this time we just got some sleet & rain mix.. just slushy and now with the snow from the other day a BIG wet mess! the water was over my ankles in my back yard lol i guess thats what u get for livin at sea level....

hope your weekend isnt too crazy Petra!! Wow :cheer: u are really movin down that ticker!

I have to take a reindeer for a ride and take some pics... lol umm yes i am ok... its a joke at work we kidnapped a co-workers reindeer off her desk... and now we are holding it for ransom... before we give it back at the christmas luncheon... lol

Alright ladies. Here are the chocolate smoothie recipes for those of you who have chocolate protein powder. I'm including a few I haven't tried personally along with some editorial comments on ones I have tried.

Peppermint Pattie Smoothie--1 1/2 cups Chocolate Carb Countdown Milk, 1/4 cup chocolate whey protein powder, 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa (ghardelli seems to be the best brand if you can get it), 1/4 tsp mint extract, 2 ice cubes, guar or xanthan gum for thickener (optional). Blend, enjoy.

Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie--1 1/2 cups Chocolate Carb Countdown Milk, 3 tbsp organic peanut butter, 2 tbsp chocolate whey protein powder, 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa. Blend, enjoy.

Almond Joy in a Glass--1 1/2 cups Chocolate Carb Countdown MIlk, 2 tbsp chocolate whey protein powder, 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa, 1/4 tsp almond extract, 1/4 tsp coconut extract. Blend, enjoy.

Chocolate-Orange Truffle Smoothie (I happen to like this flavor combination)--1 1/2 cups Chocolate Carb countdown milk, 2 tbsp chocolate whey protein powder, 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa, 1/4 tsp orange sugar-free drink mix powder (crystal light), 2 ice cubes, guar or xanthan gum as thickener (optional). I happen to have sugar free orange flavored davinci syrup which works better than the crystal light. Blend, enjoy.

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie--1 1/2 cups Chocolate Carb Countdown Milk, 1/3 cup canned sour cherries in water, drained (available in the baking aisle), 2 tbsp chocolate flavored whey protein powder, 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa, 1 tbsp cherry sugar free syrup, 1 tbsp chocolate sugar free syrup (look in gourmet coffee aisle where they sell the beans for grinding). Blend, enjoy.

Sacher Torte Smoothie (I've never tried this but it looks interesting)--1 1/2 cups Chocolate Carb Countdown Milk, 2 apricots, frozen, 1/4 cup chocolate whey protein powder, 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa, 1 tbsp chocolate sugar free syrup. Blend, enjoy.

Death By Chocolate--1/2 cup sugar free chocolate ice cream, 1 1/2 cups Chocolate Carb Countdown Milk, 2 tbsp Chocolate whey protein powder, 2 tbsp chocolate sugar free syrup, 2 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa. Blend, enjoy.

Chocolate Coconut Rum Decadence--1 cup Chocolate Carb Countdown Milk, 1/2 cup light coconut milk, 2 tbsp chocolate whey protein powder, 1/4 tsp coconut extract, 1/4 tsp imitation rum extract, 2 ice cubes, guar or xanthan gum as thickener (optional). Blend, enjoy.

Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie (the original recipe includes ground flaxseeds. I tried this and it was gross so I'm leaving that part out.) 1 1/2 cups Chocolate carb countdown milk, 1/2 cup unsweetened frozen raspberries, 1/4 cup chocolate whey protein powder, 1 tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa. Blend, enjoy.

Every Good Thing (if you like the chocolate orange thing, you will like this)--1 1/2 cups Chocolate carb countdown Milk, 2 tbsp vanilla whey protein powder, 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules, 1/8 tsp orange extract, guar or xanthan gum as thickener (optional). Blend, enjoy.

That should help some people with their chocolate cravings.

Hey PICs, we are back and I am running hard just to stay in the same place. That was not the best time of the year to be going to Iowa! We also went to South Dakota to visit my other sister. It was snowy and below zero so we were reminded once again why we retired to Tennessee.

Now our son from California is visiting so I am cooking up a storm and making all kinds of things that I shouldn't eat.

I've got to go get started on our Christmas decorations. We don't even have the tree up yet. I did get the cards out, so that is something.

I am trying to hang in there with the diet. I am stuck right now, not losing or gaining.

Gotta go because I have stollen rising that I need to get baked. [I plan to give a lot of it away]!

zoey

Hi PIC's!

I hope everyone had a great saturday! I had a couple come to look at my foster cats and they said they're going to take them. A christmas present for their kids. I'm going to be dropping off the girls to them on Christmas Eve :)

I love saturdays because I get my cheat meal and once again I had pizza. I figure a whopping 1400 calories for that yummy. Bring me up to about 2200 for the day. Monday is my weigh day so hopefully I'll loose this week. I've been good every other day.

Keep up the good work everyone!

val: i make pizza on the whole wheat pitas just lay them flat and add your sauce and use ff cheese, and your toppings, then bake in the toaster oven .. it is soooooo much better than pizza u can buy out and a lot less calories...

this morning i had whole wheat pancakes, with sugar free syrup, and chopped turkey bacon inside them... yummmy

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbs canola oil
1tsp baking powder
1 egg
dash of salt
and i add cinnamon

u can use this for pancakes or waffles it makes 4 servings

p.s. the waffles freeze very well!! then u can just nuke em'

lol one day i was craving a pnutbutter and Jelly sandwich so for breakfast i spread some low carb-no sugar pnut butter on y waffle and some sugar free jelly...

Morning all!! :coffee: The days already drizzly and grey but nothings gonna rain on my parade!!!.....I lost another 2.5 pounds!!!:carrot: :carrot: That puts me at 25 lbs lost!!! WHOOO WEEEEEE!!!!! The difference is incredible, using that fitday site. I must have barely been eating 1000-1100 calories before and not realized and doing the starvation mode. I'm eating soooo much more and quite a good variety of whole grains, fruit and lean meat. I think the added protein (ie..powder) has also helped. THANKS for all the support and motivation!!!!:hug: Last night while I was making dinner, I was trying to think of the last time I even had potatoes. Couldn't remember. I'm sure thats also helped. Another added bonus are my workouts.....I'm loving the treadmill these days. Its like a puzzle with all the pieces coming together to complete the picture. :cp: FINALLY ITS CLICKING and I'M NOT MISSING OUT ON ANYTHING!!! :cb:

Hey Girls,

Well, I officially have the CRUD again.... and I feel like yuk. I haven't done real well on my food choices, but in my defense- I hae done worse. I broke down and just bawled last nite cuz I just was feeling so lousy and Lee cleaned the kitchen & sent me to take a hot shower. hhhmmmmmmm.... I wonder how many times I could get away with that one lmao. :devil:
So anyways, I am on the mend. I have 2 1/2 days to get my **** together before my next weighin ;) .....I can do!

AngelEyes~ WoooHOOOOO and a huge pat on da back to ya! YOu are doing wonderful. :hat: Best of luck to you GF!!!!!

Val~ That's awesome about your foster cats. I don't know how you can do it without getting all attached. lol. 1400 for :jeno:!!! Yikes lol... but ya know, if knowing you get to do that on Saturday keeps you on track the rest of your days then more power to you!!!!!! If it works, don't mess with it, huh? GJ (((((Val))))))

Curly~ you Kitchen Goddess ;)... I found a really good sugar free 6 carb syrup. I even gave our 2 CostcoSize Aunt Jamima syrup away and making Lee eat it too lmao. We love our weekend breakfasts so I'm working towards making them healthier.

Petra~ Congrats on the ticker movement! :cp: Yummmy too.. I'm thinking of trying the protein again... but not in water this time lmao. (It was soooo nasty.) Actually I had one in my hand today at work but put it back. Your recipes sound so good it'd be like having ice cream shakes or something... hhmmmmmm... a protein shake with Buffalo meat burger on a rudy's lo carb bun. Kinda sends me back to high school days.

Zoey~ :wave: Welcome Back again! Hopefully we'll see more of you after the holidays. Sounds like you are a busy lady too!

So tomorrow is my Friday. Over my weekend I have to make Salmon Puffs for the Store Christmas party on Saturday. I wanted to make one of the yummy pies of Curlys, but I've been overridden by my coworkers lol. So tonight I'm gonna make a public goal. I will make my puffs this weekend and the stuffing for on Friday. I will eat 3 of the finished product. My Goal is :drill: THREE ONLY! (That includes at the party too).

:grouphug:

Hi Everyone!

I hope you all had a good weekend. I've been feeling unmotivated. I guess it's just the winter blahs. I didn't loose any weight last week and it just seems to be getting harder to keep on plan. I've been more hungry and I wonder if it has something to do with the cold weather. Anyway tomorrow is my weigh day and I'm REALLY hoping for a loss!

Angel Eyes congrats on the 25 pound loss! Great job! I love to see everyone here loosing! :cp:

Dee I hope you feel better soon! Lee sounds like a nice guy to help you out! I'm really excited about my foster cats. I am going to have to drop them off on christmas eve or christmas day which may be a bummer since I am really attached to them.

I saved another dog today. We were driving down a busy street when I saw a yellow lab puppy running. I screamed to my husband to stop the car. I ran out and called the dog right before he was about to be hit. Thank god he came when I called! He had a tag and we were able to find the owner right away. Very lucky dog that we came along!

Keep up the great work everyone! We can do this thing together! :hug:

I think we all go thru motivational cycles... lol which seem to be scale induced.. haha for me anyways... The thing that really works for me is to just read all you can about nutrition.. surf peoples success pages and try to get your "steam " back...

go hunt thru the closet and find something that was too small and give it a try... anything to make yourself feel better. if the scale doesnt move .. try taking your measurements...

I really do think you're body hits a point where it says "nope no more weight loss" and then thats when you really have to be strong and keep on program and dont give up... :)

like your own body is tempting u to give up!!

yep thats harder than getting started ... those times when u do everything right but you dont see any loss...

Just show it who is the boss and keep chugging along like the little train..... "i know i can" !!!

4.5 down!
 

Thanks Curly! I just don't know why I've been feeling so hungry recently. I didn't think I would loose this week since I didn't last week and was discouraged.

But I DID loose this week. 4.5 pounds! I moved my ticker down 4 pounds :) I'm not about to give up and in a big part because of the support I'm getting on this board! I'm so thankful for all of you! :hug:

Congrats Angel-good job on getting it all together. That's a great feeling.

Congrats Val. You are fortunate you can get away with cheating. I am not a fan of that approach as you know.

I ended up having a rough weekend and am learning some hard lessons. I can be hard headed sometimes. I have a bad habit of skipping meals when I am on call and I used to be able to get away with it but it is starting to make me crazier and crazier. I was practically a lunatic this morning. I actually couldn't go to work this morning--I was so irritable I almost couldn't stand my own skin. Then when I finally sat down and started eating it was like a fog started to lift from my brain. The funny thing is, I didn't put this together until I started eating and noticed that I was feeling better. I'm one of those people who doesn't tolerate ketosis well which is why I can't do Atkins and I think as I lose weight this has gotten to be a fine line. Miss a meal and I go into ketosis and start to get wierd. I'm going to have to start treating myself like a diabetic I think--must eat and on time.

Petra thanks! I have been only cheating on one meal a week and it's not always something as bad as pizza!

I can't do atkins either. I was feeling like what you said a brain fog. I need my carbs but I stick to the good ones :)

Hi girls....

Valerie....great job on the weight loss!! woohoo:carrot: Isn't it great to move that TICKER!!! You are the florence nightengale of dogs and cats!! Thank goodness you saved that puppy!

Petra..... I wondered how your on call weekend went. And it did, glad its over!! I'm the same way, I need to eat every 3 hours or so. OR LOOK OUT! How are you enjoying the new couch?

Iwmonn.... How are you feeling GF? I hope you are feeling better and Lee is taking good care of you!! :hug: Enjoy a nice hot bubble bath, it will help soothe you for a good nights rest. I checked my sugar free smuckers syrup, it has 12 gr carb but 0 sugar. What kind only has 6 carbs?

I didn't get to the gym today but got lots and lots of errands/chores done. AND??? I'm now finished all my Christmas shopping!!!:carrot: Mailed off 2 out of 3 gift boxes, and mailed all my Christmas cards!!! woohooo. I will get to the gym tommorow as well as start some 'gift' baking and start to wrap. I love getting it all done early!!! TC

im shopping on ebay for a stick of dynamite.. to put under my scale.. so i can blow it to smithereens!!!! :)

bad scale!!!! im so tired of being stuck!!! :(

BUT i will not let the scale win!!!

Sorry Curly....you pay such good money for a scale these days, the least thing they could do is to give out great numbers!! ....hehe...what about one of those demolition hammers? you could smash it to smitherines. Didn't you say TOM was visiting? no worries then....next week you'll SHINE!!!:hug: