Nikki - I feel so bad for you for what you are going through at home and hope that things calm down soon. Maybe you could gently explain to your mom that the situation is stressful for you too and that it could negatively affect your heath.

I am convinced that stress makes me gain weight. It may be a survival mechanism that makes us retain calories for a perceived emergency. When things are on a more even keel the weight will come off. Hang in there - I'll keep you in my prayers.

Carol - Here is the recipe for Bakewell Tarts. They are not exactly 'health food' but if you make them in a mini muffin pan (2" openings) they aren't too high in calories.

1 package of pie crust mix (I use Krusteze) or your favorite pastry recipe.

Seedless raspberry jam
4 oz unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsp. self-raising flour
4 oz. ground almonds (I get mine from Trader Joe's or you can grind raw almonds in a blender or food processor)
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. pure almond essence

Roll out pastry to about 1/8" and cut out 2" rounds. Line non-stick mini muffin pan with pastry making sure pastry comes to the top of each opening (you don't need to grease pan if using non-stick kind).

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together till fluffy. Mix in beaten eggs, almond essence and milk. Mix ground almonds and flour together and add to the butter/egg mixture. Stir to combine.

Put a small dab of raspberry jam into each pastry case (about 1/4 tsp.) and fill case 3/4 full (about 1 tsp.) with the almond mixture (it will puff up so don't over fill).

Bake at 375 deg. F for 25-30 min. or until tarts are slightly golden on top. Allow to cool for 5-10 min. and remove tarts onto a rack to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Can be frozen for up to 2 months.

About the soaps - I used to have a booth at a Farmer's Market where I sold my soaps but it got a bit time-consuming and I only broke even. At least it paid for my hobby and I have all the molds, scents, etc. that I will ever need! One of my most popular soaps was cucumber/mint/avocado. Another fancy one was half lavender, half lime with poppyseeds that worked well as an exfoliant soap (I filled mold with lavender first, then when it was almost set, added the lime). I also made a mint/pumice soap for guys which was good for hand cleaning.

Thanks Penny ..... I really appreciate it. Those tarts sound great. I am thinking of going to starbucks to get a frapuccino as a treat. I only had a cesear salad today maybe 250-350 calories at most.

Nikki

Nikki - Enjoy every sip of your frapuccino! I had something similar for my lunch today as I will be eating out tonight. I made a vanilla protein (1 scoop Designer Whey) shake made with 1 cup of nonfat milk and a tablespoon of Ghiradelli chocolate mocha powder (30 calories) plus 1/2 cup of ice cubes. I also added 1 tbsp. of psyllium husk powder and 1 tbsp. of ground flax seed. This shake keeps me full for hours. It is so thick and delicious and only has 240 calories (19% fat, 41% carbs and 40% protein). I like to have this shake when I need an energy boost from the extra protein.

that sounds yummy Penny ... I am sipping my frappuccino now. I ordered it light and it only has 180 calories not bad. Your shake sounds so yummy. If I had those ingredients in the house I would try it. Have a nice dinner and thanks for the support.

nikki

So I'm here to dissuade myself from having more of the chocolate that my boss brought back from Switzerland, and all the posts are about yummy food No worries--I'm having mint tea so the craving is almost gone. I'm taking my brother and his GF to my favorite Ethiopean place for dinner, so I can't indulge in any more treats this afternoon.

Nikki--I'm sorry to hear about the major stressor. My folks split up when I was about your age. I was happy because it had been such a miserable marriage, and my mom just blossomed once she was able to move on. I was living in another state by that point, so my younger siblings got stuck with the day-to-day craziness. You can choose to be supportive but you have to take care of yourself, and not get pulled into the center of their drama. Easier said than done, I know...I'm thinking of you.

Penny--I like protien shakes, too! But I have to keep myself from throwing too much yummy stuff in...hey, people always say such mean things about English cuisine, but I had some great meals in London. Those fish and chips were slammin' and the Indian food raised the bar for me for what qualifies as 'good.'

Carol, I hope you make your mini-goal. I agree about the smaller plates. I bought more 9-inch ones for dinner plates, and it helps me think about portion control (versus just filling up the plate).

Hope everyone else is doing good. The mysterious nausea problem has finally gone away. It was really beginning to bug me! I worked out this morning, but it was hard without a little caffeine (going to the kitchen would have disturbed the houseguests ). I had a very light lunch--a small protein smoothie and for a snack, cottage cheese and blueberries. Plus a bit of chocolate. My boss brought a huge box of tiny chocolates, this is going to be challenge for several days....I plan to enjoy the Ethiopean meal without my customary bottle of beer, and I'll go lighter on the injera bread. Okay, now I'm getting hungry again

judy

Thanks for the support Judy.....

Judy - I'm glad you're feeling better. Mmmm - that Ethiopian food is great! Good idea to have a smoothie for lunch - that way you can splurge a little bit when eating out. I think that's the problem with the Brits getting fatter - the food over there is way better these days!

Swiss chocolates are my downfall . My DH is Swiss and we lived in Zurich for a few years. In my opinion, Swiss chocolates are the best. Everyone there was slim, though, so maybe they get a lot of exercise hiking in the mountains! I always felt so fat there even though I was 'only' 150 lbs.

Penny thanks so much for all the ideas and recipes. They sound wonderful I love to try new things. I am going to try the lavender/lime poppy seed soap this weekend nice little added gift for my daughters birthday. I like to add soaps to the package instead of a bow. Thanks again! Feel free to share anytime. I also over eat when stressed.
Nikki I think having a nice calm talk with your mom might be in order. Telling her you understand her feelings but your also dealing with this matter too. Tell her she may need a support group or someone else to talk to but that you love both of them and can't be caught in the middle. She then should respect your truthfullness and realize you are right. I went through this many years ago and its tough. Not easy for anyone. Good luck and feel free to vent this group is so understanding and none of us would mind. Don't let the stress go against your set goals. Sounds like your handling that part pretty good. Good for you having a treat within your limits. I did pretty good yesterday but had chinese for dinner garlic chicken, left most of the rice behind and no cookie or fried noodles. I have been making better choices lately.
Judy that seafood sounded great. I'm one of those split kids too! Except my parents never divorced just split for good. I think that was worse as my mom never moved on. She was always in hopes he'd come back it was tough to see her stay alone forever. Better to make changes I think. For some folks in the long run it works out better. Many people stay stuck in a bad rut forever and that doesn't help either.
Well off to work girls. I worked til 7:15 last night too many hours. But will take a little time off this afternoon to get my daughters car in for a new stereo system a surprise from her future hubby. He gave me the car and money while they went on vacation to get it done. So I maybe forced to shop while waiting today. Some new clothes yah! I think maybe that would be a good treat for me. Have a good day I am going to try my best for a healthy eating day.
Can anyone tell me how to set the ticker things???????? I think seeing the numbers makes the motivation stay high. Knowing changes are needed to get it down! Thanks.

Hi Cacmsc-

There is really no talking to her. I told her yesterday I don't want to hear it and she was much better last night. I just can't be in the middle. I had to skip my workout today. My legs are aching bad.
Have fun buying new clothes I love shoppng when the scale is down.

catch you later
Nikki

Carol - To make a ticker, just click on anyone's weight tracker and it will take you to the set-up page. I use the one here at 3FC and some people use Ticker Factory. I hope your daughter likes the soap.

Nikki - I hope your legs feel better soon.

Ugh, I have this tedious project that I've been dragging my heels on for weeks, but now I have to deal with it. It's mostly typing up my intervew notes from several phone calls. The interviews were back in May, and I can barely read my own scrawly writing. It's hard to believe that I ever got good grades in Penmanship .

Dinner was good. My tummy's still a bit rumbly, so I didn't go overboard, and I was too full for dessert later. My brother doesn't think the day is over until he's had a big bowl of ice cream. We're going to see a play at the Kennedy Center tonight, so I ate my morning snack (apple and string cheese) fairly late, and I'll have lunch and an afternoon snack late, too, and maybe have some soup or something just before heading over to Curves and then the theater.

Carol, the tickers are motivating, it feels great to have to go in and make the numbers smaller! I took mine off for the time being, 'cuz it was too frustrating for me that there wasn't any movement. I'll put it back up in a few weeks, when I should be in a better frame of mind after seeing friends and family in California.

Nikki, are you a bath person? When I'm achy, I love nothing better than soaking in a hot tub with some fragrant bath salts, massaging moisturizer into my legs and bundling off to bed...it's good for the stress, too!

judy

Judy another trip this one sounds like pleasure good for you. I am thinking of going to Florida in November for a week to see a friend. We'll see when time gets closer. Todays eating was a bit crazy. Still stayed within my limit but not such good choices. Just a crazy day all the way around. But I counted things up and still around my goal for cals. Drank lots of water its so muggy tonight. Soon it will cool off a bit. Yah! I need to learn how to cut and paste THEN I can do my ticker. Sounds like a good motivator for me. Well I will do the scale in the a.m. as the girls are doing a pot luck lunch for my b day. I am not working on friday they thought being I bring lunch everyday they better tell me ahead of time. Its nice of them to think of me. But who knows what I might eat. So I will have to adjust my other meals. Well have a good one. Nikki sounds like mom got the message loud and clear. You relax a bit curl up with a good book maybe. The hot bath sounded good too.

Morning all well no change on the scale but stable with my loss from 7/17 so I am glad about that. But will I make my .5 by friday. Oh its really iffy! But at any rate I have lost the 4.5lbs since 6/26. So no complaints here. This current wt. is where I was at my lowest in awhile according to my journal 5/2. Then I slipped up and slacked off. So it feels good to be at this pt. Now lets see after 7/21 my next goal will be 3lbs. by 8/11. That would put me at a low. Oh now I will have to really work at this. I tend to lose slower than some but the doctor told me awhile back thats the better way lose slow keep it off. I think using the scale as much as it can be tough on us does keep me in line better. So if I slack off with using it smack me one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a great day girls. Oh don't ever take vitamin B Complex before going to be it provides an energy boost it took me 4 hrs. to fall asleep. Now I took it this a.m. in hopes it helps keep me moving for the day. UH!

stable is good cac.... You should feel real good about that.


I was looking in the mirror today and even though I am stil up a pound I feel like my body has toned itself and reshaped so I guess that is good. I am so frustrated I bought a bunch of clothes in June I thought would last me all summer. Now, when I try on the tops they are just to big they make my waistlook like it is the same porportion as my hips which it is not. These tops are mediums and smalls. It is getting very frustrating because now I feel frumpy in my clothes instead of sexy and the few tops I have that may look ok I feel like they are to tight so I won't wear them. Does anyone else do this? by the time I think ok I can wear that top , shorts <fill in theblank> it is already to big. I have a major fear of wearing clothes that are to tight because I hate to have to look at people who wear clothes 2 sizes to small and think they look good. This is so irrational I feel like I need to go buy new clothes but don't have the money right now and quite possibly I look good in the ones I have but its my distrortion that is the problem.


On a different note yesterday I had a nice experience. I went to the store to buy my bf a present. This man was walking behind me < atotal hottie he was> so he rushed to open the door for me and when I said "thanks" he says if you wait I will open the other door for you too. Now I was blushing and giggling like a freak lol I forgot what it is like to get attention from strangers. Shh don't tell my boyfriend but I am loving the looks and flirting.


I realize having typed the last part that the 2 comments are completely contrary lol. One says I don;t think I look good the other says hey I'm getting attention I havent got in years.


I must be crazy!!!

Nikki