:hug: Theresa- that is awesome that you got rid of "baggage"
I also chunk up my chicken cook it for a few and add veggies- instead of oil i use chicken broth and i also use chinese LOW sodium sauce- sweet and sour- duck sauce- plum sauce- and orange juice is good to stir fry veggies in- just a 1/4 cup or less add a squirt of lime and it's good.

Melissa- package is on it's way today!

if anyone else wants recipes let me know

WOW Kayelle- you will do wonderful and inspire so many! how great is that??



i am so crazed right now - but it is a good crazed- gettng my notary AND trying to get a business license/tax ID number so i can buy wholesale and sell retail on ebay-i may have run into a small bump in the road BUT keep praying or keep fingers crossed for me so that i can do this. First i have to come up with the $$ to get licenses and i plan on being an ebay queen this weekend. i only need 90.00 for everything- hubby said i can do this plan ONLY if I raise the $$ and not take it out of the budget- well ALL my 20 -22 sized jeans/clothes are getting sold as well as other items that are just sitting around-colecting dust and i have no idea why i even have them?? the good thing is I haven't been snacking-too busy- so i am eating really GOOD! :carrot: i've really made time to exercise and and i've been drinking my water too So i am doing good. i am keeping up by reading posts but had no time last two days to post myself.

I like capris as they hide my dimpled knees - of course i have to hem everything but still love capris. and or 2.00 thats my kinda deal :D

am going grocery shopping today - super target has a great sale going on now.
so the knock off bowflex is pretty good?? I am getting hubby one for his BDay and wondered- he's been watching the BL with me and he says if he had a bench/boflex he'd use it. i am getting the porch all redone for it and putting in outdoor carpet and Blinds up- ( one of the reasons i want to sell on ebay is to make extra so i can get nice blinds and decent carpet instead of going really cheap.
:hug: to everyone!
you all ARE WONDERFUL- WONDERFUL -WONDERFUL :cb:

Sandi, the knockoff we got at walmart is called Techrod, TR2 in some places it says. It is just as good far as I can tell...but you should compare them and see because the Bowflex might have features and options that this one doesn't have. It's just basically the seat you sit in, all the long tube things which are the weights that pull out to the sides, the bar that hangs from the top, hand straps that come out from the sides, and the foot thing that lifts up in front of the seat. There are lots of movements you can do with it...too bad I threw out my paper that showed them all, I'm having to guess until hubby comes home to show me. It suits our basic needs so we didn't see the point in paying more for the Bowflex name, but like I said it might have other things to it that this one doesnt, I'm not sure.

Theresa

Sorry I missed all of last night's posts. We were at the 5th grade science fair supporting our grandson Jake who entered a project. It was pretty boring but it made Jake happy that we were there. Then we took everyone out to Outback to celebrate Jake. I had a ceasar salad with shrimp, dressing on the side, but I did pick at the breaded onion appetizer thing a little too much.
I also could not be OP most of the time if not for this group. I think about you all thru the day, I click on often, and the support in immeasurable. I can't fool myself or walk away anymore because you are all there for me.
Theresa, I remember when you were still eating fast food and wondering why nothing was happening. You have come a long way in your thinking.
I am off to work out. Be back later.
Laura

Wow everyone has been so busy posting! It is good to see. Good job getting rid of the bigger clothes. You are saying NEVER AGAIN when you do that. Congrats too on the loss! I think we all have come a long way since we started and will continue to grow (smaller) and learn. I told all the gals at WW about our group and they thought it was great. I told them the site was 3 fat chicks on a diet but it was the sight name cause there were more than 3 of us. I would have reverted back to my old eating habits if it weren't for all of you!

Drum roll please.....My loss for the week was 6.8lbs. I am going to fix my ticker and put it up to where I really am. I kind of really started all over anyway so it needs to reflect where I really am not where I was. I will be there again soon but gotta keep it real and honest.

I picked up a trampoline today. It is larger than a rebounder but still on the small side. I will need to clean it up and get new rubber ends for the legs but otherwise it was in good condition. I may just get on there and do some bouncing along with the kids!

Thank you Sandi-can't wait to try them out. Those ginger pork wraps were to die for but next time I am using chicken cause I am just not a huge pork fan and it would be just as yummy. the only thing I did different when I had one for lunch today is added more of the veggies. I mean geez they are free food basically so why skimp? Good job on the eating and man when you got it down how to be ebay queen let me know. I really need to make some money but with the cost of daycare, I would be working for free and homey don't play that if she can help it.

I am sure I missed some stuff but I am sure I will be back later!
Keep up all the good work!
Melissa

testing one two three

WOW Melissa- :dance: you ROCK! way to go :carrot: WOW again ! if that's not inspiration i don't know what is !!!!!
( i'm not worthy :D )

I mailed off recipes this afternoon hope ya like em.

I am getting the ins and outs of ebay and what i am working on is there is a wholesale place in the area that has kitchen stuff like utensils, silverware, pots and pans, etc and everything is 80% cheaper there than in a store (even one like walmart) i want to buy wholesale and sell retail. i am getting into a couple other projects too- what is holding me up is waiting to hear from landlord- you have to have a business license even if you don't have a real business in the home( like internet sales) and the city makes me have the landlord say it's ok. keep praying and keep fingers crossed- as far as ebay queen goes i just sell whatever i have laying around that i don't want or need anymore. and i start off at 99 cents almost all the time.

Laura- i wouldn't trust myself to walk into an Outback. my self control only goes so far. ;)
Theresa - thanks for the info on the bowflex- i in no way have the $ to spend on a real one so a knock off is fine for now and it's better than nothing!

Sandi:dizzy:

I may just try something like that-need to figure something out that I can do from home-childcare would run me about 1500 a month for just the 3 smaller ones. My mom has a business lisence for her doll clothes gift shop so I know she would purchase under her stuff. Basically the only thing ebay is in my name since I have the puter but the funds ect are all hers. I am sure I will like the recipes and I appreciate it lots!
Melissa

Melissa CONGRATS!!! That is so awesome!! Wow....what a loss! You should be so proud of yourself, and what a great motivator for you to keep it up! SUPERB!!!

I sold quite a bit of stuff on ebay a few years back and really made good money off of it until I ran out of things to sell. That was back during the beanie baby craze and I had a huge collection and by some stroke of luck decided to get out of it and sold most of them at just the right time. I also sold a bunch of old toys that were mine when I was little, and I considered them to be junk, but apparently they weren't junk to a lot of people because I couldn't believe the prices I got for them and for my husband's old lunchboxes. It was crazy. My husband told me I could do whatever I wanted with any money I made, and it ended up being enough to buy a purebred Bengal kitten (I had wanted one for years but just couldn't see spending that kind of $$ on a cat) plus a two week vacation for my family to Washington and Oregon. It was the best trip we have ever taken...I have never been anywhere else so beautiful, and we didn't have to worry at all about how we were going to pay for it. (If you don't know...the Bengal is a domestic cat breed that comes in exotic looking colors and patterns....mine looks like a miniature leopard, I thought I better explain because sometimes people think I own an actual TIGER when I say I have a Bengal). I was really loving ebay back in those days.

Thanks for all the encouragement about my fitness class visit today. There were four of us on a panel to answer questions so it ended up being ok even though I was so nervous that I was shaking. Some of their questions were pretty hard but I think between all of us the kids got to hear some different perspectives and different ways of making positive changes for health. The worst part of it was at the beginning their teacher did a powerpoint presentation with a bunch of "before" pictures of all of us up on a big screen, but most of those kids knew what I looked like last year anyway, except for the freshmen, so it wasn't a huge shock to them or anything. We all survived and hopefully the kids took something away from it that will help them.

Go Melissa[FONT="System"][/FONT]

Laura

I am so glad it went well today Kayelle-knew you would be stupendous! Having the panel had to have made it easier and not feel so much like you were in the spotlight. Thank you for the atta boy. It still makes me mad that I had put so much weight back on in the first place but no looking back and only moving forward. We had a different leader today but she was good too and even had a sense of humour so that was good too.

Thank you LAURA!!!

Now if I would just get some excersize in. I got dvd's and a stinking bike. I guess the first step would be to move the bike back out where it is in my view instead of hiding behind the girls' Dora the explorer tent huh?
Melissa

Melissa don't stress about the weight you put back on while you were getting used to the new member of your family. You have had a lot to deal with and the important thing is that you are obviously VERY MUCH back on track and you are succeeding and you will continue to succeed because you refused to give up.

Wow I just skimmed through earlier and I went back and re-read everything and realized I missed a lot the first time.

Theresa...congrats on the 2 lb loss, and congrats on the capri's fitting!! Whoohoo! And good job getting rid of all those clothes! No need for any more tears for the girl you used to be...she is gone now and replaced by a healthier you! I have given some of mine away but there are a few things that I just don't want to get rid of. I am never going back again but every once in a while I like to dig an old pair of pants on just to remind myself how far I have come. It helps me stay on track now that I'm where I want to be and not constantly striving for that next smaller size. That is one thing about maintenance that is hard, I have to constantly remind myself that it's a GOOD thing when the scale doesn't move. After so many months of watching it go down, it's hard not to be disappointed when it stays put even though I'm not trying to lose any more.

Sandi good luck with the business license!

Happy Friday everybody!! Hope you all have a great OP weekend!!!

Sorry to be a board hog but I just realized that yesterday was the one year anniversary of my new lifestyle! One whole year of healthy food and exercise! Wow...it went FAST!!!!

I agree with Kayelle Theresa. We all got where we are for different reasons but the important thing is that we aren't staying there and we are never going back again either. I see some pics of myself from a year ago and I can't believe it is me and I cried when I saw them too. I am nowhere near where I want to be but I am not where I was either and it is only going to get closer instead of more out of reach.

Happy Anniversary Kayelle!
Melissa

:dance: 6 lbs. Melissa...WOW!!!! You are my inspiration right now, great great job. I am glad you are enjoying the meetings too...you deserve something for you, some time away from the kids and this gives you that.

Kayelle i love reading your commentary about life on the other side of this, keep posting please! You are so motivating because you started in the ballpark of where I did and you are my proof it can be done. Told ya the school thing would go well!

I have a friend who started selling on ebay not long ago and she has made all kinds of money. She sells all the toys and stuff her kids outgrow and does her own crafts...the crafts are so simple (some of them) and she sells a LOT of them. One thing is the little photo albums made out of brown paper bags. They are really cute and they sell very quick. A lot of them make money by upping the shipping charge to count as part of their profit, that way the actual price can be lower to compete with other sellers. She started out saying she wouldn't do that, but now she is doing it as well. Depends if you feel that is dishonest or not. I'll leave my opinion on that out of the discussion :tape:

This friend also made copies of my strip dvds on her computer, and I have been thinking about having her make copies for me and seeing if the originals will sell on ebay for some profit. But, I am worried the copies will stop working or something and I'll be left without them.

We have a birthday party to attend tomorrow afternoon and Allie is getting her hair cut...it's down past her butt now and gets so tangly that even with the spray stuff I practically have to rip it out of her head to get a brush through it, forget about a comb she cries real tears if I do that. It's just got to be cut to a more manageable length for her age. Plus, she gets everything she eats in it, which is what keeps the rats so bad. Hate to cut it though, it's so beautiful.

Theresa

I guess I just haven't found the right thing or something. I will keep trying though cause it can be done from the house which is what I like. Mom does pretty good with her doll clothes but I am not a person who sews which I should be considering all the kids I have. My cross stitch is sellworthy but it takes so long and it just isn't worth it unless I did bookmarkers or something like that. Those I could do quickly if I had a minute or two lol. That first haircut is the hardest. I finally chopped dess's off. Not because it was so long-I swear she will grow hair eventually-but it bugs her. She was twisting it, wouldn't let me put it ponytails or clips so it was ok not going there and I cut it to her shoulders. She has cute curls still on the ends and now there is no fuss or muss. Amanda I will have to take somewhere cause of her curls so it won't look stupid.

I am so thrilled to see us all posting alot again. It is sooo theraputic and motivational for me. I appreciate you guys!
Melissa

Just did my first 30 min. workout on the weight machine and my arms are already feeling sore. On the pull down bar I could do 35 lbs. before it felt heavy enough, but on the side handle pull things I could only do 20 lbs. I didn't get all the moves in that time, but I figured out a lot of them. I did 20 min. on arms and just 10 on legs, since my legs get plenty working with the cardio. It was actually very fun and the kids were laughing watching me :lol: guess I looked funny.

Allie has curls at the ends of her hair, but the longer it gets the looser they become. It will be interesting to see if they are still on the ends when it's cut or not. I am thinking right to the bottoms of her shoulder blades. She gets it trimmed regularly, but that's just the very tiny tips and cutting the bangs so she can see...this is the first real cut to a shorter length. i am nervous, but it has to be done.

Theresa

congrats on the pounds lost melissa and theresa! it's awesome you are starting the weight machine theresa. i try to do weights at the gym when i'm not too lazy. for awhile i was only getting around to my arms, but now dh is doing longer workouts, so i have no excuse not to do other stuff :) don't worry about allie's hair.. kids having long hair is a pain. once she's old enough to take care of it herself, she can have whatever she wants. i always hated having short care when i was little, but my mom insisted on me having this short boy haircut because my older sister always squealied about having her hair brushed. when i got older, i grew it out. but even now, long hair is a pain.
good luck with ebay sandi! you sound like you have a pretty good concept going. people love getting stuff on ebay cheaper than in the store, even if the shipping gets rid of the discount. they just accept it as part of the convenience i think.
well i was bad today and had too much ice cream, and napped so late it's too late to go the gym. i haven't been getting enough sleep. at least it was light is all i can say about that. we had some folks over for dinner last night, and bought ice cream for dessert. only they brought three quarts of baskin robbins with them! eek! dh ate a whole quart today, lol. he is probably not even done! but what am i saying.. it's not like i wasn't hitting that too :devil:. oh well, extra cardio tomorrow then. i need to keep my focus on my 2/14 goal, and lose my fat-think, that i can just constantly have little bits of ice cream out of container, and it's no big deal. or i just need a lock for the freezer, either one. what is it with me and ice cream?!?

Hi everyone! Melissa, GREAT JOB!!! You are back in the the swing of it now, what a way to start off the new year!!!
I bought the Biggest Loser DVD yesterday, only made it through the first 20 minutes then my asthma kicked in, but I will try again today. It really got my heart rate up quick and was fun because of the real people on it.

Got to get into bed as I got to be up by 4pm to get back to work. Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Suzette

Cadwell, I think everyone has something that is very hard to give up. Yours is ice cream. A solution might be to find an alternative that won't sabotage you. Light ice cream, Bryers makes some with 100 calories per serving, it's vanilla bean or something and is very good. Maybe those fudge bars everyone eats, they don't have sugar in them or something I'm not sure :?: for me, when I am really craving ice cream I take vanilla nonfat yogurt and blend it up with frozen fruit, and it does the trick for me.

Well, I am just slightly, barely sore in my shoulder blades and that is it. Guess I didn't do a very good job working myself out. I was experimenting a lot of the time though, trying to figure out how much weight I needed for each position so that did take some time that I was changing it and testing, not actually working out.

Mom still hasn't sent my dvd :( I want it so bad. Glad to hear it was a good workout for you too, Suzette. I'm going to call her and ask where it's at, I want it NOW :)

Theresa

the pounds lost must feel so good!!
I agree with theresa- there are some foods i can't eat at all or i will binge- or overeat them. I couldn't eat just one tiny piece of cheesecake- i'd keep going back and nibbling and nibbling until it was all gone.
today will be rough for me as i am making homemade bread for zacks 13's birthday tomorrow. he loves the spinach stuffed shells i make and they love the bread so i am making that for his dinner. i just need NOT to taste- cause i won't stop.
(I've never told them that i make the shells filling with fat free cheeses )

Theresa - you tried! and thats part of the battle- next time you will do better as you will know what to do.

Melissa- I am still all in awe of you! you are doing awesome!

Suzette- the BL DVD is kicking my butt- but then i am exercised challenged and i like the DVD- i just hate exercise.

Candice - so true on long hair- my mom used make me have a pixie cut and swore when i got older i would decide what to do with my hair - and i have never had really short hair again.
my 7 YO, Jocie has always had LONG blonde hair - daddy is really good at helping to comb and braid it so it doesn't get tangled and she is very good at taking care of it- very "girly" :D she can wash and condition it all by herself - we went and got cuts yesterday- hers is cute - still getting used to mine of course with all the humidity going on i look like a poodle right now- i get asked where i get my perms and i am like its natural- tho curls can annoying at times.

I am annoyed today as all my plans got rearranged- was going shopping to target for groceries but hubby had to work - wanted to go last night but he had to be up at 5 and didn't get home till 7- i can't see good enough at night anymore to make long drives- i shouldn't complain as the overtime next week will make a good check for him.

Kayelle - HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! :woo:

My wonderful MIL called a feew minutes ago to tell me she is letting me borrow one of her (many) digital cameras to do photos for ebay- before i used to take and scan. that is an awesome help!still waiting to hear from the landlord:?:

Hubby just called and said i didn't have to sell on ebay as we are going to win the 50 million $ lotto tonight:p - i don't play but he does when it is up that high- hmm i could handle even part of that 50 million- but if he does win by some weird chance - the Summer starters will have a spa week ;) with hired help for children :D ( and be pampered by cute guys who wait on us hand & foot)
I can dream :D
Have a good day all
Sandi

I too have certain foods I just can't have around and ice cream is one of them for me. I would eat the stuff for breakfast if it was available. I even stopped buying popcorn for awhile cause I just can't stop eating it. If it was just a few cups or something it would be different and I will eat it no matter what so until I at least have more control over things, just not having it around-it won't kill the kids.

Hey I am all for a spa week hehehe and way kewl for the digital camera. Mom borrowed one from her brother and it sure made listing so much easier and faster for her things.

Today is laundry day-ugh. I probably should be doing a load a day but I just don't. I think today is pajama day for us and that is ok by me. Another rain filled day here. I am ready for some sunshine. Food is good OP OP OP!
Melissa

lol melissa about the ice cream breakfast. i hate to admit it, but i just finished my breakfast, and it included a 1/2 cup of light ice cream. :devil: it was a pretty generous 1/2 cup at that.

Ice cream is my my favorite food in the world. Cherry Garcia, chunky monkey, Breyers cherry vanilla and any butter pecan. I can't buy the ff substitutes cause I'll eat them til they are gone. I wonder what it means that we all crave creamy sweet stuff. My 105 lb DIL never wants sweets, just salty stuff, and then a little bit makes her happy. I bet there are studies done on who craves what.
I just did an aquatic workout. It was fun and stressless, but I am unsure of how good it is. You don't sweat and there is no impact and it certainly isn't boring or too hard. The instructor seemed to think it was great. I'm not too sure yet.
My friend has a gift certificate to a very nice restaurant so we are all eating out tonight. I am going to try to have a normal person's meal, no gain, no loss. That's my goal.
Laura

May I join you all? I know what you mean about the ice cream -- especially not the low fat stuff becuase I eat MORE of them! I just finished eating a yummy pear a few minutes ago. Every time I go to the grocery store I try to get a new fruit to try.. there are so many different kinds of fruit that I know I won't get bored!!

Hello and welcome Gracenote! You found an awesome group here, I don't know what I would do without them!

Almost anything sugary can still trigger a binge (and a headache) for me so I try to avoid it completely as much as possible. I can eat fat free ice cream sweetened with Splenda without it causing problems for me but even that I only have on very rare occasions. My husband craves the salty snacks more.

Sandi my husband does the same thing and lottery tickets sometimes when it gets to be a big number. I always tease him that he only plays when it's a huge payoff...as if he thinks a measly 5 or 10 million wouldn't be enough or something. I'm glad he isn't always spending money on lottery tickets, but I still just find that funny for some reason.

Welcome gracenote! Happy to have you with us-this is a great group of gals and I would be lost without them too.

Ever have one of those days???? Odessa has been working overtime today and as I type, i am looking at every dvd I own on the floor since she dumped the shelf. Toys dumped out of the toybox 3 times, all the shoes taken out of the rack, dumped stacks of folded clothes on the floor-and in case anyone is wondering, yes I let her live(at least for the time being). I haven't nearly gotten done today what I wanted to. I did get two closets cleaned out and was very happy to donate the size 26 dress I found in there. Ok I now need to get the movies put back and yes I am one of those anal type people who have them all in alphabetic order-ugh ugh ugh
Melissa

Welcome to the group Gracenote, you could not have not have found a better place for inspiration and venting...hang around and chime in.

We were at the birthday party for SEVEN HOURS and were the last to leave. This always happens we go to this friends house, there is no such thing as a short visit there. Her kids are the exact same ages as mine and her and I are great friends, so we all just have a great time and time flies. It was nice though, and Steve should be home sometime soon ... hopefully!

MIL was supposed to get Ty last week, it was his turn, of course they never showed or called. At his party last Sunday they told him they'd come get him Sat. night (tonight) and of course, no call and no show. I called hubby to see if he wanted to get ahold of MIL and ask if she wanted him and he said no. They are NOT getting Allie again until he gets his turn, otherwise visitations there end at this. Just really burns me up, I don't understand the favortism.

I did good and had just a tiny bit of cake and no ice cream. I knew she was serving hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, so I had a salad with some chicken breast before we went and just sipped water while everyone else ate. Now I am starving, and off to eat and exercise.

Theresa

maybe it has something to do with the creamy texture- i don't really care too much or ice cream BUT i do adore cherry garcia or moosetracks- tinroof sundae type icecream- but put me in front of a bowl of pudding and it's gone.
adn i don't overeat whole grains breads but don't let me get near wonderbread - and i really like whole grain bread-
has to be a reason for it.

Well i complained about hubby taking the truck today but i am glad i didn't take it cause he broke down about 10 miles from home- transmission somethingy or another and doesn't look like a big or too expensive job- we keep talking about just geting another vehicle but we don't want payments at this time-we have a very nice car (1999 mercedes ) that is almost rebuilt and we should have on the road in a couple weeks- everything has been replaced on it all we need is a water pump. but i was all in a panic about transportation and was all ready to rent a car from budget but his buddy said we could drive his extra car for a week (ooo and it's a Lexus!) i will feel all special and rich!

I don't know what it is with the lotto-he only buys when it's big i'd be happy with 4 numbers and get 5,000.00- i mean five thousand is better than nothing! i don't play because i think what they did in florida for education was wrong- took all the budget away and said let the lotto pay for it- half the schools don't have books-teachers are underpaid- they have 50 kids in a 3rd grade class-that why my hubby does side jobs so jocie can go to a private school.

hey Gracenote! :wave: these ladies are awesome! jump right in and have fun! I love pears- esp. if they are dipped in chocolate !:D

melissa- Two words- duck tape ( i am so KIDDING);)

Theresa- arrgh your MIL is a not nice person.:mad: I would be so :rollpin: :carrot: on you sticking to your plan.

Tomorrow is Zacks 13th b-day i can't believe he is getting so grown up- i've only been in his life since he was 2 but still- he is so tall and handsome- i need to put a pic up of the 2 of them. and hubby and zack are out fishing- i told them NOT to bring home smelly dead fish. if i get fish it's from the fish market thank you.
well since i finally have some time i am gonna curl up with jocie and watch a cooking show-and after she goes to bed (soon- real soon) and take time to really start my blog.

:hug:
Sandi

Lucky duck driving a lexus. I am not saying what I drive-but her name is Mabel if that gives you any clue-lol.

Ducktape ROFL. My son's therapist asked me what I wanted for christmas and I told her bourbon and duck tape and then reasured her the bourbon was for me hehehe. I got all the movies put back and she has finally mellowed out. I am not sure what her gig was today. She used to be this way everyday and then mellowed and Amanda is now getting busy. Her favorites are emptying out the silverware drawer and lining them all in a perfect line on the couch and doing the same thing with Logan's babyfood. The blocks I got her for christmas have helped alot. Right now Amanda is wearing striped overalls with a white shirt and a Hawaiian print dress over it. I guess she is into the layered look. Logan also discovered today he has a tongue and needless to say, he got dinner and I got the show. It wound up feeling like a blah day and I never did get dressed. Amanda and Odessa were the only ones who made it but hey it is Saturday and raining. One more hour till bedtime for the kids and then I am taking a long hot bath and watching a movie!
Melissa

welcome gracenote! it's great to have someone new in the group again.
theresa, what is wrong with your mil?!? she should consider herself lucky that she ever gets to see either one of your kids.
just had more ice cream :devil: at least it's gone now. the strawberry one has no appeal for me, so dh can eat it all. whew! sandi and laura, i think i have the same taste in ice cream as y'all.. cherry garcia is my fave, but moose tracks and chunky monkey are also divine. isn't that strange?
i was good today and went to the gym before work. it's a good thing, because dh doesn't want to go tonight, and going by myself almost never happens. i think i got a pretty good workout at work today to make up for no gym tonight. i made a zillion frappucinos, so i was constantly dancing around getting the stuff for them. i still can't believe people will actually consume 750 calories at once with those strawberry ones. it's so not worth it! a gigantic bowl of ice cream would have fewer calories.

Is a frappucino really 750 calories? I could never drink my calories. 750 calories is almost a whole container of chunky monkey.
We ate in a wonderful restaurant last night. I had a little duck quissidilla for an appetizer, and a portobello mushroom and veggies main course. I had to have coconut and mango sherbert for dessert. I think i am ok re calories, not a gain, but not a loss and it was worth it because it was planned, delicious and I didn't go overboard.
We are going to Boston for the day to visit my baby brother. It's 3 hours each way, but we always have a great day with them. His little boys are 4 and 6, younger than my grandsons, My mother's grandchildren range from 35 to 4 and her greatgrandchilren from 12 to 1, so we are a diverse group.
Food will be a challenge. My SIL is 20 years younger than me, gorgeous, thin, wonderful clothes and of course a great cook, so sometimes I feel like crap when I am with her. I am wearing my most expensive sweater, and my best earrings and jeans, so I look casual, but not sloppy.
Have a good Sunday everyone.
Laura

:devil: not all of them. i just attcked the highest calorie thing on the menu. just the biggest strawberries and cream one with whipped cream has that many. some are just 200 or so. but i always just get plain iced coffee.

Can you imagine the amount of healthy food you could consume for those same calories??? It boggles the mind!
Melissa

i can imagine! a friend gave me the preventions meal makeover book or something named like it and it shows how you can eat like 50 bowls of fruit for one bowl of ice cream or a whole plate of good foods compared to a plate of not so good foods.. unfortunatly they wanna replace the bad foods with all vegetarian/soy type foods and it isn't real practical when one has a family and is on a budget. I'll have to post some things they compare.

well the b-day party went well- i ate "not so good food" but it was one meal and i will not get depressed about it. just jump back on the wagon. I am frustrated at not losing more- I think i need to back to a food diary and pick up the exercise. i just get lazy... then i get upset and then i don't care and then i feel stupid for feeling lazy and upset... I am so weird.

i am getting the house all cleaned up for the upcomming week- menus are all planned so thats good. now i need to finish laundry and dishes :( and get cereal prepacked - snacks too. Tomorrow morning i really need to clean out my mini fridge at work. i think there may be things growing in there :eek:

did sneak out w/ MIL and put the imitation bowflex on layaway for hubby. we are gonna work on presidents day to get the porch all cleaned up and painted while hubby is at work. his b-day is not till april, but i want things to be done.

FIL loaned us movies again so we will be having another quiet together & munch popcorn night- and MIL GAVE :carrot: me her older digital camera- it'll do for now and it was cool that she gave it to me! all i need is a card reader and they are only 10.00.

well more laundry to finish and MORE dishes to do- hubby is dusting, cleaning up the living room and running the sweeper for me. maybe i can sweet talk him into straightening up the bathroom???? umm that may be pushing it...better not;)
Sandi

It still boggles the mind how much the food comparisson thing is. The girls ate earlier than usual tonight and Josh is still with the ex. He actually was on time this week-catch me I may faint. I have tried some of the soy/tofu stuff and I just can't eat it. I would rather have just a small portion of the real thing and call it good. It is pricey too. I have been trying to get more organic things but the budget only allows for so much of it with 4 kids.

Food diary I highly recommend or use Fitday to keep track. It is amazing how fast those calories creep up without thinking about it. I was reading Logan's banannas and that tiny little jar is 100 calories! He only eats half of it along with half of either a dinner one or veggies but I was surprised his nanners were 100 cal for the jar. I use a food diary that I get free from WW every week but I know fitday has one and figures out calories and nutrition too.

Way cool on the camera-it is going to be a huge time saver for you.

Got some more stuff cleaned out today and got the kitchen mopped. My menu is done for tomorrow. I haven't gone too far out since I am hoping a certain loser will pay his support and my food choices will improve. Produce is getting low again. I am really happy the kids love fresh fruit and veggies but man they go fast around here. I bought a box of clementines and they were gone in less than 3 days. I wish I was more in control because popcorn is a good filler for them and they like that too but alas, I will eat way too much of it still and not at the right time of the day. I try really hard to never eat after dinner. I have my diet rite and call it good. Eating at night was such a bad for me and it was habit than needing something so I just cut it out.
Melissa

Food comparison (along with a whole lot of exercise) is the reason I was able to lose all that weight without being hungry. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out but it was really the answer for me. I was eating so much junk all the time, my diet was horrendous and it's amazing that I wasn't a lot heavier than I was. I also was not exercising at all. One thing I realize now is that when I was eating all that junk, I would eat it until it was gone and I was completely STUFFED but I never felt satisfied no matter how full I was. I was always just wanting more of it, even though I constantly felt stuffed and miserable and had indigestion that kept me awake almost every night. Now that I'm eating all healthy foods I can eat whenever I am hungry, eat until I am full and then that's it...I'm full and I don't want anything else for a while. It just gives me such a feeling of freedom. Any time in the past that I have been thin I have also been starving. I love it that I can eat so much food and be thin and never have to feel hungry.

I read something today that I thought was interesting but I don't really know if it is accurate or not. It said that every gram of fiber that you eat burns 9 calories because of the combination that it helps prevent fat absorption plus it burns calories as it digests. Like I said, I don't really know whether or not it's true but I really try to keep my fiber intake high every day and I have to wonder if that's part of the reason the weight came off so fast for me. At the time it seemed like it took forever but 100 pounds in 10 months is really pretty fast.

My son has been itching to go spend some of his Christmas money so we went shopping today and he ended up picking up the Billy Blanks Boot Camp workout series so I might have to give them a try sometime. I also found some Denise Austin DVD's on sale and since all I have are two of her old VHS tapes from about 10 years ago I picked up two of her newer DVD's. I did one 50 minute workout after I got home tonight and I can tell that a new workout routine was overdue for me. I could work up a good sweat with the old ones, but my arms and legs felt like jello after my new workout and that hasn't happened for a long time. It felt so good, like I really did something.

You know, when I was on that fitness panel a couple of days ago the teacher of the class said something and I have been kind of mulling it over ever since just because it was something I had never thought about but I did make a bit of sense to me. She is a small person and always has been and she said that was probably because her whole family is small she is just naturally thin, but she stressed that she had NOT always been healthy and that it was easy to ignore because she was never overweight. She could eat a poor diet and not exercise and get by with it because she just didn't gain weight. She said there are many people who are just naturally thin who ignore their health because they don't always have their weight reminding them that they need to get in shape and stay in shape, but that being unhealthy still put them at extra risk of health problems. I don't know that I would have ever taken the incentive to make the changes I have made and get myself healthy if I hadn't gotten so big. It was pretty hard to ignore the fact that I was unhealthy when it was staring me in the face every time I looked in the mirror.

Ok...sorry for the ramble, I guess I had a lot to say tonight. Hope everyone is having a great night.

We are home from Boston and it was a real nice day, lots of talk and playing with the kids. I had a smoked salmon sandwich for lunch with 3 little spinach turnovers and 2 forkfuls of pasta for dinner and an apple. So I think it was an ok day.
I never buy the imitation foods. They are too expensive and too fake. There are so many other choices out there that it doesn't pay to eat that stuff.
Laura

holy cow. it's 2:30 a.m. and i am leaving for work in an hour. it is really strange to be having breakfast at this hour, so i am having a strange breakfast. it is some kind of indian chicken stew i guess. only 310 calories, but man, i eat weird food. at least it is not ice cream today ;)
i have to agree with you kayelle about junk food. i think the food manufacturers design the food so you can just keep on eating and eating chips, frozen burritos, cookies, and whatnot, without ever getting full.. and they make it so you want to keep on eating because of the taste. something like that. maybe there is some chemical in the stuff that does that. there is definitely truth the claim that "once you pop, you can't stop," and "bet you can't eat just one!"
at least one junk food-type place got it right. today dh and i had gelato at this place in the mall, and although the gelato was really good, they only sell it in tiny little cups. the large size held about 1/2 of gelato. i had a small.. i estimate that held a little over 1/4 cup. to make it easy for americans used to "supersize" food, they give you a tiny little spoon to eat it with. about the size of my thumbnail (and it bite my nails, so it was *small*) lol.

:wave: hi everyone! I have been MIA, and will be today as well...just dropped in to say hey and catch up some. Glad everyone seems to be well and happy...will check back in detail this evening.

Theresa

You are so right Kayelle-we attribute being thing with being healthy and it is just so not the case for the majority of people. My SIL is thin and he has to be one of the most unhealthy kids I know. He has so many digestive and intestinal issues. His main diet is candy and soda and then can't figure out why he spends so much time in the bathroom. His mother has colitis and says she can't eat fresh fruit and veggies but when I did some research on it, said needed to eat those things. Can't make a horse drink though. I make healthy meals when they are here and now only answer questions if I am asked.

Candice good girl for not having ice cream for breakfast. Getting up that early and starting your day is an adjustment. People used to look at me when I was eating a sandwich or soup ect at 8a but it was lunch for me lol.

Looking forward to hearing from you Theresa-wondered where you were.

There isn't a whole lot to report today really. I am OP and just cleaning out more stuff-the better things I am putting on ebay. Logan outgrew the jammies I got him last month already! Oh and katy's friend Zoo (yes that is what people call him) thinks I am a good looking woman-oh joy oh joy. Katy did tell him not to go there which saves me from having to shoot him down. I am not interested in people who hang out or do drugs and having teeth in some form is also good. He has what I call hockyplayer mouth. Ex also told me that the support is going into the mail today so that was almost two faints from him in one day no less. Ok I am off for the time being to get some more things put where they belong.
Melissa