Hi Chocolate, Good for you checking in. I'll look forward to hearing about your journey to the incredible 199! Take care.

No food feels as good as a slim body!

Welcome Chocolatecatz. Do you have a shorter version of your name that you like to be called? It sounds like you are on a positive track.
Carol, good luck with your tax assessment.
Tired, I love reading your check-ins. I have been sick for the past few days and my eating has not been very good. My plan for today:

breakfast: egg salad on 1/2 bagel

snack: grapefruit

lunch: burger patty with small salad

snack: smoothie

dinner: chicken salad

I have to run----I need to take my daughter her make up piano lesson.

Love to all,

roll

Hi all!
A very good veggie/fruit and milk/non fat yogurt/bulghur day. I RESISTED a lot of temptation and it feels great to be on track again. I like not counting calories and trying this new version. I ate a lot (probably too much) but it was all very healthy.

breakfast - skip (I know a no no)
lunch - strawberries/pineapple, banana/pineapple yogurt smoothie
snack - veggie chili (really yummy) I skipped the cheese topping
dinner- more veggie chili, berry smoothie
Lots of water and sugarless gum too.
exercise - a bike ride with the boys - fun! short, but better than nothing. Also a nature walk at a local farm.

Hope all is well. It feels so good to be back!

Hello Chocolate and welcome to this site. Look forward to hearing from you! Tiredoffat I haven't really heard of the new verison of your dieting. Are you switching to a vegetarin diet? At any rate if you need some great recipes go to the library and take out the Moosewood Cookbook. My youngest daugter has been a vegetarin for 9 years. I always have to be creative a bit when she is coming for dinner. Sounds interesting let me know how it goes. At any rate just make sure you keep up the fibers and protein. That way you won't burn muscle but fat. Good luck. I enjoyed your info. on the journey you have traveled. Clothes shopping will become more fun. Yes the scale is an important tool. Though is tough you need it but if people use it too often or not enough it becomes a trouble spot for some folks. My daughter has a big wedding in Boston this weekend the little guy and dad are in the wedding. Nice place to visit.
Rollmdl hope your feeling better. Boy the viruses are just still out there. Wish our good weather would just straighten everything out for people. So then we can just enjoy it! The tax thing went well I think. He was understanding and I gave lots of facts. Then he said he will reconsider and send me a letter within 2 weeks. There were lots of people there doing the same thing. Gald I did it and will every year!
I spoke with my kids in Seattle last night. They are flying out today to live in Hawaii. They are so excited I hope it all works out well for them. Too be so young and adventurous.
Well I am already dressed and packed up for the gym. I am going before work today.
Intake I will add later. Gotta go!
cc

Hi all. It's beautiful here in the Boston area Carol. A great weekend for a wedding. The daffodils and tulips have bloomed. The Public Garden will be wonderful. I hope they have the chance to take your grandchildren on the Swan Boats and then read "Make Way for Ducklings" when they get home. I remember that as a child.

I actually have one of the Moosewood cookbooks and love it. Last night I made a veggie chili that was terrific. I ate loads of it and still didn't rack up many cals. I'm not really starting a new diet, but I'm trying to motivate myself in new ways. I never eat enough fruits and veggies. I'm hoping that by concentrating on those two food groups for a week I'll be able to get on the healthy track. I eat very little meat in general, but I'm not going totally to the veggie side (yet anyways).

So far so good on the new track:

breakfast - fruit salad
snack - fruit smoothie
lunch - veggie salad
dinner (I'm currently roasting a number of veggies at 300 - I'm experimenting with it - we'll see).

Have a good day. I hope everyone gets a taste of some sunshine today. It's cool here but bright - a needed change from the dreary end of winter.

Todays intake: Breakfast= bran cereal and milk
Lunch= yogurt, salad w/ almonds/ 1 cup cottage cheese
Snack= reduced fat cheese w/ a few crackers
Dinner I can't decide and its driving me crazy so I had to leave the kitchen and thats how I got here! Oh 1 slice of Italian bread w/ peanut butter.
On another note I did exercise this a.m. before work. It went well the ellipitcal machine I actually did 10 min . with out feeling too tired. I didn't push it I want to feel comfortable on it first. Then I did the treadmill 15 and wt. resistance another 15. So not a bad work out. Then went off to work. Tonight a friend and I are going around the lake. So another 2 1/2 mile walk. Its been an exercise day but I feel great! I am very motivated with that lately. Now if I could get my food under control it would be great. Maybe because of my increase in actvity the inc. in food comes too? Who knows? Any ideas? I am open for any knowledge out there!
Take care and have a great evening.

Well I just joined in on another site which tracks walking. To my suprise once I added up my exercise for the week it hit 10 miles. Oh I hadn't really thought about it much I guess but that must be the highest for me in such a short period of time. No wonder I am so hungry! Oh I need to go get some groceries we had tuna sandwiches last night I just couldn't think of what to make. Crazy! Need some good choices maybe that is why I am making a few poor choices.
At any rate I am off to Rochester with the little ones, daugter and my sister and her two children. Should be a fun day and it is sunny! I will try to fit in walk later if the weather continues to be nice. Have a great day!
Breakfast= cereal w/ milk
Lunch out with the group!

I missed my water aerobics classes on Monday and Wednesday so I did one this morning. I have been on track for the past 2 days. I have a party to go to tonight. It's a birthday party. All girls (five) and we all play Quiddler after having our gourmet meal. The kids are all having "teen night". It's my daughter's first teen party and I'm a little nervous about that. She'll be 13 in 2 1/2 weeks.

Eating plan for today:

breakfast: bagel sandwich with low fat canadian bacon, cheese and egg

lunch: smoothie

dinner: ????????

I think it would be a good idea to plan my eating for tomorrow so I'll have
clarity about exactly HOW I'm going to get back on track.

Okay.

For tomorrow:

breakfast: salad -- asian salad dressing, 1/4 avocado and chicken

lunch: chicken soup

snack: grapefruit

dinner: more chicken soup

snack: nonfat yogurt

Carol: It's so satisfying to track your exercise, isn't it? It's almost like a savings account. It accrues and when you look back, you see that you've really done a lot with less effort than it seems it would take.

Tired, you sound really positive and up. You love bright weather, don't you. I tend to be spacey and flat when it's overcast for too long a time. Maybe I'm projecting.

Well, I have to start getting ready for this birthday party.
I think we're all doing great.

Roll

Hi, I'm back. I hadn't realized how stressed out I'd been over the trip and work in general until yesterday, when I feel like I slept forever in the hotel, the morning after the primary event. I ate well on Wednesday, including a fabulous lunch at at a vegetarian restaurant owned by people I know. I had two big glasses of wine at the end of the evening and felt no shame I was a bit helter-skelter on Thursday, but mostly okay, and I walked a lot between meetings. I brought back a box of seafood from Pike's Market, which I try to do whenever I'm in town. Since two of my meetings got cancelled, I took a red-eye back home, and got in this morning. I walked for about 35 minutes in the terminal at the Detroit ariport during the layover, to get the kinks out after dozing for four hours while sitting up on the plane. I've spent the day napping, working and rehydrating myself. I'll get on the scale tomorrow morning. I do hope I haven't lost any ground, I have about five weeks left to lose 10 pounds, I dunno

Roll, I hope you're feeling better today. You sound like are doing well! Have a great time tonight.

Carol, I have an old friend from college who works at Microsoft and lives on Bainbridge Island. It looks very cool. I was hoping to see him but his father is ill so he had to rush out of town. But it sounds like many trips to Hawaii are in your future, how nice!

Tired, congratulations for renewing your commitment to the journey. Imagine, you have already lost 30-40 pounds in less than five months! I would be jumping for joy....As I understand it, after putting so much energy and focus on this, we're bound to lose steam periodically, and our bodies fight back fiercely to put the brakes on starving those fat cells. So you are doing the right thing, looking at the big picture and setting new goals. I know you can do it! Yaay, Tired!

Hi, Chocolate--I'm also on a very helpful "Race to 199" thread. Sounds like you are well on your way to getting there.

So today, I've had lots of water, a strawberry smoothie, a Savvy Faire beef and veggies, and a protein bar. I'm cooking up some fresh scallops for dinner....

judy

Well today was supposed to be pretty eventful, but it ended up in a bust. It stormed, hail and all. Then a certain person I was supposed to meet didn't show up, etc.

I ended up eating at Taco Belch - had a chicken quesedilla and soft taco but NO sour cream. So i guess it will be a fruit salad for supper

Supper was a bust. Ended up eating Chinese. Had some WonTon soup and 4 pieces of Teriyaki Chicken. I feel like I have eaten a ton!

The other grandchildren live in TX so no, we don't get to see them. Last time was at Xmas.

Hi all. It seems like everyone is making good choices and exercising a lot! Carol, you're inspiring to get back out there and exercise more often. You mention that you were starving - I had a hard time eating right while exercising since I got so hungry. Does anyone have any tips on this. We know the exercising is great, but then how do you balance the hunger it brings?

Roll, good for you staying on track for two days. Good luck at the party tonight. I know what you mean about your daughter's teen event. My oldest son is 14 and he's beginning to go to similar events. He's asking for more freedom - it's tricky. We want to give him greater freedom, yet not too much. I've heard parenting described as a "dance." I like that metaphor.

Judy, it sounds like you handled your trip well and gave yourself rest when needed and lots of yummy healthy food. I hope you enjoy the seafood (I love seafood). Thanks for all the encouragement. It helps.

Welcome Kclay. You certainly have a lot of people to love in your life. I bet the twins are a lot of fun. Do they help out with the grandchildren? Good for you skipping the sour cream.

Good day here.
breakfast - berry smoothie
lunch/dinner - onions, peppers and some pepper steak; another berry smoothie
lots and lots of sugarless gum to keep me from eating junk while doing errands,etc.
Lots of water too.
I can feel myself getting back on track and it feels really good. I'm sleeping better again.


Take care!

Good Morning all!
Off to a good start (I'm expanding my veggie/fruit diet) with a bowl of oatmeal. I'm really going to try to check in (w/detail) for the next few weeks and yes, I'm back to the calorie counting.

Here goes

oatmeal w/little milk, coffee (175)
plan: lunch nice big salad w/lots of greens
dinner: a rice/bean dish (I'm going to find one in the Moosewood cookbook)
Let's see how all this goes. I wish everyone a great day!

KClay welcome to the site. I also have grandkids and they are such a joy.
Yesterday was fun we went to Rochester to the museum. It was great for the little kids they had a ball but the older ones were a bit bored. I thought it would be a bit better the mad sci. lab wasn't all that great. But there was a lot of things for the younger kids.
I induldged in 4 chicken wings and 2 slices of pizza afterwards at my daughters. Then had sugar free jello w/ cool whip for an evening snack. I used to make jello alot and will get back into it. In the evening its a nice low cal treat and sweet.
I did my scale ck this morning lost that .5lb I found the other day. I was pleased with that I seem to be the type which stays the same for a bit after losing and then lose again hopefully soon. Tired I agree with the exercise and feeling more hungry. But I guess it must be the changes going on in our bodies. So making better choices until we adjust is probably very important. I should of realized that I guess oh well! I am down to my 169.5 and will just keep trying to lose some more.
Rollmdl your right about the exercise when you track it makes a difference same as with our food tracking. Before you know it you've really made a difference. a far as teens go one important thing I learned at a parenting class many years ago was to pick your battles. Some things are much more important than others and if your too hard of a parent they sneak around to get and go where they want. You seem to have a good relationship with your daughter just keep that line of communication always open and it will be fine. I went through this too its just part of parenting and letting go a little is scary. My close friends are both going through the same thing. Its so hard to know how much to let them do and with who. Parenting is a learning as you go thing each kid is different so you have to adjust as you go along . Good luck and I am sure it will be fine enjoy your time to yourself.
Tired so glad your back on track and your going to do great! If you like salsa try blk beans drained w/ fresh peppers chopped and onions, Italian dressing w/ baked pita chips. Bake a whole wt. pita at 375 for 8 min. cut in triangels to use as a chip. Just an idea.
Judy oh those scallops are wonderful. I love that market. Have you ever been to the one in Toronto? It is very similar to Pikes. Glad you got the chance to go there.
I have to go get groceries and work on a quilt today. It is rainy here. I think I will go to the gym sunday morning. I did a lot of walking yesterday on our trip.
bREAKFAST= cereal whole grain and milk, coffee 200
Snack= fruit
Lunch= salad w/ turkey and croutons/ almond slices and ving. and olive oil spices
Snack=yogurt w/ fresh fruit
Dinner= grilled chicken strips w/ hot sauce and salad w/ blk beans.

Thanks for the great idea Carol. I like your exercise/eating idea too. Managed to get a lot of paperwork done this morning, then ate a healthy veggie lunch (Trader Joe's products) with smoothie dessert. The cals add up:

veggie burrito - 300, veggie indian dish - 360 and smoothie 200 for a whopping total of 860 plus 160 breakfast and that makes 1020. Thanks for being here.

Welcome KClay.
My dinner party last night was very satisfying. The women I am closest to are so much fun and so comforting. We are like a fan club for each other.
My eating? Well, I made a conscious decision to have one helping of everything. This, I consider definitely overeating but not bingeing. I didn't feel like I was out of control. My big mistake was having 2 cups of coffee at 10:00 and 11:00. My bed was like a humanly charged cyclo massage-- like the kind found in cheap motel rooms of the 50's and 60's.

So, I think I drifted off at 4:30 and woke up at 8:30.

I am definitely going to need a nap today. I'll also have to be careful. I'm glad I have an eating plan in place today.

Thanks for the support re: my almost teenager. It's an exciting and scary terrain for me. I'm having to let go little by little and give guidance without pushing. It is tricky as you say, Tired. The friends I had dinner with last night have kids that are 1-3 years older than my girl and some of the stuff they go through....As parents, we have to change our attitudes so rapidly and it's like going through adolescence all over again.

I feel like it's really important for me to keep posting. I really need the support. I'm going through a lot these days---money issues etc....

My daughter is going to a sleep-over birthday party tonight. I'm going to go to the gym and after I work out, I think I'll take a sauna and hot tub.

Judy, I am so inspired by the way you care for yourself. It really helps me to make the same kinds of choices. Thank you.

Well, I'd better start cleaning. My office is a mess and I am too distracted
to get anything done when my environment is like this.

Thanks for being here. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Roll