Okay! This time I copied the recipe into a recipe folder (created in its honour!). That soup just sounds great -- and incredibly healthy. I make some lentil and other bean soups relying on garlic and spices for stock flavour and I'm always impressed by how tasty a stock can be without using any meat-based or artificial junk for the broth. Much appreciated!

xo
babette

Thanks Ruthie! I'd lost that one too--it sounds really good. Indian food is my current favorite these days. This looks like a recipe that would lend itself to crockpot cooking too.

Somebody let me know how it comes out if you make it!

I'm having Thanksgiving at my house this year, and normally we split up the food and assign it to three groups -- me, my sis, and my parents. I'm the only vegetarian, but my sis has been eating veggie lately and my parents normally eat very little meat anyways. So I'll be on the lookout for some exciting vegetable and grain recipes.

I still ate like crap yesterday. I got paid this week, so I'll go do REAL grocery shopping, not just dribs and drabs to tide us over. I'll make sure I have enough good stuff to get me thru the next week. That's one of the keys to staying OP, I believe. I have to get re-started, b/c I really let myself gain during these past couple of weeks when I had so much stuff crammed into a short period of time. I was just eating for energy.

By Gawd, today's the day I get back on track! [I mean it this time!] I haven't been binging or anything--just making bad choices. Maybe because I've been working [cooking] so much lately I don't feel like dealing with food too much when I get home.


Going on a 'field trip' today to one of those big supermarket-size health food stores to stock up. I'll let you know if I find anything new and exciting!

~~Eydie

Okay, want to see something scary? Go check out the fast food guide on page one of this site. I had seen it before but it has been updated and it has several of my favorite items. Why did I become 200+ pounds. Well, several occasions for lunch I consumed 1200 calories. (That was just a med soda, a ranch crispy chicken sandwich and an onion ring from Carl's Jr. ) It isn't a huge meal. Panda Express's chicken and spicy chicken has 200 more calories and 15+ more fat grams than the fried orange chicken. And orange chicken has no veggies! Add another entree and a serving of chow mein and a soda and we have another 1200 calories. So very scary. You are what you eat! ~flower

Sorry I know I havent been posting , actually I been house hunting.. (Real house not a mobile home) Nothing final yet but I hope to be living in the white mountan region of my state this time next year..
Last weekend we went up there and was just browsing around looked at a few houses ( prior to getting pre qualified) and we saw some that needed work.. Now I have the pre qualifications and found out I cant get some real NICE ones ..Next weekend we plan on going up to look at more.. One I want to look at the most is a 5 bed room 2 bath gambriel with 3 car garage ( 3rooms will be bedrooms 1 guest room, that 5th will be workout room/ computer room)
We have plans to go up to the mountains tomorrow all day shecking out the scenic veiws as well as walk around the town we want to move into.. Just to get a feel and layout of the town.. ( small tourist type town thier Sears looks like a mom and pop store) At least I know they are a civilized town ( They DO have a full size Wal*mart )

As for weight I am at plateau again I will take measurements again soon.. To be honest my mind has been in houseland and not real focused on my weight..

As for smoking I messed up again.. ( why do I bother trying??) I will get a handle on it .. I will quit.. ONCE AGAIN
I am really ticked at myself for being that weak...grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Well I will end here I have alot to do before tomorrow

Sheila

Shelia ~ honey, What I would give for a 5 bedroom fixer-upper... We bought a small three bedroom 2 bath in 1998, it is 1300 square foot. We out grew it in like a week ... I graduate in a little over a year and once DH's car is paid for we are opting for like double or triple the space. I know that we aren't in the position that your in as far as living conditions(our quarters are close but it is just us, not our whole family) but by the time our kids hit adolesence(they already can't turn around in their rooms) and we want some peace and quiet (all of the bedrooms are on one end of the house) we have to do something. I want to get all of our credit cards paid down and at least one car paid off so that our debt to income ratio is alot better than it is now. They would probably laugh at us if we tried to buy another house right now! And my school loans aren't going to help anything. But, if God willing and the creek don't rise we will be looking within the next two years.... I am wishing you good fortune, that you will have the home of your dreams as soon as possible.

Flower ~ I know now that half of my problem was not have a CLUE what the calorie content of stuff (ie. fast food) was.. then not knowing what a portion of anything was- when you get yourself down to 1200-1500 calories a day instead of meal, you tend to loose weight......

I have to run. Will post soon,
Amy
176/146/130

Hey grrrrls!

Sheila...got all my fingers and toes crossed that you'll find a super house to make your home! I love redecorating, and would be in pure heaven to re-do a fixer-upper! Have fun! (I'm so glad things are turning around for you.)

Now....seems like we all need a kick in the behind here. We've all been on-again off-again for some time. Flower is doing marvelously and I'm about to join her.

I tried on that evening dress that I would like to wear to the Christmas party. It's a very formal event at the poshest golf & country club here, Glen Abbey. Tiger Woods played the Canadian Open there this year, so you get the idea. So, this dress I have is straight, fitted silver lace (not a frilly pattern, more like a crochet look) with a black lining. Right now, if I suck in my gut it looks fabulous. And those Nygaard silk slingbacks had hubby drooling this morning when he saw me in the outfit. *L* I'm going to do my best to drop ten pounds and get into whatever shape I can manage in six weeks. Here's how:

I found a basic, sensible workout plan that I'm going to follow. You can see it here: http://goodhousekeeping.women.com/gh...s/81drop11.htm And I'm going to eat sensibly, planning my meals ahead of time and get my water in. If anyone would like to join me I'd be thrilled to have you!

To get me going, I needed to buy some hand weights. Off we went to Canadian Tire (department store for those of you in the States that aren't familiar) to buy some vinyl-dipped hand weights. I went for the 7lb ones. Five was too light, ten seemed like it would be hard on my hands and I have enough problems with them now, so I took the 7lb ones. Here's the beauty of it...they came to just over $18.00 for two....and I had $13.65 in Canadian Tire money, so it only cost me just under $5.00 to buy them. When you shop at Canadian Tire, they give you their "money" based on a percentage of what you spend. It can later be used as an equivalent to cash on your next purchase. I think it's only about 1.5% of your purchase, but if you collect it, eventually you have enough to make it worthwhile.

So, anyone up for a six-week challenge? Please, please,please, please, please, please????

I'm off...have a glass of ice water and 100 crunches waiting for me.

You guys might find this interesting especially if you eat out alot....


http://www.ediets.com/myediets/resou.../diningout.cfm


Amy

Sure Wildfire-I will join you. I peaked at it. Gotta read it in detail, but it looks way doable. I want to be at 169 by Xmas. Your dress sounds gorgous! Family is home, gotta run! flower

Sheila, I remember so well when we were hunting for a house. It's without a doubt one of the most emotionally draining things my husband and I ever went thru. A home is such a basic, emotionally charged thing. I would never want to be a realtor! We didn't fight or anything; it's just the constantly getting your hopes up, wanting the 'dream house' but having to be realistic, etc. [If we had our house built we probably would've killed each other though--I can't imagine that stress!] In the end, we found something absolutely perfect for us and it was all worth it.
It's not a stretch that you turned to the comfort of a smoke---searching for your home, your castle, your den is just plain stressful! There's no doubt in my mind that you will quit though!

Wildfire, the dress sounds dreamy...And I'd love to do the challenge. The 2 women that were my local buddies have pooped out on the whole thing--too bad--and I miss the support. I'll check out the plan!

I don't know guys, sorry to be a party pooper, but I can't keep doing my program like a graph with a few peaks and a whole lot of valleys in between. Do you know what I mean? It's got to be a consistent thing for me -- I'm either OP, moderately off program, or it's a one-day free-for-all (like Thanksgiving or my birthday or something). So no more mini-challenges for me -- my whole damn LIFE is one continuous challenge!! That doesn't mean I'm not with you, though; you've got my support 100%, and I know that goes both ways.

Sheila, jump right back on the wagon! You know you can quit, b/c you've done it before. The more you try, the better your odds of succeeding for good. You can do it!

My biggest challenge right now is getting myself exercising. Anything below like 70 degrees is cold to me, so I have a really hard time getting myself outside in this kind of weather, even though I know I'll warm up once I'm walking. I am also starting to develop a kind of fat agoraphobia -- I find myself avoiding social settings or leaving the house b/c I feel "too fat." Only one thing to do about that! I really don't like using my exercise bike too much, but with the cold weather coming, I'm going to have to either use that or use the treadmill in the gym at work. I have to stop making excuses for myself.

My p/t job had no work for me again on Friday. However, the week before I made about $275, so I guess I can't complain. (Plus, when I average out my billing since the end of August, I'm making about $200/week.) If this keeps up, though, I'm going to have to ask them if they can train me for other types of work. I am trying really hard to save for the future. At this point I plan to be out of this apt. by July 1 of next year, and I really hope I can quit my sh*tty job in May. So I'll need a good chunk of cash to get thru June, finding a new place and a new p/t job, moving, getting DD settled at whatever college she'll be at, etc., etc.

Flower, if I haven't said it before, and if i had it bears repeating: you are my IDOL!!! You are eating so much veggies!!! And doing so well on your program! And remember -- even if you're not immediately rewarded by your scale, you will be. That's one of the reasons I had to stop going to WW -- I felt like the weekly WI were punishment, not reward! You are doing great and I am really, really proud of you.

OK, girls, let me get this day started. I slept way late this morning and I feel like I'm behind already. Later!

Flower and Goddess, I'm glad you're going to join me! The workout seems so simple, at first I thought...this is a no brainer....I could have come up with it myself. But I didn't. I figure if I can follow this for six weeks and start to see some results, it will inspire me to keep going. And it's something I know I can handle. It isn't so intense that I'm going to burn out quickly. I've done my cardio (at 7am, no less!). I went for a BRISK walk for 40 minutes. My abs are a little sore from yesterday, so I'm only going to do 50 crunches today along with the weight routine. I'm adding the crunches in on my own because my abs is the part of my body that I dislike the most, and that needs the most work.

Ruthie, I understand completely how you feel. I really didn't think you'd be interested because we've discussed this sort of thing before, and I know your view on how your program works best for you. The exercise thing is my biggest challenge, too. I love being out this time year....once I'm out there and warming up from moving. But if I plant myself on the couch and think "it's cold out", it doesn't take much for me to talk myself out of it. It's good that you're planning already for the upcoming changes next year. I think we may be moving around the same time, hopefully to a house, but if not to another apartment. A lady on my floor just moved out yesterday...her rent was going up 10.5%!!!! No way am I paying that kind of increase. The owners of these buildings just lost a court case for charging illegal rent increases, but it took two years for it to finally settle. Most people are just paying the increases, not knowing the laws, or moving out. Amazing what the owners are doing to people.

Ok, girls....time for the rest of my workout. Then I have to go grocery shopping for Bill's birthday dinner. His birthday is actually tomorrow, but we bowl after work and don't get home until almost 8pm, so we're celebrating today. I'm buying a very small cake so it won't be hanging around here all week.

TTFN

Ruthie, I know exactly what you mean. I realize that to maintain my weight loss I have to exercise and watch my diet for the rest of my life. And that's when I feel best so it makes me wonder why I ever deviate from the plan! ['the plan' being consistent workouts and a low-fat veg. diet] However, my program needs a good goosing! I don't know how closely I'll be following the workout plan but I really want to feel enthusiastic about the whole deal again and hope I'm not jinxing it but I think I'm getting there! I'm making the curried lentil soup today--it's been simmering in the crock pot all day. I'll let you know how it turned out!
My big challenge comes tomorrow with those miserable staff meetings. After sitting there for 4 hours listening to the boss drone on and on I usually want to dive into a big bucket of cookies! So wish me luck....!

We [me, the husband and the dawg!] went for a long walk and it was just glorious. The fall colors are a bit past their peak but still beautiful! I love fall!!!

GREAT SOUP, Ruthie! The only thing I didn't have were the greens but it still turned out really good! It has a nice afterburn--just the right amount of spiciness. Thanks again! ~~Eydie