Hello everyone,
I had a great workout lastnight, finally feeling back to myself after the flu. Took the kids sledding this morning and had a blast.
I have read everyones post but don't have to much time right now to comment on all. Will get to that little later.
Have a great day everyone...

Good Morning

Up early again today, so enjoying a cup of coffee and catching up on posts. Always lots of good information to read !!

Anyone have any big plans for today? I have my fitness assessment and it is date night. Not sure what date night will entail as it is hubby's night to plan.

Soon2beslim, glad that you are feeling better. I am not much of a snow lover, but sledding sounds like fun !!

Well, I'm off to read some more. Have a great Saturday

Hi y'all....been doing domestic stuff this morning. Just having a cup of hot green tea and chilling out.

We're meeting some friends later for drinks. Tomorrow will be more domestic stuff like cleaning out closets, etc. Woohoo!! NOT!

See y'all later!

Not much time to post today, but I hope Everyone's doing well. Day 4 went great. I treated myself to Sashimi for dinner, and was worried about the soy sauce making me swell up.. but when i stepped on the scale this morning...

I'VE LOST WEIGHT!! I'M ONLY 6 LBS AWAY FROM 2-TERVILLE!!! WAAAHOOOOO!

Have a great weekend ladies!!

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy McMoooooo!!!!!!!! Way to go!!!

Afternoon everyone... its a lazy Saturday around here (though I should be doing lots of things). Day 5 is going well so far. Just trying to be careful since I'm home all day. Had a good, on-plan breakfast, so I'm proud.

No real plans for the day other than to cook some meals for this coming week. I had some things prepared in advance last week and that really helped give me some options instead of standing in the pantry looking for something to cook (and probably pick the wrong things).

Have a great one everyone..........

Woohoo McMoo!!

Have fun going out tonight, Jen!

Soon2beslim, glad to hear you're feeling better.

I somehow managed a loss as well. The last time I stepped on the scale, it said 321.5, but htis morning, it said 318.5. I'll take it. I think the loss come primarily from having just gotten over my TOM, but I won't argue

No big plans for us. We tried to go out and buy an artificial Christmas tree on clearance, but Target, Walmart, Lowes, and HOme Depot are all already sold out. I had seen some at the Target in Md when we went to stay with Jeff's cousins, but we couldn't get it at that time because it would fit in our car (with the puppies, 2 puppy crates, a full suitcase, and Christmas gifts--our next vehicles will have to be bigger than Civics!).

I did pick up some paint swatches, though, and I think I've decided on a color for my living room. The next week is supposed to be pretty warm here (mid 50s to low 60s), so it seems like a good time to paint as I might be able to keep the windows open for a couple hours in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, I plan to go grocery shopping and stock up on everything I'll need for a successful week.

OH, and I know some people on 3F have mentioned what a great workout the Nintendo Wii can be. We have a Wii, but the novelty has worn off a bit (we've had it since the spring), but we also have an Xbox 360, and Jeff just bought the game Rock Band for that. We played it today, and I played the drums--talk about an upper arm workout! What fun--I really enjoy the more active video games. Jeff likes regular video games, but for those, I just sit and watch him play.

Hey everyone.... hope your day has been great so far. I had to jump online and share my joy with you. Remember how worried I was about weekend eating, right?

Well..... I decided to have breakfast this morning with my kids. We usually do a larger breakfast since we don't get to eat really good breakfasts during the week. I think I waited longer than I should have this morning simply out of fear... lol I modified my meal, but enjoyed a high point breakfast this morning. It was about 13 points total. I know.... not so good. The good part is that I was satisfied and full and that kept me out of the kitchen the rest of the day. By the time I realized that I was hungry, it was time to start cooking dinner. Now, here is where it gets good....

I decided to make Chicken Cacciatore. I served it with spaghetti and a little parm on top. Corn on the cob on the side. It was good and since I had only used 15 points all day long, I allowed myself to have seconds. I went upstairs to enter the recipe into the tracker on WW online to see just how many points that was and wouldn't you know that 1 serving of my recipe was only 3 points? I was so shocked yet very happy to know that I could modify one of my favorites and enjoy it! If anyone wants the recipe, I'll be glad to share it. My kids thought it was wonderful, plus it made a total of 8 servings which was enough for all of us to thoroughly enjoy it and leave a little for lunch on Monday. Now I'm stuffed and I still have to use 14 points today... smh... I love WW!

Sorry so long... I guess I was excited. How are all of you surviving the weekend?

Hi guys!! I'm back from Sedona and I wish you all much more success on trips, eating and exercise than I had! But it is done and that is life and life moves on.

Congrats on all the wonderful losses this week. Yea, McMoo!!! Can't wait to celebrate your next milestone with you!


Luvz2teach,
I am very interested in your recipe. Sounds yummy. Way to make those lifestyle changes!

Luvz2Teach--great job modifying your recipe! So many people start a weight loss plan and think they can no longer eat their favorite foods, but in most cases, those same foods can just be adjusted a bit either portion- or ingredient-wise to fit into their plan. Hurray for being able to lose weight while eating yummy foods!

midwife--glad you're back! And glad you've got the attitiude of just moving on and putting it behind you rather than harping on it, feeling guilty, trying to starve yourself to make up for it...I've been reading some other sections of this board and some other boards recently, and people try to do the craziest things to "make up" for a bad trip/day/meal/week/whatever. Drives me insane!

As for me, I'm waiting for Jeff to get out of the shower, and then we're going to go to Subway for some lunch (love Subway as a quick, plan-friendly option) and then hit the grocery store to stock up for the week. I'm hoping to clean up my kitchen some when we get back and maybe start preparing meals for during the week. I REALLY need to get back into the habit of cooking dinner at HOME instead of eating out every night. My wallet will appreciate the change as well. I can't even imagine how much more disposable income we would have to spend on things like home improvements if we could just stop eating out all the time (we just moved into our first owned home together in August, so lots of things we'd like to do to make it our own!).

Hello! I've only had an opportunity to quickly scan everyone's posts but it sounds like everyone is right on track! That's awesome and very motivating. I have decided to weigh in tomorrow, the first weigh-in since I've committed to losing weight again. I'm a little nervous. I've hade an terrific week although I could have exercised more than I did. I exercised but didn't bust my rear end the way I should have! So, I'm not worried about how well I've done but that my eating behaviors from before I got back on the weight loss bandwagon might just now register on the scale. But, that's what I have to remind myself off....This past week and a half may actually just balance the scales for me, not tip them in the right direction. That will be okay because I KNOW next week will give me a more realistic idea of where I am weight-wise. In the meantime, I FEEL so much better. More energy, less bloat, and a better mood. I can't complain with results like that!

Jilly - we have a Wii too and I love the thing. We got DDR not too long ago and, although I'm not very good at it yet it still makes for a fun workout...ceratinly better than a game that allows me to sit on the couch! Also, I got Guitar Hero 3 for Christmast and we love, love, love it. We'd never played before...it doesn't get my heart rate up but it certainly isn't a sedentary game either (especially if you don't mind playing it like a spazz, which I'm told by my children that I do!).

I'm going to be in the kitchen all afternoon today trying to get as many meals as possible prepped and packed. The kids go back to school tomorrow and I know that if I don't give myself a headstart with my own lunches and healthy dinners for the family that it will be MY progress that suffers. Last week was easy since we didn't have to worry about their busy morning routine but starting tomorrow the chaos begins again!

Hi, Gang

Hope everyone is doing well. Just having a relaxing day, although I have already been out and picked up groceries and started on the laundry.

Jen - hope you had a good night out with friends. Hubby and I went and saw 'Charlie Wilson's War' and then we went for dinner.. a nice evening, I hope yours was the same.

McMoo - looking forward to a twoterville celebration !!!

Luvs2 - sounds like you have a great OP day..good for you ! Your dinner sounds yummy.

Midwife- welcome back, hope you had a good trip.

Jilly - we have a wii and I love it. Over the holidays we had many bowling tournaments. We also have DDR, which I love and is a great cardio workout. Hope the grocery shopping went well and that your cupboards are all stocked up!

Lucky - good for you for prepping your meals for the day. I don't think I could spend that much time in the kitchen - what am I saying, I hardly spend any time in the kitchen - DH does most of the cooking in our house

Well I best go finish up the laundry and I have some ironing to do... CIAO

Oh, that would be my dream come true! I hate cooking, but Jeff doesn't know how to cook anything beyond a frozen pizza in the oven or a Hot Pocket in the microwave

Right now, I'm waiting for water to boil on the stove to cook up some whole wheat lasagna noodles. I'll make a pan of lasagna with some reduced fat cheese, and that'll hold us over for dinner and lunches for a few days.

I got lots of good stuff at the grocery store today. I bought things to make wraps for lunches, some instant whole grain rice side dishes, some frozen vegetables for side dishes, some apples and bananas, some 99% fat free thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets...I was also able to find something for my girlfriend at work. She found out recently that she is pregnant (hurray for her, as they've been trying for months), and she's been craving some sliced peaches, but she's a health nut and couldn't find any that weren't packed in syrup. I found some that were packed in pear juice, so I got her a couple cans of those. I checked the ingredients--only peaches, pear juice concentrate, and ascorbic acid. I picked up some canned fruit for myself, too (also only packed in juice).

I'm going to plan some dinners for the week. Hope no one minds if I jot them down here:

• Monday - leftover lasagna
• Tuesday - chicken breast tenderloins w/bbq sauce and thin-sliced Swiss cheese, side of broccoli w/cheese
• Wednesday - turkey keilbasa and low-fat mini pierogies
• Thursday - turkey burgers on whole wheat buns
• Friday - chicken breast marinated in sesame ginger marinade, side of organic chicken and veggie pot stickers

Hey gang! Hope everyone had a restful Sunday and are all ready for a great start to the work week tomorrow. I had another modified, yet OP day today. I'm so glad that I didn't blow it this weekend, because I was would have been pretty disappointed. At any rate, I spent yesterday on the island - Lazy Island, that is - and I spent today in the city - Housework City. LOL (My mom and I came up with those crazy names...) The housework has certainly been good to keep my activity level high and metabolism going.

I've done a little prep cooking for the week.... made some chicken and rice soup for lunch for a few days. Will probably make some spaghetti sauce to go with some whole wheat rotini for later in the week. Might even do a little chicken and broccoli stir fry too.

Midwife (and anyone else who is interested), here is my recipe for the Chicken Cacciatore.

3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts - trimmed and cut into chunks or strips
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of mushrooms or 1 cup of fresh ones, sliced
1/2 cup each of onions, bell pepper, celery - all chopped
1/4 cup chopped scallions
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
Dried Italian seasonings (use whatever you have in your pantry and season to taste)
Salt & Pepper (season to taste)
1 tbsp of olive oil

Heat oil in non-stick skillet to medium high. Add in chicken and saute until cooked through. Add in onions, peppers, celery, and garlic. Saute until veggies begin to cook through. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, mushrooms, and dried seasonings. Stir in, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes on medium-to-low heat. (If sauce is too thick for you, add no more than 1/4 cup of water to thin it out. But the tomatoes will probably do that on their own) Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over pasta of your choice. Makes about 8 servings - Enough for everyone to enjoy and for you to have some left over for lunch!

I calculated the WW points to be 3 points per serving, including the pasta. I used about 8 oz of regular vermicelli cooked al dente' and that made more than enough for us.

If you try it, let me know how it comes out! It was really easy to make and very good.

I'm really sick and I'm really sleepy and hopped up on medicine... I think my workout will take a blow so I think I might have super strict on my diet... Thank GOD for lean cuisine paninis.