Hey, been busy lately. Well,,Robby and I were baptized last night! Now we are trying to be as active in the church as possible, trying to stay around the church and the people so that we won't stray down the old and wrong road. It is true you don't HAVE to attend church to get to heaven but I think it helps keep things in perspective. On Monday's we have Families by Faith class. They provide an illegal dinner and then a class afterwards. Wednesday is also supper and then services. So that's 2 meals I don't have to cook but they are wayyyy ILLEGAL! Tonight we had frito pie loaded with chili, cheese, fritos AND then homemade walnut cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!! Wednesday will be chili, corn salad, corn bread and apple cobbler!! So now I'm faced with a dilema. The only sensible thing I can come up with is to make sure that I exercise at least 5 days a week and do not eat ANY starches on church supper nights. We'll see how it pans out. IF it doens't work and I end up gaining from those 2 meals a week, then I'll have to come up with a different plan. Anyway, we looked at another house today. Just don't know, it needs repairs and they're asking too much. Told me to make an offer, the cheapest I'll go is reducing the price by $8,000. They'll probably bawk at that. Oh,well. Oh yea, the manufactured home place turned us down!! Guess it wasn't meant to be. This house-hunting is aggravating. Well, I'm still here. Have no idea what I weigh. I can tell by the way my stomach is pooched that I'm up a couple, doesn't help that TOM is almost due. I think I'll skip this weigh in on Wednesday. At least I got my workout in for the day. Tomorrow will be 2 workouts(hey I gotta try to burn off that frito pie and cobbler). Alright, I'm ready to go to bed...check in tomorrow.

Evening! We ran out to Harry's/Whole Foods after dinner to get a few things. I still am not driving, and loving making Mr. Tom pick up everything for me. I got some flour at the grind your own station, and of course I wore a black shirt... :rolleyes:

Today was not bad food wise:

Breakfast: oat bran muffin, three prunes, three apricots, coffee with cream
L- 1 cup plain yogurt, agave, banana, oat squares (in case you are wondering, the banana was NOT legal and neither were the oat squares)
S- handful of peanuts
D- veggie beef soup, ww mini rolls

TECH: :welcome: It is great to have you! I think you will find the SB plan is easy to follow and your whole family will like it. I fix things the SB way, and my grown kids complain, but they eat it! :) I just had a hysterectomy, so I am kind of lazy these days.... I look forward to getting to know you!

ABIGAIL: :welcome: When I am traveling, I try to get things that are simple, and not covered in sauce, or full of sugar. Its not too hard. I also try and carry a few things along that are legal. We especially like to carry legal protein bars. They are filling and nutritious. If we are eating out, we pick a restaurant that will have things we can eat. Steak places are good...we love Outback! I get a steak, and veggies, and salad, and pass on the bread. Even though its brown, its not whole wheat! :)

COUNTRY: It was beautiful here in Georgia too! :)

BOB: I must have been snoring in the love bed...Tom left and went and slept in the office sometime around 5! ;)

TONI: How do you make your beef tips?

KENG: When my kids hit that age where they were kind of in the middle of needing a nap and not, I panicked! I wanted my free time! :) I made a rule that everyone in the house had to have a quiet time in the afternoon of one hour, in their rooms. No one was exempt until they reached first grade! Isn't that awful of me? It worked great! I had one hour alone, and often they would actually get playing quietly and not re-emerge for more than an hour!

JACK: I took your advice and did not nap...I might have, but did not get a chance! I will let you know if I sleep better. Unfortunately, my tinnitis is really bad tonight. It started when I was walking and I think it is brought on by being tired. I hope I sleep well enough to get rid of it tonight!

Ok, gotta go to bed! Night!

Thanks to all for the warm welcome!
 

Monet... one last question..are protein bars and " carb control" bars the same thing? can I get them at the health food store? thanks for your help, I really need to leave something in the car for when I am rushed and the bars sound like the perfect solution.

Good morning! I slept half the night in bed, half in the recliner. I feel better this morning. I really can't wait until I am recovered enough to sleep in bed all night! :( Something strange was going on the last few days. I was steadily losing weight and I was all excited. I guess I got too excited though. This morning, the scale popped back up three pounds and while its still down from last week, I felt kind of bad about it. I had hoped my mysterious metabolic problems were perhaps getting better. One can dream....sigh.

Today is small group day. I am going to put some stuff in the crockpot for dinner in a bit. Tom put the crockpot and the potatoes on the counter so I did not need to lift anything! I am going to make beef stew. I feel so USEFUL! :lol:


ABIGAIL: I use the Nitro-Tech bars. There is one flavor that is low sugar that I like. I will not eat soy, as it is bad for the thyroid, and I have thyroid problems, so its a challenge to find those protein bars without soy. The Nitro-Tech bars don't have soy, and are low in sugar. Designer Whey makes a couple that are really delicious, but are too high in sugars. My suggestion is to go to a healthfood store (GNC is usually good) and read the labels on the bars, and ask for input from the clerk. At my GNC, the manager knows me and often will let me sample new bars when they come in. We like the Nitro-Tech ones, especially the double chocolate flavor. I would not leave them in the car if it is hot, as they will melt and be messy, but they sure are filling. Another quick snack you could keep in the car is nuts. Just a small handful really hits the spot. As for the ranch dressing at Outback...I eat it. Of course, I am not the best one to follow in these things. I have metabolic syndrome and losing can seem almost impossible for me. I did lose 50 pounds, with another 65 to go, but back in June my thyroid went wacky on me and I started to gain for no reason. It seems to be back under control again, and I have started losing a bit. I just had surgery though, and I can't exercise for another four weeks. I can, and do walk though. As for your weakness for pizza...make your own! It really not hard! I found ww pocketless pita breads at the farmer's market here, and they make great pizza crusts! With some sauce, and cheese and toppings, they are better than any delivered pizza! I make pizza dough in my automatic bread maker too, and it turns out awesome.

HEART: I hope you can find the perfect house soon! Don't despair! It will happen! As for the church suppers, that is hard! If it gets where you feel you can't eat them without gaining, you could carry your supper and let the rest of the family eat what is there. Too bad they don't do a salad bar for it. I have done enough catering at my church to know that the starchy stuff is the cheapest way to go...unfortunately!

Good morning ladies.

The hot tub heated up to about 98 so in I went. It was relaxing.

Got a 2 mile walk in last night too. Dinner was pork chops, lima beans and saurkraut. Yum!

BF today was oatmeal with walnuts and coffee.
Lunch willbe chicken salad on 1 pc of ww bread and an apple
Dinner is meatloaf, butter beans and another veggie.


Toni, we were posting at the same time yesterday, I just didn't skip you on purpose. Glad you had a good start for a Monday. When Monday's are good, the rest of the week tends to go better.

Techwife, welcome. This is a great board for support. Sounds like you have a great plan. 2 pieces of advice. Plan ahead and be prepared (that's 1 piece). That way when you go out you will not be in trouble. #2. Don't cheat. I started in Oct and went about 1 1/2 years w/o cheating. Then came the holidays and some small cheats. Once you start it is so easy to keep cheating. You keep fulling with the same pounds over and over. I agree with BOB, throw away the potatoes and rice, give them to a neighbor. Get started now and don't look back. It is great that you family will be doing this too. I did the same thing. My Dh lost about 40 pounds w/o even trying. I cook, they eat it or do w/o. The good thing is it is good healthy food. If they want potatoes, etc. let them order it when you eat out. This is the only "diet" I have ever lost wt on and kept it off. It is a way of life for me now. Good luck to you. C ome here oftern for help. Yes. Splenda is fine. Look for 100% WW bread. The word enriched is a no-no.

Bob, Great advice for Ruby.

Country, you should never give up on getting to your goal. You can do it. You should enjoy your 40th. It only happens once. Yes, I am feeling fine other that the arthritis in my legs. Hoping to get that under control in a few weeks. Buth other than my bald head as a reminder, I have put the "C" behind me. Thanks for thinking of me.

Heart, I'm happy for your and your DH. Maybe you could eat before your go to the church dinner. That way you are not tempted too much. Be patient, that house for you is out there.

Monet, hope you got a restful night's sleep. I laughed about your black shirt and the flour and about you being useful.

Abigail, Make ww pizza crust, Atkins has a low carb pizza and many places now have low carb pizzas with ww tortilla crusts. My motto was "when there's a awill, there's a sugar busters way". Just haven't found a way to make a legal cornbread yet. Pretty much everything else is convertable. I ave lost 105 pounds. I have been on SB for 3 years. I was diagnosed with breast cancer last Feb and did not do the best job of eating legal while doing chemo. I have gained back about 15 pounds and I am working at getting it off. I have gotten back into my exercising and walking so hopefully I willsee some results soon.

have a great day.

Good Tuesday Morning!
 

Hey everybody! I think I've finally recovered from last week. One client won and one lost. My losing candidate was in a county with a huge democratic straight ticket vote and he simply got swamped by it. I did win a staewide race against a fairly popular incumbent though. So it was an ok night. I, of course, liked the national results! :)

I didn't get much sleep on Tuesday night and came home and had to catch a 6 am flight Thursday morning to NC (that means I had to leave Auburn at 2:30 am!!!!!!). Mom and Dad celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Satruday and my brother and I threw a party for them. It was a great party and Mom and Dad were thrilled at the people that came to celebrate with them. I slept most of Sunday and drove home yesterday.

Oh yes--while I was home I bought a new car. I got a Hyundai Santa Fe. My old car was 10 years old and had 130,000 miles on it. I'm on the road a lot these days (leaving for Montgomery in just a little while) and wanted to feel more secure for the late night drives especially. The old car is still sitting in the parking lot at the Atlanta airport. I've got to spring it later this week! I think I'm going to donate it to a local charity.

I hope everyone had a good week. I've got to catch up on the reading from the last week, but wanted to let everyone know I'm back and should be able to be on the board more regularly now!

Susan

Good Morning:

Britt is at school today. She slept all night without even a peep out of her; I think a day's rest is just what she needed. I talked to her teacher yesterday, who informed me that she sent 5 kids to the nurses office yesterday...one for throwing up all over himself. I am sure we will be sick again soon :( .

I plan to get to the gym later today after Lane's nap. She has another ear infection...that's 2 in 2 months. What gives?

Monet: I hope you are able to get a full night's sleep soon; at least you are able to sleep a bit more in your bed. I hope the scale gets over this confusion and starts going back down for you.

Ken: Taking care of that many kids can be exhausting...definately not something I would want to do everyday. At least you can get back on track after an eating experience such as that. I always tend to put everything before my own needs, and that is why I broke down and bought the jeans. That is also why I get up on Saturday mornings before anyone else to go to the gym and find other things to do so I can have my "me" time.

Abigail: Welcome! Here are a few ideas for traveling: Nuts, fruits, ww crackers such as Triscuits. If you bring an ice chest you can bring boiled eggs, cheese sticks, peanut butter (natural). I always get a legal loaf of bread to take with me on trips, and that way I can put any sandwich, hamburger, etc on it, and throw away the original bun. The protein bars that I like are the Trioplex bars (they are big, and 1/2 will be plenty to fill you up). Sometimes, I cut them into pieces to have for snacking. The sugar in one bar is between 8-10 grams (4-5 for half bar). They are different from a lot of the protein bars since they are made with whole grains. I started SB last March to lose some baby weight (my baby was already 8 months old). I am 5'4", and was 152#'s when I started. It took me until September (6 months) to lose 32#'s (that was more than I ever expected to lose). I wanted to get to 130-135#'s, but ended up at 120#'s. I started working out hard when I started the "diet." and I built up muscle tone as I lost the fat, so I am now much more toned too. It is now over a year later, and I have maintained my loss and continue to make working out and eating right a priority (with some exceptions, of course). Best of luck to you.

Toni: Howdy, girlfriend!!

Jack-K: The PMS made me do it :devil: . I actually finished up my leftovers yesterday for lunch. I love Snickers...glad I wasn't there. They have all my favorite ingredients....chocolate, nuts & caramel. Did you get the hot tub fixed?

Tech: Welcome aboard. Do you know why you gained that amount of weight? Could it be health-related? I'm only asking because if it is and you don't determine what caused the weight gain, no "diet" is going to help you lose until the underlying reason is diagnosed. If you know that there is no health-related issue, and even if there is...you made the right choice by choosing SB. As a former Atkins dieter.....Atkins is not that healthy! You need carbs to fuel your body and there are a lot of good, healthy carbs out there. Whereas, sugar is not only terrible for weight issues, but is also an immunity drainer. Most people find after being on this diet for awhile that they are sick a lot less. Just a fair warning here, from past experience...don't fall into the sugar-free trap. If you are going to make a PB&J sandwich, buy the jam which is made without the sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners. There are a lot of preserves out there that are sweetened with fruit only and are delicious. That also goes for chocolate; beware of the sugar-free chocolates. If you feel that you get chocolate cravings on occasion, have some 70% chocolate on hand; a little bit goes a long way for those chocolate cravings. With bread, you want to look for something that says Stone ground whole wheat/grains. Stay away from enriched bread, and make sure the bread is less than 3 or 5g per serving. Remember one sandwich can add up if you are using two slices of bread. I try to keep my breads to 2-3 grams per slice..that way one sandwich is 4-6 grams only. You'll catch on soon. Best of luck to you!

BOB: Howdy...how are you feeling?

Country: I love pink and black together; I am sure the sweater is lovely. I have got to get out to some more garage sales; the weather is perfect for that now. I just love a good bargain.

Heart: Congrats to you and DH on your baptism.

Fillise: Happy Anniversary to your Mom & Dad. I bet they appreciated the party. Wow, I guess we are due for a new car since our Ford Explorer has 215,000 original miles on it. That's the vehicle my DH drives, of course. I don't want to get stuck somewhere in it with the kids. It still runs well though and looks nice (it's only a 1998). We drive our vehicles into the ground. Our 2001 Tahoe already has 70,000 miles on it. I hope you enjoy your new vehicle. Glad your hectic schedule is slowing down finally.

Lane needs some attention...Gotta go!
Nat

Good afternoon....

I spent the morning tidying the house and meeting with an interior decorator. She will be helping dh with a project he is going to build so I decided to take the opportunity to ask her for some help on my own bare house. We selected the colours for the rooms as we will be repainting most of the rooms when we do some touch-up work in the house. I didn't like the colours that I picked out originally and since there is a chance to change them, I am all for it...lol. I will have to paint some of the rooms myself to save some costs. It is sure great to have some guidance :)

My menu for today is :

Breakfast : 2 ww pancakes, scrambled eggs and water.

Snack : Mixed fruits.

Lunch : Turkey chilli with beans and veges. Will have a salad with it.

Snack : Mixed fruits.

Dinner : We will be attending a BBQ tonight. It is really a business BBQ. I will eat sensibly :)

I apologize that I won't be able to do replies right now but hopefully later. Have a good day everyone!!

Julia

Just thought I would check in. Nothing going on with me.


Susan, glad to see you back. I know it must have been a busy day for you last Tuesday. How nice to throw an anniverary party for your parents. 50 years is an accomplishment. Congrats on your new car. I love getting new cars.

Nat, glad Britt is better today. Seems like there is always something going around inthe schools. Does Lane have tubes in her ears? I know they used to do that a lot. yes the hot tub is hot and working.

Ken, how nice to get some tips from an interior decorator. I have found that some of their ideas are way too far out for me. But suggestions are good.


Have a great evening.

Hey, guys. Well, I told myself that I wasn't going to weigh for awhile but I did it anyway this morning. I was surprised to find out that I'm at 160. So up 1 pound since Saturday morning. Not bad considering I ate the buffet Sunday and had carrot cake, a roll, a cookie, mashed potatoes. Then the frito pie and cobbler last night. Plus my exercise was awful last week. Here's my menu for the day:

BF- was a large tangerine and LC yogurt
Snack- the slim jim with the beef and cheese in it(too much salt)
Lunch- I had my famous tuna salad, but had to use regular can tuna instead of low salt which was sold out. Hope I don't swell from the salt today. It had tuna, mixed greens, cukes, red onion, 1 egg, cheese, Ranch dressing.
Snack- LC/SF fudge bar
Supper- will be a fully loaded cheeseburger on bun with legal coleslaw. I hope I stick to just one burger...last week I ate almost 2 of them when we had this.

Well, I'm off to check the classifieds online...

Oh yea, WELCOME to the newbies! SB is really a easy way of eating once you "learn" it. And healthy as well.

My computer froze on me earlier and I had no choice but to abandon my post...gerrr. Anyway, before it does it again, I better get started on my replies :

ABIGAIL : Welcome! Eating out on SB plan is awesome. Many restaurants now have low carb menu while some don't but you can still find lotsa great menus that you can order. Ruby Tuesday has low carn menus but theit regular is also find. I liked theur regular seafood menus. I have order their Tilapia/shrimp, steam veges and brown rice dish and it was great. I love their salad bar too. The low carb menus usually means they substitute the starch with something else, such as veges (mashed cauliflower etc). In any restaurant, you can order a dish that usually will come with a meat/seafood, then a veges and a starch. If the starch is not legal, substitute the starch with another veges. Most restaurants are willing to do that. Some restaurants have legal starches like sweet potatoes, ww pasta, brown rice etc which you can eat. So, you have lots of option, so enjoy!

TONI : WTG on your walk! I am not doing so well in that department :(

TECHWIFE : Welcome! Glad you are here. You have come to the right place and the people here is awesome! In SB, we are allow to have "added" sugar (we do not count natural sugars) of not more than 5 grams per serving. It is not always easy to find non-sugar stuff but very possible. Some people don't like natural pb so they just use the regular kind which is legal (but they have transfat) with 3 grams of added sugar. Just want to let you know that you have other options when you need them :)

BOB : I haven't been here as much as I want lately but I am wondering, are you feeling well yet? I hope so :)

COUNTRY : Never say never! You never know what is going to happen. You can reach your goal although it doesn't always come at the time we hope it would. Just keep making the right decisions and before you know it, the scale will move :) I am about 2 more hours of driving time left and next Wed in my road test and I am a nervous wreck. This Sat, my girlfriend and her teenage daughter will take me to the driving route that they believe that I will be tested. Her daughter got her license not too long ago so she has some ideas what I need to do. I am driving a big van so we are thinking of renting a small car for the road test, mainly for the parking...lol. My van is really long and parallel parking scares me a bit. I hope my nervousness would paralyze me next week...lol. Thanks for asking!

My computer is acting up again so I will have to log out and then come back to do more replies in another post.

Julia

Happy Tuesday All!

BOB- Thanks for the advice. The funny thing is that, unlike so many posters on a different WLS support group that I frequent, I don't want surgery. It scares me, and goes against a certain "natural" philosophy that I have. But sometimes I think it is the only way. You would have to know my whole life's history to understand that -and don't think I won't post it someday! :lol: . It's hard to plod along week after week, pound by pound, sometimes gaining and feeling you've WASTED a whole week, when other people around you are losing five or more pounds a week, consistently. I know they are working hard also, but they have an edge that I want!! I have been struggling since I was a small child and I'm just pooped. If I do go for this surgery, it will be the most conservative kind and I won't do it unless and until I do "get my head on straight" and am prepared to look at the entire process in the cold, clear light of day. I could type SOO much more, but I don't want to write a book.

Sorry, I have to jet off again. Hello to everybody - Ruby

Morning all
 

Can you beleive it--I'm starting a new election cycle today! We have a special election for a seat in the state legislature in March and I'm running one of the campaings. . . no rest for the weary!
That's ok--I have car payments now. . .

I see we've got some new folks on the board--WELCOME! I've been doing this WOE for 4 years now, off and on. When I stay on program it works! I've lost and kept 30 pounds off, but I need to lose much more, so I need to get serious about this again--real serious! I have lost as much as 60 pounds, but have gained back 30--eek! Yup it's time for the cold hard truth. But I know I feel better when I lose the sugar and refined carbs, and all the research shows it is healthy, so I keep plugging.

I've got to get ready for a meeting--talk to you later everyone!

Susan