Hi,
I went to the Dr and she says it's allergies, so I got a shot and some pills to take. I am better, still kind of icky, but was able to do BF this morning, it really helped me too. Then, got on the gazelle for a quick 25 minutes.
I joined the Book club thread, looks like a lot of interesting people are signing up. I reread the first chapter and realized that when I read it the first time, I must have still been in a fog, cause I sure dont' remember any of it. I think it will be interesting to discuss a book with other people and maybe get more out of it that way. I've gone to Dr. Phils website and it is so jammed with traffic, it takes forever to get on and forever to get around it. It's not really set up for that many people to be logged on to it and I dont' like the format they are using, it's very difficult to navigate. You just can't beat 3FC's, it's the best.
DH is on vacation again til the end of the month. I don't think we will do anything special. I"ve been trying to plant bulbs in my rock garden, but it's hard to get to the dirt, I have to move all the rocks out of the way first. I really over did it with the amount I bought. I still have 260 bulbs to plant. It's raining today, so at least I don't have to do it today. The rest of the week is suppose to be dry, so I figure if I plant 25 a day, I will be done in no time.
Hope your all doing ok, take care, Nikki

nikki, glad that it's allergies rather than a sinus infection. Did your Dr. give you any meds to take besides the shot? I have to see my Dr. Wed. so she can see how the Allegra is working. So far so good...I guess. I was able to walk by the perfume counter without holding my breath. Hope you're feeling better soon. I've also started reading Dr. Phil's book and have joined in the book discussion. What he says makes a lot of sense. I don't care of his eating plan, but I haven't figured out what I'm going to do just yet. I may just do portion control and exercise.

ANNE, that's good news about your son, James, doing so well. You must be real proud of him, and I hope that he is proud of himself.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Aleka

Good Morning Everyone:

Nikkic, allergies are miserable things aren't they!!! Sons James,
Sean and David all suffer from them. They sound like
they have chronic colds at this time of year when all the
seeding is going on.

I was looking at the Atkins bars. They are confusing. On the front
of the package they state 2gr carb. on the nutritional info on
the package they say 21 carb. That I find really strange.

I managed to keep away from the birthday cake this weekend.
I served everyone their piece and did not indulge myself and
guess what, no one even noticed so I didn't have to offer excuses. My husbands birthday is this weekend Its just one
thing after another......So I've decided to limit what I can. I
won't be able to do that on my anniversary though because
it would be rude when the kids are going to all this trouble

Aleka, what do you think of Dr. Phil's book?? Does it help???

Talk to you later just came in.

Anne.

Hope you both had a good weekend. Our weather was gorgeous. Sat. was a bit humid..just like summer, but Sun. was just delightful. I met one of my cousins for lunch Sun. afternoon and on my way home I stopped and picked up some apples that one of our local orchards were selling on the side of the road.

ANNE, on the Atkins bars, did it say 2 g. NET carbs? From what I've been reading about Atkins, you subtract the fiber from the grams of carbs on the nutritional label to get the NET carbs, or vise versa...I kind of forget. That is fantastic you were able to stay away from the birthday cake. I don't know if I would be able to do that or not. I've just read the first part of Dr. Phil's book, but so far I have found it very helpful. I am hoping this will be the breakthrough I need to stick to something.

nikki, how are you feeling...are you allergies any better?

Have a great day.
Aleka

Hi,
I'm doing better and able to do BF, so that's the main thing. I've lost 12 lbs of those 23+ (or 30 can't keep it straight) lbs that I regained.
I like Dr. Phils book, but after looking at the diet plan very quickly last night, I know I will still remain a devoted low carber. Even though I can't always stay on course, I do believe this is the way to weight lose for me. I've had success with it and it is easy to do, as long as I just keep that other stuff out of the house. I think the book will help me to steer clear of those carbs and focus on my goal, rather than the short term of eating donuts or candy for a quick fix.
Anne, there is a thread here in the low carb forum that will direct you to another thread about why those low carb bars stall us and keep us from losing weight. I think what it all boils down to is, it's rather deceptive. They make you think they are ok to eat, but really, they aren't. Like you said before, it's best to stick with the core of the program and leave that convenience food alone, or at least until your where you can comfortably gain a few pounds. That is premise of Curves. You get to your goal weight, then when and if you gain 5 lbs., you go back on the stricter diet plan until your back at goal. In the meantime, you can eat a less restricted diet. I'm just eating low carbs now, not following the Curves meal plan as laid out in the book. Can't get all the stuff, it's getting late in the season. Of course, after all this time, it doesn't matter what plan I pick, I still eat what's in the house. Right now, it's full of low carb food, so I just choose what needs to be eaten now.
It rained all day here yesterday. Today, it's sunny and beautiful. I can't wait til it dries up enough to get outside and plant some bulbs. I sure hope they come up, I love spring flowers.
I did my BF and now, I'm heading for the gazelle, take care, Nikki

Good Morning Everyone:

Nikkic, I am so glad your weight is coming down so quickly for
you Very often alot of the weight gain is fluids.
It is nothing for my weight to jump up 12-15 pounds over
Christmas .

To me low carbing is the way to go........You get results, you
feel great and far less hungry because you are off the insulin
roller coaster ride

Aleka, we had heavy rains and a big flood in our basement
again Yesterday was far worse than Isabel for us!!!

Have a great day ladies

nikki, congratulations on losing a lot of what you gained. As long as low carbing works for you and you are happy then I would definitely stick with it. I looked at Dr. Phil's eating plan and I like the concept of not counting anything, eating the right size portions, and eating "real" food.

ANNE, sorry about your basement flooding. I think we're getting your heavy rains this morning.

Have a good day.
Aleka

Hi,
The weather is beautiful today, clear skies and sunny. The first day of fall and it is really a crisp cool day.
Aleka, I did what Dr. Phil says not to do, I skipped ahead to see the diet plan. I didn't really get a good look at it, so maybe after really reading it, I might think twice about what his plan has to offer. For now, I'm really enjoying low carb eating. Last night, I made steamed cauliflower, then a sauce of melted butter with parsley, lemon pepper, cream and salt. I poured it over the cauliflower and mixed and you know, it tasted a lot like potatoes. DH who doesn't really like cauliflower went on an on about how good it was and how it reminded him of potatoes. He's a potato nut, so that was a real compliment.
Anne, are you doing BF twice a day still? I can't seem to find the right time in the afternoon to do it. I've always just eaten or I'm going to eat or something else is happening and I can't stop whatever I'm doing. Jennifer just wrote on the low carb food thread that the Le Carb cinnamon yogurt is really great. I think I'll have to get some of it and see for myself. When is your anniversary?

Guess we're going camping today until Sunday. Looks like it will rain most of the time But, we decided to make one last little trip to wind up the summer.
I planted about 60 bulbs yesterday, just 210 to go
I have a volunteer tomato plant coming up in the garden that I'm going to transplant in that large container and move into the house. It's a real nice plant, growing in the compost heap right now.
Well, guess I got to get going. Will check in daily of course, have to come home and feed the cats.
The Dr. Phil thread is really interesting, even if you aren't reading the book. Very moving.
Take care, Nikki

Had a follow up Dr. appt. yesterday so she could check how the Allegra is working. She seems to think it's working fine so she gave me some more Allegra, Allegra D, & some new nasal spray.
I just have to call her to let her know how I'm doing.

nikki, how are your allergies coming along..any better? Ya, I skipped to Dr. Phil's eating plan myself just to check it out. But, before I tackle that I am going to read the book. I haven't had time these past couple of days to read and my eyes are bothering me from my allergy so don't know if I'll get around to read any of it today or not. Glad that you like low carb eating. I am enjoying eating either 1/2 sweet potato or brown rice along with meat & veggies at dinner. Once in a great while I will eat a white potato. What is a volunteer tomato plant? Enjoy your camping trip.

ANNE, how is your week going so far? Are you leaves starting to turn yet? Our's started a few weeks ago and it seems everyday I see more leaves that have turned color.

Have a good day!
Aleka

Hi Everyone!!
I was shocked to see my post from yesterday was not there
Bizzarre.
Nikkic, my anniversary is on the 28th of October. The kids are
having a family gathering for us on the 25th of October. I guess
I won't be able to stay on program that day

I am doing my body flex when I wake up in the morning. I
purchased a tape called Greer's secrets and she advised doing
it once a day only(except in the beggining twice was ok to
practice the breathing until you got it right)

Aleka, the leaves are changing and it is lovely. I want to
savour every minute of the fall

Have a great day ladies!!

Anne.

HI,
We are suppose to be camping for the next 3 days, but it looks like rain will be falling off and on and don't know if we will attempt to stay out there or not. Yesterday, I walked in the woods and saw many different kinds of mushrooms/fungus that I have not seen before. I'm going to look for my book on mushrooms and see what they are. One group was like a bunch of white soccer balls. They were that big, smooth and round. Just amazing to see a huge cluster of them in the woods.
Aleka, I'm taking Allegra and Allegra D too. I am not really impressed with it and I know that Zyrtec is a broader spectrum drug. DH tried Allegra, Claritin and finally Zyrtec and that's the one that has kept him free of symptoms. Our insurance makes you try all the other, cheaper ones, before they will pay for Zyrtec.
My Dr has left the area, so I saw a different one last time and she said that if it didn't help, I would just have to ride it out til the season was over. I think she's full of it. She only gave me a handfull of samples of Allegra, so when I've finished these, if I still have problems, I will try to see someone else and try a different type of medicine. I am better, but I still have sinus problems, and my eyes are bothing me too.
A volunteer tomato plant is one that grows from a tomato or tomato seeds that were just thrown out on the compost heap. I have all kinds of plants growing out there, zucchini, tomatoes etc. I should turn it over more than I do and they wouldn't get started. DH will be tilling it all up soon, so that will take care of that. I think I'll save that one nice tomato plant and bring it in a few days as the nights are getting colder. Our leaves are starting to change, but haven't really gotten into the full beauty of fall yet.
Thanks Anne for telling me what she says about doing BF once a day. I think I've finally got the breathing right now after visiting the ezboard site and reading their posts about it.
Got to go and get some stuff to make beef stew for supper. I'm making 2 kinds, one for DH with potatoes and one for me with cauliflower.

Hi there!

nikki, sorry that the rain may spoil your last camping trip. It looks like we may be in for a round of showers ourselves. Maybe that's what coming our way. Has it cooled off where you live? It's cool here, but seems a little humid. But, I'll take it...I know what's coming in another couple months or so. Sorry that you are still bothered by your allergies and the Allegra hasn't worked. My nose seems to be less stuffy and my breathing went back to normal. I was in a dept. store recently and for the first time in a very long time I was able to go by the perfume counter without holding my breath. I took some Allegra D yesterday and it did not agree with me at all. It seemed to make all my symptoms even worse. So today I just took the regular Allegra. Like you, my Dr. only gave me enough Allegra for a week. A friend of our's suffers year round with allergies. His Dr. prescribed Allegra, and it didn't help him one bit. Hope your symptoms clear up soon. Thank you for explaining what a volunteer tomato plant is. I had never heard of that before.

ANNE, don't you just hate it when you post and it's not there?
Do you get HSN in Canada? I see that Greer will be on sometime this weekend.

Have a great weekend ladies!
Aleka

Happy Friday Everyone

We too are going go get more rain I am hoping my
basement doesn't flood again

Aleka, we don't get HNS, we get a Toronto based shopping
channel here. I wish I could see Greer and Suzanne too!
She used to come our shopping channel but not any more
Funny thing is her husband is a Canadian and she is often over
here

Can you folks believe we have another family birthday this
weekend. This time its my DH. I am going to serve the cake
and not take any and hope no one notices

There are just too many celebrations in my life at this time of
year so I have to cut a few to break even

Nikkic, that beef stew sounds great!!

Talk to you later.
Anne.

We came home early today and may not return until tomorrow. There was a brief period this morning when it was sunny and we walked in the woods for some exercise. It was beautiful.
Aleka, maybe that is a midwest term. Funny how the meanings of words and voice inflection changes so radically from one place to another. Even just a few hundred miles away, people talk differently than here.
Anne, have you thought of trying that new lowcarb frozen yogurt from Walmart, LeCarb I think it is. Just for you for the celebrations. It might be a good way to have something special, but still be legal too.
I made both kinds of stew and I like mine better. I had a little taste of DH's broth and was very pleased with mine. It is much sweeter. I used home made tomato juice for the base of mine, just beef stock for his.
Nikki