Purple - Red pepper flakes are dried red chilies with the seeds. They provide heat and flavor. You've probably seen them at pizza places. I LOVE THEM. Fresh red bell peppers are fabulous, too. Sweet & crunchy and contain more vitamin C than an orange.

If you want to impart some heat into a dish, put a little oil in a pan and heat it up, then add red pepper flakes. It infuses heat into the oil and helps to flavor the entire dish. BE CAREFUL. A little goes a long way and if it starts to burn the fumes can be . . . hot and unpleasant to breathe.

Soul - I saw you in the bra discussion!! Here's the link if anybody is interested. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139974 Very funny.

I'm avoiding work. Can ya'all tell?? I've been working on a quilt for my mom and she came over here yesterday and had a freak-out. I can't work on her quilts when I'm feeling upset with her. I've been surfing this site . . . I need to get off my tush.

On second thought . . . maybe I'll go create a new signature.

smurf: smells definitely get me. Most of my downfalls have to do with picking my husband up from work and him saying something like, "so-and-so buffet would be good...we haven't been there for a while" or something to that affect...I am triggered by talk a lot. I'm glad you are feeling better.

ceegee: we call Giada "lollipop head" because she is so skinny but her head is so big. I thank god for my pug's compact poop everytime I walk him.

Julz: you are an awesome photographer! I can see why you get a lot of business. I really enjoyed looking at your photos, I looked at your portfolio too.

reda: congrats on your loss! Stock cars? Wow, how cool...that must be fun (and nerve wracking) to watch. Good luck to him. I don't know how you guys can eat the same thing like that, we only repeat a menu item about once every couple of months...we are always trying something new.

theresia: congrats on winning the challenge!

mugsy: Yeah, I'm a foodie too. What I have to do with my hubby is print out a recipe for him to follow. He's good with that. And he's pretty good when he decides to make things up, but only because I've had to remind him not to add too much oil, etc. Congrats on your 4th day, that's awesome!


Well, I am very happy to say that yesterday was a perfect eating day for me. I'm hoping today will be okay, but tonight my downstairs neighbor is having "craft night" at her place and we are going to be ordering pizza...so maybe I will have a salad before I go and only have one or two slices. Lunch will be healthy, it's leftovers from last night, which was a healthy meal. I'm getting scared for the fall: I found out that to graduate with my masters, I need to have a "B" average throughout. AND...a "B" is a minimum of 88%! I'm going to be mighty stressed come fall.

LOL @ "lollipop head"...in my family we talk about her large head and small body, as well! It's just so unnatural looking! Have you noticed that some of the celebs that had gastric bypass have that look...Star Jones and Al Roker are the first 2 that come to my mind. It's like they lost weight in their bodies and their heads stayed the same!

Well, I decided to really buckle down and start tracking my calories again. It seems that I may have been eating too little, maybe that is why my losses have stalled? I was overestimating the things that I eat. I always round up just to make sure and it seems that I am still about 300-700 calories lower than what I should be eating. I usually try to eat about 1800-2000 on days when I just walk at work, but don't go to the gym and 2000-2200 on days when I do go to the gym. TDP says I should eat 2200 without doing any exercise, but that seems too high! Any opinions on the matter?

I am upping my cardio today, the usual 40ish at lunch then 50 on the treadmill. I started at 30, then moved to 40, but I want to be able to make it through a 5k in a few weeks, so I am going to push it to 50 tonight. I have kind of slacked off on the weight training, but in July I plan to get back into it b/c without school I will have much more time to workout. I hope to get into a nice schedule, that way when school starts back in August, I will have a set schedule to work school into. I also noticed that my weight loss S-T-A-L-L-E-D when I was weight training. I haven't figured out how to change my calories with it yet.

My sister joined WW last night, she is notorious for starting everything and finishing nothing, we are hoping things are different this time for her. If she seems to be successful on it, I may look into it. The things she was telling me seemed pretty common sense, things she should've been doing anyway! It kills me to give someone money to tell me things I already know! I guess we will see how it goes!

Well, I am also avoiding work, but I better get back to it! Hope everyone is having a really great day!

TTYL--
Misty

ggmugsy - lol, yeah, I am working on at least staying at this weight. Trying not to stress about the last few pounds, and at the same time trying not to get tooo comfortable here. We just booked a chartered Carnival concert cruise for next March, so that could be my incentive......

Julz - you really are a photographer!!! so beautiful!

troo - she is SUCH a lollipop!

LOL the lollipop head-very true. My family always talks about how big her mouth is when she smiles you can see her molars love her though!

Okay so I am bummed I had to skip my yoga hour this morning it always takes a while to get my blood sugar back on track after I get sick and for some reason with this new found heat wave and past sickness I am having a HECK of a time getting it to neutralize. I was too shacky and light headed to tolerate the yoga, so I ate some snacks that helped spike me up, but then the plumit came too fast and I was back in bed. I think I finally have a hold on it and hope I can do the yoga thing tonight after the kids are in bed.

I have tons of work I need to be doing a wedding and 3 family shoots but for fun you guys want to see my family? do you like how I hide behind my cute kids? Now I have to get back to work!

Lolllipop Head!! ROFLOL!! It fits . . .

Misty - you were probably building muscle when you were weight training and your weight loss stalled. Losing fat, but gaining muscle.

Smurf - Adorable pic!!!

I went and weeded the garden. The mint smells GREAT. I could hear Bob Marley in my head, smell the mint, remember the Caribbean, and dream of Mojitos.

oooh mojitos! I never know what to do with all of my mint. My one lab eats it right off the plant like a goat.

smurf -so cute! Kids are great for hiding behind once they get big enough, lol. I don't think I allowed myself to be in pics until I could hide behind them.

Smurf---you have a gorgeous family!

Mugsy--I figured that was what was happening, but it killed me to stay stalled out for so long. Right now I am trying to kick off a great fat loss, then I will work on building more muscle, I just wanna get under 300!!! I mean come on!!!! LOL!

smurf- you have such a lovely family, it is a wonderful thing to be blessed

gg & ceegee- wow mint in the garden I bet that does smell invigourating. Never heard anyone say anything about mint in the garden.

trooworld- you know I am a very picky eater or most say that I am. I really don't eat much meat but not a vegetarian by all means. I do not eat any NO seaford what so ever. I really can't even stand the smell of seafood you know when you walk in somewhere that will have crab legs or lobster can't usually stay because the smell makes me sick. (probably in my head but this something that has been with me since childhood) So with that it is very hard to change up my menus much. I did just recently try broccli again and this time around not to bad as long as it is cooked and small I don't really like the big heads nor do I like raw.

I may have to try the red pepper in my scrambled eggs in the morning I usually only use green peppers when making chx fajitas or put in my salads but will try red ones next time. Thanks

Well everyone have a great night adn talk to you tomorrow

Hi team,

Sorry, I didn't realize that I haven't posted for several days. I've been off on vacation so I guess I took a vacation away from the computer too. We've been busy around the place doing lots of outdoor hard work. I've also gotten in some horseback riding. Best of all has been some chill out time in the pool.

I didn't realize until a few years ago the difference between the colors of peppers. I learned that the green peppers have too much 'bite' for me and that I really like the sweet, mild taste of the red, yellow or orange peppers. Love them in scrambled eggs along with some onion.

Congratulations team for winning week 7. Great job!

Hello teamies...
It's been awhile... THe work has been strict on web usage lately starting this week so I kinda have been staying away from 3FC while at work.. And as I don't get on the computer that often at home, I wasn't able to post that much at all. I woke up today at 8 for 1 hour of training..and figured I should get on here to say hi to my ladies before going back to sleep. (I went to bad at 530 AM)

Things have been going well and I am still around. As far as eating goes, I've been on plan for 3 days now...and working out at least 30 minutes daily with no resting days.

Hope to "see" you soon.

Good Morning Team! I am so proud of everyone for working hard on this challenge.

I have not watched any TBL shows. I think I might when next season starts. See what it is like.

Londonjulz love your art work! It is wonderful.

Happy2bme - I also struggle with good sleep. After the kids get to bed I find a second wind and will keep going till 11 or 12. Then I am up again at 6 for when the first of the daycare kids come. And then you add in the occasional rousing from a child who has a nightmare or needs a snuggle. I probably average 6 hrs a night.

I am thinking about getting the Dr Oz book. I will just have to read thru some of the books already waiting on the night stand.

Wrestling with getting enough exercise in. The beach hopping was keeping me going! That travel bug in me insisted on not being left behind!

Gotta go the kids are getting antsy for the park. HAve a great day!

I can relate to that... I swear I'm not going to buy another "diet" book ever again. I even tried getting them from the library but our library has a pretty crummy selection of books. (And if you try and donate some good hardbacks, they just sell them at the Friends of the Library used book sale - so go figure )

Regarding the red pepper discussion - I take it that you mean red pepper flakes as in the red pepper chilie, not the red bell pepper, right?

I had some stir fry yesterday and the cook was quite generous with the red pepper flakes - took away my hunger all right, the pain in my stomach made me forget about food for quite a while!

So please tell me there's magic in red bell peppers please!

Good Morning Everyone. Just a quick hop on here to check in with you all. I am so proud of everyone for sticking to their plans and doing what is right for you and your health. That is so very important. If we don't take care of ourselves, who will??

I am on vacation next week. Getting ceramic tile installed on the stairs and in the foyer and then new carpeting in the living room and hall. I am so excited. I cannot wait. There is currently "mauve or rose or pink" carpet in there. Call it whatever you want but trust me a little bit of it goes a long way!!!

We are having Father's Day/birthday celebration on Saturday. All 5 of the kids and all 11 of the grandkids will be here. That should be a blast. I am so looking forward to that.

Anyway, I'd better get busy. I'll be back later. Have a great Thursday. Remember, it's almost time for the weekend!!!!

Morning Teamies!

Hope everyone has a good day!