Penny glad you enjoyed that time with the GS. Glad you mentioned it cause it reminded me of a tee ball game for my GS tonight at 6. Gotta go! They love having us there. My GS whom is 12 and I talked on the phone the other day and I told him how proud I was of him then said I love you. He is a bit shy and then some he replied back I love you too grandma. My heart melted.
Marie oh how I know about knee stuff had surgery about 8 yrs. ago. Thank goodness you can still swim and creative in doing it. Hope it is all healed soon. The doggies are most likely wondering about their walks.

Pushed the wrong key! Oh well Judy that ice cream was Friendly's brand bought at the reg. store. I didn't think 140 for cals was to bad. But I will have to limit myself. I hope your scale is friendly on wed.
I feel good in the pants I have on today and yesterday wore a pair that didn't fit a few weeks ago. So I am pleased with some progress shown. But yesterdays stress at work leaned me after my 10 hr. day towards unhealthy menu choice for dinner with a coworker. But yesterday is gone and today is a new start. The boss and everyone else is under stress from some rulings coming down from the funding source. Their trying to look closely for mistakes to regain funds from companies which there is no room for even a little error. Due to this the boss and I had a chat and she has a way of rearranging what you say by a twist and takes things the wrong way then runs with it and there is no turning back to get her to understand what you really were saying. I am not so sure how to deal with it. Guess from now on I will not try to give any input then she can't misunderstand my thought behind it. They say that your opinion is valued but I guess only when its what they want to hear. I know she is understress and that always comes down on everyone its like that every where. But it didn't put me feeling to great. I am trying to shake it off and just do my job no more valuable input from me I will just listen and go off with my thoughts. I worked over trying to catch up with paperwork and a visit. The end of the month is awful this time. I want the start of my new month to get off nicely and so the working late was well worth the effort. Also thurs. I can get out a bit earlier. At the end of my crazy day as nuts as it seems the lady from last week called whom had told me how good of a job I was doing. We chatted about my client and it brought back how nicely she let me know I was appreciated. I needed that and couldn't get over the timing. Some nice things do happen!
Well today as I said is a new day so healthy breakfast again and nice lunch. I am going to make it healthy all the way through thats todays goal. My B day is coming big 54 hope to be a bit lighter weight by then. I need to stop leaning backwards and need to reach forward all the way to reach my goal. Well good luck today in reaching your goal. I set a mini one for me. Thanks for letting me vent I needed it more than I thought.

Hi all, today is the start of a new fiscal year at work and hence the majority of the end of year reports are done. YEAH!!! The big one, the one that the district's main funding is based on, is due in 2 weeks and I have lots of fine tooth checking to do. That's today's and tomorrow's project and then that will be done as well. Then our building is moving (literally aobut 100 feet) and that's become a major hassle. I don't get where the PTB thought moving the technology mothership would be seamless. A description I heard on my audiobook this morning comes to mind - peckerheads. I love that description.

I've resolved to be more in control today. So I'm trying. We shall see if I can get closer to the track and soon jump back on board. Pretty soon I'll have to be buying a whole new warerobe and I won't do that. Plus, ski season will be here soon and I can't be fat and out of shape. The fun would be gone then.

Penny, I was wondering if I could beg you to make me 12 more bars of orange blossom soaps???? Pretty please!!!! Tonight I'll be unwrapping my last one and I'd HATE to run out.

I'm glad the time with your son was wonderful. Adult children are quite a pleasure when they grow and become the person you dreamed they'd become. One out of my two have accomplished that. DS2 has a long way to go. But my firstborn is amazing.

Carol, I go through those periods where I swear my lips are zipped because of what you described. Then someone always screws it up by asking direct question wanting my opinion. Sometimes it's just best to think about who you're talking to and then make your choice of whether to share or not based on past experience. I've said, "Hmm, I don't know. What do you think?" to turn it back on them. It's not like me to shy away from sharing but once burned, twice shy is an appropriate saying.

Judy, you are so right about the knee brace not being svelte. You made me laugh at that. At the moment I'm not svelte in any way. Bloated - definitely.

I swam last night for 3/8 mile. I've perfected the one foot kick with the freestyle. Kody's paw is still injured so I wouldn't be able to take him out yet so I let the other doggies know that it's Kody who has stopped their morning fun. I am evil...
Marie

Carol, your comment about your GS has me thinking about my maternal grandmother. We never lived in the same part of the country, but she was so good with me on the phone, and was religious about birthday cards and thank-you notes. I always felt close to her, and still do, even though I've gone several years at a time without seeing her. Don't let the job stress get you down! I also am in a position where I need to weigh everything I say, and it is exhausting, especially for a major-league talker like me!

Penny, we have thunderstorms, or threats of storms, practically every day. There's a big storm coming in right now, so I will scoot out soon to get home before it hits.

Marie, be careful, now, you don't want to wreck some other body part, overcompensating for your heel and knee!

judy

Carol - I'm glad to hear your pants are feeling looser. That's always a good sign! Office politics can be such a pain. Why oh why do people insist on making life difficult for no reason?? I tend to think of such people as "immature souls". Perhaps when they have learned some tough life's lessons they will come around.

Marie - Congrats on the year end - I'm sure you're glad that's over with. I hope your knee and foot are feeling lots better today. I'll be happy to make you some more soaps. I've ordered some more of the orange blossom essential oil so I'll probably be able to get them done in the next week or so.

Judy - I hope your week is going well so far. Looks like you are in the same boat with Marie and Carol with the office politics nonsense. I hope things get less stressful for you soon.

I was up early doing some yard work before it gets hot. It's been really humid and we have smoke from the brush fires blowing in from eastern Oregon. I'm a bit bloated from the heat and the scale showed 3 lbs. up this morning! I know it's not possibly fat weight as I have been eating on plan. We're getting our new back door stained today and we're also having our front door sanded and spray painted high gloss "antique red". The front door stain had worn off a lot and I heard that red is a good color for a front door in feng shui. It's supposed to bring good fortune and money!! So that would be most welcome!

Hi all, the knee and heel are getting better. I swam 1/2 mile last night and a couple of the laps I actually kicked using both legs but stopped after just a few. I'm not wearing the knee brace as my skin is so irritated that I'd rather walk very carefully and not wear it. Food was pretty good yesterday. Healthy choices for dinner and it was great. Now I just need to make that go through the entire day. So far today is good.

Judy and Carol, I hope that your work day is going smoothly. I have tomorrow and the 4th off so this is a nice short week.

Penny, let me know when you'd like me to send the $$$. I just love my soaps so much! Our air is crappy from the CA fires. I'm to the point I know my asthma won't get better for weeks because the air quality is "poor".

Well, back to work to get five days work worth in three days.
Marie

Hi, ladies! I'm procrastinating....too much to do, no enthusiasm about tackling any of it. I will cheat a bit on my profile, and post Monday's weight of 210.5, although the scale as crept up a bit since. I will be more aggressive the rest of the week about misc daytime snacking, which has been a problem lately. Today I had a protein shake and chicken sausage for b'fast, string cheese for AM snack, a salad w/salmon for lunch, with peanuts and a SB 100-cal bar a bit later. Besides work anxiety, I think the chily air-conditioning is making me "hungry." So I've just put on my sweater, even though it's close to 90 degrees outside .

I overslept this morning, so no workout. My young neighbors have a large, goofy puppy, which seems to be their alarm clock. Every morning, 7 days a week, it starts barking around 5:30 or so, and keeps yapping and howling until they take him for a walk, I guess. We share a bedroom wall, and I can't tell you how aggravating this is for me, particularly on the weekends. I actually banged angrily on the wall this morning, but I should be a nice person and speak nicely to them about it. Anyway, once the noise stops, I turn over and go back to a deep sleep, when I should be getting up...

Marie, I saw footage of the smoke from the forest fires, drifting up the coast. What a mess. Take care exercising outside.

Penny, I hope that your red door wards away evil--including evil poundage .

Okay, enough dithering. If I can get just one project completed, I will feel good about the day!

judy

Morning all,

Bad day food wise - not calorie wise but I was so full that I felt ongainly fat. That was good as today I WANT to eat properly and get back on track. I'm going to log everything in my windows phone and be good. I haven't felt this determined since I started losing weight 2 years ago. We're going out of town tomorrow but I'm starting today. I think just that is a good sign.

My knee is doing pretty good. I didn't wear the brace at all yesterday. It's too hot to wear so I'm walking carefully and that's working. I'm going to swim today as I have the day off and I'm going to first really clean the pool. Yesterday I was so exhausted after work I didn't swim and that was part of why I felt fat and ungly.

Judy, the puppy woes. I have them but they're self induced. Kai wakes me up at 5:30 every day (if I'm not up already). If it wasn't self induced I'd realloy get mad. So I think you need to talk with your neighbors and perhaps the landlord if the situation doesn't resolve itself. The neighbors should set their own alarm and beat the puppy to the punch. That's only considerate.

Well I'm off for a sunny day off and no work. I left the computer at work for the long weekend and I'm taking all 4 days off.
Marie

Late on Thursday...

I did it. I logged everything and as I didn't want to log, I didn't overeat. OK, that's not true. I didn't mind logging - I just didn't overeat. I'm at 1000 cals and have room for a small dessert.

I also swam 1/2 mile and did 1/2 of my son's ab DVD. I thought it would be harder so next time I won't start in the middle.

Happy 4th of July everyone as I'll be traveling and might not check in, but I'm going to try.

Marie

I hope that everyone is doing something fun! I spent Friday drifting around, the day was leisurely and calming. I'll strive for more of the same the rest of the weekend, although I will have to take care of several things, in anticipation of being way a lot this month.

I haven't totally given up on my goal of 207 by 7/17. TOM just started, so that's why I was so munchy this week. I had a bad hormone headache yesterday and feel crampy today, which is very rare for me. I'm been experimenting with hot-weather treats. I bought 100-calorie Slim-A-Bear ice cream bars. Sometimes having things like that in the freezer hits the spot--sometimes they make the spot a lot bigger . I also tried making my own protein-pops (with blueberries), I'll tell you how those work out.

Marie, I think the neighbors (and pup) left for the weekend. My hope is that the extending morning barking is a phase, but I don't think they realize how much the doggie barks whenever he's left alone.

I think I'll lift weights while watching those beautiful Williams girls play tennis. If only I'd been steered toward sports in my youth, maybe I would have gorgeous arms like them...instead of thes big flapping "Hello, Helens."

judy

Marie - I'm glad to hear your foot and knee are getting better and that you're feeling so motivated - I hope it rubs off on me! I hope you're having fun on your trip.

Judy - I'll have to check out those Slim-A-Bear ice cream bars. Let us know how your protein pops turned out. I hope you're having a relaxing weekend. I would also love to have the Williams sisters' arms! I wouldn't mind their abs either! In my dreams .

Carol - I hope you're having fun on your trip.

We had a quiet but nice 4th. I made some grilled salmon with asparagus and baby potatoes. Not quite as delicious as the bbq ribs I really wanted - but so much healthier.

Our new garage is nearly finished and it looks very nice as they are finishing it with the same siding and roof as the house. It will be great to have my DH's stuff out of my gardening shed and stored in the new "barn". It's been quite cool the past couple of days and we've managed to get a lot of yard work done. We're having Indian buffet for lunch (no rice) and then walking of some of the calories at the waterfront.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their long weekend.

Ah, my three-day weekend is winding down...it was lovely while it lasted. I went to a friend's for BBQ yesterday. Luckily (I guess) the ribs weren't up to my standards, so I did't eat but a little, although I have some ice cream and the inside of a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie. Today I did a 60-minute exercise ball workout (my abs are still complaining ), had a protein shake, and drove out to the horse country with friends for brunch. I had a sinfully rich omlet with crab and cheese, and a little of the hash browns. Not at all on program. But all I've eaten since is one of my homemade blueberry "creamsicles--which came out really well, yum, yum--and I'll have a big salad for dinner.

Penny, your grilled salmon sounds delicious. I hope that you made good choices at the Indian restaurant. That would be hard for me! I love the tandoori, and other healthy grilled options, but I really want the saags and the stuff with sauces--and the bread .

I've starting recording BBC America's You Are What You Eat. I think I'll watch them evenings when I struggle with carb cravings. I hate to admit it, but I do feel superior to those people, since at least when I over-indulge, it's on healthier food. The host, a serious nutritionist, is too into analyzing "poo" for my tastes, but the show is a graphic reminder of what we're putting our bodies through when we eat too much garbage.

Carol and Marie, I hope you're having fun camping and visiting! Juls and Elyn, how are you?

And you over there, lurking--yeah, you! Stop in and say hello!

judy

Hi everyone, I'm back from Reno. It was very hot and it was hot here so I guess that's ok then. Why Penny's weather is cool is a mystery. I did good food wise. I gave up logging as nothing was in the database but I still know I did good. Like Saturday, I added the cals in my head and I was 1500. I just added up yesterday and it was 1650 (I did have some onion rings at Red Robin and had to look them up on the internet - that'll teach me). So anyway, food wise I'm doing good. So far today I'm at 259 but the munchies are calling. I'm hanging tough so far. Work always makes me munch. I figured I have 5 months to get back into ski shape so I'd better get with it.

Judy, sounds like you had a good weekend. Share your blueberry creamsicle idea. That sounds tasty!

Penny, good for you in choosing the healthy over the BBQ ribs. I did that at red robin except the onion rings, so I bypassed the tortillas for my fajitas and only ate the chicken breast and peppers. The rest of the day was right on. I walked about a mile and it was so-so on the knee. Tonight is iffy on exercise as Kai and I are supposed to start dog training and I don't want to. So if I don't, I'll swim, if I do I won't. Hmm. I don't know what to do on that one.

Well, I should work so I'll check back in a bit. Go away munchies is my mantra.
Marie

Marie, sounds like you did a good job staying on program over the weekend. It's un-American to turn down onion rings on Independence day, so those calories technically don't count. Here's my fancy Protein Pop recipe: Whip up your favorite smoothie. Pour the mixture into popsicle molds, and freeze until solid. Eat heartily. (Mine made four servings.) Repeat. I think I'll use chocolate protein powder and try "Fudgesicles" next .

I'm on program today, with meditation and a short workout this morning, a protien shake for b'fast, lox and broccoli sprouts for AM snack (tastes better than it sounds!), Grilled fish and greens for lunch. Chickpea salad and tofu for afternoon snack. I'll do another workout this evening, and have a big green salad w/chicken for dinner.

Hey, I fit into a pair of size 18 shorts on Saturday! Sizes are crazy, one pair of my old 22 jeans still fit fine. Still, I'd love to retire all of my old size 20 pants before the end of the year.

judy

Judy - Congrats on fitting into the smaller shorts . I enjoy reading your food choices - they sound delicious and healthy. I'm definitely going to try making some protein pops. We have quite a lot of frozen strawberries from a bumper crop this year, so I'll use some of them in place of blueberries.

Marie - I'm glad you had a nice time in Reno. It's warmed up here today to about 85 deg. and it's supposed to get hotter during the week. The weekend was quite cool - but I like that kind of weather. I see you are looking ahead to ski season! We're thinking of possibly going to Hawaii next Christmas, so that would be a good incentive for me to lose some weight. I enjoy eating something "sinful" now and then too. We went out for an expensive burger at Stanford's the other day but I left the bun and just ate the patty and toppings. I don't care for white bread anyway (at least not the hamburger bun kind), so I'm sure I saved at least 200 calories as it was a huge bun. Instead of fries we had coleslaw and really enjoyed our "indulgence"!

We had a nice quiet weekend and did some gardening and just loafing around. Tomorrow my chapter of our ladies' group is having a "baking day" to bake items for a fund raiser. We're making 10 dozen cheese scones as some people don't want only sweet items. This is one of our biggest fund raisers and altogether our members bake over 200 dozen items!