Ubee- I love that you started two weeks ago. It's great to have someone else on a similar plan. Did you do induction for only two weeks or will you be doing extended? How has your weight loss been so far if you don't mind me asking? I'm planning on doing an extended induction. Day one is going good so far.

Hope everyone has a good start to their week. Monday here and busy like a bee at work already.

Donna ~ Yes We've missed you, We're glad your back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woke up at 5:00 a.m. this morning, Wanted to wake up at 8 but I had to go to the bathroom and when I got done Clyde was moving around in his cage so I took him outside and then I decided I would go ahead and stay up for the day. Its now almost 9 a.m. I ate breakfast when I got up at 5 a.m. I'm currently having some dessert which are some fried tortilla's with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on them. For dinner tonight since it is cold I think I'm gonna have a few small cans of Chicken Noodle Soup. Anyway my only plans for today is to fold and put away my clothes, Clean the bathroom and try to do at least 1 mile with my dvd.

Hello my lovely chicken friends! How are you?
Well Happy Monday....back to Welsh Lessons.....Dosbarthau Cymraeg if anybody is keeping notes. Goodness I miss it when I don't go. Last week was such a wash out generally that it was great to feel like I have gotten back to a bit of normality.
Weekend was good food-wise as my stomach was still a bit tender from being ill. Today my appetite is small but there is no queasiness (honestly if I didn't know better I would be worried about the pitter patter of little feet in a few months's time!) EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKK! Horrific scenario!
Chicken soup for tea tonight as I made a roast dinner for my boys yesterday...small bowl....no bread.....and that is REALLY all that I want!!

Oh to be one of those people who say " Oh ...is it time to eat now?" rather than " Right what can I eat NOW?".....Sigh.....have a great Monday.

Good morning all. I think my body has finally adjusted to the switch back to "normal" time as I'm waking up between 6:30-7:00 again. Doesn't mean I'm getting any more done, but at least I'm not getting it done earlier in the day!

Fi -- You sound so much better, and I was very glad to read that your breeder is going to be helping with this and has taken steps to not include any from that litter in her breeding. That sounds very responsible and quite truthfully the experience you and Bob have had with the kittens so far is something that could really damage her reputation. She's very lucky you have been so understanding about this. Glad the stress level is a more stable and so glad that the BERP project is showing rewards in unexpected ways. Hang in there!

Terra -- Sounds like you had a good weekend. Hope you're able to get back to your walking.

Shan84 -- Do you have the "new" Atkins approach? If you can, either purchase or borrow the book as the new approach is much more reasonable and definitely makes staying in induction possible. It also takes into account the net grams of carbs so that there is a much wider selection of veggies other than just the 2 cups of salad that was suggested in the original version. You'll definitely see the weight fall off, but the down side of Atkins (there's a down side to every approach) is that weight comes back on if you have even a few days of excess carbs. I use Atkins when I want to kick start myself and then try to stick with a moderate amount of carbs. Good luck with it!

Donna -- Glad to hear that you're feeling much better and able to get back to normal activities. Soup sounds good and having a reduced appetite is great -- portion control without scales and measuring cups! There are people who actually ask if it's time to eat? I wonder what they do with their brains all day since mine is always in count down to the next meal.

The next two weeks will be busy, busy, busy with planning and prep for American Thanksgiving. Plus the handyman is coming by tonight to look at my long list of things that need to be fixed/installed -- I'm sure he'll think that doing the work over the next two weeks is fine because most men seem to think that a big meal like Thanksgiving just magically appears on the table timed to allow for eating in between the endless football games. Fun but stressful time of year. Hope everyone has a great day.

Good Morning!
Betsy I had forgotten home much energy you put into the holidays for your family. I am on the slacker side. This year my daughter asked if she could have Christmas at her house. Best gift ever! Let me know what our new rugs and comforter look like.
Donna glad you are feeling better and getting back into your routine. I know you like a weather update. It is so cold! We have a dusting of snow and it is going to be a high of 21 today. (-6 Celsius again!)
Terra do you make your own fried tortilla's? If you do what do you fry them in? How many calories does it end up being?
Shan how goes your first days? If you feel icky at all make some broth. It helps with headaches, carb flu... I lost 5 pounds the first week. Ate poorly the second week and gained some back. I did well the last two days and have a lot of it back off. Week number two I ended up going out way more then I had planned and made poor choices. I am back in the saddle and whether you like it or not I am your new Atkins buddy. Fi follows it also. The hardest part for me is remembering it is high fat and only moderate protein. Good luck!
Fi love that you named it "Project Ringworm." We also give things names or use code words. It really touched me when you said you value our little community. I feel the same way.
Bllondy, Silent, Jane, Anticake, are you ladies frozen in the cold somewhere?
I am so glad all that running around is done and I can get back to taking some weight off. I do well with a very dull life.
Have a peaceful day!

Good morning to all you lovely ladies!! It has been way too long since I have been on here and took me about an hour to catch up on posts.. Last week was crazy busy with looking at houses and church activities and babysitting (my full-time job). The GOOD NEWS is.. we found a house we love! We put in an offer on Friday last week and they accepted the next day!! The only conditions they had were that they wanted the closing date to be moved up as soon as possible and a few days after closing to pack and move. I am BEYOND excited about finally having our own place!!!! Not sure when closing is but hoping very soon. SO SO SO happy!!

Last week was also ridiculously cold here.. I woke up on Thursday morning to a "balmy" -24F outside.. ugh.. Today, thankfully, it is about 10 outside. Crazy warm day!! I made myself a smoothie (I just keep adding stuff til the blender is full and then drink it throughout the day. Loads of fruit.. need to add more veggies) and had an english muffin for breakfast. Probably not the best thing after the smoothie but I just love sourdough.. ugh.. who am I kidding.. I love any and all bread. That is what gets me every time. Today's smoothie had raspberries (my fave!), banana, apple, watermelon, yogurt, baby spinach and strawberries. It is so ridiculously good.. HAHA..

Let's see.. haven't weighed myself yet. I decided to only do that every other week because I get too caught up with doing it every day and the slightest thing can affect your weight (going to the bathroom, happy female time of the month, having too much salt day before.. etc) and then I would let that number control my emotions the rest of the day. Not good. What makes me happy is being able to (mostly comfortably) fit into a pair of jeans I haven't worn in about 3 months or longer.. they're a bit tight around the waist still but yay, they fit and don't cut off my breathing!!

Terra, just to clarify what I mentioned last week about working out a couple hours before bedtime.. I didn't mean for the workout to last a couple hours, I meant for you to do a workout (any kind) about 2 hours before you go to bed.. Haha.. I don't think I would last for 2 hours doing a workout either.. who knows.. the human body is capable of so much more than we give it credit for.. it's our brains that get in the way.. Oh, and as far as pets, we have 2 cats now, a gray one and a white one. Both very, very fluffy and big (white weighs probably 15-16 lbs and gray weighs 12-13 lbs). In the past we have had a great dane, a corgi mix, and a black lab mix. No dogs recently though. I miss the personality of dogs though.. but not the stink.. No matter how often they get washed they still smell..

Anticakechick, exercising has gone to a big fat goose egg.. Big old zero.. I know.. I'm terrible. hahaha.. However, once we get the ball rolling on all the paper signing and whatnot that needs to happen for our house purchase, I will determine when would be a good time to pay for a month membership at the rec center. I'll have to go alone for a month because my husband has too many responsibilities going on at the end of the year.. but I figured that I could go by myself and get into my own little groove there and then come the new year, we could both get a 1 yr membership there. We'll see.. I'll keep you posted.

Donna, glad you're on the mend! I absolutely hate anything stomach-related.. I had a migraine about 2 months ago (never get them.. last one was maybe 10 yrs ago?) and I threw up 3 or 4 times during the day from the pain.. takes a lot for me to throw up.. I can't imagine having been sick with that twice in a short amount of time. You have all my sympathies and I pray you get all better soon, minus the rebound in appetite if you like. I always think about food too.. I don't even think when's the next meal. I think, what can I eat next? Oh boy..

Ubee, I would have loved a house with a fireplace, but unfortunately ours does not have one.. BUT, it has so much more room and pretty much everything else we wanted (garage, big backyard, 2 bathrooms, finished basement and potential for so many other things!). Glad to be married to a man who knows how to do everything.. He is a genius. He is also crazy creative so the ideas we've been coming up with for future changes to the house are so exciting!!

Betsy, glad you accomplished some of the things on your list.. I love this season, even though it's busy. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. I just love the sense of family and togetherness that you get from both.

Ok.. I need go get a move on. I will do my best to keep up writing every day.. Have a wonderfully glorious day everyone!!!

Hey everyone,

Quick check in...Betsy and Ubee thanks for being the mama bears to me! It kind of stung thinking about those girls but at the same time I know how far I've come and where I am going so I haven't given it another thought since it happened, I know I'm better than that.

This week after looking at MFP it looks as though I've consumed way too much sodium. My scale said on Sunday that I gained 5 lbs and I can assume it had to do with that. Not going to bash myself about it, just going to be extra careful this week.

I did get to see my friends this weekend...had a great time outside enjoying the bon fire. We ended up making smores which I did eat and a couple of roasted marshmallows by themselves. I'm sure that didn't help the weight gain but I know is not the main contributing factor in the gain I had this week. I skipped goin to the gym on Saturday because my abs were very sore and rested on Sunday because of the baby's funeral. I rested today too because it was nasty outside and I just was feeling bleh. So having 3 days off I'm going to kick it in high gear tomorrow that's for sure! I'm gonna try to talk DH into going with me tomorrow since he mentioned something about going with me this weekend.

This week we gotta decide on what we are having for Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmas. We go over there every year and make dinner for her and my mom. This will be our 3rd year doing it. DH likes to do it because he can make the food taste good as he says lol...I know Thanksgiving will be a cheat meal for me but I have already planned and told myself the past few weeks that I'm not going to go crazy and over eat but still enjoy the good food at the right portions. I'm hoping for a nice loss this week since I know next week I may have a slight gain. Only bad thing is I have a feeling TOM is coming to visit me soon and that always shows a gain during that time. That's the one thing about PCOS that I hate is your TOM is never the same time each month and sometimes it will skip a month. I was on the pill but I got so ill on it that I had to stop taking it. I still take Vitex herbal supplement and that seems to help me just fine.

Anyway I hope everyone had a great weekend! Sorry Ubee I didn't take my monthly photo this weekend but I will try and do it this weekend. Night everyone!

Ubee and Fi- On day two now and feeling good. No big issues yesterday aside from some late night trips to the bathroom. I feel good, and feel totally on plan. Next thing I want to add in is some walking with the WATP videos. Just need the push to get it done each day even if its only for 30 minutes. Ugh. I know a lot of people lose massive quantities of weight in the first week and attribute it to water weight, but regardless of what I lose this week I am not counting it as water weight. Reason being, that I have been calorie counting for three months and when I started that I lost my water weight right away. But....we will see. I have a lot of weight to lose and plan on being in induction for awhile as long as the plan is still working for me. (Dream goal: 2 1/2 months of induction until we head on our vacation then slip into Phase 2).

Hope everyone is having a good week so far. Not much here aside from it being super cold and lots of early mornings. I love being a teacher but I feel the stress as an international teacher. I admit being an IGCSE English as a Second Language teacher you totally have to teach to the test. Right now I have 18 students in two separate that need to pass the exam in May. They fired the teacher who was teaching them before me for lots of reasons, and thus, their level is a lot lower than it should be. Hoping I can pull off some kind of miracle. We will see....or time will tell...lol. Have a good one everybody.

Hi everybody!
Just back from the gym.....how I love saying that! I don't know whether it is because it is the Municipal Gym rather than a private one but it is mostly ordinary folks trying to get a bit healthier rather than ultra thin lycra-thonged lovelys trying to impress! Despite being poorly last week I managed about 45 mins of cardio and some weights. I was really pleased that Magnus (left knee.....come on keep up!) is moving much easier and with ALOT less pain than when I first went a couple of weeks ago. My goal is to be able to ride the normal static bike by Christmas if the range of movement in my knees will allow.
Imaginary gastric band is still functioning....oh long may it last!

I am really interested in sodium intake. Although I never add it to things, it is in alot of surprising food isn't it? How much sodium is adviseable?

Sam....what are smores? I forget that in the US you have the double whammy of Thanksgiving and Christmas! Best to plan and be honest with yourself isn't it? It must be really tempting at Thanksgiving to let things slide til after Christmas?

Ubee......-6....in the day? Brrr......it was 4 degrees this morning and a little frost on the car but I am sitting in the house without heating on in short sleeves which will tell you that it sure isn't as cold as Wisconsin! Has your daughter accommodated to the time shift yet?

Betsy.....I wish I lived in your town...I bet you would be an absolute hoot to have a coffee with! Your sense of humour always makes me smile....you sound like such an upbeat person. How does Toby cope with the cold?

Fi....hope Project Ringworm is going well! Thinking of you.

Shan....it sounds a bit like teaching over here. It is all very focused on passing exams and less on using your knowledge in the real world. I hope with all the stress you can keep focussed on Atkins and your goals!

Bllondy....I am so glad you have found somewhere to love and live in! Pray that it will all go smoothly for you. Hope the jeans aren't too tight!

Terra....how's that blister? Hope the walking is going well.

I missed therapy last week and she is away this week so there will be a 3 week gap.....just when I was making progress. I am writing a journal in the meantime. You never know....one day it may be a best seller!

Have a great day chickens,
Donna

Betsy ~ Yes I had a good weekend, I'm gonna try to get back to my walking today.

Ubee ~ Well I know its not the healthiest but I havent came across a healthy oil yet for the Deep Fat Fryer so thats half of your answer I use a Deep Fat Fryer and a first cut the tortilla's into triangles and then I put them in the fryer two at a time and then I put them in a med. sized bowl with a mix of cinnamon and sugar and I coat both sides. I'm not sure how many calories they are but I dont make them that often so I should be okay.

Bllondy ~ Oh okay I must of misunderstood when you said you worked out 2 hours before bed LOL. I just thought working out for 2 hours is a long time to work out. I'm sorry you dont have anymore pets, Thats a bummer. Are you gonna get anymore pets?

Donna ~ My blister is okay now, I'm gonna try to work out today, Hopefully I'll be to work out today at least for 1 mile with my dvd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke a few mins after 5:00 a.m. this morning, I took Clyde out this morning and we came back in after he was done. I'm currently eating breakfast and drinking my first caffiened soda of the morning. Clyde is currently sleeping in his spot on the couch. I have an appt. today so I will start watching for my bus at 7:40 a.m. Its 6:41 a.m. right now though. I STILL need fold and put away my clothes and clean the bathroom and do at least 1 mile after I get home from my appt. this morning. I've came to the sad decision to put Clyde down, I've been hoping He would just go in his sleep but he hasnt and I'm not 100% sure he's not in pain like I first thought, His day to day life is pretty bad, His bladder is just getting worse. He's had a long life though and although I will miss him dearly I think its what I need to do for him.

I made a new collage: "the jaws of time". (Click for a larger version.) It's kind of strange, I guess. For an explanation of the title, read what I wrote underneath.

I think this collage must reflect my concern over the kittens' illnesses. All my collages reflect what I'm feeling, one way or another...

Good Morning!
Fi sorry but that collage is not one of my favorites. Way too depressing. It was good until I read what you wrote.
Terra I am so sorry about Clyde. What a hard thing to do. You have been such a good doggie mama to him. I will be thinking of you.
Donna yes, it is tempting to start eating at Thanksgiving and let ourselves slide until the New Year. Not going to happen. Right Ladies??? I think being able to ride the bike is a great goal. I love it when my knee feels stronger.
shan there is nothing wrong with "only 30 minutes" of exercise. It sure beats 0 minutes. Glad to hear you are doing well. Remember the broth at the first sign of ick. I am with you on the water weight. Whatever, down is down. I love salt and I use a lot of it. As long as the scale keeps moving down I don't worry about it. If I do have a huge jump like Sam did I just chalk it up to salt and drink green tea with some lemon.
Sam with that 5 pound gain it sounds like TOM is knocking at your door. I hate that guy! So glad I removed my door! Hope you worked out hard today! Remember keep at it! Plan a lot of veggies for Thanksgiving. You got this Sam!
Bllondy once again you had me with your smoothie until I saw the word spinach. Does it taste good or is it more like I should put it in there? Remember it is easy to add a wood stove later on. It is one of the best things we ever did to our house. Why do you think we all have food on our minds all the time? What do other people think about? Seriously anyone have a skinny friend they feel comfortable asking? Maybe you want to weigh only once a month like Fi does? When you are at your lightest like a few days after TOM leaves.(If you are regular/consistent.)
Well time to get cleaning. I am sure Betsy has her house spotless already today!
As for my diet I am so happy to report I have been very good since Sat.!!!!
Have a peaceful day.

Good morning ladies!

Had a load of leftover smoothie from yesterday.. added more spinach (sorry Ubee!! hahaha) and it is so good. Honestly, it really mostly tastes like raspberries. It is delicious, if not a little bit on the too sweet side. But I like feeling full from healthy foods (not stuffed, just full) rather than from eating something like fast food or several slices of bread.. etc.. I wish I could just quit bread permanently!! I did for 1 month last year and in that month of eating veggies, fruits and proteins I lost around 25 lbs!! But slowly, the bread started creeping back in the house.. at first it was the "healthy" kind (very dark rye, pumpernickel) and then it was fast track back to garbage.. I have both kids today (2 yr old girl and 5.5 month old boy).. They're fun to watch but some days it's also fun to watch their parents take them back home... Had a few of those days last week.. But I really do enjoy babysitting.. I mean, I get to be home, keep the house in (mostly) running order while I babysit and then I get paid! So.. I keep thinking how much I would like a "regular" job but most days the benefits of this one far outweigh the desire to have a normal job.

Ubee, I love me some spinach!! I can't stand it any other way than fresh though.. Cooked spinach makes me want to hurl. Lol.. I love spinach in smoothies for the health factor but I also enjoy the flavor it gives.. and with all the other things I put in this smoothie, you really can't taste the bitterness of spinach. One of my other favorites in a smoothie is putting cilantro and lime in with whatever other fruits we have on hand. YUM! So, it's not that I don't enjoy healthy foods, I just prefer the convenience of the unhealthy, easy fix bad foods.. I loved the idea of adding a wood burning stove.. I can picture it right now, exactly where I would want it!! Thanks for making my day!! As far as food on our minds all day.. I would say that other people struggle with the same issue, but different objects. Did that make sense? Maybe skinny people obsess over maintaining their weight (or losing more) all day long. I don't know.. I'll have to ask.. though, I have had several skinny friends who LOVE food but somehow manage not to love it 24/7.. lol.. And as far as weighing once a month.. lol.. I'm too curious to wait that long! I can hardly stand 2 weeks.. And my TOM (or I call it MOM - misery of the month) is very irregular as well.. currently, I'm tapering off a 2 week (at least) TOM.. Possibly 3 weeks long.. I get tired of keeping track because it's different every month. Sometimes don't get it every month.

Terra, I am so sorry about you having to put your dog down. While I'm sure it is for the best for him, it is a hard decision to make. I have never had to do that so I can't understand all that you're going thru.. but know I'm praying for you that it will all happen the way it should. We aren't sure when we will get more dogs.. might be sooner than later now that we have a private and fenced backyard in our new home.. We will see. For now, the 2 cats keep us pretty busy between cleaning up their hair and their litterbox..

Donna, jeans are a bit tight but nothing unbearable. Of course, I'm always most comfortable in the clothes that are huge on me.. I feel like I can hide inside of them and they don't accentuate any of my lumps.. No curves here.. hahaha.. So, are you originally from Wales? Born and raised? I have to admit, I'm terrible in geography and had to look up where that was.. I know I have family from Scotland and would love to go visit.. supposedly there is a castle or some structure of some kind that belonged to my long, long, long ago relatives.. I never quite knew what that was about.. I would love to visit there.. Have you been there? I love the accents.. But for the life of me, I can't imitate them at all. It always comes out British..

Well, time to be productive here at home!! You all have a wonderful day!!
Here's some dancing carrots..

p.s. can anyone help me figure out how to get a weight loss ticker? I can't find where in the world to do that. Thanks!!!

PPS..
Sam, I forgot to send you a personal yesterday and earlier today! Sorry.. I meant to tell you that it really encouraged me that you not only ignored and did not comment back to those girls but also kept at it because you realized that you were putting more effort into your weight loss than they've probably put out in their lives.. Thanks for sharing that! It was very motivational for me because I'm super self-conscious when I'm out in public, especially doing anything that accentuates my weight.. I'm feeling more confident now that I will stick to it when I have to go to the gym on my own. Have a wonderful day!!