Hey Pat and meowee!

CountingDown, I know what you mean about traditions that won't die. I'm really glad not to be trapped into having to bake cookies. Why, the last time I baked cookies was 20 years ago for a fund-raiser for a chorus I sang in.

We have a partly cloudy, warm and humid day here, and I'm going out for a walk soon. Later we're making baked chicken, baked rice, and mushrooms with mushroom gravy. Probably green beans and/or salad. I'm using hijude's baked rice recipe! Really sounds pretty easy.

Pat, yes, I love Amazon too. It's just that there is some drama between my brother and me... which happened before you joined us. Fortunately I think I can figure out how to deal with it.

Have a good day, all!

Jay

A laid back Christmas day here. Got home from church at 1 a.m. Then, I got up early with DH (he left for work at 6 a.m.) and spent an hour shoveling snow. Then spent an hour with the wii fit. Spent the rest of the day cleaning and making veggie lasagna - the pasta maker worked perfectly and the WW noodles are terrific! I actually like lasagna better after it has been cooked and then reheated - the flavors seem to blend better - thus the cooking today for tomorrow's meal.

I still have some laundry to do and get the "good" dishes ready for tomorrow. One of the traditions I still keep is using my Avon Cape Cod dishes for special meals. MIL bought us our first pieces when we were engaged 30+ years ago. I even became an Avon rep for a while so that I could buy pieces at discount. She will appreciate our using them for tomorrow, I'm sure.

Hope you all had a great day!

Good Morning all, Hope you all had a joyful Christmas. I am afraid I WAY over did the celebrating and will be taking the next few weeks getting rid of the excess. So not worth it. But at the time of the indulgences it seemed ok. Do we never learn?

Anyone going shopping this morning? We will get out for awhile, just to walk around. We do Christmas Eve, so yestrday we cleaned house after the party. Still have a lot of things to find room/space for.

Laurie, I didn't know what the AVOn cape cod dishes were so I looked them up. Are they the Red glass ones? Should look very festive on a Christmas table. Valenties day?

Jay, the baked chicken sounds good. I'm really ready for healthier, lighter meals. But i think w're going to have bean soup with the hambone. or split pea. Still a lot healthier than the rich meals we've been eating. And I think I've had enought dessert to last me right through into the next century. My body is rebelling and i'm craving clean eating again.

Freda

Hey Freda! Looks like everyone else is hiding out today.

Dinner for me tonight was round two of dinner yesterday. I added up the calories and the meal comes to around 480, call it 500 to be on the safe side. Not bad considering! And you know, I only ate half of the chicken breast yesterday. I got too full to eat any more. (I like to remind myself that this is possible!) So that way I still had some for today.

I went for my morning walk. Went to the gym later and did a pretty good workout, too. Cross-trainer plus some upper-body weight machines.

I'm looking forward to the New Year and hoping we can all hang in there with our good habits and set the bad ones aside.

to all...

Jay

Yes, the Cape Cod dishes are the red ones. They looked great! The meal came out super and we had a lovely day!

Had to laugh - we gave Mom a "sheep" (her favorite animal) - donated one through Heifer International in her name.
She gave a "goat" throug World Vision in our name. We had a good laugh over that!

I love going into the weekend with a clean house - makes spending several hours working on church stuff much easier.

Hope you are all having an OP day. I'm afraid that I have too many leftovers in my fridge - gonna have to make sure I calorie count for the next few days - particularly being home all day.

Good morning! Are we all overcoming our holiday weight gain? Hope so.

Big football day today... So I need to get my chores out of the way. Fortunately it's a day off from the gym for me.

See ya!
Jay

Quiet, snowy day here - blizzard warnings out
I ordered Wii Ski after trying the skiing games on the balance board. With the winter we are having, I might not get in much skiing outside

Day off from exercise for me too (well, we will probably play some wii tennis tonight since DH seems to assume that it will be a nightly ritual). I need a rest - all this shoveling has me feeling like all my workouts aren't enough. How can I be sore? I've been working out steadily (at least 5 days a week) for over a year. I think I need to ramp up the shoulder and lower back workouts

Hope you area all having a great weekend!

Oh, yes - I have made it this far through the holiday season without gaining any weight

Hi Everyone,

Hope you had a good weekend. it was quite uneventful for us, just like i Like it! We got a rain Saturday and high winds Sunday and it cleared all the snow! I thought I wouldn't see grass again until spring. I got out and went to some of the sales. Didn't buy much, don't need much. Anyone else get out there? Got most of the Christmas decorations down and packed away and down in the basement. Still not in the closet where we keep them, but DH can do that this weekend while i'm working. Keep him busy and out of trouble!

Jay, i'm having a hard time getting back to normal eating. Seems that once I go off a little it's just that much harder getting back on tract.

Laurie, Did you get the rain and wind too? It got pretty warm Sunday too, around 50. Not bad for this time of year. I used to LOVE shoveling snow. I think physical work like that is much better than regular exercise. And yes, you find out that some muscles are just not getting exercised. Congratulations on maintaining the weight loss!! Good for you. wish I could say the same, but I let my guard down, and we all know the results of that!

take care, Freda

Yes, we got up in the 50s with rain and it melted over half of the snow. We still have 1-2 feet in most places. We also got the wind and are under another wind advisory tonight.

Today was an odd day - I cleaned my Junior High office (do it once a year) - went through file cabinets and computer parts drawers and the like. Then, we took DS2 to an endodontist about 100 miles away for a root canal. Plan to spend some time with the wii fit tonight. Otherwise, not much going on here.

I seem "snackier" than usual right now, probably the effects of the cold weather settling in now that the holidays are over. Seems like I want carby comfort foods when the weather gets like this.

Thankfully, soups and teas seem to satisfy me without doing any damage on the calorie front. DH was willing to split a grilled cheese/portobello mushroom sandwich tonight - which hit the spot.

I think seeing Fazoli's today when we were in "the city" probably didn't help. They used to be a favorite stop whenever we traveled - all those "free" breadsticks I honestly don't think I can ever go in there again - I think control would go out the window - and - when you add the fettuccine Alfredo on top of the breadsticks

The last Tuesday of 2008--and what a year it's been, eh?

I checked my weight log, and last year at about this time I was 148. This morning I'm 155. The last time I was at 148 was in August, so in a way, you could say that those trips we took in September and October were my "downfall." (Or would it be "upfall"?? )

Still, I think I can get those 7 pounds off in a couple of months' time if I'm vigilant.

It was my SO's birthday last Sunday. A chocolate cake and a pint of ice cream came into the house. It was a small cake but one of the "Chocolate Overload" cakes that have a layer of fudge in the middle... Too much, actually. I had a half of one slice, and a measured 1/4 cup of the ice cream.

My friend sliced up and froze most of cake. Fortunately, I can pass on chocolate cake easily. There is still the leftover ice cream in the freezer--and here's the good part--I'm OK with that. Ice cream has not been in this house for more than two years because I couldn't have it around. But it looks like finally I am free of the compulsion to pull it out and eat it.

How is everyone doing with the run up, or drag up, to the New Year? Any plans? We generally don't do anything but stay off the streets.

It's been nice at the gym! I expect that will change, on January 2. But the rush will calm down after a few weeks.

Jude, are you out there? Hope to hear from you soon...

Laurie, Freda, Lori, Pat,

meowee, where are you? Spinymouse? BillBlueEyes?

Jay

Hi All, DH is home from work today. The wind blew the power lines down where he worked, so, no heat. There are a lot of people here in Mich, with no electricity right now.

Laurie, I started feeling hungrier than usual when the weather started to change. And I've also found that soup and tea will dull the appetite some.

Jay, i'm sure you will get that 7 pounds off in no time. And it's time for me to be more deligent about what i'm eating too. So, lets join forces and get this show on the road!!

We aren't doing anything for New Years. I'm working. We used to take juice and snacks to the hospital, when I worked midnights, so the patients could ring in the new year too.

Freda

Congratulations, Jay, that's a big step forward. Your think like a thin person brain is taking control.

New thing for me is to complete my third yoga session in three weeks. I hadn't done yoga in over twenty years. Boggling my mind to discover unknown muscles - all tight and weak. The leader calmly lifts her left foot, takes it in her left hand, extends it, and says, "Now rotate ninety degrees left, like this." And does it.

Have you calculated that that leaves you with only one foot left on which to stand while so holding and so rotating, LOL? I'm better down on the mat where poor form doesn't mean a crash to the floor.

Thanks for keeping this thread active and lively. With your level of activity, that seven pounds doesn't stand a chance of surviving.

Jay - That is an awesome victory!
I'm betting that you are right about gym traffic going crazy in January. I read a story today that said 50 percent more people will be in the gym in January than December. Weight loss has to be near the top of new year's resolutions.

I'm betting that those 7 lbs. will be history by summer if not sooner.

Bill - good to see you around these parts again!

Freda - more weather woes here too. We haven't lost power, but the school did over the weekend. Finally got everything up and running today. And, we are under ANOTHER advisory until tomorrow night.

I did get out for a walk in the big beautiful flakes that are falling right now. Met a friend for dinner at a restaurant that was within walking distance.

No new year's plans here - like some of you - it is the LAST night of the year I want to be out and about. We will stay home, play with the wii and probably toast in the new year and be in bed by 12:15 :LOL:

THAT'S WHAT i NEED TO GET BACK ON TRACK!!!

Well I haven't done anything but bad for a couple of weeks, but it is a new day again and I will get it under control...fortunately have only gained .6lbs so at least it isn't to bad.

Started my exercise again yesterday..DH finally fixed the treadmil...and will go today to get some healthy food. Already threw out all the bad stuff. DH won't be happy about that one..Oh well guess he'll have to learn to take a joke...

The weather here has been really nice for this time of year, but we are looking at a huge cool down now, well it's winter and we need a little cold weather I guess...gotta go for now will try to get back after my exercise...

....................Pat

:Happy New Years all, Lets make this the best year ever!

We got another light snow last night. That lovely, light fluffy stuff.


any one having black eyed peas and cabbage for new Years? I know it's an old southern tradition, but I love traditions! And I kind of like black eyed peas!

freda