Morning chicks I am back after being MIA. I was in a kinda depressed mood and didn't want to rub it off on anyone. Anyway I am back up a pound or two as I have done nothing but eat for a few days. But I am back and on track as of today. Missed ya all. Thanks for all the well wishes on Friday. Finally started TOM yesterday and my mood (witchy) has improved but I am still feeling a wee bit depressed. I am sure I will get over it. Sweet tooth I am still job hunting. But nothing so far. I am sure that is part of the mood. I was hoping that I would just walk into the perfect job. I am sure I will feel much better when the kids go back to school. One more week. YIPIEEEEEEE.
I am going to have Monday's from 8:30 til 2:15 to myself as I won't have any little ones on that day. That will be nice. Can't wait.

Good morning, Chickies~~

Good grief, the weekend just flew past. So did the entire month of August, it seems.

Had another of "those" nights. Woke up around 2:45 with a mild panic attack. I think it was brought on by asthma and coughing. Sat up, took a few sips of water, then laid back down and told myself to just calm down and go back to sleep. It worked after about 20 mins. But at least it DID work.

DH got the first coat of paint on the walls of my retreat/wool room yesterday. I'm thinking I'd like to paint it a color other than white, but not sure yet. Will have to go to the paint store with a carpet swatch and take a peek at what would work.

I think I've figured out what causes my tummy to get all mad at me. Pasta. Every time I cheat and have pasta...even a teeny bit, my tummy rebels. I think the diet gods are trying to tell me something. So, I've declared a moratorium on pasta for me. If I could find spaghetti squash, I'd try that. Anyone else live near Atlanta who can tell me where I might find it?

Little Chick, why are you job hunting? I thought you had your hands more than full with all your "wee ones". At any rate, glad you're back with us and that you're feeling a little better. I know with TOM, I'm usually as cantankerous as a bear with a toothache.

Well, guess I'll go see what's in the fridge for breakfast and lunch. I'll pop back in later.

Whoever I miss, hope your day goes well.

Everyone have a wonderful day on the Beach!

Mamacita

Little Chick, I'm sorry you've been feeling crappy. And glad the depression is starting to lift. Sending you lots of love and hugs, sweetie...
And yes! I can't wait until next week, too! My children are actually looking forward to going back!

Mamacita, panic attacks are so frightening. I think it's great that you were able to calm yourself. The more you "practice" doing that, the easier it'll get. (well, that's what I've heard, anyhow. Personally, I'm with you on the 20 minute thing. )

Jess, definitely saying prayers for your friend with cancer. I hope she has a smooth journey.
And congratulations on your weight loss!

Barb... how is your burn, hon? Did you "slip" with that pizza last night?

Running... on my way to see my psychiatrist, then to the hospice to see Dad.
I'll get back in here later... love you all!

Nice to see you so early, Little Chick. I hope you can shake your mood soon. Just think of those lovely kidless Monday mornings in September!

Mamacita, I should have you here to help me choose paint for my kitchen. The wallpaper has been up since 1994 so it's time for a change.....but I really like it. I've not found any I like better so will go for paint - still can't decide on colour after four months though. I may go with vanilla.

Sunday nights are terrible for sleeping! I slept on the couch from nine until 11 and then let the Girls out for potty and went to my real bed. At 1 AM a big moving truck backed down our road with it's dumb beep-beep going! Somebody down at the lake is moving out and big trucks can't turn down there. At 3 AM, the Girls needed preggy pee breaks. At 5 the barking started while Ralph started up his truck on the other street. I got more sleep during my one hour afternoon nap! (These are the mornings when I am soooo glad to be retired. I can't imagine dragging myself off to work!)

It's wet and rainy again and the Girls are dozing under the kitchen table. Harry is still asleep too but I need to crank him up to get the day started. I have a meeting with Anna shortly after eight to work on a script for the next Mill presentation so had better get cracking.

The coffee pot is on the front porch today because of the rain. Curl up on the wicker with a cup and tell us what gives at your house.

Geez! I missed Ellis. Thinking of you lots these days!

Good morning ladies....not much to report here. Definitely not looking forward to going into work today as I would rather stay in bed and snooze all day. Watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics last night and stayed up a little later than I should have. But how can you not watch them? USA did so well and am pretty proud to be an American. We rocked!

Stayed pretty much op this weekend....well didn't eat 6 time a day, but what I did eat was op...Phase 1 actually. TOM Saturday so I was a crancky as can be. Why do we women get not only cursed with getting it, but the pms that goes with it???? I have a meeting here on tomorrow and company coming for the long weekend so BF andI sepnd the night cleaning the apt. Such a joy! It will be nice having company for the holiday weekend. It's always an opportunity to be a tourist here in DC. Hopefully the weather will hold off for us.

Little chick-I am glad you are feeling better and glad you will get to have sometime to yourself. Best of luck with your job hunting!

Mamacita-Sorry about your panic attack. So glad you are able to calm yourself down and get back to sleep. I am all about color ont he walls....I have cherry pie on wall in my living room and sapphire in my bath. But now that I have color on my wall, I guess trends are going back to whites on the walls...figures!

Ruth-picture hearing those damn beeping trucks every morning starting at 5ish. My bedroom backs up to a county facility and between the busses and the snow plows it'a almost like it's in stereo...BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...URGH! Can't wait to move!

Ellis-Been thinking of you. Your are in my prayers. I'm trying to keep the Phighting Phatties going, but not many people are updating daily. I'm bummed because I loved that thread. It was really helpful to me as I started Phase 1 again. I like the comraderie amonst the other phase 1ers.

Everyone else to come, I hope you all have a wonderul sunny day on the beach! Time for coffee and a shower. TATA....

Mamacita - Sorry to hear about the panic attack. I have asthma too. My Dr keeps warning me that if I don't control it, it can turn into a panic attack. So you may be currect that it started wiht your asthma.

Little Chick - Sorry to hear about the depression and hope it clears.

I have been eating totally poor for the last four days. I start back tonight. I ahve to fisit the grocery store tonight. The only saving grace is that I have kept exersizing. I am gogin to take some time to figure out what caused this major slippage.

Hope everyone is well,

cac

good morning everyone!!
gloomy rainy day here today. we had rain all weekend as a matter of fact with really bad flooding just south of us. i was not so op this weekend TOM makes me do crazy things!! feeling better today and starting AGAIN. this seems to be my normal monday routine these days. i will keep trying until i make it through p1 so hopefully this will be the time!! i also had a terrible night sleep last night. dh went out to work late and i always have a hard time sleeping when he is not at home.

mama sorry about your panic attack that must be a terrible way to wake up. good for you getting calmed enough to salvage the nigts sleep tho.

ruth puppy pee patrol is not my favorite way to spend an evening. hope you get a nap in later.

littlechick glad you are feeling better, i have 2 back in school and the little one starts wednesday i can totally relate to how you are feeling. it is funny in may i can't wait for them to be done but right about now all i can think about is getting back on schedule!! hang in there hopefully the week will fly by!!

ellis so nice to see you back. hope all is going ok. still sending your family good thoughts and prayers.

shequila congrats on the OP weekend!!!

to everyone else yet to post have a good one!!

This day is not starting out well. Terry just called on his way to work. A semi wouldn't let him merge onto the highway and hit him, then sped up and hit him again. He was in his show car. He's not hurt, but he's really angry, and his car is all screwed up. The semi-driver says he "didn't see him" and is trying to pin the blame on Terry. You HAVE to slow down and let people merge from the on ramp onto the highway, don't you? He would have been run off the road, otherwise. Ooh I'm starting to get mad.

And I hope Terry doesn't get a ticket because if he does, he's in big trouble. He's had too many this year already (I've talked to him about it, but he doesn't listen to me.)

Sigh. Well back on Ph1 today. Better go make some eggs and try to get ready for work. Have a good day.

Morning, gals! It is a bright, beautiful hot day. Quite normal for August. After the rain this weekend, we broke our all time record for the wettest summer.

Ellis - I had 6 burn blisters. The only one that still really bothers me is the one where the blister tore open. It is right in the middle of my middle finger so it gets flexed quite a bit. It will be fine though.

Yes, I have to admit that I ate two very thin slices of cheese pizza at the birthday party. We were there from 10:30 to 2:30 so I was really hungry. But I drank water and stayed away from the popcorn and cake. My weight is down this morning so I am not worrying. However tonight is a Cub scout pizza party. I plan to eat some veggies and drink a glass of Metamucil before we go and then I plan to eat one slice. I didn't have any cravings from the pizza yesterday so I think I will be fine but I don't want to make a habit of eating off plan. If South Beach is to be a way of life then there will be times where I will have to eat pizza but I want it to be eaten in a controlled manner where it doesn't lead to eating other bad foods. And thanks to South Beach, I am able to choose the healthiest foods.

Weezle - I am so glad to hear that Terry is not hurt. The car can be repaired. I'll cross my fingers that he didn't get a ticket!

Good Morning!

I'm so proud of myself, I stayed OP all weekend! I did do a lot of "extra" snacking, but I limited it veggies and some cheese and nuts (counted out, of course). I was sure I was going to cave in and cheat, but I stayed strong! Thanks to all of you here for keeping me motivated!

Not much happening with me today, just work, work, work. I have to take my cat to the vet this afternoon to get her stitches out. She's had them 2 weeks (a malignant lump had to be removed) and has been very good about not tearing at them or playing with the dangling threads, I'm sure she'll be glad once they're gone, though. Now it'll just be waiting for all her hair to come back in!

Only 1 more week of Phase One!!!! I'm SO looking forward to cereal for breakfast. I tried the Mock French Toast this weekend (from the Recipes board) and it was awesome, but it didn't fully satisfy my desire for carbs... I also tried those Roasted Chickpeas from the SBD book, I over-cooked them a bit, but they were still good. My BF liked them so much he ate the whole bag...

Good Morning all.
Well we are off and running got the girls to their schools. and managed 2 errands in between. I have to go to the dentist to day so I hope she does not find anything. I really hate the dentist. Something about the grinding on my teeth send me through the roof!
Our date night was great! We went to a place called Chamberlins Fishmarket and Chop house. I was Op ECEPT for Wine. But hey we had to celebrate selling our other house
Well have to go to schhol and let the dogs out.

Little chick- Cheer up!! ::
Mama- Nothing like a little paint to give a room a new look and fell. Have fun picking a color!
Ruth Sorry about the rain but curling up with a cup sounds heavenly!
Shelia- I fell for you on TOM But have a great LOng weekend
Jodi You can do it!! Just get lots of veggies to snack on and cheese thats what helped me.
Wez sorry about Terry and the car. But thank God he is ok. I hate semis they think they own the road and are just big bullies
Barb I had my pizza fiz Friday night :: Didn't you just love the weather this AM
Hope everyone has a faboulous OP Day:Bravo: You gals ar wonderful!!

LC, I am so glad you are back! :grouhug: Please don't feel that you need to keep your moods from us...we sure don't keep our moods to ourselves! Seriously, you are always welcome, bad mood or not, okay? : Glad you'll have Mondays to yourself for a while...that will be great! Hope you can do some job hunting then. And you know, you could walk into any job and do it very well...but hopefully you'll be selective and wait for the right job for you so you are happy!

Mamacita, that's a shame about the pasta! But it's good that you figured out what's making you sick! Sorry about the panic attack...what a horrible way to wake up! Could the paint fumes be aggravating your asthma?

Ellis, I'm so glad you are continuing to see your psychi...that is awesome!!! You know my prayers continue to be with you and your dad. I'm taking DH with me to my therapy session tonight...keep your fingers that it goes well!

Wow, Ruth, what a night! Hope you get a good nap in today! I say, go with blue! I love a nice, blue kitchen! After watching countless hours of trading spaces, I'm a confirmed color-a-holic for paint...love bright, vibrant colors! I also love sage green. So restful, especially combined with white trim or honey oak wood trim. Yum! Ruth, do you really have a porch with wicker? How wonderful!!!

Sheila, good going on staying OP! Enjoy your visitors!

cac, good for you for getting back on track. I know that can be very hard, but we're here on the wagon, lifting down hands to help you back up! Spending time figuring out what caused it can be a very good thing. I find that OA really helps me understand why I treat food like a drug. Check out www.oa.org for more if you are interested.

Jodi, I know you can make it through Phase 1!!! YGG!

Me:

Well, I have the baby quilt almost finished. Just two sides of binding to hand sew on the front side and voila! I'm really pleased with how well it turned out, and now anticipating showing it to my family before I wrap it up and give it to my girlfriend. It'll be so good to see them all (in October).

Just bought our tickets to CA for Christmas. We (DH and I) have racked up a ton of frequent flyer miles. Two years ago, I bought a first class seat with my miles to CA because the regular seats were so tight and I couldn't fit in them. I loved being in first class, though! Personally, I think miles should be used to upgrade to first class, but DH thinks they should be used for free trips. I suppose each has its benefits. Anyways, went to buy these tickets with our miles and found that none of the area airports have any free flights in coach for our miles. However, there are seats using our miles in First Class. Last time, I did it alone, and DH flew in coach (it was funny when he would walk by and wave ), this time, we'll be together. And it's free! Very cool!

Had a pretty good weekend. A bit weepy at some points because there is just so much going on, but overall, good. Got to talk to a couple of friends on the phone, which is always good, and hung out with one friend at Barnes & Nobles...which is as much fun, if not more, than a candy store, IMHO.

Did the last day of my second week of personal trainer-guided exercises. Whew!!! Some of them are sooo hard, but I love how I can feel my muscles working. Wow!

The trees are starting to change color, the forsythia is blooming again, and the weather has been hot, humid and miserable for three days. I feel like I'm in an alternate universe! We finally got some rain yesterday night, just for a minute or two, but that seemed to cool things down a little bit.

Not much else going on...seems like all of us are on TOM together! I'm not suffering too much this month, but the IBS is worse, and my weight is dismal. We'll see what happens when it's over. Keep your please! :

Have a great afternoon, ladies, and take gentle care of yourselves!

Good morning, ladies. It is rainy and gloomy here yet another day. It cleared up long enough yesterday for the football game. I was given 3 tickets, so sent DH, DS, and then was expected to go myself. Fortunately, DS's girlfriend mentioned that she really enjoys football games, so that got me out of that one yesterday....blessed afternoon all by myself.

The puppy and I watched a movie (she loves movies where there are dogs - Turner and Hooch is her favorite), did a bit of laundry (nothing too exhaustive, just enough to look like I had been working all afternoon ), and had a nap. It was a great way to spend the afternoon, but then the reality kicked in - Monday morning.

Oh well, I am here, I've stamped out a bunch of fires already (and its only 8:30), AND I forgot my workout clothes at home, so can't work out at noon. Drat.

LC - Good to hear that you are feeling a bit better these days. I, too, have gained a couple of pounds. It's back to Ph 1 for me today. I just need to get over the next small hump. It seems like I am stalling and I can't figure out why. I guess I just need to be patient and consistent. Hope your week goes well.

Mamacita - There is not much worse than a panic attack in the middle of the night. When I was at my highest weight, I would wake up with what I thought was a panic attack. It would take a long time to calm down, then I would seem to be OK again. After a few of those attacks, the discovered that my weight was causing sleep apnea.

ellis - Glad to hear that your life is getting back into a semblance of order. It is still busy with the extra hospice visits...hope everything goes well for your dad.

Ruth - Busy, busy lady. And on preggie dog duty besides. Hope the writing for the next Mill presentation goes well...don't leave to the last minutes. Just waaay toooo much stress for you.

Sheila - Congrats on staying OP. You can do this. I stayed fairly well OP on the weekend, also...had 1 serving of starch each day, but it was WW both servings. This tends to stall my weight, so I was expecting to be at a standstill with weight loss this morning...sure enough, that's what happened. This week will be my Ph1 week, so it will be back to the discipline to see if I can get the weight loss moving again. Have fun being the tour guide this weekend. I have never been to DC and would love to see the area...now I know someone to be a tour guide.

cac - Today is a new day...you have the right attitude. Don't spend too much time dwelling on what has happened with your eating, just move forward back OP. Of course, there is some merit is some reflection time to make sure that you don't fall into the same trap later, but just make sure that you don't beat yourself up over the slippage. You will get the weight off, just look forward to the new day of OP eating. Take care.

jodi - Weekends are my weakest time with eating OP. I find that, because I am near the fridge and everyone else is eating snacks, etc. I have trouble resisting the temptation. You can do this though and I know you can get through ph 1. Keep on trying.

Weezle - Oh no! Hope Terry gets through this OK. Where I live the motor vehicle laws regarding merging are intersection specific, so some are merge lanes, some are yield to oncoming traffic. Sending good vibes that he does not get a ticket. Let us know.

Barb - I love your attitude. I feel the same way. I know that there will be times that I will not be able to avoid off program foods. I just want to be able to plan, in advance, how I will handle the situation. If the plan is to indulge, then I want to follow the plan and not feel guilt afterwards. You are doing the right thing to know when and how much you are willing to compromise...and to know that it can be some, but not much. Way to go, girl.

am dove - Congrats on staying OP. You can do one more week, I know. Once you get onto the program, it doesn't seem to be so hard. I have not tried the mock French toast yet...I tried the pancake and did not like it, so I decided not to try the French toast. It might be worth taking another look at, though. Thanks for the recommendation. Have a great OP week. Give kitty a hug for me. We used to have a cat, but had to put him down when he was 27. I am sure that he lived extra long because we had young dogs in the house that rough housed with him and kept him acting young. When the last dog moved away, he was the only one left and went downhill really quickly.

skherb - Glad that you had a great time on the date. We haven't been out on a date, date for such a long time. We have been given gift certificates to several restaurants, but haven't taken advantage of them...DH doesn't want to take me anywhere that will tempt me to go off program. He is such a sweetie.

One of our DS's got a promotion at work a couple of weeks ago and is working the day shift instead of midnights. He and DH have decided that they will share making lunches for themselves, so that they don't have to make lunch every day. DS is 5'4" and weighs 120 lbs., DH is 5'9" and weighs about 149 lbs, so the picture is that they are both very thin. On Friday DH took his lunch to work, but got hungry mid morning, so ate his sandwich at his desk in the morning...that was after coffee break and the 3 donuts that the lady at the coffee shop gives him every day. When lunch time came, he went to the staff room to eat, but only had desserts left. Out came 3 desserts and a banana (DS made the lunch), along with a can of coke. The staff went wild...they are all watching their weight and they think that DH only eats desserts. He has been working there for 1 1/2 years now and they cannot figure out how he stays skinny because they know that he does not go to the gym...oh to have one of those metabolisms. I can only wish.

Tonight will be cleaning night and finish the laundry. I am still of the opinion that both of those chores are men's work, but it doesn't always work out that way.

Hope everyone has a great day. Stay OP, I know you can all do that.

Hey Laurie, we must have posted at the same time. Takes me so long to type messages...

Good to hear that you were able to get First Class seats to CA. I love flying first class. When hubby was travelling internationally, we would use our frequent flyer miles to upgrade. It was much more comfortable than flying coach, especially on long haul flights overseas. WTG. Good luck on the weight loss. You will be down, I'm sure. Keep going.