andrea - I'm also grateful for the temp break. What a winter, huh? Re the oats, it sounds like a satisfying choice that meets your needs and probably helps way more than hurts. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that someone else also enjoys raw oats ...

Allison, I'm glad for all of you that the lump was, for labs, a normal thing.

I am streakless at the moment - my fingers "wrote a check that my head can't cash" when I said I was going to start with the calorie-counting. Stressed, cold, PMS, very poor sleep, lots of reasons/excuses. I am going to try something different and make it a goal to do something every day to relax.

Andrea~uncooked oats? Sorry, that sounds disgusting. I could eat them cooked, though. But if it's working for you, go for it.

OP yesterday, weight down again this morning. But now the weekend looms. And Sunday is the Supberbowl. I was considering making several appetizers in lieu of dinner. I'm not sure if that is such a good idea.

Sorry Becky!! Stress is always a trigger.

My streak on the no grapes is 6 now. Wish I could say the scale is continuing to plummet but at least the initial 2 pound drop I saw seems to be sticking. Like Allison-- this weekend will be a challenge for sure! Napa on Saturday and Superbowl on Sunday-- oy vey!

Andrea-- If you're eating dry oats you might need much more liquid to counteract?? Maybe chug some water with it and see if that helps slow you down. If your weight was down, that's a good sign-- hopefully the blip upwards is temporary!

No butter or peanut butter on Wednesday. Streak is 29. I had to go to a meeting unexpectedly first thing this morning (gymn time!) but it meant I bumped into a very old friend. Wonderful. I went to the gymn afterwards. Credit!

Andrea, is this eating dried food without enough liquid a medic thing, I wonder?? Someone I know used to eat dry milk powder when a medical student. She went on to be quite a successful dermatologist so it seems that all that dehydration didn't do her any harm! Seriously, if it's really cold you've got to eat! I think that Dagmar has a winter weight and a summer weight to work around this issue.

Michele, good work on the grapes! Keep it up.

to everyone. It's a bit too busy for comfort here all of a sudden.

It turns out that my little cat Tinker has an aggressive squamous cell carcinoma destroying the back half of her mandible.

I lost it at the vet hospital, then had to pull it together to come back and give an evening lecture which was no doubt terrible. This morning I'm still upset but also angry. I just excessively chewed out an idiot undergrad for a lab mistake. Now I have to go lead a roundtable discussion when what I really want to do is tell everyone there to go to he**-

Oh JayZeeJay.... I'm terribly sorry hun. Is there any treatment at all?

I have aiways loved uncooked oats ate em as a kid as a snack, in fact I may go get some now.

It's worth keeping in mind that Hetty Green ate raw oats - and died the richest woman in America.

And how are you doing by the way, Bargoo?

Oh, JayZeeJay, my heart goes out to you! I'm so sorry! (And if I were in your shoes all I'd want to do is tell everyone to go to he** too!).

So I assume I am to take up eating dried oats to become rich? Winning the lottery certainly isn't working for me.

JayZeeJay - oh no, poor thing! (both you and the cat) I hope there's something that can be done to treat, or worst case to make her reasonably comfortable. That SUCKS.

Oh NO!!!! I was worried that might be it - it's what we lost our cat Ezri of right before Xmas. I'm ever so sorry!! How old is Tinker?

I have had really low motivation this week - the weather is just starting to wear on me. We had blizzard conditions again yesterday and someone pulled out right in front of me. I narrowly missed slamming into her and then because I jerked the wheel so hard, my vehicle went into a spin and I almost ended up in a ditch. Fortunately I got control and other then my racing heart, everything was okay.

I forced myself to do an intense noon workout and then lifted heavy last night. I also have been really careful with my eating. The reward? Up 1.5 pounds on the scale. Wonderful...

Jen

Weather is driving me insane over here. And the cold is making me want to eat carbs carbs and more carbs.

JayZeeJay - heartbroken for you right now. Big hugs to you.

And to you, Allison. There is no time limit on grief, honey. I still have moments where I stop and cry a little for pets and family gone for years and I think that is okay. Just take care of yourself.

JayZee, I'm so sorry. Is there no end to the pet woes on this board? I hope you can find a few sympathetic ears (and shoulders) tonight.

Here I was thinking that I was the only one on the planet who ate raw oats with nothing added, and that it was a totally freakish thing (I've only just started to crave them like this; I never did it before a month ago). As for them being dry, that's a large part of the appeal somehow. I don't want to add water (though Michele, you're right- it would really slow me down by filling me up faster, so I think I'll try it with tea).

Bill, how on earth do you know that random factoid about Hetty Green?