Carol - It's nice you can work out with your daughter. I'm sure that will make your workouts much more enjoyable! I hope the Sonoma diet works out well for you. Good idea to make some soaps for the show - everyone loves home made soap.

Auntie G - I hope you're feeling better. I'm sure you enjoyed a bit of comfort food with the mac 'n cheese. Broccoli garlic pasta sounds good - and healthy. I love anything with lots of garlic.

Marie - I can empathize with your eye doctor fiasco. I also get steamed when I arrive on time (or even early) for an appt. and then have to wait 45 min. to an hour .

Judy - I hope you're feeling lots better.

I hope everyone else is doing well.

I'm on track today and did a lot of housework plus I worked out at Curves, so I must have burned off a few calories. Our DS went to the doctor today and got antibiotics for his cough which turned out to be a bad case of bronchitis. His doctor said a lot of people who move to Boise get coughs because of the dry climate and they get quite a bit of bad air quality. He also gave him a prescription anti-inflammatory for his ankle, which is still very sore.

I did some research about chronic coughs and read that one of the best things you can do for lung health is to eat an apple a day. They have very high levels of quercetin, which is good for your lungs. As they say, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". So, he's going to go to Costco and stock up on apples. We got some lovely Gala apples there the other day.

Hi Everyone!

I hope this finds you all doing well. This is the first I've been able to post. Today was a good day. I hope you all don't mind, but I need to boast. My middle son, Donald won first place this past weekend at his wrestling tournament. I am so happy for him, but also it is good for his self esteem. He has struggled since being placed with us, but has accepted and has been doing well. We will have guardianship of he and his brothers on Feb. 23.

I have struggled with exercising, but my DH and I got up this morning and exercised for 30 minutes. I'm going to keep myself focused on this goal.

Have a great tormorrow.

Kathy

Hey everyone!

Auntie - I hope you can get back into your groove soon. Ooh yum the thought of garlic pasta makes my mouth water. What kind of pasta was it?

Marie - I'm a fellow skinny decaf mocha fan. I used to be into iced full fat mochas... oh boy. The people at the eye dr sound mighty rude.

Penny, apples are delish. It only makes them that much more enjoyable when you know the good that they're doing for you.

Good to hear you're focused on your goal Kathy!

Meltingly, blisteringly yours,
Mariana

Good Morning Everyone!

Because of the ice and snow storm my kids didn't have school today so that means I got to stay home. I'm taking advantage of this time off to get my house cleaned and the laundry done so when the weekend come I can chill.

I feel like I have refocused and gotten back in the groove. I exercised for 40 minutes today and for 30 yesterday. My goal is to exercise at least 3-4 times a week and then when it gets nice out and I can walk outside I'll do more.

Autie G - Keep moving on. You fell down and have some bruises from the wagon running you over, but I know you can get back on the wagon and have control of it instead of it having control of you.

Mazza - Hello to you! Way to go on the melting down!

Have a good day everyone!

Kathy

Kathy - Congratulations to Donald for his big achievement - I'm sure it's a big morale boost for him. Good for you increasing your exercise. I have a hard time convincing myself to work out (mainly because I have pretty bad arthritis in most of my joints). At least I'm getting to Curves 2-3 times a week again and I'm feeling better for it. I used to enjoy walking but it's just too painful now. Curves has been a godsend for me as it is low impact exercise.

Auntie G - I hope you've got your mojo back! Thanks for reminding me about those containers of frozen garlic cubes from TJ's. I'm going to put them on my list for next time. They certainly take a lot of work out of peeling and chopping garlic. I made some Dreamfields pasta yesterday with bay scallops, chopped parsley, lots of garlic and grated lemon zest. It turned out delicious and the lemon gave it a nice tang.

Mariane - I hope the weather has cooled down a bit where you are. It's foggy and cold here - send us some of your sunshine please!

Marie - That's interesting about your knee being in a different position, maybe that caused more stress on the joint. I hope the PT helps so you can get back to your normal activities. I hope your scale budges in the right direction soon. You're probably due for a whoosh.

Judy - I hope you're feeling better.

I hope everyone else is doing great.

I'm on track and have made good progress with my spring cleaning. All that's left to do is the windows - my most un-favorite job! I'll have to take it easy doing them because of my rotator cuff problem. I'm only doing the inside of the windows and will tackle the outside when the weather warms up. I sent our DS the rest of the oatmeal raisin choc chip cookies I had in the freezer so I won't be tempted every time I walk past the fridge. Instead I'm having a piece of melba toast topped with a little low sugar jam with my tea for less than 50 calories.

Hi Everyone!

Penny - I wish I had your energy. I really want to get some spring cleaning done too. I need to just bite the bullet and do some work on the weekends. I usually try to have my cleaning done during the week so when the weekend comes I can relax.

I didn't do the best staying on plan today. I did well until I got home. From the time I got home at 3:55 I've been on the go with making a cake for my husband to take to work, making supper, running my son to the school and then going back to watch his basketball game, coming home and going back again to pick him after he watched the 8th grade game. Since I didn't have much time I ate the sausage I made for the kids and had a piece of chicken and some cookies. I wobbled a little bit, but tomorrow is a new day and will get back OP. Tomorrow is also WI in day so I'm anxious to see what that holds.

I do have a victory. I have been wearing a size 22 pants. Today I decided to try on a size 20 and I was able to get them on. They were a little snug, but not bad. That made me excited and gave me the encouragement I needed to keep working hard.

I must run. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Kathy

Hi, ladies! Sorry I've not been posting, I hadn't realized that so much time had passed! I got a good report on my blood work from the dr on Monday, and she gave me a few days worth of megadoses of Vitamin D that maybe helped with the flu. I was feeling much better by Tuesday afternoon. Of course I balanced that out by working very late then getting up at 4AM Wed morning and fighting the elements to travel to New York . But I am on the mend, thanks for the good wishes. I'm in meetings and a conference, heading back home Saturday.

Drive-by personals:

Kathy, yaay for smaller pants!

Marie, not to worry, the Starbucks managers were told to brew decaf based on demand after noon, since, according to the Chicago Tribune, "Consumers apparently prefer to be high-strung all day, not just in the morning."

Penny, I can smell your pasta dish, yum!

Mariana, I take it that you're still experiencing a bit of a heat wave?

Auntie G, buy the original Magic Bullet, accept no substitutes. I bought the Bella Cucina, which is much cheaper, but also burned out fairly quickly.

Carol, I'm glad the Sonoma Diet is working for you. Have fun making soaps!

Eating is so-so. There's a frig in my hotel room, which helps. I brought workout gear, but I still wake up with a sinus headache and a cough, so I haven't taken advantage of the very nice fitness room yet. Maybe Friday AM

judy

Good Morning Everyone!

I trust you all are having a great Saturday. I got up early this morning and worked out for 45 minutes. It felt so good. I always feel better about myself when I know I'm doing something that will benefit my health. I've struggled a little bit with my food, but I've counted it in my points.

Yesterday was my WI. I lost 1.8lbs since my WI last Friday. I was so excited to see that I finally made it to 239. Just getting below the 40 mark finally like a vistory to me.

Auntie G - I'm sorry you're still feeling bad. You will get control of the wagaon. Don't beat yourself up you can do this!!

The Super Bowl eating will be a challenge. My husband is doing WW with me, but he said tomorrow night we are going to enjoy some foods that we shouldn't such as meatballs and nacho dip, but he also said we're not going to eat 2 meals at one sitting. I'm still going to do my best to keep track of my points. I'm going to eat as little as I can before the game so I have plenty of points for the "goodies".

Marie - Congrats on the smaller pants. Doesn't that just give you that boost you need to keep working at losing weight. It sure is a great reward.

I need to run. The laundry needs attention. Have a great weekend everyone.

Kathy

Marie - Congrats on the smaller pants . I know it's not officially spring for quite a while yet, but I like to think it is early spring now that our first snowbells and crocuses are in bloom. We've had freezing fog for several days, so it's definitely not feeling very spring-like. Spring cleaning is a good de-stresser for me plus I have the good side effect of a tidy house! My DH heard that Starbucks were still making the decaf espresso (as in lattes, etc.) in the afternoon, they just won't be making the brewed decaf as they have been throwing away so much of it as there isn't much demand and they make a new pot every 1/2 hour.

Kathy - Congrats to you too on the smaller pants . I wish I did have lots of energy! I just do the spring cleaning a little bit at a time. My main problem is getting motivated to get started.

Judy - I'm glad to hear you're on the mend and hope your conferences went well. I hope you get a chance to have a relaxing weekend and build your strength up.

Auntie G - I hope we can both turn around from "Gainsville" and head towards "Slimtown"! My weight has been up and down like a yo-yo and now seems to be heading up again .

We went to a new oriental market yesterday and bought some chicken potstickers (50 calories each). I made some soup with chicken stock, potstickers, sliced shiitake mushrooms, green onion, baby bok-choy, sliced garlic, a dash of sesame oil, a couple of dashes of soy sauce and a chunk of ginger. It was really delicious and very low cal. My DH said it tasted "like the real thing". I'm not sure what that meant, but I took it as a compliment!

I hope everyone has a good weekend.