It depends on the type of stress I am under. If I am stressed and angry/upset I exercise. If I am stressed and loney/depressed I like to sing, pray or write in a journal. If I just feel like my muscles are all tight and I am stressed it is time for hot tea and a bubblebath. I frequently put the radio on loudly and dance around the room with my kids. I have to keep my hands busy or I will eat!

Mariah

Teacherlady - Congradulations on entering Onderland - you have worked so hard to get there and you deserve it, enjoy! I can't wait to join you.

Niftyby50 - Congrats on the loss, keep up the great work.

Struggling Nicole - Congrats on the loss and on re-entering stablization. Praying for you and your son and I hope the doctors can help find a solution soon.

cmmnsnsfml - Good job! It sounds like you may have put 177 lbs behind you forever! Yeah!

Mariah

I want it too!

:hun:

Sweet!!

I went to my Food Instruction Class last night. I haven't been feeling great the last few days but not a big deal. Well I woke up this morning feeling even worse. I did ok following my menu plan this morning and at noon, but by about 2:00 I was sicker than a dog. I can't keep anything down and there is now way I can drink the HNS. Does anyone think it will be a big deal to get myself feeling better and then starting OP full force. Right now the thought of having to take all those pills makes me gag. I just want to drink some 7-Up and go to bed. On top of all that I have a cold now too. :(

I made something fun tonight. I took a pack of the Double Chocolate Pudding HNS and poured it dry into a bowl. I had a glass of ice water (dont know why..just wanted to use ice water) and drop by drop added it to the HNS until it formed a really thick paste. I dumped it out on plastic wrap and rolled it into a long roll. (you can imagine what it looked like) Once wrapped I put it in the freezer for a while. It wasnt hard frozen just firm. I was being teased by the 'children' in my house about what it looked like so I cut it into small rounds. Not bad.

My consultants always told me it was better to do what you have to do to get better, then go back OP. THey said sometimes trying to stick to plan when you're sick only drags out being sick--and you're never completely OP when you're sick anyway. When I was really sick (with stomach flu), I just ate 7up and saltines, then toast and bananas until I felt well enough to stomach an actual meal. Then I just went back OP full-force.

Ranch Cbicken Fingers
 

Okay here's the recipe for ranch chicken fingers...also used on fish.
This is so scrumptious....you will love it.
This was not my recipe. I found it on the recipe thread posted by Karen1234.


Ranch Chicken Fingers
________________________________________
OK, New Recipe for all of you that is absolutely delicious... I got the idea from the ranch seasoning mix commercial I've seen a few times in the past week, decided to give it a try, it was a huge hit with family & I... here goes:

Ranch Chicken Fingers:

Ingredients:
16-20 Roasted Garlic Melba Toast Rounds (I used 16 to keep it 1 bread per serving, this makes four serv)
2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken brst ( I only used enough for 4 servings - )
1 packet of ranch dressing mix/seasoning ( Way to much sodium...I cut back to 4 tsp of this)
2-3 tbsp of olive oil (I would use 8 tsp. to keep OP for 4 servings)
cracked black pepper to taste
pam olive oil spray ( I used butter spray)

Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour 2-3 tbsp of Olive Oil into a large glass casserole dish and set aside. Place Melba toast into food processor and grind until the consistency of bread crumbs (or crush in a baggy by hand until fine). Place into a mixing bowl, add packet of ranch dressing mix and several twists of freshly cracked black pepper then mix all together. Slice chicken into long strips. Place 1/4 of the chicken at a time into mixture and coat evenly then place into casserole dish until all chicken coated and in dish. Pour remaining melba toast mixture over chicken. Spray all chicken with pam olive oil cooking spray. Cover with foil and bake 10-15 minutes, uncover and increase oven temp to Broil and bake another 7-10 minutes until chicken is done and crispy.

Makes 8 - 4 oz servings - the original way
Accounts for 1 protein (4 oz.) and approx 1/2 bread serving

Makes 4 either - 4oz or 6oz servings depending on how much protein you can have (MY WAY with the changes in parenthesis).
Accounts for 1 protein and 1 bread

Incidental discovery:
Some of the melba toast was more coursely cut than the rest of the bread crumbs and when I poured it over the chicken, it settled to the bottom of the pan. When this came out of the oven it was absolutely divine and reminded me very much of a delicious stuffing, the melba toast had plumped up just like stuffing does when moisture is added. It was sooooooooo goood that I plan to attempt to make stuffing this way in the very near future and I will post that recipe when I've tried it. I bet this would be so wonderful with our Thanksgiving Turkey!

I live off this recipe too. I usually just make one serving at a time. I cut up a chicken breast, toast one slice of bread then food process it, roll the chicken in the breading and ranch mix, spray with Pam, and bake. LOVE IT!!!

I would focus on getting better, but if you have the Chicken bullion you could warm that up and sip it. You could use diet 7-Up or Sprit and mix it with one of the concentrates and slowly sip it. I would focus on resting and when you feel up to it make a "chicken soup" with bullion, chicken breast and the veggies of you choice (mushrooms and/or cauliflower are very good this way). These are just some ideas and I hope you feel better soon.

Mariah

THis sounds good too, esp. if i'm in a hurry.

I don't know either candi, but I have some in my freezer that I bought on sale thinking they were okay...but then oops realised they weren't. What to do?????

Hey Patzi,
I'm 6 months into maintenance and I pretty much don't go anymore unless I need a multivitamin or fish oil (theirs are the favorites I've found). I had to kinda forge my own way with maintenance because I work out so much and I'm trying to build muscle (requiring me to eat more/different combinations). I was getting a couple of pounds above my red line from a couple of "too celebratory" weekends, so I went back on the 1500 cal "maintenance" (which causes me to lose about 2lbs/week). If it didn't work, my butt would be immediately back in the center. It worked, though. I would say that you should continue to go in for as long as it takes until it feels like it has "clicked." For some that may be a month, for others a year. I went in every other week for 2 months, but really feel like I don't need to anymore. You better believe that if I saw negative trends, I wouldn't hesitate to get back in for support.

Congrats - I know it's been a journey for you!

One thing I try to keep in mind is to not go too long without doing something about the stress, if that makes sense. We're all under chronic stress, and it's kinda like someone is gently shaking a soda bottle, making the stress build up. You can release it by opening the top a little (exercise, shopping, massage, etc). When you have a situation like you're in, it's like someone is vigorously shaking the bottle and when you open the lid, it blows sky high! This would take more aggressive management. I would suggest finding a support group, asking your church or community for help, or talking to a therapist. You DONT have to handle this on your own. It doesn't make you a better mom if you do it without getting support.

I've tried for years and years to be superwoman and while on the surface, it looked like it was working, it manifested in overeating, stomach problems, feelings of worthlessness, perfectionism....

I may be completely off base here and this doesn't apply to you at all; just thought I would throw it out there. I just think that with the kind of stress you're under, typical stress management is not going to be enough. Your lid is gonna blow! Get the support you need and don't feel bad for one minute that you can't do it all. It's ok to be human. :hug:

Congrats on your onederland! WOW!!!!! :carrot:

My 15 year old is a 2nd language learner (adopted from China 2 years ago). I just wanted to say that I think ESL teachers are a gift from God. Thank you for what you do - you really make a huge difference!!!!!!!