Senior Golden Sneakers~~~ for February 2010~~~ Welcome

Well........At last!!! When I started, I lost 5 pounds quickly, then nothing for weeks. This morning I was finally down one pound. This may not sound like much, but after the same number on that scale for so long, this is huge for me. Maybe I've tipped off that plateau. God bless all of you. Irene

Sandy it is a mess here!

Jeffrey

Hi folks! Everyone sounds busy as always. I hope you all have a great weekend even with snow storms! We are having some nice weather although very foggy tonight. It was about 20F today and it seems that some people are thinking spring. I was on the University Campus today and saw several young guys in shorts. We are a hardy lot in Saskatchewan!! I was most def. not in shorts! Hmm, maybe I should put on my new bathing suit and gather some rays! That would be NOT. I did work today. It was very enjoyable to go back and see everyone. I got to see my babies at the hospital. It was also nice to know that I would be back in a week but not before!! Ain't this retired life grand!

Thinking about you, Marie.

Take care. Gayla

Hi everyone - hope your weekends are going well!

Gayla - we put shorts on around here at 50 degrees.......but definitely NOT 20! You guys ARE a hearty lot! Glad you got to check on your babies and be back in your work environment. ALSO glad you don't HAVE to go back for a week! That is WAY cool! Yes - sounds like retirement is the way to go! lol I'm pretty sure i'm on the "work 'till ya die" plan. No complains here though!

Sandy - good for you for using the gym there at the hotel! Way to go! I hope the competition goes GREAT tonight! How fun. I was listening to the weather report this morning and it sounds like the east coast is getting hammered! Hopefully you should be all right in KC! Hopefully you will get home without too much delay! It sounds like the DC area is getting the worst of it.

Barbie - hope your trip is going well. It is VERY cool that you and Jake get to do these work things together. AND the "naughties" will be so beautiful when you get home!!!!!! (and you KNOW i say "naughties" with love )

I made it to yoga again this morning - the bad thing is that darn positional vertigo decided to show back up! It's made me feel crummy for the rest of the day. I had to lie down for a long time to avoid being dizzy and of course, being dizzy made me nauseaus and headachy:sick: ugh! Oh well, i'm doing the tipping exercise again - so hopefully it won't stick around for too long! I made a sourdough starter last week so i'm going to have my first adventure in baking sourdough bread tomorrow! May go to yoga again if the dizzy isn't too terrible:ohwell:

Happy Weekend All!

:flowerforyou: Gayla, It was 57 in Seattle today and I was still wearing silk underwear, a wool sweater, and my winter coat (but no wool scarf and hat :laugh: )

:flowerforyou: Elli, congrats on losing two pounds.....sorry you're not feeling well....enjoy your bread making

:flowerforyou: Sandy, isn't is great using the health club at a hotel.:bigsmile: Good luck to Bryanna on her competition.

:flowerforyou: We had a fabulous day

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beautiful weather, a nice walk on the ferry but little exercise otherwise.......All my eating was healthy ( I stared at some wonderful cornbread in an iron skillet and then decided that the food I brought with me would be be more nourishing and more satisfying in the long run).....I ate toooooooo much today----MFP said that if every day were like today I'd gain 5 pounds in the next five weeks.......but every day won't be like today.

:flowerforyou: I see that you're making healthy bread choices too.:bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: I'm exhausted.....it's time to go to bed.
:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: Barbie

I just found my credit card in the envelope with my plane and hotel information. :laugh:

Hi everyone! We just got home from my son's where we watched the SuperBowl. I am not much of a football fan but did cheer for N.O., sorry Jeffrey. I just thought it would be wonderful for their city to have something good happen for them.
I have made a promise to myself that I will start going to bed earlier so that when we are on the cruise I will be adjusted and not be lying in bed until 3 in the morning and then not ready to get up in the morning. It will be hard, especially on the days when Neil is trying but I will do it.

Elli -- I used to have a recipe for a starter for sour dough and I will look and see if I can find it or maybe, like Marie, I just kept feeding a starter someone gave me. I, too, used to make a lot of bread and buns. It was my Friday routine, baking bread and cookies. Wow, that seems like a lifetime ago. Now I just throw it all in the breadmaker.

Back atcha tomorrow. Take care and keep smiling. Gayla

Good morning everyone!

Gayla and Marie - thank you for help with the whole sourdough thing. I made the starter and left it out for 5 days like the recipe said. The bread was good - it just wasn't "sour" enough for me. So i'm leaving the starter out on the counter again for a few days - see if that helps...........i've never done sourdough before so it's an adventure. I LOVE baking bread and hadn't done it in years but decided i want to in the new kitchen!

Sandy - I was wondering as well, what happened with American Airlines? You're home safe at least! As far as i'm concerned i'd NEVER get on an airplane again if i absolutely didn't HAVE to. I'd much rather drive anywhere!

Jeffrey - I hope you're not getting as much bad weather as was predicted! Sorry about your Colts - but i have to agree that i'm happy for NO! Also, I have family in Baton Rouge who are pretty excited right now!

I'm still having dizzy troubles - i hope it doesn't last too long. It feels SO good to be back to yoga and last time i had this i had to quit for 2 weeks. I'm planning on going tomorrow night - i'll just have to see how i feel. I don't mind the falling down so much (i manage to catch myself) - it's the nausea and headache that makes it bad!

Gayla - You're such a night owl huh? Man - i'm usually in bed by 9:30! I have a hard time staying up late at night. I'm always worried if i go to a play or something i'm going to fall asleep! lol. :embarassed: I'm such a bad sleeper at night though - maybe i should TRY to stay up later!

OK - i better get to work! Hope it's the beginning of a really good week for us all!

elli

Good Morning All,

Yes, we are home safe and sound and although I said I would never fly American again it was much better than driving. Bryanna and I were disappointed with the American Terminal in Kansas City since were hoping to have a nice dinner before boarding and it was very depressing terminal. The plane was the smallest plane with one seat on one side and two seats on the other. There wasn't any room for any carry on luggage so we had to let them put her bag with her costumes in the cargo area which we never do since they are so valuable. There were only about 8 of us on the flight and for some unknown reason we had to wait over a half hour to get our luggage. Because we were tired we got frustrated so that is why I said I would never fly American again. :mad: I will send them an email to complain about the luggage situation, if I have to pay for my luggage I expect good service. :blushing:

Jeffrey, I did want the Colts to win since they have never been to Super Bowl, but as it turns out I won $500 on the pools I was in, so although you might not be happy I sure am. :laugh: We too are expecting all that snow so I am grateful we weren't traveling when it hits. Plan on just staying home for the next couple of days and catching up on rest. :yawn:

Marie,the most important thing is that you got to see your brother in the hospital and at the wake. I am sure everyone knows how hard it would be for you to walk and they all understand. Bryanna's next competition is in our area and the end of March we go to Detroit. Her team is amazing and she is such a pleasure to watch dance.

Gayla, I am like you, I am not a morning person and stay up until about 1:00 am. I sleep until around 8 or 9 and then waste my morning on the computer, it is a good thing I am retired. :laugh: When I went on the cruise I was not up at the crack of dawn because as Jeffrey said I found plenty to do at night. When we docked I managed to crawl out of bed to do some excursions so you will be fine. Just enjoy it and try and relax as much as possible.

Elli, I am the opposite of you, I would rather fly anywhere than drive. Most of the time if the drive is over three hours I will try to fly, especially in the winter. I hate to have to worry about the weather and would prefer to be delayed at the airport than driving through snow. :ohwell: When I do make bread which isn't often since I try not to eat bread I use a bread maker so I am not the one to ask about baking or cooking. :laugh:

Hope everyone else is well and had a great weekend, I did not gain any weight over the weekend so life is good!!!

Sandy

Hello All!!

It has been a few days since I was on here. I have been "lurking" (for any newbies--that means, reading but not posting.)

I am not a huge football fan, but I did keep up with the Saints this year, and I was SOO pleased at the outcome. :drinker: :drinker: Sorry Jeffrey :flowerforyou: I don't know what I would have done if the game had put them against Minnesota, 'cuz I like Brett Favre too, but New Orleans deserves to have some pleasant memories after all the adversity that region has faced since the aftermath of that uninvited guest "Katrina."

I can't begin to respond to all the posts, but I have to make a couple of comments. (If you already read me on the 50+ Women's Thread, you can skip the parts between ********************** as it is a "rerun.":bigsmile:

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I agree with Barbiecat--way too many unhealthy food ads during the game, but the one with the little kid setting mom's new boyfriend straight about keeping his hands of mom and the Doritos WAS cute!! I missed the one with Letterman, Leno and Oprah, but saw it on the news today--funny--and most unexpected.

As for the ads with guys in their underwear--well, I would rather see GUYS :blushing: in their underwear than a bunch of gals!! Just my thought!!

I do have a new food treat to mention. I recently tried the Fiber One muffins from the freezer case-- the banana nut and chocolate chip and the blueberry flavor. Great flavors--about 170 calories per muffin--and a great source of fiber. Four muffins for about $2.50 are individually wrapped, so great for taking along to work or where ever.

So, what have I been up to? Well, after surviving another week at work, I prepared for Super Bowl Sunday. My neighbor and I headed up the Columbia Gorge with his pug, and my three little piggies, and a car full of food (though not quite as much food ARRIVED at our destination as I had planned--more about that below ) Chloe, his black lab, was on a "play date" with his daughter, so she was not part of the "travelling herd."

Since my friend/hostess had been very busy with her doggie raising business and other family obligations, about a week ago I told her, if she would contribute some $$$ I would plan and buy all our food. I got some inspiration from a taste of samples at Trader Joe's.

The menu became, mini tacos, soy and flax seed chips, veggie chips, edamame hummus, salsa, regular and peach mango; spicy black bean dip; reduced sodium wheat thins, a veggie tray, some stuffed mushrooms, meatballs in a sauce with some low sodium V8, a little balsamic vinaigrette dressing and some BBQ sauce, a la crock pot, and dessert was still an unknown. Saturday night after getting off work, I went out to shop and bought pretty much everything except dessert. Couldn't get hold of my friends to find out what they might like.

My PLAN: Get home, go to bed early, get up early to attend church, pack up the car and the doggies (and my neighbor, too, of course!! )and take off by about 11:30 for the drive, which is about an hour and 15 minutes.

What HAPPENED: Things started to derail when I got home. For some reason, even though I didn't get enough sleep on Friday night, by the time I got home, my "second wind" kicked in, and I didn't get to bed til about 1 am. That made getting up at 6 am to hit the 7:30 am service a "not happenin" event, and I wasn't even "with it" enough to make the 9 am service. By this time, we were on "Plan C"--10 am at another parish. Well, that didn't work either, so I started debating about the 11 a.m. service--which would have meant we left later than we should, so I said a little prayer of "please forgive me for my bad planning Lord" and skipped church, and hoped I wouldn't live to regret it. (I will let you be the judge of whether THAT is what caused all the trouble described below )

So, as I am walking my doggies, I finally get in touch with my friends,and they agree that vanilla ice cream is a good start for any dessert. I came up with ginger snaps, blueberries to go along with, and a special lemon loaf that my hostess is nuts about.

During this conversation, I also learned that the host had managed to eat on Saturday night most of the ribs that he had purchased for Sunday, AND drank all of his beer as well!! He had help. His son and son's girlfriend both had to work on Sunday, so they came over on Saturday night for a "pre-game celebration" and that took care of that food. I decided some additional food was in order, so came up with a little make it up as I go along in the store recipe:

8 pre-made tamales (Delimex makes some that are individually wrapped in corn husks, but just need to be heated up in micro, or regular oven),;
2 bags of Uncle Ben's brown rice in the micro pouch (fantastic rice WITHOUT added sodium --read the label, all the OTHER flavors have PLENTY of sodium)
1 can of S & W stewed tomatoes with bell pepper and onion;
about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of mild enchilada sauce (optional, see below**)
1/4 -1/2 cup of salsa
1 cup or so of Sargento reduced fat Mexican cheese

I took the tamales and heated them in the micro for about 4 minutes per four tamales. Heated the rice pouches according to directions --90 seconds each pouch. Place rice in a casserole, add tamales, top off with more rice, add the stewed tomatoes and the enchilada sauce, and the salsa. Put in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Remove and add the cheese. Put back in the oven for 5-8 minutes. You can shut off the oven about this time and it will still melt nicely.

I didn't calculate the calories, but I already know the sodium would be higher than I would want under normal conditions, because of the sodium in the enchilada sauce and the stewed tomatoes.

**These were REALLY good, though if I do it again, I would eliminate the enchilada sauce and replace it with V-8 juice.

So far, sounds like a pretty good spread, right? Well the story isn't over yet!! It was a VERY fortunate thing that because of my host eating the most of the ribs I added that last dish at the last minute. Thus, all the ingredients for it were purchased on the way out of town when I got the dessert ingredients and some more beer. We had an uneventful drive east, with Mai Li, being her usual self, barking periodically to let all know that she still thought she was "in charge" of the back seat .

Upon arrival, I started pulling things out of the cooler, and suddenly realized that everything I purchased at Trader Joe's, and some of what I got on Friday night at another store was MISSING!!! Suddenly those tamales were looking like our main course, and as it turned out, they WERE. My punishment for foregoing church was managing to FORGET the mini tacos, edamame hummus, spicy black bean dip, stuffed mushrooms, AND meatballs!! Phooey!!

Fortunately, two of the people we thought would be there to eat were not. And, since we had "enough" beer, the guys didn't care!! What we DID have was very good, and there were leftovers, so we didn't starve, but it is a good thing I like Mexican food, because there is still plenty of it left at my house. I came home to find all the missing goodies still sitting waiting for me!!

I am making the meatballs tonight for my dinner and I will probably freeze part of them to use later. I think I may have to plan a dinner later this week with a friend and her son to take care of the rest.

Turns out, I will be going back up to the east next Sunday, since my neighbor and my friend reach an agreement that he is going to take one of her male French Bulldogs, who is about to "retire" from breeding. He is only 4 years old, but that breed has a genetic predisposition to sterility, and he has been having a lot of "fun" with the females, but not producing any "results" if ya know what I mean, so he gets to become my neighbor's pet, and will become a regular playmate of "the three little pigs" as well. His name is "Archie"--not the name you would expect for a Frenchie, but somehow it suits him!! I can already tell he is a character, just like his new owner.
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Elli, I am with you, would rather drive than fly anytime. Flying doesn't bother me--its taking off, landing, and dealing with all the security measures that one has to go through in the terminal--and the fact that I can't carry my tweezer and manicure scissors with me in the cabin. Amazingly, I have been driving with those things in my purse for YEARS, and haven't experienced a single breach of security!!!:noway: My aunt in Seattle is fortunate. When she goes to visit her daughter and the rest of the family, her son-in-law sends HIS private jet to Seattle to pick them up:noway: , and presto, no security searches!!! We should all be so lucky, right!!:laugh:

Sandy, I am glad you found your credit card. As you can see from reading above, I "found" my missing items, but I can't "cancel" them., so guess I will be dong some eating instead!!!

Marie,

I am glad you got to see all your family, but wish it was for a different reason. Hang in there with your food program, and keep up the exercising. We want you to live FOREVER!!!:flowerforyou:


I am doing an effective job of wasting my last day off, so will take off for now.

Barb

oh Barb - sorry about your food mishap! Although! It DOES make a great story! AND sounds like you did just fine with what you had! All that careful preparation.......and then to leave all that at home!:ohwell: Sounds like you'll have food for the rest of the week anyway!
Thanks for telling us about the fiber 1 muffins! They sound GREAT! I'll check those out. Always looking for new breakfast ideas. I like the fiber 1 granola bars too.
Oh yea - the whole flying thing bothers me. If we were supposed to be 30,000 feet up in the air God would have given us WINGS!:bigsmile: I can't stand all the security stuff - i ALWAYS have a pocket knife in my back pocket.........good thing i haven't been arrested! i HAVE had to run back out to the car to leave it threre........

Marie - i have to agree with Barb - you keep on exercising because we really DO want you to live forever!

I made it to the gym tonight - and didn't fall down! lol. I have an appointment on Friday to get the manuver that will fix my dizzy. By then it may be gone 'cause i'm doing the tipping exercise 3 times a day.........not working yet.:huh:

OK! have a great night all!

Elli-

I know you posted about what that exercise is, but everytime you mention it, I think of the kind of "tipping exercise" I was doing yesterday with a bottle of Michelob Ultra Cactus Lime. :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: I got LOTS of exercise yesterday!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: It helped me forget my "menu mishap.!!":blushing:

Funny thing, though. I was actually dizzier AFTER all the "exercise." :noway: :noway: Imagine that!!!:laugh: :drinker:

Barb

Hi All,
Quick note to say HI... I have been hiding for the last week and a half studying for my test... test is over and I guess we find out in May or June if it was worth all the studying.
Today was PT and at lunch I have Spin class and after work I have a 45 minute date with a Planet Fitness elliptical... I am so ready for spring... We have a 14K race this weekend and its supposed to be freezing!!!
I will try and read all the posts when I get back on later tonight. I wish you all a wonderful day
Beth