Hello everybody ~ hope you all are having a good weekend. Finally getting a chance to catch up.

Bobbi ~ Hope all the moving with your MIL went well. And your own move too.

Meowee Linda ~ Life is always an adventure/never dull at your house with your kitties.

Lynn ~ Glad the pain is less ~ hope it is all gone soon.

CAT ~ Glad you had such a nice day for the yard work. You accomplished a lot.

Zoe ~ Congratulations on the size 12 and not having to move your ticker up.

Ali ~ Glad you had a nice visit with your friend.

Phyllis ~ Hope you are having a great time with your family.

Lyn ~ Your pumpkin pie sounds delicious.

Lily ~ Sounds like all your activity is helping you not to gain.

Karen ~ Still keeping my fingers crossed for you. The right one will come along.

Rosey ~ Hope you're feeling better.

Margaret ~ Hope you're feeling better too.

Marylynn ~ Your Zumba class sounds like fun.

Linda D ~ Glad you got a whole weekend to relax and enjoy. Congratulations on reaching onederland.

Trish ~ How is the gym working out for you? It's gotta help.

Joanne ~ Enjoyed your vacation pictures ~ beautiful.

Barb ~ Your BodyVive class sounds neat ~ glad you're enjoying it.

Paula ~ How are the costumes coming ~ hope you are getting caught up so you can get some time to enjoy other things.

Theresa ~ Glad you are happy with your job change and that they are so glad to have you return. Enjoyed your pictures of Jessie ~ she is so cute.

Gonna watch the baseball game with mom tonight ~ she is in Ohio, so this is done over the phone ~ sounds silly, but it is the next best thing to being there I guess.

Take care all

Hi there . . .

Kind of quiet around here this morning? We've got another beautiful day in northern Nova Scotia -- with calm winds and a predicted high in the 20sC/70sF -- this is almost unheard of for the latter half of October. Hope to get out to play in it pretty soon.

See you all later . . .

Hi all,

Just a quick fly-by...just read the weekend posts...congrats to LindaD on Onederland and Zoe for the size 12 pants! Oh Cat, I tried both of your recipes this weekend..the chicken and laughing cow with herbs and the eggplant lasagna...both were complete successes. Thanks. You are some creative chef.

Lynn - hope you're on the mend...Karen, sorry the dream wasn't true yet..it will happen.

Meeowie - Yes the weather is so unusual - no jackets yet and I'm about to go walking in shorts!

Sorry I can't repond to everyone right now. I do read all the posts and they keep me motivated.

Lyn

Good Morning All:

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I stayed home and cleaned, read, and talked to some friends. It was nice to take a break, slow down, and relax for a change.

The fires are so bad in Malibu and have burned about 23 home so far. I feel so bad for the people who have lost their homes and the ones who have had to evacuate. The smoke was so bad this morning driving to work so it causes my sinusus to act up and my throat to feel scratchy. There is a fire close to my work in Irvine and that is causing a lot of problems especially with the high winds we are having. It's warm here and the winds are like the Santa Ana winds we have in the spring. Very strange.

Zoe: I don't like exercise either but make myself do it now when I get home from work before I prepare dinner, talk on the phone, or watch television. I started doing this last month and believe it or not it has become a routine and I'm not really hating exercise the way I used to. I still don't want to do it but I know how well I feel after I'm finished and how proud of myself I am for putting mind over matter. I started working out 3 times a week and now I work out 5-6 days a week. If you look at the challenge thread you will see I keep changing my workout because I get bored very quickly. Give it a try. If 3 days a week seems to challenging then begin with 2 days and add to your routine each week. Maybe this will help motivate you.

Another thing I've found is the workout helps me lose weight faster. Since I have a thyroid problem and it is difficult to take weight off, my endocronologist told me I have to work out to lose weight. I HAVE to exercise to compensate for my very slow metabolism. I have found this to be so true. If you don't have a metabolism problem then your workouts should really speed up your weight loss because it will boost your metabolism faster than someone with a problem like mine. Good luck to you. I know you will do it.

I'm so glad you didn't have to move your ticker. I bet that feels good. If I were to go off my eating plan I'd gain 5 pounds in one day. So to stay at your weight is great. It's possible you really do wear a size 12. Your body could be changing and you now wear a size 12. Yeah!!

Cat: Love the pink muhly grass. Is it a flower that is typical for your area? I love working in the yard. Many times I have got up early and worked in the yard until sunset. It's a very good feeling when everything is finished and you can sit and admire your handywork. My favorite time is sitting outside after the yard is mowed. I love to smell fresh cut grass and sunshine. Glad your weekend was fun.

Hello to all the GG's I missed today. I hope your day brings you much happiness and success.

Hi Lyn. Hi Gayle , Ali , Meowee and Karen - and anyone else who happens to be reading.

Hope all is well and everyone is healthy, happy, and doing well with their "eating plans", "diets", "Lifestyle changes" or whatever it is that they're pursuing. Or not. Or whatever.

Makes me kinda sad to see such little activity here when it seems like not so very long ago, it was practically standing room only...

Oh well, that's life, that's what all the people say.... Okay, okay, so I'm no Frank Sinatra.

I'm wearing one of my new pairs of size 12 pants today. Yay, me!

S'posed to maybe hit 80 degrees here in Beantown today, Is that POSSIBLE? I guess so. Man, that global warming is really doing strange things to the climate, isn't it? Oh, I'm NOT complaining. Nuh-uh! Not me! Not right now anyway. But if I live for another twenty or so years, say, I'm thinking I might want my retirement home to be a houseboat. Pish tush to those who claim Al Gore doesn't know what he's talking about. Talk to me NEXT century when people are starting to grow gills!

Man, there's an ECHO in here....I can hear my own voice bouncing back at me.

Time to split.

Buh-bye Miss American Pie(s)

Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ohhhhhh, Hiya, LindaD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You posted while I was typing!!!!!!! Yesssss!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to start exercising with a vengeance! Alright. Maybe not THAT much, but I like your idea of doing it as soon as you get home and before you do anything else. I'm going to give that a try.

Thanks, and have a great evening!

Z

Headed off to work soon ~ getting my "fix" before I leave. Still trying to find another job. Submitted another resume this weekend. Feeling so mixed up about the whole thing.

My eating has not been so good. Need to change my ticker ~ Grrrrrrr at myself. Everytime I get anywhere near to onederland, I mess up. Exercise ~ That is the hardest for me. I analyze it (maybe that is a cover term for making excuses ) What ever ~ I don't feel like they are excuses ~ they feel like valid reasons for me that affect the way I do things.

I have almost always worked the night shift ~ my choice because of things I don't enjoy dealing with on my job if I worked the other shifts. That makes it hard for me to get into any kind of routine. I did the best at doing all the right things and having success at fixing my weight problem a few years back when I worked the evening shift.

Coming soon here is going to be a big change in my life. My husband is going to retire and will be around all the time. In some ways that could be a good thing, and in other ways, not so good. Maybe he will be able to help me get into some kind of routine . But then he is like the food police. He thinks he is trying to help me, but it works just the opposite . So, my eating lately I think is one last fling before he gets here and I have to change my ways. He is frustrating ~ he never had a weight problem until he hit his 40's. He lost the weight and has kept it off for several years. He thinks I should do like he did and that will fix everything. He is not the usual person and knows it except for his thoughts on food and eating. Things I've read here talk about making changes that you can live with. For him if he says he will not ever eat a cookie again ~ boom ~ he doesn't. That isn't reality. There will be cookies and if I should eat some from time to time, it is not the end of the world ~ it will slow things down that is all. It is not reality to think that I will not ever again eat another cookie. It is like he lives in some sort of kooky dream world when it comes to food. He also doesn't seem to get that men and women have different metabolism. He doesn't understand me and doesn't want to even try ~ that is frustrating.

I'm sorry this got so long. Thankyou for listening.

Wish me luck

Oh MEN . . . all too often they seem to think that they have all the answers . . . since you'll never change him, try to ignore him. Remember that he means well in his own silly way.

Hello everyone, After 5 inches of snow on the ground yesterday. We woke up this morning to 2 degrees and made it to a high of 35!! I took this picture of Pikes Peak from our front porch this evening. And the one of the deer is taken from my laundry room window looking out back. It is so funny after getting that much snow one day that the next this is all the snow that is left.

Not a whole lot new to report from here. Still trying to get the eating back on track and get back into some kind of exercise routine. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Everybody have a good night and I'll catch you tomorrow.

Hi Zoe,

Just a thought about the "lack of communication" around here.

Here we go again... Mercury goes retrograde once again. It happens 3 times a year and it lasts for about 3 weeks. This time is from Octomber 12 to November 1, 2007.

The mind turns naturally inwards and people tend to analyze more their own thoughts and follow common thinking patterns, rather then be curious and eager of new intellectual experiences or challenges. This affects communication with the others and sometimes causes depression.

Businesses, travels and communications tend to experience delays and different problems. Computers and other processes that work with information may experience crashes, unexpected failures.

Lynn

Hello everyone,

It's still rather hot and humid in my neck of the woods. Usually by now we're able to turn the a/c off and open up all the windows. I have been living in FL for 3 years and it still feels weird wearing shorts and sandals in Oct.

I'm still trying to get on track with my eating. One thing I have decided to do is take a more whole-food approach. Also, I have not had a diet soda in over a week and that is a great accomplishment for me.

Gayle, to you. We are here for you to vent. Hope that one day you'll be able to get through to your DH. But, until then, as meowee-Linda said, try to ignore him and do what is best for you.

Karen, is this early for you to get snow? You're pictures are very beautiful. I miss being able to see deer from my window,

Hi there Joanne, meowee-Linda, Zoe, Theresa, Lynn, Lyn, Cat, Trish, Phyllis, Bobbi, Marylynn, Moxie, Lily, Linda D., and anyone I may have missed.

Have a great day!
Ali

Good Morning Everyone,

Hi Zoe, I really laughed about your gas story. My friends & family are always teasing me bc I HATE to spend much money on gas. There's probably not much in this world that I even know the price of, but I've just got this thing about gas - I try to wait all week to fill up until I go to South Jersey bc the gas is cheaper there. I've even been known to stop at a higher priced gas station & put a dollar's worth of gas in - just so I can get to the lower priced gas station!
Soooo - I really empathized with you about the gas.

Hi Karen, you're having snow & we're having 75 degree days. Go figure.

Hi Ali, have you used that tape yet? I'll be checking on you.

Hi Gayle, do you remember the Peanuts animated movies? Remember how the adult "voices" were just a kind of drone in the background? Can you turn your dh's voice into a "drone" when he starts lecturing you about eating?

Hi Linda (Meowee), Off - topic question. Have you hear of Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons or her Radiant Recovery program?
I'm thinking that of all the diets I've been on, hers is probably one of the best for diabetes.

Hi LindaD, you wrote, "Another thing I've found is the workout helps me lose weight faster. Since I have a thyroid problem and it is difficult to take weight off, my endocronologist told me I have to work out to lose weight. I HAVE to exercise to compensate for my very slow metabolism. I have found this to be so true."
Yes, I found this also. Plus, once you build more muscle, the muscle vs. fat composition of your body also helps burn more calories even when you're not exercising!

Yesterday the dentist took out the stitches - of course, that made everything more sore last night. However, I guess I'll stop feeling sorry for myself and get back to the gym today. I think I've milked this excuse for as long as I can. Need to get back to exercising.

I'm making Cat's eggplant lasagna for lunch for a friend. I told my dd I was doing this & she begged me to make enough for her and her dh for supper tonight. So, I guess I need to double the recipe.

Cat, I think this is the first thing I've ever made since I'm eating lo-carb that my dd & sil like. You REALLY should write a cookbook.

Lynn

Lynn, glad you liked the recipe. I'm going to make it on Sunday when my family gets here.

Yep, got a lot of yardwork accomplished on Saturday...I also managed to throw my back completely out and spent Sunday laying on cold packs and heating pad. Managed to make it to work yesterday hauling the heating pad with me and today it's a bit better. I really overdid it which was stupid. I had back surgury for a herniated disk 19 years ago and know better than overdoing it, but it was just such a lovely day to play...and I paid for it.

It started storming here yesterday...flooding, tornado warnings etc..and was in the mid 80's. It's in the 40's this morning and should not get above 60. Yesterday I was wearing flip flops, and today it's suede boots. Strange weather indeed! Linda...are those fires anywhere near you? My daughter says she can see the smoke from her apt, but is ok.

Finishing up an odd breakfast of turkey cutlet leftover then I'm off to the grind...me and the trusty heating pad.

Good Morning . . .

LYNN . . . I love the "mercury in retrograde" explanation. No I've never heard of Dr. DesMaisons or her programme . . . will have to take a look on the web for her.

KAREN . . . Snow . . . yuck. And CAT . . . Horrible weather for you, too. Like LYNN and ALI, our temps are still running quiote a bit above normal for this time of year. We've got another nice day shaping up with a high in the low 70's and mostly sunny; but it is really windy again after being so calm yesterday -- curiouser and curiouser as Alice would say.

Anyway, hope everybody has a good day on the go . . . see you later . . .

Just me again . . .

Oh LYNN . . . Once again I've proven how bad I am with names . . . I read Potatoes Not Prozac years ago but I just didn't connect to her name until I found her site. Will have to keep an eye out for her newer books . . . thanks, again.