Starting the topic - be right back

Hi Tahoemom - Of course you are welcome here! I'm 45, married to a great guy (second for both of us) no kids of our own but his daughter has a son, 4.5 who we dote on. We have 3 cats - two 9.5 year olds, a brother and sister (Smokey and Samantha), and a new 4 month old kitten who is wreaking havoc( Max, short for Maximus).

Hi Kina and welcome! Wow - you sound like one busy woman! Karen is right - we all weigh in at different times so pick a day that works for you (I actually go to a meeting on Sat morning)

I had a so-so weekend - still congested so nothing more than a little yoga on Friday and I did a few upper body strength exercises yesterday - more to do *something* than anything strenuous. I did not do so well at my mom's on Saturday but I'm back OP. Oh, I almost forgot my weigh in ! I was up 0.2 pounds which if basically a maintain. I attribute it to the fact that I had my OJ before I left for my meeting because I wanted to take my vitamins. I was a bit aggravated about the gain (tiny though it was) but laughed when one of my friends at the meeting told me that the 0.2 was the congestion in my chest!

Have a great one!
Judy
163.6/156.2/135

Hi everyone, I have chosen Mondays as my weigh in day in hopes that it will help in to watch myself on the weekends ( a bad time for me). I maintained my weight which I am kind of glad of since I didn't stay OP. My goal for this week is to get to Jazzercise at least 4 times. My best friend goes 6 times so I know I will have company if I get out of this house.

Judy it was certainly nice to hear from you. I wish I had a cat still. I live in Tahoe and so cats don't survive in the outdoors. We lost one to the coyotes and I have to admit I am not up for that litter box all winter long (meaning it is too cold to open the windows and air the house out).

Take care everyone, Tahoemom

190/190/140

Hi all.

Wow, some more new friends have joined us. That's great. A bit about myself: I'm 43, married (17 years)and have a 4 year old daughter and a 16 year old cat. Right now I'm a SAHM, since I'm between jobs, but will probably be going back to work soon. I'm trying to knock off 130 pounds.

Judy - Congrats on the maintain. I hope you enjoyed every bit of latke on Saturday. Thanks for the yarn info. We do have a good knitting store in town, so if it's sunny on Wednesday I'll have the perfect excuse to walk into town. I'll probably start out with a scarf for Ana - something simple while I dip my toes back into the water.

Sabrina - Congrats on a terrific loss. First week or not, that's a great accomplishment. I'm sorry to hear you're still sick, but I'm glad you went to the doctor and are on the mend.

Tahoemom - Welcome! I'm going to think of my husband's uncle, who lives not terribly far from Tahoe, in Grass Valley, CA. When we visit he likes to take us into Tahoe to the lake and then the casinos.

Kina - Welcome to you too! You're one busy woman! Sounds like you've been making good progress so far. Keep it up and you'll soon be where you want to be.

Tahoe's mention of Jazzercize made me think of Michele. If you're out there, stop in and say "hi".

I had a pretty good weekend, food-wise. Actually, it was a pretty good weekend all around, with the exception of Saturday night. We had a Chicago Symphony Concert to go to (we have season tickets to a 5-concert series) and we missed the entire first half. The traffic was so bad it took us 2 hours to get into the city (usually it's a hour, tops) and we got to the concert hall just before intermission. On the way home I was starving because I didn't have time to eat dinner, so I was looking forward to a slice of the lasagna I had stuck in the oven for Ana and her babysitter. Well, the babysitter hadn't covered the leftovers with the foil I had left out. We have been having a problem mice and she found them cavorting on the lasagna. So into the garbage it went. It was just a frozen lasagna from the store, so it's not like I slaved over it, but I was bummed. I had pretzles and potato salad instead. Yum. Tomorrow I'm having lunch and doing some shopping with a friend. And now I'm off to whip up some low-fat Mac and Cheese for dinner. I highly recommend the cookbook *1000 Lowfat Recipes*. There are some awesome recipes in that book.

Talk to you all later.

Carla

Hi all...

Carla - sounds like you need another cat to take on mousing duties! That's awful about your lasagna. Too bad you missed some of the symphony, but I'm sure it was well worth getting to, however late. I'll keep my eyes open for the cookbook, always looking for new recipes. Is the low fat mac & cheese good? It's my favorite and a weakness; I'd be a happy camper to find an excellent recipe.

Judy - lol re the chest congestion! Hope you're feeling better. A maintain is a good thing - all we need to do is get through this holiday season, and we're off to the races!

Tahoe - congrats on your maintain too! 4 times this week to jazzercise would be great - it's a wonderful fatburner.

I had a pretty good weekend, Saturday I spent all day cleaning up the garden and got all the leaves out of the flowerbeds, and finally got the rest of my tulip and daff bulbs planted; hopefully they'll take root and grow - I left them very late. Yesterday I helped my girlfriend with her Christmas baking; she can't cook her way out of a wet paper bag. We get together every year, I do the baking and she does all the dishes and maintains the wine glasses at capacity. Unfortunately I had to sample all the end results, but I figure I got enough exercise on Saturday to counteract any Sunday damage.

Today has been pretty lazy, I got the dogs out for a romp this morning, and then went back to bed for two hours! Got in a workout at the gym this afternoon. Back to work tomorrow, but only for two days, then I'm off for four.

Talk to you all tomorrow,

Karen

Tahoemom - I was in Tahoe, oh probably 10 years ago with my husband. We stayed on the Nevada side but drove around the lake - absolutely beautiful country. I find that if I use the Arm & Hammer litter deoderant and clean it out daily, the litter is OK. Good choice to weigh in on Mondays. When I weighed in on Mondays, it did help me on the weekends (also a tough time for me).

Carla - what do the numbers come out for the low fat mac & cheese??? I haven't had that in ages! Is it a long recipe? Can you post it? It's such good comfort food. Sorry to hear about the concert. Traffic should be unbelievable next week if we have a transit strike. You couldn't PAY me to drive into the city. Eeeewwwww, mice in the lasagna! I agree with Karen - do you want to borrow Max? He'd take care of those mice for sure ;-) I'll have to look out for that cookbook.

Karen - LOL about your girlfriend. I'm going to bake this weekend - I enjoy it so and I figure if I count the points when I sample I'll be OK. Wayt o go on getting to the gym. I can't wait until this darn cold is gone and I can do some real workouts. It sure helps with the holiday stress.

Judy

Hi everyone, I did make it to jazzercise today (1 down 3 more to go). But then came home to bake cookies for the nursery school cookie exchange. I think I ate more cookies then my husband exchanged. I have to admit I'm not feeling to hot right now.

Carla have you tried those mouse traps that the mice eat a little and then go off and die? We used those when we were having a problem and they seemed to work great. We never found the mice I heard they dehydrate, die and then shrivel (spelling? ) up.

Everyone I am a horrible cook if you know of a cookbook that has EASY low fat recipes please let me know. Carla is yours pretty simple?

Take care, Tahoemom

Judy - I'm not doing any of my own baking till the w/e before Christmas. I certainly don't need to spend the next two weeks snarfing down cookies and things. I'm cutting down the amount I do by about 2/3. I'm feeling much less stressed than usual about the holidays this year...I think it's because I've done 90% of my shopping already. I usually get to it around the 21st or 22nd.

Tahoe - good for you for getting to Jazzercise! See above why I'm not doing cookies yet! (not that you had a choice). Cookies happen...move on, it's a brand new day today. Yesterday's transgressions are behind us!

Up a pound today, but I know it's water weight coz my rings won't budge, and they usually slide on and off no problem. I'll be drinking lots of water today to flush it all away.

Have a good one...

Karen

Tahoemom - I hope you gave yourself a pat on the back for going to Jazzercise - I couldn't agree with Karen more - the important thing is not that you slip (we all do) but that you move on afterwards without it affecting what you do (or eat) later.

Karen - Sorry to hear about the gain but if your rings are tight, it's definitely water. I wish I could bake the weekend before Christmas but we've gotten into a routine (I guess it's now a tradition) of inviting people over (Tony makes homemade sauce and meatballs) so there's no time that weekend.

I had a so-so day yesterday - I went over max but had the points in the bank from Monday. I still have a point left in the bank but I wanted to have a few more towards the weekend - oh well, time to start banking again. I did a few upper body weight exercises yesterday - I would love to do a cardio workout or one of my strength tapes but I still have congestion so I think today will be a (short) yoga tape - still nothing strenuous.

Tahoemom - here's a recipe that I think is easy and is a yummy way to get lost of veggies in - my husband likes it too:

VEGGIE PIE

2-3 c. fresh or frozen vegies
2 T chopped onions
1/2 jar pimentos, chopped
4 oz mushrooms
3 oz grated cheese

Mix above ingredients (except for cheese) and cook briefly in the microwave. Spoon
into 9" sprayed pie plate. Sprinkle the cheese over the veggies.

In a blender mix:
1 egg or 1/4 c. egg beaters
2 tsp. diet margarine, optional
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. milk
6 T flour
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper

Blend on high for 15 seconds. Pour over veggies and bake for 30 mins at 400 degrees.

Serves 2; 1/2 pie= 4.5 pts

There's a thread on the forum at videofitness.com that might be of interest to you:

http://205.214.68.83/vbulletin/showt...threadid=20075

It's about people's favorite beginner tapes - there might be some listed that interest you.

Judy

Hi all.

Sorry I didn't get on yesterday. Just didn't get a chance to sit down at the PC.

Judy - I've e-mailed you the Mac and Cheese recipe. I'm just a little leery about posting a copyrighted recipe on a message board. My luck, I'd get caught. If anyone else would like it, let me know and I'd be happy to e-mail it to you. I've worked the points out to 7 for 1/6 of the recipe and 11 for 1/4th. I really like it and John does too. It doesn't come out very saucy, but that could be because I've been cooking it 10 minutes longer than the recipe calls for. If you really want some mac and cheese fast and easy, I think the Healthy Choice mac and cheese frozen dinner is pretty good. Thanks for the offer of Max to take care of the mice. Luigi is a good mouser, but these guys have been hanging out on the counter and he's too old to care to jump on the counter and chase them. Anyway, when he catches them he brings them dead or alive to bed with us and my nerves can't take that anymore.

Tahoemom - I'd be afraid that the mice would stink up the house after they died. We haven't seen any signs of mice for the past couple of days, so maybe we're past the problem. I hope so - I'm tired of cleaning up mice poop. The recipes in the cookbook I mentioned are pretty easy.

Karen - That pound is going to flush it's way right out of your body. I'm feeling less stressed this season too. It makes a big difference being home. I'm probably 1/2 way done with my shopping, but, with the exception of my MIL, I know what I'm buying everyone else (and that's my big stressor - coming up with ideas) and most of it is gift certificates for the kids in our family that live out of state. So I'm in much better shape than I usually am. I should get my cards out early next week, as opposed to post-holiday, and I'm even planning on baking this year.

I'm happy to report a 1.8 pound loss this week. It's pumped me up to keep on being careful through the holiday season. Today it's back out to the stores for a couple of hours. I'm so glad I don't have to go to malls to shop. Those places make me crazy at this time of year.

Talk to you all later.

Carla

Good Morning!

Carla - what a great loss! Way to go! I'd love the m&c recipe if you have a minute. Luigi's offerings sound atrocious. How did you make out with your shopping? All I have left to do is pick up a few stocking stuffers, and then the BIG grocery shop. Mike and I are doing dinner for 13 this year. Cards are going in the mail today, we're doing the tree thing on Saturday.

Judy - thanks so much for posting that link! I'll do a little more investigating and then choose a few after the holidays. I'm going to shop for a step then too. I hadn't thought of the veggie pie for ages. It's so quick and easy, and I love it. I think that'll be my lunch today!

Had a pretty good day yesterday...the goodies i.e. chocolate, have started arriving at work. I managed to restrain myself to just 2 chocolates, and thank goodness I'm off for four days now. I've taken a week off over Christmas, so I'll be able to avoid the worst of it. I got in a session at the gym too.

No major plans for today...I'm expecting a delivery today so I'll have to hang around the house till it arrives.

Have a good one,

Karen

Hi all,

Karen - I just e-mailed the recipe to you. Congrats on limiting yourself to two chocolates. Good job! I realized how much easier it is to stay on track this year by not going to work everyday to an office filled with treats. Not only would I indulge at work, it would set me up for non-stop indulging at home too. Much better this way. I'm just about done with shopping, so I'm in good shape. We're doing our tree this weekend too. Enjoy your four days off.

I had a pertty good day yesterday. Did some shopping. Ate too much spaghetti at dinner, though. Today I'm getting my hair cut and colored and then I'm out and about to do a bit more shopping. I'm going to get my mom's presents taken care of today.

Talk to you all later.

Carla
271/265/244 - 1st 10%

Carla - Great loss! Congratulations! That's great about it pumping you up to be extra careful around this time of year. Thanks for the m&c recipe - it looks delicious - I think I may wait until after the holidays to try it though - this sure is a point-laden time of year. Eeewwww on Luigi's "presents" - cats are so funny, aren't they? They are still "wild" in a lot of ways. I totally agree with you on the mall - haven't been there once so far and don't plan on it.

Karen - Congratulations on limiting yourself to just 2 chocolates!!! That's a "thin person" behavior - way to go! Enjoy your four days off. I haven't made the veggie pie recipe recently either - something to think about doing - it's a pretty low point recipe.

I did OK yesterday - I started baking but had just 1/2 a ruggelach. I managed to bank a 1/2 point - better than nothing. I did a bunch of online shopping yesterday - now I just have my step daughter and something small for Tony (we are buying each other patio furniture). The hardest part is still left though - thinking of the gifts! Tony is picking up Anthony at his babysitters this afternoon (my s-d is working) so that should be fun. Of course, it may mean pizza for dinner, but that's OK. Tomorrow afternoon we are going to go to his pre-school Christmas play - that should be a ton of fun - I have to make sure there is film in the camera. I still have a bit of congestion but I did a short yoga tape this morning. I'd like to think I'll get to do something else workout-wise this afternoon but with Anthony coming over that probably won't be possible.

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi All!

WOW, it has been a long time, sorry about that.

Things are OK here, just real busy and I have been slacking a bit. Weight wise OK, hovering on or near goal weight which is not what I want but I will settle for now. Still want to get under that 150 mark, someday..............

I hope everyone is well, I see there are some new names, Hello to all.

Still at my job , boss is getting married on New Years Eve so that is how I will spend my night. Bobby had his 12th birthday this month, nothing like making you feel a little old yourself.

We were supposed to leave for Aruba last Sat. but Steves mother was admitted to ICU in Canada so we did not leave as planned. He has been in Canada with her (taking care of dad) for 9 days now. She is out of the woods and may come home this weekend

We rescheduled for Jan. 4th and since our Anniversary is Jan. 1st it will be live a 2nd Honeymoon.

Carla-still going to Jazzercise, had a bought of bersitis (?) in my hip so slowed me down a bit but can't keep me down for long.

Judy-glad to hear things are going well for you.

Karen-Hello

I will try and go back a few threads and try to catch up and be more faithfull in coming back.

Keep up the good work and HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!!