LCFS week of Feb. 22nd
 

Hi,
Hope everyone is doing well. We got some rain last night. I went out to put some pans and towels down on our convertible seats (it leaks, even with a new roof) and accidentally got my cast wet. It's not a real cast, it's a splint with a bunch of heavy cotton and some plaster wrapped around it. Anyway, it got wet and as the day has gone by, it's dryed up into some kind of real uncomfortable shape. I'm going to be so glad to get this off on Wed.
I feel so much better now. I quit taking the pain medication, because it was turning me into a real B :censored: (and it does rhyme with witch). Or, I was crying all the time. Medication (especially pain pills) can make a person a real mess.
Well, got to go get a bath. It's the last show for Sex and the City tonight, and I can't miss it. I've been a big fan for years and hate to see it end. So far this season, it's been kind of depressing and not as well written as in the past, so maybe it is just as well that it ends now.

Take care, Nikki

Hi Nikkic,

Must be terrible to be trapped in a "misshapen cast"!!! Come on Wednesday!

DH and I went on a 200 mile round trip to watch some of the State High School Rasslin' Finals last night. Our son is our town's head wrestling coach and we wanted to support him. It is a three day affair. On Thursday, we were gone 8 hours to see some of it. We left "the girls" home (our two Yorkies) because we were afraid someone might steal them out of the car!! :( They are not accustomed to such from their parents...used to going everywhere with us, sitting in my purse when necessary. Lucianne got her tummy all in a snit when we got home. So Saturday, we loaded them up to go. All smiles! They were perfect ladies and offered to stay in the car to wait for us. Much better results! :cool: Plus we got a second place and sixth place finish.

On the way home, we stopped at Subway where I had one of the new chicken bacon wraps. Yummy!! It seemed the best choice because of the lowest amount of carbs (4) but didn't exactly fit SSing. What would be the deal there? :?: Do you think I did the right thing...adding 4 net carbs to some chicken, bacon, cheese and veggies? I don't know how the carbs figure into SSing, which I have been trying to stick to with little variance...leaning a little into the calorie watching in an attempt to get off this last five pounds for the blood sugar problem. :dizzy:

Please see what you think of this menu I've been eating for the last few days and give me a little feedback please. Early on an orange...an hour or so later a small bowl of All Bran/Fiber One with a little ground flax seed on it, topped with fat free plain yogurt. The other two meals and snacks are pro/fat and veggies. Is it too much carb? I know I am eating too many calories daily but when I cut back, I am so hungry!!! :mad: If I eat all pro/fat veggie meals and snacks, I am obviously suffering from a lack of fiber. ;)

Guess I'll just keep on hanging around here and picking up tidbits from you gals. You seem to do okay. Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Sugardrop

Hi,

nikki, how uncomfortable for you. It's a good thing the cast is coming off Wednesday. Will you be able to stand it until then?

Sugardrop, we don't like to leave Lacee in the car for any length of time either because we worry someone might steal her. Whenever we travel to FL I stay in the motel room with her while DH goes to one of the chain rest. around to get our dinner. We don't let her out of our sight. Somersizing you don't count carbs, calories, or fat grams. Somersizing is food combining. You can't eat protein or fat with carbs. With carbs you can eat veggies, or fat free cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. She doesn't recommend fat free cream cheese because it has too many fillers in it. With protein you can eat veggies and fat. So, the wrap you had from Subway is a no..no if you're Somersizing. If you want a sub or wrap at Subway, you have to get all vegetables. You could have the wrap if you took the filling out only ate that. I have seen posted that Subway will make whatever type of subs they have into salads. Have you read any of Suzanne's books? If not, I would highly recommend reading any one of her books, but my personal favorite is her newest one, Fast and Easy. Every book outlines her eating plan with any new information, plus the recipes are to die for. You can also log on to her website www.suzannesomers.com On the homepage click on to "communities", when that page comes up, click onto "discussion" which you will see to your left. Scroll down and you'll see a lot of topics on Somersizing, recipes, questions, etc. Your menu looks ok, but wait 20 min. to have your cereal after eating your orange, but if you're having an all protein meal I believe you have to wait an hr. The last time Suzanne was on HSN she said that she has a carb breakfast every other morning. Maybe you could try that. Personally, I need a carb breakfast every morning. If you only have the last 5 lbs. to lose, they usually are the toughest to go. Just hang in there and they will eventually go.

lynn, you are still in my thoughts.

ANNE, hope you had a good weekend.

Have a great day everyone.
Aleka

Hi Everyone: It is with great sadness I tell you all of the death of our beloved Coco. She was going on 17, we had rescued her as a 2 year old. I had forgotten in incredable pain of losing a pet. Our daughter drove up on friday night and was with us. Our son didn't get here in time. Fortunately she was with us when we saw tham last Monday. We thought her heart was giving out but apparently a tumor had bursted and she was bleeding internally. We had her cremated and will get her ashes back this week. We shopped all day Saturday even the DH who hates shopping. Yesterday our son and daughter-in-law with baby were here for the day. It was a beautiful day and we went for a long walk. We even had "happy hour" on the deck over the river. Today we are alone so I imagine it will be a sad day. We are planning a walk to our local Tim Horton's and back. We Canadians LOVE our timmy"s coffee! The walk is about 6 K so no exercising today for me. I have already been on the springer spanial rescue site and it is located in the part of Toronto that Anne lives in. We are planning a trip trip down to Toronto area next tuesday for 4 or 5 days and maybe my DH will be ready to discuss a new dog. I got to see part of Mrs. Atkins interview on Dateline on Friday night which made me feel better about missing her Larry King interview. Well hope you all have a great day I will be back later

Lynn,

I am so sorry about the death of your Coco. It is very difficult to give up a family member like a treasured pet...and they truely ARE family members after all those years! I hope the new baby you choose from the Rescue Site, whenever you decide, will help distract you from the pain.

Aleka, thanks for the advice about the wrong choice at Subway. However....I am wondering, if you are all SSers, why you discuss the low carb things that are appearing on the market. Where do they fit into the SS? When you are having a carb meal, is it good to include them instead of regular bread or tortillas? Or are some of you combining them with protein? And why did you make the choice recently (as I observed in some of the older threads) to go back to WW?

Nikkic, one day closer to Wednesday!!! Hang in there!

Sugardrop

HI,
First of all, Lynn, so sorry about Cocoa. It is a very deep pain that we feel when we lose a pet. They are more than just dogs or cats after being with us for so many years and some of them are so close to us, it is more like a family member with lots of hair. Good luck finding a new dog. Take your time, they all have such different personalities and it's hard to find one that fits in right with your family.

Sugardrop, we are not all Somersizers, we started this thread over a year ago (may 2 years now, can't remember) and at that time, we all Somersized. Lynn joined us a few months ago. We changed the name to LCFS (low carb free style) since we all started to go off into different directions with our eating plans. We just like having a place to come back to where we feel like we have friends and can talk about anything, and we also talk about our eating and try to see what works and what doesn't work. I think of this thread as home.
How much do your exercise? I exercise (when I am not laying around with a cast on) around 1 hour a day. I'm trying to increase that, not in time, but in intensity. My eating plan was Atkins before my surgery. I will probably return to that (induction for 2 weeks to start) after I get this cast off. I've decided that for now, I'm in limbo. I guess I should start to get myself back on track, it's kind of hard right now and I don't want to over do it, something that I tend to do, so for now, I'll just do nothing.
I'm not sure what they make those wraps out of. I'm assuming they are a protein/fat mix, but not sure, they might have some flour in them too. I would imagine they would not be a level one somersize food, probably a level 2, but again, I don't really know what they are made of. It is a better choice than eating a 12 inch sub or even a 6 inch. I know it's hard to find the right thing to eat (especially when your SS) out on the road.
With all the new low carb foods, it's easy to think that they are ok to eat, since it says low carb. They aren't all truthful and some are way off on their carb counts. It pays to look at the ingredients. I bought some low carb frozen dinners, thinking that they would be good to have while I'm down. They were Healthy Choice, so I figured they would be ok. Then I get home and look at the ingredients and they have sugar, corn starch, flour and other things I don't want to eat in them. They were still low in carbs though, according to the package.
The site that Aleka suggested is a great place to go to for some wonderful receipes, I go there and get some great ideas.

Aleka, they say it will be 50 here by Friday. I am dreaming of gardening and getting out in the sun.

Anne, hope your day goes better today. I know Mondays are hard to face, especially now.

Well, guess I need to go lay down. I'm getting really tired of laying down. I think I'll start doing Body Flex in the morning again. I can do that sitting down and also, will start to do some ab work on the floor. Just a little something to get myself going again. Take care, Nikki

Hi Everyone:
I'm at work but I was reading the tread and had to jump in to give my
condolences to Lynn. A dog is so much part of the family dynamic Lynn,
I am truly sorry for your loss.

Nikki, so glad to hear you are on the mend. It will be great to get rid
of that thing on Wednesday!!!

Hi Aleka, tomorrow is my lunch with :devil: at least I will be able to put it
behind me soon :stress:

Sugardrop, I eat all bran a few times aweek out of necessity :o

Talk to you all later if I don't colapse when I get in :dizzy:

Anne.

It's me again...

DH & I had to pick up some machined parts this morning so he can make a delivery tomorrow. We had lunch at Subway and both of us had their turkey bacon wrap. It was fantastic!! I noticed that you can take any of the subs and have them make into wraps.

lynn, again, I am so sorry for your loss. It was so lonesome in our house after we had our dog put to sleep. We went online trying to find another Boston Terrier breeder to see if they had any dogs ready to give birth. We did not have any luck. Then on a whim I clicked onto this link and found just what we were looking for, a female puppy that was a few weeks old. To make a long story short, this is the dog we now have and I can't imagine my life without her. She really helped heal 2 broken hearts. If you and your DH are ready then go for it.

sugardrop, I had been Somersizing for a while when I had a family tragedy. I started eating all the wrong things, my comfort foods. I have had an awful time trying to get back SSizing, and it's the food combining along with what is legal and what is not. I can only stick to a plan if I know I have to get weighed every week, so I joined WW. Then we went on vacation, lost my motivation, and gained all the weight back plus more! So, I've decided to try it again. ;) The last time on WW I lost 15 lbs. in 3 months, where it took me 6 months to lose 12 lbs. Somersizing. I have made wonderful friends on this thread and am glad they let me stay. :D

ANNE, good luck at lunch tomorrow with :devil: I will be thinking about you tomorrow. Let us know how the lunch went.

nikki, don't be surprised if you see me knocking on your door Friday. :lol:

Enjoy the rest of your day.
Aleka

Thanks everyone for your kind words. This site as Nikki said feels like home. I can't talk to people without crying so to be able to type my pain has been very helpful. I am so happy I found this site!!! My DH and I just got back from a 6 k walk (approx. 4 miles) it is a beautiful day here bright and sunny. The river is melting on both sides but yep a snowmobile just went up the middle. 2 americans were just rescued from a near bye lake were they had spent the night after they had broken though the ice. They are so lucky to be alive. Sugardrop I don't SS anymore because I didn't feel it was working as well this time, but I loved the food. Cooking is a kind of hobby with me and I love her recipes so I am low carbing plus watching calories and portion sizes. Of coarse the last 3 days food has been my drug of choice LOL. I am back into the swing of it today. Nikki hopw you are still improving, Anne will think of you tomorrow. We will expect a blow by blow discription of lunch. Aleka hope you are having a good day and thanks to you all again

Me again too :D
We went out to lunch to our favorite Mexican restaurant. It felt funny getting out of the house after being cooped up for so long. The food was good, but after I got it, I could barely eat it, DH always helpful, finished my plate and his.
He has been so great about helping out and doing a lot for me and my daughters. I don't know what I'd have done without him.

Anne, I'll be thinking about you tomorrow and like Lynn, I want a full account of what happens ;)

Lynn, I'm glad we've helped in some small way. I know how hard this time is for you.

Aleka, you are welcome to come anytime, but it's actually getting colder here now. It is real gray and muddy out. Not my favorite part of spring. DH did see a robin a couple of days ago and I heard one sing this morning, so things are looking up.

Sugardrop, I forgot to add, please feel welcome to post here, no matter what kind of diet your following. I think there are lots of places that are great to visit on the web, but there are some that are not so great too. This is one place that I like to touch base with everyday. It's hard to make friends in the real world anymore, what with jobs, being isolated, families, and other obligations. I feel like I've made some good friends here.

Nikki

Well Nikki, Lynn, and Aleka, you have answered my question exactly! I was so torn about which plan to follow to try to get my weight off. I had recently religiously tried Atkins for the two week Induction....no loss. I was terribly discouraged. After an unproductive attempt at SSing when I got interested in it many months ago after seeing Suzanne on HSN, I have deduced that neither of them will give me that jolt of loss at first like some people get. I seem to maintain great on their luxurious foods...love the feeling of being full, having enough protein to satisfy me, being able to have cream in my coffee, etc. Low carb does make me do better with my blood sugar problem...just not the loss. I have read the Atkins books and Fast and Easy by Suzanne and you're right, some of her recipes are super! Maybe too super for me to lose with but yummy to maintain with.

WW, when doing it with DH several years ago, did get off 18 pounds...which are still gone while playing around with these other two diets. It was simply to drying to my skin and left me wanting constantly. I definitely prefer the low carb style and wanted to choose one to commit to. You ladies seem to be having the same problem though. I take it that this is how you got to "free style" low carbing! Thanks for sharing this information. If you don't mind, I love your commradarie and would like to just lurk and learn from you what is getting you some results.

Sugardrop

Goodmorning Everyone: Another good night!! I got to sleep in until 4 oclock. Anne good luck today. Sugardrop I forgot to add that I loosely follow Dr. Phil's guidelines in The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide. I'm not into self help books so havn't read any of his other stuff but his guide lines are a help. Portion control espically my meat servings are a problem. I LOVE all meat, I guess that is why I was drawn to low carb. My DH and I are going to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) on Wednesday to get out of here. The silence is deafening. Will be in touch as everywere we go there are computers. Well I will go for now, lots of emails to send to arrange time with friends and family. Will be back later

Hi,

I went into Subway's website to get the nutritional info. on their new wraps. If you're also watching your calorie intake and/or not counting NET carbs, they're pretty high in both. The Chicken Bacon Ranch has 480 calories and 19g. carbs (Net 8) 11g. fiber The Turkey Bacon Melt has 430 cal. 22g. carbs (Net 10) 12g. fiber. www.subway.com

Sugardrop, Congratulations on your 18 lb. weight loss. :cp: Hope you will keep posting along with lurking. We would miss you if you stopped posting. You mentioned you did WW before. They have a new FAST TRACK plan, where you can choose to eat a higher carb or lower carb way. You're only supposed to eat that way for 2 weeks, then go back to just counting points. I think everyone has to find a plan that fits their lifestyle even if it's a combination of different plans. I do find that I am hungry while on WW, and weighing and measuring my food is getting old pretty fast. But, I am losing weight, s-l-o-w-l-y.

nikki, sorry you didn't feel like eating your lunch. I have the same type of DH, who eats the rest of my food. I call him my human garbage disposal! :rofl: I can't believe you've seen your first Robin..lucky you!! We have another couple of months before we'll see any. One time DH & I were driving to FL, and I think it was in either NC or SC there were literally hundreds of them in the median strip and on the side of the road in the grass along the highway. We had never seen anything like that before or since.

lynn, hope things are getting better for you. Glad that you weather is improving. Our lakes and streams are still frozen solid. We still have a number of fishing houses out on the lake. Some of them have been vandalized though and they're looking for the culprits. Sometimes snowmobilers can be a little nuts. I suppose they don't think breaking through the ice can happen to them.

ANNE, I'll be thinking of you today having lunch with :devil:

Have a great day.
Aleka

lynn, we were posting at the same time. Have a safe trip to Toronto and a wonderful time.

Aleka

Hi Aleka I see you had a good night also. This not sleeping is driving me crazy

Aleka, I am shocked that WW has a low carb plan now. Please tell me about it. Is that what you are doing? When I put DH on WW and followed along there was no group here in our tiny little town so I just ordered the At Home kit and kind of planned it from there. We were religious and met his deadline before his surgery but I was never full and always discontent...plus the other little problems of having so very much fiber and carbs! I suppose you would say we are "lifers" since we got to goal, but that really is incidental because I just don't want to go so low fat, high carb ever again. At this point, my doctor says that I really need to keep the carbs under control to stay off the medication. Obviously though, calories are a factor because I do love love love to eat good food! :D

It is grey and sort of nasty here today. Not the kind of day to inspire a good crisp walk...just soggy.

Nikkic, my exercising is not nearly as good as yours. For years I have done a warm up plan to stretch all my muscles every morning. About two or three days a week I do a lower body workout for my legs with weights. It works pretty well for them. This keeps me limber and not hurting. During the warm months I do a lot of gardening. Most of the time, DH and I go to our little fitness center three or four times a week. He swims and saunas, I do the elyptical machine for about 20-25 minutes (NOT at top speed :lol: !!) and/or walk the track there for 30 minutes. Not exactly an Olympic trainer, am I??!! ;) I know I should do more but man do I hate it. On nice dry days or good temps, I take the girls for a walk, which they love, but it isn't too productive because they draw so much attention I have to keep stopping to chat with people. Rosalee, the 3-pounder, has a little dog cabana stroller because her legs are so tiny and she claims to be tired at the end of the driveway. :s: I think she just doesn't like the traffic noises because she can run like a deer in our yard! Lucianne loves to walk. She marches along, head high, like a little soldier, accepting compliments from all. :cool:

Hope everyone is going to have a good day.

Sugardrop

Hi,
I didn't sleep much last night myself. I think maybe a couple of hours. How does that happen? I am exhausted by 11pm, then wide awake the rest of the night. I was going to start exercising this morning, but after not sleeping, I never even thought about it, til after breakfast.

Sugardrop, I have a love/hate relationship with exercise. I think it's important to keep it fresh and to try new things. I do a lot of different things, mixing it up through the week. I am impressed with the amount of time you can use the eliptical machine. I love sauna's and would like to get one for our home. I guess it's because I'm Swedish and Danish. Just love that heat. So great for over used joints and getting toxins out of your system.

Aleka, your talking about all those Robins, made me think about a flock of crow's I saw sitting in these tree's around this house we passed on the highway last week. I've never seen so many crows in one place and if I lived there and looked out and saw all of them around my place, I think I'd wonder what was going on. There had to have been over a hundred of them, really odd.

Lynn, have a great time in Toronto.
Hi Anne, hope your lunch is ok. Bet you'll be relieved when it's over.

Take care, Nikki

Lynn and anyone looking for more low carb recipes-
I was looking on active low carb just now and came across this thread that has lots of good looking and interesting recipes on it. Thought about you Lynn, you love recipes as much as I do-

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=47666

Night, Nikki

Thanks Nikki, I bookmarked the site for a real good look later. Hope everyone has a good day will check in later today from my brother's in Hamilton

Good morning everyone,

ANNE, how did your lunch go yesterday? Hope :devil: behaved herself.

nikki, Today's the day!!! :cb: I bet you'll be happy to get that cast off. those were a lot of crows in one place. I think we have a lot when I count 5 or 6 in my yard. :lol: Speaking of a lot of birds, we see a flock of these fairly small birds, there are hundreds that fly together. They usually sit along the telephone wires, one will swoop down to the ground and the rest will follow, then one will take off and the rest will follow. I could sit and watch them for hrs. as I am amazed by them and I have no idea what type of birds they are. They don't sit still long enough for me to look. :lol: I don't see them too much in our area, especially during the winter, but towards the southern part of NH and southern New England I see them more often. Hope you got a better night's sleep last night. Thank you for that link. I'll bookmark it and look at it later at leisure.

Sugardrop, WW low carb Fast Track plan is not like Atkins or any of the other low carb plans out there. You still eat carbs like bread, cereal, fruit, and milk. But you don't eat as much of them. You eat more protein. I don't follow it that closely because the Fast Track plan is only 20 points. Right now I'm eating 22 points, and I'm hungry a lot eating 22 points. The Fast Track plan is where I got the idea of eating part-skim ricotta cheese on my toast. It's optional to do the Fast Track, but it's supposed to jumpstart your weight loss, and you're only supposed to do it for 2 weeks. I assume they say only stay on it for 2 weeks because the majority of the people joining are eating over 20 points. That's wonderful you and your DH got to goal, congratulations. :cp: Are you interested in more info on this? If so, I can PM you. Have you looked into the South Beach Diet, Sugar Busters, or Swarzbein Principle? Sugar Busters and Swarzbein Principle are diets that are geared to people with insulin problems. You do eat carbs, the good kind, but in controlled amounts.

lynn, have a wonderful time and I'll be looking forward to your posts while you're away.

I am off later this morning to lunch and a movie with a friend. We're going to see Along Came Polly.

Take care and enjoy your day.
Aleka

Morning ladies,

How do you bookmark a site for later looking? Is it something just on this site or on one's computer at large? And how do you make favorite threads? I think I saw that on here somewhere but can't find it again! Not too sharp, this cookie!!!

Sugardrop

Sugardrop, to put something in your favorites, you click onto the link and when the page comes up, you take your cursor above your bar where all your icons are, to "Favorites" (on my computer it says, File, Edit, View, Favorites, Tools, Help). Click onto "Favorites" and a box will appear to ask you what you want to do. Click "Add to Favorites", then click "OK" and it will be stored in your computer. At least that is how it works on my computer. On my computer I have 2 different Favorites. One is to add it to my list, and the other one is to bring my list into view so that I can go to that site. I hope I haven't confused you, I am computer illiterate and rely on DH to help me out. Nikki explains things a lot better than I can, so if I have confused you, I apologize, and maybe nikki can make things a little clearer for you. I think we were posting at the same time.

Aleka

Hi,
I did get that aweful cast off today. It was like walking around on a sock that is all waded up in your shoe, but doing it for days on end. A real relief to get that off. I now have a walking boot that can be removed when I lay down or take a bath. I still have stitches and I'm suppose to progressively bare weight, starting at 5 lbs. I'm suppose to step on the scale and see what it feels like to just apply 5 lbs to that leg. Talk about nearly impossible. Still, I'm so glad to be making progress.
I ordered that Slim in 6 program that is on all the infomercials. Too many late nights of no sleeping for me. (Again last night:tired:) Anyway, I wanted something to look forward to to refresh my exercise program. Now, after seeing the Dr, I don't exactly know what I was thinking, I won't be able to use that program for at least a few months. It will take me that long before I'm actually back to where I was before this last surgery. The Dr said, they really won't know for 4-6 weeks if my last fracture has really healed. It's the one I had a bone graft on and has been fractured now for 3 years.

Sugar, Aleka did a great job explaining favorites and bookmarks, but if you need more help, let me know. Since not all companies set things up the same way, what works for her might not work for you. So, if you need more help, just yell. Not that I'm a computer wiz :lol: :lol:

Well, off to contemplate the insides of my eyelids. Lynn, hope your having a great time. Anne, hope your day went better than expected. Take care, Nikki

Hi everyone,

Had a great lunch yesterday with my girlfriend and the movie, Everything about Polly was very good.

Today DH & I have been married 32 yrs. We usually go out for dinner to celebrate, but we want to go to this Italian restaurant, Macaroni's Grill, out of state so we've decided to do lunch instead of dinner. We ate at one last year while we were in FL and recently found out there is one in Massachusetts. The best part is they serve whole-wheat pasta.

nikki, glad you got that offending cast off. How uncomfortable you must've been the way the cast was. This boot will be so much more comfortable for you and a lot easier. I've never heard of that Slim in 6 program. Is it a diet & exercise program or just exercise? On my way to meet my girlfriend yesterday, to get to the Interstate I have to go through the very next town from where I live and noticed that a CURVES will be opening up there next month. I am kind of excited about it and am thinking seriously of looking into it and possibly joining. I have been using the Torso Trak and can tell the difference in my mid-section.

Hi ANNE, lynn, sugardrop, hope you're all having a good day.

Aleka

Nikkic,

Congratulations on having your cast off! What was the original problem with your leg? Must have been pretty serious to have had a bone graft. Sounds like a long-term problem. I hope you mend well this time. What plan did you send for? I'm not familiar with what you mentioned.

Thanks to you and Aleka for the advice on making a favorite thread. I managed to exucute it nicely.

Aleka, I have read one of the Schwarzbein books and it is too complicated for me. My daughter gave me the South Beach carb counter for Christmas and it is useful, but they eat way too many carbs for me once they get off the first two weeks. I don't think I could survive measuring out 1/4 and 1/2 cup of couscous (or whatever) for each meal and stopping there. :( I am not that into such tiny quantities of things. I would rather have a cupful all at once and then not any later. :o Is that bad??? I don't know anything about Sugar Busters. The only two plans I have explored are SS and Atkins. I can maintain on either but not lose...probably am not patient enough. Have you all been down all these routes?

Lynn, I hope your trip is helping your lonliness. A change of scene will do that somethimes.

Yesterday we buried our second really good friend in the last two weeks. :( Another is in very frail condition. I guess when you get to that point in life, you go through spells of this. I remember calling my mother to visit and she would be in the middle of three or four losses and I thought, "Good grief! We must get on to something more cheerful!" It is difficult to understand until it happens in your own life. I guess we must concentrate on our thanks for all that we still have and enjoy each day as much as possible. Having the girls is a boon for both of us. They seem to sense a soreness in the heart and snuggle their little warm bodies a little closer.

I must be off to the "mulch store" to start laying in a supply for the weekend. Our older daughter is coming home and wants to chat alone with me. We have to get some excuse to get out to the yard without hurting DH's feelings. Yard work ought to do the trick. He's not too agile out there any more and spreading mulch doesn't inspire him to even try. :lol:

You are a good group and I enjoy checking in to see what your days are holding. Thanks for welcoming me. :)

Sugardrop

Hi,
This day started off right, or maybe wrong depending on how you look at it. Stripe (one of my cats) woke me as usual for his breakfast. I laid back down to try to go back to sleep, but he jumped back up after awhile to get me up for the day. He was really persistent, so when I rolled over, I saw what he was trying to tell me. Boots (other cat) was digging out the potting soil from one of my plants and had soil scattered all over the room. I was thankful that I could now get around and dust and do some vacuuming :o :lol: DH would have went into a meltdown if he'd seen that or had to deal with it. It took much longer than usual, of course, I just took my time. That was it for me for the day, I took a shower and haven't done a thing since.

Aleka, congratulations on 32 great years of marriage!! :bravo: :hat: :dance: :cb: :flow2: :lucky:

I hope you have many, many more wonderful years together and that you enjoy your lunch date.

We have a Curves in our town, but I wasn't too interested in it myself. For one, I don't think I could do it, because of my ankle and also, I like to work out at home. I know some ladies that go there and they like the support they get from the other women that go there. I think it's a great idea to have a place you can go where it's just for women. I never liked going to our local rec center to work out, because it was full of men, children and women looking for men. It wasn't the kind of environment that inspired me to want to work out.

The Slim in Six is from Beach Body, they also produced the Power 90 program. It's a series of tapes to work out with (looks like a combo of resistance training, strength training, yoga, pilates, aerobics), an eating plan, and a bulletin board for support (rather active one, from what I've seen). You do the plan for 6 weeks and your suppose to lose weight sensibly. I've seen some people that do it using a low carb plan or Atkins and some follow the plan that goes with the program.
DH told me yesterday that he really wants to eat a different way. He is gaining so much weight, he's starting to look like Buddha (when Buddha was old and enlightened). The problem is, he won't follow a low carb plan. He wants to eat all the high protein/higher fat food I'm eating along with potatoes, bread and desserts. Besides, he doesn't limit the amount he eats, so there is a problem too. So, he wants to go back to low fat/low calorie eating. OH YUCK! He said I can do what I want, but that's what he's going to do. Well, I can't cook two meals (he said he'd eat those lean cusine meals) and we really can't afford to buy food that follows two plans. So, guess we will be eating low fat and low calorie for awhile, till he gets tired of it anyway. Right now, I'm not eating very well on a low carb plan. It's not that I don't believe in it, it's just that I'm being lazy. I will still not eat sugar and try to keep my carbs reduced, but thought I'd let you all know what I'm going to be doing for awhile anyway. I will return to low carb/high protein food, eventually, since I believe it's the best way.


Sugardrop, so sorry to hear about your friend. It sure does seem when we get to a certain time in our lives, that we start to lose more and more friends and family. DH and I are losing so many people that we were close to, we are wearing black a lot lately. It does make you appreciate everyday much more and the wonderful family, friends and things we have been blessed with.

I have not done Sugar Busters, Schwarzbein, South Beach or Dr Phil's plans. I've read them though. They are all good in their own ways, but I think it's a matter of finding what is right for you and what you can live with. Like you, Sugar, I read Dr S's plan and just laughed when she said to eat 1/2 a baked potato once or twice a week. I"m sure I will eat 1/2 a potato. That's hardly enough to get a good taste of it, just enough to make you want to eat the rest. For me, it just wouldn't work.

Well, I won't go into a long story, because it's real long. Sugar, I fell down the basement stairs 3 years ago, shattered my right ankle into a million pieces and I've had many surgeries since to try to get back on my feet. This has turned out to be more of a blessing than I could have ever imagined. My life has changed in so many ways, and for the better. God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes things look very bleak and hopeless, but there is a rainbow, you just have to look close sometimes.

Anyway, glad you found us Sugardrop. I enjoy hearing about your days too and your little girls.

Well, guess I'll go lay down and watch a movie, take care everyone, Nikki

Good heavens, Nikkic,

What a terrible ordeal you've been through. For whatever reason you have had the improvements, I pray things turn out well for you.

I know what you mean about DH's needs. When we both got down to goal 2+ years ago, we did fine for a while. Then gradually he regained 10 pounds and me 5 by going off on our own. He eats a lot lot lot of chocolate kisses. I eat NO sugar or chocolate. Now he is making noises about wanting to get back to where he was but can't do it unless we do it together like we did before. I don't know if I can commit to WW again, even to help him, but no way could I cook for two separate plans. It would be a financial disaster for my budget and a management disaster as well. I guess if he keeps it up, I will cook for him......what other choice is there?????? Nuts! Let us hear what you decide.

Sugardrop

Hi Everyone:
I finally got the chance to log in. Work has been keeping me busy and I
am constantly exhausted. We are going through four years of patient
valuables that we are sorting through. This job was dropped on our department from admitting and what a job it is. Depressing too.

I am glad that lunch is over. :devil: reminds me of a lumberjack. She
was so rude to the waiter I wanted to crawl under the table. I had a lovely
meal though. New York Strip . Very fancy place.
I got into an argument with Sylvia :devil: today though and I hung up on her. She is too much to take. Tanya and I are doing our best. We both give each other much needed moral support. :devil: was telling me about 1
incorrect entry I made into the g/l (I do roughly 500-600 per day) I said
you called me to tell me that! :rolleyes:

My DH and I are going to Jack Astors for lunch on Friday. I took the day off
as a "mental health day". Besides I get 6 weeks vacation and 3 floating days
so I might as well.......
Our weather was lovely today. I made me feel so good for once.

Nikki, I am so happy you got your cast off. Thats just great. My diet hasn't
been the greatest I must tell you I have creeped back up to 210. I have
to improve this week!!!! You must let me know how you like the slim in 6.
I have seen the infomercial. Looks great. At the moment with all these
lunches I feel like humpty dumpty :o
I have 30 days before I turn 47. I better get thinking about that 199 goal
I made before it becomes mission impossible :o .

Aleka, congratulations on 32 years of marriage. Thats so beautiful :cloud9:

Hi Lynn, hope you are feeling better. It will take time, thats for sure.

Hi Sugardrop nice to read your posts.

Anne.

TGIF!!

Thank you for your good wishes. Our lunch was good. You can create your own pasta dishes there so I was able to have the whole-wheat pasta, plus the sauce and any toppings I wanted. We also shared a dessert, which was chocolate cake, and the cake was enough for 4 people. It was sooo good, and if it weren't bad manners to do so, I would've licked the plate! :lol: I brought enough pasta home for another meal for DH & myself.

Sugar, I am so sorry about your friend. It's very hard when you start losing friends especially if they're your age. Unfortunately you have to go through things like that as you get older. With me, it's been family members, my parents, aunts, uncles, and a few cousins. My Dr. recommended Sugar Busters to me one time, so I bought the book. I found it a bit confusing because they wanted you to limit your carbs, but didn't give you any guidelines as to how many carbs you were allowed, or serving size. They did have a chapter on daily menu ideas, but it was for maintenance. :?: I thought it was odd they didn't include and eating guide for both. I will PM you with the WW details.

nikki, you have a great cat there in Stripes. It's a good thing you recognized that he was trying to tell you something rather than being annoying. I wonder how you can tell sometimes? Glad that with the boot you're able to do a bit more. Are you still in a lot of pain and when will you know if the bone is healing ok? I don't like to cook 2 different meals either. Luckily DH tells me that he'll eat however I'm eating. But, won't cut down on his portion sizes. Like Sugar said, let us know what you decide. I will have to look for the infomercial for that diet. I have not seen it before.

ANNE, sorry about your argument with :devil: I wonder how many mistakes she has made. At least your lunch is behind you. You do need the day off today after the ordeal you went through. Enjoy your lunch with your DH.

lynn, hope you're having a wonderful time.

Have a great day everyone and a great weekend. :balloons:
Aleka

Goodmorning Everyone: First of all Sugardrop I can relate to the number of funerals these so called "golden years" have us attending. It sucks!!!! 2 friends this year younger than myself. You have my sympathies. Aleka we are married 33 years this May. Our son was born on our 2nd anniversaryso it goes without saying we never got to celebrate our anniversary's, busy doing the birthday thing. my daughter-in-law threw a 30th surprise party for my son and invited some of our friends had a cake etc. which was a great day for us. I have told him this year we are going to celebrate all day lunch dinner show to make up for missed celabrations. Nikki you are starting to sound like your old self. Being down here has been a nice break. My daughter took thurs. & fri. off on holidays so today we are doing the lunch thing than on to visit my mother in the nursing home. My step-father has decided that I am his friend to hang out with,and I have had to be firm about needing space to catch up with friends. Had a great day yesterday. Spent the day with our friends had a lovely dinner. They recently lost their 18 year old dog and have a new 2 year old. He is a sit-shu (spelling?). We all had so much fun We had forgotten how active and cute a yound dog can be. Our friends lost there only daughter a few years back and are just coming out of their grief. Yesterday was the happiest I had seen them in years. We have tried to be there for them but until you have lost a child It is a grief people on the ourside couldn't begin to understand. This afternoon going to step-dad's to help him cook dinnerand spend the evening. Tomorrow back to Mississauga to visit than on to Hamilton till Monday we think. Anne enjoy your day with your DH. You have an incrediable day for a mental health day. Talk to you all tomorrow

Hi,
Guess I'm going to the store this morning with DD #1 to buy groceries. We are out of everything. I will have to use one of those electric carts to get around in and the baskets they have on the front of them aren't big enough to hold my cat food, let alone groceries for a week. :lol: I don't know what to do about the diet thing. I asked DH this morning about it again but he's sick with a head cold and doesn't care what I get. He brought home a carton of Breyers ice cream for his sore throat. I guess I'll buy a weeks worth of low fat food and then see what happens. If we spend the next week eating out to avoid eating it, that's the end of that.

Aleka, I never know what to say when people ask me if I"m in pain. I'm always in pain. It seems like after so many years of it, I can now tolerate it much more and a greater amount of it, than when this first happened. It's always there, but I can concentrate on something else and not notice it as much. It's not as intense as after surgery of couse, but there are so many things that are wrong in there, it's hard to even try to describe how I feel. I try not to use those pain pills, they just make me sleepy and grouchy anyway. As far as helping with pain, they don't do much at all.
To be able to understand what the cats say, it depends on the cat. Some are so smart, like Stripe. He will sit on the sink in the bathroom, look at the faucet and look into your eyes and then back at the faucet. He loves to drink from running water, so I turn it on just a little bit for him. He is the great communicator. Should have called him Ronald Reagan. PJ is not very smart at all, so we never know what she's talking about.

Anne, hope your enjoying your day off. I know how your feeling about getting into onederland, that's why I ordered the Slim in 6 plan. We'll see what it's about. From what I can tell from the bulletin boards, it's a lot of exercise. Sorry to hear about your disagreement with :devil: I'm glad you stand up to her, she isn't use to that I bet.

Lynn, sounds like your having a good time. Yes, those young animals are great. Our newest cat is 4 months old, so he's still a kitten. He's just learning how to behave. I always miss that part of them, when they grow up and are mature, but then, I won't want to live with a kitten forever either. They can sure tear up the house.

Sugar, it's going to be in the low 50's here (I live in Knoxville, Iowa), how warm is it going to be there? We've been plagued all winter by those lady beetles/lady bug's, do you have them down there? Every time it warms up to above 30, I'm innundated with the little pests. I vacuum and before the day is over, there are several of them all over the place. They say they are worse in the country, where we live, but my DD who lives in an apartment in town (and has a pest control guy come in regularly to spray) has them all the time too.

Oops, better get going, have a good one, Nikki

Good morning and I hope it is for you all,
It is suppose to be in the 50's again today. I have seen many robins this morning, so I am declaring spring officially here, at least in my yard.
I was glad to get the shopping done yesterday. I started my low fat/low cal diet today. I decided not to go real low fat, I'm still going to use regular low carb salad dressing, since I have about 4 kinds and don't want to throw all that out. I know they are made with good fats and some fat is of course necessary in all diets. I ate a bowl of cereal with 1% milk this morning, tasted like wall paper soaked in wallpaper paste. I started my vitamins and supplements again and did Body Flex this morning. I could sure tell I hadn't exercised in awhile, my muscles were all stiff. Not that BF is that much of a workout, but it's certainly better than nothing and I feel better for it. I will add some ab work the first of next week and try to progress from there. Would love to get back on my Gazelle, but that is out for at least 6 weeks.

Hope your all doing well, have a good weekend, Nikki

Gosh, what a group celebrating almost the same anniversaries now. :) Aleka, your 32nd (and by the way Happy Anniversary!), Lynn coming upon 33 in May, and ours will be 32 in March. Aleka, it sounds like you had a fine celebration. Do you like whole wheat pasta? I haven't tried it.

Nikki, I love your cat analysis. Our Mr. Wilbur Mills was extremely smart. Never had I had a cat who could relate to me as he could. Maybe it was because we got him so tiny and a few months later our 14-year old daughter was killed in a car wreck. Mr. Mills had many many hours of consoling us and it is amazing his fur even stayed lusterous because it was wet with tears for a long long time. But he pulled us through. That silent comfort can sometimes be more healing than a torrent of words. When he died, it was sort of like our final goodbye to Sally.

I think it is interesting as well the difference in your cats' personalities and levels of apparent intelligence. Lucianne is absolutely the smartest dog I have ever encountered. She uses her eyes to direct you to whatever she is wanting to comment on...looking away and back several times until we can catch up with her request. :o She thinks running water from a faucet is fabulous. Rosalee, however, conceals her mentality cleverly. For a long time we thought she wasn't bright because she was so quiet and laid back...a aloof princess, but she just doesn't want to let you know she's really on top of things we now think. Lucianne is a naughty naughty tomboy, always pushing the envelope with something. When she gets in trouble and I scold her, Rosalee watches closely...her little wheels turning...and if it seems like I am really put out with Lucianne, keep talking to her about her misdeeds, Rosalee will give her a loud bark and hop on her, nipping her ears or boxing them. Remember, she is 3 pounds and Lucianne is 4 1/2....half again as big! We love it. :D Lucianne cowers and creeps over for consolation telling us about Rosalee's bad temper and wanting sympathy, completely absolving her own sins. Rosalee is now known as "The Enforcer!" :p

The weather here today should be 63. The mulching will begin in earnest when DD gets here soon. I spread about 10 sacks yesterday and we have about 40 to do today. My back should be a bear by afternoon.

Anne, glad you survived the lunch with the devil!

Lynn, you are very brave to attempt spelling that dog's breed!!! :o I am afraid I would have had the h in a prominent spot and shamed myself.

DH was pretty good yesterday with his new committment to his WW way of life. I supported him as best I could, using their new low carb/hi pro (\ ;) plan. Starved all day!!!!! :mad: How can people do this for the long haul? I am not into hunger at all since SS and Atkins have influenced my life. I longed to sneak :devil: into the kitchen for a big meat feast or some nuts but didn't think I should scold DH if I couldn't be good myself. Two weeks of this will definitely be it for me. Hope he does well.........

Sugardrop

Sugardrop,
I am so sorry to hear about your daughter. I can't imagine your sorrow or intense pain you must feel from your loss. I think God sends us special help during times that are so terrible, Mr. Wilbur Mills had to have been sent to you on purpose. When animals die, I do think they go to heaven and that he is there now, a friend and comfort to your daughter. Actually, I think that we are all part of some kind of large plan that we as humans can't begin to imagine, so God gives us the image of heaven to help us to grasp the idea, but it is too immense for us to understand at this time. I can understand your feelings when you lost Mr. Wilbur Mills. My dad had a cocker spaniel that I inherited when he died. When she died, it was like the link was gone. Still, I knew she was in a better place and I think she is helping dad too.
Animals are so different. Some of our cats want to communicate with us, some of them could care less. I think it is part intelligence and part of being a cat. Dogs are much more in tune to their masters emotions. When you cry and your dog is there, they will lick your face, cuddle up and worry until you stop. I've had a few cats that do that too, but most of them just take a bath and/or walk away. Still, they can be a comfort and help to get a person to see the world differently.
I love hearing about your little dogs. I can only imagine how much fun they must be. They sound like little angels to me.

That is sweet of you trying to not eat to support your DH. It's hard to do this low cal thing or eating less. I decided that to just maintain my weight, I would have to eat 2300 cal a day, so to lose weight, I should eat around 1800 calories. 1800 calories is much less than I was eating, so I'm sure I'll lose weight this way and when I hit a plateau, I will then have some room to subtract calories until I get to my goal weight. That's the plan, don't know how well it will work though. I think I've eaten more carbs today than I usually eat in a week. I have tried hard to not even think of my carbs, just to eat sugar free and sugar alchol free.

Take care, Nikki

Sugardrop, I am so sorry for the loss of your daughter. I can't imagine the pain and suffering it caused you and your family. It still must be hard for you. I know Mr. Wilbur Mills is with your daughter now. Have you ever seen the story about Rainbow Bridge? It's about dogs that go to heaven and wait for their "people". I don't see why it can't pertain to cats or any animal. I cry everytime I read it. When in March is your anniversary?

nikki, I had to laugh at your description of cereal and milk. :lol: :lol: Do you like egg beaters? If you do, you could still have your bacon and eggs. If you're doing low fat, use turkey bacon. It tastes just like regular bacon. You could still have your eggs if you use mostly the whites. Good luck with your calorie counting. Two of my favorite breakfasts are either toast with part-skim ricotta cheese, or toast with peanutbutter & sugarfree jelly. WW advocates everything fat-free/low-fat. I will do some low fat, like cheese, but will not give up my full fat salad dressings. I honestly think the full fat dressings are healthier than the fat-fee dressings that are loaded with sugar. I have read the Sugar Busters diet book...are you surprised?? :lol: I go by their rule, I won't eat anything with more than 3 grams of sugar on the label.

Enjoy the rest of the day.
Aleka

Aleka,
When I went to the store, I bought the part skim ricotta, thinking of you. I haven't tried it yet though. Do you add anything to it, or eat it like a spread on your toast? What would it be like if you added splenda, vanilla and cinnamon to it?
Personally, I hate egg beaters (too rubbery) and turkey bacon is not the same to me. But, I've eaten plenty of bacon in the last few years, so I can make it without it for awhile. I will just add a sprinkling of it on occasion to my salads when I want to have a taste. I agree about the fat free foods. I don't think a lot of them are very healthy, because they substitute sugar and chemicals (mysterious chemicals with long names and no nutritional value) for the fat. I do like the Carb Options dressings I'm using. They are made with splenda, but are full fat. I'm just limiting it much more than I was before. I also bought some Dannon Carb Control yogurt. It has 3 carbs and is made with Splenda. I ate the first little container today and thought, wow, this is like eating watery yogurt. Looked at the label and the first ingredient is water. :lol: Not real filling or anything special. I'm trying to eat more calcium, since my bones are trying to heal. Of course, I take calcium supplements too, I think they are good for all of us.
Nikki

nikki, I just spread the ricotta cheese on my toast, and for a different taste I sometimes put sugar-free jam ontop of the ricotta. I found Polaner All Fruit made w/Splenda at Walmart. It is good. But, mixing the splenda, vanilla, & cinnamon sounds YUMMY!!!! I'm going to give it a try. I have some vanilla DaVinci syrup that I can mix into it and the cinnamon. I don't like egg beaters either, and using mostly egg whites :p I have read that calcium helps with weight loss. I forget, is the Walmart you go to a Super Walmart? If it is, they have Blue Bunny Yogurt made w/Splenda and it's delicious. I don't know how many carbs it has, but it isn't low carb. I haven't seen those Carb options salad dressings in our area yet, but I'll start looking for them.
A few snowmobilers just went whizzing by, and by the sounds of it they were going pretty fast. I just hope they haven't been drinking.

Take care and have a good night.
Aleka

Happy Leap Day guys:
I started new thread, see you there.
Anne.