Jude...Hope you are having a better day today. Chocolate fondue fountain, just thinking about it makes me :drool: At least you finished the day off with a piece of nice salmon. I fixed grilled steak and a salad for my family.

I'm a native Oregonian and moved to North Dakota 9 years ago and miss the west coast very much. Plan on moving back when my hubby retires in six years.

Down 2 more pounds this morning, so I'm moving the ticker.:woohoo:

Cheryl:irish:

Oh CHERYL,:hug: YOU ARE DOING SOOOO WELL. CONGRATS, YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE YOUR GRADUATION GOAL FOR SURE. HOPE YOU ARE FEELING BETTER, THAT DARN FLU HAS REALLY BEEN AFTER YOU THIS YEAR.
WILL WE EVER BE ABLE TO GO OUTSIDE FOR A WALK?:shrug: IT IS SUPPOSE
TO WARM UP HERE LATER TODAY BUT RIGHT NOW WE ARE HAVING SOME FREEZING RAIN !!!! WIND IS GOING TO BE ABOUT 30 - 35 MPH TILL MIDNIGHT. I THINK IT'S TIME WE ALL GO VISIT HY.

HY; GET READY FOR US ;) GLAD YOU ARE ABLE TO STICK TO YOUR WALKING 5 DAYS A WEEK, THAT WILL HELP GET THINGS KICK STARTED. I'M A BIG FAN OF NEW BALANCE TENNIES TOO. THEY JUST SEEM TO MAKE MY FEET LESS TIRED THAN SOME OF THE OTHER BRANDS. THAT IS THE BRAND THAT WE RECOMMEND HERE AT OUR CLINIC FOR OUR PATIENTS ALSO.

JUDE: I'M 60 AND HAVE LIVED IN NEBRASKA MY ENTIRE LIFE. BEEN MARRIED TO MY HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART FOR 43 YEARS. MOTHER OF 2 DAUGHTERS AND GRANDMOTHER OF 1 GRANDDAUGHTER AND 2 GRANDSONS.
GRANDDAUGHTER WILL GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN MAY. I AM A
RECEPTIONIST AND AIDE IN A PHYSICAL THERAPY OFFICE, WHICH IS WHERE I DO MOST OF MY EXERCISING, AT LEAST TILL THE WEATHER LETS ME GET OUTSIDE AND WALK AGAIN.

HOPE ALL OF YOU GALS HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. I'M FEELING A LITTLE UNDER THE WEATHER TODAY SO I MAY JUST SLEEP THIS WEEKEND.TALK TO YOU ON MONDAY.

:luck2you: DONNA

Cheryl sending get well wishes to you - that flu sounds nasty!! :( Hope you are feeling much better. Also congrats on your continuing weight loss - I know you have worked hard for this so woo-hoo and all that good stuff!!! :bravo:


Jude I hear you about the "helpful" souls that set up choc. fondue fountains :fr: What are they thinking?????? Well, we all live in this world and it seems to be a constant occurance, so it sounds like you handled it well and at least you are aware of what's good for you and what isn't so good for you ;) On that subject, my DH...yes, my DH that KNOWS better...got me a box of chocolates for Valentine's Day!!!! I'm sorry to say I wasn't a very gracious gift recipient - lol. Wow, just when you think you know someone....


Donna your weather sounds terrible!!! Yes, perhaps I should have a camp for you all over the winter months - lol. We will get ours tho once summer hits the desert :devil: I hope you feel better and yes, sometimes it's best to just stop, shut down everything and take the weekend off...an example I may also follow.


The walking 5 days a week has been great - not all that strenous or anything but a great way to start the morning. I have a treadmill and do use it, but honestly the time goes so much more quickly when you're outdoors, imo.


Have a great weekend all and hope everyone is feeling better soon!


:hug: Hy

Good Morning Ladies.
It has been nice that you have all shared something about yourselves. It is the weekend and I had a good day yesterday with my food. I am doing the Zone and it will be a lifestyle for me. I feel better eating less refined carbs and more veggies. I am trying to get to below 200 pounds by summer. I have been trying for a while. I think having this group for support will help. I tried WW but went too many times and just did not stick with it. Next week I plan to get out to the gym. I go in the morning so it is just about getting up and doing it. I have been struggling with sleep and so it is hard to get up. But I do know that if I lose some weight I will sleep better. It is that first push that is so hard. Off to do some housework. Hope you are all feeling well and have a good weekend. The sun is coming out here!!
Jude

Good morning ladies, can't believe it is Monday morning again so soon. Boy this weekend sure went by fast, at least for me it did. The temp made it up to 46 :cp: and I loved it. Went for a walk,still a little trecherous,but not bad. I even had my kitchen window open for awhile,sure improved my mood. I did weigh myself on Sat. and I lost 1/2 pound, hey I will take it. It all adds up in the end,right.

Hope all of you had a good weekend.

Jude; I didn't answer your question about if I lived in the country. No, we live in a small town,4600,in central Nebraska. We are on Interstate 80 and the North Platte River flows south of town. We have friends that own some land along the river and they allow us to cut firewood there. In fact we went out again Saturday morning. It is so beautiful down there, or will be when the snow is all gone. You can see all kinds of wild life and I love listening to the birds in the Spring. Once in awhile I catch a glimpse of a cardinal.Since we have had a lot of snow, if it gets warm like in the 60's in
late April or early May the Morell mushrooms should be abundant this year.
They are so good but lots of work to find,bad thing is the best way to fix them is to deep fat fry them.But like corn on the cob, it's a short season.
Good thing is you can't buy them in the store, you have to go hunt them for yourself,so you get some exercise too.;)

Well girls I have carried on long enough,better go and do a load of laundry this morning. Have a wonderful day.:cupgold: DONNA

Sounds nice Donna. I have never lived in a small town. We do not get much snow here just rain in the winter. But it is mild. I am at work. I went to the gym this morning but that was a battle as I woke up at 430am. Not fun. Then lay in bed debating whether I would go to the gym. Had a lousy food day yesterday but doing great today. I think it is harder to lose weight in Canada. lol! Whats a DH??
Jude

JUDE; Good for you going to the gym even if it was a struggle. I must say that 4:30 in the morning is a bit early;) It is so hard to lose weight anywhere at any time. I just struggle. I think I do so good one day and then the next I seem to forget all about it. I have done a speed burst session on the treadmill this morning. I warm up at about 2mph then I speed up to my normal walking pace of 3.3 and do that for 2 minutes then I speed up to 4.3 for 1 minute then back to 3.3 for 1;and keep that up for about 15 minutes. Hope to get up to 30 minutes by the end of the month. :whoo:

DH is dear husband,just saves time I guess.

Hope you have a good day and keep up the good work. It WILL pay off.

:drinkup: DONNA

Hi Ladies...Just a quick check in for tonight. Went to ww today and I'm up 5 lbs. Gained everything that I loss last week after being sick, but I expected it. I wasn't eating while I was sick and this pass week I was back on program, so it was my body adjusting to the change. New week and I know I will be down next week.

cheryl

Me too saying Hi!...I've been having some computer issues but all is resolved now. I had good news on my latest thyroid ultrasound, the nodules are getting smaller. Also had a blood panel, but results will take awhile. Anyway, that was a relief.


A friend of mine asked if I'd be willing to go onto South Beach with her - I said sure, although I'm not really all that up on this particular diet. I do Atkins and maybe it's time to "shake things up" a bit :dizzy: I have to educated myself about SB, so went and got a library book.


We're still doing the walking in the mornings - just during weekdays - I'm taking weekends off from that as otherwise I'll be tempted to skip a day here and there and then....well, you know how it goes, lol ;)


Sorry I haven't been around much to support our newcomer Jude...it sounds like she is very committed and really working towards her goal!


Hugs to Cheryl and Donna - I know you two are VERY committed to your goals. What a great group!



Hy

Well only made it to the gym on Tuesday so far this week. It is a sleep thing. There is a lot written about sleep deprivation and weight loss. As in you will not lose. What a struggle. I was wide awake till about 2am last night. So I am going to try and get up tomorrow and go. Interestingly enough the day I did go I slept great that night. It is hard to stay on track with the food when I am so tired. Heres to a better day tomorrow.
Hy: I have seen a lot of stuff on the site about SB. Have never tried it. I am doing the Zone.
You guys all have the exercise down pat. I hope to catch up to you.
So have a great Friday everyone. Will write more on the weekend. I think tomorrow is the start of a better week for me.
Jude

Yes the sleep thing is a difficult nut to crack IMO and I **just** read in a book that some sleep aids like Melatonin will actually increase food cravings - great! I have used that supplement on occasion too. I mentioned this to my doctor the other day and read her the passage from the book (also written by an MD) and my doc said that the premise actually made a lot of sense. So no more melatonin for me, even just occasionally.


Hope you are able to catch up on your sleep. Just take one thing at a time - you're doing your program and that is a huge step...the regular exercise, the other stuff WILL follow, trust me :hug:


Hy

I have never tried melatonin but have thought about it. This week I have been doing a little better now with sleep. I hope to have a good food weekend . I just watched the Oprah show with the diet challenge with Bob Greene she is starting. It is pretty interesting. So everyone is working at the same thing. It is sure hard. I keep cheating. But today is a new day and I have my food planned so hopefully it will go well. It is snowing here! We had no snow. Hope it stops soon as I want to get out to the meat market to get some sandwich meats for lunches. I am going to try 3oz sand meat with melba toast for lunches with some coleslaw and a fruit. See how that goes. Lunches are my worst meals. I can't do the salad thing. I feel too deprived.
What do you guys eat for lunch??
Judi

Jude I was reading my SB book yesterday and was surprised to learn that if you eat fruit, it's preferrable to do so later in the day, otherwise it spikes your blood sugar and sets you up for a day of food cravings (and probably binges as a result :( )


That is something I'm gonna try to do - not eat fruit until maybe dinner. I've been having blueberries or raspberrries with yogurt for a snack earlier in the day and I'm gonna stop that practice after reading about the above to see if I can tell a difference.


The best thing for me for lunch (low carb diet) are salad greens with whatever veggies are preferred and then egg salad on top of that - I make the egg salad with hardboiled eggs and some mayo and pretty much use THAT for the dressing on the salad. That really satisfies me for a lunch. (But I like eggs....maybe canned tuna or canned salmon would be a good substitute too).


You sound very committed and I like your "each day is a new one" attitude! We all make mistakes - lol :D The deal is to not let them stop you from achieving your goal! Sounds like some prepared items like you mentioned would be really good for you to have around - sometimes you just don't have time to start from scratch on everything you eat. I try, and do a pretty good job, but I found that even with best intentions, sometimes my fridge is empty...having some lean cold cuts or cheeses around can make a BIG difference in staying on your program :carrot:


:hug: Hy

Jude I was going to mention too that a WHOLE grain slice of bread (the kind you can see the grain hulls in) might be better than the melba toast. The whole grain slice would take longer for your tummy to digest and that helps with hunger and food cravings...melba toast is low fat, but very highly refined...anyway, you might just experiment for a few days and see if one worked better than the other for you.


Just offering this since you asked about what the rest of us did for lunches - not trying to lecture you - lol!!


HY

Hi alll...Sorry I have been MIA so much lately...Had a lot of meetings and appointments for and with the FD this past week and this next week looks the same. Had a meeting to go to in fargo yesterday morning, but I never made it. Started out and only drove 30 miles in a hour and decided to turn around and go back home. Had freezing rain and wind, and by 1 PM it was snowing hard. We were only suppose to get about 2", but we have about 8 and it started snowing again this morning. So much for an early spring.

New day and new week in which I hope to get my act together. Way too much eating out this pass week, which isn't good. I always go in with good intention and then blow it.

have a good week ladies.

Cheryl

Hello everyone,

This is my first on a forum like this. Mostly I read the forums and learn.

I am almost 50 yr old grandma of 1.
I have 2 grown kids 21yrs and 27 yrs.
One husband of 28 ½ yrs.

This week I joined CURVES. I have never joined anything like that either.
I weigh in 185 lbs. and am only 5 ft. tall. Not good!

I am hoping to find support and lots of help losing this weight. And maybe make some friends too.

What is the best diet program for you? I know nothing about most of them.
I am not even sure were to start.

Thanks for being here, hope to get to know lots of you.

Theresa

http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/tulip-...5/125/185/.png

Hi Theresa and welcome!! Diets, I know them all but I think the best thing is to just eat real food and in moderation. I myself am following the Zone as I find it a lifestyle rather than a diet and is low glycemic. You can find out about it at www.zoneliving.com if interested. The Oprah web site has a new weight loss challenge starting with Bob Greene and he has a great weight loss plan. Really healthy and a lifestyle as well. Take a look at Oprah.com.

I am new to the site to and it is nice to have someone to chat to.
Hy: well I tried the melba toast and it was not great. I am stuck. If I have bread around I can start eating toast as a snack. Not the greatest thing for me. I do not seem to agree with things with yeast in them. I may see if I can find some decent pita bread. I wish there was a bakery that made it. The packaged stuff leaves a lot to be desired.
So I have my sand meat just nothing to wrap it in. I even like lettuce wrap but nice green head lettuce that works is hard to find. Maybe in the summer.
My sleep has gotten a little better over the weekend. Seems to be tougher on workdays.
Cheryl: you know I am like you. If I go to a restaurant I think I am in for a treat and I can not see the point of just going there to eat healthy. Pass the dessert menu!! I need to stay away.
Last night I was coming home from a friends and passed the Dairy Queen. Looked at my clock and it was 10:15pm. Tried to decide if it was too late for the tub of ice cream lol. Don't need that sugar blast at any time of day let alone at bedtime. So kept driving. But the desire was sure there. Then I thought to myself does a normal healthy person eat DQ at bedtime? No!! So lets try and remember what normal sized people eat. Not ice cream! Oh how hard it is too change!!
Have a good Sunday everyone and enjoy the Oscars if you are into it!!
Jude

:welcome3: LITTLE RED: We are so glad to have another newbie with us. We will do all we can to help you with your weight loss struggle, and believe me it is a struggle.

JUDE: Good for you,not stopping at the DQ. I agree with you that lunch is hard to do good at. I'm always in such a hurry and I don't take time to fix any thing special. I try to do either low fat lunch meat or tuna and always on high fiber whole wheat bread. It really helps to fill me up. In the summer I do a lot of salads with tuna or chicken in them. I agree with Hy that the melba toast probably isn't a good answer for lunch but you said bread was a problem for you, that you snack on it if you have it, make your snack the melba toast. There are lots of ways to fool your hunger but sometimes we have to experiment to find out what works best for us.

HY: I don't think I have ever heard that fruit should be saved for later in the day. I'm going to try that too. Maybe that is what would work best for that 4:00 slump.Thanks for the information.

CHERYL: Will we ever be free of the snow ? We got another 8" too and the wind, we also had 1.25 " of rain before the snow. I'm just not sure that I will complain when it gets hot. At this rate that might only be for a day or two.:lol: I am like you about going out to eat. Good intentions but once I get there I figure if I have to pay that much to eat I better eat something I don't usually eat at home. That's a really bad attitude I know but we only eat out about once or twice a month.

:dance: :dance:OK I'm doing the happy dance today! I did my weigh in on Saturday morning and I lost 2 lbs. It has been 6 months since my weight tracker has been right. Now maybe I will be able to move it next week, I sure hope so. I ate not so good this weekend. I made potato soup, but I use 1% milk and I only had 1 small bowl.We also had kielbasa and sauerkraut, but I do boil the kielbasa first to get most of the fat out. How about all of those "buts" like that is going to make the food less fattening;)
I did keep up my exercises though. Now today I've had oatmeal and lunch is going to be a tuna sandwich and supper is steak and brown rice with veggie

Have a great day girls and I will see you later in the week.

:drinkup: DONNA

hi! Donna

I want to thank everyone for the warm welcome.

I have a question (or 2).

Is it better to work out in the morning or evening.
I have signed up for 6 pm, because Magan works am. She needs me to go with her (*or she won't go)!
She is shy.
2nd question...
is it better to eat a dinner before going to CURVES @6pm or after?

THERESA: I don't think there is a right or wrong answer for your questions.
As for myself, I prefer to exercise in the morning because if I do any type of real vigorous exercise in the evening I don't get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning.
As for eating, I would think you would want a little something to eat before you go just to give you the energy your body needs to do the exercises.
I am no expert by any means, just my thoughts. Good luck on what ever you decide and I'm proud of you for joining Curves, keep up the good work

DONNA:carrot:

Theresa, first, welcome! I'm like Donna and find if I exercise in the evening then I can't fall asleep, so I exercise first thing in the morning. But in your situation, you have someone that wants to workout with you and they have to do that after work, so I'd give it a shot and see...maybe later in the day won't be a problem with your sleep. Having a workout partner is WONDERFUL btw!!!!! Wishing you both much success :D


Maybe eat something at around 4PM if you are going to Curves at 6. You don't want to be doing crunches and stuff like that with a tummy full of food - trust me!! lol. Then a light snack after you get home - I'm pretty sure protein would be good after the workout.

Hy

Excellent work Donna!! I'm doing the Happy Dance for you too!!


My tracker hasn't moved here recently either, even with effort on my part, so I'm doing Phase one of South Beach with a friend of mine, starting March 01 (this Thursday) - it won't be too difficult for me as I do low-carb anyway and have for several years now. Just back to the restrictive phase for a couple or 3 weeks. So in other words, hoping to move my little starburst down the tracker too!


Hy

Hi ladies. Another week. I need to figure out how to get through the day without cheating. First it is just a little and then when I get home it is "oh well I already had..." I really suffer from all or nothing thinking. It is hard to make it through the day when you either have to be perfect or blow it. Lately I have been in the blow it phase. I am stressed. Sometimes I am just stressed just cause I keep blowing it. Why does it have to be so difficult? Here is to a better day tomorrow. Once again I have had 2 nights of very little sleep and so that does not help.
Have a good Wednesday and I will be back tomorrow night with hopefully great results!!

Good morning ladies.

What has happened to our fearless leader Cheryl? Cheryl are you lost in a snow drift ? We miss you. I hope that flu hasen't gotten ahold of you again.

It is a new month and we need a new thread but I won't start it until I see if we have one on Monday.

HY, JUDE AND THERESA: Hope you gals have had a good week. March sure came in like a lion around here. Wednesday we had freezing drizzle and then snow AGAIN!!!. Yesterday the wind blew 40mph and it is supposed to again today. That makes 35 feel really cold. My mood just keeps jumping around so my eating has been really awful this week. Not looking forward to weighing in tomorrow. What a difference a week makes ;)

:tantrum: I just want to get outside and walk. Feels like we have been shut in
forever. It has really been a long winter here. I know all of you are getting tired of hearing me complain about it too. I'm really sorry. I got my first
seed catalog this week. It is so fun to look at all the pretty flowers. I have found several that I would like to get, my problem is I don't have lots of room to put them but I may just get lots of pots and set them everywhere.
There are some beautiful new colors this year.

I need your help on something. How do you gals fix your fish? We love fish but my DH only likes it if I pan fry it. I use canola oil,just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. We don't have it as often as we should but I don't like to always fry it. Love to hear some of your ideas. Thanks

Have a great weekend everyone, talk to you on Monday

:luck2you: DONNA

Good Morning. Well I am on the west coast and we should be having spring. Actually I saw the crocus coming up but now they are hidden by an inch of snow. We don't get much snow but it is wet here and chilly. I remeber those prairie winters.
Fish? well I usually only cook salmon and I sometimes use the butter spray to coat the pan and that seems to be enough. Or I poach it in a water. I have heard some people use milk. Not sure if your DH will like it that way but may he could have his with a sauce or a cutney.
Yes it is Friday. I am working some OT on Saturday. Keep trying to get my food in order but have been having some major slips. Not sure where to find chocolate cake on the Zone.lol. I have to learn that everything in life is not resolved with food. Are you guys going to change the thread? I might lose you. Keep me posted. I lost the lady in Chicago that was on the site. Maybe she will come back. I met a great gal from California on the Bob Greene message board and we have been emailing. We have lots in common as well. That message board is way too big though and people don't really interact. I had better get going and get ready for work . Here is to a better day!! Jude

Hi all :hug:


I don't know how to change/start a new thread or I would! I'm sure Cheryl will check in at some point. Sorry to dump it on her, but I just don't know how to do!


My friend and I started South Beach yesterday (Mar. 01) and so far so good for me anyway, but I'm used to low-carb - this is new for her so a little more of a transition. I'll keep you all posted on our progress.


Donna, I eat a lot of fish and usually bake it. It depends on what fish you like too. I usually do halibut and salmon baked and use parchment paper to make a little tent/container - I can give you the guidelines if that sounds like something you'd be interested in. I basically adapted it from a recipe on Dr. Andrew Weil's site a few years ago.


I like sole, rolled up and baked too, but I don't cover it.


DH and I are continuing to take our first thing in the morning walk, 5 days a week. We're just committing month by month to this "program" to make it realistic and do-able for our particular situation.


Off to the grocery store this morning to beat the weekend rush - hope the weather straightens up for everyone - it IS challenging mentally and physically when it's nasty outdoors.


Hy

I would like to hear the recipe for the fish in the oven with parchment paper. Trouble is I cook a piece only for me. But is sounds interesting.
Jude

Here's my salmon in parchment and I just use single serving pieces of salmon, but you can do however, with more or less....I also have used this same cooking method for halibut.


Salmon baked in parchment paper

You preheat oven to 400 F.

Take parchment paper and spray lightly with Pam. Put single filet
on paper and add a little butter (or not), and I like to slice very
thin lemon slices and place on top of filet. Salt and pepper and
add any spices you like (dill's good). Thinly sliced onions are also
good as a topping.

Then you fold the parchment to make a little packet and twist the
ends closed. I put this on a baking sheet. It basically steams the
filet and it's very good. You can do more than one filet, but just
use one per packet. Oh, I always remove the skin from the fish fillet- it makes the fish taste 'fishy' IMO.

You only have to bake for about 10 mins - you can check on doneness,
but be care when you open the packet - there will be a release of
steam.

I usually cook up several packets as I also like salmon cold, on
salads too.


The parchment paper can be doubled over if you like for more strength.


Hy

Oh that sounds great. I will try that next time. It is just interesting to try different things.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
Jude

Hi Ladies...I'm starting a new thread for March/April. See you there!! :hug:

Theresa and Jude...Just look for Over 50 & Getting lighter March/April in Support
Groups. Hope you don't have any problems finding us.

Cheryl

Here's the link to the new thread (hope it works!!)



http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106216


Hy