Megan~I've seen that banana "ice cream" recipe and thought it sounded good. I've frozen bananas for a long time but usually mix the slush into plain Greek yogurt because I love banana flavor and you usually can't get just banana yogurt.

Speaking of yogurt, I may break down and do a couple lunches of my "decadent" yogurt. Plain Greek yogurt, several sliced strawberries and half a sliced banana. Then top with 1/4 c of granola. I LOVE this but I'm thinking DH may think it too small for his lunch. I used to have this for lunch daily! It's like eating ice cream for lunch!

I stumbled over hurdle #1 last night. I fixed ravioli for dinner and thought wine would go really good with it. It did. Although I did stop myself before drinking the entire bottle, I did have 2 glasses rather than the 1 I had planned. I'm upset that I gave in, but happy that I controlled it.

This weekend we'll go see How to Train Your Dragon in 3D on Saturday and we'll golf on Sunday. I think a trip to Costco is in order and I plan on stopping at a golf store to see if I can find a new golf outfit. I got new golf sandals the other day but didn't like the clothes they had at that shop. I have one pair of shorts and three or four shirts, but I want something new and different. Oh, and DH is golfing in an autism tournament on Monday and we'll be going to a banquet afterwards. He's a bit miffed that he goes straight from golf to the banquet (no getting cleaned up) but what can you do?

Wow, this thread has gotten huge!

Last night I went to look at a treadmill that was posted on craig's list - the price was right but it needed some lubrication and my BF wanted one with a wider tread. My options are back to sucking it up and going to a gym or running outside which gets a bit miserable with my allergies, but we'll keep looking.

Mmm, frozen bananas! A favorite treat of mine -and they sure are creamy.

"exercise is the only free med I can think of!), but though he says he needs to get back into shape he's always "too busy" or the weather is bad" Meg, this sounds like me - I keep making excuses! I hope things get better for your BF without rubbing off on you in the process.

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I just scrolled back a bit and saw them. Between here and facebook, I think I've never been so popular! My BF is having a BBQ for me tonight with some of our friends. I'm looking forward to it and not going to worry about calories too much - just trying to keep the drinking in check. Not only do I not want to feel like crap Saturday, alcohol is empty calories in itself AND turns me into a ravenous monster.

Allison, sometimes it's really hard to have just one glass of wine - I've gotten into a bad habit of opening a bottle while I'm cooking to have a glass and then having a second glass with dinner... and I wonder why my pants aren't fitting anymore, hmmmm.

Jessica, are you having the dog sitter "house sit" too? That's what I used to do, so the dog's owner could call me on the house phone and he'd know I was really there. I don't think he was doing it to check up on me - he just didn't want the dogs alone every night while he was gone, but it worked well.

Dagmar, LOL on the pattern of animals. I despise mice but Mickey never was a mouse to me. I guess love can be blind. Give your DH 2 thumbs up for the watermelon snack. That’s a huge improvement.

Megan, what a cool idea to make faux banana ice cream. I just added bananas to my grocery list. (Update, I ran to the grocery – bought a banana and it’s in my office freezer waiting until this afternoon when it will be plopped in my work Magic Bullet – yummy ahead…) Do you think frozen mangoes would make a good smoothie? I thought of trying it but then I thought of how stringy they are. Have you tried it? And to you and your friends.

Jessica, you mean mangoes aren’t a winter fruit??? I’ve been buying them all winter. “Product of Mexico”… And I woke today to BLUE sky and NO SNOW!!! Granted there was frost on the ground, but I’m trying not to be picky.

Michele, I hope you get news on your job soon. Limbo just stinks. And I hope the little boy is ok. I was best friend with a girl who had epilepsy. I got used to her seizures. But it was terrifying at first.

Allison, on the wine. Could you pour yourself one glass, recork it then stow it away? Out of sight?

Iris, I bought my treadmill at Costco and it has a long and wide tread. Your BF might want to look at one there.

Along with the grocery, I stopped at the pool center and picked up some filter cleaner so we can pull the winter tarp off tomorrow. Since there are still snowflakes in the long range forecast icons, I’m pretty sure swimming is still way off. Winter has us in it cold grip but maybe it will eventually give up. I can always hope.

My new dress came yesterday and I tried it on this morning. It’s very pretty. More importantly, trying on clothes is such a pleasure now. The next step is to order shorts and capris for the summer. Kohl’s is having a sale and free shipping. So I’ll probably continue to be a bum at work. Fridays are just conducive to being lazy.
Marie

I just heard back from Kellogg's (parent company of Morning Star Farms). They have discontinued the Veggie cakes. So sad.

We just had our interview with our first of two potential pet sitters. I think it went pretty well. She brought proof of insurance and her sitting contracts with her for us to look over. Carter seemed to like her well enough. She's going to email me her references and we will call them, but in general she seemed nice enough. We're interviewing the other person on Sunday, so we'll see!

Marie~yeah, I think I should ask for the recipe! LOL basically it's brown rice, black beans, corn red peppers and something to hold it all together (plus flavoring)......

Jessica~sounds promising, hoping Sunday's interview goes well also (but then you'll need to choose!).

Good News - (fingers crossed) went for a run today 5k - slow...but the ankle feels pretty good! I am pretty happy about that, celebrated by eating my own weight in popcorn

S

re your own weight in popcorn. I ate mine in crackers . Glad your ankle's feeling better!

How was the sitter with Carter? Did she seem interested in him and ask a lot of questions about his likes and dislikes? And how was she with him physically? Did she initiate contact with him and scratch his ears or pet him or do any of the things doggies like?

Dagmar

I have to really focus this month and get back under 135 lbs. so that all my summer clothes fit.

I've been gaining and losing the same 3-5 lbs. every week with the same habits.

So now I'm going to list those habits and how I'm going to break them.

1. Eating in front of the TV at night.

This is the one big hurdle I have in losing weight. In the colder months I eat a lot of carbs and in the warmer months a lot of fruit. In order to break this habit I have to stop eating with the TV on. If I feel hungry I will take whatever I'm going to eat into another room and eat it there mindfully. Or if I'm just bored I will trot downstairs and box for a few minutes.

2. Drinking alcohol on the weekends.

I don't drink during the week (disrupts my sleep and leave me feeling tired during work) but I generally have 2-3 beers on Friday and a couple of glasses of wine on Saturday. The alcohol doesn't do anything for me except make me eat uncontrollably .

3. Turning on the TV automatically at 8 p.m.

I would like to put the TV in storage out into the garage at the end of May but DH has now reneged on that. So I will try to find all sorts of other things to do in other parts of the house if I'm too tired to go out.

Those are my "Big Three" that I'm going to work on in May.

Have a great weekend all!

Dagmar in May

1. Eat all food slowly and mindfully, whilst sitting down.

2. Plan the week's menus on Friday night. (Will help shopping, and brain space in the week.)

3. Switch off light by 10.15 pm. (15 mins earlier than now. I need sleep.)

Thank you, Dagmar. You've encouraged me.

This is so demanding, I know. I'm in a similar situation with friends and it's very tiring. I hadn't really put 2 and 2 together until I read your post. We must take care of ourselves.

Hi all,

I slept in this morning b/c I got back from the city late last night. I got to visit a friend and her 4-day old baby, did a diving class, and had dinner with another friend who lives up there. I did get lots of yummy, healthy things at the grocery store, and am going to do a lot of chopping and prepping today. Hopefully the volume of fruits & veggies will help me eat less other stuff. Jessica, yes, we're preparing to deal with the spill and it will most likely end up on my beach & in my bay in another week or two at most. It could damage our fisheries (ecologically & economically - in an already poor area) for decades to come. Can't really say more b/c of my work. If I go MIA, I'm probably just on a clean-up crew somewhere, so don't worry (I'm sure that will burn lots of calories?). It's also adding to BF's financial anxiety, b/c he is a charter captain and probably won't be able to run charters if the water is a mess. He's trying to be pro-active and is getting fishing captains whose businesses will be affected to sign up with local emergency management as clean-up crew when it comes to that, so I'm glad he's thought to be being proactive financially speaking. Of course we're all upset about the ecological aspects, but at this point we can't do a whole lot from our perspective.

Silver, yes, we do need to remember to take care of ourselves. Good luck supporting your friends also. I noticed on your list you added going to bed a bit earlier - sleep really is very important to our well being.

Jessica, good luck with your second interview. It sounds like you've already found one good sitter.

Marie, I know mangoes are good in smoothies, I've used them before! I've found even in fresh mangoes there is a variation in how stringy they are, but really good ones aren't so stringy. Peaches are good, any berries, bananas are good, in my smoothie making experience. My sis's in-laws live in central Florida and have a mango tree, and from them I've learned FL mango season is May-June. The mangoes I've eaten from their tree are the best I've ever had.

Michele, funny you should mention thyroid and diving. The reason for my trip to the city yesterday was to take a Nitrox certification class for diving. B/c diving with nitrox (nitrogen/oxygen) mixture in your tank can let you stay down longer than a "normal" mix of air in your tank, there is more concern over the prolonged stress to the body. There was a whole list of things that can make you "unfit" to dive, which included an overactive thyroid. I particularly paid attention to that b/c I don't remember thyroid anything being mentioned in my intro scuba class. And still they said overactive, not underactive thyroid. I think the reasoning is that anything that heightens your metabolism can increase the strain on your heart, and diving is already an exertive (is that a word?) activity. But if it's well-managed... anyway, that's a bummer. The equipment is expensive, but you don't have to buy it, you can rent it through any dive shop you'll be diving with! If they say you must buy the equipment they're just trying to make $ off of you, b/c many, many places rent. Anyway, I hope you get to do some snorkeling on your cruise at least!

Have a good Saturday all!

Hi all,

Megan, the oil spill is in our news as well. It looks like a horrible impact on the marine life, and it is so big! It must be a horrendous job to contain the damage.

Dagmar, Birch - good idea to name 3 focus points for may!
Here are mine:
1. MOVE! Bike to work, work in the garden, whatever. I'm trying to psych
myself into liking to be in my garden and put more time into maintenance
2. Portion control.
3. Less alcohol. Like you say...it is'nt just the calories..but the reduction in willpower that leads to snacking. I take a glass of wine everyday to pick me up, but that quickly becomes 2. I before and 1 with my dinner. found out yesterday that a cup of green tea also picks me up...so less wine, more tea.

Re: moving; I am patting myself on the back here; I had my firewood for the winter delivered yesterday & moved v& stocked it in my woodshed. 3m3 of wood, 25 wheelbarrows full. Took me about 3 hours, and I'm glowing with pride since I did it! Also..I'lll try to dig out my pedometer & NDS healthcoach program to see if I can work that in again.

Alinell - how's the ankle/

birch, dagmar on the stressfull situations

DD phoned yesterday, had thrown up 8 times on the trip from holland to zeebrugge. She is with XH and NL on his sailing boat on a 2 week trip to London. Luckily she has a friend with her. I so hope she has a good time. It sounds cold and uncomfortable to me. London is nice, and getting there on a saillboat sounds like an adventure but it is probabely cold and with a lot of being sick if you are prone to seasickness.

Have a great day,
Rabbit