Morning ladies. I've been lurking more than posting lately, but today I thought I would share some sentiments of late.

It seems like at work lately everyone has been refering to me as the "smallest one here" which seems rather surreal since that term has never felt like it really fit me!! I have to admit that even though I'm not at goal, I'm feeling great and love eating the SB way. Over this past weekend I really realized how much a positive mindset can play in your long-term success. If someone were to ask me how I lost weight, one thing I would have to tell them is that once my mind was made up, something just clicked. Now I prefer to have a salad and don't want greasy french fries. I want more veggies and better choices.

I started my wieght loss journey almost one year ago. It was on May 5, 2004. I remember it well. For those of you just starting out on your new healthy endeavor, embrace it. Now, in hindsight, I feel like once my mind was made up, I didn't feel deprived or missing anything, but blessed. I wish everyone could "wake up" and smell the food. I watch my colleagues wait for their fast food lunches to arrive every day and wish I could shake some sense into them, but it doesn't work that way. YOU have to want it for YOUR self.

Last week we had an office luncheon at an Italian restaurant, and when someone noticed that Diana (the other SB'er) and I were comparing notes on what to order, she commented "oh look the two skinniest women are on a diet, I guess thats how they stay that way." Well, I didn't feel insulted or deprived, but happy and healthy in they choices I've made for my health.

Most of my collegues are overweight, some more than others. One lady, Diana (mentioned earlier) who wasn't really overweight but had noticed her weight creeping up with age, now follows SoBe Diet with her husband. She has shed some unwated pounds, and her hubby has too. He now tucks his shirt in proudly and carefully considers his food options, as to whether it is "allowed" or not. However, he is a "guy" and mostly relies on wifey to tell him the proper foods for SBD, instead of reading the book for himself. All in all, they are happy with the plan and it works for their family.

Yesterday as I was eating my lunch of salad with WASA crispbread crackers and Laughing Cow light cheese, Diana said "oh, you're having cardboard for lunch". It was really funny because I like WASA crackers, and she knew it was part of the healthy eating plan. I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

As Diana was eating her lunch, I noticed that her hard boiled egg slices were purple so I asked how that came to be. She said it was a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe and gave me one to try. (It was yummy) It had a slightly sweet taste. If you like pickled beets, then you'll probably like eggs like this. You reserve the liquid when the beets are finished and put the peeled boiled eggs in the liquid overnight and you have colored hard boiled eggs. It was very tasty.

The other women I work with don't seem to care about the nutrient quality of their meals. They all eat fast food for lunch daily, and sometimes breakfast too. Not me, and I'm not missing a thing.

Wow! Good post to read early in the morning! Thanks for sharing.

I definitely need my coffee and Advil this morning so will be back later.

Good morning all!
Looks like it's gonna be another beautiful day here in MD. Well, yesterday it stormed late in the afternoon but other than that we've had some nice weather.

~a broad abroad~Reading your post this morning is very inspirational! I agree with you, it feels good to make healthy eating choices! As a matter of fact when I went away this past weekend and cheated I got very sick. I'm not sure if it had to do with not being used to eating junk anymore or what but I was miserable! I didn't know if I had food poisioning or what.

Ruth~ Yesterday when we were talking about gardening you asked me where I live....I live in Maryland. The lower eastern shore to be exact. (small town called Crisfield) Oh, today I'm going to be much more consciencious (whoa, that's a big word for me!!!lol!!) of my water intake! What's the recommended amount? I've been using a 24 oz dasani sports bottle.

Tonight I have a cpr/first aide recertification to go to. Mine expires in a couple of days and we must be current. The bad thing is both boys have ball games tonight....at the same time!!! Plus, I need someone to watch dd so I can go to this class! OY! My mother in law doesn't work today so she's gonna help and my dh is just gonna have to come home a little early from work!

Last night my oldest son Austin went to his first guitar lesson. He picks up fast. He did the beginning to the song "Smoke on the Water". He's learned the beginning to the theme song of the James Bond movie as well. I'm so proud of him! Aaron (my youngest son) is just all over himself because he's a "big boy" playing baseball like his brother! And Saralyn, well.....she's my little devil child! LOL! My angel with horns as I call her!! She's into everything these days! Is there a such thing as "terrible ones"? And she's constantly falling, getting hurt. I swear if she thought she could, she'd be scaling the walls! She loves to climb! Well ladies I'm off to start laundry and straighten up before the "little ones" arrive. Have a Grrrreat day!!! Tara~

A broad, that was a magnificent post. Thank you so much for sharing that with us... your attitude is to be admired.

Ruth... sore knees, hon? The wet weather doesn't help, either.

Tara, you sound like such a good mom. It's lovely to hear people talking about their children with love and pride.

I'm on "mother duty" today, so I'm rushing off. Mom is taking her car in for a checkup, so I'll take her back home. And we're going to Mom and Dad's old house to dig up some plants from the garden. I haven't been to the house since the fall... shortly after Dad died. I think this may be a tear-jerker day.

Have a good one, girls...

Whew! That's better! Yes, Ellis, rainy weather does bother the damned knee more. I AM old, ya know!

A Broad, I'm still thinking about your post. Yes, I am now much more conscious of what goes into my body and into my grocery cart. I was behind a woman in line the other day and had to slap myself to keep from feeling superior as she had chips, cake, frozen dinner and other crappy stuff in her cart. She was older than me and should have known better - yes, she was overweight.

Tara, I envy you your early garden season. I have a garden website friend in Maryland and drool when she tells me about her planting. You sound very busy with your family. Good for you to keep your first aid certification current. Mine isn't.

Ellis, today will be a tear jerker for sure. (((Ellis))) I had a hard time saying goodbye to my parents' garden at the cottage and it was very minimal. Isn't it great that you can get some of those plants? If you are short of space, I have room to "board" them.

Well, all is well here this morning. Harry finally found his wallet, his belt and his missing pair of jeans. He's been going on and on about them for a couple of weeks. He had them hung on the back of the door. He says "I guess I'm not as insane as I thought I was"! Some days he is on a rather wobbly branch of his tree but today he's on a solid one. Some days he's right out of the tree!

Jane comes at noon and I am off to town. I still have not decided what to serve that picky RL friend when she comes tomorrow so will hit the big food store. I refuse to buy Bridge Mix though! Ellis is pretty polite IRL so I can give her anything. The Girls have been warned to be on their best behaviour.

Hey! The sun is out. I think I'll go outside for a bit, get the paper and then have a long tub and get ready for town.

Have a gorgeous day!

Good Morning everyone. I'm sipping some coffee & I made the DBF's lunch. I work late tonight - ugh! But I have tomorrow off - what will I do with myself!?
Ellis - Big hugs to you - you're in my thoughts
Broad - great post, thanks for sharing!!
Ruth - sorry about the knee, but I know you...you'll be running & busy soon!!
Tar - busy, busy, have fun in cpr class!
I'll peck in later....

Morning Chicks!

Ok the next time I want to wear my sexy sandals in the snow REMIND ME THAT LAST TIME I GOT THE FLU!!!!!! I've been down in bed for the past two days with the fever/chills/sore throat/swollen glands/throwy uppy crud! I was priding myself on not being sick this year with all my green tea and stuff but I got struck down in April!! Oh well. It would have been good for the diet but I broke down and ate a PBJ and muffin during day two of the flu.

I can't chat for long because I haven't been to work for two days. So I'll try and catch up later.

Aw crap, Amy! Feel better soon!

Morning! I feel so refreshed from having yesterday off. Brian lost another tooth yesterday so now he is missing both top front teeth. He looks so cute!

Anchor - Sorry you've been sick. PBJ doesn't have to be off plan. Just get some SF jelly, natural PB and whole wheat bread and you will be all ready for next time. Take it easy and give yourself time to recover.

soon2B - Enjoy having tomorrow off. I really relished the chance to spend extra time at the gym (even if I am a little bit sore today).

Ruth - I love to go to stores I don't normally get to. I checked out a different Tom Thumb grocery store yesterday and found out that this one sells the Hodgson' Mills Whole Wheat penne. My son LOVES penne and was afraid I was going to have to order some. I grabbed every box they had on the shelf. They also had nice meats like veal scallopine, fresh crab and lamb that my Tom Thumb doesn't stock. I guess my neighborhood just isn't upscale enough

Ellis - I agree with you on Mom's. They are so special and I really love to see ones that truly appreciate their children.

Tara - How long is your first aid recertification class? I took one last fall and it was most of a Saturday. But it was infant, child and adult CPR along with first aid. It seems like I am always taking training for cub scouts but it is a lot of fun. Guitar lessons sound nice. Brian seems to lean toward drums and they would be so noisy. Right now he only takes gymnastics lessons once a week so that is manageable.

Abroad - What a great attitude to have about food! My whole family eats healthier than they used to. It becomes almost unconscious after awhile.

Abroad, what a great post to read!!! Thank you...that's exactly how I feel. I know that eating this way feels much better than eating those "treats" ever tasted. Funny about the WASA...I love it too, but it does have a resemblance to cardboard. Have you ever had the Norweigan flatbread? That's great too, but even more cardboard-like! Pickled eggs are very common here, but there are lots of Pennsylvanians in my area. they are a part of the salad bar at my local grocery store! I'm thrilled that you love SBD as much as I do.

Tara, sounds like a lovely place to live! You want to get at least 64 oz a day. The articles that were posted lately said that you should add some more to that for being overweight...check them out to get the equation. Your kiddos sound fantastic! Congrats to your musical one...I always wanted to learn to play the guitar!

Ah, Ellis, I'll be holding you in prayer today. I know it'll be hard going back. Have your sister and her DP been working on the house or was that put off because of the baby? I hope your mom is kind to you today.

Ruth, you are NOT old, even if your knees feel that way. My grandmother, who is 93, might be old, but you are definitely not. Hope that the advil kicks in and you can have a pain-free day! about the grocery line...I thought I was the only one who had to work to keep from feeling that way! I used to envy those with shopping carts filled with green things. Then, when I was trying to be healthy, I'd envy those filled with junk. Now, I envy my own cart filled with yummy, healthy things. And I try not to feel superior...and to keep from asking people, "What are you thinking? Here, let me help you... " I'm a terror, I tell you! Thankfully, I'm able to keep it to myself. The hardest thing is seeing the very poor ones in my local grocery who are using food stamps to buy food that they think is good for their family, like juice, fruit roll ups, and pretzels but that increases blood sugar and just makes them more hungry...that kind of food is cheap and the food that makes them full and healthy isn't. I wish I knew how to fix that problem. Hey, for that picky friend, I hear Doritos are a big hit. I'm sure anything you make will be fantastic. Of course, we are expecting pictures...you hear?

Soon, I hope you have a fast, easy night and a wonderful day off tomorrow...what about a trip to the gym, a wonderful, healthy lunch, and some time outside in the sunshine?

Ah, Amy, I hope you feel better very soon! Sounds like something I would do...I wore sandals in 34 degree weather on Monday because I refuse to go back to wearing socks until Fall. Oy! No more off plan food, okay? You know it won't make you feel better! Try cans of lentil soup and fresh veggies until you can get out of bed and make better food for yourself.

Barb, what a great way to spend a day off! I love having free time at the gym...can easily spend 2 or 3 hours there, especially if there is a pool and sauna like at my last two gyms...

Me:
Well, I indulged in another piece of sourdough bread last night, and that was the last of that! I now know that needs to go in the freezer as soon as I get home from the store. It's just too big a trigger for me.

When I had a sore throat/bronchitis a couple weeks ago, I started eating SF hard candies all day long. I had some SF cough drops, but with the menthol, you couldn't eat that many of them, and if I wasn't sucking on something, I was coughing non-stop. I found that they didn't make me sick no matter how many I ate. My twisted mind combined that knowledge with knowing that Dr. A limited sweet treats to 75 cals to keep us from getting sick and decided I didn't need to limit my sweet treats. I have a sneaky feeling that kind of action has definitely affected my weight. I'm up to 215.5 again today, even after an intense workout last night. So this morning, I decided to cut out my hard candies to one a day like before, and reduce my sweet treats back to the 75 from before. So far, so good. I had tea this morning and no hard candies yet.

We had a little spit of rain this morning, but the skies are blue out there with lots of white puffy clouds, so I have hopes for a nice afternoon. Hope so, since I'm wearing capris and sandals!

Have a great day, chickies!

I'm back....well I'm on day 3 of phase I - still being "good." I haven't lost anything yet - the weight isn't melting off like it did the first time I did Phase I. It is however the week before TOM, & I usually gain a few pounds before & I haven't gain either, so that's good news. I'm going to go work out for an hour & watch The View - makes the time go faster! Have a great day everyone!!!

Good Morning Chickies,

I hope you are all having a fantastic day! The Grant Training workshops I taught this week went very well. I am working from home tomorrow and looking forward to that. I am so tired!

While travelling I stayed completely OP, so that is great! I really miss being able to come on here regularly, maybe soon I will slow down. Until then, I am lurking and I am trying to keep up...so hugs to all!

Sunny

Good morning everyone!

Day 4 and I am still sticking to it. A broad abroad -- thank you for starting this off by reminding us all how good life can be if you stick to healthy eating. For me, two meals out in restaurants today, fortunately one is japanese and I can do pretty well there. Don't know where tonight will be yet.

Ellis - My thoughts are with you today. As a long time lurker here, I have read a lot of your history with your dad's illness and passing and I know that this will be emotional.

Have a good day, chicks! Off to work.

Have to make this quick,its not the computer today,that was yesterdays diaster. That was caused by the heavy winds we had. But I was told That I'm having another meeting on Sat for my complex,so I got to get started on my housework(dusting & vacumning) Yikes !! I hate that stuff. Have a nice day ladies Hugs BB