Carol, your poor little doggie! I just read in my backlog of magazines (Ntl Geographic, maybe) a funny take-off on the X Files, but with dogs as Agents Mulder and Scully. Since they don't always understand cause-and-effect, they were freaked out by sudden disappearance of fleas (collars), not being able to scratch their noses or see behind them (cones), or waking up from a deep sleep and finding their manhood missing. I'm glad your reenty into work wasn't bad.

Nikki, I love straight "sipping" tequila more than shots, if it's a really good quality tequila. Luckily, that's too expensive to indulge in often, and there's no point in having more than two. We may be facing a shortage a few years from now, because changes in the agave crop, so I say stock up now! Lara Bars are near the Power and Luna bar section of the store. All natural, half a dozen or fewer unprocessed ingredients--the entire list for the cashew cookie bar is "cashews, dates." Flavors are cocoa mole, lemon bar, etc. They don't have as much protein as some of the others, but they don't have that chalky taste that some have, either. They do have a few grams of fiber, and they're gluten-free. When I miss having baked goods, I can have a sweet, chewy Lara Bar and not feel so bad.

I'm pulling things together for a quick trip to Manhattan next week. Like Marie, I'm not feeling too motivated about working, since 2/3 of the people around me seem to be on vacation! I guess that's because the holiday was in the middle of the week. I didn't work out yesterday, to ease my knee back into things, but I did a cardio video this morning, and will go over to Curves on my lunch break. Every day has been a struggle with munchies (note my gushing over Lara Bars, above) because I indulged in empty carbs when I was in Atlanta. I'm trying a new thing: I bought a little tin of cacao nibs at Whole Foods. They're smaller than Chicklets, but just a couple seem to chase away my late-afternoon craving for sweets. The entire little tin is one serving (140 calories) but at this rate they will last me for two weeks .

Back to work! Have a great day, all.

judy

Marie - I loved your story about the deer. I bet they have learned that dogs on leashes are not a threat and like to torment them! Kody was well behaved under the circumstances and your arm got an extra workout! I hope you guys have a wonderful time in Alaska.

Judy - I hope the deep breaths helped. You sure had a stressful day. I hope you have a nice relaxing weekend.

Carol - That's interesting about using human hair as a critter repellant, I'll have to try it some time. I hope Bear does ok at the vets. I'm glad you're starting to feel more in control.

Nikki - I'm glad the scale doesn't agree with you in this case!

I'm feeling a lot more in control too, now that I've started journaling my food again. Don't you guys get me started on tequila shots! I'm better off not having any alcohol as I just can't afford those couple of hundred extra calories. Have a great weekend everyone!

Judy- I just started drinking tequila and I mix some with a bit of watermelon sf syrup it is divine the aave with watermelon mmmm.

Penny - Way to go on getting back on track

I just got out of the pool did 30 min of swimming. I am sure I will feel it in the morning.

Hi all, I'm making progress in the prep for leaving town. But probably not as much as I should have as I'm easily distracted. I did finish the laundry, got the suitcases from the shed (I'm thinking Judy has hers always ready to go...), re-printed itineraries, etc. Today is DS1's 22nd birthday and they're coming for a BBQ. I made a gigantic chocolate mint cake. Hehehehe - they have to take it home with them. It looks incredible though. The cake is actually lo-cal but the two tubs of icing aren't. C'est la vie - I'll only be having one slice.

I'm going to miss my doggies so much. Traveling is hard - I really want to go but I wish the doggies were going too.

Nikki, I never feel achy from swimming. I've always thought that was the cool part of swimming, it never hurts. I'll be doing that soon as the temps are hot again.

Judy, you and I are on the munchie bandwagon. I'm thinking about food way too much. A week from Monday should put the kabosh on that - I hope. Good luck with the piles of work. My Dear Boss told me to go home yesterday so I did. I floated and listened to a book. But not after I'd learned a new webauthoring trick. I was actually having fun when she stopped by (she was supposed to be leaving for Hawaii and kept getting side tracked - about an hour after she stopped by, I said if she was still in town I'd have to come smack her - yest I said that to my boss - she is the best boss I have EVER had in my life). Then I went home.

Carol, I'm glad your boss kept your caseload afloat. Isn't it cool to have a good boss? My last one was incompetent (said whatever anyone wanted to hear and then did nothing) and the one before that had physical tantrums when she was pissed. My current boss is getting very close to the friend status (which I shy away from but I really do get along with her). Anyway. Good job on the food choice Carol.

Nikki, that's a new one - the scale being nicer than expected. Send that square box to me...

Penny, I've heard of the human hair trick. I don't know why, but it's icky to me. But I'm a bit strange. Good luck with the journaling and I'll join you on that task soon.

Time to actually pack.
Marie

Yikes, it hot out..96 degrees or so. Won't it be lovely when the West's heat wave makes it over to the East Coast . Yesterday I picked up around the house (although I'm not finished--how can a small apartment take so long to clean?). I got a free makeover at the Shiseido counter at the mall. It was lovely, so of course I bought more of the products than I planned. I did a workout on cardio machines for the first time since my knee freaked out last week. So far, so good, but for a while I'll only do a few bike/treadmill workouts a week, and do more videos on my carpeted floor. Today I worked out washed my hair, got a mani-pedi, and am at the office few a few hours.

Carol, I hope that Bear is speaking to you again...

Marie, I have a suitcase closet (don't laugh) and two travel kits--one fully loaded, and one TSA-approved Baggie for overnight trips and carry-on luggage.

Nikki, I'm glad you're enjoying the pool!

Penny, keep mentioning how empowering it is to journal one's food, maybe it will sink in for me subliminally.

judy

Marie you surely made me laugh it sounds like are last boss's were related! Was she about 5"9 ? Have a super trip and yes having a good boss makes the world a better place for sure.
Nikki and Judy you girls may be onto something with that new drink idea hows the cals no carbs right? Your too funny. I guess I will stick to my glass of red wine or blush or maybe a Mikes hard lemonade which I prefer over the others but more cals. I had a pretty good weekend with food intake nothing over the edge jumping in and being more careful always is a challenge. Why we ever let ourselves get out of a good routine is beyond me in the first place. But if I really could figure it out and stick to it life would become so much easier. At least I catch myself before too much damage is done. I did the scale and up a few lbs. So I guess I had better be good. I purchased some helathy groceries and am on a roll now and journaling my intakes with you Penny together we will be better with this step forward. I made a good black bean salad yesterday from cooking light. I purchased four mag. at a garage sale for .25 a piece and tore out the pages of interest and recipes. So I am trying to use some of those to spark my intakes a bit. Cooking Light recipes are also available on the net for free with a search but no pictures. Oh well can't have it all I guess. Well this a.m. I am taking a client to meet some folks to go to camp for a week. So I am leaving a bit later good thing cause I got to sleep in a bit the rain storm was loud and lots of lighting too. My daughter and SIL came for dinner last night they are doing so well. Their trip sounded lovely and they had a great time. She being a veggie had trouble in Mexico finding anything good on the menus to meet her needs but ended up creating somethings herself. They said its more what the Mexicans think Americans would like to eat more than what they really do. Funny huh? Bear is doing quite well a little quieter than his norm but that part is a nice change. He is such a love that it makes up for his naughty behaviors sometimes. Glad to have him back home and I THINK he would agree. Well take care and try to be good and make healthy choices . Before a bite goes in I am trying to think about what I am doing! Lets hope it works!!

Hi Ladies-


I had a rough weekend. I was in the pool saturday and I fell off the ladder. I strained my right arm pretty bad. I have a disability whch makes my left arm useless so I do everything with my right arm. It will be hard but I am trying to rest my right arm as much asd I can which means no exercise for the moment since I cant pull myself up the pool ladder.Then on Sunday my bf and I cleaned out the pantry and kitchen throwing away 3 big black bags worth of stuff. I still live at home and mom has been avoiding doing it so we did it. I am glad its done !I also had a weight blip I gained 2 lbs last week after not eating well on the fourth
I guess I was riht last week when I said I felt bigger. I am not going to type much because my hand hurts. I will ttyl.

Nikki

Nikki - Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your accident - it's the last thing you need! I hope your arm will heal quickly. I'm glad your bf helped you clean up the pantry at your house. It's good not to have too many junk food temptations around. Don't worry about the 2 lbs., they will come off again now that the July 4th holiday (and extra calories) is over!

Carol - I'm going to join you in thinking about every bite that goes in. I think a lot of my eating is done on "automatic pilot" . I heard that the bigger variety of foods you eat, the harder it is to lose weight, so I'm going to also try not to eat so many different foods. Trouble is, I'm a real "foodie" and love trying different things all the time. I'm glad Bear is feeling ok after his "little operation".

Judy - Your Shiseido makeover and manicure sounds lovely - I'd like to treat myself to something like that. I'm glad your knee is behaving.

Marie - I hope you're having a wonderful time in Alaska.

We went for a nice walk in one of our favorite parks yesterday and my foot didn't act up. We only walked for half an hour, but it was lovely to walk along the river and see all the boats, etc. We saw a cute squirrel asleep in the crook of a tree right near the path. He opened one sleepy eye, looked at us and went right back to sleep.

So far I'm doing ok calorie wise, so I'm hoping the scale with cooperate on Friday.

Nikki so sorry about your fall. Boy life is never easy is it. I think you have a keeper with the BF that he will help you with so many things thats great. Good to have that area cleaned out. Sometimes we all just get so many things and don't know when to discard or take the time. Now that it is done I am sure you feel better about that. Take a little break it will be fine. I know a couple of lbs. are a pain I feel it right now too along with a sore back this a.m.. I was doing pretty good it could be rain related I didn't return back to PT as I figured she showed me exercises now I can just do them myself. So this a.m. I did take the 10 min, and do them. A bit of walking during work yesterday I guess around 15min. extra and then pool time last night. So I squeezed in a little movement. I think tonight I will swim at my sisters as I can do laps. I counted my cals yesterday around 1600 so not too bad. But I did have bread english muffin mult. gr. and a ww bagel so there were a bit too many carbs. At least they were higher in fiber and protein. The down fall was a burger with cheese for dinner and some mac. salad. But I still added the cals up. Fine tuning is tough sometimes. Penny see if I don't have a lot of creative ideas and foods to choose from I get bored and go way outside the box. Everyone is so different and thats where we all have to go with some individualized plans weird enough but I think its true. We gain and lose differently too. Boy our bodies can sure be tricky. Hope Marie is relaxing and adventuring well in Alaska boy would I like to do that. Talk to you all soon. kEEP MOVING!!!

Thank you ladies for your kind thoughts My arm is a bit better today but it is only 9 am. I sept with it elevated and wrapped up. My eating has been good. I am dep in ketosis which means I am burning fat. I found an alternative to using Fit Day. It is called MY PLAN and is a tool designed for low carbers. I started tracking my food yesterday and I'm going to see if I can pick any trends up in food consumption and weight. Yesterday was so warm I drank a gallon of water.

Penny-Good job on the walking. I am glad your foot is holding up.

Carol-My boyfriend is so good with many things but oh so bad in others. I guess we have to take the good with the bad. I really love him and am hoping we can both get good jobs and get married. We are waiting for financial reasons right now.

Nikki nothing is ever prefect but somethings can be groomed over time. Good luck with the new plan I will ck it out. I am trying to be really good doing my PT exercises in the a.m. 2 days in a row hurray. But my food intake was too low during my day yesterday by the time I came home I could of ate an elephant. So now that the macorni salad is out of the house I won't make it for a bit. I think it came out too good and then it was cool and something simple. Normally I stay away from pasta but in the 90's and it was there well yah know the story. Girls I am happy to say my daughter has pretty much accepted a new job with regular hrs and not the pay she is making but for starting in a new field not bad at all a couple of dollars less than the one she has been at for 7 years. The boss was surprised but she has been telling them you need to get me different hrs. etc. before Sept. when her son starts all day school. I am thrilled for her to have weekends off 7 yrs of missing family functions is long enough for all of that a normal life will be nice and no driving home in the middle of the night. Mom can be at peace without wondering will she be okay its storming. Well wanted to share the good news. Hope your enjoying your vac. Marie and taking in all the great sights. Judy are you away too? Penny hope your doing good? Well tonight I am having grilled salmon on skewers that were prepackaged with peppers hope their is good as they look. Only 90 cals each so I put out two and will do grilled squash and a rice to go with them. Take care friday is scale day for me.

Carol - Good news about your daughter Salmon is yummy in the summer.

I had my weigh in this morning and I lost 1 lb. Better then nothing! I know now that I am watching different things that I neglected to before I will lose more in the coming weeks

Penny/ Judy- hope all is well

Carol - I'm glad your daughter has finally got better hours. It will be nice for her to be able to join in more family get-togethers. I agree with you that I couldn't give up my favorite foods completely. The idea of eating bland foods to lose weight would get old real soon! Yesterday we had company for dinner (a business associate of my DH). I made the Swiss national dish of Zurcher Geschnetzeltes (veal in cream sauce) which, as you can imagine is NOT low cal! I took just a small portion with about 1/2 cup of egg noodles and lots of salad and was satisfied. I would usually eat about 3x the size portion! It's not something I make very often, but it always gets raves when we have company. For dessert I put a small slice of pound cake in a dish for each person, drizzled it with a good amount of sweet sherry and topped it with fresh raspberries and a small scoop of Haggen Daz reduced fat vanilla ice cream - easy and delicious. Today I'm having Lean Cuisine to make up for it!

Nikki - Yay on losing a pound! I'm glad you found an alternative to Fit Day for low carbers. I'm sure it will make keeping track a lot easier. I hope your arm is continuing to improve. I sprained my wrist last week being too gung-ho with my yoga and it's amazing how you don't realize how often you use your dominant hand all day long till it hurts to do so. I put a brace on it and stuck Salon Pas pain relief pads all over my hand and forearm and it really helped. So I know how you feel although your injury sounds a lot worse than what I had.

I'm down 1/2 a pound from last Friday so I'm hoping it will be a whole pound by my Friday weigh in.

Way to go Penny

Nikki congrats on the loss. I am scaling friday hope for some change to the good. Wow sometimes its hard to get into it all. But in the long run the long haul is the best way and do I know it. So I didn't do the salmon last night but had venison very lean tonight I will have my salmon its marinating in some lime dressing. Haven't tried this before light lime dressing by Paul Newman. I will let your know if its good or not to waist your funds on it. I like my own lime so I thought well give it a whirl. Hope your arm is better Nikki and you too Penny I must of skipped over that one. Wow we are quite a group and my back is bothering me a bit again. Guess should of kept up with therapy huh? Penny good job keeping to your choices of food the best you could. Having some is sometimes better than not at all or in the end we consume more than what the cals in what our real choice would of been. Congrats on control!!! I have never had that dish but it sounds like heaven! Next week I am taking off thurs. my 85 yr. old mom is going in for heart catherization and they will see if she has something going on in there that shouldn't be. She was to get carpal tunnel surgery on tues and it was canceled due to pretesting results. Never a dull moment. So thats where I will be a week from today with mom at the hospital praying it all will go okay. Its never easy seeing them go through things like this. Well take care everyone I am off to prepare a nice salad for lunch today.