Penpal match? Just turned 50, want to lose 75!

[Pam in TX]

Evening Ladies,

This will have to be a quick post.... Just got home from a busy day at work... Being off those couple of days has put me behind....

Carolyn: Sorry that you have been sick, but at least you probably would have been stuck at home anyway with the weather..... My parents live in Cameron.... We will have to get together sometime soon.... We could meet in Salado or something....

Sherry: I am actually a Libra.... It must change somewhere between us....

Leslie: I know what you mean about the parents of your kids friends from school.... However, there are a couple sets of parents that the friendship has continued and is very strong....

Sue: One of my closest friends collects Fiestaware.... When we go antiquing we are always keeping an eye out for older pieces.... I have learned alot about it through her....

Need to run..... I will do better tomorrow about catching up....

Have a wonderful evening everyone......

[PsychoLoser]

Went to an outlet mall today and found that many of the clothes I wanted to buy didn't fit -- I loved the clothes at Tahara, but even the Large size was too snug to be comfortable. It's just as well because they were too expensive to be reasonable. Ugh...

Tomorrow is my oldest daughter's birthday-- she's 26! We are planning to go to a resturant of her choosing. These situations are always so difficult for me because I have no idea if I can eat low carb there. I usually stick to a few familar resturants when we eat out, then I am not tempted to eat more carbs than I need to (Outback Steakhouse is a fav). Well, I will just have to deal with it.

Sue, I actually have done quite a bit of beading. I have so many beads it is riduclus. The most fun thing I have made with beads (besides the usual earrings, bracelets, and necklaces) has been little people on stickpins. During a hurricane a couple of years ago, my friend & I made about 15 of them by candle light. It was actually a lot of fun. Your lace group sounds really cool. I'd love to belong to a group of friendly women like that. I used to be a part of a neighborhood group of women that got together and took turns cooking at one of our houses-- we made about 3 to 4 dishes and made enough to split them into portions for everyone. We made special aprons and hats that we wore. But then two of the women had a falling out and the group fizzled

Carolyn, Great that you are finally feeling better. It stinks to be stuck in bed for such a long time. I bet you're ready to get some fresh air. By the way I have always wanted a rick garden. I have used rocks liberally in my landscaping, but find the Japanese/Zen style gardens absolutely beautiful and serene.

Leslie, T-shirt with "Recluses" on them?? Funny thought! Imagine recluses attracting that much attention! Ha! I think we are probably introverts more than we are actually reclusive. About 25% of the population is introverted--and I think we are really interesting people, but the dog-gone extroverts want us to be like them. Actually the main difference between introverts and extroverts is that introverts tend to seek out fewer relationships with people, but they are deep and meaningful, while extroverts take a shotgun approach to reltaionships - the more the merrier, even if they are superficial.
Actually, it seems to me that we are all quite social and engaging, and our sharing is meaningful.

Had a very tiring day today at work (like you did Pam) and am ready for PJs and bed. I get to sleep in tomorrow! Everyone have a great weekend. Will check in tomorrow

Sherry

P.S.-- Sue, do you live anywhere near Baltimore? I often get to Orioles baseball games during the spring & summer. I am a big baseball fan. Ever go??

[Suji]

Hi Everyone,

I skimmed the messages quickly and can't post but a sentence or two as I'm on my way to Lancaster within the 1/2 hour... Let you know how it goes.
I agree--Introverted is a better description. Recluse is me on my long driveway though... Even the trick and treaters won't venture up it. Bwahahahaha!

Get well Carolyn! Big Hug!!!

Sue

[Pam in TX]

Happy Saturday Morning,

Baseball? Did someone say baseball? We are a big baseball family.... and softball too......... In fact the season starts next month for my nephew (plays for Concordia Univ)... Have 2 nieces that play softball.... One for Middle Tennesse State and the other in HS.... I played softball in HS and college then for a number of years in a city league.... Just this past year started playing again on a co-ed team with church... We follow the Astros and then have a minor league team here that we have season tickets for.. We also attend alot of the games for the Univ of Texas Longhorns.... We have a couple of friends who have sons that play for them...

Since it is going to be raining all day I am trying to talk DH into going downtown to the Home and Garden Show.... I would much rather be cooped up down there.... Especially since we were cooped up here so much this week with the ice storm...

I have been part of a bunco group for years.... We have been together for close to 10 years... a nice evening out and a chance to catch up with some friends... When we started our kids were all in school together, and now that most of them are out of school and have moved on to new "adventures", this is the only time we see each other...

Sherry, I saw a group like that on Good Morning America a few weeks ago... Sounded really interesting... I think their name was Dining Divas, or something like that.... There are a few businesses here where you can go and do the same thing.... Have thought that it sounds like fun....

Sue, have a safe trip....... I have thought about getting into beading.... but I have promised DH that I won't start any new endeavors, until I complete some of the ones that I have that aren't completed.... which probably means I will NEVER get to try new stuff....

Need more coffee....... Hope everyone has a good day.....

[Dreamcometru]

Hi everyone:

I have a few minutes before I start cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. I have a project from work I need to finish too. My DH had to go to work today because they missed Tues, Wed and Thurs due to snow. He gets upset with me when I work from home so I'm going to try to sneak it in before he gets home. I put a roast in the crock pot so dinner is taken care of.

Pam, I love baseball and softball. My daughters played for years. DD2 played through her sophomore year in HS. She became a drama queen, staring in plays and stuff and that conflicted with softball, so she stopped playing. She did play ASA through the summers though. We would travel all over the northwest. I really miss those days. She played co-ed this fall. It was fun to watch again but didn't have the atmosphere of ASA where everyone knows everyone. Depending on the teams, I'm glued to the TV during the world series. My son played baseball through 8th grade. The coaches were on him to play this year, but he has so many other activities going on he can't squeeze it in. He is going out for golf too.

Sue, I hope you have a fun trip.

[Dreamcometru]

Somehow I posted before I finished.

Carolyn, you poor thing. I'm glad you're feeling beter. The flu can hit hard. I can so relate to the tornado hitting the house. When I'm down, it happens here to. I don't think the DH and DS realize how much we go around picking up, doing dishes, etc. until we don't do it for a few days. I must say, my DH was really good to me last time I was down.

Mary: Keylime pie soudns so good. It must be right before TOM because I'm really craving sweets. I'm trying not to give in since it's been a couple of weeks since I've lost anything.

I walked the golf course this am. It was a little icy. I thought for sure I would fall. I managed to get through breakfast without eating too much. I drank my two cups of coffee and drank some water, hopefully that will last me til lunch.

Sherry: Have fun celebrating the birthday. They are tough when it comes to eating. We are traveling south for my DD1's birthday. My DH and DD1 have the same birthday. My DS has a performance and will be out of town that weekend, so just me and DH will be going to see DD1. DD2 is at college half way between us and DD1, so we will pick her up on the way. It takes us about 40 minutes out of the way, but it will be worth it to see them again.

We got word yesterday that my Texas sister and family are going to travel to Oregon around DD1's wedding so they can attend. I'm so excited cause I haven't seen my sister or her kids in about 7 or 8 years.

Have a great day everyone. Sorry bout the double post.

[PsychoLoser]

Well, well, it seems we have yet ANOTHER thing in common!

I too am a crazy baseball and softball fan. My whole family has played softball for so many years I can't count. I played in highschool and in adult leagues, and my husband and I have coached for many years. My 2 girls have played since their little hands could get around the ball. They were both stand out players in highschool and college. My oldest daughter has won many honors locally, statewide, and nationally. She has set many records for her college. We have also been an ASA & NSA family...all that travel ball Now we all play co-ed softball in city leagues. It never stops!!

I am a major Astros fan too -- hard to believe that since I'm in VA, huh?? The "Killer bees" are my fav!! I think I have a crush on Biggo and Bagwell.
We actually go to all the MLB games within driving range of us-- I've been to stadiums of the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Tampa Bay... Crazy, huh???? Ha! My best friend is a Red Sox fan(she is from Boston) -so you know she is crazy too. There is a MLB farm team here -- the Tides-- they were the farm team for the NY Mets, then last year the Orioles acquired them. We go to those games a lot. The stadium is amazing, especially the open grilled pretzels that I can't eat anymore.
[You know, I was just thinking about how much I love the smell of a MLB park .]

Just got my friend hooked on collecting fiestaware-- I picked up a couple of colorful serving pieces to give her for her birthday in a couple of days. I think if I had any bare cupboard space in the kitchen I'd fill it up with more fiestaware-- can't resist and can't get enough. I wonder what kind of addiction that is??

The day here is bright and sunny, but very cold (for here). I am looking forward to a day of good food choices (I'm setting good intention )
Everyone, have a good low carb food day too.

Sherry

[Suji]

Hey Ev'bodie!

That's sounds way more cheerful and lively than I feel! :-) I am sooooo tired!
Carolyn, I really laughed at the comments your kids made when they thought you couldn't hear them. Oh ho!
Sherry- I don't live far outside of Baltimore. It's about 45 minutes by car. I guess I'm the outlier here. I like to *play* ball, I don't have as much fun watching it. I have to be *doing*, I guess. I find it hard to even watch TV without having a book open at the same time. But, I love when fans do tailgate parties!

We had our first real dusting of snow. It was localized since on my way east, there wasn't any to be seen. I took my camera, but the only pic I took was driving over the Susquehanna with me holding the camera to the window and hopefully getting a decent pic without looking!

So, the ride out was really rural and pretty for about 3/4 of the way. I got lost coming home and had to back track quite a few miles. Don't drive in an area you don't know when the sun is setting and you have no sunglasses! Aughhhh. Wrong turn!

There were quite a few people attending--I would say there were lots of senior citizens who had been doing the backyard growing for a while and a smattering of people in their 40's and 50's. There was coffee and donuts (rats!) and mixer time. I met some really nice people who I chit chatted with about their trees or fruit bushes or "stuff". I bought a couple of books on unusual backyard fruits to grow (like goumis and medlars, for example) and on pruning (the next workshop). They were selling solitary Bee houses which I may look into next meeting. Also picked up some freebie magazines and catalogs.

The three lectures were on chemicals to use on fruiting plants to combat diseases, fungus and bugs. Of course, being a person who prefers the organic as possible approach, this wasn't happy news but apparently it is very hard to grow top quality fruit (apples, peaches, pears, etc) without resorting to this stuff UNLESS you are willing to accept less than perfect fruit. (I am).

Next lecture was a fellow who is quite well known in horticulture apparently who discussed the oddball fruits which are also an answer to not having to use pesticides and chemicals since there is very little that attacks them.

Last talk covered weed free no till gardening. Apparently tilling up your soil isn't as good as once thought since it destroys the healthful and water percolating qualities of decent soil. Bad soil can be corrected from the top or raise the bed. He advocates cutting whatever is growing in the area you want to start a garden in as low as possible, put 4 layers of newspapers over the entire area, wet down and cover the surface with 2 inches of compost and plant in that or through the newspaper just enough to get your plant in the ground. Every year put another inch or so of compost on top. Never walk on the garden area, have a path of woodchips or some sort of mulch that you stand on. I already basically do this sort of approach or something similar (lasagna gardening and intensive gardening) as far as veggies go.

Yesterday, DH and I visited with my sister and her husband. We decided to go out to a steakhouse to eat. I may have erred in supposing the meatless chili had no flour in it for thickening and I think I had too many salad greens in my chicken salad (Ate the whole thing). SO I may not have done myself any favors in getting out of this stall by Monday. I was back to appropriately LC eating today though. Afterwards my sister made coffee and GOOD GAWD that must have been super caffeine charged cuz I swear I could not sleep. Girls I was WEANED on caffeine, and I don't know what fuel was in there! So, that's why I'm so tired right now after being awake and then up to use the bathroom 4 times in the night!!!

Have a nice Sunday! :-)

Sue

[PsychoLoser]

Sue, I will tell a friend of mine about the no-till/weed-free concept of gardening. It sounds appealing! He composts and probably could garden this way-- he told me the other day he is still harvesting vegetables from his garden in Jan! I wish I had your talent with gardening-- each time I have attempted to grow things, I get poor results then I get discouraged. I would love to grow tomatoes, but find my plants are scraggly or the fruit doesn't get big. I have been told many ways to remedy these problems, but I guess I don't have the time to devote consistently to the garden. I will have to depend on my friend to share his bounty!

I hear your frustration about the stall. I have not lost any weight but have been in ketosis. I researched possible problems that could explain this-- I am thinking that the occassional intake of "other" sugars (such as manitol & aspartane) my be the cause. This week I am pledging to stay away from Diet Coke and low carb candies -- I don't eat these much, but I understand that even a small amount can cause a stall.

I love my coffee like you do-- at work I sip a cup all day. I have to watch the cream carbs though. It's 11:48 pm now and believe it or not, I am drinking a cup of coffee. I seem to sleep alright no matter when I drink the stuff. Maybe it's because I mix decaf with regular? I just thought of how I have my kitchen decorated: in a coffee theme! I collect (there I go again collecting!) antique coffee cans and coffee pots and they are displayed everywhere. I like your idea of using freestanding cabinets in the kitchen-- I have seen that done and it's really different and creative.

Sunday is the beginning of banning "other" sugars!! Onward and upwards.....

Sherry

[Pam in TX]

Morning,

Yesterday was a yucky day.... a drizzley rain all day long....

Sherry, The visiting baseball stadiums is something we can relate to.... For a number of years we planned our family vacations so that we could attend a game at MLB stadiums.... As of 2004, we finished and have been to all of them, by going to Montreal.... It was a fun thing to do.... Ah "killer bees" have never been so good looking.... For christmas I found Astros Uno cards for my daughter.... Each of the cards has pictures of the team members.... I telll you that team is loaded with handsome guys.... DD went into morning when Bagwell announced his retirement earlier... and when Biggio retires, she will be a basket case...

Sue, those classes sound interesting.... Especially the no till one... will have to check into that... I have had a garden for a number of years... In our backyard, the soil isn't very deep before you hit solid rock.... and now since we are looking to probably move this summer I am not going to put alot of work into it....

Leslie, I understand how you feel about being excited to see your sister.... Last fall we had a birthday party for my grandma (she turned 100) and my sister and 2 of her 3 kids came.... It was the first time I had seen my sister in 3 years, my niece and nephew in about 5 years........

Did some cleaning around here yesterday.... Cleaned out the cabinets, drawers and linen closet in the main bathroom.... In order to get ready to move we are really clearing out some things.... We are taking a room a week and working on it.... This next week is our bedroom closet........ Went to the dollar store yesterday to get a bunch of plastic boxes to put all my shoes in.... Amazing how I wear the same size shoes but the boxes are all different sizes... At least this way all the boxes will be the same size... and since they are clear I can see what is inside... got 2 sizes, one for the shoes and a little larger size for my boots... This will also allow me to purge shoes that I no longer wear.... Alot of my older shoes are too big now.... since losing weight I now wear a smaller shoe...

Am hoping to take DH to look at a house I found.... There are some new ones going in not real far from my office and a coworker and I ventured over there at lunch one day a couple of weeks ago... I really liked one of the floor plans over there, not exactly the location we are looking at, but I want him see the floor plan.....

Hope everyone has a good day....

[Suji]

Morning Sherry!

If you don't have much time, why not try a couple of tomatoes in containers? And make them the easy to grow types that don't get really big? At my Westminster house, although it is a half acre, the house/parking area sits on 3/4 of the land. So, one of the things I do is container garden with both utilitarian looking and attractive containers. By utilitarian, I mean plastic bins that I drilled drainage holes in, filled with a custom bagged mix of choice for good drainage, some amendments, and plop the plants in. I have a stone retaining wall in the parking area with at least 8 huge plastic boxes (from Walmart) with 8 foot bamboo poles (3 each) on which I grew luscious pole beans (3 kinds) last year. I grow tomatoes on the steps. squash, cucumbers. peppers, melons and other veggies. I grow herbs in pots and have kiddy swimming pools full of whatever else I want to grow. In other words, you can do it! I also grow in the ground here on the periphery, and at the farm where I am lucky to have my friend staying there who looks after all the watering for me. He has kept the garden growing this year (in the leafy/bulbous veg department and is harvesting even now in PA). PArt of it is the much warmer temps,I'm sure.

THe 1/2 caffeine/decaf is working for me as I haven't had the horrid withdrawal headache. Now certain full caff seems to affect me like rocket fuel! I would like your kitchen, I'm sure. I have a farm theme showing in my display pieces (pictures of barns, roosters, cows. corn...) You get it, I think.
One of the things my sis and I like to do is go to the DC Big Flea(Antiques) held in 2 buildings several times a year. I picked up these old free standing cupboards (Hoosier type) from the '20s one year and they were stuck in storage or in the attic for many years until we "bought the farm" and it was a perfect place to put them. My next find (or puchase new) will be a farm table out there as we are using one of those enamel top tables with the single silverware drawer that came with the "hoosier" set as the table right now (seats 4).

Leslie--that is so great about your sister! How you must have missed her! (I should probably cut and paste people's quotes as I can't remember what was said. Scrolling back or down is so tiresome!)

I will be cheering when I get below 200! This sounds really weird when we're talking about getting into smaller sizes. I was able to wear my husband's blue jeans yesterday (we have the same inseam). They had been too tight across the belly and waist for me, but they were not at all binding. :-) Of course, the waist was a "40" so no huge cheers here about that, but at smallest I was a 34. I can count six inches down from that as a small hope to carry along. :-)

Sue

[PsychoLoser]

Good Sunday Morning Ladies,
It is bitter cold & sleeting here so I think I will stay inside and just clean. I also have paperwork from the office to catch up on. Cleaning is such a never ending job-- especially with 3 big dogs in the house. Its amazing how much dirt they cause-- dander and hair! It seems I'm always cleaning the baseboards-- not just at springcleaning time--UGH! Pam, I also put all of my shoes in clear shoe boxes in my closet. It is really nice because you can see all the shoes you have (I am embarrased to say how many I own), since out of sight tends to mean out of mind. I love organizing. I can create a system for almost anything...and do! My friends tease me about this.

OH- I've noticed that I lost a whole shoe size when I lost 65 pounds
Out of all the body parts we hope to see shrink, its not ususally our feet!! You figure that you'll need new clothes as the weight goes, but it's a weird thing to need new smaller shoes. But of course buying new shoes was a lot of fun. I think I also had a lot of fun buying new lingerie. I started this nutty thing of buying matching bras and underware (since I was buying them together) and have quite a collection now. It's fun to wear matching under garments. Of course I have them organized in drawers! Ha!

Pam, your family sounds like mine with the baseball fever. Its cool that you have gone to every MLB stadium, I thought I was doing good to go to 6-7. I certainly wish there was a MLB in/near my city so I could have season tickets.

Sue, I have tried to grow tomatoes in buckets on the deck. They still got real scraggly and didn't bear much fruit. I think you have the golden touch or a green thumb. You can grow vegetables ANYWHERE!! I can picture it in my mind now-- plants in swimming pools, palstic tubs, pots.... Haha. There is nothing like fresh vegetable in the summer. And they're mostly low carb.

Leslie, No weight loss in a couple of weeks too?? We need to stay on track and not get discouraged. Does this mean that you will go lower on the carb ladder? Atkins would probably interpret this to mean you should, becaue you are maintaining instead of losing. How many carbs have you been eating? I mentioned earlier that I need to stay away from "other sugars"-- do the people running your study discourage the intake of these?? Curious.

Have a good Sunday Ladies,
Toodles, Sherry

[PsychoLoser]

Where is everybody today? How are menus going?? I am off from work and have deep cleaning my kitchen. I took everything, and I mean everything, out of my pantry and and spice cabinet. Whew!! I scrubbed them and organized as I put it back. Took a load of stuff out for trash and donation. I have more room now! And it is sparkling...awwww...

I have reading about Kimkins. Anyone here now about it?? I'm thinking it may break my stall, but it seems hard to do. I am so accustomed to the high fat of Atkins. But I am still in Ketosis with no percievable weight loss on the scales. My clothes are somewhat looser, but I really want to see those darn numbers go lower. What do you all think about Kimkins?

Will check in later ladies, Sherry

[Suji]

Hey,
I'm here. This is overall house cleaning day for me, so I haven't spent much time on line. I have not weighed myself today yet, so I don't know if I'm still stalled but only registering bare trace of ketosis. That's a puzzler to me--must be my physiology or something.

How many days have you stalled, Sherry? The stickie on this site says 4 weeks is considered a stall but most interruptions don't last longer than 3 weeks. I am giving myself one more week-- (if I weigh in tomorrow and find out I haven't lost again. Too late to weigh in today.) BY then, I'll know if I need to do a fat fast and have the macadamias and cream cheese at the ready. :-)

It's dreary white out with snow still sticking to the ground, but not enough to hide the grass blades. Kids had a school delay of 2 hours in our district. There were deer browsing the hill outside our bedroom window last night at 2:30 am--I could see their tracks when I walked Carabeans this morning.

Kimikins method was developed by a member who experimented on herself and saw that going low cal and low fat worked *for her*. Others have concurred but it isn't truly LC in methodology. No Dr. test groups, patients or anything back it up. It does seem to work for some people who try it since she has some fanatical adherents. :-)

I have low energy today and its TOM so I don't feel like doing much at all that I ought to like exercising. Fooey.

I *did* buy myself two red hats yesterday--one is a bright red 20's style flapper cloche and the other looks like the hat on the Carly Simon "No Secrets" album cover. I think it would be WAY fun to develop period costumes to go with the hats and was talking to my sister about that. SOme sort of 20's floral dress with the LONG beads--think Daisy in The Great Gatsby movie...

It is my oldest's son's birthday this week (24) and I have the Fiber Guild Meeting at the museum on WEdnesday and the Red Hat tea on Saturday. There was a Martha Sorta WantaBe meeting in Frederick on Thursday which I may attend. And I still need to get out to the farm and finish with the windows and plaster repair. Whooweee.

Talk to you all later!

Hugs, Sue

[Dreamcometru]

I thought I would wait to post til after my weigh in tomorrow, but that's sooo long.

So Sherry, you haven't lost anything either for a while. We all must have hit the wall. I'm hoping I'm down tomorrow. TOM came today. I knew it would because Saturday I wanted to eat everything in sight. Not so bad yesterday though. Now maybe I will see a loss.

You asked me about the artificial sweetners we are allowed in the study. Splenda is it. We are allowed two diet sodas a day though. Go figure. But they prefer we drink the kind sweetened with Splenda. I don't drink any diet soda because I'm afraid it will keep me from losing (so I've heard). I have found this mousse stuff that's sweetened with splenda. You can get it in the baking section by the jello at most grocery stores. It has more carbs than we should have because it calls for milk, so I either make it with half and half or heavy cream. Oh it's so good. They said no to the LC candies. I did make LC fudge though. I'm still eating off the same batch I made at Christmas. It goes a long way.

I did reduce my carbs slightly. I'm not supposed to, but I want to keep losing. I average around 27 a day. By now the group is up to 35 to 40. I may be scolded when we report on Tuesday. I will let you all know what happens at the "weigh in."

Sue, congrats on the red hats. Aren't they awesome. Also, congrats on the blue jeans. The smaller size really is a boost. My clothes are fitting looser, but the lbs don't seem to want to come off. I can't imagine being below 200. I haven't been in over 20 years. I'm so close to the 220's. One step at a time.

Here it's beautiful. I walked the golf course twice yesterday. That's 70 minutes. My walking partner wanted to step it up a little so we did.

I just got back from my lunch hour walk today. I had to shed my coat.

Pam - good job on the cleaning out. My first goal is my bathroom. Now that I'm not sharing it with three kids, I can move my own stuff back in. When my girls were in middle school, their friends would come over and they would get into my makeup and stuff. I would get so frustrated, so I moved everything into a shoe box and kept it in my room so they couldn't get to it. The shoebox was off limits to everyone. Well, I'm ready to move the contents of my shoebox back into the bathroom. I need to get all their hair gels and other misc. stuff out of there first. I did clean my coat closet a little. It needs more work though. When I get to my daughter's scrap book, lots of cleaning will go hand in hand. Oh, the shoe size thing, it's true. I just bought a pair that was a half size smaller than what I usually wear. Weird, huh?

Have a great rest of the day ladies.

[sleepysue07]

Hello Everybody,
It's late and I thought I would drop in before going to bed. You are all doing so much cleaning. You had better stop because you are making me look bad. With all of the bad weather I have had gangs of teenagers (who don't belong to me) camping out in the other end of my house. From day to day I lose track of who is here. I have two extras spending the night now, and it is a school night.

Sue I love the idea of the red hat club. I love hats! I just wish that more people wore them. My friend Pam hosted a tea party last Spring, and her invitation instructed us to dress accordingly. Everyone dressed in hats and gloves, pretty flowing dresses, and most wore pearls. It was really fun, and I have one of the photos as my screen saver. Recently she hosted a five course "Mystery Luncheon" which was really fun too. Smaller portions at timed intervals cause you to feel satisfied much earlier. Who knew?

Okay, I am really becoming frustrated because not only am I not losing, I have gained another pound! I'm still keeping my carbs under twenty, so I don't understand. Do you think it's possible that the saltines I had when I was sick and eating nothing else for three days could have anything to do with it?

Sue, tell me about the fast you spoke of. Maybe I need to do this.

Well, I was passing by the cosmetics counter in Macy's today, and I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror as I was walking past. Had I been wearing a feather boa, and heavy blue eye-shadow, I'd have been a dead ringer for "Miss Piggy." I kid you not! I was mortified. Talk about motivation.

Oh well, I'm off to bed now.

I'll check in tomorrrow.

Carolyn

[Pam in TX]

Morning All,

Yesterday was a nice day, cool but at least it was dry.... Supposed to have more rain all week....

Made it to CURVES last night with a coworker.... a couple more are going by there today to check it out...

Did ok on the eating.... Had some pecans last night (wanted a snack)... Drank about 90 ounces of water....

I am not losing right now either.... Haven't really been trying hard either.... I have been more in a maintenance mode.... Need to drop back down into induction and get to losing again.....

Sherry, ran out of shoe boxes.... have to go get more... and I have cleared out some shoes.... These boxes do take up more room on the shelves... So I am having to rearrange more.... Rearranging helps to clear out also.... I need to do the pantry (both of them)....

Carolyn, know what you mean about teens being around.... Our house was the hangout house when our kids were in HS.... Sometimes I miss that... In fact a week or so before Christmas, one evening DH and I were watching some tv and there was a knock at the door... It was a couple of DS's friends from HS home from college stopping by to say hi...... talk about making you feel good.... They know DS doesn't live here, so that meant they came to see us....

Sue, red hat club!!! Sometimes when I am out and about will see a group having lunch together.... they are sooo cute... in their little hats and stuff... You are definitely one busy lady..... Congrats on getting into those jeans....

Leslie, I understand about the "sharing" issues.... My DD and I are in the same size clothes and the other day I noticed that she had on one of my tops... It has never been an issue before.... Not sure I like it either...

Well, need to get busy..... Have a wonderful day everyone.....

[Suji]

Hi Friends! :-)
Well, STILL no budge in that d*m* dial. Sigh. I have moved to decaf and then I'm going to eliminate all dairy over the week.

Today I need to look for something purple to wear--maybe some sort of scarf wrap will do since purple isn't exactly an easy color to find right now-especially not in *my* size.

You shoe collectors! I have never been able to do that since the pretty shoes don't go up to my size 10-11's! Not to mention the sheer space that lots of shoes that size would take up! Any shoe that is beautiful starts to look different when you go up in the numbers--the proportions are off. I used to feel quite embarrassed about my foot size when I was a teen--now I just kind of shrug since, what can you do?

It's the fat fast that Atkins discusses, Carolyn. Recall the "macadamia nuts"? The "cream cheese feedings"? Eeeeew.That sounds like such gross terminology! Kind of like a slug being fed by hand! Eeeew again! If I get to an official stall (next Monday-week 4), that's what I'll be doing for 3 days (Mon-Wed).

My DH got a labeler. SO I wake up and see that he's stuck a label on the coffee pot "Kurt loves Sue". (Oh heart heart heart....! :-)) Nice use for it. Haha.

I have my pet chicken sitting on my foot talking to me. She's quite a funny little thing.

TTFN!
Sue

[sleepysue07]

Oh Sue, what a sweet hubby you have! Mine just phoned from work saying that he is feeling sick and coming home. Don't feel bad about your shoe size. My sister was tall too and she also wore a 10. I wear an 8 1/2, and sometimes a 9 and I'm only 5' 6". Okay, about your little pet chicken. What breed of chicken is she? We used to have chickens and the only one that would allow us to get close to her was a little Rhode Island Red hen. She was so cute!

Well I am finally down again by two pounds. I don't know what was going on with me. Do you think that Caffeine Free Diet Coke could be the problem? I cannot find my Atkins book anywhere these days. I think I may have loaned it to someone. I need to run into town and pick up another one I guess.

Pam, you and your husband must be special to those kids who visited you, that really says a lot about your hospitality. My friends and ex-boyfriends also visited my parents after I left home. We have lived in this little community since our kids were very small so they have made a lot of good friends here. Now that they all drive it's not uncommon for us to have a house full on any given day. I know that they will be gone soon enough so I like having them at home with their friends and girlfriends.

Well I have to clean! My girlfriends are going out to dinner on Friday night for a birthday and have asked to come back to my house afterward. Oh my, with all of the rain we've had and the kids and dogs tracking mud in and out I need to shampoo the carpet. What fun!

Have a good day ladies.

[Suji]

I've got to get of the "Net and get to my chores too! :-)

She's a Columbian Cochin bantam. Cochin bantams are very good for 4Hers as they are quite "pet quality".