Disgruntledone, welcome to daily accountibility!!! You are doing so incredible on your weigh loss journey. Tell more - how are you doing it? WW, counting cals, low carb...?
Marie

I wanted to eat something so badly last night and couldn't think of anything that was calorie free. I finally remembered I have a dill pickle and garlic relish I make, so I had a couple of spoonfulls before retiring. Oh the garlic breath (and sodium I don't need), but it helped me stay away from real food.

Just one day at a time. Each day is a new battle.

Thanks for starting a new thread, Marie! I thought the moderator (Ruthxxx) was a bit rude to suggest that we start a new thread at the end of the month while abruptly closing the old thread 12/19...perhaps they use a different calendar in Canada?

Hi, Disgruntled and Recidivist, and welcome. I haven't been good about accountability at all lately, but pushing myself to stay in this conversation with these wonderful ladies may be the only thing keeping me from disappearing all the way into the refrigerator, especially during the holiday season.

Penny and Marie, I hope you're doing okay after the big snowstorm. I hope you don't more for a while! Marie, congrats on the loss .

Busy, busy weekend...I'll do a short cardio workout before heading out for chores and some office work. Yesterday was a candy-free day, whoo-hoo, my first in quite a while....

judy

Hi chickies,

Sorry I've been AWOL again - I've been under the weather with a digestive problem and had a colonoscopy last week which (thank God) did not show anything life-threatening. I just haven't had the energy to post but I'm feeling a bit better now with some new medication and my shoulder is also a lot better.

Marie - Congratulations on the 1.5 lbs. loss you're doing great. I'm sorry you've had so much trouble with you knee and hope it's healing. We're socked in here with about a foot of snow, covered with 1" of ice from the freezing rain storm last night. This is almost unheard of for Portland. It sounds like it's pretty drastic where you are too. We're keeping busy feeing the hungry birds and especially our resident Anna's hummingbirds who screech at us through the kitchen window to come and replace their frozen nectar! Poor little things, I don't know how they survive - especially the freezing rain.

Judy - Good to hear from you again. I'm glad we've found our way to the new thread. Congrats on the candy-free day - wish I could say the same .

Auntie G - Nice to hear from you too - I always enjoy your upbeat posts and can sympathize with your struggle with the chocolate (and fudge) monsters.

Recidivist and DisgruntledOne - Nice to meet you . This forum has been a great help to me too. I've fallen off the wagon after losing 40 lbs. and have gained about 15 lbs. back after several health challenges this year . However, as my motto says: "Quitting is NOT an option".

I sure hope the weather changes soon so I can get the groceries for Christmas dinner and finish my gift shopping. This cold weather has been going on for a week now and it's been in the 20's most of the time. We're just not set up for this kind of weather here. Our son is flying in from Boise on Christmas Eve, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that his flight won't be delayed or cancelled.

Hi everyone,

recidivist, I think you did great with finding a non-bad snack. Although I think it was "bad" as in disgusting. And that sodium effect is short term. DId I see it right that you're from Oregon too? That would make three - you, me and Penny.

disgruntled, I think you an I are on the same program. I aim for 1500 cals per day but am contemplating having a day with 1900 once a week. I came up with the number yesterday but couldn't do it. I'm terrified of having a splurge day and then having the wagon back over me before tearing out onto the trail. When I fall off, I tend to have trouble getting back on.

Penny, 2008 has not been a nice year medically for you. I'm glad nothing was detrimentally wrong. You've had enough without adding more.

Judy, man oh man, I thought I'd gone nuts yesterday when I reading the posts. End of the month and voila it was closed. I checked two times to make sure I wasn't imagining it as I would have added a link to the new thread. Good job on the candy free day - I ate your portion yesterday. I stayed in the calories but I believe I had to give up broccoli to make it. BTW I HATE broccoli and love M&Ms.

DH and I plowed through the snow for a long 2.5 mile walk with the doggies this morning. We saw 22 deer. They were so gorgeous prancing through the snow. One had BIG antlers. I just love Bambi but I think DH was dreaming of his bow and arrow.

I'm going to go fix my craft room. We took a bit apart to raise the shelves 3" (different TV didn't fit) and then my knee went out so it's not done. I can now carefully get off the floor if need be so I'm going to work on it as DH's football team doesn't start till 1:15 (late game for auntie on the east coast).

Funny story, I made the Czech bread, Houska, I mentioned yesterday with a boo-boo. I am notorious for leaving out ingredients and DS1 mentioned after one yucky goofup, why don't I read the recipe So I'm making the bread and it's all done except all the flour for bread. I touch every ingredient on the recipe and nodded. I did them all. So I add the rest of the flour and knead it. Set it in a warm place and begin to clean up. There on the microwave is the flashing END. I'm confused and open it. There is the 1/2 c. melted butter. Yes I'd gotten the ingredient out but forgot to add it. Too late as it was all kneaded. So last night, the big test - it tasted the same except 800 less cals for the 3 loaves. How cool is that. Scratch butter off that recipe.

Time to re-do my craft room.
Marie

Hi Marie,
Yep, I'm a web foot. Hood River area. I lived in Canby, Bend and Klamath Falls as a kid and have relatives in all three towns. I love Klamath Falls. My first water skiing attempt was on Klamath Lake. So, how much snow have you got down there? I know someplace in Oregon (southwest?) got over nine feet of snow last winter, during one storm. I have over two feet now, and it's pretty chilly. It dropped to 6° last night and the power went out for two hours. Of course, I only have electric heat. Brrrrr.

I hope your knee is not going to require surgery. I too have a bad knee and am hoping weight loss will help me get around a little better. I sure understand the getting up off the floor comment.

Penny, hi neighbor. You have hummingbirds that stay year round? I have rufus out here, but they are smart enough to migrate to a warmer spot in winter. I am at 1000' elevation. Maybe that's the difference...but my Mom lives in Canby, and I don't think her hummingbirds stay all year. You have some brave little guys. Aren't they beautiful? What a treat for you. Little Christmas ornaments flitting around outside.

Brrrrrr, it's cold out! Well, I actually ate something healthy today, which is very strange, of late. Made soup with my leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, and that will be dinner for the next couple days, so yay! All the Christmas fudge is made and wrapped, out of sight, out of mind. Maybe I can get a few sensible days in now...

Recidivist, your snack doesn't seem like it would hit the spot for me, but good going, coming up with something acceptable, instead of turning to fudge! Good luck on your journey!

Disgruntled, I think a lot of us are familiar with the losing, then gaining it back game. I am definitely chasing the wagon right now, but after the holidays, I mean to get back to business, and get this done! This site has made the journey a lot more fun. Hopefully in the new year we all reach our goals and stay there!

Judy, wish I could say I had a candy-free day, too! I'm hoping I have one tomorrow, now that the fudge is packed up. And congrats on at least planning a workout into the busy weekend! I feel like I've been running on a treadmill all weekend, and yet I didn't get any good exercise at all. Bleh!

Penny, glad you're feeling better, and I hope you get out from under the snow in time to finish your Christmas preparations! Oh, and thanks for the reminder about feeding the birds. My feeder's been empty for several days now, and I only think of it when I'm on my way to the car to go somewhere. Now I'll write myself a note to get it filled up again. Poor freezing little things, and with no easy food source.

Marie, so sorry you had to give up your broccoli. Hope you can fit it in soon... Congrats on getting in a nice long walk! And I guess we have to watch the post count a little closer this time. I did wonder about that as it got to 500, but when it kept on going, I never thought about it again. Hmmmm, I wonder what has become of Carol... Oh, and I shan't be discussing football tonight.

Well, I have to work tomorrow, when I normally don't work Mondays, so I'm going to try to get off the computer now- it doesn't seem to happen as fast as I'd like... Have a good Monday, all!

That is so right Auntie G...but for me, I think what is even more important is that we can be totally honest here about things we might normally not be wanting to open up to others about. Honest about our fears, our joys, our guilt and shame, and our pride when we finally succeed. And we know everyone else here understands or supports this very difficult challenge. I might tell someone I'm on a diet, but not the truth about many of my feelings. And people I meet in cyberspace may not even know I am overweight, because I am not proud to admit it. It is very freeing having a place to come and be truly honest, not only to myself but to others as well.

I thank you all for being part of this and allowing me to be part of this.

We're still snowed in and have another foot of snow as of this morning. I'm getting serious cabin fever and it's looking like we'll be having ham and eggs for Christmas dinner!

We're making a list of things we should have had on hand: chains for my 4WD Forester, HIGH snow boots (snow is now up to our thighs), powdered milk and plenty of frozen veggies. We have enough meat but not much in the way of veggies or potatoes. This is a real lesson about preparedness! Good thing we have a big generator and plenty of gas as our power has gone out a couple of times. Huge branches are coming off our heavily laden trees.

The airport is closed, so it's looking doubtful if our son will make it home for Christmas .

Here is a picture of one of our hungry hummers. The feeder is on our kitchen window (click to enlarge).

Penny, that picture is amazing. And you say you have snow to your thighs? Sheesh...you have more than I do. I have mukluks to wear in the snow and they come up to my knees, and lace up to keep the snow out...plus nice warm wool liners to keep my feet warm. Best investment I ever made.