Carol- Enjoy your company and congrats on your loss. I did not give up my caffeine either. I actually heard it can speed metabolism in some people.


I have a big sympossium I am presenting at this morning. I am a bit nervous. Afterwards I want to come home and get ready to go out to my boyfriends. However, some of my friends want to go out to lunch. We shall see. I said as long as I can eat Atkins friendly it is all good.

Nikki

Happy weekend all. I had a really nice day off with DS2. He now needs glasses/contacts and it took forever to learn to put the contacts in his eyes. But he got it and was blown away how clearer life is. I remember that the first time I put on glasses when I was 12. I'd told my mom that a church that we passed daily had a steeple on it. I remember that so clearly. At this point I don't wear glasses of contacts since I had Lasik surgery 7 years ago. My eyes had gotten so bad I couldn't wear contacts and my glasses hurt my nose. That was the best money I'd ever spent.

BTW, DS2 and I bought a new treadmill yesterday at Costco. DH and I will get it off the trailer (in the garage that was formally a room... I love having a garage!!!). We got back too late last night to do it. So I took today off from jogging instead of tomorrow.

I'm making my 3 bean chili tonight. So high in protein and so low in fat and calories. Yummy!!! I went over again yesterday so my average is 1562. I'm doing great today so I should lower it a little today.

Carol, I had to give up caffeine last August - I was getting very sick from it - I guess too many years of being a caffeine addict (night and day). Twice I've accidently been given caffeine and it made me so sick both times. So I'm a caffeine free reformed caffeine junkie. There are days I'd love that little zap though. Enjoy your company.

Nikki, I hope your presentation went great and that you enjoy the weekend with your boyfriend.

Penny, I'm sorry that you're under the weather. Yesterday was a pretty day but it's currently pouring in the high mountain desert I call home. Most of the time I call it the High mountain desert rain forest. There are rainy seasons and it's sort of strange it's raining this much in April. :(


I weighed in this am even with TOM. I lost the .5 pound I'd gained on TOM's arrival (well duh marie...) and an extra .5 pound. On Wednesday is the 1 year anniversary of the challenge Nikki started that got me on this journey, so I'll weigh in then. So far 46 pounds have vanished. :)

Marie

Well girls I am up and ready to go off for a couple of days. Some fun and then a conference in a beautiful area of New York. My company is wonderful and I kind of hate to leave them but I will be back in Tues night. My brother inlaw is a great guy and felt so bad about not being around for years. He didn't realize my hubbies condition was as bad as it was to him. I guess I see him everyday and so I have adjusted to the changes gradually. What can I say you do in life what you have to it could always be worse. So he is staying til at least thurs and putting in our bathroom for my SIL. So nice of him he is a very talented man. His girl friend has CP so together we kind of know how life is without exchanging words about it just support for one another and respect. After his divorce years ago he just left the area and went off on his own. Its been 24 years since we last saw him. We had a family gathering that just expanded yesterday. I think we ended up with around 25 plus. Two guys were here and I had no idea who they even were. But 4 brothers out of 6 were here together and that was nice to see. Well sorry to go on. Food wise I think I am doing okay I gradually came off my no fruit, pasta bread thing on friday night with a piece of homemade pizza. But have been really careful reintroduced fruit but not over done at all. Kind of being careful of portions and bread. The funny thing is they say to have bread with butter or I can't believe its butter instead of plain. Somehow our bodies process it differently. Crazy huh? I found my own SB book at a garage sale never been looked at I don't think. There are some good recipes I will use in it and grateful for the two dollar find. Well thats about it. I have noticed a difference in my body changes not really gotten on the scale yet. I plan on working out at the resort and going to the steam room etc.
Marie when my youngest was in fifth grade we found she really needed glasses after that her school grades changed etc. we didn't know she needed them. She just took for granted things looked the way they did. She would like to get the surgery and checked into it around 3,000 with the wedding is holding off for now. I hope someday our insurances will pay for it with what it saves on glasses at 400 a pop you'd think so.
Nikki yeah I can't give up the coffee gotta have something normal. Sounds like your doing well keep it up.
Sounds like we all had a great weekend lets shoot for a super week too. With plenty of losses to report oh we can only wish wish wish huh? Talk to you all soon not til wed.

Morning Ladies-

Marie- How is your son doing with the contacts?Congrats on your loss you are doing great.

Carol-Enjoy your trip. The south beach books has several great recipes. I think you will enjoy exploring those.

As for me.. I had a pretty good weekend. I ate all atkin friendly. I have not had one cheat in the 14 days I am on atkins :) I weighed in with a consistent loss Sat and Sun then wham today the mean scale says I gained 3 lbs. Today is not my weigh in day so I wont worry. I think yesterday I may have has to much salt and I know I went 1-2 carbs over. Today I will drink 120 ounces of water and go 1-2 carbs under to compensate. Here is hoping this works.

Nikki

Marie - You and Nikki have come so far in your one year challenge! Congratulatons on your success :carrot:. I also didn't know I needed glasses till I was about 13 and it's funny how the world is suddenly so clear once you get them. I'd love to get lasik but I've heard some people get side effects like poor night vision. Sounds like you're doing great with it. I've tried to give up coffee (caffeinated) a few times but I always go back to it. I only have one cup a day though, so hopefully it's not a problem. My DH prefers decaf but I figure there's no point if it doesn't wake you up! It's been raining so much here my girlfriend joked that we'd soon have moss growing on us. I found a funny picture of moss people:

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4...sspple2og1.jpg

Carol - I'm glad you had a nice family reunion. I'm pleased to hear that bread is better with butter! I enjoy my one slice of toast a day and couldn't give it up. I eat the sprouted grain bread as it has much less gluten than regular bread. I'm trying to cut back on white flour which means cookies, etc. (not that I eat a whole lot of them). For snacks I'm having more yogurt with fruit like strawberries now they are back in the stores. I like having strawberries with the meringues from Trader Joe's that are only about 20 cals. each. I also like getting the low fat string cheese sticks for 70 cals and wrapping them in thin deli turkey - yum! I hope you have a great time at the conference.

Nikki - Good for you sticking to your diet so well. I hope you have a good weigh in.

Judy - I hope everything is going well for you.

I'm still hanging on to my pound loss, so hopefully I can be back to 187 by Friday. I had a good weekend eating-wise and stayed under 1600 each day which is unusual for me on the weekend. Yesterday I made a salad topped with grilled sea scallops for lunch and it was delicious. Best of all just around 300 cals and so much food! That left me with plenty of calories for dinner and snacks. I think I'll continue to lighten up on lunch to leave more calories for late in the day, when I seem to get out of control with snacking. I got 8 hours sleep last night :woohoo:. Maybe I'll tackle the weeds later on.

Morning everyone!!! I'm back at work but don't seem to be working... ;) I really didn't want the evening to end.

Penny, I don't have good night vision. I guess it's 20/80 whereas my day vision is 20/40. The headlights of oncoming vehicles is hard. So I do have glasses that I wear at night. They have the special anti-glare and made everything sharp. I figure wearing glasses for a half hour in the evening once a month or so is way better than 24/7. My eyes haven't changed since the surgery so I've had the glasses for 7 years. My surgery was 4500 and worth it completely. DS2 is getting much better at the contacts and we're going to order a box for each eye today.

Nikki, scales are evil. Repeat the mantra. They keep us honest but they're evil none the less. Sounds like you had a good weekend though. That's great. Not cheating once is something to be proud of.

Carol, I hope you enjoy your retreat. Sounds like your reunion was a success. Good luck wth the SB.

I had a busy weekend. I did loads around the house to a point I was ready to crash into bed yesterday. I did admit to my sister and mother that I'm in the manic mode of the bi-polar. But since I like this mode I'm not bummed about it. I very much hate the depressive side.

Well, I should work..
Marie

Gee, now I understand why little kids cry so much when they have earaches...I'm putting oil in my ears and doing anti-sinus stuff, but I'm afraid I'll have to break down and go back on antibiotics if this doesn't pass on soon. Friday and Saturday were long hard days, in my new role as the buck-stopper, but hooray we got through them. My baby brother arrived on Saturday, and I'm glad that he's here but I am trying to be a good hostess (his first visit to DC) while not feeling very well. Luckily one of his favorite things to do is sleep...

Congrats to everyone for staying on course and seeing more weight losses! I am eating very lightly, but not working out at all, as you might imagine. Oh, well, you do the best you can every day....i am technically on vacation but at the office anyway this morning, packing up to leave and go back home to wake up my bro :) and do something low-key and fun.

Be well--judy

Penny-Cute moss people. Good job on the eating !

Marie-I cannot believe it is a year. You lost 46 and I'm still struggling to break my plateau :sigh: Hopefully this week I will obliviate it :)

Judy- I really hope you feel better soon.

Nikki

Morning everyone. It's a typical Tuesday for me - my m,ost hated day of the week. Gosh I even wake up in a bad mood on Tuesdays. :) The Voice at the office is irritating me more than normal so I cranked up my stereo to drown him out.

I did about 3.5 miles walking/jogging this morning and plan to take dead doggies our for a 1.5 mile walk again today. Spring found its way back yesterday and today - hopefully for good.

Judy I hope you feel better soon. Enjoy the time with your brother.

Nikki, here's hoping to both of us losing more weight!!!

Marie

Marie - I hope you got through Tuesday ok and that you managed to drown out 'the Voice'. Glad to hear spring has returned down south. We had sun yesterday and it's raining again today.

Nikki - I hope you break through on the scale this week (not literally! ;)) I think I'm on a permanent plateau :^:.

Judy - I feel for you with the ear problems, having had them most of my life I know how miserable they can be. I hope you have a nice visit with your brother despite not feeling well.

Carol - Hope everything is going great with you.

I feel better today now that I've stopped my medication. I did a no-no and finished two days early, but the side effects were unbearable - mouth sores, bad stomach cramps, bitter taste, dizziness and horrible headaches. Hopefully the meds did their job anyway. I managed to get to my yoga class and felt lots better afterwards. For lunch today I cooked something we haven't had for a long time - veal liver with bacon and onions. We had it with baby potatoes and broccolini. It was so yummy and since I only had a small portion, it was only around 350 cals total. Veal liver is dirt cheap here as people haven't realized it's gourmet taste. It used to be that osso buco meat was only a couple of dollars a pound and now it's around $10!

Judy whats with all this ear stuff is it a virus cause if so I have had it a week. Yuk! I loved the Saratoga area so beautiful and relaxing. Had my nails done at the spa, won over 100.00 at the casino and bought my necklace and braclet for the wedding at the gift store oh so pretty and half off. The food was out of this world and full of variety so staying on my SB wasn't too bad but for lunch yesterday I wondered off a bit but will jump back on today. My skirt for work is fitting great today and I still haven't been on the scale I will on friday. But I feel like there is a nice loss less belly jiggle hah hah! That has never been an easy part of my losses in the past. Well I forgot my antibotic when I left so two days without it and it was helping. So do I go to the docs today or wait one more day? Time will tell I am taking a consumer to an appt today she is a nice doc I may ask her advice? Its worth a try. The house guests are still here and will be for a couple more days the project had a few extra needs and took more time and energy. Thank goodness their handling it so well I feel bad though. I hope their still here on friday so we can go out for a nice dinner pay day of course. I spent my funds on myself so selfish this time around but my jewelry is lovely and special for the wedding. I couldn't resist. Nikki maybe your body is just holding onto some water don't panic it will adjust. I ate steamed crab legs which were salty the other day I am sure I had some water wt. if I had gotten on the scale. Marie the weekends go by too quickly I agree. Glad you had a good weekend though. Penny yes they said a little I can't believe its butter helps your body absorb the bread differently slower than if it was dry. Now here for at least a year I would order dry toast. Oh! Also one tip was if you have fruit to eat it after lunch time. Something regarding how the natural sugar is absorbed slower on a full tummy? All worth a try I figure any knowledge I gather is better than no try at all. Well have a great day everyone I am off to work again. Only 3 office days this week and I may leave a bit early for a drs appt today this dang ear plugged thing has got to end soon.

Marie- Way to go on the walking.

Penny- Have you tried shaking things up with your eating plan to break your plateau?

Carol- Steamed crab legs sounds yummy. How is south beach going?


I had a good weigh in today. I lost 9 lbs in 2 weeks so I am happy. Five the first week and 4 this week. Here is hoping for 4-5 next week to.

Nikki

Happy Wednesday everyone. I see the end of my week coming. Tomorrow I have an evening inservice so I'm not going in until noon. That means I have play time in the morning. :) Then I'm off on Friday.

Today is the 1 year anniversary. Drum roll... I lost 46.6 pounds in one year. That's just so amazing to me. At this point last year I was over 200 and feeling like a slob. Wow-wee, what difference a year makes.

I did 2.5 WATP and 1 mile on the treadmill this morning. Work was pesty this morning but that's life. I'm going to take my doggies out for a walk after wrok and that will be nice since it's just hazy today - the rain is north of us - raining on Penny. Tomorrow is supposed to be awesome and Friday, my day off is supposed to be sunny and about 80. Yeah!!! DS2 and DH put the solar panels up for the pool and it's starting to heat as of today. Maybe soon??? I could swim again.

Nikki, way to go on the 9 pounds. Sounds like Adkins is working for you.

Penny, I've quit meds early. When I have to use Prednisone for the asthma, I become a raving lunitic b*tch so I always quit early. It's almost an out of body experience watching myself. So if you feel better, then hopefully you'll stay better.

Carol, sounds like you had a great time. Enjoy the jewelry and what is wrong with buying something for yourself with your winnings??? Good luck being on track with SB at home. It should b easier.

That's all in my worlds. I chat tomorrow.
Marie

Congrats Marie :)

Hey, hey, hey, Marie! Your annual perspective came at just the right time for me. I know how hard you've worked at this, practically every day of the year, and you have earned every pound off (and then some). Way to go!!!

Nikki, woo-woo! Look out, graduation...

Carol, thanks for all the tips in your last post. It must feel great to feel how much weigh you're losing.

Penny, I love liver, but only if it's cooked perfectly, and of course with lots of onions. We are a tiny but classy minority of the population, I suppose. I rarely have liver anymore, but now and again I'll have a craving for it and order it at a good diner or deli.

I went to the drs Tuesday morning and was put on antibiotics:( and steriods :( :( . But I couldn't risk this turning even worse. My eyes wre in awful shape (full-blown pink eye, yuck) and both ears were getting worse. I feel better already, but I will make sure to load up on probiotics for the next several weeks. I've never taken Prednisone before, so we'll see what happens. I am looking forward to working out again, starting tomorrow :carrot: .

My bro and me had fun in B'more, and it helped that the meds began kicking in almost immediately. He leaves tomorrow, and it will be nice to stop watching quite so much sports and Simpsons. But he did hook up my new TV for me, and we are having a good visit.

Speaking of which, time to figure out where we'll have dinner....

judy