JO!!!!!!!! I swear, everytime I read one of your posts I feel like I've found my long lost sister. I'm so happy to hear that you're getting your health issues sorted for yourself. There is no greater gift. Now if only I'd pony up and give myself the gift of health too! I'll be back in a few hours to post some more, just going to get the munchkin in bed and DH settled. He just came back from a weeklong business trip to Texas and he's bagged.

Lorraine

Awwwww Lorraine, I've missed you loads too.

Mari, I love the sound of the Golden Globes party!!!

Well, I need to go get the kids breakfasts sorted.
Have a good weekend

Jo

Hey All! Pissed again this morn'. Last week I weighed in at 291 and this week I'm 294.5lbs. I must stop yo-yoing on the scale!

Regarding Ali: I emailed her quite a few times and also posted on her website with no response.

Jo - Glad to hear the Drs finally figured out there was a reason for the way you were feeling. It gives you some peace of mind. Are you following a specific foodplan?

Mari - I don't think your GGs party is cheesy. I think its a wonderful idea. They are on tonight, correct? I preset the DVR to tape it tonight so I can watch it during the week.

Dot - Keep up with the WW. How's it going? Do you have any good low point breakfast ideas?

Lorraine - Glad to see you are back as well. Missed you!

Brandy - Good luck with your 10% goal!

Hope I didn't miss anyone.

Take care,
Raff

Morning all~!

Well, I have yet managed to get to a WW meeting. I swear, they need meetings on Sundays...I could get to one on Sundays. But really, I can't blame my lack of motivation on just a meeting. I need to get my butt in gear. I did have a success last night however. I was getting all nibbly at about 10:30 last night. I was going to get a nice big ole bowl of ice cream, but I opted for a glass of water instead (as I figured I may have been thirsty, not hungry). I had the water, waited 10 minutes and was still nibbly, so I WENT TO BED! Amazing in my books I tell you. SO I killed two birds with one stone. Didn't eat, and went to bed relatively early! Yay!

Off to look at kitchen appliances for the new house today. Ugh. I didn't think it was going to be this hard, I just thought it would be fun.

Lorraine

Hi Girls,

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Jo, it's good to have you back Hope you get all of your health issues sorted and good luck with your new healthy eating lifestyle.

Brandy, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you to reach that 10% goal

Lorraine, very well done on not giving into the nibbles ... now that's what I call willpower!!

I managed to stick to my new plan last week and dropped 2lbs when I weighed-in on Friday, which wasn't quite a full week (5days), but I prefer to weigh-in on Fridays. Fingers crossed that I can keep it up. Must admit that I haven't found it too difficult so far.

Hope everyone else is doing ok

Have a good week.

Nichola

Nichola - congrats on your loss! YAY!

Lorraine - have fun preparing for the new place and good job on getting over those munchies. Good job!!!

Raff - sorry about the bump up but it will be off again next week! You can do it! I've tried mailing Ali a few times, left messages at the site, and even tried ICQ but no response. This worries me. A lot.

Jo, it's SO great to have you back with us!


Mari and Dot - HI! Hope things are going well with you guys

I'm still trying to get there but I've had TOM which has ment - I'm struggling to stay in control (and making it, just) but the scale won't budge. I'm not giving up. If nothing else, I'll get as close as possible to that darn 10%!!!

Happy Manic Monday!

Lorraine - Happy hunting for appliances! I love that kind of stuff.

Nichola - Good Job girl! Keep it up!!!

Brandy - Although the scale isn't budging, maintaining is a goal too! Especially during TOM, which is just awful. You're doing a good job hanging in there though!

Raff - It happens to the best of us. Just focus once again and you'll be right back on track!

Dot - How are you? Where have you been?

Golden Globe pajama party went well. I made New England Clam Chowder from scratch and it turned out really well. This is one of my favorite dishes and is usually made very fatty in restaurants. I basically took the Emeril recipe from the Food Network website and re-configured it in a low fat version. And it turned out really great!!!! So success on the experimenting, which I'm usually not great at.

Also, bought the Juiceman Juicer Pro on sale at Macy's and I'm addicted. I did this because on my big running days (when i crank out 5 or more miles at a time) I'm usually never in the mood for some big meal. It just feels too heavy in my stomach. So this is a great alternative and a good way to get in my veggies and fruit. And it works fabulously!

Have a wonderful Monday, ladies!
-Mari

Hi Girls,

Just read the "Weight Loss Headlines" on the front page of 3fc's regarding "Eat Carbs, Lose Weight?" Found the results very interesting ... and reassuring. What, with all the hype lately about the Atkins Diet and similar diets that cut out or restrict carbs, I've been totally confused about whether or not I should be eating carbs at all. Being someone who loves pasta, rice, etc., the thought of having to give it up in order to lose weight really concerned me, as I know I simply would never be able to stick to a diet without eating some of my favourite foods (within reason of course!). Obviously, I realise I can't eat unlimited amounts of carbs, but a reasonable portion, served with lower fat foods, will hopefully do the job ... At least I now have some hope anyway!!

Nichola

Raff, I'm not following a specific foodplan. I expected to be given one, but was simply told to eat healthily...which wasn't totally what I wanted to hear. I'd have been happier being told EXACTLY what to eat.

Anyway, I eat healthy, low fat, I do have carbs, although some are better than others (ie, wholegrain bread rather than white). I have eliminated sugar from my diet. The only sweet things I have are diet yogurt and fruit. It's meant Alan doing a lot more cooking from scratch, processed food is off limits to a huge extent. They are going to arrange an appointment with the hospital dietician for me, just to make sure I'm on the right tracks.

Ooooh that's something I never got round to saying. About three months ago Alan started doing the cooking for us. I don't do any!!!! He wants to be a chef (not that it pays well enough for him to actually do), so he has taken over our kitchen to keep himself happy! I am a good cook, but there are always things I'd rather do, so this has worked out perfectly for me!!!

Today has been a good day for me. First my Mom told me she could see I was losing weight. Then my neighbour asked Alan if I'd lost weight cos she thought I was thinner!!!! I've lost about 7lbs, maybe slightly more in the last two weeks, and don't look quite so jowly (is that a word???)

Mari your clam chowder sounds fabulous. What is the recipe for it???
I love clam chowder......mmmmmmmmmmmm

Right, need to get the kids organised for bed.

Jo

Jo - I'm so happy for you!!!! It is always wonderful to get reinforcement from others and you got some fabulous compliments! Keep it up, you are doing fabulously! And I'm glad Alan doing the cooking is working out! You get more free time and he gets to work on his hobby! Have him try the New England clam chowder recipe....I wish I could say it was mine! It is from the Emeril show on the food network. The link is here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/reci..._23672,00.html

I substituted half-and-half for the heavy cream and then I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter instead of the unsalted regular butter. It cuts the fat to about 1/6 of the regular recipe!!!! And tastes fabulous! I also added 3 tsp. of all-purpose flour at the end (while simmering) for thickness. (I also took his suggestion on mashing up some potatoes.) I like my chowder thick

I'm getting pretty good at substituting the right things in recipes. I'm so addicted to the food network, but the recipes are always full fat. (which is why they taste amazing, but not good for you.) I think I do a pretty good job, always cutting the fat to atleast 1/4th of what it would have been.

If you guys like New England Clam Chowder, this is an amazing-tasting low fat version!! Don't cut out any of the seasonings, they are awesome.

Alright, done yapping!
-Mari

Hi all!

Mari - I have found you can cut the fat WAY down in just about any recipe - I don't think I ever use full fat anymore and honestly, Mark has no idea - so it must be ok! I thank Cooking Light for turning me on to that - I like knowing that we can pretty much come up with a less killer version of pretty much anything.

Jo - you lucky thing with a cooking husband. Mine offers to make dinner from time to time - this usually involves ordering take out or beans on toast. Lovely. Oh well, he tries. Sometimes And isn't it great to get all that positive feedback!

Nichola - I haven't read the article on the first page - I think all the conflicting nutritional info is starting to rattle my brain. I just keep telling myself, "What works for you is what WORKS for YOU" otherwise I'd worry myself into a tail spin about it. That's the closest I could find to a spinning icon. Doesn't exactly capture the feeling I was going for. That guy is slightly better - I'm going for me as a confused nutter, can you see it?

Making my 10% goal is seriously lookin doubtful (by the end of Jan, anyway, no doubt that I'll make it at some point!). I seem to be slowing down. Not worried. Still trying, will get there eventually. Mark has apparently gotten wind of the "Dr. Phil" challenge which has a lot of men doing well on it and doesn't involve counting (in the nutrition bits) so he wants to give it a go. I told him I'll be happy to read both books (the Seven Keys which I started and then LOST and have now found again so I can finish) and do all the food prep IF he promises to read both books himself. I can not do this for both of us and I refuse to drag him along and get fifty calls a day about what he can and can't eat. It pissed me off with Atkins and WW - he can read as well as I can, I am not his mother. I am happy to help and have a partner, but I will not be the brain while he just wanders about letting me do all the thinking for the both of us. Forget that! So now he's going to read the books. If only I could get him to exercise...oh well, one step at a time I guess.

Hello Lovelies!!!!

Okay my most sincere apologies for my absence. I have been wallowing in my latest round of self pity and total loss of appetite control. I managed to pack on 10 pounds from Thanksgiving to now and I have had enough.... time to pick myself up and start from scratch.

This is going to be a challenge because this semester of school looks to be the hardest yet, but I don't want to fail in my fitness goals!!!
So here I am, begging for mercy and hoping you will continue to give me support dispite my weakness.

Mari -- do you have good "recipies" for your juicer? I am always tempted to make myself some sort of veg/fruit drink with the blender, but am not a culinary genius that can mash foods together and it turns out heavenly, quite the opposite.

Work has gotten busier, and so I may have shorter conversations with you all, but the last time I was here I developed a good sense of well-being and I miss that happy feeling.

Happy Friday to Everyone!

Hi Volley,

Glad to have you back and I'm sure we'll all be happy to give you our support

Well, I didn't lose any weight this week ... hubby has now managed to lose 7lbs in 2 weeks and I've lost ... 2lbs!!grrrrrr!!!!! I think I'm going to have to reconsider the calorie counting again, as although I've been eating healthily, I've still got a huge problem with portion control!

Let's see what next week brings.

Nichola

Welcome Back Volley!

Had a WW meeting and sad to report that I'm up 1 pound. No worries, one day at a time, no guilt and move on (as DWLZ likes to say). Time to refocus and see what I can achieve.

Goal: 10 pounds in by Feb 29th. It's a bit of a big number, but I expect a nice loss next week as it's really my first week of being OP all week. So on the 29th of Feb. I will report in. In addition, I'm going to make a fitness goal and a Lifestyle Goal. My fitness goal is 3-45 minute workouts of my choice for this week. Lifestyle Goal will be 3 litres of water a day. I'll keep you all posted, and by all means, feel free to join in!

Lorraine

Hi guys.

First, let me just say - it's the end of Jan and I have not made it to my 10% goal. I sort of got to 247 and floundered. Still, my husband has now taken an interest so maybe with both of us working at weight loss, I'll be encouraged to give it that extra effort. I hope. So, re-setting my goal - 239 by the end of Feb. I think that's plenty of time.

Lorraine, we have a simlar goal! Good luck to the both of us!

Nichoal, men lose faster than women - way faster, it's just a fact. Don't let his progress make you feel badly about yours! You can still have portion control without calorie counting - keep up with your healthy eating, just make some "rules" for yourself to cover your weak spots (my first rule would have to be that I should go to bed at 9 pm before the 10 pm munchies set in!). You're doing great! Keep it up!

Volley, great to have you back!

We'll I'm off to do the shopping for this week. We are not football people and I just read that the Super Bowl is today. If I can find out when it is, THAT is when I'm going to do my shopping - the place should be empty!