Good Morning! I hope everyone is doing well. Its raining and dark and foreboding here. I am tempted to crawl back in bed!


I have no new challenges to give...but here are a few standbys:

1. Get in three to four days of exercise and post it!

2. Drink your water!

3. Take some 'me' time, plan your menus, try a new recipe. Stir it up some to keep it from getting old.


I hope you all have the BEST week ever! You are each wonderful, and I am thankful for your friendship and support!

Good morning ladies.

Back from vacation. Boy I missed you guys and boy did I miss eating right. There is nothing great about eating bad all the time. I couldn't wait to get home and eat salad.
We had a great time. Weather wasn't that great but still managed to get some sun and relax. Only one major problem. Going down there last Friday, we got to Orlando/Sanford for what we thought was a 45 minutes layover. Ended up being 11 hours and then another hour on a hot airplane. Talk about 300 irrate people. I plan to be writing a nasty letter expecting some type of compensation.

Only you ladies can appreciate this. My SIL stated he had gained 6 pounds on vacation. I had not attempted that scale. Faced the music this morning. Up 20 pounds. Now how is that possible? We worked out and walked miles every day. Of course I didn't take any water pills for 10 days and we pretty much ate like pigs. I don't think I was ever hungry when it was time to eat. So I am hoping lots of it is water retention. So today our whole house is back on plan. My fridge is stocked and the veggies and fruits cut up and set aside in single serving bags. Turkey breast baked. Ready to go. My DH's birthday is tomorrow so we took him to dinner last night as our last supper.

I think I will journal this time to see if it helps.

Need to catch up here so I better get started. Hope to check back later. it is good to be back.

Good morning to all you great SBers in SB land. Hope your weekend was great.
Thanks, Monet, for faithfully starting the board this week. I see you started very early this morning. Hope the weather turns out sunny by the end of the day.

We have a beautiful appearing day, semi-clear, with just a few gray clouds. I have not ventured out, so don't know how hot it is. The paper says it will be 90° today, which, coupled with the humidity, will be hot.

My weight? I lost 1/2 pound last week. That is a fair assessment after I tried leaning this way and that on my scale. It is a balance beam scale, and I could have chalked up a one pound loss because the bar was not quite touching the top with moving the weight down 1 pound. But for the bar to be right in the middle it was only 1/2 pound. So that is what I will record, and I will try to be happy with that. I got in 13500 steps yesterday, and worked like a dog in my butterfly garden. We finally got almost all the weeds out and put in several wheelbarrow loads of mulch. In all we filled up five 42 gallon bags with weeds. So my legs and back are still aching. I think I will put off my walking until this evening. Otherwise I would be just trudging around my route.

I guess Fillise is on her vacation now.

Hope anybody in LA, Miss, ALA, will not have too many bad effects from the hurricane. Wouldn't it be great if that were the only one to pester us this year. Monet, is that rain you are getting coming from the hurricane?

BOB--How are you doing? Did you get much rain? Wind? Everything was pretty quiet over here, except for gray skies. No rain to speak of yesterday. Who is UT picking up for the 12th games? UF has booked some crummy games, eg. Hawaii and Fla. International. Heck, I didn't know that Fla. International even HAD a football team. I was hoping we would play someone like Michigan or Notre Dame.

Well, I am working out at my workout place for its last week in existance, unless something special happened over the weekend. I leave in 15 minutes, so need to get ready.

Jackie--We were posting at the same time. Boy, I wish I had known you were at the S/O airport. It is a small thing, isn't it. But not far from me. I could have popped up there and visited you. Did you go on a cruise?
I hope the journaling works for you. That is what I am doing, now. I am not crazy about writing down everything I eat at every meal but it is what has worked for me in the past. I weigh and measure, too, and have a really good scale that measures in ounces and grams. It goes up to about 4 pounds. Since you put the weight on so fast, maybe it will come off just as fast. That's what happened for me with the 6 pounds I gained while in France and Italy. So, good luck to you.

JACK!! Welcome back! We missed you too! Hey, I think its time to throw that scale out and get a new one! 20 pounds in one week sounds impossible! Do you FEEL that bloated? I hope you had a good relaxing time on vacation. Its just great to have you back!

GATOR: Yes, the rain is from Dennis. Its windy too. I need to go look and see where they are saying he is headed. Where is Tech when you need her?

Good morning...

What a wet day. The sun is trying to shine thru...which is a nice sight after all that rain. My yard feels like a big mud field, I will probably sink when I walk in there...lol. The weeds are really happy but I know the plants are getting enough water for a while. Our weather forecast is rain, rain and more rain for the rest of the week. Sigh..

Yesterday, dh and I finally moved Jess over to her new room across the hall. I helped her packed her stuff, threw away some broken toys/rubbish and organized them. Her rooms looks nice and she loves it. She slept there for the first time yesterday. We are not putting her bed against the wall anymore so I was worried she might fall off the bed at night with only one rail on one side but she did well. I did put a pillow and her big stuffed dog, Barkley on the other side where it has no rail. She now wants me to take away the other bedrail as well since is 4 years old now..LOL. Something about being 4 has given her a big boost of confidence. Lately, all she told me was, I can do this because I am 4 now...lol. All the reasons are because she is 4 now...lol. I really missed her not being next door to my room

Nothing much planned for today since I know we will have rain on and off but I really feel like getting out of the house a bit. I will see how fierce the rain will be before I decide where to go...lol. Oh yes, not to forget, I have some cleaning to do as well

Menu for today :

Breakfast : 1 ww waffle, 1 scrambled egg with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach and 1 cup of milk.

Snack : Fruit salad or cantelope.

Lunch : Not exactly sure...something simple like ham and cheese sandwich, soymilk and salad.

Snack : Slice of cantelope and nuts.

Dinner : I am thinking of making this recipe I saw on Food network. I don't remember the exact recipe though but I think this is how I am going to make it. Anchovies, can tuna, lots of chopped garlic, white wine, some capers, cherry tomatoes, maybe even some fresh basil, tossed with some spaghetti. Serve with mixed green salad. I am making dinner because dh is off today

Snack : 1 ww bread with peanut butter. I am usually hungry at night these days.

Some replies :

MONET : Good morning!! Thanks for starting the board. You are very much appreciated not just for being such a good moderator but also a wonderful friend that I have get to know. I am definitely trying a new recipe (well, didn't have the exact recipe but can remember bits and pieces of it and I am too lazy to get the recipe from Food Network) at dinner today. Will let you all know how it turns out.

JACK : Welcome back!! I have missed you! I know what you mean about wanting to come home and eat salad. I feel the same way, it doesn't feel good to not eat well. To me, my conscience is bugging me more than my body. I feel like I have not done a good job taking care of my body which I have been blessed with. 20 lbs?? Wow, that does sound a lot but I do not believe that anyone can put on 20 lbs of solid fats at such short time so I am pretty sure most of it is from water retention etc. However, 20 lbs is still way too much for retaining water. Are you sure your scale was reliable?

GATOR : Congrats on your 1/2 lbs loss. WTG! I hate those darn weeds and I have given up on them since I got pregnant...lol. My back yard island is sufferring right now. The weeds are taking over and they are building a jungle back there...lol. I will ask dh to go back there to at least spray and then weed whack them. I might pull some big ones out after the rain has gone. Will see. Good day to you.

Alright, better get going. Jess wants me to play with her in her new room. Chat with you all later.

Julia

Good Monday morning:

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Ours was good, and relaxing. I went and worked out on Sat. a.m. and then got my massage; it felt great. Yesterday, the only thing I left the house for was to grocery shop.

I think I am going to have to call my doctor; I've been having a weird symptom....as if I haven't had enough medical stuff to worry about. When I lay down to go to sleep at night, I can feel my heart fluttering really fast, my heartrate seems to pick up, and then I can feel the pulse throughout my entire body. I have had the fluttering before at night, but never the intense pulsing sensation. I feels like there is a large dog laying on my bed panting. It is really quite scary! It is also ironic since my DH is at a heart doctor being checked out this morning. He had a dizzy spell not too long ago, and had two chest pains in the past few months. His uncle (dad's brother) died in his 40's of a heart attack. My DH is 42. His uncle lived a wild lifestyle, which I am sure contributed. My DH eats good, and has always exercised; he is in excellent shape and his bloodwork always comes back super! I am praying that all is fine.

On the health front.....Lane woke up with a fever of 103, and has a tummy ache. IT IS HER BIRTHDAY TODAY! We were supposed to go to swim lessons and then to Build-A-Bear Workshop today. I am going to cancel swim lessons, but try to take her to the workshop still if she feels up to it. She was really disappointed when I told her we might not be able to go. I finished her Dora cake last night, and it turned out pretty good; she is happy with it...and that is that matters! She keeps asking me when Daddy will be home and when we will have dinner, so she can eat her cake and open presents . She'll probably end up throwing it up.

Not much else to report yet today.

Monet: Thanks for your dedication to the board! We appreciate all you do. Stay in out of that rain.

Jack: Welcome back. I felt the same way when we returned from vacation. I thought I'd use vacation as an excuse to overeat, or eat the wrong foods. I was so ready to get back and have a good meal. OH MY GOSH....11 HOURS! How terrible! I hope you drop that weight soon; I am sure a majority of it is water. Happy Birthday to your DH!

Gator: I am sure your buttefly garden is so beautiful. Brittany received a little butterfly garden as a gift. We sent off for the larvae (5), and wathed as they spun their cocoons, and watched them emerge into butterflies; it was amazing to watch the transformation. It was fun to watch them fly away when we released them. They still come by to say hello from time to time. She just finished up her ladybug garden (same concept). Nature is an amazing thing.

Well, I gotta go get some BF.

I'll check in later!
Nat

Hello all--I'm checking in from the coast of North Carolina today. My DN and I leave for NYC on Thursday.

It looks like the FLA coast got the worst of Dennis. I've been checking online newspapers and am not seeing bad reports of damage in ALA. I know we got a lot of rain yesterday and it looks like some od the last bands are still affecting eastern AL and western GA this morning. I called my house last night and got the answering machine, so I know the power was still on. I haven't heard from any of my friends yet.

Eating has been good. I had legal snacks for the car on the way up and then I do fine here.

Pancho--Sorry to hear about your heart flutters. It certainly isn't anything to mess around with! I hope Lane feels better so she can enjoy her birthday!

Keng--I'm glad that Jess did well in her new room. I love the "I'm 4 now." I just love that age, they really start to have conversations with you. You'll have Jr. in the room next to yours before too long!

Monet--Thanks for getting the board started and all the challenges! I hope y'all dry out soon.

Gator--I bet the butterfly garden looks great. My DN and I are going to the Bronx Zoo this weekend. They are opening their redone butterfly center this weekend. I'm looking forward to it. Have you ever been to the butterfly center at Calloway Gardens?

Jackie--Welcome Home! I'm guessing water--I know if I don't take my water pills I blow up like a balloon. Eat the protein and veggies and push the water and I'm sure most of it will come right off. Do prepared to spend some major time in the bathroom though!

I've got a work call coming in in a few minutes and then I'm going to try to spend the afternoon at the beach.

Have a great OP day everyone!

Susan

PANCHO : Happy Birthday to Lane today. I am sorry she has a fever today but I hope the fever subside pretty soon and that she gets to at least enjoy some part of her birthday like cake and presents I am glad you are calling your dr...your experience at night sounds really scary. Keep us posted on your dr appointment and your dh as well. {{{{hugs}}}

FILLISE : I am sure glad you are not in AL right now. I haven't heard much about damages in Al either, hope all is well back home. I really miss my "little" girl and she wants to go up way too fast. Sigh..

Got to check on Jess now. She is awfully quiet

Julia

Good Monday morning all.... Its lightly raining here and I love it. We need it so bad. So its a happy day here in Missouri. My birthday was this week end and I was way out of control. My step daughter sent me a 2 lb. box of See's candies. I just knew it was trouble. And of course I've ate quite a few pieces of it. Now I'm bagging the rest up to take to someone else. My DIL and son sent me a box of South Beach Diet stuff and 70% chocolate bars. She was thinking it was stuff I couldn't get here so I've got lots of goodies to start out the week on. So today is another day and I'm back OP.

Monet- Howdy gal, thanks for starting the board. I love reading your posts, they're always so interesting and inspireing...

Jack-K- Yea! Glad to see you're home. Oh know 20 lbs. has to be water. Or your scale is crazy....

Gatorgal- Congrads on the 1/2 loss, you're always an inspiration.

Julia- Your little girl sounds so adorable. 4 is such a darling age... Hope your new recipe turns out good.

Pancho- Oh boy I hope you call the doctor. That sure doesn't sound good at all. I would be worried too.

Fillise- Have a wonderful time...

Everyone have a great day......

Fillise--
Yes, we've been several times to the butterfly center at Callaway. It's beautiful, isn't it! They have a new butterfly center in Gainesville at the UF campus. I like it as well as the one at Callaway because they have other exhibits that are better than the ones at Callaway--larval stages, other natural history exhibits, butterfly testing, etc.

Fillise--I have a question. We will be leaving the end of next week for a 10 day to visit my DS and BIL for about 4 days and then 4 days at a B & B south of Knoxville, near Cades Cove, Tenn. I know that it will be virtually impossible to be as stringent with my eating as I have been here at home. One thing--I won't be carrying my food journal to the table at my DS's house! I won't be weighing and measuring. I will try to guess as to the amount I am eating, but won't have much control as to how it is cooked. How do you combat these problems when counting the points on WW? How can I stay "on plan" even more than just avoiding sugar and white flour? What works for you? Any suggestions? I don't know how many points you are on with WW, but I would be at about 22 to 20, which is not a lot!! I generally rotate my weeks regarding "points" so that my body doesn't get too set on a certain amount of energy input. I am hoping that this will help alleviate some of the problem with plateaus, but know that I still will go through these stalls.

Pancho--I call those feelings "butterflies flying around in my chest." Get it checked out, but it is probably nothing much. Just your heart "catching up" on its rhythm, and your feeling it. You are probably very much aware of your body, and notice that "rhythm catch-up." Anyway, get it checked out. Happy birthday to your little girl. Hope she feels better.

Monet: Thanks, as always, for kick starting the board!! You rock, baby!! And...regarding Dennis...last I heard, there wasn't much in the way of weather systems to steer him out of the neighborhood, so you may be stuck with tropical rain for a day or two until he decides he's bored with Georgia and Alabama. My mom would love remnants of Dennis to come our way...her lawn is absolute straw. Cindy's leftovers helped over the weekend and things are looking a tiny bit green in her yard, but MY yard has seven large 150-year-old maple trees in it and it's always shady and takes a really long draught to fry our grass. We usually have the opposite problem...when my mom's lawn is green and lush, mine is usually flooded and sloppy. Anyhow...as I said...as Dennis sits on GA and AL, he'll continue to loose strength as far as wind goes, but the rain will probably continue until a cold front comes in and kicks him out to sea.

Jack: So, you aren't going to come up here, then, and kick my butt for being really, really bad the last week, are you. Hot dogs on white buns, macaroni salad made by mom (in other words, illegal pasta), French pastries, 5-layer dip with corn chips...on the up-side, though, I had my very first side dish of home-grown green beans last night with dinner!! Won't mention the strawberry shortcake I had for dessert with highly illegal biscuits. Good news is the scale is only up 3. I'm sure your weight is water related. It has to be. My test to see if I'm retaining is to press my finger into the middle of my shins and see if I make a dent. I used to entertain myself by doing this to my mom while she watched TV and had her feet on the footstool. I think I mentioned this once before on the boards and reasoned that this was before we had cable and I had to be more creative with my means of entertainment. Anyhow...lets hope that nasty 20 pound gain comes down quickly!! I'm sure it will...

Gator: Whatever you gotta do to get the scale to read the way you want it to...and gardening is a bonafide means of exercise that people don't give enough credit to, imho!! And isn't mulch a wonderful thing? I'm sorry your work out place is closing...but maybe a change will be good for you..getting used to a new place to work out?

Julia: My DS does a lot of things 'because he's 4', too. I ask him sometimes how he got so smart and his answer is 'because I'm 4'...as if to say, 'what? you mean you don't know?' I love this age...it's so fun!! And then they become pre-teens

Nat: DEFINITELY go see that doctor. It could be as simple as the baby is laying on a main artery or some dumb thing, making it hard for your blood to pump through or something, but definitely go see the doctor...that's what they're there for. AND, my husband has been having the same symptoms as your DH. The doctor prescribed glasses for the dizzy spells, he's had an MRI on his head and they only found a sinus infection and his blood pressure was barely over the normal mark, so he's been on meds for that, although last check at his doctor has him at 120/80 and it doesn't get better than that!! But he's still dizzy from time to time...he takes a sudafed and it goes away. And the chest pains are mostly attributed to gas and heartburn type things. Don't know exactly what's up with YOUR dh, but I just wanted to give you a small sigh of relief that my hubby's similar symptoms weren't heart related and maybe your hubby's symptoms will not be heart related, as well...that's scary stuff!! I hope Lane is feeling better soon, too...what a crappy way to start your birthday!! How old is she?

Fillise: I'm glad your house appears to be intact!! You're right, the answering machine picking up is a great sign!! Enjoy NYC!! We'll be expecting pictures!!

Okay...so our French Festival weekend was fun. The parade was great and I didn't do much craft shopping this year...the stuff is cute, but it's so expensive!! I just took the kids to make sand art bottles and called it a day. The fireworks over the river were beautiful. Yesterday we took the boat out and parked it in Sand Bay and went swimming and I guess my 6 spf suntan lotion wasn't sufficient because I fried in the sun. I was going to take the kids back to Sand Bay today (it's where my mom and dad live...and it where my hubby and I were in my avatar) to go swimming, but I think we all need to give our skin a rest today.

Okay...I'm off to go make a legal lunch. I think I'll have Tilapia and something else with it. I had two BF sausages for BF and some strawberries. Maybe I'll have the fish and a smoothie or something...we'll see.

Okay...talk to you guys soon...Kris

Just another quickie to thank you all for the kind words and the understanding. We are just going to take one day at a time, and make sure that she doesn't suffer any.

Menu--

B-- 17 cherries 1/2 hour before..... 1.9 oz celery with 2 T peanut butter, Lite 85 yogurt

snack-- apple

L-- WW wrap with ham and swiss, mustard, lettuce, tomato

snack-- 20 cherries

D-- Grilled steak, fried yellow squash
dessert-- 1/2 c sf pudding