Girls you are so right it does seem to be good to be back to some type of routine and tracking. I did good for breakfast, lunch but dinner was at a buffet at the Casino. I lost only going 1 time a month with my friend. Its a girls night out and fun, we laugh and catch up on news etc. At any rate the buffet was okay, I did manage to eat some baked fish, tried somethings but if I wasn't crazy about the taste I only ate part of it. Before I would of ate more than last night and never left anything laying on my plate. So all and all it wasn't so bad. I did have dessert but only took a small piece of cake left part, ate a little lite roll up. No exercise other than walking in and out of work and doing the stairs 2 x's.
Today I am going to try to fit in my exercise at the gym. Julie before you know it you will be back to exercising and doing the things you want. It will all come back in due time. Keep up the good spirit everything else will follow. Good intakes!
Rollmdl you brought back memories of when the kids served me breakfast for mothers day. How sweet your little girl must be to think of her mom in this special way. It says a lot for her as a person. Keep up your healthy eating.
Tiredoffat keep up the routine your building for yourself. Good intakes and choice making. I had slipped in a protein bar yesterday for snack in the afternoon. The kashia ones I haven't had in awhile I will have to try them again.
I did go shopping and bought some grapefruit, dried cranberries, bananas, veggies etc. It will be alot easier to keep on track with better choices around thats for sure. We are scheduled for some nasty weather to start today. Snow!!!!!!!!!! We have had the craziest season. It has never been this warm and snow never this little before that I can ever remember. I am not complaining driving has been good. But I fear whats still to come. I have my little grandson on Thurs. as mom has to work at the paper until 1:30 a.m. and Dad will be in Boston for work. I already told her to feel free to keep him here overnight as its going to be to cold to take him in and out during the night. Well take care everyone and keep up your good work!
Intake: Breakfast = oatmeal w/ cran,slenda,splash of milk 150 cal.
1/2 grapefruit plain 20 cal. 1 coffee, 1 tea, 10 oz. water
Snack= celery 22cal. laughing cow lowfat ch.35cal.
Lunch= spinach salad w/ chicken br./mandarin oranges, balsamic vin/olive oil
almond, water,350 cal?Tea
Dinner= Homemade splitpea soup w/ ham
zucc. squash w/garlic, mozz. ch. sauted.
Snack= 1 fruit bar 140 cal. no fat

Hi all, I'm back to eating healthy food but I haven't been tracking. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I can see, in black and white, what I've been putting/not putting into my mouth.

Julie, good for you for finishing with your treatment. I'm guessing you'll be feeling better by the day. You have been so courageous through all of this. We all have choices about how we are going to perceive our challenges and I think that your attitude is so healthy---- No prolonged wallowing and positive talk--taking the action that you can and trying to let go of what you have no control over. You are such an inspiration for me.

Tired, your comment about the choices you make when having a refrigerator full of healthy food is right on the mark. I love being reminded that there are ways I can put support in place so I don't end up tired and with few eating options. It's so good to have all of that ice cream gone! I threw out a 1/2 gallon of ice cream that my mom bought when she was here. It was too much of a temptation and one night I did eat some. It's gone now.

Carol, I think it's so smart to compare your eating behavior with past actions. In 12 step programs there is a quotation from the Alcoholics Anonymous book----- "progress not perfection" . It helps me to be easier on myself. If I let my perfectionism get the better of me it's all or nothing eating. Good for you for making that change and being conscious of your actions.

Plan for today:

breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs

lunch: vegetable soup with cheese and nuts

dinner: pot luck at a friends house (give me strength )

I'll let you know how I do.

Thanks for all your support.

Keep up the good work!

Roll

GOOD MORNING s, you all sound in good spirits, and right on track I,m inpressed by all of you, you are really going great guns, ROLL for the smilies, they really gave me a chuckle, I know that my attitude with all this rubbish at the moment has helped me even the DOC is amazed at my spirit, I find its mind over matter, if I don,t mind it doesn,t matter I,m feeling good today I can still expect to be a bit nauseous for awhile until all the stuff is out of my body, but the end is in sight in around 2wks I should be out of the woods and recouperating YOU ALL HAVE BEEN SO WONDERFUL WHILE I HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS I CAN,T THANK YOU ENOUGH, YOU HERE ON THIS SITE AND MY BEST FRIEND WHO IS MY SOUL SISTER HAVE GOT ME THROUGH, TIRED, CAROL you keep up the good work I hope you can get your exercise in it helps to remind me of what I,m missing and is making me look foward to getting back into the swing of things, ROLL good for you throwing out that s FOOD ICE,CREAM that is real will power YOU GO GIRL

MY IDEAL DAY
BREKKI/ GRAPES, 2 APRICOTS,

LUNCH/ TUNA ON MULTIGRAIN TOAST, GREEN TEA

DINNER/ HUBBY IS BRINGING ME HOME A TURKEY AND HAM ROLL FROM SUBWAY, ICED MADE WITH SKIM MILK

WELL IT SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN WELL BYE FOR NOW FOR BEING THERE, BE GOOD , STAY FOCUSED, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, BLESSED BE , , JULIE

Hi everyone. Good luck Julie. I'm still rooting for you. Your strength, courage and humor gives me strength too. You are teaching me about how to live through your struggle. I wish you well. I know you are a beautiful person.

Roll and Carol, good for you throwing out the ice cream and buying healthy food. Cranberries on oatmeal - yummy! I'm going to buy some. My new healthy eating plan is called 1500-30! 1500 calories and 30 minutes a day of some kind of exercise. It's easy to remember. I've also started realizing my low points in the day. The real low is 4pm when I get home from school, the kids want me and all I want to do is have quiet for an hour. I need a healthy snack then - actually it's a good time for a dinner for me as after that I'm not as hungry. Another low time is later in the evening when I'm getting tired. The last two nights I just went to bed instead of eating. Interesting to see what triggers unhealthy eating.

breakfast - oatmeal/milk (200)
lunch - salad turkey apple (400)
snack - sunflower seeds (190), a few almonds (100), cherries (200)
dinner - small chicken sandwich (200)
exercise - 35 eliptical, 5 stairmaster (ouch!), 10 treadmill

Have a great day all. I'll check in tomorrow.

Julie your doing great keep up that sense of humor and spirit it is a healer for sure! Before you know it you will be exercising right along with us all. Oh thanks for the idea of measuring myself. This a.m. I did it and posted it in my bathroom closet with my wt. from the other day included and I added my dietary changes. It will be a good way to compare and measure as I try to reach my goal. I would love to be down by at least 10lbs. by 7/21. But if not at least lose some more inches! Your support everyone and ideas are so great! Oh how I have enjoyed my cups of tea lately. I only had 1 1/2 cups of coffee yesterday. I am into trying different types of tea, not bad and very relaxing indeed.
Tiredoffat hey I have started to add more healthy snacks in my day. I slip in a a.m. snack of celery and laughing cow. It gives me a crunch and taste good with a whooping 57 cal. Then I am not so straving at lunch time. In the evening for snacks I purchased some natural frozen fruit bars. The other night I ate a little bowl of cereal, or have a half of fresh grapefruit. I also seem to need something and if I make a good choice its not so bad. Have you tried the Kashi cracker TLC 7 grain all natural? Not bad I so wanted to stop and purchase a nice loaf of bread from the bakery to go along with my homemade split pea soup. But I didn't I ate these crunchy little crackers instead. There really tasty! 15 =130 cal Also try to eat an apple or a healthy snack on the way home that sometimes helps me with the low point of my day.
Rollmdl thanks for your thoughts, its always good to hear from you. Keep up your good choice making. When we have those healthy choices in the house it really makes the difference. I try to buy the hubby things that he likes but that I won't be so tempted with. I put them out of my sight. If its there and I like it someday it will be right in my mouth.
Well we got a few inches of white stuff last night. Finally I guess we've been more than lucky witht the weather. I thought if it was too bad I'd chill out and stay home but I am going to work. I am going to leave early if it turns to freezing rain this afternoon. I will try to fit in my exercise either on my way in this morning or this aftenoon. I am planning ahead as on friday my girl friends and I are going out to have all you can eat crab legs. I don't mind having them without butter. They are so tasty! This is a special dinner out to celebrate everyones birthdays. We were going for mine in the summer and then just never got there so we are doing all of them together. I will try to eat healthy and exercise so I don't do to much damage to reaching my goal.
Planning is important to make room for these types of celebrations.
Todays intakes as planned:
Breakfast= oatmeal, 2T.dried cran., cinn, splenda dash 200 cal.
1/2 grapefruit 20 cal. coffee 1c. , tea 1c. water to go 12 oz.
Snack= celery w/laughing cow cheese 57cal
Lunch= split pea soup homemade 300?kashi crackers 130
Dinner= 1 small sausage pattie 100 cal., spinach/cheese/veggie omelet 300 cal.
Snack??? At this pt. 1100 planned cal.

Gotta go battle the white stuff, icy roads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have super day everyone!

Hello! Snow day today. No school! A nice treat although the boys are full of spunk - a bit more than I like. I know this is typical for their ages.

Good eating and exercise day so far. Lots of healthy choices. I continue to read the Dr. Phil book - very good! The book really helps one to unravel the reasons for overeating and unhealthy living.

breakfast - oatmeal, warm milk, cafe latte (homemade) 270
morning snack - smoothie 400
lunch - tuna sandwich with lettuce and tomato 500
snack - almonds 200
total 1370 - a bit high, but extra ex. today so I was hungry
exercise 30 minute job at the gym
shoveling (light energy) the driveway

Just dropped in! I stayed home also today. Once I tried those roads it was a wiser choice to stay home. The schools were closed here also. I stuck to my plans well today. Didn't get to the gym but went up in down my stairs to sew etc. several times. Better than no exercise.
I will have to ck. out Dr. Phil. I have been trying to reason with my reasons also. I think it helps for future choice making. I won't ck in prob. on friday as my daughter is staying over with the little one. I am going to leave early to try and keep the house quiet so they can sleep in.
Take care!

Just a quick note. The wind last night was crazy it woke me up about 4 times. The weather is sure mighty different here this year.
Today I am trying to plan ahead as I am going out for crab legs later on.
Intake: 1/2 grapefruit 20 cal. 2 poached eggs 140, 1 slice dry rye toast 100cal. 1/2 order potatoes? 150 cal.
Lunch; celery sticks w/ laughing cow ch. 57 cal., turkey breast slices120 3.5 oz., 1/2 grapefruit 20 cal. and tea, water appox. cal so far 600!
The rest of my day I don't even know how to figure in so I will pick up the pace on saturday w/ a workout and good choices.
Take care everyone and as Julie says be good to yourself!

GOOD MORNING s, GOOD TO SEE YOU IN SUCH GOOD SPIRITS, CAROL I agree with you the weather is certainly all over the place I think at times we get the 4 seasons in a day , it is still hot here of a day but the nights are getting cold last night I had to grab a blanket from the closet, odd because we still have 2 and a bit mths left of summer and this time of year is usually to hot to sleep, the way the weather is and all the bad things happening in the world because of it I think mother nature is telling us she,s had enough of what we are doing to her, TIRED I know sometimes kids have more energy than you,d like at times, I know my grandkids do, but enjoy they will be grown before you know it, trust me I turned around one day and my kids were grown and starting families of there own, HEY ROLL hope your well, I miss you and your smilies, well I,m off for a KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, STAY FOCUSED,

PLAN FOR THE DAY

BREKKI/ SLICE OF MULTIGRAIN TOAST WITH MARMALADE NO BUTTER, A NECTURINE

SNACK/ APPLE

LUNCH/ VEGETABLE SOUP, GLASS OF APPLE AND RASBERRY LIGHT CORDIAL

SNACK/ GRAPES

DINNER/ SPAGHETTI BOLOGNAISE MADE WITH LEAN MINCE AND LOTS OF YUMMY TOMATOES

ALL UP ABOUT 1300CALS I TRY TO STICK TO AROUND 1400CALS
I GET IN MY 8 GLASSES OF WATER BY HAVING EITHER ICED WATER OR FLAVOURED WITH LOW CAL CORDIAL
Well that,s it for me bye for now BLESSED BE,, JULIE

Hello all. Pretty good day. Didn't manage to fit in the work out since it was icy this morning and my hubby is out tonight. Hopefully I'll fit in a double tomorrow as it is Saturday and I don't have to work. Hope you are all doing well.

Bit high on the cals today and yesterday, but didn't binge, just hungry.

breakfast - oatmeal, little milk 200
lunch - salad with turkey, small pear 300
dinner - large bowl of fat free Progresson clam chower - really tasty not too bad for cals - 240
3 slices of pizza - 900
one glass of wine 300 (?) I can't find my cal book and am not totally sure of these cals. I'm sure I'll find it soon.

total 1940

Hello everyone, hope your having a good start to your day! I enjoyed a nice evening out for dinner with my friends. Oh those crab legs were great! What a treat. I did well on my earlier meals yesterday to help ease in my dinner cals a bit. But I did enjoy a few little desserts to complete my outing. I took only partical slices of cake but all in all they were full of calories. Today I am trying to get back on track. I think its important to not go with out completly. I read an article about snacks yesterday. It said that you should snack several times a day to avoid the kind of extreme hunger that can lead to overeating or binge eating. So I guess my thought on puting snacks into my diet isn't to bad of an idea. The article gave examples an calories of snacks. I copied it and will use it for a reference. Todays weather is snowy here, its bright kind of pretty but the roads look slick. So I am not sure I will go out to exercise as planned today. But Richard Simmons and I might dance to the oldies on my video. Haven't visited that resource in a bit!
Tiredoffat hey red wine is suppose to be good for us. One glass a day. 4oz. of red or rose is only 85 cal. So its not so bad at all. I happened to have my book right next to the computer. It helps when I do my intakes.
Has anyone ever heard of steel oatmeal? I met some gentleman in the health food store and he was purchasing them. He said they are full of fiber and keep you full for quite awhile? Just a thought for something new!
Intake: 1 cup. shredded wheat cereal 230 cal w/milk 1/2 sm. banana 40 cal. 2 c. coffee, 12oz. water
I'll ck in later to add in the rest of my intake. Not sure its saturday!
Take care and have a great day.
Julie you are so right on how fast the kids grow up move away and start their own life too! My son keeps giving me places to visit. They are planning a move to Hawaii at the end of Feb. sooner than I thought. Then maybe flying home to spend a month this summer we will see!

Hi all. Carol, I'm glad that you enjoyed your night out. I, too, read that eating six small meals a day is the best way to go for weight loss and health. I may need to think that way as yesterday I was so hungry by dinner that I ate and ate and ate. Now that I'm exercising again I find that I am much hungrier. Any knowledge about that? Today I went cross country skiing with my son for a couple of hours. Great fun and very beautiful. When I got home though I couldn't get enough to eat.

breakfast - cereal/milk 200
snack - trail mix 430, a piece of my son's choc bar 100
lunch - cheesie made with two tortillas (420 - I was shocked when I read the calories after I ate it), cheese 210, refried beans 100 (total 730)
snack - smoothie 350
total so far 1710 and I haven't even had dinner. I planned a nice chicken dinner for my family tonight since we're all pretty much snowbound (the streets are supposed to be very icy tonight since we've had a daylong mix of snow, rain and sleet).

Have a good day all.

GOOD MORNING s, YOU SOUND LIKE YOUR ALL ON FIRE WITH YOUR DIETS, CAROL, TIRED, I follow weekly eating plans I get from my AUSTRALIAN SLIMMING MAGS, and they all incorporate snacks in the daily plan some are 2 or 3 depending on the weight you have to lose 3 if you have more than 20kgs to lose or 2 if you have less, they are usually a handful of almonds or a piece of multigrain toast with a small tin of ww baked beans, if you,ve noticed my meal plan I always put in snacks it does help the cravings and stops overeating and the snacks are counted in your cal intake, TIRED it is normal to have periods where you just seem to be so hungry, when you exercise and if your on a maintenance plan like you are then sometimes you are using more energy than your taking in this causes your body to say I,m not getting enough fuel so maybe try to grab a snack fruit or nuts, or both are good hunger busters, I have,nt all of a sudden obtained wisdom I read it in my mags and as CAROL said they say that a glass of red wine a day is good for you as it has antioxidents, and is very low on cals, so enjoy CAROL I,m so glad you had a lovely time out with the girls, those crabs legs sound yummy, a special occassion isn,t going to break your diet bank just get back on track the next day , they say to have a little of what you fancy when you change you eating plan so that way you don,t feel deprived and you are more likely to stick to it, REMEMBER BE KIND TO YOURSELF, DON,T YOURSELF TO HARSHLY THE WORLD DOES THAT FOR US , I,m not to bad today, feeling a bit out of sorts hubby is not being as supporting as I would like in anything that is affecting me these days but hey thats life I,ve started the day off well though,

PLAN
BREKKI/ , CHERRIES, A NECTURINE
SNACK/ APPLE, GLASS OF DIET CORDIAL
LUNCH/ VEGETABLE SOUP AND 4 CRISPBREADS, GREEN TEA
SNACK/ GRAPES, A NECTURINE, GLASS OF ICED WATER
DINNER/ I DIDN,T HAVE THE SPAGHETTI LAST NIGHT I MADE A NICE HEALTHY VEGE FRITTATA INSTEAD, SO I,LL HAVE THE SPAGHETTI TONIGHT
I AM GETTING IN MY 8 GLASSES OF WATER AT THE MOMENT I,M DRY ALL THE TIME BUT THE DOC SAID THAT IS NORMAL, SO I,M GOOD
WELL BYE FOR NOW, STAY FOCUSED , KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, HEY ROLL I HOPE YOUR WELL, I BET YOUR WITH THAT WASHER OR THAT COMPUTER AREN,T YOU TAKE CARE I,M THINKING OF YOU, I,LL CATCH YOU ALL LATER OOOH WHY DON,T WE HAVE A CHALLENGE MAYBE TRY AND LOSE A FEW LBS BY VALENTINES, SOMEONE COME UP WITH AN AMOUNT LETS SEE HOW CLOSE WE CAN GET TO IT, WELL JUST AN IDEA, JULIE

Hi Julie, Carol and Roll. I hope you are all doing well. I like the Valentine's Day idea - Should we shoot for a high of 10 lbs, a low of 5 lbs or something in the middle. I like that idea, but we should also think of the rewards we will give ourselves if we do it.

I made a new schedule for myself. I've identified that late afternoon is my weak time to I'm going to try a 6pm-7pm workout each night. I'll really focus on the children after school from 3-6, then I when return home after the workout I'll read with them. I'll do my school work in the early morning and during the school day. I'm trying to work on reducing my binging and stress in late afternoon so looking forward to the hour break might be incentive enough to stay on track.

Let me know what you think the details should be for our Valentine's Day incentive.
Take care.

Good day so far.

breakfast - English muffin, pb, orange (300)
lunch - chicken sandwich (300) smoothie (300)
snack - almonds 200
dinner - manicotti (410!), salad or fruit (haven't decided yet)
total will be about 2000 (cals I'm allowing a little more since I've been working out a lot and I'm so hungry. I'll weigh myself in a week and see what this means on the scale.)
awesome workout - 3 mile jog on treadmill, 30 minute bike, 1/4 mile swim

GOOD EVENING, LADIES, HOPE YOUR ALL WELL, TIRED I think the 10lbs or somewhere in between would be good, my VALENTINES DAY might be spent alone, my hubby has 2 kids from his previous marriage, and today at work he got a phone call from child support, his ex wife wants them to start collecting the maintenance for her by garnishing his wages, she wants to go back to work which means she will lose benefits for his little boy who is autistic, so she wants them to get more from my hubby, we are pretty stretched financially as it is at the moment, so it looks like I,ll have to take a break from study and go back to the city and stay with my daughter and look for work, where we live in the country there is just know work for anyone let alone women, things are a bit rocky in our marriage at the moment as it is it seems like every time I turn around there is just one more thing to deal with, well just have to see what the GODS have in store for me I guess, it seem like the last 3 and a half yrs have been the pits for the both of us, anyway enough of that all I seem to do these days is whinge about one thing or another, back to the challenge I think it would give me something else to focus on so I,m starting from now, I,m the one who has control over my weight if nothing else, I,m like you TIRED my slumps are in the afternoon too when I put the books down for the day, your plan for doing your workouts between 6pm and 7pm in the evening is a sound one its funny I was only reading about that in my SLIMMING MAG today and they say that is the perfect time to exercise as your body is already reved up from the day and you tend to burn more energy, good luck, I didn,t do to bad today, I hope you all stay well keep up the good work, bye for now , BLESSED BE, JULIE