Good Morning . . .

Funny that you mentioned chili, GAIL . . . I woke up this morning thinking about making a pot of chili stoup . . . you can really tell that Fall is here. Think I posted the recipe in one on one of the old threads . . . basically it's just a simple chili with extra veggies and extra tomatoes so it comes out as a cross between a soup and a stew . . . hence the name.

Rather cool and overcast again today but at least it has stopped raining. I'm still feeling a little yucky -- sore throat and sore ear, and lots of aches.

Here's a few new kitten pictures . . . the terrible trio is now 6 months old (and finally seem to have figured out the kitty litter thing ). . . BTW, in the group picture, reading from bottom to top, we have Frick, Frack, and Freckle.

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

OMG what beautiful cats! It seems like you mentioned that they are some special breed - I forget - what are they? How do you post the pics like that? Is it a second line to your signature or what? I want to put some of my kitties up. Mine are nice cats, but not anywhere near as gorgeous as yours. I just can't get over how shiny they are. Our black cats are shiny, but not like that. One of our dogs is named Freckles because she has freckles all over her muzzle.

I haven't been doing so well with my eating. I haven't eaten anything really bad, except maybe another waffle (nothing on it, but the recipe has lots of butter in it). I am just eating too much. My peaches are all gone and the pears aren't ripe yet. Having all that good fruit around was really helping me.

Do you gals end up with your fridge totally stuffed with produce after you shop? Mine is nearly empty now which is a good thing from the point of view that I ate most of it. Tomorrow I need to restock. We don't have a leaf of lettuce to our names .

Hi Gail . . .

(a) They are called Bengal Leopard Cats -- thank you (on behalf of the triplets) for those nice compliments.

(b) To post pictures -- first of all, make sure you are using the "advanced" feature for your posts; then scroll down below the box were you type stuff until you come to a button called "manage attachments", click on that and follow the instructions from there. You can load up to five pictures to any given post so long as they are about the same size (in KB) as your avatar picture. If you have any problems, let me know.

(c) I know what you mean . . . I'm missing my blueberries terribly. All I have in the fruit department is California strawberries and some apples. I need to shop tomorrow to stuff the fridge with more salad stuff and other vegetables, too.

Have a great evening . . . see you soon . . .

Simon, Simon and Freckles, Roger. Roger thinks no one can see him behind the drapes.

Hi gang . . .

I was up nursing a diabetic hypoglycemic event from 2:30 to 4:30 and then went back to bed and didn't get up again until almost 10 . . . feels like a whole new day to me, but it will be a very short one, I guess. Hate it when that happens because everything is out of kilter for the rest of the day.

I see you got pictures, GAIL . . . but yours are different than mine . . . can't make them bigger by clicking on them . . . wonder why? I got a chuckle out of Roger - my big grey cat, Mouse, does that kind of 'hiding' too - they don't seem to realize that they have tails and figure if they can't see us, then we can't see them. Mouse tries to hide is tiny little 15 pound-self behind potted plants.

Have a great one, gang . . . see you later

Hi . . .

Hi! My refrigerator is now full of produce again. It sure does take me a long time to get all that stuff cleaned and bagged up for use.

I had a huge spinach, tomato, onion salad, black bean chili, two wassa crisp for lunch. I still have a few grapes and a few radishes to eat this afternoon.

This morning I weighed 150!!!! I just can't believe that I continue to loose weight while eating as much as I do. I just love not being starving hungry all the time.

I am almost afraid to say this, but I have been walking! This exercise thing has been such a hurdle for me, but I think I might be getting it. I asked my DH to help me lay out a little walking course around our property. Right now, it takes me about 12 minutes to complete the circle. I started doing it one time, then 2 and when I get a little better at it I will increase to three rounds. That will be a little more than thirty minutes. This is a really huge improvement over NO minutes. Even though our dogs can't talk, I can tell that they think I have taken leave of my senses. They don't consider my circle much of a walk. Now, if I can just stay with it....

I had a poached egg on toast and a fruit salad with yogurt, cinnamon and mint on it for breakfast. Chicken, tomato, green pepper, lettuce and onion salad, cantaloupe, two wassa crisp for lunch. For supper, A stir-fry with chicken, sugar snap peas, tomatoes and a little left over rice, two wassa, a square of chocolate and 1/4 cup of my own custom trail mix ( just under 200 calories). I don't eat a whole lot of that trail mix because it is so energy dense, but it does seem to stick with me. I also had a few grapes.

Hi gang . . .

Sorry I was missing yesterday -- it just turned into "one of those days" -- you know the kind. Among other things, the scale still hates me. My usual pattern -- Sunday, 226 -- Wednesday (the official day), 230 -- this morning, 227. Soooooo, guess I get to look at 228 on the ticker for another week. OMG this gets tiresome. Oh well . . . all good things come to she who waits and waits and waits.

GAIL . . . that is wonderful . . . keep it up regardless of what the menagerie has to say.

Have a great day, everybody. Keep things moving and shaking.

I am jumping up and down this morning! I weighed in at 149!!!!!! Finally, I am in the 140s. I am so pleased!

Good Morning again . . .

Still not feeling up to par . . . partly because my blood sugar levels are still being so erratic . . . hope it gets back in sync soon. At least our weather is still being really, really kind to us. Keep it coming Mama Nature.

Kittens (and cats) are being good. Eating is pretty good. Exercise (well ). Unfortunately that has never been my strong point.

Have a great day gang . . . See you later . . .

Linda, sorry you aren't feeling the greatest. I think you said you have type II diabetes? I also think you said that you do take insulin. I don't know any thing about it except it seems to me that a good diet is supposed to help, and you are doing that.

What do you do for exercise when you do it? Like I said above, exercise has been the biggest hurdle for me. Over the years, I have done a lot of exercise, but none of it has helped me keep the weight off. So, because that has been my previous experience, I have stubbornly refused to get with any program.

Something I read recently kind of "clicked" with me. It said that I have to think of exercise as something that I do for my health. Just forget about the weight loss and do a little exercise. After I do a little exercise, then maybe I will want to do some more. I don't know about that . I know, this isn't some big break through announcement that a little exercise is better than none - I know that, but some how this time it "resonated".

Anyway, I am totally intimidated by the ammount of exercise some people do. I AM going to get over it and do a little bit of exercise.

I even read about a woman who figured out a way to walk around the inside of her house for a mile. That should appeal to the woman who feels like it is too hot, too cold, to windy etc to go outside (me).

Yes . . . I'm type II. The problem is that I have lost 50+ pounds and am having a devil of a time keeping my blood sugar stable . . . I've cut my oral diabetes meds and my insulin by 1/3 to 1/2 and now I'm fiddling with the insulin levels again. Those bad lows can be deadly (literally) and you'd have to experience one to know how horrible they make you feel. Glucose is the only food used by the brain and if it doesn't have enough, the synapses don't fire correctly.

Losing weight is probably the best thing a type II can do, but it does mean constant juggling. Even after 16 or more years as a diabetic, I could probably stop most of my meds if I can (when I do) lose the rest of this weight. Exercise is also very good for controlling diabetes, but (like you) I hate it. Not to mention that I have very bad knees (arthritis) and that doesn't make it any easier. I keep hoping I can convince the cats to enjoy walking on a leash -- so far no luck. I have a stability ball that can be fun sometimes and herds of simple dvd routines that I usually don't get into the machine.

I've got to get myself into that it's-for-my-health mindset. Actually the "experts" (whoever they are) say it is 80% diet and only 20% exercise that leads to weight loss -- but, exercise becomes more important as a tool to keeping it off.

Thanks for your thoughts . . . Sorry to bore you . . . see you later.

You aren't boring me - it's interesting. Are you saying that the weight loss, that is, a change in your body composition, causes the blood glucose to go crazy? So weight loss is good, but you have to work hard on keeping the levels even while you are loosing weight? Wow! You lost fifty pounds. That is impressive. Does it help to loose a bit, stabilize, then loose some more or does that just drag it out? Believe me, I am not interested in trying out a low blood sugar episode. Being out of breath when I walk is scary enough!

I have seen the 80/20% figure about diet/exercise. The Thin for Life books say that the maintainers exercise. But then they say they don't all exercise very much - at least by the standards of the exercisers on here. The author finally concludes that even fairly minimal exercise, done consistently, is part of a "package" of healthful behaviors that help the individual to maintain weight loss. So, all this is giving me hope that I don't have to set up housekeeping at some gym in order to be healthy. Like I mentioned earlier, I am overwhelmed and discouraged by reading the exercise threads.

So, now what I need to know what else is in that "package" of behaviors - taking a bath on Saturday night or what?