I just got home from my Jamaican friends' party. I was good until she took the patties out of the oven. I ate three. (they are small cocktail size ones..meatpies in case you don't know what they are..stuffed with spicy beef - and the crust is made with white flour for sure!) Then I tasted her potato salad. I will be honest, it was a very generous 'taste'. More like a good spoonful..and I mean a big spoon. I did not drink any of her famous punch...or any Shandies. (Red Stripe and gingerale or lemonade) I had some of the jerk pork, jerk chicken, and a slice of avocado and some salad. I stayed away from the desserts. So, I did not bomb out totally, but I did not do as well as I had hoped to.

I have three or four cats all hanging out by me right now. On the computer, on the desk, under my feet. What is it with cats???

BOB: I do love my Morgans. I think they look rather elegant, even on my fat little feet! :) Lucky you to find such great deals! I should have had you pick some up for me!

TECH: I never thought to look on ebay for Birks! I was amazed! I bought mine on Shoebuy and thought I got a great deal!

I better go check on Laura. She was zonked out on her bed when I got in, and there was a frozen cobbler sitting on top of a pile of stuff in her room! I think she needs to put it back in the freezer if she is not going to eat it! :rolleyes: Kids!

Good morning! It sure is slow this weekend! Breakfast was a two egg omelet with feta, cherry tomatoes and sprouts cooked in almond oil, with espresso (of course!)

I am going to head out to Hobby Lobby and Publix in a bit. I have a prescription to pick up, and I want to see if I can find a row counter for my knitting. The project I am working on now is one that has a change in pattern every ten rows, but the yard is very hard to see individual stitches on, so I am going crazy trying to keep up. I have been making ticks on a piece of paper, but that means I can't knit on it unless I have that paper with me, and I therefore feel inhibited to carry it around with me. You can get this counters that fit right on the needles...so I want to see if they are not too $$....

I got the kitchen into really nice shape yesterday...but then the girls got home. :( It will not take too much work to get it pretty nice again though! Tom will be so happy! The weather has been bright, sunny and very warm here. I hope it was cooler in the mountains for them.

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, the cobbler got baked this morning, and is sitting on the cooktop looking rather decadent. We shall see if she ever eats any of it. There was a cheesecake they took out of the freezer and left in the fridge for weeks. I finally threw it out!

:wave:

A Sunday Afternoon Funny for you guys...since the boards seem to be slow...

The Rude Parrot!

David received a parrot for his birthday. This parrot was fully-grown with
a bad attitude and very rude.

David tried hard to change the bird's attitude and was constantly saying
polite words, playing soft music, anything that came to mind. Nothing
worked. He yelled at the bird, the bird got worse. He shook the bird and
the bird got madder and ruder.

Finally, in a moment of desperation, David put the parrot in the freezer.
For a few moments he heard the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and
then, suddenly, all was quiet.

David was frightened that he might have actually hurt the bird and quickly
opened the freezer door.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto David's arm and said: "I'm sorry that I
offended you with my behavior and actions. I ask for your forgiveness. I
will try to check my behavior..."

David was astounded at the bird's change in attitude and was about to ask
what changed him when the parrot continued, "May I ask what exactly the
chicken did?"

:lol3:

Hello
 

Hi all,

We are back!!! I sure was glad to get home. I tried to keep my eating on track but bombed out most of the week. I will be back on track in the morning. We had a great time and went to the Houston Zoo. It was very large...lol...42 acres to be exact. But did get to see animals we have never saw before and the girls got to see banana trees loaded with bananas. And most of the week I got to rest..no cleaning, no cooking, no washing dishes, no washing clothes...it was heaven.....lol. I just wanted everyone to know we made the trip safely and are so glad to be back home. I missed all of you. Most of all I missed getting to eat lots of fruit and getting outside a little. It was to crazy to venture to far without hubby by my side. I will post tomorrow...and getting back to sane eating!!!

:grouphug: :balloons:

OMG-!!!!!!!!!!! I am so ticked!!!!!!!!! I'm to the point of desperation, aggravation, frustration, and almost to the point of saying screw it all!! Let me explain..I've been doing "atkins" the past couple days. I figured it might reset my blood sugar levels and keep me from being so hungry all the time. Well, it did help with the hunger. I get on the scale this morning after noticing that I'm puffy and what do I see...a 7 pound GAIN!! What the heck?!! I got to thinking about my menu and have realized that I've had way more salt than I'm accustomed to. Bacon, sausage, cheese, ranch dressing, prepared foods(like Quizno's low carb salad, Subway's wrap, etc...). Did you know some of that food has your daily intake of sodium in just ONE meal? Maybe okay for most people, but not me. So I'm rather p'oed!! I'm so sick of this!! I was doing okay with just the SB except for the hunger. I was hungry after eating, within 2 hours. And yes, I was getting enough calories. So I decided to do the protein thingy and it helped with hunger pangs(virtually none between meals)but it's just not right for me apparently. I know that I am NOT destined to be this weight or to keep gaining. I stayed around 160 for a long time before I started gaining(by my poor eating). But now that I'm trying to do good and get it off, it just isn't working. The scale keeps going in the wrong direction. I'm so frustrated. I want to get back in my fitted clothes, so badly. I can't afford anymore weight gain. I was starting to drop back down some, got to 169.5 last week and now today I'm at 176 or 177, heck can't remember. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

HEART: Ok, let me give you some advice. I probably understand better than anyone the frustration of not making progress. I have tried every diet that is known to man, I think, and it seems nothing works. You have lost over 100 pounds, so obviously, something works. First off, I would suggest you pick your plan, and stick with it. Going back and forth from Atkins to Sugarbusters just sets the stage for confusion and your body can't adjust to either. Atkins is a Ketogenic diet. If you cheat just once, it doesn't work. Sugarbusters is a glycemic diet, if you eat too much fat, or go off plan, it negates the way the diet works. If you are on Sugarbusters, and feel hungry, try adding 'good' fats, like avocado, and almonds (raw, soaked in cold water, drained and refrigerated are extremely good for you) and olive oil to help keep you satiated. I personally think if you are hungry inappropriately, its an insulin reaction, and not true hunger. When you change plans you often do see a gain at first. I know when Teensybean changed to Sugarbusters, she did not lose at first..it took a while. It was the same with me. It took a few weeks after Atkins to see any improvement in the scale. I would say plan out your meals, and keep a journal. You may find that your toast triggers your hunger, or you don't get hungry as soon when you eat eggs, instead of oatmeal. Now the most important thing I think I need to say is this- you seem to be looking for a fast solution, and you may not find it. When you don't lose fast enough, it seems like you get frustrated easily. It appears you set yourself up to fail, and when you do, you get even more frustrated. Here is a suggestion: Hide your scale. Tell yourself you can't weigh for two weeks. Then, eat right, drink your water, purge the crap from the house (your kids and hubby don't need it either) and see what happens. You have done so tremendously well...and are a big inspiration to many of us on here. I personally feel very sure that you CAN do this, and do it right. You just can't be impatient. Don't try for drastic, just make the small changes that will set the stage to help you succeed. Like exchanging the diet sodas for water, and the starchy snacks for celery sticks. I think if you drink plenty of water, and watch the salt, you should be able to get the water weight taken care of in no time. But, the one drawback of Atkins for many people, and why they don't lose on it (myself included) is that too much protein can be turned into sugar by the digestive process, and then stored as fat. Obviously, your system doesn't like too much protein, so get back to Sugarbusters, and try increasing the good fats for satiety. :grouphug: I am glad you came here and vented. I bet others will have advice too.

Thanks Monet. Tomorrow I'm back to Sugarbustin'. Lots of water and I'm going to cut back on my diet cokes to one a day(big step for me). I'll add some nuts for my midmorning snack. I don't think I can stay away from the scale for 2 weeks. HOWEVER, I am planning not to step on it until Friday. Right now I'm disgusted with it. So maybe in 5 days things will look better I'm hoping. I doubt I have time to get on the computer tomorrow(I'm catching up now) since my house is the messiest it has EVER been(haven't touched it in a week!). SO here is an idea of what I'm going to eat tomorrow. I'm eating fruit in the morning because it's on the verge of going bad.

BF- will be plain yogurt and some fruit(either a peach or nectarine)
Snack- 12 almonds
Lunch- large salad made with some chicken, or maybe grilled turkey breast, veggies, parmesean cheese, Casear dressing and 1 diet coke
Snack- Probably 2 celery sticks filled with whipped cream cheese or 1 cup Carb Countdown 2% milk(gotta use it before it goes bad)
Supper- Beef and cabbage casserole(made with cabbage, ground beef, tomatoes, seasonings, cheese)

I need to go to sleep!!