here i am~! Uhm... ok, i'm from Savannah, Ga.. sister is 'No, I'm Sweet Tea' and soul sister to 'Sweet Tea'.. i'm 32yrs. old. i was born in OH, but raised in GA.. yes, that's right born a yankee, raised a rebel!

moving right along.. tonight, we made dinner and experimented a little. it turned out really good though. i found a recipe and i would like to share it with you all.

Meat Crust Pizza - South Beach Diet Recipe (Phase 1)

Brown about 2 pound of extra lean ground beef.
Preheat oven to 350
Put beef in a large bowl & mix well with 2 cups of Lf mozzarella cheese. Spread mixture out like a pizza crust on a cookie sheet or a baking stone.
Put 1 cup pizza sauce on the mixture. Ragu is ok.(pizza sauce, no sugar in it) Top with 1-2 cups of Lf shredded mozzarella.
Top with canadian bacon and or low fat pepperoni (optional onions, peppers, anything legal that you like on pizza's.)
Cook 15 min. or so (when top cheese starts to brown it is done.)
Put foil on rack below to catch any drippings.

it says 15 minutes, but i think it could've cooked a little bit longer because i don't like my pizza veggies still crunchy crunchy! we also added some red onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, broccoli, mushrooms and i took a little pepperoni, sliced them in 4's and spread em around. i think next time, we will try this with ground turkey or chicken!

if anyone has any ideas what you can do with ground beef other than hamburger patties, tacos and this pizza.. let a big girl know!! LOL

i'm excited for thursday, because we get to see Sweet Tea and we all get to weigh, YAY~~! lol ok guys, ttys.

Hello ladies! I'm another transplant I live in Rock Hill, SC and work in Charlotte, NC. I see we have some others in/from/around the Queen City. I am originally from Indiana, grew up in a small town outside Indy. Went to undergrad at Purdue. I'm married to a fun and creative guy who grew up in southern Indiana (Brown County/Nashville) and we met when I was living in Bloomington, IN for a stint. I've lived in Raleigh, Charlotte (north side), Charleston SC, Orlando and Tampa FL, Florence and now RH, SC. My mom & dad retired to SC. We've all come this way bc of my older brother who went to The Citadel and then MUSC, married a southern girl and had 4 daughters. He's now a southern doctor/politician.

I got my masters in library science from Univ of SC last December and I've been working for Carolinas HealthCare System in their wonderful medical library ever since. DH is working on his Interior Design degree at Winthrop Univ in Rock Hill and we just bought our first house. We've been trying to start a family for a couple years now and been dealing with fertility issues and multiple miscarriages (one recently). It has thrown me into pits of depression where I eat and eat. I got close to goal, then with our recent loss and vacation have put some back on. I wonder if I'll ever hit goal

I do like southern food, esp the bbq and fried chicken. My grandma was from TN originally and I grew up on her sweet tea and fried everything. I LOVE Zaxby's and consider it comfort food and we use it to nurse hangovers after DH's DJ night at a club in Charlotte the first Friday of every month.

My strategy thus far for losing has been: cutting out sugary soda and moved to splenda for all beverages (including tea), counting calories and fat, staying under 1400 cal/day most days, walking for exercise and not giving up things I love entirely like chocolate and alcohol. Like I said though, I fell off the wagon recently and have to get back on track if I'm going to see goal before the end of the year.

So that's me Sorry to go on and on about myself. It's nice to meet ya'll (yes I've picked that one up ) !

Oh yeah, I LOVE bogging!! Both in trucks and on 4-wheelers...I used to have a SWEET jeep, but had to trade it in for the family Camry...LOL.

Well, it was a sermon that really turned things around for me. In that particular sermon my pastor mentioned getting fit, and it was really motivational. He talked about how after the 40 years of wandering Joshua only had 3 days to get everybody ready before the thing that they had all been waiting for would finally come to pass (Isreal getting to their promised land)...then he outlined how WE are a Joshua generation and we have got to get ready because the things God has prepared for us are just around the corner--we need to be ready mentally, spiritually, and physically. He also mentioned a little about gluttony and threw out some facts regarding the health risks of sodas, cigarettes, etc. and how God could deliver us from all these things that we're unable to put down...it really struck a chord for me and when I went up for the alter call he was going around laying hands on different people and when he got to me something just clicked. I even almost fell out, which is something I've never done before--really interesting! Ever since then I have lost weight every week, except for last week...that's when I realized my weight loss started being more for my glory than God's and I had to get things back in order. I signed up for The Lord's Table classes and down I'm back on the downswing!

OK, it's official y'all...living in the South IS a "special need" that's detrimental to our waistline!! LOL As reported in AJC:

Stomachs sagging in Southland

By BOB DART
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/23/05
WASHINGTON — Who would have guessed, y'all? There is a statistical correlation between being fat and living in the land of fried chicken, cornbread, grits with red-eye gravy, sweet iced tea, pecan pie, porch swings and Sunday afternoon naps.

The Trust for America's Health released a report Tuesday showing that obesity is rising like a buttermilk biscuit all across America - but folks are getting fatter fastest in the South.

The report ranked states according to their percentage of obese adults: 1. Mississippi. 2. Alabama. 3. West Virginia. 4. Louisiana. 5. Tennessee. 6. A tie between Texas, Kentucky and Michigan. South Carolina was tenth, Arkansas 11th, Georgia 12th, North Carolina 16th, and Virginia 22nd. Of the Southern states, only Florida was in the leaner half of the nation - ranking 38th.

The states that once composed the Confederacy now make up a Corpulency. The region "is almost like a canary in a coal mine. Waistlines are growing fastest (in the South). But why is it happening there? I can't give you that answer," said Shelley Hearne, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a non-partisan, non-profit organization with the stated goal of improving the health of Americans.

The report, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America - 2005," uses statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to show state-by-state trends. Along with the nation as a whole, each state's average percentage of obese adults from 2002-2004 is compared to the average over the previous three years.

By comparing three-year periods, Hearne said, the study shows "with clarity and certainty that we have a steady increase that has been taking place."

Nationwide, the average obesity rate for the three-year period was 22.7 percent of the adult populace, up slightly from 22 percent in the previous period. No state met the national goal of 15 percent or lower, said Hearne. Every state showed an increase in its obese population except Oregon, which stayed the same.

The percentage of obese adults in Georgia was 24.5, a .7 percentage point increase. The percentage of obese adults in Texas was 25.3, a .4 percentage point increase. The percentage of obese adults in Florida was 20.7, up 1.4 percentage points. The percentage of obese adults in Ohio was 24.4, a 1 percentage point increase. The percentage of obese adults in North Carolina was 23.9, a .4 percentage point increase.

"We really don't have the research" to show conclusively why the Southerners seem to be the fattest Americans, said the report's co-author, Parris Glendening, president of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute and former two-term governor of Maryland.

"But this part of the country is leading the nation in the increase in obesity and is going to suffer dramatically in its health as a result," he concluded.

The issue is both simple and complex, the report's co-authors said.

On one hand, the rise in obesity comes from "simple math," said Hearne. "We're eating more calories and we're burning up less" through exercise.

On the other hand, she explained, "obesity is a very complex issue."

People with lower education levels and less income are more likely to be fat, for instance. "You can match that up with demographics of states," she said. People who are on food stamps are more likely to be obese than those with higher incomes or those with similar incomes who do not rely on food stamps.

"Where you find obesity, you'll find poverty. It's a reflection of the South's struggle to raise its standard of living. You'll see it in the deep South and in Appalachia," said Bill Ferris, former administrator of the National Endowment for the Humanities and now a scholar with the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Traditional Southern food is very high calorically," said Harry Watson, director of the UNC Center. "It was appropriate when Southerners worked outdoors in fields and indoors in mills. But jobs are not as strenuous now. People are more sedentary but they still eat like they're out there sawing logs or picking cotton."

But he agreed that "cheap food is fattening food" and income levels may have as much to do with the region's obesity as does its traditional diet.

"There are more people eating French fries than greens" in today's South, he said.

Glendening linked the obesity rate to the region's rapid suburban growth.

The South "has the highest level of sprawl," he said. Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Birmingham, Jackson and other of the region's metropolitan areas are growing outward. Cars rule. Pedestrians are figments of the past.

Developers "build cul-de-sac type subdivisions. People can't walk to school, work or church. You have to get in the car and drive to go anywhere," said Glendening. "As a result, there is a reduction in physical activity."

Many suburbs are built without sidewalks, he said. There are no neighborhood stores in these communities and schools are usually distant.

"Nationwide only about 10 percent of children walk to school any more," he said.

Fat is dangerous, the report said.

"Obesity is a gateway to heart disease, diabetes and a host of other diseases," said Glendening. "There is much more that can be done to help people make healthy choices about nutrition and exercise. For instance, decisions about where we build new houses and highways or schools and sidewalks can mean the difference between giving people more or less opportunity to participate in physical activity."

Hearne said governments could do more to fight obesity in everyone from school kids to Medicare patients.

The report defines adults with a Body Mass Index of 30 or more as "obese." The index is meant to be a more accurate measure than a simple weight to height ratio, but is sometimes flawed when considering very muscular, fit people.

To respond to 2 posts at once: That's what I loved, loved, loved about London. I think I only got in a car twice in the 9 (winter) months I was there. I walked a lot of places and then took the tube or a bus others but there was still a walk from the station to where I was going. I have seriously thought about moving to downtown Chatt into one of the loft/condos they're putting in just so that I could walk out my front door and go somewhere without getting in a car. I'm lucky now in that I live in a really old (read dilapidated) area of town where there are still sidewalks and people do actually walk down them (unfortunately they're mostly crackheads ), but I would really like to live somewhere that I could walk to get my groceries etc. London caters to that type of thing. There's a little market on just about every major street corner that has things other than chips and candy so you can just pop in on your way home from work and pick up some fresh stuff to make for dinner. That's the real reason that people in major metropolitan areas (NY, London, Paris) are skinny - they're either eating in overpriced chi chi little bitty portion restaurants or they're only buying as many groceries as they can carry home at once.

I had a friend-who is just now learning to drive at 30-visit from London and woke her up to see if she wanted to go with me to breakfast. She said no that she would just walk out and get something later. I had to remind her that there wasn't going to be any walking out to get anything to eat unless she wanted to brave life and limb walking down a freeway (I lived somewhere else at the time). She couldn't believe that anybody could live that way. She also made the comment that Europeans are always talking about how fat Americans are but that if the food was as good in the UK as what she ate here everybody there would be fat too.

To answer the question about why I went to London: it was really just a whim. I got a work visa through my school and just went with about $500 in my pocket and ate toast morning noon and night to be able to afford to live on my really tiny salary at the job that I found after I got there. I was either really brave or really foolish, I'm still not sure which. I definitely got bitten by the travel bug though - I've since been to every continent except Australia & Antarctica (and I may get over to Antarctica this January).

Julia -- all that traveling is awesome!! Even though I'm primarily a homebody, shich I am sure contributes to my weight, but I do love to visit new places. It's such an adventure

Christy -- Thank you so much for posting the article! Very interesting. I do agree that some, not all, of the problem lies in economics, urban sprawl, and in how our culture cooks. Can I throw this thought out there about exercise -- I think that the HEAT contributes to a lot of us in the South not getting outside to exercise too. Ya think?? Very interesting article indeed. Also -- thank you for sharing your experience at church . I am not a church goer persay but I do have my time with the man upstairs and I consider myself spiritual in a way. It was a talk with Him 2 weeks ago that turned my light bulb on and got me on this path to getting my body and life under control.

Welcome Kerry!!! Glad to see you here . I am so sorry to hear about your losses but I hope that you haven't given up.
Is that your dog in your avatar? Too cute! It sounds like you have a good paln going and from your ticker I see that you have come a long way! Very Cool!!

Hope today is a good day for everyone! So far things are going smoothly here today. I'm going to get my laundry started in a few minutes while the baby is asleep and I'll maybe do some cleaning (Yikes!!). I have not lost anything in the last few days but I have not gained at all. I've increased my water intake today as I was backsliding yesterday. Little Logan is haveing such a hard time teething that it was hard to get anything done on monday and tuesday.

Dinner tonight -- what ya'll havin??

Here I think I'll do night #3 with the chicken pouches that Leanne told me about on Sunday. Tonight is chicken with okra for me and broccoli for dh. Put oven at 350 and on a piece of foil put your meat- drizzled with olive oil or seasoning-- and then your veggies on top and then make it into a pouch and bake for 30 to 45 minutes (depends on your meat). we've been having this with salad. Yummy -- thank you Leanne and Christa!!

Good afternon, lovely ladies. I have been missing in action for a few days because I had to work and them my grandson (5) insisted on spending the night and when he's here forget about using the computer, or anything else besides play.

I have enjoyed reading all the bio's and getting to know every one.

Leanne, Yes milk glass is depression glass. You're lucky you had some passed down to you, i've had to buy all mine! There are so many different kinds and colors and I think it's all beautiful. I mostly collect the pink and green glass but I do have a few pieces of milk glass. I use it too, not just for show.

It's a perfect day here, the sun is shining and there is a light breeze! I haven't had a chance to exercise yet since I just took my grandson home, but i'll go for a walk this evening. With my book tape, of course. right now i'm listening to James patterson's 4th of july. But I went to the library and got Janet Evanovitch's new one "Eleven on top". Love her books too! So i've got a lot of walking to do. And they do help because I only listen to lthem while I walk. Sometimes I will walk an extra mile because i dodn't want to stop listening!

I can surely relate to the bathroom thing! When the kids are over I never go to the bathroom without one of them knocking on the door "mema, are you in there?"

Nice talking to Y'all, have a good day! Freda

HI! I'd love to join the Southern Bandwagon!

I am new to this site and thought this would be a great place to start.

My name is Melissa, I'm 27. I have been married to my DH, Chris, for a little more then 9 years. I have three wonderful sons, Neal (7), Jacob (3), and Zachary (2)....and my little girl, Petunia (a 3 month old English Bulldog).

I have always battled my weight, and some how it alwasy seems to win. I was never considered "fat" by my friends, yet I could never share thier clothes. It was tough growing up like that. In high school I was my smallest at 160lbs and that, on my frame, is perfect to me. I want to return to that but have never been motivated and ready. I'm ready now. Ready to finally be healthy rather then just thin. And my motivation is boobs and a tummy tuck. I have set my goal at 175, giving my self a realistic goal after birthing three big ole baby boys.

I'm down 11lbs from where I started and very goal oriented. I have changed my eating habits, as well as portion sizes. I have also returned to the gym. I have also just started to try something I read about in Woman's World, drinking a glass of metamucil 15 minutes before my meals to help fill me up and to bind with my food so that my body won't absorb as much of the bad stuff.

I work in the book industry, doing sales support and trade shows for a remainer/overstock distributor. I love to dance, shop, and entertain.

BTW, I LOVE boiled peanuts and have many times convinced my DH to take a Sunday drive just to find them. Grits I can live without, and sweet tea I can give or take....but I have to have my cokes. But to my defense, I have successfully converted over to diet and haven't looked back.

Welcome Melissa!
Umm hmmm I lurvee those boiled peanuts too! My dad use to bring me home a small bag every friday from work. Some little old man use to come by his work and sell them. I haven't had them in awhile now. I *am* really starting to miss that sweet tea 10 days into Phase 1! Maybe I can convince Sara to make some with Splenda for when me and sis ride over there tomorrow night for our monthly family dinner!

Freda - thanks for letting me know about the milk glass. I am actually looking to sell all of it, but not sure how to go about finding the value of any of it. Any suggestions?

Sara - your welcome about the foil packets! What I love best about those is that there is virtually NO clean up! That is great!! LOL

Well ladies, I had a good day. Work was nothing short of chaos this morning but that's a print deadline for ya when the power goes out!! Makes for a fun day LOL! Following the lifestyle change well and calling Sara everyday to make sure she is feeling good too. Looking forward to our together dinner tomorrow and getting to spend some time together!

Good morning every one, It's a lovely, cool day here! I'm actally looking forward to getting out and walking this morning! I may even need long sleves!

ny3suns; I have never heard of the metamucil thing, but i'm going to try it! It sure can't hurt and may actually help. More fiber is always good!

No, I'm sweet tea: There are books you can get at the library that will give you the value. If your local library doesn't have them they will get them for you. You might also try e-bay.
there are so many different types, hobnail, grape....What kind of pattern do you have?

Sarah, Thanks for the recie. Quich, easy, tasty, no cleanup. It's a win, win!

Take care, have a great day, Freda

OK I found the Metamucil article in the March 15, 2005 edition of Woman's World. Here are the key points it hit on:

Low-cal dieters who used fiber supplements lost 83% more weight then those who consumed the same calories but didn't not take the supplement.

Those who took a fiber supplement 30 minutes before a meal at 25% less. Why? Once swallowed fiber instantly begins expanding to four times it's original size. triggering the release of a "stop eating" hormone called CCK.

Fiber slows digestion of carbs, preventing sudden changes in blood sugar that can cause hunger to return too quickly.

Fiber speeds the passage of food through your digestive track allowing less time for calories to be absorbed.

Fiber stabalizes blood sugar reducing cravings.

As stored fat is burned it releases trapped toxins that can overlaod the liver causing weightloss to stall. Fiber binds to the toxins and carries them out of the body.

The article recommends Metamucil, but says you could use Benefiber or Citrucel. It also says that powder supplements go to work more quickly then capsules.

I'm sooooo glad to find someone who shares my addiction. Everyone else around here talks about how they used to drink a case a day but the day they decided to lose weight they just stopped buying them and never missed it again. How does everybody do that??? I still allow myself 1-2/day. I know that if I didn't I'd just start right back up as soon as I got down to where I want to be so what's the use in that. I haven't switched to diet. I'm saving that as a last resort.

My name is Julia and I am a coke-aholic

I have to have the caffine or I get killer headaches (can you say addicted?) But I sacrificed fully loaded for diet. And now I only drink one or two a day - diet - as opposed to five or six a day - regular - that's how I lost my first 5 lbs, lol.

Oh I had a lot of trouble giving up the Coke too. I think that regular Coke was at least half my problem in gaining weight. I drank about 5-7 a day. I read "Fat World" and learned about high-fructose corn syrup and was so appalled that I started weaning myself right then. I first moved to C2, which made it easier and only had 2/day. Then they came out with the diet Coke with Splenda and I switched to that. Now I have about 2 of those a day at the most and I'm happy Now I won't lie and say that I don't have a regular Coke once in awhile or a sip from DH, but only a total of about 1-2 per week now. MUCH better and I attribute this major change to a lot of the weight loss and maintenance.

Thank God for Splenda as I HATE aspertame.

Oh yeah and. . .

<----- this is my big baby girl: Bella. She's a sweetie and went on a weight loss program with me. She's dropped about 8 lbs and has met her goal at just under 100 lbs at 99.