Good evening GG's,

I was gonna try to do personals, but have run out of steam.

I had the day off and enjoyed it pretty much. Rode my bicycle this morning. It was kind of chilly. Glad I stuck a pair of gloves in my little tote bag. Dr visit went pretty good. My A1C was down a little bit from last time. I asked for help with my sciatic pain ~ she gave me some muscle relaxers, and some stretching exercises to do. It that doesn't help, next step is probably physical therapy. I tried to do the exercises tonight, but am not sure if I am doing them right.

Had dropped DH and Maddie off at the childrens museum. Picked them up on the way back. Went in and Maddie was showing me around a little bit. Had a situation that was funny, but could have taken a wrong turn and been not so funny. She wanted me to close my eyes as she led me around ~ I played along, but it is hard to keep your eyes closed when you feel uneasy not being able to see. I opened them just in the nick of time as she was about to lead me into a little house ~ she didn't need to duck down to enter, but I needed to, also needed to step up a little step. Thank goodness I opened my eyes just at that moment. I probably would have gone flat on my face.

Ok, guess I will head off to bed here before much longer. Back to work tomorrow.Three days then off the weekend. Yippee.

Hope you all rest well.

Take care

Monday

Breakfast
coffee 1 weight control instant oatmeal pk
lunch apple dipped im pbII
dinner
1 cup chix stew

Tuesday

Breakfast
coffee,yogurt with 1/4 cup kashi cereal
lunch 1/2 moose roast sandwich with lettuce and tomatoe
dinner
green salad,cubed turkey, fat free dressing, 1/4 cup chowmein noodles

snack coffee mocha small handful almonds and dried cranberries

Welcome girlfriends it is Wednesday, or hump day as some say.
i hate the scale. no really I hate the scale. Mine won't budge. so i must resist the urge to measure my progress by that stingy contraption. no. it's not broken. sweet dh weighs his skinny tuchas every day.
I have not fallen off my wagon.
I am impressed by all of you who can remember each others details and then give kudos or commiseration to one another.
I have been eating so healthy and staying below 900 calories/day.
i am a vegan so the mainstay of my diet is vegetables. but i must not consume entire 16 ounce can of beans, which i used to do all the time. My weakness has been portion control and sweetened non-dairy creamer. because I used to pour that stuff in my coffee and drink it all day, Hello stubborn stick to your hips calories!
I have already divided up portions of tofu to crumble in my morning saute of shredded carrots, shredded turnip and arugula sprinkled w/ yeast flakes. yum.
thank you all for being here with me. I am learning how to embrace being over 50 chronologically but still envisioning myself as a work in progress.

Good Morning GG! No emails re GG yet, but still getting them for other threads. It's a puzzle!

Freda - The doctor and nurse have explained several times the importance of packing and I get it, but DH tells me every day that if they would just leave it alone it would close up. Finally, the PA explained it in a way that he understands. I think when they closed up my incision after surgery I got this little pocket, and it wasn't until it filled up with fluid and started to seep out that they realized it was there. It wasn't discovered until I was home 10 days after surgery. I want it gone, but I do want it to heal properly.

Rosey - I'm sorry to hear of your husband's problems. Good thing they found that clot before it did more damage! I hope he's feeling better soon. It's really no fun to be sick.

Carol - I'm glad to see you came over to GG. This is my favorite thread. For one thing, there are always posts to read every day. We are an active group. And since we are all over 50, we have similar problems with weight control and can give each other lots of support.

I don't follow any special diet plan. In fact, the foods I eat wouldn't be considered diet foods. I like to eat what I like to eat, so I try to eat smaller portions. I don't throw the leftovers away, because if I get real hunger later on I can go back and finish it. Knowing that it's there if I want it later keeps me from stuffing myself. But basically, to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you're taking in, no matter what plan you use. You don't necessarily have to "count" calories, but need to have a general idea of what is going to make you gain, and what is going to help you lose. Good luck to you! You'll figure out what is best for you.

And Lucinda - I think many posters do as I do....take notes as I read the posts, so I can remember who said what and comment accordingly.

Bobbi - DH had trouble finding jeans until he started to wear Lees. But he does have to wear a belt with them since he has no hips or butt to hold them up.

Isabella and Karen 31 - My husband loves potatoes and french fries or steak fries are his favorite. Baked fries just don't cut it for him. They have to be greasy. LOL One time we ate at Ruby Tuesday's and they only have baked potatoes. When he asked why they didn't have french fries they said they could slice down a baked potato and deep fry it for him, and he said it was delicious.

My weight went up 1 1/2 lbs, but I'm not changing my ticker because I think it's water weight and I intend to get it right back off!

Aha! I found a clue as to why I'm not receiving emails for GG, but I don't know how to fix it. I clicked on User CP which gave me "New Subscribed Threads" which only listed GG. On the right hand side there was a link for "all subscribed threads". I clicked on it and it listed 76 subscribed threads, or everything I've posted in since joining, I think. On the far right next to the name of each thread it says "Notification" and all of them say "instant" or "daily" except for GG, which says 'none". I want "instant" for all, but I don't know how to change GG from "none" to "instant". Any clues, anyone?

Nevermind! I figured it out. I went back to that page that listed "all subscribed threads" and clicked on the little box to the right of GG that said "none". Then I scrolled down to the bottom to a link that let me choose "instant email" and then clicked "go" and it changed it to "instant notification". I guess I'm not as dumb as I thought I was. Now I'm going to go back and delete some of those subscriptions that are inactive.

Good morning GG's,

Getting ready for work. The sun is sort of out there ~ it is chilly out.

Most of the time, I am in a pretty good frame of mind and spirits when I get up. Kind of hopeful and looking forward to the day. Not feeling quite like that this morning ~ not sure why. A little blue maybe. Maybe tired? Wishing I could just stay home and gork Before I might have considered a "mental health" day but since I have started the secretary position, I haven't missed a day (almost 2 years now). So it is sort of a challenge to try to keep up the perfect attendance.

Do any of you ever feel like that (a little blue and don't know why). Sometimes I wonder if it kind of goes along with the full moons. Don't know if there is anything to that or if it is just "all in my head".

I just heard something interesting on the radio ~ they were talking about a lady who had a lap band ~ I didn't catch all of what they said ~ like maybe for her it didn't work and I'm not sure what then, but then they were telling about something ~ virtual lap band ~ hypnosis that makes you (your mind) think you have had the surgery. I would be interested in something like that. I am scared of surgery, but if I could get the same results without surgery ~ I might try that.

Ok, I'd better get off here and finish getting ready. Need to leave time for my walk ~ struggling this morning ~ gonna have to make myself. I know I will feel better if I don't leave that out ~ guess it is part of this funky little mood I'm having this morning.

Hope you all have a good day.

Take care

Will update through the day.

I know what you mean about the Scale >: Thought I had a good day yesterday but it didn't budge - then I remembered I had some popcorn yesterday and I'm probably retaining salt. I also used to use the sweetened coffee creamer, but switched to the regular kind and use Stevia instead. It doesn't taste as good, but I can tolerate it. I'm trying to eat very low carb, and I've found that root vegetables (carrots, turnips, beets) are higher in sugar and carbs than others so I've been cutting back on them.

You should see good results soon staying below 900 calories/day!!

I spent too much time at Hungry Girl this morning, that's why I didn't do personals.

The good news is I am getting GG email now! Yay!

The bad news is, when the nurse came this morning and looked at my belly I didn't like the look on her face. It seems that another hole has opened up, a couple inches above the other one. I got out my mirror to look at it, and it looks to me like my incision is coming apart. I tried not to freak in front of her, but she said she didn't know what to do, so she called the doctor and I'm going to see them again tomorrow. If I have to see the PA again, I'm going to tell her that I want the doctor to look at it to so I can hear his opinion. After all, he's the one who did the surgery and should be making decisions about any complications I'm having. After the nurse left, I started crying, then DH got mad. It was all terrible. I am a little bit calmer now, but I probably won't sleep tonight worrying about this. It's all bandaged up now so I can't look at it, and honestly I don't want to. I just want it to get better! Now!

Oh, Carol Sue, I just saw your post after I posted all this other stuff below. So sorry you're upset. Please do make sure you see the surgeon to get his opinion and expertise on your situation. Sending a hug your way.

I'm tired tonight as I stayed up way too long last night. Anyway, here's my eats and exercise for the day. BTW, I love, love, love fried baked potatoes.

Here's the recipe for Mazidra. I've posted it above in the recipe section as well.

OK, here's what I had for dinner. It's a really good meal and very easy to make on top of the stove or in a slow cooker. I actually started it on the stove but had to go out so I dumped it in the slow cooker and it was perfect by dinner time. I had cooked rice in the freezer so I just had to thaw and heat that to go along with the lentils and vegetable toppings. This is very basic and you can add more herbs and spices if you like, but this is how I make it. DH always has Thousand Island dressing on his because he puts that stuff on anything green.

Mazidra
8 ounces dried lentils
4 cups water
1 McCormick’s Chicken or Beef flavoured bouillon or any vegetarian bouillon
1 or 2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Bay leaf
Salt to taste
3 large onions, sliced thinly
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 or 4 cups hot cooked whole grain rice

Shredded lettuce
Diced tomatoes
Sliced green onions
Sliced black olives
Diced cucumber
Guacamole/diced avocado
Salsa
Etc...

In large saucepan, combine dried lentils, water, bouillon cube, garlic, bay leaf and salt. Bring to a boil and turn temperature down; cover and simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. Keep warm. In large skillet, sauté onions rings in olive oil until tender; mix with lentils. (I don't mix in the onions as I like them layered on top of the lentils.)

To serve, place a serving of hot rice on plate, top with a serving of hot lentils. Add lettuce and vegetables. Add guacamole and salsa if desired.

Have a lovely evening.