Hi everybody. I am so excited about my weigh-in that I'm starting this thread on Sunday.

I dodged a major bullet. Don't know how but I'm only up 1.8 from my last weigh-in in early December. So, my official starting weight is 159.8 lala. I want to lose 20 lbs. First mini-goal is 5 lbs by Groundhog Day.

More tomorrow.

Susan, that's great. I know that I will be disappointed at my weigh-in as I just lost control over the holidays. I can lose the extra weight though. We've had a cold snap here in the last few days, so we've been in the house and that means more eating.

Had a fun weekend. Got a massage on Friday (loved that). Went to DH's company Christmas party that night. It was very nice and we won some door prizes. Played a little golf on Saturday--not too cold. On Saturday night went to a Bowfire concert. All I can say is "WOW!!" Sunday we watched football and I had a music rehearsal for an upcoming oratorio I hope to participate in.

Foodwise, I was doing fairly well till yesterday. I was munching stuff all afternoon.

How's everyone else?

Hiya all,

I had a super busy weekend. We packed up my office at home to paint it, we moved some stuff out of our kitchen for the refinishing of the floors and I did a bunch of stuff outside in the five hours we didn't have rain. It was great because the more you stay outside the less you eat. I love spring for that alone. I could spend all day outside puttering in the garden.

Susan - I weighed on Saturday am at 143. I gained about 3 lbs from where I was before I left for Paris and Rome. I'll weigh in again on Sunday. I have a very early flight to BOS on Saturday.

However, I'll be glad to be out of the 140s and back into the 130s by February and definitely in the 120's by May. Whoo hoo.

Lisa --sounds like you had a busy, but fun weekend. How do they do a Christmas party in January?

Well, we're in the 21st or 22nd day here of rain. The sky is grey, the cars are grey and my tights are grey.

At least we have amazing early bulbs, which is nice.

Hi to everyone else!

lala

Hi! Grey weather seems to be the order of the day--it was a balmy 53 when I left for working this morning at 7:30 and the temp has since dropped to 36! Like Lala, I'm also wearing grey...kinda matches with the day!

Susan: Congrats on dodging the bullet! That's a minor gain with the holidays and everything.

Lisa: I lost most of my control just after Christmas and I'm trying desparately to get it back! It's just a matter of getting rid of the temptations and being strong in resisting the snacking at night that I've gotten back into the habit of.

Lala: Some of our Dutch irises have started to pop up outside--I'm sure the weather will turn colder and the snow will return.

I went down this morning and got my Wellness Center membership updated--I have a date with an office friend to go tomorrow at noon. We're going to use the buddy system to motivate each other. I need to move more so I can get these pesky pounds off that I've managed to accumulate.

Hi to Austingal, Pam!!

lala, sorry about the gain. You know you can lose it. Funny, I didn't wear gray yesterday, but I'm wearing gray today. Today it will be in the 70's (more like normal). Yuck--all that rain--that would make me depressed. Regarding the Christmas party, we are still suffering from the lack of hotels here due to hurricane damage. The party was slated for a hotel that was supposed to be open in December, but the hotel did not reopen yet, so the committee had to settle for a date in January at another hotel.

Melissa, the nighttime snacking is not my problem--it's all day eating and all the wrong things. I'm really trying not to eat so much. This is funny--DH has also gained weight and is upset with himself. At his work yesterday, there were cakes, cookies, and pizza and DH did not eat any of it. So today he gets on the scale and wants to know why he did not lose any!!! I stifled a laugh.

DH and I have decided to replace our vinyl floor (good quality, but old) with porcelain tile. It's a large area: kitchen, family room, entry and hallway. We found a tile installer that we like and already picked out the tile. It will probably be done in early February. I'm looking forward to it!

Hello to Pam, Susan and Austingal!

Lisa -- We're having our floors done next week. I think you'll be much happier with tile, just make sure its a bit rough, so that you don't go slip sliding. We only have about 10 sq feet of vinyl left in our house (our tiny master bath), so that will be removed this summer when we redo the floors and the vanity in there. There is only so much you can do with the world's smallest bathroom. Good thing we have two others.

Gosh, I made the best tapioca pudding last night. The points are less than 2 per serving and it was soo good. Very dark and rich with dark chocolate dutched cocoa. Mmm. Only had one serving as well.

Other than that, everything here is going as well as it could considering I'm spending most of my work hours calculating populations of people affected by potential tsunamis. How uplifting can that be?

I'm going to start a journal thread again.

Hi to everyone!

lala

Hi everyone! Well, I made my trip to the Wellness Center today at noon and I'm feeling really good. I forgot how much better I feel when I actually get a workout in. I walked and also used the elliptical machine. I'm sure later tonight my muscles will be protesting but it'll be a good feeling. My friend and I have agreed to commit to going there Tuesdays & Thursdays--it's just what I need to get moving. My eating is also coming along--I'm really working on getting the protein in with each of my meals and I feel more satisfied. Now to keep it moving in the right direction.

DS #1 started the semester and he's got some challenging courses this semester; I know he'll do okay but he's a little overwhelmed with the expectations of the professors and the amount of work that's involved.

The weather here continues to amaze me--it's feeling more like Spring than Winter with temps in the mid-40's. They're even calling for highs near 55 later this week!

Lala: Mmmm, chocolate tapioca...sounds delish!

Lisa: I don't have a problem throughout the day it's more later at night when I'm getting tired that I tend to start "looking" and eating mindlessly. I had a chuckle about your DH and the expectation that because he passed up on the treats that the weight should just "disappear". I've been trying to get my DH to be more mindful about his night time eating--so far it's been falling on deaf ears.

Pam: How's your weather been?

Susan: Hi! How's the exercise going for you?

lala, yes, we've picked out some tile that's not so slick when wet. The tapioca sounds great--can you share?? Gosh, you do uplifting work??

Melissa, glad you got some APs in. I didn't run yet today, but after work I plan to do so after I get the dinner in the oven. You are really having some warm weather. I made your six-week muffins--1 point. My husband likes them and I'd rather see him eat them than cookies.

I was doing well today till someone brought in some salted nuts (I heart nuts). I guess though it could have been a worse snack.

Lisa --

www.floraandflying.blogspot.com for the recipe. Use instant tapioca.

Argh, they just rescheduled our floor. I'm not a happy camper.

lala

Hi Ladies,

Crazy weather here also the temps are suppose to hit 50 by Thursday. An early January thaw I guess. Sure beats the subzero temps we normally have this time of year.
My eating has been great all week. Kept within my points even over the weekend. I weigh in tomorrow morning and I'm really hoping for at least a 1lb loss. I'm glad I signed up for the weight loss program at work. The way it work is you're on a team with 4 members and each member has a weight loss goal that equals 5% of their total weight. You weigh in each week at the wellness center and your weight is logged in. Each member of the team must lose the amount of weight targeted for the team to be eligible for "prizes". The program runs through March 3rd. It's funny how being accountable to others seems to motivate me to lose. You would think my clothes getting tighter would have done that.

Melissa I guess we should just bask in all this great weather we've been getting. You know it's not going to last and we'll probably get snow in May. Could you post the recipe for those 1 point muffins again?

Lala have you built an ark yet? I hope the sun comes out soon. Oh I almost forgot to mention, I was in a marketing meeting today that showed some interesting techniques used by retailers. It showed a fish market in Seattle, the name now escapes me, that showed the employees tossing the fresh fish to customers. It was really pretty funny.

Lisa I'm trying to get my DH to cut back on the cookies and snack food also. He really needs to take off about 25 lbs.

Hi Susan hope all is going well with you.

Well ladies, hope you all had a nice Tuesday. Talk to you tomorrow.

lala, thanks for the recipe. I don't know how you take the grayness in Seattle especially for that many days.

Pam, wow! what warm weather. That weight loss program sounds great. Accountability works for me, too. I've seen that video--it is entertaining. Those guys love their work!

Good morning! It's a balmy 54 here this morning with grey skies. We're supposed to get some rain/wind later on (probably just in time for me to leave for my WW meeting). I'm not complaining, although I will say I'm a little cautious as to what could be in store for us later on down the road. Maybe this is our "mild" winter??!! One can hope!

Pam: Sending you good vibes for your WI this morning! I have mine at noon and have no clue what's going to be reflected. TOM decided to arrive 6 days early!!!?? Anyway, I've been eating better and moving more so we'll see.

Lala: I hope you don't have to wait too long to get the floor done. I know I get impatient when something has to be rescheduled!

Lisa: I need to make some more muffins--I haven't made them in a while.

Here's the recipe, Pam:

I also tossed in some dried cranberries along with the raisins.

Six-Week Muffins

6 cups Kellogs Complete Wheat Bran
1/2 box Fiber One cereal (Note: cereal box contains 2 bags, so 1 bag)
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
4 beaten eggs
1/2 cup Smucker's Baking Healthy shortening & oil replacement
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 quarts low-fat buttermilk
1 1/2 cups baking raisins

Mix all ingredients by hand in large mixing bowl. Do not use a mixer or muffins will be tough.

Refrigerate over night. Muffins will be soggy unless cereal is allowed to absorb the milk.

Spray muffin tins with nonstick spray. Don't use liners because they will stick. Fill muffin tins to top. These do not rise.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Batter will keep in refrigerator for six weeks.

Makes 48 muffins.

Per muffin: 81 calories, 1 gram fat, 3 grams fiber. (If you make 3 dozen mounded muffins they're 108 calories with 1.3 grams fat and 4.2 grams fiber.)

Down 1/2 lb. I'll take it since I'm a little bloated due to TOM's scheduled arrival on Saturday.

Melissa thanks so much for posting the recipe. Think I'll make a batch this weekend. The temp today is already 45 and it's suppose to stay like that until Saturday.

Hi to everyone else...I'll be back later.

It's overcast here this morning but I can't complain. Temps are above zero, not a bit of snow -- looks very different than it did before Christmas.

Pam: Congrats on the loss. I like the weight loss program you describe. It would definitely keep me accountable.

lala: I'm off to a shaky start with the WW program but am determined to find and keep the "click". In the meantime, I'll fake it til I find it Let's keep each other motivated ok? When does the floor work get done?

Lisa: I love the sound of what you're planning to do in your home. Of course, if we were to do that here, we'd need to have in-floor heating but I guess that's not a concern where you live. I have mostly hardwood in the new condo, with tile in the foyer and bathrooms and rug in the bedrooms.

Melissa: I may give the muffins a try once I get into my own space. Freezer space is a bit of an issue at the moment. There was a special on Lean Cuisine entrees last week; both my sister and I stocked up and there's not an extra cubic inch of space at the moment.

Going for a run with the group tonight. They are planning 8 km. Not sure yet what I will do but it will be less than that.

Hi to Austingal.

Hi everyone,

Quick type by before telecon. I'm hoping my office mate decides to telecommute today so that I can speakerphone this.
Pam - way to go.

Susan - the click will come and faking it is fine.

Melissa - I have buttermilk now. I'm going to make these this weekend. Thank you.

Lisa - the grey will lead to blue and lots of kiwis, apples, arugula, peas and flowers soon enough. I can hope at least.

I had a pretty good yesterday until bookclub and the cranberry/hazelnut tart that was offered. Honestly, I wasn't even hungry. It was foisted upon me and I thought it would be impolite to say no. Oh well, I stayed below my points for the day before, so it can be my flex points that I used. I figured the filling and a bit of the crust was easily 12 points.

Our floors will now be done like this - Start in kitchen on january 23, finish by saturday at the latest. We leave on Saturday night for Atlanta. I return (I think) on Wednesday. Thursday they return to do my study and the front hall. On Thursday I have my brawny helpers help me move the dining room and living room into our kitchen and they do that part starting on the 6th of February. I do not believe they will be done before Valentine's day. Grr.

Oh well. It will give us some time to put things back and I'm still thinking of ditching town Presidents day weekend, even if everything I own is in my kitchen.

Anyways, what a birthday present it will be to have lovely new floors. Not that our floors are in terrible shape, but we figure, its easier without animals to do such work.

Other than that, busy estimating populations, sitting in on conference calls on important DC stuff (its hard here in the provinces) and realizing that I forgot to pay my condo maintenance, so off to the post office I go this afternoon!

Oh, by the way, its raining here.



lala