For all those that asked about the canning, the weekend's tally was two batches of salsa, one of pickled beets, and get this - Sunday, 26 QUARTS of peaches! Downside - fruit flies everywhere. I have cider vinegar traps on each end of the kitchen. Tomatoes are late this year due to the cool weather, so we figure on hitting those next week and Labor Day. Last year we processed four bushels of tomatoes, and it was enough to make it through early summer.

penguin - sounds like the bath is coming along swimmingly! There's nothing like the feeling of a completed project ... love it! I have 2 BA that need serious overhaul too, but not likely to happen this year. You're inspiring me to at least figure out what I want to do with them, though!
Cruise - love the pics that you did get posted! They make me want to go back! I'm pestering my son to enter an essay contest that has a grand prize of an Alaskan vacation.
WLW - I hear ya about the pickling! DH's family is pureblood German, and I think vinegar is the key staple in their diet. Now that there's a link between gut health and eating fermented foods (kimchee, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir), I'm all over it. We're also starting a puppy search - our last dog was put down in February. DH wants another Gordon Setter - he's a bird hunter and Gordons are just awesome for pets and hunting. Looks like there's a good breeder 200 miles away - I expect a field trip this fall, and pitterpatter of little feet sometime in the spring. Yay - more drool, more hair, and lots of lovin'!
joy - I'm the daughter of a retired library director/reference librarian. I LOVE LIBRARIES!!!!
Hotsplashes - sounds like you've run the gamut on the weather this summer! Maybe fall will be a little better? Hopefully?
Marie - I'm afraid to make the mimosas. It's the truth. At least until I can find enough people to share them with that I will only be able to have ONE.
newleaf - hope your camping was awesome, and if you're already pulling off the post-weekend pounds, that's way cool!
dancer - productive? Nah, I just supervise. And eat. OK, I'm allowed to do the cleanup duty. Heehee!!!
OMW - no recipe except for the acid balance. The man never measures anything, and never makes the same thing twice.
dmc2009 - welcome back!

Scale has not moved since July 31. This is the setpoint I didn't like for the previous 8 years before I suddenly added the 17 pounds that came off pretty easy. Soooooo ... war has been declared.

Newleaf, great job on eating right after the camping trip. That’s where I fail – I go off track for more than a couple meals and it’s very difficult for me to get the motivation to get on track. Since I know that, I’m obsessive about it daily. I really envy your ability. I’d feel more normal than. And YEAH on the 2.2 pound loss.

WLW, enjoy your TGIF then days off. I’m glad you got more testing strips. Sounds like you need to work on the food balance while losing weight. Those will help.

Jacque, you seem to have gotten into the new thread idea. And the thread just only started.


DMC2009 – I have cheeseburgers all the time. Just make them lo-cal. I use 4 oz of 93/7 lean burger, one laughing cow lite cheese wedge and one Oroweat whole wheat sandwich thin. Truly it’s the best burger I make or have had. The thin bun gives the accent flavor of bread instead of overpowering the burger. The 93/7 meat isn’t greasy so you can really taste every flavor. And the laughing cow wedge is creamy and tastes sinful. Calories for my burger is ~335. And very yummy. Bet you can guess I count calories.


Today is our teacher's first day back (we year round staff were eased into the chaos by the new teachers starting yesterday). I don't predict a great day - more like annoying but I hope to be wrong. With their return give the sense of fall and that means my favorite season is coming to a close - fresh fruit season. At this point a good chunk of my calories is fruit.

Marie

dancerindenver: Yay for focus! I'm really thinking that's going to be the difference for me with this journey. A habit of posting at 3FC will give me focus even when the journey no longer has that delicious aura of newness that it does for me now.

CruiseCAT: I hear you about at least seeing what others can do for you. For our powder room, I think we'll act as our own general contractor and bring in a plumber and a tile installer. For the master bath, I suspect we'll bring in a general contractor or design/build firm which will probably be a much bigger deal.

Hotsplashes: kudos for amazing eating and a clean house with a bonus of exercise! And I'm glad your weather improved!

Onmyway: Mary Poppins sounds wonderful -- what a great experience to have with your daughter.

Marie: Whew! on having your Lose It! app (and the rest of the iPhone) functional. Once something really works, it's harder than it seems like it should be when it stops. I mean, we used to all live without cell phones! But life would be much more difficult to do without now.

newleaf: I'm glad you were able to enjoy not thinking about food on the camping trip but also to enjoy getting back on track -- perfect! And congrats on today's number!

weightlosswanted: happy virtual Friday! and enjoy your weekend of admiring your table and hutch!

dmc2009: I'm new here, so I don't remember you, but welcome back! I'm also new to this journey and still working out exactly what I want to do. For the moment, I'm making rules for myself that prevent my worst overeating episodes and working my way back to eating all-natural, often local, foods prepared at home. And I'm exercising every day. I'm also reading lots of books, so let me know if you want any recommendations! The Sonoma Diet allows for wine after the first few weeks.

I engaged in emotional eating yesterday after some disconcerting news on my brother's health situation. But that's the first time since I started this new journey and I kept a lid on it pretty well -- not quite well enough to keep the scale from going up this morning, though. So, I need to learn some better techniques. Taking a walk helped some.

ICUWishing - We're in this together; I am determined to get the scale moving again. Like you have said before, I'm not done.

Marie - your burger sounds great! I made wonderful lamb burgers our first night of camping. They are small so you eat two at 196cal each, and worth each and every one!

GardenerJoy - good job maintain some amount of control yesterday. I hope today is better for you, and also that your brother's health is alright.

I have a sink!! Its wonderful, no more squirt bottle of Germx on the back of the toilet tank!

Hubby and I spent most of yesterday shopping for rugs and accececories for the bath. I have towels and a shower curtain {which I currantly can't find} which are red so I'm trying to match those. I came home yesterday with just a soap dispenser, but we did find some rugs at Penney's that we think we'll go back for. I did find a Cathe 10lbs ball at Marshalls!

I haven't been online, but need to catch up with what's going on. I gained a few lbs back over the past week but refuse to change my ticker. That would just be too depressing, but I need to get ahold of myself here!

DMC, Welcome back!

Joy, good job on starting the thread!

I need to go start the laundry and see if I can find the shower curtain!

Just a quick stop by... to say YYYAAAAAAAAYYYY For Penguin's sink!!lol

Hope everyone is having a great day! Today is the last day of nice weather for the rest of the week... Rain starts again tomorrow. So off to pick veggies now while I can!!

See everyone tomorrow while I am trapped inside with the rain!

Splashes, Thanks for the YAY! I better get out in the yard too. Its not supposed to rain here until Fri but I'm going to be busy Wed and Thurs with Bible study and dinner at our friends.

Still haven't found the shower curtain. I've kept track of it for over a year, now when I need it its nowhere to be found!

Penguin - It must be awfully nice to have your sink back! : ) Good luck with finding the shower curtain - it's probably in the place you least expect.

Hotsplashes - hopeyou're getting in a good harvest - what's your favorite this year?

gardenerjoy - sorry to hear you're concerned for your brother but glad you were able to get back on plan quickly.

newleaf - congrats on the incredibly quick post-camping turnaround!!

marie - hope the day went better than expected. And fall's not all bad - just think - lots of apples!

ICU - well, since you've declared war and all: Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war! Sounds kind of rousing, doesn't it? : )

DMC - welcome back! I'm calorie couting, sticking to around 1400cals/day and running around an hour 4x/wk and hiking a couple of hours each weekend. What plan are you on?

Hope everyone had a good and skinny day! : )

Newleaf, congrats on the loss, looks like you are back in the game!

WLW, enjoy your midweek weekend!

DMC, WELCOME BACK! I have missed posting with you. You know what you need to do and we are here to cheer you on!

ICU, 26 quarts of peaches! Do you ship? LOL Hope you can figure out what you need to get back to losing again. You are so close to the IPOD! and goal!

Marie, I'm with you on the fruit. Right now our Sam's has whole pineapples for 2.98. They are delicious and really not all that much work to cut up. Canned just doesn't come close!

Gardener, sorry to hear about your brother. Sorry you had a small setback in your weightloss. This really is a learning process and finding what does and doesn't work is a lot of trial and error.

Patchwork. Yeah for a sink! We started our master bath today and have been officially moved to the downstairs bath. I'm hoping things go pretty smooth and we are only displaced for a week or so! Hope your shower curtin shows up!

Hotsplashes, sorry to hear you have more rain. This has been the strangest summer weatherwise everywhere!

Dancer, Hope you have a great evening. You have been doing great and losing steadily!

Curriculum night at DD's school. Volleyball and club swimming tryouts too. We are dividing and conquering tonight!

I am new to the forum and thought I would post here too. I am getting a lot of good information here and support on this weight loss journey of mine. I have shed a few pounds and that feels nice. I am eating healthier and I feel less tired I noticed this week. You all are doing great and I look forward to sharing our successes!

Hey everyone, I just found this website, thought I'd jump in and say hi! I'm Diane, 44 years old, 206 lbs and completely disgusted with myself. I'm at the point where I need help but I'm so tired of the "diets". I lost 60 lbs. about 9 years ago with Weight Watchers and have put it all back on in the last four years plus an additional 11 lbs. I'm at my wits end and seriously don't know how to start over after "failing" at the last attempt. Can anyone give me any words of encouragement? Please?

Good morning, Hydra, good morning, Diane. Welcome to the group! Congratulations, Hydra, on your 6 pounds lost!!

Diane, I think that what most of us "older" chicks have found is that taking things at a sensible pace, and watching calories in (food intake) vs calories out (exercise and activity level) has been the path to success. I'm sorry that your WW loss didn't stick, that's a total bummer. But, I think you need to put it behind you, stop considering yourself a failure for it, and just put one foot in front of the other. Decide for yourself where you can start cutting back (ie, cookies, candy, sugary drinks, fast food?) and just start building from there.

We're here to support you along the way...

Hydra and Diane - WELCOME!!!! Newleaf said it very well (she always does!) - we're still learning and trying, and figuring ways to make things work in spite of Life Getting In The Way.

OMW - No shipping yet - we don't give up any of those glorious jars. I had oatmeal yesterday with wild blueberries and peaches and just a dash of maple syrup ... oh my! DH is planning to buy some peach trees this fall. We had some before, and the deer sort of left them alone. (cross fingers). Swimming and choir don't ramp back up for us until 9/14 - but when they do, it's nonstop til Easter. Erg.

dancer - I'm more of a sneak-attack type. Very resistant to change. I will have to be subversive and underhanded - sneaking out the calorie wreckers and teasing in more exercise. LOL! I've been planning ...

patch - congrats on the sink! That's HUGE! It must feel really good to see it all coming together!

joy - yes ... posting here and being with the Chicks (and a couple rare but appreciated Roosters) is far more important than I ever would have guessed. Many a binge or appallingly bad choice has been derailed right here.

Just workin' today. Need to finish up a short story, and then read a dissection about whether I will form an S, C, LLC, or sole proprietorship. Still checking business cases and making sure the opportunity is right - as one book put it - either a real business or an expensive hobby. On top of that, there's my day job, where I'm making an attempt to revise an embedded system. No lack of things to do!

Diane I am new here too, welcome! Don't be hard on yourself, you are here and that means a lot. For me, I try to focus on the positive aspects of my weight loss...I will feel better, have more energy, look better, be able to fit into nicer styled clothes and I will feel more confident about myself with weight loss.

I have been making little changes, like less diet soda and more ice cold water, using mustard instead of mayo, using herbs and spices when cooking to jazz things up, exercising a bit each day and not beating myself up if I don't stay on perfect track all the time, eating foods that I enjoy that are low in calories and keeping a food journal of what I am eating and when. I am looking at these changes as life changes, not diet changes, as I know I need to develop healthier eating patterns for long time results.

I wish you much luck and just make small changes along the way and give yourself credit for all the little accomplishments like passing up a fatty greasy burger for a nice fresh selection of veggies and fruit or drinking low calorie drink or any and all exercise. Good luck to you!!!

welcome diane and hydra! I'm fairly new here as well, and the ladies are a wealth of information and inspiration : )