The ice cream got the best of me again last night. I still was not over my daily calorie goal, but still...I cannot be eating that ice cream before bed!!

However, I am definitely going to the gym tonight and doing a little extra/harder workout!

Have a good day everyone!

Good morning everyone. I'm back to the sore muscles this morning after spending 8 hours working on getting things planted yesterday.

Sam The broccoli salad is almost the same except mine serves 10, no carrots, the craisins and sunflower seeds are cut to 1/4 cup, uses canola oil mayo and half the bacon. It is a really good salad. I use the recipe creator in MFP to adjust recipe contents to get them to where I want them. I remember Harley and bike weeks from when I lived in Winston-Salem -- don't blame you for not getting out and about. You are much more patient than I would be about still not knowing if you're making the trip.
Ubee Yes, I am just the picture of kindness to hire someone to weed whack a hill that I have trouble even standing on. The power of youth made itself apparent yesterday as he cut the entire hill, and started working on the terraces in just under 3 hours. Are you struggling with the eating because of everything that is going on in your life as in you have no time for Ubee. You've mentioned a couple of times that you wished you had some more me time. You're always so positive, Ubee, but is reality causing stress eating? It's a constant battle, and I don't have other people in my house to take care of.
Larry Looked at the article on your raised bed -- what a fascinating idea. And 30" height would be so much easier on the back than raised beds at ground level. It is amazing how much difference the number of carbs makes in our losing abilities. Everyone up here in the NW is just finishing with getting gardens planted. We always have late gardens that usually produce very well.
Tootsie The travel, hotel, and food are expensive and yes you could take the course online for that. But, the advantage of an on-site course is getting to talk to other people who are involved in the same thing and share information. Plus there's usually a lot more hands on training involved. You'll make contacts at a course like this that you may potentially stay in touch with for years. Just my 2 cents worth, but I'd go.
MissToni Go to the freezer and wash the ice cream down the drain. Sounds radical and a waste of money, but it's beckoning you every night. That's why I don't keep chips, chocolate, or ice cream in the house and send them home with someone if I have them when company comes.

Today I am going to get my gardening garage cleaned out so that I can actually get to the gardening tools. What a concept. Mark is coming back and I'm going to have him work on weed eradication in the dry creek beds, the steps leading up to the yard from the street, and begin on trimming back some of the bushes that have gotten way out of hand. He's coming 4 days this week and then we'll see what the schedule is for next week. I figure there's at least several weeks worth of work to be done as the terraces need to be mulched, trees trimmed, LOTS of weeding, etc. Can I please count this as my exercise?

Eating has been off, but weight is still slowly dropping. I want to get back on track today as I am determined to be down to what my signature says I am by the end of the month.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Betsy Here are two pictures. One shows how many tree limbs I put in there. The second shows the bed filled the rest of the way with potting mix and laid out Square Foot gardening style for planting.

Click on the picture to see it full size

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Betsy: You need to learn the concept of NEAT. Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. That's just fancy talk that means that any activity, even when it isn't structured exercise burns calories. Most activity won't burn calories as much as structured exercise, but every little bit counts. . I learned that from Fat Girl PHD. I don't eat back any calories that I've burned. I just count them as the metaphorical gravy or icing on top, the extra calories burned towards my goal. Thanks for your advice. You make good points. I just feel selfish. That same cash could go towards more training for my spouse, or educational opportunities for my kids.

Larry: You make me wish that I was more handy. Those beds look like a great idea. I remember when the old turtle sandboxes were larger than they are now. My parents got one, and planted strawberries in it. We had a lot of fresh strawberries for a few summers.

Miss Toni: Frozen dairy tends to get me sometimes as well. I found the Fruttare Strawberry and Milk bars. They have other flavors as well, but the are really good. Fortunately, one is enough for me. Those have 120 calories each, I like their fruit bars without milk as well. My favorite so far are the pineapple ones. The bars without milk are 60 calories a piece. That's not bad.

Sam: I've never really been to the beach for very long. It sounds nice, but I don't like the idea of getting sand everywhere.

Terra: You're welcome. Are the intervals going well for you?

Ubee: Hopefully life is going okay for you.

Fi: Too bad your appointment is so far out. You would figure with your symptoms that they would get a move on to find out who's wrong. I hope that someone that you know is nearby while your SO is gone.

rapid and Mountain: Where are you? Hopefully everything is going well.

Cindy: Sorry to see that you're in bed. Hopefully you get well soon.

Mae: Congrats on doing well in your courses.

Hi everyone.

Sam, I'm not very fond of snakes either. We have or had a small garden or garter snake that lives somewhere in our yard. I haven't encountered it yet this year and really hope I don't.

Tootsieroll, I don't see it as selfish just because you are doing something for yourself. Your spouse may be right, but the decision is up to you. You did the competition and you won, so there has to be part of you that really wanted to win it. It sounds like a wonderful opportunity, and if it was me, I would go.

Ubee, I wish you had the opportunity to have more Ubee time. Deep breaths. Every meal or snack is another chance to get it right. What motivates you when you are eating well? I read the inspirational thread on this board and found some things there I can relate to. Of course we all need to figure out what motivates us because we're all different, but I'm sure we all share some common goals.

Larry, I love the raised bed garden idea. We grow tomatoes and peppers in large pots. We have very limited space to plant in the ground, but I'm not sure our landlord would approve of larger containers.

Misstoni, if you can eat ice cream in quantities that let you stay within your calories, and if it is allowed on your plan, then I think it's ok to have it. However, if it's a problem for you then I agree with Betsy, it needs to go.

Betsy, I'm glad that you have someone helping you out with some of your chores. You seem to always be so busy. I hope the sore muscles feel better soon.

Yesterday after work I had DH take me to the emergency room, because the pain in my leg was becoming intolerable. I also was not satisfied with the course my doctor's office was planning to take. They took x-rays and determined nothing was broken. They think it's probably a knee sprain and want me to follow up with an orthopedist. Meanwhile they wrapped it with an ace bandage, gave me a cane to use, said to apply ice packs, rest it and elevate it and stay off of it as much as possible, so I am home again. Fortunately, my boss is pretty understanding, but this is getting frustrating.

On a better note, I have finally managed to string two good eating days together, and have lost what I gained in the past couple weeks, and apparently two pounds beyond that. I haven't changed my ticker yet, because I'm not sure yet that it's real. My scale fluctuates - I can weigh myself multiple times in a row and get 3 or more different weights. I usually go with the most consistent one and this time that happened to be the lowest. We will see what tomorrow brings.

Have a good day everyone.

Cindy: I have Osteoarthritis. The symptoms sound familiar. The doc had to give me a steroid shot in the muscle around my knee, and he gave me anti-inflammatory pain meds to get rid of the pain. It was horrible. I could barely hobble around and was down for a couple of weeks. I've had flare-ups of sciatica pain on one side, that did that, as well. Thankfully, I haven't had a flare up for a while. I discovered that you can still exercise during those times. If you don't want to, that's perfectly fine. I'm just the type of person that can't stand just sitting there when I have a goal. You can put one of those foot bikes on a table and pedal it with your arms instead of your feet. You can also do arm circles, both forms. You'd be surprised at how quickly you tire just from arm circles. I'm sure that there are more exercises one can do while recovering if they Google it.

Betsy ~ Yes I did get my walk in yesterday and I will do it again today.

Ubee ~ I have 8 collectiables and yes they are from my childhood.

Larry ~ Your welcome, Like everyone else I'm glad your back.

Tootsie ~ My intervals are going good. Thanks for asking.

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

Woke up at 7 a.m. Its now almost 1:30 p.m. I'm now making lunch, I'm not sure how healthy grilled cheese sandwiches are eeek but thats what I'm making myself for lunch. Anyway I still need to take pictures of my barbies to upload them to Ebay and I still need to clean my room as well and of course get my walk and intervals in.

Ubee Snakes don't bother me when they're locked behind a cage lol....It's ok to have pouting sessions but I think you have already won half the battle by not throwing in the towel. YOU WILL DO THIS!!!! You are amazing and can accomplish anything...Just dust yourself off and put the work in..you got this!!!

Larry They are pretty good. They're basically just seltzer water with flavoring but has no sodium or anything like that, no added sweetener. So far I've found them at Kroger and Wal-Mart. The Polar brand I found at Kroger. I also noticed that Kroger also makes their own brand of waters that are like the Le Croix (spelling) waters that are the same thing but are way cheaper and they come in 12 pk cans. Haven't tried them yet though. You're doing a great job on Atkins!!

Tootsie As much as traveling to a city could be fun and scary at the same time if you think it's going to sabotage your diet then I'd go with the online course, especially if the price is the same. Don't be nervous you're doing it hun!! As far as the beach goes, you get used to it after awhile with the sand situation. Living in a beach town it almost doesn't even matter if you go to the beach you'll end up with sand everywhere anyway lol...

Toni Get that workout in girly!! You got this!!!!

Betsy Maybe I need to tweak mine a bit. The carrots don't really make it or break it for me so I'm sure that will help and cut down on everything else and maybe it'll be a lot better for me. Thanks for the advice ....As far as not knowing what's going on I'm getting the feeling we probably aren't going to go unless something happens and his Granny passes so I'm not too worried about it. DH's dad called today to ask about a suit and stuff and to keep him updated. DH's family doesn't know that he's seeking treatment for his addiction in the form of going to a methadone clinic so we would have to work out the particulars on making sure he gets his medicine for the trip which DH has not done yet so I guess this time around (unlike xmas time) I'm not worried lol...I really don't think DH wants to go to be honest. Sounds like you got a good workout in with the planting

Cindy Oh no!! So sorry to hear about your knee...Just take it easy and it will get better (((HUGS)))...Great job on the loss!!

Terra HI!!! Hope you're having a great week.


Not much going on...staying OP still so that's good...Working on increasing my calorie intake and keeping the sodium and carbs low...I'm getting there, not as low as I want on the carbs but it's still WAY lower than I have been. The grouch that lives underneath me came upstairs while I was working out and apparently I was being too loud...So I had to workout with my shoes off and step even more light than I was before so my workout kinda sucked last night and I was mad lol..DH order a pizza for himself and I was craving it BAD...But I'm happy to announce I didn't even eat a slice!! I made this pizza casserole thing with turkey and sauce on the bottom and the top crust was made with zucchini, cauliflower, liquid egg whites, panko bread crumbs (only 3 tbsp), and cheese. Then I topped it with mushrooms and more cheese...It really satisfied my pizza craving. It had 16 g carbs for the serving but I still was able to stay under 80 g carbs. My ideal is 50g but I'm slowly getting there.

I'm gonna wrap it up so I can get this workout in before DH has band practice and before Oscar the Grouch comes home....Enjoy your evenings!

Hi everyone.
Sam thank you. thank you, thank you for your encouraging words!
Terra I'm thinking grilled cheese was not your best option. Did you have any veggies?
tootsie I know it is a hard choice with your trip or an online class. Will you make important contacts if you go on the trip? Is this an important step in announcing to the world and yourself that you are worth it?
Cindy I am sorry to hear about your bad wheel. I do find motivational sayings very helpful for motivation. I even have a stack of cards that I have written my favorites on. I think I will dig them out from the pile on my desk. Thanks.
Larry thanks for the link. I hope to have raised beds in place for next year.
Betsy your post made me want to cry. (Menopause sucks!) I feel so drained from helping out our family BUT in 3 weeks it will all be better. My plan is to stop gaining today.
Miss Toni not going to bed on time has killed many good food days.
Well I did it yesterday. I overate too much crap. In the middle of the night my pancreas gave me notice to snap out of it. I was so sick. This morning I was too ill to give my daughter our together routine before school. (Don't worry my husband can easily fill my shoes.) Anyhow I finally felt up to brushing her teeth and in the middle of it she reached out and pulled me in for a hug. It brought it all home for me. She needs and wants me alive and healthy. No more excuses. I will be under 250 by 2016!

I'm glad I had a good food day to balance out the AWFUL day at work. For the 2nd time in 11 months at my current employer, I found myself crying in the bathroom for 20 minutes. I don't know what upset me more, my agent who was a complete jerk, or my supervisor and manager telling me to "cool down" and "drop it". I don't think I should have to silence myself when I'm being treated poorly.

So I'm going to say Hi I'm not new to 3fc or the 300+ board, but I usually just lurk. I feel like I need a place to vent a bit about my journey and I don't want to spam the exercise accountability thread.

Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend.

Good morning all. As I look out the window, I feel as though I've taken that trip to England that I've always wanted to take.......very, very foggy out there!

Larry Thanks for the pictures -- those look amazing and it is much fuller of wood (and much bigger pieces of wood) than I thought it would be. There's a post on FB for my little town that is a sale sight, and one woman is offering up tire treads like would go around a bulldozer or a tank. She has a picture of several of them in her garden on their side and filled with dirt. At this point, I'd just be thrilled to get any type of bed built!
Tootsie Selfish? Maybe some things to think about. Have you spent any money on yourself for education in the last few years? Has your husband? If so, is it your turn? Will taking this course help you towards a career in the future that will make a substantial difference in your earning power and therefore the welfare of your family? I definitely agree with your exercise theory of NEAT. I had a friend one time who wanted to know why when she was constantly moving her hand and arm to her mouth that it didn't result in firmer arms!
Cindy Time to switch doctors? An orthopedist might be able to figure something out, but it might be time to go to a vascular doctor to determine if you have adequate blood flow as well. At any rate, hope that you're able to get to the bottom of this and sooner than later. In the meantime, good job on the dieting front. It's always so hard to do when a cookie or a piece of chocolate would do so much.
Terra Grilled cheese is ok -- maybe just 1/2 a sandwich but adding in some cut up veggies and maybe a piece of fruit will help with filling you up. Also, there are several different kinds of low carb bread out there which also end up being lower calorie. That might help, too.
Sam I chuckled at your sand everywhere comment. Out here, people usually have wood, tile, or some type of non-carpeted flooring -- at least by the doors -- because it rains 9 months out of the year. I'm secretly relieved for you guys that you probably won't be going up to WVA this weekend. You're making great progress on the lower carb front -- it does take a LOT of tweeking of recipes to get them low carb. You're just a good and creative cook that you can probably do that pretty easily.
Ubee There's nothing like getting really sick and then having a reminder of why we're trying to do this to bring the point home. 3 weeks. We can get through 3 weeks.
MaeCrochet Sorry you had such a bad day at work. I'm not sure what you mean about having to silence yourself when you're being treated poorly. Did you voice your concerns in a normal tone of voice and express why something bothered you or was there some shouting and anger involved? Just something to think about in terms of why you were getting no support from your manager.
Obsidianbbw Welcome and definitely feel free to contribute -- and vent -- about your journey.

Time to go to the gym, then to the grocery store, then home to start getting things ready for the weekend camping trip with the boys. I need to get the birthday cake baked today so it can be decorated tomorrow. I'm going to try to get some casseroles done and ready to put in the freezer so I can just pop them in the oven and not spend a lot of time cooking meals for everyone.

Hope you all have a great day.

My scale moved up. I think that it's bloating from my TOM. My diet hasn't been THAT horrible. I know because I'm tracking my calories in my app.

A person came by to measure my door. We are getting a new front door. I noticed that his hands were shaking, so I asked if he was okay. He told me that he has been having marital problems. Why do people tell me this stuff? Just randomly, people tend to tell me stuff that they probably wouldn't tell others. The other day, I was at Wal Mart, and a sample giving lady, that I don't know, showed me pics of her horse and told me about her kids. She didn't show them to anyone else. I guess that I look non-threatening and trustworthy. Maybe I should have been a shrink.

I had a six month check up with my Cardiologist today. He is very pleased with my weight loss. BP was 118/70 and my resting heart rate is 60. my heart sounds good, my lungs are clear and I have no swelling in my ankles. Most importantly when I told him I was on the Atkins Diet he said that is good.

Ubee Love ya girly!!! You can do this! I believe in you! Your goals are reachable I promise!

Mandie Sorry you had a bad day at work and you're right you shouldn't have to silence yourself if you are being treated poorly. If management won't do anything about it you might need to find another job. However, I'm so proud that you have been able to find the good in the day by having a great POP day!!

Obsidian Love your name!!! Thanks for joining us! There's always room for more!! Vent all you need to we are a great tight knit family over here and are really understanding. Post as much as you want!!

Betsy I loathe carpet...having pets and sand make for a bad combo and it is hard to keep cheap carpet clean like they have in my apartment. I do what I can but it seems like it never stays clean. Hope you have a great time on your camping trip this weekend....good lookin out on the casseroles idea! I'm glad we won't be going to WV either. DH finally told me he didn't want to go unless something happens. We're all on alert because they think it can happen any time but there's no reason for us to make two trips up there especially if we can't afford it.

Tootsie Don't even look at the scale when it's TOM...It's a big fat liar lol...It is bloating, don't worry about it ...I know exactly what you mean about random strangers telling you things about their lives that they shouldn't tell the general public. As an insurance agent I hear things all the time.

Larry Great job on the doc's appt!!!!

Going to keep this short...It's usually my rest day but I want to get a cardio work out in....I'm going to try and work out tomorrow too but I'm supposed to go visit my grandma after work, she brought back some things from Texas with her for me and I need to get some grocery shopping done for the weekend so I don't have to leave my house. It's pouring outside so my hopes for getting some intervals done outside is a no go....So I'm going to do my Turbo Jam instead. I think tonight I'm just going to have left overs from that casserole...I've really come to like that stuff haha...Hope everyone else is doing well and staying POP!!!