300+ Support Group-Peach Blossoms-The month of Of MARCH

[Zer]

Gag shop might have a device that goes off, triggered by motion nearby. That might spook a cat. Friend had a Santa who went HO HO HO as anyone passed. I'm sure there are noisier ones with a Halloween theme. Most cats would not want to be anywhere near a flashing noisy alarm set off by its presence. I bet that windowsill would soon become NoCat'sLand if it was set up to GO OFF!

[Doing this Again]

We started back in 2002, and every year since then we've chartered a sail Boat for a week at New Year's. The first year was the Greek Islands; we had to hire a captain that year. Over the summer one of our friends got his cerrtification so now we can sail on our own. That New Year's we went to Belieze, and Thailand the next year. Then the Canary Islands, w/ a side trip to Morocco. This past year we did the British Virigin Islands, and this coming year will be Zanzibar off the coast of Tanzania in East Africa.

We're mostly arriving just after x-mas in Dar es Salaam, and then we'll sail for a week between Zanzibar and Tanzania. Then we'll go on Safari for 4 or 5 days, further inland in Tanzania at Arusha or Serengeti. We're still trying to put together the Safari, but we have a catamaran chartered. I'm the only one still w/o an airline ticket. Frequent flier mileage tickets are proving almost impossible to come by! If I can find a flight for under $1500 when I get paid on Friday I'll just buy a ticket. I've been saving money for most of February. And the Safari will be a whole extra expense, we're shooing for around $1000.

[amm]

My treat yesterday was really good. I ate it slowly. It made me realize that things like that aren't totally off limits... they are intended to be a once in a great while treat... not breakfast. And, yes, I've been known to have a snickers bar and a pack of peanut butter cheese crackers from the vending machine for breakfast when I was in college.

I do have a bit of a headache today and I know it's from the chocolate.

[Pcola Girl]

Love the kitty pictures. My cat loves the window sills to so I have to keep my blinds pulled up about half way or she would tear them to bits. She does not bother the curtians to much, I have them in tie backs anyway. She is declawed to so she does not scratch at much either.
Her favorite spot is to sit in front of the glass door and look in the back yard and watch at all the birds that go to the bird feeder. I bought her a fake bird one day at the craft store but she does not like it, she wants the real ones outside.

[behind_the_mask]

Hi ladies. Just checking in!

Today's Menu:
B- CO bark, pepperoni sticks (6)
S- coffee w/cream and splenda (3)
B- pepperoni slices, hb eggs, olives (4)
D- some kind of meat and veggies ???
TOTAL = 13+dinner/ 2 liters of water

[eaglesmate]

lol deb the cat pictures are hilarious..I totally sympathize! with 4 cats I have simply given up on mini blinds, I use curtains that they can get behind and just have to watch out when I'm in my bday suit so I don't give the neighbors a show

[bwylde]

I love the cat pics too. I haven't been able to have cats since getting married and I miss their crazy antics

We ate at the IL's yesterday. I thought her baked fish was a safe bet but come to find out after she marinated it and baked it in honey. Eeeps! I felt buzzed after since I've never been able to handle honey very well. My weight crept up a few pounds this morning but I know that it won't stick around. I'm just glad I'm prepared for the dinner I'm going to tonight with my cauliflower lasagna, yum! I'm just going to do very basic eating for a few days and get back into the coconut oil. That always helped a lot. Overall I have been finding I need to eat less and I often forget to eat.

[Zer]

The 13th is so often a lucky day for me that I've come to expect miracles on a 13th day - so I'm expecting a miracle today. Might even step on the scales!

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/be...wo-wolves.html is an interesting thread, one that you might enjoy considering. I did/do.

Sure Happy It's Thursday (S.H.I.T.)... and not just because it's TGIF-eve!

[Zer]

I've posted a plea for help at http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/be...-1-4-grid.html and am hopeful the resourceful folk at LCFriends will discover what I have not been able to find. Today being the 13th, I expect a miracle! It COULD happen!

[dantesmom]

Hey gals! Sorry I have been MIA in the posting department. I am reinducting today. A good hardcore induction to get allt eh crud out of my body. Will also be making a more conscious effort to excersize. Hope all you lovelies have great Thursdays!!

[pescacat]

Sally,
Best wishes for success! I want you to know how much I have taken what you wrote about either doing the dirty work to change things or learning to live with things as they are to heart. It is something that really has come back to me again and again since December. Thank you so much for including that in your signature line and posting so I can re-read it. **hugs**

Deb-thanks for the laugh with the cat pictures-I needed a smile and my dad laughed too.
**hugs**

Hope everyone has a great day!

--Laura

[dantesmom]

Originally Posted by pescacat

Sally,
Best wishes for success! I want you to know how much I have taken what you wrote about either doing the dirty work to change things or learning to live with things as they are to heart. It is something that really has come back to me again and again since December. Thank you so much for including that in your signature line and posting so I can re-read it. **hugs**

Deb-thanks for the laugh with the cat pictures-I needed a smile and my dad laughed too.
**hugs**

Hope everyone has a great day!

--Laura

Wow Laura I am glad it helped you One day i was just sitting here and got mad and wrote that to myself lol It really does apply to many things in our life besides weight loss doesn't it?

[Doing this Again]

Eating on plan, and went to my water x-training class last night. Tonight too, but I have skip Friday b/c I have tickets for Shakespeare at the Folger.

My office is out of water today – b/c I’ve been drinking it like it was my actual job! That’s the one part of this that’s easy for me. I’ve been doing at least 6 liters a day since about Feb 1st, and it has been more like 7 for a little more than the past 2 weeks. I already got 2 bottles when I hit Starbucks for my coffee. But buying water is going to get expensive at that rate!! $3.96 already today and I’m only at a liter and a half!

Also went to the grocery store last night to hunt for snacks. The past few nights I've been ravenous after work, but not really hungry for dinner after swimming. Even though I'm not hungry, I eat dinner anyway b/c most of the time I hadn't eaten after work for a lack of reliably LC food on hand. Plus I still don't really eat breakfast, and figure I'd be ravenous in the morning. That’s not something I can handle first thing in the morning; when I walk my dog & brush my teeth simultaneously just to be ONLY 10 min late.

I need to figure out how to handle this. It hasn't caused me to cheat yet, but it will if I get hungry enough. Are there good grab and go LC snacks? It’s probably smarter to find something small and eat at all those times: breakfast, after work, and dinner, plus lunch. It’s supposed to keep your metabolism running constantly, or something. It’s an adjustment that will be VERY hard for me.

Maybe LC peanut butter and celery? Do the grocery stores still carry LC versions of everything they way they did when LC was a fad like 5 years ago? To me, grocery stores are like giant kitchens. My kitchen at home is tiny, and still scares the crap out of me!! The grocery store is 10 times worse! I go mostly to Trader Joe’s and out door (farmer’s type) markets on the weekends instead. I don’t cook, even when I’m being REALLY good, both in terms of not spending money by not eating out and in terms of LC food, I grill (always) and steam veggies (sometimes).

Dannon USED to make yogurt that was one carb in a 4 oz container. I ate that occasionally for breakfast, and sometimes after work before my class. Hot Tamale suggested that it might have been stalling me. So I stopped. She might have been right, or it might have been TOM. At any rate, Dannon seems to have replaced that product w/ one that is an 8 oz container and 9 carbs!! So it's not an option anymore. I considered Greek Style, completely plain yogurt w/ maybe some flavored syrup (for the taste). But I checked Trader Joe’s for it on Tuesday night, and the label still had it as 6 carbs or so!

I bought some cream cheese to try Cleo’s oopsie rolls. There’s a bunch of eggs getting old in my fridge, this will use them up. There must be some sort of muffin or something from the variations people have come up w/. But that’s a cooking project! It will have to wait for the weekend. Any other suggestions would be great! I’m not a huge fan of cheese or cream cheese in and of themselves, but more as condiments.

Thanks!

[debkeversole]

U Gotta Try These!!

good recipe for those wanting a snack ...i just gotta find me some coconut flour




http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/bbs/be...s-lcfdogs.html
here's one thread of LOLs that i thought you guys would enjoy!

[behind_the_mask]

Hello ladies!!! It sounds like everyone's having a great day so far.

Today's Menu:
B- brie, pepperoni slices (3)
L- ham, dill pickles (7)
S- CO bark, flavored vitamin water (3)
D- roasted chicken and veggies (5)
TOTAL = 18 carbs / 3 liters of water
(walking a few miles at the gym later)

[Zer]

Found an interesting blog as I was browsing in search for something I forget (as happens a LOT to me as I grow older with my hands on a keyboard). It touches on how to manage cooking in stages to accomplish a finished dish or a meal:

Grapeshot/Odette blogs about life and cooking, saying: Now that I am not in the work force, I have found a new cooking process, which I do in steps, and it does make life easy.

Step 1. Round up all the ingredients. Put the non-perishables together on the counter, and put the stuff that needs to remain refrigerated together in the fridge. If you need to bring an item to room temp, this is the time to do it.

Step 2. Prep. Measure out anything that needs measuring, and do the sliicing and chopping. Cover anything that will dry out.

Step 3. The actually cooking. In the case of the meat pie, there is a slow simmer in the oven, then the crust is put on the "pie," and the pie is baked.

Naturally the time will be the same, but the work is broken up, so and the steps can occur hours apart and the cooking chore is not so onerous. This works for me.
Posted by Grapeshot/Odette (NEngland Novelist, Blogger, Cook, Geek, Gardener and Jill of all trades) at Suck It Up

She's not a LC'er, but I can use her tactics and her humor!

[cleochatra]

DoingThisAgain-- For yogurt, I love the Blue Bunny Sweet Freedom yogurt I find at Super Target. It is only 5 carbs per cup and extremely filling. Of course, full-fat plain yogurt is the best, because you can always sweeten it with berries or Splenda.

[Zer]

Getting better about keeping water handy at night in 32oz bottles handy to me, so I am never thirsty and wishing for water - but delaying the refill task. I'm learning how to supply what I need to work a better (moister) LC plan, to keep my cells and organs hydrated so they can do the work they are designed to do.

About time! When I get a rhythm, it all seems so easy. Someday soon, I hope to report that I am as rhythmic and satisfied with my stash of LC food on hand in the fridge for a varied and yummy LC menu that is more tempting than ANY casual carbs of a flour/sugar nature. I believe this WILL come to pass. I like so many things that are adequately LC and suitable for a low-skill LC cook to prepare and have on hand - and to eat up in a timely manner within a 3day window so nothing goes green and fuzzy in the fridge. Oh, someday, someday!

Friday is looking pretty good - so far - as I prepare to snuggle back to sleep.

Just want to see if anyone else is awake. Nope. All in dreamland, I guess.

G'night, all. Better get off to dreamland myself before that midnight bird starts its screeching at umpteen decibels. Unbelievably loud, that nightbird!

[Hot Tamale]

It is with great pleasure that I announce to you the birth of Moons' Mom's baby girl: Sascha!
She was born Tuesday, 3-11 at 10:17AM, and was 6 lbs, 15oz., and was 49cm long! Mom and baby are doing well! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ValerieisGoing4it]

Yayyy!! A new baby girl! That's awesome!

[Doing this Again]

Thanks Cleo and Deb!

I'll try the Blue Bunny and re examine the full fat plain yogurt. I thought about it more since yesterday, and remembered that the Greek yogurt I looked at was an 8 oz cup. Even at 6 or 7 carbs, I could eat just half that to make it 3 or so. Target is a LOT easier for me w/ my aversion to grocery stores. It's more about an aversion to cooking, and grocery stores are like giant scary kitchens. I'm not even a huge yogurt fan. But it's portable w/ little individual cups, and the fat fills me up when I won't have time for a few hours to go home and grill up meat for protein.

I still have to re read the book, Atkins. I'm thinking of continuing on based on what I remember for the next 2 weeks or so. That will get me through St Patrick's Day being out all weekend w/ my friends and Easter w/ my sister coming into town, plus give me time to re read the book. As long as I stick to what I've been doing I'm still losing about 3.2 pounds a week.

After that it's exactly 2 weeks until the next major holiday we celebrate. We do the Cherry Blossom festival by drinking Sake on the Tidal Basin. We do lots of other things that amuse us, but are probably way too UN PC for admitting publicly that we do. Like singing Karaoke and it gets more offensive from there. Sake is nasty stuff, so I won't even drink more than a sip. It won't de rail me at all!

Those 2 weeks between Easter and Sake Saturday I can shut myself up in the house I might do a real actual induction.

[cleochatra]

Well, I don't know what you're doing Doing, but you're losing weight well!

The Blue Bunny is a low-fat yogurt (lame, I know), so buy one and see if it leaves you feeling hungry. If not, you're good to go. If it does, go for the full-fat plan, and organic. Those tend to have less carbs, and Target is all about the organics now. They're trendyganic.

LOL on your scary kitchens.

[Doing this Again]

Atkins, no sugar or wheat or flour or potatoes or anything like that. Probably not induction. I had the yogurt, until I stopped about a week ago for fear it was stalling me, and some walnuts. I don't think either are allowed on Induction. I'm also not counting the carbs, just aiming for none unless they're veggies. Or things I just don't have the discipline to give up like cream in my coffee. Or grabbing those yogurts when I'm hungry but it's not meal time - b/c it keeps me from cheating w/ something worse. Zero isn't actually attainable b/c of traces or stuff they might use to cook w/ where I buy lunch. But aiming for none other than veggies keeps it low enough.

I've been drinking coffee most mornings, sometimes they're lattes. That HAS to stop for $ & carbs. I should at least manage to do coffee instead of a latte. But I’m hungry some mornings, and the fat from the milk fills me up. Lunch is something that is mainly meat from the gov't office building's cafeteria. Yesterday was tacos; w/o shells. The day before it was a Cosi chix Cesar salad, no croutons. A lot of the time it’s 2 turkey burgers (no bun). Then dinner had been something like a steak, or chick breast (1 and a half), or 2 pork chops w/ some green beans or spinach. The veggies I was sautéing in garlic & butter & olive oil. That was about a week ago when I was cooking.

The past week I haven't been cooking or hungry for dinner really. I still mostly grilled up whatever I had bought and/or thawed since it had to get used up. A couple of days I ate a left over pork chop or chicken breast in the car on the way to my class at the Y, then skipped dinner. Veggies have gone way down and need to come back up again.

That’s why I was looking for a snack to have at breakfast and before class; or maybe eat “dinner” (a cold chix breast) before class and a snack after instead. I’m going to try making your oopsies this weekend, if I’m functional on Sun. A small batch to see if I can pull it off, then I’ll research the variations for something I can grab and head to work w/ in the morning or the dog park w/ in the afternoon.

For exercise I have this water cross training class 4 times a week. Well actually there’s a twice a week class, and a three times a week class. I’m enrolled in both and have only managee 4 nights a week for the past 3 weeks. I have to skip tonight b/c I have tickets to Teller’s (the silent guy from Penn and Teller) production of Mac Beth. Next Friday I’ll have to skip w/ my sister in town. Last Wed I skipped b/c my dog was mad at me and needed an afternoon at the park. I walk w/ her sometimes on weekends too for 2 miles or so. She does more like 15 miles running around like she’s possessed or hunting. Well, not like she's hunting. Sometimes she actually IS hunting.

And water, I drink more water than anyone I know! 6 or 7 liters a day!! That’s more than 2 gallons. But I had been losing like 5-6 pounds a week when I first started. I’m going to do an actual by the rules induction the last week of March & first week of April to try to make up for lost time on missing my goal. Then I’ll probably slide back into this again w/ tweaks based on whatever I pick up re reading the book.

[amm]

Congratulations to Susan! How exciting! I really can't wait to be in her shoes.