Good morning, Maintainers! And an extra-special good morning to any and all lapsers, relapsers and collapsers! I don't have time to post now but will try to get back later today - gotta go do cardio and then I have an early morning client.

Let's make this a great week.

Good morning again, o quiet ones!

Our recent thread about food variety and staples got me thinking that my list of staples has shrunk to just about three (through laziness, not conscious decision) and it's time to add back some of my favorites. So yesterday I hit the grocery store and today's going to be a cooking day. Here's what I'm making for the freezer:

• chili (with 95% lean ground beef)
• chicken chili
• marinara sauce
• brown rice
• spaghetti squash
• green beans
• grilled chicken
• burgers (95% lean)
• steak
• salmon

Plus I got a lovely honeydew melon to cut up. I roasted a turkey this weekend and have sweet potatoes cooked already and tons of salad stuff, so I should be set for a while. It's SO much easier to stick to my eating plan when it's all prepared and ready to go when I'm hungry. No more coming home from the gym at 9:00 PM and standing in front of the frig asking myself what I should eat - that is a recipe for disaster!!

Leg day for me today and three clients, so not too bad.

How's your dad doing, Ilene? And how are YOU doing with all the driving every day? How long will his treatments last?

to all ...

HI and good morning. I want to thank Meg for inviting me here. I have lost 60 pounds since Oct '03, and have decided to consider my lifestyle changed and move to join you maintainers. My head got too wrapped around pounds and inches and numbers and somehow my self-worth got wrapped into that, too. I need to remember I didn't start this to lose weight, but to get my health in order, which I have done. I am no longer morbidly obese, hypertensive, depressed or a type 2 diabetic. So, no more. I know I am not where I evenutally want to be, but I am so far from where I was and need to get used to this and enjoy it. The gym and my workouts used to be fun until a few weeks ago. I need for them to be fun again. They are so much a part of my life, and yesterday they started being fun again. What a relief. Thanks for having me here. I look forward to getting to know you.

Welcome Ellen! I am fairly new to this group also and find it very helpful. Being on Maintenance is totally different (and yet so much the same) then losing because you don't get that steady reward on the scale each week. Plus it seems the world is out to corrupt you since you no longer appear to need to lose weight. This is a great group because we are all struggling with the same type of issues - trying to stay on track for a life time! I think you will find everyone very supportive.

Meg - I agree that being prepared is half the battle. This morning I made a double batch of veggy soup and divided it into 1 1/2 cup containers. I'll freeze half and have the other half on hand for when my brain is telling me I am starving. I just think if you are starving eat some soup. If I think I don't want soup then I must not be as hungry as I think. (Does anyone else have arguments with themselves this way?! It is almost like those old commercials where there is a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, debating the issues!! Maybe I have just lost my mind!) I also took a bunch of blueberries and divided them up into 1 cup servings (those little snack-size plastic bags are just right. Then I put all the little bags into a large freezer bag). I also divided my plain fat free yogurt into 1 cup servings. I find if I don't pre-measure in mass, I get lazy and just start quessing the amount (and usually gain weight). Yesterday I baked a bunch of chicken breast with different seasonings. Then I can thaw them out and slice on salads and such. It saves heating the oven often and cleaning the mess, along with giving me a ready made good choice. Yesterday I also made low fat banana muffins. I make the mini-sized ones so that they are only 1 point (Weight Watchers). I freeze them in small quanities and can pull them out as needed (otherwise I convince myself I need to eat them up before they go bad, which isn't good) I aslo chop peppers, carrots, broccoli, etc... in mass for salads or use ready made sizes like baby carrots or cherry tomatoes. I eat alot of similar foods but I do love to cook so I usually have at least one new recipe to try each week. Mostly I try to cook things that can be re-evented into something new, so we don't have too many left overs hanging around.

Anne - We do have a pool in town. I should try to do some swimming. The last time I tried, my knee was in pretty bad shape and it still hurt to do that. My knee is much better now so I should be okay. I really do love to swim.

I just scheduled several camping trips through out the summer last night. The children oh so love to camp! Luckily last year I figured out ways to lighten up all our usual camping food. So I should be able to stay on track. My only real problem is S'Mores, which are the real reason I camp! I do do reduced fat graham crackers but that chocolate is a killer! I have tried the fudge striped cookies which are a little better point wise but not quite the same. Anyone have a good alternative?

Sue

When you figure out calorie free s'mores please let me know!

Count me amont the bulk cookers My usual Sunday includes roasting or bbqing half a dozen chicken breasts, making a big pot of turkey chili (it's good cold over salad in the summer), a batch of protein muffins to be frozen individually, a broiled salmon filet (portioned and frozen) and lots of vegie chopping. I think I'm going to start separating eggs into 4 egg white containers and keep maybe 3 days worth on hand. Now that school is out, I'm taking earlier clients and my mornings are a bit rushed.

Welcome to Maintainers, Ellen

Mel

Hi,

Ellen - welcome, Meg - thatnks for starting with portions idea in the freezer, Momma - noce to read about your camping. We still camp in tent and sometimes I wish we had camper. I am happy not to know what S'more is - as long as I do not know what it is I do not crave it...

I am going thru hard start of the week. We had huge party on saturday (about 50 people including kids) and of course there was enough to tempt me. I froze tons of leftovers (thanks God it is wild rice and chicken - skinless drumsticks - not ideal but OK on my scale)...

Sunday was hard too - my son had recital and it also included some put luck snacks - of course kids took a lot and left on the plate and it took all my will to throw it away (after finishing brownies though). We ended Sunday with wine party at my friends - celebrating hubby's lost job - 4 of us finished 3 bottles of wine with salty peanuts - I still feel dizzy after it...

Monday was back to work but I am so tired after weekend - I felt asleep yesterday on the counch in the living room . At least today I biked to work and also scheduled my swim (I did 800m last Thursday and I hope to get up to 1000m today - steady progress even though I am very slow but I am not afraid to drown anymore ) Also, my team at work has tennis night and even though I am not a good tennis player I still think to participate and than bike back home...

So my goals for this week is to keep my food on track... I started with declining restaurant after tennis thinking that I will be just eating everything in sight and that it not what I want. So "back to basics" week for me - and my freezer is ready!

Has some stocking up bug hit us all at once? I spent a wad at the grocery store this weekend, but at least I feel like I have good food in the house again. We grill several nights a week all summer, and I usually have an extra chicken breast or two on there (why waste the propane?). Between us DH and I only eat one at a meal so there's plenty of room. I'm anxiously waiting for my zucchini to grow - I love them grilled. We also have rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries in our yard, so summer is my favorite time! If only we had blueberries and sweet corn - I'd be in heaven. I've put chili - or just beans - on my salads for a long time, but I always heat them up and then use ff sour cream and salsa for a dressing. The warm beans help to spread the dressing around. Now I'm getting hungry. . .

Hi:
Preparing food in advance is a great tool.
I always make double batches of turkey burgers on the grill and then microwave them.
Enjoy the first day of summer, remember back in the winter how we couldn't wait for today!!!

You can count me in as a bulk food preparer. I don't know how to cook any other way, I had 9 brothers and sisters growing up and then married a man with 4 sons and added 2 daughters to the mix. Now that I'm down to cooking for 2 I don't know how to cook but I've learned to freeze left overs to save myself a bunch of work later.

TTFN,

I guess I am somewhere in the middle of the bulk story. I buy produce at Costco and peel, cut, chop and place in bags as soon as I get home. I also buy either the six-pack of romaine hearts or the mesculen in the plastic tub each week. Then salads can be done in seconds and when those "hand-to-mouth munchies" hit I indulge in cucumbers and peppers. Veggies for dinner are prepped and ready for microwave or saute pan (broccoli, string beans, snap peas). I keep quick lean protein handy - garden burgers, cook up a batch of tofu and keep in the fridge in 2 oz slices, tuna in the pouches, large variety of canned beans, bags of fake crab ... Oh, and my life saver - frozen organic brown rice from Whole Foods as wel as barley and whole wheat pasta for a quick grain.

On the other hand, when I cook dinner I cook for that meal plus 1 for DH to take to work. I am not big on huge quantities of leftovers, and, living in an apt with a small fridge and freezer, do not have a lot of room for leftovers. What I do have in my freezer is bags from Costco of cod, roughy, tilapia and shrimp. We eat these most nights - pick out what we want for tomorrow while cleaning up the kitchen from tonight. Once a week I will pick up organic chicken breasts or something from the fishmonger at Whole Foods (usually for the weekend). I have had to get a lot more creative with dinners that taste good at room temp, as we take our own to the stadium when my National's are in town (YAY - baseball is back in DC).

It is not the cooking that is time consuming, it is the preparation and shopping and planning.

Preping ahead of time is such a lifesaver for me... The kids hate it though they really dislike having the same food 3 nights in a row ... DH doesn't care he's just happy he doesn't have to make it himself ...

Sandy -- 4 people and 3 bottles of wine, sounds like a great time with peanuts too ...

I've been back to basics this week too and it feels good...

Meg -- Thanks for asking about my dad... Dad is a strong ole guy and you'd never be able to tell he was sick by just looking at him... he's doing quite well so far ... We've been told my several people that the side effects start around week 3 and 4 ... So we'll see when the time comes... So now he's got 7 treatments under his belt (pardon the pun ) with 30 more to go .... As for me, I am taking care of myself 'cause I'm a strong ole gal ....

Hi all, I too prepare large batches of good food so something is ready when hunger hits. I also freeze in individual portions so avoiding the worst case scenario is just a microwave away. I also like to prepare veggies early in the day so they are ready and I am more likely to eat them. I shop at costco and have many bags of stuff in the freezer too. I really like having lots of good healthy food in the house. It gives me a feeling of abundance and non-deprivation, but does not drive me to eat more. Without this sort of advance food preparation, I would go astray almost every meal and just grab anything to fill me up.

Our weather here in so calif. has been absolutely gorgeous so I have spent lots of time outside gardening.

Jan

Oh the longest day of the year and a full moon tonight, what fun!

Sandy - how can you camp and not know what a S'More is? I won't tell you because they are definately not maintenance friendly!

Pat - What exactly is the growing season in Alaska? We seem so late in Michigan, it seems yours would be even later but maybe because your days are so long you catch up. I actually have two neices in Alaska right now on a school trip. I wanted to go last year but my DH would have no part of it.

Ellen - Is your frozen brown rice pre-cooked and if so do you buy it that way or do you cook it and freeze it? I have such a hard time getting brown rice to come out correctly. It is either still crunchy or too mushy. I'd love to find some pre-cooked frozen rice. Of course we probably don't have a Whole Food store but maybe we have something similar.

Ilene - Glad to hear that your father is holding up and so are you. That can be so draining just the driving and waiting not to mention the worrying. Hang in there and I will keep my fingers crossed that things continue to go well.

Hello to everyone else. Enjoy this beautiful day! I'm going golfing or to the beach. Maybe both! MAN I LOVE SUMMER!

Tonight is my weigh in. I have been trying to really be good this week but my scales at home haven't seemed to budge. Hopefully I'll get at least a little reward at the Weight Watchers scale.

Sue

I have not been in the "Maintenance Mindset" for several weeks now. It hasn't shown too badly on the scale, but I need to refocus my efforts.

The short term goal of looking good for son's upcoming Bar Mitzvah doesn't seem to be inspiring me.

I have run into trouble with salty snacks/salty food (cashews, feta cheese, etc.) Salty is always my choice, even over chocolate. I made a goal for this week of skipping salty snacks onc ertain days (I wrote down which days those would be).

I also bought lots of fresh fruit so that would be easily available.

I have continued to work out but could bump it up several notches.

Anything else I should try, oh voices of experience?

Thanks!

Hi,

I just have to post how my perfectly planned exercise day was influenced by weather and curcumstances. I was planning to bike to work, go for swim during lunch hour, play tennis with our boss after work - when he comes to visit us from where he lives in US we usually do something healthy like play some game, etc. - this time was tennis, and skip dinner in a restaurant and bike home. Perfect day and no temptations...

What happened was that the coworker which goes swimming with me bailed out and of course due to the fact that I bike to work I was not able to get to swimming pool due to absence of a car (and pool is on top of the hill)... SO I though - never mind, biking 32km/day and tennis will do it... Guess what - by the time we went to the courts it was pouring rain and so we all... went to the restaurant (and I could not skip it as I took a ride in the car to the courts and of course walking back to work to get my bike was out of the question...) So off it all went, at least I took small portion and when coworker dropped me off at work to get my bike and offered to just give me ride home - I declined and actually enjoyed biking home at 9PM with empty streets and fresh air... and after rain it was really nice...

Anyways, just wanted to share... Today is no better -went for a short walk with the dog and he met bunny (he is a hound dog) - he ended up running after bunny for 40 minutes while I lost my voice calling him back - so instead of nice 8 km walk in the forest I stayed on the same spot worried about darn hound! Then bunny ran away and hurray - tired hound coming out of the bushes with happy grin and showing off what a great dog he is... Hope to squize in some pilates today - hope nothing will come across

Hope your schedule is not as doomed as mine...

Sandy.