Good Morning

Im back at it. Have been for about 3 weeks now, but Ive added another tool to my aresnal. Ive read the "Beck Diet Solution" and I am working that with Atkins. It is certainly helping me with the head stuff that goes on with me.

Business has been great....and yesterday, hubby and I decided to become vendors at a big bike rally this summer!! So I really need to get into shape!!! No pressure!!

I'll catch up with everyone soon. Have a great day ladies!

Hello Angels. I hope everyone is doing well.

RubyJ, I think the simple fact that you are thinking about how to deal with the foods at the event will make a huge impact on what choices you ultimately make. Good luck.

Fay, I remember reading your post about that cake. It really did sound delish! Good for you that you held firm. It is a constant battle for me because I am always making baked goods for Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, class rooms or just because the kids want something. Last weekend it was pumpkin bread muffins. And there is always the lovely weekday waffles or weekend pancakes. I do what I must.

I agree with you all that water is so important to your lifestyle. I try to drink about 10-12 cups a day. When I get less, I feel extremely thirsty when I wake up the next day.

I hit 150 again today. I'm not changing my ticker until I see it for two days straight. Last weekend my eating was really great, despite the diet lemon/lime soda. This weekend, I have a 5YO birthday party to attend. I am going to eat first and take some nuts with me. I don't plan on eating anything that will throw me off. My exercising hasn't been as good as I would like it. I wasn't as consistent with the cardio as I should have been. I am making up for some of that by doing the 5K Challenge this weekend that Leenie posted about. I am going to have my daughter take her scooter.

So, I've been reviewing my 'what are you eating' posts and I realize that I have a very plain diet. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. I know that consistency if good but I want a little more variety of veggies without adding pressure to my busy evening schedule. I will figure something out, I'm sure.

Has anyone been watching Biggest Loser? That one lady, Ali [?] did really awesome. She is a totally different person. And she looks great.

Have a great day everyone.

Hey, Angels.

I was reading People [yes, I read People and in public no less] yesterday and came across a book review for a new book by Jennifer Weiner [author of In Her Shoes which is now a movie]. The book of hers that I read was named Good In Bed. A plus-sized woman has to deal with her ex-boyfriend writing a monthly column in a women's magazine telling the world about their relationship in bed. It really was a good book. The new book is called Certain Girls, which is a follow up to Good In Bed. I've already got my library copy requested.

And then there is Marian Keyes. I've read about 4 of her books including Watermelon. I also read Rachel's Holiday about a girl that is forced into rehab by her family. I was crying while reading, it was that moving.

Okay, enough for now. Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Dear Every Angel:

Well, I am zippered into my blue silk dress ready to go off to the Evil Wedding -- evil that is, if it makes me slip up -- but have fortified myself with boiled eggs, so i do feel pleasantly sick to my stomach.

Since you asked -- there does seem to be something, a bit, a hint of something happening with the Gobsmacking Guy. He has invited me to go to his flat this coming Friday afternoon, to look at..gulp , yup, some of his 'collection' -- he is a rare book collector. He also sent me an article he has written, and I wrote back, and I think we are having a little email correspondence, He isn't in London much of the time, doing research different places. So I a hoping to be down maybe another pound or two by then... Maybe its a message from Dr.A, from the grave, for me not to give up -- surprises are just that, surprises.

Hope Everyone has a great day.

Ruby

Dear Angel Girls:
Thinking of you all, I did not have any WEDDING CAKE, ANY CHOCOLATE MOUSSE, ANY RASBERRY PAFAIT, AND ONLY 1/2 GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE AT THE WEDDING! THANKS SO MUCH, ANGELS.
Ruby,

Good job RubyJan! I have a dinner party to go to Wednesday night and I've no idea what to expect.....I'm afraid it will be a pasta fest or something. Maybe I'll eat before I go and then "feel under the weather" to not draw attention to myself if I'm not eating what they serve. Cop-out, eh?

Having scale difficulty....it's been up 1-2 kilos this week. The only thing I can see that I've done differently is having cheese more frequently (no 2 kilos of cheese though!) and not worrying/focusing about the number of calories (averaging 1800/day, F60-70/P30-25/C5).

I try not to let the scale dictate me, and I typically don't weigh daily. My recent thought on daily weighing is to take the power away from the scale - and it does seem to be working. Having said that, I'm going to back away from the cheese. Max of 1 ounce per day and see what happens. I'm also going to keep my splenda usage down to less than 4 packets per day.

Does anyone have any knowledge of beta blockers interfering with weight loss or fat burning? I saw a brief reference on Mary Vernon's site but haven't found anything else referencing this yet.

Happy weekend, Angels!

RubyJ, YES! YES! YES! That is really awesome news about the bloke and the lack of cake.

KrisR, I just read about beta blockers and it does say they can cause weight gain. So, if you're taking them, you may lose slower than if you weren't. Don't give up. Also, whatever you are taking the meds for may actually improve over time because you are no longer consuming refined carbos. A lot of health issues improve or disappear when you are on a low carb diet. But for now, just keep going even though your weight loss may slow down.

Dairy is the bane of my existence. I can't even have less than an ounce on a salad without causing weight stalls or gains. Aghhhh!

Aud, you know what the MiB says, National Enquirer is where you go for the real news.

My Saturday was full to the brim. I had to go out to WalMart at 7 to get a gift for a 5YO b'day party at 3, some other things that I really needed around the house, and a hoola hoop for my DD7, AND get back before DS9 little league game warm up at 9:45. Did I mention that I forgot my list on my desk at work. A list that I had been working on all week. I would even call myself and leave a voicemail when I thought of something that I needed. Oh, well, just gotta do the best I can with a 41YO menopausal memory. I got back home in time. I spent more than I planned but at least I got my growing DD7 2 more pairs of pants. She actually asked me to buy her some more pants. I think she's finally realized that she really can't wear a skirt/dress ALL THE TIME. When I got back, DH had grilled some steak and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Of course, he over cooked it but it was still warm when I walked in, so who's complaining? Not me, I ate that steak like it was from the last cow on earth. When we got home from the game I realized that we didn't have any b'day wrapping paper or even a pretty gift bag. My DD reminds me that we have christmas wrapping paper. But I just don't think snowflakes and reindeer wrapping paper in April is appropriate. I have to go back to WalMart. At least it's on the way to the party.

So, because we have to leave early to stop by WalMart on the way to the party, I have to put my salad in a ziploc bag and eat it on the way. Yes, I was walking down the street eating salad out of a bag. And hour later I ate 13 raw, unsalted almonds and 3 brazil nuts. Three hours later at the bowling alley, I am surprised to find that the snack bar has something called chicken breast wrap. Well, then I can just forgo the tortilla and get their side salad. Yeah! The chicken was tasteless and the lettuce was iceberg but it was acceptable food. I wasn't forces to have any of the pizza or delicious cake.

So, all in all, my weekend is going good as far as eating and I definitely got in enough exercise.

Enough for tonight. Ciao, Angels.

Superb, Ruby! You bloody rock, woman!

Can so! (Well, okay, I'm wearing trousers today. And now that they fit/are a bit too big, that does happen not infrequently. But mostly, I'm All About The Skirts!)

Fay, I'm sure that you are not hanging upside down from a jungle gym, going up and down the slide, swinging off the monkey bars in your skirt. Well, maybe you do.

It took a while to convince her to wear shorts under her dresses/skirts. Now I don't even have to remind her. She also really likes her scooters [skirts with the shorts built in them], too. And the amount of dirt she can manage to accumulate is amazing. Some weeks I am convinced that I just need to wash with the Shout. Even her teacher commented on it saying DD7 is quite feminine, almost prissy, but she comes in from recess dirty from head to foot.

Ah, to be young and uninhibited.

Okay, I'm not. But ONLY because I know my fat *** would break the slide and the jungle gym!

Aud, I am going to find the receipe and make that quiche. My kids love quiche so I can use this for dinner one night.

Fay, you are just so funny.

My eating for the weekend went really good. My calories were on the high side but it was all acceptable foods. Actually my calories have been on the high side all week but I dropped those 2 pounds. I've been told that I need to make sure my fats and calories are higher than I would think because I've been working out. So I'm working on get a balance of 60f/10c/30p. I'm usually high on protein and low on fats and carbs.

So, hope you Angels have an awesome Monday!

Hey everyone - sounds like everyone had a great weekend!

Weigh in today was the same. Looked back on my 'numbers' and it's been 4 weeks at the same weight. Bloody plateau's! Am planning to mix things up a bit this week....here's my plan.....

1. Cut out cream. Have started to get a bit of heartburn after I have my tea with cream and am at the end of a carton so am going to try a week without it and see if the heartburn lessens.
2. Add 2x60 minutes of lap swimming to my exercise routine.
3. Increase fats a bit (try to get slightly over the 70% level).
4. Keep carbs to less than 20 per day and keep calories between 1600-1800.
5. Max of 4 splenda per day.
6. Visualize daily the scale moving below the 105 kilo mark to the 100 kilo mark.
7. Change nuts from macadamia to almonds (having portion control problems with macadamia nuts). Keep cheese to a minimum (1 ounce per day max).

My motto for the week: "How bad do you want it?"