Tuesday Dec. 17, right?

Hi Everyone,

We arrived in Florida today and found frost in Pensacola. We have had morning frost all the way across the country, but the rest of the weather has been sunny, clear and cool. Gorgeous.

After driving all week and eating trail mix of soy nuts and fruits with an occasional m&m and peanuts, and eating other not-so-good stuff - but passing on the fries every day and learning to toss out the last couple of bites of bread, we arrived at my parents' new home and had a pretty good dinner of chicken and salad and green beans and cantalope. I love working in a roomy and clean kitchen, and it is especially nice when my mother hands me stuff and all I have to do is put it together. I did eat dessert, but a tiny amount and I saved the last tiny bit of ice cream for another day AND I only took a tiny taste of a Trader Joe's Truffle from my mother. When no one was looking I quickly wrapped all the rest up and stuck them in the freezer. But my gosh they are GOOOOOD and I didn't think I liked truffles... Sigh.

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season, and am sending warm wishes for being OP on this jolly Tuesday. I plan to get back on track with my water as a first step. And find out exactly where the local Curves is, too. :dance2:

Desk
:hoho:

I'm back And no, this time, I wasn't away because I was wayyyy off program I was away because I simply didn't have time to check in here..... go ahead, spank me

I've been actually pretty good, considering this is X-Mas time and the parties have started. Well.... actually.... we had a loo-loo of a party last Wednesday: started at 12:00 and our team left at 4:45... feeling no pain.

Since then, I've had a donut and a few candies... that's it. And, since Sunday, I've been totally on-program and I'm hoping that this last weigh-in of the year will see me within my goal weight (I was just .4 of lb away from it last week).... if not, well, so be it and I'll just work on loosing the extra weight over the holidays.

Guess it helps that I'm not really big on parties... soooo, there is just our "real" office party on Friday (starting at 10:30 am and, if we go by what one of our team-mates scheduled, ending at 4:00 am), my DD's birthday (tomorrow, party on Saturday), X-Mas day, family gathering (my place) on the 28th and then New Year's eve and New Year's day and I'll have almost a whole week to make up.

I'm actually looking forward to it all and feel pretty up-beat.... for the first time in months. Guess it helps that I took the day off today (brought work home, though.... but it's good work: I'm working on re-writing our job descriptions, in order to gain a level).

I hope everyone is having a BEST day and, hopefully, I'll check in later on today and see how everyone is doing.

Desk: sounds like you're having a wonderful time, despite the frost, AND keeping on program.... which is always amazing while travelling.

Desk and Dany HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I Have missed you both!

Desk I am glad your trip went well and that you are enjoying your family. I have missed your daily posts that is for sure.

Dany I am glad that you are feeling well and up beat. I hope you have a good time at your party.

Things are great here. I am not OP but I am soooooooooooo much better than every other year. So that is what is totally holding me together. People still say I look like I have lost weight. I am re-inducting on Atkins on Jan 2nd. SO if I can hold off until then I will be so happy. I have been pretty good not perfect.

Things are going well. My family is happy and healthy at this time and we have spent lots of time with family and friends. I mean that is what this season is all about . NOT one person cares if I gain 4 to 5 pounds over the holidays they just want to be with me. HOW nice is that!? :

I hope you are all well, happy , healthy and enjoying this very special time of year!

Take care

:hiya:

I don't really think I am OP, but I am trying to be more mindful of what I put in my mouth. My parents do tend to have more treats sitting out than I do, and so I have to watch that. My father said I looked good, keep doing whatever I am doing. He is tired all the time and has had all sorts of tests. I wish we did not have to get old, but I guess it's inevitable.

Dany, sounds like you are doing well through this season. Keep up the good work and stay positive! You are sooo close!

Katie how is the weight training going? Are you keeping up with it? I saw an article about Atkins in the January 2003 issue of Prevention Magazine (or was it Dec. '02?) and it sounds like they are kind of remaking its image into something a little more balanced, maintanable and comfortable than what I tried way back in 1972. Back then we just ate protein and water and it felt kind of yucky, but now it sounds much more balanced. Or maybe I just didn't like the good veggies back then?

Gotta go help my mother prepare dinner and resist the urge to make some kind of special dessert. Ooooh this is tough on me, I wanna bake chocolate... Oy, I have to shine the light on that path we've been on and get back to it. I still have not found the scale in the house, and I have not managed to contact the Curves place here. It is not as close as I thought, and there is so much to do today, sigh, I can only hope to go tomorrow.

to my BEST friends,

Desk

Hi Everyone....

I made it right under the wire by raking and bagging leaves on the weekend. We had another light snowstorm on Sunday night. I didn't do anything "physical" yesterday and felt quite ansy by last night. I'm going to head out to the gym in a bit. Last night's meal was Xena's Salmon, Sweet Potato and spinach. Really healthy, right? A year ago I would never look forward to that meal.

Desk, I was pleased to see your post....missed you! Dany & Cath, you both seem quite upbeat and doing well during "The Eating Season".

Everyone have a great day!

Hi Em yes I am pretty upbeat. I figure why not it is an easy time of year to be happy and festive. At least for me. I do realize for some the Holiday Season can be depressing. Not for me.

Desk I hope your dad is okay. Yes getting old does not seem right. I hope he is okay. I have started back full tilt with my weight training. I am truly enjoying it. I need to get some more Cardio in desperatley.The Atkins diet has come a long way. Come Jan 2nd I am hitting it full force. I want to get at least 10 pounds off. I am guestimating I will be 180 at the end of the season. I would love to weigh between 165 and 174. We shall see. I would like to be in shape to. The weights and cardio should help that. Enjoy your dinner.

Take care

Katie

:hiya:

:hiya: sisters!

Well, the official weigh in at Curves was one pound lost, and I , may have just gained it back with a cookie binge. I won't go into details, but there are less cookies than there were! And now I'm having coffee to get rid of that yucky sweet taste!

Desk - glad that your is over and you are safely tucked away in Florida enjoying visiting your folks.

And Dany, good to hear from you too. Glad you are feeling upbeat.

My brain is a b-l-u-r-r (must be the sugar!) and can't remember enough from yesterday's posts for any more specific thoughts...

Hi Em, Cath, Sue, Xena, Ann, BSQ,Traci, Denise, and the whole rest of the

I'll talk with all tomorrow....have a nice comfy evenning!

Hi all!!


Desk .............welcome to sunny Florida!! It sounds to me like you are doing well............you are very aware of what you're eating and that's important. It's always difficult during the holidays or when we visit family...........I know our family seems to revolve all gatherings around food!! All my sis-in-law's try to out bake each other.............sometimes it's impossible to resist!!

Cath..........it is good to hear from someone who doesn't get depressed during the holidays! Sometimes they can get to me. I try not to let it get me down though. Staying busy, keeping my exercise schedule, all that seems to help.

Em..........we had salmon last night too! And steamed cauliflower and noodles w/sweet & sour sauce. I salmon ............almost as much as Mexican food!!

Dany............will keep my fingers crossed for you at weigh-in. I only weigh myself at the gym and the scale there is broken again (don't know why they can't keep that thing working!) So I'm trying to judge by how my clothes fit and don't think I've had a gain recently.

Well........I am finally done de-cluttering and cleaning. Went to the gym this morning -- Tues is a cardio day, did 60 minutes on the treadmill.......a random program (Up and down different hills) and then 10 minutes on the stairmaster.......better known as the sweat machine!! Came home and dh was making spaghetti sauce.........helped him out then baked pork chops for dinner tonight..........spaghetti sauce is for tomorrow he likes it better when it sits overnight.
Managed to keep snacking at a minimum, and meals have been ok.


Hi Bliss! You must have snuck in here when I was posting!! Cookie monster gotcha, huh!!! (He's Fred's first cousin)


Take care all!!

Ann

Evening Ladies! I really did post yesterday. TWICE an hour apart. I must close my tab before the thing is done posting. Anyway, I had agreed with Traci's thought about thinking like a thin person. Em also saw the change in her self and I have to agree with them, that I am way more conscience when I over indulge and do compensage in the days leading up or following to balance it out. I think that is the change in myself I am most proud of.

Went to the market for a few things cause well you know how it is just before a vacation. You have no food. It was a bad day at work, so I brought a co worker home with me. We picked up the Michelob Ultra Lite beer. It's billed as low carb. It tastes OK I guess, seems about equal to any other light beer. Otherwise we picked up crab,some wild greens and made up some salads. So after the BBQ lunch, dinner was a good balance. I also made good choice for BBQ.

everyone sounds like they are managing their holiday gatherings well. I agree with Katie, the best part of the season is being with friends and having a good time. I know I've been having great fun with friends new and old.

Oh, while I was walking the aisles of the market, we contemplated ice cream. First I see my store has the peppermint skinny cows (the pink ones) and they did have No Sugar Added Klondikes, but not the fat free ones. Just as well. I didn't need to go puttin those in my basket!

Guess I should get going and figure out what else I have left to do here at home. May you all have a BEST Wednesday!

BSQ