Carol - I'm glad to hear that things are already more positive for you at work. I'll be keeping your DH in my thoughts. Your water class sounds like fun. I wish there was a class like that near to me. The closest one is about 1/2 hour's drive away.

Juls - It was nice to hear the good outcome for your Mum with her bypass op. My DH and I are getting closer to the age when we worry a bit about heart problems, so it's always good to hear about someone who has come through it ok. About the soap - for beginners, it's best to get some glycerin soap base from a crafts store. You can melt it in the microwave, add essential oils and color if you wish and pour it into soap molds. Metal molds are not suitable as the soap will stick - the mold needs to be flexible, either plastic or silicone. The soap base usually comes with directions. It's a fun and useful hobby. Good luck! Thanks for reminding me about keeping a food log.

Judy - I'm glad the Celebrex is helping. You don't want to have all that pain, especially when you're on the road. As soon as I read your post I opened up my spark people food journal and logged my breakfast! I haven't been logging my food and my weight has been creeping up. I've been eating too many sweets and carbs since I got back from the uk where I practically lived on carbs. Seems like the more I have the more I want! I just read that we should limit our "treats" to one or two different things as a wide variety of treats triggers overeating, even if they are an equal amount of calories.

Marie and Faith - I hope everything is going well for you.

I had some sad news this morning that a member of one of our chapters of the ladies group I belong to has passed away from cancer after only being diagnosed 4 months ago. She was a lovely lady full of life who often dressed in red and purple as she was a Red Hats member. Also, the president of our group in Southern California and her DH had to flee their house with just two photo albums and a few valuables and watched from a ridge as the flames approached. She still doesn't know if their house is gone. What a terrible tragedy. We lived in SoCal for 15 years and have some very good friends there and haven't heard from some of them yet.

Hi everyone, work is as busy as usual so I haven't had a moment to post as the evenings have been just as busy.

Food.... I'm a glutton. Enough said, I must get back on track. I wish I didn't love to eat so much. I'm guessing I have company on that one.

Exercise.... Doing great. I've been doing yoga nearly nightly and have walked every morning. I wish I enjoyed hunger as much as I enjoy exercising - I'd be skinny.

Penny, I'm very sorry about your friend. Cancer is so ugly. The SoCal fires - I'm so thankful my son is no longer in San Diego.

Judy, I'm glad you're feeling better. I'm sorry about your Indians. I thought of you when the Sox won.

Carol, good luck with the surgeon and DH's appointments. Doesn't sound like a fun time of year to go through that. But probably no time is.

Juls, Penny was wonderful and made me some orange blossom soaps. I'm her greatest fan. I LOVE my soap. The scent is my fondest from visiting my gradparents (they lived in Florida with several orange trees) when I was young. I think of them often (when ever I shower).

Faith, I need to get where you are and write down no matter what I've eaten. If I write I stay on track so if I want to cheat I just don't. I need to get past that hump so that I just write it down no matter what.

Back to work.
Marie

Hello you lovely ladies, Penny I,m so sorry to hear about your friend I think somewhere along the line cancer touches everyones life it sucks, I hope your friend,s house was OK bush fires are terrible they destroy so much here downunder and a lot of them are delibrately lit, I have seen the news and the fires over there are horrific, it really makes me dread summer coming. Anyway on a happier note thank,s for the tip regarding the soap we don,t have much in the way of craft shop,s where I am but I,m going to Sydney in the next couple of weeks to visit my kids and grandkids so I,ll gather supplies while I,m there I want to try some little guest soaps do you think plastic choccy moulds would be OK.

Marie the orange soap sounds lovely, you are so lucky to be near enough to Penny to be able to get them and it is so nice they remind you of happy times at your grandparents, you are all such lovely ladies I get sad sometimes that I,m so far away I have met some really nice friendly people at 3fc. Don,t be to hard on yourself just get back on track, tomorrow is another day Scarlet maybe we should get back to writing down our daily intake here like we used to way back, just a thought I don,t have many of them these days unless its about FOOOOOOD .

Hey Carol, Judy, Faith I hope your all well
Well I,m of to a good start had a healthy brekki WW muesli and planning on tuna salad for lunch maybe chicken and veggies for dinner with fruit in between for snacks.
Take care bye for now ...JULS

Okay, so now I want to make soaps, too! Or at least just have them...I made myself stop buying bars of luscious fragrant soap, I have quite a collection for a single person.

I'm back home, hooray. All in all, San Antonio was great, I spent most of my time meeting with really cool people and/or eating excellent authentic Mexican food, not the greasy, cheesy Tex-Mex shlock that passes for the real thing in most parts of the country.

I finally, finally saw a podiatrist this afternoon. She thinks I have a stress fracture, gout () or some weird inflamed sac or something. But she made up some special pads for me to wear, gave me a scrip for a different anti-inflammatory med, and will ponder my inconclusive xray to decide if I need an MRI. I hope to stop hobbling one day soon!

My frig is nearly empty. I planned to stop at the grocery on the way home, but it's raining cats and dogs so I'll wait until Saturday. I'll be home for almost two weeks, so I want to stock up on greenery and make some soups and stews.


Penny, I hope your friends in CA are okay. I heard that they're suspecting arson. Can you imagine? What's wrong with people, anyway? I was sorry to hear about your friend. She sounds like she was a lot of fun to be around.

Juls, thanks for reminding us that the Daily Check-In used to focus more on what we ate that day. I guess we got so interested in everything else, that part fell by the wayside! Today I had oatmeal and smoked tofu for late b'fast, a pickle and some almonds for a snack (not at the same time), a SB pork and green beans for a late lunch and more almonds and chai tea. Im honestly thinking of moving toward some cheating version of vegetarianism over the winter. Now that I've found tofu I can eat without gagging, and I've read so much scary stuff about meat. I won't give up fish and dairy, though, so I'd better stop reading so much .

Marie, step away from the refrigerator! You can do it! Think of how sleek you want to look in all those holiday photos in just a few months.

Okay, time to brave the rain. We need it here, but not all at once!

judy

Well girls yesterday the surgoen said this needs to be done ASAP. So were scheduled for 11/5 and pretesting etc. on 10/30. Lots faster than we had thought. But its best to get it done and move on with life. Its got to be done so no sense putting it off and him having a heart attack etc. The risk is too big to extend the time. His valve needs replacing and it suppose to be a 4.6cm and its currently 0.6 so not so good. We both felt as comfortable as one can with the surgoen he is very down to earth etc. Gave us his email address phone #'s etc. and said no matter what he will answer or respond in a timely manner. So I guess I will be taking some time off and it won't be stress free by any means. The surgery is on the last day the coworker is there at the office so I will miss her good bye day. Oh gee! What timing huh? She is now trying to talk one more girl into going to that company. I think they are trying to create their own little company I guess. Oh well guess its like running your own controlled boot camp! Making the rules as one sees fit etc... I am glad I am where I am if their all there etc....
The exercise has been better for me lately. One day water exercise and then another day walking around the lake for 3 miles. On sunday I will go to the gym when it was nice out the outside was more inviting due to the fact we know the white stuff is around the corner and that time is limited.

My food choices haven't been to bad. I actually went out to dinner yesterday , cobb salad shared and then a one 1/2 portabella mushroom sandwich on multgr. roll. Much better than some other times. I also purchased some fiber one bars and they are only 130 cals and a great source of fiber intake taste well too.
Breakfast 2 eggs, toast dry rye, one thin slice of ham, coffee
Lunch: banana, polish sausage only 4 little slices in sauce, sm. piece of pumpkin cake took off the frosting.
Snack time: 1 fiber bar.
Dinner: sandwich on high fiber gr. bread ,roast beef, onion and some horseradish, mustard, one sm. glass of wine and a tea, frozen plain raspberries 1/2 cup. Lack of veggies today I will add more on saturday.

Penny sorry for your friend and you. Life is so short and sometimes we all need to live each day to its fullest.
Thanks everyone for your support on this site. Your a great bunch.

Take care and have a super weekend.

G,day lovely ladies, Hey Penny and Carol it looks like you have created monsters with your beautiful soaps. I know what you mean Judy about collecting heavenly scented soaps I,m the same and some of them are just to pretty to use. You sound happy to be home, good you finally got to that podiatrist hopefully the new meds and pads will help, the rain your getting sounds good it is funny though your talking about winter food and I,m looking for nice healthy salads . I know we all got side tracked with other things like becoming good friends along the way but maybe if we get all the important stuff said and just as an after thought put down our intake of food for the day it might help us all stay focused .

Carol my thoughts and prayers are with you and your DH as always, I know it is a stressful time but at least it will be done and he will start to feel heaps better and be able to enjoy the festive season with it all out of the way. OOOOH and what a shame you aren,t going to be around when that lady leaves I bet you,ll be just heart broken it is good to see you are doing well with your exercise when I come here and see all you guys are exercising it motivates me and I do a couple of miles on my stationary bike, I am making the most of it at the moment I,m not in so much pain the injections seem to have helped and as long as I don,t do to much to soon I should have some prolonged pain relief . You ladies look like you are doing good with your eating plan, I had a good day, mushrooms on toast for brekki, grapes for snack, egg and a slice of WW bacon on 1 slice of toast for lunch, glass of skim milk and 2 WW cookies for snack, WW lamb wraps with lots of veggies for dinner.
Take care everyone keep up the good work and many, many for always being there.
JULS

hello ladies I'm kinda new here
I'm on the low carb diet and I have lost 10lbs so far
I love it anyway just wanted to say hi

G,day Sarah nice to meet you, YAY and a big congrats on your loss so far keep up the good work I,m doing WW points it is working for me. Take care I,m Juls and I,m from downunder.

Sarah welcome! New people are always welcome and we are always happy to have some company here!
Today I am off to my friends to help her run an estate sale for the morning then off to help my daughter with 18 children for a birthday party. Wow thought those days were gone. I am going to try and fit in a bit of exercise this afternoon either walking around the lake or using the treadmill. I plan on stopping at the gym on sunday. The scale I say has it in for me up a little down a little no real progress there but hey I will keep trying my woosh from the other day found its way back now what the heck is with that? Has anyone ever heard that fish oil is also good to jump start your metabolism? Someone told me that also to try to have hot lemon water cleanses our system? I am willing to try it. Yesterday I purchased some new teas many flavors and am going to try and watch my coffee intake its a bit high. Haven't had any food yet but will add it in later.
Judy glad your back home must seem nice to have your own bed. That part of traveling I have never liked not having mine.
Penny was the orchid in the soap silk the other days ideas your friend had?
Juls thanks for reminding us to add our foods here we trailed off a bit.
Marie your right about food we all tend to love it just too much of it for me. Also need to add more veggies in on a daily basis and some more dairy. I have a doctors appt coming up I have to cancel til the following week due to hubbys issues. I am kind of glad to cancel as my wt. needs to get down a bit.
Does anyone know I switched from being on Tricor for trig. and chol. and went to natural stuff could that of made any difference in my metabolism rate? Just a thought cause this is a high for me and I hate it. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go back on the meds?

Marie - I know what you mean about wishing you loved exercise as much as food! That would be great if I craved exercise! Sounds like you are enjoying your yoga workout. I need to get back into doing it again.

Juls - I remember the forest fires when we lived in Sydney - very scary with the skyline all red. Yes, chocolate molds do work well for small guest soaps. If you chill them well in the fridge they should pop out easily.

Judy - I love San Antonio. We had a nice vacation there with our son (also went to Corpus Christi). You sure get around! I hope you doctor soon finds a way to help your foot problem. Good idea to cut back on meat. Some of the meat substitutes are quite tasty these days.

Carol - It's probably a good thing they can schedule your DH for surgery so quickly as you'll have less time to stress about it. I know several people who have had bypass surgery and they got more energy after they recovered. I hope you soon get your "whoosh". My friend did use a silk orchid (about 1-1/2" across) that she cut from a spray she bought at the crafts store. She cut it to leave a small "stem" to poke into the first layer of soap when it had set up. My DH and I have been taking fish oil (2 grams per day) and also Resveratrol (the stuff in red wine) to lower cholesterol and it has worked for us. I don't know if fish oil makes your metabolism faster - it doesn't seem to have had that effect on me.

Sarah - I wish you every success on your low carb program. You're doing great so far!

It's a beautiful sunny day here so we need to get out and do some fall yard cleanup. Our friends didn't lose their homes in the fires in CA, thank goodness. I feel bad for all those people who lost everything. It kind of made us think about being prepared for disasters, like having vital info and backups from our computers handy. We've given our emergency contact info to some friends as we don't have any family here (except our son in Idaho).

Happy weekend everyone. Things are going very nicely. So far I haven't exercised as it's gorgeous here (as Penny mentioned) and I'm taking the doggies out in the afternoon for a warm walk since it's been about 30 most mornings. I'll be doing yoga later as well.

Food has still been so-so. I'm not motivated but I am making some decent choices. I think I need to just wade through the non-motivated part and then I'll be ok when I get motivated. If I don't gain, I'm just fine with staying where I am.

Judy, I hope your podiatrist figures it out. I adore my podiatrist. I wish he was a family dr. as he'd be the one I'd choose.

Sarah, welcome, I hope you find your way back here regularly.

Juls, good luck with the soaps. You have experts on this board for advice. Between Penny and Carol, you should be set.

Carol, I'm glad you'll miss the witch's going away party. There is a silver lining in the surgery schedule.

Penny, I'd go out and do yard work but I get so little me time, I'm going to play in my craftroom other than the doggie walk. I do think I'll have my daily mocha iced this afternoon and sit out by my chilly pool (certainly not in it).

Well, I'm going to cut out another skirt. This time I'm making a brown jeans skirt. It'll go great with my multicolor brown sweater. And I bought brown tights so I just need to make the skirt.

TTYL.
Marie

Hey Carol, Penny and Marie, Carol I hope you had fun with all those kids, no those days never stop but at least this time you get to go home to some peace and quiet. Your walks always sound so nice I would love to have a lake to walk around, don,t worry about the scales we all have ups and downs, I take fish oil caps for my joints and I have heard that chilli and cayenne pepper are good for increasing your metabolism, I like sweet chilli sauce so I eat it alot. What flavours did you get in your teas I,ve been drinking alot of peppermint lately it is good for your digestion.
Penny I remember those fires too a red sky from a beautiful sunset is lovely to see but a red sky that is because of bushfires is sad so many animals and people suffer and the sad thing is a lot of those fires were delibrately lit, I,m going to get some Chrissy moulds and give this soap thing a try thanks for the tip about chilling them.
Marie enjoy your walk and try not to get a cold butt sitting by the pool with you iced mocha LOL, I,m going to give the soaps a try I enjoy new things and your right I think Carol and Penny will be great help. Your skirt sounds cool the whole outfit sounds good it,s funny though you guys are looking for warm clothes and here downunder we are starting to strip off LOL. Well I came here for motivation, fighting cravings and temptation today I recieved my motivation and the cravings are gone THANK YOU for being there.. Take care..

JULS

Juls, excellent job on getting rid of the cravings. To be honest, I wish we were getting ready for summer. But then, I love to ski and my season pass is just waiting to be used.

Yesterday, DH suggested we take the doggies to Topsy - a remote, 4 wheel driving place - by the Klamath River. It's about 20 miles from our house but takes an hour to get there. So we did and the doggies ran free (waded into the river which is too funny since Kody's terrified of the pool). We hiked for about 5-6 miles. My feet are so sore but it was so gorgeous out and the river was so peaceful. The leaves were past their prime but they were so pretty. There's nothing like swishing your feet through fall leaves. For some reason the river has oaks growing there - here it's only pine trees so no swishing. I hadn't swished my feet through fall leaves since we moved away from Minnesota. It was a great day. I only got the skirt cut out as we played all afternoon. Today I will sew while watching football and Nascar.

Food was good yesterday as we never remember to bring a snack to Topsy. I always leave starved. Now I'm going to go peruse Apple laptops again. I'm thinking it's my next walking goal as the stove is nearly paid off.
Marie

Girls I have had a pretty good weekend so sorry its almost over. Helped with the party for the grandson yesterday. 18 KIDS wOW!
Hopefully the surgery will help with his energy and circulation issues that would be super. He seems to have a good attitude which totally surprises me with this. We will go for pretesting etc. tues. The last day of my dearest co worker leaving so sad I will miss this exit. She said to me the other day oh I was so hoping you would be here. I thought I bet you were! To rub in yah have a new job well know thank you I say. My other co worker and I are a bit stressed the girl who left and the one leaving are encouraging our girl in our office to apply there also. She is so nice they are just trying to make their own groupies in the new office I guess choose whom they'd like to work with how high school I say! Good bye to all of them and don't let that door hit your behind on the way out.
On the health front I have had a pretty good weekend. Food wise my worse choice was most likely some tortilla chips lime which I dipped in a little horseradish cheese spread. I exercised today at the gym yes me on a sunday!! Oh it was so nice top of the line equipment and the ladies locker room is lovely. I actually was sweating with it dripping at my temps. So guess thats a positive thing. Had worked out appox. 1 hr. and on the treadmill alone it said I burned 400 cals I had the incline way up there and that helped. The equipment is so much nicer than what I had at the other place. I did the bike so nice to have a fan on it wow that was good . Then did some exerises on the ball and machines. I felt great. I am going again on monday as tues is a bit messed up with the hubbies testing etc. don't want to drive back to the city later on. I am encouraging another friend to join my best friend that is. We are so much a like together this could be a great journey! I will start with a free pass for a visit this week.
Marie the food front is never so easy for us I agree wouldn't it be great if we loved exercise as much,. Should be a bumper sticker Love Exercise As One Loves Food!!! Hah hah!
Bought my stuff to start soap that is wed. nights project. Also picked up a pattern to sew the grandgirls some nightgowns for christmas they requested them. Its been a couple of years didn't know they cared about them so much.
Breakfast: 2 eggs, canadian bacon and one wwtoast coffee
Lunch: banana, salad with a little chicken in it, cheese and tortilla chips, one ravalio with sauce
Dinner: pork chop, few potatoe slices with onion, harvest beets, green beans and a little apple/pear sauce.
Exercise: 1 hr.
Good night all

Hey ladies, hope your all well, Marie I haven,t been skiing I haven,t really seen snow just a few flakes up in the mountains along time ago. Your day by the river sounded lovely and boy you sure got a work out by the sound of things good luck with your sewing.
Carol I bet she was hoping you would be there but sarcasm is the lowest form of wit she is probably just as glad to go as your glad to see the back of her . I have had a good day stuck to my points and I,m feeling pretty darn good. Take care catch you all later.

JULIE