E2E......The Start

Thanks to Mir a new challenge begins.......

I was not as good this Christmas as last.....I ate more,  had a little more chocolate, a little more desert,  and a lot more salt.   I bought olives for the nibbles on Wed,  and I've been eating left over stuffing....with gravy.

Its time to stop!

Weight.....249(it was 245 sun morn)

Waist.....50 inches(i'm an apple these days)

Cal....1400(av across the week and will be tracked on my fittness pal)

Fluids.....12(96 oz)

Ex.....30min 3xwk(stationary bike)

Books.....Procrastination equation by Piers Steel and I have ordered 2 books on Vitamins/etc......these are medical books and I'll look them over when they get here(the one I really wanted is on back order) and will add there names if I'm going to post info from them.

My goal......235(which is 60 pounds lost and where I was before getting sick last June)

I am committed to this and I will NOT quit.

I think my quote needs to be reinforcement for me......."I CAN (do this)"........to this I may want to add a weekly thought about anything that giving me problems at that time.....such as.....I CAN track every day.  Notice what i think is going to be the habit that i have lost that I think will be the most important thing I can do to get on track again.

I think I have everything in here but my outfit....I have a deep plum XL outfit in my closet that I want to wear next May.....I was wearing other outfits like this but those pants had been worn and the elastic waist stretched out some.....this waistband measures 32 inches and felt like it would have to be torn to fit so the picture is of the outfit not on me....yes it will stretch but not 20 inches so we will have to see how this goes.

Looking forward to reading and commenting on everyones blogs.

Tobi(lv2)

What a week

Crazy, busy week .....made worse by getting sick.  Sat my younger son and I shopped, shopped, shopped.....between getting everything and getting it done by the 6pm closing deadline....it started the crazy.  Sunday,  I wanted to sleep in,  but got up and started cooking as we were again on a timetable as we had Thunder tickets(basketball) and of course the turkey has to go in by 8am if it is coming out in time to eat and make the game.  It was a lovely Thanksgiving dinner....enjoyed on Christmas.  Waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of the ham baking is always so neat,  its a tossup as to whether I'd rather smell that or pumpkin bread baking when awakening.  The Thunder won their opening night game and I went to sleep feeling great.........

.........Only to awake at 6am to fever and chills and feeling bad.......by 9 it was pretty obvious that our Holiday dinner with friends was not to be.  I spent a miserable day in bed...but by 9pm the fever was gone and while I felt like something the cat dragged in, I made it to work on Tues and out to dinner for my spouses birthday with the kids that night.

Wed was spent cooking, wrapping, and getting things together for the rescheduled Holiday party.  A good time was had by all.......the only problem was the work end of the year stuff that I was supposed to do that day are still getting done.

Today felt like i was on a treadmill at work all day, you would think it was the last day of the year or something from the phone calls and faxes and people....uh maybe it is since we are closed tomorrow.  Will have to finish some stuff in the morning that is left from Wed, but i am off this weekend and we are headed out of town tomorrow afternoon to go see Blake Shelton  and then on sat Maroon 5.  My kids turned down going and will be home and out with their friends.  But usually we go out to dinner these 2 nights and I really didn't want to plan this weekend around that.  yes we will be eating out but it will be a lot less "fancy" and should therefore be less interesting and i hope easier to be good......also I can get in some exercise i hope.

I finally got a chance to get on this computer tonight and found that I am ready to go on E2E.  I'm planning to get that post up in the am before i get to work on work stuff if possible....and I should be able to get online while dh watches bowl games this weekend and catch up on everyone.

What a week, hopefully a more restful weekend and I'm looking forward to progress.

Oh yes there was one funny thing that happened due to a year of weight watching.  I always make homemade rolls, and bread for TK and Christmas......so i get everything out to do so on Sunday......and no yeast.  Now I always have yeast...its a pantry staple for me....but I haven't baked in a year.  The nearest yeast on Sunday was 32 miles away......no homemade rolls/bread this year.

Getting close to Christmas

It's getting close....I'm wrapping presents and refining the shopping list for the last of the things we need to get tomorrow.  Cooking starts tomorrow evening for our Thanksgiving on Christmas dinner.  I'm on call today and the pager has been busy...time to go answer it again.

CDCC ....The Final part2

I got the pictures into part 1...but than it wouldn't let my type below them so I labelled that part1 and will finish here....so read part1 before reading this pls.

SUPPORT....yes caps on purpose....the best part of these was all the support I got from you all and also the info and motivation i got reading your blogs.  I tried to get to you guys when I was at home and hat Internet but know that i wasn't as good as i should have been.  Mir, Angela, Julie, Betty, Up, .......thanks so much.  Julie I got tired just reading your blog.

books  I should have reversed by reading as I procrastinated so much I never finished wheat belly.  Now I have to read about diet, etc for work at times and am currently exploring some vit and fish oil reading that is causing me to try to restart some items and change others. Anne @ Carb Tripperhttp://carbtripper.blogspot.com/ has some interesting info on Omega3 vs Omega6 that I am exploring. 

Thanks to everyone and I hope everyone has a great holiday season and that we keep up with each other....smaller in the new year!

CDCC ....The Final part1

Well it's the Final...Did I Pass or Fail?

I didn't get honors but overall I feel that I passed.  I did better on some parts than on others, and life got in the way...some.  I not one of those people that says I will never eat another french fry, or that i will never go out to eat a special meal....what I have worked at doing is to change my day to day eating and decrease how much I eat when we go out special and to make different choices.  The Rangers making the World Series messed me up some , but nothing like last year...which was before i started and a lot of what pushed me to get started.  I was way out of control and overall i have done well.  Getting sick derailed me again some and the CDCC helped me get it back under control.....a lot.  With all the things we have done between Sept and now i believe I would have put on 20 or 25 pounds without this challenge.  I did regain 5 pounds over TK week while visiting my kids but in the past that kind of week might have been 15-20 pounds.

Now on to each part...

weight I started at 248...got down to 240...went back up to 245...and end today at 243......for a net weight loss of 5 pounds(and a total weight loss of 52 pounds)

food I planned on 1400-1600 and made that a lot of days but I too found that I don't really lose at that amount....I did find that I'm not tolerating less cal well, actually feel best at about 1600 and may have to work on my exercise more.

exercise I planned on 3 times a week and managed it only some weeks,  I'm having ankle, knee, and hip problems and I think I will have to try to get back to my stationary bike as trying to walk is not working.  Also I need to start moving more in general....I've written about what getting sick did to me in terms of trying to be still before.

fluids I now find 8 glasses easy to do,  did 12-16 most days...unless we were traveling.

dress I bought a new outfit and did wear it but it never really got to fitting and I didn't use it for what I planned to.....but I did fit into something else......so my challenge outfit......which by the way is
pants size 14
top size large
jacket size xl

      

Tis the Season

Tis the Season ....for food.  Almost every day  something I shouldn't eat shows up at the office.  Sometimes it goes into the freezer, sometimes it goes next door, sometimes it goes home with one of us,  but mostly it is not going into me.  It's hard not to at least have a little of the homemade goodies, easier to avoid the store bought items even if they are something I like.  I know that I will eat a piece of 2 things when they show up......I'd like to say I wouldn't but they are so special that just having a taste and passing on the rest is major work. 

Tis the season ...... for friends and family.  Much lower cal options and I'm looking forward to the time spent with them.  Fruit and Veggie trays will be part of the snacks.......makes it easier to avoid the chips and dips.  Doing mini sandwiches instead of pizza makes it easier to leave off the bread.  Now I just need a low cal recipe for jelly donuts and cupcakes.

Tis the season.......for giving.  Don't forget that even a little helps(if you can afford it) and that if you have no money but have time volunteers are needed.

CDCC

It was a pretty normal week for the first time in a while.  I worked a normal schedule and ate mostly at home....and I had shopped.  The result was better on my things to do.

weight 244 which is down a pound.

fluids were good,  more than 8 glasses a day at least and the increased bathroom visits that go along with it.

exercise  walked 3 days, as much as my knee and ankle would allow

reading  I've actually been  reading about vitamins this week.  AOL had an article and I realized that I stopped my vits when i got sick as along with so many other things i couldn't tolerate them and I've never restarted them.  I realized that I really need to get my mega B started as it helps with carb usage and also my Ca and D.  I felt better last year and think that my Vits may have made the difference.

support  I read everyones blog and commented on everyone(i think) at some time during the week.  Checked most everyone 3 times.

My blog I went back and reread some of my blog so that I can work on getting back to what was working for me before.

having a good day...looking forward to a good week and I plan to post the poorly fitting out fit and will put back on the NSV outfit this week and grab a picture for next week.

NSV

Every year a museum in our town has a fund raiser for its educational programs....we try to go, as its fun as well as for a good cause.  It has gotten fancier over the years and as I have been able to wear stuff that I hadn't I decided to look in my closet for something....I got out 2 outfits and did my nails to match either.  Friday I did my make up(don't usually wear any) and then tried on the first....it was way big(going on the give away pile).  The second was an outfit I wore to a family event 4 or 5 years ago and it was  tight then.   The top fit fine and the pants were lose......wore it.  So i guess I should try on some of the other older clothes in my closet and see what needs to be given away, what can be worn now, and organize the too small things for future tries.  My younger son is into fashion and maybe i can get him to help...or is help from a kid wishful thinking.  Wish I had a picture,  I thought I looked pretty good but my spouse didn't say anything until Sat so I didn't ask him to take a pic on Fri.  Men!

CDCC

I redid the post...but its linking to this......

CDCC

We were gone over Thanksgiving week.  It was very nice but not at all on program.  In addition it was salty and I flew.  I weighed when we got back and I was up 10 pounds.....I haven't been as good as I should have been this week, but I have been better than when gone and I weighed this morning and I'm still up 5 pounds...but it is better than earlier in the week.  Part of the reason I wasn't good this week had to do with some Christmas activities that I wasn't mentally prepared for this week.  We also ate was in the house and it wasn't good enough.  Last night after the football game we went out shopping and I now have fresh fruit and veggies and cottage cheese and eggs, egg beaters and other things I use.  Eating the left-over bagels in the freezer was silly, but i did it.

Weight 245....up 5 pounds or down 5 pounds depending how you look at it.

Exercise....no

Reading .....no

Support...no

but I will be better this week.

CDCC

No weigh in today.  Will update this week.

I attempted to edit this post, however it got eaten by  blogger......that happened again with a long post I wrote this week...and then when I tried to redo it it wouldn't do anything right.  We were in calif for a long thanksgiving week with our kids.  My boys had a bunch of places they wanted to take me to eat and a bunch they were waiting for us to take them to.  We kept our meals to a brunch and a dinner and didn't snack....but even though I tried to limit breads and sweets the overall amount of food I ate was too much.  Also flying always bloats me....I weighed the morning of our flight and again the next morning in calif...and even though my eating was good that day, i gained 4 pounds.  I weighed daily and gained 4 more pounds by the weekend and the day after we got home.....showed a 10 pound gain!  At least part of that was water as it disappeared over this week......but it was a crazy week at work and with activities.  Then I thought we were going out with friends to a fairly healthy place and they changed it to a hot dog place.  between that, the gala, another dinner out and eating what was in the house I was not as good as I should have been.
Walked as much as I could and started picking up my fluids but not at goal.  I'm having to do some catch up reading for work and therefore won't have time for my books.....but its looking like exercise may be more important than weight......though I think that both are important.

Hope blogger likes this info better.

CDCC

Can't weigh today.  I'm at my son's for Thanksgiving.  It's going to be a busy week, we had planned some outside activities but  it's been raining all day...hope it doesn't all week.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving all

CDCC

Weighed Thur morn as we were at a meeting this weekend.  Was the same then.  Some of the meeting was good some boring.  There was a concert by Zac Brown Band just a few blocks away from the hotel....so we decided to go.  had to get floor....I haven't stood thru a concert in years....almost didn't make it. Does it count as exercise?......just kidding.  But after sitting all day it didn't seem like a bad idea until about 2 hours into it.  Enjoyed the concert. 


Weight 240

Hope everyone had/has a good week.

CDCC

Slightly better this week.  I'm down a pound.  But no matter what happens in weight land it becomes less important than other things.  Trisha's husband posted that she had to have an emergency MRV and is now in the hospital.  I'm hoping for the best for her......her life as well as her weight loss makes me feel bad when I am disappointed that I haven't lost.  Hopefully she will be out next week and feeling better.

Weight 240

lost one pound

fluids good

ex and book  not so good

I'll be checking on you all

CDCC

The scale is not moving....but then again neither am I.  I was pretty good on food....eyeballed in Dallas and measured when home.  Followed the plan pretty close and drank my fluids since we got back.  But I didn't exercise....too much sitting.....in the car, at games, in front of the TV, and even in front of the computer trying to catch up a little.  I have work stuff to catch up on today but I intend to get up and walk for some breaks and will make sure to wear my pedometer this week.

weight the same 241

Have a good Halloween.....don't eat the candy!

CDCC

Quick again as I'm in Dallas again.  Our team lost yesterday...try again today.

weigh in was better this week

241


I read most everyones and did comment.

Hope for a good week for everyone.

Doing better

I have been eating better and weighing and measuring for my calorie counts.  The clothes fit pretty good for the wedding... I'm hoping that they fit even better the next time I wear them. Not much to say tonight . Have a good week.

CDCC

I tried eyeballing my food last week.........not my best idea.  We're in Dallas for a family wedding.....but as soon as I get home the scale and measuring cups come out.  The result was that I did not meet mt goal this week.  I and only i can fix this and I will be working on it this week.

Weight 243

Up one pound

Hope the rest of you did better last week

Tobi

Playoff Baseball

Almost one year ago I went to a playoff game between the Texas Rangers and the Ney York Yankees.  It was a great game and I had lots of junk(peanuts,  nachos,  garlic fries,  beer,  margaritas, & more).  Getting home the next day i felt so bloated and when I got on the scale the next AM my weight was 295.....almost 300 pounds(if I weighed sun night I might have been 300+).  It was the day that I realized I had to do something....not just for a little while but for life.  There have been days I fall off the wagon some, and times(like when I was sick this summer) when I can't eat and hydrate like I should but my day to day eating is very different now.  I usually don't eat salad dressing unless It's at home and I measure it and even then I often don't bother with it,  I eat less in general and if I'm hungry I try to drink or eat vegies, SF jello, or fruit rather than bread, cake, or candy.  I'm not perfect like some people are but I'm different and sitting at this years playoff game Monday between the Rangers and the Tigers I thought about it.

On Sunday I went shopping with a friend for a while and came home to have my dh say......tonights playoff game has been postponed due to ran to tomorrow afternoon and the tickets are cheaper, so I thought we might go.  We have a wedding in Dallas this coming weekend so he had decided we wouldn't go to a playoff game.  After discussing it over the next few hours(and watching the prices rise) it was decided to go.  Tickets were bought online and Monday at 9am off we went.  I wore the XL womans shirt I bought  at a game earlier this year....still a little tight but wearable.  Sitting in my seat I Thought about how much more room I had than last year(and I hope to be at a playoff game with even more room next year).  My Junk food this year.....2 large diet cokes and 3 hard pretzel rods in the extra innings when my anxiety was high and I was hungry(about 100cal for all 3).  We met a friend for dinner......I passed on wine and dessert this year....had a salad, chicken pomodoro with a little pasta, and more diet coke.......last year I had a dish with fried chicken in a creamy sauce, wine, and cheesecake, garlic bread....after all the junk at the game.  We got home about 2am.....my feet were a little swollen from all that sitting.  My weight today 243...which it was on Mon am also.  On Sat and Sun it was 242.....I followed my plan and in fact Sundays plan was just a little over 1000 cal and yet monday am I was 243......I'm following my plan and will see what it is on Fri.

Next Monday is Oct 17 2011,  which will be a year from when I started and I will have lost 50 pounds.  To me that is a major cause to celebrate.......with some new nail polish,  the Hawaii 5-0 DVD and maybe some CD's I want.......I will admit in the past it would have been a trip to a favorite restaurant or a lemon crunch cake.  I still have to finish losing what I gained when I was sick, but I know I will do it and I plan to have even more room in that seat at next years playoff game. 

CDCC

I've been trying all week....on tues morn the scale looked good (241) and I thought wow,  I'll make 240 by sat easy.......ha.  On thur it said 243 again and barely made it to 242 today.  I'd like to blame it on eating the whole watermelon I cut up on Wed(it was great) but since that was all my fruit  it was probably ok....I had bought some peaches, etc but they weren't good and I passed them to my dh who is the leftover king.  I even made a point of doing my exercise.  My mini goal is to be 240 by next fri when we leave for the wedding.....I thought I had it made this week,  but didn't.....but can still make it by Fri(i hope).

weight 242

loss one pound

food tracked 6/7

fluids good 7/7

exercise  done...3/7

reading   some

support  some...sorry but I've had to do some catch up for work and didn't get to everyone this week and am behind on blogs....I'll be better this week.

I think I'm going to find my NS Leslie walk DVD and try to use it this week.....I also have a good walk DVD with  Bob Harper and I should probably find it too.

Will see how everyone else did.....I promise.

CDCC Dallas

Another week done...and I'm not sure if I'm wiser and I know I'm not wealthier,  but I am weight-less.  I was good this week, except for probably wed.  My younger son had time off this week and decided to come home....however there are fare wars bet LA/Dal and therefore it was much cheaper for him to fly into/out of there. Also he had friends to visit with and a ride back with friends......so after considering how to get him home from there....I drove down on wed.  It was my first long drive by me since getting sick....not too bad. Got him and went out to eat...we shared and my devil was saying look at those great cakes and cookies, and Mir and Allan were saying remember healthy eating and weigh-ins...... I did not track that day but did the rest of the week.  Also stopped at Central Market to pick up some more produce and got home to see that we can have some extra fruit and vegies,  if needed which will help me as I have been struggling with my food plan some days. Would have bought more apples if I had know this....as i calc how many I needed.  I bought a peach....at the moment it might work as a kettle ball....hope it ripens so that I can eat it.  Tired by time we got home....it didn't used to bother me to go down and back....but getting old.  By the way, no dessert.

weight  243....down 2

fluids  6/7.....

cal 6/7....tracked and under...wed?

reading....no

ex....done....walked 3X this week

That's it for now ...hope everyone else has had a good week.

nails

my favorite splatter manicure
pls do not enlarge.........
my first picture uploaded to my blog
with my younger son's help...
I took notes...so hopefully there will be more

My Fit.... Pal

Well...I kinda like this for tracking...esp since i could figure out my salad once and then just check it for the rest of the days...and since I tend to eat a lot of the same things,  once found and checked its easy to re add.  But i don't like that it decides how many cal I should eat and it keeps telling me that I'm not eating enough...when I know I am.  Followed my plan and as of now I have 999 cal entered.  I feel full and am blogging rather than late night snacking.....I saved my snack for after Hawaii 5-0 and that worked fine...so far.  The other problem is that there is no way to put the number of steps in the exercise log...I have to put the steps as min.....lots of min.  I just got off the phone ...paced as I talked and am at 5190 for the day.....86 hours in a 24 hour day spent walking.   Oh well will cont with it for a while and see how it goes.  The only other problem is that sometimes people put funny cal amts in for things and they are wrong.  I know what a lot of my cal cts should be so find a different one if its not right, and check with calking if it's something i don't know.  I like how cal king gives you options on sizes and uses oz as i do like to weigh most things......my small apple may not be yours.  Two days down and hope it will become a habit to eat at 1200 like it was last spring.

comments

I am blown away. 16 comments....it makes me want to do the right thing just so I don't disappoint  you all.  I was real good on cal today...trying to get ready for the shift to 1200 max that starts tomorrow.  Read lots of blogs today, but not my challenge reading.  Tried on some clothes that i will blog about another day, as I still have some more to try on .  Found my pedometer and wore it shopping this evening....walked around walmart for 30 min and did 2800 steps.....a step in the right direction.  First time i have used since June.  Will try to remember to start wearing it daily again.  I probably need one to leave at work and one for home...like my reading glasses.  Time for bed. No midnight snacks tonight.

CDCC

It was actually a pretty good week.  I was under most days over one and I tossed the rest of the food that was giving me a problem.  Even a basically healthy low cal food is no good if one portion triggers 3 more and that is what happened....at midnight no less.  So sf jello and rediwhip is again going to be the late night food of choice.  Exercise is still my week point,   but I did walk some at lunchtime this week....just not enough and not as often as I should....so that needs to be improved.  Now the weight today is not as good as i would like.....however it was better yesterday and I was really good on my liquids....but kinda of late as I was up and I also used herring for my dinner.....so I suspect it is some water and will be gone by next week.

weight 245 (loss of 1)

fluids at least 120oz every day

cal wk goal made,  goal made 6/7 days

reading to be done

ex goal not met

Hope everyone else had a good week

apples

Up mentioned honeycrisp apples.....they are what I actually bought. I had one last night and it was good.  The other apples I bought were Sansa....I don't know anything about these but these were the 2 types of new crop apples that they had.  We used to go to Kansas City every fall and pick apples.....then would can them and eat them.  After we stopped doing that,  I ate fewer apples due to disliking the mushy texture of most apples....its from storage....they are fine for pies and baked apples and hiding under peanut butter but not just for eating.  Now I buy fresh apples at central market in the fall to winter usually and then quit eating them when i think they are too old.

central groc

central groc is my favorite store to shop in.  Got lots of nice vegies....for some reason i haven't been able to find fresh radishes where i usually shop....got some cute Easter egg ones and 2 bunches of good looking reg, brocolini,  broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc.  Got some new crop apples but they didn't have any jazz in yet.  Also got a nice selection of dark choc.....I got a mix of %....so while some are not quite as good i will be able to choose based on craving.  I picked up rubbed and marinated chicken breasts and pork lion and some fish and shrimp.  Found a few new low cal dressing to try and bought a bag of the beanitos to try.  Also had some grilled salmon before we drove home and finished it for lunch today.

I've been good on my fluids, over 100oz daily incl today.  I have a doctors appt on Fri the 30th and will have my lab done before going.....more lab than usual as she want to check some inflammatory markers and my thyroid also.  I'm trying to walk a little more and will see what she says on exercise.  This past weekend was the most active i have been since June and it did wear me out.  I've taken it easy today to try and not feel so draggy.  Deconditioning is the pits....i had gotten more active and was able to do more until getting sick...but can hopefully start again.

Hope everyone else is having a good week......lets get into our clothes!

cdcc

hi all

wt  246

loss  2

 ex  bleh

fluids good until tx...driving and fluids don't mix well for me

cal pretty good but more carbs some days than i want

reading  waiting for books to come

support  i think i got to almost everyone....one person i kept getting sent back on

we're be going shopping today to restock on healthy foods......i'll try not to buy unhealthy things but think that i will pick up some dk chocolate for my choc craving.

tobi

Tx

Hope everyone is doing well in the challenge.  Shopping yesterday went  well.  I was wearing a top in 3X and bought the same top in 1X and it wasn't even tight.  Yah!!  Tried on clothes that varied in size from L to 2X....got pants and a top in 14(remember that in general more expensive stuff runs bigger).  The jacket sort of thing I got to go over it is a 1X.   Also ordered shoes, the outfit is black and they only had my size in beige, got some neat gloves that are compatible with using my I phone with them on....great invention....I would have bought every color if they weren't so expensive.  Got a wrap to go over it all in case its cool.  This took so long I never got to look for a dress...so I'll probably be shopping in my closet for something too small...though we may do a little more shopping today.  We are going for lunch soon and then nail polish shopping.  I was good at dinner last night...meat and salad.  That's it for now.

25 y/o's are not invincible

It's been a long day.  Attended the funeral of a 25 y/o that drowned at the lake over the holiday weekend.  His dad and my dh have worked together for 30 years and I was his soccer coach when he was 9.  A funny always smiling kid/man who will be missed. Had bad dreams last night and couldn't sleep.  Probably ate too many carbs at lunch today but my stomach was in knots all morning.  Will concentrate on protein and vegies for dinner.

CDCC-Time to Do Something

Well....it's time to do something......and as I did well with last winters challenges,  I decided to join Mir's.  A lot has happened to me this summer.  Due to ATT trying to install new lines we have had off and on phone and internet.  Getting sick wasn't like the usual illnesses I've had in the past......it lingered and I'm still not back to baseline. I still have to be careful how i move and therefore lots of exercise moves can not be done....will i ever be able to do them....no one knows, but it's time to do something.

Starting weight:  248

This is about 15 pounds more than in June, but for the steroids, lack of movement, change in what I could eat, and no tracking...I'll take it( I did it,  no one else made me eat the food...)

Dress:  We are going to Dallas next weekend and I have decided to look for something there.  I have things that are too small in my closet and can pick from there if I don't find something but as I'm currently wearing XL-3X it's hard to guess what size to get without trying it on.  I have some tight XL's in my closet that I look forward to wearing again,  but it's always nice to have a reason to go shopping.

Book: I've decided to read Wheat Belly and as I am the Queen of Procrastination I'm going to get Procrastination Equation also.......for example....it's taken me 2 mo to put up a post and I've been meaning to for at least 1.

Cal: 1400-1600.  My doc wants me to eat more cal since getting sick,  so I'll set the top at the 1600 she suggested and see how it goes.  I still tire easily but feel better  on days I eat less carbs so I think I will go back to the 1200 plan that was working so well for me but with a little more cal.  It actually used a lot of Laryssa's tips for broth to start the meal and small plates, but I skipped the chopsticks as I'm pretty good with them and they don't really slow down my eating......I actually do best on eating slowly if I read blogs when I eat...so I'll be reading with dinner daily.

Exercise: I'm going to be walking inside my house and will put my pedometer back on and hope to add my stationary bike.  I also bought Zumba for the Wii but will have to wait to try it. Plan is to walk 10 min every evening and aim for 3000 steps/day.

Fluids: 12-8oz glasses to start...I'd like to do 20=160oz, but have to wait to my next doctor appt/lab for that.

Now if I can just get the linky to work all will be good.

Thanks Mir and Angela

Nails

Well i didn't like OPI  Illuminate that well.  The polish was runny and really needed clean-up..which I tried to do with an opi clean-up stick and it really didn't work well.  I usually use q-tips that i have stripped of some of their cotton and then a brush ...if I'm feeling fussy and able to.  Having cut my left hand when i was 17,  it isn't that agile and some days i just can't manage cleanup. Since all the washing of my hands i do at work gets rid of any polish on my skin in a few hours i don't worry about it a lot of the time.  It is a good work color and I'll probably wear it again but not for
a while.
I actually want some gold glitter to put under some shatter but don't have any and what shows up but Disco doll(?) so I'll be waiting for that unless i find some i like as well before that Nicole line is available.
So instead I watch the baseball game and put on OPI  Ink and topped it with Nicole Step 2 the beat of my Heart.  I didn't place any hearts on my thumbs by choice and the rest are pretty random and looking them over I like the nails that got 2 or 3 the best .....so next time I'll try to control that.  The base of step has tiny blue glitter in it and i like the way that looks on top of the dark purple shimmer of Ink.  I also don't like the silver heart but that may be the result of my choice of base.  This is a fun polish and I'm probably too old for it but my nails feel cheerful with this combo so I'm going to leave it for a few days.  This has 2 layers of bottom coat and 2 layers of top coat, you can still feel the hearts but it is smooth enough not to catch on anything.
Have a cheerful polish day.

Nails

I currently have what is my all time favorite combo on my nails.  I lved  PolishAholic splatter technique and ended up doing red white and blue splatter for the 4th.......then i took it off and did american apparel factory grey for the base 2 coats with some OPI  lucky lucky lavender and OPI do you lilac it? for splatter using coffee stirrers rather than straws and topping with seche vite.  They look great and lasted well all week.  My nails are as long now as i can manage them at work so I'll have to keep the length down.....they usually break and then i take them all down and let them grow again....so will see how it looks when i get the polish off.  I have been so in love with OPI DS opulence that i bought illuminate, glow, extravagance, and jewel but have yet to use one and tonight's the night.  jewel and glow don't look as interesting though i love the tone of jewel but i think I'll keep it for the fall and give illum a try.  I'll have the time to redo on tues or wed this week if i want.

Getting sick

I've had to think if i wanted to post this but have decided that i would like to be able to read this later so I'm going to put it up.... After the trip to NY/NJ got back and felt fine...returned to work and everything was going great until about 3pm when I started to feel like i was getting motion sickness.  This progressed and by 5pm i was home lying flat in bed.  Called my doc and started some meds.....on tues i got up and slowly got ready for work but had to call one of my girls to come get me and she took one look at me helped me undress and get back into bed.  My doc actually came over and checked me out since I the meds didn't seem to be working and added some more to try.  I couldn't sit or stand without holding on to something and i couldn't use a fork to eat and had to try to eat lying down......wed was no better and the scale showed i had lost about 7 pounds.  I woke up at about 5am on thur and could neither sit nor stand on my own.....the scale showed i had now lost about 10 pounds or so and then the vomiting started.......we got me to the ER and they gave me iv fluids and meds, a CT showed i had a brain and no obvious stroke or tumor or bleed, my lab wasn't even too bad despite being clinically dehydrated.  They admitted me.  I had an MRI which was interesting....thought of Trish and hoped it would be alright.....it was and I can better understand the feeling of dread she and others have before theirs.  It was finally decided to start some steroids......and they helped.  They made my Blood sugars go wild but I "happily" was willing to  start some short acting insulin rather than continue to feel so dizzy.  I've been slowly getting better and I have returned to work and on Thur I was able to keep my eyes open in the car......last night i watched a little TV,  I've had to listen to it until then as the movement would make me dizzy.  When sick I couldn't read as I couldn't focus and would see double letters when trying.  I'm still some unsteady when standing and walking but I'm no longer bumping into the wall though I'm not yet back to baseline.  The steroids made me hungry and it and the blood sugars had me craving sweets and I did bloat up some but that is mostly gone and my weight this am is good.  My sugars are still messed up but I'm hoping they will get better with time. I also hope the last of this strange feeling will go away.  A funny thing was that I could not eat raw vegetables....when I would chew them I would start getting dizzy......I was having to eat soft foods that didn't require much chewing.  So it's going to be a quiet weekend again.  Sent my dh to Sam's with a friend so he can get some fruit and a chicken to use for this week.

Internet returns

I didn't actually plan on dropping out of everything,  Mother Nature did it for me.  The storm in May took out our phones and at 1st we thought the internet was OK but it went too.  Due to the extensive problems in our area it took a while to get an appointment to get the internet fixed but it has now been done and I can get back to my occ blogging and to reading other blogs.  My kids told me to go to IHOP or Starbucks but I'm just too old for that.  I'm also not able to use my phone for blogging.  I guess it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
During this past month we went to NYC for a wedding and I stopped by to meet Alan.  I will be missing his blog and wish him much luck in his future endeavors.  I did eat some foods that were not diet friendly while there.  I was really hoping to visit with someone else but it didn't work out,  maybe it will give me an excuse to go back.
I didn't make any progress this past month,  but neither did I lose much ground.  I have found that I have a better eye for what a portion should be and managed to say no to things that i would have eaten last year.

Hope everyone had a good month.

Eating on plan...cont....nails

Blogger would not let me edit the 1st part of my post so I gave in and posted it....I had to stop because a friend was trying to fly and the airport was closed due to a possible bomb...so I checked into it online and to her flight and she is now settled down at the airport and will be leaving on her delayed flight soon and has been transferred to a later connection. 

......dry enough i added the silver.  I need to find a darker purple glitter to use for my base and avoid the topcoat and see how i feel about it.....too much silver for my taste but I did get some comments on it.  Just now while watching the updates on the airport I put some of the sally Hansen violet on top ....I like the color but it didn't break up like i like it too.....I'll try it directly on a tacky undercoat one day and if i don't like that i can always use it the way it is today as its a nice color but more of a streaky effect than a crackle or shatter.  I also wonder how it would do over pink glitter with the Nichole with hearts over it.....I have been thinking of wearing that to the wedding.......may see how it looks this weekend.

Eating on Plan

I am still working on eating on plan.  This past weekend was hard....we were out of town and i had hoped we would eat some meals at my friend's house and packed some food but ended up eating out for every meal.  i took my plan with me and ordered as close as i could but I know that despite asking that somethings were brushed with oil or butter for grilling,  some things were easy...roastbeef sand on wheat with a side salad, no dressing,  but almost everything had more salt than when I cook it.  One thing that happened was a nice find....my dh is a baseball fan and we went to a Tx Rangers game and they now have a healthful eating concession with fresh fruit and a grilled chicken salad.  The concert was great,  I only lost a little money,  and the accessible room at the hotel really was accessible and I have a nice still painful bruise from running into a hook in the dark that was in an accessible location.  In fact everyone was great dealing with my friends wheelchair and we plan to go back and do this again.

Exercise....I did a lot of walking over the weekend but have not been as good this week and have yet to start doing anything else......I need a fire under me.

Nails....My youngest son, the fashion guru told me that I can't wear black nailpolish to a wedding .  So I  went to Ulta and found some different colors of shatter and while on hold for 56 min the other day i did some silver over purple.  As i needed to save time I used a quick dry top coat and when it felt

Still Here

Well I thought about having some junk yesterday....if it was the last day, why not enjoy it......but guess what....I'm still here and so seem to be everyone I know.  Therefore I am glad I didn't fool around(it was only a little thought) and today my planned eating continues.  I was out of fresh veggies to grill, so went shopping and also got food for the next couple of weeks.  We only have a couple of days of menus for next week and as most of my shopping consisted of veggies and fruit it will hopefully work out OK.  I still have frozen fish and shrimp and got chicken and steak this morning.  I'll cut up the steak tomorrow and then freeze it and they were nice enough to pack the chicken in separate packages and even cut some into strips.  The scale was ok this morning and i figure it will likely be about the same tomorrow as i seasoned dinner with spices and salt tonight.  I'm ready for the salad and tuna and glad we're all still around.

Nail polish.....I have started reading Erikas  nail blog.  I bit my nails for years and when I finally stopped in college it was partly because i started to polish my nails with bright colors to help remind me to keep them out of my mouth.  I still find it very important to keep my nails polished but I don't have the time or energy to change them more often than weekly, but i love seeing all the different colors she uses.  I am also playing with some different polishes as my favorite co is going to have their new line made by a co i personally don't like the wear or look of.  What brought me to write this tonight is that I almost bought some yellow polish today....it was shiny but not glitter and I had liked how some yellow looked on Erika but decided that i would need a tan to want to try it, so i passed it by. I do think that i will be inspired to try some new colors and brands by Erika and while i won't start a nail blog i will label it when i write about polish so anyone with no interest can avoid it.


Let's see how thin we can be by 2012 when the next end of life as we know it is predicted to occur.

Grill Crazy

My Forman is getting a work out this week.  I do find that i miss salads.....I've even been thinking of trying to grill spinach or romaine, but haven't tried it ....yet.  I'm currently trying to decide if i can grill cauliflower or if i will have to throw it in the oven on a cookie sheet....if i put it on the grill to finish....or if i microwave it to soften it before grilling....will i meet the letter of the law?  I haven't decided what to do yet....any ideas?  This is now a short post, i had a longer one but i didn't realize i wasn't plugged in and it turned itself off.

Did it

I did it.  I've made it thru the 1st week of P6.  I know I have the rest of today to get thru but I'm sliding into home this week.  The big challenge was the meeting.  I took my stuff in a freezer chest and except for one little problem it worked great.  I'd frozen a bunch of water bottles and lined the bottom with those. Then packed my stuff with more chilled water and bags of ice.  I even took my blender.  I had tea and diet coke from the snacks put out and even went to the lunch lectures.....taking my own food with me.  The desserts were on the table and the salads when we sat down. My dh enjoyed having 2 desserts each day and ate my salads....but boy it was hard giving it up yesterday.  I sat and stared at it thinking how could some lettuce hurt but I could hear Allan saying....follow the plan or get out and I passed it over.  The fact that the salad interested me more than the dessert was mentally an interesting thing.  I've always had a sweet tooth and I would have thought that it was looking at those desserts as i tend to try to keep them out of sight at home, but I'm really missing my salads.  I realize that I am so glad I didn't do any kind of surgery as I would not have liked having to limit my raw bulky veggies.  I'm learning to eat the right amounts of cal dense items and enjoying some extra veggies when wanting something to snack on rather than chips or cake.  Thus today is easy......I'm drinking my jugs of fluid and enjoyed eating bk and lunch and catching up some on  the blogs.  I did get to read a little on my phone and tried doing a comment but I don't have it down yet.
Oh yes, the exception...my fudgsicles  didn't stay frozen.
I even walked some laps of the conference area between talks.
.......and I lost 4 pounds this week.

The Traveling P6

3 1/2 days done and the routine changed just a bit today with the lunch change.  I will be leaving later today for a 2 day meeting.  I  made a list of what I needed to take and every time I sit down it grows longer.  Last night I decided I needed the blender for mixing...then I realized I need splenda and sweet and low  and a bowl and a spoon and another measuring cup as i could not find snack packs of cheese....or do i want to measure them and take them that way.......and don't forget to take milk, water, tea bags, mio, crystal light, diet coke and the list goes on.  Now my clothing list is pretty short but I want to add some workout clothes so maybe I can do that.  With books and basketball playoffs staying in the room instead of the usual going out to eat should be fine.  I see myself checking into the hotel tonight with 2-3 freezer chests and one little bag for a 2 day meeting. Oh yes just added paper towels and do I need to take dish washing liquid?

P6 and food porn

P6 is going well and I have decided that the oster blender deserves some of the credit....if i had to drink grainy drinks i might have thrown in the towel.....therefore it is going to my meeting with me.  I have a meeting out of town but in driving distance on Fri and Sat.  I am currently freezing some bottles of water to put int freezer chest, and chilling some more and will packing all my food to take.  I'm a little concerned about the frozen pops but will bag them in Ziploc bags and put those inside bigger bags of ice.  If they melt I can toss the inner bags and if it works i can keep getting ice at the hotel.  I use a Brita for most of my water at home, but do keep some bottled water for when i don't want to worry about bringing the bottle home and figured out that i need to take my water that way to stay on program.  They have cont. bk from which i will get tea and i may skip the lunch lectures and eat in my room...if not I'll bring a bottle of water, buy a diet coke and ask for ice tea...but as the lecture isn't interesting on Fri, probably not worth dealing with,  Sat  i may need to go.  I did my mid-week weigh this morning....nice....will see how it is on Sun.

Now Allan was not a nice man today...he put up pictures of biscuits and gravy and after not even thinking about such crap for months, i suddenly want some from the place on my way to work.  I won't be stopping there but still i didn't need to even want to.  I did find the recipe on line for a healthier version using instabake....a very nice wheat bisquik type mix from Hodgkins Mills or a low carb version using carbulose flour.  I have Christina's low cal cookbook but these aren't in it and i printed them out and at some point later this year I may make them. No they aren't what Al put up but I don't want to eat like that again and these will do just fine.  If anyone reading this likes creamcheese filled poppers...she has a lower cal version that i once made for a superbowl party.  They were a hit even with the non-cal watchers at the party.  What more food porn will we be looking at this week?.....chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy?.......batter fried onion rings with 1/2 pound bacon cheeseburger.........too over the top and it doesn't appeal to me but those i listed sure do.

The Good, the Better, and the Crazy

Today started off crazy. My dh went to take a shower this morning and when he turned on the lights he heard something blow. We have Halogen can lights in there and they do that sometimes,  but they were all on and he thought it was the heat light. I got up and checked and it turned out we couldn't turn off the lights.  Since leaving them on could be a fire hazard, I  said we needed to turn off the breaker........turned them all off, even the main and the lights stayed on.......finally realized all the lights in the addition we added on 24 yrs ago were still on.  So where are those breakers?  Looked a bunch of places and finally looked outside and realized the box by the air conditioner, where the electric and phone enters the house might have them.....but it was stuck shut.  Finally got it open and was able to turn them off.  Got real lucky and the electrician had time to come out this afternoon and fix the switch and also fix a messed up light fixture.

The good....phase 6 went well today, we were crazy busy at work and didn't really have time to eat or drink much....finished pre-bk about 10:30 and bk about 11 and got home for lunch about 1.  I was behind on liquids but felt fine this afternoon and am now on my last 4 cups that will make a total of 21 for today.  2 days down and tried a powdered vitamin mix that mixes with water, that I added some flavoring to and it was much better.  I had to cut down some of my meds due to the cal count of this week but all seems to be good otherwise.

The better....the watermelon tonight was great.  I cut up the whole melon and I could have easily eaten more but I ate my weighed portion and gave my dh some and put the rest away.  Can't wait for more melon days. This was a Texas melon and I bought 2 so I have another for next week.

P 6

I felt the need for a change, so after looking at the plan and talking to my doc,  I am doing P6.  Actually this is the perfect week to start this.  I have a meeting at the end of the week,  so I will be sitting in lectures rather than on my feet at work.  It will be a good time to be eating a limited amount as just sitting there I sometimes find myself eating junk and I won't be this week.  I did my shopping on Sat and bought a blender jar with a whip like ball in it and an Oster smoothie blender(it was a mother's day gift).  Today went pretty well until I tried to do some liquid vitamins......almost lost it!  Tried diluting them with grape drink which helped the taste,  but not my stomach....will visit with my doc tomorrow to see if she has an idea......I'm thinking maybe chewable vits?  I've never done well with vitamins and try to eat a lot of veggies and as I'm sure they aren't there to make me sick will try to figure out how to get my vits without getting sick.  I've had lots of fluids...back to my original liquid level plus today and lots of bathroom trips.
Blender review....it worked well,  added some ice tonight and got a nice  texture to the mix......but there is no way I can drink from the drink lid to the container. If I get a long straw I will be able to use it for drinking, but I had to take the lid off to use it at work this morning....will pour into a lidded cup tomorrow. I put tonight's mix into a mug I had put into the freezer to chill.

Here's to tomorrow.

shopping

I went shopping this week........in my closet and storage boxes. About 3 years ago I took a number of things out of my closet as i kept trying to put them on for work and they would be too small. I also moved some things to the end of the work rack. Now I have other things that are smaller in the back but these were the clothes that I had been wearing and now they didn't fit. It was after my kitty died and I fell off the weight loss wagon and just started to eat junk again and just kept going and gaining.  There were brief periods of loss but they were followed by gains until this past oct when I finally got my head straightened out about my food.  Unfortunately a lot of this weight gain is in my abdomen and less is coming off from there so that even though I now weigh less than I did 5 years ago some things don't fit yet....but lots and lots do. So i now have more pants and tops to wear to work this spring and summer than for the last 3 years. i have also bought a bunch of inexpensive tops at walmart that are a little too tight still so that I will have to work on getting into them in the next month or so. 
Size is a very interesting thing. The clothes that fit vary in size from XL to 3X and from 16 to 24. The shirts that are still too tight from walmart are an 2X and yet many XLs fit in more expensive tops from Saks and Niemans.  In other words I can wear a top in size 16 if I pay $150. but need a 3X if I pay $7.  Once when I generally wore 8's I tried on an outfit that I thought was too old looking from me at a store that I shopped in.....it was also more than I wanted to spend but it fit fine in a 4......at the time I remember thinking that some woman would probably pay extra just so they could say that they wore a 4.  I'll settle for the 7 dollar 3X right now as I plan to be giving it away in a few months, but it's really nice to have more clothes to wear without spending a lot.

funerals and weight

I was frustrated with my weight this past week, but opening the paper and seeing that someone i know had died at 57 kinda of put it in perspective.  It doesn't mean i should stop my diet...if anything it should make me keep to it better so my son doesn't lose his mother like his friend lost his dad.....but it does put the importance of what I will post later in it's place.  His friends dad was never heavy in the 25+ yrs i knew him...he used to be a lean busy man......and then he developed a chronic debilitating disease and then other systems began to break down and give him problems.  The last time I saw him he was on the thin side and with his muscle wasting he did not look good....if only we could convince the anorexics that thin doesn't always look good....forget you can never be too thin, you can.
I need to continue on the straight and narrow, eating right and tracking my food, cal, and fluids...I also need to get going and exercise to the limit that i can without injuring my hurt joints while I am still healthy enough to.....but whether I lose 3 to 4 pounds this week or 1/2 to 1 doesn't matter as long as I'm doing the right thing. The end will be reached with consistency and then I will know that I did my part to stay around.

Now the saga of my weight:
i started with the low carb days from P5 at 242
and the following week i was 239
i then rtnd to the higher carb days and on tues i was 240.5
i was on plan  and on water.  i then cut the carbs down some
and on thur i was 238
but in looking over my tracker i realized my water was low......
so i increased it and on sat was 239
and on sun 238.5.
I am now using a mix of the days and eating 3 fruits but keeping the carbs such as pot, rice, crackers, bread to complex choices and to 2 servings. I am back to a min of 18 glasses of fluids and picking days with more protein from among all the various menus we have.  Continuing to weigh and measure and will restart the exercise program and will see how this week does. I have 23 weeks and 80 pounds to reach my goal by my birthday.....so I need to average 2 pounds a week....and as I know that the loss is slower closer to goal, i need more than 1/2 or 1 pound now....

carbs

I increased my carbs this week and immediately the scale went up a bit even though I was eating on plan.  I have rearranged the days again as I want more food at lunch which wasn't a problem last week using the low carb days.  It was better this morning but had a pretty high carb lunch and tonight it looks like tuna and salad...so I did my salad and will have my tuna later and maybe add some cherry tomatoes, baby carrots and cucumber to fill me up.  I feel for the people who are guineaning phase 6. I have to decide if I want to give it a try....I may not be able to do it but I would like to at least be able to consider it so I need to get my eating under better control.  I think I will finish out this week as I bought potatoes and things but i think I may go back to the low carb days next week. Maybe eat more fish and sub some meat in one night so I don't feel like there is so so much chicken....I know some is turkey but it tastes the same.


Now if I can just kick the no exercise bug and get moving I should be set for this last month. Funny even on my bad days my cal are pretty good....figure that even if I'm off slightly in my counts I'm still doing well and I  measure and weigh everything I can except for raw vegetables.  I didn't get fat eating  some extra lettuce or cabbage......it was that that second serving  or that giant potato.

Phase 3/4/5

Happy Easter, Passover, whatever, or nothing...whatever makes you happy.
Allan posted the people that started in phase one and where they are today.....I hope more of them are still on their journey down even if not in the program...I know a couple that are still trying though they couldn't do the program anymore. I didn't start with Allan even though I started about the same time. I jumped in a few days late in Phase 3....on 8 Dec 2010 @ 276 pounds. As of this morning I weigh 239 for a loss of 37 pounds in these 3 phases.  Since starting  on 18 Oct 2010 I have lost 56 pounds  for an average of 2 pounds a week.  If I can continue to average this I will be under 200 at a year...even if I slow(I don't want to but I am aware that my body may do this to me as it did in the past when I did WW) to a pound a week I would still lose more than 80 pounds in the year. Mir spoke about consistency and this is what I am aiming for....to consistently move downward and reach my goal. I've become convinced that I will get there and would like to be there by my birthday next year. To do that I will need to average 2 pounds a week.....will try but I refuse to beat myself up if I can't do it as I want to continue to be positive on this downward trip.
My week of low carb will end today and I will be returning to the earlier meal plans. Chicken is on the menu for tomorrow night but we are eating with friends for the holiday and while healthy the meal will have some more carbs and I will be using some of the other meals to make dinner work. Monday I think will be a day with Tuna....I miss the tuna from the earlier meal days and will definitely be doing a steak and mushroom day.

Egg or Fly

I know its been a while since I wrote anything bu try as I did I couldn't seem to be able to access this site while abroad.  I did try to make good choices from what was available but 15days of eating out is different from being at home. I did have to drink less as the minibus only stopped at planned times and our whole group noticed that the food was salty. I gained some bloating and fluid weight after the flight over that stayed during the trip and took about 48 hours to disappear when we came home...but in the past it has taken me much longer to shed my flying bloat..so not too bad.  I was hoping to continue to lose about a pound a week but only managed to lose one pound overall. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to eat at most meals so that generally helped but sometimes there was no choice on what we ate and the only thing I could do was eat only a fairly small portion.

Since i wasn't here for the lowcarb week and only downloaded it when I returned I have been doing that this week.....I think between the chicken and turkey I have eaten I am ready to either lay an egg or fly away. I am looking forward to redoing some of the original days so that I can have some steak and mushrooms. When i first read about the salad with the chopped celery, pepper, cabbage and carrots I thought I wouldn't like it .....now I make almost all my salads that way. I enjoy the texture variations and find I need little dressing to enjoy the salad.

It's been a crazy busy week at work after being gone almost 3 weeks and I'm just catching up on some of the blogs......I'd like to do P-6 but I wonder if I will be able to.  Will decide after more info is available. part of me wishes I had know about P1/2...but I am glad to have joined in P3 and even if i can't do 6 I have gotten lots of good ideas to continue on with over the next year.  Lets see...chicken and salad and brown rice for dinner tonight....big surprise(lol)

NSV

I know...its been a while since i posted...busy at work and home and managing my food.  I'm continuing to lose weight even if i had to do 2 high cal days in a row.....didn't do 1900 but only because between bk and lunch i didn't eat my whole dinner or snacks......i should probably have spread out those days but that's how the cookie....no cookies how about the tacos crumble.  i probably ruined the diet by adding a little sourcream to my tacos but i always liked the ones with that at Taco Bell.

Okay it says nsv as my title.....I can now fit into the booths  when we go out to eat.  I can bend over way easier. My arms are getting flabby and my abdomen is getting soft(less fat maybe someday it will shrink and then get toned and firm but i may need to be reincarnated for that to happen).  I can fit into some of my older clothes.  I was able to buy a few things in a size smaller.  I feel full with smaller portions. I thought of others the other nite in bed....knew i should have gotten up and written them down then.

Thanks to everyone that has encouraged me and sent me happy comments on reaching 50 pounds. On ward and downward.

50 pounds

yes!!...todays weigh in finally is 245.  It just seemed that this goal would not come....I thought not making it for my birthday didn't bother me but i think it did.  Anyway i was not good on tues but it is interesting in that i ate 1810 cal on tues and in many diets that would be considered great and in my current mind set that is not good.  Now if i had planned to eat 1800 cal i would be fine with it but i just wasn't feeling happy and i was tired and we were busy and all those useless stupid excuses and i overate at lunch....i was able to pull it in some at dinner or it would have been even worse. For the week i am less than 100 cal over but still how foolish when i wasn't happy with the last weigh ins. Now ther are a few days missing but some of that is due to my finding our that my day count was off.....i have adjusted it and i now hope its correct and since i figured this out on wed i just started this weeks posting there....the missing days were fine on both cal and flu but i have been having problems getting my fluids in. Work has been busy and time to drink limited and I have been starting as soon as i get home.
dh is shopping right now for some more salad stuff.....I don't know why all of a sudden we can't find the carrots i like for the salads, i tried chopping some last night and it just wasn't as good. May have to eat baby carrots along with the salad if we can't find the good ones.

Day 40, fri

cal 1180
flu128

Day 39, thur

cal 975
flu 128

Day38,wed

cal 990
flu128

Onward and Downward

My new motto...Onward and Downward.  I got off track this weekend...I had been following my day plans but where I had been choosing lower cal options and sometimes just skipping what i couldn't have I found myself hungry and craving this week. Therefore most days i was pushing the cal limit and yesterday we had to go shopping and I ended up starting to eat out ok but ......I didn't stop as when I should...Yes it was healthy and I had them hold what I shouldn't eat so I didn't have to look at it on my plate but I have not been finishing most of my meals when we have been going out to make sure my cal would be good and I didn't do this last night and then I ate something I shouldn't have after and then i was still hungry when we came home and at 1am i ate some mixed nuts......I did weigh them and I did count cal but still....what am I doing....I hoped to be at 245 this weekend I wanted to be at 50 pounds gone ...I know i'm at 48...i was lucky to see a pound gone this week but it's not god enough...its so easy to say that I feel some better so I can ease up a little and we all know what happens then.....2 lost weekly becomes 1....becomes none...becomes +1 and then......we slide backward. I don't want that so I need a new motto.
In addition I haven't been able to exercise. I did get a wrist HR monitor.....i know the reviews favored the chest ones but after looking at them yesterday I realized i would not use it enough and i would use it as an excuse to not exercise...so i bought a wrist one and I didn't wait to order online as i want to program it today and get started a little.
Tomorrow is a new make that another day in this path to a smaller healthier me and i plan to approach it in a better frame of mind

Day 33

cal 1340
flu 160

Day 32

cal 1110
flu 168

Day 31

cal 1202
flu 128

Day 30

cal 1240
flu 160

Hair

A number of people have told me that my hair looks good...or have asked me if i changed my hair. What I think has happened is that as i have lost weight my head has shrunk a little and my face has narrowed a little and its making my hair look a bit different. I have told one or two of these people that i have lost weight and they have looked and remarked that my face is changing some and i agree.....its not yet enough to be noticeable unless you look very carefully and therefore i think most people that notice think its the hair. now i did see some people last night at an annual dinner that i haven't seen in a while and some last remember me before i decided to start coloring my hair.....even when i let pictures be taken of me when my hair was white it would look like i didn't have hair in a lot of pictures leading to my decision to go get it done on a regular basis....this may also be part of why my hair looks better.
Anyone who doesn't think that 1200 cal is enough....when you aren't eating right hair falls out..guess what is not happening on this diet....if anything my hair is better than its been for the last few years and i think eating healthy..losing weight...and hydrating right is why.  Hopefully one of these days i will have lost enough weight for people to notice.

Day 29

cal 1234
flu 144

Day 28

cal 906
flu128

Day 27

cal 1089
flu 152

Sunday 6march11 day 26

I missed my 1mar goal by 1/2 pound....as i chose to round my wt down last week i did get to look at 250......but i did lose that extra 1/2 pound this week so i am at 248 and am averaging about 2 pounds a week......as in the past i never did better than a pound a week over time i like what i am seeing.  I am also getting used to 1200 cal which is about what i ate when i was "thin".  A 2 week cal count at 122 pounds for a nutrition class in 1979 showed that i ate on average 1400 cal/d. As I am less active this days and flabbier i imagine that on 1400 cal i will end up weighing more.......I'm hoping that I can stay with 1200 cal as my base ongoing......I know that if i just go back to the way i was eating what i have lost and will continue to lose will just come back...and i don't want to carry those 188 sticks of butter,  5 bowling balls, or almost full bag of feed again.
Went shopping at wally world Fri and Sat.....got some 2x tops and they fit....one is a little tight but wearable and so i returned the 3x i bought on sale 2 weeks ago and now have some 2x pants and tops.....almost 50 pounds lost and finally was able to buy some things in a smaller size......yah! Also picked up more salad stuff...i am most surprised  by how much i like chopped celery on my salad as it is one of my least favorite veggies.....but now 6 tupperwear containers waiting for this week.  Also got spinach so i can do some of the new days. I had pretty much been using lots of lettuce to fill me up and last night couldn't eat it all....so salads will be getting a little smaller in size this week.

Day 126

cal 1070
flu 144

Day 25

cal 1070
flu 128

Day 24

cal 838
flu 120

Day 23

cal 968
flu 128

rearrangement

As i redo some of my food days i have been rearranging what i eat for which meal.  Today i am doing day 11 again and the last 2 times it didn't work quite right for me.....so today i have moved the salad to lunch and will do the broc with dinner......also dinner seemed to need at least a little carb and i didn't feel the need so far today so i have saved my bread and crackers and might do a piece of lt bread as garlic toast. Put the dried figs diced in the cottage cheese with splenda and cinnamon and am still munching on the salad.  Did salad and Pizza for my birthday dinner last night as i decided that i didn't want to cook for myself and didn't want to go out. Ate the salad first and one piece of pizza did it...so froze the rest and will use it for that day again unless dh finishes it. I like some of the new days but will have to wait until after the next shopping trip for some of them.
Bigger problem is that my water has dropped off.  Resolution for the rest of this week is to get the fluids back up.  I'm going to go back to aiming for 20 glasses a day at least and see if that helps. Also I stopped the broth before dinner as the meals were filling me up but that helped make sure the water was up.
Next is just something to ponder...wonder if i could work a hot dog in one day.......just one.....for march one of the places is doing hot dogs with either chicago or NY or chili as topping....really miss NY and Chicago dogs as what passes as hod dogs around here aren't really like either of those.....either foot long coney's or corn dogs are okie style hot dogs.......hey no one said we can't think about things...just can't touch.

Day 22

cal 1153
flu 120

Day 21

cal 1117
flu 128

Day 21

cal 1208
flu 128

Day 20

cal 983
flu 128

Time to Blog

For some reason i have not been wanting to blog. I've been eating good...almost drinking good...but ahhh i've not been exercising good.  My knee has been  giving me a bad time and much as part of me wants to bike or walk the pain and burning makes me not want to do it. I know i need to be active but i can't get myself going right now. I need to be more active to help with the weight loss and i am afraid that i may miss my goal for tues. Wed am i saw 150.5 on the scale and i thought i would get there....then despite eating fine thur i saw 151.5 and fri 152.5....today i saw 151.5 again. What will tomorrow bring. If the temp stabilizes will my knee feel better or was it the car and walking on mon that flared it up? All i know right now is that i was avoiding writing about this and i realized that i needed to see it in black and white...so here it is and will see what tomorrow brings.

Day 19

cal 990
flu 144

Day 18

cal 1108
flu 136

Day 17

cal 903
flu 136

The Weekend

Didn't do too bad this past weekend. Went to a friends place in Texas and went out a few times. Then did shopping at Central Market and i now have cod, white fish and tuna to have for dinner. Also got a bunch of vegies and some other things for the meals. Very helpful guy in the fish dept and he weighed out 4oz portions and pkg them for me so its easy to pull one out and make. Got them all frozen and i have protein for 20 meals. 
Today i'm doing fpday 17...made a salad with the tuna on it for dinner.
We ate lunch on sat before leaving and took water/diet coke banana and some bars with us. Went out to dinner and had lots of vegies 6 glasses of water( i kept the busboy hopping) and a small glass of wine to celebrate my birthday.....one bite of the dark choc part of DH dessert. Sun we were planning on brunch....it ended up being at 6pm as we kept taking naps......meat and salad and iced tea. Mon was shopping and had to stop for Bk had eggs, fruit, tst, and one strip of bacon. A hot dog ended up being the best lunch option where we stopped(everything else was fried) and i gave DH the french fries that came with my combo and has shrimp when we got home.  Scale is a pound less than when we left Sat. I would look at what my options were and try to pick the best and then try to estimate cal. I wore pants and a top i haven't worn in 2 years.
Missed checking on others  and reading blogs this weekend and missed talking to myself on here.

Week 2

Well the week is over and overall I ate correctly and drank my fluid. It was busy at work and my feet and joints have been achy so exercise was not quite as successful. I was on the bike tonight but could only manage 20 min.  I have been trying to walk extra during the day but wish i could exercise more. Will keep trying to increase the amount i do.  Will need to do major shopping this weekend as the weather is finally better.  Also will go out to eat this weekend and will see how well i can do when i don't know the menu in advance. hope everyone has a good Presidents weekend.

Day 11

cal 1089
flu 128

Day 10

cal 1105
flu 160
ex st

Day 10/P5 lvday8

I just love the day 8 food plan.  Its got oatmeal and yogurt and using some high protein oatmeal seems to be ok, . i save the fruit for snacks and I don't seem to get too hungry. Then I just love lunch and dinner. I have always liked tuna and making a sandwich on toasted diet wheatbread with the mayo on the bread and lightly spraying the salad with olive oil and adding some spices is proving to be a great lunch. I made extra chicken and froze it the last time and had saved some extra brown rice all i had to do was heat those up and cook the broccoli. I still have one portion of the chicken frozed from last time and i think I'm going to make a batch with lemon rosemary flavor and freeze them with the rice the next time i do this day.  i'm thinking i will probably end up doing this day about 2 times a week......I know there is tuna on other days but a tuna sandwich and salad just appeals more than tuna and baked potato....but if i can find a piece of real tuna that would sound much better.  I get my hair done and a pedicure today and will do my nails tonight after my exercise. I had to chop vegies today for the salad so doing day one. I sometimes lose track of how much i've been drinking and don't count it if i didn't mark it down and the other night i woke up in the middle of the night and realized that i forgot a whole jug......wondered why my count was so low...actually needed 32 oz added. so I think that i have made my fluid goal everyday even though some times it doesn't look like....like yesterdays is missing the can of diet coke i drank at work. Time to move on so i can get ready to go.

Day 9

cal 1120
flu 136
ex cyc 55 min
fp day 8

Day 8/P5 cal down/cal up

I slept in late yesterday and wasn't very hungry so i didn't end up eating everything on the plan.  Then today I was hungry from the get go. I had decided to make salad, steak, and baked pot for Valentine dinner at home tonight....so picked day 9 to use again.  Well the toast and fruit didn't do it for breakfast today and i didn't get home for lunch so tried to eat something reasonable at work...but as i have noted 2 other times if i don't eat enough one day i seem to be too hungry the next.  If i eat about 1000 healthy cal i seem to be ok, but if like yesterday i only eat a bit over 800 i seem to rebound.  I did add jello, apples, and the like for most of my excess today and between yesterday and today I averaged less than 1200 a day. I weighed and measured everything so no hidden extras.  Also no real protein to breakfast...if i had done a couple of eggs for breakfast i might have managed better...so the next time this happens I will hard boil some eggs to take to work and just do that day.  Time to go to sleep and move on to tomorrow.

Day 8

cal 1509
flu 120
ex st
fp day 9

Day 7

cal 836
flu 144
ex cyc 50min
fp day6

Day7/P5 new food

I like the new days Allan sent. A little more protein and less milk.  Today I am using day6 as my template, it was nice to have a bagel, they had been in my freezer for a while...i did hollow it out and weigh it to check on the cal. Saved my snack for this evening as i slept late and did less pasta.  The pizza did increase my blood sugar some so it will have to be just an occ treat. I'm trying to work my way thru each day so i can see which ones work best for me....some are leaving me too hungry after lunch and feeling too full after dinner .......and then i will probably repeat those days.

Measured today and lost an inch off my waist this month and off my thighs and calves but no change in my hip measurement.  Hopefully it will change next month...many of my tops that were tight are now loose but the next size down is still too tight. I am going to order a pair of pants in a size smaller...they stretch and maybe i will be able to wear them when they get here

Day 6

cal 1015
flu 144
fp day5

Day 5

cal 1013
flu 136
ex cyc 20min
fp day 8

Day 6/P5 40 pounds!!!

Today I passed 40 pounds. It's been almost 3 years since I last weighed this and with one more pound i will equal the low point of my last at all successful try. That one got derailed when my cat unexpectedly died and I turned to comfort foods......I now accept that the food will not make any bad things better and I hope that I have some control of the emotional eating.  I rewarded myself for this milestone which i consider a big one by eating on program and thinking about buying a glider. I'll see how Karen likes hers but i need a non-impact cardio other than my bike. My right knee with the torn meniscus and messed up ligament has been aching all day....glad its rest day and if it's not better I will do ST tomorrow and rest it a bit longer.  I think the walk/jog is out for good, i may be able to walk a bit when it calms down but i will go back to biking first.
Today I did day 5 fp. Went ahead and got the pizza from the local Italian rest so the crust was so much better. Now I have to look at left overs in the ref. I did like today with egg and wholewheat eng muffin. I have been getting hungry after lunch so may have to eat dinner earlier or if there is salad my have to eat part earlier. I want to try staying as close to the layout  as i can for another week before  i move some of the food around a bit...will try to keep the day the same but may move some salad to lunch and decrease the amount at dinner....or may add a salad to lunch without any dressing to bulk it up a bit....but this was more salad at dinner than i really wanted but i was so hungry that i inhaled the 1st half which i don't like to do.
Fish is going to a problem until i can shop in the city. I have now been to all 3 stores in town, one only had breaded fish, and the other 2 have van camps pkg with sauce and seasoning....i decided to go with the blackened seasoning which had a reasonable cal count so i can do one of those days.  Also i made sp sauce last week but decided to just buy some....the best with no junk on the list was $9 a bottle so decided on a brand I've had before for $2.  I drove my spouse crazy looking at 20 different jars and then after deciding which one i wanted looked at the price and changed my mind......I felt like consumers reports...this is a best buy and will hopefully taste fine.  Picked up some sweet potatoes and more tuna and salad stuff.
Looking forward to seeing how everyone did.....group success is a blast.

Day 4/P5 Not bad

Today on day4 i ate day 9. It was interesting....it didn't say how much cottage cheese so i picked 1/2 cup and turned it into "mock rice pudding". I weigh and measure most anything so i took a handful of nuts..weight 21/2 oz...put most back and ate 1 oz. Dinner was great and very filling. I saved my butter from bk for my potato.  I realized i hadn't had a pl baked pot since ...? I gen go with sweet pot these days and will prob use them most of the time but decided to enjoy the plain one tonight. The almond milk did not give me the GI problems but did affect my sugar so it will have to be used in limited amounts...but i did enjoy the taste of it.  I will check out other brands to see what their carb/cal amts are.  I could not do the tricep dips...i doubt i will be able to but will cont to try and may add atricep move i saw on the how to site while seeing how these were done. Love the extra support...its fun. Back to work tomorrow and may do either day2 or 5 tomorrow.

Day 4

cal 1105
flu 152
ex st 20min
     cyc 22min

Day 3

cal 1061
flu 152
ex walk 20min
     cyc 40min
     st 10min

Day 3/P5 Getting back on the horse

OK yesterday was a bad day for me. I was trying to get everything done at work and get some fresh stuff that i would need as we were supposed to get snowbound again.  This resulted in my just grabbing something for a quick lunch while i was shopping.  I am not saying what i ate but i got home from work and just kicked my arse around the house for a bit and decided what kind of fool was i trying to be. I've done great since starting in Oct why do i want to go backwards now?  The snow was late ...it was supposed to start at 5pm but was stalled so when Ron got home i asked him to go shopping with me and he did.  i made a quick list from the diet sheets and off we went. I rescued the day with salad and shrimp but between work, shopping and the cold all my joints were hurting and ex was not in the cards.

Today i went over the food pages, called my doctor who was also home due to the snow( we did get about 4-5 inches, but not the 10+....Kansas got that) and we went over what I can have what i can try to have and what is a definite no no. Just so you all know...Master Allan knows about this and I  will send him another Email with some of what she said. Also I decided that i must track my cal and post them again along with fluids and exercise to keep me on track. I am not going to post my food as i don't want to confuse anyone else if they happen to see something that doesn't look right. 

I decided to go with day 3 today and I am in the group of tuna lovers....I really enjoyed my lunch, supper not so much.  I had some smart pasta...extra calcium and fiber....and decided to try it tonight  neither my husband or I liked it, his ended up in the trash as did part of mine and the rest of the box. Back to healthy recipe, regular or whole wheat....oh well it was a good idea.  I liked the salad combo but then again i like cabbage.  I may make some of my sweet vinegar slaw and see how that works in the salad for an option.
What are you doing for  a snack type cracker????? Also I'm planning on day 9 for tomorrow and how much cottage cheese.  I think i may mix my fruit with it and use some mini rice crackers.

I have tried the str ex today done my walking and we're going to watch last nights biggest loser soon and i will bike to part of it

Keep up the good job challengers!!!

Day 2

cal 1235
flu 144
ex none...bad me

Day 1

cal 1177
flu 112
ex walk 20 min

Day 1/phase 5 Emails

It was fun to get home from work and find all the emails.  I read through them quickly and will look  better and try to add the blogs later this week.  I did my exercise but after a gimps jog x2 the last was a fast walk.  Tomorrow I hope to do the ex and maybe a little cycle time as i didn't have time tonight.  If we get the snow tomorrow night i may have some extra down time...which i really don't want but mother nature makes the decisions.  I will have to go over the plan and make out a shopping list. I picked a day that sort of matched to some stuff i had and tried to do it. I do want to get as close as i can. I can't say that i mind the drop from 21 to 18 glasses as some days those last few were hard to do...other days the liquids were easy and i expect i will find the same thing this time. Looking forward to everyones success.

Phase 5

Phase 5 starts tomorrow. New food, new exercise and some prizes as carrots in addition to a healthier us. I'm pulling for a couple of people to win these as i think they would really enjoy them and never get to do anything like the trip on their own.  I'll be trying to do the exercise starting tomorrow. I looked over the food and there are a few days that i will only need to modify a little so i expect i will be eating them over and over.  I will have to go shopping next weekend for the food so i'll get as close as i can with what i have in the house now. I'll have to show them to my doctor and i can already kind of guess what she will say about some of the days. I am wondering about almond milk...what effect it has on blood sugars, how lactase def people do on it and if it can be used. Soy milk turned out not to be any better for me than regular which surprised me. Ron just said that he might want to go shopping tomorrow night....which is both good and bad. I won't have time to get her input by then and I won't be able to buy some things, but i can at least get some salad things as i am down to a few soft tomatoes, baby carrots, and a few dried out looking green onions.
On the exercise front..I told her that Allan says it will get intense and we have decided that a visit to the cardiologist is in the near future for an echo and treadmill test. I had planned to get one this year due to my family history, but was hoping to be able to move better first but it has been decided to do it sooner.......wonder if i will be able to walk/run enough or whether he will make me do a chemical one...it will probably be nuclear so I wonder how much my part will be.
And it didn't snow today but they are saying it will wed so i think i need to move my hair and toes to next week if possible. I did take a pic of the scale today and will see if i can get it in here one day. Also will get help re changing out the phase.
PS my spell check won't work tonight so i hope its not too too bad.

Day 34

cal 1221
flu 160
clean

Day 33

cal 1059
flu 160
ex walk 20min
     cyc 20min
     sq/lg/jj/ws/tr

More? Snow

Snow...we we're supposed to get snow today, but guess the snow didn't listen. We have more than 4 inches of snow and its still snowing. The car and driveway are covered again. Glad i didn't try to work as i would not have been able to get down my driveway and would have just hated it if i made my girls drive in and then i couldn't get there.  Our driveway is a steep incline and it has to be clear or you just slide down picking up speed.  My friend decided to work and called to say a pickup truck almost came through their window when he couldn't stop.....came up on the sidewalk and just barely missed.  I've already had a car come through a window at work in the past....don't need it again.
I'm so glad i had decided to add frozen vegetables to my diet, it has allowed me to have plenty of healthful things to make. Knowing what the weather was going to be like all week i spread out the fresh vegies so we still have a little left.
The knee's less sore today so will try to exercise some.
Sent my weight to Allan to start phase 5, we want to go to Dallas for presidents weekend but i need to look at the new diet....i know that i can keep to 1200 cal if i avoid alcohol and pick where we eat, but can i meet the limitations on what i need to eat will be the question. Salad and steak, salad and fish, salad and chicken...fresh fruit, eggs, wheat toast and bars i take with me...plus bottled water. No Mexican, No French, No Italian. I'll look Sunday and then decide.(we would leave fri and rtn mon.....3 dinners out, 3bks/lunches and snacks) The good part is that i get to shop at Central Market before coming home...so some different foods that i can get there...rapine, colored cauliflower, fish.

Day 32

cal 1197
flu 160

Day 31

cal 952
flu 160
ex walk 15min
     cyc 40min

The good, The bad, & The Biggest Loser

Yesterday was a weird day. I was feeling really good as i had walked, done the current exercises...who knew i could still do jumping jacks(not quite like when i was 16 but still I'm jumping some) and then did the ex from the 1st week. Being at home i started drinking water and crystal light early and got plenty of water down and the food was good.  No thoughts even about making brownies or a cake which is a common snowed in activity. We listened to the TV about the weather and i played some games on facebook. Watched TBL and wondered why the twins had bothered to apply for and take up space when they didn't want to be away from home. To gain 9 lbs one week and 6 the next just eating a lot of salt and drinking liquid before weigh in wont do it....they had to have eaten a ton extra since they were exercising. Trying and not succeeding is one thing but not trying....I thought they should have let others gotten their slots(twins, cops, dead son and estranged son....good back story for a reality show)......of course someone has to leave and the others were probably glad they were around for that. So i come to read some blogs ...and...
The bad. Allan is stopping phase 4. I had been worried that something was going on in the morning and apparently some people went after him for saying what he had told us he would do when we signed up.  No one held my hand and made me send an email asking to do this.....and i knew that by doing it i was putting myself out in public to be patted on the back or called out, harassed or dropped.
I knew that there were somethings i could not eat, and doing the exercises meant starting slow and working up to getting them,  and was hoping that i wouldn't be weeded out. But just like this is public, and what i write is open to view, by choosing to enter an open public group what is said to me is open to public comment.  Just like the twins why bother to sign up for something and then complain when what it is happens.  Just like TBL isn't right for everyone neither is Allan......but what he does is open and we know what we are getting into.
The good again, maybe.  Allan is setting up a phase 5. It will be 1200 cal choosing from the choices and exercise.  If he lets me i will join. I will try my darnest to do all the exercises and I will plan my meals using that as my guide.
And a funny thing.  Last night i fell out of bed. I don't know what i was dreaming about but i think i rolled over and off the bed bruising my knee and striking my elbow on the nightstand.  At least having lost some weight i was able to untangle the blanket and get myself up as Ron wouldn't wake up.

Day 30

cal 1053
flu184
ex walk 25 min
     cyc 20 min
     sq/lg/tl/st/ws

Snow and Exercise

As promised we have snow today. It started with hail last night and then the snow started about 3am. We had at least 9 in about an hour ago between band and it is now snowing again...they say this is the last band. The problem is the wind...gust to 60 miles and near my door is a drift above 2 feet.  The birds have been making good use of our feeder.  The wind chills are below zero...minus 18 right now....cant shovel yet because it will just blow back...may be tomorrow before we can shovel. therefore i plan to work on my exercise indoor. Have already started with some of the things while i watch the weather info.
The black bean chili i started on Sun is back in crock pot and will probably be lunch and dinner today.... I decided not to add any more beans...about 1000cal of beans in a good size pot along with lots of vegetables and too much liquid for chili.....but I've decided with more liquid it can be soup for one meal and with more of the junk over some brown rice it will be the other. Will add a salad  and then fruit and maybe peanut butter or string cheese for a snack.  Ive also got the jello pudding and will make some jello. 
I kept my cal low the last 2 days using premade and carefully weighed/measured foods as i had to estimate Sats dinner and the cal counts i found varied so much.  Having eaten sushi at various places i understand why....some places give a large hunk of rice with just a little fish, not so at my favorite place in Oklahoma City...large slices of fish with a tiny rice oblong underneath the middle that doesn't come close to reaching the ends of the fish.  I also did sashimi for the yellowtail with just 2 pieces of salmon and 2 pieces of mackerel. My cal and fat were in my california roll but i gave part of that to Ron and didn't eat all the rice under the sushi. Next time may order some to go so i can weigh and measure it..but it was 70 degrees and we still had shopping to do so it wouldn't have been eatable by time we got home.  Crazy 70+ on Sat no coats and so pretty out, windchill of -20 temp of 7 today and going out is dangerous.
Time to go do another set of ex