Hello! Has anyone tried the Diet A & W Root beer with a scoop of frozen cool whip free in it? It makes a great .5 point summer drink, Made with diet orange soda it would prbably taste like a creamsycle...I brought them to work yesterday and we all are craving them again toady.

Hello,
Another work week. My boss is out so it is kinda low presure, but I have so much to do that it is kinda high pressure.

I had a very good weekend eating wise. Today is day 24 of my new lifestyle. I am even thinking of joining a gym, but not till after I take the bar becuasse I am rather broke. I am also a little scared of the gym. Therre are a couple arround here that are supposed to be very good and therer is at least one that is about halfway between work and home. AAt any rate, I now need to go to the coffee shop and study. Yuck.

Wow-we have been SUPER busy!
I had my soon to be sister in law's bridal shower on Saturday, went out to eat with my stepmother afterwards, and then went over to the car lot where my father works to look at some cars...then late Saturday night I went up to the lake to meet my husband, and Sunday we had his sister's birthday celebration up there. When we got home, we did a ton of yardwork until dark.
Last night when Jason got home from work we drove an hour back down to the town where my family is from, and went back to the car lot to see my dad, and test drive a few cars...we are going through the financing and stuff like that right now...we decided on a 2003 Pontiac Sunfire-it is bright silver with charcoal silver pinstripes, and light silver/charcoal silver 2 tone patterned upholstry inside. I have not had a brand new car since 1995 when I bought my Grand Am...so I am VERY excited. Hopefully the financing details will work out sometime today or tomorrow and we can pick her up this week. It is a VERY pretty car...
Tonight is my last night for my basics class-I am excited about it. My instructor said it is going to be a really fun last class.
I hope everyone is doing well with their exercise and their eating-I am feeling pretty good about what I am doing.
Have a good day!
Aphil

Hello,
Another work day. I am thinking of getting rid of my scale. It is just too much of a presence in my life, and really the weight does not mean that much as compared to how I feel and how my clothing fits. But I fear I am a scale addict. Just a little too hung up on external measurements. O well, back to work.

Well, I think it is akay to actually get hung up on actual measurements-just not the number on the scale. If you feel you must do something external-measurements could be the way to go for you.
Aphil

Hello to all, this thread has been kind of unoccupied lately-where is everyone??? I weighed in last night and hit my 50# goal, (actually 50.4#)!!! What a feeling... I have been trying alot of new recipes and enjoying cooking the low fat way. If anyone loves a good pizza I have a great recipe made with a tube of biscuits! Hope to see everyone back here with great success stories!

Way to go Idealperson! You made it to your goal!!!!!! That brings up the topic of maintenance, which tryin' hard and Vermont Mom are doing SO WELL! It really isn't much different than what you did to lose the weight, you can just add a couple of points, or a few calories to your plan. You want to keep up your exercise, because even if you maintain your weight, you can continue to get firmer and leaner as time goes on, so you CAN look even better and better staying the same weight! I am so proud of you!!!!!!!
I have been so busy-I "graduated" last night out of my basics class and start continuing next week-it was really great. I even got a "certificate" like a kid. Teeheeheehee
Last night my dad called and the financing for the new car went through-we get to pick it up tonight!! I am SO excited!!!!!!! We desperately needed a new vehicle!!!
When my sis in law came to to watch the kids last night while I went to class, she brought me a big sack of shorts and pants. She always wears such cute clothes, and has lost about 50 pounds over the past year. She was in an 18 like I used to be, and now she is about an 11/12. She is putting her 18's in a rummage, but she brought me all her 16's and 14's...the 16's all fit pretty good, and hopefully I will be in the 14's by the end of the summer-but at least now I have plenty of shorts in both sizes-and they are all denim and khaki shorts too, and nice ones like Old Navy, Zanadi, and other cool brands...you gotta love free clothes, especially when they are CUTE ones.
Well now that the rummage is over and the car is going to be picked up tonight, and things are slowing down a bit, I hope to get in here more often and post some more-everyone else must be as busy as I have been!
Have a great day!
Aphil

Hello
Wow, idealperson, goal! That is so great. Congratulations.

I am blowing off work today. Actually I have to study and my study partner and I are taking her puppies to the grommer. She just adopted them (beagle mixes) and they were adused by their former owner so they are very shy. They are one year old and cute, but they do not trust people in general and men in particular. They like her son though becuase he is only a very small man (he is 7 and madly in love with the puppies).

So I found out yesterday that my sister is going to try and have a baby. She just finished her 1st year of law school (it must run in the family which is strange becuase there are really no lawyers in the family) and figures that this is a good time becuase the student lifestyle is much more flexible. However I cannot tell anyone, even my boyfriend (or what do you call the person who you live with for over 6 years, have cats with, have a house with and neither of you think marriage is a requirement for being life partners. He thinks partner sounds too old west and I think boyfriend sounds too 11th grade. tangent). I am trying not to be too excited. I cannot have kids so I will have them vicariously through her (which is good becuase actually I do not want my own). But I am going to start saving money for an education fund of some sort. I told her several years ago that I would help pay for college for one of her children and I intend to follow though on it.

At any rate, off to study.

Aphil-congrats on the new car...and the new clothes. Both are uplifting and good for the ego.
Zadie K-what a good idea to start a college fund now-I wish someone in my family would have the heart to do something like that. You will make a wonderful aunt!
I am in the process of moving offices and prepping files for someone to take over my position. This is more work than the work itself-I know what I'm doing, but explaining it to someone else is difficult.

Anyway....what's for dinner tonight at your houses...I am making low fat/cal. taco salads..... keep on posting!

dinner tonight at my house will probably be out somewhere, since we have to go get the car...wish me luck on finding a good healtheir choice wherever we go...
zadie-that is so nice to want to start a college fund for one of your future nieces or nephews. I totally recommend when her first child is born that you sign up for Upromise-at www.upromise.com. Basically, your whole family can sign up for the same child, and whenever you use your Kroger card, CVScard, credit or debit card, etc. and buy certain products-it puts a small percentage in an account which you can roll over into a college account. They have a few choices of college accounts that work with Upromise, and a lot of the products are brands a lot of us buy anyways-like Coke products, Keebler products, Kotex, Huggies diapers and wipes, and so on. Basically you get the benefits for sticking with certain brands, and they give you $ back for being faithful to them. My husband goes through a few 2-liters of Coke each week anyhow, so we may as well get .04 or .05 for each one back for the kids. A bonus we are getting right now from that as well-is that GM is one of the sponsoring products-and when you buy a new GM vehicle (Chevy, GMC, Pontiac, etc.) they put $150 in your child's account to roll over into their college fund that you are contributing to-so when we get the car and the papers tonight, I will have to give Upromise that information. You can also have one Upromise account for more than one child-both of my kids are on the same one, and we have all the grandparents cards, etc. on it. It is really great-because those .04 and .05 for the smaller items over the years really adds up. Check it out!!!! No matter whether it ends up being a couple hundred dollars of a couple thousand-money is money, and when it comes to college expenses-every bit helps.
Aphil

Hello,
Aphil - that sounds like a good idea. I am still trying to figure out the tax consequences of anything I set up, but there are lots of programs that allow for education funds that are not taxed on the gains. It is strange becuase at this point I have no savings for myself becuase I have been in school the past three years. However now that I am going back into the workforce I can set up both education savings and my own savings. It seems like such luxury.

At work now. All is well, except that we have an infestation of children in our yard. They are from the neighborhood and are all from 10-14 and are really bored. I have no idea how to get rid of them without either getting them angry at us or getting them into trouble. Any advice from those of you who know anything about kids?

I'm there! I'm there! My first goal!!
Ok now what? I've still got about two handfuls of roll on each side. You know, it's starts on your hip and rolls around the front. And there's about a handful on the inside of each thigh just above my knee. How much is that 5 lbs? 10 maybe?

Hi Everyone!

It's been one of those weeks and from the looks of this thread, it's been a hectic (and exciting) week for all of you!!

It has rained everyday since....I can't remember when it didn't rain. This has not been good news as far as pool building goes. I've had to draw the curtain and just not look at the mess in the back. They come out--do a little work a couple of days-- and then you don't see them. Anyway, we've had this trip planned to go to Sarasota, Fl. and we leave next Fri. for a week. We rented a house with a pool, ha, ha, (cause that's the only pool we'll be swimming in this summer) and it's about 3 blocks from the beach. So we will at least get to swim and relax a little.

Had to find another dentist this week...I just hate having to switch but when you are not getting the treatment you need, that's what you do. So I think we've found a nice one...a lady...so maybe this will be a long-term relationship.

Okay, I have fallen in love with the whole "cobbler" thing. I mean off the deep end. I've tried peaches with "sugar free" cake mix...(this was not as crispy as the the other mix), and I finally found Lucky Leaf cherries (canned) with Splenda!! Yeah!!! So I bought a small box of Jiffy cake mix and I'm going to make that tonight. That has just been the nicest treat to have once a week!!! Everyone likes it and it doesn't stay around long.

Also, Aphil...your wonderful idea about the caramel for the apples....well, I found a new little tub made by Little House that has no fat and only has 110 cals! This was in super Wal-mart. Hey, knocking off 100 cals. is a big help -- I haven't tried it yet but I will be sure to let you know what I think.

Keep bringing on the great ideas...I have added so many food item options to my shopping list because of all the info. everyone's been kind enough to share!

Looking forward to the weekend!!!!

Hey Georgialady, glad you like the cobbler-isn't it a great summer treat? Here's my sweet of this week:

1 angel food cake (I bought a pre-made one)
1 pkg. vanilla SF pudding
skim milk
1 cup FF sour cream
8 oz. cool whip free
2 sm. boxes of SF strawberry jello
1 pint strawberries

In a 9x13 pan tear up 1/2 the cake. In another bowl mix the pudding with milk as directed on the box, let set until firm, stir in the sour cream and 1 cup of the cool whip. Spread this over the cake. Slice the strawberries over the pudding, then tear up the remaining cake and place on top of the berries. Mix the cool whip as directed and pour over all. Refrigerate for 2 hours and top with the remaining cool whip before serving. YUM! About 3 points each if cut in to 12 pieces.

Hello,
Just checking in. That dessert sounds really very good. Actually all desserts sound good right now.

Today I faced the temptation of doughnuts at work and I did not cave. And I really like doughnuts. But I held firm.

Well, Have a good weekend y'all!