Chelseamb

I was barely gone one day and there is so many things said. I have to read it again tomorrow and respond. I am a bit tired from my date with hubby last night. Fun though, but he didn't notice my hair or nail. I guess that is a woman thing. he was tired too. He has been none stop sleeping all day today and yesturday. Maybe he is coming down with a cold. We watched De javu and he slept through part of it. Poor thing.

Tomorrow is busy too. suprisingly I got in 90 minutes of exercise. I was in the sauna for 15 minutes after exercise. Do you think the sauna is really beneficial? Goodnight ladies!!

good morning everyone
im going to try to plan my day okay i woke late so no exercise this morn except for some crunches on my ball. im going to try to do the fruit detox until 12pm only fruit and water, right Jasmine? ill take a carnation instant breakfast for snack and for lunch ill eat lean cusine skillet sensations chicken alfredo, dinner if im hungry may be a grilled chicken salad. for some reason im not very hungry for dinner anymore probably because i get home around 7pm

how does this sound to you guys please grade me, also do anyone know anyother exercise to do with the ball besides standard crunches

Nik- mushrooms freeze "ok" - fresh is still better. I usually buy one of the 8 oz pkg of sliced shrooms and then after 2-3 days freeze what is left before they start getting icky.

L&L - I dont think the sauna deoes anything weight wise -maybe cooks off some water, but if you like it then it is a nice reward for your workout! Lets not forget our spirit needs love too!

Good Morning everyone!! I wish I had more time during the day to visit with you guys, you always have such great conversations and I miss em! LOL!! I'm definetly going to look for some ezekial bread today during my grocery trip, I would imagine our good food store has it...I hope anyway!

I did pretty well with food yesterday, a couple of choices could have been better, I tried to just stay busy to avoid eating. As long as its a step in the right direction right?! I'm still fighting off that turkey day gain. and no exercise yet....shame!!

It started snowing, was supposed to be some big storm during the night apparently it waited till now when I've gotta be on the roads driving....nice eh!?

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!! Welcome Chelseamb!!! You are gonna love this group!!

~melissa

Good morning everyone! Welcome to Chelseaamb! Well if anyone has any holiday desert/cookie/ muffins, treats, fudge, etc, any recipes that are low cal, low sugar and /or low fat etc for holiday baking please add recipes to this thread:

Holiday Baking

Joey and I were at Target yesterday and we seen all the holiday gift sets. I wa strying to ignore all the baking / cookie sets so I did not look at them but they sure caught my eye! I was looking at the cappucino, hot cocoa sets. Stuff like that. Everything looked so cute and yummy but I have to admit the cookie cutter shape sets really caught my eye! I have been trying to tell myself to be good but my family(extended to like 4th and 5th cousins etc) We have a "family" cook book they made and distributed etc and I was looking to see if my mom who has passed on left a chili bean recipe, she didn't . Anyhow so I was looking at all the other stuff and noticed something I did NOT notice before! In the very back is two pages of different members of "the older generation" women who are in their 70's now and also my grandma and what they all did for x~mas traditions.

Now I know it ios not cool to center entire holidays around food! Please don't get me wrong! It is about love and family and spending time together etc. But you have to admit, food is a big part of it! One thing that has been tradition in my immediate family for ages(aunts, mom, grandma, us) is that we alsways do german potato pancakes for breakfast with each other with apple sauce, we also have some eggs and ham and toast available. That is something we ALWAYS do! I have always been close to family and to this day my aunts and I who live about an hour and a half from each other, we talk on the phone every few weeks and email etc. We stay close. We usually see each other on turkey day but not this year cause of the car and x~mas we are renting a van to go see them. (My aunt even called and offered to have my grandma pay for it cause they know things are tight right now) Anyhow the point is no matter what we always see each other for christmas! When we do have a car we have gone down there more often in the past. I used to speand alot more time with my grandma when my eldest two were toddlers and my ex dh was on the road constantly. My mom was also staying there again too. And even now at least once in the summer all 3 will make a trip up here to come see us and take us out to lunch or dinner etc.

Anyhow we are all very close and family is very important to all of us! Nowadays my bro is in so. carolina, and he has been a military man in my teens and then came bck for a few years and then gone again now for like 5 years. So I am used to him being gone. Butmy dad has passed on, my mom passed on two days after x~mas 2 years ago. (Joes family is in Mt) So all we have left out here is my two aunts, one of my aunts two kids, her hubby and my grandma. I used to LOVE my grandmas house in whittier. I had very fond memories of visiting her and my grandpa(r.i.p.) when I was little and as I grew up. They sold her house two years ago as she is 83 now and is in a fancy assisted living place. Unfortunately her health is now failing and she is getting weaker, etc. She will be there for x~mas but it just feels like the circle is getting smaller!

Anyhow I was reading some of the traditions from the elder women and all that and they all talked about lots of baking and filling their kids stockings with treats and stuff. It just made me really nostalgic. I also remember my aunt sheila where every year she makes peanut clusters and chocolate dipped pretzelsfor everyone! I am going to see if she will be doing that this year!

I was telling dh last nite this. I really want to bake this x~mas! Not just the old, throw some choc. chip cookies in the oven once but some serious baking! The kids will also be home for 3 weeks! So I was thinking that would be great to keep them all busy helping me. I had in mind gingerbread cookies and they could decorate them! (I would never dream of binging on those! ) Is it sugar cookies that you can also decorate and cut with shapers? Those too! I was thinking of looking up some recipes of some other intricate sweets where I am thinking quality, not quantity. Something that is a bit time consuming but worth it. I will defo do brownies. I like reg and will do a batch but I will make peanut butter too cause dh loves that and I KNOW I WIll not care about them!

Another famous one is my mom and I used to always make bread! flour, honey, yeast and warm water, maybe a bit of salt That is something I usually do twice a year, 5 pounds BUT I usually do 2 loaves of bread and the rest rolls cause I adore the rolls! So with that I was telling myself I can do them but everything in moderation! My dh also wants me to make 1 loaf cinnamon bread! haha My mom used to do that too.

Anyhow I am getting really excited and am looking forward to all this. I decided instead of fighting it to embrace it! To work it in my cals for the day a little treat every now and then. I will also be using splenda so that should help. I will be looking for lowfat or nonfat alternatives whenever possible. I am getting so excited about this! Whoi else is with me on this?

TY for the welcome. I was only able to do 15 minutes of yoga this morning. But i did something. its hard getting back into things... different things...

That is okay though. If you are just getting back into things I would recommend to make exercise a habit a few days a week and then build up from there, you can add more time in later!

Okay ladies so I was trying to look up more about the ezekiel and I seen this on another board,

The link she left does not work! But the point is they have ezekiel cereal and pasta! I am jazzed!

Another person chiming in!

Another person being sarcastic but kind of funny!

the cereal is good...tastes alot like grape nuts, but it is calorically dense.

Well today is miserable day outside, raining raining and cold cold cold. I did make it to the gym this morning and I think I was about 1 in 10 I guess everyone was still under the covers. A friend was working out so we did a workout together and it made the workout go by so much faster.

My holiday baking will be reserved for the weekend of the 9th and 10th. It is a big ordeal for me. I make all of mine and DH's collegeus gift baskets with yummies, don't forget all the neighbors and friends. Also my mother's family always has a family reunion in December so I make each family a basket. I usually do it with my Mother so it is a time for us. Okay here is all that we make: peppermint bark, chocolate cover pretzels, peanut butter cups, 3 kinds of fudge, 5 kinds of cookies, pecan pralines, almond brittle, spice cakes, and sometimes coconut marshmallows. The great thing about all of this is that I am not a big dessert person so I am usually satisfied after a few pieces of something. Too much sugar for me, I reserve anything with cheese for my splurges.

As far as HFCS you have to vigilant at the grocery store in reading those labels. It is in everything. I have basically changed all the brands of food I used to buy to different ones. I was amazed that it was in spaghetti sauce and soups. It is also in Yopliat Light Yogurt, how could this be. I switched to our store brand of light yogurt and I like it much better, it has more fruit in it.

Chelseamb!

jasmine: I think it was probably the bagel that gave you the cravings. Getting fiber in the morning will make those craving disapper, but you get that with your smoothies.

Hun.e.B: I am with you I have to stay busy so I am not putting food in my mouth when I get home.

Hi everyone! How are you all doing? December begins tomorrow! I love the beginning of the month. It means bill paying but it's also a fresh start to me. I can shake off the mistakes of November and start anew!

Lol, Jasmine, I liked that sarcastic response. *giggle*

I ADORE holiday baking. My mom makes these really fun and easy cream-cheese mints, it's basically just peppermint extract, cream cheese, and powdered sugar blended together and shaped into little balls or squshed flat with a fork or spoon. And the thumbprint cookies....oh, sweet Mother of All...how I love those cookies. They are HORRIBLE for me and I know this (well, at least they have no HFCS, right? ) but I adore them. Brown sugar, flour, egg, whatever else is in the dough. Then rolled into balls, dipped in egg whites, rolled in crushed pecans or walnuts, baked until almost done but still slightly soft, and then you use a cork (in theory you're supposed to use your thumb, but I always burn my thumb and so I use a cork instead) to make an indentation in the center of each one before baking them the last 5 minutes. While they're baking, Mom makes this wonderful terrible frosting, basically just powdered sugar, cream, a tiny dash of vanilla, and a bit of butter, mixed with food coloring to make it all lively-looking. Once the cookies are done and cooled, you dob a bit of frosting into the center of each one, and voila! I LOVE LOVE LOVE these cookies. They are my perpetual winter downfall. And I will never give them up.

HI ladies. This is gotta be quick!! I just wanted to say hi!! I am doing alright exercise wise, but food wise I could be better. I will right more soon!!!