Hello everyone. I finally bit the bullet and weighed this morning!! I have gained 6 pounds since the first part of November so I changed my tracker and am getting back on track today!!

Welcome to all the newbes!! I will try and get back here later to write more. We showed the house 3 times last week and we have another showing this weekend. I just checked the tracker for the ad on the internet and there has been 6 people that have clicked on it today! So need to make sure I have things ready in case we get a call that someone wants to come and see it.

Take care...

Hi everyone..Daphne what a nice surprize..sry we lost track how is the old gang doing? lots has happened to me i'll pm u and catch up..hope u are all staying warm as im freezing..still -27 today and no signs of warming up..((((hugs))) rosey

Good morning all....My headache is gone and can touch most of my face without groaning. The bruise is pale and only shows up at angles. Am getting a tattoo on my forehead that says "STUPID".

Just called BF and they didn't get the bushel of oranges that were resent the day before Christmas. Gesh, the honey bells go out this week and they will end up with 2 bushels of fruit. A little much for 2 people. I have to go down to the stand and raise some h***!

Karen31 how wonderful you have had showings. My fingers and toes and eyes are crossed. That is such a beautiful part of the world. Lots of baby boomers are retiring now and your spot of Eden is just perfect for them.

Rosey.....brrrrrrrrrrrrr -27! You should get enough exercise just shivering...

Yesterday at bridge another player got sick and had to leave in the middle of the game. 24 tables and director ends up playing. I jumped in and helped pick up slips and stuff. He was lucky there were no calls while he was playing. Apparently working and playing works for me because we came in 1st overall inspite of me running around like a fool. Love to play but must admit winning is super fun.

I bought a pretty dark blue throw made out of microfiber before Christmas. Instantly fell in love with it. So warm and just the right size. Felt like I was 2 yrs old witha goody blankie. The darn thing started pilling and dropping pills.I washed it thinking that would help...wrong...I have a house full of wee blue pills even in my hair. Tossed it out and bought a more expensive one yesterday. Saved the receipt and if this one pills am taking back. Never had a blanket that made you feel warm instantly when you wrap up in it.

Day2 of level one and I am okay. Need to get my pot of vegie soup made today. That is my secret to success.

Off to Homosassa to yell at fruit people.....Karen3

Karen3, we get Florida oranges up here in Newfoundland all season. Schools and churches sell them as fundraisers (we can of course buy them in grocery stores also). They are sold in half bushel boxes and I can't wait for the honeybells to get here this month. They are the most expensive oranges that are sold by the churches/schools. They will be about $35 a half bushel. The navels and temples are $26 half bushel. The prices vary of course from year to year but we really do enjoy the very fresh fruit.

Glad to hear your head and face are getting better.

I gained weight over Christmas (I'm crying and whining at the same time). Thank goodness my clothes still fit. I don't have the American Thanksgiving to blame for starting me on my upward climb. I managed to gain 7.5 pounds just over the Christmas holidays. I'm so glad I can come here for support and possibly a gentle reprimand or a slap around the head. I'm determined to get it all off as soon as possible--maybe even by Valentine's Day--and hopefully some extra weight too.

Going shopping soon to see if I can buy a new exercise bike. The old one is so noisy it drives me nuts. Wish me luck.

Good Afternoon!
DH and I just finished taking down the Christmas tree and all the house decorations. It took me three days to put it all up and about 3 hours to take it down. We have a basketball game at 3:00 this afternoon for GS. It's raining sleet right now and the highways will be icy, I'd rather stay home but gotta support the boys.
I've dropped 4.5 pounds of the 6.5 pounds I put on over the holdidays, makes me think I really didn't gain that much but I have to trust the scales.
Karen3, can I be on your list of monthly fruit? I'm adoptable
Isabella, you can adopt me too since you have all those lovely blueberries. The gal that cut my hair yesterday happened to mention her stay in Newfoundland for two years. DH was in the service and stationed there. She said the summers never get real warm and everyone says, "Poof the ?" I can't remember the last word, she didn't know what it meant. Do You?
Karen31, I'm so happy for you, hope you can finally sell your home and get back to your family.
Has anyone heard from Meow? I would like the December Accountability taken off the sticky and replaced with the January.
Have a good week-ends everyone!

Bobbi, I'm not familiar with that Newfoundland saying. Maybe it is local to the area where that woman was living.

Got my bike this evening at Walmart. It's still in the box waiting to be put together tomorrow morning. Can't wait to get on it and start peddling to nowhere. Ha, ha.

We got all our Christmas decorations put away, all the food goodies are gone too so back to normal. I will spend some time tomorrow doing the weekly menu. I don't plan exactly which days we are eating what I just decide on seven days worth of meals and we can do them whenever, makes the grocery shopping easier cuz I have a list.

for continued weight loss in 2009 for all of us. I would love to make it to Onderland, we will see.

Sounds like Karen3 plays a pretty active game of bridge.

A nice quiet evening, the grandkids are getting geared up to return to school on Monday.

Off to watch a movie or read.

Sue, I use menus for the week, too. I actually do out a month's worth but I switch the days around for convenience when needed. It's only the one main meal I do. I've been off the menus since before the middle of December and I was just going to do one for January when I read your post.

Hello everyone....you all seem like a great group. I'm going to get to my goal weight this year. I have to for my health's sake! My doctor wants me to go on high cholesterol meds and take a glucose tolerance test. I DO NOT want to take pills for the rest of my life, especially when I know I can keep these conditions in control if I lose weight and exercise. My husband has the exact same health conditions and is joining in.

I've lost weight so many times before but never made lifestyle changes. I believe this will be the year we get healthy. Our biggest downfall is going out to eat and having a few too many "adult" beverages! Eating at home will certainly help. We also live close to hiking trails and we love to be outdoors. We need to eat just enough to be satisfied and eat often enough not to get too hungry....I HATE TO BE HUNGRY!!

Good Morning Girls!
Sunshine
You and hubby are starting the year out right! We'll help you stick to your goals and it'll be easier for you with the support of hubby.
(It can be a hassle if you have to cook different foods) Are you two retired? It can be a fun experience to delve into lowfat cookbooks and prepare really good calories friendly foods. I use the allrecipe.com site quite often. It has great recipes and most are easy to substitute low fat products. What plan are you two using?
Sue & Isabella..........wow, you girls are organized! I'm very organized too, but not with our menu. At least not since DH retired a couple of years ago. He loves to cook and between the two of us we usually decide a day ahead of time so we can defrost the meat. (Today DH is baking a breast of wild Canadian Goose,)
I'm surprised we didn't have more sign up on the accountability thread this month. I was looking for a challenge thread and didn't find any I wanted to join. I created a January 5 pound challenge thread on the Sparks team. It's really fun because it's all Minnesota gals and we can all moan and groan over our weather. Right now it's 26 below zero with wind chills!
We're not going to church today, yesterday we had a rain/sleet mix and all the roads are coated with ice + snow last night. We went into town for GS's basketball game and two cars were in the ditch on the interstate. On the way home we saw 3 wreckers hauling cars/van with people in them. Must have been a bad accident!
Hi Karen3, Karen31, Freda, Rosey, Fluffy, dabrat, Lily,and where are you Meowee?.
P.S. I had to edit this, I just checked into the acc. thread and see Lily and Karen31 has joined us............Fantastic!

Bobbi - no, we are not retired....just in our mid-fifties. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to retire!! I'm not crazy about cooking a complicated meal after work but I'm sure I'll be able to find easy to prepare meals and also plan to prepare dishes in advance. My husband is a good little helper around the house, also. I'm determined this time!

Quick HI! to all.
My 15 yo son had an impromptu sleep over and I have to make a donut run<----don't worry I'm not a big donut or breakfast fan
We are supposed to get another 4-8 inches of snow on top of the 65 inches (record setting) we have from December....I don't know where it's going to go! I'm hoping it will get warm enough to melt some this coming week.
Sunshine! Our stats are about the same.....let's "get er done" in 2009!

I just finished my oatmeal so nows a good time to get that menu plan done.

Sunshine, it is so much simpler if everybody in the house is on board. My dh is my challenge at times. There are so many low-calorie low-fat recipes now that are simple, just browse the internet or get a couple of good cookbooks from the library. Have fun with the food. Remember losing weight doesn't mean eating foods that taste icky!

Bobbi: I was looking at the challenge last night, just undecided.

Off to do menus and get on the treadmill. I know myself well enough that I got one with a tv screen so I watch movies while I walk.

Talk to everyone later, have a great day.

Such bad new! We took the bike out of the box and had it almost put together and there were parts missing. Took it back and there were no other bikes in the store. I'll just have to get on my noisy old bike and go nowhere on that.

Hi Sunshine. You're in the right place to lose weight and get healthy. Post away and we'll help any way we can.

Didn't get my menu done yet so I'm off to do that too.

Evening all....welcome Sunshine! We get chatty here. The more you post and use the support everyone gives so freely the easier the jouney to thinland gets.

Sighhhhhhhing...am now on day 3 and the sugar bends are over. Need another serving of vegies. Think I'll do V8 and get extra calium/potassium so the legs cramps don't come back. South Beach level 2 is so easy and a way of life. Level 1 is punishment. Even menu planning is like fighting road blocks. Yeah I got out the book and reviewed the menu....difference is the 1st time it was fun trying the recipes....this time I know I don't like most of them already. Sorry but ricotta cheese with vanilla tastes like cottage cheese with sand.....just listened to self and realize am having a big pout....need to take self out to the woodshed and straighten self out.....No whining allowed.

This no luck in getting DBF her oranges. Driving me crazy. I can buy a bussel here at a local orchard for $4 and it'd cost me $35 to ship. So it's easier I thought to have the stand ship them....wrong again. Not to get you all mad at me, but the local strawberries started. A DF brought me 3 pints of deep dark red ripe berries this afternoon. I'll make SF vanilla pudding to go with them for DH. Lucky for me I am not a big fan of strawberries. The very ripe berries stay here as they don't ship well.

I could not imagine not making up a weekly menu and sometimes most of the month. I don't plan on what is speciffic each day but have 7 dinners planned for and decide each morning. Kinda bugs DH when I ask what he wants for dinner at breakfast. We have had so much company that I have to do it to stay sane.

Off to find some V8.....hugs, Karen3