I lived in the GTA 15 years ago, not sure if Finch station had a Timmies then. I go to Timmies at least 3 times a week but I never buy their baked goods, just coffee with milk, but if anyone brings donuts into my house, watch out. I seem to have no power over junk food in my house, if it is there I eat it. I try to keep it out of my house but with a 6 and 8 yr old it is hard.

I also suffer with SAD. I find the more I get outside,the better I feel, but this year the weather has been really bad, windchills of -38,then 2 big dumps of snow in a few days and they didn't get the sidewalks clear for days,after that we had thawing and ice, more thawing and more ice now today we are supposed to get another 20-30 cm. This is the worst winter we have had in the 15 years we have been here. We usually have cold temps but no wind and once we freeze up thats it 'til spring. When I eat because of SAD it doesn't have to be junk, anything at all wil do except fruit and veg. lol.I just read that st.johns wort helps but it is contraindicated with a lot of meds including antidepressants. I don't take any meds so I think I will try it.I also have a light box which helps considerably.

Hello to everybody else,have a great day. I have my food planned out and today I am trying 3 meals and a small bedtime snack and I will see if that keeps me satisfied, eating between meals is where I get in trouble.

Sorry I don't remember any names yet.I love the new ww program,it really encourages healthy eating.I am so glad to hear of your success working the program on your own, that makes me feel more confident I can do it to. My issues go deeper than just counting points, I am a pro at that, I have been doing it on and off since points were first introduced. Now I am concentrating more on the emotional/depression eating. WW is just a tool to keep track of calorie intake, they don't discuss the emotional eating enough.

Sorry for the book, I seem to be wordy today. Debbie:

VEELA & DEBBIE ~ nice to have you both join our Canadian thread too! Yes, we have a TIMMIE'S here for sure ... I don't have a problem with it as mostly I just have coffee. Rarely, we used to have a raisin-bran muffin with coffee for breakfast; but that usually only happened once a year.

ALANNAH ~ on the weightloss; that is so rewarding to go to the meeting and find that you lost some!!!

HI JOSEY ...

SAD ~ I hate the lack of light too, so we close up our curtains at night and put on our lights right away during the winter. Whenever it is we open our curtains wide and I make sure to sit in the direct sun for about an hour at least. I will read in my rocking chair by the big livingroom picture window to warm myself with the light.

We were blessed with sun all last week and now we have a bit of ***** on and off, but not too much really. The temps are a bit colder tonight but our Winter Carnval is on and we need the night temps to keep our lake cold for the festivities.

We had roast beef and piles of veggies for dinner tonight; got lots leftover for tomorrow too. Have been reading a lot of historical romances (finished one on the weekend) to while away my winter. Hope you all have a wonderful week coming up ... Rosebud

Hi Everyone... nice to see some new faces.

Josey - I switched my Tims obsession to tea instead of sweetened coffee. I love the honey lemon and I take my tea black so that helps. Tim bits are a good substitue for doughnuts but they have a fair amount of fat and calories also so I have 2 at the most if I must have something. The Tims website lists nutritional info for these also so I try to stick with the "better" ones.

Veela - I also suffer from SAD as well as depression year round. Winter is the worst time of year. Have you ever tried one of those sun lights? I find mine really helps me

Rosebud, have you read the outlander series by Diana Gabaldon? The first one came out 20 years ago and the 7th one just last year and is now in paperback. I have acquired 6 of the 7 . I bought the last one full price and picked up the rest at value village and a second hand book shop,looks like I will have to pay full price for the one I am missing. If you like a good thick historical romance you will probably enjoy this author.I read the first few years ago but I am enjoying reading them again even though I don't usually reread books.

Hello all, A nice bright sunny day here after all the snow yest. I will go for a walk a little later when the side walks are cleared and sanded, I live near a main road so they are usually pretty good, just getting out of my subdivision is the tricky part.

Have a great day everyone

I am just glad they offer oatmeal now. Great breakfast!

DEBBIE ~ I don't recall her name presently, but I will keep my eyes open for her work. I get most of my books from a second-hand thrift shop here in town; and I may check out our local library. She must be good if you have read her books twice.

I just finished one from a new young author called PATTERNS OF LOVE by Christine Holden from a Quilt Series (by JOVE); was so pleasantly surprised what a wonderful story this was. I just loved one called TO MARRY AN IRISH ROGUE by Lisa Hendrix: very funny and so nice to read about the Irish people (as we have Irish lines in our family on both sides). Read Maiden Voyage by Judith O'Brien last week; a historical romance that moves between two different eras.

I read a cute Harlequin romance called CONTRACTED: CORPORATE WIFE by Jessica Hart. A very pleasant story where the ordinary 40-something lady gets the tall, dark handsome (and rich) guy for a change. All these books I have mentioned would make terrific movies IMHO ....

I read several multi-story books that had Christmas themes at Christmas. I have at least 4 or 5 LaVyrle Spencer books; and I read a few stories by Richard Paul Evans at Christmas too (The Christmas Box and 2 other stories in one book).

JOSEY ~ didn't know that TIMMIES now has oatmeal available for breakfast; that's a healthy alternative for us all.

We had a lovely all day here; the nights have been very cold but our Winter Carnival is on this week(end) and it will keep our lake in good shape for us. Had a good session at the dentist today; all went well for me. I needed two fillings but he did them together; and I was soooo glad about that!!! Then we went up town and picked up some groceries.

Hope you are all having a great week; take care ... Rosebud

Hi everyone, I notice there is a lot of chat about books these days. I am a mystery fan, and prefer police procedurals and "cozies". I know they seem opposite, but thats my taste. I have been getting into the "spence" books, by Robert Parker, (of course now that he is passed away and there won't be any more) since I liked the Jesse Stone books, after watching the movies with Tom Selleck. (Big crush on Selleck, but don't like the new show, Blue Bloods) I love Margaret Maron's series, and can read MC Beaton like I'm eating popcorn, they go down fast and leave you wanting more.
TTFN, and stay warm, Canada.

Hi All! Welcome to the new faces!!

I've had a string of bad vibes this winter. My favorite elliptical at the gym was gone, it broke. I tried the other ones and my knees hurt for a week after, so I will have to use my one at home and only use the bike for warm ups at the gym and do my weights.

I'm going to sit down this week and do a meal plan. Plan, plan! I still haven't done it.

Last week my middle boy came home with a stomach bug and it's gone through the house. I think I've had it the worst with both ends. Nasty achey body and two days later I still have trouble with food. I've lost 8lbs, it's crazy. Now to just keep my calories down and no more pop and lots of water and I'll ride this wave!!

I need to start popping my vitamins again. My depression is still very up and down, so maybe it's more hormonal, i had to cancel my dr appt this week since i was sick. Life is just busy, crazy right now too!

I will try to get back on here more and I really want to reply to others in the thread, so I'll try that later today since I'm busy at work today. Take care everyone.

Try it, it's awesome. Plain, maple or with berries. It's whole grain! Loooove it!

I am mostly reading romance novels when I read fiction (not much). I have a "thing" for SEALs right now so favorite authors include Suzanne Brockmann, Cindy Gerard, Marliss Melton and Christy Reece. Some scary stuff there not just corny romance.

@SnowboundChick sorry to hear you are having some rough days. Hang in there! Summer is coming. Maybe not right away but we are getting there!!!

Just checking in to keep my Canadian status! I'm in several Forums here but I AM CANADIAN as the commercials say. This winter has seemed particularly difficult. I seem to be cold most of the time although I keep my house at about 21ºC. Right now, I'm wearing a t shirt under a long-sleeved t-shirt and a fleece shirt-jacket on top of that. I am considering wearing gloves in the house.

For those of us with SAD, the lights definitely do help as does getting outside even for a wee while every day. The days ARE getting longer and, from what I hear from my Delaware friend, spring IS moving north.

Anybody from the Kingston, Ottawa, Brockville area? I'd love to have a mini-meet at a Timmies sometime. Now that I have a GPS, I'd even tackle southern Ontario.

Weigh in was tonight and I was down another 2.6 making that 6 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I am very happy with that. I wasn't expecting quite that much, maybe 1.5 or so, so I was pleasantly surprised.

We got yet another dumping of snow yesterday and then it dropped to a deep freeze again in a flash freeze overnight so this morning was an absolute mess to get around. The roads still aren't great but are definitely better than this morning when they were all a sheet of ice from the freezing. I am so tired of winter. Bring on March when at least there are a few warmer days and some of this can melt!

I don't get SAD too bad but I do find I get antsy this time of year cause I want to get out after work but it gets dark so fast. I find myself in as many windows as I can through the day to get some sun. Can't wait till we change the clocks again in a few weeks so it'll be lighter longer after work and I can get out more.

Tired tonight. I was up extra early this morning in case I had to shovel out behind the car but it wasn't drifted too bad. But that extra hour is making me dopey LOL

Ruth - I am always cold too and I refuse to turn my heat up. I have a fuzzy throw blanket that is my best friend i swear every night when I am reading or watching tv or anything. I am too chilly without it.

Hope everyone had a good day! I'll check back tomorrow..

I've lived in the North all my life and I don't believe I'm affected by SAD and I don't get out as much as I should ever day since some days are as low as -40 or colder and that's tough being out there for 15 minutes. I have started taking vitamin D this year though and I'm 35, so maybe it's catching up to me.

I love the Diana Gabaldon books but I haven't read the newest one yet, it's been sitting on my shelf since it came out. I really have to be in the mood for her fiction and history.

I don't know why but this week I am soooo hungry. I. AM. HUNGRY. Pretty much all the time. It is really tough to stick to the plan (WW) but I am getting through it.
The weather changed and it is warm (around +5) and sunny and it feels like spring. I love it. Though I am sure it will change after this weekend.

Any exciting plans for the weekend, girls?

HI TO ALL OUR CANUCK FRIENDS HERE ~ my PC has been acting up on me again: by the time I made one or two posts elsewhere, it started freezing up on me. I am suspecting my AV programs are causing part of the problem; and this is a very, very old machine so I am not surprised. I haven't been on the net as much as usual becuz of this too ...

I twisted my left knee last week; so I am on crutches right now. I get up every 60-90 minutes to get a bit of exercise and keep my blood circulation good. So DH has had to be my helper lately; fetching and carrying things for me; and doing little chores to keep the place looking presentable. I told him that it's payback time, baby! But he just laughs when I say that ...

So we have been eating anything that is quick but still healthy to eat: things like baked fish & chips (I have sweet potato fries); tourtiere meat pie & veggies; a slice of pizza with a salad; a Blue Menu burger & salad; deli roast chicken & salad, etc. Tonight, it will be wg spagettini and mini-meatballs (the frozen kind).

I will have to catch up with personals a bit later on; congrats to those who are steadily losing right now!!! I have read the posts and you are doing great. I have been staying on plan really well this month; so happy about that; just can't do as much but as long as I stick to the plan, all should be OK.

The night temps were cold, but now that warm spell seems to have reached us today. I think it was even about 0 C or higher today; and the is peeking out a bit this afternoon as well.

Take care and have a great week ... Rosebud

Hi there! Is this where us Canadians come to complain about winter? LOL

I just wanted to introduce myself to my fellow Canadian chicks. I'm a 38 y/o SAHM to 2 girls (ages 6 and 4). I live near Calgary and I'm tired of winter and cold weather!