Ubee...I live in a stone house built over 100 years ago. The Rayburn was lovely....toasty warm in Winter and make gorgeous bread, but it literally ATE coal....(much the same as I can eat fresh bread and butter!). We couldn't afford to run it as it was so expensive. We have a view over rolling hills to the distance and a valley in the foreground and at the back are the mountains which make up the Western Brecon Beacons. I have been a bit of an idiot with regards to my snot crisis! I thought my steroid nasal spray was for allergies only....turns out I can use it to avoid sinusitis. I have been doing so for a couple of days and (shhhhh) it seems to help!

Sam......well done on your 4 miles! It's amazing what you can do when you're cross! We are here for you whatever....just keep on logging on!

My gym session is booked for 10 days or so. I have to pay £32 up front but then only pay £2.95 per session which is amazingly cheap. My boy and I went swimming today. I did 28 lengths but had a wardrobe malfunction with my swimming costume and my boy overtook me and did 30!!!! That's the most he has ever done and he had a wonderful sense of achievement!

I had a quiet hour to myself today and looked at setting some non-weight loss goals.......does anybody else do this? Mine started with...get up every morning even if I feel a bit rough! It's too tempting to go back to bed after I have gotten up with the dogs at around 6.45. Hubby bless him will take my boy to school so it can be very tempting!! Would love to hear anybody else's personal commitments or promises to self or whatever!
Have a great evening/afternoon/night!

So it happened I am back up over 300 . Letting stress rule my life and not weighing in daily has resulted in an almost 10 lb gain boo all around!

Good Afternoon!
No school for my daughter today so keeping it quick if I can!
Silent ready to join us? Chatting really helps with the stress. Come on back more often we miss you!
Donna I googled your beautiful mountains. Will picture you there in a lovely stone house. I too make non weight loss goals, usually about taking care of myself, housework, and money.
Anticake stay strong this is a life long battle.

I have actually planned some meals and started cooking. Let's see if this will help.
Have a peaceful day!

Thankfully it only lasted this week. I made some minor adjustments, started eating BEFORE I work out for my evening meal, and upped the water and today was 311.2- 35# lost since Aug 18th. It was just one pound but it was a pound lost. I think it's getting close to that TOM but we'll see. Tonight I have a sushi date with my sister and I know what I have been CRAVING for weeks so I am going to eat it BUT I'll stay under my calories for the day and I made a few tweaks today to lunch so I should be ok.

And after sushi we'll go walk 3-5 miles and I still have to do my squats for today's quota in the 30 day squat challenge (which is over in 6 days! I'm so proud of myself!) Hopefully it will keep the burn going. My weekends kill me, so I have to get them under control quick.

Ubee ~ Oh okay well I was just wondering if you went to any sites with good healthy recipes. I hope someone knows of some.

Slient ~ Yes come back, We have missed you

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I woke up at 6:30 am this morning and I wished my younger brother a happy 25th birthday and then I let Clyde outside and then I got ready for my appt and then at 8:20 a.m. I started watching for my bus and then I got to my appt. at 9 a.m. and my appt wasnt until 9:30 am and then I got home at noon, My return time wasnt until 11 am, It was 11 am to 11:30 am, There is always a 30 min wait. Anyway when I got home from my appt. I ate lunch and I got Clyde's food ready, He usually doesnt eat until the afternoon. Now I just have to do my 2 miles here pretty soon and then I'll head for bed for the night.

Good morning all. Just a short post this morning as I'm back home already and need to get the RV cleaned out while it's not raining.

I had a great trip, although had to cut it short because I stumbled at one of the camp grounds and fell on a concrete pad for the picnic table right on my knees. But I clung to Toby's leash so at least I didn't have to try to find him. Started out going over to the beach which was a beautiful drive. I avoid Interstates as much as possible and the scenery was gorgeous. The beach was a bit of a bust with rain all one day (amazing what a nap does for you), but still managed to walk the beach and explore the area for lots. Then drove over to the "dry side" of the mountains. Another gorgeous drive, most of the state parks were still open, and finally stopped at one right on the Columbia River with lots of trees. The dry side of the mountain is high desert with lots of wineries and fruit orchards. The drive home was absolutely breath taking which is how I felt when I got out at one overlook and had to walk uphill for about 100 yards. But heading towards the pass to come back over the mountains, the alders were gorgeous, mountains on both sides and a raging river below. I found lots of campgrounds along the way in the National Forest -- need to explore those more. Today I need to clean out the RV, get the tanks emptied and begin working on putting her to bed for the winter.

I turned on the news when I got home last night and was shocked to see that there was another school shooting here in WA. It's in the school district where my nephew teaches and my grandnephew is in second grade. They're fine, but it just filled me with both sadness for the victims and rage that this country continues to have this love affair with guns. I don't understand it and the lack of any effort to reach middle ground is just not present. I love my country with all my heart, but there is so much that needs to be fixed.

OK. The soapbox just broke (probably from the weight of the speaker!) so I'd best get it in gear while I can as I see the clouds beginning to roll in.

Ubee, I just looked up sites with meal plans -- googled low calorie/low carb meal plans. There are lots of sites, but authoritynutrition.com looked very realistic with suggestions for meals that didn't involve going to the store every day for some exotic food.

OK, really got to get going. More in the next few days.

Just a quick note to say that I'm back from the farm. Bob and I had a terrific time, and even the kittens had a blast, running around like maniacs in the larger spaces of the old farmhouse and chasing flies—oh boy did they chase (and eat—yuck) a lot of flies.

I took two pics of my studio right before we left this morning, just for you guys. I had it all tidied up from the mess of easels, paint, & paper scraps it was in when I was working, so that when Bob's mom sees it for the first time, she'll approve (I hope). Here's the first one showing the top of my 10-feet-long maple butcherblock table that weighed 200 pounds (just the top) and arrived in a semi. Bob manhandled it (w/ minimal help from me) onto the two industrial-model leg supports he'd prepared in advance: quite a story there, but all went well. You can also see the Kasimir Malevich print I've already mentioned, and my little supply cabinet with paints, etc., in the corner.

In the second one you can see the little bit of early modern and mid-century modern decor I've been blathering about. The morning sun obscured the lovely view down the valley: assume low mountains and gorgeous fall foliage. There are two windows on the right that open onto the big old-fashioned porch. Those are not just lathe-and-plaster walls you're looking at, but 1870s lathe-and-horsehair-plaster walls. Apparently in the old days farmers used to pick up extra cash in the spring by gathering up all the hair their horses had shed and selling it to mattress makers and plasterers.

There's lots else to tell—a bear on the property! a night under the stars!—but I'm really trashed by the trip home and doing my 600 leg lifts tonight. I didn't stay exactly on plan while I was at the farm, but pretty close. Now if we can just lick the pesky cold the kitties still have (trip to the vet tomorrow AM), I can truly get re-focused on weight loss. Best wishes to all of you: I'll get caught up tomorrow. =smile=

Hey Guys

I really need to get back to posting more often. A lot of the times I am either too tired to post or I forget...My BIL has been a computer hog lately too watching football or sleeping on the couch to where I can't get on it. DH is getting pretty miffed about it so we are thinking about getting our room in order and putting the computer back in there. It's hard for me to post from my phone and usually has several gramatical errors that I loathe doing it from my phone lol...

Not too much has been going on around here. Last week I was back on with my workouts so I got all 5 of them done this week plus I moved some furniture on Sunday that my mother was giving me so that was a work out in and of itself, so shall we say I got 6 days in this week? I am back down to 261.2, or .4, can't remember, have it written down at home so I'm hoping to get a steady loss again this week. DH has made navajo fry bread a few times this past week and I did nibble a little so I'm sure that's why I didn't lose more but I'm going to push extra hard this week and hope for a 3 lb loss. My goal by my 1 year mark on Jan 14, 2015 is to be at 100 lbs lost...I think I can do it, just gotta keep my head down and do what I gotta do.

I'm getting new shoes today...Pretty excited about that. My friend is getting them for me, she works at JC Penney's and they were having their friends and family day sale yesterday. She gets a 25% discount and then they were having an extra 25% discount...Unfortunately Nike shoes were excluded which stunk because I didn't look at any other ones. I had done my reasearch before I went to the store and only looked at the Nike's because they were the only ones appealing to me online so instead of getting the shoes for $35, I'm getting them for $52 with her discount. I wasn't wanting to spend over $40, but it really isn't that much of a difference so I'm still going to get them because I so desperately need them. My Reebok easy tones that I have are almost shot from all the walking and working out this year, plus they're a size 10, and I am not a size 10 anymore. The Nike's I picked out were a size 8.5...So needless to say my feet slide around in the ones I have and usually have to wear thick socks so it doesn't hurt my feet from all the sliding. Hoping to get them tonight from her when she gets off work so I can wear them on my walk this evening.

Betsy Glad you enjoyed your little vacation. I hope your knees feel better!

Fi Love the art studio!!!!

Ubee Thanks for looking out for me. It means a lot...I'm still pushing...not losing as fast as I would like but I'm still losing...Just gotta keep going and I'm NOT giving up, I promise you that

Donna Swimming sounds amazing right now....The pool is closed at my neighborhood for the year but it would be nice if my gym had a pool or something...but they do not

I hope everyone else is doing well...Going to try and check in more often...I miss you guys

Good morning all. Beautiful sunrise this morning -- this time of year, watching the sun come up doesn't require getting up too early. Got me motivated for the day as we're due for rain until July. OK, there might be one or two dry days in there.

Fi -- Sounds like you have a great time at the farm and the studio looks wonderful. Your personality comes through in decorating so it feels like we're getting to know you even better. Get those kitties well -- you've really been battling one thing or another since you brought them home, but it sounds like it's not slowing them down any.

Sam -- You have inspired me to get myself back on track. I need to work out more intensely and definitely need to stay on plan. Definitely figure out a way to better share the computer -- we miss not having you post daily.

Anticakechick -- Wow -- you're doing great. Seems like you've done a great job of finding what works for you.

Donna -- I joined Ubee in looking up your mountains. I now have this wonderfully romantic vision of your 100 year old stone house with the mountains in the background. It looks beautiful and a little wild -- perfect! Sounds like you've got a lot of irons in the fire right now, but all very positive things aimed at taking care of you. Good for you! Again, I get inspiration from everyone's posts.

SilentArctic -- Come back to us and post each day. Your mojo will come back and those 10 pounds will go away.

Ubee -- Have you gotten into any mischief lately? Hope so! Were you able to find any good sites with menus/recipes that you can share?

Off to the gym. I want to get the RV cleaned from the trip, get it winterized and filled up with antifreeze in the pipes and tanks, cut the grass, get the geraniums potted for wintering over and whatever else I can cram into the day. Into town tomorrow for shopping and to see a friend who is in a nursing home recovering from a borken hip. She's going to be 95 in January and is very feisty.

Have a great day.

Hi Everyone!
I am having an off day due to my gall bladder acting up. All because of my food choices. I have got to stop doing this to myself.
Betsy that must have been some sunrise to get you that motivated. I really like the site you posted and may try a few dishes when I get back to my usual self. Thanks! How is your knee?
Sam I am counting on you reaching that 100 pounds off by your one year. I hope you know how motivating you are to us. I am with Betsy, find a way to post daily. Your family misses you!
Fi happy to hear you, Bob, and the kitties had a great stay at the farm. Your room looks like a great place to be. I must say your couch is screaming to me. I am not into furniture that much but your couch is awesome.
Anticake I am with you on the weekends. Let's get them under control.
Donna how is it going across the pond?
Andrea what have you been up to?
Dean, Terra, Silent, Jane, Larry, Sham, Miss BB,... how are you?

Ubee— It sounds like your body speaks loudly to you when you eat the wrong things: that's a good thing, and you oughta listen to it! The main way my body speaks to me these days is through my knees: they keep tellin' me they're havin' to bear too much weight, and I want to listen to them—every day, in every way.

Betsy— I admire you so much for your dedication in going to the gym: are you pushing yourself to work harder there, each time you go? I also admire your list of physical activities for every day: all too often, my list is stuffed with non-physical activities. When I painted some of my backgrounds at the farm, I discovered just how physically demanding it is to squat down and spray paint multiple coats on a bunch of boards. My body and mind both are telling me I need to be in better shape in order to work harder as an artist. Thank you for what you said about my studio—thank all of you! I'm not always so hot on the modernist style, but I really need it at the farm for a retreat from fussy country/nature themes in the rest of the house.

Sam— Good for you that you fit into a smaller size of shoe now! The walking shoes I have are my old "normal" size of 7, and they're pinching my toes. I want to lose more weight so I fit in them better and also so I don't have to buy a wide size in all my shoes. Moving furniture for your mom sounds emotionally demanding as well as physical. Be sure to keep an eye on things that stress you out, like your BIL using your computer, and try to minimize those stresses. Even when stress doesn't cause depression, it causes extra nibbling of carbohydrates!

AntiCakeChick— Wow, that's terrific you can walk 3-5 miles! Be proud of that achievement as well as the squats. And keep it up! There's a trail around our lake that's a mile and a half: tomorrow I'm going to take a stab at walking all the way around. That won't be easy. As if I didn't know already, the little bit of walking over uneven ground at the farm really wore me out quickly. I want so much to be a hiker again like I was in my 20s and 30s.

silent— It seems like all of us can't be too vigilant when it comes to watching out for stress and minimizing it wherever possible. Don't sweat over being over 300, though: just re-commit to the project and set up a new mini-goal. So many of us have to do this weight loss thing over and over again before we get the process nailed, so there's nothing to be ashamed of.

I didn't sleep well last night, after all the excitement of the farm activities and returning home. I have lots to do in the way of unpacking and maintaining the order I worked so hard to establish in this house. I'm behind on clipping magazines because I thought it would be too hard to do in the presence of the kittens, who love to play with paper. I discovered a couple of weeks ago, though, that once I toss them a couple of fragments from my clippings and they see I'm not paying attention to them, they get bored and go off to do something else. So I have no excuse not to beat back the pile of magazines in the foyer!

For those of you following my collages, here's a new one I made at the farm. After you read what I wrote about it, click on the image to get a larger version, so you can read some of the writing I mention. I'm gettin' into that Hallowe'en mood! =smile=

Ubee ~ I'm doing good, How are you?

Some of you will remember my saga with my Belgian friend, with whom I had a passionate (there's no other word for it) daily correspondence, in French, until she cut me off in January of this year. Since then, we have had intermittent contact, both in email and snail-mail. She even sent me a birthday present! Some of our contact has been cool and reserved on her side, but some of it's been like our friendship was rekindled. In recent months, it's been quite friendly and open, just with frustrating gaps when she disappears for a while... then she reappears, hinting that something bad happened, but not telling me what it was.

Right before I left for the farm, I sent her a very short email saying I'd be off the Net for a while, and I described what Bob and I were doing, setting up an auxiliary studio there. She's always been very interested in my art, because she is an artist herself. Commenting on each other's art on Flickr is how we met in the first place.

When I got home, I noticed there was no reply from her, which puzzled me. Even as unpredictable as she has been, I expected she would reply to my last email.

Tonight I went through what I received while I was gone more carefully, and discovered there was a message that my last email bounced. It said, about her email address, "That address does not exist."

Is this how it finally ends? I'm rather busted up tonight, not for the first time, over my ill-fated friendship with this woman.

Good morning all. Or maybe I should say Good some-hour-of-the-day because it's so dark out there from the storm we're having that I'm not sure it's really morning out there! We're having our first wind storm of the season, and Toby is not happy. He's spent most of the morning in the living room growling at the trees and bushes as they bend in the wind. He's a big wuss, but his bark sounds fierce.

Ubee -- Glad the site helped. What would we do without the Internet? Of course, I have had to accept that with literally a world of recipes at my fingertips that my eating problems are really me and not a lack of available information. Hate that when it happens! Hope that gall bladder settles down. Thanks for asking about my knees -- they hurt! Some of it is falling on them and some is the change in weather with it getting cooler and wetter. Growing old isn't for sissies.

Fi -- Thank you for your kind comments about going to the gym. Yes, I do try to build up both my endurance with the cardio and my strength. But it's slow going. I'm with you on wanting to get back to being able to hike. Actually I'm in awe of your being able to squat -- having been able to do any squatting in years,, probably decades! You're on the right track with wanting to stay on top of the clipping -- I decluttered about a year ago, and need to do it again. Love the new collage -- always love reading your comments as well.

Fi, I read your post about your Belgian friend and it hit home because I've recently backed away from 2 friends myself. For me, when I looked at the friendships, I realized that while I enjoy both of them immensely that they were both very one sided relationships. I don't know if that's the case for you, but are you giving more than you're getting? And I don't mean that as a criticism -- some of us are just nurturers and give of ourselves to the point of running on empty. For me, I've kind of recategorized these two friends -- know that sounds silly, but I think of them now more as acquaintances than as friends. If I have contact with them, that's great. But always being the one to initiate contact and worrying about their problems has stopped. Actually, it's been an eye opening experience as I feel like a tremendous burden has been lifted from me. Don't know if any of this helps or even applies. You just give so much of yourself to your family and friends that having a friend who doesn't appreciate that may not really be a friend.

Terra -- Good to hear that you're doing well. Have you had any more foot issues with your walking since you got your new shoes?

Where is everyone else these last few days? Hope all of you are doing ok. We miss you when we can'tstay in touch. I'm off to the gym and then home to do some cleaning. I was going to go into town, but with the wind storm that is going to wait until it's just rain as opposed to sideways rain. Have a great day everyone.

Betsy ~ Yep my foot isnt hurting anymore since I've gotten my new shoes so they must of done the trick.

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What is everyone doing for Halloween? Scott and I are just passing out candy and watching a couple of scary movies.