I got lots of exercise in yesterday too -- shovelling ***snow*** in a couple of spurts, as it was very windy and cold (had to go in to warm up at one point). WE had a good downfall the night before. I was happy to see that I wasn't winded at all, but by the time I got to the heavy stuff at the roadway (that DH had piled there), my back was starting to hurt; so DH came out to help finish that section off. Yeah ...

Food has been good all weekend. I baked some pineapple loaves for dessert, and DH's snacks -- to go withour roasted chicken and veggies for dinner tonight. Actually, I will have my dessert for my evening snack, and will stay on plan that way too.

Hope you all have a great week coming up ...

I am back at it today.

Hey everyone! I'm back home now, had a lovely Thanksgiving with the extended family. Initially it looked like I had gained back 5 pounds, but today I am just 3 pounds up. So I'm glad that I had fun, AND pleased that I got back on the scale after the fun, if that makes sense? It is really easy for me to be avoidant especially with my weight.

There was lots of good food and while I ate pretty much what ever I wanted to eat, I think the old me would have eaten more and gained more. We played loads of games, from Trivial Pursuit to a pretty racy version of Apples to Apples called Cards Against Humanity that was fun and funny but more than a bit off color. Went shopping on Friday - not Black Friday shopping, just wandering around the mall Friday afternoon. Exercise plus recreation. The mall was pretty upscale (they had a Tiffany's, a Coach store, Louis Vuitton, and Nordstrom's) so that was fun. We walked the length and bredth. I got two new blouses at Macy's. My mom bought them for me. She kept pointing out that Coldwater Creek carries my size (she loves that store) now, but they didn't seem to have MUCH in my size. I still prefer a plus size shop or a plus size section (a la Macy's) to shopping there.

I also found a stretch, fine-wale corduroy jacket in this lovely plum color at Lane Bryant. I didn't need a jacket, was not shopping for a jacket, but this one was so pretty, with military style buttons and a little bit of a ruffle at the wrist. I will try to remember to take a picture. It was 50% off, but was still rather spendy for me. I've wanted something like this for a long time, though. So perhaps I was meant to have it.

Oh, here is the jacket. It is sold out online.

Yesterday I made a curried squash/sweet potato soup and a Moroccan style lentil and sweet potato soup to bring for lunch next week, and today, dgramie I am also back at it. Got up this morning and exercised before work. I'm so impressed that you have your house decorated! Wow. I might do outside next week and inside the week after. I'm not sure.

Rosebud - so glad you felt better snow shoveling this year than last. Be careful, especially with the heavy stuff. There was snow Saturday when we started out, but not much. And while it snowed on most of our drive through the mountains, it wasn't sticking. I'm sure it did not snow here. We have a minimal amount of snow forecast for tonight, but that will melt quickly as our daily highs are all above freezing.

mountainwalker - thanks for the congrats! I know you were so sick; honestly, maintaining in that situation is pretty impressive, to me, as is getting back to exercising. I hope all is well with your family and will be thinking about y'all!

pear - I LOVE Indian food. It is my favorite and was always my treat. I haven't had much of it since then, except when I do curries at home. Which are not as delicious, and I miss the bread. My grocery store carries Naan sometimes, but it is not good and high in calories. I have found, though, that I really like the Papadum from the grocery store. They cook in the microwave with just a spritz of Pam and 2 are 45 calories. They make my homemade curries taste more... indulgent, somehow?

Hope the interview went well! Oh, I also saw a mini-tree at the store for $19.99. I am trying to decide whether to get one or go with my standard tree. I did convince my mom to buy a nicer faux tree and we got one at K-Mart.

Rhonda Marie - if you are still popping around, welcome! How did you do over Thanksgiving?

Melissa - so exciting that your Dad has lost so much weight. With the whole family on board the holidays might be easier for you, too. And congrats on making your lunches! Heh, that is such an important part of staying on track for me. If I plan ahead I do well. I would have so much trouble with your limited kitchen, worrying about lighting the stove, et cetera. I hope you are doing well!

Good day yesterday with an increase in water and exercise. Going to do it again today! Craving veggies so tonight it will be beets and greens along with a nice chicken breast.

mnem thanks lovely. My ex partner who is unfortunately the father of my gorgeous little boy has been deeply unpleasant to him ( he's only 7) and we have just found out the extent of it. We have stopped him going( he doesn't want to go anyway) but it will mean courts and social workers etc so a rough time ahead. I would value your prayers guys.
For the first time ever in a crisis I am not turning to food or alcohol, just the braod shoulder of my fantastic hubby. I am seeing that as a significant NSV!

I had my lentil soup for lunch and some of my roasted squash curry soup for dinner. Both were good. When I tasted them while cooking on Sunday they both tasted a bit alike, but with a day to develop the flavors they were very different, which was great. My kitchen sink is backing up, though, so I am going to try some liquid plumber before calling a real one. The real ones are expensive.

Oh, I was back to my ticker weight this morning! I was so excited. Heh, onward, now!

dgramie - that's awesome. I've also managed to get back to exercise, getting up early yesterday and today to use the treadmill before work, which pleases me a good deal. I've never done much with beets - do you roast them or boil them?

mountain walker - that sounds like an awful, awful situation. I am so sorry that you are dealing with that. I can't imagine how... betrayed you feel, and certainly the involvement of courts and social workers will not be remotely pleasant. However, you are right: not turning to food or alcohol is a HUGE victory. Congrats! I'm really impressed with your stamina and fortitude and grace. We could all use more of that.

Mnemosyne Sounds like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The jacket looks lovely. I wish we had Lane Bryant here. After reading your post I feel like making soup.

I put my wreath on the front door and will get my tree this weekend.

MEM ~ your jacket is lovely; I like the color and style. You've done well to stay with your plan and that soup sounds yummy too. I made soup yesterday for lunch; had to balance off some nachos I had in the am and I stayed on plan by eating lighter the rest of the day. Glad you had fun with your mom and family. Yes, will have to watch the snow shovelling thing; will just do the steps next time if DH needs my help for motivation ...

MW ~ have sent up ^prayers^ about the situation with your DS; hopw it all works out for his best interest and safety. Great victory on dealing with the stress in a better way too ...

dGramie ~ glad you are back on track too!

Food is good this week; staying on plan. Getting my toning and weights in too. Keeping busy doing stuff indoors too. Put some mini-lights up in my PC room window last night; and we have been putting the tree lights on each night for a bit too. Have a ways to go to catch up to others here though. Tomorrow, will be doing a bit of shopping ...

Have a wonderful OP Wednesday ...

mem- I love pickled beets. I dont make my own just buy a can or jar of them. I do the sweet beets but have never made them myself.

pear - hah. I love soup; I make soup almost every week. Right now, some sort of bean/lentil soup is my standard lunch. In the summer, it was a bean or lentil based salad, and now it is soup. Warming and filling and fairly easy to make a big batch of it, that will last a while. Plus I am now pretty confident with my cooking that I don't usually need a recipe for the soup.

The squash soup, though, I saw Rachel Ray making on the Food network. It involved sauteeing together onions, carrots and one chopped up apple, with a couple of cloves of garlic, while roasting the winter squash in the oven with curry, then pureeing it all together. I used much less olive oil than she did, but always have to change the recipes.

I like Lane Bryant, but often the clothes don't work. My local one does NOT carry petites in the pants so I really can't buy pants there. I still get those at Catherines. Also I find them a bit ... expensive.

Aww, you are ahead of me on Christmas too. I still have pumpkins on my front porch!

Rosebud - thank you! I wore the jacket to work on Monday with a black dress. It was fun. I'm impressed with how you balance things like nachos with lighter fare, too. What sort of soups do you like to make?

dgramie - oh, I love pickled things. I used to buy this dilled pickled cauliflower, but the store no longer carries it. I found a place to order it online, but I, uhm, don't really need a case of it.

Had a migraine this morning so skipped exercise. I've mostly recovered now so I am going off to work. My dad is having cataract surgery today, but I'm sure that that will go fine. They said that he will be good to go back to work tomorrow - which is great except that he is retired!

I am probably going to the movies tonight. Have packed dinner though, so I am so prepared.

Have a great day everyone!

Hey guys, hope everyone's doing well. I just had to post quickly because I met my Thanksgiving goal this morning! I'm astonished, especially since I was 268 lbs the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I'm celebrating for a day, and will then update my ticker with a new goal.

Congratulations mnemosyne!! That's great!

I'm going to whine a little. I visited with my aunt this weekend. Just as background, this aunt has given me a diet book/tape/dvd every single time I've seen here in the last ten years (including while standing outside my dying father's hospital room).

Now I know that I'm a long way from goal and still morbidly obese, but I have lost nearly 70 pounds, and the difference is visible. This is the first time I haven't dreaded seeing this woman, because I felt like I had something to brag about, and my progress is visible.

Not a word. Well, not a word about my weight loss. The subject came up while she was for some unfathomable reason talking about how she felt my father wouldn't have been overweight if he lived further away from KFC! (my dad's been dead for 7 years. Let it go lady). I finally felt like I needed to say something before she started heaping on me. No congratulations, no good will, just "You have a long way to go".

I hate being made to feel like a second class citizen by my own family!

Jane- hugs to you and congrats on how far you have came! Family can be RUDE!

Jane - your aunt is a miserable woman, wow. I totally get why you needed to rant. On some level, I feel pretty sorry for her because she is clearly dour and joyless, and that's no way to live your life. I'm really sorry that you have had to deal with her all these years! And honestly, I think you're pretty generous to keep putting up with her. You are doing brilliantly and you look lovely in your photographs.

I think the only thing for you to do is to find a better way to deal with the dread you feel when you are going to see her. Maybe some self-talk about how lucky you are that you're not her. I would much rather be fat than be miserable, miserly, and mean.

I don't even think it's a lack of joy. I think she's a robot. I think she totally missed the memo on feelings. She honestly thinks she's being helpful.

Thanks for the support. I don't let her get me down too much. Usually once I've said out loud or typed the incident, I just file it under crazy and let it be. Her life is far from perfect, so I just remember that and run for the nearest exit.