Hi You Guys
Just a quick hello as I am at work and man oh man are we busy
trying to set up this new cash office

We are in the midst of an artic freeze here in Toronto and all I
can say is baby its cold outside

I have been doing my body flex again this week and in the process of getting rid of my holiday waist line.

How are both of you doing???

Talk to you later.

Anne.

HI!
Anne, I bet your really busy. I sure missed this place when it was down yesterday.
I haven't started BF'ing yet. My sleeping has been so little lately, when I do get up, I'm pooped. I go out, start the fire back up, come in, do the gazelle for 25 min and make breakfast. I'm going to have to fit that BF in there. I did start taking my vitamins and supplements again and can tell the difference already. DH wants to lose weight, so it will be easier without him eating ice cream in front of me every night.
It's been freezing here too. The night before, it was -8 with a windchill of -30. Last night -2 but today, it warmed up to 27. I'll tell you, it felt warm compared to what we had before. Looks like the whole of North America is cold, how about you Aleka? I saw it was pretty cold out your way too.
I put up a new cork board in my computer room and have your pictures up. It's great to be able to see you guys and I have some others from other friends too. It's my friendship board
Have either of you tried Pepperoni chips? You put them on a plate inbetween a layer of paper towels and microwave for 1-3 min until crispy and crunchy. I never liked pepperoni on pizza, but once I tried them this way, I love them. It's like a substitute for potato chips, only low carb.
Take care, Nikki

Hi!

I missed talking to you yesterday. It's getting awfully cold here too. It was in the 20's here today, but it's supposed to get much..much colder. BRRRRR!

Yesterday DH & I did a few errands and we ate at Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. Both of us ordered off of their low carb menu and it was soooo good. I got the Church St. Chicken and DH got the Cajun Talapia Fish. Both of them came with their mashed cauliflower. The cauliflower was to die for, but they didn't give you much of it, just a small bowl. Both of us could have definitely eaten more of it. If you have a Ruby Tuesday's near you, I would highly recommend it.

We went to Sam's Club and Dr. Phil has a book out with his eating plan, and I got it. It seems to be fairly low carb. He has a "quick start" 14 day plan where women are allowed 1 carb a day, men are allowed 2, and he gives you a list of acceptable foods. Then after the two weeks you are able to add another carb. I found it to be like SSzing in a way, except there is no food combining, and you can have certain other things that SSizing doesn't allow, like nuts and yogurt. He recommends eating a protein with every meal. For breakfast you can have a bowl of cereal, fruit, skim milk, and either an egg, 2 turkey sausages, or 2 pieces of turkey bacon. I'm still reading it, but it does sound doable.

Have a great evening and stay warm

Aleka

Hi you guys,
Hope your both doing well. It is much warmer here now. It got up into the 20's today. Felt warm compared to before. I guess everything is relative. I remember when winter first started, I thought I was freezing and it was only in the 40's.

I finally started to BF again this morning. It didn't take long and it wasn't hard to do either. I can tell my clothes are already loser, that's a relief. I was getting tired of feeling like I was stuffed into a sausage casing.

Anne, I have to renew my license this year and to do that, I need to catch up on my continuing education credits. Some of those classes can be so dull, I practically fall out of my chair. So, I decided to start taking at home study courses. I got a brochure and it had a course on dream interpretation. It says, Learn to assist clients with a step-by step method to understand their dreams and appy the information to such areas as problem detection, clarification of situations, promotion of strengths and expansion of creativity in problem solving. I think I'll take it. I bet it's easy and sounds interesting. If nothing else, maybe we can find out why you dream what you do. Besides, I've always wanted to know why I dream about starving parakeets. What a stupid dream. There's another course on Herbal therapy that I'm going to get. It talks about common over the counter supplements that people take, how they work and interact with each other. Some courses are so dry and dull, I just try to pick out things that I think are interesting and won't put me to sleep.

Aleka, I read on the HSN boards some one was raving about Ruby Tuesdays. I would have to drive to Chicago to go to one (no kidding). Sounds marvelous. What do you think is in their mashed cauliflower? I make mine with sour cream, cream cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and parsley. Sometimes a little cheddar cheese on top.

Hope to hear from you guys soon. I checked in here all day to see if the boards were open and was a little surprised when I found them open now, Nikki

Hi Everyone:
It is freezing here!!! I can't beleive have cold it is. It is going
to me minus 28 on Friday

Nikki, I would love to know whats up with these dreams too
They are all recurring. The herbal therapy course sounds really
interesting too!!

Aleka are you going to give Dr. Phil's plan a try? I am back low
carbing. I am doing PP again. My big weigh in day is a week
from this Saturday Oh Boy!! I'll get to see the Christmas
damage

We had another stress filled day at work. My co-worker Tanya
called in sick and was really Mad as heck!
This is the young girl that I told you was crying at her desk a
few weeks back. Apparantly she was crying again yesterday.
the volume of work just over comes her. I am afraid she is
going to get let go When she is away I have to carry her load
as well as my own. Its tough. You are trying to deal with
patients, do deposits, post into the General Ledger all at the
same time while smiling of course!!!Customer service you know
What can you do?

Hope everyone has a great evening!

Anne.

i contacted them to get more complete info on their low-carb foods (totals and fiber were not listed on their website).
they sent me a file that lists what i needed to calc the netcarbs.

they would probably be willing to answer any questions you have about their menu. low-carb is really exploding around the country, which is so great!

here's the email address of the person who responded to my request:

"Diana Thompson" <[email protected]>

How sweet Yoohoo. I will email them and see what they say. Hopefully, they can tell me where a Ruby Tuesday is, closer than an 8 hour drive away from here.
It is great how low carbing is taking off, isn't it? I use to hate going to restaurants and ording food. Waitresses looked at me like I was from Mars when I'd order a cheeseburger without a bun and no french fries.

Anne,
I can't imagine the stress your under. Take care and do something nice for yourself. Take a warm bath or start reading a good book. You need a little relaxation time, just for you.
My DH has been back to work 3 days and he says it feels like he never had a vacation. He's already beside himself with the stress from work. His GI problems all went away by the time his vacation was over and guess what? he's back to popping TUMS like they were candy. I know it's easy for me to say to relax, but getting your mind off of things and concentrating on something else, even for just 15 min helps some. Just wish DH would try some meditation, but he's not that kind of guy.
Take care, and stay warm, Nikki

BRRRRRR,

It is -8 deg. this morning. Yesterday it got to about 3 above. I didn't emerge at all from my house. nikki, I saw on the weater map that your area will see a nice warm up, but we'll be in the deep freeze at least until Sun. I HATE New England in the winter.

ANNE, sorry that you had such a stressful day at work. The needs to have some sort of sensitivity training. I am thinking of giving Dr. Phil's eating plan a try. I did buy the necessary foods like yogurt, salad fixins, and some turkey bacon. I honestly want to do something. Good luck with your weigh in.

nikki, is that a photo of Stripes in your avatar? The kitty is really cute. Ruby Tuesdays does have a website where you can find the nearest restaurant. The one we went to is brand spanking new in our state's capitol, which is about a 45-50 min. drive away. I would like to know how they get the cauliflower the same consistency as mashed potatoes. That course to interpert dreams sounds like it would be very interesting and a lot of fun. Things like that really interest me. Sorry that your DH's digestive problems came back. I would say it was his job. When I worked outside the home, my stomach used to really bother me when I was overly stressed.

yahoo, thank you for contacting Ruby Tuesdays. That was so nice of you. It is nice that more restaurants are adding some low carb choices on their menu. Before, I would always order a hamburger w/o the bun, or a salad. I tried a dish on TGI Friday's low carb menu and it was also very good. Their artichoke dip with veggies to dip with is out of this world and a meal in itself.

Take care and stay warm.
Aleka

Hi,
It's a balmy 14 degrees this morning. I know you guys are suffering in the deep freeze this morning. I saw on the map where your high will be in the single digits Aleka and the wind chill has to be way below zero. I don't blame you for not going out, I hate going out in weather liike that. Anne, I know you've got go out and face the day, such as it is. Wish I could send you some heat. I bet your wind chills are really miserable. Be careful.

Aleka, Alynn started a thread on the low carb board looking for you. I told her she could find you here. You might check it out.

That is not Mr. Stripe, it is a faux Stripe. He has many body doubles in the world apparently While we think he's really special, he is just another little striped cat. I entered avitar in my search engine and found several sites to get new ones from. After scanning for viruses, I downloaded some favorites and then transferred this one to my profile. It looks just like him though. I don't have a scanner anymore, it was part of my first printer and that went belly up awhile back.

I did BF this morning and then got on the treadmill. It is more intense than the gazelle and harder on my joints, but boy do I work up a sweat on that. I think I'll only do that a few times a week.

Aleka, hope you are successful with Dr. P's diet plan. I like him, even if he can be somewhat abrasive at times. I think there needs to be more honesty in the world, and I think he says what he thinks. So many people are so careful anymore, trying to be PC, not get sued and not offend people.

I better go finish up breakfast, Nikki

It's about 2 degrees warmer than yesterday...-6 instead of -8
I just wish the wind would stop. The only good thing about this cold is that Lacee doesn't stay outside very long when she does her duties.

nikki, saw that thread where alynn was looking for me. Thanks for posting on it. I'm easing into Dr. Phil's diet, going to start on Monday, as I've got some WW pasta to get rid of. I am eating breakfast and lunch the way he recommends. I was on the gazelle the other day, flexed my feet, and didn't have the numb toes. I also tried to concentrate on my feet and flex my feet as if I was walking outside. That was kinda hard to do because my toes seem to always end up at the front, up against that lip.

ANNE, how was your work day yesterday? Hopefully Tanya was back so that you didn't have extra work to do. Now that you're in your new office, do you have to deal with as much as you used to? Hopefully it's warmed up a bit where you are. Good luck with your weight in this morning.

Hope you have a great weekend.
Aleka

Hi
Aleka, is the new Dr. Phil book you bought this one? The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide? I saw that at Walmart and thought about getting it. If that is it, does it give you more ideas about his diet plan, such as meal suggestions? or exactly what does it do that is different from the original book? DH keeps wanting to do something more traditional for dieting than low carb/high protein. Rather, he wants a low fat diet. I like my eggs and bacon and eggs and sausage in the morning, that is the main reason I like high protein diets. I was going through Dr. Phils book this morning and it looks like his diet is more of what DH wants. I can't afford to buy foods for 2 different plans, much less cook 2 different meals a time. DH wants to lose weight too, he also enjoys fruit, breads and potatoes. Well, the good thing about that what DH wants is, it's easier to fix a bowl of cold cereal than a whole meal, he can even do that himself, amazingly enough.
As far as the Gazelle goes, my foot pedal things are slippery. My feet go all over them and I'm forever adjusting my feet to stay in the right place. That is the biggest problem I have with the gazelle. I wish the pads were made of rubber.

Anne, how cold is it up there? Have you gotten any snow lately? We are getting warmer all the time. It's going to be in the upper 30s for about a week. I'm hoping it will melt off these big snow drifts that are sitting around.

I got new glasses yesterday. They are bifocals and I really hate them. Wish I'd just gotten lenses for seeing far away only. Now when I turn my head, my vision is all blurry and I get dizzy. I hope I get use to this soon. The good thing is, when I look straight ahead, I can see much better. The bifocals work great for a certain distance from my eyes, but if I get too close, it's all blurry and I have to take them off. I had to get a pair of frames that are on the smaller side, since that's about all they carry now. This doesn't leave much of an area for the lense and I think that is the main problem.
Think I'll save up and get another pair of glasses that are just for my nearsightedness, like I had before.

I better get my butt on the treadmill and my BF done, DH will be home soon, take care, Nikki

nikki, yes, that's the Dr. Phil book I got. His diet is low in fat and low in starchy carbs. He has a list of acceptable foods you eat while on his 2 week quick loss phase, and he gives you examples of what each meal would consist of, that alone really helps. In his quick loss phase, women get 1 carb per day, men get 2, that's the only difference. Then after the 2 weeks both men & women add 1 starchy carb, plus there are more food choices. You stay with this plan until you reach your goal weight. If you hit a plateau, you go back to the first phase of the diet for 2 weeks to get you off the plateau. Then he has a maintenance phase which you would follow for life. I have been eating his way for breakfast, most mornings. I usually have a high fiber cereal, fruit, skim milk, and 2 pieces of turkey bacon, or you can have canadian bacon, turkey sausage, 1 egg, or 2 egg whites with your cereal. I've run out of turkey bacon, so didn't have any this morning. Have to go stock up. Lunch is usually a salad with some lean protein, and dinner is lean protein and veggies. Next time you're in Walmart, skim through the book and see if it might be something you & DH can live with. Hope this helps. Sorry about your bifocals. That's why I get progressive lenses. With the progressive lenses it's a gradual change. I don't know why I even bother because I always take my glasses off to read anyway. Even in the grocery store, I put my glasses at the end of my nose and look over the rims to read prices. They do help though, reading a menu and writing out checks. If I am unhappy with my prescription lenses, I go right back to the Eye Dr. with my complaints. One time he had to change my reading prescription back to the original one and it didn't cost me anything.

Take care.
Aleka

Thanks, Aleka, that helps alot. I'll probably pick it up, since the original book is kind of sketchy when it comes to the diet part.
If I can still have a whole egg, and turkey sausage (which I can make myself), I will be satisfied. I do miss cereal in the morning too.
I am going to complain about my glasses, hopefully, they will do something about them. The biggest reason I got bifocals was for the computer. With my others ones, I couldn't see the screen very well. Now, I still can't see the screen, unless I tip my head way up or sit back about 2 feet. This getting older business isn't easy. In fact, it seems to be getting harder all the time.

nikki, if you do pick up the book at Walmart, would you mind letting me know how much it was before sales tax (if you do have a sales tax)? I got mine at Sams Club and paid $4.84 for it. Just out of curiosity it would be interesting to see if the prices are the same or if one is cheaper than the other since both are owned by the same company. Thanks.