Ha! My mother-in-law used to say, "Life is short, eat dessert first!" And then she would feed my kids cake for breakfast. They remember it fondly and laugh and they don't habitually eat cake for breakfast! So, a little cake now and then, even for breakfast, gives pleasure to life, short or long!

Sheri

I weighed in this morning and have lost another pound so I'm well pleased about that. I'm averaging about one pound a week and that is my goal until I fade away to a little grease spot (size 8, maybe ).

The oven bakes wonderfully well-nothing burned or underbaked. The cake turned out really good. I made it into a dessert with pudding and topping and chopped Skor bars. Unfortunately, I ate some of the bar. but only about 1/4 about 52 calories so I was OK with my calories but I was going to try and resist but didn't. DH, DS & GF and mom will have to eat most of the dessert, ha, ha but I'll have a small piece.

Good Morning (just in NS)

Had a great and fun day yesterday, but my Chinese Food debacle has gained me a pound -- actually surprised that it wasn't more and hope more doesn't show up tomorrow.

It has turned very hot and sticky again; so it looks like a weekend of keeping the house shut up tight and running the A/C full blast -- actually, as I think about it, that's probably not a bad idea anyway. This is our annual Blue Grass Music Festival at the fairgrounds across the road from me and 12 hours a day of that kind of music is a bit more than I can honestly enjoy.

Have a good weekend, gang . . .

It's really hot here, too, Meowee. We don't have AC but I have all the windows open but I'm only letting in hot air. We're all a bit over-heated but after the horrible first two weeks of August this is wonderful. DH just read the thermometer on the front veranda and it was registering 37 C but that was in the sun. It's about 30 C here and not cooling down much yet. I'll bet it'll be chilly after dark, though.

It's too hot to do much and I have all my calories eaten for the day so I can't even pick at some cold food. I need water. Mom needs supper. DH is gone to visit his mother. DS and GF are gone somewhere. They sat with mom this afternoon so we could go visit the funeral home and the nursing home. Five people have died in our small town this week. We knew a couple of them and knew them all to say hello to. Four of them were between the ages of 36 and 55 and one was in his 80s.

Mom is calling for supper so I guess that'll be the extent of my activities until it cools down.

Funny how it can be in August isn't it, Isabella -- quite cool (about 15C) here right now -- but it is sunny and still a bit humid and temperature will be about the mid to high 20s again bu this afternoon.

Have a great Sunday, gang . . .

Oh my, another scorcher today. DH, practically pushed me out of bed this morning and told me to go for my walk before it got to hot (bless his little heart). So I was on the road by 7:30 this morning with only a half banana in my stomach. I did my 5k and came in ravenous but had to get mom's breakfast before I could eat. Fortunately, she ate without much fuss and I was able to chow down and stop the ruckus in my stomach. I'm glad I got out early as I'm sitting here in a semi-liquid state at the moment. (Wish the fat would render off!) DH, has taken to the basement to cool down but I'm up keeping an ear out for mom. I should go out on the front veranda where it's cooler from the shadow from the house and tree. The back deck is like an oven. I have to get in a 5k bike ride on my exercise bike but I'll wait a bit for that. The bike is in the basement so it won't be as bad as upstairs.

I was planning on making a good wholesome whole wheat pizza for lunch or supper today but we settled for fruit salad and pb & j sandwiches. It was just too hot to turn on the oven. I actually had the fruit salad with cottage cheese and skipped the sandwich. I'll have something later on but it will probably be something like a sandwich as this heat is not abating yet.

I love the warm, warm summer...even when it's too hot to move. I can acclimatize, yes, I can.

I'd take Winter over Summer -- when it's cold, you can always put on enough clothing to stay warm -- when it's hot, well, once you are down to bare skin there's nowhere left to go. Of course, I'd prefer Autumn (both the temps and the colours) 12 months of the year.

Actually yesterday turned into a perfect summer day around here -- as the temp went up (hit 27/80); the humidity came down to below 50% so it actually felt like 80 instead of the feel-like 95 of the day before.

Today -- it's raining.

Well, I had a complete disaster last night. Later on in the evening mom was hungry so I just gave her a few potato chips (bad me) and cheesies (really bad me). I got into the cheesies and ate half the bag. Granted they were fat-reduced but still....half the bag!!! Come on, even in the heat I should have stopped but I didn't. To make it even worse, they had been on her shelf since last December and had been stale since January!!! They were awful, but they were salty and I ate and ate. I finally came to my senses and threw out the last handful. Fortunately, I had loads of calories left for the day and didn't do much damage calorie wise but nutritionally it was a complete washout...sigh...I drank lots of water last night so I didn't feel too dehydrated from the binge. Gee, I hardly ever use that word. I don't consider myself a binger but there I was last night stuffing them in my mouth as if I wouldn't eat again for a week. OK, I've got that off my mind--on to a better day today. And don't any of you think you can follow my bad example from yesterday. That would be highly irregular. Keep on track.

Time to exercise.

PS: Mom didn't eat any of the cheesies. I ate them off her plate which saved her from eating the outdated stuff. I'm not using this as an excuse to have eaten them, just wanted to let you know I wasn't tying to kill my mother!

Hi Isabella and Meowee,
It is hot here, too. The dog days of summer. The NEW dog is out on the back porch panting. I went out to the garden and ate tomatoes off the vine until I was content. Took the salt shaker with me. Yesterday, I had a chip over-indulge, too. I made fresh salsa and was just going to eat five chips with it! Ha! I had to stop myself from licking the salt out of the bottom of the bag! (They were already half gone when I started, though).
It didn't show up on the scale, but I expect all that salt will have an effect.

In retrospect, it probably was a bit of emotional eating. The end of the school year last year was really rough. Today, I went back to work for in-services before school begins. I was a little aprehensive and anxious. Last year at the end of the year things were very chaotic at my school and I did not want to go back to those conditions. Worry and sleeplessness are not good for my health, or my diet! I have got to learn to manage job stress better.

My favorite season is spring...I just love anticipating what will be pushing up through the soil and blooming next. All the birds are nesting and the days are getting longer. We get cool spring breezes that make going for walks refreshing. Winter is cold and dark and dreary here and the fall here is really an "Indian Summer"; often, we get our hottest days of the year in October. I tend to veg out and hide in my room in the heat.

Well time for dinner...I am making stuffed peppers with more tomatoes!

Sheri

Hi Ladies . . .

The sun is shining (sporadically) and the temperature is probably not going to go above 18C/65F today so who cares if it is a bit too humid. What a strange summer this has been.

You know, I think most of us tend to be emotional eaters to a certain extent. I certainly am -- whenever things are really bad (or really good) my first thoughts are of comfort foods. We just hve to do the best we can, as much as we can, chickies.

Sheri, I hope your school year gets off with a good start and everything works out good for you. Those tomatoes sounded so delicious, right off the vine. Yum.

Meowee, you're right about the emotional eating. I can get very emotional when thinking about some foods. Most of the time I'm in love with food. (I know that's not what you meant but....) There are just those certain foods that bring such warm memories that we reach for them when things aren't going well.

It rained all day yesterday--really poured and this morning it was raining but cleared up about mid-morning so I got in my walk. We have intermittent sun now but it looks as if there could be more rain in store. It's warm and humid so it was a moist walk. Got to get in my bike ride yet.

When I came in from walking I gave mom her bath and then got her lunch ready which kind of started my stomach growling. I remembered some hummus I had frozen in tablespoon lots. I was going to have a couple of them for lunch with carrot sticks but they looked really good half thawed so I have just eaten 2 hummus popsicles. Ok, ok, I was hungry and they did taste really good even if they were half frozen. That was a good appetizer, now what else can I eat? Hummmmm. I'll find something yummy.

Gee Isabella . . . think I'm going to try freezing some small batches of hummus . . . it's one of my trigger foods (especially on Wasa or Ryvita). I can eat a cup at a time, no problem. Smaller batches and semi-frozen (read 'unspreadable') might just be the answer. After all, it is a wonderful food in logically-sized servings. Thanks for the idea.

I made a big batch of it a while ago and knew I'd never get through it all in a reasonable time with reasonable size servings so that's when I froze the little portions and promptly forgot about them!! Ha, ha. I certainly enjoyed my "popsicles" lunch time.

Hi Isabella and Meowee,
I like hummus, too. I got a hummus mix from the health food store in the bulk section...no instructions and no idea how to make it! I am assuming I just mix water with it? I have always had it at other people's houses and I have made it with whole, canned beans, but never with a powder that you mix. It is good with veggies rather than pitas, and the crackers you suggest sound good, too. Since carbs are my downfall on a diet, I am trying to restrict them and eat really healthy carbs if I do eat them. Hummus is a natural!

I had to laugh about being "in love with food". My husband calls me the anal retentive chef. I just love to cook and I love presentation of food and I enjoy it so much when others enjoy the food I prepare. It is an emotional experience for me, too! Even if you were semi-joking, I think it is an important point for some of us who struggle with weight. By the way, I used to be a pastry chef, and so food preparation and the food culture has been a big part of my life in the past. I still really enjoy and value cuisine, I am just trying to go in a healthier direction with it.

Sheri

Sheri, I'd say that mix may just take water or it could take oil as well. Phone the store and ask if there are mixing directions for the mix. A pastry chef, eh. Ok, just reading that could put a couple of pounds back on my frame. I worked in my college cafeteria and bakery years ago and got some experience cooking for a crowd. I've done numerous catering jobs with my church group and really enjoy doing that except it can be quite tiring.

I'm in pain today. I don't know exactly what I did yesterday but my ribs on the left side of my body are sore. I don't know if it's the ribs or the muscles surrounding the ribs but it hurts to breathe deeply. Maybe I slept on a lump last night. I did get my circuit workout done but I couldn't do the warm up side crunches--I had to stop it hurt too much. It feels as if I had worn a bra that was about 5 sizes too small around the band but only on one side. My ear is also plugged up. I never have trouble with my ears. Sheesh, I'm breaking down in my old age. I think I'll take an ibuprofen and a decongestant later on if things don't clear up.