Hi, Here are a few more pictures of the house. The first one is Tim and I out front after church. The second is my kitchen taken from the dinng room. It is very small and I didn't think I would have enough cabinets BUT all the lower cabinets have at least 3 pull out shelves! SURPRISE!! The 3rd. is the dining room taken from the kitchen it is huge! Love It! The 4th is another picture of the dining room. The 5th is the back of the house. This picture was taken before we bought it and I guess I need to take some of our things out there now!! Behind the wooden fence is the shallow end of the pool.

Ok, time for me to start thinking about getting some lunch going around here. Again welcome to the new faces and I will get back here again later.

Think I will join in that challenge once I get some more time to be on the computer.

Hi Bobbi,

No can do. Had 2 biopsies & am not supposed to do ANY exercise for 3 days. I was REALLY tempted to go to the gym this morning, but my DD will shoot me if I break open the stitches.

I'll be good & wait to go back until Tuesday.

Lynn

Welcome, Linda. Glad to see you found us. We're a friendly group so jump right in and post away.

Karen, I enjoyed looking at your pool and house. Cool pool liner. Wish we had a pool but it's almost not practical here as the swimming season is so short. Lots of people have above the ground pools but I don't think I'll ever have one. I'd need a pool boy too as I hate cleaning things (even dishes, but of course they have to be done).

I've lost 2.5 pounds this week so Lynn you're going to have to do the same if we are to keep weighing the same. Hope you're up and about as soon as you can be.

My free day was today and I really ate too much ice cream for dessert but I only had one real meal today as breakfast was skimpy because I knew I'd eat a large dinner. No supper as I was still full and still feeling full at 10 pm. We had company for dinner so everything was fattening for dinner, ha, ha. I actually ate a moderate amount for dinner. It was after dinner that I ate more cleaning up. That's when the extra ice cream was consumed. Should have had DH put the food away. Must try that next week.

Catch you all tomorrow.

Hi Isabella,

Congratulations on 2+ lb loss!

I gained yesterday - one of those UNfair gains - ate salad for lunch & a tomato sandwich on lo-car/cal brd for dinner. Oh well - I know that my metabolism is SOOOO slow after so many years of dieting that I have to spend 60-90 min/day exercising to have any chance of losing. I'll be back in the game on Tuesday.

Lynn

Well, I see everyone is doing well weight-wise, which is a happy thing to see. I, too, shall post a loss...tah dahhhhhh! A whole .6 pounds! Yep. That's point-six, not SIX, which would've been lovely but <sigh> what can you do? I suppose any loss at all is better than a gain. Your house looks nice, Karen. I don't think a pool is in my future, either. Especially not now that New England has developed a monsoon climate instead of our old sunny summers. We had a nice day yesterday - DH and I went grocery shopping, and then I spent the rest of that (nice outside) day home lounging about in my pj's with this stupid cold or sinus infection or whatever it is still kicking my butt and taking Tylenol for severe colds and watching movies from Netflix. If I don't feel any better in another couple of days, I suppose I'll have to go to the doctor for an antibiotic or something, but I really hate dragging myself to the doctor and going through all the rigamarole and waiting and so on. Besides, this stuff usually just goes away on its own if you wait long enough. I feel right now like my head is full of clog and about ready to burst. Ack. I might have to just go back to bed and sleep some more. ANYWAY, sorry for all the self-pity, but wouldn't you think that after having been fighting this cold-thing all week and practically living on chicken soup (made with fat free broth) and all kinds of healthy, practically calorie free veggies, I would have lost more than point-six pounds????? I swear this body of mine is a never-ending puzzle that NEVER - absolutely never behaves predictably!
Have a good day, everybody....

Z

Good Morning,

It's a cool morning. yesterday was sweatshirt weather and next week is supposed to go down into the 40's. I guess all those beautiful, sunny days are almost gone. But so lovely while they were here!

I am doing really great with the diet. I'm not much of a "scales" person, but I can tell I have lost weight, and I will jump on the scales soon, just to confirm.

It was a very eventful weekend. Friday was supposed to be a pep rally at my GS's school and the football team were wearing jerseys and being introduced. One of the older kids piced my grandson up, arms around his arms and waist, and dropped him on his head. So, we spent the night in ER waiting. Good results, just some pulled muscles, but a few very anxious moments. The peprally was totally unsupervised and the school will be hearing some major complaints. Hopefully it will be more organized in the future. I know I am a worry wart, but being an RN I just see too much, and realize just what could have happened. My DIl was watching, but she couldn't get to him in time to prevent it.

Linda, Welcome. Great support here. Come often and get aquainted!

Lynn, That is just not fair!! When you make all the right decision, you should get good results! Just hang in and they will happen. Hope you are feeling ok. Please let us know the results.

Isabella, YEH!! Was to go. And, back away from that ice cream....

Karen, I can see MYSELF curled up on the couch, in front of the fire, good mystery, doggies lying at my feet...

Bobbi, can you use just plain mylasses? Blackstap/ Not sure, is there a difference?

Have a blessed day,

Freda

Zoe, We must have been writting at the same time. It's so good to have you back. I really missed your style of writting, so fun and eloquent. I hope you feel better soon. And yes, after not eating for that long your body should let some weight go. I'm betting that after you feel better you will see a loss.

Hi Zoe,

Received the box of Miracle Noodle yesterday. Plan to have them for dinner - mixed with spaghetti sauce & veggies (maybe mushrooms, onions, and spinach). I'll let you know what I think tomorrow.

Oh Freda! How horrible about your grandson. Thank God he is OK.

Do you still want to lose more weight??? How low do you want to go?

Lynn

Hi Freda, The ice cream is tucked away in the freezer. I won't touch it again...promise...until next weekend, if there's any left (DH) and I'll only have a serving...promise....
The ice cream was heavenly hash and although I'm not a chocolate ice cream lover I do like this. We only have vanilla ice cream left. I like vanilla ice cream but I will control myself.

If you don't mind I'll answer the question about the blackstrap molasses. According to the nutrition facts on the side of the molasses cartons here's the low-down per 1 Tablespoon (20 g). Percentages are daily value (usually based on a 2000 calorie diet) :

Fancy molasses:
Calories - 60
Fat - 0 g
Sodium -10 mg
Carbohydrates - 15 g
--sugars -12 g
Protein -0.2 g
Calcium - 2%
Iron - 4 %

Blackstrap Molasses
Calories - 50
Fat - 0 g
Sodium - 70 g
Carbohydrates - 13 g
--Sugars - 11 g
Protein - 0 g
Calcium - 10%
Iron - 15%
Riboflavin -4%
Vitamin B6 - 4%
Magnesium -15%
Copper - 8%

Blackstrap molasses has a bitter flavor as compared to the Fancy Molasses which is quite sweet. But I found the taste buds become accustomed to the blackstrap quite soon as the sweetness comes through. Actually I don't find it as bitter as coffee.

Glad your grandson is alright. I'd be frightened to see a child fall on his head.

Lyn and Lynn, hope you are both feeling better soon. Maybe your body is holding on to the fat trying to squeeze all the extra nutrients out of it.

We had a lovely day yesterday and today. Cool but sunny. Sweatshirt weather for sure, but great for walking and I never got out at all. I'm going to go pick a few apples at MIL's place today so I'll get out at that. We went shopping this morning and picked up a few bargains at the grocery stores.

Well, I'm gone apple picking. Catch you all later.

A blessed Sunday to all of you!
I'm drinking sugar free apple cider as I'm typing this to warm up my fingers. Brrrrrrrrr, it's cold. We have wind gust up to 45 miles an hour and all the leaves are in flight, My chickens are huddled under the tree trying to escape them.
I just had my breakfast for lunch. I hated missing it when I get up but Sunday mornings are hectic, getting ready for Church is a long process. Takes awhile to fill in all the cracks on my face!
Isabella...thanks for the information on molasses, I'm sticking with the black strap. It has more iron, calcium, etc. and less calories. I love the taste of it in my coffee, I like licking the spoon too. I don't worry about sodium in food since it doesn't bother me and blackstrap has more.
Karen.....so happy to see you joining us in the challenge. You've had a tremendous amount of stress this year with trying to sell your home and the death of your dear dad. I'm so glad you're taking control of your life now. You were doing so well when I started back to 3 FC's after being absent for a couple of years. But I know myself what stress can do and had to reach a point in my mind that said, Stop! Get my act together and take care of myself. I just had to get stubborn, count every morsel that went in my mouth and write everything down. Like you, I use Fitday. You did well with a shake for lunch before, maybe that'll work again for you.
Sorry Lynn... I thought easy exercises would work for you but doc knows best!
Zoe...Patience my dear, it'll show up eventually.

Quote:
wouldn't you think that after having been fighting this cold-thing all week and practically living on chicken soup (made with fat free broth) and all kinds of healthy, practically calorie free veggies, I would have lost more than point-six pounds?????

Freda......that makes me angry just thinking of someone doing that to my grandsons. I'd go down and box his ears, the jerk! I hope he feels guilty for hurtings him.

OK - Sitting here eating my Miracle Noodle. Tastes/feels like rice noodles. I'll let you know tomorrow what the scale thinks about them.

Lynn

Hello everyone, I did pretty good on my goals today except the exercise part I was busy all day except I didn't get any intentional exercise in. I bought a used Walnut chest of drawers yesterday and it was in need of clean up really bad. BUT I got it for $50 so I think I got a good deal on it. But I spent a lot of the day using Murphys Oil soap on it. Plus doing laundry. I kept thinking, "When I get this done---" but it just seemed to never end. Hoping for a a better day tomorrow to be able to get that exercise in too!! Got the basement (my WOMAN CAVE) all set up for exercise so just need to push myself down the stairs!!

Karen,

You are one BUSY lady! I get tired just reading about all that you do! A walnut dresser for $50 sounds like a steal to me - enjoy!

Lynn

Good Morning, Everyone,

The Miracle Noodle works! Thank you, Zoe. Typically, if I eat pasta, I gain wt. Yesterday, I ate Miracle Noodle (made it w spaghetti sauce, onions, mushrooms, and spinach sauteed in olive oil) and lost weight!

Today, I am traveling north to Stroudsburg, PA to observe a Student Teacher. She is a lovely young lady & I am sure she will do a great job.

Have a great day,

Lynn

Hi all! I had a laid-back and restful weekend. MY husband and I played Batman:Arkham Asylum most of Saturday and had a grand time. Lots of fun. It's easy to not eat much when you're whomping on supervillains for hour on end. Of course Sunday was not so good for the diet, with rib roast and birthday cake, but non-strict family Sundays are very normal for me and kind of built into my program. All is good and now I get to be "on-program" for the rest of the week. I lost 1.6 pounds last week, which is good.

Friday was an especially encouraging day for me because I changed out my summer clothes for my winter ones, hauling boxes of sweaters and jackets out of storage. I felt a need to do this a bit early because I wasn't sure how much of it would fit. I was a size 24 last winter and now I'm an 18. Needless to say most of that stuff didn't fit me at all, so I bagged it. But then I dragged out my "smaller" clothes.

Years ago, I had a great job and bought some really (really) nice stuff. Cashmere sweaters, silk tops, designer clothes. When I gained weight, I couldn't wear it but most was so classic, I didn't feel right tossing it, so I packed it away. A good cashmere sweater is always in style, right? Anyway, I hauled out those things and... much of it fit! I was never a slender or small girl, so most are L and size 16 (then, which is probably an 18 the way clothes are made now). I was in heaven! All my favorite stuff fits again! Some were outdated, true, and I did toss a few items in the thrift shop bin, but I now have this wonderful wardrobe that I didn't have for years. I couldn't be happier. My husband is happy, too, because I won't be needing to buy as many new sweaters, just a couple new pairs of slacks.

Funny, now much little things like that matter. I both dread and look forward to shrinking out of those things now, because that's the plan.