting the walk with the boot on, and then, when he's confident about walking with it, taking it off? That way the foot can gradually toughen up again.

I had a minor breakthrough with screamy nervy nellie aka Chloe the Belgian shepherd. Due to a bunch of fire trucks and traffic being blocked I drove her and her buddy Jasmine home a different way. We were a block away from the young golden retrievers and I decided to take the girls for a second walk with them. Chloe winged around with the two boys. She then sat quietly on the car seat (first time EVER) all the way home. Wish I could do this every day for her.

I had no pancakes today. My dad used to make totally gross huge pancakes using bacon fat. I never had a taste for the things after those. I try them in restaurants every once in a while but usually they resemble little rounds of sponge rubber.

Dinner tonite will be vegetarian so I will have to occupy myself this evening to avoid snacking. I am always hungrier with vegetarian food. Maybe some low fat cheese later . . .hmmm.

Good evening all!

Dagmar

WOW! Being accountable and logging my cals for 2 days has resulted in the scale moving down 3 lbs. :. Now I realize this isn't fat I've lost but just the same it's a huge morale booster.

My challenge today is threefold. First, I usually cave on the third day of restricting cals and have a mini-binge in the evening. Second, DH is at band camp tonite and I usually feel sorry for myself and eat. Third, after 9 hours in the rain and gusting winds (weather forecast for today) I am usually so beat I'm ready for bed at 7 p.m. and start eating to try to stay awake for another couple of hours.

So I will rise to the challenge today. I will listen to music and play "corner the cat" (computer game) tonite, instead of plunking down in front of the TV. I will eat a hot lunch and take along a thermos of tea to counter some of the effects of the weather. And I will drink a pot of herbal tea in the evening for comfort, warmth, and to fill me up.

Since DH's snoring drove me from the bedroom at 4 a.m. I have time this morning to get a healthy stir fry dinner ready to go for this evening. That will help with feeling sorry for myself - I have to cook too (!$#%) after a day in the rain?

Guess I'll go do that now and then some

Great hump day all!

Dagmar

Dagmar, great job on the loss so far! My advice to you for this evening would be if you're beat at 7pm, rather than eating to stay awake, just go to sleep! After being out in nasty weather all day I'd be ready to go to sleep right after dinner too. Or at least get ready for bed, and maybe read a book in bed or something like that.

I spoke with Carter's regular vet yesterday who I had called once finding out the surgeon was out of the office. He confirmed that it sounds like it's not a neurological issue, because if it was the boot wouldn't make a difference. He also said leaving the boot on won't hurt anything, so that's what we're doing for now. I think we'll start taking it off of him for short times and gradually increase the amount of time he has it off until he can go without it again.

My weight is coming down from a high Monday morning after my cooking club Sunday evening. I'm trying to get my eating back under control. After losing that weight worrying about Carter, once we found out he would be okay I ate everything in sight for a while. Yesterday I managed to not eat after dinner and only have one serving of dinner which was good. Hopefully I can manage it again today.

I had one of those dreams last night. You know, where your SO does something horrible in your dream, and you wake up peeved. I politely asked him to refrain from doing that again in my dreams. He did not see the humor (maybe bc he was still trying to sleep when I left for work).

Dagmar, I was going to suggest exactly what Jessica did. Why don't you just drink that pot of hot decaf tea and go to sleep early? Especially after DH's snoring woke you up so early this AM? I want to go to sleep early after a day like you described, too! I'm sure the hot thermos and hot lunch will help, too, as will a nice hot shower after your day is over.

Jessica, maybe Carter's foot problem isn't too serious as Shannon & Dagmar suggested. Your plan to use the booty and gradually increase time without it seems like a good one.

Now I want pancaked! Good thing I have some of Mel's protein pancakes in my freezer, and Mom's apple butter (lower sugar than regular jam) in my fridge.

I thought you all might like to see the picture BF sent me yesterday afternoon of Emma on her first boat ride. I think she's enjoying it! That's the front of the boat. Classic dog with face/ears flapping in the wind.

Morning, everyone!

Dagmar: congrats on the success of the journaling experiment so far. Days 3 and 4 are usually the hardest for me, too.

Jessica: glad to hear Carter is moving around now, even if on three feet. That's a vast improvement since when I left!

Bill: still decluttering? Really, my house is waiting...

Tulips? I must have missed the tulip discussion. Which is OK, because we're still buried under 2 feet of snow. Besides, I got tired of planting really expensive deer candy.

Pancakes aren't one of my favorites, and never have been. I do love maple syrup, though. I dribble a bit over plain yogurt and fruit for a healthy dessert. Mmmm...

So, I'm back from my HI vacation. Great trip, but a brutal return involving incompetent customer service agents, canceled flights, lost bags, a 6.5 hour drive through Sunday's blizzard, etc. Our last bag just made it an hour ago (48 hours later). Everything seems to be in it *except* the two boxes of chocolates I had purchased as gifts for the two sets of neighbors who shoveled our driveway and walkways while we were gone. (I figured I should replace the calories they burned ... ) Aside from losing the gifts, I think what annoys me the most is the thought of a baggage agent going through my clothes -- including undies and swimsuits -- searching for something worth stealing. Uggghh.

Aside from the return trip, it was a *great* two weeks. As I posted on the weights board, I used the vacation as a diet break and I didn't count calories. But, I also didn't use it as an excuse to gorge. We ate every meal but one in our rental unit, so it was pretty easy to eat relatively normally. I did enjoy massive quantities of fresh pineapple and apple bananas, though, and what's a beach vacation without a beer or two?

We were also *really* active. I ran 2 miles on the beach every day except the day we hiked 11 miles. (The Boy, age 8, led the whole way, and didn't complain once -- I was so proud of him!) Also did a lot of body surfing, walking, pullups on the pier, and I even tried paddleboarding. (Standing up on a large surfboard and paddling with a long paddle -- it's a good core and balance workout.) I haven't stepped on the scale, but my sense is the vacation damage wasn't too great. Besides, we had so much fun and family time that it was worth every ounce.

//b strong,
Kim

Kim - something was missing from your bag? Is there somewhere to file a complaint about that? Sorry the return was so arduous, but glad that you had a good trip otherwise. How was the bikini?

Jessica - I'm glad that it seems to be something minor with Carter and his foot.

Megan - love the picture of Emma! Funny about the dream - I've had those, too.

Dagmar - stay warm today! And if you are one of those people who can't go to bed early without being up at 4am again tomorrow at least rest and relax with your tea tonight.

DSS's birthday today. I'm thinking I'm going to go have lunch with him at school. DH met XW & DSS for breakfast and is meeting them again for dinner (Wendy's, nothing fancy) so I'm going to poke in for lunch.

Good day everyone!

Kim, your HI vacation sounds marvelous! The only exercise I got when we went was the hike up the volcano. But mine was more of a "working" vacation as each day but one we had to be at the convention center for most of the day. I did get in a lot of walking, though.

Dagmar, here's another vote for you to go to bed early! And kudos on the loss!

Megan, those kinds of dreams are so funny! I always tell my DH (or whoever did the bad deed) to knock it off in the future.

I'm formulating my plan for my 11 days in SLC. I know I can't rely on my parent's scale to be as accurate as my own, but it'll at least give me a rough idea of my daily weight. I don''t know what kind of food I'll encounter when I get there, but I know I'll be doing a lot of shopping for them and I hope to bring home a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. I will be doing the cooking for breakfasts and dinners and will try to keep my Dad away from fast food for lunch. He's supposed to be low sodium eating, so that is my biggest challenge. While I never add salt to anything that I make (or at least rarely add it), he can't have some prepackaged items due to the sodium content. He's lost his sense of taste so the doctor suggested using a lot of other spices to liven up his food. Anyone have any suggestions?

I'm proud of myself! I actually got out of bed and exercised! I've been trying to get home early enough to take Chico for a walk before dinner but can't seem to get that done--something always pops up to keep me either at work or running errands after work. Today and tomorrow are already full and yesterday I did a Costco run after work. Ugh.

Everyone is up early this morning.
Just a quick hello from me today.
Good news/bad news... dd got her driver's license yesterday but then she and dh had a big argument later. We don't believe in giving teens a car so she and dh have to share and she still has to follow our rules. She has a terrible sense of direction and we aren't that confident she is ready to be driving alone. When dh told her the rules, she blew. She just thought she would have free reign of the car if dh wasn't using it. They are both extremely stubborn and I was stuck in the middle. Dh leaves tomorrow to go to Washington and he is threatening taking the car to the airport which would leave her carless. While talking to her, she confessed that she has been feeling depressed for a YEAR. She is on meds for depression but she never opens up and says she is fine. We've been noticing some signs that would indicate she isn't fine so I'm glad she opened up. Now I've got to try to get her to the doc ASAP to see about getting her meds adjusted. Dh was upset so he just sulked and acted grouchy which didn't help any. Just a fun evening all in all. I wasn't able to exercise so my weight was way up this morning. Didn't sleep well either.... sigh...

Megan-- your dog looks ecstatic!!

Dagmar-- keep on keeping strong!

I also got my bloodwork results. My thyroid was fine though slightly elevated (I thought it would be under so I was wrong). She said I am still anemic and I told her I'd recently donated blood so we're going to recheck the thyroid and anemia in a couple of months. She said everything else looked good but she doesn't really tell you much over the phone so I asked for a copy of the results to be mailed. I like to see my cholesterol, etc.

Tons of work to do so I better get going. Please keep my dd in your thoughts.

Michele - sorry DD exploded like that, but glad that it allowed the depression to come out in the open.

Allison - I use a lot of chili powder, cilantro, cumin, southwestern kind of spices. Turmeric is a strong spice if you can find something to mix it with. I also have a vindaloo blend from Penzey's spices that is really good and catches attention.

Stayed strong last night and drank my tea, ate my banana, and went to bed at 9:30.

Today it's rain all day. I can do this too!

And I'm no longer working late today or tomorrow so that will help.

Dagmar

woo hoo Dagmar! Here's to another good day today!