Hi, I'm back.

Kathy, I was talking about the chick in the jeans on one of the ads on the home page. There are several different ads, but yesterday it seemed like everytime I went there, up popped her skinny behind.

I'm going to be good today. I've been walking every morning this week and my PMS cravings seem to have died down a bit. I have a weigh-in tomorrow morning and I'd really like to see a loss. I love Core and would had to feel I needed to go back to point counting to get anywhere.

Here's something I'm thinking of making this weekend, maybe with a few shrimp added:

SUSHI RICE SALAD

1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice
1 3/4 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Splenda
1 teaspoon salt

1 medium carrot
1 1/4 teaspoons wasabi paste
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 c cucumber, peeled, cored, and chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced diagonally
3 tbsp sliced pickled ginger, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
1 firm-ripe avocado

Flat lettuce or napa cabbage leaves
1 piece toasted nori cut into very thin strips with scissors

Prepare sushi rice according to package directions. While rice is resting, bring vinegar, sugar, and salt just to a boil in a very small saucepan, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved, then cool 2 minutes. Spread rice in a large shallow baking pan, then sprinkle with vinegar mixture and toss with a wooden spoon.

Shave thin lengthwise slices from carrot with a vegetable peeler, then cut slices diagonally into 1/4-inch-wide strips.
Whisk together wasabi, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons water, and oil in a bowl, then add rice, carrot, cucumber, scallions, pickled ginger, and sesame seeds and toss gently.
Halve, pit, and peel avocado and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange lettuce leaves on 4 plates. Top with avocado and rice mixture and sprinkle with nori strips. Makes 4 servings

:lol: Oh okay. I was wondering what I had missed!!!

Hey, WATP is for Walk Away the Pounds. It is a series of walking tapes by Leslie Sasone. Have to put the dog out and take DS to preschool. Just wanted to get that in quick.

Lisa

So everyone, why is it that I get the munchies really badly RIGHT after I eat lunch? You'd think with my stomach completely full, I wouldn't be tempted to eat more. Anyone else have this problem?

Angela

Back From Lunch!
 

Angela - are you truly hungry? Or just the munchies? (are you bored/tired?) Maybe try some popcorn or something that you can nibble on for a while that will fill up the tummy! It might depend on what you ate too - sometimes certain foods can produce strange cravings! :dizzy:

Back from my lunch and it was GREAT FUN! I got to see lots of old and good friends and it really made me feel "loved" :D ...so there I was sitting a table for six, me and 5 guys - had my own harem! :o It was fun catching up on all the news and everyone was impressed with my progress (2 yrs ago when I worked there they were all subjected to my constant moaning and groaning as I completed my MBA - part time while working - by the way I DON'T RECOMMEND THIS!)....so everyone, especially my old boss who was retiring, was happy to see that I was moving upwards! It was kinda sad too tho - saying good bye - I really like the guy - I think I will send him a personalized retirement card to his home - and a picture I have of me driving his boat.(took the staff on a "team building" activity i.e. a day of sailing on his boat - loads of fun!). Poor thing is going to retire now and probably sail somewhere warm for the rest of the winter - did I mention he's from France and planning a trip there in the Spring!

I ate: small tossed salad w/italian dressing on the side (used the fork-dipping method) and managed to stay away from buns/butter. Had a diet pepsi and water.....and a small steak (6 oz?) w/mixed veggies and a humongous baked potato (which I left half) w/sour cream on the side. I actually ate the whole steak I wasn't that full - nor do I feel bloated? (funny considering the amount of food I ate?). Biggest problem is the steak was well seasoned and tasted EXTREMELY SALTY!!! :devil: (like sea salt or something?) - so now I am super worried about water retention, esp as I'm less than 24 hours away from weigh-in. Drinking more water now to try and flush that salt away!

Hopefully won't be too hungry at dinner and may have something light if I'm hungry!

No, that's the problem. I KNOW I'm not hungry, just feeling munchy. Like for instance, this lunch I had a pretty big helping of that pizza casserole and a glass of milk. I'd say on the comfort zone scale thingy, I was at a 4. But I was so in the mood for eating, I ate a few other things before I could stop myself. Now I'm stuffed and uncomfortable. I wonder if I eat too quickly, and my "chewing and swallowing" needs aren't met yet, even if I am finished eating. What do you mean about certain foods causing strange cravings? Like, that casserole is pretty salty, and I WAS craving sweet things. Unfortunately, dh had brought home Krispy Kreme doughnuts. BAD DH!! :)

Angela

BACK AWAY FROM THE DOUGHNUT BOX! Bad dh - make him eat all the doughnuts himself, that'll teach him ha ha ha. :lol3:

If you're craving something sweet - try sugarless chewing gum - I find sometimes that helps me - you get that little bit of sweetness and lots of chewing action.

Did you know the Queen :queen: (of England) chews each mouthful of food 35 times before swallowing? and puts her knife and fork down between each bite? Bet her food gets real cold real fast! ha ha ha :lol: :lol:

Froufie :D

LOL Froufie!! And I bet her food turns into paste before she ever gets to swallow it! The gum is a good idea, and it comes in a rainbow of flavors. :)

Gee, I've been doing a lot of "backing away" from things lately. Well, at least I've been trying to back away. Grrr.

Angela

krispy kreme original donuts..........13 points per donut........STAY AWAY I KNOW!!!

Oh my gosh, that's awful!!! :eek: Good thing I didn't eat more than one. :ziplip: I had no idea they were that bad. That's worse than a piece of birthday cake, which I always considered horrible. Well, guess my WPA is gone for the week!

Angela

Hungry Again...and Again...and Again...
 

Actually Ottawa is deprived as we don't have any KK donuts here - yet...but when visiting Toronto a while ago I had a "few" as they had just opened up there - lines out the door! But so bad for us!

So I thought I wouldn't be hungry for dinner, cuz in the past when I've had lunch out, and eaten more than usual I have been full for a while. But this was not the case today...which either means - I have a big empty void in my stomach - or maybe I did not stuff my face (did not feel full or bloated after eating) so that I felt "normal dinnertime hunger"? Threw me for a loop and I ATE DINNER - can you believe I feel guilty for eating dinner? (roast beef, maybe 4 oz, 1/4 acorn squash, 5 brussel sprouts....and a nectarine).

It's now after 9:30 and I'm feeling the edge of hunger AGAIN!!! Been drinking lots of water and peeing a lot (altho without being too graphic first time I'm having trouble at the "other end" :o )...of course with my weigh-in tomorrow morning I think have become IRRATIONAL AND OBSESSED.

Someone please quick - slap me silly!

Frantic Froufie :D

Dear Frantic,

Sometimes problems at "the other end" can help your weigh-in! :lol: And that's all the advice I have about that!

Frouf, I read a quote in a book that I MUST find again -- it was in Cause Celeb by Helen Fielding, the author of Bridget Jones' Diary. It was SO good, and something about forever feeling guilty about eating. I will find it tonight and post it tomorrow. You will get a big kick out of it ... when I first saw it, it hit me like a big ton of bricks!

Oh Kathy darling - you misunderstand - the problems at the "other end" are those that would hinder my weight loss efforts and weigh-in..ha ha ha...

Looking forward to the fabulous quote!

Nitey nite!

Froufie:)

Frouf, I'm about to say the nasty word. Exercise. I think it helps. That and water which I know you are getting plenty of. Can you go take a few laps around the block?! Stay away from bananas and rice if you can. Maybe you'll need some sugar free Citrucel or something. This has happend to me before. It's downright uncomfortable and who wants to weigh in that way!

Good Luck tomorrow. Let us know how it goes....the weigh in I mean!!!!!!!

good morning all!

ahhhhh......frouf, been there done that! applesauce works really! and the feeling extra hungry.....i was like that all week and still lost so good luck today, let us know what happens!

krispy kreme in ontario, 3 stores, kitchener on ottawa street, mississauga on mavis street and then one in pickering.......although i think there is one in london now......man oh man, when i was a kid.....a warm original glaze coming hot off the line......heaven........NOW, my heaven is having a baked potatoe with no fat bean salsa.....yumm.....presidents choice frouf.....it is sooooo good!

vickie, i found this description of an elliptical machine in the toronto star last night, a big section on Journey to Fitness Starts Slowly, written by January Payne of the Washington Post, Ellipitcal machines, devices that mimic striding with ski poles, provide full-body aerobic exercise yet protect the joints from impact. My machine gives me the option of using the poles or handlebars. Not sure but you may be able to find the total article on line somewhere.......

New Recipe: Fried Chicken!

1/2 cup buttermilk (i will make mine using milk and vinegar)
1/2 cup cornflakes crushed
3 T Flour
2 lbs chicken
4 tsp canola oil

Heat oven to 400 Spray cooking sheet with Pam. Dip chicken in milk dredge in corn flakeswith flour mixed in and drizzle oil on top. Bake for 30 minutes and turn to cook another 15-20 minutes. 229 Calories.......around 5 points! I will use skinless boneless chicken breasts and whole wheat flour.

Cheers everyone and have a great day. SUNNY here!! :cool: :cool: but cold, just around 10 degrees F

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...d=970599119419

that is the Journey to Fitness link!

:lol: Sorry, Frouf! Try some magnesium tablets. That Fat Flush lady, Ann Louise Gittleman, swears by them.

Now for the quote. Get ready for this because it's a good one:

"What happened to my generation of women? Who doomed us to spending our entire lives wishing we were half a stone lighter? I wasn't anorexic, bulimic, or anything else you would put in a textbook but I still managed to see everything I ate as an indulgence and eating it as an act of weakness."

WOW! That is ME! And despite what you guys say about how I look, I've spent so many years seeing myself as dumpy that I can't shake the image in my head. I don't think I'll ever be "normal" again ... will never be able to NOT worry about everything I eat! I suppose that's a good thing to now be conscious of calorie content and portions and all that stuff, but it sure is a burden sometimes when you just want to cut loose and your conscience says whoa, now hold on a minute!! :lol:

Frannie, thanks for the link. I'm gonna go read it now. For some reason I thought the elliptical was like a stair stepper. I have a cheap cross country ski machine with poles that I've tried to sell at my garage sale for 3 years. Maybe I should bring it in and use it!

Kathy, I'm sorry. I really do understand how you feel. I've lost 25 pounds and can't tell. My leader keeps saying "How do you feel?" I can tell she is real excited and wants me to be excited too. I can't lie. I just say, I feel the same.

I think maintenance is going to be harder than losing. Dear Lord....the losing is hard. Don't even want to worry about maintenance for now. I have SO far to go! Kathy, I'm not feeling the desire to cut loose right now because I know I have so far to go. I'm not looking forward to how hard it will be when I get to your spot.

You will achieve your goal. Did you pick a goal lower than the WW top of the range?

I think my goal might be lower; I don't have my materials here so I don't know the ranges. And I wasn't near goal when I was going to the meetings @ work, so the subject never came up. I think I am the size I want to be, now I have to tone up what's left. Maybe then I'll feel better but right now, as much as I want to be excited about being 30 pounds lighter I was, I'm just not. I have to work on the mental part of it.

Hey, just thought I'd tell you guys about my yummy tuna salad I made up this noon. It was tangy, and just different enough to be interesting.

Here's what I did:
2 small stalks celery, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
lots of dill pickles, chopped (I love pickles)
handful of frozen green peas
1 can tuna
roughly 2 T. Dijon mustard (I may have added more)
roughly 1/2 c. ff Miracle Whip

Mix together and chill. I ate it wrapped in large lettuce leaves. Mmm. It made at least 2 servings if you're really hungry, 3 if not.

Angela

That sounds GREAT, except for the peas of course (I have issues). I need to make something different for lunch next week and have all the ingredients. Yummm!

Guess What? Guess What? Guess What!!!
 

Drumroll - here is the result of today's weigh-in:

3 LBS GONE FOREVER which equals = 10 LBS IN TOTAL !!! :dance: :dance:

Can you believe it? Given my horrid week, TOM, hunger and other issues looks like things were "working".....must be all that water I guzzled yesterday!

I got my 10 lb ribbon today which is now proudly affixed to my fridge! This was quite unexpected - but nevertheless did decide to reward myself while shopping at the mall and got a new Richard Simmons exercise tape - some sort of Mix up Blast - 40 mins of different types of music and some mat work!

Frannie - sounds like you have mapped out all the Krispy Kreme's within spitting distance...ha ha ha...keep away! :devil:

Kathy - love that quote.....and I think the hardest part is feeling comfortable in your skin - esp when you are at goal weight - one lady brought this up at today's meeting, that she had lost her weight got to maintenance - and now back again - cuz she never felt "at goal" or "thin" or "comfortable in her skin". Something to think about and work on. I was reading an old magazine I had lying around - with a small section on women w/eating issues - one lady spoke about losing weight, going to therapy and finally accepting that she is not bad and food is not bad - we tend to give food qualities such as good or bad..and label ourselves good or bad depending on what we eat. At the end she said she was able to enjoy eating an ice cream cone - but more importantly 'she loved herself while eating the ice cream cone'...pretty profound if you think about it - I think most of us would have "disliked/hated" ourselves and felt guilty about it!

For those that are interested: all's well that ENDS well"... :smug: if you know what I mean - just a temporary setback it seems.

Today's eating a bit erratic - but the strangest thing was craving an orange! :dizzy: On sale today were these most humongous gorgeous big navel oranges,($0.69/lb) not a huge fan of oranges, but I got 3 large ones. Was thinking about them all afternoon while I ran my errands - finally had one when I got home around 5 pm. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, and lunch was a michelina's salad bowl (frozen entree) - the meditteranean salad is actually CORE FRIENDLY!!! Has couscous, and roasted veggies such as eggplant, zucchini, peppers, potatoes, olives, brocolli in a balsamic vinegar sauce - ingredients all look pretty good. Something to have on hand for a quick microwaveable meal!

Need to go make dinner now (salmon steaks were also on sale for $2.99/lb!!)

Frouf :cool:

Frouf, congratulations!!! That is GREAT news!!! :cp:

Butyou're killing me here!!! all's well that ENDS well????? LOL!!!

And how is your H these days? Settling down and behaving, I hope???

Congratulations Froufie, and bye bye to those 10 pounds forever!!!

I am wondering, as I get closer to my goal, if I will have problems being happy at my goal weight. I've gotten close several times, only to get pregnant before I could actually reach it. That WILL NOT happen this time (notice the emphasis). I am enjoying being thinner a lot already though. I'm wearing shirts that actually fit and aren't baggy - in fact, I bought a size medium shirt the other day, and it's too big! My dh admitted to "checking me out" the other day as I cleared up after dinner. :o

But I wonder how maintenance will be, as I've never done it. The last time I was at 120, I was 14 years old, and of course, I thought I was fat. Ugh. As my mom says, "If only I could be as fat as I was when I THOUGHT I was fat," if that makes sense.

I'm doing pretty well with my detoxing... took the kiddos to Chuck E Cheese's today, and watched them eat pizza, birthday cake and a huge popsicle. I chewed sugar-free gum. :cp:

Sunday will tell, as I am always ravenous after church, and we have to go to dh's great-aunt's birthday party right afterwards. I will think of you all though, and I'll be fine, right? :ziplip:

Ta ta!
Angela

Way to go Froufy ! You give us inspiration. I am hoping for my 5 lb. ribbon this week., no........I will get my 5 lb. ribbon this week. Trying to drink loads more water.

Great job!! :D

Hello all....glad to see and read everyone is doing well. Congrats Frouie!! Awesome loss :bravo:
As for me.............well.... I have been reading here (this still is the best board and group I have found) but not posting ....I have decided NOT to do Core as my weight loss maintenence program or journey to stay at goal. I am more out of control on it and have lost the strength to "try" and figure when I am satisfied or full etc, etc. Life for me is easier not doing it, and I LIKE variety much too much, plus I like control of knowing exactly how much I am eating and that I can eat what I have measured.
I have hemmed and hawed about this for weeks as you all know, and have fought the battle with it over and over more times than I care to remember. You have all stuck by me through my thick and thin of it, but in going over ALL of my journals in the past several months, I 'really' did do better on points, whether they were Wendie Points or Winning Points and even the dregged Flex points way. I realize I am points person now and more in control that way. And I journal anyway!!
I will continue to read here because this is the best group of online 'friends' I have seen. You are an awesome bunch and I learn so much from you.
But for me, with now 8 lbs to get me back to goal, journaling and counting is a better choice, for me :D
Seems the last several weeks of hard progam times trying to decide just what the **** I was doing or wanted to do has cost me yet another gain .5 again, small, but never the less trending the WRONG way :mad: And I CAN'T have that. I have worked too long and too hard. I know this is not a diet but a lifestyle change and for me (me that is) points gives ME more freedom.
Also in doing Core for a few months I know I what the better choices are, so I did learn from it.
I'll check back here during the week. I just cannot get on as often as you all do :( and I am so far behind in all your posts.
Just wanted to let you all know how things were going here........
Have a great day out there............Linda :flow1:

:bravo: :bravo: 2 cheers for frouf!! Awesome weigh in considering the you know.....glad things are all back in service now.

Way to go to Angela too for staying away from that pizza!! I need to de-tox too with those m & m's yesterday.......will start today! NO SUGAR right now!!

Linda I understand where you are coming from. We have to do the program that works best for us. :) This is a good bunch of girls and the best board here. I have gone on the others and find none to compare. So much FUN here!!!!!! So we will be lookin for ya!

It is 935 am......just really getting my morning started. Must go and get dressed and go for a walk......or better yet, leave the pajamas on put on the wind suit and go for a walk.......(yes, this really does happen in small towns! -- pajamas are almost warmer then yoga pants!)

Cheers

Kathy, so maybe you should just exercise and the rest of the pounds will come off. Start nagging that girlfriend of yours to buy that Gazelle anyway. I always looked at that Gazelle thing. I think I stopped wondering about it because it was only good up to 250 pounds. Wouldn't have worked for me! Still wouldn't!

Angela, thanks much for the tuna salad recipe. I LOVE tuna salad and haven't been able to make one on Core that I like. I will give anything a chance. Oh...and I won't be putting any peas in either.....out of respect for Kathy you know! I am STILL craving my Subway tuna salad sandwhich with onion. I was going to have it this week and then had only a .2 loss and didn't think I should eat too many points this week.

Froufie, CONGRATULATIONS! :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: You deserve a Cheerleader for each pound down during the most TRYING of times. It wasn't just the water, although I'm sure that helped alot. Don't forget, you stuck to the program regardless of what whas going on in your life and you were successful. I have every bit of confidence that you WILL get to your goal. Bravo for you for giving yourself a non-food reward. I think it's hysterical that you craved an orange but I'm not surprised. I did the Optifast program for 6 months when Oprah first went on it in the 80's. I know....that's partially what's wrong with my metabolism now. I tried everything. Anyway, I didn't eat food for 6 months and lost 75 pounds. Actually, not eating at all was in some ways easier than eating and stopping. But I digress! That whole time, I craved broccoli and cottage cheese. My doctor said I was missing the iron and salt. Makes sense, I guess. So you must be missing juicy sweet stuff? :dunno: Glad to see that you changed your tracker!

Angela, hang in there. I don't know how you guys do it when you have Husbands and kids who are not on the program. I only have just so much will power. I think it is just "adorable" that your Hubby was checking you out! My husband would get lucky if he was telling me that stuff! :lucky: ;)

You go get that ribbon, Mum. We'll be waiting here to celebrate.

Linda, I wondered where you were. I figured you were still reading but I do miss your posts. I'm sorry that you sound so tortured. You have to do what will work for you and stick to it. So far, I'm not having a problem with variety but then I'm home and able to cook fun, unusual meals. What we all want most is for all of us to be successful. Don't just read, post to let us know how you are doing. We can all still help with the emotional stuff!

Frannie, you really made me laugh this morning. I would love to do the PJ thing but I was raised by a paranoid Mother. You know....always wear your best underwear because you might get into an accident....or don't wear you PJ's in the car even though you are just driving the kids to the store because you might get stalled. I didn't walk on the treadmill yesterday because I over did it on Friday. So....today I'll be walking too. I'm going to go eat breakfast now. I worked on our income taxes all day yesterday and was very upset that we have to pay the Feds. Harumpf!

Explanation
 

Could someone please explain CORE to me? Thanks!

Hello Everyone! Newbie here! My Mom and I will be going to register Wed, and I'm looking forward to starting something new. I've been digging the SBD, but I think I need to mix things up...been having a loss slow down.

I've done WW FlexPoints before, and hated it. I'm not cut out for the calculating at every turn. I just get frustrated and fall off the wagon. I lost some of my wt just calorie counting, but hated every second of it, and just felt like my entire life revolved around my next meal. So, I was glad to hear about Core!

Um, lessee...I also play DDR for most of my cardio..anyone else here? So much fun! I like WATP also, and I like the various aerobic breathing tapes (BodyFlex, Oxycise...).

Anyway, looking forward to getting to know everyone! :)

Oh! I have yet ANOTHER quick question..is there a limit to fruit servings per day? Thanks!

-Spring

Hey, Spring. Welcome to my favorite place of the world. There is no limit to fruit servings. The only thing you have to worry about is your "comfort zone", i.e. eating only until you are satisfied rather than full or stuffed. There are also the usual minimums even on Core; 2-3 dairy, five fruits and veggies, 2 healthy oils and the usual 6-8 glasses of H2O! I wasn't good at points either. I would get sloppy with weighing and measuring and journaling. I was never good at making good choices. I never wanted to spend points on fruit or milk. I would rather eat a small cheeseburger but then I was starving. Once I got detoxed from sugar, I became a Core devotee. For those things I really miss, I can still buy them with my 35 weekly points.

I'm excited for you and your Mom. Will Mom be visiting the board?

I'm strictly a treadmill girl but am looking for some other options. Everyone I know who uses tapes likes WATP. I don't know what DDR is. I'm really kind of a beginner even though I'm on the treadmill for 30 minutes daily at 2.7 MPH.

welcome a 'board' spring! you will love core and love it here.

vickie, glad i made you laugh. this is the way i figure it.......if i am out walking with my pj's on under my windsuit, and i fall and need an ambulance to get to the hospital, to wait in a really long line because the doctors here are on call and must come in from somewhere, i am already comfortable and then if i have to stay, i have my pj's already! oh, to live in the country!

beautiful out there today, son is gone on a snowmobile ride, hubby is downstairs working on his pool room and me, in my glory, surfing. although hubby did just come by to show me his work clothes, which i have to share, grey t-shirt, blue shorts with paint all over them, sport socks to his knees and then get this........yep the big turn on i told him were his slippers! haha.....he is sooooo funny, he has the floor heat turned on down there and yesterday he got quite warm, so today he is dressing for it! haha

having a cup of red african tea..........yumma

my son's team won the regular season last night. they have 4 more games to go and then playoffs start. i want to share my son's quote in his bio......and his picture (he was trying to look mean but it did not really work!) just click on his picture .... k edwards ....... and then his bio and read that quote........i think i can use that for my journey!

http://www.winghamironmen.com/roster.html#

Wow -- what a guy!! I love the quote! And congrats to Kurt and the whole team! That is quite an accomplishment!

Thanks! We are pretty proud of him and the team!

Vickie-I had the same problems with points. DDR is a video game, Dance Dance Revolution. I have DDRMax 2 for the Playstation 2. You hook this mat into the console with 4 arrows (front back left right), then you have to step on the arrows as they scroll across the screen to the music. All the music is fun club/dance stuff (Dirty Vegas, Kylie Minogue, even KC and the Sunshine Band)! I can play for hours...can't say that about any other kind of cardio! :) I look like an idiot, I'm sure, but so what?! LOL. It's way fun.

Frannie-Don't you just Looooove the hiked up sock look? hehehe. SO HOT! :P


-Spring

Frannie, Congratulations to Kurt and the whole team. Good lookin guy and wise to boot! Don't they say Goalies are a little bit wild?!

I never heard of DDR, Spring. Course I don't have Playstation either....no kids in this house. Wonder if there is something like that you can hook up to the TV without all the Playstation stuff? I bet I'd like that....although I'm not very coordinated!

Oh No - It's Almost Monday!
 

HI Spring & welcome! :wave:

The playstation dance things sounds awesome? Can I ask how much this costs (I guess you have to buy the mat too?). My preferred type of exercise is anything "dancey" so this might be something I can aspire to? :dance: We have a playstation 2 so I might start looking around to see where I can pick this up? (Sounds like a good "reward" for future successes? ;) )

Speaking of which I am VERY PROUD to report that I exercised today - yes with my new Richard Simmons "reward" video tape. Of course I was pretty lame as I need to do it a few times to get the right steps. The "cardio" portion wasn't too bad - but I was still "glowing" a bit - the worst part was the "toning"....yes I grabbed my 2 lb weights (on the video they wore these wraparound wrist weights)...and what a killer - I know I will have sore arms tomorrow!!! :strong:

Frannie - you must be so proud - and I also love that quote! So true!

Also warming up here a bit - which was a nice change. Went to the movies had some movie popcorn - but had dinner before so I was very in control!

Today made a HUGE pot of my favorite beef cabbage tomato barley soup. Was going to bring it for lunch tomorrow but remember another (birthday) lunch out - vietnamese restaurant (never been to this one)....not sure what I'll have probably one of those "soups" but I'll try not to eat too many of the noodles (just the veggies/protein). Guess I'll have my soup tomorrow night! (Already froze some in single serving containers for "emergencies").

A special thanks :thanks: to everyone for their encouragement and support - I loved all the cheerleaders and bravos - very inspiring and motivating! You guys are the best!! :grouphug:

Time to go help dd study for history test tomorrow! Oh ya and I have to wake up at the crack of dawn and go line up to try and get dd into the "other" high school where all her friends are going (they changed the boundaries on us - altho to be quite honest I hope she doesn't get in as the school assigned to our district is way better!)

Later,

Froufie :cool:

I don't have to go to work anymore so I feel very lucky. No more dread on Sunday night. I do have to go for my pap smear tomorrow and that won't be fun. Hope you all have a great week.