Judy - I'd love to see your hair - it sounds gorgeous. It sure takes a long time, but it must be nice to be pampered all day. Curried turkey soup sounds good - I'll have to try it next time I have leftovers. I like all kinds of curry. Good for you doing the Turbo Jam. I need to up my exercise - I feel like I've been slacking off a bit lately, though I'm still managing my 3x a week at Curves.

Marie - I've had a hard time with hair stylists too as I'm growing my hair (just past shoulder length). The last time I got it trimmed she talked me into layers, which I know are not good for me as I have very fine hair. Oh well, at least it will grow out and I still get compliments on my hair. I'm sometimes tempted just to go in for a shampoo and deep conditioning as I love getting the head massage. I once had an Indian (Asian) head massage and it was wonderfully relaxing.

I've been a bit tense today as I got myself into a conundrum with a friend who invited us to Christmas dinner and I accepted, thinking my DH and DS would enjoy it as we'd spent last Christmas with them. They have a house full of friends and family and it's nice for us as we don't have any family here at all. Unfortunately, my guys both really wanted to spend Christmas at home, so I had to beg off. I felt really bad about it and had to have two glasses of wine before I had the courage to call my friend. I think she was really disappointed, so I hope I haven't ruined our friendship. I'll have to learn how to say 'I'll let you know' in future. I think my guys really didn't like their family tradition of everyone reading verses out of a Christmas book! Of course the stress had me raiding the fridge and going overboard in calories - after I'd been good thru Thanksgiving! Well, tomorrow is another day.:^:

Marie I normally enjoy the rush of shopping the day after this year I didn't so much. Especially the midnight thing I was in bed afterwards at 5:30 p.m. exhausted. The deals at the outlet mall weren't that great by any means. It was fun hanging with the girls and doing something crazy but not to be repeated next yr. The regular black friday shopping was good. I did manage to save some money and got a few things done. Kohls was a mad house and I had an extra 15% off coupon for charge customers. I saved my girl friends some cash and let them use it too. Together we did well. One person stayed in line with her big toy item while we shopped and added ours in later. Not so nice to everyone in line but they were cool and said they didn't care. My sister got out at 5:00 a.m. and the next day the item was another 10 dollars cheaper she was mad. I really think that the stores have just as good sales the next day with less crowds. They will have good deals right up til christmas. Judy my veggie daughter loves curry dishes but I have the spice and never know what to make with it. Any good recipes would be appreciated for sure. Sounds like the hair appt. was long but worth it. I think before christmas I am going to treat myself to a color and highlights. Maybe before my christmas party wish is the 7th. I will make an appt. today. I have a doctors appt. next monday maybe I can fit this in too. Marie the new toys sounds wonderful and you earned them. I have to tell you I am reading a book and its great to wake up before everyone else have my quite time in front of the fire with my hot coffee in hand and my book. You will love that stove your working for next. Well damage control:::::::::::::::: I gained only .5 for the holiday which could be salt from turkey, high cal. dinner with tetrazenni yesterday not low cal at all and some sweet potatoe custard leftover from the pie. So I am feeling okay with all that. Making it through the holiday. Now to hunker down and preplan my holiday gatherings into my schedule. I have a plan for cals., exercise and my little mini goal thats in the works before christmas. I feel good about not gaining too much with all the extras last week. So now just think if I had been good what I might of lost ! So if I am good all week I should see a change in that scale by friday. My first christmas gathering at a group home. Take care everyone.

I feel like I've been up forever, but it's only 11AM. That's what happens when you have an early-morning dentist's appointment:( . But I'm proud of myself for getting up early enough to squeeze in 40 minutes of cardio before rushing out the door.

Penny, I hope that your friend doesn't make more of your decision than she needs to. Maybe you can schedule a lunch or something, just the two of you, to reassure her. It's not as if you backed out at the last minute, after all. These things are stressful, though. I read somewhere that we tend to make judgements based on our intentions and other people's actions, and the world would be a better place if we were more attentive to our own actions and other people's intentions. I think about that a lot in situations like these!

Marie, I don't care so much about how fancy the new TV is, but everyone says it's nuts to buy an old-fashioned one at this point. The choices and the technology is a little overwhelming. I'll just take a couple of recommendations, search for the best deals on those and push send.

Carol, you're right about the deals not being over this early in the shopping season. I actually love to shop, but I can't deal with the crowds and the lines. It's more fun for me after Xmas, when the good stuff is deeply marked down.

Okay, gotta get back to work! Have a great day, everyone!

judy

Hi everyone. It's back to work time - and I'm tired of working so it's a midafternoon break with my chickie friends. :)

Judy, I know what you mean about not getting the latest technology, but in this case the difference isn't great and it costs more (the TV and the service). I don't know - I'd look into it a bit before plunging ahead. If you're relly a TV addict maybe it would be worth it. I'm not so to me it's not. AND way to go on the exercise before the dentist. We are exerciser chicks, through and through. :)

Carol, sorry about the square box. Tomorrow is my day. It should be fine since I logged my calories and didn't go over even on Thanksgiving. But it's almost TOM and that's always unpredictable. I agree with you on the Black Friday scams - prices are reduced throughout the season. I'm staying home next year - at least I'll just come to my local town and not travel over the mountain.

Penny, I'm sorry about your predicament. I totally agree with Judy. Invite her out and expain your family's wish to have a quiet Christmas. And tell her you value her friendship and really appreciate the generous invitation. Damage control.

I did my 5 miles this morning and am on target for food. Not else new - just back to the grind. Oh, I did one thing - I'm taking off 1 hour early every Wednesday through the end of January so that I can walk my doggies. Blizzard (maybe beloved Alaskan Husky) has hip dysplasia and if I don't exercise her regularly she gets stiff and is in pain. so I decided that the best option was a midweek walk. So I set it up. If I don't take off an hour early, it's too dark to walk when I get home.

Well, back to the grind.
Marie

Carol - Congrats on only gaining .5 lb. over Thanksgiving. You're right, the salty foods can cause water retention. Now that I get the nutritional info when I log my foods I'm amazed how much salt is in some foods that I would never have guessed were so salty.

Judy - Good for you for fitting in exercise before your dentist's appt. - that's dedication! Thanks for your suggestion to invite my friend to lunch. I'm hoping it will smooth things over a bit if I talk to her about it. It's a bit tricky for us to get together as she's a naturopath doctor and works long hours. Hopefully we'll be able to get together before Christmas.

Marie - You are so good to your doggies. Poor Blizzard. Our neighbour's Husky had a bad hip and they spent a fortune on surgeries but it still had a wobbly leg. It seemed happy though. Dogs are so good at looking on the bright side! I'm amazed how you do your five miles every day. I wish I could get myself motivated to at least do the treadmill again. I know I need to do more than just Curves.

I'm pretty much back on track calorie-wise. My DH is going to Toronto for a few days tomorrow, so I won't be doing much cooking. I have a bunch of Lean Cuisines to eat up in the freezer and I may be stuck indoors anyway as we might get some freezing rain - brrrr!

Penny I feel your pain with telling someone thanks but...... I have the same problem kind of my sister puts on a lovely spread on christmas but my family likes to stay home. I always feel bad. But she started it years ago so her kids could stay in their own home with there gifts etc. Well my daughter likes to unwind and stay home also. I am making dinner here as the DH and SIL also want to stay home for dinner. If my daughters want to come over for dinner its great but if not I understand as well and will visit their homes to see what the kids got from santa. My Son in law makes a great breakfast buffet for all of us christmas morning. And we have our Polish Christmas Eve with my family. So its not like we don't get together. So good luck with your friend and I am sure she will understand. Going to lunch before christmas together might not be a bad idea. Judy your doing great I took the stairs yesterday and did some gardening planting bulbs for spring almost December crazy huh? Marie no I'd shop around your side of the mountain. We have several neat houses which open up and sell unique gifts some homemade around here. Its fun to go see and buy of course. I am going to an Art and Craft show on saturday with the girls. I always manage to do some shopping there. And my first group home christmas celebration is friday. The start of the busy season of trying to fit things in. Black bean soup for dinner last night stayed within my daily calories but salty a bit.

Hi everyone, I'm on a "I don't want to work" kick. started yesterday afternoon and it's rolling into today. So here I am surfing bright and early. I have no choice but to get to it very soon. Loads to do.

We've been getting loads of snow the last few days. Driving is fun. Yesterday after driving home in it (a 23 mile drive) I realized I left the space heater on in my office. No one was still there so I had to drive back and home again. Wasted evening to say the least. I left early this morning and before the traffice started so it wasn't too bad. This evening I will turn off the space heater and enjoy time at home.

I did 3 miles jogging and 2 miles walking this morning. Didn't really want to but I had no choice. I also have to call the company on my light therapy box. Two of the blue lights blew this morning and it's on warranty so I'll have to send it back. Not a great time of year to do that so hopefully just exercise will keep my moods stable.

Penny, don't you love rain that turns into ice. The roads here are nice and glassy. Very shiny. Not nice at all. I'm sorry DH won't be home, but thos lean cuisines should definitely keep you on track.

Carol, my parents and in-laws made a big stink about having to spend Christmas with them (Christmas Eve with inlaws and Christmas with my parents) when my kids were little. DH and I said, tough, we're staying home after all the manipulations. Basically we said the kids needed to have Christmas in their own home and that the families were invited. My parents showed once. :) But it stopped the pulling. I promised the heavens I would never do that to my kids. So I think you and I are on the same wavelength there (and probably many other places).

Well, I should work...
Marie

Marie, I'll bet that getting up and working out will tide you over while the light box is getting fixed. I wouldn't have believed it, but getting the blood pumping early in the day does wonders for my mood. And the more I am a slug, the harder it is to energize myself. This is the time of year when sleeping in and "resting" actually works against me.

Penny, I hope you can use your hubby's visit as a chance to be selfish. I keep Lean Cuisines in the office freezer for back-up meals, but I try to be careful about sodium intake on those days. Do you enjoy going to Curves? I like that I have a habit now, and it is just minutes away from my office, but I am a little bored by the routine. I read on another board when one woman had fallen into a rut until she started going four times a week. I usually just go twice, and do other workouts with weights at least once or twice on other days.

Carol, your family has so many nice options for the holidays! I would invite myself over for brunch...My family is so big and far-flung that we've never tried to establish rules. When I was a kid we'd make the rounds to visit older relatives in the area (and pick up more gifts and eat more). When I grew up I was envious of people who had annual traditions. But basically I think you need to make the holidays work for you. Why add drama?

I am fighting the urge to overeat, now that was a little more haphazard over T'giving and I'm putting in more cardio. This can really snowball into a problem, looking at my travel schedule through the end of the year (away from home for about 18 days). I will force myself to log my food 'til New Year's, starting today. :drill:

Keep up the good work, y'all.

judy

Marie yah that can really take a toll on the kids at christmas plus the mom's and dad's are exhausted after such excitement too. I agree its time to have a break from work. You have done so well with your moods. I need to start baking in a week or so. Not too early just want to get it done and put away. Needless to say not anywhere that I will get into it. I have been struggling to get the scale moving down. It is making me a bit grumpy! I am also going for another thyroid test. I think this med is too low of a dose. Before I wasn't eating anymore than now and kept my wt. more stable. I have had a bit of stress with work. I am getting a real involved case again. This one is a relative of a big wing in the community don't get much higher. I know it will be watched like nothing else ever has so needless to say its going to be not so easy lots of difficult demands to meet. The harder yah work the more people expect. I guess it will be okay and I will do my best to meet the expectation of others. Too bad a raise or something special didn't come with it. Not likely. I will look forward to my christmas bonus and focus on being lucky to have a job. I'm planning on going for a nice walk today. I think it will relieve some stress and help get me moving in the right direction. I am counting cals closely. Has anyone any idea on one of those little calculators to add cals as your day goes? Do you even know what I am talking about or did I dream this one up? I'm going to stick with my preplanned meals for right now and see how it goes. This in the past has helped me get through all the holiday parties etc. Monday I have a doctors appt. the female ck up or two ---- ck. as they say. Past due and its time to get it over with. I was hoping to be down a bit by then. I will continue to work on that. Judy you keep up the good work and your results are going well. Hurray! Penny I have never done curves but had a friend who did and had great results. I just need to get to the gym again on a routine. That is my problem not taking time for myself anymore I think. Maybe I should try going in the mornings? You seem to do good Judy and Marie by doing mornings. I surely am up early enough. Well let me ck it out on thurs. morning.

I just have minute to say hi and wish everyone a good Wednesday. I'm scrambling to get things done before I leave town tomorrow morning. I won't have time for Curves today, but I did 50 minutes of cardio this morning, and will pack my WATP DVD (and the band and the belt) so I can work out while I'm at my mom's.

Carol, I hope things go well with your high-level client. But just in case, please keep good written records with plenty of references to standard procedure and who authorized any variance, because a paper trail seems to be the only way to protect yourself from politics in a bureaucracy. It sounds like you are liked and trusted by your new boss, though, and if so, she will have your back.

Take care--judy

Carol, I totally agree with Judy. Always have a well documented CYA (covre Your a..) file. With everything, especially when you know it will be scrutinized. I believe in taking blame when I screw up but I don't believe in being a scapegoat, so I document everything. Probably the HR manager of my past life in me. Good luck with the morning exercise. It does get easier after a while. When I first started, LindaT from the journal part of this page commented to my whine about exercising early was "Nobody said it would be fun". That really stuck with me, especially when I want to lollygag in bed. But, it definitely has improved my moods.

Speaking of moods, my bluelight box maker is the best business I've EVER dealt with. I called yesterday, fully expecting to be without my box for a couple weeks, and they said, "okay I've ordered you a new one and when it arrives please send the old one back". WOW!!!! I was shocked. Then today I got the confirmation that it was shipped. Since it's from Utah, I bet I have it by Friday, Monday at the latest. WOW, double WOW.

Judy, I hope you have a nice time at your mom's. I don't envy you - being with my parents drives me nuts. They are great, loving people, but they drive me up the wall. Keep track of the food and you'll do great. No slacking!!!

Carol, here's a link for what I think you're looking for. I'm tempted to buy it... http://www.coheso.com/caloriesmart.d...FRh3YAodjh_yjw Hopefully 3FC doesn't erase it. I'll PM it to you too.

Penny, hope things are going great.

Today was my first Wednesday getting off an hour early to walk the doggies. Blizzie was so excited and they had a blast. The cool thing is that I only exercised 3 miles this morning and added the 2 mile afternoon walk. It was cold though. It was 29 when we started and dropped like a balloon. It was 19 when we got back. It feels like I'm still in Minnesota. :)
Marie

Marie - I'm glad to hear that the lightbox company has such good customer relations - that can be hard to come by sometimes. Does the box make a big difference for you? I'm tempted to try one for those dark winter days. I bet it's cold your way - we're expecting an ice storm tonight brrr. Luckily my DH returns late tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully it's above freezing by then or else he'll have fun driving home from the airport.

Judy - I hope you have a good trip. You're doing great with the WATP DVD - keep up the good work! Yes, I do like Curves a lot and I go three times a week, even if I'm not feeling too good - I always feel better after my workout. My Curves is having a crafts bazaar for members to sell their stuff so I'm making some soaps. My fragrance order came in today so I'll have to get busy. It's nice because the manager doesn't charge us anything. A little extra pocket money!

Carol - I hope your walk lowered your stress level a bit. It's even harder to stay on plan when we have extra stress. I haven't seen a hand held calorie counter, but I should think there is something out there like that. It would be handy for when you're traveling and not near your computer.

I've spent the time while my DH is away putting up the Christmas decorations and it looks real cozy. Putting the ornaments on the tree is always special for me - especially when I come across the goofy little ornaments my son made in kindergarten and also the ones given to us by family and friends. I've lit some apple spice candles and put a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas CD on. We have a neat fireplace DVD that I like to put on the TV - complete with crackling log sounds. Sure beats watching the depressing news all the time (like when DH is home!) All that's missing is the eggnog. Too bad it's so loaded with calories. I made some mini mince pies, so I'll have one of those later with some Rooibos tea. A snow and ice storm is predicted tonight through lunchtime tomorrow, so I'll be nesting here and trying not to eat too much!

Judy you are very right on the matter of my work. I do feel she does have a lot of respect for me and that part feels real good. She feels I am capable of taking on this case and offered to assist me with it anytime I felt the need. We came to an agreement yesterday though that I don't like to be praised in front of my coworkers. I told her it makes me uncomfortable because we all do things just in different ways. God help me on this one but it will be okay. Marie I have been thinking of using some time also to get out a bit earlier to go to the gym. Congrats on the box glad they were so nice. I hate getting home when it is dark out. Today will be a later night as I am moving a gentlemen in to a group home from living his whole life with mom. Its going to be hard for her and my heart goes out to her but I know its the best for the future. I do a lot of future planning with elderly parents and she is like 79. But witty as can be! Oh my good news for today is I am down wow its about time. All that scale wanted to do was climb. So I am in hopes its correct. I am going to try and get it down some more of course I still am up from before but this is a little sunshine in my corner. From just the other day 1 lb. that one less hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to thank you for that site and I am going to ck it out seriously I think its a good idea. My daughter would like some type of DVD which would be exercise and fun dancing any ideas girls I would be glad to hear your input. Christmas shopping this weekend and maybe after work today a bit. A little here and there and it helps speed things up . I need to start wrapping. Penny where do you order from for your soaps? I would be interested and how cool you can sell at curves neat idea I say. Have you ever made cranberry/ almond oh its very good if not ck it out. I also have a recipe for bath salts which came from my daughter in laws mom who is a massage therapist. If you want it let me know and I will post it for you. Girls I found some pumpkin spice tea oh its so good. Yah might have to ck it out. The girl at work who started ww made me a cup of tea yesterday. We are going to take turns treating each other in the mid morning it helps get us through til lunch time. She lost 4lbs. the first week and that was with Thanksgiving. I will have to pick her brain for some info. Of course she has more to lose so the rate of how much is different as it is for all of us. I went to get my blood work done yesterday to have the thyroid ck's to see if the new med is meeting my needs. Today I will try my best to make healthy choices. I started my day with 2 poached eggs, 1 oat english muffin. I will have an orange around 10. Then lunch and not have anything else til supper. Trying to stay with in my calories. Been good about not snacking after dinner.

Hi all, things are going good. I exercised this morning and that's always good. Goldilocks is at the groomer so I have to remember to pick her up. It would be really back to go home without her. :)

Carol, I looked a bit at that calorie counter after I posted it. If I didn't have my computer solution, I'd get it - without hesitation. Seems very convenient. I looked at it on Amazon and all the reviews but one was very positive. One was very negative. You should check it out.

Penny, enjoy your hubby being home. I hate ice more than I hate snow. Way more. It's still pretty bitter cold out, but not as bad. At least it wasn't in the single digits this morning.

Well, back to work.
Marie

Carol - You are an angel for helping all those people in your work. I really felt for that elderly lady whose son needs to go into assisted living. It kind of puts your own problems in perspective. It must be very rewarding for you when things work out and everyone is happy. That must make up somewhat for the times when things don't go so well. Congrats on losing the pound :carrot:. It just makes the day seem brighter when the scale cooperates! That pumpkin spice tea sounds good. I'd like to get your bath salts recipe some time. The cranberry/almond soap sounds interesting. I get my fragance oils from Brambleberry.com but I buy my soap base locally as it's heavy and the shipping would cost an arm and a leg! Brambleberry are very quick and customer friendly. They even sent me a free scent "lilly of the valley". It's very nice and light so I'll have to make a few of those too. I made cucumber/loofah soaps this morning and the whole house smells like cucumbers! You are doing well sticking to your calories - keep up the good work! I've been a bit greedy today, so I only have 250 calories left for dinner!:o

Marie - The freezing rain just missed us and it's warmed up to around 40 deg. so no more snow & ice! My DH is on his way to Chicago for his connecting flight home this afternoon and he's hoping there won't be any delays as they are going to be socked in by a big storm tonight! I always think of that movie "Trains, Planes and Automobiles" when he travels at this time of the year!

Judy - I hope your Thursday is going well.

Marie I will ck that out and I think I will order it from santa what a better gift could there be than something to keep me healthy. Oh diamonds would be nice but not happening here. Thanks for sending the rain my way. We are to be in the 60's today knocking us off the record for a December. Also going to drop and send us into a whriling wind storm I guess could be rain or snow right now rain. But for this time of year unseasonalbly warm. I will take that. Penny thanks every little bit helps and nice to see the square be a little nicer. Still more to go to keep me happy. I want to thank you for the soap ideas. My friend and I were going to make cookie jar recipes for folks but then someone asked her at the bank you are making us soaps right. So we decided why not. So we will start them maybe next week. With this warmer weather I keep thinking I have lots of time before christmas. In reality I don't. I'm holding off on the baking a bit too. Less time to get into them I figure. Last night I made a stir fry with chicken breast sauted and then added in lots of frozen veggies and a little asian sauce which came with the veggies. Wasn't bad and I will take the rest for work today. Penny it wasn't easy for the family to transfer him over to us I felt really sad for the mom. Because he just fit in so well when he arrived home from program with his friends whom live in the house. When we all left he said see yah later. She will be taking him home for the holiday. I gave her a hug and said I know its not so easy and thats okay to feel this way its normal. The brother said to me I am having a hard time with it too. I said its better to beable to pick a place that is available than be in an emergency and have to take whats there. They agreed and no this is the best way to go. I will keep close tabs on things but know my guy will like this house and how lucky to have 3 friends living there too. This is one of the harder parts of my job future planning and placement. Well enough of that its friday and the christmas party at one of my group homes. Then on saturday the girls and I have a lovely arts and crafts show to attend its pretty big. We will do some shopping afterwards as well. I need to get a grip on wrapping though before those little people start snooping in my bags here. Well I plan on having a healthy choice day up until the pizza at the christmas party so I will save cals for that. I will ck out Amazon Marie thanks for your help. Is there a way I can ck online to see if anyone sells it any cheaper. You are the computer wizard and all. Penny I will send off my recipe for the bath salts. Goes great with a bar of soap for a nice gift. Judy hope your doing well with your traveling.

Hi Carol, I did check and there wasn't anywhere cheaper. What I liked about the maker's website is that it had a 30 day return and free shipping. I like being able to return stuff.

Penny, eeks, I wouldn't want my hubby in the midwest at the moment. I'm sure it's the system that dumped on us starting on Sunday night. We're just starting to come out of the deep freeze. We had freezing fog this morning, delaying the flight out.

I exercised this am. I still wasn't really wanting to but I did it and I'm glad I did. I sure go through periods where it's a struggle to get to it. But I did 3 miles walking and 2 miles jogging.

Tomorrow, Kodiak and I start school. The donkey dog will learn to walk on a leash - it's my new year's resolution. We signed up for classes starting in January, but we're having a private lesson tomorrow to solely work on his pulling my arm out of the socket. The trainer sounded very confident that we could fix that immediately. Ha, they haven't met donkey dog. :)

Marie

Marie you made me laugh about the donkey dog. Your too funny and I hope the trainer is able to help. We got part of that storm but before the winds and rain we had 67 degrees not bad for 12/1/06 in New York. I got caught up in the rain before a Christmas party. My future SIL was driving from Boston and said it was pretty hairy. Penny hope your hubby is safe and sound by now. Really windy here this a.m. and the temp is only around 30 something quite a drop down. Now its more like 12/2 should be not that I missed it at all. Glad the work week is over. I did attend a group home Christmas celebration didn't do real bad with the eating but did venture a bit off track thank goodness I ate a eng. muffin for breakfast and my chicken stir fry for lunch. The Italian family brought two whole trays of cookies. They were so great looking I had to have some. They at least made them sliver dollar size not too bad in size, justification of course, then little mini chesse cakes really small. I had pizza but at least I stuck with seafood pizza and veggie. No pepperoni! All in all I am sure my cals were up so I will be on my good behavior today. But it is the holiday season and one day off isn't too bad if yah jump back in. Thats the trick I think. So I am jumping! Out for the day with the girls we are going to a Arts and Crafts show its a judged show usually really nice stuff. I am hoping to get a bit of Christmas shopping done today. I made my list this morning of what cookies to bake for the family and friends. I have to make some kind of soon as I have to ship them out I forgot all about the time frame etc. But I will seal a meal them up to stay out of them and put them in the downstairs fridge. Safe keeping at least out of sight. Hope you all have a nice day planned. I am going to decorate the tree and house sunday I think. Take care. No scale til monday. My increasing my water intake is going well.

Hi Carol, oh, you're getting me in the Christmas mood. I think that maybe tomorrow we'll get our tree and put it up. The base is having their annual Christmas party tonight but we're not going. I HATED it the last time. I've tried a couple military "parties" and they were painful to say the least. It's a good thing I'm not in the military or I would have been court martialed a long time ago for not following orders. But they're having the children's Christmas party tomorrow, complete with Santa. So we're going over so DGS and see Santa for the first time. I will post a picture tomorrow evening. So as long as we're in town, seems like we should get the tree and start rolling into Christmas. Oooooo, I like that idea.

Carol, I just read a very good article on MSNBC.com about 5 common dieting mistakes. Very good article. I think the one that got me (and often "gets" me) is the one of a taste here and a taste there, thinking it's not much. Here's an excerpt:

"Think 25 calories a mouthful. Assume that's what every bite you take is worth, says Elizabeth Somers, a registered dietitian in Salem, Ore.
“So many people do well during mealtime, but forget about the extra food they’ve had along the way — the handful of nuts before dinner, the taste-testing of cookie dough, the food left on their kid’s plate," says Somers, who wrote “10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet.” "Every bite adds up.”
Four bites a day is 100 extra calories. In a month’s time, that’s nearly a pound of extra weight."

It's the last sentence that got me. They suggest chewing gum while cooking, etc. The link to the article is http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14802078/ I recommend looking at it. I think reading those types of articles help me keep on track.

Donkey doggie and I start training in 2.5 hours. Trying to get him out the door without the other doggies will be painful. Blizzie and Goldie will be so bummed. But I'm excited. At least DH doesn't go to work until noon (Guard weekend - Christmas party weekend...). He can help get donkey/Kody out. BTW, Carol, I also refer to him as the word that starts with JackA$$ too. He fits the description so perfectly. Ah, but I love him tremendously. My goal took a turn this weekend with him. I'm going to stick with the training religiously and next winter, my goal is to teach him skijouring. I have all the equipment because I was going to train Blizzie to do it. But at 10 months she was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia and could do it. Kody has always been a donkey and I never thought we could do it. He's a perfect dog for it physically, so now I really have a long term goal. I haven't told anyone except the new guy at work (BTW who is GREAT!!!!!). I figure if they know Kody they'd laugh hysterically. But we're going to do it. BTW, skijouring if you don't know is harnessing the dog and cross county skiing behind the dog. Sort of like sled dog but just the the dog and person. It's going to be awesome.

I did 3 miles jogging this morning because I need to walk Blizzie this afternoon. DGS's mom didn't feel well yesterday so she might not be able to go this afternoon so that means I'd just take Blizzie because I wouldn't be able to work with Kody and walk Blizzie. But alone time with my angelic sweetheart (aka Blizzie) sound pretty nice. :D

That's it for now. Keep your fingers crossed on the trianing. I really want this to work.
Marie

Marie - I hope Kodiak (aka donkeydog) did well at doggie school. That skijouring sounds like fun - I've seen it on TV one time. The dogs look like they enjoy it too. Thanks for sharing the diet insights about how each bite counts - that is so true. I'm sure it's not so much our meals that make the weight go on as it is the little nibbles here and there. We were at a Christmas party last night and I made sure to have a protein/fiber shake before we left so I didn't have as much appetite. I picked out a few of the healthier things on the buffet and then moved as far away as possible from the food! It worked well and I didn't overdo it. I had about half a glass of wine - NO eggnog - and kept refilling my glass with water.

Carol - My DH got out of Chicago a couple of hours ahead of the storm and he said coming in to Chicago was the hairiest landing he's ever had - and he flies a lot. They also had to de-ice the plane he left on. Strangely enough, the weather had been in the high 60's while he was in Toronto. Your Christmas baking is making my mouth water! So far I've only made some mince pies. I think I may not make too many cookies this year - my DH and DS don't need all the extra calories either. There are not too many 'health' cookies that taste good. Their favorite is Basler Braun which is a swiss cookie made with chocolate, ground almonds and kirsch schnapps. Very high calorie and addictive! They also like Honig Leckerli which is about the highest concentration of calories in a small package that you can get! My DH is Swiss and his Mom taught me how to make all those Swiss Christmas specialties.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend - have a good start to the week!

Hi all, Kodiak did very good with his private lesson. He learned a lot (aka I learned a lot). Afterwards, we went for a walk around the 2 mile block and I didn't get pulled at all. I set up an appointment for another training on the 18th. He shows potential. YEAH!!!!

I'm in a munchy mood. Bad sign for the day. I did ride the exercycle for 6 miles and then I'll walk the doggies after we get back from the Santa visit.

Penny, the cookies sound good. I was perusing my Taste of Home and found many that sounded yummy. But I'll make none. It's harder to cheat if I don't make them...
Marie

Oh Marie it sounds like a blast with the puppy. I am getting one in the spring. I told the sister inlaw to put away what she planned on giving me for christmas for a puppy. When I get ready some cash will be available and I too will be saving for a puppy. I think we are going to get a cocker spaniel or some type similar we will see. It is a bit cold this weekend but still good shopping weather. I did gain a little over the weekend but I had a christmas party and went out for dinner. Even though I was careful inbetween not careful enough could be some salt but I need to be better. My new set goal is 50 miles for the month starting today. I looked back in my journal and was there at that level in April. I went shopping bought healthy stuff and now its time to be watch myself a bit closer. Its tough I have a Christmas party wed. at a group home then my work party friday night at least it is not a buffet this year so more monitored eating I think I ordered some chicken and mushroom dish. Marie thanks for that site and the info. I will ck it out. I have a doctors appt. today so I am off from work going to fit in highlighting my hair and working out at the gym breaking the ice with a whole new out look. Penny thanks for the soap supply company I am putting in an order today. Doing a sample one so I get a lot of variety. I did buy my poppy seed and lime so I am ready to make some soap. I went to a couple of craft shows this weekend. One put on by the Peace Council my daughter does vol. photography for them. She was there shooting away and caught me with her camera talking to a woman about her herbal sauves. I did buy some dried lavender as well to add to some soaps. I have to get myself moving this week on projects no time to be messing around. I guess my christmas shopping is underway and doing quite well with it. I have to pick things up for my mom to give to the children so 4 gifts to choose there. I am going to get them all something creative from the craft store from her. Use my coupon to get something nice. I haven't started the baking but need to pretty soon as I need to ship out some cookies to Hawaii. Well Judy hope you had a nice visit with your mom. Bet she is proud of how well your taking care of yourself these days? Have a great day. I am counting every bite today! And working out today is the beginning of my 50 mile goal for December.

Hi Carol, sounds like you're well on your way with the holiday preparations. We did buy a tree yesterday and tonight we're going to decorate it. The trip to the base was okay. My pictures didn't turn out because it was too dark, but I think the ones that the military took of DGS with Santa will be good. They'll email it to DH this week. So I'll post it when I get it.

Doggie training was good/bad yesterday. Kody walked like a prince but refuse to sit. I lost me temper and yelled and he growled. It was ugly. Today we're going to skip the sitting and just have a good walk session to try to undo the damage. I feel horrible for lossing my temper. On the positive side he hasn't pulled my arm out of the socket since before the training.

I jogged 3 miles and walked 2 before work. BTW, I was up to 127 miles of walk/jog in November. Not bad for a month with foot surgery. There were 10 miles of cycling too. Too bad I didn't lose any weight with it. I'm definitely at a plateau. But as long as I'm not gaining, I'm a happy camper. As I said a couple months ago, I'm happy with what I look like, I just want to lose more for health reasons.

Marie

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...on this thread, anyway :snowball1 . Nothing like talking about cookies and mince pies to get everybody into the mood. I can't have the Basler Brauns, but the schnapps is fine!

Carol, congratulations on seeing progress on the scale. Thanks for sharing the story about fellow moving into his first group home. These things must be so traumatic, but it's great to know that someone like you is there for the family.

Marie, thanks for the "25 calories" article. I hadn't realized that you're supposed to count food that you eat when you're standing up :o . That could explain a lot....I hope you don't get too discouraged by the plateau. In a fwe weeks you'll back on 2006 and be pleased that you'll be ending it smalled and healthier than you started.

Penny, WTG on the buffet! They are my downfall. Your hubby was lucky getting out of Chicago when he did. Even if the city didn't get that much snow, flights coming into and out of the Midwestern airports were a mess, I'm so glad I had flown the day before.

The weekend was good but exhausting. I worked like a scullion on the day of the party, and my body ached on Sunday. But the party was fun, over 50 people was there. I was too busy to eat much the whole visit, and my boycott of wheat products went a long way towards keeping me from inhaling garlic bread, cookies, cake, brownies and other yummies. I did have a a cup of ice cream on Saturday. It feels good to be back into my usual routine.

more later--judy

Marie - Kody sounds like a kid who doesn't want to do his homework! I'm sure he'll come around when he gets the hang of it. It sounds like he's already made some good progress. I'm glad you're taking your plateau in stride. You're doing everything right and it's sure to be a big health bonus for you.

Carol - I envy you getting a puppy. I'd love one but my DH is more of a cat person. We were at a Christmas party the other day and they have an 18 mo. old cocker spaniel girl (gorgeous golden coat). She was the life and soul of the party and was beside herself with happiness with so many people in her house. She kept bringing my DH her favorite ball (maybe trying to win him over?) and he was quite taken with her. Maybe he'll cave in and get us a dog one day. She was very naughty though and was running on the backs of the sofas and kept grabbing my sparkly hair clip I had used to so carefully put my hair up! I hope you enjoy making your soaps. Several friends have asked me to make some for Xmas gifts so I'll be busy. I see you're doing well with your calories. I've been a bit over lately and need to refocus.

Judy - I'm glad you had a nice party. Keeping busy is a good way to stay away from the food! I think I need to reduce my wheat intake. I've had IBS for several years and one of the triggers is too much white flour products. I've been overindulging in those lately and I'm paying the price with stomach pain and bloating. I'm going to start having cottage cheese & fruit for breakfast instead of my usual eggs & toast. It's about 100 less calories too, so I'll have something left for a snack later in the evening.

I was feeling bloated, fat and miserable (from the IBS) today at Curves and luckily my 'workout buddy' Michelle was there and gave me some nice compliments so that cheered me up a lot. Michelle's had wonderful success with Spark People (I told her about it a month or so ago) and she's already lost 15 lbs. She was the same starting weight as I was and has been yo-yo dieting her whole life like me, so we have a lot in common. She said I was her 'role model'! Well, I guess I'll have to live up to that now!

Well girls the doctors appt. was good now a follow up with the mamo and bone density isn't turning the 50's fun. Thats when they start the extra test. But I felt good filling out the paperwork at the doctors. When it came to health stuff I pretty much only had to answer a few things out of a lot. I told the girl these don't pertain to me. She said thats great be thankful and I said sure am. So I guess other than I wished my wt. was down a bit more I am healthy. Sometimes his exam is so easy compared to some I have had that I wonder if it is a good exam. I guess it is he is just quick in looking for things and keeps you talking to get your mind at ease. We were chatting about Maui. So that was a good topic to say the least and relaxing. I also got my hair done and feel like a new woman. A little blonde but thats okay it will hide my regrowth of gray streaks. I had it highlighted and my hair was a light brown to med. Now blonde streaks. I like it though. Something new for the drab winter weather. Not a new style just had it cut a few weeks back growing it out a little. Got the decorating going here yesterday evening. I have what the hubby calls my Charlie Brown tree. He is only 3 feet tall and I make it up woodsy like. Pine cones, berries, bells hung with twine, rusty little star on top and clear lights and a little birds nest waiting for me to purchase a little bird just right for it. I put my little elfs under it and my lovely wooden santa craved next to it. I just loved it. This a.m. its the only thing lite in the livingroom so pretty and woodsy looking just love it. Such little things in life bring the holiday spirit alive. Now my big tree is still pretty bare. Tonight I will do that one. It was fun and kept me from over eating last night busy is good keeps us in control I say! Judy your doing great keep it up. Marie that pup sounds like a kid for sure. Treat him like a teenager and you will be all set. Penny good for you having someone tell you thanks for steering them down the right path. I did pretty good with the intakes yesterday. I am in to the wraps this week with the 100 cals wrap made with rosemary and spices. Today I will create one for lunch and put some veggies and tuna together. Then take in carrots and stay out of sweets. Wed is a little christmas party at the group home. I will beable to keep it under control and eat light cals for lunch. Thurs needs to be a becareful day and friday breakfast lunch need to be under total control as the evening is my Christmas party. God give me strength. I am on the scale almost everyday trying to stay stable its important. Even if thats all I do for right now I am okay with that just keep it under control for the holidays. I have cut back on after dinner snacks unless its fruit, yogurt or something on the healthy side.
Keep up the good work girls together we will win this battle and be healthier than ever.

Welcome back Judy, glad your weekend was good. The gluten free is working out so great for you. It's amazing how when you're diligent about what you put in your body, how nicely it responds. I'm on a plateau, but eating healthy sure makes me feel good. No blahs. I'm much more happy since I started this diet in April.

Penny, watch what you eat and hopefully you'll feel better. I'm always amazed how much I crave what makes me sick. I love peanut butter and I'm allergic to it. Since it could stop me from breathing, I refrain, but I'd sure love anything peanut buttery right now. :)

Carol, I like the description of your little tree. Sounds artful. Someone decorated our tree last night after I went to bed. I was so please (I didn't want to do it again). I tried to find the "present" that is actually the lightswitch, but could so I couldn't light it this morning to check it out. For sure when I get home. DH did put up the house lights yesterday and I went out to admire it. I love house lights. I used to drive all over Duluth looking for pretty houses this time of year. It got to be a family ritual on Christmas Eve to drive around. That tradition stopped since we moved here - not many people put up lights.

I exercised this morning even though the idea of sleep sounded way better. Food was good and the scale was not nice but that's because of TOM. The plateau is pesty but okay. At least all my new clothes will fit for longer. :)
Marie

Penny, i love cottage cheese and fruit, or yogurt and fruit, for breakfast or for dessert. But I like variety in my meals, so I get bored eating it every day. One my other standard b'fasts is Eggbeaters w/salsa and turkey breakfast sausages. Although I've been boring, having protein shakes (w/o fruit) for b'fast during the week, and having one of my favorite b'fast options, with a wheat-free waffle, on the weekends after a long workout. The hardest thing on South Beach or similar plans is breakfast w/o grains. I got bloody sick of crustless quiche every morning:( .

Carol, good luck with all the parties this week. Just think of us when you're tempted, and remember that you'll have to confess to the Daily Check-in...I know you can do it.

Marie, isn't it funny how you can crave something you know is unpleasant or even dangerous? When I was a kid I hated peanut butter, but in college I learned to love it. I still buy it, but a jar lasts me a long time now.

Well, it's one of those days when I have lots to do and should be very busy....but I've been yawning all day. I did a good workout this morning, and will go to Curves after work. I thought my appt with the nutritionist was tomorrow, but it's next week. Maybe I can get the scale to move again before I meet with her. I would love to be halfway to my year-end goal by the middle of next week.

:yawn: Boy, am I sluggish today! I hope that pumping hydraulics at Curves will perk me up.

judy

Marie yes the little woodsy tree made up with berries etc. my son inlaw even loved. Its funny last year the same little tree in a little different spot had hardly any attention. He took a move to about 3 feet away a few new things added and everyone loves him. Crazy and funny I say! My little grandgirls 6 and 7 helped me decorate my big tree last night. I am pretty fussy where things go and have lots of breakables, memories with certain things we put on the tree and some homemade bulbs I took a little painting to with snowflakes. It looks great and the girls were helpful inbetween my becarefuls and not there. We had fun the tree looks good. And of course they ate a couple of candycanes. Marie glad your tree is up it will help with moods and good feelings I hope. Think of your weight sitting still as its adjusting right now. Once it is used to this new you it will turn on again and move forward for some more to come off. Losing and keeping it off is so positive not this yo yo stuff that is dangerous to say the least. Keep up your good efforts changes and routines that stick make the world of difference down the road for long term. I tried on a shirt I got my mom for christmas needless to say if it was tight on me its not going to work on mom. So I will take it back for something else today. Returns this early don't make me a happy camper. I have been doing good on the intake side of things. Feeling back in control again. Funny how that leaves us and we don't really know til its done a bit of damage but not too much. Again I am headed in the right direction. Yesterday someone brought in coffee cake I stayed away from it and didn't really miss it. Then ate healthy for all meals and last night around 8 wanted something. At last I decided on a little fresh orange and a half of banana. The scale thanked me this morning. Its not easy always making the healthier choice but we all know the benefits that will follow are in the right direction down instead of up. My Christmas party at the group home was canceled I will still stop in today a consumer passed away. Too bad at this time of year kind of not good timing for a party right now. My guy is doing super in his new house and everyone things he is such a hoot and love his ways of saying things. This was a good move! I will have an easier day today staying on track one party this week friday night. Girls the doc talked me into that flu shot the other day and I am not so happy. My arm is swollen and it hurts. I used some motrin last night and again this a.m. but the little bag with grains in you put in the microwave seemed to help the most. What the heck yah go for being healthier and now I also have a bit of a cold they say it won't make you sick well I was fine before hand????????????? Not too happy with these results but if the flu comes my way maybe I will not get it. Judy I agree yah need lots of variety to survive healthy eating. One of my desserts lately is frozen fruit with a few scoops of lite coolwhip and some walnuts on top. Not bad and feels like a real treat. Well girls I am meeting some friends at 7:00 a.m. for breakfast. Take care and lets keep this motivation moving in the right direction we are all seeing some results, making healthy choices, creating new routines and habits. Hurray for all of us ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morning ladies. I'm in that funk "I don't want to work" again. So I'm doing my browsing early. Then I will get to it since I have loads to do. 61.5 hours of work left till Christmas vacation. Then I get 2 weeks off. I have no plans, just relax and enjoy Christmas. So the countdown is on to the 15th.

Carol, I feel your pain with the flu shot. I always swore that when I gave blood, I got a cold. They'd tell me, no it's not possible. But it happened everytime. So I stopped giving blood. Not a good thing, but I couldn't stand having a cold every 3 months. Great job with the scale. Mine read the same again. I'd really like to shove it down the toilet but alas, it's not its fault...

I did 6 miles on the exercycle and today is my leave early and take the doggies on a walk day so there will be another 2 miles of walking. I loved the bike this morning because it's by the Christmas tree. So I turned the tree on and that was the only light in the room as I pedalled and listened to an audio book. I might do that a bit more often. Maybe that will ge me out of the dread of exercising I've felt the last 10 days. I never give into the dread but it's still there.

Judy, how in the work is a wheat free waffle made? Since flour is the main ingredient, how id dthey do it? Also, what protein shakes do you like? I make an egg nog (216 calories - 1.25 c. skim milk, one egg, 1 T unsweetened cocoa and 4 equal packets in the blender). It holds me all morning. today I did a 110 cal bagel with a little cream cheese and a scrambled egg and I'm already hungry. So I was thinking maybe your protein shake would be something I could keep at work.

Hiya Penny!!!!

Talk with you all later.
Marie

It's a beautiful, crisp, sunny day today! That almost makes up for the nippiness in the air. I tend to scurry from the nearest subway station to the office, which means I'm not getting my extra walking time in lately. I bought some hand warmers to put inside my gloves, which I must remember to try tomorrow. It's not so horribly cold, just right around freezing in the morning, but the Raynaud's syndrome leaves my hands in pain for an hour after the slightest chill, even if I'm indoors. But I'm doing well today, had a good cardio workout at home and am in good spirits--even though, like Marie, I'd rather not be working.

Carol, I'm sorry to hear why the party was cancelled. It seems especially hard for families when loved ones die during the holiday season. I've never had problems with flu shots after the first day. I meant to get one last month and hadn't gotten around to it, now I just might take my chances. You are doing a great job in handling the nibbling temptations. One of my coworkers brought in a huge tub of chocolates--including the types with liquor in them--which I love. I will just have to avoid the break room altogether for a few days, after I take a couple of candies, put them with my other snacks, and put it out of my mind. Thank God I'm not PMSing, it would be an ugly sight! Anyway, thanks for the image of you decorating the tree with the kids, that was very sweet.

Marie--you are kicking a-- with the workouts :carrot: . Most gluten-free baked goods are made from flour made of soy, rice or other grains. It's fine for crunchy things, like Oriental crackers, but items that should be light and fluffy aren't the same. But I pop a frozen Van's waffle into the toaster, and it's close enough to the real (frozen) thing. Re protein shakes, I have gotten used to Arria brand vanilla w/o milk, just water and a shot of pure cranberry juice or a hint of vanilla or lemon extract. Sometimes at work I'll have the chocolate Kashi Go Lean shake (with water), which has twice the calories, about 200, but several grams of fiber. I have a little shaker bottle at work, just pop in the powder, water and ice and it's filling and vaguely chocolate-y. This is what I need to get past all that candy in the other room. For a treat sometimes I'll have an Arria shake for dessert with milk, ground flax seeds and fruit. But before I was going overboard with the dessert shakes, loading them up every evening as if I was at Baskin-Robbins :devil: . So now the default is the plain shake, so the dessrt chake is almost too rich. I find all the protein powders to be an aquired taste, but if you have it for a while, your tongue stops expecting ice cream or syrup and gets with the program.

Okay, meeting madness starts any minute now, gotta go.

judy

Carol - Your "Charlie Brown" tree sounds adorable! I'm sorry your Christmas party got canceled but it's good to hear your other client is happy in his new home. I hope your arm soon feels better after that flu shot. I once got a bad cold (or flu?) after a flu shot so I'm a bit wary of them now. I do get a pneumonia shot every 5 years as I was very prone to getting bronchitis and pneumonia and touch wood it has stopped me from getting that.

Marie - I hope your 'countdown to Christmas' goes quickly for you. It's hard to concentrate on work at this time of the year. You mentioned you have your bike near your Christmas tree. We have our treadmill in the living room near the tree, so maybe I'll be inspired to go on it so at least I'll get to look at the tree and the sparkly lights outside in our yard. I often have a protein/fiber shake for breakfast and it fills me up so I don't even think about food till lunch time.

Judy - Good idea to stay away from the break room. It's very hard to resist all the goodies at this time of the year. I just try to put as much space as possible between me and temptation! :devil: I'm really into having shakes too. I've tried all kinds but my favorite is Balance Shake mix (soy protein based) which I get from Trader Joes. I get the vanilla and mix it with various fruits. It's so rich and creamy. I also like Designer Whey which I also get at TJ's. It's not as rich as Balance Shake but I like to go 50/50 of each kind as I don't want too much soy protein in my diet. I also put psyllium husk powder in my shakes so that takes care of my fiber needs at the same time.

I've been busy baking for DH & DS and so far have only eaten two small cookies - quite a feat! I've also been making lots of soap as the soaps I had at the Curves bazaar sold out in the first two days. I'm happy to get the extra Christmas cash! I was so busy today I almost forgot to eat and I have about 150 calories left for the day so I think I'll have some oatmeal before bed.

Tomorrow I'm going out for lunch with some girlfriends to celebrate a birthday so I suggested we go to McCormick's (a fish restaurant) so I can have some nice grilled fish and veggies. I'll have to say 'just say no' to the bread basket (they have wonderful bread)!

Judy I avoided the snacks did great with breakfast and lunch but dinner had a sub. Not so good and the scale showed it right away this morning. Most likely lunch meat being processed and the salt levels. I am guessing on all that no real facts looked up. Your shakes sound good. I need to try them out. I love the Kashi cereal and bars. Have just tried to eat better but last night working later and stopping to grab something at the pizza shop wasn't so good I guess. Having a piece of pizza might of been better in this case. The winds yesterday weren't friendly at all and froze me going in and out. My car has to go back to the fixit shop the engine light came on while I was driving to the land of nowhere yesterday. I called and they fit me in for 1 today before a meeting at 2:30. So I am heading to the office early to start my day at 7;30 and that way I won't lose any time add that with the hr. over yesterday. I am saving at least 3 days vac. for next yr. Can't wait to get 5 weeks vac. I have a yr. and a half to go. HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!! Penny another shake girl boy I have got to try this out. Your all maybe onto something here! Penny the lunchoen sounds like fun. Good for you staying away from the cookie jar. Remember the song who stole the cookie from the cookie jar. Don't mind me I used to work in a school for 10 years and have many fine memories of the little songs and kids. Some of the those kids are coming through the adult system now and I see them at programs. I loved working in a school just not enough hrs. and pay. Good memories and training. Still got to make my soaps. I am going to get out my stuff tonight. I have been assisting my oldest grandson with his homework the last 2 evenings. He is a smart kid but getting his thoughts onto paper isn't always so easy or easy to read. We worked on the computer to write his report. I should sleep like a bear but last night wiggle wiggle whats with that? Maybe I should try a sleepy tea before bed.

Girls I am stopping today to get some protein shakes. I will try a couple of different ones for the times when I am rushed. I need to pick up some apples to eat on the way home as well so I am not so hungry before dinner.
Hang in there and have a great day. I hate that little white square but it has kept me knowing where I am at. I guess its a good thing but I have been checking everyday thats maybe not so good?

What a week! My brain hurt by the time I got home last night. Wish I didn't have to work this weekend, too, but that's how it goes. I can't wait 'til 12/20, and almost two weeks away from the office.

More on protein shakes: Whole Foods used to have its own soy-whey blend, but I can't find it anymore. Aria is made by the Designer Whey people (one of the oldest and best-known brands), it's supposed to be for women, so I guess it has more calcium, etc. I go to Trader Joe's all the time, so I'll check out Balance. I couldn't stand any of them at first, unless I mixed 'em with w/milk. Now I've adjusted, and I find them to be convenient and filling alternatives--especially if you have a bit of fruit around.

I have had a couple of chocolates, but today is easier than yesterday, and I should be able to avoid them totally in the morning before I leave town. I know that some folks can have one or two and stop, but it just leaves me wanting more carbs, and I struggle the rest of the day, especially this time of year, when it's colder and darker.

Okay, must get to work or I won't have time to go to Curves--judy

Hi all, thaks so much for the info on the shakes. I really looked at the Aria one yesterday at Amazon. I went to their website but it's a bad site. Basically I was trying to get whether they had just a whey one. Soy is in the same family as peanuts and I'm deathly allergic to peanuts and have ahd reactions from soy, so I can't go that direction. I'd love to get a tad more protein into my diet. The husk powder sounds good too fro more fiber.

I rode the exercycle for 10 miles this morning. I love being by the Christmas tree. so that's my exercise for December. Listening to an audiobook while enjoying the tree in the peaceful early am hours. I didn't dread it this morning so I think that will be a good break from walking. I'm going to have to do a couple miles jogging every other day or so to keep that stamina up. i'll mix the two together.

DS, DGS and I are going to our local Christmas Snowflake parade tonight. I imagine the baby will only want to be there for about 15-20 minutes, but it'll be cool. DS and I are taking him out to dinner to. We're going to Sizzlers since they make a good grilled chicken sandwich that's cheap too. good calories and good price - can't beat that.

Well, I'll chat with you later. BTW, work isn't nearly as bad today. Maybe because we're almost to weekend???
Marie

Carol - I hope that 'little white square' starts cooperating soon. Have fun with your soapmaking. I gave some to the birthday girl today and several of my other girlfriends want some too - so I'll have quite a little production going this weekend. I don't really have time, but it's nice to have the extra cash.

Judy - Let me know what you think of the Balance Shake mix. I've tried just about every shake mix on the market and it's by far the best tasting, in my opinion. As I mentioned, I mix it 50/50 with Designer Whey so I get both kinds of protein. I'm going to have one tonight for dinner with a ripe banana thrown in - yum!

Marie - I hope you have fun at the Christmas Snowflake Parade - we tend to do more of those types of things when we have little ones around. I bet you'll enjoy that chicken sandwich at Sizzlers afterwards. I've tried the Aria, but prefer they Designer Whey in the whey based shakes, but it's a matter of taste. What tastes good to one person may not be as tasty to someone else. It must be tough being allergic to soy as it's in so many foods these days - same thing with peanuts.

I did well at the birthday lunch today. As planned, I had fish (cod with green curry sauce mixed veggies and mango salsa). I ate about 1/2 cup of the rice it came with. I thought of you guys when the waitress brought a big loaf of warm bread and a slab of butter. I remembered I had told you I wasn't going to touch the bread and I didn't! I had two teaspoons of the birthday girl's dessert (the most humungeous and delicious berry cobbler I've ever seen) so I didn't go overboard. I still have 400 calories left for dinner - so that's pretty good.

Judy I am going to stop at our local health food store and ck those shakes out. I am happy to say the scale has been nice today. I am now at my lowest in a couple of months. This is a good incentive for me before my party tonight to try and keep things under control. I am of course going to party but with my loss in mind. I was up on that scale and now I can see by monitoring my intakes better its made a difference. The girls at work complained about my tuna stinking up the kitchen yesterday. I put my salad together there. Well stink or not get used to it cause this girls going healthy! Last time it was broccoli stunk up the kitchen can't please them their just jealous I am eating healthy. Hah hah! Now if I could lose 2 more lbs. before Christmas that would be the cats meow! I am sure going to put the effort forward thanks for your support girls. Its not like I'v e lost a ton but to get back where I was at my MAUI trip is okay with me. More to work on before June wedding for my daughter. Then I can look seriously for a nice dress. Todays plans are eat a healthy breakfast and lunch then have a nice time at the party tonight celebrating Christmas among friends and coworkers. Its told we are getting two weeks pay as a bonus. Oh how nice that would be. I am not planning on it til I see it as you know how rumors fly around but we did get it last yr. And with my huge .45 raise mine will even be a bit higher this yr.
Marie I never knew about the connection between soy and nuts oh how dum I am. The aprade sounds like a nice treat and the Sizzlers as well. Have a good time.
Penny my daughter loves curry. What is green curry sauce? Sounds delightful. I'd like to ck it out if you don't have any recipe or idea I will ck the web. for a recipe. Always trying to find something special to make her. The little bride to be. Its getting closer than yah think we are starting to ck into flower shops oh so expensive even for something so simple. We will all have a super time at this wedding. Their such a cute couple and really have their heads together on life and long term planning. Lots of growth over the past 6 yrs. I can say in a very positive way. Girls lets keep this wt. coming off and a positive attitude over the holidays. If we can control ourselves before and after special gatherings we will be healthier and happier at the end of the holiday season. Richer in many ways other than the money in our wallets thats for sure. I'm going to make some soap this weekend and try to start my cookies so I can mail some off to the kids and freeze some. I will have to keep them out of sight afterwards to ensure I don't get into them. But I feel it will be okay and if I don't start nothing will get done. Have a super day everyone.

Morning everyone!!! Oh how wonderful - it's FRIDAY!!!! I definitely am sick of work. One week from today will be quite the celebration. I'm looking forward to 2 weeks off. At least I'm at the time of year that I get to do fun projects instead of the irritating start of the school year stuff. Plus the new person (that replaced the bad hire evil witch) is doing great. Definitely a plus for my co-worker and me. We're able to do just our job.

The scale was the same again. I'd tried the weigh everyday routine (after what I read on MSNBC that it keeps better control of weight) and I'm stopping it. I'll go back to Tuesday and Friday weigh ins. It was getting depressing every morning. So now I've tried weighing everyday and not weighing at all. Both didn't work for me. Twice a week does. So my conclusion - nobody has a "cure-all" for what works. It's individual just like the person.

I jogged 3 miles and walked 2 miles this morning. I wanted to listen to the audiobook but I need to keep my stamina with the jogging so I skipped the exercycle. But tomorrow, I'm back at the Christmas tree and exercycle.

Almost D-I-L wants and ab lounger for Christmas so I'm going to get her that. Certainly I'll try it out too since it'll be in my living room. We're going to get it this weekend. She and I are going over the mountain for the final bout of Christmas shopping. Plus she wanted a decorated Costco cake for her birthday (on Sunday) so we'll pick it up. I ordered it last week.

The parade/dinner was fun. It was a good antedote to the irritations shared between myself and son on Wednesday night. We had a good time and laughed at the snow "flakey" floats. Small towns are so funny. And fun.

Penny, I'm starting to think you're going to have to make me some soap too. :) Have fun doing it. If you ever start just doing it for the money - quit. It's horrible when you lose your passion for your craft. That happened with me and stained glass. It became work, not pleasure. I still haven't recovered the love of doing it since I quit selling it a couple years ago.

Carol, good luck with the party and congrats on the evil white box moving in the right direction. You know, we're all doing fabulous so far this holiday season. Not gain and losing is so wonderful. We're just rockin'!

Judy, have a fabulous day!
Marie

Hello everyone. Oh Christmas shopping will it ever end? I shopped yesterday all day long. Today I am baking cookies as they need to get in the mail. So my attempt to do as many or all as possible to get it done. I still need to make a gingerbread house and of course my soaps then I added in a couple of sewing jobs= cute littel stockings. I found some cool fabric yesterday and couldn't resist. I found antique hot rod car fabric with santa riding along and Hawaii looking scene I had to get it. I am making a stocking for the grown kids only one for them to share. I will pack it with little gifts, dip mixes, cocoa, candy and fun little treats. I need to ship their package ASAP. I still need to shop for them. I need to shop for them yet, gift certifcate in the end if I still have funds left for Pier 1. It will save me on the shipping. I already have some glass stuff to send. I'm almost thinking on saving it til they visit in June? My work Christmas party food wasn't so good so that worked out for me. At least I didn't over do it. I did have lunch at a buffet yesterday that now wasn't so smart. But I didn't go to crazy and shopped a lot so much more activity than sitting around thats for sure we are crazy shoppers from one place to the next sales yah know. When yah have a large family its called strech the dollar. I did get a nice bonus one weeks salary and the company is putting funds extra in our 401's. So not to shabby I say! At any rate Christmas isn't cheap and I am working hard on making ends met. The hubby and I don't go crazy on gifts for each other. Usually I buy what I want in moderation and time. So its okay with me. Its been fun buying for the kids. Got my mom's gift done and wrapped at 84 what do yah get? PJ'S and Slippers of course and a few little extras.
Girls I need to know do any of you have any ideas on a DVD or two that are good for dancing/exercise? Its on my daughters christmas list. She said rumba, salsa????????? I am a bit lost on this one and if yah have any info. it would be appreciated.I did look on ebay there was a few things. What is the walk dvd you girls use? And has anyone tried the exercise bands strech things? Oh please let me know Santas elf has to get a move on this one. Plan to eat healthy today. I am making a homemade pizza but I can control what the toppings are and a nice salad to follow.