[rollmdl]

I have another busy day ahead of me. It looks like we won't be getting our
tree today. I want to do more house cleaning before I decorate. If I'm not careful, I'll be decorating while my daughter opens her presents.

I stayed on track yesterday. It was a big chicken soup day. My calorie intake was 1180. Most of my food was ingested late in the day---not a good idea, but at least I didn't binge. My energy level is so much higher when my diet is clean.

This is going to be a short check in. My mind is racing forward to the day ahead. I slept late (and I'm glad I did, I needed the sleep). Now I need to play catch up.

Plan
Breakfast---burger patty and egg

snack--small smoothie

lunch---crab cake and salad

dinner CHICKEN SOUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Julie, where are you? I miss you. What is the temperature there? Are you sweltering?

Keep up the good work, everybody.

[I'm Living]

GOOD MORNING s, glad your all in good spirits, and its good to see your all doing well, for all the kind thoughts much appreciated, yes I,m enjoying my grandkids and my daughter, I feel tired alot these days but it stops me from dwelling on my troubles, my sister is likes yours CAROL shes into material things, whereas I,m more into the little things that turn a house into a home , and I must say yours sounds warm and inviting, your hubbys village sounds lovely please elaborate for me, I love xmas also I think its because of my DAD he was like a big kid at this time of the year , this will be the 3rd xmas without him , and its funny but I miss him more as time goes by but I know he is always close, sometimes I get a whiff of old spice in the air and I know is has dropped in for a visit, TIRED I am so proud of you and your accomplishments you shoul be very pleased with yourself, and yes I noticed the smoothie and the BUBBLE BATH good to see your getting in your you time, ROLL I,m glad you find what you need in your daughter she sounds like my second daughter she is,nt only your daughter but your best friend you sound like you have a good relationship, I love MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET AND ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE AND LIKE YOU I WATCH THEM EVERY YEAR, I also watch them at other times throughout the year when I feel a bit down, I have them on DVD, its good how the little things can lift your spirits, well apart from being tired I,m doing OK being sick al the time is the pits but hey thats my lot at the moment, I,m not doing to bad in the diet area but this time of the year is a struggle for me I love all the food but I think we all do, well thats it for me I,ll check in again later , REMEMBER STAY FOCUSED , KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, BYE FOR NOW BLESSED BE TO ALL, JULIE

[tiredoffat]

Hi all. Everyone is doing great! Julie, it's great to hear from you. You are so strong despite the tiredness. I'm rooting for you.

Not a good eating day. Staff party with many interruptions that got in the way of any sensible plan. I'll tell all. It helps me to get back on track. Actually I wrote it all down and then deleted it. Let's just say tomorrow will be another start. I'm done eating for the night. Take care.

[rollmdl]

Okay, if I stop eating RIGHT NOW I'll be okay. I'm up to my limit and the last thing I had was 3 cookies. They weren't even very good. They were too sweet. Anyway, I think I am confusing hunger with thirst again.

Okay.......................I feel better. I had to do my panicky little rant thing.

We got our tree and it's sitting in the back yard all by itself. Two years ago we bought our tree the day after Thanksgiving and it sat in the yard for 2 weeks! They sit in the lot for that amount of time so I don't feel so guilty. I just feel like I have to be in the mood to dress the tree. I never like feeling rushed and it takes sooooooooo long.

Well, my intake today was 1475. I really feel like eating too much. I sent for a gift for my daughter and they made a mistake on the order and sent me the wrong thing. I'm anxious about the re-order getting here on time. It ends up being lots of work trying to sort things out AND sending it back is a pain and blah blah blah hey! wait!!! I need to use one of those handy smilies..............

Whatever.

Julie, how great to have your daughter home for the holidays. It's so great that you spend so much time with your family. Mine is all spread out and I don't see so much of them. I feel bad for my daughter. She doesn't get the continuity of seeing her grandparents on a regular basis. Of course, I might be committed to the looney bin if I saw my own Mom every day and it might drive her over the edge as well. I think we finally have a lot worked out and I wouldn't want to tempt fate!



I'd better turn in. When I get as tired as I am, I start doing stupid things ...ordering a Porsche from ebay, calling old boyfriends, playing poker for money with my 12 year old.........


Nah, but I consider those things and that's scary enough.

Goodnight

Love to you all,

Roll

[I'm Living]

GOOD EVENING s, sounds like your in good spirits even though frazzled by the seasons chaos HEY ROLL at least you,ve got the tree and if your daughter has anything to do with it I,m sure it will be decorated before you know it yeah it is good to have my daughter here , I try to get to see them as much as I can sometimes its once a month sometimes its two months before I see them, but we stay in touch on the phone once a week thats I miss my other four kids but we will all be together when it counts at xmas , and remember you can rant as much as you want thats what friends are for and I feel even though we,ve never met thats what we are, we accept each other the way we are warts and all , HI TIRED for the kind words my kids and grandkids keep me I,ve only got 3 more weeks of treatment left, then rest up for a wk then in for my holiday, well looks like I will not be going topless bathing anymore yeah I know I,m vain ,HI CAROL hope your well, anyway gotta go the natives are getting restless guess I better feed them, bye for now STAY FOCUSED, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK WE ARE DOING IT, AND REMEMBER IF WE STRAY OVER THE HOLIDAYS ITS NOT A CATASTROPHY JUST A SLIP TOMORROW IS ALWAYS FRESH WITH NO MISTAKES IN IT, BLESSED BE OF TO ALL, JULIE

[cacmsc]

Hello everyone and happy holidays to all of you! It was a busy day yesterday but a nice one. I never ate my salad I fixed for lunch my co worker and I went out to lunch. It was a nice treat and we enjoyed the break from our normal eating in the office thing. We went to a little Polish Rest. right around the corner from work. For me it was a real treat as I have a polish back ground. I had oh so good but off the charts I am sure! Intake: oatmeal w/ cran., almonds,1/2 tsp. b. sugar, cinn. that was good!
Lunch Treat: Stuffed cabbage rolls 1 1/2 , 1 1/2 potatoe pancakes w/ s/ cream, saurerkraut and water Not too bad but fried in oil those yummy pancakes were!
Snack: 1 little square of a candy bar at least it wasn't the whole thing!
Dinner: Tomatoe soup with a handful of macorni, 1 slice of bread w/ hot ham slice and lite swiss ch. melted on. Ritz crackers 4 not healthy! Better choice should have been made for sure! Wasted calories for sure.
Made nutmeg logs had a couple! Now they were up there in calories but a once a year time treat. I made two batches they are a family favorite. Right up there with the cut out sugar cookies which are in the freezer waiting to be frosted next week.
Well this time of year is a bit tricky with the eating. I didn't get to the gym as I finished my shopping instead.
So Rollmdl glad you got your tree. You will put it up when the timing is right. Put some christmas music on and some hot cocoa or eggnog and get to it! Your daughter sounds like a lovely girl. If her gift doesn't come in time wrap up a picture of the item in a nice box. It won't be the same but she will know its coming. I know what you mean about cleaning I did that also before the tree went up. I still have to do the downstairs as that is where the kids stay when they visit.
Julie you hang in there with those treatments and know we all care. Give yourself a bear hug from me! Your a real sport with keeping up your spirits. I know what you mean about your fathers spirit. I feel that way about my grandma ,when I bake like she is helping me out and guiding me. When I bake with the grandkids, I always think of gram saying you little messy bessy as she always did when I was little. Fond memories never leave us. Thank goodness for that. The hubbies village is made of of houses which we started to purchase for him about 9 years ago. Every year we get a few new accessories to go with his village or new houses as gifts. There are people,lampost, fences,animals, trucks, cars, trees, mailboxes,many items which make the village come alive. In some of the houses you can see inside there maybe santa sitting at a table. The houses are mainly lite up inside which have scenes to look at. The houses are neat with many different styles, church, bakery, candy shop, black smith shop, barn and stable, ice skating rink, fire house, train station and a little train etc.. The shelf he built goes the whole length of my knotty pine wall right under the window pane. The tree is about 8'ft. tall and pre lite type and is centered between the two windows with the shelf running 1/2 way down. I decorate the tree w/ antique orn. , lots of snowmen, some santa's, hand crocheted snowflakes etc. The shelf is covered with snow and lined with the houses and acessories. I have one round litte table he set up by the shelf end and he put together the ice skating rink and train depo. Its really nice this year and the best thing is he did it on his own and liked doing it. This is the first year he was that interested in puting it up. I was hoping someday this would happen! Sorry it was so long but you asked for it.
Tiredoffat yesterday was a wash out but today is another day. I read an article that said christmas only comes once a year. Save yourself for the best. Eat a healthy breakfast, lunch if your can then make the choice to have those special treats but with limited portions. Don't eat the stuff you can get anytime but what is special. So save the caloires for the splurge on the good stuff. Don't feel guilty its christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a little get together tonight and it will be kind of limited with food. So I am going to try and eat healthy all day up til then. If its possible just have a salad for dinner.
Intake: breakfast= 2 poached eggs, rye toast dry eggs on it, 1/2 order potatoes w/ hot sauce, coffee and water
Lunch= chicken grilled salad, cran. 1 T. , almond slivers, ch. shredded mozz., balsamic and olive oil, few croutons water
Party and dinner:::::::::::::
Have a super day everyone. I am going to get to the gym after my get together thats at least my plan!

[tiredoffat]

Hi all. Carol, have you ever thought of writing. I could imagine your beautiful Christmas house. Roll, I can imagine your tree awaiting decorations and Julie I imagine you surrounded by your family. Christmas is touching all our lives in so many ways. I love hearing the stories both present and the past.

Alll is well here. I'm working on maintaining these days. The goal is not to gain. Carol, thanks for the tips about Christmas eating. That's what I'll do. Have to rush today as it's busy here.

breakfast - banana, two clementines (150)
lunch - salad with turkey, small apple (400)
snack - nuts (300)
dinner - fish, corn, peas (500)
treat - rice pudding which will put me at the 1500 or slightly above.

Take care all. Thanks, thanks, thanks. Loosing all this weight has been the best gift I could imagine and I couldn't do it without you!

[I'm Living]

GOOD AFTERNOON s, I just thought I would share something I read in my SLIMMING AUSTRALIA mag, they say that what ever we eat today takes three days to turn to fat so if we keep this in mind and even if we do splurge a bit on xmas day as long as we get back on track the very next day we will not be doing any severe damage , I think if we remember to do it in moderation don,t go overboard we,ll all be fine, way to go TIRED, following a maintenance plan is sometimes just as tough as the diet, but with your determination I know you will keep up the new healthy lifestyle, I,m envious at times with all the stuff going on in my life at the moment I,m struggleing to stay on track but I know I,m not in a race and I know I will get there in the end, CAROL FOR YOUR KIND WORDS,I am a visual person if I hear something or read something I can see it in my mind and your discription of your home and your xmas room sounds wonderful, your hubbies village sounds like magic,I can almost see SANTA sitting near a roaring fire, and people walking the cobbled streets just like in CHARLES DICKENS CRISTMAS CAROL, I,m glad you had a nice lunch with your friend from work, my second husband was from a polish background and I agree although sometimes loaded with all the wrong things its such yummy food, HI ROLL hope your well and not letting yourself get bogged down with to many trivial things I ,m sure your daughters present will arrive just in time and all will be well stay positive while somethings are inprobable nothing is impossible, YOU ALL TAKE CARE , BE GOOD, STAY FOCUSED, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, NOOO QUITTING,STAY I hope you enjoy your white xmas I will be thinking of you all while I am melting it would be fun to have just one :snf: before I go to another part of my lifes journey well you never know if the GODS HAVE IT IN MY PLAN it could happen, bye for now BLESSED BE OF TO ALL , JULIE

[cacmsc]

Julie with all you have going on your always keep such wonderful thoughts of others. I am so taken with your kindness. Hopefully it will help all of us to see the world differently. I know when I read your notes there is something I can always walk away with.
Last night my youngest daughter called and asking questions about her dad's blood work and doctors appt. Boy do I wish I had some answers but notta! It will be a bit before the gentic testing comes back and it may show nothing. She is so far the only child with some signs of walking concerns. I would give anything for her to not have it.
As I told her they might not beable to label it but just treat the problems which come with it. Well enough of that. Your so good with your own medical if you have any advice or encouraging wisdom for me I'd be glad to pass it on to her. Thanks, cc
I would give you some of that white stuff anytime. My daughter has always wanted to visit Aust.. Being a photographer there is so much she loves to film. When in college there was a planned trip but she was pregnant with Elliott. Someday she will get there!
Glad you all enjoyed the christmas village info. The little girls 4 and 5 stopped in last night the youngest one just loved it. She said I thought you weren't decorating gram? So cute. Their coming over later on mom and dad are shopping. Dad is buying mom a new diamond her's fell out and got lost months ago. We will do something creative tonight with baking. I still have gram's fudge, biscotti cookies, russian teacakes, choc. chip cookies and cut outs to frost! Oh my its scary written down! Oh pillows to make for gifts and 1 pr. of p.j. bottoms and 1 poncho which lacks a few more rows of knitting. Oh how I should be staying up late. I dyed my hair at 5:45 this a.m. crazy huh?
Tiredoffat I think all the info. we can all share here is so good for all of us. I did eat a good breakfast, lunch but for dinner ate snacks at my friends. I know some of them were not calorie friendly little things. But didn't eat anything later on only had ice water. I trotted my little self right downstairs to the extra ref. with those nutmeg logs from the night before. Out of sight is what helps for me! Maintaining is a smart move, and everyone seems to agree on that thought. Good luck and keep in touch . Your so funny with I should write. My boss would flip with that thought!!!!!!!!! Funny! But thanks for your kind words.
Rollmdl I hope your geting that tree up! Wish I was there with some of my christmas cookies to share. I have to make some more of your chicken soup soon!
Off to work soon and its a short day. With this new way of counting time and being paid hourly I am getting out early today. At 3 I am out that door! I have to run errands and then come home and get busy with the little ones.
Breakfast= oatmeal w/the norm. 250
2 coffees , water
Lunch= salad w,ch.,almonds,croutons,balsamic,olive oil 350? water, yogurt 120
Have a great day girls!

[tiredoffat]

Good evening. It's great to hear from everyone. It's busy here but definately calmer now that the course is over. The last two nights I slept like a baby. That course was stressful as you know.

I love hearing your Christmas stories, wishes and thoughts even the very warm ones from Australia. Warm stories are nice to read when we're so chilled up here.

Fairly good eating day. I'm going to run out tonight to finish up the shopping. I'm planning to wrap on Sunday as my husband is planning to take the children up to his parents house to help out around the house. They have some physical challenges at this point in their lives. Tomorrow I plan to work out! Yeah. Then I'll go to the boys' swim meet. They all swim, even my four year old. He's adorable swimming up the lane in his race. After that I'm going to my oldest son's basketball game and then at night I'm going to a party with old, old friends. In fact, I had a falling out with these friends when I was much too sensitive a few years ago. It was painful so it's a little nerve wracking seeing them again, but "let bygones be bygones and move on - life's too short" Plus it will be nice to see them 34 lbs thinner than the last time! Sometimes I forget that we're all here to lose weight.

breakfast - skip
lunch - nuts (200), cheese (70), clementine (30)
dinner - big salad at Applebees (not the healthies, but I had a lot of cals left)
exercise - fast shopping tonght if my husband gets home on time.

Take care all. Thanks for being here.

[I'm Living]

HI, s, hope your all in good spirits, CAROL I try not to dwell to much on my health problems I have the GODS, FAIRIES AND MY DAD on my side so I know I,ll be fine, as always I feel so much warmth and concern here, its good we can share other things as well as our weight concerns sometimes the well wishes and comfort is surprising for me coming from people I don,t even know I feel for you and your daughter its hard to know what to say, more so when you have no answers yourself, its hard when things happen and no,one is sure why or how it happens, all I can tell you is to take each day as it comes, the GODS send no more than we can handle I know that it sometimes doesn,t seem fair, we spend a lot of time in life asking why, when and how , as I have said I believe the good carry a cross for others, all you can do is hold onto the here and now make today count tomorrow takes care of itself, your daughter must be close to her DAD, she is exspressing this with asking questions, your other kids will show it in other ways so watch for it, I have to say that AUSTRALIA is beautiful , and as a photographer I,m sure your daughter would be in her element, I hope she gets to fulfill her dream oneday and gets here, its funny we all want to explore other places , aqnd we tend to take for granted what is in our own backyard I live here in this beautiful country and there is so much of it I,ve yet to see HEY TIRED I,mglad you finally got a couple of good nights sleep you certainly deserve it, I know how you feel about the tension with your friends, I myself have been there done that, but that was in the past LIFE is to short, its great you feel good about your weight loss and how good you look when you look in the mirror now , but these people were your friends when you were larger, and for what ever the reason for your temporary fallout, REMEMBER TO HOLD YOUR HEAD UP PROUD, THE WAY YOU SHOULD OF THEN, you sound like a warm and caring person, if people care about you than that is what they will see,compliments are great but LOVE, take it from me means so much more and lasts longer, I still have 12kgs or about 24lb to lose but I know that when I get there I,ll accept the compliments but I,ll hold on to the love I hope your hubbie and your kids have a good time at his parents, I wish your kids luck in thier swimming meet, I can almost see your little fellas arms and legs going for gold in his race, I wish your son luck in his game, you sound like your doing well BUT skipping breakfast is a big I do pay attention and you seem to do that often lately CAROL you seem to be on track to, keep it up, your baking sounds wonderful, my husband is Italian and I love almond biscotti, I make them for him now and then with healthy ingredients but they seem to lack something I KNOW ITS THE CALORIES what colour did you go if it was blonde than you have an excuse all my daughters are blondes my son to, and that is always thier excuse, I,m a redhead, I think I have been so many colours, but thats what I remember I haven,t been to bad lately I,m often not feeling well enough to eat but I,m still rather bloated, I am caring heaps of extra fluid due to the heart pills I have to take , I,m sure I rattle when I walk its funny because of the other health problems I have and the treatment I should be skin and bone, lifes good but bodies suck big time sometimes well I haven,t put in a meal plan for awhile so here goes.
brekki/ strawberry drink made with low cal icy cold lemonade 80 cals
lunch/ pasta with stir through tomatoe based sauce, about 4 mouthfulls, 150cals
dinner/ going to hubbies work xmas party not really upto it but he is looking forward to it .
well I raved on long enough if I keep going it could be the first chapter of a novel bye for now s happy BLESSED BE, JULIE

[I'm Living]

HEY ROLL, I didn,t forget you where are you hope your not caught between the washer and computer, OHHH I just read my post please excuse bad sprelling I guess I,m more tired than I thought guys bye again ,JULIE

[cacmsc]

Goodmorning everyone. Oh I just ate a lovely bowl of pumpkin granola. I went to a health food store yesterday and walked out 33.00 less in my wallet. But got some interesting things. It was fun and a treat for myself. We all have to do that once in awhile. I bought some holiday flavored coffee, cajun roasted cashews, grapefruit, cherries,cheese, pumpkin granola etc... That granola is wonderful! I have to be careful I am sure its full of calories but oh so good!
Well I am up early as Sears opens at 7 with an extra 10% off and I need a price adjustment so its worth the trip. It will also get me in town earlier with less folks to deal with. Then after my shopping errands I am off to the gym. I only made it there 1 time this week even though I had wanted to go more. But the good news is something must be working somewhere the past 2 days my jeans and work pants were baggy in the hip area and butt. I am afraid to get on the scale. Since I started to do the eye ball check instead I've not been on. Last night I had the little ones. They are so excited about christmas. Watching them with the village when they came in together was a lot of fun. Grandpa was sure pleased other than the don't touch only look. But they were good. I made fudge and they all had to have a spoon to lick. They did all want the big wooden spoon but that was 1st choice of whom asked for it. Needless to say it was a busy evening but fun!
Tiredoffat you just go enjoy yourself at that party and as Julie said walk tall with your head up. Life is short and somethings we need to let go. Its sometimes easier said than done though. My friends in Florida are a bit upset because I went to Seattle instead of visiting them. But I have children which aren't so close and I need them sometimes. I have called my friends since several times we talk but somethings missing in our talks. They also don't call us anymore. Well I am going to send them a christmas card. Also going to call and ask whats up this weekend. Life is too short and we have been friends for about 18 years. So go for it and just enjoy yourself. Let me know how it goes. By the way your doing great. Oh I bought those nuts for my treat yesterday I got the idea from you. How nice it is that we share our ideas.
Julie thanks for your kindness! Sounds like your busy too! Have a good time at the hubbies party.
Gotta go to Sears!
cc

[tiredoffat]

It's always so nice to hear from all of you. Julie, thanks for the advice - I will try not to skip breakfast. All studies show how important it is. Carol, thanks for sharing your friend issue. I have a bit of a pattern of falling out with friends - I'm not exactly sure why, but my dh thinks it's partly because my expectations for others are too high and then I get disappointed. I'm trying to accept people for who they are and not look for too much from anyone. We're all human.

I'm lazy today. I'm either going to the gym or putting my energy into cleaning up this house. After this writing I'll make a list and get to it. I'm having my whole family over for Christmas day - that includes 2 parents, 5 siblings (4 brothers and 1 sister), 3 in-laws, nine nieces and nephews and one grand neice and my nephew's wife. I feel so blessed to have them all in my life. I'm going to have a roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, a salad perhaps. My mom is bringing the pies. Everyone is bringing something. We have a yankee swap - lots of laughs and we picked names for the children so every child gets one nice gift. I know we won't always get to be together so I want to appreciate it.

What will your Christmas days be like?

I'm going to try to take it easy today as far as eating. I know it's not a good habit to eat a lot one day and almost nothing the next, but I think I'll try that today since I'm not very hungry and I have a busy sit around watching events day.

Take care all. Thanks for being here. How fortunate I've been to find you.

[rollmdl]

Hi All,
It's been pretty busy around here. Lots of social functions, regular everyday committments and Christmas tasks. I haven't fallen down too badly but haven't been tracking either. I agree that maintenance is a goal that I can live with. I'm going to a Christmas party with our music class. Lots of singing and performance and food. I'm making pecan sticky buns because it's the hostess' favorite food. I know it's not traditionallly Christmas fare but pretty close to perfect food.

I feel as though I'm actually visiting with you guys while reading your
posts. Your homes sound so cosy. We'll be decorating the tree tomorrow morning. Tomorrow night we're going to the Christmas Revels at the Scottish Rite temple in Oakland. It's a Scottish theme this year. I love the pagentry and singing. It's so uplifting.

I've got to go. Sorry I've been so spotty in my posting lately. I'm going to try to post a longer message later today.

Love to you all,
Roll