[Ruthxxx]

Hey! Time to get up and at it!

[Ruthxxx]

Everyone must be sleeping in this morning. I was up at 6 but got involved in journalling, coffee and watching The Girls frolic in the 6" of snow we got last night! They sure do know how to live. Now they are both zzzzing beside the woodstove.

Lots of things to do today so it's a good thing my cold has abated or disappeared.

I just dug a bunch of stuff out of the freezer for throwing out. Why on earth do I "forget" so much meat? I keep thinking of the people who could have eaten all that! I even found a pork shoulder from 2000! Some of it I'll recycle as dog food but still.... Flylady would have a up to date inventory but I sure don't. I did find some Scotch broth soup for Harry's lunch - dated December 2004 so it's OK.

Right now I need to bundle up and go out with the shovel. I left my car outside last night to see if there were mice living in it or were they living in the barn. Of course it's buried in snow now! I'll brush it off and drive it into the barn because Bruce is sure as heck going to have to plough us out before I go anywhere in the car today!

Big wave to all you sleepyheads - although you are probably up and involved IRL!

[LazyPrincess]

Good morning! Is everyone still sleeping?

[Ruthxxx]

Hi Princess. I guess you can take Lazy off your name. Usually the chicks are all in here first thing Monday morning. Maybe Spring has arrived in the States and we Canuks have to wake them up from spring fever.

I have a pot of crocus in full bloom on my desk but otherwise it's a winter wonderland here.

[Ruthxxx]

Just realized....it's President's Day in the States. Maybe they are in holiday mode.

[bicker]

I've gone off SBD. Did the first two weeks, and gained one pound. Not a big gain, but surely no where near the promised 8 pound loss! Being within 10 pounds of my goal, I wasn't actually expecting that, but I was expecting some loss, over a two week period.

Someone suggested why this might have occurred: My normal diet was rather low in carbohydrates to start with. I never use table sugar; I always avoid foods with a high-calorie, low-protein macro-nutrient break-down. While I would have the occasional slice of pizza on my normal diet, I would otherwise never have any bread. On my normal diet, a portion of pasta for me has typically been a half-cup.

So what SBD Phase 1 was, for me, was simply my normal diet, minus popcorn, PLUS cheese and nuts, and PLUS enforced mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks (which I typically would never have), without any specific directive for keeping the total number of calories under control.

I have gained a greater understanding of SBD, of course. Indeed, although I didn't use SBD to lose 100 pounds, my maintenance diet (at least) was relatively close to SBD's Phase 3, and I've had rather decent success using that approach for maintenance over three years. It seems to me to be a great approach for folks with 25-50 pounds to lose. I think "those last 10-15 pounds," though, are the hardest to lose, and jumping into something like SBD for those last 10-15 pounds, as I did, is as likely as not to back-fire, as it did for me. I feel, especially for folks like me who have lost a substantial amount of weight and kept almost all of it off for so long, the best approach would be to refocus our attention on our original diet approach, whatever that may be, and rachet up the exercise a bit. That's my plan for the next few months.

I'll be unsubscribing from this specific thread. I want to thank those who've helped me work through the last few weeks, and wish all of you the best in your efforts. I hope to chat with y'all again soon in some of the more general threads here on the boards.

[ellis]

Yeah, they're all sleeping in, Ruth.
Listen, you've got nothing on my MIL. She's got stuff in the bottom of her deep freeze from when her kids were kids. I once ate some strawberries from out of that thing that must have been 30 years old. I'm never eating in that house again.

Hi, Princess! Looks like it's just us Canucks up!

Holy... the snow out there!! (as opposed to in here) If I wasn't so damned sick of it, I'd say it was pretty.
Just heading off to see my psychiatrist... hopefully to up my meds or SOMETHING!

Have a great day off, my American friends!

[ellis]

Brian, you've obviously thought this through, and what you've said makes sense... I can see why you wouldn't have lost on SB.
I think your idea of "cranking up the exercise" is a good one. You've done so well to date, and I wish you all the best.

[anchor weight]

Morning my Canadian Friends!

Unless you work for the government - today is just another day - except no mail and some banks are closed.

What a weekend! I make white chicken chili - turned out super yummy and all OP. Then on Sunday I made homemade Chicken soup - DS & DF had noodles in theirs. That also turned out well. I used sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes and that turned out good too. DS wasn't too keen on the chili but he liked his soup.

Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500 - I just luv him the X would never let me cheer for him so needless to say I was cheering like crazy yesterday!

I got DS on my Nextel plan. I've been struggling with what phone service to get him. I want him to have a phone for when he is with the X on alternate weekends because sometimes the X is too busy to feed him and stuff like that. So this way if anything should happen he can call me. It also has a GPS locator on it - in case he doesn't know where he is. We have a cabin way way up in the woods and they X and DS go dirt biking. If the X would crash and get knocked out - DS would have no way to know where he was. So this way I feel better. My budget is unhappy with a second nextel phone but it does buy peace of mind. Plus I told DS that he would have to contribute $10.00 a month towards the bill. Of course he picked out the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Phone! I was hoping to get a new phone and give him my old one. Fat chance He is beginning to remind of Paris Hilton.

Spring SCHMING! We got pounded with snow all day yesterday. I expected to have to cancel school today but it warmed up over night. I took DS to hit golf balls at the indoor driving range yesterday and there were cars all over the place - smacked into walls and in the ditches. I haven't hit a golf ball in 20 years - now my back hurts in new places.

If TOM doesn't arrive soon I'm probably going to go to jail for killing someone under the severe PMS clause.

Have a great day chickies!

[Barb0522]

Not everyone in the states is on holiday today! I just had to get through a bunch of work before I could post. I'm up several pounds and not happy about it. It might be partly water retention but I also need to stay away from the dark chocolate.

I am still so SORE from the exercise class on Saturday. The instructor had us squatting down deeply and standing up for lots of reps and my leg muscles are still killing me.

Tomorrow night is our Cub Scout Blue and Gold dinner. Usually it is potluck but this year they decided to cater it. They just announced the menu. Hamburgers or veggie burgers and chips. Oh, also cake and ice cream. Bring your own drinks. And we have to pay for this! As a leader, I really need to attend. I'm bringing whole wheat hamburger buns and will get either the hamburger or veggie burger based on which is leaner. Since I'm bringing a small cooler for drinks anyway, I'm thinking of bringing some raw vegetables and a hard boiled or deviled egg. And I should bring a small container with SF chocolate pudding. That way I won't be tempted with the cake and ice cream. I know they were trying to keep the cost down but this is not a very healthy meal.

[a broad abroad]

Mornin' everyone,

It's snowing AGAIN. Enough already. It's been snowing everyday for a week, but somehow the roads are clear, thankfully.

Ruth, I once had a roommate with a full-size freezer full of food, not all of it 'fresh' (she was a hoarder) and the power went out and things started thawing ..... peeeuuuwww ... I'll spare the details but lets just say GROSS!

DH was home today and finally cleaned the computer room (after I had already gotten it started) YEAH! He got rid of some dinosaur software from as far back as 1995 - wow, plus some other components that had been gathering dust.

Yes, today is an American holiday, President's Day and the Presidents are getting plenty of airplay on the telly. Bush, Sr. and Clinton are in Asia with tsunami relief efforts. W. is traveling as well. By the way, did I mention that there are several large demonstrations planned in Europe this week?

Food has been good lately. Lunch was cottage cheese and brussel sprouts. For dinner I making the Slow-cooker Chicken and Barley soup.

What are you having for your evening meal?

[Barb0522]

For dinner tonight, we are having a low fat beef stroganoff with whole wheat egg noodles. I think the veggies will be fresh brussel sprouts and green beans. The dish has two cups of mushrooms and lots of onions too. Yum!

Last night I tried a recipe from the Calorie Commando. It was stuffed pasta shells with low fat ricotta, broccoli, Kalamata olives, red onions and lots of spices. I made it as whole wheat lasagna rollups (use one half of a noodle per rollup) since I haven't found whole wheat large shells. I did substitute crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes for the stewed tomatoes since I couldn't find any stewed tomatoes in the store that did not have added sugar. I served it with the Orange Ginger Green Bean recipe from the cookbook and made the garlic toast whole wheat pitas that were on the same show. Really good!

[Bamiegurl]

A quick drive by for me right now. I was up at 5 due to severe thunder and lightnin. Then DH comes to tell me the kitchen has a leak! It is where the pantry was. He said he noticed that some of the insulation looked like it had been wet before. So got that dried up off my new floor! Finally got back to sleep until DH called to see if I had called the home warranty peeps. Well I did and they don't cover roofs! So now I am goin to have to call a roofer. Gotta jet DS has scrambled me some eggs for b-fast. I am back OP today! Hi to all y'all that have beeen and yet to come! Oh yeah no school! Sleep in day! lol

[beachgal]

Ruth, glad to hear you so cheerful in spite of the snow! Puppies in the snow is a great thing! Enjoy your day...and let's hope all that snow chased the mice away! I end up with the same meat issues. Each week I try to remember to pick a recipe for flank steak as I have one sitting on the top shelf of my freezer, but I always forget! Oy!

Yup, President's Day must be doing most of them in. I have to work, but we get Thursday and Friday off. Morning, Not-So-Lazy Princess!

Brian, in case you read this, I'm glad you've figured things out. I think a variation of SBD is the way to go in the end, for good health, but I can see where it might have been a problem for you. Good luck!

Ellis, want to send some extra meds my way? Mine aren't cutting it either. Have a great visit, sweetie! Yesterday when the snow was blowing horizontally and stinging my eyes, I really was ready to move back to CA. I think I've had enough, thank you very much. Slipping in slush this morning just cemented that feeling. Spring, come quickly!

Anchor, the more I hear about your X, the more I am glad that you got away from him. If only DS didn't have to be with him either. How can he forget to feed his own son??? Glad DS has you. I have to hear more about this phone so I can recommend it to my sisters. They constantly call my parents and say, "Where am I?" They are blond if you didn't guess.

Barb, sounds like you need a Try to stick to the dark choc. once a week, and hide it in the meantime. I'm able to do that, and I'm a severe chocoholic. I hope that helps! If you were squatting like that, I'd be totally surprised if you didn't gain some muscle, which might account for those pounds.

A Broad:I picked up a cheapo "Carb Smart" recipe booklet at the grocery store checkout last week. Lady, our dog, chewed up the bottom of it and declared it tasty. It really had some great veggie recipes and such, so I got it, and I'm pretty excited to try several of the recipes. Tonight we're having one of those...a German pot roast! It has beef, onions, carrots, celery, and pickles, in the slow cooker with a sauce made of red wine, german mustard (with horseradish!), ground cloves, bay leaves, and pepper. When I get home, I'll finish it up by stirring in some more wine with a bit of flour to thicken the "gravy". Should be pretty good! We'll have some frozen veggies with it so we get some more nutrients.

Me:
Well, the scale says 215 but it's been a bit wonky lately...the needle won't stay at 0 even though I haven't moved it and I'm following the callibration instructions. Still very pleased. I even had an extra starch yesterday (sweet potato fries at the diner) and things still look good. I was really good the rest of the night and had a steak with feta along with a bunch of steamed broccoli with lemon juice for dinner last night.

I made Barb's muffins (for the first time) last night...four each of apple cinnamon pecan, banana pecan, and blueberry. I only planned one meal with a starch this week so I can have a muffin the three or four other days. I'm excited to try them! Thanks, Barb! It was so much fun to bake again. :

DH got on a kick of trying to make natural PB using his meat grinder and a huge vat of roasted peanuts from Sam's Club. He is a nut. I love him anyways. The PB was pretty crunchy and dry...but I don't think adding oil (his suggestion) would be a good idea! I love the kind we buy, but he thinks it would be fun to make our own. His last idea before he went to bed was to make gourmet PB with chocolate chips and sell it at our local farmers market in the summer. Oy...

Have a great day, chickies! (and roosters too!)

[beachgal]

Bamie, we posted at the same time! Hope you can get it fixed...want to send the roofer my way afterwards? We have a leak in our pentry!

Barb, where did you find whole wheat egg noodles??? I would love to hear...that's one thing I have not found and have missed tree-mendously!