Judy how about Fitty by Fifty. Cause your on the way to be fit and healthy. Just a thought you've tried so hard and now its going to happen for you. I am 52 but really don't feel any different than 40 maybe healthier now. I do have a few little wrinkles but working on them with cream. I am sitting here as I am writting this with hair dye on my head! Hah Hah who am I kidding. It is kind of funny as I was doing this thinking about this junk on my head to rid me of my grays. I guess my body reacts to the signs but not my insides. Thats a good thing cause I am not ready to be old yet. Your going to be a young feeling better 50 its much different than years ago. Not a big change.
Crazy but fun Marie want to join us?????????? Now next year could be snowing and blowing and no way would we go an hr. away up the highway. But we are going to be in the 50's. Our weather has been crazy cold yesterday but warming up in NY by thanksgiving. Your lunky thats all you gained if it had been me on vacation most likely at least 2lbs. The wt. will go down now that your in the routine again. I did well today but got home really hungry ready to cook dinner. The skinny hubby left out the Ritz crackers and I ate some while making dinner. There not fried like chips but still wasted calories. But I ate 130 cals worth and some jalopeno cheese 100. Just crazy. But my overall cals weren't bad so it was okay. It was to be my low cal day it was 1300. Now today to be another good day around the same cals. Wed plans are lower then thurs. Thanksgiving and Friday lower. Lets see if this Wendys plan works or not. I am giving it a whril. Want to shake up my metabolism a bit. The thyroid med. is in ? I have to go back in a week for a test. Penny thats a lot of wt. I am proud of you for that accomplishment you will reach your goal. Its hard for us sometimes but we need to remember we didn't put it on overnite and its not going to come off that way either. It takes time but slower is better the doc. says. Well how dang slow did she mean???????????????????? I am ready for some movement here. Wed is scale day for goodness sakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Penny glad your sale went well. I still need to pick up my lime oil for the soap making. I want to get the shopping done and relax at home and do things I enjoy like making soaps, cookies for gifts and family, sewing and finishing my knitting a sweater. Wow I have a lot to do and thinking of painting my livingroom and kitchen. My SIL offered to do it as a gift to us and hire someone. But if my friend charges too much I will do it myself after the holidays. It isn't that big and lots of open spaces. I have what they call an open kitchen dinningroom livingroom area. Great room? Oh well when yah knock out off the door ways and half wall and bay window its not that much to paint. I surely have done it before. But time wise it would be nice to sit back and let someone else do it. I don't even have a color in mind. But have to becareful with the rooms flowing into each other. Sorry this is so long I love being in touch with such nice folks as all of you. Have a super day and lets keep up the good work. The intake journal is my way to Penny its keeping me on track again. THe only thing that seems to do it.

Brrr, I'm sitting at my desk huddled under a wrap. My office tends be a bit chilly, but one of my colleagues left his window open last night, so there was quite a breeze blowing through here. We were lucky not to be robbed overnight; the windows open onto a loading dock/alleyway, and an open window would have been tempting to the many street people in the neighborhood.

Marie, you didn't do so badly on vacation. Think of what woudl have happened if you weren't working out! I'm sure you'll drop the extra weight quickly, you're probably retaining water from the salty food. Good luck tomorrow with the foot surgery. Then you can pedal away your T'giving feast

Penny, the bazaar sounds like fun. I always go to these things looking for Xmas gifts, but end up mostly treating myself . Re strategies to lose: I have had long, long periods of counting calories and logging everything, but I can barely bring myself to do it anymore, even using Fitday. I don't know why I'm so resistant. What works for me this year is to post a "menu" for the day on the frig the night before, and pretty much stick with it. I meant to log everything I ate while I was away last week, but I forgot, so I'll try it when I travel again next week.

Carol, the folks up in Boston were almost worried that the weather's been unseasonably warm, it seems so unnatural. Fine with me, though! I can wait a little longer for the snow to fall. I laughed when you said, "I have a lot of things to do and thinking of painting my livingroom and kitchen"! Good Lord, where do you get the energy?

judy

Hi everyone, the foot surgery is over. Other than the horrible novacaine shot into the bottom of my foot it was nothing (but that shot was HORRIBLE). I think once the novacaine wears off, I'll be in a bit of pain, so I'm enjoying the numbness.

Judy, I'd have shot the collegue. Enough said. What a twit and to freeze you all was plain mean. BTW, you are logging your food. You're pre-logging so it works out the same way. Tracking the calories isn't as important if your portions are controlled and small.

Penny, you're detoxing from your bizzare like I was from the vacation. And you're doing so awesome. I bet your family is so proud of you. I know we are!!!

Carol, you're just the energizer bunny. Many things going on. I hate to paint and would let SIL pay for someone else to do it. Actually I hate all kinds of home improvement even though we're constantly doing it.

BTW, I re-weighed this morning since today was an official weigh in and I just peeked yesterday. .4 of a pound seems to have left. So 1 more pound till pre-trip weight.

I also jogged 2 miles, walked 1 mile and did the walk/kick (2 mile equivalent) before work. soon the foot will be elevated and no more movement.
Marie

Judy those Boston people just need to relax there isn't much we can do about our weather pattern changing. But for the rest of us I love it. We saw a little snow on Monday. Nothing to really be concerned with now its gone and we are headed to a bit higher temps. for a few days. I love it. But it is a bit crazy. I am with you I froze in my office til around 2 yesterday. Everyone else was warm burr! I do tend to have a high level of energy thank God cause how would I ever get anything done without it. Last night I consoled a close friend who's 17 yr. old walked out and is living down the road w/ someone not too cool. But am I glad those days are over for me and never to return. Then I made my sweet potatoe casserole all but baking it, made some little tart sweet pot. pies, 1 reg. trying to get things ready for the big day. I am working today which is unusal before a holiday gathering. But SIL is cleaning the bathroom, hubby is helping with some stuff and I am calling the daughter for her to come early before dropping off the little on and they will set the tables with the china. Hurray I have delegated some work! Now that is my new plan to life giving others little things to do. Though they kind of offered in a way but still to not do it myself is big. Judy I preplan my meals when I write my intakes. It helps me too. I have to have some direction.
I did the scale oh well no loss but thats okay no gain either still down the .5 if that counts. I will do the scale again on Thurs. a.m. of course just to give me incentive to be good today before the holiday. Lunch is packed roasted chicken breast little barbecue sauce and green beans, orange. Trying to eat healthy and thats been better choices lately. It has to show up as a loss eventually.
Marie ouch! That wasn't a pleasant thing that needle and all. Glad that is behind you it hurts me just thinking about it. Every little bit helps Marie take it and run fast. I know that it all adds up in awhile just how long though is the main question. I agree with you on the logging it does help me. I also have tried to do smaller portions and love my little purex 1/2 cup serving bowls great for ice cream, potatoes things that should more limited with in our diet. I am a firm believer that if you want it you should have it but in moderation. Oh the girl at work on thats my daughters age asked me to be her support person at work. She has just joined ww and they said its good to have someone to lean on and talk to about healthy choices etc. I told her that I would do it but that sometimes others in the office don't like to hear things about healthy ways so lets becareful when we talk about it. She is getting married next October and has quite a bit to lose. I think it will also be a good motivator for me as well. She will share some recipes with me. Oh Marie the pumpkin bread recipe! Here it is not low cal but you could make it that way:
Pumpkin Bread
4 eggs 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 cups sugar 2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups of pumpkin 1 1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. water 1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. oil 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3 c. flour 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
Mix together and pur into 2 greased loaf pans. I also like to do one loaf and one muffin. Smaller portions on the muffins and satisfy my taste buds. Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hrs. muffins less of course. This is low in cals but you could sub. maybe some applesauce for part of the oil and use baking splenda. Or make it this way and eat less and enjoy the taste!
Good luck and enjoy its so goood!!!!!!!!!

Marie, hope you are relaxing in a big chair with your foot up, reading magazines and watching Oprah today. I agree with you about needles. I got a steriod shot once in the knuckle of my big toe, and I thought I was going to go through the roof . But it was worth it, I guess. Soon you'll be saying good-bye to that extra pound. And my poor colleague: I think he'll be careful about the window the next time, we all pounced on him when he came into the office. We were annoyed about the cold, but the real issue was the potential for theft (we've been robbed before). At first he was a little too causal about it (probably in self defense) but I'm his supervisor, and I made sure he understood why we were all so angry. He just joined us this fall, and is a good guy, but if our laptops were gone because of carelessness, there's be heck to pay

Carol, I love little bowls. I'm a charter member of the Clean Plate Club, and I bought smaller dinner plates to help me with portion control. It would be good to have a weight-loss buddy at the office. Most of the folks at my job talk about healthy habits a lot, but are inconsistent in their behavior, so I just do my thing and let it go.

I went to the clinic yesterday to check in and get more marching orders. I'm down nearly seven pounds since early October, hooray . I made an appointment to see the nutritionist in a couple of weeks. That's when we'll determine if it's important for my innards for me to stay gluten-free indefinitely or not. I got the go-ahead to have oatmeal again . But otherwise I'm happy to stay on this program throught the holiday season, and maybe much longer.

Hope everyone has fun and feels thankful tomorrow. I have a long list of things to be thankful for, including the fact that my Leslie Sansone five-mile walk DVD arrived last night. Learning that in the morning should help me remember not totally pig out later on in the day!

Take care--judy

Hi All,

Just a quick check in to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. I thought I'd share a recipe I made up for Pumpkin Custard. I make this when I have a craving for pumpkin pie but don't want to splurge on too many calories. It's low in fat and has a good amount of protein (I used the nutrition info feature on the recipes page at SP). It tastes good warm or cold with a spritz of whipped topping and a tsp. of maple syrup.

ingredients:

1 15oz can Libby's pumpkin (not pie filling)
1 cup Eggbeaters egg substitute
4 tbsp. sugar
1 cup 2% milk
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
butter flavored nonstick spray

Spray 4 1-cup ramekins with butter flavored Pam and set in a baking pan with water coming 1/2 way up sides of ramekins.

Mix all ingredients in a blender and pour into the ramekins.

Bake at 350 deg. F for 45-60 min. or until set in the middle (it will firm up as it gets cold). Serve warm or cold.

Number of Servings: 4
Fat: 1.6g
Carbohydrates: 22.5g
Calories:136.1
Protein: 9.4g

Judy HURRAY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so glad that you had a nice loss show up you sure do deserve it. I am holding at the wt. of the other day. I did have a little bit of salty dill pickles last night and some wine with dinner. Which wasn't on my plan. But today is Thanksgiving and I am greatful for lots of things including first of all my wonderful family and friends. Then all the extras in life. Have a super day Happy Thanksgiving girls!
Penny thanks I kept that one and will try it out. I love pumpkin in case no one noticed. I also did sweet potatoe pie this yr. took the extra and baked it for no crust pie less cals. Well I will be out shopping at 12:00 tonight with the daughters and my friends we are all a bit crazy but lots of fun! I have to go get the paper out of the mail box for the ads. Have a super day and have a little of what yah want it only comes by once a yr. Wt. is the same today I am still up 3.5lbs from my lowest post. Dang I HAVE to get this off.

Happy Turkey Day to all us Chicks!!!

My foot is surviving and I was able to exercycle both yesterday and today (10 miles each day) so I'm pleased about that. Food wise I've been an angel. I so happy that I was able to get back on track after the trip. In the past, that's where I'd fail and then start a re-gain of pounds.

Carol, as much as we hate the mean square box, I give it credit for getting me on track. I forced myself to weigh in and I didn't like what it told me. Today t told me I lost another .4 pounds so I'm only over pre-trip weight by .6 pounds. .8 is gone. Now..... turkey dinner is always a challenge. But I'm going to be good.

So I weighed today so I would have record of the start of the holiday weight. I'm going to weigh again on Jan 2 and make sure I don't gain an ounce through it. Actually I want to lose 3.6 pounds so that I see the 160's. That would be a great Christmas present to myself.

Speaking of presents to myself. Tomorrow I will get my 2nd walking reward. I will be getting my new Ipod Video. It's $349 but I have a $50 gift card from Circuit City (from my first walking reward purchase - it was a rebate) and I made $268.75. So I'm about $32 short but I will be over the mountain tomorrow and not again for who knows how long. So tomorrow I receive it and then I have to be in the negative for about 6 days. Then I've got my goal picked out for the 3rd walking reward. It will take probably a year and a couple months. DH and I want to put in a wood stove (one of those fancy enamel ones and they're about $1600 so that's the new goal. I'm thinking February 2008 I should be able to get it. That's going to be so awesome - we don't have a fireplace and that will be nice (especially since it snowed last night and the ground is white this morning...)

Judy, you've lost 7 pounds!!! I am so proud of you. Soon the four of us will be slender chicks!!!! No Oprah, I don't like her show much anymore. But she is my hero since when she brought her wagon full of fat on to her show back in the 80's, it's what spurred me to be healthy and I dropped 85 pounds. Of course, I regained 70 of it over 17 years, but it's going back down. But she's the reason. And foot up. Ha!!! I'm the mom and the mom must create Thanksgiving dinner. I did get a chance to cut out my black denim skirt yesterday so today I'm hoping to start sewing.

Carol, you get up at 12 and I'll get up at 5. I too have to drive over an hour for the shops, but with the snow storms the 75 mile drive will take probably 2 hours. So I won't be an "early bird". I'm going just because I need to return DH's Christmas gift (I had him try it on and it doesn't fit) and I want my pod and I want to Costco shop.

Penny and Carol, thank you so much for the recipes. I'm going to try them both. I cut and pasted them into Word and both DH and DS were excited about them. I'd just made banana bread so I'll make the pumpkin bread this weekend.

BTW Carol, I totally go for the smaller portion. I hate splenda (the aftertaste is disgusting in my taste buds - I love equal but you can't cook with it). So I reduce oil with the applesauce, but I leave the sugar. I'm so stingy with my calories that I will NOT eat anything that I don't love. So smaller portions are my motto.

Penny, I hope your Thanksgiving is fabulous too.

Well, time to stuff the bird and get it in the oven.
Marie

Judy - Congratulations on your 7 lbs. loss since October - you're doing great! Keep up the good work. Let us know how you like the Leslie Sansone video.

Carol - I'm struggling with a couple of extra pounds too. I didn't change my ticker because I'm determined to get them off, though it's extra hard this time of the year. Maybe all that shopping will count as exercise and help you lose!

Marie - You're an example to us all! Keeping up with your exercise and staying on plan even after your painful foot surgery. I was motivated by Oprah years ago too when she lost all the weight on Optifast. Like her, I gained it all back and now realize that slow but sure is the way to go, for me at least.

We're on our way out to Hayden's Restaurant for their Thanksgiving buffet - so wish me some willpower - here's some for you too in case you need it over the next few days. I'm going to hop on the treadmill afterwards as we can't go out for a walk because it's raining cats and dogs!

Have a fun Thanksgiving!

Oy, I'm still full from last night's dinner, but I was only moderately piggy, so that was good! I had a full plate of: turkey breast, sausage-apple stuffing, smothered greens, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, washed down with a glass of sparkling blueberry juice, with dark chocolate truffles for dessert. I don't know how I could have put away all that plus heavy dressing, rolls, seconds, 2 glasses of wine, pie and ice cream in another life! But I'm glad I went to the trouble to do all that cooking, even if it was just for me. My apartment still smells great, and I do love leftovers...I'm making turkey soup this weekend.

I did WATP Advanced 5-mile walk T'giving morning. It was a good workout, and it will be even better in the future, when I go for the music-only option, to eliminate poor Leslie's shrill chatter . I did another 60 minutes this morning of Turbo Jam.

Marie, good for you, already up and cycling! You are an angel. I cracked up when I read about your reward--at first I thought, "Of course she's getting the new Ipod, she's a techie," then I saw the part about the wood stove...the other end of the spectrum...congratulations on piling up the miles.

Penny, I hope the buffet was good. But what about turkey leftovers? Did you sneak some baggies in with you ?

judy

Judy - I was only 'medium' piggy too! I went over my daily calories by about 250, but it could have been a LOT worse! That's one good thing about going to a buffet - no leftovers to snack on ad infinitum! It was sad the way they tossed out the turkey carcasses with at least half the meat still on them at the carving station - I felt like asking if they could save me a couple! Hopefully they donated them to a food bank or to their employees.

I made some more pumpkin custard today as I'm still in the mood for that taste of pumpkin pie. It's funny how I don't crave it at other times of the year. I made it in 6 smaller ramekins (2/3 cup) as the 1 cup size is such a lot. The smaller size has only 90 calories so with a tsp. of maple syrup and 2 tbsp. of whipped cream it's only around 130 calories and I feel like I've sinned!

Carol - I'm looking forward to making your pumpkin bread. That's a good idea to make them in muffin pans so that the serving size is smaller. I don't use Splenda, but I'll probably sub half of the oil with apple sauce as I find that I can't tell the difference.

Marie - I think that's a good idea how you give yourself "treats" when you reach a goal. I bet you're looking forward to getting your wood stove next year. We have an old fashioned "Earth Stove" that was made right here in Portland. This kind isn't made any more but it puts out lots of heat and looks very quaint.

I hope everyone had a good "black Friday" shopping day! I got half my Christmas shopping done and didn't even have to wait in line!

Well girls I was not so prefect for thanksgiving but not as bad as some years past. I did get into my sisters dip which was made of corn beef etc. nothing low cal about that one. It was so type of ruben dip. Oh so good. The little girl sure knows how to cook must of picked it up from the big sister. There is 10 years between us before her I was the baby! And the boss as grandpa put it. Today its her daughters birthday celebration and so party. I have to becareful with the dips etc. then pizza and wings. So I am planning to walk this afternoon before hand maybe the lake if I can fit it into my schedule. I did okay with the shopping nothing grand a little disappointed but got some stuff done. It was fun getting up in the night leaving in the dark shopping til dawn etc. we laughed alot and that is always fun. We bought some bags of vanilla tootsie rolls as everyone else was. How crazy but it was the in thing and we needed to have them too. Oh funny at the time we got others in line to grab them to and the shelf was empty before we left. Crazy! Peer pressure for sure. At any rate we are all a bit off the wall when we get together. We ended our shopping trip at a health food store how funny huh Judy. Oh Dec. 12th their celebrating Gluten Free Day with lots of taste testing going on and ideas. I surely thought of you. I also saw a book that was called Thyroid Power and its is the leading misdiagnoised disease. My friend and I may purchase this book together for more info and insight on our disease. My friends first visit to the health food store they liked it. We even found Soak your OLD a-- SOAP they laughed so hard. She is doing a basket for her mother in law with the lemon theme so lots of oils and goodies there. Penny I got my lime oil for the soap. Now all I need is my poppy seeds and off creating I will go. I did get my mom done yesterday and plan on wrapping her stuff today. I want to wrap as I buy this year. I got my 2 grandaughters matching outfits they are 6 an 7 and only 11 months apart. Long blk velvet skirts and a pretty white crocheted top which is longer with lacy sleeves. I can't wait to see them and I will make them a cool necklace to go with this. I figure they can wear them to my daughters wedding shower as their the flower girls. Marked way down in price. So cute! Well sorry so long! Marie I love hearing your exercise and goal stories. I think I need an award idea to work for. We have a pelet stove 2 actually one in the cellar and one in our Adirondack room rustic area of our house our favorite spot. In the cold weather sitting in front of it reading, knitting or having coffee is super. So work hard and that will be a wonderful reward. Proud of you girl! Judy your doing great hubby shot of my bones so there goes the soup. He did strip the bones though. I still have one turkey in the freezer smaller for christmas time them I will make soup for sure. Penny hey we need to kick each other a bit to get ourselves jump started. But slow I agree is good backwards is not so lets go forward. Look for a loss of at least what we put back on before christmas and then a little extra if possible with a reward in mind......
Take care girls a friend is stopping in to give me a price on painting my kitchen and livingroom. If he is too high yours truly will be doing it as I can and have in the past.

Hi everyone, things are going good. I was very good on Turkey day - 1710 calories total. And I exercised 10 miles on the cycle. Yesterday was the shopping day - never doing that again - and I didn't "exercise". Today, I'm walking again. I did the fast mile from the advanced walk, the walk and kick (kickboxing DVD - about 2 miles) and then walked the doggies on the mountain roads for 2 miles. So 5 miles and the mountain roads were hard on the lungs - it was 27 out and that triggers my asthma. But with all the exercise my lungs are pretty healthy so they're just at little irritated at the moment.

I'm -$8.25 in the whole for my Ipod. So by Monday morning I'll be on my way towards the wood stove. I could use it now as I'm still chilled fromt he morning doggie walk. BTW, my new Ipod is too die for. I'm going to work on getting a movie on it and a bunch of pictures of my doggies and grandson on it today.

Judy, you made me laugh with the tech/old fashion statement. I do like techie toys, but I relaly like old fashioned stuff too. And great job on doing the 5 miles at once. It's not that easy. I nearly died the first time I did it last April so all of your other exercise has been conditioning you. Your dinner sounds great and it's awfully cool that you made it for yourself. Why should you miss all those great leftovers???

Penny, I'm glad you liked the buffet. Last year my DS worked at a buffet and they gave him tons of mashed potatoes to bring home (his fave). I don't know about the turkey. BTW, you were smart to miss the Black Friday madness. I will never, ever do that again. I had to wait 1/2 hour to get into Circuit City to pick up my already paid for Ipod. I was a bit ticked off... Kohl's was horrendous and not a cent was spent there. I spent money at Costco but it wasn't any busier than normal.

Carol so are you going to do the mignight/dawn thing again. I thought of you and was thankful I slept till 5. Amazing how easy it is to overeat on holdiays. I was lucky - we did the mid afternoon deal and so it was lunch and dinner. It made staying in calorie range easy.

Well, time to play wiht the new ipod and then I'm going to sew the back of my jean skirt. I sewed the front on thursday.
Marie

Yesterday was a totally sedentary day for me--I had an early appointment to get my hair done (color, deep moisturizing treatment and curls), but since I have dreadlocks halfway down my back it's an all-day affair, started at 8:30 and left around 3:30! People rave about how my hair looks curled, but that's too many hours under the dryer for me, I'm not going to do it again for a while! I made curried turkey soup last night, yumyumyum. I did 60 minutes of Turbo Jam cardio and weights this morning, and will probably take a 20-minute walk later to pick up a prescription. The weather's great, so I want to take advantage of the sunshine while we have it.

This afternoon I will play with my scanner. I'm working on something for my bother's b-day party this weekend, using some of the letters and drawings he sent me when he was a kid. Friends want to go see a movie, maybe The Queen, but we'll see. I want to get this project figured out today, and not rush through it at the last minute.

Penny your pumpkin custard sounds lovely! I'm glad your shopping went so smoothly. I didn't do much shoppping this weekend, just looked around and bought Xmas cards, but I have a good list with some ideas now.

Carol, reuben dip sounds great, too! I love those sandwiches, but they aren't the healthiest choice at the deli. It's nice to have such a fun time with your sisters. I love my sister, but she's always pooped between the kids and the night job, and she lets others add unnecessary stress to her life (don't get me started!).

Marie, your foot must be back to normal already. I'm still a few major media purchases behind you...I need a new TV first, my very old one is making odd whirring noises. I hope it holds out a few months longer. I want to buy a decent HDTV, but I don't want to go into debt for it. I hope to have a little extra income in January (a training session), and if that comes through, it will pay for a modest TV. Then I want a digital camera, and maybe then an Ipod...

Gotta go! Enjoy your day of rest--judy

Judy, your day of relaxation sounds awesome (I don't think I'd like to see the bill though). I loved going to the salon for a cool new do but since moving here 7 years ago, I can not find a good stylist. So I gave up. I grew my hair out and DH trims the bottom. I miss having a stylist wash my hair. The scalp massage is like heaven to me.

An HDTV, huh??? I don't want one to be honest. I love my oak entertainment unit and if I got one, I wouldn't be able to use it. So I have 27" regular one I bought last year (my ancient one had turned pink - I love pink but not as the entire TV screen). I do love my new ipod though. I haven't got the video set up yet, but the photos are done. I filled it with doggies and DGS. Maybe videos today. I'm definitely going to put a couple of the WATP videos on it so I always have them.

I did 1 mile fast walk, 2 miles jogging, 2 miles walk/kick and 2 miles walking with the doggies on the road. 7 miles today. I'm going to do a little DDR so that I'm not in debt for my ipod. I earned 7 dollars so far and need another 1.25 so that I'm not in the negative with them exercise reward bank.

Marie