The Federal Drudge Administration is planning to issue a Guideline for Gourmets that advises you to:

1. List your ten favorite foods.
2. List your five favorite beverages.
3. List all green vegetables that look like marsh grass, fur balls, or little trees.
4. List water.
5. Avoid 1 & 2; eat only 3; drink only 4.

Howdy girls, well i did pretty well last night, no fried anything, no rice and no cake. I had ordered brown rice thinking this was an acceptable substitute for fried rice but it was white rice with some sort of coloring, no good for sure. My sugar was real good but like you said the water weight is definitely getting me. Up to 269.8 this morning. I know i said i wasn't going to weigh but i can't help myself. I didn't feel swollen so i thought what the heck and i really am kind of obsessive about it. Always afraid i am going to get off track if i don't see what that scale says.

Michelle you must have been posting the same time i was yesterday, thanks for the congrats!! Has your rain stopped yet?? we could actually use a little here right now!

Lois Sorry to hear about the computer woes, electronics can be infuriating, so can customer service departments! Glad to hear they are replacing it for you! Hope your ankle is doing well and you are still an exercise queen!

Cheryl Whoohoo on the loss!! That is great!! I watched about the last 5 min of Idol last night, the news here has been going nuts! I am kind of surprised Taylor won since Birminham has had someone in the finals so often, i just didn't think they'd let him have the title. Kind of funny there were more people voting for that than there were people voting for the president!! What does that say about Americans!

Tina Loved the funnies!!! I've got a few stuffed somewhere in a folder around here I will have to dig them out to share!

Hope everyone is having a great day! will try to check in later, time to go pack my lunch and head out to torture people in their own homes, no I mean do therapy with them!

Good Morning, Ladies . . .

It was very foggy and cold first thing this morning but now the sun has come out for a little; but it is supposed to rain later and be rainy all weekend.

Robbin . . . I agree with Erin and Tina . . . Chill out, girl. One day cannot make or break things for you. Overall, you are doing great. Love your little funny.

Erin . . . as mentioned above, you are so right. Told you so . . . but the www could have been worse.

Tina . . . I particulary love the first couple of your little tidbits . . . soooo true.

Cheryl . . . Congratulations on the loss. and the added bonus that the WW scale is catching up.

Lois . . . Sorry to hear about the computer probs. Hope the new, new monitor lasts longer than the old one or the old, new one.

Here's my little contribution to the food for thought . . . just try to make sure you only think about it . . . no testing out the theories, please.

RULES FOR LIVING -- CHOCOLATE CHAPTER

. . . Nothing recommended by somebody as cute as the Easter Bunny can possibly be bad for you.
. . . If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're not eating it fast enough.
. . . Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices, and strawberries all count as fruit; therefore you can eat lots.
. . . If you eat some chocolate before each meal it will take the edge off your appetite and you'll probably eat less.
. . . Eat equal amounts of dark and light chocolate to ensure a balanced diet.
. . If you are worried about getting the chocolate home from the store on a hot day, eat it in the parking lot before it can possibly melt.
. . . A pound of chocolate can provide your total daily intake of calories all in one source; what a convenience food

Have a great day, gang. Keep moving and shaking and heading in that great downward direction. Stay away from the candy store.

Well girls my mind isnt working well this morning so I am going to leave the personals for later.

We had a small family emergency yesterday when my daughter(Vicki, 14) went missing for about an hour and a half after school. To make a long story short she had walked home with a friend whom had gotten into a fight after school and didnt fare too well. She "forgot" to let someone know where she was going.

Well I will check back in later.
I wish all of you a great day.

Good morning girls. I have a few minutes before I have to head out and pick up my daughter from preschool, so I thought best spend them here!

Cheryl, congratulations on the loss! Pssst...I would have claimed the other two pounds aswell! hehehe! You're doing great, keep it going girl. That's one less pound you have to worry about.

Lois, ohhh...I would really lose my patience with my monitor too. I hope your replacement gets here soon enough. I miss you around here! Enjoy your great weather! We've been getting dumped on since last week. It's making my grass grow crazy and I can't get out to mow it!

Robbin, it's too bad they don't make leashes that long huh? It sure had to be some true heart pumping moments, I'm glad she's okay! Love the funny BTW. It's so true!

Erin, good for you sticking to your guns and tried to make healthy choices even though it was a celebration outting. Like Linda said, that water retention weight isn't that bad. It's actually really good. Just keeping sloshing that water down today and you'll get rid it real fast. Looking forward to reading some of your funnies.

Linda, now there's some rules fit for me. Well actually it pretty much described me before I started living healthier. LOL! I'm still a chocoholic but I don't endulge anymore. I have my substitutes that seem to maintain my impulses.

Not much new to report with me. No scale victories yet. But I'm still in the game, excercising twice a day and really keeping my eye on the ball. Hopefully I'll see something real soon. Wouldn't that be the way it is....so motivated to lose a certain amount and then your body decides it wants to hang on to it. OH welll....there's always tomorrow!

Love the funnies ladies. Nice to have a good chuckle!

TTFN!
~Tina

Well, I've been trying (stress trying) to take pictures again . . . here are the other two cats . . .

. . . the black one is JAZZ . . . he is a very laid-back, easygoing guy (although he looks rather angry right now)

. . . the grey one is MOUSE . . . he's the one who thinks he is a reincarnated Egyptian God.

Once again . . . not very good pictures . . . hopefully I'll get better at this. Does anybody know how to get rid of the reflection in the eyes? I tried the red-eye reduction feature . . . it might work for people but it does nothing for cats.

Now, I think I'll try the quilted stuff . . .

The burgundy/pink one I think I mentioned before . . . it really isn't sure if it's a jacket or a poncho . . . it's got funny little bat-wing sleeves.

The sleevless one I made for my SIL along with the bag . . . but I think it will be too big so I'm putting it away for a while . . . hopefully by Fall it will fit me.

And finally, the ponchos for the granddaughters . . . they are both the same (except for size) but I turned the little one inside out so you could see the reverse . . . they are reversible, if somebody wants to wear it that way.

I actually took a picture of myself, too . . . and the camera still works . . . but I think you'll have to wait to see that . . . maybe until I have a face-lift.

Anyway, that's it for me for now. See you later chickies.

They are all very cute Linda. I like the pink one best.

Okay, just typed out a really long reply and lots of interesting info and somehow lost it all!!!! Computer demons out to get me! Anyway, i will try to reproduce, hang in there this may get a little choppy

Linda Love the quilted clothes, especially the jacket. I knew the camera wouldn't break with a picture of you, hope to see it soon. I am going to try to attach a photo of me (how i lost everything the first time) so if i can you can! Cats look so big to me!! Maybe i jsut always had little cats! Loved the chocolate info!!

Robbin OH MY GOD!!! I would have been so scared!!! I am soooo glad your daughter was okay! I "lost" Amelia in a store for about 2 minutes one time and I went into a complete panic, I can't even begin to imagine how scared you must have been!!!! Have you stopped shaking yet? TEENAGERS!!!! Can we send them off until they get through this stage?? Amelia has already started using the "I forgot" excuse!

Tina I really thought the water weight would have been more too, i am still afraid it may show up tomorrow. This weekend we are "camping" with my mother in law at a campground about 4 miles from my house. They are planning to have campfire biscuits (made over the fire on a stick so they are like a bowl you fill up with all kinds of goodies), smores and all kinds of other things that i have no business eating, so i am hoping that i will see a little loss in the am to keep me motivated. We'll see, i am really hungry right now and have already had a lot today. I am about to get in the pool with the kids though so that should help get me in check! I understand about the plateau thing! BELIEVE ME!!! I hope you can follow the advice you gave me! Keep trudging along and that scale will move!!!

Well I am going to try to attach a photo of me from my beach trip. I am on a boat in the waters between Alabama and Florida. Hope one day that this will be a before to show the tremendous loss I have accomplished! Okay never mind i can't get the file to the right size. No time to play with it now, kids are screaming and i hear what sounds like someone throwing things!!!! It's been a long day in the Brantley House!!!!!

Hey while i am thinking about it does anyone track measurements?? this may be one way to deal with scale plateaus, especially for the exercise maniacs out there!!

Linda, I love the name mouse for a cat. That's so cute! I see you're getting quite aquainted with your new toy. Didn't take long at all...good for you. You're not as technically challenged as you thought you were!

Erin, one suggestion...notepad. I minimize the notepad screen over the 3FC thread, read and respond as I go. Copy and Paste and that's it. Saves a lot of grief! I wish you all the strength in the world to be able to turn down smores around the campfire. That will truly be a test, well one of mine for sure. On the other hand I hope you have a wonderful time "camping"! I wish I would have taken measurements in the beginning. You're right, it would be another great way to record your progress other than the scale.

hi gals, havnt been doing too good lately and didnt wanna keep coming on here telling y'all how rubbish i was feeling so just took a break for a bit. iv been feeling a bit depressed so have been comfort eating a bit, why oh why when ur feeling down does a whole tub of hagan daaz taste so good? dont even wanna step on the scales and see how much damage iv done. theres too much for me to read to catch up but just wanted to say hi and hope y'all are doing ok. XXX

Evening Chicks . . . Just popping in to say goodnight . . .

Liza So glad to see you back. Really missed you. We don't mind listening to the troubles. We all get them from time to time. Stick around, girl. We are all here to help with anything that bugs you. We all need help to stay on track.

So glad your daughter is OK, Robbin. Boy I would have been really freaked. But all's well that ends well. Glad you like the jacket.

Erin . . . another pink jacket fan. Sorry you didn't get the picture to work out. Maybe we'll both succeed in showing ourselves one of these days.

As a matter of interest, Goldi is actually a fairly small cat (but hairy) and a little too thin at about 7.5 pounds. I think she's bulimic. She tends to eat too fast and then throw up. Jazz is a little too fat at 10 lbs; he could do to lose a pound; and yet he is the one who doesn't like treats. Mouse, of course, is absolutely perfect (just ask him)(the vet agrees) at 12 lbs. He is not a tiny cat, but looks even bigger because of all the hair. He is really weird; he likes romaine lettuce. I can never get it into the fridge without him stealing some right out of the bag. Not as fond of it if it's given to him willingly.

Tina . . . ain't it always the way. Never fear, it will come. Just keep doing the good stuff. I'm actually quite amazed I've managed this electronic technology stuff, too.

Anyway, goodnight all. See you tomorrow. Have a great evening.

Liza! It's great to see you girl! I was wondering what had happened to you. I'm sorry you've been down, it's so hard to fight to better yourself when you're feeling not in the least bit interested. I think you've gotten the wrong idea about joining a weight loss support group. You're not only here to offer support, you're here to gain it aswell girlie! We want to hear about your woes and hopefully try to help you through them. We all know the ups and downs of weight loss, we can relate! One thing that I can tell right now is that you haven't really given up because you're here. And there's also new beginning here. When you are ready step on the scale, take the damage with a grain of salt and try again. It's not the end of world if you've gained, it will come off the same way it did before. It can be done! Just believe that you can do it...one day, one pound at a time. Hope you continue on with us!

Linda, I know, I'm still hanging on to the belief and rules of weight loss. Keep doing the good stuff and it WILL come off...it has to, it doesn't have a choice! LOL!! Thanks.

Liza...So glad to hear from you. Sorry you are feeling down, but proud of you for not giving up. We are here for you, so don't be afraid to share when you are having a bad day, week or month. We have all had them. Whining is allowed.

Robbin...I'm so glad that you found your daughter. Your heart must of stopped, mine would have!!! Loved your joke.

Linda...Your poncho's and jackets are so cute!! Loved your kitty pictures!! My Princess is 16 pounds. The vet says she needs to loose weight, but try and tell her that!! Love your chocolate joke, very cute!!!

Erin...Camping sounds like so much fun. Hope you have a real good time. Pool sounds nice also.

Tina...Glad your little one is over what ever she had. Glad it wasn't the flu. Do you have plans for this weekend? We have had rain for the last couple of days. I don't mind the rain, but it does make the grass grow faster. Seem like we just get done mowing and we have to do it all over again.

Michelle and Liliann...Hope you two are having a good day and the weather is nice where you live.

It was dreary, damp and rainy here today, but the sun finally came out at about 6 this afternoon. We are suppose to warm up by tomorrow. Today I started sewing my kids on my quilt. It's looking pretty nice and I love my new sewing machine. Got a call this after from my social worker wanting to know if I could do respite for a couple of days, so I said yes. Knew my hubby was using the spare room for storing his car parts, but not that many parts! Took me a couple of hours just to move parts around and get the bed cleared off. That man and I are going to have a talk when he gets home.
Hope you ladies have a good night. See you tomorrow.

Cheryl