Morning ladies, thanks for all the congrats I,m getting there slowly but surely.
Carol my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family as always, it is great that you have the top surgeon that must put your mind to rest a bit, so ding dong the witch is gone YAY for you. Your food intake for yesterday didn,t look to bad and as far as the scales are concerned you have enough on your plate at the moment so don,t stress it, just keep up with your exercise that will help eleviate the stress as well as make you feel good. I try to get my fibre in from eating apples which I can,t get enough of I like my veggies and fruit so my fibre intake is never a problem, I,m lucky my hubby doesn,t mind fish but when he is the mood for something else and I want fish I just cook up a ready fish meal like fish in parsley sauce they come in little frozen pouches so they are very handy.

Hey Judy, I love my chicken to but if eating to much of it hinders my arthritis I guess I can make the sacrifice and switch to fish a couple of times aweek also better for the calorie intake LOL, good girl for remembering to pull off the skin but that,s the best part I always feel sad when I do that OH HUM the things we do to stay beautiful. Your costume sounds delightful not scary, and as you say you have 2mths to get under your goal of 220 it is achievable so don,t sweat the small stuff life is to short so enjoy it.

Hi Marie, hey the grimm reaper huh does sound funny also ironic,I can just picture it you standing there looking like death himself and then having to drop the axe or syth in that case, what a shame where you work they aren,t into the costume thing and candy isn,t completely naughty as long as it is sugar free "chuckle". It,s weird I,m not that fussed on pork either other than ham and bacon but I,m not into pork chops or steak and other cut,s my hubby said that if I like bacon and ham then I should like all pork but I don,t like I said I,m weird LOL.

Penny the cake stand,s sound so lovely I,m going to give it ago and the Italian traditional Chrissy cake Yummm I can just see it sitting there saying eat me so I don,t blame the girl,s for scoffing it down, I love Italian desserts I think my fav would be tiramusu so rich and heavenly OHHH DROOL.

Well I,m off to another good start, 2 slices raisin toast and coffee for brekki and the rest of the day I,ll post later, Take care everyone, bye for now..... JULS

Thanks for everyones kind words and wisdom as always I love this site. Today I made some oatmeal and took it to work had half for today and saved half for thurs. Ate a toasted bagel with a little cc on it. Then for lunch a 6inch veggies sub at sub way. A little clark bar snack size and a little peanut pay day later on. Made BLT for dinner and had about 10 mm's afterwards. One fiber bar on the way home from work. Not too bad for halloween usually I would of had more. So guess I am doing okay not great but okay. At least not having huge amts., pretty much healthy choices oh bacon well drained well and tomatoe and lettuce. The office was a bit crazy I think our other girl is going to accept the job with the others its more money etc. I felt bad for her so torn of what to do. I said yah have to do what you feel is right for you and thats how it is. For me staying was right and i haven't regretted it yet but that is me. So time will tell but I have to much to do to worry about that now. My own work is busy busy and then time off too oh gee! Going to work from home part of the time the hubby is off and that is through the family leave act.
Sounds like you are all into halloween I love it too but no kids around my house and I already saw the grandkids dressed up saturday. So I made homemade soaps for christmas gifts with my friend. We did lavender and lime tonight. More to do soon. Well time for beddie by. Night all I get on here instead on nibbling my way through the house. hAH HAH
Judy don't worry you will get back into the wing of things I had to do it to. Wouldn't yah think we would just learn from all the other times to do it right and stop taking a different path we work so hard to take it off but its a learning experience and at least we are trying to make a healthy change. I am with you trying to make a differece and make up for my mistakes along the way. Oh well time will tell and just keep trying we will get this right yet!!!

Hi everyone, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel - weekend is coming!!! YEAH!!!!

DH and I had a great time with DGS, DS1 and almost DIL last night. DGS is just so cute. I've nver been into babies and now that he's a toddler, I'm having a blast. I don't have to force myself to have "fun" anymore. It's natural.

I walked the doggies this am. The 1.5 mile loop was fun, but I'm thinking a bigger loop would be better but I'd have to get up before 5. 5:00 has been hard the last few weeks so I'm thinking I won't do it. I hsould just win the lotto and it wouldn't be a problem.

Food is ok so far today. Better than yesterday. I have tomato zucchini soup for lunch, my .5 oz M&Ms, apple and a corn muffin. The muffin is iffy, but I really like them so I'll indulge the extra 160 cals.

Juls, I'm a cake person. I love icing and the cake. Actually I'm a dessert person. Okay, correct that - I'm a food person.

Must get back to work.
Marie

G,day lovely ladies, I,m with you Marie I always tell my DH I,m on a sea food diet, see food and eat it I,m not into sweets that much I like my WW ice cream but I,m more into savoury snacks chips are my . Your walks sound good I,m stuck to riding my indoor bike my leg is still giving me grief so I find sitting on my butt riding doesn,t put as much strain on my hip and leg. I was thinking wouldn,t it be good if you could just screw off your head and put it on a new body when your sick of the old one, I love to spend time with my DGK,S to I,m into babies, toddlers the whole thing, DH has 3 wks off starting the 10th Nov and we are going down to Sydney to catch up with everyone I can,t wait. Keep your eye on that light it keeps getting brighter today is Friday DH works Saturdays his weekends are Sunday Monday, I look forward to Sunday with WW I get and extra 35 points I can use a week if I choose sometimes I do sometimes I don,t but if we go to the movies or the local club for dinner I can splurge a bit if I,ve been good all week, your soup sounds yummy.
I,ve had a good start.

Brekki, I had 2 slices of fruit toast and coffee. I plan on a salad and yogurt for lunch, a chicken, mushroom cauli and broccoli stir fry in sweet chilli sauce for dinner. and fruit for snacks.
Take care talk to you all later.

Juls I must of really lost it I thought Brekki was a food. Hah hah! Sounds like your doing good on ww. I never really have tried that one only used some of their ideas in the past. How long have you been doing that program? Lots of programs have started to give us one day to induldge a bit. I guess it makes our metabolism kick in a bit better. Guess I should give that a try.
Marie sounds like you had fun with baby bonks. Good for you. That is a great stage and lots of fun watching them explore the world and new things around them. I like my sweets too. To bad cause it sure would make life easier if I hated them. My daughter and her hubby arent into them at all wish I were like that. I would only find something else most likely just as bad for me.
I have been on a roll with trying to exercise so far sun. mon. thurs. and still will fit in some more most likely sat. a.m. at the gym. I still need to use their training sessions as I need to learn how to operate some of the equipment. Its free and I should take advantage of it. My scale says I am back down another .5 but that is still up from before so I have some more to move off this body. I at least feel like I am doing something about it.
Judy hope your doing well and everyone else I might of missed.

Yesterday good breakfast 1 egg, can. bacon slices, 1/2 slice of cheese, 1/2 of a cinn. bagel. No lunch til after 3:30 that kind of knocked me off a bit real busy at work. Then had purchased black bean soup in a bread bowl only ate part of the bread bowl. Later had some naughty sunflower bread that was my down fall and a little cup of onion soup w/out croutons or cheese. One skim cheese stick and a cup of sleep dream tea which works great right before bedtime. I am going to have the other 1/2 of bagel for breakfast this a.m. and some of the bacon its on 60 cals its what we call canidian bacon real lean and one egg. Lunch is made a salad from yesterday already at work and I have some white tuna to add and a fiber bar for afternoon snack 9 grm of fiber. Think seafood is in order for dinner this evening. Take care.

Morning everyone!!! My favorite day of the week has ARRIVED!!!! It's Friday!!!

I walked in the dark, cold air this morning with the doggies. It was 28 out. Brrr. The stars and moon were gorgeous. I got a tad earlier and could have walked the extra .5 today but didn't. I did the bills instead and now I can yoga after work and before DS1, DGS, and almost DIL come over. If I didn't do the bills before work, I would have had to after work.

DS2 and I did yoga together last night. It's pretty interesting that he's doing it with me. Kodiak got into it too as he stood over DS2 and licked his face. Then he started crowding me. By the end, he had 1/3 of my mat and I was doing some of the poses on the bare floor. Donkey dog. Boy do I love him. He's such a character.

Food is still just so-so but I'm ok with that for now. I'm really thinking of keeping up traing to be halfway in control and go full tilt after the holidays. My goal is not to gain. So if I do that, I believe I will be happy. I really don't want to seriously diet during the holidays. Just be under control. I think I can do that.

Hey, I got the grant I submitted two weeks ago. YEAH!!! It's unfortunate on the side that I'm getting to be the person to see about grants (I'm a tech person for goodness sakes) but it's good on this one as it helps the tech dept budget. But other ones are coming my way. That I don't like. Probably the reason is my grammar is impecabile for professional documents. I correct principals, teachers, etc. And I don't back down when they say it's OK. I say no, proper grammar is proper grammar. And then my grants get approved. Maybe I shouldn't open my mouth. That includes too much food. I guess my mouth is just open too much.

Take care.
Marie

Hi all, just a quick link to an interesting article about menopausal women losing weight about bone loss. Talks about hips and the such. Take a look.
Marie

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071102/...VXXSMP68gE1vAI

Just a quickie for me today as I'm getting ready for our Guy Fawkes party tomorrow - we're expecting 50-60 guests and from past experience they all try to squeeze into the kitchen to be near the booze and food! My DH is building a big bonfire and we have fireworks we saved from July 4th. The kids will build the "Guy" efigy. This is probably the first year that no rain is forecast so it should be fun.

I hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

I'll catch up with you later.

Good morning ladies it is a beautiful Saturday morning here downunder it rained most of the night and it looks like we are in for some more today YAY we sure need it.

Carol I guess we all have our own lingo but sometimes aussie slang can be a bit out there WW is working for me I,m on the Flex or points plan I can eat whatever I want even choccy,s as long as I stay within my point range, it isn,t a diet really more of a lifestyle change cutting out all the bad habits. I was on it from Feb last year to July and got to goal then I went away to work and was missing DH so I went back to my old ways of comfort eating and put it all back on and it bought along 10 more friends, so I started again about 4wks ago and so far I,m down 6lbs so slow but steady it is coming off. You sound like your doing well with your food intake good luck with the gym equipment I hope your coping with stress and remembering to get some quality you time in when you can.

Marie, I,m with you as long as I don,t put any weight on in the holiday season I,ll be happy but I,m not going to sweat it, we don,t have Halloween or rather I don,t celebrate it or Guy Fawkes or Thanks Giving so you guys have more temptations than I do to try and stay on track, I don,t think I would be to good with something like 2 chrissy,s to much Yummy food :rolleyes :just thinking about it I,m sure I,ve gain 2lb Oh my God I,m hopeless . I think it is great that your DS2 does Yoga with you and Kodiak too I can just picture it, the simple things in life make it all worthwhile. Good on you for getting that grant you work so hard and your good at what you do that,s why they get you to do it you girl and they know it, don,t keep your mouth shut just stay the way you are I like you that way but just watch what goes in to your mouth as far as food goes try and keep it healthy . Oh thanks for the info on menopause very interesting I,m not on HRT I,ve been reading a book by Vernice Gabriel it tells you the foods to eat and the ones you should avoid for hot flushes and night sweats also what to eat to keep you looking young but I don,t think they are working I,m still getting wrinkles.

Penny have fun with your party all those people have a great weekend.

I,ve started out good, breakfast, an egg and mushrooms on 1 slice of toast, lunch, tuna salad, dinner, fish in cracked black pepper with WW,s fries and lots of veggies, snacks, fruit and yogurt.

Take care Hi Judy and Faith, bye for now all of you have a great weekend I,ll catch up with you later....Juls

Wow, juls, I like your present to yourself for Christmas. Perhaps I might join you and re-think my not gaining during this season and actually go for losing. A present to myself. Wow, I really, really like that.

I'm sitting in front of my fire doing work. but then it's done for the weekend. My new laptop should be here on Tuesday so I think what I'll do is get iTunes on DH's computer all set up for him and his new ipod (Christmas present) and put all my music on the USB hard drive so I can get it set up on my new computer quickly. Anyway, the fire is comforting and warm. In a bit, I'll do yoga and when the sun comes up I'll take the doggies out for their walk. A long one today. Maybe the whole 3 miler.

Juls, congrats on the 6 pounds. You're becoming an inspiration. Go chickie go.

Penny, enjoy your party. Sounds like a blast.

Carol, I hope things are going well wtih DH and your family. Have you enjoyed the time with you the evil ex-coworker??? I know I'm very please the guy in our office has left. Incompetent, definitely. Life is easier short-handed instead of fixing his screw ups.

Judy, how are you doing??? I thought you'd be by since you're home. Right, aren't you home for a bit? Your schedule is too confusing.

Well, back to work and the fire needs another log.
Marie

Hi, I'm back. Our two-day meeting was exhausting but productive. I think we'll be contracting with my new boss early next week. If that goes well, she'll start the first of the year, Yippee!!!! The board or directors was very appreciative of how hard I've had to work this year, but I told them that it's not over. Much of next year will be transition, also, as a new ED takes over, and needs to learn everything, meet folks, start fundraising, etc. So I can't take of my extra hats right away, but over the first half of next year....I should be much saner, in any case.

Carol, I hope the hubby is doing well. Thanks for your encouragement. You'd think that after so many years of climbing on the horse and falling off, I'd have figured out how to stay in the saddle. Well, I guess I know how, I just don't do what I need to do and stick with it.

Marie, I can't belive that you wrote "my grammar is impecabile"! I'm home until Wednesday, when I'll be back on the Left Coast for a week.

Penny, the Guy Fawks party sounds like a lot of fun. So many people! I'm haven't had even a small party in a long time. If I stay home for Thanksgiving, I might have a gathering that weekend. If not, maybe a b-day party in December (the Big Five-Oh ).

Juls, I'm glad that WW is working for you! You are really doing great. you sound like you're in a good place mentally, which is probalby helping you stay on track.

Thursday and Friday were long, long days, in the office early for the meetings and then dinner with some of the board members Wednesday and Thursday night. It was great to sleep in a bit this morning and work out. I made an elaborate spinach and lox omlette for b'fast w/half grapefruit on the side, salad with grilled beef for lunch, and almonds for a snack. I'm supposed to be houselcelaning this afternoon, but I had to pay some bills, so once I was online, I began reading email and wanted to check in here...I will weigh myself tomorrow and adjust my tracker accordingly. I really, really dislike posting a bigger number , but maybe it will be a little better than it was earlier this week. Tomorrow I will work at the office for a bit, and continue my Holy Grail search for shoes.

Catch you later--judy

Good morning ladies, Marie your fire sounds warm and cosy I,ve got the fan on here it is quite warm already I,m not fond of the heat I,m more of an Autumn and winter person oh well can,t have everything. My kids asked me what I want for Xmas which they do every year but I always get something I don,t want so this year I thought I would give myself something I do want and need and that,s a little less of me at least I know I,ll get at least one thing I want and need last year my daughter asked what I would like and I said a new pair of sandels so she got me a 2lb box of chocolates, God love her her heart is in the right place she is my second DD and she is also my best friend. What sort of music are you into, my SIL asked me if I would like an MP3 player so I could listen to music when I go for my walks. Enjoy your walk and your Yoga and your fire. Thanks for the congrats and kind words, I,m even surprising myself these days.

Hey Judy, you always sound so busy hope it calms down for you sometime in the new year, thanks WW is working for me I have finally found something that I can stick to, I am in a good place mentally and have let go of alot of stuff that I shouldn,t have on board anyway, I can,t solve everyone elses problems and I shouldn,t be expected to, my DS gave me a pep talk and finally made me realise that my kids are adults now and they need to stand on their own 2 feet if I keep on picking up the pieces for them then they will always ask me to, very wise that DS of mine for 23 don,t know where he gets it from . Your Brekki sounded yummy and your lunch sounded nice and healthy good luck and when you jump on those scales tomorrow I,m sure it will be good .

Hi Penny, Carol and Faith hope your all well and staying on track .

Take care Juls

Morning everyone, things are going ok. I did the 3 mile walk this morning with the doggies. It was weird, someone seems to deliberately try to hit/scare me. I was on the opposite side of the road, at the edge so the doggies could water a bush and a truck drove over to the wrong side of the road, speeding up and came within 3-4 feet. Then they went back to their side of the road. I'm unsure if I should call our community watch or the sheriff. What do you all think. It was very deliberate.

Anyway, the rest of the walk was fine. I came across the lady that made me mad a couple weeks ago so when I saw her, I walked up my next door neighbor's driveway and let her past. I didn't want 2 irritants in one walk. I don't htink I'll yoga today as my back has been a little sore. A day break sounds good.

Juls, don't you sort of wonder about the loved ones giving a dieter chocolate. DS2 gave me dark choc easter bunny (a high end brand) and it's still on my dresser. He's very cute as he's wrapped in gold with a gold ribbon. But I was like, geez, that's the last thing I need. So now he's a dust collector. But like you said, their hearts are in the right place so we just thank them and love them.

Judy, excellent news on the hiring of a new boss. It takes at least a year for a new person to really understand their job, especially if the job has a cycle to it (like mine and education). But perhaps you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel. Let's just hope the new boss isn't a train light... It's always so hard to be sure during the interview process. The manager that just left said of course he "puffed" himself up during the interview - everyone does. Geez, I'd never thought of doing that. If I couldn't do a job, I wouldn't want it. He disagreed except about how he oculdn't do the job but we should have been nicer that he was incompetent.

Today, DGS is bringin DS1 over for football Sunday. I'm excited little boy will be here. It's hard not bringing out his Christmas presents as I want to give them to him already.

I started sewing the skirt yesterday and lost the zipper so I did start the roman shade for my craft room. It has no window covering and my parents will be here in 16 days - staying in that room, so it was a good idea. I'm going to go work on them now and get it over with. Tomorrow I'll buy a new zipper for my skirt. I didn't want to drive into town.

Oh and I saw the most beautiful sunrise/setting this morning on the walk. When I crested the hill, the sun was just below the horizon and the sky was orange. The basin was cloaked in fog and the tops of mountains were crystal clear. So all these lumps were popping out of the fog with the backdrop of an orange sky. It was gorgeous. I pointed it out to the doggies but I'm thinking they didn't care. I wish I'd had a camera.
Marie

Marie - That was a scary experience with the truck. If you had a good look at it and can give a description, it might be an idea to report it. There are some real jerks out there! You are one strong-willed lady to let your easter bunny gather dust! I loved your description of the sunrise - you live in a truly beautiful part of the world.

Juls - I hope you get the sandals for Xmas this year instead of chocolate! Sometimes people mean well but just don't realize what a temptation it is for some of us to over-indulge!

Judy - I'm glad you're enjoying a relaxing weekend. You deserve it after all that hard work. It sounds like you are making some good food choices. I'm in the same boat not wanting to show my higher weight on the tracker (I'm up a pound). I keep hoping it's just water weight, but I think I'm kidding myself! I usually gain over the winter, but this year the "hibernation weight" has piled on early!

Carol - I hope everything is going ok for your DH. I'll be thinking of him next week.

I hope everyone else is doing well.

I survived the party but my willpower didn't hold out very well and I ended up eating waaaay too much. I had really bad indigestion and didn't sleep much, so I guess it was self-inflicted! Today is the first day of the rest of my life, so I'm going to practice more self-control - I need to slap myself upside the head and get back on track pronto!

Everyone had a good time and the weather was great - no rain and not too cold. We've had incredible sunny weather here for the past week or so and it should last at least till next Thursday.

G,day ladies, hope you are all feeling and doing great, OH Marie what an awful thing damn trucks they think they own the road I think you should report it but with out a licence plate I don,t think there is much they can do, I wonder if maybe he dozed off and woke up in time to notice he was on the wrong side of the road, and then the lady that got you a couple of weeks ago boy what a morning I would have a day off do something that relaxes you what a beautiful sunrise you described with only your puppys to share it with but its little things like those that make you glad to be apart of the bigger picture .

Penny, I would love the sandels, but I would really like them to get me a , there is enough of them so if they all put in $50 each and DH puts in the rest they can get me one they have them here for $398, Doc said it be so much better for me the roads here are so uneven and at times when I want to push myself that little bit further I can,t because my hip and leg starts to complain. As far as the choccy goes last year it wasn,t to bad I opened them and had 1 and the kids and grandkids and DH ate the rest I asked DD why she bought them and her reply was she loves her cuddly mum and just wants me to be happy. I,m glad you had a nice party don,t worry to much about the overeating today is a new day winter is when I put on bulk weight to I love my creamy curries.

Carol my thought and prayers are with you and your DH take care.

Judy hope your well.

Faith if your still out there hope your doing OK and staying focused.

Well I,m off going to clock up some miles on the indoor bike, had a good brekki,2 slices raisin toast and coffee see how the rest of the day goes.

TAKE CARE BYE FOR NOW ...JULS