Morning all!

How did the first week of October go? New plans working? Is everyone losing /maintaining /other ?

And is anyone noticing that summer seems to have come back to the eastern part of North America?

Dagmar

It's almost vacation time. I'M SO EXCITED!!! I'll be leaving for NYC this time in one week.

There is that small matter of the 2 lbs. I'm up this weekend to deal with first. It is Thanksgiving up here and I have eaten a few "extras" over the last two days. I will do the usual - count calories, weigh stuff and write it all down. It works for me.

I expect I'll be back down to 133 by next Monday. I look good, feel great, and hope that the weather co-operates so I can wear my new fall wardrobe. It's shorts and t-shirt weather down there right now but there is a cooling trend in the forecast

Have a great week everyone!

Dagmar (did I mention I'M so EXCITED!!!)

Oooohhh, vacation? Nice. I'm jealous.

I hear you on the Thanksgiving weight gain. But I hope it was as worth it for you as it was for me. My parents came to visit me here in Victoria, so we didn't have the traditional turkey meal, but we did eat out quite a bit.

Plus I ran the Royal Victoria Marathon, 8k distance, and got a 43:10. That's only about 4mins slower than my personal best. So I'm pretty stocked about that because it shows that I'm slowly getting back into shape.

Lucky you, getting summer again. We're stuck with fall here in Victoria. Although it looks like it's gonna be a fantastic day today. And the sun peaked out yesterday for the end of our run.

I really need to get on track with eating. Especially since I have some tough weeks with exams coming up. I'm planning to make food and freeze it. Anyone have any suggestions? All I can think of is lasagna, but some variety would be nice.

EDIT: getting summer, not supper again. jeese. hee hee. :P

Hey girls .... Weight gain?? OMG I literally gasped when I stepped on the scale this morning, it was up 10 freakin' pounds ...but then I weight myself again and it was off by 4 lbs, weighed a third time and it stayed the same, thank goodness... I'm still up 8 lbs, I can deal with that better than 10 ...

Since I started working I haven't exercised a quarter of what I did this summer when I was burning over 900 calories biking... I have gained 8# .... I have to get back in the midset of 1200 calories, I'll be ravenous for a couple of day I know that for a fact!!

Well off to the gym... TTFN

Ilene - I will be joining you on the ravenous train.
After Thanksgiving dinner and a piece of DQ icecream cake....I am tipping the scales and feeling very plump.

Plan in place:
1000-1200 calories/day
Lower carbs
More cardio

Please send some willpower my way - I could really use it.

-S

Cat's tongue: I'm sure others will have some ideas, but I like to make up a big batch of spaghetti sauce (lean ground beef, onions, garlic, veggies, tomato products, spices) and freeze it in smaller batches. It's more versatile than lasagna, and better for you without all that cheese & pasta.

Many soups also freeze well, and are great comfort food as we head into the cooler seasons. Potatoes and pasta can get mushy, though, so I leave these out of soup that will be frozen.

Another time-saver tip: freeze chicken breasts in a marinade, using a strong zip-log bag. By the time they're thawed out, the marinade will have done its trick, and they'll be much more interesting than plain chicken.

When I'm super busy, especially in winter, I also rely a lot more than usual on frozen veggies. Yeah, fresh is better, but when you're too busy to get to the store and produce is expensive and/or doesn't look so fresh anyway, frozen is better than nothing.

Good luck with the exams!

Kim

Good morning!

I'm planning a trip to NYC myself! DD and her Arts Institute class are going and she invited me to go as well (gasp!). They're planning to see a couple Broadway shows and museum outings and perhaps a concert (you know--artsy things!). It won't be until spring (but I imagine it will still be cold there at that time).

My weight was way down 2 weeks ago and now it's back up again. It can be so discouraging! I'm going to try really hard to get it back down to "ticker" weight by Friday.

Kim~soups. I have to remember soups. I love hot comfort food and soup can really do the trick, but I usually forget and head in the direction of casseroles instead. They can be dangerous!

Ooohh, Kim, I like your ideas. Freezing sauce would probably be easier, I mean cooking up the noodles only takes like, 10 mins right?

Plus the frozen chicken in marinade is great. Only I'd use tofu since I'm a vegetarian. But I really like that idea. Hmmm, think I'll get on that one. Thanks.

Hello from TO.

I am here visiting family and I don't even want to think about my weight. Let's put it to you this way.....yesterday I went to my stepfather's house for dinner at 3 and then I went to my Dad's house for dinner at 8. Today I am going to have dinner with my mother's family. Man of man.... 3 thanksgiving meals in one weekend. I feel the scale skyrocketing as we speak. To make matters worse I have done ZERO excercise since Saturday. Maybe I can talk my sister into going for a walk with me after dinner.

Another vegetarian friendly idea: lentil stew. I make it thick enough so that I can use it "as is" as a filling in burritos. Leftovers get thinned down with broth or stock to a soup consistency. Two meals for the effort of one!

Lentil stew?! Oh man, that sounds delicious.

Do you have a recipe by chance?

I made a large pot of turkey/veggie very little noodles soup this morning with turkey stock that I made last night from the turkey carcase... I love soups in the winter. I usually make a pot/week and have that before my meals to get my veggies in...

Well, my conference officially starts tomorrow. I have been onsite since yesterday (we have pre-conference events happening today and tomorrow). So forget losing or maintaining; I'll be gaining this week. After the conference is over, we are heading down to Joshua Tree to do some hiking for a couple of days.

Today I gave a presentation on accounting for stock compensation and I was completely on for it. My timing was perfect; I felt like my explanations were clear, concise, and to the point; the audience was awake and engaged; everyone laughed at my jokes; and they all got the quiz questions right which means they were paying attention. I love it when that happens. This is also the most organized I've ever been for our conference. Normally I would be frantically trying to finish up last minute stuff, but I have everything done. I almost don't know what to do with myself. I'm trying not to eat. hotel mini bars !

I went for a 6-mile run on Sunday and the good news is that the run was awesome. No cramping whatsover, which further confirms my theory that my cramps are due to heat (it was pretty darn chilly) and I had no problems keep my pace up. I felt great and finished in under an hour (59 min, 21 sec). The bad news is that I hurt my leg somehow. Shooting pains in my knee when I try to go down stairs (going up stairs is no problem). I wore a brace on it today and that definitely seemed to help. Hopefully it will feel better tomorrow.

Cats--Vegetarian chili is super easy to make and it would freeze great. CookingLight.com has lots of recipes. I really like their Moroccan Chickpea Chili recipe, but they have more traditional chili recipes as well. I also really like their Tomato Chickpea Curry and I think it would freeze well.

You are awesome as usual Barbara. Have some fun too!

I think any weight gain will be offset by the hiking in Joshua Tree, yes? I've seen photos of it and it looks fabulous.

Dagmar

A recipe for lentil stew? Umm, well, let me see: a pinch of this, a handful of that...

Seriously, I'm not a recipe type of gal, except for baked goods and even then I've been known to modify / substitute / tinker. But, the basic idea is as follows:

Lentil Stew

1-2 tbs. olive oil, butter, or vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
2-5 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 carrots, diced
1-2 stalks celery, diced
1 med zucchini, diced (optional)
1 bell pepper, diced (optional)
jalapeno pepper (optional)
1 c. frozen or canned corn (optional)
1.5 c. dry lentils (check 'em for little rocks & rinse)
2 c. liquid -- some combination of water or low-sodium veggie stock
1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 med can tomato sauce
1 small can chipotle peppers (optional, don't use with jalapeno)
1 tsp.? cumin
1/2 tsp.? cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp.? oregano
1/2 tsp.? thyme (optional)
2 bay leaves (optional, use instead of cayenne pepper / jalapeno / chipotle if you want a less spicy stew)
salt & pepper to taste

Saute onions in fat until translucent. Add garlic and jalapeno (if using) and saute another 30 seconds or so. Add veggies and saute some more. Toss in lentils, about half of the stock/water, tomatoes, and spices. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are soft but not squishy, about 45 minutes. Use the other half of the stock/water during cooking to adjust the consistency as necessary. Salt and pepper to taste.

This is good in burritos, over brown rice or tofu, with corn bread, or thinned into soup.

Hmm, I think I'll make some ...

Kim