SeeMyFeet, I hope the increased fiber helps! :goodluck: Don't get too upset about your numbers. If you are only eating around 1200 calories a day, there's no way you're gaining fat. It has to be water and water fluctuates, so it may be up now and gone in a few days. Hang in there! :hug: I believe Rennie is on MFP.

Thanks Carol Sue, both babies will be home today! :woohoo: Congrats on being back in Onederland! Think positive and keep beating that scale! :club: :lol:

PrairieQueen, hm, somehow when I plan snacks, they aren't as interesting as yours! :cheers:

Rennie, I think you got everyone craving rye bread, including me :nono:, lol! :lol:

Going back to the gym may have helped to get my scale moving! I jumped a whole lb down (and got to move my ticker)! :yay:

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27:
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
Protein bar
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch:
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Pumpkin seeds
Mio water

Tea Time:
Earl Grey tea

Dinner: @ local sports grill with friends
Large salad with grilled chicken and craisins with ranch dressing
Water with lemon
Diet Dr. Pepper when I got home

Today's Exercise:
2-mile walk around track, 3 sets of 12 reps each on 5 leg and hip machines and 3 waist machines

Today's menu....

Break - chicken fajita, Coke Life
Lunch - butter chicken and jasmine rice
Dinner - 2 pieces donatos pizza
Evening drinks w/friends - 3 light beers and a good game of Rummicub

Je Suis Paris

Hi All! I hope you're having a great day today! I am down another half lb! Of course today is Carb Day so that will go back up, but still, it's been a great week! :carrot:

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27: High 174, Low 171
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--171 Carb Day

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
Protein bar
Pumpkin seeds
Diet Dr. Pepper

Lunch:
Ham and cheese sandwich
A pumpkin cookie
Mint M & M's
Key lime-flavored yogurt-covered pretzels
Diet Dr. Pepper

Tea Time:

Dinner:
Large pepperoni roll from the local bakery
Pumpkin seeds
more pretzels (too much! :barf: )
Mio water
Diet Dr. Pepper

Today's Exercise:
2-mile walk around the track, 3 sets of 12 reps each on 8 arm and chest machines and 3 waist machines

PrairieQueen fajitas, yum :)

SeeMyFeet, it does have those seeds in it. I honestly wouldn't even look at rye bread but since I was in Trader Joe's I looked at all of sprouted bread to see which one had the least carbs. It'll take me awhile to eat this loaf. Oh thanks for the info on those seeds. I have never heard of them before :) SeeMyFeet, I'm gaining a little each day also. I know increasing my fiber would help. What are you eating to aid in the additional fiber? What's bran buds?

Carol it's Trader Joe's Sprouted Rye Bread. Good job on Onederland :high:

Jacqui, 171 GO YOU :high:

two more days before mars comes back :)

... 3 slices of pepperoni pizza today :(

A big, big gain today. The fatalism is seeping into my bones. I'm just so sad--poopy, but sad. In my experience, Jac, it's not water. I'll have to work to get this off...again.

These Bran buds, Rennie. I like them for breakfast with coffee, even though it's a bit like eating shredded cardboard. Adding bananas or raisins would help. (I add blackstrap molasses, for the Mg and other minerals.) Plus, I've been drinking water with a tsp of orange flavored psyllium fiber. Even with all the fruits and veggies I eat, I wasn't getting all that much fiber.

...well, I'm off to decide which appendage to cut off, if this little fiber experiment does not work...

I buy Fiber One Original Cereal. I hated it when I first tried it but I got used to it now. I used to make Bran Muffins with Brad Buds but that was before I developed diabetes and had to cut back on flour and sugar.

Today I had a grilled chicken salad and picked out the french fries and brought them home for DH to have for a snack. He had a pizza, and I pulled the topping off one slice and ate it. Pepperoni and Sausage. My blood sugar is coming down a bit as of these dietary changes I'm making. Not setting any records with the weight loss, though.

My Dr appointment did not go well. My BP was sky high. He did not change my meds, but told me to come in next week for a BP check and bring my home monitor to check against their BP reading. Also, he told me that my valves are getting worse so I have to have the Echo twice a year instead of once a year. He said dizziness would be a sign of trouble. I'm having dizziness but didn't tell him, because I thought it might go away. If I'm still having it next week I will call and tell him, or tell them when I go in for the BP check. In the meantime, my home BP monitor broke. We bought a new one last night but when we got it home we realized it was battery operated only and we want electric. So it went back. I want to order one from Amazon, but first I want to look at it in Walmart to be sure it's what I want so I don't have to return it to Amazon. Actually, right now I'm scared to death that I am going to have a heart attack or stroke. I should have told him about the dizziness, but was afraid he would put me in the hospital, but maybe that's where I need to be.

Can't wait to hear how Mars enjoyed Cuba.

Carol Sue, dizziness is a sign of "trouble"? Listen, because your BP was so high, your valves are getting worse, and you've already had a heart attack before, maybe you shouldn't wait. Why don't you call him back tomorrow and tell him you've been experiencing dizziness? Maybe he'll decide to up your meds or maybe like you said, he'll put you in the hospital, but if he does, it will be to keep you safe. You shouldn't have go the next few days scared to death you might have a heart attack or stroke. I just think it would be a good idea if you call his office tomorrow morning. Maybe it's something that can wait, but why chance it? Please consider it. :hug:

SeeMyFeet, I hope you get it all figured out quickly! I know it must be frustrating! :(

Rennie, ooo, pepperoni pizza is tempting! So maybe just consider today an unplanned Carb Day and get back to eating on plan tomorrow! You can do it! :cheer:

I'm still here, and still hovering around 199. I'm hoping I get a little lower to keep myself from bouncing back to 200. It will happen. It's just very, very slow for me, no matter how strict I am with my eating.

Thank you for your concern, Jacqui.

SeeMyFeet, My weight loss history has been like yours for years. Just when you think you're never going to lose, a pound or two disappears. Just keep doing what you know you should be doing.

Yesterday's menu....

Break - goetta and Coke Life
Lunch - chicken fajita filling
Snack - chocolate- covered cherry.....soooo good
Dinner - 2/3 of porterhouse steak w/Boursin wine sauce, sprouts and fingerling potatoes

SeeMyFeet, I'm gonna look for them. Where do you purchase yours?

Jacqui, TOM is trying to show up finally (late). I'm enjoying this part of my life and hating it at the same time :?: Today wasn't good either, smh.

Carol, please call the doctor :hug:

PrairieQueen :wave:

mars :wave: :hug: hope to see you online when I come home from work tomorrow :)

ok bedtime good night

Evening SeeMyFeet, Jacqui, love2b150, Wannabehealthy, Mars, Carol, Rennie and anyone I forgot! I'm feeling pretty good tonight after three+ hours in the garden digging potatoes and rototilling the garlic patch, readying it for planting tomorrow after school. My bro went back to Florida yesterday (he's living with mommy dearest to rest after a serious job related accident). He was with us eight days as a base togo to his doctors appointments up here readying for surgery (hopefully). He was not a problem at all, but I love my almost solitude here on the "farm." I'm glad things are back to normal today.

Today's menus.....
Break - steak, fried egg, goetta, Coke Life
Lunch - mini wontons
Dinner - pork fajitas
Snack - a yummy skinny whisky sour

PrairieQueen, I hope all goes well for your brother's surgery.

Rennie and Jacqui, I will be going to the doctor to get my blood pressure checked as soon as my new blood pressure monitor arrives. The old one is broken and I ordered a new one from Amazon. I have been having a lot of nasal and sinus allergy symptoms but couldn't find my allergy pills. I finally found my Nasacort and sprayed it this morning. I have not had any dizzy spells since, so I am thinking that was causing the dizziness, not the heart valves. I don't have any of the other symptoms of leaky valves, no palpitation, irregular heart beats, fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling of the feet and ankles. Jacqui, I did not have a heart attack. I had symptoms and went to the ER where they did tests and found that I needed open heart surgery. Once I was having shortness of breath and went to the ER. Our hospital admits any heart patient who comes to the ER. They admitted me, kept me for 5 days doing tests then released me saying nothing was wrong. If I need these tests I would rather have them done as an outpatient than be admitted unnecessarily. The Echo is already being ordered. I really think I'm OK. If I didn't, I would go to the ER. Sorry if my comments alarmed anyone.

Now I found my allergy pills. I was looking for a bottle and they are in a blister pack in a box. Dummy me.

Carol Sue, we just want you around for a very long time! :hug: I am so glad to know you never experienced a heart attack. I obviously made the mistake in assuming that because of your open heart surgery, but of course there's a big difference! I'm glad you've never gone through that pain or had that kind of damage to your heart! :cp: And it's great to know you haven't experienced any other symptoms of leaky valves! Your dizziness may indeed be because of sinuses, I hate that for you too, but it's a much better scenario! :yes: I'm glad you found your allergy pills. :lol: And great job in beating that scale! Yay Onederland! :carrot:

PrairieQueen, wow you really are a prairie queen with your garden! :high: It's always nice to have family visit or to go visit family (as I just did), but it's also nice to get things back to normal. :yes: I hope your brother gets along well with his surgery! You're a good sis for helping him out! :cp:

Rennie, ugh, Tom. :devil: I hope you have a better day tomorrow! I know those pre-Tom cravings are awful! Hang in there! :yes:

SeeMyFeet, I hope you had a better day today! :goodscale:

Chickadeee, I drank water at home today and didn't add Mio! (and it made me think of you, lol!) :D

Mars is coming home tomorrow! :dancer:

Today, after Carb Day, I gained 2 lbs. Hopefully, all will go well and it will start falling back off tomorrow! :crossed:

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27: High 174, Low 171
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--171 Carb Day

Week 28:
11/15--173
11/16--
11/17--
11/18--
11/19--
11/20--
11/21--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Water (no Mio added)

Lunch:
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Water (no Mio added)

Tea Time:

Dinner:
Steak
Baked beans
Diet Dr. Pepper

Today's Exercise:
2-mile walk around the track, 3 sets of 12 reps each on 5 leg and hip machines and 3 waist machines

Jacqui, when I saw your comment to Chickadeee I got all excited and was looking back to see where she posted! I miss her and wonder how she's doing, and I miss Bewildered, too, and am bewildered that she has left us.

Where is everyone? I am up a lb today but I feel really good. Still no dizzy spells, even when getting in and out of bed. Yay! I ordered a new blood pressure monitor from Amazon and it was shipped yesterday, so I should have it in a few more days. I was reading online for foods that help lower blood pressure and 2 that I had on hand were celery and asparagus, so I ate both of those yesterday and today. I can eat celery with things like PB, cream cheese, or hummus. The asparagus I will get tired of after a few days.

I also did 30 min of exercise, treadmill, elliptical and recumbent bike.

:grouphug: Hi Everyone, I'm in Miami today & back to Calif tomorrow. I have thought if you all so many times your ears must be burning! Cuba was really unforgetable. Wonderful people. More later, running on fumes now, but wanted to say hi.

Lots of catch up to do, but my eye caught your message CAROL. Are you okay?

EDIT Carol glad you figured it out! :hug:

Jacqui, Rennie, SMF,PQ, Mossy, and everyone else :grouphug:

Wannabehealthy glad to see the dizzy spells may be gone. But please see your doc if they come back....nothing to mess with.

Hi everyone else!

Today's menus...

Break - McD's sausage burrito w/mild sauce, ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - leftover pork fajita
Dinner - barbecue bacon cheeseburger w/pickles and onions, no sides
Snack - you guessed it...a delicious skinny whisky sour made with some of Kentucky's finest aged bourbon :)

Carol yay on no dizzy spells :hug:

mars, I'm glad you're back :hug:

Jacqui, SeeMyFeet and PrairieQueen :wave:

its's past my bedtime goodnight :grouphug:

Mars, I'm so glad you're back and happy to hear that you had a good time! There's no place like home. And I'm looking forward to seeing how this thing went between you and Rennie. LOL

I'm still not dizzy. I truly think it was from the nasal congestion. I actually feel great! It was just a fluke that I was feeling that dizziness when the doctor said that it was a sign of the valves getting worse.

I stayed so busy yesterday and have been till now, but I'm here! :D

Mars, WELCOME BACK! We have missed you! :grouphug: I can't wait to hear about your trip!

Carol Sue, great job on eating celery and asparagus and on exercising! I'm so glad you're feeling better! :carrot: I wish Chickadeee were back! And Bewildered too! :yes:

Haha! PrairieQueen, you kill me! :lol: And your liquid snacks! :cheers:

Rennie, I hope your pre-TOM cravings are not driving you to too much distraction! :hug:

SeeMyFeet, any luck with the scale now that you've started eating more fiber? Can you tell a difference yet? :goodscale:

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27: High 174, Low 171
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--171 Carb Day

Week 28:
11/15--173
11/16--172.5
11/17--172
11/18--
11/19--
11/20--
11/21--

Yesterday's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch:
Protein bar
Mio water

Tea Time:

Dinner:
Kroger fried chicken (with the skin removed)
Pumpkin seeds
Diet Dr. Pepper

Yesterday's Exercise:
Took a day off

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch: @Wendy's
10 chicken nuggets
Small chili
Water

Tea Time:

Dinner:
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Too many pumpkin seeds (and too late)
Mio water

Today's Exercise:
None

Today's menu....

Break - McD's sausage burrito w/hot sauce and ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - Amy's bean/cheese burrito
Dinner - grilled spicy wings and a few fries .... I'm already puffy :( and it's only been a little over an hour

I hope everyone is doing well today! It's pretty quiet around here!

PrairieQueen, hopefully you'll lose that puffiness over night! :crossed:

No change on the scale for me today. I ate salted pumpkin seeds too late last night and didn't drink enough water, so I'm just glad I didn't show a gain! :D I need to get away from the pumpkin seeds. I start eating them and can't stop and then I feel too icky to eat something more suitable for meals. I did that last night and I did it again for lunch today! I made myself eat some yogurt last night and a protein bar today to supplement the seeds, but I need to put away the bag of pumpkin seeds and just use them to sprinkle on my salad! I need to remember that last time I did this diet and stalled, I started eating more nuts. Seeds are not that different! I wanted to be back down to 171 today but where am I? Still at 172, which is not a bad thing, but I should have been back down to 171 today. :yes:

Week 26:
11/1--DNW (forgot before we started eating breakfast)
11/2--DNW (left at 3:45 am for a 12-13 hr drive)
11/3--174
11/4--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/5--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/6--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/7--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!) Carb Day

Week 27: High 174, Low 171
11/8--DNW (too busy with grandbabies!)
11/9--173.5
11/10--173
11/11--174
11/12--172.5
11/13--171.5
11/14--171 Carb Day

Week 28:
11/15--173
11/16--172.5
11/17--172
11/18--172
11/19--
11/20--
11/21--

Today's Meals:
Breakfast:
2 fried eggs
2 slices of bacon
Fage Greek yogurt with Mio
Mio water

Lunch:
Protein bar
Pumpkin seeds
Diet Dr. Pepper

Tea Time:

Dinner:

Today's Exercise:

it's really quiet ... where is mars???? mars where are you? How are you?

Jacqui, these cravings are killing me ... I too am like that but with honey roasted cashews, sunflower seeds and peanuts. I attempted the military diet again today but blew it after lunch. So I'll try again tomorrow. I think my major problem is that I don't go to the bathroom often at all.

PrairieQueen I feel you on the puffiness ... everything makes me that way it seems. Hope you can flush it out today :hug:

Well Carol I'm at 173.2 today which is so not where I wanted to be when mars returned. So I await her post :) glad the dizziness has subsided :hug:

Today's menu....

Break - McD's sausage burrito w/hot sauce and ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - Amy's bean/cheese burrito
Dinner - Cinci chili spaghetti 3-way w/onion

Hi Everyone, Sorry for the disappearing act. Yesterday was a looong travel day, and today I've been running around trying to catch up. Mostly need to catch up on sleep. I awoke at 3am avery day in Cuba, just like at home, except home is 3 Pacific time..

Jacqui Congrats on twin grandbabies!!!! How wonderful. I'll bet you will have a full dance card with tot sitting! I hear you on the pumpkin seeds! I prove it to myself over & over that I can't keep them around. But wow, you are on the verge of the 160s!!!

Rennie You are likely wayyyyy better with where your weight is than I will be when i step on the scale. I did okay on the trip, at least my clothes fit and I look okay in photos. But in the flight home, for some reason I ate a bunch, then when i was walking through the airport to get my baggage, I passed a nice snack store--yes they do exist, apparently!--and got a bag of mixed nuts AND a cookie. :devil: As if I had suddenly forgotten our challenge. Tomorrow am I will weigh :cry::fr:

Carol Yes, there is no place like home! But I'm a little sad too--a sign of a good time, so I won't complain.
I'm really glad you are feeling ok--good for you for figuring out a likely culprit.

Prairie Queen, I hope the bloat went away by now.

mars :hug:, I had my weight wrong yesterday it was 173.2 not 172.3. My goal was to get down to 165 by the time you got back and we see that didn't happen. I did get down to 169 point something (closer to 170 then 168) and that was it ;). HA yours was a snack stand, mine was cookies, doughnuts, chips, cereal, smh. I know better. Hopefully I won't do too bad on Thanksgiving since I'm trying the military diet again for the 4th time. I almost got yesterday right but dinner was a hit and miss. It was supposed to be 3ozs of meat (I ate chicken) 1 cup of green peas, 1/2 banana, 1 cup of vanilla ice cream (I had the ice cream only) Still I had a .5 drop this morning so I'm doing day two today. Breakfast was OP (1 egg, toast, 1/2 banana (I ate a whole small banana) Lunch should be ok, 2 ozs of cheese, 1 hard boiled egg, 5 Ritz crackers. I'll keep my fingers crossed for dinner :)

Morning All! First day back at work. I'm still waking up thinking I have to hurry to repack to get on the bus.
Rennie my weigh in today is 168.6. I'm kinda relieved even though it's up. The last few days I have been pretty random. ut I gotta give it to you for this one, my friend! I'm ready to start again tho.

I ate a lot of carbs in Cuba and had a cocktail almost every day. The hotel buffets offered loads of meat, fish & cheese, eggs at breakfast. Salad of lettuce, cucumber tomato. Very little other veggies except yucca, potatoes, other starches. Lots of rice and beans. Lots of breads, sometimes fresh. Mostly we stayed in large state owned hotels as we were 18 with the guides and driver. But 2 nights in a private hostal, called casa particular. They served a phenomenal multi-course feast, including collard greens which I think we almost fought over, lol. Also fresh lobster, octopus (no thanks), shrimp, and all sorts of side dishes on & on. Avocado wasn't everyday, but when we had it, it was great. I think I mostly did a good job with tasting little bites of things, but the last few days when I no longer had to worry about fitting into clothes, I started to slip. It's always that way, once you get a little over confident, the slippery slope is right there, like a banana peel!

Water....we drank only bottled, just to be on the safe side. Glad to back to tap water! Coffee was strong & wonderful. Exercise was walking, I think my tracker said about 3 miles a day on average. It was never strenuous except switching gates at the airport, lol. I swam in the Bay of Pigs, and anywhere I could, but time was so limited. We did the bird counts all day, often having to get to the sites before dawn. Long bus rides, but they were so fun--looking at the countryside, and our Cuban handler who smoothed the way with hotels, etc., was bright & charming, extremely well-informed. She told us everything we wanted to know about Cuban history, culture, daily life, etc., incl. the story of Cuban-US relations from a Cuban perspective. We all could picture her as a diplomat.

I thought of you all often & am so happy to be back on the thread. Carol I gotta hand it to you with managing the buffets, you too Jacq. I took a picture of the breakfast buffet last day, when i had a touch of GI and decided to skip it. Thee was a big warmer of sweet potatoes smothered in.....sugar!

Time for work.

Rennie I think my goal was to lsoe a lb, or not gain, and I didn't do it. But we did pretty well, would have been wrse if not for the challenge. I will read your diet when I get online at my break. Not sure if the word military is motivating, lol!

mars, we were typing at the same time :)

mars those buffets sound hard to resist. Your trip sounds great but I'm happy you're back :hug: I think it's called the military diet because of the ability to drop weight quickly in the 3 days. It's fairly easy I'm just not disciplined ;)

I do great at the casino buffet because they have so much different protein. There are always a few different types of potatoes and there's pasta station I've never visited. An Asian station that always has steamed and fried rice, but I have learned to stick with the meat and seafood, along with some veggies. Occasionally I will take some mac and cheese, because theirs is so good, but only a spoonful for a taste. Their bread and rolls are always stale since they sit out in a basket all day. I don't think a lot of people fill up on bread.

It sounds like you really had a great time Mars, seeing so much of a different culture. I'm glad.

I don't usually like breakfast buffets as there is usually too much carb there. I like biscuits and sausage gravy. Yum.

Lol Carol I went to Golden Corral after work one day and ate enough bacon to last forever :) I ate some other stuff also of course but I mainly remember my plate of bacon :) and two yeast rolls ;)

Mars, your trip sounds like it was amazing and I'm so glad you had such a great time.

Rennie, I have faith in you that you can get back into the 160's before Thanksgiving. You can do it.

Carol Sue, that's some great restraint at the casino buffet. I like how much protein and non-starchy carbs they have to offer too. The starchy foods always look so tempting though and DH always brings some wonderful looking desserts to the table, which is rather torturous.

PrairieQueen and SeeMyFeet, I hope you're doing well today.

I'm 172 again today. It looks like I'll have to wait till next week to drop back down again, if I'm going to drop. I'm hoping to get into the 160's and make my goal but I'll have to see what my body has in store for me. If it decides to stop in the 170's, well, that's where I'll stay. I can be happy here if this is where I land.

Today has been a very hard day for me. I'm letting Ichabod go tomorrow morning. I have to. He's getting worse and it's not fair to let him continue to go through this with no hope for improvement. I've tried everything I could and nothing's helped to stop his decline. So I called the vet last evening and I slept on the couch with him last night, which I've done quite a few times since this began, so he could curl up with me like he used to without fear of falling off the bed. He just purred and slept right next to my face. Today I've spent much of the day outside with him, which he loves the most. It was a pretty day. I'm heartbroken. I just can't believe that 6 months ago I had 6 pets (3 cats, 3 dogs) whom I loved and adored and tomorrow I will be down to 1 (not to mention I lost my brother in that time). I'm just kind of numb. But again, I love my sweet Ichabod too much to let him continue to get even worse, so tomorrow I'll say my goodbyes. Needless to say, I have an unreasonable fear about losing my last cat, Baby, now. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to see my grandbabies and it will help make things better.

I went back to the doctor's today and he added another BP drug to my meds. It's one I took before and had side effects from, but I told him I will try it again and see how it goes. I'm running out of options. I just wish my BP would go down and I won't need meds.

Jacqui, I'm so sorry to hear about Ichabod. My thoughts will be with you. I've had to do this so many times. Do you think you will get any more pets?

Jacqui, I'm sorry to hear about Ichabod, but you do know what's best. Your new grandsons' will prayerfully alleviate most if not all of the sadness. :hug: You're a great fur-baby Mommy :hug:

OMGoodness Jacqui, I would sure love to be in the 160's by next week. My daughter made a marble cake. Oh my goodness it smelled like choc chip cookies :drool:. I wanted a chunk of that cake so bad, it's really dense. Instead I ate the edge off because since it is so dense the edges were rock hard due to bake time and they would just throw it away (it was only the darker side) ... so I threw it in my mouth. I guess that's a confession. Other than that I had an OP day :)

Carol what were some of the side effects from the medicine? Did you mention the dizziness to the doctor? I know you believe you know what caused it, but one can never be too careful :hug:

Carol Sue, I'm sorry to hear about the additional meds. I do hope it works well for you without side effects this time. Thank you. I will get more pets eventually. They bring too much joy to my life not to. I might space them out in age this time so I don't lose them all at once though. All my pets except Ichabod lived to a ripe old age. Even my remaining cat is 15 and I fully expect her to live another 5 years. It's so unfair that Ichabod, who is only 4-5 years old, has some fluke heart condition that caused paralysis. He is so young. My youngest cat ever to die before was 15 (too young) and my oldest, 23. If this was just a matter of Ichabod being disabled, I would care for him for as long as he would live (I even had a friend who made him a walker), but he has bad days too often when he's in pain, he has lost a lot of weight because he isn't eating much now, and in the last 2 weeks he's developed a sore on his foot that started out like a pinprick, but is the size of a dime now and won't heal because he has very little circulation to his feet. He's so sweet, my little lover boy, and it's so sad.

Thanks Rennie. I don't think that one little edge will probably affect the scale much if at all. Hopefully it won't affect your blood sugar much. Just stick to plan other than that. You can do this.

Evening all!

Mars your trip sounds amazing....some day I hope to get to Cuba, hopefully before it gets commercialized too much.

Love2b150 hey there.

Wannabehealthy I would never be able to control myself at your buffet. You're stronger than I am :)

Jacqui I'm almost in tears for you and poor kitty. I do love my fur babes, esp. my sweet kitties. I'll sending peaceful vibes across the counties tonight.

I had a slight panic attack tonight when Mr. Darcy didn't come running when I called him. After twenty minutes I went back out and called again...no kitty. I looked up and there he was on the roof of the additition. I went in, up the stairs and into the bathroom. As soon I opened the window he came running in. Crisis over.

Today's menu.....

Break - McD's sausage burrito w/hot sauce and ice tea w/stevia
Lunch - Amy's cheese/bean burrito
Snack - skinny popcorn
Dinner - chicken cutlets w/mushroom lemon cream sauce and angel hair pasta, spinach salad w/maple Dijon vinaigrette
Night cap -seriously thinking about a whisky sour later if I stop feeling so full

Hola, Mars! Welcome back! Tell us more! Nature? Cities? Was your group around a lot of other tourists?

Carol, why're you in a casino? getting lost here..hope you came back with more $$$

Aw right, love2be, I can read about all this pumpkin and bacon stuff without being affected, but Great Gravy Goodness, WHY did you have to mention that chocolate cake?

Poor Ichabod. RIP. (I'd still like to volunteer to be your new pet, Jac.)

I hear ya on the meds, Carol....hope they do the job for you quickly..p.s. I know an 18yo on bp meds..

I feel like I'm falling apart.. After a dentist appt this wk, I now have to think about periodontal disease. Ugh. I have a water pik, take good care of my teeth and don't eat sweets. Just Ugh...They look fine, btw. X-rays showed bone loss...commonly occurs with RA...Going to the rheum next week..I expect a new round of meds, as the heroin hasn't improved things.


aaaaand I'm still fat. Pooping well, but still fat. Still having bran cereal for breakfast, not hungry and not eating much. I'm up 5lb and not losing. I'm also stressed from work. Oh Oh OH...I won the lottery this week! :carrot: :carrot: :carrot: Whoops...that wasn't me.

p.s. Jac...I'm house broken....mostly

Jacqui I was hoping that Ichabod was tooling along. I'm so sad to hear the news, on the heels of your other losses too. I'll be thinking of you today, and sweet Ichabod. You have given him a pleasant life on his own terms. Choosing a humane end is abut the most loving thing you could do. I wish there was a way to ease the loss...:hug: