Tired oh apple crisp sounds great and will make your house warm and cozy feeling all by itself. That is a fall favorite. I a baked cookies last night as I am taking them to the 4 year olds birthday party this sunday. It is his first friend party my daughter has been planning for weeks. It should be fun we are having a harvest party and fall activities.
Marie your still way better than me with drawing. It will be fun for you to see the changes in your drawing skills. I think its great your doing it. My new interest is making soap with a friend. We currently are gathering the stuff and then some cold evening we'll start it. We thought it might make some interesting gifts this christmas. We'll see how it goes. It isn't cheap but thank goodness for a few coupons. We will do a variety of kinds. Then wrap them up pretty.
Well I did the white scale thing sometimes yah just have to. I am up a bit but figured I would be I kind of forced myself to get on. I needed a reality check. I have been sneaking things in and with the weather change we eat differently. So now I know I need to make some quick changes or what I have worked so hard for will be gone. I am grocery shopping after work for some veggies, fruits, lean meats..... That will get me motivated. I am also going to the gym this afternoon if it kills me to get there. Once I do it will become a routine again. Thats the problem we get out of our routine and it can mess everything up. I knew that it would be a miracle if I hadn't gained at all. Maybe even when I have Tom I should weigh in? Cause that is where I didn't and then waited and it was almost 2 weeks... and then I let things slip in just a little at a time but before you know it the numbers go up. I will get back down I know cause its so important to me. Today will be my wakeup call to start being serious about what goes into my mouth. Not saying I will not have some good things to eat just healthier.
Thanks for listening!

Hi all,

Carol I'm going to heed your wake up call today. My clothes are so tight and I really like the clothes I bought last winter. My work event really helped me turn a corner. I hand a good day in the classroom today and I'm not starving for comfort food - a good sign. Like Marie said, leaving work at work is a good idea! Building my healthy, active outside life will be a good goal. I've been doing a lot of writing too which really helps me to see straight.

Have a good day.

Hi Carol and Tired,

Good news on the work front. The @#$@#$ webserver is actually up and working. I have PHP installed on it and I installed MySQL. I know the PHP works and am a little nervous about testing the MySQL since I'm so HAPPY right now. for now I'm working on other things and am waiting for the Dept of Ed to finish processing my data file. So here I am.

Tired, I'm glad you had a good day at work. And now it's weekend. It's amazing how that helps in the eating department. I wish I wasn't such an emotional eater, but I am. So I'm trying to control the emotions rather than the eating. Interesting, huh?

Carol good luck at the gym. I know once I start I'm good to go. But one little slip and I get out of the routine pretty easy. Go for it - I know you can do it.

Well, back to work...
Marie

Well yesterday went quite well. I was suppose to go to lunch with a clients mom. But that got canceled and of course I hadn't brought anything. So we all got together and ordered out. I was good though I ordered a house salad w/ cajun chicken breast and honey mustard dressing . I guess another dressing would of been better but oh well.It was good. Then after work I did shop for groceries bought some good stuff. I did manage to eat 3 little york peppermint patties. There not as bad as some choices could have been. The hubby and I had burgers for dinner. I then add some jalpeno hummus with celery sticks for a snack. It was so good. This a.m. I got on that white thing again down 1lb. most likely was some of the saltly stuff the day I was up but not totally. I feel better at any rate. It made me really look at what I have been letting slip in my intake. And we all know where that gets us. So yes Tired lets get on track and Marie good idea to try and leave work at work. Its not always easy though and sometimes venting helps relieve the stress. So if you need to vent do so! Find something that comforts you other than food a good book, knitting or your writing. Well I am up dressed and ate a healthy breakfast of shredded Kashia wheat cereal and 1/2 of a banana, coffee. The girl friends and I are off to a estate sale and then a few garage sales won't be too many more weeks of this. Because of camping we didn't do as many this summer. We will go into the 200,00- 350,000 neighborhoods. Their junk is always some kind of treasure. Better they pay high prices than me. I bought a cool mood band ring with silver edging for one dollar last week. Yah just never know what you'll find.

Carol, good for you in getting back on the scale. I've avoided mine like the plague. I'm figuring that all the walking I'm doing will help me from gaining. I really need to want to get back on track food wise. So far, just eating in moderation is all I'm gungho on. Have fun at the garage sales. I used to love to do that. Now it just takes too much time that I'd rather spend doing other things.

I plan on knitting and drawing today. I need to pull out the drawing stuff and work on my homework. I admit that it's hard to get motivated to do it when I'm so lousy at it, but I'm not giving up, so I'll do it. I'm hoping to finish my white sweater this weekend. I have the second sleeve hanging on the machine, half done. So I'll have left is the front facings and the hood, then sew it all together. I'd really like to get it done and start on another color - pink.

Things went great at work yesterday. I got the webserver all done and it's working great. I solved a PHP webpage problem without knowing PHP so I was pretty happy about that. Next week I'm going to work on getting the MySQL to work with the PHP so that I can install a forums board on it. That should keep me busy. Also I've created a new webpage to totally replace the current one and so I'm going to work on that. I only have a few pages done and wanted feedback of whether or not we're going to use it before spending more time on it. This week my boss said that the superintendent liked it so it's a go.

I guess that's about it. I will check back later. Have a great day, ladies.
Marie

Good evening. Hope you're all having a good day. Marie and Carol I've noticed how creative the two of you are. I'm working at fixing up my house and having some creative success with it. I've been shopping at a lot of discount stores looking for great finds and I've found several quality items at low price that have really made a difference. Having a project like this helps me not to eat. I'm definately one who needs a focus or else I'm out of sorts. So it was a good eating and activity day. Glad you're all here.

Judy, hope you're doing well.

Tired your right just making your house fixed up a bit different makes a big difference. I like to light candles and have good smells running through it. Currently my neighbors mom has had surgery. She tends to be a bit moody to start with. I get along with her well as I go with the flow, but some others she dislikes and just can be miserable. Well I gave her some lovely lavender body lotion. My friend has burned some lavender candles and it has helped with the mood swing and she tends to be a bit calmer. Hey what ever it takes the house smells great people are in good moods etc... I just got a 10.00 coupon for yankee candles. They are a bit high but burn nicely. I even have the hubby into lighting them sometimes before I get home. My daughter which had the flood last year finally finished her home. Oh it looks so nice and the flow from room to room works out nicely. She has added some new pictures and they go nicely with her blown up pictures from Greece. They put in a slate floor just in case it ever floods again. I love the slate look. I want to make some new slip pillow covers for my rooms. I have an Adirondack room cozy little spot with a pellet stove. I love to hang out in there. Need a bit of color added to that room. I think I will add some new slip on pillow covers and some silk fall flowers, candle. I love the burgundy and greens. Well have fun with warming up your home with new ideas. It is fun and can be cheap with some creativity. One thing with my home is the way the rooms are designed you can't move around the couch much. My adirondack room is long but narrow. It kills the ability to change much around.
Marie it took some guts for me to get on that dang scale but now I feel more in control again. I guess sometimes I avoid it too and it gets me into trouble. I had a good eating weekend. All but an eclair... Oh! Can't be too good we would be boring. I had a great salad on saturday night. I used romaine lettuce, little blue cheese, almond slivers, chicken sauted in a bit of marinate with onions, red onion slices and a little italian dressing, croutons. Oh it was amazingly good. I made a big pot of chili yesterday so that will be lunch today and for a few days. I added a bit of jalopeno cheese grated on the top. I will take some celery sticks and peanut butter for snack and an apple. I am trying to keep things added in so I have a lot of variety. That always makes a difference with me. If I get in a rut its all over I will eat things I shouldn't. Good luck all and this week I will get to the gym 3 times. Starting today! I have to ck my schedule and if possible am going to take an hour off to get there early. I need to do this for myself! Good luck and have a great week lets eat healthy, move more and keep our spirits up!

Hi Carol and Tired, sounds like you're both doing good. Can you believe another weekend has gone away? I think I slept most of mine away. I was tired and had nothing planned. So I took naps, went on a hike, made a nice dinner, etc. Just a lazy weekend. It was nice and I wish it wasn't over.

I plan to walk this evening after work. So exercise is going good. I made a turkey for dinner last night so eating wasn't too bad. I didn't have any dessert so that was good.

Carol, I love candles, but they aggravate my asthma so I don't use them often. I got a great one last spring from a friend's fund raiser. My favorite scent in the whole world are orange blossoms and I bought a candle with the scent. It was unbelievably close to the rea thing. So even though I don't light it often, I'll pick it up and sniff it once in a while.

I guess I hsould get back to work. Talk with you both later.
Marie

Hi all,

Really good day. I've got a new focus - the classroom. I put my energy there and didn't look for miracles every minute. I accepted a low key pace and was happier all day which is better.

My home is a mix of warm earth colors - I love the feel. There's more to do and I'm going to go out tonight to look a bit more at a few discount stores. I'm enjoying this new creativity.

Carol, I heard on the news that people who weigh themselves more often stay thinner. Good for you getting on the scale.

Marie, I'm glad you had a relaxing weekend. I'm glad you gave into your need to relax and rest. Perhaps you and I can encourage each other to keep work at work.

Eating - great start however I caved for some chocolate ice cream when I got home. All is not lost though as I made a delicious, low cal veggie chili for dinner and won't eat after that. I've got to fit into those clothes and Thanksgiving is a nice goal - one month away! Month by month might be a good way for me to work at it at this time. It's a gorgeous crisp fall day here. The boys are playing football outside. The house smells good from the cooking. I love this 60's something temperature - I'm made for this temperature. Take care.

Hi, gals--

I'm still on the journey and haven't forgotten about my partners in crime on this thread! My trip west was good but busy, and I came back to a pile of work that I'm just now beginning to get a handle on. Between the sinus infection and trip, I wasn't too good at eating or program or working out consistently most of this month. In fact, I ate like there was no tomorrow while I was away. It was the week before TOM and I was surrounded by chocolate and other goodies at every turn--and hadn't mentally prepared myself to make good choices. Several people commented on how much weight I've lost so far...and I'm sure they're still scratching their heads over how I managed to do it and still eat so much.

So I'm not even going to get back on the scale 'til near the end of the month. And I'm back on program, after a few days of struggling to reorient my body (and my cravings) back to healthy eating patterns. I went to my Pilates class this evening, after being gone for two weeks. Oy, is my core sore! I'll be out of town again on Thursday and Friday, but I should be able to work around things well enough this week.

I'll have to catch up on the personals later. I'm so glad that you are here to return to, even when I drift away for a few days!

hugs--judy

Judy welcome back we have missed you. Good to hear that the trip is done and out west was busy but good. It is a must to eat when your out of town and that dang Tom is always haunting us. He got me good last time and I over ate and paid the price. This time I will still do the scale to keep myself in balance. Cause when I didn't a bit creeped right back on. It is so easy to do. I know you will put your mind to it and get right back on track. At least we know the way we may stray but always come back.
Tired good to hear you had a nice day and are getting the feeling of control over life. Your home sounds lovely and warm a cozy haven. I ate a BK burger yesterday and felt sick afterwards now that was a dum thing to eat. It was emotional eating for sure. My tummy sure let me know it wasn't a smart move... I did manage to get to the gym first time in quite awhile lots of thoughts but never got there before. At any rate I took an hr. off at the end of day it was well worth my 1 hr. vac. time. I felt good when I was there like I had never left. I got right into it a bit slower on the treadmill but after a bit jacked it up. I did a couple of machines. I only worked out for 45 min. but next time it will be more. I am shooting for 3 times a week at least. I also fit a walk in to the main office and did the stairs 4 times. I counted for the fun of it 700 foot steps from my office to the other one. My eating was good right until that added on burger. I have to remember when I work out I tend to eat more in the beginning so I will pack and apple in the car for the ride home 30 min. Oh so many adjustments.
Marie congrats on the computer you did it!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would of been completely lost. I am not that get on the computer. Sounds like your walks have been very helpful to you. They must bring you peace at the end of your busy day with the puppies too. I never thought of the candles that way. I wonder if they bother my grandsons allergies. He tends to sneeze a lot when he is over... Oooops!
Tired and Marie I used to bring my work issues home with me too. Big time they only eat you up emotionally. If something is bothering me after work a coworker and I talk it out in the evening but not as often as we used to. I think over the past few months its gotten better. I try not to let my supervisor get to me she is nice but can be pretty moody. She doesn't have an easy life either but sometimes her at home problems rub off at work and it makes a hard time for us to deal with her swings. Oh well its not easy to let go once you get home but it is better for you if you can.....Good luck!
Judy I am so glad your getting nice things said to you about your wt.. You deserve it!

Hi everyone, it sounds like we're all doing okay. I was pretty good last night. I was bad, but then I was good. How, you ask. I came home and munched on some apple cake and then a slice of turkey. Well, instead of having dinner, I counted that as dinner and was done for the day. YEAH!!!! That is big progress. I didn't eat anything else in the evening. So for the day, I was really good. I dind't go for a walk. I was in a deep blue funk. I sort of took work home with me. But then, I dropped it. Iw as trying to get a PHP script to work and I started downloading the code at home so I could continue to look for the problem (it was irritating me that I couldn't find the needle in the haystack) but I stopped myself and didn't do it. so this morning, I looked at it and found the problem in about 2 minutes. I was so proud that I dind't waste time at home yesterday.

Judy, I am not good about eating when traveling. I always look at it as though it's only a week and I can undo it. Probably a bad attitude, but it is difficult to eat good away from home. congrats on all of the compliments. You surely deserve them.

Carol, good job on the workout. Don't you wish that working out wasn't such a chore? I love the feel after doing it, but I find motivation difficult.

Tired, I'm glad you're enjoying the fall. I like it, but it's not like spring and summer (my favorite seasons). I think it has something to do with the fact that winter is around the corner. Your house decorations sound pretty. It's good that you're focusing on something other than work.

I did practice the drawing last night. I think that this is going to be an uphill battle to get halfway decent at it. Oh well, I don't have much better to do and I really want to learn to draw.

I suppose I should work a little more consistently now (in other words, I keep coming back to this post). So I will talk with you all later.
Marie

Marie you will become very good at drawing as time goes on. At least you are doing something that interest you. I bet that you will look back at where you started in a few weeks and say wow look what I can do now. It is all a learning process its different just drawing and learning the correct way to go about it. Sounds like a good thing to beable to work on when those snowflakes are slowly dropping from the sky. I can picture you drawing in front of a sunny window just relaxed with a cup of warm hot choc.... sugar free of course. Have fun with it and good idea on the dinner last night and no eating afterwards!
I came home last night from work made a quick dinner with chicken breast, sauted with low cal sauce, onions, mushrooms. It hit the spot and I was eating lite as we were going to the casino girls evening out. We were going to have dessert and coffee and we just were having fun before we knew it the time was 10:30. Ooops and on a work night by the time we got home it was after 11:00. We never had our dessert or coffee but my calories were only 1,000. I had preplanned my day for that little extra and never got it. I guess thats okay but I try not to go to low in cals as well as high. Anyways tonight we are going out for burgers so I am sure my intake will be up there again. I can tell you that the ab. machine kicked my butt on monday. I feel like some one did a whale of a punch in my middle... At least I know the workout did something I guess. I am planning to go again today it is a chore to get there but the results and energy level after are well worth it. I redid my bathroom closet shelf on monday evening. It looks nice only 3 more to go. I have purchased too many towels and now have to reorganize the house....
Tired and Judy hope your doing well... We are all going to see some lovely changes soon with all our good efforts and best foot put forward...

Hi all,

Eating was ok today. It was so busy that I hardly remember what I ate. Glad to see you back Judy. Carol and Marie I'm happy to see that you're both well. I'll be back tomorrow, but I unfortunately I have to run. Take care.

Good Morning. Good night's sleep last night. Studies show that people who get enough sleep actually eat better. I know that's true for me.

I have to lose these pounds that I gained by Thanksgiving. It's realistic. So I'm starting to chart again today Thanks for being here.

Breakfast - yogurt (130), coffee

Plan:
snack - apple
lunch - salad with tuna
dinner - slice of homemade pizza - lots of veggies, healthy sauce, carrots
lots of water all day!