JillNicole: Please be safe! I'm glad you're okay though!!!! If you ever need to get away dangers of Cali...you can always come to PA

Floriduh:Awesome fighting the evils of carbs. God I Love those things! They will forever be my achille's heel!

ItsMyTurn: Aw you were thinking about me? You r too cute. Holy kicking butt in the weight loss! That's great. Can you add some healthy fats to kick up your calories like adding some EVOO when you cook or add some nuts like almonds or walnuts to snack on? Or natural PB with apples?

Jeniansmom: I'm glad the vacation is going. I don't eat meat but the family loves sweet sausages lately, plus alfredo YUMMY! You have to share the recipe!

Things are going pretty good here. I've been under the weather for whatever reason so I actually didn't exercise last night. I woke up feeling gross. Ah. I dropped off an application for a new job and am crossing my fingers that they call. The position isn't officially open and the pay is the same, but with benefits. I havent had benefits in years. No one wants to provide those here. So we will see.

I walked into my office today to get a copy of my clearances and my boss was gushing how about how "skinny" I'm getting. She's very weight obsessed. It made me feel good. Even if I want to leave lol.

sheramama - I sure was... hadn't heard from you.. was wondering how things were going. You, melody, Jill, and some others will be the ones on my mind when I don't hear from you all cause you were the first ones to truly welcome me in the community. That is why I worried about posting too much and such... had one board that seemed nice and welcoming... I started to post regularly and everyone disappeared off the thread ... hmmm. So then thought maybe they were just busy (it so happens), but nope, saw them posting elsewhere. Hint taken. But you are one of the ones that seems to genuinely be positive person and state how you feel and what's going on...I respect that. Anywho, moving on.... due to medical reasons, I am not able to do nuts or dairy... and when I do cook, I add EVOO to the pan... but unfortunately that isn't very often. I suppose maybe I could add it to my salad in evening if I have one though...that might work

Quick flyby note--hit the 25/25 milestone Down 25 lbs and met 25% of goal!!! Awesome morning workout in the pool today. The giant hurricane off the east FL coast is causing some beautiful weather here. The nasty hurricane is sinking the air to crystal clear over here. Almost feels like early autumn. Hope to check back in later tonight. Lots going on right now.

shera:
Alfredo sauce recipe:
Melt 3TB unsalted butter
Add in 2 large cloves of garlic, minced and 1/2 tsp of dried thyme (rub it between your fingers first)
Whisk for a couple of minutes
Add 1TB arrowroot powder and stir for 1 minute
Add 1 1/2 cups half and half AND 1/2 cup heavy cream
Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 2 minutes..will start to thicken (don't let it boil rapidly)
Turn heat to low and continue simmering and stirring for another 2-3 minutes
Mix in 4 oz of shredded Parmesan cheese (the lowest sodium I could find had 180mg per ounce, use the kind with the lowest sodium content you can find), stir until cheese is melted
Add black pepper to taste

This will make at least 4 servings. At 4 servings I get the following nutritional breakdown:

cals: 405, net carbs 8.25, virtually no fiber, total fat 34.6g sat fat 22.4, trans fat 0, "good fat" 5.5g, chol 105, sodium 240.5mg, potassium 141, protein 12.1

so..cals are high, but we eat it with broccoli and grilled chicken and I don't mind that as an occasional treat. The fat is what I don't like about it. I am going to experiment with using lower fat cream options. But I like the sodium content much more than the jar alfredo sauces.

My town is back up and running, fire is out! So happy everyones safe, including my stuff :/ lol Back to normal eating! & thank you for all your LOVE

Jeniansmom.. Thank you!

SheraMama... Then we could walk together, and I can play the wii with you and the kids! Lol

Floriduh.. Glad to hear your getting beautiful weather out of that darn tornado! To many things are happening, it seems like so much, but maybe just because I didn't pay attention to it when I was younger.*

Ok ladies tomorrow is weigh in already!! Not excited about it lol I was "starving" the last 2 days just because I was so stressed. I would eat and is all I could think of was eating again. I tried to tell my body that's not how we handle things anymore but she was being stuck up!! Lol I still did fairly well. About 1,400 cals the first day & 1,800 the second. (which I usually stick to 1,200 with 1,300 being my allowable cap)*

One other thing... I had not used the bathroom the whole time I was dealing with the evacuation. I was getting a little nervous, def don't want my body keeping that stuff lol... But as soon as I got home today bam! It's like my bum is a princess and threw a fit until she had her own throne back. Haha oh metaphors!*

Floriduh - Way to go on the goals!!! Amazingly wonderful accomplishments!!! So glad you all are getting good weather! We are now in week 2 of "excessive heat advisory"... really getting tired of it. Come on September!!!

JillNicole - I am so unbelievably happy to hear that you and yours are ok!!!! To hear that the fires are out and your stuff is all still in tact...that's awesome news!!!! If it makes you feel better, I can't use the bathroom in a strange place either... I am glad the princess got her throne back

ItsMyTurn: Some people aren't as cool as us
I make my own dressing sometimes. I like fruity dressings: 1/3 cup fruit preserves (I use raspberry or strawberry), 1/2 c Red Wine Vinegar (for raspberry) or Balsamic (for strawberry) and 1/4c EVOO. If it's too bitter, add a little sugar or I use 1 packet of Splenda. I'm sorry about dairy and nuts...I'd be lost without those 2!

Floriduh! 25 lbs, baby! That is so AWESOME!!!!! I hope to follow in your footsteps soon.

Jeniansmom: I will def write it down. I almost drooled just reading it lol. BTW I forgot to say last time I love the new avitar.

So again, I DID NOT exercise. I have a stomach bug...not bad enough that I lose a couple pounds but enough to make me miserable. Blah. I think I may have given it to my mom (who also babysits the kids). I left work early to relieve her which I didn't really mind bc I needed to rest anyway. As long as the kids don't get it, especially since school is Mon.

I was excited bc my son went to see his new Pre-K teacher today (He is switching from the daycare he spent the last 4 yrs going to) and he liked her. Whew. He was giving me such a hard time about switching.

On another note, I was talking to my "crazy" grandma on the phone today. I havent seen her in about a year and she asked me if I got fatter again. WTF. Thanks g-ma!

Jen--the recipe sounds yummy! Love alfredo sauce. I found a gardening thread, but there weren't any posts. We'll definitely have to work on that. Thanks for your support.

Jillnichole--Very relieved to know you are back home and everything is safe and sound. So the evacuation caused evacuation problems, eh? Glad everything finally came out ok Best wishes for a good weigh in tomorrow. You deserve it after a difficult week!

ItsMyTurn--Thanks so very much for the props! It really means a lot. You've had another super week too with workouts and weigh in. I know what you mean about excessive heat. As I tell my desert friends in Las Vegas--at least you get a dry heat The humidity & heat here doesn't let up for another few months. Today's break will be gone tomorrow with the hurricane moving north. I'm just glad we don't have to deal with that monster storm.

Sheramama--Sorry about your stomach bug What a relief that your son is happy with his new teacher! As for crazy grandma, I have an 89 year old aunt like that. I go to visit her and she says, "You are too fat!" Geez, I need to wear a suit of armor to take her comments. Of course, she's no skinny minnie herself. What can we do? Good luck with the job app Keep us posted. I hope that hurricane stays away from you in PA!

JillNicole: I'm glad your fine...LMAO about your bum. I'm weird about pooping in places other than home and close, close families. I dunno why. I totally understand. The kids would love to play Wii with you. Well my son would get bored after his fav songs lol.

I just looked at some of my front/back/side view pics from January when I was SUPPOSED to have started the diet. Which I didn't until June. What a difference already! I am going to take pics in 25lb increments I think. Maybe I will be brave enough to show them

Hope everyone is doing great. Good luck with the weigh in!

sheramama - That dressing sounds yummy! I'm sorry about the dairy, no love lost on the nuts Hopefully the belly bug will leave you soon and not touch the kiddos! I am so glad he liked his teacher, that's half the battle! Oh wow about the g-ma! My g-ma gets frustrated with me when I don't eat over there, assumes I'm sick, her cooking isn't good enough, or something must be bothering me.. to avoid, I would always slip a cookie in and take one for the team, LOL. I now live 3500 miles from her and miss her madly though. We would love if you would show your pics, I bet you can SOOOO tell a huge difference! It's amazing to see the transformations and we would love to share in yours as much as you are comfortable

Floriduh - Thank you so much I have been working hard to stay on plan with all that has been going on and kinda proud. You aren't kidding!!! You all get some mad humidity in Florida cause of being surrounded by water. We are usually dry heat in AZ (and I was used to mad humidity in Maine), except during monsoon. Right now it's dry though, so that's a plus... feels like an oven instead of a sauna, LOL!!!! I sure do hope there is no monster storm for you too!!! *fingers crossed*

SheraMama.. Haha that's ok i get bored after my fav songs too!! Lol

Another thing I just realized about the weigh in is I'm totally about to have TOM in my life... Lol oy! Some lady walked by me with a frappacino with whip cream on top and I seriously wanted to jump her for the sugary goodness!! Lol wow! Mind you.. I don't even like whipcream! So I checked my calendar & there it is lol darn it!

Hi everyone! I'm down 1.5 pounds this week. Since I've been such a snacky couch potato (healthy snacks though) I am feeling good about the loss.
Hope you are all having a fantastic Friday!
Jen

JillNicole - it sounds like TOM is going to bowl you over this month To be ready to tackle someone for sugar is hilarious... been there, LOL!!!! Let's hope you make it through with no casualties

Jen - Great job on the loss!!!! That is an excellent loss in a week!!! You are doing awesome!!!

While waiting for DS to get up this morning I went through every stitch of clothing I own. If it was too big, it's gone. If I won't wear it for whatever reason, it's gone. If it had holes/stains, it's gone.

Part of this is a little scary. The if it's too big part. I have been here before, several times and I have always gained again. Sometimes I've had bigger clothes packed away, sometimes not, it hasn't mattered. But if feels good to clean out the too big stuff, and I know that if I do end up gaining again I will spend $ on stuff I don't like but that fits. It certainly isn't going to do me any good to hold on to the stuff and make it easier on myself to regain the weight. Anything that is in good condition will go to the building at our transfer station where you can leave things for other people to take.

So the fun part, was I unpacked my boxes of smaller clothes (I've always kept some when I've gained) and tried them all on. Most fit. Now mind you these are not "thin" clothes just "thinner". These are anywhere from 16s to 20s vs the 22s-26s I'd been wearing.

I still have 1 box of pants, mostly jeans that I can't fit into and 1 box of tops. And 1 box of seasonal that I don't know if they'll be too big/too small come the seasons (some Christmas tops and some summer clothes that are too tight right now).

But everything else I own I will wear and fits in my drawers/closet. No more overflow on top of the dressers. No more wearing stained/holey things around the house just b/c they are comfortable. I actually have comfy decent looking stuff that fits to wear around the house

I got rid of all but 3 pair of undies (they were too big) and bought new today. I also bought new socks for work, as my old ones were getting very worn out and mismatched. I also grabbed a package of men's tshirts and men's tanks b/c I like them for sleepwear. Even though that's all I bought new I feel like I have a whole new wardrobe! It feels great

I do realize though that the next time things get really too big (I'm guessing in another 20 pounds or so) I will have to buy new things, especially for work. But I am hoping by then to be in a close enough to "normal" size to have a wider range of places I can shop with big clearance racks. Clearance racks are my favorite place to shop Kohl's and Fashion Bug here have pretty good plus size clearance racks, but I'd love to be able to shop the Old Navy clearance racks and places like TJMaxx too.

ETA: 1 weird thing I did: I kept 3 tshirts that are too big. One is the one in my avatar. My MIL bought them all for us a few years ago and it was too big when she bought it for me. Another is also 1 that she just recently bought for me. I kept them b/c I feel like I HAVE to wear them around her. Isn't that odd? The other is 1 that DH bought for me when work sent him to The Netherlands. I also kept 1 shirt that's way too big but soooo pretty and comfy and I just wasn't ready to give it away even though it swims on me. Weird the things we hold on to and the reasons why. Hopefully I will be ready to part with them all the next clean out round.

ItsMyTurn: I miss the beach! We live near Augusta, so there are lakes around but it's a bit of a drive to the real beach. DH is not a beach goer. I grew up on an Island and the beach/ocean was so much a part of my life. Ah well, just means I appreciate it all the more when I do get to be near it.

Glad you are posting on the other thread too...they are very prolific and very supportive!

And thanks for the cheers

shera: Sorry you weren't feeling good, hope you're better now And good luck on the job hunt. I'm glad the compliment made you feel good! I am terrible about taking those compliments. Actually I am terrible about dealing with any comments about my weight..I have had family members like your g'ma over the years who made comments. I get all weirded out and defensive. I am just not comfortable being noticed physically, especially when it comes to my weight, but even if someone compliments a new haircut or a new outfit. I haven't really explored why, and it's something I definitely need to work on.

Glad your son likes his new teacher. One stressful thing to check off the list right?

Great that you are seeing a difference from your pics! Good motivation right there!

Floriduh: Woohoo on the 25/25 that's awesome!!

jillnicole: glad you and your stuff is safe! I totally understand about the bathroom thing. That is very difficult for me too. Camping used to get very uncomfortable by the end of the trip!