Hi everyone! Fi, (if I can be that informal on first forum meeting!) I agree with Silentarctic (just writing your name makes me feel cold!) Add in that measured amount of carbs and see what happens. It isn't like you're planning to eat empty stuff like biscuits, cookies etc. I guess improvement in mood may not be instant so p'haps see how it goes over a week?

Thanks to everyone for the welcome. Mountain walker, I love Wales and try to holiday there once a year, especially Pembrokeshire and North Wales (Porthmadog). One day I WILL walk the Pembrokeshire Coast Path! (Previously I could hardly get my legs over the stiles...lol). At the moment I'm counting calories, and the dieting spirit is with me now! Just hope I can get through Christmas with dieting spirit intact...

Betsey2013, whether to make your goodies is a bit of a dilemma. I occasionally have to bake for cakesales and my son's orchestra refreshments. I don't like gum really, but I chew it when baking, it just stops the rogue spoons being licked and I can just put them straight in the washing up bowl which is full of hot, soapy water. I allow myself one piece to check they are OK. Then I box them up, they aren't made for me. I'm not always successful, but then I guess I'm not eating this sort of thing everyday, which I was before control kicked in!

Ubee, is your daughter a teenager? My dear one is 15! Take a deep breath and think of calm blue water...then kick the cat (only joking.)
Hope everone has a healthy and happy day.

Hi everybody. I am feeling quite proud of myself today as I went swimming for the first time since my op! My arm was a little stiff but I was so pleased I made the effort. Due to the time of year the pool is quiet and for most of the time I had the pool to myself! Heaven!
Moominmama your post really made me laugh. My girl is nearly 18 but around 14-16 WOW things were extremely edgy in our house!We live on the border of Swansea and Carmarthenshire in the hills. It sounds beautifully isolate and back to nature and it is in many ways but we only have a 10 minute drive to Tesco!!! We are in a little bit of hill in between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains with the Gower ( lovely beaches) about 30 minutes or so away. If you are over this way on the Coast path drop me a line
It sounds as if everybody is doing well with their Christmas preparation?
You may remember that my teen stays with friends in the week where we used to live?Well she rang at 7 this morning to tell our 8 year old it is only 2 weeks til Christmas...she is more excited than he is and will be home for the hols so I can't wait.
Plucky Pear I hope your husband gets the treatment he needs.
Keep strong,safe and warm my lovely cyber friends.
God Bless

The deep freeze has lifted (OK, the deep freeze for where I live which is nothing compared to Jane's). Yipardee!

SilentArctic -- hope that cold is getting better, and even with not being on track, the loss of appetite will keep things under control.

Fi -- First, how interesting about the impact of carbs on some women. If I remember Atkins correctly, in Phase II they have you gradually add in more carbs starting with a specific order of food types until you hit your sweet spot in terms of still being able to lose (or maintain). You've been on 20g of carbs for a long time now, and the addition of 50g is probably not going to impact your losing at all. And if it helps with the depression, then all the better. I have found that when I do Atkins that in spite of the written material saying I don't have to track calories that I have to track calories. I'm in my 60s, and unfortunately while I always lose on Atkins it's only if I watch my calories as well as my carbs. Hope that the additional carbs produces lasting results for you.

Moominmamma -- It is so interesting to have you and MountainWalker talk about Wales. One of my items on my bucket list is to go to Great Britain, spend several weeks (months?) there and while I'd be driving from area to area, I want to spend the time hiking. I have several friends who have done that, and they all say it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Thanks for the hint on chewing gum while I bake. Still haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I'll keep that in mind.

Mountain Walker -- Congrats on the swimming. Seeing progress in our recovery from surgery is such a lift. And it's so much fun to find that our teens can still be totally excited about the simple pleasures in life.

I woke up this morning to a 3 pound weight loss. Don't ask me why. Obviously most of it has to be water weight, but my ankles weren't swollen, and I thought I'd already lost the water weight. I've managed to stay on plan for several days now, so maybe it's just my body going through the initial diet gift again. Anyway, I'm thrilled because maybe my goal of getting to the 70 pounds lost this year will actually happen. Off to the gym and then the Co-op for more cash register follies.

I'm so busy trying to catch up on the the things that I had to let slide during my depression, I don't have time for a long posting, but I just wanted to say: Wow! Adding in one muesli meal at noon has completely dissipated my depression pain, and I feel like a whole new woman. 'Turns out there are a lot of issues involved in the effect of insulin on serotonin in the brain, but I won't go into all that.

Thanks silentarctic, moominmama, and Betsy for your thoughts on doing Atkins with a bit of carbos added back in. If it turns out I don't lose weight without counting calories, I suppose I am ready to take that step, but I hope that wouldn't mean giving up my beloved cream in my coffee. =smile=

Hello Everybody!

It is definitely chilly today at -10 Celsius and very windy.

I had Dr. appointments today and had to get blood work done which all amounts to lots of time waiting and time to read a good book.

I find when I eat well I end up spending quite a bit of time preparing food not necessarily in a difficult way but I spend more time for sure. This is not a bad thing but an observation. I roasted butternut squash today and just prepped oatmeal so it will cook fairly quickly tomorrow.

Fi So glad to hear you are finding out information about carbs and how they may affect you. I am always learning how my body reacts to foods. And I really enjoy having real cream in my coffee so I do.

I have been doing well with food lately and feel confident the numbers will continue to show that. I am not concerned with losing quickly. I did that before. For me I am happy to lose slowly and keep it off and develop health through good diet and exercise along the way. I read inspiring stories on here of how women lose weight in many ways and some have lost large amounts of weight over a three year span and keep it off.

I have come to an understanding of self around diet. I don't want to be obsessed with counting any grams of such and such but instead do well focusing on whole foods but allowing for those things like dark chocolate or a cookie. I keep trigger foods out of the house. I use WW points because I find them easy to use. I definitely need to find a way to increase my activity. I was going to the pool 3x a week but due to health issues (skin related) I have to take a break. This is a challenge. Anyway this is where I am at least for the moment. I always get tips from others here too.

I am not getting enough sleep but am convinced it is because my thyroid medication is not correct. Well hope to get this taken care of later this month.

Have a good night.

Well I braved the scales this morning as it has been a question of good n bad over the last couple of weeks! And I have lost 3lbs ......despite sitting on my butt for a month! I am determined not to lose the plot over Christmas and have even got a list of the opening hours for the leisure centre!!!
Have to go to pick smallest child and a pal up from school now so keep on ladies!

Call the Fat Police! I was not here yesterday because I was stuffing my face! When I am not on here I am guilty! It is my pattern.
Good morning!
Andrea, you are doing so well under all the stress, I think it is that you have such a healthy attitude about enjoying life. I so agree with the take it slow, learn and enjoy as we change our eating style. I lost quickly at first and am content also to maintain or lose slowly.
notperfect, I am impressed that you work at a Domestic Violence Shelter. Good for you not everyone is cut out for that kind of work. Good job hitting your first goal!
Betsy, good question about the baking. I am going to buy a small amount and have someone hide it until Christmas day. One day and it goes home with someone. I am famous for my chex mix. I am going to make it with butter this year instead of margarine because I can only eat a small amount of butter until I get sick. Also I will make it and give it out within 2 days. Thanks for bringing up the question or I would have never given it any thought. Good job on losing 3 pounds!!! Don't look back or question why!!!
Silent, give yourself credit! A loss is a loss! Please be kind to yourself! I like you and I want you to realize what an amazing person you are!
Fi, this weightloss/health is all too confusing, especially when we are 300+. Once again I must give Dr. Kadilie credit for acknowledging this. I just wish more research was done. I am curious as to what you discover.
mooninmamma, I think walking the Coast Path is such a great goal. I am glad you are in the dieting spirit. Please share!
mountainwalker, I am so happy to hear your daughter is so excited to be coming home. I love it when/if they get to understand the true meaning of Christmas. 3 pounds!!! What a great feeling!
As for me today will be spent cleaning. My life is so much better when my house is clean and clutter free. Just like my eating needs to be. They go hand in hand.
Have a focused day!

Good morning and hope that everyone is doing well today.

Fi -- It is so wonderful to read about your dramatic change with the depression that occurred from increasing your carbs a little. As a physician, I know that you both know how to do the research and understand it better than the rest of us, but just glad this happened. And even if the calorie counting does have to occur, having cream in your coffee is just one of those things that should be fairly easy to still have. I'm with you. There are just a few things that I'm not going to avoid as they just plain make me happy.

Andrea -- Your positive spirit continues to inspire me. I, too, am a reader while I'm waiting. Best gift I ever gave myself was a Kindle -- it's really helped with lowering stress in situations where the waiting goes on for far too long. And I totally agree that losing slowly, finding what works for each of us, and adopting it is our key to long term success -- and probably a heft dose of happiness thrown in there.

Mountain Walker -- 3 pounds -- good for you!

Ubee -- But we miss you even if you're having an eating day! The plan to get things out of the house is a good one. I got to laughing to myself about the chex mix and making it with butter instead of margarine. My first thought was that it would be "healthier" to use butter. Then I thought -- healthy chex mix? There's a marketing strategy if I ever heard one!

No weight loss from yesterday, but I imagine my body is doing its stabilization thing after the 3 pound drop. I'm off to see the cardiologist this afternoon and will brave Costco since I'll be in town anyway. Hopefully, everyone will be home eating dinner while I'm getting a few things I need. Have a wonderful day.

Hi everyone. Just touching base after a long and busy day at work. Glad to hear all is well with you all. Mountain walker, your locale sounds idyllic. So close to so many lovely bits of the country. Well done on the 3lb! And of course the same to Betsey. Hope you survived Costco! I'm trying to buy my last Christmas present on line, but my card just got rejected as an anti-fraud measure!!! Grrrr. I suppose I'd be really relieved if it were someone other than me, but it is ME, honest. I've been told to wait half an hour and try again. I don't feel I can go and do anything else 'cos if I leave the computer Darling Daughter will be on in a flash, and it's very tempting to just go and find some choccy biscuits and have a little nibble while I sit here...but I won't cos I'm in control and I'm talking to you lovely ladies! So thanks for being out there!
Have a good evening.

Howdy everyone! I'm thrilled to report that I got all my long-distance Christmas presents wrapped & packaged up w/ cards written & taken to the post office today. One of them, of course, was a Joyeux Noël prez for my très chère amie in Belgium: it may arrive late, but she will understand because she knows about the depression I just suffered through...and emerged from, praise the Goddess!

I had a surprising moment in the Co-op grocery store today: I was waiting for the office to approve my exchange of Familia muesli w/ sugar added for the kind with no sugar, and just as they handed my box to me, I realized that I had been standing right next to the basket of my favorite huge organic cookies, and hadn't even given them a glance. And I knew that's where they were always located, on the shelf in front of the office, because oh boy, I used to binge on those puppies: I used to buy like half the basket at once. I just can't believe it, how quickly my binge behavior has gone away...even with my adding the carbos to my diet, I only think of them as a daily serving of muesli, not anything else!

moominmama— So nice to have you on board with us! Good for you staying away from those deadly choccy biscuits...it must be rough to have stuff like that around for your family and have to resist digging in! I'm so lucky 'cause I don't have any kids and my sweet husband keeps all his tempting treats up high in his personal cabinet and out of sight. He eats them in front of his computer or when he's watchin' the tube, and I hardly ever even see them.

Betsy— Thanks to you and Andrea for the moral support about the cream in my coffee: these days I find it so filling, that's all I need for breakfast! =laugh= I hope things go well at the cardiologist and that's there's nothing goin' wrong in your heart that we need to be worrying about...

Ubee— Awwww, we won't let the Fat Police cart you away for the minor misdemeanor of munchin' during the month of December! This is the toughest month of the year for maintaining one's weight, let alone for weight loss...I hear you about how putting order into your environment can help you get the order back in your eating!

mountain walker— Good for you that you're not just sitting pretty on that 3 lb. loss but have your focus on the leisure center and keepin' up with your new swimming—that is so excellent!

Andrea— I like your attitude about slow weight loss with lasting changes in eating and exercise behavior. It took me 21 months to lose my 53 pounds so far, and I've made some new habits about the way I eat and how much I move that are never going to go away. Good luck on getting your skin cleared up so you can go back to swimming: are you seein' a dermatologist for that? Gosh, we have so many swimmers here on this thread, I'm going to be inspired to start swimming myself. I'm a big water person, so it's my favorite kind of exercise, but I got out of the habit because of issues I was havin' with my goggles and swim cap: I gotta deal with those and get myself back in the pool already.

silentarctic— Best wishes for getting that bug cleared up soon!

imnotperfect24— Congratulations on your first mini-goal: 13 lbs. is no small achievement. That's so cool you're going to school to be a social worker! I worked very closely with social workers when I was a physician, and I have nothing but the highest respect for how dedicated they are—just wonderful caring people in every way.

Jane— I hope things are goin' well with you and that you're keepin' up with your swimming...

Now I get to go read a fine new Civil War novel on my iPad: I'm with you, Betsy, on these ebooks that are easy to carry around and don't take up any space in the house! =grin=

Hey all

Things have just been so busy! I am off on a trip with coworkers today to the new IKEA here! Super stoked to be going!!

Poker last night was very fun, didn't do great in our tournament game but cleaned house in the cash game afterwards!

Leaving in a few days and I haven't even started packing!! But found out another coworker/friend booked the same airport hotel for the same night so we are going to leave together and then do dinner at the hotel together, it will be nice to have some company that night!

Weight loss..... eh it's kind of stalled again.... but still around my ticker!

Crazy news, it's been single digits (Celsius) and raining for the past 3 days here.... insane!!! it's pouring right now and I have no idea how I will stay dry for my walk to school!!! (to catch the bus to IKEA)

I hope you are all doing well...and if I don't get the check in again before I leave, have a great holiday and may your scales be friendly

Good Morning.

mountainwalker Congratulations on the 3 pound weight loss!!! It is so rewarding to see the numbers go down.

Ubee I can relate to what you said about staying away when off plan as I do the same thing. In the past I have gotten lost in my eating like being sucked into a whirlwind

Betsy How are you today? Is that Co-op still keeping you busy? I am kind of old fashioned and very attached to holding a book in my hand, I even love the smell of books. I gave my Mom an e reader and she loves it though. I keep folding paper pages over. LOL

[Bmoominmamma][/B] Did you get your Christmas shopping done? I have a few items to get but don't have far to go. I will pop into Winners today or tomorrow and finish up.

Fi Yes I am seeing a dermatologist. I have psoriasis and have several creams for several areas. I have a stubborn spot on my hand and may need to go to injections. It is crazy how this just happened in the last year. OH well. Hope that is not TMI.

I have to go to the bank, grocery shop and then meet a friend for coffee so I will post more later. I wanted to post more details. Bye for now.

Good morning all. Just a short note this morning as I need to get to the coop to get the receipt and journal tapes loaded into the new cash register and train the morning cashier.

Moominmamma -- So sorry about getting the initial decline and then having to wait. What they're not telling you is that it means their verification system is either down, backlogged, or having problems. And there are really stiff penalties for allowing possible fraudulent transactions to go through. Glad you decided to spend the wait time chatting with us.

Fi -- YOU SOUND SO MUCH BETTER!!!!! And I love the story about not even noticing the cookies at the Co-op. That's really huge, because you've freely admitted that you have a love affair going with cookies. You asked about going to see cardiologist. I was diagnosed with a fib in March, tried a conversion in June, and am just controlling it with meds. On coumadin which I hate, but have to do that as I also have some kidney damage so can't take the newer meds for that. Anyway, he was thrilled with how I'm doing, and told me that I was doing all the right things including losing weight and exercising. I feel fine -- just don't like taking a small pharmacy worth of pills in the morning. But I forgot to take them one day and noticed the impact of it within about 3 hours. Won't do that again!

Time4Me -- The IKEA trip sounds fun (except for walking to the bus in the rain part) as does the poker game. You have such a full life that I always enjoy reading your posts. Having a friend to eat dinner with at the hotel is great as well. Enjoy your time at home if you don't get a chance to post again and hopefully the tickers are kind to all of us!

Andrea -- You, also, keep so busy. I've got lots of friends who are in the real book side -- just glad so many people enjoy reading. Hope you had a good visit with your friend.

Well, looks like I managed to get a long note written anyway. I'm waiting on two more gift cards to come in, but then my shopping is done. I'm going to start wrapping this weekend, and will probably spend next week baking and giving away. I had a "free" day yesterday where I actually stopped at Wendy's for dinner on the way home, but didn't see any impact this morning. Back to normal eating today. Added a banana to my list because I've been getting leg cramps in the evening so I probably need a little potassium boost. Man, those things are high in carbs!

Hi Everybody!

Back from my errands. I did a few housework type chores when I got home and gave DH his late lunch. He has a double shift today so is off having a snooze. I am making halibut for dinner. I will have sautéed nappa cabbage and I will make DH spelt pasta with tomato sauce as well.
I am going to meet my sister at Winners tonight and get my xmas shopping done once and for all. Then we will have a tea or coffee. DH will not be home until around midnight.
I just a call from my GP's office saying the Dr. needs to see me next week. This stresses me out. I wish they would say why. Now all weekend I will wonder. hmmmmm
Tomorrow I am meeting friends for brunch. We meet once per month at the same Greek restaurant. Tomorrow will be our gift exchange. Sunday DH and I are meeting his Aunt and Uncle for lunch. I hope the snow holds off until Christmas day but apparently it is coming.
I found out my synthroid medication is too low and it was upped from .125 to .175 so I hope to feel less tired soon.
Bye for now.

Another attempt to purchase last pressie and refused again!! Hope I've sorted it out (the bank lifted their block, but "verified by visa" didn't. This is what I get for splashing out only once a year. Normally I only use the credit card for small amounts.) I am so not going to stress....it is the last present after all. Hope you got finished PPear, it is such a nice feeling, apart from the wrapping! I loved what you said about being sucked into a whirlwind with the eating, so true.
Time for a confession! Tonight I have had chips from the fish and chip shop, but I literally only had an apple other than that all day. Work was crazy and I got off late and with no lunch, and then was into the music lesson run, too tired to be more healthy. I am full though, and won't use an off plan meal as an excuse to pig out. (Actually I'm a bit worried about Ubee's fat police, I'm sure they're sat outside waiting...)
Changing the subject...(quickly) Hope everyone is having a good day, and the weather is kind to you all. Well done on the cookie ignoring, Fiona, what a victory. I shall think of you next time I'm in the bakery section!