WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR FEBRUARY 2105

megblair1

Well I see I am behind again! I seem to be having lots of trouble keeping up! But I do think of you all every day.

We are having a snow storm and it’s very pretty. Our college is supposed to announce weather-related closings by 6 a.m. because people going to clinical need to be there by 6:45. So at 6:05 with no closings announced I left and drove nearly an hour to get to the nursing home. When I walked in, school was cancelled and it was exactly 7. So all my students were a bit miffed. Glad to have a day off, but angry that they too had driven for quite some time, some getting stuck, etc…only to be sent home. So here I sit.

I have a dr appointment at 1 but I think I’ll cancel the PT at 4. Everything around here is closed, so I’d rather not be out driving around in rush hour traffic at 5.

Red: good job on those great decisions. I’m a diabetic, so if I want a little treat I exercise first then eat it and that keeps my blood sugar in check. It’s all about choices.

Pipcd: congratulations on riding your bike to work every day. That is quite a commitment. Omaha is not a bike friendly town, but we are starting to make improvements to be better. We now have one (yes one) dedicated bike lane downtown! And boy was that controversial! But it’s there now and being used.

Sylvia: yup that is classic kidney stone! At least it sounds it. Let us know what the dr says

TNToni: omg I LOVE to color! I hope my grandbaby likes it too because I’d spend all day coloring with her!

Barbiecat: I too wander around the house to make my step goal. I increased it to 7,000 (paltry by your standards LOL) but didn’t make it once in January. However, each day in Feb I have made that goal!

Mary: I hope someone answers your question because I can’t do it either. It used to be automatic for the ticker to show up but “they” changed the settings and now I can’t figure it out.

Heather: I dream about being in your shoes in such a wonderful exotic location!

Beth: oh my that sounds like quite an ordeal to get your son out and about!

Robin: I haven’t heard about Bodi in a while. What activity can he do now? I now he just loves being your baby!

Vicki: glad you are home safely! The roads were terrible this morning and I don’t usually complain about them.

Brenda: such an excellent accomplishment and nsv! Keep it up!

Tina: I had forgotten this was the big R year for you! I have a long way to go but when I think about it, it kind of scares me!

Katla: I’m sure you’ll make the best food choices possible. You are so consistent. But I am jealous of your Zumba! I wish I could do things like that. Maybe that’s why my BP has been high….I’m MAD! LOL

Janet: tell us all about the cruise you are taking! I love to cruise!!!!!

Aromaine: we have a home gym with several pieces of equipment plus we are due to get our new recumbent exercise bike delivered next Friday. I do really love the convenience. But the gym is fun too.

Red: I had a laugh thinking of your neighbors watching you maybe. I agree…their problem! I weigh nakkie on Wednesdays first thing in the morning (after a stop in the bathroom). But I also chase hubby out of the room, then chase both cats out, then chase the dog out, because whatever I am doing they hover around me and stare. OK now that IS weird LOL

Gail : so grateful you healed from meningitis. That can cause severe deficits especially neurological ones, so it’s wonderful you got through it.

Sylvia: so glad you feel better. OK Now about the strainer….they didn’t give you one???? OK let’s go with no, they didn’t. Are the numbers similar to sand paper? Bigger numbers, finer strainer? Go with the bigger numbers then, maybe like a 450. Or pee through cloth? Sorry I am laughing. I am picturing you atop the bucket with two strainers (both covered with glaze). And the cranberry juice…you need to drink TONS for any effect, so don’t worry! Just stay better!!!

CP: in my lack of consistency in posting, I missed the saying you mention. I’m so glad you did. I love it and will remember that. Thanks also to whoever said it to begin with!

Lisa: sorry you had such a bad month! Staying on track is so difficult especially when we are ill. Most people lose their appetites when sick; not me I eat everything in sight. Just stay on your path and these ups and downs will average out .

Mary: YOW!!!!! I hope your ankle is not injured badly

Kim: glad your meet up went well!

Sharon: I hope you feel better soon. Hubby has the reflux too at times and I know how miserable he is!

Alison: I’m sorry you have been having such a time. I think you have so much stress in your life it is hard to concentrate on yourself. Please take care. I forgot where you live that you are getting so much snow?

Caddi: praying for the best news possible for DH; take care of yourself and try to buy some healthy snacks so you have some choice

K2boxlady: eat more! Your body goes into starvation mode and conserves fat when you eat so few. It literally thinks you are starving. Eat at least 1200 calories. Other ladies here eat different amounts. But I think if you increased your calories you would actually start losing.

Anamika: so glad to see your holistic approach!

Well ladies I know I haven’t replied to everone, but it’s time to get up and get 10 minutes on the treadmill before the dr. Take care everyone! Meg from wintery Omaha

lisac195

I am seeing a lot of people saying that you must eat 1200 net calories a day or you won't lose. However, even with that amount (and I am now afraid to eat many of my exercise calories after seeing so many people say that is wrong on here) I am not losing this month. It says when I set my goals that I should lose only 0.6 pounds per week at that amount which is not much and leaves virtually NO room for error. Depressing.

terri_mom

According to myfitnesspal, and the health professionals I work with, if a body does not get enough calories, especially from healthy sources, it will have a harder time shedding the un-needed fat, but will occasionally burn muscle. That being said, "enough calories" is different for every person. Plus, regardless of how strict you are at staying within the "correct" calories and exercise, a body will plateau on occasion, and I have not figured out what works for me to get past that situation. I just keep on keeping on, and hope the clothes fits better or the scale moves eventually. Every pound I do NOT gain is a win in my opinion, and a loss is a bonus In the spirit of being supportive in this "group", I'm not saying that my opinion is correct, only that I worry that a person may not be healthy, and I wish for everyone to be "healthy, wealthy, and wise".

Hugs for Everyone ! ! !

Terri in Milwaukee

skuehn48

Hi all and welcome to all the newbies!!! My daughter from Seattle showed up on Friday night as a surprise for my birthday and I did not log for two days but don't think I did too badly as I did not gain any weight. While she was here we went through pictures and organized them into boxes. What fun looking at some of those old pictures!! I laughed until I cried but we got a lot done. She went back home yesterday and now I have to get back to my regular schedule with exercise and eating.

I walked a total of 119.04 miles in January, my goal was 115. I am setting my goal for February at 110 as it is a shorter month. That will still mean that I have to average slightly more per day. My other goals are six glasses of water per day and 3x per week at the fitness center.

Sylvia - My DH has kidney stones and was told by his urologist to drink lemonade every day, something with at least 12%-15% juice. My DD also has had kidney stones and she drinks lemonade religiously.

Sally - loved the video. Thanks.

Tina - I finally retired last year but it was a hard decision. I went back PRN (as needed) so now only work when called. I average about 1 day per month. I really do like being retired but it is nice to catch up with people at work once in while.

Heather - It sounds like you are having a wonderful memorable adventure.

Healing angels to all who need them and congratulations to those with victories. Sue in SD

crazyDogLady61

Good day dear ladies!

K2boxlady and Lisac195: There is nothing magical about 1200, but for the AVERAGE woman, that is the bottom number where you can get enough calories to maintain with no exercise. It is the number, that when you drop below it, your body will shift into starvation mode. It is also a number where it is reasonable to believe that the AVERAGE person can get enough micro- and macro- nutrients. Nobody is AVERAGE. We all have to feel around for the right number for us. Make sure to weigh and measure ALL food and log it so you are absolutely sure you know how much you are really eating. It is really easy to add more than 500 calories a day by eyeballing!! One other (not so) small thing is net vs gross calories!! My advice is to make sure to eat at least 1200 GROSS calories. Unless you are using a heart rate monitor, the exercise calories that most tools gives you have a tendency to be high (calibrated for men). I will eat back either my “step” calories or my “exercise” calories, but rarely both. You did not get here overnight, it will take a while to move forward. Plateaus happen. This support group is the best for helping you keep on keeping on until you can bust through.

What a morning! Got up extra early because it was run day. Fed the dogs and the cows in record time – I was on track to be early to work even with my run – Big sigh. The podcast I listen to would not load. I finally just re-started the iPhone and we were good to go. Talga was keeping lovely pace with me and we did our first mile in record time. (I normally flail around for at least the first 5 minutes but I fell right into rhythm after less than 100 yards.) First mile was my best time ever for first mile. I stretched just a little more and was cruising. A half mile later we are joined by a loose large white livestock guardian dog. It was filthy and I have my intact boy with me, so I am not going to mess with it. Poor Talga kept turning around, he’s following us --- no baby keep moving --- Mommy!! --- Keep moving!! It was a slog the rest of the run to keep my dog on track. Of course, the dumb thing followed me home. I put my dog away and went to take it back to a neighbor who has that breed. I tried popping it in a pen (since it is o’dark thirty in the morning). The dog was having none of that and then I spotted these people’s dogs. The stupid dog is right it doesn’t live here. So I headed down to the next house that has small livestock. When we got to the top of that driveway the dog galloped on down. OK stupid dog went home. I am now late and the second dog did not get his mile walk yet!!! Big sigh. The things we do to try to get a little extra exercise in the morning!

Bonus find! I am often short both protein and calcium. I found these 12oz bottle of chocolate “milk”. They are basically milk with extra whey and flavor. 21 grams of protein and a more than half the calcium for the day for just 180 calories. Yes, they do use an artificial sweetener, but I figure since that is my only source it is OK. Shake it up and it is like a milkshake. They are only $1 a bottle so affordable, too. They have become my after run breakfast, because I should eat, but am not really hungry after a run.


Looking for the joy in every day, just like my dogs.
Remember to breathe…

Sally W.
Oregon

lisac195

Thanks everyone. Having a rough time but I will push through.

rjadams

Hi all,
So on the scale issue I weigh twice a day like Barbie does. I will usually weigh 2-4 pounds less in the morning.

To the person who was on 1000 calories a day and frustrated about not losing. Are your calories densely nutritious? Are you drinking lots and lots of water? Those are the things that will help your metablolism and spur the weight loss.

Meg - On good days Bodi can get around walking and even a little jogging. On bad days he has a lot of trouble getting up and he can fall back down the stairs. His hind legs constantly cross over each other and he will fall down when trying to poop. He can't really tell when he will poop so lots of accidents and if he gets excited he will pee if he hasn't just gone. Ritter constantly bowls him over if they are outside playing and will knock him down in the house. so that is a combined 165 pounds of lab running around and falling down. (Bodi is 85 and Ritter is 80)

I read everything. I can't comment on everything.

By the Michelle I love how your pool turned out. I remember the early pictures when you were just getting started.

Have a great day

Robin, Bodi and Ritter
PNW

crazyDogLady61

Lisac195: One more thing you can do, is to check you MFP reports. Compare when you were losing weight to all the possible charts you can. Was your protein higher? Maybe higher fiber? Could be you were eating more fats? Knowledge is power. It might be just the little piece of information you were missing to get yourself kick started again.

To any Map My Fitness users: There is a new challenge for February. It is a log so many steps and log your hydration challenge. This could be a good motivator to up your step count this month!!

Looking for the joy in every day, just like my dogs.
Remember to breathe…

Sally W.
Oregon

stephv710

So glad to see women in my age group! Finally decided to get serious after half-a$$ing it for so long and quit blaming my weight on everything but myself.

My first goal is to log every single bite of food/drink that passes my lips. My next goal will be to start moving. I can't seem to get motivated to work out during the week, since I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Need to get to the gym at lunch. Weekends I do well, but need to step it up.

I'm enjoying reading everyone's posts and stalking your diaries. I love to see what others are eating and get some ideas.

Stephanie in Central OR.

Vickil57

Well I have finally got all of January read and tomorrow can start Febuary. We had another snow storm early this morning and left us with another 4-6 inches of snow. DH brought me to work in the 4 wheel drive so have to waite for him to pick me up. Not a big deal as I joined a Bible Study last week and have some studys to do so will work on that while I am waiting.
We have so many new people takes awhile to keep up. That is great! We are all in this together.
Sue--sending prayers for you best friends DGD.

Meg--sorry to hear about your knee and surgery down the road. Be careful on this ice. Love the cat story and do think her heart is in the right place. Thanks for the smile about running around naked and the people in the park watching.

Lesley--Happy B-lated 39th.

Rori--thanks for sharing the picture. It is great when we can meet and share.

Sharon--OMG! in the mircowave!! Gave me a good smile. So sorry to hear about DS, hoping he can get things worked out.

Michelle--Thanks for sharing the before picture of the praying mantis. Be looking forward to the after picture. Looks like a pretty good size. Is the ladybug as big?

Heather--Sure hope you are feeling better and having another great trip we can hear about. I have done so much traveling (in my mind) the last year. Thank you so much for sharing.

Ladies have a good rest of the day and hope you are staying warm and safe. One Day at a Time.
Blessings, Vicki GI NE

bwcetc

To the gal not losing with low calories.... Low, low calorie diets have not been successful for me personally. An occasional day under 1200 does occur, but I do not make it a practice. You might also consider strength training. Lean muscle will keep your metabolism running at a higher rate. My greatest weight loss came when working with a personal trainer only 1 time a week for a half hour. Not a horrible amount of weight work at all. It's a three-legged stool ... cardio, calories, weights. Lesley from Tasmania has received good advice from her trainer regarding this.

Nasty weather here. Snow, then rain, now ice and more snow expected. Sigh ...

Socialwacker ... great NSV ... congratulations!

Sylvia ... the parents talking in the studio during the lesson were rude and encouraged the volume to increase. Shame on them. I'd have found a way to accidentally lock the little bugger in a mop closet ... that age group sucks the lifeblood right out of me!

Read all the posts, but need to run son to math tutor. Will check back later.

Beth

k2boxlady

Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement. I will up my calories to 1200 and see what happens. It can't hurt. And yes, Robin, I drink water all day long and keep a bottle by my bed at night so every time I wake with hot flashes, I have my water. I usually drink about 6-8 16oz bottles a day. Can you explain "densely nutritious"? My most caloric meal of the day is usually breakfast because I like my Special K Chocolatey Red Berry cereal. I use skim milk on it tho and since I do not like milk, I never drink with is left in the bowl. Lunch is salad or a turkey or chicken burger with no bun. And dinner is fish or anoth white meat with various veggies. I have not had a slice of bread in a month. If my family has fries, I bake sweet potato fries for me. I am not ready to give up. Like I said, I am feeling better. Before I started this, I would need to take 3-4 Imodium tablets a week because I would eat and immediately start with terrible cramps and diareah (sorry if that is TMI). I am happy to say I have not had to take a single one in 30 days. In that respect, I will keep on keeping on. Thanks all!
Karen

peachstategal

Happy Wednesday Evening!

(((Diana))) sounds like you had a miserable day. Hope tomorrow is better. I got my first and hopefully only speeding ticket a couple of years ago. I wasn't paying attention to my speed and was 15 miles over the limit on the interstate. It cost me a whopping $300 dollars and raised our insurance rate significantly.

I am having a little problem. My DH was never ever overweight until he quit smoking 2 yrs ago due to a heart attack. Now, all he wants to do is eat. He is constantly asking me if I want to eat out and this is a big NO No for me. I can almost never stay within my limit when I eat out. I feel like I am hurting his feelings by telling him I don't want to eat out. Any ideas?

pipcd34

x marks the spot

Lestan48

Oh my! I worked out my cals for 3.3 miles was really 708 cals. need to look at cals before and after with Charge. I took cals from midnight oopsy.
Food = 1678 cals so no dessert tonight, Stan wins mine.
Training ; 2 mile walk and JJ's Circuit B = 645 cals
Going to hairdressers at 2 pm

barbiecat

By the time I catch up on reading the posts, the questions I want to answer have been answered fabulously by several of you. That's one of the great reasons for being part of this thread.

I have a very narrow definition of nutrition dense food so when someone asks what they should be doing differently, I immediately want to check their food diary but rarely get to see one. I start my day with a breakfast that contains a lot of protein because I walk for two hours early in the morning and three days a week go to a two hour dance class. Sugary cereal and milk wouldn't give me the nutrition I need for my day. Little by little I've made changes in what I eat from what I've learned from the great women on this thread either from their personal experience or from books and articles that they've suggested.

Brandy and Bernie have been gone all day to the vet to get their teeth cleaned. Sasha is home alone with us. Tomorrow I go to the periodontist to get my teeth cleaned and then on Monday I go to the regular dentist for him to look at a rough spot on the back side of one of my front teeth. Last week Jake had his teeth cleaned and two cavities filled.



Congrats to everyone who is meeting or exceeding their own personal step goal.

SueTN2

My tracker want work either. I have gone to Setting, Apps and ticker and then on the forum options I checked and saved. I've done this a couple times and it still doesn't work. Am I missing another step? Thanks for your help.

TNSue

k8andchr1smom

I'm 50 and new to mfp. If it's ok I'd like to follow along and make goals next month.
-Kellie from Ohio ❤️❤️❤️❤️

bwcetc

Absolutely Kellie from Ohio ... join in the conversation ... tell us a little about yourself! Or just "follow along."

Cereal and milk would never do for me either in the morning. Protein (eggs, crustless quiche, steel cut oats, etc) with out too many gluten based carbs holds me until lunch and gives me the energy I need.

Beth in WNY

tngram2seven

More new ladies. That is wonderful!
I have "designed" a little motivation for my inner child this month- I found some cute Valentine stickers at Target. They are tiny. I am using them on my wall calendar. A little cupcake sticker is for logging each bite and sip. A flowery snowflake is for exercising. A tiny heart is for taking my blood pressure. So far my days are very decorated. Does anyone else do anything like this?

Some of you shared some great NSVs - big pants go bye-bye; sweaters now wearable; fastest first mile........ Congratulations!

Sylvia - so glad you are better.

Michele - When are you going to be painting your bug friend?

Peachstate - Could you eat before going out and just enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while you keep him company? It is probably not what he'd prefer but it would be a compromise. I know that would be hard to do but just think how good you would feel that you could resist wrong eating!

Not much time to respond tonight but I've read all the posts and have you all in my heart!

Toni in TN (Where a dusting of snow is expected tonight)

Katla49

Meg: Congratulations on doing well with your February steps goal! Zumba is a really difficult challenge for me because my knee won’t take sideways pressure and there are many moves to the left and right sides. I love the teacher, the other students, and enjoy the music but I don’t relax and enjoy the exercise because I’m always adjusting each move to minimize knee pressure. I spend much of the class marching in place. I hope that you will eventually be able to participate in Zumba and enjoy it.

Lisac195: Be patient with yourself and the process. This is a reliable way to lose weight but it is NOT speedy. Be sure you measure your food to verify your portion sizes. (My worst problem was portion control. I always made good food selections but ate way too much.) Food scales are extremely helpful and so are measuring cups or dishers. Count every bite and swallow and log everything. No one has to see but you. People have different opinions on eating back exercise calories. I always allowed myself to eat back part of my exercise calories. I don’t eat back all of them out of concern that I might make mathematical or measuring errors. This isn’t a quick fix crash diet; it is a way to change your eating habits for a lifetime of better heath. I hope you’ll stick with it, even when progress is hard to see. One more thought about metabolism. The MFP model uses calorie burn data that I suspect is based on younger adults. After we reach a certain age, our bodies don’t burn as many calories as they once did. We can still be successful, but it takes time.

Stephanie in Central OR: Some of us who live in dark, chilly and damp climates (and elsewhere) have exercise bikes that we can ride in front of the TV or in the garage. It is a weatherproof & time of day proof way to burn calories. I can read romance novels and ride my bike at the same time. :devil: :bigsmile:

Karen: I used to be one of Imodium’s best customers. I’ve tracked down food sensitivities and avoid those foods that irritate my tummy or take enzymes to help digest them. I haven’t needed nearly as much Imodium as I did in years past but I still have it in the cabinet and my purse.

Barbie: Congratulations on all the bright smiles in your household.

Newbies: Welcome!



Yoga today kicked my backside. I miss my old teacher but I know I’m getting a good workout with the new teachers. Things are different and I have to work a little harder. I missed my core class this morning because I was up late and needed to sleep in. Tomorrow I’m supposed to go to Zumba with my neighbor, but I also am meeting a friend for brunch. I’m not confident that I’ll get home in time for the brunch, so I need to let my neighbor know I have a conflict.

Have a great evening.


Katla in Beautiful NW Oregon


“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison


February Goals:
1. Log every bite and swallow.
2. Cardio exercise at least 3 days a week.
3. Have fun every day.
4. Drink at least three glasses of water daily, preferably more!
5. Eliminate alcohol.
6. Monitor sleep.

barbiecat

thorn377 wrote: »

My tracker want work either. I have gone to Setting, Apps and ticker and then on the forum options I checked and saved. I've done this a couple times and it still doesn't work. Am I missing another step? Thanks for your help.

TNSue

Sue, you have to add your tracker each time. I keep the code for mine in a word document so I can easily paste it onto my post when I want to.



Kellie from Ohio, welcome and join in as much as you want to.

Toni, I love all your stickers.....I put a sticker on my calendar if my meet my step goal for the day......over the years I have increased my goal---I love seeing the stickers--I need rewards

Bernie and Brandy are safely home from getting their teeth cleaned. They are both pretty dopey. I could have kissed the vet when she said that she gave Bernie a long lasting pain shot so there wouldn't be any pills for him....nobody really knows how to give pills to a cat.

The reason most people fail instead of succeed is that they trade what they want the MOST for what they want at the MOMENT.

suebdew

Back from bridge. Made crab cakes for dinner but DH didn't want that so froze them. I got a giggle when I read the comment about the microwave and the frozen cat in the same sentence as the Frozen party. You guys keep me healthy by laughing. I also had trouble getting my ticker to appear. I saw the code but tried to copy it and I got a bunch of stuff that different make sense. Will try again after this.
SueBDew - TX

suebdew

Ok, let's see if it works

barbiecat

Sue, go to Apps, then ticker, then get code for ticker and copy the BB code and paste it on your post.



That's exactly what I just did to post my ticker

It says that there is a way to make your ticker show up on all your forum posts but that doesn't work.....you have to copy and paste each time.

pipcd34

stats for the day:
bike ride from home 2 gym- 12.19min, 14.3amph, 3mi = 119cal

spin class- 42min, 76 average revolutions per min.(how fast i'm pedaling)
118 average power i was giving out for the class
13-15 average gear i was using (gears on machine are 1-24), total distance 15.7miles
total calories = 336

bike ride from gym 2 train station- 6.45min 12.6amph 1.4mi = 76calories
bike ride from station to home - 17.26min, 9.3amph 2.7mi = 174calories
total cal for the day 705calories in 78minutes

DamitJanit

• Call me crazy but I love to see other people happy and succeeding.

Good evening my friends,
I had a periodontics appointment today and got a good report. Teeth are cleaned and ready for my cruise.

*Sylvia, loved the jokes.
 
*Social, congrats on under growing your yoga pants. That is a wonderful accomplishment!!

*Stephanie, welcome and good for you on getting serious. That’s all it takes. Many of us don’t like exercise but we make ourselves do it anyway. Here you will get lots of support and some useful ideas to make your journey easier. Good luck.

*peachstgal, I agree on the eating out. It is so easy to go over calories and they seem to drown everything in butter. I don’t want to pay their prices for a salad when I can have a better one at home. Is your DH aware of his weight problem? When mine quit smoking he started sucking on hard candy and soon learned to use the sugar free kind. Good luck to you both.

*Toni, I love your sticker idea. Any motivation is good as long as it works for you.

*Meg, you asked about my cruise. I leave from Charleston, SC which is just a little over a 2 hour drive. It’s for 7 days and we visit Nassau, Half Moon Cay (Carnival’s private Island) and Grand Turk. My DH doesn’t even want to try a cruise so I go with a girlfriend. This is only my 3rd cruise but I was hooked after the first one. We now take one each year and I’d go on more if they were free.  I’m just hoping for warm weather!

*Hi Kellie, and welcome to the group. Good luck on your goals.

Welcome to any Newbies that I missed. Come often and join in the chat. This thing works!!
Everyone have a healthy and happy day.

My word #1 is savor. I have to slow down and savor every bite.

#2 is opportunity. Each day offers new opportunities for good health and happiness if we just look for them and choose them.

Janet in Myrtle Beach, SC

exermom

Went to yoga this morning and then took the deep water class. Afterwards, stopped at Big Lots to see if they had the oat bran (they didn't) but bought Vince two loaves of rye bread. Then went to Bi-Lo just for a few things. Then home and made two kinds of chocolate chip cookies for vince and some ginger cookies for the gal at the Y whose birthday is next week, I'll take some to the place where I take the extremepump class, and have some for when we have Rummikub here next tuesday.


The plan for tomorrow is to do a ASAP Fitness DVD. Then I need to go for my injection of Prolia, then lunch with the Newcomers. I was about to prelog the Italian Wedding soup, but when I saw the sodium content (I just have to use what's in the database), I almost died! Looks like it'll be a grilled chicken salad for me.


Kim - your steps are right up there with barbie's

Margaret - welcome!

sharon - i hope you feel better fast. You raised a really good son, there.

Mary - next week the gal who house I usually go to to play mahjongg can't do it so we'll have it here. I did invite one of my neighbors, too. then the next night I invited 3 of my neighbors to my house to play Rummikub.

Alison - you've certainly been exercising. All that shoveling!!!

Caddi - welcome! What is an IT trainer? Wishing hubby all the best about his hand

jeanneofmalta - welcome. What part of FL are you in?

Heather - your trip sounds awesome!

k2boxlady - This initially sounds silly, but increase your calories to 1200. If your calories are too low, your body will hold onto any and all fat that it can believing that you're in starvation mode and it's trying to help you. that kind of "help" you don't need. Increase your calories by about 200. Once your body figures out that it isn't in starvation mode, the weight will come off.

marytyoung - welcome back! Just jump right in on the conversation

7elizamae - welcome

Sylvia - oh how I want to tell you about Downton Abbey's dog, but I won't. Talk about pain.........

Janet - I, too, found Joyce's telling me about the strainer interesting. I never knew this!!!! Doesn't it just feel great when you wear something that's too loose?

I really need to get moving on making that latch hook Christmas tree skirt, so I will probably be back after a bit.

Vicki - the ladybug is about a foot long and about 7" high. I'll try to post a pic. I had to do a little touchup after it was fired. I didn't know that I had to use a different type of paint! Honestly, the color red was close but not exact. Well, I was told that in the sunlight it'll fade. Live and learn....and this was my learning piece. Update: don't know why it posted where it did, but it did post.

Karen - when you say that you bake sweet potato fries, do you make them from scratch? How do you bake them so that they're crispy? I've never been able to get sweet potato fries to be crispy. Oh, if I bought the frozen ones in a bag, those'll crisp up. But they've also been fried first.

I'm feeling blue right now. Tomorrow is Bryan's birthday. I can remember giving birth to him. I've gotta keep myself in check. At least he's calling a bit. Vince just put money into his PayPal account for his birthday. I do miss him. I was thinking about his wedding. I'm sure that's the last time I'll ever see him

Kellie from OH - why just follow? Why not just jump right on in. We'd love for you to be here frequently!

toni - I'm not quite sure when they're going to be pouring the praying mantis. I find that I can usually go early in the morning on Tuesdays so I'll call them maybe Monday and see if it's been poured. If not, I'll work some more on the tree skirt. I did call this place in SC where they get a lot of their greenware from and ordered a large snail and turtle from them. Not sure when that'll be poured. A friend told me that they make "trips" down there quite frequently so someone can get it for me. I also want to check out their house number signs. I saw in a catalog up here that they had a house number sign with some animals on top. For us, a cat on top of the sign would be so cute so I want to check out if they have one with a cat. The lady THOUGHT she did.

peachstategal - I find that if I put that "True Lemon" (powdered lemon) in my tea, it seems to squelch any desire to have something else.

Sue in TX - crab cakes...now you have me drooling

Michele in NC

mollywhippet

Using my ipad, I go to this page:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker/finished

Then click on the box that says "BB code", hold it down till I get the option to copy.

Then come back to this page, press in the reply section till I get the option to paste.

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252
{\fonttbl\f0\fnil\fcharset0 ArialMT;}
{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;\red0\green0\blue0;\red255\green255\blue255;}
\deftab720
\pard\pardeftab720\sl360\partightenfactor0

\f0\fs24 \cf2 \cb3 \expnd0\expndtw0\kerning0
\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 ::
[im g]http://tickers.myfitnesspal.com/ticker/show/4547/7098/45477098.png[/img]}

A whole bunch of junk pops up (I pasted it here and added some smiles just so it stays put) and it looks nothing like the stuff I just copied.

So, I delete everything BUT the two sets of brackets that say "img" and everything in between them.

That leaves just the important part.

[im g]http://tickers.myfitnesspal.com/ticker/show/4547/7098/45477098.png[/img]

Hopefully it works.

thlavallee1

I'm going back to work tomorrow after being off for over a month. I've been really consistent with my work outs but with my new work schedule getting to the gym before or afterwork most days will be tough. I have only about an hour before or after work on most days and that's not enough time to get there, work out and get home or to work in time and the weather and sidewalk conditions make walking tricky. Although with all the snow we have been and will be getting this week I'll be shoveling a lot and exercise will not be problem for the near future. Does anyone have any mini workout suggestions that work well for them? I really want to try to keep to my exercise goals for the month. Thanks