Okay, lets see if this works. I really want to have the weight tracker added.
janicej

Thanks ,
Now maybe I can figure out how to add all the cute faces etc..
janicej

Yeah - it looks like you got it!

I've done "official" low-carb before. Protein Power. But I found I couldn't follow it long-term. Now, I just watch my carbs. Some days I only have a slice of bread. Other days I have more. I find that if I focus my meals and snacks around a bit of protein, the cravings and hunger pretty much fade away.

Fortunately, my cravings have never really been for sweets. My husband is more of the ice cream/candy person. My comfort foods are bread, crackers, potatoes... savory carbs. So when I was sick a few weeks ago, I really loaded up on carbs. Now I'm back to only a few servings a day, and whole grain when I can.

So this is a rambling reply about low-carb. I'm not officially doing it, but I understand many of the precepts. I know a lot of people who are doing low-carb. There's a lot of support out there for it.

Hi everyone!! I am shortiemetoo/Karla!
I am on south beach and have done Atkins before (unfortunately I didn't do too well on it....).
south beach is pretty much a low/healthy carb lifestyle...I love it!!!
I really love your group and will love checking in with all of you!!
Have a great night everyone!!!

Good morning ladies! Sorry I've been away for a few days .. had a very busy weekend and have to confess I was not OP all the time. Hubby's birthday was Friday so of course we had birthday cake. Took him to dinner Fri nite and they gave him a huge piece of birthday cheesecake .. of course I had to help him eat that over the weekend .... Actually, outside of that I did pretty well ...

Jane: Where did you dissappear to? Looking for you to post on the food journal thread with us. If you haven't gotten back up on that wagon pick yourself up and report in!

Shortiemetoo: Welcome to our group and hope you post with us a lot. We want to get to know you.

Janice: You did good on the weight chart ... The smilies (cute faces) are just to the right of where you are typing your post ... there is a whole list of them and what to type to make them. You probably already have figured this out tho, eh? Keep up the good work on staying OP and losing ...

Synger: Good to hear from you girl. Hope you are doing well .. come on in and post with us more .. love to hear from you. Oh, and happy belated birthday. Was it the 10th? My hubby's was the 12th.

Marblefly: Where are you girl? Hope all is well with you too .. come back and post more so we can get better acqainted. Since we have the same b'day you'll have to be here so we can celebrate together right?

Peggy: Hope you're doing well ... post when you can.

Sharon: How are you? Need to hear from you! Get in here and post!

Slyvia: You too! Are you still taking your long walks? It doesn't seem like 2 years since you had Nico ... time flies!

I think I covered everyone .. if I missed, I'm sorry. Hope to hear from you all soon ...

Later....
Love, CJ

CJ,
Glad to see you are back!! I was beginning to feel alone on this board. Today we our celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary!!! I'll try to stay on track, but I know we will be going out to eat.
janicej

Good morning everyone ... hope you are doing well ... I'm busy getting our stuff packed - we're going to our daughter's for a couple days ... I won't be back in here until Saturday as she does not have internet.

Janice:
Happy Anniversary! Did you have a nice dinner out? Don't fret if you didn't stay OP ... it only happens once a year! I just posted yesterdays eating on the food journal. Sorry I was a bit lax but will do better. We might as well use the same thread until next week then we'll start a new one ok?

Jane H:
Where did you dissappear to girl? Hope all is well.

Hi also to Sharon, Peggy, Slyvia, Marblefly, Synger, and our new member Shortiemetoo ... hope to hear from you all soon.

I'll pop back in later tonite ... we aren't leaving until early morning. Have a great day everyone.

Love, CJ

Hi everyone!!!!

Wow!! CJ you did good!!! Took your husband out to dinner and only had a small amount of cheesecake!! That's awesome!!!

Happy Anniversary Janice!! Woo hoo!! That is so awesome!!! Congratulations!!! 36 years is an awesome accomplishment!! How was your dinner out?? Good I hope??!!

I am awaiting the birth of my first grandchild!!! I am so excited!! My daughter has been having a LOT of braxton hicks contractions and is 95% effaced and 1 cm dilated...so we are in a holding pattern!! That is about all the exciting news I have...

I hope you all are having good days and are able to stay on plan!! It does get hard sometimes doesn't it!! But then at the end of the day it is oh so worth it!!!
Take care and I will check back soon!!!!

Hello all my dieting buddies,
I did have a very nice 36th anniversary. We went for a drive in the country and found a real cute place to eat at. I ordered my meal and only ate half of everything. We did order some wonderful onion rings , which we split. I shouldn't have had the onion rings. I had heartburn later that night. I paid the price for eating food I normally don't eat. Well, the heartburn sure helped me to stay on track the next day!
janicej

Oh Karla,
Forgot to say hi. It's wonderful that you will soon be a grandmother! It's so nice being a grandma. You get to have fun with the grandkids and when you tire of them you can send them home! We have two of our grandkids this weekend. They arrive this afternoon and will be picked-up on Sunday. We plan on driving over to the beach with them. I have meetings there for our condo assoc. My husband, Alan will be able to take them in the pool and on the beach. It should be a fun trip for them. They love the water. Hope I can stay on plan. They always have boxes of donuts at the meetings and I will be eating out the whole time we are there. I usually gain a couple of pounds every time we go to the beach. Hope it doesn't happen this time. I actually feel in controll of my eating. I cut all the sweets and it really helps.
janicej

for the baby

Well that is great that we have even more newbies in our wonderful group. How wonderful! Welcome janicej, Jane and Karla!

CJ-You are a Brat Brat Brat for starting the new thread YET AGAIN! I guess I need to pay more attention what is going on so I can beat you once in a while like I used to do. I remember whenever you used to say you were going to soak in the tub that you would start the new thread so it got that when you said that I wouldn't trust you and have to RACE you to get the new thread started. Ha Ha Tell Dickie poo Happy Belated Birthday to him. Well if you only helped him eat the cheesecake than that doesn't count, cause it wasn't your birthday after all. LOL

Jane-Yes, by all means post in the Food Journal that CJ has started. It should help you out. You can get accountibility as well by posting with us too. How are you doing? Don't worry, you will get back on track, just take it a day at a time, a meal at a time and you will do great.

Sylvia-Gosh I can't believe your nervy sisters. Expecting you, just because you don't work anymore to take care of your dad's stuff. Don't they know that when you have a little one that is a full time job and you really do SO much for your parents I know for a fact. Please don't let it get to you, you are an angel and some people just let others do everything and than pass the buck on the rest of it. They are your sisters after all, so I guess you have to make nice. But I know it is hard somedays for you. Hang in there, we are here for you always. (((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))) Chrissy is doing great and it has been almost 6 yrs since my brother died, she is dating a really great man, and his name is also Rick, like my brothers. I like him a lot and she is so much in love and I have never seen her so happy in a long time. Thanks for asking, she always liked you too.

janice-I take it you are on low carb! I am on Weight Watchers, we are all on different types of programs, but do try to cut back on my carbs, even though I love pasta and bread, it is sure hard somedays. But I manage to fit it in my program when I want it. But CJ will be your low carb helper there. It sounds as if you are doing great so far with that program. Congratulations on your 5 pounds gone. You are on the right track with your exercise and cutting out sweets too. I too find that if I don't eat any sugar, within a little while I don't even crave it. But when I eat it, the more I eat the more I crave. So I try to get my sugar in naturally with fruit and the jello puddings and gelatin they have out. That seems to do the trick for me. Sorry about your Mom's passing, I lost my Mom about 10 yrs ago and it hasn't been easy for me, I miss her so much, but manage to cope so far. You are doing the right thing in eating healthy to avoid any healthy complications. Good for you!
We are here for you always, when ever you need us.

synger-Glad you posted and doing well, it seems like. I too have to have protein everyday or else I tend to get hungry and the protein seems to keep me more from being hungry. You are lucky that you don't crave sweets. I try to not give in to them, otherwise I am a goner.

Karla-How wonderful that you are about to be a grandmother. I envy you, both of my daughters are now married recently and I will wait patiently till I am a grandmother. I won't bug them, when they are ready I will be ready. Let us know when the blessed event is here. You are right when you say that even thought there are times you wonder how you will get through the day, at the end of the day it is worth it. Than when you weigh yourself and see what you have accomplished than you know it was worth it.

Hope everyone is doing great and having a wonderful weekend so far.

Love you, Sassy Sharon

Hi to all. I haven't been lurking, just plain old MIA. We took 3 weeks vacation - mostly to get a room ready for DM to move in with us - and spent a few days with some very old friends. However, the holidays are over, the 10 pounds has packed on, and I really need to get serious about taking it off.

I, too am doing a lo carb program. It really isn't low carb, although I do restrict the amount of carbs that I eat. My program is really more not eating any processed foods, including processed starches, and reducing the amount of sugar that I eat. It works for me, so I am anticipating that I will take the weight off quite quickly...as long as I stick to the program.

DS is getting married in Cuba in January, so I must make sure that I look good for the pics. I bought my dress a couple of weeks ago, but I'm still looking for shoes to go with.

On a sad note, I am having to deal with the death of my DM - 5 days before she was to move in with us. I went to pick her up at the senior's home...that was last Monday...for a dr. appointment. When I got there, I found her body on the floor. Through the course of events - R.C.M.P. and medical examiner attending and asking questions to find out whether there had been foul play - I discovered that noone at the home had checked on her when they knew that she had been missing meals for 2 1/2 days. DH was also out of town as were all of our ministers, so I was in a horrid state. DH flew home that evening and we were able to straighten out what needed to be done at the moment, but we are truly still in shock.

We were behind in getting her room ready, so when I left her on the Friday, I told her that I would probably not call her until Monday when I would remind her of her appointment. I am still kicking myself for that. It may not have prevented the death, but she wouldn't have been left there for so long.

I am back to work this week, but have not told anyone except my boss. I just couldn't face people who know right at the moment, so this is (maybe selfish) but better for me.

I was able to get in touch with my brother in Korea, but he is not able to come home right now. DM didn't want a funeral (mostly because the family is all over the place and she didn't want them to drop everything and come home), so we will arrange a committal service when the family is able to make reasonable arrangements to attend. DD is a minister, so she can do the service, but if she is not able, her husband (also a minister), will need to do it.

So that is a little piece of how our spring/summer has gone. things can't get any worse and we are looking forward to things getting better.

Hope everyone is doing well, getting over their holidays and ready for the fall to begin. Remember, Christmas is coming soon, so get that shopping done. Mine is already done, so I can gloat.

Take care...

Hi girls .. I'm back. My couple days at my daughters turned into 4 days. We had our yearly tractor/steam engine show at Buckley .. it's a big thing but what Karen and I love about it is the 600 vendors flea market! Boy oh boy, I put a lot of miles on just walking those rows after rows Thursday thru Sunday! My legs are so tired .. I sure did need to get into my Hot Tub when we got home.

Peggy:
Good to hear from you but am so sorry to hear of your mother's death. How awful to be the one to find her ... I can only imagine what your are going thru. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Good luck with your lo-carb program .. I went off mine a bit over the weekend, but going to get with it this week!

Sharon:
Glad to hear from you! Sorry about the new thread .. you know how it goes .. "you snooze you lose"! lol I gave Dick you birthday greeting - he said "thanks" ... he asks about your guys often! We need to get together!

Janice:
Where are you girl? Did you have a good weekend or goof off like me? I started a new weeks food thread .. hope you still post there with me.

Jane H:
Where did you dissappear to? Come back and post with us!

Karla:
Again, welcome and please do come back and post with us too!

Slyvia:
Oh Slyvia ... where are you?? We need you in here.

OK ... will post more tomorrow .. you all have a great nite.

Love, CJ

CJ, I'm here. Just got back from the coast. We had our grandkids this weekend. 5 grandkids 7 and under can keep a a grandma busy!!!! I ate junk food right along with them. By, Monday I was ready to get back on my eating plan. I ended up losing another pound!!!!!!
janicej