Good morning!
Gee, Linda, I hope you kept your electricity last night! Where is your husband, does he travel a lot? (mine is away too). Hope that you have some means of heating water, and can at least make some tea or something hot to drink. Hope you have heat too!!! How are you feeling today? How much snow did you get. Thanks for the recommendation of that Calorie Countdown milk. I drink lots of coffee/tea and use skimmed milk. Something with all that calcium would sure be good! Did you ever find a recipe for beef stroganoff? Oh, BTW, it is freezing here in NY too, with a chance of snow showers (not a storm like you, but snow nevertheless). I am thinking about you.......hoping you are ok.
Ann- congrats on the loss! Great to hear about the meeting you attended. In my area there are so many meetings to choose from, it would be hard not to find a leader that did not inspire you. Half the battle is finding someone whose weight loss personality suits yours, who can provide information easily and make you feel as though they understand are a part of your life. It just makes the program real for you. Not only that, it seems as though each meeting has its own personality, based upon the attendees. That can be a factor too. I am just really happy for you that you got so much out of this weeks meeting.
Paige- so I will not buy and Napoleons anymore? Actually have not had one in many, many years. I knew they had to be awful. Just awful. Now I know it. Guess I will have to substitute in WW eclairs or that eclair/graham cracker recipe for them, which is somewhat reminiscent of that taste. Missing most of the fat. How is your back feeling?
I have a funny story from last nite. With Dh and Ds gone, I am not really into cooking- giving myself a break. I am, though planning my meals- staying OP as much as possible. Last nite, Dd and I went to a movie, then did a wee bit of shopping. Afterwards I told her I would take her out to dinner- fast food. My game plan, seriously, was to get her whatever she wants, and just order a diet coke for myself. I do not buy soda for the house (unless there is a special occasion) so getting a diet soda is a treat. And my salad, complete with this awesome chicken I made with a sesame dressing was waiting for me at home. A very planned meal that I was looking foward to. We went to Popeyes- never been to one before, so it took us awhile to negotiate the menu, figuring out what Dd wanted. So I complete her order- after a few minutes of questions about what came with each meal, order my diet coke and wait. After the woman assembled the order, I noticed that she gave us two biscuits- with a smile. I think she thought we were sharing Dd's meal, trying to save some $.... And no I did not have any food there, and really enjoyed my salad when we got home. And I enjoyed the diet coke too.
Off to hope on the treadmill.
Ginny
So far, so good as far as electricity, though it's flickered several times this morning. School is cancelled and my son's college classes are delayed as well. Usually, when we are expecting a storm, I set aside water as we have a well and need electric to run our pump. I buy bottled water by the gallon and have a reserve of a few (about 8) gallons down in the cellar. I generally boil some water and put it in a thermos as well so I can have hot water if I need it. I have a wood stove and we can cook on top of it if we need to.
There is a thick coating of wet snow and ice on the tree limbs today, so that is what is causing power outages. I hope we make it through the day OK. I have this cold and am thankful that my activities are cancelled. I can lay low.
Ginny, I would have not been able to resist that biscuit, you did an excellent job resisting! I love biscuits. By the way, the average homemade biscuit, I think, is only 2 points. It's when you add butter and have several of them that they become a "problem". For me, it's a problem as I can't stop myself....
So, today's goals for me are to lay low and try to shake this cold. I hope to eat on program and plan on making shish ka bobs (chicken, onion, mushroom, peppers and zucchini) for dinner with brown rice. I will marinate the chicken in a bit of FF Italian dressing, I think? I like serving this meal as it's colorful and the kids always seem enthusiastic when I have it. It seems like it's somehow "special". I use my broiler to cook or my gas grille, depending on the weather.
By the way, do any of you use and cook with a George Foreman Grille? I have one and did use it for a period of time. However, I think it's really a pain to clean and wonder if any of you who have one have found any tricks to make clean up easier? The info-mercials "lie" about easy and simple clean up. What other gadgets do you all cook with to make life interesting?
I also have one of those Show Time Rottisseries, and I do love that. I seldom bother to drag it out and use it, though, but clean up is easy with it, at least.
I used my crock pot yesterday and created my own version of beef stroganoff, I used very little fat in the recipe and it turned out well.
Right around noontime I put in the crock pot:
sliced round steak (about 1/3rd inch wide and 2" long strips, trimmed off all the fat)
2 cans of slice mushrooms (Sm) with their liquid
1 can beef broth
1 sliced onion
garlic powder
ketchup
worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper
I didn't measure, just put in what I felt was a goodly amount.
I put the crock pot on high and let it cook all afternoon.
About an hour before dinner, I scooped out some of the liquid and added flour to make a wet paste and added it back to the crock pot and stirred well. I then changed the setting to low and let it cook a bit longer while the "sauce" thickened. About 10 minutes before dinner, when the egg noodles I served it over top of were cooking, I turned off the crock pot and added about 1/2 cup of a combination of fat free and low fat sour cream. I think using all fat free really takes away from taste/texture at times so went with a combination of both. The kids and I loved it and it was easy to make and quite tasty. We had string beans on the side.
So, what's for dinner at your houses for the evening?
Good morning everyone,
Well yesterday wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I am up two pounds on my home scales. I started out good journaling, but as the day went on, my attitude and my efforts just went out the window, OK today is a new day. I really want to get on a good streak starting today that will carry me through Easter Sunday so I'll be down for my WI on Tuesday. That's how it often works for me, if I can string at least two days together I'm golden.
Paige- Yes, our bakery is located at our pumpkin farm. So it is a lot of pies, cookies, muffins, breads etc. We also have a little store that is kind of part of the bakery. We also serve other things like Green Mountain coffee, caramel apples, popcorn etc. I would absolutely love that if we could bake together! The one thing that is tough about our business is that everything is massed produced because we get crowds of people, so the specialized things that I would really like to be doing, are on hold for now until I get my bearings.
Ann- that is pretty awesome with your running. I think that is how I am going to start with the run/walk thing. When I run, I like to look at something up in the distance and tell myself, "just run to that, then you can stop". Then when I get to that spot, if I can keep going I do, if not, I stop.
Yesterday, the weather was pretty crappy so I dropped my 5 yr. old off at school and took our 2 yr. old to the mall, put her in the stroller with her snacks, and did some power walking. That was actually pretty fun. You can go so fast in the mall, and our very active 2 yr. old who usually wants to be out of the stroller, actually leaned back and enjoyed the breeze.
Well, today it is snowing (yuck) and the ground is white again. But I shall be positive, journal, drink lots of water, get a workout in, not be lazy (like I was yesterday) and visualize the scales being down tomorrow
Good morning everyone.
I am afraid this is a rushed post as my DS is wanting the computer....what is that about,
Erica have a great day today. What a good idea about power walking in the mall.
Linda, I hope that your power stays on and you stay warm.
Ginny, that is awesome you didn't eat the biscuit. I would have for sure.
Have a great day and I will post once my DS goes to school.
Take Care
Ann
I have been totally OP food wise since Monday. I didn't get any exercise in yesterday because I decided that I needed to shop instead.... . I met my sister and mother and we shopped for some Easter stuff and did a little window shopping too. It was nice. We even went out for supper and had Extreme Pita, Grilled chicken on whole wheat pita with lots of veggies. My supper cost me only 6 points so I still had three left last night when I went to bed. I have been sick since last night with a cold and feel miserable this morning. Didn't sleep well last night either. I need to go and pick something up today at the drug store to see if I can unblock these sinuses. I'm hoping to get on the treadmill after lunch if I feel better.
Hey Linda - Duane is an Electrician and works in a Diamond mine in the NWT. There is a 3 1/2 hour difference in time, i'm ahead, when he calls. He's really enjoying the work. The last job he worked at, he was miserable every day and it wasn't worth it. I know exactly how you feel when it comes to the snow clearing. It doesn't seem like such a big job when they have to do it but when it's put on us it is a big chore. Even taking out the garbage! I hope your electricity stays on. I wouldn't want you to freeze your toes....LOL
Newlifestyle - I hope you're right and this month goes by quick. I enjoy some time to myself but when it gets closer to him coming home I really look forward to it. We appreciate each other more too.
ECmom - No I didn't get on the treadmill yesterday but I walked enough in the malls that I think I got a workout anyway.
mpaigew - I don't know how you can do it. I wouldn't be able to bake like you do and not eat everything in site. That is one challenging job! Kudos to you!!!!!!
EricaL - Do your best these next few days and good luck on the weigh in on Tuesday.
futurepixie - Sometimes it's good to go down in inches and not worry about the scale. But I know how you feel. I like to see the numbers on the scale go down, it feels like I'm doing something right then.
haylo921 - I hope things looks up for you when you get some of your bills paid off. I know how you feel when you say it lifts a weight off your shoulders. Knowing you owe any amount kinda weighs you down. Good luck!
Well anyway I better go and get some drugs and see if I can get this cold fixed up. I can't even taste anything right now. That can be a good thing right now...LOL I have to weigh in tonight so I will post later and let you know how I did.
Gooooooooood morning all!!!!! Things here are looking nice today, except for the stinky snow outside! UGH! What happened to the 70 degrees we had just two days ago?!!!!
I feel like I have been doing really good with eating this week. Dh and I did our grocery shopping on Tuesday, and we saved so much $$$ just from not buying the snacky type foods. So far I'm not missing them. Yesterday I made a scratch split pea soup...very yummy and super low points. I ended up having it for lunch and dinner.
Linda-I believe we are having the Santa Fe Chicken that I e-mailed you the other day. I had made it on Sunday for dinner and froze the other half, so at least it will be quick and easy tonight. What are you having???
Erica-Your kids are about the same ages as mine. My older dd turns 5 in July, and my little one turned 2 a few months ago. Maybe when school is out I can bring them up and we can get a chance to meet? You are above Syracuse, right? Sorry about your gain...I feel like the scale hasn't been so nice to me lately, either.
Kim-I don't have a problem when I'm baking at school...it just isn't a big deal to not eat. At home, however....THAT is hard! I think at school I am so involved in getting things done, and then the product GOES somewhere. At home, if the things I bake are there when I'm done, it's hard not to snitch some. Usually at home after I bake something I'll package it up and take it to my neighbors. Hope you get feeling better...I have that yucky chest and sinus cold, too.
Anyway...I need to go jump in the shower. I realized yesterday that I hadn't gotten Easter dresses for the girls, so we're going to head out to the mall in a few hours.
Linda - hope you're hanging in there. We got snow in Michigan too and it's calling for snow for the next 4 days - grump, grump, grump
Off to weigh in today. Been a weird week. I haven't eaten badly but I haven't been following the 8 healthy guidelines either because of the hectic week I've had. We'll see how WI goes. I'm doing my shopping list this afternoon and doing my replenish shopping tomorrow. The cupboards and fridge are looking pretty sparse. DS comes home from Florida this weekend and will expect something there to eat. The nerve of the child. DH and I can make do with pretty much what we have but the children are a bit more demanding.
Ok, for those of you who are amazed that I did not eat the biscuit! Well, I know that is no homemade biscuit. And it would have started a nasty, nasty chain of events. I really, really want to be down tomorrow, after plateauing last week. I do have moments of will power. Just wish I could bottle it!
Laura- hope your WI is ok..sometimes those weird weeks are kinder to you than you think! Hope you come up with some healthy ideas for food shopping. Did you get much snow?
Erica- Good attitude to "see through" Easter to Tuesday's WI. Do you think Easter will be a tough day for you with special foods, and candy? And this sure is some wierd weather.....it is no better a few miles further south. Cold and damp. It snowed like crazy at my house around 7 am.
Hi Paige!
I did get my treadmill in and walked for breakfast to town with Dd. So plenty of walking for me. Gotta say it is nice having the house a bit more quiet, so that I can get some cleaning done.
Gotta go......off to visit my mother this evening.
Ginny
Linda- glad the power is holding up. I thought of you this am while seeing the weather. They showed some pretty nasty scenes from the upper mid west. My daughter is playing softball (!?) in Rhode Island today, Mass tomorrow. WHo knows how they will manage in this darned weather.
Hope you are feeling better, and have a slower day to get a bit rested. The stroganoff sounds good! It sure does pay to experiment, and the crock pot is a great tool for us! I love mine (actually, I have two). I don't have a George Forman grill, just a grill that sits on top of the burners, which I love. It is a bit of a monster to clean, but I can fit it in the sink to soak.
Kim- I am sorry to hear that you are not feeling well either! I hope you can get some rest to fight the cold. It sure is no fun when you don't feel well.
Erica, what a cool thing to read about, meaning your store. It's exactly the kind of place I'd love to visit and shop! Do you personally do baking for it? Do you sell craft items as well?
I hope your "good streak" does last all the way through Easter Sunday. I took inventory of Easter basket items this afternoon and had a very weak moment, I almost tore into a tiny little milk carton thing with those malted milk chocolate covered Easter eggs that I love so dearly. I'm going to have to keep my hands occupied and away from those things!
Kim, I have a cold too - I'm sharing it with you from a pretty far away distance. I tried napping today, but each time I laid down the phone rang. Darn. My nose is stuffed up and as I sit here typing, I have been sipping on weak herbal pomegranate tea with lemon juice and Splenda in it. I'm hoping a hot beverage with lemon might help a bit. I am hoping to get a decent night's sleep tonight, but this is not fun.
What does NWT stand for, Kim, when you speak of where your husband works? Sounds like it's pretty far away with a time difference such as you mentioned.
Paige, the Santa Fe chicken sounds good to me, I really will try it sometime. We are having shish ka bobs, that is if I get the strength to cut up everything and deal with it all. I'm pretty low with this cold and the idea of just cooking it all and not making it "pretty" is kind of appealing to me at the moment. My head is so stuffed up, I'm breathing through my mouth and it makes me feel tired for whatever reason. Darn cold!
Laura, I hope weigh in goes well. Keep us posted. I find that on weeks where I don't follow those healthy guidelines as much, the loss isn't not as good or just not there at all. Yesterday, I made a big circle around those check boxes on the bottom of my tracker as I didn't have my healthy oils... just didn't fit them into my day, someone. I'll try to do better today.
Ginny, I wish you could bottle that willpower as well. Today I am weak... the cold is getting to me (OK, I'll stop whining about it now) and staying in all day due to not feeling well and the snow has made me think about that kitchen and I am tempted.
Ginny, by the way, I didn't mean to bad mouth the G.F Grilles (gosh, he could be one of the advertisers on this web site, yikes!) but it is hard to clean. I love using it, though, as it's set at an angle and the fat drips into a drip tray, really healthy way to eat. However, that "non-stick" surface is kind of a joke. Seeing as you can't put the device into a sink full of hot water and dish detergent, you are left with paper towels and sponges as this silly scraper thing they give you that doesn't do well at all. I have a new suggestion from a friend, though, that I am going to try. She says that she puts sopping wet paper towels onto the grille when she has unplugged it and taken the food off it and then shuts it up while they are eating dinner. Then, the burnt on crusty stuff supposedly lifts right off, she's a genius of course! I presume that might help. In fact, I am talking myself into maybe trying to use mine tonight with my shish ka bob stuff instead of cutting really smaller and putting it on skewers.
I also enjoy using a cast iron skillet, the old fashioned type. That gets such nice and even heat, but you can't use soaps on it to clean. It is "seasoned" with olive oil each time I clean it, though and stuff seems to just slide right off it for the most part.
Well, so far so good today. I have been journaling absolutely everything today, something I haven't done in a really long time. I just had about 3 cps. of popcorn and hopefully that will tide me over until dinner time. I've got my girls doing some much needed cleaning right now, trying to keep our minds off the fact that it's only 24 degrees and snowing out right now. I have about 9 pts. for dinner. I think I'm going to make some french onion soup with 1 pt. swiss cheese. I found a baguette at walmart today, and you can have 1/6 of the loaf for just 2 pts.!! I'm kinda likin' this being back on FLEX. It was much more interesting grocery shopping, and making my CORE trained mind flip back to all of the things I can have on FLEX.
Linda-thanks for the compliment about our store, we do all of the baking ourselves. I have about 18 employees that help out with the pumpkins and the store/bakery. All of the items in the store are fall/halloween related. Right now I'm busy with sourcing things for the store, going to trade shows etc. It's not easy to find tasteful things, as places like walmart sell so much of the same stuff.
Ginny-I'm really gearing up mentally for Easter, actually it'll be a big dinner on Sat. night at my parents house. Easter will be OK if I stay true to my plan of not raiding my girls' Easter baskets.
Laura-thanks for the reminder that i need to refresh my memory with the 8 healthy guidelines, I'm hoping you have a good WI.
Kim- hope you feel better, I've been taking that Zicam, that stuff really works!!
Just got back from weigh in and I was down 3.6 pounds I'm going to get going again when I get up tomorrow morning and jump on the treadmill.
EricaL - I have been doping myself up on Advil Cold & Sinus to see if that can help some. Great job on the journalling. I find that is a real help to keeping me on track.
Linda - Thanks alot for the cold.... Amazing that you could send it too me over all those miles...LOL I hope you feel better soon and I hope the tea works. Duane is working in the North West Territories on the other side of Canada. He can't get much farther away from me I don't think.
ECmom - I'm trying my best to shake this cold and get as much rest as I can. I am working nights all this weekend so my mom took my son down with her today until Monday. That should help me alot. I'll be lonely though.
Rosegarden - Good luck on the weigh in.....
mpaigew - That's good that you get rid of the goodies quick at school. It probably could be abit of a problem like at home can be. Hope your chest and sinus cold gets better.
My nose is raw from blowing it and rubbing it.... Anyway I better get going for now. I'll check back again later.
Erica, wow 18 employees and having kids - you must be a very busy woman. I wish I lived close enough to patronize your place. Fall is my favorite season for colors, decor and whatnot. I know what you mean about trying to find tasteful things. It's amazing how many items are really duplication if you go from place to place. Good luck!
Your Easter sounds well planned, what will be for dinner on Saturday night?
Kim, awesome loss! Great job!
Now, let's discuss Easter weekend here....
Let's talk about what is going to be in our houses for Easter weekend (assuming most of us celebrate) and if you don't celebrate, what challenges will you face this weekend irregardless?
If you have big family dinners, are there going to be desserts such as cakes and pies? Side dishes?
What can we do to plan? Does anyone have any special accompaniments that are low points?
WI wasn't great - up a pound but I do think TOM is coming up and I know not getting in the water and veggies had a big thing to do with it all not "clicking together" I ended up with some bagel sandwiches which were probably not the best in points. But this is a new week and I have a plan for shopping and menus. It will be okay. Got my water in today and that's a first for 5 days too. Amazing how fast the week slides through sometimes and you just slide along on program. It doesn't work that way.
Wow Erica - I'm impressed too
Nibs - glad to see you getting back in stride - we've been here together for quite a few months hanging in there. I was over at Aimee's Adventure tonight looking for some new recipes and she had a great quote from Margaret Thatcher about the battles are not always being won the first time around. I'll have to go back and print it for my incentive book.
Ginny - sounds like you're doing well getting the exercise in. Hope your visit with your mom was a good one.
Linda - the assessing the easter basket part - I've decided that my grown kids just flat out aren't getting them this year. I've always enjoyed putting them together but I end up eating the good stuff myself. None of us need the candy. I did break down and buy two homemade peanut butter chocolate eggs from a church fundraiser. They are in boxes in the backseat of the car all nicely wrapped (you notice I didn't bring them into the house) My eldest son is still out to sea - right now I'm feeling a bit badly that I didn't send anything to my new DIL - hmmm, may have to get out a belated Easter package tomorrow.
Rose, sorry about the gain but you're probably right about TOM and try and get your water and veggies in this week and it should make a difference next week.
Linda Easter is not going to be a problem for me at all. I am working nights all weekend starting tonight and my DS is at my parents house until Monday. I am going to go their when I get off work Sunday morning and take a nap until lunchtime. My mom is cooking a turkey with all the trimmings but I plan on just sticking to veggies and some turkey. No dressing, very little gravy. She may have a pie baked but I'm not a big lover of pie so that won't be a problem for me. I will have my raspberries that I have totally fallen in love with. She also has a treadmill so I plan on getting on that after lunch for an hour. I have my plan...LOL
Duane's parents did buy us all Easter bunnies that they are dropping off today on their way to their cabin. But I will throw mine and Duane's in the bottom of the freezer right away so, out of sight out of mind.
Duane asked me what I wanted for Easter and I told him nothing, NO CHOCOLATE!!!! So he went out and bought me a digital nutritional scale for the kitchen. It's very nice and I thought it was nice of him to think of that since all I had was this little dinky thing that I absolutely hated. He is trying his best to be very supportive and give me that little push when I need it. When I didn't want to get on the treadmill the other night he said come on, you get on the treadmill and I will get on the elliptical right next to you.
Better get going and blow my nose again. That thing won't stop running!!!
Good morning everyone,
Well, it's just amazing that when I stay within my points, drink water and journal, I'm down on the scales, hmmmm, how does that work? I must say that I have not stayed within my points for a very, very long time. Can I do it again today? We shall see.
Now, Easter, Linda, thank you for asking, because I'm going to plan it out in this post right now. We'll be going to a big Easter dinner at my parents tomorrow night. There will be ham, beef tenderloin, a Paula Dean baked shrimp recipe (surely full of fat), spinach salad, french onion soup (low fat version), and our famous family recipe "corn bake" full of fat, but I'm making it, and I'm going to try my hardest to make a reduced fat version. For desert, it will actually be a John Deere birthday cake as we are celebrating my 3 yr. old nephew's b-day as well tomorrow night. Oh, and there will be plenty of wine as well. So how will I deal with this? I plan to have 2 glasses of wine (4pts.), 1 slice of the beef tenderloin (3pts.), a ramakin of the french onion soup (3pts.) and spinach salad (1pt.) I will not have desert because it will be a store bought cake and not worth the points. So that is 11 pts. for dinner, I will have to be very diligent throughout the day tomorrow so that I have that much left before dinner.
As far as Easter day goes, I was very minimalistic when buying candy for our dds' baskets. I did that in hopes that they will have eaten most of it on Easter (with the exception of their chocolate bunny). I bought everything in single serving sizes, no big bags of m&m's or jelly beans. They are probably going to even notice how little candy they are getting. But they are really into "The Littlest Pet Shop" right now, so they are getting that in their basket. My DH also does a huge outdoor treasure hunt with a little notes with clues written on them that sends them all over our property, in and out of the barns. It usually takes them at least an hour to do. We are thinking of getting them new bikes for the end prize. But we would have to go get them tonight if we're going to do that. We have a babysitter for tonight, so that means we're going out to dinner to our favorite restaurant. So today will be a challenge as well, to save up enough points to have an enjoyable meal.
Yesterday in order to stay within my points, I dealt with real hunger. At the end of my points at about 7pm last night, I took a hot shower, and got into some comfy warm clothes signifying that day was over including my day of points for food. It was really good to do that, a true transition into the night and that eating for the day was done. Sounds queer I know, but I truly needed to do that for myself. Whenever I go over points, it's at night and I just have a beaten down attitude of not caring. Well, I'll check in later, have a great day!
Actually have not had one in many, many years. I knew they had to be awful. Just awful. Now I know it. Guess I will have to substitute in WW eclairs or that eclair/graham cracker recipe for them, which is somewhat reminiscent of that taste. Missing most of the fat. How is your back feeling?
. I met my sister and mother and we shopped for some Easter stuff and did a little window shopping too. It was nice. We even went out for supper and had Extreme Pita, Grilled chicken on whole wheat pita with lots of veggies. My supper cost me only 6 points so I still had three left last night when I went to bed. I have been sick since last night with a cold and feel miserable this morning. Didn't sleep well last night either. I need to go and pick something up today at the drug store to see if I can unblock these sinuses. I'm hoping to get on the treadmill after lunch if I feel better.
I'm going to get going again when I get up tomorrow morning and jump on the treadmill.
Amazing that you could send it too me over all those miles...LOL I hope you feel better soon and I hope the tea works. Duane is working in the North West Territories on the other side of Canada. He can't get much farther away from me I don't think.
Anyway I better get going for now. I'll check back again later.