Good Evening Ladies!!

I just got finished doing my walk. I upped my speed and my incline. I am finally at a pace that I just wasn't sweating anymore.....now to start over w/something more.

I watched the Biggest Loser finally tonight. Been watching the whole season. Totally inspirational!! I just couldn't believe the transformation. One shocker was one of the gals who lost weight at home. She looked amazing!! Did anyone else watch it?? She lost half her weight. She looks like a tiny doll now!!

Well the end of the year is just about here. I can't believe how time has flown. Things are going to be getting busy in the next couple days or so and then the Christmas will be here. So if I'm not around as much that's the reason why. I'll check in when I can. And I will try to do individuals if I have time.

I need to clean up the house a bit and then take a shower and head off to bed. You all have a great night!

Michelle--There is a high winds and flood watch for Oregon & Washington......up til Saturday. So you and your family be careful ok!?

Morning to everyone else out there!

Got get to work.

Hugs

Hi ladies,

Just a quick pop-in. I'm so tired, but the dinner party was a huge success! There were 9 of us and we had so much fun! Several of them want my recipes, which makes me feel good. I did as much as I could for the party yesterday, so today wasn't too hectic, but it's still been a long day, and I'm headed for a shower soon.

I'll be back tomorrow after a good night's rest.

TTFN,

Hi ladies....checking in quickly. Still busy here with getting the house straightened up and groceries, etc. Today we had to take the van for an oil change. We went out to eat and did manage to gamble just a bit...no biggies.

Michelle- Yes, we have a place in Vegas and spend the winter here. Get out of the mid-west snow that Jane seems to look forward to. Haha. We are here now until, hopefully, April. HAd to go home early the last two years, so we are gearing up for a nice stay this time.

See you all tomorrow....Sorry I am being so brief.

Sassy--you are never a bore..you always make me smile!!

Sue--Is the house from the pictures with the workshop for hubby in LV or somewhere else? DH wants to get a place in AZ.

Jane--glad your party went well!

Michelle--Hi..Eric did look amazing!!

Marti--things will be getting crazy for me too!! At work if I wasn't busy enough they are giving me parts of to other people's jobs, one guy is leaving for a job in Illinois and I will be fielding his phone calls and answering parts of them and the lady that is being transferred to a different department will be giving me like 25% of her job. I just don't know how much more they can give me and expect everything to get done!!


Everyone's new avatars are cute. I am up early to get a couple of things done. Going to meet DD for a matinee and see "The Holiday" and then DH, DD & friend, DS & gf are all going out to my favorite mexican place.

Good morning, ladies,

Sassy - have fun at your friend's house tonight. I'm like her - when I move, I get everything put away within a few days and can't stand to live out of boxes. About moving furniture, it really does make a nice change to move things once in awhile! Neal used to tease and say he's afraid to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night because he isn't sure where the bed will be when he comes back out, lol.

Sue - yeah, I have to admit, I love Indiana and all the seasons. I'm anxiously awaiting snow, and plan to make a snow angle with the granddaughters as soon as we get some, tee hee. Glad you had a nice flight out there.

Michelle - I think we'll all buckle down with our weight loss programs after the new year. I'm just trying to maintain right now, and that's hard enough!

Marti - wow, you're doing great with your progress on the treadmill. What do you do while you're on it? I watch tv, usually. Sometimes I listen to my iPod.

Jules - I think the movie The Holiday looks so cute, and told Mary that if she wants to go with Katie, I'll watch the rugrats for her. Actually, I'd like to see it myself, but Mary and Katie would really enjoy some time together w/o the kids.

Cristi - I'm still thinking about you. I know you're so very sad, and I wish there was something I could do to help you. I'd feel the very same way if my son was over there.

Mary Kate - how ya' doin'?

Hello to anyone else reading this.

Well, I had a great night's sleep, and feel all rested. We're watching Mary's kids when she works later today, but I really don't have anything scheduled until then, other than to get my Christmas tablecloth in the wash. Right now I think I'll just have another cup of coffee, lol.

What are your plans for the day?

Good morning, ladies! Everybody got their halls all decked? Kinda weird, but we decorated the tree in stages this year: got the tree up and lights on it Saturday afternoon, Noah and I decorated it some on Sunday, and then Sunday night Tim and I finished it. It's very pretty, though, and the nativity scene is up on the mantel, most of the presents wrapped and under the tree, so I feel like Christmas is coming...

Welcome to LC and Browneyedgrl0, if you ladies are still out there, c'mon in! Browneyedgrl0, I'm a big frozen yogurt fan, too -- no TCBY near me, but I found out that a cup of Costco frozen yogurt is only 4 WW points, and I split it with my husband or son, so that's only 2 points And if we get it before shopping, then it discourages me from eating too many samples

No milk in the house this morning (well there was a little, but it was no longer drinkable!), so I made oatmeal for breakfast with cinnamon, golden raisins, a little brown sugar, and some fat free half and half.

Got a denial letter from Worker's Comp for the procedure I've been waiting for. They are asking the doctor for more information on how the procedure would help me -- ie: how it will get me back on the job. So now I wait to see if my doctor can convince them it's worth a try.

Sassy, I was reading back on the previous thread -- maybe you better try a different Food Network show to watch! Chocolate dipped strawberries stuffed with cheesecake??? Holy toledo. Seriously, I have to watch certain shows very cautiously...I love Barefoot Contessa, even have one of her cookbooks, but a lot of the stuff she makes is so decadent. I watch her and mentally re-vamp her recipes, cutting down on the richer ingredients, focusing on the cooking techniques and the gorgeous presentation. She seems to be such a gracious hostess -- reminds me of a dear friend of mine And Paula Deen...well, bless her heart, she seems like such a sweet, wonderful lady, and I'd love to have her as a neighbor, but good grief..."Now, you need to add a cup of butter, half a cup of mayonnaise, a tub of sour cream...oh, and a cup of my secret ingredient, lard. Oh, and then a quart of heavy whipping cream..." Her recipes can be ridiculous. The other day, I saw her make a casserole with (I kid you not): buttered white bread, bacon, ham, tons of cheese, cream, crushed potato chips, and bananas Well, at least I had absolutely NO temptation to try that!!! In fact, after watching her make that, I pretty much lost my appetite I really like Rachel Ray's and Alton Brown's shows, though...

Michelle, glad your dr. says you're ok for now, and have time to decide whether or not you want surgery. By February, you should know if it's still giving you trouble, or if you can wait and see. If you do have surgery, sounds like the laprascopic option would be a lot easier recovery.

Marti, good job on the treadmill! Exercise seems to be a big component that I'm missing. When we go places, I love to walk -- we walked and walked in SF when we went a few weeks ago, and we walked all over in Ireland, but at home, where I've seen everything, I get bored pretty fast. Last thread you mentioned a "dogs only" store; in our town, they have a store like that next to Launderdog (a place where you can wash your own dog, they have tubs for them, and grooming tables, I think they sell shampoo and stuff), and there are a couple of "Barkerys" that sell dog biscuits and doggy treats

Cristi, we're thinking of you and we're here whenever you want to talk I still don't know if Erik will be deployed in January -- he hasn't called, and when his roommate moved out he lost his internet connection, and he hasn't gotten back online.

Sue, glad you made it there safe and sound. What's Christmas like Vegas-style?

Jane, yeah, I'm just trying to maintain through the holidays, too. I have some new recipes that I've either tried that were good, or I plan on trying...I'll try to get some in the recipe thread later today.

Jules, sounds like you did great with your shopping...wonderful, thoughtful gifts Funny, my youngest son loves Zombies, too...was the book "The Zombie Survival Guide"? And I got him a hoodie, too -- black with a Fender guitar on the front. He plays guitar and bass, so I hope he likes it.

For those of you who watch the Biggest Loser, I am curious. I've never seen it, but I've heard it's a good show and it definitely has a big following. One of the reasons I haven't watched it is because I got the impression that they were kind of cruel to the contestants -- making them exercise to the point of physical pain, tempting them with their favorite fattening foods, etc -- and they have to lose such a huge amount of weight in such a short time to be successful on the show, and that seems to be kind of dangerous, like crash dieting. How long did it take that guy to lose 214 lbs? I dunno, maybe I have totally the wrong impression, since I've never even seen it, and should try watching it...so many people love the show

OK, it's taken me over an hour to type this novel, stopping for rest breaks. I guess I should post more often so my posts are more manageable, huh?

Talk to you all soon

MARYKATE...It took Erik 8 months to lose 214 pounds; he lost 124 on the ranch in the first four months and the other 90 pounds at home on his own in the last four months. I don't understand how they do it in such a short amount of time, but he did look so good and totally different! I have watched all of the seasons and I love the show!

SUE...That's neat that you have another house to go when the cold weather comes in.

SASSY...Glad you are getting your shopping done. I have two more gifts to buy on Sunday and then I'm done.

JANE...Yes, we all will get back on track at the beginning of the year, for sure!

JULES...Hope you are having a good day!

Michelle (also Marti, and anyone else who has watched The Biggest Loser and can clue me in)...wow. 124 lbs in 16 weeks is about 8 lbs a week, and that seems rather extreme. 90 lbs in 16 weeks is about 5 1/2 lbs a week -- still extreme, but a little more reasonable. Doctors say a healthy rate of weight loss is something like 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 lbs per week.

Now, on the other hand, there is a man in our WW group who had a huge amount of weight to lose, I'm guessing he needed to lose well over 250 lbs. The first 90 or so seemed to come off relatively quickly; of course, he is a real stickler and followed the program to the letter, weighing and measuring ALL of his portions, writing down every single thing he ate, etc. But I know now, he's kind of frustrated and discouraged because he has plateau'd, and many weeks he doesn't lose very much, if at all. I think of it like a bicycle race that starts out on nice flat ground and you can zoom along, then you hit the uphill part of the race, and that's the part where it's hard to keep going -- or worse, hard to keep from sliding back down to the bottom of the hill. That's where I am, and have been for almost a year

On the show, do they have medical supervision? Doctors that monitor their progress, and their overall health, checking their kidneys and stuff? Did they mention if Erik had to have any body cosmetic surgery, like some folks who've had the gastro-bypass surgery and have lost weight really quickly? I'm losing at a really slow rate, but I worry sometimes because now I'm over 40 and my skin doesn't bounce back the way it would have when I was younger -- and I have about 90 lbs more to lose!

Also, are they mean to the contestants, or humiliate them, or is that a totally wrong perception I have? I think I read an article about the show when it first came out, and it really turned me off to it because it sounded like a lot of what they did was cruel...but then again, it may have been a very biased slant to that article, and I've never seen the show. I can't handle watching shows like "Survivor" because it seems to bring out the meanest instincts in people, like in the book "Lord of the Flies".

Inquiring minds (at least, my inquring mind!) want to know!

Thanks for all the answers, Michelle Well, now I think I need to see the show, but probably not until next season, huh? Yeah, it's amazing all the health problems that can disappear when people get down to a healthy weight.