My dog would rip a donut out of someone's hands! She has run up to unsuspecting people and eaten off of their plates in their laps. Just this morning, she tried to eat a dead starfish (got most of that out of her mouth), and succeeded in eating some poop. I was so upset with her. BF and I just finished about 18 hours of diarrhea watch, including in the house and multiple times in her crate (not that I was mad at her for going in the house - I know she couldn't help it at that point - just another headache to deal with), feeding her pepto and finally some white rice, using my new steam vac less than a week after I got it for two hours last night, all because she ate something dead on her walk Friday night. She got it down before I could even see what it was. And now she's eating more dead stuff. Saturday AM I woke up at 2:30 to a horrible stench. It was the first of it coming out, on the living room carpet. I am at my wit's end. I just can't get her to listen or stop eating junk! Grumble.

My parents sent me the steam vac as an early birthday present (yes, I did ask for it - I think I'm going to use it a lot!). How timely.

Dagmar, you can stand your ground with that salesman! And you can post pictures of you & your car for us to see, and be excited for you about. I'm sorry you feel alone but we might be far away, but we're here for you!

Allison, good job! Sounds tasty too.

Neuro, perhaps my post will make you less jealous of those of us with pets, lol. And if you get a dog, you must get DH a steam vac if you have carpets! My cholesterol is also high at 220. My HDL is 94, so that's very good. I forget what the LDL # is right now. My dad's whole family has high cholesterol. It's also very frustrating for me, and I also came on the forum complaining when I found out! I also eat so many veggies & fruits, whole grains, lean mean, nuts, etc. - seemingly a great diet for low cholesterol. Jay pointed out the stress connection to me, too. I hoped to start adding some yoga or breathing exercises into my schedule to deal with some of my stress, but I'm too stressed out about not having enough time to deal with life as it is. I still hope to start some more active stress management, though.

I should go to the city today to run some errands, but I don't particularly feel like making the long drive and using the gas to do it. We'll see if it happens. I'm still feeling very drained from the work week, and working yesterday. Have a good Sunday all!

Dagmar, congratulations, only I'm afraid to post any further on your new car because I'm superstitious & fear that my raising this subject will cause my 10-year-old car to start acting up. And I'm just not in the mood to start looking for another yet.

I'm cleaning & doing some food prep in advance of a friend arriving tomorrow for a three-day visit. We'll both be working. She'll be out in the field, I'll be home on my laptop. So we'll see each other in the morning & then hang out & dine together for two evenings. I hope this works out. I've baked a lasagna-type dish made without noodles, using broiled eggplant, and I also plan to roast a chicken tomorrow with a Moroccan spice rub & stuff it with something, probably couscous, raisins & almond slivers. I want to serve a side of kale but it might freak her out. I still have to find out if she drinks coffee & if she wants milk in it. I never have milk around anymore. I've gone over to almond milk, and have some dry powder skim to mix up for the occasional recipe.

Jen, I caved and ate two brownies. Then I ate another donut. Friday was a bad day. Three donuts and two brownies. I can't believe I used to eat like that every day. It's been a struggle to keep my calories down the past few days!

Dagmar, congrats on the car!

I'm having a hard time keeping my calorie count down. Target is 1400 since I want to lose a couple pounds, but I have been coming in at 1900 to 2200 the past few days and my weight is going up. Other than Friday's massive donut and brownie disaster, I haven't been eating junk, just my regular healthy food. I'm just still hungry after having one serving. I know weight gain is listed as a side effect of the medication I started but I wonder if I might just be using that as an excuse. 138 this morning, which is my red line. So far at 1200 for the day and I just finished dinner, but there are a few hours to go...

Jessica Would the new medication be "enhancing" your appetite?

Megan The lab part of Emma is clearly dominant in her genetics. Don't remember how old you said she was when you got her but if she's been through a heat that will increase her food drive as well. Kinda like a lot of us during TOM .

There is nothing you can really do to stop her except feed her a varied diet (a sardine on her food once a day sometimes really helps) and keep lots of pepto around. Some of the labs do grow out of the "I'll eat ANYTHING" phase.

Speaking of eating I ate a lot of junk at my cat sit today. I know it's due to anxiety about tomorrow but I'm having a hard time stopping myself. And why is it that we never turn to carrots or kale chips when stressed?

DH at least was one happy guy today. His CMA group aced their presentation this morning and he's confident they have passed and will all get their designations at the end of August. He's even consented to running two important errands for me tomorrow. He also wanted to go and deal with the car salesman but I know I have to do this myself. Otherwise every time I take the car in for servicing they will give me a hard time.

Now I will e shop for seat covers (the interior of all Hyundai products is black for some weird reason), a cute license plate cover with paw prints, and all that schmucky stuff I never bought for my Corolla. Lafayette is gonna be my "fun" car. I might even get him a Rudolph antlers and nose set for Christmas!

Good evening all!

Dagmar

Megan~try keeping her on a short leash. I think you said you had her on a retractible--keep it short or buy a 5-6' leash.

Jessica~don't make excuses. If it said that is a side effect just don't let it be one for you. Be strong!

Saef~I've only once had a car for 10 years. It was my first--that my parents bought for me. Since then we've had a myriad of new and used cars. Sometimes the ones you've had since new are the best because you know the care you've taken for them.

Megan, do dogs really eat poop? Really? How is that possible; don't they have a sense of self-preservation? You're right that I'm a tad less jealous of you pet owners when I read stuff like that.

JayEll, I don't feel especially stressed recently (no more than usual, and less than at many times), so I don't think that's it. Unfortunately, I must be genetically predisposed, and given that I have ~4 more years before menopause, this is not good. I don't think I would do well as a vegan, but that may be in my future if my LDL stays up this high.

Mudpie, I LOVE kale chips, and will actually choose them when I feel hungry over many other options, though I admit to desiring cookies and brownies too. Glad you're getting your car- should cut down on your stress level soon enough.

Not a bad day, food-wise, and I got an hour of biking in on a beautiful summer evening which should count for at least a few calories burned (though not as many as I would like- it was mostly flat).

Yeah, dogs do eat poop--usually their own so you can give them medicine that makes the poop unpalatable, but if it's other poop, no go. My dog likes rabbit poop and we have a lot of rabbits around here and since they come in our backyard there isn't a lot I can do.

Saef~I meant to say that I doubt your friend will balk at kale chips. I've wanted to try them but have yet to find kale at the grocer.

Dogs especially love cat poop-- it is a delicacy!

Dd finally is home today. I was so lonely and she came home grouchy and picked a fight with me. Hopefully we've worked it out now as it's another week before dh comes back. It was such a stressful ride both ways. She was near San Francisco and I drove through it going there. It is Gay Pride weekend and there was a ton of traffic and police directing on the way there so I was late to begin with. Then I had three extra teenagers in the car as they needed rides too. When we left, we got totally stuck in "the City" with road closures everywhere due to the parade. The GPS kept routing me back to where I couldn't go. Dd took out her smart phone and finally got me out of there. For some reason when I'm on long car rides lately I've been getting excruciating muscle cramps and spasms in my legs and they started while I was stuck in traffic. I still think it may be my thyroid as I've only been on the new medication a month or so. I went to Bikram Yoga hoping it would stretch my legs out and while I think it did, my back is now really hurting. The back and legs could also be connected-- who knows? I took a couple of dd's anti-inflammatories a couple of days ago because my back has been hurting so much and they have done a number on my stomach. Sorry if is TMI, but I'm having a lot of bleeding. I am supposed to donate blood tomorrow and I will go, but I will bet that I'm now anemic as I'm usually borderline when I'm not bleeding-- sigh.....

Stay strong tomorrow Dagmar!

To fill out jeans? I'd pay a lot if I could have the fat sucked out of my gut and put in my butt.