We were awakened by a call but it was already 8 am so time to get up any way. Our bedroom is so dark these days that we can easily sleep in and since we often don't sleep well we feel it's not all bad. I hope to get some housework done today and then head to Costco to get our refund. Not much else on the agenda.

Rie - GFY on the walking! I think walking is a great exercise. We don't walk outside any more (except when RVing) but I still miss it.

Lynn - Glad you're still doing well with your weight! I think maintenance is kinda scary!!

Slmn- Candy is too much of a temptation for me! We usually try not to be home on Halloween so I don't have to deal with it. I used to enjoy handing it out to the kiddos though.

Glynne - Oh, oats and apple sounds SO good! I have the MF oatmeals but they aren't that good. Today I plan to make muffins out of the blueberry though as I do like them that way. But I miss my regular oatmeal with a little bit of brown sugar and fruit in it. I'm a slipper person too. Yesterday I didn't have many hot flashes and I was cold all day and esp last night! Amazingly my dh who is usually the cold one wasn't cold. My feet are often cold though even when I have the hot flashes, so I like wearing socks and slippers. I wear socks to bed even but then soon kick them off when I get too warm.

Karen31 - The bottled Slim-fast is just like the canned to me cause I pour it into a glass any way. But I like the feel of the bottle (smooth, nice shape) and if I were to drink it right from the container I'd probably prefer the bottle as no can taste. I got for the same price as I usually often get the cans on sale.
When it first came out I used to make it from the powder as you do, but I was working then and the cans seemed more convenient so I switched. I only drink 1/2 can/bottle at a time poured into a glass and then I mix in a 1/2 t. fiber. The whole can/bottle would have enough but when I only take 1/2 (to keep calores down) I need more.

I hear dh up now so time for me to get on to other stuff so I'll be ready to go out with him. You guys have a good day!

Carol Sue...Thanks. One downfall I have when counting calories is not eating enough, I've always had that problem. So why do I have a tendency to gain weight? Simple, I love sweets. More so since DH and I stopped drinking alcohol. I read somewhere that people that stop drinking get a sweet tooth, TRUE!
I only have time to post yesterday's calorie, we're putting our dining room/living room back together again. The floor was completed around 3 pm yesterday, Yipee.

Hi everyone.its beautiful out today sunny but crisp. i feel snow is coming. dh arrived in minnesota. he was sooo excited. ive been busy esp with the dogs. sadie ate my book i was reading. i dont know how she can be so quiet when shes being bad. its was one i was half done with. there isnt a piece bigger than a quarter.now i have to order another ohhh bad dog! i stuck my phone in my bra and went out side this am and walked up and down the wch ramp 5 x's for exercise. felt good.my upper legs are sore lol i take the phone in case i fall. is everyone posting their food intake dailey now good idea
yesterday:
breakfast.oinkos greek yogurt coffee
lunch turkey lunch meat roll ups( 2 slices,i slice cheese,cukes) iced tea
snack sf mocha smoothie about 60 calories
cranraisens and cashews 1/4 cup
grilled salmon,asparagus sm salad
snack protein soy cookie bites,1 bag 120 cal iced tea

hope you all are having an awsome weekend (((hugs))) rosey

Zoe, stay safe and warm. I hope this storm moves out quickly for you. The older I get the more I hate snow!! I'm hoping that we don't have a bad winter here this year. Your muffins sound really good. I'll bet they were good. Sounds like good "comfort food" to me.

I tracked my keyboard this afternoon and it is in Joplin so I should have it tomorrow or the next day. That is one thing that I really like about Walmart.com they gave me an estimate that it would be here between Nov. 3 and Nov. 6 and anything that I have ever ordered has always come in early. So I'm looking forward to getting it and playing with it. I don't think it will take too long for me to get used to it----just need to learn more cords now instead of just pushing buttons!!

Haven't heard anymore today on Tim's Dad so I assume everything is going pretty good. Tim's sister is such a sweetheart--- she takes on so much and is now staying with Dad all the time except for when she can get one of her kids to come and spend the night so she and her hubby can have a "date night" I got to give her kudos 'cause I don't think I would've been able to take care of my Dad 24 hours a day, including changing catheters and bathing and all that. She is definetly someone special!

Well, guess I'd better get going and get some serious gorking done! LOL!! I think I'm trying to get a scratchy throat-- always seems to happen a few days after I get the flu shot. Maybe it will just pass very quickly!!

Have a good night everyone

Hi jess and everyone. nope jess i have all 3. sadie ate my book. shes awful and sweet at the same time. of course gizmo and daisy can do no wrong being a hunting bachloette is fine for now. im so blessed to have so many friends that check on me,and offers to run to the store for me. even had a visit from my dd's girl friend today.so for now im ok. ttfn rosey

Mary, you might not have gotten much housework done in the three weeks but if you had, the dirt would already be back. Instead you had fun. Welcome to our world!

Carole Sue, wonderful news on the cardiologist report. That is quite reassuring, isn’t it?

Gayle, it was nice of your to go on all the errands with your DH on your day off.

Lynn, count me in the “gotta do lots of exercise to eat a minimal amount of calories” club. It amazes me what the “experts” say on how many calories I can eat with my height/weight/activity. I’d be back over 200 pounds if I listened to them.

ROFL Val at the blowing and marching. I’m an expert at blowing and ellipticalling. Great job on all the steps!

Rosey, you are an inspiration. Love that you stuck your phone in your bra. You are inventive!

Donna, glad that with everything you’re dealing with G/M that the tree didn’t hit her house. You have enough with the insurance thieves.

To answer Donna’s questions about the tandem – yahoo – we picked it up today and went for a 7 mile ride. DH has that nasty cold. I’d almost think he was looking at our posts since he caught the one going around here, but alas, he wouldn’t care less. So we went for a short ride. Perhaps I can con him into another. And the food stuff, eating out is so hard. It is not worth it. I make everything homemade and I’ve been reading labels before it was vogue to do so. Pretty much everything we make is from scratch – bread, pasta (yes we make fresh pasta), marinara, pizza, etc. I’m creative when it comes to substitutions with recipes. Prepackaged foods don’t come in my house except for when DH wants something.

Zoe, stay warm and safe. Here’s hoping the electricity stays on.

My day has been interesting. My son texted DH that he has a new number. Didn’t let me know so I deleted his contact info. Then five hours later he text me. So I put his other info in with his new number. We actually texted for a few minutes and both said we loved each other. Then I said I want to work on our relationship. He didn’t respond. At least I’m trying. Mostly because I can’t get the frustration out of my head – its like a damn movie that won’t stop. If I just let it all slide and everything is “fine” I decided the stopped movie would be worth letting it all slide.

Anyways, I LOVE my tandem. It was scary at first. Being the stoker (second person) I have to put all faith and control to the captain. That was odd. Luckily I trust my DH implicitly. During scary parts (narrow areas) I just closed my eyes. I sat in the back peddling away and chatting at my hubby. I posted a picture of Ruby Red Rider Two. Ruby Red One is my single bike. I love that I have two red bikes. And RRR2 has a double meaning. It’s the second and its for two. Someday I’ll get a picture of DH and I on it, or at least posing on it but for now… just propped against the wall. Sorry the photo is sideways.
Marie

Rosey I keep my phone in my bra sometimes too esp at the gym. I always hope the electronics don't give off some cancer causing rays when I do it though. Yikes!

Marie - No matter how onery our kids are we cannot give up on them. We are parents for life..they are in our hearts no matter what they do, where they go.
The tandem bike sounds fun, never did that.

Karen31 - so glad your dad is doing ok and has a good person to take care of him. I agree not everyone can do it. My sister was the one who it landed to in our family....he was in a nursing home but she was there almost every day to see him and took care of his finances etc. after his wife stopped visiting.

Zoe - your muffins sound really good! I could go for one right now! :-) Not sure I could have stopped at one...admire your discipline! I was actually warmer tonight than last night. Maybe dh turned up the thermostat, I didn't check. He likes to sneak it up on me. ;-)but I have to admit it was nice to not be so cold tonight.

Donna - Glad your plants are surviving. We plan on transplanting a rose that grows too tall for where it's planted, we've never done that, hope it survives. Joe's been slowly digging it out but he gets tired and has to stop every now and then and covers up the roots until the next time he has a spurt of energy. I told him he doesn't have to do the rose but he says now that he has it dug around he has to or he'll have to do it all again next time. I wish now I hadn't mentioned it. I'm so used to him being able to do everything I forget he isn't as able as he used to be. He seems to have plenty of energy to go fishing though! LOL And I don't mean that sarcastically. I'm glad he still enjoys it.

Karen31 - I'm excited too about your keyboard. Post a video of you playing after you get a chance to get used to it.

Talk later...

Good Morning, Everyone,

Yesterday, I got to the mall to meet my friend, but got scared off by the snow/sleet. On my way to meet her, I saw two accidents. So, we had a quick lunch and I drove home. Today, we will re-meet to see the movie.

Next week begins my new course. I will try to check in regularly, but will probably not be able to do personals.

Lynn

Hi Chickadee,

If you have not eaten a lot of fiber, when you begin adding it to your diet, you get some stomach issues. If you add it a little at a time, your body will get used to it and will thank you for it.

Hi Zoe,

I am determined to find a way to be able to wear this sweater. My DD is a perfectionist and the design and stitching on the sweater are beautiful. She put so much work and love into the sweater that I feel guilty that I avoid wearing it. The funny thing is that I bought the wool. It is Alpaca and felt SO SOFT (until I tried to wear it). Hopefully, I will not have the same problem with the cashmere.

Hi Marie,

Six hours of driving in one day is TOO MUCH! No wonder you were tired!

Hi Karen,

So HAPPY to hear that Tim’s dad is doing better.

Hi Mary,

It seems like we have more posts in the Spring and Fall. I always like to see a big number of posts on our threads.

Hi Carol Sue,

GOOD for you on the positive cardiologist report! What surgery do you need to have?

Hi Rie,

I have 16,852 more points before my Silver Medal. It is going a LOT slower now that I am not training. I have less time on exercise and less intensity – therefore, fewer points earned. Hopefully, I will earn it while Obama is still in office.

Hi Mary,

What I FINALLY learned (after MANY years) is that there is no difference between losing and maintenance. It is all about balancing eating and exercising. When you want to lose, you eat less than you burn. When you want to maintain, you eat as much as you burn. I eat about the same amount as I did while I was losing. The lower my weight, the fewer calories I can eat without gaining.

Hi Bobbi,

I ABSOLUTELY agree. When my DH and I stopped drinking, we began eating desserts. Basically, it is just a different way to get sugar.

Hi Rosey,

GOOD for you! I REALLY wish we lived closer. I need knitting help. I finished with one hank of yarn and started a new one. Problem is that the second hank is not the exact coloring of the first and you can see the change in the scarf. The yarn is hand-dyed and has no dye lot. I can either have a VERY short scarf, or an “unmatched halves” scarf!

Hi Donna,

I actually borrowed the book from the library, but never got around to reading it. At this point, because of the diabetes and the esophageal spasms, I am really struggling with trying to eat healthy. Unfortunately, I seem to be eating more and more simple carbs – NOT good. I really MUST figure out how to balance these two problems.

Hi Zoe,

You could cook for me anytime!

Hi Marie,

I have come to the conclusion that everyone is different. For me, I need to eat below 1200 calories to lose (with 90-120 min of exercise) and around 1200 (with the exercise) to maintain. For now, I am choosing to maintain – although, at 5’1”, I could stand to lose about 20 more lbs. After the holidays, I may work on losing another 10 lbs. I REALLY believe that to maintain a weight loss, we need to lose slowly and maintain the loss for 6-12 months before losing more. The steep/fast weight losses come back FAST!

Good morning GG's,

One day down ~ two to go. Got out late last night. Seems like things kind of go in cycles. For a while, it seems that I get out on time. Then there will be a spell where it seems to run late. Friday night an admission was rolling off one elevator when I was getting on the other one to leave. I feel guilty when that happens ~ fighting back and forth with myself in my head ~ keep going or turn around and go back. Keep going has won out so far. Last night the admission rolled off the elevator 5 minutes before the end of my shift. I don't feel right leaving when it comes before my time is up even if it is that close to the end of my shift. If it is fairly quite ~ it takes about an hour to do an admission (my part). Thank you so much supervisor for pushing to get things moving along (feel the sarcasam ~ LOL).

My knees are feeling way better ~ still have an occasional pain when walking (never know when it will come ~ no warning and it kind of throws you off balance.) I feel that that pain was for me the thing that finally screwed my head on straight with this proper eating stuff. I hope the thoughts of it will continue to remind me so that I leave those goodies that are calling to me alone. Yesterday there was a box of doughnuts on the break room table. I didn't indulge ~ kept telling myself ~ that is "pain in a box".

Sorry ~ I keep promising personals, then get out late and my evening is shot.

I'd better get off and do some more getting ready for work.

Hope you all are having a good weekend.

Take care

Yesterday morning, hubby wanted to go to breakfast. I just cannot do 2 eggs, home fries, bacon and biscuit and gravy anymore. So I ate my normal breakfast before he even got up, and packed no-fat yogurt and strawberries in a lunch box that I took with me to the diner. As he ate his over 1,500 calorie breakfast, I ate my 100 calorie yogurt. I felt very proud of myself.

Good job Donna Marie! I always find it hard to do that... I think I just like food too much! I figure I can always exercise a little more to make up for the breakfast... but then I don't do that either. SAD....