Gary, that wall looks like a huge job....like to see an after photo. I've never seen a wall with sand and shells on it.....could use that idea here in Florida.

Trish, which WTPA dvd do you do? I just got the Walk Slim, Fast Start! That 2 miles about does me in but I am trying to work it in once a week and gradually build up and hopefull do the 3 mile but it will be a while! Congrats on making your goal.

Karen, what a great looking family. I am so happy it all went well, hope you have the cookout and get to know the boys better before you move so they will have some fun memories of you.

Zoe, sounds like a yummy meal your fixing. Our chinese take out was excellent but of course I'm up with water weight again....I expected it.
My Doctor has me doing every test they have, I swear he hunts for new ones for me to take! lol

Lynn you use Weight Commander don't you, I do also. I'll have to look at my stats for the past year as I am in a holding pattern again. I don't mind weighing every day, I have learned my bodys ups and downs pretty well and it doesn't upset me.

Paula maybe I missed about the card.....this place is pretty hard to keep up with if you miss a day or two isn't it. I hope Dad's walking is slowly getting better, he's doing good.

Cat, I also make that salad often and do the stacking it is especially good in the summer with the fresh tomato. I did buy some fresh tomato and finally had that tomato and mayo sandwich you all were talking about!

We have a huge screened in patio and have many plants in huge clay pots and I usually plant a tomato plant in one but didn't this year, it got so hot so quickly I decided to skip this year but I am missing them....they don't get real large but so good in the clay pot. The ones from the farmers market are very good.

Have a good week-end everyone.

Phyllis

Well, Angie has taken off on her run with the "girls"......

LYN ~ I am so glad the concert went well. My brother and a friend went and saw the Moody Blues a couple of months ago at a casino near us, they really enjoyed the concert also. I hope your day doesn't get rained out ~ Enjoy your boating.

TRISH ~ Great job on the 2 miles. My wife is in the handbell choir at our church. She practices most every Saturday during the year until summer, because of the same reasons. They pick back up at the school year start. My sister in law played piano a lot in the past at our church but now we have a full time music director that plays the organ and piano.

ZOE ~ I'm with you on the bottled water. we do/did buy bottled water, the sports tops, for the kids. With 4 kids in the house and all of them in sports, drinking TONS of it daily, it was just much easier...plus at Costco the $$$ wasn't too bad. My step-daughter attends school in New York, brought home some designer water that she paid a fortune for, says "try this" to Angie and I..."well, what do you think?"...humm taste like water to us...she was a little bit irritated The dinner you may make sounds super! I hope that the humidity is kind to you.

LYNN ~ Way to go on keeping track of your efforts. I find if I do that I usually do better when I write my foods, weight, etc down. When it is out of site, it is for sure, out of my mind. I hope your trainers are "nice" today!

PAULA ~ I sure hope the takes it easy on you guys today. I grew up in scouts, my son and I did it together until he was ready to go into boy scouts out of cubs. He just told me one day, before we were heading off to a camping week-end, that he wasn't a camping kind of kid...he would rather stay home and play baseball catch with me. He is very athletic, played sports all through high school and college, always playing some sport even at 26 today and coaches...but camping...Not his thing!

This year we didn't grow tomatoes for a change...but a lady I just did some drywall work for had about a zillion...she was glad to give them to me and I was so happy to take them

KAREN ~ What a great looking group! Those two moms look like they could be sisters to me! It was so good they could get together. I don't know the story but...well, it is a good thing they could meet and you could see them all, awesome! Prayers continue for the house sell. Talked to my son about his buddy yesterday, he said his friend was really looking hard at a condo in Colorado Springs...but with work slow he changed his mind...for now. I guess his job is supposed to pick up, so now he isn't sure again on wether to stay or come back here.

PHYLLIS ~ Thanks for the welcome. Yes we are usually pretty busy around here, but of course as the kids grow, get married and move out, it slows a little. I assume prayers are in order on the sell of your home too? My mother in law is from Ohio, always talks of going back...probably won't happen for her though...too much family here for her. Enjoy your week-end.

LIND D ~ Yep, we are very close...WITHOUT TRAFFIC! I see you have had a job change? Step away from that cinnamon roll! Our weather should be warm this week-end.

Well Ladies, Angie just got back from her run and wants to head to breakfast...she has yoga at 10:30 so I need to run....HAVE A GREAT WEEK-END ~ GARY

I'm flying by right now...I have to go bathe a muddy puppy (she decided to play under the house!)...then I have a zillion other things on my to-do list before more work comes in..

I was just watching food network while folding towels and saw this great looking salad recipe.
I would substitue balsamic vinegar because cider vinegar is so full of sugar and of course substitute splenda or something else for the sugar..
but it looked great.

I'm going to try a fresh wilted spinich salad I am working on in my head and will let you know how it turned out and share the recipe...unless the dogs end up eating it..

Hi GOLDEN GIRLS -- just a quick hi while I fly (hey I am a poet LOL). My last day at work was Thursday so too much to do no personal computer time But the great news is that Thursday night our new nephew Owen was born -- two weeks early!!! We went into town to see new baby and mom and dad -- they are all so frikken cute. So its exciting here to say the least - first baby for me since my son was born 27 years ago -- so I plan to spoil him like crazy. We are starting our week vacation and hopefully I am able to come and catch up on everyone.

Have a great weekend!!!!

Guess what??? Another rainy day in Ohio. Will it ever end. They boys are home from camp so it will probably quit now.

Cat- My daughter always did hate the purified water. She only drinks spring water. I, on the other hand, just use the empty bottles to fill with my own tap water. It makes it convenient and it's recycling.

Gary- I love the sand on the walls. What a cute decorating idea. Good luck getting it off.

Lyn- Sounds like you had a nice time at the concert and managed to get some exercise in too.

Linda- Back at ya!

So...

I turned 50 this week. My life is a bit out of synch with being 50, but there it is. So here I am, in a 50+ thread!

As an intro: I'm newly married in 2005 [yes, it's a first marriage for both of us]--that's my wedding pic in my avatar. And we're in the process of adopting internationally. That's why I feel out of synch. We find ourselves downsizing the house, downsizing careers, and buying playpens while enjoying Bossa Nova tunes from the 60's.

Since we got married, I've gained about 20 pounds which now MUST come off. I'll be chasing an 18 month old around by Christmas and need to be in shape! I'm using portion control and cardio/weights to do it and looking for others to share with. It is SO much harder at this age to lose weight!

No matter, I mean to do it--so greetings all and Happy Saturday!

cuppa

Welcome to the GOLDEN GANG , Cuppa. Great to have you with us. Congratulations on all the new stuff happening in your life. Wow, Chickie . . . you are just starting on that road that most of us have put behind us (well, except for the grandchildren). Good luck to you.

Well Girls and Gary, I have definitely been feeling a little 'out of sorts' the last few days. Don't know what you may ever hear about the Canadian weather down there in the US, but we have been breaking humidex records in Atlantic Canada for the past couple of days and today looks like it will be no exception. After such a slow start to our good weather this year (Spring was exceptionally cold); old Mom Nature is definitely getting even with us for complaining. Believe it or not, one of the best things about Nova Scotia is the climate -- relatively mild in the Winter and relatively cool in the Summer -- at least as compared to the central parts of the country. Oh well, not this year. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little cooler with thunderstorms. For a change, some rain actually sounds good.

Hope everybody is having a great weekend . . . see you later, gang . . .

Hey JoAnne have a wonderful vacation....enjoy.

Welcome Cuppa....how exciting for you and your dh. Adoption is something I always wanted to do and applied once but ended up pregnant so we had to cancel. What country, do you know?

Lyn, sounds like you really had fun at the concert.....I'm proud of ya girl getting up and dancing!

Cat I looked at the recipe, sounds good. I am trying a new one today that includes barley and chick peas, if it is good I'll post it. I cannot eat lettuce at all so I am always looking for new lettuce free ideas.

Hey Linda....the weather is crazy everywhere except down here in Florida, we are in our usuall HOT & HUMID - THUNDERSTORMS EVERY AFTERNOON pattern.

Phyllis

Hi there GG. . .

The weather is still too hot and sticky and I'm still slightly 'out of sorts' about it, too. It's pouring rain right now and that is a good thing -- anything that lowers the temperature (the lack of sun) is a good thing and very welcome right about now.

Have to admit though PHYLLIS . . . just thinking about what it must be like in Florida makes me feel cooler.

Our problem is that it's very unusual here for it to be so hot and humid and very few people have A/C because you usually just don't need it. I'm glad I finally bought a couple of A/C units this spring even though I was beginning to think I wouldn't need them this year since the spring was so unusually cold, but they've definitely saved me this week. Although I do feel a bit like a hermit, shut up inside like this.

One another topic . . . The kittens are getting bigger and bigger . . . but they are definitely NOT staying out of trouble. Frickle is still "watering" the couch occasionally if I forget to spray it with "Shoo" every morning (hopefully the pheremone diffuser on it's way from Ontario will put an end to that -- hurry up Canada Post) and Freckle has "blessed" a couple of unexpected places in the past week. He's starting to smell and act like a "tom-cat". Only two weeks and two days until the big "fix-em-operations". Hopefully between that and the special Feliway diffuser, these nasties will soon be over. Other than that; they are totally delightful.

Anyway, I'd better get myself moving and shaking. I've put off going out for some groceries just about as long as possible waiting for a little bit of a break in the weather and I guess today is it. Hope everybody else is having a really great Sunday. See you soon . . .

Good Morning Everyone,

OK - This will be a long one. May have to break it up into two - I've got 4 pages of posts to go through!

Hi Phyllis, a 2 mi WATP tape!!! - I can't even get through the 1 mile one. I use Diet Power - I have Weight commander, but Diet Power works better for me to track my nutritional information as well as my weight. I still keep my lbs in Weight Commander - especially when I'm losing - I have that info back to 2002. I started using Diet Power around 2005.
You wrote, "I don't mind weighing every day, I have learned my bodys ups and downs pretty well and it doesn't upset me." Funny, but it was by recording my weight everyday & seeing the constant ups and downs that I became more relaxed about the numbers. I like to have a record of them - I'm a researcher at heart - but until I get stalled for a couple of weeks, I'm comfortable with the fluctuations.


Hi Theresa, I hope your back/hip is getting better.

Hi LindaD, nice photos of your db & his fiance. Do you get to see him much? I have trouble using fresh veggies - they're always going bad. One of the problems of living alone.
I do NOT have problems with cinamon rolls going bad - get those babies out of your house! They are known to attack innocent people!

Hi Cat, I love those Birdseye steam in the bag veggies. I just steam them, melt some Smart Balance margarine in them & add salt & pepper - mmmmmmm.
I think you have hit the nail on the head - I'm "on" South Beach, but plan on eating this way forever... - I plan to do the same thing.
I hope your "sinus thing" moved right past you.

Hi Linda (Meowee), you are ABSOLUTELY correct! My scale does NOT weigh in lbs and ozs, it's lbs and tenths of lbs. Duh!
How does Jazz deal with the shots? About the climate in Nova Scotia - I was there for a week in the summer many years ago - it was foggy, rainy, humid the whole week! We were supposed to stay 2 weeks - finally left and went to Boston for the 2nd week.

Hi Lily, see my post to Linda (Meowee) above. However, even though it's tenths of lbs and not ozs, I like it. Moving just .2 of a lb is motivational (or a warning) for me.

Hi Gary, you wrote, "I think I am going to like it here...if you let me stick around!" Why wouldn't we? We're all in this together. We'll take all the support we can find.
You also wrote, "I used to look that thin - about 25 years ago." I try to tell my nieces & my dd that they should be happy with how they look now bc they're NOT going to look better in 25 years.
I LOVE the wall with the sand and seashells - my sil would LOVE to have a wall like that in his house.
You wrote, "I find if I do that I usually do better when I write my foods, weight, etc down. When it is out of site, it is for sure, out of my mind." Take note of our Challenge thread on this board. It's one more method of support for those of us who like to keep track. Plus, there's a prize at the end of each Challenge for the winners.

Hi Margaret, I don't know if you know about "Jersey Tomatoes," but to me, there's nothing like them. They have the most delicious taste & are available in July, and August. I've been eating at least one a day since I found the little stand on the way to my scrapbooking store in the beginning of the month.
Any chance of your adding your photo on your avatar?

Hi Paula, glad your father received the cards. So happy to hear he's up and walking. Paula, what is your website address? I'd love to see the things you make.

Hi Karen, did the guy come back with his wife on Saturday? The photos of you at McDonald's are great - you look wonderful & Happy. I'm so glad you got back together.

Hi Trish, I'm doing this new thing with tracking my weight (I weigh daily - you'd have to do it for weekly). I'm keeping a record of how many days (weeks) my weight shows a particular # (not the tenths of lbs or ozs, just the whole number). For example if my weight were:
7/1 167
7/2 166
7/3 167
7/2 166
7/3 165

My chart would read -
167 - 2
166 - 2
165 - 1

It's helping me learn patience & see that I'm simply "bouncing around" within a 2-3 lb range for a while before I really lose a lb.
Wow! You're doing the 2 mile WATP tape also! I'm impressed.

Hi Zoe, did the directions tell you to put the pedometer on your shoe? All the ones I have always went on my waistband.
See my message to Trish above about the "bounce region" chart. How did the dinner with your friends' go?

Hi Big Brother Fans, I guess I'm going to have to watch this thing just so I can keep up on the conversations around here. When is it on?

Hi Lyn, Glad you enjoyed the concert. When I was up by Kennebunkport, there was a demonstration going on against the war (because Bush was up there). I didn't go (my sister didn't want to get stuck in traffic), but from the photos on the news, looked like everyone who was there was in their 50's or 60's.

Hi Joanne, Congratulations on the new addition to your family! Tell Owen & his parents we said hello.

Hi Cuppa, welcome. Good luck with the adoption.

OK - if you got through this epic post, I'm off to the gym and my dd's today. My sil's grandsons are coming up for a visit. I'll post some photos tomorrow.
I called my Little Sister this morning to see if she wanted to join me - she's got plans with her friends - first time in 6 years she's had other plans - I am VERY happy for this. She needs to be with kids her own age.
At home, she's mostly baby-sitting for her younger brothers.

Would you believe that after waiting all that time to hit 165.0, I slid right by it? I weighed in at 164.0 this morning. I think the eating every 3 hours and the drinking lots of water may be working. We'll see.

Everyday at the gym, I've been increasing time on the eliptical by 1 minute. Began at 10 minutes & am up to 17 minutes (yesterday) - all at Level 1. Today, I'm going to up the level to 2 and see how long I can go.

Check back tonight - btw - I complained to the Dean about the training.

Lynn

WEDNESDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) -- Friends don't let friends get obese.

This may be literally true, according to Harvard researchers who suggested in the July 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that obesity, or the trend to thinness, is socially contagious, "spreading" through social ties.

"This reinforces the idea that because people are interconnected, their health is interconnected," said study author Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis, a professor at Harvard University. "It takes seriously the embedded-ness of people within social networks and gives new meaning to the concept of public health."

While this may cause people to look differently at their friends and acquaintances (both overweight and thin), the real value of the research is in pointing to new ways to combat the growing epidemic of overweight and obesity, experts said.

"Trying to address the problem on an individual level has been so hard, and it may be because we're not addressing the network, which could be family, neighborhood, community, school," said Dr. Julio Licinio, chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "This is a fascinating way to look at the problem, and it may be a very good reason why treatments have been so difficult, because we're only addressing one member of the network."

"It brings up another component of our environment that influences obesity," added Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "This would need to be proven, but it suggests that, to be effective in treating obesity, we have to not just treat the person who's obese but also the social network."

The study is likely to become a classic, experts stated.

The issue is of no small concern, since obesity has become a major public health problem in the United States and other Western nations. According to background information in the article, two-thirds of American adults are now overweight, while the prevalence of obesity has increased from 23 percent to 31 percent.

A variety of explanations have been put forth on the epidemic, including less exercising and more eating. But because the epidemic is so widespread and affects all socioeconomic groups, there are likely several social and environmental explanations for the phenomenon, experts said.

The authors speculated that the ubiquity of social networks, and the natural inclination of people to be influenced by the appearance and behaviors of those around them, suggest that weight gain in one person might encourage weight gain in others. Having social contacts of a certain bodily size may also cause you to adopt certain behaviors, or other people's behaviors may even stimulate certain parts of the brain, such as those related to eating food.

To investigate this theory, the authors of this study evaluated more than 12,000 socially interconnected people in New England who had participated in the Framingham Heart Study, a landmark initiative aimed at unearthing the causes of cardiovascular disease. As part of that study, the individuals had undergone repeated measurements including body mass index (BMI) over more than three decades. At the beginning of the study, participants had been asked to identify their friends for follow-up purposes.

The researchers found that thin and fat people tended to be clustered together, with the clusters extended to three degrees of separation. In other words, you're obese and so is you friend's friend's friend, or your friend's spouse's sister.

In addition, a person's odds of becoming obese increased by 57 percent if he or she had a friend who became obese over a certain time interval. If the two people were mutual friends, the odds increased to 171 percent.

And if one adult sibling became obese, the chances that the other sibling would also become obese increased by 40 percent.

Marriage mattered, too -- if a spouse became obese, the other spouse had a 37 percent increased likelihood of following suit.

Social networks were more important than geographic location, the study found. In other words, who you tend to hang out with is more influential, weight-wise, than who your next door neighbor is.

People of the same gender had a greater influence on each other than people of the opposite gender, the team found.

Finally, the researchers found that the trend among Americans to quit smoking did not account for the spread of obesity within a given network.

According to the study authors, there's much more involved in the phenomenon than just similarities in lifestyle and environment, as evidenced by the fact that social networks are more important than geography. Two likely explanations are the spread of behaviors and the spread of social norms, with evidence pointing more to the latter.

"To a point, it reminds me of peer pressure -- we want to fit into this particular group," said Dr. Juan Castro, director of the Texas A&M Health Science Center Coastal Bend Health Education Center in Corpus Christi.

Christakis agreed. When overweight or obesity becomes normal in a given social circle, people may be more likely to become obese themselves. In other words, he said, "I see you gaining weight, so it's OK for me to gain weight."

That finding may support efforts to provide nutrition education in the workplace, where many people find their friends, Castro said. There is also value in targeting interventions at the person in a family in charge of food buying and preparation, he added.


HealthDay

Good Morning GG’s! Sorry I didn’t get back to post yesterday---I ended up having a bit of an upset tummy and didn’t do much at all!! We stayed close to the house all day and that guy from NM never called or came by with his wife to see the house. I imagine this is the reason that the tummy was messed up! Just the stress of waiting on people! We did walk down to the 5th wheel, which is at the front of our 5 acres and put a new sign in the window with a lower price and also added out address t the phone number in case someone would rather just come on up to the house instead of calling. Of course as soon as we did that and got back to the house the skies opened up and we had a downpour for the next 3 hours!!!

Zoe, I hope all your tests come back just fine! I always hate having to have all those yearly exams!! But I guess it is just one of those necessary evils that have to be done! Oh and btw---- I love our water from up here in the Rocky Mountains!! It is so cold and good right from the tap!! Of course, we have our own well. I have only bought “bottled water” once and that was last year when we took off to go back for my Dad’s heart surgery and forgot to bring water for Ginger and Sissy!! So stopped and bought a bottle for them!! Spoiled babies!!

Linda D ---Watch our for those cinnamon rolls!! I know I’ve been attacked by them too!! I did find a recipe that I make in the bread maker that uses splenda and they were actually pretty good… I’ll have to see if I can find that and post it. Even Tim liked them!

Paula, It sounds like your Dad is doing really good. I still need to get a card and get it sent to him. I think I will go and put that on my “list” right now!

Trish, I would also love to see a picture in your avatar!! I really like the WATP’s videos too. I heard somewhere that someone was doing them on their mini-trampoline so I think I’m going to “attempt” that and see what that is like. I imagine it will be a darn good workout!!

Gary-- That wall looks so GREAT!!! My grandson, TJ would love that! I’ll bet it was a lot of hard work to do and now probably more hard work to get it off. WOW!

Lyn--- glad you had such a good time at the concert!! The last concert we went to was for Garth Brooks down in Pueblo at the State Fair!! That was a long time ago!!

Phyllis-- I am also looking forward to growing some vegetables when we get moved to MO. We really can’t grow much here--- it feeds the deer!!

Cat-- the salad recipe sounds pretty good so I will probably try that and see what the hubby thinks of it. He is mostly a meat and potato kind of a guy! He will eat salads though.
Joanne-- Congrats on the new nephew!!! Enjoy spoiling him!

Welcome cuppa!! How exciting adopting a baby!! Be sure and keep us posted how things are going for you.. AND PICTURES!!!! We love pictures!!

Linda-- I guess I wouldn’t have thought about it being so hot and sticky there. I know that is what we will be moving to. So I really do want to make sure we buy a place that has AC!! It sounds like your kittens really keep you busy!! Just like my poms--- like having 2 year olds forever!!

And Thanks EVERYBODY for the compliments on the family pictures!! We sure waited a long time for them! The last time we saw them Travis was just a little over 2 year old and Brandon was about 5 months!! So glad that things have been put in the past now! And Chris’s hubby is good friends with my son Todd so they are already talking about putting together some camping trips for both families!! And Chris and DanI knew each other in high school so they get along too. God really does work miracles!!

Guess I need to close this book and get busy! Everybody have a great Sunday! And where are the rest of the Golden Gang??? Karen

The is shining today. I guess that means the boy scouts are home from camping. They are predicting nice weather all week with temps in the 80s.
I went out for a 30 minute walk this morning. I was sweating when I got home. The poor dog was ready for a drink too.
I visited my dad yesterday and he was having a huge pity party. He seemed very depressed. He wouldn't talk or look at us. He did say, "this is all I have to do today". I asked him what he wanted to do. He wouldn't answer me. The RT came in and said she was going to start plugging his trach today and see how he does. IF he can go 2 days with the plug on she will remove the trach. My dad had no reaction to this news. My step sister is suppose to take her dog in to visit today. My dad loved this dog. He trained it. It's a doberman. I hope this perks him up some.

Cuppa-

Lynn- Here's my website. http://punypeople.com/

Big brother is on Sunday @ 8:00, Tuesday @ 9:00 and Thursday @ 8:00 each day is a new show not repeats.

on the : 164. I know that the eating every 3 hours really does help me lose weight. I have to get back to eating again. I know it sounds strange that you have to eat to lose weight, but I think it helps me.

Gary- Are you a reality TV junkie? I saw your posts on the American Idol thread. What others do you watch? We watch Survivor, Amazing Race along with the American Idol and BB.

Hi GG's & Gents, I just joined last week & I thought that I would join you. I'm 53, married with 2 adopted sons (17 & 19 years), a 10 year old beagle, and a kitten that my ds brought home that I'm trying to place.....the hound thinks it's suppose to be food! Cuppa, Good Luck with the adoption

It hit 37 degrees celsius here in B.C. yesterday & I'm sure that it's going to get that high today! I just returned from camping and enjoyed the trip, but I didn't enjoy the wasps!

Have a great day & great week

I just finished the 3 mile WATP tape. Whew!! I try to do the 2 mile tapes 3 times per week. Today I had to pump it up 'cause we had a celebration dinner. I had cheese cake. so I have to work off the cheese cake.

Which WATP tape do I use? Well I switch between the one with the fitness balls, WATP express (with the stretchie), and today WATP for the ABS. I bought them a few years ago....I am not aware of the her new systems.

I have no pictures of myself that aren't over 10 years old. I try to run away from cameras.

Here we are with a new week to begin. I'm determined to make the most of it. How about you?