Linda~ As for me it's just chicken noodle soup,for breakfast I had a microwave omelet(yummy) both of these I shared with DS!!LOL!
but for now I can't really think about food....DH went to Ohio...yes Ohio today to pick up them boats up for his boss...I don't know how many more went but you know what whether it was just DH or 100 more that went,they shouldn't have sent them,Ohio has like 10 inches of snow....and I have been trying to get through to him for 2 hours and I keep getting a busy signal on his cell....I'm worried sick.......and scared to death........I really don't know what to do or who to call........I just hope something hasn't happened.....I just want my husband home.........well I'm going to try again....it looks like he would try to call me from a payphone or something.......

Hey everyone...

The past few weeks have been...ugh. I'm done with work; my last day was Friday. I have been putting my resume in wherever I can. There are no pastry jobs anywhere local, so I've been applying for whatever jobs that are high enough paying to cover child care for right now. It is really difficult not to feel crappy about the situation. I have been wallowing some, even though on the outside I'm trying not to. So basically I've been stuffing it all into food. It sucks...I feel completely house bound.

I've decided, though, that if I am going to be home with only my one daughter to take care of, then maybe it's time to really focus on me and my weight loss. Tomorrow I'm going to go back to what really worked...menu planning! I used to keep a notebook and devote a page for each day. I'd split the page into two; a daily plan, and the actual. I am also going to start posting daily again...this board is what kept me motivated. Plus I need some sanity and a window to the outside world!

I am calling on everyone else for some huge support! I need you!

Gooooood snowy morning all! I haven't actually looked outside yet, but we were supposed to get snow accumulation overnight, and more today mixed with ice. At least I don't have anywhere to go! =)

My menu for today....
Breakfast-
lite english muffin-1
deli ham-1
egg whites-1
lc cheese-1

Lunch-
Smart Ones-3
Baked Potato-3

Snack-
Popcorn-2

Dinner-
Homemade lasagna
homemade dinner roll

I still have to figure out the points for dinner, but I am using very lean ground beef, a homemade spaghetti sauce that is 0 pts, ff cottage cheese, and low fat cheese. I'm figuring it will be around 10 pts. I think the roll is 3 pts, if I remember correctly.

Today is actually a cake baking day! We are traveling to my parent's house on Friday, and my sister in law and I are giving my mom a 60th birthday party on Saturday. My mom is a big gardener, so I'm making her a gardening themed cake...I made terra cotta pots out of gumpaste, gumpaste flowers, gloves, seed packets, tools, and the actual cake part will look like wood from their deck (like the stuff is sitting on the deck.) I'm excited to make it, but nervous about travelling with it. It's a 4 hr drive, and I haven't ever had good luck with taking cakes there!

Hope you all have a great day...I will check back in later!

Trysh: Hope your husband is OK. Keep us posted.
Paige, I am SO here for you! I'm re-grouping and am totally back on the wagon for two days in a row. Monday, I had a perfect day used all my points and nothing more, checked off all the healthy food guidelines, etc. Yesterday was the same, though I used one flex point. Big deal.
I feel better already about myself.
I do think you should devote time to yourself. Being unemployed could be an opportunity, you just never know.
Year's ago, I lost my job and it was at a time in my life where we were undecided about weather or not to have children. Not working led me to think about it all and I ended up having my kids and staying home. I am not telling you to have another baby, make no mistake (unless you truly wanted one) but what I am saying that sometimes a job loss pushes us to make decisions and changes. You never know, this could be the best thing in the end and you will look back on this and say, one day, "Wow, if my job hadn't ended, I would have have done the ______________..." So, relax and feel good about yourself. It's not your personal fault the economy stinks right now, you did your best.
What we all can focus on is eating healthy and not spending a fortune. Exercising doesn't have to cost money, does it?
So, I challenge you and myself to get moving. Clean the house, get caught up on all the things you've been meaning to do. For me, my activity will be high today as I'll probably be out there shoveling snow.
I have to plan my meals for today and so do you, Paige. Planning is essential. I need to take a freezer and refrigerator inventory and make sure I use up what I have and it doesn't get pushed to the back and spoil. How many of us have had that happen and cringed in regret when you pull something out of the back of the fridge that went bad and you forgot it was there.
Time to use our imaginations! My husband's job is in jeopardy as well right now. I am truly scared and I need to find ways to economize.
By the way, Paige, have you ever thought of selling cooking supplies on eBay? Have you ever thought of writing a cook book?

Paige, just missed your post. You meal plan sounds like a good one. How many points per day are you allowed? I get 21.
Let me know about your lasagna when you figure out the points, sounds like a good idea to me. I think I need your homemade spaghetti sauce recipe if it's zero points! I sometimes suffice with canned diced tomatoes over top of leftover wheat pasta for lunch.

My meal plan for today, so far:

Breakfast:

Lite wheat bread, toasted with butter spray, 1 point
1/2 grapefruit, 1 point
3 morning-star lite sausage links, 1 point

snack: one WW chocolate raspberry bar - 1 point

remaining points, 17
activity earned, anticipated: 1
Total now: 19

Lunch:
Leftover WW recipe mac 'n cheese: 6
summer squash with onion, butter spray: 0

Total now 13

Afternoon snack, popcorn

Total 12

Dinner: hmmm.... I'm alone tonight
I think it will be a boneless chicken breast with teriyaki marinate done on the G. Foreman grille, 3 points
One baked potato, 3 points
Lite margarine, 1 point
Salad, 2 tsp oil, balsamic vinegar, 2 points

Total remaining 3 points
One WW ice cream cookies and cream bar: 2
One point remains, will probably eat a piece of fruit or end up snacking on something else today, so it remains unplanned

Linda-The cookbook is a great idea! That is actually something that is on my list of things to do "someday"....why not now?! I've got a HUGE folder full of original recipes. Thanks for the reminder! =)

Well DH finally got home about 6:30-7 last night....and he told me he totalled one of the trucks.....he was so upset,I knew he had been crying.......he just couldn't get over wrecking...he's never had a wreck before,but told him and so did everybody else that it wasn't his fault.....he said the boat he was pulling got a little squirrally there on the interstate near Georgetown and it just slung the truck around like a rag doll....he's got a big knot on his leg right above his sock...he must have hit the emergency break..and he said he was sore.......I knew something was wrong........I knew it in my gut when I couldn't reach him....but the reason was for that is I guess the ice maybe,because not just our provider wasn't working, it was other,so thetowers must have been either iced over or everybody was using their cell over loading the system or something.......but amyway he said he was glad I couldn't get him,because he knows how i am......I don't know what I'd do if I lost him.......he's my everything...he's my life and I love him so much and I thank God he's alright,because he could've been killed...he was only doing about 40 when it happened and the driver of the tow truck said not a lot of people survive hitting those concrete walls and if he had been going the speed limit,which is 70 I think,he might not have made it,and the funny thing is......the air bags didn't deploy either,I bet his bosses had them didconnected,can't you get in trouble for that? here I am almost sure that it doesn't matter about the passenger side,but it's law that you have to have the driver side on,I don't know,atleast he was wearing his seatbelt,he usually doesn't even do that...but he was scared and he said he was never so scared driving on the interstate in his life......and this is a guy who has pulled houseboats,then wrecks pulling a seadoo,bless his heart...but I thought I'd let ya know.....I've got to ket my dog out........

Hey everyone! I just wanted to check in quickly.

I ended up doing pretty well yesterday, especially considering I was around cake all day! I didn't end up figuring out points for the lasagna or rolls; I know it is an excuse, but I was trying to get as much done on that cake as I could, so I pushed dinner off...by the time I got to it, I was trying to throw it together quick and didn't measure anything out. I was careful on the amount of cheese I added, and even though I didn't have time to make spaghetti sauce, I just used a can of crushed tomatoes with some oregano and a few other seasonings instead of using a jar of Ragu (which would of added some pts.) The crushed tomatoes was super quick, and didn't add points. All in all, I think I did well, especially considering dh and both dds were home yesterday, and that usually makes me overeat!

This weekend is going to be a little more difficult. Tomorrow afternoon we are heading up to my parents for the weekend. I'm not going to be around my normal food choices, but sometimes that helps me to be more selective in what I do choose.

BTW, here is a link to the cake I just made...
http://paigespantry.webs.com/apps/ph...3724393&prev=1
It doesn't really look like a cake! Check it out and tell me what you think. It has been about 6 or 7 months since I've made a cake, so I was a little nervous about doing one that had so much detail, but I am really excited with how it turned out.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

pretty cool lookin' cake Paige...that had to have taken "FOREVER" to make what's the tools and stuff made of ?

It really only took maybe 1 1/2 days...would of taken less if I hadn't had distractions in the form of two little girls! =) The tools, seed packets, and gloves are made out of gumpaste. The terra cotta pot is a plastic container that I covered with fondant; normally I wouldn't of covered the pot, I would of done it just in gumpaste, but I was worried that it would crack on the drive up.

Trysh, thank goodness your husband is OK. What a scary story to read about. I'm so glad to know he is home and OK, though. Everything else is just material. After losing both my mom and dad in the last few years, I think it has taught me to appreciate the people in my life vs. the things.

Well, finally a bit of a loss, today's weight is 161.8 here at home with no clothing, down a tiny bit, but better than nothing. I am not adjusting my tracker as I will go by my official WW weigh in on Tuesday to report what it is. That will be later in the day and with clothing, so with my luck the loss will be something like .2, but I'll take anything.
I am feeling so much better and on track now.
I have journaled for four days in a row, since I went back to a WW meeting on Monday. Stubbornness and shame was keeping me from going back. I was too stubborn to admit that I had gained back all the weight, almost, that I had lost. My starting weight about 3 years ago was 171 and I had been in to low 140s at one point in time. It feels good to have released the fear of going and to just be on track again.
I can't seem to do it well on my own. Yet I was convinced that I could do and didn't "need" WW. For awhile, I was doing OK and I guess I needed a break from it all. I was so sick of doing the journals, the point, and all of that. Now, the journal seems comforting and like my life-line, in a way. I swear I will never understand myself as long as I live. : )
Paige, your lasagna sounds like it came out well enough. I hardly ever use recipes for things like that anyway and as long as your ingredients were fairly safe, I think you did just fine.
I'll take a look in a moment at your cake. If I click on that link, I'll lose everything I have typed here. I'm sure it's gorgeous like all the other cakes you have sent photos of and I'll bet making it put you in a more relaxed mood.
I'm glad you might try the cook book idea. What have you got to lose, after all? I think the challenge will be in getting it published, maybe. But, maybe not? I wish you luck with it!
Let us be a guinea pig on some recipes if you'd like, that would be so fun.

Paige, I looked at your cake and it is fabulous! What a great job and I'll bet she just adored it. I'd not want to even cut into your creations, they are all so neat. I guess I would get past that really fast, as they surely taste great too!
If you do a cook book, you should include photos of your cakes and maybe some step by step stuff on how you do them, but I take it your cook book might be geared to healthy eating, so maybe not?
You should send a link to Martha Stewart's people for that gardening cake. Martha is quite the gardener and perhaps that would intrigue her to do a little spot on her show about someone like you who assembles these edible pieces of art. That would be cool!
Hope you don't mind, I'm going to send a link to my daughter so she can see that cake. She loves stuff like that!

Linda~Congrats on your weightloss,eventhough it is a tiny bit,but atleast it's less,not more!!Ounces makes pounds!!! And thanks for your concern for DH,he's doing alot better,he just still can't get over wrecking..which I can't blame him,something like that is hard to forget about....
As for my weight loss,I'm back up to 196.:mad: I can NOT believe this.....anyone who ever said they lost weight by just eating soup is a liar....lol....that is all I've ate and quite frankly I'm sick of it....if it wasn't for my mouth I'd go pig out tonight on something worth eatong...:mad:
Maybe next week I'll be better and get back on track...this is about to kill me,I can't believe this.......I'm staying right between 194 and 196 and I'm getting a little burnt out...I'd like to get back into WW,but even buting the extra food just for my self is expensive,it sure would be nice if the rest of the family ate the stuff too,but they are so picky...........I've got to figure something out and I will!! I better go DD is home from school.........

Hi everyone..Sorry I never got on this thing but the kids where home for 2 days due to snow!!!! Trysh we live in Ohio and I swear they do not clean the roads here right. It has been 3 days today and I went to the store and the parking lot had a bunch of snow still. It is crazy and we only got 5 inches or a bit more here.. It does get icy though on the country roads , highways but still they really do a poor job cleaning and I believe that causes a bunch of accidents. I am glad he is ok. That is an awful feeling

I am still out of the swing... You are right paige and derry you need to record and plan.. I have not planned and therefor I am not following my plan. I am still up 2 but I refuse to change that cliker.. I am giving myself one more week.

My dh had to lay off people today..Hopefully only for 2 weeks. He really is the only one left on his crew but they will keep him around. Thank goodness for that... I just talked to some friends in MIchigan and all 3 friends dh just lost their jobs to the big 3. It is really bad in MIchigan. Most people worked for the big 3. Anyway, I just hope this all turns around for us all.

My dh is cleaning carpets right now and I am stying out of his hair. We have some people coming for a visit and we need to get this house in shape. It seems like that is the only time we really get serious. I just need to take a trip to the resale shop and good will bin. I am just too lazy to do this.

Have you all ever used the Magic Bullet! I got one for my bday and love it. It was expensive but really is kinda neat.I make my little shake in it and can drink from the cup I made it in.. I t is kinda like a food processor as well. So far I like it since it is little and does not require me dragging out my big appliances.

Sounds like we are going out to dinner... I hope I can stay focused.. I will check in with you all later Barb

Hi everyone! Trysh, maybe your body would like something other than soup and it will release weight if you have a more balanced diet?
I was stuck on the soup bandwagon myself this week and I am glad to say that the big container of it that was in my refrigerator is now gone. I still have some in my freezer, but I was pretty sick of it. I had to count it high in points as well, but wondered if it was lower. It was hard to tell with a homemade chicken/rice soup and no recipe. I gave each serving 3 points. I did use brown rice, turnip and parsnips in it for a change along with onion and garlic, so it was a very healthy soup. But, I got tired of it.
I made MORE soup yesterday, though, but this soup is the WW garden veggie soup and I had some of that for lunch yesterday. I love that it is 0 points.
Barb, I feel for so many people who have lost jobs. I am sorry to hear about more and more people and wish that there was something that could be done. I am not confident of this stimulus package and don't feel that the money is being directed towards anything much that will "teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, give a man a fish and you will feed him for one day".
I would like to see some money being sent to Michigan to develop alternative businesses instead of just allowing those poor people and their communities to "dry up". But, I am certainly not in charge.

At any rate, I've been doing well this week. Today is the last day of my journal and I've kept it up all week. I saved up tons of flex points and we went out to Longhorn Steakhouse last night. I feel my meal was a success. I had the points and I used them. I had bread, but didn't have butter. I had oil and vinegar on my salad. I asked for a baked potato and asked for margarine on the side for it, and got it. I had a plain sirloin strip steak, no sauces and abstained from alcohol, which was huge for me. I came home and had a WW one point ice cream bar as my dessert later on. With the garden veggie soup at lunch time and air popped popcorn mid afternoon, I was "safe".
I still have about 9 or 10 flex points left and today is the last day of this tracker. So, a successful week indeed. I was on the treadmill each day except for Thursday, which was my busiest day.
I have to admit a few times that I was crazed with hunger, though. Those times are where I chose to add something and use a flex point or two.
So, I will plan to eat well today and we are just not into football much so I won't be doing a Superbowl party and all sorts of food for that. I sure wish the scale showed a bit more of a loss, but we shall see on Tuesday afternoon when I weigh in. Last week I went to a Monday meeting but that was in another town further away and this week I am going to go to a Tuesday 4:30 pm meeting, which was always my meeting in the past. Maybe something will show up by then?

Happy Sunday to everybody...hope your weekends are going good....
Mine is OK...DH had to leave today to go to Louisville to pick uo some boats from a boatshow,he should be home about 7 tonight, I think...I hope...and on Superbowl Sunday of ALL days........I told him if they send him somewhere Valentines day weekend I will twist my foot off in someone's hiney.......Those people have no compassion for anyone and their wives or families.....I wish he would just go back to where he worked before sometimes....in due time though...........
Barb~I'm sorry your DH is put in such a postion to have to lay people off...he must feel awful.....but hopefully things will get better,and these people can get their jobs back....I mean,really,how much worse can it get,it's just like we're in a downward spiral.....one thing counteracts another...and so on.......
Linda~I would like to try that WW garden veggie soup,I have the recipe I just need to go get the stuff.....maybe once I start making a little money I can afford to go buy the stuff I need,I just hate to ask DH sometimes...stuff can get so expensive,we were at walmart Friday and we got a few things we needed...so we went to the produce section and DH about fainted,he said how can they expect people to eat healthier when a 5 lb bag of apples costs almost 6.00....can you believe that? we usually shop at Aldi for our produce it's much cheaper.........so now I gotta go there.....:dizzy:
Well I guess I better go and do something.lol!!Talk later

By the way, all, do you all think this support groups thread is the right place for us? Maybe we should return to the WW thread? Maybe some of our old friends or new buddies might return? I was thinking about restarting this thread as it's taking forever to post now anyway, but I wondered if we belong there?
Votes please!

Also, Trysh, I swear by that soup and it's worth making. One thing I do to save money is to use frozen veggies and also to save leftover veggies in a big zip lock bag in the freezer, not off people's plates but the leftovers that no one selected. I put an assortment of veggies into my soups that way.
I feel thinner today, but that _____ scale isn't really rewarding me much right now. Oh well.
I have a big quilt guild meeting to go to this morning and I am going to bring my own "No Pudge" 2 point brownie to eat and try to stay away from all the goodies they usually have there.

I vote yes Linda...let's do it, I AM GOING BACK TO WW NEXT WEEK...I AM...I AM... I AM... so yes for me AGAIN...that's 2 votes LOL!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Things here are going well; I woke up feeling thin this morning, which is always a nice start to the day. Last night I resisted cookies and frosting (homemade cookie sandwiches) and ended up going to bed feeling good about my decision not to indulge.

I didn't do too bad on over the weekend, either. I have come down with a bad headcold/sinus infection, so I spent most of the weekend not being able to breath. When you can only breath out of your mouth, the last thing you want to do is stuff it full of food. I did realize on the trip (it's a 4 hr drive) that when we go to Florida in April I am going to HAVE to pack myself a lot of veggies to crunch on. I am a boredom eater, so being in a car for that long with nothing to do leads to eating things that I shouldn't. Plus we are driving through the night, so if I can eat some crunchy veggies while driving, maybe that will help me to stay awake!

Not much else happening here today. My little dd had a flu shot yesterday, and started running a fever last night, so we aren't going anywhere today. I guess that means I should really clean...ugh.

Hope you all have a great, op day!

Before getting into my thoughts, I think I will restart the old thread over in the WW section, but later on or tomorrow. I'm swamped today. Have an all morning meeting and then this afternoon a wake, sadly. I'll be flying all day.
So, here are my thoughts after going to my WW meeting last night:

Well, I worked so hard and then just .4 off. What a bummer. I weighed 164.4 last week and this week 164. Can't even change my tracker. But, I do have to say that in a "normal" WW cycle, .4 is still OK. Yet, this being my first week back, I was hoping for at least a pound.
I'm having a hard time understanding what went wrong.
I did everything according to the WW guidelines, I really did. In terms of a WW person, I was a perfect angel.
The healthy oils, water, whole grains, exercise..... I did it all and ended the week with 6 flex points unused.
So, what went wrong?
This was my first week back to WW since last August. I was what Arnold Schwarzenegger would have called "pumped" in his old days about this and really put my "all" into it. Then, just that .4 off. Blah.

I'm not giving up, but I sure felt badly.
My leader tried to make me feel better by saying the increased exercise probably made me not release the weight, which may be true. But it was a bitter pill to swallow.

I'm still going to fill out my journal, I'm still not giving up. No worries, but it was really a bummer.
Thanks for listening.
She asked us all in the meeting to name one thing that was a challenge/goal for each of us. I told her that my challenge (which is huge) for this week is that we are going away for the weekend to my in-laws for my brother in law's 50th anniversary celebration. This is a huge danger, there will be tons of food, alcohol and I've been asked to make my special carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Paige, I must share that recipe with you one day as it is truly the best carrot cake, ever. But, I would have to say that each piece is probably 20 points. I will never compromise and make this cake with substitutes to bring down the calorie content and this cake is a masterpiece that is made for special occasions and it is meant to be served with glory, if that makes sense. One can exercise and shave points other places, but this cake is not negotiable. I don't have to have a huge piece and I will try very hard to make up for it elsewhere.
So, my leader's answer to this challenge I have is that I should vow to write everything down. I think she is right. Usually, when we travel and there are lots of foods and temptations, I give up and just try to be a bit "better" than usual. I figure I'm lost anyway, so don't write things down. But, here and now and last night at the meeting I said I would write it down. So, even if it's not a good result, I have to face the music and I shall write what I bite!

"WRITE WHAT I BITE" hmmm Good slogan and WW should use that in their commercials and all the leaders should be trained to say that!!! That's a good one Linda!! That will stick with me forever....:hug:
Well TGIF every body!! the last day od the work week,I've been busy finishing the couch and chair that I shoud've finished last week,but couldn't because I had mouth pain.....ugh.... and I've also been busy dealling with a thrown out back,which has really slowed me down and now I have to work Saturday to get the furniture finished so we can bring a boat in to start on.....sigh......my back still is soooo sore and it's still out...I can't stand very long, so there for I have to sit down to rest my upper back because of the strain on it where my lower back is out....sigh again,if it isn't one thing for me it's usually another......but on a more positive note...I weighed 193 this week....1 more lb down....unbelievable....I weighed Wednesday,I don't know,like paige said," I felt lighter" that day so I weighed and I was.....so I'm counting it,changing the ticker and the whole 9 yards!lol! 185 isn't that far away,but it is...does that make any sense? Just 8 lbs,sounds so easy,but then I look at how long it took me to get from 201 to 193...like forever....but I'm still proud because to be honest if you had tols me several months ago that I would be under 200 come the first of 2009 and that in fact 193 today,I would have said you were crazy............:p and to add to the excitement....I really retain water about a week before I start and it's getting about the time,it was on the 15th of last month so I don't have too much longer to go....and I so dread it with V-Day on Saturday....sigh,sigh,sigh,and sigh....
Linda~ You'll get it girl...who knows you may be down 2 or even 3 lbs next week....or more!! wouldn't that be awesome?!?!?!? Do you eat yogurt? I'll just tell ya,that's what I did this week different than any other week,well except for the oats,that was different also...Yoplait sugar free yogurt every day,and sugar free oats for breakfast..and both are awesome!!!apple turnover in the yogurt is so good...but my fave is key lime pie,oh and that banana cream pie is good too!!
SO I guess I'll go for now go slave for a while and I have to put downy in my clothes!!LOL talk later

Ladies, I'm running really short on time, please check out the new thread, back on the WW forum!

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=163801

C-ya there!
Hugs,
Linda