Morning ladies-

Yesterday I managed to get in some abs and arm weights woohoo. I feel like I amlosing inches more then pounds. I am hoping to see a loss on Monday :fingerscrossed:

Have a great weekend ladies
Nikki

Happy Friday everyone - I'm so sorry I've been missing in action this week it's been a crazy week and by the time I'd get home every day, I just wanted to plunk down on the couch and do nothing.

I hope everyone has had an awesome week and has been successful in eating healthy. Also hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day -

I weighted myself on Thursday and did pretty well - 4lbs.

Not to sound cynical, but is anyone else tired of hearing about Anna Nicole Smith?? Who cares about where she's buried. There are thousands of people doing great things in this country that deserve recognition besides her. Ok, I'll stop there

Hope everyone has a wonderful day - I'll be better at checking in, I promise.

Suzanne

Suzanne - Congrats on your 4 lbs

Nikki

Hi, chickies! Sorry I have been MIA. I'm still travelling and still sick, and not up to much of anything beyond working and getting through this trip.

I don't have time for personals, but congrats on the weight loss....and yes, the staedy drumbeat of "breaking news" regarding the late ANS is a sad statement about our culture and values.

I like y'all fine, though!

Judy

Snowy here everyone and not really nice I had to take a snow day today. Thank goodness they are letting me take a vacation day and that way I can get paid for monday as we are off for a holiday. The past two days I have jumped back on track. I had oatmeal for breakfast with whole wheat toast and then I had a salad ready for work. So I had that for lunch as if I was at work. So cals today have been good. I think for dinner most likely fish of some type. I have to go to the village to get a few groceries. Our roads are a little better now. Wow have we got hammered here. I am glad everyone got Valentines day with in their control. I need to ck for those dark mms. A nice little snack and treat for me too. Not too many though. I wish I had my paint for the kitchen today I could have painted. I am going to get it on saturday and start my painting this weekend. Well take care girls and for me I am going to stay close to home today. The roads leave a lot to desire. Times like this I wish I were in Hawaii with my kids. Well take care and I need to go add up my cals for the day so I can see whats left. Sorry some of you are sick I have a little cold that started out of nowhere. Whats with that?? And I had 3 jars of the recalled peanut butter in the house. The teenager next door at some of theirs and got really sick the earlier part of this week. Her mom saw the news called the doctor she'd taken her to two times due to so much problems they said yup and put her on an antibotic after doing testing to ensure the other day it wasn't something else. Weird huh?

Marie - I like the idea of the dark M&M's but I know my DH would find them if I got some and gobble up the lot all at once! I can parcel things out in small servings, but he tends to eat up everything in sight that's sweet. He's trying to get his BP down by losing about 10 lbs. so it wouldn't be fair for me to tempt him with those chocolate goodies.

Nikki - Good for you getting going on the weights - they are great for firming up and losing inches

Suzanne - Congratulations on losing 4 lbs.! You're doing great - keep up the good work! Yes, I am sick and tired of hearing about ANS. I wish they'd have a "good news" channel - I'm so fed up with all the negativity and sleaze bags on TV.

Judy - Hang in there - the week's nearly over. I hope you can soon curl up in your own bed and recover from your illness. Take care of yourself.

Carol - You guys are really getting it with the snow. Good thing you could take the day off so you don't have to drive in it too much. That peanut butter poisoning is scary. I bought some a couple of weeks ago (different brand though) as I read somewhere that a tablespoon a day can help you lose weight. Well, that jar went down pretty darn quickly so I'm not buying anymore - it tasted too good and I can't spare 100 cals. on just a tablespoon of pb! I hadn't had any pb for years and had forgotten how good it tastes! I should know better by now than to tempt fate by having stuff like that in the house!

My DH was in California all week so my car decided to die. Well, it's not exactly dead but will cost $1,800 to repair! I noticed a big oil slick under the car. All of the engine oil had leaked out so I had to get it towed to the repair shop. Thank goodness we have AAA or it would have cost a bundle to have it towed. I've had it for 9 years and this is the first problem I've had. It's been a good little car so it's worth fixing. I could sure find something better to spend it on though!

I lost .5 a pound so at least that's good news.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Hi everyone, well in an hour I'm off to get DH from work then we're heading up to Bend for a ski day tomorrow. I'm very excited. The back is nearly recovered although I could feel it a little when I brought the cooler out to the car. Since I had the vehicle we're driving, I got to pack the car. If I had been SMART, I could have filled the cooler while it was in the car. Hind sight.

Suz, I hate the stuff about ANS. I thought she was icky in real life and now even in death it's icky. I won't read anything about her. Icky, icky, icky.

But congrats on the 4 pounds. You're doing great.

Penny, DH is an M&M fiend, but he knows my ziploc bag is mine. I will always share but he doesn't touch it. Sort of strange come to think about it. He knows it's part of the reason that I've been successful so he leaves it. Sorry about your car. I married my mechanic so I don't have the labor bills, just the parts.

Judy, hugs to you and I hope you start to feel better.

Carol, I'm imagining that it's a little white outside your window. Remember how incredible your weather was near Christmas - it'll get better and all of it will eventually melt.

Okay, drum roll..... I lost 1.4 pound this week. I was like doing the happy dance at 5 am in the bathroom. So I now wonder how the evil scale will get me back next week (TOM). Okay I know how. But I was so excited.

I did 4 miles WATP today and am doing good on food. Since we're driving in the dark, I'll probably munch a little on the Doritos. But that's okay, I'll burn loads of calories tomorrow.

Talk to you on Sunday. The day of my DGS 1st birthday. The party is at my house so I'm thinking Sunday is a cleaning day. Yuck.
Marie

I love MMs - they are my fav. In my "bad eating" days, I used to get the jar of PB, MMs and a spoon and go to town. Mmmmm

Marie, congratulations on the weight loss, it's so nice to see the scale going down. Have a great time in Bend - it's such a beautiful area. My labrador's breeder lives in Bend. Have an great time skiing and be safe.

Penny, can you tell me how to edit my ticker without having to redo it? I tried this morning and I ended up creating a new one. I'm sure there must be an easier way.

Carol, spring is just around the corner - sort of! I wish some of that snow would have dropped here in Boise and I'm sure you would have been happy to share it. Do your kids live in Hawaii? I have a 26 yr. old son that lives in Kona - I've never been there, someday though. Scarey about your next door neighbor's daughter. My daughter bought one of the PB jars from Walmart but thankfully didn't get sick.

Judy, hope you feel better. Nothing worse than to be sick and away from home.

Nikki, you're doing awesome on you weight loss also - way to go. Losing inches is a good thing.

Have a great Saturday, Suzanne

I agree the Anna stuff is getting a bit old. I am not one to get into all that info. At work everyone is chatting about it I pretty much just stay out of it. And when something like that happens Suzz the press just give us more than we ever needed. Somethings should be private not matter who you are on the status pole. Hey on a happy note congrats to you on the 4lbs. wow thats great I am doing the scale on sunday this week. Had a few up and down days so trying straighten myself out first. At least I caught my slip and thats so important in order to change our lifestyles. I have the cold everyone has been getting yuk! That I am not to happy about.
Penny yah the snow is gone wild finally slowed down for today just really cold and the sun is popped out. The birds were happy we put food out and they were interesting to watch out our Adirondack room window. Like sitting in front of the fire and watching birds what a life for a little bit. Helps us to enjoy the little things that are so beautiful. The peanut butter I like on a sliced apple and only use a half of serving the treat is nice and protien high. But who needs this problem with foods lately being poisoned etc. Boy I am going to start raising everything myself maybe we should buy a tractor and the piece of land next to us? Oh but now where would I fit that into my already crazy life?? Penny congrats on your loss every little bit counts. Too bad about the car boy never a dull one huh? Marie hurrray for you too losing that wt. I now feel like running in and checking but I said sunday and it will be that day. Any how it will help me to stay within my cals today to have scale day sunday. The weather is going to be around 30's sometime this week now we worry about flooding! Wow crazy it is. Bear kept me pretty busy throught out my time off. He chewed the corner of my entertainment center oh so naughty. He has lots of chew toys! The training is going better he is learning to go to the door etc.
Suzz yes my son and lovely daughter inlaw live in Maui and have for the past 2.5 years. I went last March oh how much fun I had adventuring didn't do the tourist stuff more adventurous. The bamboo forest was great I hiked to waterfalls often different ones. Did a lot of climbing etc. Just a super time. Oh and I am trying ot save some time to maybe go in Nov. things should settle down after the wedding a bit. Hopefully I have enough vac. left I get 4 wks and saved one from last year. I can't wait next year I get my 5 weeks vac. thats a hold on staying at my current job. Well I am off girls to purchase some paint for my kitchen and then ck out colors for my livingroom. I want to buy a few new little things for the house this weekend. Like something new to hang behind the couch area maybe a few things that all go together for alittle uplift. We have had a large picture there for ever. Well my plans for the day are counting cals and staying with in them but to eat well and have something yummy. Take care and stay safe.

Well girls I stayed the same but I am not upset thats okay. At least I didn't go scaling up. Today I have been good so far and thats a plus. I have enjoyed my day baking some healthy bread which is quite healthy with pumpkin, molasses, honey and walnuts in. But I know to becareful of what I take in so I made a cup cake for myself out of the mix. So I have my intake of that already for the day. My kayak is being del. today oh so now let spring come and off I go to the water ways. This will be good exercise and fun too. I can't wait to use it. The guy I bought it from I used to babysit when he was little so funny to be doing business with him now. He gave me a 100.00 break on it. That was nice his mom and I remain good friends though she lives in Florida. Well thats about it my girl friend and I are going to the casino for a couple of hours. The hubby is busy watching the car races this afternoon. I am putting a chicken and roasted veggies in the oven for dinner later on. Going to steam some spinach to go with that and dinner is served sort of speak. Hope your all having a super day my cold feels better today but sleeping last night wasn't so good. Looked up my daughters registry on line today at Macy's they did a nice job picking out some good items as I told them to get what they want this only comes one time. I think after 30 some years mom should have a shower again too. Enjoy your day!

Hi everyone. We had a good/bad time at the ski area. The area is beautiful and with good snow conditiona would be a blast. Apparently it pouned all day on Friday and that made yesterday's conditions horrible. Glare ice. But after spending over 100 on the tickets alone we endured. By mid afteroon, the conditions improved to the bad status. But I did have a bit of fun. DH did not. But the rest of the adventure was great. I did really good with food and my legs are tired today so they got quite the workout yesterday.

Today is DGS's first birthday. We have a turkey in the oven. I'll make another loaf of bread (already made one today) and mashed potatoes. I picked up the cake from Costco last night. So we're set for the part other than my house looks like a bomb hit it. I'm a little put off that I should have to clean it because of all the others not doing their part. So for now I'm putting it off. For now, I'm okay with that. But eventually I'll start to clean.

Talk to you all tomorrow.
Marie

Marie sorry to hear the ski day wasn't all that great sounds like you all made the best of it anyways. Good for you! I won on their free card at the casino I was up 54.00 so I felt good about that. We are planning on going for breakfast with a group of folks on monday my winnings will be going back hopefully they return with me and then some. At any rate we are big gamblers just go and have a good time. When our kids were little we couldn't afford to do things like this a couple hours here or there are fun. I came home and had some wonton soup how bad in cals is that anyone know. Oh well it helped with my cold.

Marie - Congrats on the 1.4 lb. loss! Too bad the skiing conditions weren't too good, but at least you got to go and have a good workout. I hope your DGS enjoyed his birthday. Wish him a happy birthday from me

Suzanne - To change your ticker without redoing the whole thing: Go to User CP, Edit Signature. Scroll down to the box where you see the html code for your ticker. Scoll across till you see the numbers in there like this: 187/150/175. Just change the number that is your current weight (i.e. 175) then click the save signature box. Your son is so lucky to live in Hawaii. We almost moved to Maui at one time, but my DH couldn't find work in his field. We had a condo there for several years and spent many happy times there with our son when he was little. If you get a chance to go there and visit I would highly recommend it - I always felt 10 years younger when I was there!

Carol - I hope the wonton soup helped your cold . I've been craving some home made chicken soup for a while so I'm going to make some tomorrow. Glad you came out ahead at the casino!

Judy - I hope you're feeling better too:

Nikki - Hope all is well with you.

It was good to get out in the yard for a while yesterday and do a bit of clean up. I sorted out all my potted plants and put the ones I'm not sure still have "life" in them behind the shed out of sight. I bought a nice little planter of mixed spring flowers: hyacinths, daffodils, mini tulips and primroses to put outside the front door for some color. It will be a few weeks till my other daffodils are out, so it's nice to see some signs of spring. The birds are starting to sing early in the morning, so spring is in the air!

I've decided to switch to goats milk and goat yogurt for a while to see if that helps my tummy trouble. I even found some goat milk protein powder for my shakes! It's supposed to be more easily digestible.

Have a great week everyone!

Penny - thanks so much again for helping me with the dang ticker. Somehow I can never seem to figure stuff like this out. I imagine Hawaii is beautiful and one of these days I'll get over there to visit my son. I've been getting spring fever myself - starting to think about what I want to plant in my garden. I'm curious to see how you like goats milk - I like goat cheese, but it has a strong distinct flavor that I'm not sure I'd like in milk. Anyway, let me know how you like it.

Marie - sorry to hear the skiing was crummy but it sounds like you had a fun time anyway. We had rain Thursday, Friday and today, but our local mountains had some snow. Hope all went well with the birthday party.

Carol - the pumkin, molasses, honey bread sounds wonderful. Do you have a recipe? You must be excited about your new kayak - do you white water kayak or flat water kayak? I took kayaking lessons a few years ago, but could not get the roll - it actually freaked me out a bit, and I considered myself a good swimmer. The fact that I was upside down skirted in a boat panicked me a bit. I know some people that kayak only on lakes and they love it.

Hope all of you have a wonderful Monday.

Suzanne

Penny your so funny playing in the yard while we are still shoveling 5ft. of snow of the roof tops. Boy we did get hit in a short period of time so much snow now the worry of flooding begins. Yes I came out ahead and had some fun too.
I checked the scale today and still the same but thats fine no gain is okay. I still would like to make my goal for the end of this month which is 2.5lbs. But if I don't its okay just to lose something more by then. I have been online checking out dresses for the wedding. The one I may order is really nice a bit pricey but its my daughters wedding. Black with a little jacket she is having a elegant black and white affair. So now I have a real incentive to be good. I am trying to decide what size to order. Or maybe I should order two and return one? Oh so much to think about so early in the day.
I am proud of myself for doing better over the past two weekends as far as food is no free for all its the weekend. I did make some awesome bread yesterday and pretty healthy too. I think in the future it will be tried with 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat. It is very moist so I don't think it will matter much and healthier yet. It has pumpkin, banana and honey in it then spices only 3 tablespoons of oil. Not bad huh? It was in our sunday paper and a real hit around here. If I make it in muffin form then it will be portioned out better and thats better yet. A college young man came up with this recipe so I ck'd it out and gave it a whirl. Easy as can be.
Penny didn't get any of that peanut butter did you? I took back 4 jars and the hubby ate a few times with it but didn't get sick. The skinny minny little 17 year old next store was sick for well over a week and the doctors couldn't figure it out. Then after couple of visits to the doc's and testing her mom heard the news called the doc he put her on meds and sure felt that was her problem as they also had been using it and her especially. Still not feeling great and having troubles with intakes. Boy our food is scary these days huh?
Suzz flat water for now but some day I might try the other. We camp alot in the summer and I look forward to working out and burning some cals. I want to firm up my arm pit area especially for my daughters wedding the dress has a jacket but if I get warm and want to remove it so be it. No flab I hope! I got a great deal 550 and it goes for 1000 new and he gave me the paddles. As soon as the weather breaks he will take me out for a few lessons. What a deal he gave me. They really don't lose their value and I should have it for years. I will put the recipe in this letter enjoy oh so good. I think making it into muffins makes sense and I bet you can freeze them and just take one out at a time.
Today is a day off from work a holiday. I am spending some of it with my friends going for breakfast at a buffet. So I will try my best to make some healthy choices. I will count the cals as breakfast and lunch and only have an apple at lunch time. For dinner I will have some leftover roasted chicken and some spinach. Thinking ahead and having a plan always makes a difference for me. I think getting on the scale this morning will help me think about where I am and where I want to be in a few months. Not a lot to really lose but its hard wt. to get off sometimes worse than if I had lots to lose. Just my line of thinking I am sure. Recipe follows:

Greg's Bumpkin Love Bread
Dry: 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour Wet: 1/3 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda 3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 cup molasses
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1 cup pumpkin
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1 small banana
I added walnuts and will try this with some whole wheat flour and white tog.
Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a loaf pan (spray). Whisk tog. the dry ingred. In seperate bowl, combine water and vanilla. Add oil, sugar, honey and molasses and beat for 3-4 min. Add eggs and beat well. Add pumpkin and mashed banana til mixed well.
Combine dry ingred. into wet ones. Beat til fully blended and smooth texture. Pur batter into pan and bake on center rack until a toothpick comes out clean or fork. About 1 hr. for a loaf pan, muffins ck in 20 min.
Let me know what yah think and can we make it even healthier? What do you think the cals are girls??? Oh so good!
Enjoy and have a super day I might ck in again so I stay on track today.