W 208.9 today. (down .6 from yesterday)
I'm really feeling the cravings, but trying to focus on how proud I feel that I've been eating so healthy for almost 4 weeks now.


Trish awesome drop! keep it up!

Jacqui I think that's a great idea. And yum! clementines and blueberries are delicious.

PQ I'm glad they found a better place for your brother! And wow you've had a busy week. Hope you get some time to relax on the weekend and hopefully celebrate a nice whoosh.

Carol Sue I'm sorry to hear about your knee. I hope you feel better soon. Have fun at the casino!

Hi Sum, SMF and Rennie! Hope you have a good weekend!

TGIF! Hope everyone's having a great night I'm feeling so up today. Bro LOVES the new rehab. He got there before dinner yesterday and has already had his first meal in eight weeks! It was just pudding but he said it was fantastic. The last I heard, two students were there to take him to check out the NASA-created equipment they had on the premises. He said he may never leave...he said it was the country club of rehabs.

Today's menu....

Break - 2 boiled eggs, ham
Lunch - 2/3 portion of chili spaghetti
Snack - skinny popcorn
Dinner- homemade mariachi chicken pizza, lite beers
Snack later - cranberry water

PrairieQueen, what a different a day makes! Glad to hear that bro is in a much better mood. I remember that pudding was all I was allowed to have the day after my heart surgery. And I hate pudding. The next thing I was allowed to have was clear soup. That was much better.

I had a great time at the casino. I couldn't lose to save my soul. I won something on every machine I played and came home with $700. DH came home with $30. It's usually the other way around.

My knee feels a lot better, even walking around the casino didn't bother it. I put some Biofreeze on it again at bedtime even though it wasn't bothering me. I bought 2 new knee braces to see which one I liked. One at Walmart and one at Target. One was too big and the other was too small. I will take them both back and get a smaller size in the one from Walmart. It was very comfortable. I want one that I can wear when I go somewhere if I need it.

Carol Sue you were so right about the long-term/insurance thing. Something else I learned yesterday was that before the first rehab had received all the insurance confirmation paperwork, my stepdad had to agree legally to take financial responsibility for up to a year if something fell through, got cancelled, not covered before they admitted him.

PrairieQueen, years ago there was a hospital in a nearby town that was notorious for keeping patients much longer than they needed to be hospitalized. It was a private family owned hospital, and word was out to make the trip to a hospital a few miles farther away rather than go there. I had tests done there a couple time because my doctor scheduled them there and they always wanted to admit me, but I always refused. Needless to say, that hospital went bankrupt, and is currently being demolished. They got greedy.

I think your step-dad should wait until the need arises before agreeing to financial responsibility from now on!!

Up stay strong! You're doing such a great job (and how I know sticking to plan is a job).

Carol Sue glad that knee is feeling better. Two friends friend of mine have had replacements. One was a textbook recovery; the other one not so much. its been two years and she still has swelling and pain that comes and goes. Hopefully, you'll never have to have surgery.

Stepdad knew he had insurance and was covered for the new place because he's the one that's been dealing with insurance through all this....they've actually been great. sure his premium was paid and called, etc. to verify. since he's beehospitalized. Anyway, he's out of there

Pizza again tonight. I used my leftover yogurt whey for dough liquid and it is the best crust I've made...def going to continue using it.

Break - leftover mariachi chicken pizza, ham
Lunch - salad w/chicken, pineapple
Snack - skinny popcorn
Dinner - sausage/turkey pepperoni pizza, lite beers
Snack - cranberry water

I made some frozen blueberry yogurt but didn't have any.....saving my calories for the pizza
Dinner

Oh my goodness, everyone has such great news! How fun it is to come here and see all the happiness! UpandAway lost weight, PrairieQueen's brother is doing wonderfully now and is happy, and Carol Sue couldn't lose at the casino (WOW! I'll say!) and her knee is feeling better! I don't have anything nearly as exciting to report but today was Carb Day so my good news is I've been filling up on my favorites: pumpkin doughnuts and mint chocolate cookies and M&M's, lol! Oh, I'll pay tomorrow. I've had so much! I was already up today. I was down yesterday morning to 165, but I didn't drink enough water yesterday at all and woke up to 166.5 today. So tomorrow, I'll probably be 168! Oh well, I've had a yummy (in my book) Carb Day, and tomorrow I'll be back to the grind! It will all work out! I am SO glad you all are doing so well! Makes me happy!

Wow, PQ...sounds like The place to be...your bro might be getting some company!

What beautiful, sunny days we've been having, but I've been spending all my time working indoors. It's been a struggle to find time to exercise and I guess I'm stressed 'cause the RA exhaustion is kicking in. Way too many bizarre and extra-stressful dreams keeping me up. And the owls. (lOVe the owls hooHOooo) The owls are real, ha. And too many calories today... pizza at work 'cause I forgot my salad. But I did get some exercise in. Overall, too many calories today, for me....well, obviously, I don't know what to say...just checking in...sounds like everyone here is doing well....oh I missed Jac's post...you sound happy, too, and wow! I don't know how you can eat those sweets and still lose. Wish things would work that way for me , but the wt is coming off so yay! k i gotta get some sleep now...

Jacqui, the one Carb Day a week has worked so well for you because you are able to do it without falling off the wagon for a week. You've done amazing and have a right to be proud.

I have discovered the glitch in my program. When I first started this current eating plan, I was eating a salad every day, and I've stopped that. Now the weight loss has stopped too, and I am no longer feeling "good" the way I was at first. I don't feel as though I'm filling in with other foods, but I must be. So I guess the key is to have that salad every day. If it works, it works!

I haven't exercised since my knee issue. I usually only exercise M-F so I plan on getting back to it tomorrow, but I'll start out at 20 minutes and go from there. I can always do some weights. Today at Goodwill I bought a new pair of gloves for use with my punching bag. They are well padded and I won't hurt my fingers, they are Everlast, and look like new.

Funny, CarolSue, I've had that same superstition...that I Must have a salad every day in order to lose. 'Cause when I don't have a salad, even if calories are very low, I've noticed I don't lose. Having salads every day means I'm organized, so that prolly contributes. Or extra fiber (prolly not). And it's salad at lunch that does the trick, so it's prolly a signal to my brain. Good thing I like salads!

Carol Sue, SMF I've been loving the salads too this weekend. The fiber is good and I topped mine with leftover mariachi chicken from Friday nights pizza.

Downton Abbey then bed.....work tomorrow the weekend goes by so quickly.

Menu...

Break - leftover pizza slice, 2 pieces of bacon
Lunch - salad w/chicken, pineapple
Dinner - beef roast cooked on wine, green beans, mashed taters
Snack - cranberry water

Why do you people eat things that I have to google to know what they are? Mariachi chicken. Mariachi chicken pizza. I found a recipe for Mariachi Chicken which is a filling made from cream cheese and some other things like spices, spread on a pounded chicken breast, then rolled up, rolled in cracker crumbs and baked. I want to try that one. Then I wondered how it could be pizza, and found that that is just chicken with some mexican spices, as a pizza topping. Both sound very tasty to me, but I cannot eat pizza so I can't try that one.

Carol Sue I am such a foodie as are my kids. I'm always trying to recreate something I've had out or seen on telly....it's healthier/less calories when I make it myself. I love pizza and can have an extra piece when I make it.

Today's menu....

Break - egg/bacon wrap
Lunch - chili spaghetti, white grapes
Snack - baby can of v-8 juice
Dinner - walnut chicken/brown rice (it has a sweet chinese sauce made with condensed milk)
Snack - cranberry water

Oddly, I've had the idea that I too lose better when I'm eating salads! The thing is, I feel like they make me colder in the wintertime, so I don't eat as many until it starts warming up again. In the colder months I want hot comfort food, unfortunately, lol!

Carol Sue, thanks! Some days it's more of a challenge than others, but so far so good! Did you get your exercise in today? How did your knee hold up?

SeeMyFeet, hang in there with the RA! I know it can be really exhausting, and I'm sure the stress of work is just making it worse. Take time for yourself whenever you can! I don't know how I get by with eating so many sweets and still losing, lol! But then, it's only one day a week, and calorie-wise, it probably doesn't add up to more than a regular day of meals...I'm guessing!

PrairieQueen, I have to catch up on Downton Abbey! I've missed the last two Sundays! I've just been exhausted at night and don't even bother turning on the tv. I think I'll try to catch up tonight.

UpandAway, Trish, Rennie

DH and I had to leave very early this morning to drive down to the river (farthest Southern Ohio for those not from around here, lol--the Ohio River). We have a house down there, and our renter moved out so we had to go assess the damage. Yikes! So now we have another thing on our plates to do. We have to bring it back up to nice, so we can either rent it or sell it. How can people mess up a nice house in a year's time?! And why do they? Don't they want to live in a nice home? It never fails to amaze and disappoint me--the EXTENSIVE stains on the carpets, the holes in the walls and doors (why?), the layers of dirt in the house and trash in the yard, how completely they mess up the paint jobs, the destruction of appliances (this time we get to replace the stove). We lived there for years and it never looked like that! And the thing is, we always rent to people who seem like nice, normal, decent people and come with references, so I don't get it! It's exhausting. Anyway, we rushed out this morning and I forgot to weigh myself. We ate out for every meal today so I imagine I'll be up on the scale tomorrow. I weighed 167.5 yesterday, so I can't afford to go up too much more or I'll be back in the next decade!

I dunno, Jac...when you get all the people figured out, let me kn....on second thought, find a way to just fix them! Sounds like they turned the place into a frat house. Ugh! I'm so sorry you have to deal with that. Did they at least leave a renter's deposit you can dip into to help with the repairs n appliances?

hooooowweeee have I been hawngry today! For the first time in weeks n weeks, I had some fruit at lunch, pre-lunch actually. With an extra cup of coffee. Talk about crash and burn! I can tell I'm more sensitive to salt and carbs; though my carbs are not particularly low--80- 140total carbs usually.

Had my salad today. Hoping for a good scale surprise tomorrow.