PPenguin-I got the 3 Mile Walk Away Your Waistline. I'm going to try to do it in the morning.

Annie, http://www.collagevideo.com/workout-...walk-belt-9329 Is this the right Leslie? She has so many its easy to get confused. I have this one, too, but I don't have a belt. I have what I call a 'Leslie Limit' I can only take 3 miles at a time. Its a cross between her chatter and the workout itself, so I have a lot of her 3 mile workouts.

Hey Barb, you're right, any number is better than zero! This time last year most of my exercise was flipping channels and playing Farmville on Facebook. What a difference a year can make!

And halvah is not airy at all! It's thick and dense and delicious. And they make it into ice-cream, it's doubly dangerous. I have a recipe for it on my blog, I have to stay away from that stuff this year!

So we had our big dinner last night. Most people ordered steaks the size of their heads! I was a good girl, had carpacchio to start with, and a salmon fillet with just a few pieces of gnocchi. Dessert was a few spoonfuls of my husband's coconut sorbet. Still, I'm up 600 grams (1.32) pounds this morning.

On the upside, it's raining! Pouring! Positively pishing down! We need it badly, but this meant I didn't walk to work today, and I also passed on the gym since I only got to bed after midnight. If I don't get enough sleep I can't do squat (or squat) in the morning.

NP -- welcome home! Tell me when you want to join me in a stepmom's support group

Good morning, all.

I'm down a pound--which brings me back to where I was two days ago.

Planning out my menus for several days is helpful, so far. It's making me think ahead about what I need to pick up from the grocery store, and what I can prep in bulk ahead of time.

The last of the Christmas candy was mostly eaten up yesterday at work--there's a little left that I hope will go fast today. I didn't eat any, but it was tough. On the plus side, I worked out at the gym twice yesterday.

AnnieD--sorry to hear about the choc nuts. I love those and I would be hard pressed to stay away. Can you freeze them? I am also interested in your weight jacket--I'll have to look that up on the web.

Mirj--is halvah the same as halwah? I had some at my work holiday potluck and it was yummy. I even got the recipe, but then left it at my mother's house. The halwah I had was made from coarse-cut wheat, so it had just a bit of texture.

Have a great Wednesday, everyone.

KittehMomma -- I've never heard of halva made from wheat. Halva is a Middle Eastern candy made from tehini (sesame seed paste) and honey. It's flakey and sticky and yummy, and very calorific! I could just nosh on it on its own, but I've also grated it into cakes and made ice cream and sorbet out of it.

Good morning everyone!! It's sunny and clear here - and 19. Mirj - i know how much you needed rain, so yay on that!! I kept wanting to send you our snow But now it's all gone. ... that support group idea is a fine one! One is turning 18 next month, so she's not really a part of things by her choice and nasty attitude/mouth, the younger one is 13.5 and is like velcro when around. BIG BIG difference for me coming from being single my whole life.

Annie - Any way you can repackage those chocolate covered macadamias nicely and take somewhere or send off with your son to share with his friends at college? Spread the calorie wealth ??

Checked on the WW meetings near me and they're all during work hours except for Saturday and they've added one on Sunday. I appreciate everyone's support/suggestions on starting NOW. I think that's key. Did okay yesterday and weighed today and am down two pounds (always gain water weight when travel) but still UP. Will check again tomorrow morning and will reset my signature YET AGAIN. I'm higher now than when I started this. Grr. Brought a decent lunch but need to work on protein - need to plan ahead again get the beans going!

Good job, Kitteh - that's great on the pound gone now AND skipping the candy!

The pumkin oatmeal was amazing. I used dried cranberries instead of raisins and walnuts instead of pepitas. Obviously, no cream and no brown sugar at serving time. I did slice up a banana into the bowl first. Was 298 cals/serving before the banana. Here's a link if anyonje else wants to try it:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html

Penguin-you're doing really well..especially if you can bake bread and not eat the whole loaf before it hits the oven ;-)

Annie-maybe hide those nuts in the bottom of the freezer or take them over to fiance's and hide at the bottom of HIS freezer?

Kitteh-you are making progress, I think. You should be at 99 lbs after all teh herding of teh kittehs!

Mirj-I'm gonna have to go look up the halvah. I'm sure we used to get it from the international grocery, but I'm wondering if I have it confused with something else. Your dinner sounds wonderful...I'm jealous!

I think I've lost track of all the posts, but it's sure nice to see so many of them again.

It's windy here, but I'll probably just bundle up and do a short walk today. My feet are a bit sore, but not as painful as they had been. I finally did my pushups yesterday and will hopefully remember today. Just gotta make it a habit. Tonight's dinner is a lentil and sweet potato soup with chicken meat added in. My daughter gave me the veg. version, but I carnivored it up a little.

Much success and happy exercises to all today!

Barb

Somehow I managed to lose 2 lbs last night. I tend to lose/gain quickly with no rhyme or reason.

Barb, as it turned out I left the bread alone but not the brownies. BUT eating too many brownies {read binge!] made me stop and think about what I'm doing with food and exercise. it really was a wake-up call. I can't be so complacent I need to take control, have a plan, even if I'm just trying to maintain. Thanks for the oatmeal link. I'm trying to remember to do pushups also if they don't show up in my weights workouts.

NP, I like the idea of spreading the calorie weath. I've got some food packed up to give to my parents today {including bread and brownies}. good job on the 2 lbs and getting started!

Kitteh, good job on the two workouts. Okay, I'm going to ask. I've seen Kitteh used on other forums also. What does it mean? I feel I'm missing out my not knowing!

Okay...busy morning so just now checking in...

PPenguin-Yep that's the video. I did it this morning and, as always when first doing a new video, was a bit slow to get the motions going. It was a good workout, though. Not sure if it as excellent for the waistline as it claims to be, though. I did notice my arms getting pretty tired and actually getting out of breath at least once...... Still good to mix it up though. I pretty much have a 3 mile limit myself. Leslie doesn't annoy me like she does some people, but I just don't have any more time to devote to longer workouts right now.


Mirj-Your supper sounds delish!! So thankful you are getting rain. We really need some....we are close to being in drought and we have a pond to fill up out at fiance's place!!

Kitteh-Good job on the double gym workout!!

NP-If WW is the way you choose to go, I sure hope you find a meeting that is convenient for you. So many of those types of things just assume women don't work and don't have many options during off-work hours.

Barb-That soup sounds interesting! I have just recently discovered that I love mashed sweet potatoes. As long as I can keep the portion size down I may add it to the menu!


The boys are whittling away at the leftover treats at my house. I hope they are mostly gone when I get home later. Need to run to the store to restock my salad drawer....(I just hate when bagged salad goes slimy WAY before the expiration date nears!) Going to have a healthy supper tonight and maybe start on getting some Christmas decor put away. I WILL go to bed early tonight. Just not getting enough sleep lately.

Hope you all have a great day!!

Kitteh-Here is a link to the weighted vest I bought. When I use it, I will let you know how it goes. It looks like they may have raised the price, I believe I got it for much less. Yep, just checked my order and I got it for $18.30!!

http://www.amazon.com/Fitness-by-Cat.../dp/B001FB61AG

Annie-if it gets slimy before the exp. date, return it for a new one. I get really miffed at stuff that goes bad before the exp. and they always take it back and give me one that isn't rotten.

Here's a link to the soup. I use lentils instead of split peas just because htat's what I had on hand the first time I made the soup and we really like it. I don't use a pressure cooker, just make it on the stovetop. If you read the reviews/comments, it tells more ideas/methods.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/434

here's what I did to it. My way, it has 292 cal/serving. I then add cooked chicken which ups the cals some more.

beef bullion 1 tsp
4.0 x Custom Food (1g)
Lentils, raw
1.0 x 1 cup (192g)
Oil, olive, salad or cooking
1.0 x 1 tbsp (14g)
Onions, frozen, chopped, unprepared
5.0 x 1 ounce (28g)
Sweet potato, raw, unprepared
12.0 x 1 ounce (28g)
Preparation
1 C dry lentils 4 tsp bullion plus 4 C water 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices 7 whole green cardamom pods (1 tsp ground cardamom or to taste) 1 TB olive oil 5 oz. chopped frozen onion1 teaspoon garam masala 1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cumin Lemon juice (I used a fresh lemon and added the zest as well as the juice) Cayenne pepper Sea salt and pepper to taste Method Stovetop method: Bring broth to a boil in a medium pot. Add soaked lentils and cook 'til almost soft then add the sweet potato slices and cardamom. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer until soft. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, garam masala and cumin and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. When sweet potatoes and lentils are tender, add the spiced onions to the pot. Stir and cook 5 minutes more. CAREFULLY use an immersion blender/food processor/blender to pureee eveything, including hte lentisl and sweet potatoes until it has the consistency you like. Season the soup with lemon, cayenne (chipotle powder for us!), salt, and pepper to taste.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...#ixzz1ABD9SfPj

Barb

Hi everyone, looks like everyone has a plan going once again.
I did not do too well over the holidays, ate too many homeade nanimo bars (a christmas favorite)and way to much chocolate. although all i made was cookies and one pan of nanimo bars, my mom brought a ton of treats everywhere she came. Also my daughters birthday cake on the 30 was black forest trifle. I actually did not have any till the next day. I was hoping it would all be gone the next day to avoid eating any. So was back on plan yesterday. with all these new shows starting (Dr. oz 11 week challenge and new biggest loser) I am kinda hoping to follow along and keep motivated. I dont want to spend another summer wearing my fat clothes. I saw a video taken at thanksgiving (october for us) and was mortified.
My son who currently lives back at home also is motivated so that helps. He eats mega healthy as well and works out alot.
I know the stress is going to come it always does somehow, and I need to stay focused and not allow things in life to make me eat. It still is very painful that my son is separated from his wife and they have a one and ahalf year old. My daughters hubby just got a new better paying job after being laid off dec. 17 which is an amazing relief as they have baby #3 on the way.

Ashley - you're back! Yay I was hoping we'd see you back here... Don't worry about what's done and sounds like you're off to a fresh start with the new year and new challenges. What are namino bars? I guess I should google that. Great news on the son-in-law's new job.

I'm still working on whether I want to join ww now or wait or what. Obviously NOT doing something organized wasn't working with me. Once I get on a roll and in a pattern, I can continue on myself, but need that structure. I just hate to pay for something like ww. Buying into a business, in my mind, for something I should be able to do on my own. Not one to buy their food, etc.

Angelskeep - good to know on being able to return slimy greens. I never do - just chuck them and grumble at myself for not eating them quicker. I'll try that the next time it happens.

had a large salad with green beans and a few almonds, few slices of turkey pepperoni and 2 tbsp mozz. for lunch. Also had boiled up some potato and had that with it. Not the most interesting meal by a long shot but filling and crammed in a lot of veggies. Didn't have protein options at the house except for milk, so decided on the potato. Need to plan tonight

thanks NP, I am losing track of all the posts !!! you are the one that got married in florida right? how did that go. I am excited to be back. Was off work for almost two weeks.
Nanimo bars, I forgot when I lived in idaho for 3 1/2 years I looked for them in the store and no one knew what they were so i think it is a canadian/british thing. Homemade are better anyways. They are heaven in a pan, better than brownies. Three layers one is a chocolate graham bottom, and a icing custard flavor filling (although they come in many flavors now including cappachino and irish cream) and milk chocolate topping. If you google the recipe you will find them but I would avoid making them.
No more for a while now. I will try and keep up here once agian now that we4 are back into routine.
I actually take a pad of paper and pen to write down responses to people who have already posted otherwise it is too confusing, then write my responses.

bye for now.

Ashley-your mom sounds like me. I left "fat and sugar droppings" everywhere I visited over the holidays. My son in law says I am welcome at their house anytime for as long as I want, but if I breing food next time I have to sleep on the porch. I think you should give me the nanimo bar recipe so I can make him some next year ;-) I've never had one, but they sound awfully good. You just hang here with us and you'll be a skinny minny in no time ;-)

NationalP-as long as they aren't after the exp. date, they should still be good and you shouldn't have to pay for food that spoils that fast. Usually that is the sell by date too...so they should be good even a few days after.

I ended up on a short walk today in spite of the wind. We walked to the thrift stores and stopped in at a friends' house for a short visit. Maybe a mile-ish total. Not much, but better than zero. I will do the WATP video in a little while and the situps when Robert comes home for dinner so he can make sure I'm doing them right.

Barb