Bev - I'm a newbie too - this is a GREAT bunch of people. Welcome!!!!

Gail - let us know what you think of the book.

Jay - Do you like Tae Bo? I just ordered WATP Walk and Kick to see if kicking is something I might enjoy.

Linda - same here - we are supposed to get snow on Friday. The chill is definitely in the air! The leaves haven't fallen yet either, so I'm thinking it is going to be a wet mess in the spring.

Spinymouse - We have two CSA farms around here. I don't know if they have any shares available. I have been thinking about checking in the spring. Our kids belong to one in Oakland and it is tempting. We do have a great farmer's market in the park twice a week. I really enjoy it, so I am torn about abandoning it. With only two of us, I'm not sure I can support both. (DH's mom has a HUGE garden too - so we get lots of veggies from her).

Good day here overall. My cell phone died yesterday, so I had to get a new one. So I spent a couple hours picking out all the accessories for the new phone. Thank heaven's for online shopping
The scale is being stubborn, but I have been OP, so I am just gonna tough it out. It has to drop eventually. I upped the weights this week, so I am thinking the muscles might be retaining some extra fluid to repair (at least I can pretend that is the case - LOL)

Hope everyone had a good day!

Good morning!

Counting, I do like Tae Bo, but I think it's good that you're starting with Walk and Kick. Tae Bo is strenuous stuff. One thing a person must do with Tae Bo is go through the introduction video so that you learn the correct way to punch and kick--otherwise you can hurt yourself from overextending.

The set I have is from a few years back, and it included a "Tae Bo Gold" video which is for over-40 people. That's the one I do best with. The one I got sore with was the "Basic Workout."

Gail, you're walking twice as far as I am now!

I belonged to a CSA in Massachusetts for some years. At first we were about to quit because our entire Saturday morning was taken up with processing vegetables. But the CSA changed how they did things, and provided already-cleaned produce after that. Also, we could only use a half-share, and fortunately they allowed that. This was an organic farm that operated with integrated pest management, so the foods weren't grown with a lot of poison.

I'm not doing great with weight loss lately. There's no mystery about it--I'm overeating in the evenings. I hope I can get past this soon...

Have a great day!

Jay

JayEll, I can really relate to the eating in the evening. Last night I had ice cream, which I planned for. Then later, for no good reason, I ate a bunch of animal crackers and milk. I mixed up a quart of milk yesterday morning and it was all but gone by last night.

I sure wish we had a CSA or Farmer's Market. I do the best I can with the local grocery, and trips to Costco and Trader Joe's.

Even without the CSA etc, my eating habits have improved amazingly since I started this journey in January. I can't believe I have been doing this for 10 months. People say that after so long, they start to get cravings for healthy food. I never thought that would happen to me, but it is.

Hi there, everybody . . .

I belonged to a natural foods co-op for a while when I was still living in Toronto and, although it entailed some work, it was a good thing. Unfortunately, I've not even heard of anything of that nature around here.

Most of us have those nightime munchies -- my only suggestion is to save calories for that purpose.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I am really not a Dr. Phil fan . . . will be interested in hearing what the rest of you think about his new book, though.

Well, we ended up with just about every sort of nasty weather possible for this time of year yesterday -- snow -- high winds -- torrential rain -- freezing rain -- I hate that freezing rain. Today . . . absolutely gorgeous; no wind to speak of; beautiful sunshine; current temperature is 9C/48F. Tomorrow . . . forecast is calling for around 15C / almost 60F. Really do not know what to make of this weather.

One thing I do know . . .

Today, November 14, is WORLD DIABETES DAY. Please spend some time thinking about this disease as you go about your activities today.

In a nutshell --

Type I Diabetes is basically an auto-immune disease and there is probably not a lot anyone can do to avoid it. Only about 10% of the 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 (that's MILLIONS, folks) North Americans with Diabetes have Type I.

However --

Type II Diabetes (which the other 90% have) is basically a lifestyle disease (often a direct result of poor eating and poor exercise habits) and it has reached epidemic proportions world-wide. There is a lot that can be done to assist both current and future generations to avoid Type II. Obviously, by eating better and exercising more.

The bad news -- on a site like 3FC which is dedicated to weight loss -- the proportion of the population with Diabetes, or on their way to a diagnosis of Diabetes, is probably considerably higher than in the general population. The good news -- every one here is trying to take the two most important steps to avoiding and/or controlling Diabetes -- eliminating their bad eating habits and improving their exercise routines -- in order to lose excess weight.

Keep up the good work with your efforts to lose weight and improve your over all lifestyle, everybody . . .

Hey! How is everyone doing?

I had to go to the dentist for a filling today. Usually that would be an excuse for ice cream--but not today! I'll make myself a healthy shake instead.

Is anyone watching the "Everest" show on Discovery Channel? Just curious--I'm intrigued by people who want to climb Everest, K2, etc., and I just found out it was on this week.

Jay

Busy day today - but fruitful. I was the only person in the school district working (Nov. 15th is the opening day of deer hunting season and it is a "holiday" in northern Michigan - LOL) Consequently, no email to answer, no phone calls to take - I got completely caught up on my projects. We did get snow today - just a dusting, it is really quite pretty.
I'm hoping to do a trial run on a couple of my Thankgsiving recipes this weekend. Youngest DS will be home so I have an extra mouth to feed. He usually brings a few friends with him too.

Jay, If I watched TV, Discovery Chanel would probably be on most of the time. I catch it once in a while when I am visiting my Mom. We gave up watching tv (except a few minutes of the local news in the morning as we are getting ready for work) about a year ago. I don't really miss it at all. We have basic cable only because you have to get it to get high-speed internet from our cable provider.

Linda - thanks for the diabetes info and reminder. It runs in DH's family (Mom, Grandma & aunts all are/were diabetic). He is very concious of it which I think led him to lose some weight too (he has lost 30 lbs. since June). I think we were both headed in that direction soon if we didn't take charge of our lifestyle. Something about turning 50 puts things into perspective I think. It seemed to be the kick we both needed to make some changes.

Hi gang . . .

I had a really yucky afternoon yesterday. Went for an early lunch with my shopping buddy and something didn't agree with me . . . at all. Had to cut the shopping trip short. Today the weather is mild, windy and rainy. Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot colder, but sunny. SOOOOOO . . . my big decision for today -- do I finish my shopping in the rain today or wait and do it in the cold tomorrow? Decisions, decisions.

Amazing how the mind wanders . . . my 'episode' yesterday got me wondering how many of those about 600 calories of lunch I actually absorbed. Although I felt rotten almost immediately, I didn't actually start 'getting rid of it ' until a couple of hours later. That thought led to meandering thoughts of the poor people who suffer from Bulimia; especially those who abuse laxatives. Now, I sort of understand that for those who throw up immediately after a binge -- the food isn't in their system long enough for the calories to stick. But if you take a strong laxative, I would think it would take a little while before it would work; so some of the calories would be absorbed, wouldn't they? Hey, the part I really cannot understand is why anyone would want to inflict an afternoon like I had on themselves.

Anyway . . . that is definitely enough of that . . . have a great day, gang . . . keep doing the good stuff.

Hey everybody!

CountingDown, I lived for many years with no TV at all. But I do like watching football and certain other shows, and I'm not sorry I have it now just for those reasons. I guess it's like anything else--it can take up time if you let it, or not.

Meowee, sorry to hear about your bad day! Do you know what it was that set you off?

I don't know how you count calories in that case. It's unlikely that much got, um, absorbed... But let's not go into TMI.

It's cold here today! (for us.) I'm going for my walk a little later, but will have to dress for it.

Jay

Oh I agree on the TMI -- that was just a little mind-wandering; not meant to start a serious discussion.No I don't really know what did it. My friend and I had the same lunch EXCEPT I had SALAD and she had fries. So that's what I'm blaming.

Well, I have been busy with the SOSO this past week. I had so much other stuff that I wanted to get done I really tried hard to stay away from here because I can easily spend several hours reading and responding to all the good flow of "news" here.

I will have my kitchen done for Thanksgiving. DH just went to get me another bucket of wallpaper paste! Yea! I started the Pilates for Abs this past week. I had been doing the lower body workout but my ABs are awful (see my blog pixs http://3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/pixstogo) so I have really been targeting my "dome" and "jelly roll". All I can is "whew" but I will say that afterwards it seems to really feel like I had visited a chiropractor or something. My mid back and lower back felt a lot better. (I sit at my job 8-9 hours Mon-Fri)

Cold here in Atlanta too (lows in upper 30s-low 40s) but being I'm menopausal I am still wearing a t-shirt LOL.

The rest of my work out routine remains the same. I have walked the same mile over and over on that treadmill. I was thinking about getting a plasma screen tv to hang over my treadmill. Doesn't that sound like a neat idea? LOL

Pamatga, I spent a little time reading your blog. I like it. I share your thoughts about the need develop a way of eating that I can live with forever. Sometimes I think I can do it, other times it seems impossible.

I haven't had a TV in my adult life. I see it when at a bar or at a friend's house, so that is the only reason why I am aware at all of anything on there.
Linda, there was only one time in my existence in which I ventured out of North America, and I wasted my one Big Vacation exploring the toilets of Fiji. I continued on to explore the toilets of my hometown for a couple of weeks when I returned. I even didn't eat for a few days. I don't know where it all came from. I was writing My Theory of S---ogenisis on the basis of this experience, trying to figure out where all the liquid s--- came from. Nasty! Believe it or not, I lost ZERO lbs. Thank Supreme Entity for Cipro, which finally alleviated my toilet exploration.

Good morning!

Linda--the reason I ask is that I discovered my allergy to clams at lunch one day--out of the blue--ate the same thing as my friend, was terribly ill afterward. But I was throwing up as well as the other part. I didn't leave the bathroom for awhile.

I hadn't been allergic to any shellfish prior to that. But having tested my hypothesis, both on purpose and accidentally, I now I stay away from clams, oysters, scallops, etc. Shrimp, lobster, crab seem to be OK.

pamatga, I hear good things about Pilates! Sounds like it's doing good things.

Spiny, so terrible about your trip to Fiji! Gosh... What a drag!

I think it's interesting that we have some non-TV watchers and former non-TV watchers.

What are folks doing for U.S. Thanksgiving? Linda, I know you already had yours last month.

We're going out with friends to a restaurant that puts on a good T-day spread. I'll have to plan ahead--but hey, turkey is a good thing. It's the gravy I'll have to ration out.

Jay

Hi all, checking in.
I am having DH's mom and aunt and uncle over for a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Youngest DS will be home as well, and may bring a straggler or two with him (never know until he shows up).

Our church Thanksgiving dinner is tomorrow. I'm already planning what I will eat. Certain people always bring the same dish, so I am pretty confident that I know what will be available. Unlike buffets, I can stay OP on potlucks fairly easily. Something about not paying for the meal helps me keep from overeating. I'm just too frugal to pay for a buffet and then eat OP.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off to clean and do laundry and hopefully spend some quality time with Leslie Sansone

In characteristic rebellion, I have no Thanksgiving plans. I don't have any D-assorted initials people to get together with. I do spend some time being thankful, but I'm just myself and I don't think I have to eat anything in particular on that day.
Last year I tried to volunteer to serve dinner at the women's shelter but they told me they didn't need me. Oh well!