2017--This Year is Our Year!!!

KonaKat

Another year has begun full of promise for each of us. We are the "captains of our own ships, so we are responsible for the outcome of this year when it comes to things we can control. Obviously, food choices is one of those. This is the year to continue to choose wisely!

KonaKat

Goals are said to be great motivators; things that keep us on course. I also think that it is easier sometimes to set a goal than to achieve it simply because we overestimate how likely we are to achieve the goal. Is the goal reasonable, believable and achievable? The goal may be reasonable for most but do we as individuals believe that we can achieve it?

KonaKat

I am carrying over to this thread the posts made January 1 on the old thread:

Pam said:

Happy New Year everyone! I'm hoping for a much happier and healthier 2017, with much less pain and much more fun than 2016.

Jean, I'm OK with just continuing on the same thread. Like Maryanne, I always just go to the last page anyway, so I don't see a need to start a new thread periodically. But I'll go along with whatever the rest of you want to do.

DH is starting a three week Daniel Fast today, which is basically three weeks of a vegan diet. His church does this every January. I don't adhere to it as closely as he does, but I try to cooperate on the meals we eat together, usually dinner. Last year he was unable to do it due to my injury because our many friends were bringing us meals and we didn't want to impose the fast's rules on them, so this year he is determined to do a better job of it. I get bored with it pretty quickly, unfortunately. I'm such a carnivore -- a vegan or vegetarian diet would never be my choice long-term.

Maryanne said:

I see QVC's today's special value is a nutrisystem plan. Pretty chintzy. Fast 5 and 15 other days of meals.

Jean - we're pretty prolific in posting aren't we? Quarterly is fine but if starting a thread is a hassle make it longer! I always go to the end anyway.

DH is off to visit his siblings (or at least the ones still living) with their Christmas gifts.

My day will be a lot less exciting. Feed the colonies and then work and do chores.

I do plan to stop at Petsmart to get a couple things for Indy. My expectation is that our new daughter will be here Wednesday. She'll start off in the "big cage".

mdubbs1

I'm here! Maryanne, waving madly

KonaKat

I'm watching the Nutrisystem presentation on QVC. The QVC program was how I was introduced to NS. The materials that came with it were better at explaining the program than what came from NS when I switched. The only negative with the QVC program is that you can't choose foods. I lost over ten pounds the first month I was on the QVC program of 5 days of NS food and 2 days eating other food according to NS guidelines.

I reluctantly got on the scales this morning since it had been 3 months since I had quit weighing in with all the running around and eating out or grabbing fast food on way back from PT. I gained 5 pounds, so I'm relieved it wasn't worse.

Helene610

I had checked my weight just before I left MA. I don't have a way to check again until we get to FL. I was back at the point I was before Thanksgiving. I had gained a few pounds then on BILs delicious cooking. Since we were alone at Christmas, I didn't have the types of food around that I would have had at his house and I lost the Thanksgiving gain. I'll have to look back at my profile to see how it compares to last January.

Pam..I hope you have that healthier year in 2017. You went through so much pain and struggles that I'm sure you were ready to kick 2016 out the door.

I brought a few NS items left from my last order before I discontinued. They're packed in a box in the truck but I'll have them in FL. I also ordered some Fit and Free pizzas today. They were having a sale so I put in an order which will ship shortly after we arrive.

Helene610

I went back to check and I was 3 pounds less last January. Considering all the stress of DH's surgeries and recovery, I'll take it/ It could have been much worse. I'll be starting fresh when I get to FL with eating better and walking. I'll also re-join the Rec. Center and start taking some of their water classes again. I actually enjoy water exercises. Other forms of exercise, not so much.

mdubbs1

Jean - always nice to have that kind of surprise on the scale!

Helene - considering everything you two have been through this year, I'd say you've done fantastic!

KonaKat

Helene--It sounds as if you did a good job of maintaining despite all the stress involved with DH's surgeries. I'm sure you will do well in Florida.

mdubbs1

Nobody likes to eat alone. This is so cute:

https://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/16/12/31/xWNqTy_WbEK5Lrvb10PvSA2.mp4

Helene610

That video was adorable. I was expecting the little dog to drag his dish. I was amazed he could pick i up. Very cute.

KonaKat

Great video! So cute!!

I'm off to the city to take some donated items as well as meeting a friend for a late lunch/early dinner. I see tilapia in my future.

Helene610

I'm catching up on laundry. This should hold us until we get to the house in FL. I ordered some Fit and free pizzas which were on sale yesterday. They'll be delivered a few days after we arrive. I like having them in the freezer for an easy dinner on a night I don't feel like cooking. I keep bags of frozen peppers on hand and slice up some fresh veggies (broccoli, mushrooms) and top the plain cheese pizza. We're heading to my sister's house tonight for game night and dinner.

mdubbs1

I'm changing litter boxes. I'd like to get them all washed up before Indy takes over the laundry room.

Took Jack to the vet today and she was happy with how he sounds. My mission is to track down the answer to two questions she didn't know.

KonaKat

Helene--Enjoy the Fit and Free pizza. I've never tried it despite hearing much about it. I like to buy the Lean Cuisine Supreme Pizza which is ready to nuke with no additions needed.

Maryanne--I'm in search of a new litter box big enough for Midnight. Not only does it have to be bigger than the average litter box, it also needs tall sides.

I work the next four days and also four days at this point next week. Where did Christmas break go?

mdubbs1

Jean -

High sided/big litter boxes tend to be about 21/22 x 18/19 x 10/11

If you need bigger, some people use large plastic containers from somewhere like Walmart that aren't sold as litter boxes (make sure they are flat surfaced on the bottom or the litter will get stuck in crevices and drive you crazy).

Litter box wise -

I have several of these (without the hood) and no one seems to have any issues with them: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+1926+19119+21133&pcatid=21133

Basically the same size as the ones I have:

http://www.petsmart.com/cat/supplies-and-training/litter-and-waste-disposal/litter-boxes/natures-miracleandtrade-high-sided-cat-litter-box-6635.html?cgid=200094

I've always looked at these and thought - does a cat really use this? Maybe without the lid?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+1926+19119+32953&pcatid=32953

another big one:

https://www.chewy.com/petmate-giant-litter-pan-microban/dp/113423

Helene610

Maryanne..Where do your cats come from and how many do you have on average? Do some move on to other forever homes or are they your's for life? We've had three cats over the years. The first was adopted from a neighbor who was moving cross country. Midnight was already bonded with us and I don't think she ever missed the neighbors. After she died, we adopted Cagney and Cheyenne from CLAWS, a cat rescue run by the town's animal control officer. She would get calls about homeless cats so she'd bring them to her house and try to find them forever homes. She did flea markets, newsletters, etc to raise funds to help support the cats. She did it about 10 years before she burned out and had to stop. There's a cat rescue one town over from us. I don't know much about them but they do a weekly column in a local newspaper that features some of the cats that are looking for homes.

I liked the last set of litter boxes we got for the girls. Petsmart and Petco carried them. There is a pull out tray at the bottom that has a pad to absorb the urine. The top layer had a special pellet that the urine would pass through while the solids stayed on top. It was easy to clean and odorless. The girls might track a few pellets out but they were easy to clean up because of the size. I'd usually get the supplies when they went on sale and there was a coupon inside the littler box package. When I bought the first one, the clerk opened the box and used the coupon for me. My cat sitter took care of lots of pets and she thought this was the best design she'd seen. It's pricier than a regular box but I think the cost of supplies would be closer to litter in the long run with the coupons. Plus I wasn't lugging bif pails of litter anymore.

mdubbs1

Our first cat Linus came from a litter than a friend of DH's had photographed. We adopted her right before we moved to Baltimore. Looking at the photos now I can see how sick they were but what did we know?

When I decided she needed a friend, DH came home from work and said "Penny says the farmer where she keeps her horse has a cat we can have". That was our beloved Beethoven. She and Linus hated each other at sight and never got over it.

Our third cat Reggie Jackson I found out walking one evening. We found a home for his brother but no one wanted Reggie. He was a great cat.

Our fourth cat Schultzey showed up at my in-laws. DH wanted her so she came here. She eventually died of multiple myeloma which was ironic because that's what took my MIL.

After that it was mostly rescue related.

Many of our cats since that time have come from the colonies I've tended.

Others have come from other folks' colonies or calls we've received.

A few more showed up at my in-laws over the years.

One showed up here.

One came from from the York SPCA via the Penn kidney transplant program after donating a kidney to our late Gordy.

We had about a decade when we had 13-16 at all times. I really, really miss those days. The house feels empty. But I know since we're getting older, and we aren't rich, we need to let our numbers drop.

Indy when I bring her home tomorrow will be #7 but my sad expectation is that neither Jessicat nor Jack will be with us next year at this time.

At one time I fostered a lot but not so much in recent years. I get too attached and of many turn out to be unadoptable. If we're going to let our numbers drop I can't be doing heavy duty fostering.

More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure.

Helene610

No, that's exactly what I wanted to know. My friend June, who had the cat rescue, must have had 15-20 cats at her house at a time. She had her own cats upstairs and kept the rescues in the basement. We went over to get two cats. Cheyenne picked DH. He had a cat on his lap and she gave that cat the evil eye until the first cat got down. Cheyenne hopped up, settled down and gave of the vibe that DH was taken and she wasn't moving off his lap. She went home that day. I wanted the second cat as a companion. Cagney was very skit tush. June had t chase her around the basement and drag her out from under the workbench so we could meet her. She had ear mites so June kept her a week to treat her. That gave Cheyenne enough time alone at the house to decide she was Alpha cat and had first dibs on everything. That lasted about 12 years until Cagney stood up to her. It knocked Cheyenne's socks off and after that, she was afraid of Cagney, So they never were real companions.

KonaKat

Why should we eat nuts each day? One reason is that it might help with weight loss as well as in other health-related areas:

http://drjohnday.com/6-reasons-to-eat-nuts-every-day/

KonaKat

Off to work again, but here is a link to a recipe that even I think I can do:

https://leaf.nutrisystem.com/how-to-make-your-own-freezer-fudge/

mdubbs1

Season 5 of My 600-lb life starts tonight. I'm "taping" to hopefully watch on the treadmill.

Jean - that recipe does look easy!

I'm working on getting the bad for me food out of here by this weekend (don't want to waste it all - shades of my late mother) and decluttering the "pantry" (loosely used term). I've done a really good job I think on everything but the freezer so far. And I think most everything in there is good stuff and needs to be used so it will only be decluttered as I use it.

I want to have room in the freezer side of the refrigerator in the kitchen for a day's worth of frozen ns. So I can have a day's food all in one place even on a "frozen day".

I did a minimus.biz order to get things like individual packets of salad dressing.

I think I'm getting ready to eat better.

Helene610

I'm not a huge fudge fan because I normally find it too sweet to eat more than one piece at a sitting. That sounds strange because I'd have no trouble eating a whole candy bar. DH likes fudge so maybe I'll try this recipe when I get to FL. It certainly sounds easy enough. I've been seeing Oprah all over TV the last couple of days. She's been talking about her WW experience and her new book which is part cookbook. Her appearance on Dr Oz was particularly interesting. I'll have to check his website. I think he was including a few of her recipes on it. Has anyone else seen her? She's lost 42 pounds on WW and she looks really good.

mdubbs1

Walmart is not on my weekly grocery store route but I made a trip to check to see if they still have JC kits. This one did not. They had two types of NS kits and a few strange NS items. Like one bag of the BBQ chips.

I found an extra small box of NS items today upstairs so while I was thinking I needed a small order to fill in the blanks (mostly stuff that doesn't keep well that I purged), I'm now thinking not so much.

mdubbs1

The veterinary eye doctor is pleased with Indy's progress. Finally! But she thinks she will always need eye drops which just reinforces my decision to make her a permanent foster. Unfortunately she wants her to wear the hard collar for two more weeks. I'll at least try to give it a week but it will be much easier to cuddle her without it! And I want to start her feeling at home.

I just realized you can order from Medifast directly. Not too much I like but I do like the spiced pancakes and I want to try the soft bake gingerbread and the chocolate mint soft serve. Something a little different.

They also have this new line called Optavia. Not entirely clear on the purpose. Something about a line for their "global coaches". But the ingredients and flavors sound exotic. Like wild blueberry almond hot cereal with chia seeds from bolivia or indonesian cinnamon and honey hot cereal. I fess up - I fell for a sampler pack on ebay. We shall see! LOL!

Helene610

It will be interesting to hear a review of what you think of the Medifast items. Thanks wonderful that Indy is making progress. Does she have glaucoma or something like that. She's so lucky to have you as her mom.

We're getting to head south tomorrow. It's just in time as stormy weather is hitting the Carolina's tomorrow night. We'll be in Jacksonville by then. It's been a nice week here visiting with family but I'm ready to head for FL and sunshine.

mdubbs1

Helene - most of what I've tasted from Medifast is pretty bad. E.g. I thought peach oatmeal sounded interesting. It was awful. The soft baked brownies are pretty good but I've got plenty of the Diet Direct chocolate cake here so thought I'd try the soft baked gingerbread. I know mixing all this stuff together (NS, JC, Diet Direct, Medifast, grocery store frozen) means I'm really just counting calories, not sticking with anyone's plan, but so be it! LOL! The days when I could cheerfully eat NS day after day are long gone.

I may have to work up my nerve to taste some of the Optavia stuff. Sounds exotic and I'm a pretty vanilla eater.

We woke up to snow on the ground today. Not much but more than a dusting. Looks like it should be okay for feeding the colonies over the weekend.

Indy originally had surgery for "cherry eye" - a gland pops out that's supposed to be hidden and gets inflamed. Her second surgery was on the third eyelid. All that is healing but she still has conjunctivitis.

I've got a massive "to do" list for today and the weekend. We'll see how much progress I make.

Helene610

I hope you get everything done before you get any more bad weather. We're packing to leavr in the next hour. This is my last post before the laptop gets packed. We're ahead of thre bad weather and heading away from it so travel shouldn't be too bad. I'll check in again when I can. Comcast is supposed to have turned the TV, WIFI and phone back on a couple of days ago. They sent me an email to say it was on but I'll believe it when I see it. I hope all of you stay safe in the bad weather and stay home if you can until the roads are clear.

PamS53

It's very cold here today, but so far, no snow. We may get a "light dusting" later today, whatever that means. I'm supposed to go to Happy Hour this afternoon, but I'm not excited about going out in the cold.

Yesterday DH and I spent the afternoon cleaning out a large closet in our game room. That closet had become a catch all for stuff we didn't want to get rid of or just weren't sure what to do with, so it was packed full of miscellaneous junk. It's also where we store all of the Christmas decorations, so we thought it would be a good time to clear it our before we put away all of that stuff again. By the time we were done, we had a huge pile of things to donate and another huge pile of trash. We need to get a couple of storage containers for gift wrap and then we'll be ready to load everything back into the closet. It's a pain to do that kind of cleaning and organizing, but it does feel good when it's done. One of these days, I need to find the energy and nerve to tackle my own closet, lol!

Helene610

Nice job on the closet. We're heading down to breakfast. We'll get back on the road after that.

mdubbs1

Before I went to law school I taught math. I'm still more numbers than words.

Interesting new movie coming out called Hidden Figures.

DH really likes the new TV show Timeless (which I think is boring/annoying). They go back in time and work against some monstrous vague conspiracy. Anyway, they had an episode about a black female mathematician who was helping NASA on the original space launch, although hidden in the basement and discriminated against for both race and sex. Turns out that's a true story. There's a book and now a movie.

I'm definitely ordering the book and will watch for the movie to eventually make it onto cable (I haven't been to an actual movie for probably more than 15 years).

Snowing here now. I went out early and fed the colonies. Now I'm ready to get to work. We have a recliner coming this afternoon; our Christmas present to ourselves. All the cats but Sammy are ensconced upstairs. I'll take Sammy down to the laundry room. He and Indy are very interested in each other (although Sammy may just be interested in her food).