Hi all!

Yes, I'm still alive and kicking - just still being so busy I hardly have time to answer my e-mails much less post.

Hope you all had a lovely New Years Eve - DH and I went to a late lunch with some friends then went home to cuddle on the couch and watch the festivities from the safety of our couch.... Needless to say, we both slept through the whole thing

Karen3? what in the world did you do? was, um, "demon rum" involved? Glad to hear it sounds like your starting to feel a little better though.

Me? I was simply decadent for the three days of Christmas that we spent in California - even ate cookies! Hadn't had regular, sugar laden cookies in a whole year. Managed to still keep the scale doing it's bouncey-bounce between 145 & 148 and thought I was fully committed to getting back in the groove and on the road to goal again but, sadly, tonight I fell prey to a bag of Chex Mix (at least is was one of those little snack size bags) and a Hershey bar I'm sitting in a hotel in Indiana where they hand out goodie bags to the "guest of the day" - today it was me. No excuse - no one was going to be greatly offended if I didn't eat everything in the bag but I was tired so my guard was down.

I'm in Indiana because I started my new job so I'm here for training. Started out so proud of myself because I made up a bunch of little "snack packs" with raw almonds, raisins and dried cranberries to carry with me in case of emergencies. Through the whole travel day I stuck with my resolve didn't touch an off plan food. Had a couple of hiccups and challenges with my itinerary but didn't use them as excuses to eat (or smoke either ) After a scrambled egg and banana for breakfast, I had a terrific day at the plant and met a bunch of really great people. Stuck with a grilled chicken breast and tomatoes for lunch and declined an invitation for pizza and beer for dinner (fell back on fatigue from the travel as an excuse ) and picked up a healthy request microwave dinner to nuke and eat in the room instead. Got to the room happily pooped only to be greeted by snack mix and a chocolate bar - and caved. Crud. Well, I guess it could have been worse. I get home Friday morning and won't be able to weigh until then so I'm going to have to spend the rest of the week watching myself really closely - if the scale still says 148 when I get home, I'll have to break down and adjust my ticker back up.

I spend the rest of this week here then back home for a week then off to Ohio for another week of training. Come hellorhighwater I'm getting completely back on track and am shooting for a 26 inch waist by June :-D

Have a great evening! see you tomorrow

Hello everyone, I'm still keep to my plan of getting exercsie in everyday. We only got to about 15 degrees today and when I let Ginger and Sissy out this morning it was 0!! I'm glad that I have the treadmill and Gazelle in the house otherwise I wouldn't be getting in to much exercise.

I'm looking forward to watching the Biggest Loser tonight. I really enjoy that show and it is pretty motivating to me.

Sure hope everyone had a good day.

Bobbi, I eat mostly the same thing every morning and make sure I always have protein. Like you, I don't want to think about what I'm going to eat that early in the morning. Usually my morning protein consists of eggs and low fat cheese. I love vegie omelets or scrambled eggs with salsa. Another favorite is scrambled eggs with spinach and feta cheese. I can't have wheat, so most cereals and breads are out. I know that protein stays with me longer and I don't get the blood sugar rise and drop that would make me hungry 2 hours later. I think that is probably what bothers you too Eileen.
8 lbs. Isabella! I think I'd stick with the old scale if mine weighed that much higher. I guess I can put up with the added pound. I also find that weighing once a week keeps me on track. I think all week that I am at the higher weight and that helps motivate me to stay on plan.

Lily

Morning ladies. The kids now are out of school because of awful road conditions. The water on top of all that snow has created ice rinks, ruts and ice pot holes that are huge. Keeping my fingers crossed that our basement doesn't flood. The garage roof isn't leaking as badly.
Looks like everyone is getting back on track in terms of WOE. I had big time cravings last nite but managed to stay OP. It's always easier the first 4 weeks but then I begin to backslide with little cheats , then bigger cheats and then totally blowing it. NOT THIS TIME!
I'm not going to be obese next year. This is harder than quitting smoking. When I quit over 20 years ago it was hard hard hard. But you have to eat so it just takes more planning thought etc etc.
Speaking of smoking, I have to wonder if it ruined my metabolism? I gained 60 pounds when I quit as I was pregnant at the time. I was HUGE! Never did lose that extra 30 pounds and now its up to 65. Well, better late than never.
Hang in there!

Good Morning!
Nothing new here, same-O, same-0. Wind is blowing and another blizzard predicted today.
I made some white Bean Tapenade yesterday that turned out pretty awesome. Today I'll make that Broccoli-Cauliflower recipe I posted. Mr. Foods had a oatmeal bar recipe on his 5 minute program yesterday, I might make that for DH too.
Lily...I love omelets, two nights ago DH wanted eggs and bacon and I had a 3 egg white omelet with veggies/turkey bacon mixed in.
I've got to get a $89.99 mattress pad packed up for return. I washed it for the 1st time and dried it in the dryer. Part of it melted and Shopko wouldn't do anything about it. (5 years warranty). So I went online to the company and b*tched, the squeaky wheel always get the oil! I received a message this am on email to send it back and they will replace it.
YoYo...What a traveler you are and doing a great job with your food choices. Your determination will get you to your goal in no time, keep up the possitive attitude.
Welcome KarenJude
Karen3...Good job!
Hi Isabella, Karen31, Fluffy and everyone else. I wonder what kind of mischief Lynn is getting into on vacation. Was it France?
Meowee must be going nuts with no internet.
My first week back on plan has been very good, I dropped 4.5 of the 6.5 pounds I gained.
See ya

Oh, Bobbi your weigh in gives me hope. I've been on plan more or less all week since Saturday so I'm hoping when I weigh in on Saturday I see a significant loss of holiday fat.

We've got a lovely cold day here. Windy but blue skies with big puffy white clouds. We're supposed to get freezing rain tomorrow turning to rain by the afternoon. I hope it's not a bad day on the roads in the morning.

Fluffy, if you stick with your plan you will not be obese this time next year. We know you can do this.

The Twelve Days of Christmas . . . I got the same stupid gift every one of them . . . no internet connection.

Finally came back this afternoon. Really strange, I see that you've heard about our delightful weather recently, but I managed to hang onto my electrical power, and my telephone service, and even my TV cable I probably shouldn't say that too loudly since we are supposed to be getting another blizzard tonight/tomorrow.-- only the internet was out. Eastlink (my cable company) did call and apologize a couple of times but I think they should be offering me a fee rebate for the time I was 'netless'. Hmmmmm ???

I too managed to record a gain over the holidays but last time I checked it was only a couple of pounds, but guess I'd better bite the bullet tomorrow and get an official number to move on with.

So glad that you managed to get things organized for the new year while I was missing and I promose I'll be trying very hard not to leave you in the lurch again anytime soon, gang.

Big for everybody and I will see you tomorrow . . . . . . Gee, if this happens again anytime soon i may gop back to dial-up.

Hi everyone..still freezing here -32 and its midday..trying to stay warm suppose to warm up this weekend.. for all rosey

Hi All

Thanks for the vote of confidence Bobbi. Sometimes a reminder from a friend is just the extra little boost we need


That's exactly the thinking I had when I started and it works! Keep up the determination and we'll be looking forward to seeing your before and after pictures this time next year On the smoking thing? I used the fear of gaining as an excuse not to quit for years and gained anyway. For me I don't think the nicotine (or lack of it) has affected me one way or the other metabolically - I think what happens is we are so focused on quitting smoking that we forget to pay attention to what we are eating. That ended up being the idea behind my complete change of heart and deciding to quit before I was at goal - I wanted to quit while I still had the food accountability mind set and I think it has been a big help.

I had a great time today - I met my new boss from the Corporate office and she is terrific (and has recently lost 20 lbs but is struggling to get back on track after the holidays so we had lots of things to talk about besides work). I see this being a very good year!

Well, it's actually very early but I'm once again happily pooped and this hotel has a big pile of the most heavenly pillows on the bed so I'm going to snuggle in with the TV remote and fall asleep early.

Have a good night all

I'm not a chocaholic and seldom eat it but yesterday DH had a brownie with ice cream on top (zucchini brownie frozen from last summer). For some reason I couldn't get chocolate out of my mind so I dug out the Baker's semi-sweet chocolate for baking and shaved off 35 calories worth and nibbled on it. Gosh, that was really good. It took me about 15 minutes and it cured my unusual craving for chocolate. I think seeing DH with his chocolate dessert triggered it. This morning Dr. Weil had this article on dark chocolate:

Hi Meowee, glad you're back.

Bobbi, I had to laugh at you chocolate episode. I don't usually crave chocolate and can pass it up for months but every once and a while I'm like you.

Rosie, throw another log on the fire. At least that's what we do. There's nothing warmer than wood heat--it never stops blowing out hot air until the wood is burned. I don't think you said you burn wood. OK, throw another sweater on your body.

Yoyo, so good to hear that you're having a good experience with your new job. That's one less stress you'll have to deal with while quitting smoking and losing weight.

WoodLily, you've joined the group of real life avatar pictures. You look lovely. Maybe, I'll do the same when I get my hair done again. Right now I look like a rather disheveled retiree. Bedhead would even be an improvement. Ha, ha. Mom told me to go comb my hair yesterday and I informed her I just had.

A funny thing is happening to me with my taste buds. I hate baked beans. I only eat them for the protein and only in small amounts (1 tablespoon) so I'm actually not getting any protein to speak of, ha, ha. But lately I'm beginning to actually like the hated bean dish. Now, this dislike goes back over 50 years. My mom would always make baked beans and brown (ww) bread for Friday night suppers and I always hated both. (I have for years come to love ww bread.) My sister always speaks with great nostalgia of the Friday night suppers and I've always kind of turned up my nose at the thought and now I'm eating baked beans! I've been making them for years for DH who would eat them 3 times a day if given the chance but I've never appreciated my own culinary creations in this area. I've eaten plain beans, chili style beans, chick peas, split peas, lentils and all the others and like them well enough but baked beans were always off the menu in my books. Funny, eh. (I'm Canadian, eh.) Today I had a full serving and almost licked them off my plate. And it's been this way for about 6 months with the enjoyment growing each time I have them.

Catch you all later. Have a good day.

Thank you, thank you Bobbi for confirming what my body has been telling me for over 60 years. Dark chocolate is good for me!

And thank you Isabella for the compliment on my avatar. I must have had my hair slicked down pretty good that day as it is usually flipping up all over. Your talk about baked beans is making me hungry. We used to have them all of the time when I was young too. My mother had a bean pot and would soak dried beans and add all kinds of wonderful things to them. I used to love the smell when they cooked.

Sounds like the new job is going well yoyo. Such a positive attitude will make a big difference. I am sure you will do great.

Way2fluffy, you will be changing your name soon. I am sure of it. Sounds like you are already getting things under control.

It may be cold, but the sun is shining (at least for now) and I am happy. Take care everyone and stay warm Rosey.

Lily

Ladies!

I don't know how you can keep everybody straight when you reply so I'm going to ask for forgiveness ahead of time if I get folks mixed up.

Yes, I know I was going to weigh once a month, but after a week I just had to peek. Now that my little chicky is headed in the right direction I feel so much better mentally<-----need all the help I can get ya know .

Yoyo, I totally bogarted your signature about "choose your hard", it's such a great reminder 4 me to not have a pity party about not being able to eat everything/anything/anytime I feel like it.

The kids are home on another snow day.....the side streets and parking lots are ice rinks....and the national guard won't help plow schools with kids in them. Hopefully the state will declare this an "emergency" and the kids won't have to make up these days in the summer.

Have a great day everyone!

Hi Everyone,

Haven't posted in awhile, but always come in to see how everyone is doing.
Fluffy, you said you didn't know how we kept eveyone straight. After awhile you will know everyone well, and worry about them when they aren't here.

I think our taste buds change. I find that if I eat full fat food it tasts really greasy. If I drink full fat milk it tasts like cream. My body seems to crave healthy food now. And yes, it does crave chocolate from time to time. Good thing it's healthy, i'm not about to give it up. this isn't a diet. It's about choosing a healthier life style. It's not about giving things up. It's about finding great things to eat that nourish the body and give you energy! If you look at it as a punishment you're going to resent it and quit.

YoYo, I'm so happy for you, and proud of you for stopping smoking.

Linda, Good to see you back. we are really dependant on the computer now, aren't we?

Everyone have a great day, Freda

hello all...sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh....I have eaten perfect for 6 full days. Drank my water and had all my vegies. Stayed well within the calories and exercised. I peeked at scale and have gained 2 pounds. Tomorrow is my WI and I am too full of fiber. sighhhhhhhhhhhhh...1 pink pill. I was looking for a good drop.....sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....karen3