Good afternoon! I just got in from lunch with my neighbor. We went to my favorite Japanese place...where you sit on the floor and have to take off your shoes. I got Tonkatsu, which is a breaded pork cutlet, and a california roll. They are NOT legal..but I did take my metformin. It started working about ten minutes later....and I still feel gross. TMI, I know...sorry.

LADYBUG: Welcome to Sugarbusters! We are glad you are here! The more the merrier! I hope you find all the support you need to reach your goals here. I am 5'8" and started out at 299, and lost 51 pounds. I have unfortunately gone through a thyroid decline and surgery and have gained about 30 back. It was worse, but I am hoping I can keep the downward momentum. I am not only hyperinsulinemic, but have metabolic syndrome and hypothyroidism, in addition to being perimenopausal. That all translates into nonexistent weight loss. I keep at it, because I know I am healthier eating right and exercising, even if I don't see any improvement on the scale. You are wise to get your insulin under control now, before you get pregnant. I wish I had known what I know now when I was pregnant with my kids. I might be in better shape now. (my kids are 18, 23, and 26...time sure flies!) I hear you on the Metformin. I hate it. BUT, it does work. If you take it, eat well, and get those insulin levels down, you will probably be able to eventually control the insulin levels with diet. Sugarbusters is really good for that. I am glad you are here, so I have someone who knows first hand what the metformin problems are, and all. I know I can use all the support and encouragement I can get....

DRUM: Oh! Roses! I love roses.. which one are you going to plant to climb for you? May I recommend New Dawn? Its a wonderful rose, and doesn't get blackspot or other disesases easily. I rarely spray it and it looks great. Its a pale pink, remontant old garden rose that is a sport of Dr. Van Fleet. It gets big here in the south...I mean really BIG. I have canes on mine over 15 feet long. It would swallow the backyard if I let it! I could root you a cutting of mine, and send it to you if you like.

FILLISE: Generally, it does take a few weeks to get used to the meds, but the last time I was taking them, it went on and on and on. I think the problem was that I was developing a milk allergy and it was contributing and getting worse. Now that I am off milk, I thought the days of gastro troubles were over....guess not.

TECH: Your menu sounds good! I LOVE tilapia! What time is dinner? I had a good laugh at the kids boinging on the scale... I hope it keeps dropping for you.

Ok, it sure feels like nap time! I can not fathom why I am so tired lately! I can barely keep my eyes from crossing, so I better nap some. Later!

Can anyone tell me where I can go to look at success stories of people that are currently doing Sugar Busters or have completed sugar busters. I have looked on this site, but I was wondering if anyone else had any favorites that helps keep them motivated.

Good news, bad news, good news...

Good news: I found my snowpants to go skiing in this weekend

Bad news: Man, do I look FAT in them!!

Good news: Last time I tried them on two years ago, I couldn't even zip them up!! Today they have extra room!! Guess I have been making strides in losing weight!!

Okay...back to housecleaning!!

Kris

Ladybug...are there success stories in the SB book?

Just a quickie,

Heading to the fish fry to cut up pies and dish up the slaw for tomorrow night. In fact we can't work the church FF tomorrow as we have to work a fish fry at a club my DH belongs to. Never ending.

My throat is killing me. Just came on all of a sudden. Going home later and getting some extra Vit C and some salt water mouthwash. Hope that holds it off.

Monet, I guess if you take it 3 times a day, it wouldn't work at bed time. You can't even drink milk to coat your tummy. Gee you do have a problem.

Drum, there is a BBQ recipe on the board that is sweet and made with Agave. I have made it a couple time. Not bad. Heinz has a low carb one that is not too bad. Sometimes I add agave to it inthe bottle.

Susan, yes our is a wild group. Very diversified. We get rather loud at times and never play bunco.

CM ladybug, I was 257 and 5'-6" I have lost 105 (have gained 15 back through breast cancer and chemo). It is doable and easy to follow. Best of luck to you.

Heart, You can get the chicken marsala at Maccaroni grill. It's legal. Ask for veggies in lieu of the mashed potatoes or pasta. Sounds like a great trip. I know you will have a ball.

Tech, congrats having those loose pants. It's such a good feeling.

Got to run. have a great evening.

Wow, I'm gone for a day and the board explodes. We left after my work yesterday and drove up to Gainesville to watch the Mighty Gators beat up on the Commodores from Vanderbilt in basketball. We stayed overnight at a hotel where we got the room for "free" with honors points that my DH had earned from flying, etc. Drove back this morning and I went right to class from here. Didn't get my test grade back yet.

Drum--I have a koi pond 4' X 25' X 2' deep. We have waterlilies in it and also 2 waterfalls, one at each end. My DH has a rose garden and I have a butterfly garden with lots of pretty perenials, most of which look terrible right now because of a recent freeze. They all will come back, but they look pretty brown now.

I didn't even weight yesterday. First, I was not near a scale, and secondly, my eating has not been good. We have been eating out quite a bit, like last night, tonight, and also tomorrow. So, right now is not a good time.

Just wanted to check in.

Hi everyone! I had a snack this afternoon with my young friend. She came by to bring me some Maytag bleu cheese she found at the farmer's market near her house. (Fillise, it was Kathryn, Tom's wife...and they live near the DeKalb Farmer's Market) It was only $10.99 a pound! That is SO much better than the $17.99 that Harry's charges! Anyway, we ate some bleu cheese on a pear as a snack, then a few triscuits to boot. Very yummy!

I am probably going to have a very light supper. I am fixing salmon for the boys, but I just don't think I will be hungry, so I really should not eat!

I will check in later!

TECH: That is great about the ski pants! Loose is good!

We might have the beginnings of a garden sugar busters club here! lol
Monet,!! I have heard of New Dawn! It was one that I was considering! I would love a cutting if it isn't too much problem. I will pay for shipping, just let me know how much! I love all roses so it is hard for me to decide which ones!
Gator Girl! I bet your pond is pretty! I have a 2 level waterfall at one end. But I have to redo it this summer since one of the levels are leaking. So a good reason to redesign the falls! You are so lucky to live in Orlando! I was just there Feb. 4-12 visiting the MOUSE and it was freezing! But I loved all the pretty pansies, snapdraggons and azelas! Now I am back home with the snow of Indiana!

One thing I miss is homegrown tomatoes! This year I need to do a container veggie garden since my flowers are taking over my space! lol I am getting ready to set up my tables to start my seeds! I am so excitced!

Thank you all for your warm welcomes! I love to see your menus! Today I didn't so good on my plan but tommorrow is a new day! So what are your favorite snacks?

Jack, By the way, what is agave? I thought about adding splenda to a low carb bbq sauce, but thought homemade would be better. I will have to check out the recipes on this site.

Evening everyone.
Well, I just had to weigh again this morning and glad I did..I was down a pound, and Ill take it lol. I dont know what was different. I try to figure out what I lose best with and I just cant figure it out. Sometimes I gain when I think I should lose and visa versa.. its crazy.

Congrats to all the "losers" that posted .. thats awesome.

Techwife and Woodfrogs- thanks for the ideas ! Id love to have smoothies but thats impossible for me to make at work during the day but... I thought I could premake a protein drink or two so I might just try that.

Thursdays menu:

b- 1 cup puffed Kashi cereal, 1/2 ww bagel with 1 tbl creamcheese
s- 2 celery stalks with sf pbutter
l- turkey roll ups with swiss, 1/2 cup LF cottege cheese
s- 1 apple
d- center cut pork chop with basil and tomato seasoning, 1 cup steamed brocilli
s- 1oz pumpkin seeds

CINDY: My husband carries a protein smoothie to work to have for his afternoon snack. We make it with strawberries in the blender using milk and Designer Whey, and I guess it tastes pretty good when he drinks it...he is a bit picky (spoiled is more like it) and he has been doing this for several years. Another idea is to buy a Tupperware shaker, and mix up a protein drink in it and drink it right from the cup, wash it and store it in your desk. If you have access to a refrigerator, all you need is the protein powder and milk in the fridge.

DRUM: I will make some cuttings and get them going to root. It will take a few weeks, since I don't want to try mailing you baby cuttings that will not be hardy enough to make it. You may have to baby it for a year, but my New Dawn is awesome...it would eat the yard and the house if I did not hack it back each spring. And it blooms well. Every cutting I have made has done really well. I had one that was blooming in a pot, but Tom moved it, and we did not know the roots had grown through the bottom of the pot into the soil beneath. It was the heat of summer, and it just could not handle that kind of stress and died on me. Now I keep all my potted cuttings off the ground!

BOB: Take care of yourself....and stop in for a fly by post when you can. We just miss you when you don't check in.

Dinner tonight was good. I had two scrambled eggs, nappa, Gai Lon broccoli, Shanghai bok choy stir fried with some onion, and garnished with sesame seeds. I did taste the soba noodles (buckwheat and ok- just had too many starches today).

Ok- off to order my garden seeds...I should have done it a month ago!

Hello fellow Sugar Buster's!

Not much happening today. Cleaned house today and washed down all the walls in the bathroom, along with the cabinets. Yeah, it's all clean and fresh again. Was going to start in the dining room tomorrow, but looks like we will be spending the day at the hospital. Edna isn't doing any better, so we will go up and spell her kids for awhile. Ted talked to her on the phone today and said she could barely answer him. I sure hope this is not a sign of things to come. She is 78 years old, but has had quite a time lately. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Menu for today--

1/2 grapefruit before exercising.
B-- 1 venison hot link, 1 slice pumpernickel toast, 1 T sf PB, sf blackberry jam, Lite 85 yogurt.

apple

L--4 oz leftover cube steak, 1 lc WW tortilla with 1 T lc BBQ sauce, 1/2 c ff cottage cheese. 1/2 sweet red pepper.

orange

D-- Salsa chicken (chicken breast with mushrooms, cheese, salsa, olives)
1/2 c refried beans, 1/2 c spaghetti squash, 4 oz blackberries.

On to some replies.....


Tech-- Congrats on being in the 60's!! Have a great time skiing. Never did learn. Never like the cold enough to want to get out in it, lol. And we have some awesome ski resorts around here. But they are all closed down. We haven't had any snow to speak of this winter. Hope they will be okay financially for the year....... The CD is a good idea. For my birthday in January my dh ordered me the Time Life series of the Ultimate 70's collection. I love it, 10 glorious CD's, and boy, the memories it brings back. These were my high school years!!

Jackie-- 20 minutes is better than nothing. Hope you can get some sleep tonight, and hope you are not coming down with anything.

Monet-- My condolences to James and the family. Wow, 30 is way to young!! Sure makes you stop and think, doesn't it? Congrats on the 4 pounds, that's great!!

Drum-- Welcome to the SBer's board. Sounds like you are off to a great start. I have only used Kraft's Carb Well BBQ sauce. Your pond sounds great......we want to put in a water fall and pond.....someday. When we can agree on where to put it, lol.

Fillise-- I keep waiting for that last punch.....but it has been like this for the last 3 weeks. We are really going to be hurting this summer. It was so dry last year, and now with the lack of snow this winter.......our precip level for the month of Feb. is 0. This is the Pacific Northwest, for crying out loud. We are supposed to be up to our arses in snow. I really feel sorry for the ski resort owners, a total loss this year.

Ladybug-- Welcome to our small corner of the world. I started out at a whopping 270, and with Protein Power and then SB had lost 112 pounds, for a low of 158. Have gained a few back, but am seriously working on it again. Good luck on your journey, and great success to you. Stick around and enjoy your new way of eating.

Heart-- Hang in there, the loss of a child always hits hard. ((((HUGS))))

Gator-- A mini vacation?? It is nice to just get away, even for a night. Wish we could do it more often!!

BOB--Take care of yourself.

Sweet dreams you all...............

Good Morning! I just had to get on the metal monster this morning and see if taking this metformin was still doing anything....down another 1/2 pound! Not the best way to lose, but I will take it.

Not much in the way of news today. The weather seems to have cleared off. I would love to go walk for an hour, but today is my volunteer day at the church office, then I am meeting my young friend for lunch, as today is her birthday. After lunch, we are going to head over to a mall and shop a bit. If we go to the outlet mall I am thinking we ought to, it is 7/8 of a mile around inside. I will make sure we get in at least one lap, and will wear my pedometer, which I forget so easily. I keep trying to put it here by the computer so I will see it, as Gator suggests, but I look at it, put on my glasses, and walk away to get dressed! Duh!

I will check back later...its time to get a cup of tea or something to wake me up!

Happy Friday

Thanks goodness it is finally here.

Got my pies all cut and slaw dished up and got home and got my 17 minutes in ont he TM and 20 minutes of wts. I even surprised myself. Sat inthe hot tub for 20 minutes, ate a ww pizza and fell asleep on the couch.

No big plans for the weekend. I am making my DH a fleece throw and I want to finish it this weekend. They are so easy to make b/c I can't even sew buttons on. Cut and tie. They are soo warm too.

Bob, thanks for the note from Deb, but I don't believe it. I've given up hope that she will come back. Glad your arm is somewhat better.

Drum, agave is a sweetner from the catus plant. Tastes like honey to me. You can get it online or at some health food stores. It is expensive but worth it. It is great in Deb's cheesecake recipe. Make sure you look for that one too.

Cindy, you can't figure out your body, so you might as well quit trying. You can be great and gain or bad and lose and then you lose a lot allat once. Go figure. Congrats on the pound though.

Gator, your little trip sounded like fun. It's always fun to go away to a game and spend the night. Plus they won!

Teensy, Sure hope your SIL is getting better. It is hard whenthey get to that age and start slipping. You can come to my house and wash all the walls you want. My mom used to do that about 2-3 times a year. Not me.

Monet, have fun with your friend and don'tbuy too much at the mall.

Be back later.

JACK: No sewing on that fleece throw? What are you cutting and what do you tie? Sounds like my kind of project...please share!

Cindy: LOL I remember, at my last job before making my kitchen my office, the people that had offices right next to the breakroom always being peeved at the noise coming from the people eating lunch or on break. I can just see them now if I'd brought in my blender and started crushing ice!! It makes such a racket!! And way to go on the pound down! I know I lose sometimes when I eat off plan and then when I'm so strict with my eating the scale remains the same. Go figure!

Teensy: I'm with Jack!! I dust my walls and then if they look dirty they get painted!! May sound gross, but that's the way my mom did it. Except for like you said, in the bathroom the condensation does make for some nasty streaks so I do that, too, from time to time. My bathroom's so small it's not much more effort than washing the tub and tiles!! As for CD's and music...I love the old stuff. I live on the Canadian border near Kingston and we get an 80's/70's station from there, but I have to say that the music is a bit more, say, European 80's/70's...like more techno than I remember from my days. Funny thing is that, although I like oldies, I'd love to hear some new music but I really hate most of what I hear...there are so few bands that I can tolerate. I like Dave Matthews, Smashmouth was cool, and there are a few songs here and there I like, but (alright...I'm gonna sound old here) the music today just isn't what it used to be!! If I find a music station that plays current music, its either foul-mouthed rap or annoying hip hop sung by a vampy teenage girl. Is it just me?

Jack: I love to make blanket's, too, but mine are crocheted which takes foreverrrrr...but its great to have something to do while watching tv...makes you feel like you're accomplishing something...

Monet: Be sure not to go looking for that 1/2 pound!! It may find you!! And have fun shopping!!

Drum: Tomatoes are GREAT grown in pots! You can plant two or three and they'll keep you in tomatoes all summer! My neighbor across the street brings me over a bagful once or twice because he gets overrun with them and then I make a tomato sandwich...WW bread, mayo and a big, thick slice of tomato...I can hardly wait to grow my own!! Oh...and until I grow my own tomatoes, Triscuits and cheese is my favorite snack...it's legal, but probably not ideal as they suggest a piece of fruit for a snack...but if I stick to six triscuits and six pieces of cheddar or monterey, I don't feel too guilty.

BOB: So nice to see you're smiling face from time to time!!

Well, I think that takes care of my replies for now...for breakfast I had a repeat of yesterday...1/2 grapefruit, 2 breakfast sausages, scrambled eggs, coffee...skipped the toast as I'm trying to cut down on the bread and 'starchy carbs'.

And next week my hubby is going to work in Vermont and...WE'RE GOING WITH HIM!! Yay!! We're going to check it out to see if it's a place we could live...affordability, schools, houses, etc. And we're going to take a tour at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory and maybe bring back some Teddy Bear pelts and then we'll go to the (I'll definitely NOT be on plan THIS day!!) BEN AND JERRY'S FACTORY!! I'm salivating just thinking about it!! I'll probably eat a couple pints of ice cream and then drop five pounds, knowing the trends of my dieting/weight loss. Just like Cindy ws saying...eat on plan and get stuck...go off plan and loose a few.

So, I got Shelley's classwork from her teacher that she'll be missing and I have to teach her fractions. I'll be homeschooling for a week, but with no house to clean and sitting in a hotel room waiting for DH to come back from work, we'll have plenty of time for that and romping around in the hotel pool and ordering room service. I got another Clive Cussler book at the library to read and I"m looking forward to reeeelaxing!! DH is always befuddled by this, saying "You don't work...how come you can't relax every day?" He jsut doesn't know...and before I became a stay at home mom, I swore I would have my house as clean as it gets, etc...but it's just so different when you're doing it. I always have these little projects looming over my head, the curtains I have to finish for DS's room, the quilt I have to assemble for a Girl Scout project (I'll do most of it and let them finish it so it actually gets done!!). It'll be nice to sit around and have the maid come in and clean up, etc...

Well, speakign of little projects...I have to get going on the daily rituals...hope everyone has a great OP day!!

Kris