It's Golds Gym & Washington Apples who are sponsering the contest. Yes, half a million! www.3appleplan.com I'm not sure if I'll enter, but I'll take a before picture, what the heck!
I can't eat apples right now, my throat is still hurting too much, but I am way better now than I was 24 hrs ago. I've had 2 bowls of soup today and that didn't hurt too much. I'm hoping to be back on crunchy and solid food tomorrow. This little 48 hour fast was just what I needed though. I feel like I jump started myself.

I just checked that 3 apple web site and I think that chick looks, um...well...she looked better in the before pic.

I agree with you Apple Blossom. I'd love to look like the before picture. Slender and soft looking is O.K. with me. In the after picture she looks like an emaciated man wearing a padded bra!

Concerning Chinese food: I eat it pretty regularly! Using FitDay, I found out that a cup of Shrimp Lo Mein has just over 200 cals and 9 grams of fat. One cup of the stuff is a good amount. I have that and an eggroll (116 cals, 6 grams of fat) and it is definitely satisfying -- and very workable into your program.

I hope everyone has a great day!

~Amy

Thanks Jen, I am happy to say that I didn't give in to the candy last night. I am watching my neice this weekend so I think I will send some of it home with her to get rid of it all. Thanks for caring...It means alot to know someone is there.

Amy, I was thinking of doing that sometime with the chinese. I like the baked egg rolls at the store and our chinese restaurant sells lunch meals for $2.75. I figure for supper some night I will eat a cup of lomein(My Favorite thing in the whole world!!!) and a baked egg roll.

Rusty, I hope you had a great birthday yesterday!!!:hb:

Hi buddies! My birthday was fun. We stayed in - it is SO COLD outside this week - so I decided that it would be a perfect night for champagne and pizza! I stopped counting after the third piece but we ate a LOT! How come celebrations always seem to come back to food?

I get Chinese cravings every other day but there are some ways to eat light when you do hit the restaurant and a couple of meals you can make at home and enjoy all you want!

At the restaurant - Restaurant Confidential recommends that you skip the fried rice (I hated to do it the first couple times but I'm used to it now) and have steamed rice - for about a third of the calories - and order shrimps in garlic sauce/szechuan shrimp/beef with broccoli/chicken chow mein. Order a side of steamed or stirfried veggies - mix them into your meal and take HALF home for another meal. Also, think fork, not spoon. Get a spare plate and cover it with steamed rice - then lift your entree onto the rice with a fork - leaving the salty/oily sauce behind.

Words to avoid at Chinese: fried, twice-cooked, batter, breading and fried noodles.

Waah! :)

At home - it's EASY to make good lo-fat Chinese-style food if you have a non-stick frying pan or wok. I spray the frying pan with garlic/butter spray. Then I toss in any and all of these - broccoli, onions, scallions, bell peppers, mushrooms - canned or fresh, snow peas OR (like this week I'm out of fresh veggies) FROZEN stirfry or oriental style veggies. Those are easy - they've done all the hard work of cutting and combining. I buy the store brand and they are inexpensive and LOW in calories - like 150 calories for a pound of veggies.

I also add chicken breast meat or shrimp that I cooked in the electric grill for ten minutes - if I'm making this for supper.

Here's the best part - you don't need to have a cabinet full of weird spices - just go to the Chun King section of the grocery store and look for a couple different brands of stirfry sauce. They have the usual soy/ginger flavor and lots more - lemon and herbs, Italian-style, sweet and sour. You just give the veggies in the frying pan a couple squirts when you have the veggies just the way you like them.

While I'm stir frying I take a pyrex measuring cup and put a cup of minute rice or Uncle Ben's converted BROWN rice in with water and a bouillion cube (and scallions) and pop it into the microwave. When it's done I give it a few sprays of garlic/butter and a squirt of stirfry or (reduced sodium) soy sauce.

You can also do the rice early and put it into the fridge - when it's cold you can make lo-fat fried rice with a cookbook recipe or a mix from the grocery store spice shelf and eggbeaters. Yum.

The thing here is YOU control the fat - I make all this stuff with a few squirts of butter spray so all I get out is nutritional food - not fat! Good luck, buddies.

Rusty I started a thread yesterday to tell you Happy Birthday but I don't know if you saw it so I will tell you again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You always have such creative ways to cook things.

I wanted to point out something on that apple site. All of them have a tan and all of the men have shaved off their chest hair. You lookd like you have more definition when you are tan and when you shave the hair off. That is what fitness contestants and bodybuilders do. I am also wondering if they worked with a trainer for the entire 12 weeks they were doing this? I am not doubting that it works but I am leary of quick fix weight lose diets.

OMG! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I just pulled some boxes of clothes down out of the crawlspace where I've been storing them. I figured it was time to get rid of clothes that were so many sizes away from where I am now. If I ever get back down, I'll buy new clothes. I'm only keeping some clothes that are 2 - 3 sizes away. Jeans and tees that aren't going out of style anytime soon. Anyway, my 11-year-old daughter just got 3 "new" pairs of jeans. Mind you, she's not overweight. She's just beginning to get hips and I carry most of my weight in my upper body. In any case, she was having a ball watching me go through the old stuff. Many things were just fads and she wouldn't be caught dead in them, but there were quite a few blouses she fell in love with. I can't believe my waist was ever tiny enough to fit into some of the things I'm dragging out! I'm trying to be motivated instead of depressed, but it's hard.

Jen
238/230/140

Jen, You should feel motivated it means you can do it. I have an 11 year old daughter as well. She loves going into my closet and stealing my "skinny" clothes. LOL For kicks when I weighed 130 pounds I tried on one of her shirts and it fit. I was in shock!!

You can and you will do this Jen! I believe in you.

Happy Birthday Rusty!!!:hb:
Once again you come through with some great tips!! You are right, it's really easy to make lots of different stir-frys at home. It's not QUITE the same as take-out, but thats a splurge.
Jen, I hear you about the old clothes. My whole house is in desperate need of de-cluttering and the clothes that don't fit anymore should go! I have about a dozen pairs of jeans that I can't bring myself to give away. I have a sneaky feeling that even if I lose quite a bit of weight they still won't fit because I wore them before having babies and my hips may never be the same. One of my new years resolutions is to donate 2 grocery bags of STUFF to Goodwill or the Salvation Army per month. So far I only have one bag full, although I haven't been through my closet yet. Anyway, I hope you are feeling like you have a fresh start. Your house is lighter and you have NEW clothes to look forward to!!;)
Gennel...I joined in on the challenge mid way through and my goal is 4lbs....

Hello everyone. Been busy busy busy here this week. My sister and I cleaned out the basement yesterday. Tons of stuff got pitched. It's a good thing tonight is garbage pick up night!! Those men are going to get a workout. It is so cold here. All of the schools are closed! :mad: So much for my daily "break"! I made Talapia for lunch. I'm trying to experiment more with fish. I like orange roughy and Talapia, not so much on the Cod though. I'm thinking about making a salmon quishe for dinner tonight. I wonder if anyone will actually EAT it though? Did three miles on the treadmill this morning. And my diets been ok. I'm hoping to pull off a loss this week. At least a pound would be good! I've been holding a couple pounds of water weight from too much salt but I lost two of them this morning. That still leaves me up one though. I wish it would just go away already!!:mad: I'm dreaming of summer and the size 12 shorts I'm hoping to wear by then. I think that I'm going to buy a pair when they hit the stores and staple them to the wall in front of my treadmill! Wait, I need two pairs so I'll have one for the front of the fridge, LOL. My bathroom is coming along. The shower is completely installed and he's grouting the ceramic tile floor tonight. I'll have walls this weekend! I am so excited!!
I don't have any of my old clothes.:( I wish I did because at least then I would know what size I used to be! We've moved three times since I had my oldest and things just got tossed out along the way. Kinda gives me an excuse to buy new though!! I do know what you mean about getting rid of old clutter though. I think the spring cleaning bug hit a little early this year because I've been pitching stuff left and right. I just want to get it out. It seems like this house is shrinking. We just moved here less than 2 years ago, it was double the space we used to have, maybe more than double. Now we have both of my sisters living with us and my niece and the walls are closing in, if you know what I mean!! Gotta run. Everyone have a great eveniing, TTFN,

Is tomorrow going to be our last weigh-in, or are we waiting until Saturday? Seems like the challenge started on the 25th. I can hardly wait. I know I lost something this week!

Jen
238/230/140

Saturday, right? I can't believe how fast this month flew right by. All we need is for the next 3 or 4 to go just as quick. haha

Love the new picture Angie. You are looking good! I am having a bad night. My daughter (5) just broke my brand new Pink cd. I only buy a cd like twice a year and I only had that one for four days.:( She loves to listen to music and had it in my walkman type thing. She says it "just broke". I am so mad and sad. I know I over reacted and her feelings are hurt but I'm really upset. I didn't scream at her or anything, I justtold her how upset I am when she doesn't respect my things. She's very sensitive. It doesn't help that my dh has been gone all day either. I feel like I am going to lose my mind being in this house all day with four kids. Ok, that was my rant for the day. Done. Jen, I'm glad to hear that you're having such a good week too! It feels so good to know you're on the right path! I think that I am running adjacent to the right path right about now!! Anyway, hope you all have a great Friday, TTFN,

Thanks Serina. The dog is my baby, Rebel. My daughter likes to use all of my things too. I love Pink. 18 wheeler is my FAVORITE song on the cd.

Jen, Since we were talking about our daughters today...Brittany went into my closet and stole some of my skinny clothes today. I had to practically drag her out. LOL

I think I am going to get the cold now. I have had one kid stay home every day this week sick and tonight my throat is tightening up and my nose feels funny. Of course IO would get it right before the weekend. :lol: