Time

has slipped away on me again. And I have the extra pounds to prove it! Time to get back in the saddle again. So, here is my day so far:
egg, bagel, 2 strips of bacon (80 calorie pre-cooked kind)slice of cheese (plastic wrapped variety) and a glass of milk.

3 apples, bag of cheetos puffs (weird, but so good!)



Super: Kit Kat bar, veggies and dip

How can you tell the man is out of town?

Trouble

Comes when you sit around waiting to feel good again! Tonight, I made PChoice Mac and Cheese for supper, thinking that since I forgot to eat lunch, I could splurge on the calories. So, I made the macaroni, and served it up with pickled beets. Now, if there is one thing in life that I dearly love, it is pickled beets. But, nibble by nibble, the jar was gone between the two of us. Of course, now it is four in the morning, and I have a tummyache, and I know full well what did it! Ah well. I learned my lesson...until next time!

Other than that? It has been a pretty uneventful day. I wish I had something exciting to report, but this bug has laid me low. I need to get my prescriptions renewed, but I am afraid of going into the doctors office with a weakened immune system. I don't know how doctors stay alive, with the number of germs they are exposed to! I have a feeling this is a tough Thompson germ...I mean really, it would have to be to survive there, wouldn't it? LOL

Today:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, toast & butter, milk

Supper: 1.5 cups of mac and cheese, I don't know how many beets...that is my story, and I am sticking to it. One of these days, I will learn how to convert these jars that give ml measurements, and a calorie count for gms. Quite a few, I would say.

Snack: two apples and a bag of cheetos -- so good when eaten together!

Sunday

Well, this day was another write off! I couldn't go out, so the day went rather quickly...time does that when you drift in and out of naps!

Breakfast: Same old, same old...eggs & toast, coffee & milk, 2 slices of bacon (my goodness this stuff lasts and lasts...still on the original package! When it goes, though, i don't think I will replace it for quite some time!)

Lunch: woops. That maple popcorn will never find its way into our house again. How can I resist the maple sugary, pecan, almond, cashew cranberry goodness? I am only human. Sigh.

Supper: 3 oz chicken, mixed veggies, stuffing - this was stuffing I bought from Costco, and it was horrible. Very salty. It is not like me to not eat stuffing, and I really could not finish this. It goes back tomorrow when hubby takes my car in for snow tires.

Snack: Since I didn't finish my stuffing, there was a nice calorie gap in the diet that two bags of All Dressed chips and a diet pop filled nicely. While clicking through channels mindlessly, I realized that there is nothing good on TV anymore. Do I sound like a cranky old lady?

Another thing I noticed, was that when heated on the stove, in a pot, with water, frozen vegetables seem to come alive. I have been nuking them for years, but I think that from now on, I will do the stove top thing. I wonder why they tasted better?

Miserable, rotten cold...

has us both down for the count. So, last night it was early to bed, late to rise this morning. Feeling somewhat rested, but still not myself. The good news is? To spite my activity level of minus zero, my travel weight is coming off. All in all, bit by bit, day by day. Whew. I am having an issue with some maple popcorn with cranberries and nuts that mysteriously found its way into my shopping cart at Costco yesterday. Man, is it GOOD! LOL I have been faithfully measuring out a cup, and then doubling it to make up for the bits I sneak out of hubby's dish, and the kernels that pop into my mouth when I am doling it out. Best to eat it all up and then never let this happen again...or? Eat in moderation, dragging out the agony! LOL Either way, I am counting it. Made a rather coma inducing lunch today.

Breakfast: Served by hubby's own little hands. 2 eggs, toast & butter, milk, coffee with coffee whitener, that decadent precooked bacon..mmmmm....

Lunch: 2 cups of aforementioned popcorn, coffee

Supper: Chinese food...chicken chow mien (bean sprouts, not noodles)chicken balls and an egg roll. No rice. Just a vehicle for the sweet and sour sauce, so not good for me at all, even on the best of days. I can get away with the sauce on the chicken balls though! Moderation, moderation, moderation.

Snacks: 2 apples, 1 oz Cheetos, 1oz all dressed chips I know, I know, but it was movie night and I am sick, darn it!

Friday....freaky....

Somehow, I lost a day. Haven't been feeling all that great, so have spent a lot of time in my easy chair. Today, though, I made the effort to clean myself up for a public appearance. An appointment, a little shopping, and now? Two movies and a baked potato with cottage cheese. Numm!

Breakfast: 2 pieces of rye toast & butter, 2 eggs, 2 pieces of that nifty bacon - yep, again. Milk, too. All the necessities are in this breakfast. The rest of the day's food is entirely recreational!

Lunch: mandarin orange

supper: Cottage cheese, half a baked potato, butter. Greek salad. Strawberries for dessert, while watching movies!

Snacks: Movie night, so a small bag of chips, and a chocolate bar.

What is on the books for today?

Well, breakfast is over and done. After that? I am a free agent. My pillow is calling...very loudly, I might add, so I just may crawl back into bed with my heating pad...seems the right thing to do on this chilly dark day! Hope somebody out there is feeling perkier than me, or this old world is in more trouble than I thought!

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 piece of toast & butter

Lunch: cheez whiz and bacon sandwich

Supper:dairymilk bar strikes again...

Snack: can I ever be creative when hubby is out of town? Another cheez whiz/bacon butty....

Soooooo bad these days. But hey. At least I am honest. Sigh.

Tuesday....

I totally crashed yesterday...it was lovely to be in my big comfy chair, and snooze the day away! Nothing done in the house at all, and just basic feeding. Of course, there was an incident with the Dairymilk chocolate bar. It lost. MMMM good. The travel weight is coming off, but what a shocker it is when you step on the scale after two weeks, and find that your labours of the past six months have disappeared. Sigh. At least from all this? I know that I can survive famines without having to adjust my waistbands.

So, here is my menu plan for today:

Breakfast: breakfast "sandwich" - messy, but so good. 2 slices of rye toast, 2 T Cheez Whiz, 2 eggs, 2 slices of precooked Kirkland bacon (80 calories) A bit messy, but soooooooo good! No butter on the toast cuts that little expense to make way for the bacon!

Lunch: Slept in until eleven! Had 'fastlunch' - see above. Snacked at three on three Nice cookies. Gotta love those things. Of course, that took away any motivation to cook supper, so


Supper: 8 T antipasto, 12 crackers...lost interest in cooking at this point. Who knows what will lure me at snack time?

A brand new week....

and lots to put in it. Hubby left at the crack of dawn this morning, and I won't be seeing hide nor hair of him until Friday, when we have a lunch date at Hy's. I really don't care what I eat there, as long as it fits into the program. I just like the feel of the place. Cozy. Homey. There is something very comforting about being served by waiters in little white jackets, full aprons and a towel over their arm. It just says decadence!

The weekend will be jam packed again, so I need to get all my ducks in a row in the house before all else. It has been over two months since our windows were covered, and it is getting a bit tiresome changing in the bathroom at night! So, after the initial cleaning and laundry is done, I really must break out of my cocoon and find some curtain rods so we don't have to continue living in a fish bowl!

Menu Plan for Today:

Breakfast: two slices of rye toast, one egg, cheez whiz, bacon (120 cals - precooked stuff is great, and not fatty...for bacon, that is!)
Lunch: just finished breakfast at 11:52, so I will count snack at three as lunch.... crackers and antipasto...if I can get the jar open.
Supper:

Snack: apples

It is so good to be home and to be able to plan out my food for the day, rather than depend on the whims of someone else...the daily soup and special at a restaurant! I don't have any idea why they feel obliged to put extra fat into everything...it doesn't even taste good. But they do it. And then, to balance it out? They give you twice as much as you need to eat...maybe three times as much. As a society, it is just one more time when excess becomes the norm.
Maybe the latest financial plummet will change people's attitudes to a more frugal mindset? I would love to go to a restaurant and get just enough food, rather than piles of the calorie laden stuff!
There is my rant for the day!

Ah, the good life....

I could never understand people that didn't love being home. After running the roads for over two weeks, I am more than content with the simple things. My own bed, my own kitchen....this morning, I had two lovely eggs, and three slices of that precooked bacon stuff. Two slices are eighty calories, and what a nice taste sensation it is - for 120 calories, I am good to go until supper time, because of the bit of extra protein, and fat. Managing diabetes is odd, because fat and protein are your friends, but a glass of orange juice can send me through the roof!

Breakfast: 2 eggs, rye toast & butter, three slices of bacon and two cups of coffee...nummmmy~

Lunch: Who wants it? It is 12:20 and I am still full.

Supper: Planning on baking a chicken breast, and making a caesar salad. Strawberries with a dollop of cottage cheese and a sprinkling of brown sugar Splenda for dessert.

Snack: oranges adn pretzels


It isn't quite winter here yet, so today's focus is on getting the patio furniture into the garage, and covering the barbeque. I will worry about cleaning it in the spring. Last year, I just had to do it all over again anyway, and if there is one thing I have learned since officially being a Gramma, is that energy is not to be wasted. Why spend time double cleaning when there are more interesting things to do, like contemplating your navel....

ARE YOU READY????

After an eventful trip home, it sure feels good to be back at the keyboard! For some reason, there was a flock of ducks on the highway, that must have been too cold to judge danger levels. May one little fellow rest in peace...better make that pieces. Good thing we are getting a new car...this one has a problem with the front right hand corner now....ick.

Of course, after being away so long, our first stop was Costco. Then Superstore. I found these darling little red shoes for my granddaughter...just couldn't wait to drop that little tidbit into the dialogue! What a treasure she is, and I miss her already. Everyday she added a little something to her repertoire of charming baby tricks. My favourite was a crooked smile a la Popeye when tickled under the chin. She doesn't have full command of the muscle groups but it just adds to her charm. Who knew that new babies could be so entertaining?

It is tough getting used to the traffic after being spoiled by small town life. It took us forever to fight through crowds at both places, but finally, with necessities in hand we made our way home. It is almost eleven, and I am still not unpacked. Far too much mail to wade through, and too many calls to return to get started earlier.

The best diet related thing I have to report, is that I had eggs and toast for supper at about eight o'clock. It has been a good two weeks since I last had my breakfast standard, and my blood sugars tell the unhappy tale. There is something about eggs in the morning that really agrees with me...one day, I am sure that science will catch up to this good thing, but until then, I will use eggs as my secret weapon to balance my blood sugars! I dread stepping on the scales in the morning, because I am sure that I have gained ten pounds.

Too many meals in restaurants. I just can not handle rich food, even in small measures. I had very limited activity - sitting in hospital waiting rooms doesn't require a lot of calories, so I will have to really rev things up this week to get going again.

I MISS YOU NORTHERN LADIES!

Sunday

The menu was beyond my control today - that is my story, and I am sticking to it.

Breakfast: toast and peanut butter x3 (oh no!) milk, coffee
Lunch: grilled cheese sandwich, carrots, snap peas, diet pop
Supper: Chubby Chicken breast x2, 10 French Fries, home made coleslaw, cinnamon bun

Sigh. tomorrow I promise to do better. Really. I do!

Its a new month....

Full of promise. We are up in Thompson, safe and sound to await the new arrival. In the meantime, I will try my best to stick to the program. My daughter-in-law is absolutely radiant. You can see the shine at twenty paces! It is good to be up here, and see good friends, too, even if they do buy the only pair of 11W boots in town! That, I can easily forgive in exchange for the warmest greetings ever!

So, today the big plan is to pick up a few things from Shoppers - of course, I never remember to bring everything! The trip down was uneventful. We packed plain old turkey sandwiches and bought a chocolate bar and a bag of Doritos. Hey, did I ever claim to be a saint? Supper was a sub and soup...I am not in the mood for subs these days, and only managed to eat about 3" of it. And the broth from the soup. We are funny that way, hubby and I. We share things, and it just turns out. He likes dark meat, I like white. He likes the chunks in soup, and I like the broth. Life works out well sometimes.

Since I am at the mercy of others for my food I will write what I ate yesterday for the next couple of weeks.

Breakfast: eggs, toast, butter, milk
Lunch: 1 turkey sandwich, 2 servings of Doritos and a Dairymilk bar
Supper: three bite sized chocolate bars (darn the hospitality at the hotel desk) half a bowl of soup, quarter of a sub
Snack: 2 oranges, 17 bite sized taco chips (plain)Tim's biscuit with raisins, 1 tsp of butter, 1/4 of a hot chocolate

Considering what I wanted to pack away while in the car, I thought I didn't do too bad. I am aiming not to gain over the next little while, but I am not foolish enough to think that I could actually lose! But hope springs eternal, and maybe with all this thick clean air up here, the extra oxygen will just perk up the old metabolism and I will shed a quick ten pounds? Nah. Didn't think so either!

Back in the saddle again...

after a weekend of indescretions, I am going to try to behave myself in the kitchen at least. Shopping is not one of my favourite things as it is, and I have spent every available minute all weekend going from store to store, buying and returning. The poodly pillows went back, as in the light of day, they lost thier charm...and the fact that the wool got up my nose when I tried them out for "nap ablility". If nothing else, I am practical! Just like food, it is better not to have anything than the wrong thing!


Breakfast: eggs, toast half a glass of milk...we ran out, I am not cutting back!

Lunch: Cucumber sandwich & diet pop

Supper: Turkey breast (real turkey sliced and packaged from Costco) potatos, peas and carrots.

Snack: oranges & pretzels

Did you ever have one of those days....

shopping days that is. We hit the stores at one this afternoon, and came home at nine. I managed to find two pillows for the living room (poodley white ones, that took me right back to '71), white flower things that are really quite inventive. First, you put a large headed nail into the wall where you would like the "blossom". Then, the flower attaches magnetically. This will come in handy when it is time to clean twenty-five of these creations. I will just pop them off, and stick them in the sink! I really don't like ornaments and things because they are dust collectors, but dodads for the wall? How could I resist? Hubby assures me that I am simply regressing. Our house is evolving into what we would have loved to be able to afford when it was in style the first time!

I believe you should update hair and lipstick shades frequently. Nothing dates a woman more than wearing the makeup she wore in high school. But what does decorating like a hundred dollar hippy say about a person? Frankly. I don't care. Peace baby.

Breakfast: eggs, toast, milk.

Lunch: Evil Micky D's strikes again. Oh my. In my defense, I did burn off calories shopping in the huge furniture stores. Walked my legs to stumps today. Add the calories spent fuming out of frustration - they must count for something!

Supper: oriental salad, shrimp with seafood sauce (equal parts of horseradish and ketchup) toast & tea for dessert - okay, now I KNOW I am getting old!

Snacks: do you really think a person who packs away a Big Mac & fries deserves them?

Busy day...

I was out until two today, then a quick "pit stop" and to the grocery store. I looked at the items I purchased as they were rolling to the cashier, and I thought, my. Old people's food! I had some whole grain crackers, cheddar cheese, Philly light herb & garlic, fish portions, two kinds of jam and sour cream. It wasn't the items, per se, it was the sizes. Gone are the days when I prepared veggies and dip for a teenager. Now we dole out sour cream as if it were gold. I buy the full fat kind. A whopping 15 calories more per tablespoon, but the flavour is there. No point straining out the gnat when there is an elephant in the room! We need to feed ourselves delicious food, just not too much of it. This weekend, I am planning on making baked potatoes, therefore the sour cream was a necessity. I like steamed broccoli and cottage cheese with my potatoes as well. Come to think of it? I can't think of a potato prepared in a way I don't like! I love those crispy nests of shredded potatoes that you get in fancy restaurants, with a miniscule piece of prime beef delicately placed in the center. And I like a big spoonful of scalloped potatoes with a bit of ham on a comfortable stay at home Sunday. How can you tell I am getting a little tired of eating by myself?

Breakfast: eggs & toast, milk
Snack: Phyllo quiches...four of the little beggars. I know they came from Costco, so I will check the exact calorie count next shopping day. Tasty little appetizers!
Lunch: peanut butter and banana on whole wheat
Snack: Philly and cucumber sandwich
Supper: fish & 14 oven chips, coleslaw made with an apple
Snack: antipasto and whole wheat crackers

I was hungry today!

Feeling mellow

on this cloudy day...Aisha Duo Quiet Songs playing in the background leads to rather a surreal morning experience... or it could be gas and the fact it is already noon. For a snack last night I made popcorn in the air popper, so woke to find the kitchen floor littered with kernels and renegade pieces of popcorn. That is all cleaned up now, as well as the mandatory morning dance with the dishwasher. I have now set up camp in the office to while away the hours in absolute shameless abandon. LOVE the new computer, by the way. Have no idea why people don't like Vista, but no doubt I will find out soon enough. For now, I am exploring every nook and cranny and finding all sorts of neat little things to do!I finally wised up and backed up my files, so hopefully I won't have to go through this again. Famous last words, right? But it is all good now. Sitting on your bum all day burns how many calories?

Breakfast: Eggs & toast, milk

Lunch: Asian Salad & chicken breast *changed to fish and 14 low fat oven french fries

Supper: Too far away to know, or worse, care. *cucumber and light cream cheese on whole wheat. MMMM. I slice the cucumbers thin, and pile them up! Cadbury Milk Chocolate bar

Snack: my bad. Didn't have any.

Chilly in the house this morning...

so hopefully, I will be burning more calories just to live. Every little bit helps!

Breakfast: eggs & toast, milk, cheez whiz

Lunch: Antipasto and crackers, diet root beer

Supper: Bite sized Perogies and onions, cadbury milk chocolate bar.

Monday morning....

began with my usual breakfast...at 12:26. New computers can be all consuming, and I have a tendency to eat,sleep and breath it all in until I feel comfortable with the gizmos and gadgets associated with my new toy...errr, tool.

So, there began my morning. I followed it up with lunch at 12:28, which was two pieces of toast with cheese whiz. This afternoon is an outing with the "girls" to the movies...Mama Mia. Looking forward to it, but will sneak in something allowable for a snack. Can anyone digest the theatre popcorn??? Love it, but not worth the burning sensation for hours afterwards!

The plans for this week are simple. Clean the house. Get to the meetings. Make a list of things to get done when Rick is actually in town. We are planning to go to the US for a couple of days week after next so I can pick up the finishing touches for the house. A bundle is spent on gas and expenses, but I enjoy the choices we have down there. It is bizarre that we live in a city, and travel two hours to shop in a relatively small community. But that is how it goes.

Other than that? I am maintaining my weight, even with not being able to track the calories. We are also financially solvent, without tracking every penny. Hmmmm. Perhaps life could be simplified? Note to self. Drop some of the compulsive record keeping.

Cheese glorious cheese!

We were invited for dinner, but the real treat was cheese and grapes served with a big cold glass of water before the meal. It has been so long since I had cheese that I felt like a mouse in the Kraft factory. This was a sharp cheddar that was just delish. Needless to say, I did cut down on the serving of lasagne, and didn't eat the crust of my pumpkin pie. My friends understand my peculiarities, and let me be, thank goodness. But every little bit counts when you are saving calories.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, toast & butter, skim milk

Lunch: toast & butter, 1 oz of cheese, diet root beer

Supper: Cheese - those little slices added up to about 2 ounces I would think, about a half cup of grapes, some concord, some green, 2x4 slice of lasagne and a soupbowl of salad - and I forgot the bread....oh, the bread...a slice of cheese bread...there is a recurring theme here isn't there? And to top it all off? A big piece of pumpkin pie, but I didn't eat the crust!

I will be crying the blues about all this cheese tomorrow, I am sure!

So, ever have one of those weeks?

Major computer problems. And, as dear hubby says, it isn't a problem if you throw money at it and it goes away. My only question after this week of technical failures? WHEN is this going to end???

I haven't been able to keep track of my food intake, but hopefully, by eating what I always eat, in the amounts I always eat it, did some good. I finally got online...after buying a new computer, and wifi gizmo. But the good news is? This machine is loaded for bear, and is half the cost of my old one. Seems to work okay, and the only gripe I have with Vista is that you can't run outdated programs! So I have to look for a new money management program, as well as set up all the lovely little icons on my desktop. I am into the fun part now, having dealt with all the call centers in various parts of the third world. Now one thing is for sure. When you buy a computer at Costco? They double the warranty. So two years. And? You have niney days to decide if you like the machine or not. I think that is pretty fair. And face it, after you go through all the loading and configuring? HOW many of us would take one back? But sure beats Future Shops "Buy it don't like it too bad" policy!

So that has been my life in the fast lane this week. Hopefully I will be back on track....oh, and hubby wanted a new camera "as long as we were there". Sigh. It will be awhile before I figure this one out!

Hope you all have been keeping well and happy, and out of the cookie jar. I have been "batching" for two weeks, and I must say my menus are nutritional but very uninspired. I eat to live when I am on my own...if I remember to do it at all! Seems to me, that my body is starving from eight till three, and then I could care less about eating. Body rhythms or something kicking in. But, put me in front of a TV? All of a sudden the face wants popcorn, or anything salty or sweet. Then, a nice lapse into a coma while hubby controls the channels. Ah, the good life. I wonder when we will be able to sit still long enough to do that again? The house is an all consuming project. We put up our living room blinds on Friday, so I can now wander the house in my nightie, as long as I remember to shut them - however, the bedroom is still a fishbowl, and will be until I decide what on earth to do with the windows. Time. It all takes time. I wish it took as many calories!

October 9????

My goodness. I have been remiss. Busy, but remiss!

As a reward for good behaviour, I bought a few new trinkets for myself, to jazz up my very limited clothing purchases this year. After throwing away a ton of clothing, I just do not have the urge to fill the available closet space with seldom used items. Has anyone checked out Avon lately? They seem to do wonders with the mundane. For example, I ordered this nifty tweezers that is light years ahead of the pricey one I was using. ( a blind woman going after a chin hair with an ineffective tweezers is not pretty, or painless) Another thing, is the lipsticks. The two I purchased are phenomenal. One is a lip gloss, and one is the one handed wonder Reese Witherspoon flogs on TV. Well, my goodness. Be darned if it isn't just the slickest thing, and a good lipstick, too! And all available at the touch of a mouse. After scouring the malls for a reasonably priced necklace, I bought about four of them for the price of one! The quality is very nice...and since I am the queen of buy and return? I will say only that I wouldn't dream of returning a single one. Great junk jewellery. Much nicer than I have been able to find at the Mall in my neighbourhood, at least.

I bought a new grey dress, and liked it so much, that I have ordered the same one in black. Thank goodness I did the majority of "try buying" before the dollar sank to the low it is at now! I actually didn't loose much, as the returns were credited at a higher amount than the purchases. Since I had to pay postage, it still wasn't even, but still a lot better than usual. I am really into being nice to myself these days. (I am spending the weeks alone, as hubby is off in the wilds of Alberta training people to do something or the other. Beats me what, and you know? It doesn't seem to matter much! He is home on the weekends, though so that works well. It is so much easier to stick to the program when he isn't around whining for food!)

We still have two walls in the kitchen and the trim to paint, but the good news is? The blinds arrived today. So this weekend, we will actually have a little privacy in our living room, rather than the fish bowl effect I have grown accustomed to! In the meantime, I am reorganizing the lateral file drawers, and purging as much as I can. Hubby will be so pleased to see that I am a reformed filer, and actually will be putting things in alphabetical order, not in places that only I understand!

On the topic of menus, I must admit that being on my own so much, leaves me rather limited by my own laziness. Today, I heated up a Dr. Oeteker Spinach Pizza (880 calories for the whole thing) for lunch, and will eat the other half for supper. A very tasty day's worth of food for 880 calories in all! I bought some gorgeous oranges, and will eat them with pretzels tonight as a snack before bed.

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk
Snack: coffee
Lunch: pizza
Supper: pizza
Snack: Pretzels and oranges

Thought I had better post a bit...

since I have been distracted with a lot of things lately! So, here I am.

Last night, we went on a riverboat cruise down the Red, and it was really quite lovely. The leaves are turning, and the sun just made them glow. The problem was supper. Keeping me waiting till seven was not a good idea, even if we were given complimentary champagne. In my experience, free champagne is usually worth what you pay for it, and this was no exception. One sip has how many calories?

The only munchies offered were tacos and salsa, which are a deal breaker for me, so I passed on those. When supper finally showed up? It was not too bad. Caesar salad, glazed chicken, potato wedges, broccoli and carrot mix and a wild rice casserole. Of course the mandatory goey dinner roll! The problem came in the form of a lovely vanilla cake with that greasy "store-bought" frosting. Why do I love that stuff? Likely because it isn't as sweet as homemade. It is a "forbidden fruit" and as such, has an extra appeal. I enjoyed every bite!

I live to fight another day.

Thursday was a blur...and Friday is almost gone!

I am fighting some sort of bug, and it was so easy to snooze the day away yesterday. Today, I managed a trip to Costco. A little walking, a little talking and lunch with a friend. We ate at Wendy's, so I came prepared. I brought my own butter in a little container for my baked potato. Why waste calories on that goop they put on the potato? I also had a nice side salad to round out the meal. Very tasty indeed. Gave me the energy to waddle around Costco and pick up good healthy food!

Today's menu is not all that inspiring, but when I am left on my own, I eat to live, not live to eat!

Breakfast: eggs & toast (out of milk)
Lunch: Wendy's baked potato, sour cream, butter, side salad with light ranch dressing. Diet coke.
Supper: 3 apples and handful of stick pretzels
Snack: #1 cheese sandwich #2crackers and cream cheese.

Readjusting

This morning begins a nice new month. I tried on my denim skirt yesterday, and it fits...too snug to wear, but it fits! All zipped up and not stretched to the max, but not quite as loose as it should be. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. I adjusted my weight goal on Fitday. I am playing it month by month, because it is just toooooo daunting to see the distance I have yet to go. Last month's loss was 5.2 pounds, so that wasn't too bad. I worked like a horse, though, and the way I felt at the end of each day? I shoulda lost half a person! Guess the burgers didn't help, aye?

So, new month, new goal. I have an easy day today, as Rick is coming home late tonight, then will be on the road again tomorrow. We will be hanging curtain rods and pictures at midnight as I have still not decided what colour to paint the remaining two walls in the kitchen and the family room. I don't think he would go for the painting anyway, since he is only home for 10 or 12 hours!

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk
Lunch: chicken breast, sweet potato
Supper: chicken salad
Snack: strawberries & cottage cheese

Off to a rough start....

Starch. My downfall. This morning, I had my usual eggs and toast, but while I was out? A stop to Robin's netted a bagel and cream cheese with my coffee. No butter though! For lunch? A ciabatta bun with butter. Starch, starch, starch. Tonight, I was thinking of making a bit of soup to atone for it all. But what goes better with soup than a nice hearty roll? LOL Better stick with the original plan of chicken and salad. Looking forward to it, actually. On the positive side? The denim skirt is getting more comfortable. Either I am going down in size or the weekly try-ons are stretching it! Maybe next week? The jacket and shirt are perfect, but the skirt is a bit snug. Zips up really good though!

My shopping list is short this week. Cabbage, milk and tea from the healthfood store. Friday is my trip to Costco, and by then, I am sure there will be something that we are out of! With hubby out of town, the food just doesn't seem to disappear like it does when he is here!

Breakfast: eggs & toast, butter, milk
Lunch: Ciabatta bun and butter
Snack: Sesame bagel with garlic cream cheese
Supper: Fish & chips, cole slaw with apple, 1T Miracle Whip blended with rice wine vinegar
Snack: popcorn with fake spray butter stuff!

Lesson

Do not, I repeat, do not, take me to any more lunches at really good Greek restaurants! I am crazy for good Greek salad...and anything else, I may add! Today,though, I did use a bit of self control. I had a toasted blt, no butter, mayo on the side and about a cup and a half of Greek salad. MMMM good!

Then, a bit of shopping to wear it all off, and a nap instead of supper! Not the best balanced meal, and of course, since I didn't have supper? I snacked on crackers and cream cheese. Even that was permissable...it was the berry strudel with chocolate drizzles that my dear son brought home late at night....well, of course, I couldn't say no to such a considerate gesture. I don't even know how you would begin to count the calories on that baby! So, tomorrow is another day. It will be that much lonlier here without him, as he makes his way home.

End of the weekend...

mealtimes were harried to say the least, but we managed to keep our portions under control. Since the time went by in such a blur, I am really not sure what I have been eating - but I have been recording every morsel on Fitday. We are reaching the end of the reno...the blinds are ordered, and the only decision I have to make immediately is a paint colour for two kitchen walls. Oh, of course, then there is the family room, and the downstairs powder room...sigh. Does it never end?

Today, we went out to Winnipeg beach and were treated to a homemade lunch of borscht and homemade bread. Our hostess was an eighty-one year old woman that lives in the country and grows all of her own vegetables. The large property is as neat as a pin, and she is living proof how healthy eating benefits you! She began full time volunteer work this September, and this Saturday? Put in three hours in her garden with the rototiller after a full day out! What a good example she is, in so many ways.

Today's food:
Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk
Lunch: Borscht (with the beet greens as well)and a dab of sour cream, two slices of bread and butter. Just a taste of quiche and a small bite of rhubarb cake.
Supper: Fish, oven fries, banana bread, tea

So tired today...

It was all I could do to get done what I had to do today! Pedicure and manicure, hair cut at eleven....I dragged myself out of bed at 9:30, barely making it to the salon on time. I am not suffering from a virus, or any other malady other than foolishness...the consequence of spending last night with two of my favourite young people, laughing and talking until 2:30 in the morning! An old lady like me shouldn't expect to keep up with young blood!

Hubby got back from his trip, and we went shopping for accessories tonight. We desperately need lamps. Well, of course we found nothing. The next step is to continue on, and purchase as we can find what we really like. I am so tired of this! Tonight we did find a new lighting fixture for my office, so that is installed and glowing!

I also stopped by the grocery store to pick up the fixings for my favourite lazy dinner...fish and chips. I buy the McCain Superfries Lo-fat. Not that they are any great bargain calorie wise, but they taste good to me. I like to have those on hand for times when I need to prepare a reasonably filling meal on short notice. Supper around here,seems to always be on short notice!

Supper tonight was a scrambled egg sandwich, and neither of us had an appetite for anything else. I am sipping my fennel tea, and hubby is munching Cheerios in front of the TV as I write...ah, the simple life! Seems to me, that when I am tired, I really crave carbs. Today was one of those days. Totally maxed out on the carbs!

Breakfast: eggs, half a multigrain bagel, milk
Lunch: cream cheese and cucumber sandwich, 100 calorie "treat" bar
Snack: multigrain bagel and cream cheese
Supper: scrambled egg sandwich, ketchup
So, time to take my rose toes off to bed. I can hear the pillow calling....

Progress

On Fitday, there is a "report" feature that is quite the eye opener. I have been losing an average of .73 pounds a week. Slow. SLOW! But it is coming off. I am, at this time 45 pounds lighter than my heaviest weight. But it has taken me an incredibly long time. Fighting with my body hasnt' worked, but learning to cooperate with it has! At this rate, I ought to be a liftable weight by the time I hit the old folks home!

Breakfast: eggs & toast, milk, plums
Lunch: vegetable soup, crackers and butter
Supper: fruit and cottage cheese
Snack: crackers and cream cheese

A spoonful of butter...

I made an exciting discovery today. There are certain things that you just don't do when you are watching your calories. Like putting butter on your crackers when you are having soup, or cream cheese on your crackers for a snack. Well, being the rebel that I am, I wanted butter with my crackers this dark and rainy day. So, on my plate, with my portion of crackers, I put a teaspoon of precisely measured butter, still in the spoon! I expected to have a few dry crackers when it was gone, but to my surprise, and normal buttering techniques? It covered all NINE crackers!(whole wheat Premium Plus) and made my simple cup of canned vegetable soup into a dining experience! So, tonight when it came to snack time? Out came the cream cheese. 30 calories for a Tablespoon. I literally slathered it onto eight "fancy" rosemary and garlic crackers, for another tasty sensation. The moral of the story is, how many things in life do we pass by, because they have too many calories, or cost too much or some other reason? If a simple teaspoon of butter or a tablespoon of cream cheese can make you happy? Why say no? Count it and enjoy it!

Early morning emergency: sometimes, nomatter what you do, the sugars drop in the night, and you wake up in a clammy sweat, and desperately need sugar. So, at about four thirty this morning, I had a Hershey 100 calorie treat bar. Wish I had been concious to enjoy the whole taste, but it was sweet, and it was good!

Breakfast: one piece of toast & butter, two eggs, skim milk
Lunch: 1 cup of vegetable soup, nine crackers with butter, activia yogurt
Snack: Hershey 100 calorie bar. This time I took my time and enjoyed every minty bite!
Supper: 2 pieces of breaded haddock, lo-fat oven chips, 10 oz of plums
Snack: eight fancy crackers and cream cheese

Found

enough hair to knit a cat underneath the refrigerator...could explain the chugging noises? We have had another busy day 'redecorating'. That is a misnomer. I told Rick, that I thought this was like moving into a very dirty house...but it is our dirt, so we understand the pathetic state of affairs. Just have been too busy over the last couple of years to do the basic maintenance consistently. We got behind on the "we" stuff when Rick's knees were bad...I mean really, the guy had enough to do keeping upright without having to pull out appliances! On the upside? I think I will be able to cope quite nicely with the kitchen as is, with the fresh paint, until we get stupid and try this redecorating gig again. I just want peace and order in my home...when I look around? I see so much that we have accomplished this year. And we still have a couple of months to go! Amid the upset, I have managed to regroup and build new habits. I slide back once in awhile, forgetting to eat, not eating enough, eating the wrong things out of convenience, thinking I can get away with it, but usually? My internal appestat works with me now, rather than against me! Basic, but not easy. Sigh.

Another working weekend.....

BUT I did have a clean kitchen! I made banana bread this morning. The house smells great, and I am hoping it will keep the man motivated to keep painting. I wonder how many calories stewing about window coverings burns? I go to bed at night thinking of one choice, and wake up thinking of another. Too many decisions in one year, if you ask me! I have one more choice to make. Kitchen paint. I only need to make 1/2 of a choice, because two of the walls will be the living room colour.

food for today:
Breakfast: eggs, toast, butter, milk
Snack: Fennel tea
Lunch: Turkey sandwich, diet pop, plums
Supper: salmon, rice pilaf with yellow and red peppers, mushrooms, Caesar salad, asparagus, and banana bread
Snack: more fruit if I can possibly stuff it in!

What a wonderful day in the neighbourhood...

A friend and I went to lunch at Bellamy's today. I had a great Greek Salad, and a piece of garlic toast. LOVED it! I am always leery of new restaurants, but I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. I wasn't sure which size to order, but it turned out to be just right to have the appetizer size. It was a small plate, heaped with goodness.

Then, it was off to Costco for restocking of the fruit. This is something like changing of the guard but without the neat music. ( Q Liz has more money than I do, and can affort to buy her guys fancy hats AND musical instruments) So, now with the frig stuffed with goodness, I have no excuse to look elsewhere for nurishment. The small plums were on for 5.99 for five pounds, so that alone will keep us noshing for a good long time.

As for progress on the house? The baseboards have been installed in the guest room, signifying the completion of that room. Now all it needs is some furniture and I will be able to "move in" with all the nicities of life. Like the bedding, lamps, you know the drill. It is a lovely shade of bile green...swamp green...rather putrid but attractive none the less. It is one of those colours that fall between the lines. I quite like it!

This weekend we hope to get the living room painted completely, and dare I hope for the kitchen? Of course that means going to find paint. I have a feeling we might be short a gallon of the living room colour anyway, so two birds with one stone...

As for the food? Totally out of control. Our dear friend cooked us supper tonight...lamb chops (OH NOOOOOOO! Love 'em!) and ravioli with homemade pesto sauce. Fresh strawberries for dessert and a tossed salad. MMMMM good! Best meal we have had since the last time he fed us!

So, that was my day.

Breakfast: eggs, toast, milk, coffee
Lunch: Greek Salad, garlic bread (1 slice)
Supper: lamb chops, tossed salad, asparagus (roasted) ravioli & pesto, strawberries for dessert. AND fresh, fresh, fresh, Mediterranian bread....oh my...
Snack: double up on the Fennel tea! I am going to need it!

Oops I did it again...

Eating devil burgers at ten at night. This has got to stop. I should be going to bed at this hour, not loading my body with greasiness, nummy though it may be. But alas. I was hungry, and the coupons were there. Sigh. Another day with no hope of a loss. I under ate again today. When will I learn? When that happens, there is always a backlash. The big push to finish the upstairs painting this weekend is definitely on, and Ricky is on a roll! He is now keeping his pants up with a safety pin, and when he is done with this project, we will have to go shopping for some new sweat pants. This has done wonders for his physique! And just think. There is the whole lower level to paint when he has finished this one!

Just when you thought you knew...

Who hasn't had the pancakes at MacDonald's because the egg McMuffin was a bad choice? I read this morning that it isn't! In fact, you can have two egg McMuffins for the "cost" of pancakes. Go figure. Check out http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/fast-food/McDonald_s.php?cm_mmc=ETNTNL-_-2008_09_18-_-MainBlk-_-ETNT_Mcdonalds for details. The longer I am at this, the more I learn.

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk
Snack: Fennel tea
Lunch: turkey breast sandwich with Miracle Whip, and lettuce, diet grapefruit pop.
Supper: Who knows?

Menu for Today

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk
Lunch: Leftover celery soup, liver sausage and olive sandwich (I know, it sounds wierd, but sooooooo good!) Activia yogurt
Snack:Fennel tea
Supper: PC's white cheddar macaroni and pickled beets
Snack: Sunchips, cottage cheese and strawberries. (There is fruit a plenty on the turn, so I will be stuffing myself and hubby with apples!)

Let me just mention Fennel tea. I made a large cup of this beatiful licorice-y stuff, and it has already worked its magic. Ah the simple things in life...

So, it has been a busy few days...

I hadn't realized that I had been away so long. Food choices haven't been the best, but in the present circumstances, the main criteria is sanitation, rather than variety. Last night took the cake though, as we did a MacDonald's drive through at ten o'clock. Not good. However, being the dutiful little dieter that I am, I recorded every point, and for once tracked all of my activities through the day to see exactly what the damages really added up to. Well, here is a news flash. I don't think it was all that bad. I certainly will not repeat that behaviour tonight (mainly because of the bad dreams poison food gives you...) but it was only a couple hundred calories over what I had burned during the day. Surely, I am allowed an indiscretion on occasion?

To make amends tonight, I roasted a chicken breast, boiled potatoes, nuked some carrots and grilled some asparagus for supper tonight. It seems to me that I always do better if I have a traditional meal, rather than a casserole, or easy fix thing. Good ol' meat & potatoes does wonders for me. I am still pleasantly full from supper, so it works. When I analyse what preceeded last night's walk on the wild side? It was the fact that I had not had a good evening meal for several days. Grabbing a sandwich just doesn't do it when you are trying to control your calories!

I can't say enough good things about Fitday.com. I would be pulling out my hair for a week had I done this on Weight Watcher's! Sensible. Steady. Mind the calories, and the fat/carb/protein ratio by just entering what you eat. I did avoid the scale this morning though. All that devil salt had a chance to blow me up like a puffer fish overnight, and I did not need the discouragement of an extra pound or two of water weight....hopefully it is water! Tomorrow is another day.

As for progress on the house? The man is now working in the spare room. Actually doing the door trim as I speak. We are reclaiming the house inch by inch. Little tip for you. You can't rip up carpets, and paint a whole house in a couple of weeks, and hold down your day job!

A Tim's Apple Fritter

has 300 calories. And eleven grams of fat. And soooooooooo worth every calorie! It was fresh, and goey good. But now I am left with sweet memories, and a lot of gas!
I had it with a decaf coffee with Coffeemate (I bring my own to Tim's as cream doesn't agree with me. There are very odd things in my purse.)Ah, the good life.

Time for a packed lunch....

Why is it that sitting for a whole day makes you so hungry? I have no idea why, but I am loading the lunch bag for the inevitable hunger pangs brought on by concentrating! The menu plan for tomorrow is:

Breakfast: Yep. Eggs & toast, butter, skim milk

Lunch: Turkey sandwich, carrots & snap peas with Marzetti's veggie dip, Sunchips, and a diet grapefruit. Of course an Activia yogurt thrown in for good measure, and a few almonds for three oclock...hmmm...maybe a few prunes as well. Hunger is not the only hazard encountered from sitting all day! And a couple bottles of water, which are now becoming quite politically incorrect. Thing is, dying of dehydration is a little more uncomfortable than ruffling a few feathers. Repeat menu for Sunday. We bought sliced turkey breast meat at Costco...real sliced turkey, not the pressed into a loaf type. I warmed some up for supper, with a bit of leftover gravy and half a chicken breast leftover from my supper the other night.

Supper: I have some bison burgers all ready for the BBQ. All we have to do is toss together a salad, and wash a couple of potatoes to nuke. Then it will be back to work on the house for the evening. There are sll sorts of little jobs that can be done. I am beginning to think doing the kitchen this year isn't such a good idea. I really don't think my nerves can take anymore! If Hubby had more time off, maybe it would be easier, but he always has to leave for a few days, or take time to work. Ah, the inconvenience of it all!

Friday - September 12

So, this morning I had my usual breakfast. Not exciting, but really starts my day off right. For lunch? I decided to treat myself to a cucumber and cream cheese sandwich. My favourite, that I often hold back on because of the devil cream cheese. Well, it turns out that when I used my handy dandy one Tablespoon scoop? It made a very nice portion that covered the bread very nicely. FOR THIRTY CALORIES!!!I bought the Philly herb & garlic light and when I bothered to check the label? Found out that I have been overcharging myself, yet again. So, I had two sandwiches for lunch.

I had popcorn for supper last night (the man is away, what can I say?)so I expected the scale to zoom up this morning, due to the salt. But guess what? another pound down. Could it be that my body is finally content and willing to let go of some body clutter? I have made small changes. MUFAs at every meal, for one. And it doesn't have to be a big amount, a few almonds here, a couple olives there, a bit of oil.... I now cook my eggs in half a teaspoon of grapeseed oil. Just a smidge, to make the non stick really non stick! I try to get some dairy with every meal, and I am still not getting enough potassium. So, I will have to go the "meat & potatoes" for supper route, and see if that works. I don't mind bananas but they are not my favourite. Maybe in a drink? Hmmmm...banana, frozen berries and a bit of skim milk? Must dig out the Cuisinart and try it!

Yesterday, I actually added up my activity calories, and used them. I had to! I had popcorn for supper, remember? As it turned out? All is well.So, there is my life in the fast lane as of noon. Who knows what the rest of the day will bring?

Wednesday

What happened to Monday and Tuesday? Gone in a blur and a haze of paint fumes. We have made a little progress, and I must say, I am fond of the colour in the living room. It really does need a lot more lighting at night. Perhaps 1000 Watt halogen lamps? LOL But, it is very soft and cozy. I have been spending hours trying to decide on window treatments - 2" Venetians? Cellular blinds? The multiple choices of each makes my head hurt!. What a pain! We should all just live by the rule of "don't look" if you pass by someone's house and they are inappropriately attired! Mind you, the prime reason for wanting blinds of some sort, is to keep the devil sun from fading the paintings and couch. Not to mention the wood furniture and carpeting. Heaven knows, I don't want to go through a carpet installation like this ever again! The hutch and buffet are scheduled to move back to the dining room this morning when sleepyhead gets up. Imagine the nerve. The man works all day, then paints and installs baseboards until the wee hours of the morning, and has the nerve to sleep in before heading out of town. He is a good man, did I mention?

Another good thing is that there has been a shift in my weight. I am crawling down, slowly but surely. I love FITDAY!! So much better than WW online! For instance, last night we had chicken and dumplings for supper. (Recycled vegetable soup, with a leftover chicken breast sliced finely and simple fluffy dumplings plopped on top. My hubby thinks I am a genius! As it turns out? Dumplings - a generous portion mind you - work out to only 220 calories. Simple "homely" food seems to satisfy better than the same amount of calories spent on bread, or some other treat from the grocery store. Makes me wonder why I denied myself things like this for so many years. This has been quite the reality check!

Yesterday's menu:

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk
Lunch: woops - forgot to eat
Supper; chicken and dumplings, grapes
Snack: Red Pepper Hummus 2 T and whole wheat crackers

*I discovered that my small ice cream scoop holds exactly a tablespoon. I love my scoops. I paid a fortune for them at a restaurant supply store years ago, and they have held up remarkably well. The large scoop is 1/2 a cup, and I also have a scoop that is 1/3 of a cup. So much easier than getting out a measuring cup every mealtime. I have found that I was underestimating portion sizes a lot. May as well take what you pay for, aye?

Today's menu:
Breakfast: always the same. Keeps my blood sugars regulated!
Lunch: why do I keep skipping lunch? Could be I was up to my eyeballs in shredded files in the office!
Supper: chicken breast, cooked carrots, pan gravy (1 T butter, 2 T flour, 2 cups stock - tons left over)
Snack: feeling sorry for my lonely self, so I hit the peanut butter sandwich trail. And I had a glass of milk, too! So self indulgent.



Snack: pear

Sunday, and we are in the living room...

and things are looking good. I have my kitchen back...that is, if you don't count the office furniture, and the dining room buffet and hutch taking up space. I was able to prepare some canteloupe with my Nicer Dicer this morning, so we have something to snack on. It actually felt good to put away the clean dishes, and swipe the counters. I spent the rest of the day wiping drywall dust from all the stuff here in the kitchen. On the topic of dust. I am quite impressed with our central vacuum....you aren't supposed to vacuum drywall dust as it will harm the motor, yada yada yada. Since I never use the thing (that long hose is so cumbersome) good riddance, I thought. However, I have completely changed my opinion of the thing. After filling the five gallon holding tank, it was still going strong and maintaining power. A small thing, but isn't it nice to find out something is actually useful after writing it off? So, to make up to it, I washed its little purple sleeve....an add on that makes the hose look like a big purple snake and keeps it from damaging the corners of your paintwork...activity points for that one must have counted for something, because it was hard on the arms to pull that silly thing off and on. It took me ages to do, too, which reminded me of why I didn't like the thing in the first place! But now, it is clean and put away, ready for Rick to use! There is a solution for every problem isn't there?

I have been finding pockets of yuck in the house that I had no idea existed. We have never lived in a house for 12 years before, and apparently the dresser gathers dust on the INSIDE. Who knew? It is something you don't want to admit to finding in your house, that is for sure! So now the whole world knows! LOL I must get a schedule going, to take care of all the little jobs that need doing a little more regularly. It amazes me how dust gets everywhere. One nice thing about all of this redecorating, it makes fall cleaning completely unecessary. See? There is silver in every cloud.

Breakfast: eggs, toast, butter, skim milk and coffee
Lunch: Pillar's smoked turkey sandwich with 1 T of miracle whip, 1.5 cups of grapes
Supper: MacDonald's here we come. We want to treat Mark for all the lifting and helping he has been doing for us. Besides, we have coupons! This week will not be a losing week, I can tell you that much!

Dreaming....

of having breakfast at the table again. Simple dream? But so complicated right now! There are certain things you have to forego if you are doing upgrades in your whole house. Dressing from a laundry basket is another one, and sleeping on the floor in the family room? A given. But this too shall pass. Progress comes in very small steps for me. In every area of my life! This morning as I was measuring out butter for my toast, I thought "why bother". I have been counting every gram of everything for over a year, and to date have minimal weight loss. The struggle is to keep going despite discouragement. Now hey, isn't that just life?

Breakfast: two eggs, one toast with butter, skim milk
Snack: apricot or pear
Lunch: soup, easy to serve in a cup
Supper: fish "en paquet"(cooked in parchment paper with onions and a bit of butter) potatos, cooked carrots, green salad + homemade dressing
Snack: apricot or pear

OOOOOOOOOOOlive Garden

Soup and salad for lunch, and only one bread stick. One. Just one! I am so proud of me! We are decorating again this weekend. 'We' as in, 'I find something to do to keep out of the way, and Rick slaves away with the paint pots'. I am of course, responsible for keeping the samples and paint chips filed neatly in an old dayrunner. Brilliant idea if I must say so myself. I have samples of everything in one place to take shopping.

What to do with the closet remains a puzzle. We have these huge mirrored closet doors that were brass. Rick gets the bright idea that we can make them "mirror" finish, to make them disappear. So, after four coats of spray paint, what do we have? A dismal grey. I HATE GREY. So now, I am sure it will only take us about four more colours to find something that will work. White with white walls may disappear...or it could glare. Black? Would give a nice stark oriental screen look to them....sand? MIGHT match the rug. Sigh. Should have left well enough alone. How many calories do you burn mulling over choices?

So for today:
Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk
Lunch: Two bowls of minestrone soup (without chunks. I hate chunks.) And three helpings of salad. The plates were small, okay? And one bread stick of course! Well, then there were the chocolates I scorfed when I came home. Sigh.
Supper: Hummus and crackers
Snack: Nectarine or pear

Thursday

So, we were invited out for supper tonight. And what a supper it was! We had cooked radishes(Joc likes watching French cooking at home too!) Atlantic salmon, with basmati rice. And peppermint patties to finish it all off! What a nice change it was to sit at a table and enjoy good food & wine with good friends. Lately, meals we eat around here are consumed "on the hoof" or not at all!

I am not holding out much hope for weight loss this week, but I am tracking faithfully on fitday.com...I love that site. So much better than WW and free to boot. I am thinking of ordering the program...nah...

Now here is an interesting lunch...

And is it ever filling! Of course, if you were a balanced individual you would not pack away as many crackers, but what the heck! There aren't many meals you can prepare in a kitchen that is holding most of the furniture from a three bedroom house! But, I can open the door to the frig, and get a knife out of the drawer! I had Premium Plus crackers with Peppadew Hummas by Sabros. Oh my. I had two helpings of each, which was 18 crackers and 4 T of hummus. For 300 calories, I feel better, and more satisfied than after eating that devil burger yesterday. That was 563 calories PLUS the chips, and trust me, it wasn't as good as today's lunch. I came home from my quarterly visit to the doctor, with the assurance that I was doing great. At least one man in my life is pleased with me! My sugars are at 6.2 (averaged over time) which is quite the accomplishment! This journey is all about health, and of course fitting into a Cotton Ginny denim skirt.

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk, coffee
Lunch: whole wheat saltines, hummus
Supper: again, a mystery meal
Snacks: prunes, oranges

Carpeting is done, and so am I....

What a day. It took them all day to do the carpet, and what a good job they did! If anybody needs the name of a good installer, I will gladly recommend these young fellows. I am so pleased, even though the kitchen has been out of commission all day, with no hope for tomorrow!

Today just does not count. We had lunch at McDonald's ~ I had a Big Mac and 1/2 of the fries that came in Rick's "Big Mac Meal" - Is that large or medium? Please tell me it is medium, because there is more bad coming! For supper....which was about 9 o'clock tonight by the time we did our Home Depot run and had time to think about food...we went to Tim's and had an everything bagel with herb & garlic cream cheese. No butter. Actually, I asked for it on the side, thinking that was how the cream cheese came, but no, they put the cream cheese on the bagel, and then gave me butter! LOL No logic there, folks. Anyway, I am tired to the bone, and although it wasn't the best day for me food wise? It wasn't toooo bad. 2049 calories for the day. Supposedly, I burn 2300+ by just existing, breathing, not moving a muscle. These long workdays are killing me, so I imagine there is some benefit in activity points? I shouldn't have had those almonds. Good as they are for you? They punch the dickins out of your calorie tally! As for the fast food? The salt alone will make me blow up like a whale. I don't know what the attraction to Big Macs is lately but it isn't good. I can go for ages without a BMA (Big Mac Attack, not a bodily function) but then? I become a repeat offender. It seems to me I just did this a minute ago...

Anyway, that was my day. Hauling furniture and packing it into the kitchen at the last minute, clearing out lower rods of the closets and storing clothes wherever else in the house there was room...but the results? Are going to be worth it. Rick has our room painted completely and all I need to do is order some blinds. The samples are coming within a week, so by the first of October we should be in business. More furniture shuffling and general tidying tomorrow. Did I say the carpeting looks good? Tahitian Sand. It really is the colour of sand, as it's name implies. Who knew?

Sunday

Will this demolition never end???? It is like trying to cook in a war zone!

Menu:
Breakfast:
2 eggs, toast & butter, skim milk, 1 T of cheese whiz

Lunch: 1 cup of diced potatoes with bits of yellow pepper, onion and 1 1/2 tsp of olive oil. Roasted in the oven and served with 1/2 cup of cottage cheese. MMMM good. 1 cup of diced cantaloupe for dessert.

Supper out:
6 oz bison steak, 2 cups of salad with 1 T dressing, small square of foccacia bread, 3 oz of wine, asparagus 1/3 of a piece of a fantastic layer cake with raspberries from Le Grotto or some such name.... I am not usually tempted, but those raspberries...paired with a chocolate layer cake....how strong does a woman have to be? I started with my usual thievery of Rick's portion, but ended up taking three bites. Then, after declining a portion of my own? Succumbed to the lure of the raspberries, and took three bites out of that piece, and passing it on to Rick...who has the nerve to polish it all off with no guilt at all!

Snack: 1 cup of cantaloupe

So, I managed to stay on target. Tomorrow will be the push to get things in order before the carpeting arrives, so who knows what I will throw together? I made two chicken breasts to have on hand when I was doing the veggie lunch, so at least there is quick protein available.

Another Saturday Night

Wild partying? Nope. Painting! Rick painting. I wonder how many calories watching him burns? I have done little jobs, like cleaning all the painting tools and scrubbing every radiator cover in the house. They are stowed away safely, ready to be returned to their respective places, surrounded by nice new carpeting. I also packed up my bookshelves this morning. Amazing how three long shelves of books can fit into two bankers boxes! On his way home from yet another trip for tools to Home Depot, Rick tempted me with an offer of a Pizza Hut pizza. Thank heavens I had a Dr.Oeteker Spinach pizza in the freezer ready to go - he got his pizza and I got a break! It is only 220 calories per 1/4 pie, so the damage was negligable. Could account for the missing nutrients though, because you can buy a lot of meat and vegetables for 440 calories.

Preparing fruit has always been a bugaboo with me. Since buying myself a "Nicer Dicer" this chore isn't so bad. And is it ever nice to have all of the strawberries and cantaloupe nicely diced and ready for consuming in the frig. I had a cup of strawberries for supper, and just polished off a cup of Tuscan melon. MMMM good. And so very nicely diced, I may add. I love the 'even' bites!

For the past few days, I have been researching various nutrients and what they do for you. A simplified source of information is at www.nutristrategy.com/nutrition/potassium.htm Well, after playing nutrient detective, it turns out that I am consistantly low in potassium, magnesium and pantothenic acid. So, I will have to increase my dairy and meat intake a bit. Guess those Swiss Delice will have to be lavished on visiting skinny people!

When I did the calorie calculations in detail, I found that in order to reach my goals, I need to have 1444 calories a day, give or take activity points, or treats. That is a lot less than the amount that WW allowed, with points, and Flex points. Could explain a lot of things. Another change I have made, is to filtered water rather than distilled. My skin is improving noticably as well, so it leads me to wonder if I was missing a few trace minerals. Winnipeg water, at times, has enough stuff in it to be considered a food group, but this handy dandy water filter takes out the obvious grunge and leaves the trace minerals. And, of course, the taste is good. No chlorine smell or taste, either.

My menu today was:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 2 tsp of butter, 1 T Cheez Whiz, 1 glass of milk

Lunch: 1/4 cup of pitted prunes

Supper: 1/2 Dr.Oetaker Spinach Pizza, 1 cup of strawberries and 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese

Snack: 1 cup of cantaloupe, 2 Swiss Delice chocolates.

Another day dawns....

on the battlefield! I have no idea why we bite off so much at once, but I guess it is the only way we can get things done...once and for all. It is difficult to draw lines in this house, due to the open concept plan. (I still don't know where to start the "kitchen" wall! So, this weekend is the big push to get things painted and done. The man is amazing. I can only wonder what he could do if he had the full use of his hands and the full use of his knees. But I guess that is what determination is all about. He struggles and wins. You never lose until you quit. So, on that note,on to the menu for the day! I will fill in as the day continues. There really isn't too much time for eating!

Breakfast: 2 eggs, Oat Hull Fibre toast, butter, skim milk
Snack: Banana
Lunch: cottage cheese and strawberries
Snack:
Supper:

Demolition

is well underway. Thank goodness for hummus!

On to room number three...

Which just happens to be our bedroom. There are ominous bangs and thumps on the other side of the wall (remember, I am now located in the kitchen. Very interesting furniture arrangement, I must say. Office chair right by the frig. Tooooooo convenient!

The colour scheme is finalized. We have yet to buy the paint, but tomorrow seems like a good day to commit to the colours. We are going to try painting the cottage cheese ceilings...is this a mistake? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Today's menu:
Breakfast: Eggs, toast & butter, coffee, milk

Lunch: 2 slices of whole wheat bread, 1/2 T Miracle whip mixed with horseradish, 3 slices of Pillar's roast beef

Supper: Leftover Chicken breast, rice salad and toasted almonds for dessert...would way rather do salty than sweet for a treat!

Snacks: 2 apples

Fat (38%) Carbs (40%)
Protein (21%)

Chart from Fitday.com showing calories burned vs calories consumed over the last week....

Working up a storm....

so far? We have two rooms emptied and stripped, ready for paint. Tonight? I am not sure what room the husband will go after, or where I will sleep. But it is temporary, so I am trying to keep that in mind. We are trying to be as neat as possible under the circumstances, but when your office has been moved to the kitchen, it leads to some rather interesting furniture arrangements! I couldn't see being without the computer for ten minutes, let alone ten days, so until the last day, I will have access!

I forgot to eat lunch, so we had a "treat" supper. PC White Cheddar Mac & Cheese. Instead of the 1/4 cup of butter? I added two teaspoons, just a touch for flavour. Beet pickles are my favourite accompaniment, and since 3 slices are 20 calories, I am not ashamed to tell you that I ate as many as I wanted, and then one more!

Breakfast: 2 eggs, toast & butter, skim milk (which, is a perfectly balanced meal for me 37% fat (that's why I sometimes forget lunch...it keeps me balanced 27% protein. 36% carbs. The rest of the day, I eat complex carbs and a little protein. And of course, the new found MUFA addition to help get rid of belly fat!)

Snack: almonds

Lunch: roast beef sandwich, apple, diet pop

Supper: Mac & Cheese, pickled beets, too many chocolates, Eating Right potato crisps

Good Friends and French Chocolate

What a perfectly lovely day we have had today! We put off doing the work we have to do, and had friends join us for supper. It was a 'make do' kind of meal, so it was easy to relax and enjoy our visit. It was a real treat, because although we live in the same city, we rarely have an opportunity to get together. We had raw veggies and a meat platter to tide us over until our supper was cooked - each meat bite was 30 calories or under. Of course, I indulged and enjoyed a little beer, and yep! A little Bailey's in my coffee. My dear, sweet friend brought some wonderful dark chocolate that I have never,ever bought in my life. This was chocolate at its finest. Dark. Rich. Sooooo good - almost as good as the people who brought it!

Breakfast: eggs, toast, skim milk

Lunch: woops - for the first time in absolutely ages, I baked lemon cupcakes. SO, of course, lunch was half a lemon cupcake!

Supper: nibbles first ~ raw veggies & a tsp of dip, one slice of roast beef with horseradish sauce - very pleased with the way that worked out. One slice is only about 30 calories, including a smudge of sauce...mmmmm good! Tossed salad with *oil and vinegar dressing, 1/2 of a ciabatta bun, 1/2 bottle of beer, a chicken breast, half a cup of curried rice salad - for the first time, I replaced the sugar with Splenda, and it was still very, very good. For dessert? 1/2 cup of mixed berries, with a generous teaspoonful of coolwhip, and a lemon cupcake. And then? Oh my. Be still my heart. French dark chocolate. Creamy. Rich. Dark. And OOOOOOOO so good. With a good cup of coffee and 3/4 oz of Baileys Irish Cream? Could there be a better party for your palate?

Doesn't this sound like I bit the dust today? But no. Drum roll please.
Calories: 2011 calories, or 41 WW points. The fat grams were high, but for a walk on the wild side? It was well worth it! There go the Flex points!

For a great oil and vinegar salad dressing, try this one - I added tiny diced onions.

Mix all ingredients in a bottle and shake to combine:
• 1/2 Cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 Cup rice vinegar
• 3 Finely minced garlic cloves (I use the stuff in a jar)
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste




Then?

And just when things were going soooooo well....

My reward for good behaviour arrived in the mail yesterday. A Soprano east-west handbag, in a brass shade. Holds everything really nicely, and came with a little makeup case so you can always find your mirror and lipstick,too! The lining is an animal print, so things are much easier to see than in the traditional 'black hole'. Thank you Shopping Channel! I only have three handbags in my closet now...brass, black and my little red one. This has been my greatest challenge.
I had to go and have Chinese food last night! HOWEVER we ordered two dishes, one was diced chicken and vegetables with almonds, and chicken chop suey. But I am sure they were both loaded with salt. The scale showed a gain this morning, but I refuse to acknowledge it!

Today, I attacked the closet. I have a pile of clothing a mile high on my chair, waiting to be sorted through and folded. Next job is to wrestle into some stockings, and try on all of the shoes! I am only keeping the absolutely fabulously comfortable shoes. Amazingly, one pair has super high heels, but go figure. They feel wonderful, and I can walk in them...not forever, but long enough to get where I am going!



Hubby's office closet is now the storage area for out of season clothing, purses, bedding, shoes and boots. I am going to keep only what I use at hand in my closet, which, as it turns out? Is still far too much stuff! I really only need a few well coordinated outfits, but you have to buy a half dozen to get one that really works, it seems. While I am changing sizes, I am shopping sales only, and refuse to pay full price for something that I hope will be gone in six months!

When you are a plus size, it is very difficult to find clothing that is good quality, fit and price. The manufacturers have a captive audience and they know it. That is why you still see ghastly prints in chubby sizes. Who told these people that getting fat made you go blind? So, as I was trying on absolutely every item in the closet, I realized how many things I purchased because "it sort of works". I realized that the majority of things I bought "anyway" (colours were off, cut not quite right) are the things that languished in my closet for ages. Lesson learned mistake will not be repeated.

Breakfast: eggs, toast & butter, milk and coffee
Lunch: roast beef sandwich
Supper: ?????

Today's Menu

Yesterday I was a bit of a rebel, but today, more structure. Besides, the man is coming home and will likely have all sorts of expectations, one of them being a home cooked meal. So, here is my meal plan.

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 toast, 1 butter, 1 milk 22 almonds

Lunch:1 cups of strawberries, with Splenda, of course, and 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Snack: Five prunes

Supper: roast pork tenderloin with potatos and gravy, salad (with olive oil) mixed veggies (celery, cauliflower, peppers, carrots - whatever else I can find to throw in the mix! I have a dandy little steamer, if I am in the mood to fish it out of the cupboard, I layer in the veggies, longer cooking ones first. Then, pour it all out on a platter to serve with butter and kosher salt, and freshly ground pepper. The other favourite, is to do the veggies all together on a cookie sheet in the oven, tossed with a bit of olive oil and seasonings)

Snack: olives, antipasto and crackers
Some how, though, I am sure that Swiss Delice will slip in there too...

Now this is exciting!

I woke up this morning, and guess what? ANOTHER pound is gone. That has to be a record! I have been keeping a sharp eye on the ratio of fats/carbs/fats, and rather than not eat butter on my toast, I added a Cheerios snack at night! Not only am I losing the pounds all of a sudden, my sugar levels are better. Ah ha. That could be it. My sugars are happier, so they let the fat cells go? I am like a dog with a bone on this one...I have to figure out what the heck is going on and why I have had a plateau that has lasted just about a year! So far, this seems to be the theory du jour.

The problem with Weight Watchers, as I see it, is that it isn't specific enough. For the money that you spend, it wouldn't kill them to have a site as good as Fitday to track your calories, etc. I guess for most, it works, but FD seems to be the answer for me. After the first few days of entries, you are set up to keep track of every morsel that goes into your mouth. There is a "custom" feature that lets you enter the exact nutrients for each food you eat, so there are no "guesstimates" necessary. I have already entered my breakfast. Everything including my multivitamin pill! I have noticed that magnesium and potassium are lacking so I am going to try to remedy that - the strawberries in the frig will be a tasty lunch and source of the missing nutrients! How easy it is to choose what to eat, if you have a bit of knowledge.

You know, I thought I was eating well before...now? I am eating even even more, and more often. If only I could keep up the pace of these past few days! These pounds would vanish pretty quickly! But, I do expect ups and downs to come my way again. My one wish for the fall is to fit into my Cotton Ginny jean outfit, no matter what my weight! So far, my goal of losing eleven pounds by September 30 is looking very possible!

There is a feature in the program, that lets you set your weight goal, adjust the date and it gives you a calorie amount to aim for in order to reach that goal. Even if you are a couch potato you burn enough calories to "buy" luxuries in your diet, like butter on your toast or a scoop of ice cream. You know, I really don't need a lot, but boy, do I need quality! Knowing exactly what I have to spend makes life so much easier!

Whoooo HOOOOO ! 3.2 pounds

Finally, a drop! Since finding Fitday, I adjusted my ratio of fat/carbs/protein and yep, increased my intake, and this morning? A 3.2 lb drop. Water, whatever, I don't care. It is gone! So, I am almost back to where I was. Sigh. I seem to be stuck in a warp here, folks. BUT hopefully, this will mark the beginning of the downward slide once again. The total number of calories I am supposed to aim for, is 2050 a day. I hit 1801 yesterday, and that is with the addition of sunchips and 230 calories for five individual Swiss Delice chocolates. I just can not get past this eat more to lose thing. But there you go. Some days? I could eat a horse, but usually, eating regular food at regular intervals keeps me satisfied.

Yesterday, I ate four times, but chose things to eat in the food groups that Fitday told me I was lacking. To my surprize, CARBS were needed so I had two cups of cheerios for supper! And three apples throughout the day! Now is that a treat or what? Protein is always a hassle for me, because I am lazy. Plain and simple. I like stuff you can store in Tupperware, and eat without turning on the stove or opening the frig, so when Rick isn't here? I turn into a Tupperware grazer. Which reminds me, I have a fresh bag of prunes that I bought on Monday, just waiting for my breakfast...

Grocery Day

Lots of goodies from Costco are now waiting for me in the frig. Strawberries with cottage cheese? What a meal that makes! And the Pink Lady apples that were so tasty last year are back. With Rick out of town, the average time it takes me to prepare a meal is about two minutes. Basically, I clean the fruit and cut it up! That will even be quicker with my new Nicer Dicer, and Nicer Slicer! Yes, I am hopeless. I order things from TV infomercials. But I do wait till they come on the shopping channel so I can return them if need be! I will bake a chicken breast or two, so I will have some protein ready to gnaw on. I really don't like fussing when I am on my own, but nature's fast foods never let me down.

Fitday is quite informative. All of the calculations for the amount of fat, carbohydrate, fibre and protein that you consume through the day are done in the program. To my surprise, my fat intake is about 5% over what it should be, my protein is less than ideal. And here I thought I was doing so well. Nope. More tweaking to be done. I sat down and had a ciabatta bun with butter (fresh from Costco) for my before bedtime snack, just to up the calories a bit. It is so bizarre that you should go on a diet, and up your calorie intake. I ate 1337 calories and wasn't a bit hungry today...well below my daily minimum. I just wasn't hungry.

While Rick is away, I will keep myself busy sorting through all sorts of things that I pulled out of his office closet. Old towels, pillows,quilts. That sort of thing. They were all

too good

to throw out, so yep. Keep them in the closet for three years in a space bag. That really makes them useful, doesn't it?

The new shelf system is installed, but there is one bracket needed before I can load up the top shelf. The others are open for business though, so I won't have any trouble filling them with winter boots, and Rubbermaid totes full of out of season goodies. Every bit of clothing that is not the present season is going to live in that closet, and if it doesn't get used this winter? Out it goes. I don't think I will have a problem creating a capsule wardrobe out of what I have for the winter. I just have to put my mind to it, and get rid of all the clothing that is too big, or no longer my style. Funny how getting a couple inches smaller changes the shape of the clothing you wear. Some things just don't work anymore, although at one time they were my go to outfits. There are also things that I have never worn, and likely never will. I usually find a favourite outfit and wear it to death, so, I think that if I can put together a few complete outfits, with various accessories? I will be modestly covered for the coming season.. as for this year's "clown pants", I think it is time to say goodbye, with nary a backward glance....

Here is a picture of the hooks my cleaver husband put up for me last night. Each little gizmo has six hooks, and a bar to hang a scarf (or tie, if you are a fella!) Since I only have one scarf that I wear all of the time, it will be easy to fold it up and hang it in such an easily accessible place. There are three of these racks, hung right behind the dresses that I will use them with. See?

Fitday.com

Just checked out this site, and it is very promising. I am keeping track of my intake three ways for the moment...a journal, online at WW and now this. Fitday, however, gives me a breakdown of calories, and nutrients. I started off with a bang, because tonight we had Greek Salad, buns and beer on the deck...it was lovely! There was a cool breeze after supper and it was so relaxing just to sit and enjoy the moment.

We managed to get the linen closet done this weekend, and I am really happy with the results.
Rick also installed some six hook bars behind my clothes in the closet to hold the long necklaces that seem to defy any other method of storage!It worked out nicely, with my favourite necklaces positioned right behind my favourite dresses in the closet. Back to Fitday. Turns out that even though I ate over my Flex today, I am still well under the calories for the day. I want to lose ten pounds by the end of September and according to the calculations? It is possible by reducing my calories by 713. As well? The amount of calories I burn to maintain this sedentary (not really, but better underestimate than over, wouldn't you agree?)lifestyle is about 2600 calories a day, so by hitting about 2000 a day, I could lose ten pounds by the end of September. Yah. Right. Like that is going to happen! BUT with this program, I can also check to see that my diet is balanced in all the food groups. I ate with wild abandon yesterday, even enjoying beer with supper, and I was happy to see that the fat, protein and carb ratio was just about bang on. Thing is, that to to keep my sugars balanced, I need to eat fat...that would be the easiest thing to cut down on, but it is disaster on the hoof if I do. http://www.wnetwork.com/expert_tips/health/calorie_consumption_calculator/index.asp tells me that I need 2996 to 3196 calories a day to lose weight. That is an astronomical number. Maybe I should calculate my goal weight, and what I need to eat to maintain that? 1531 to 1731 calories for that. Hmmmm. This math boggles the mind. However, nothing is shifting, so I have to search for solutions.

Home

I am sooooo glad to be home! It took forever to get here, it seemed...we were late leaving Regina. I was held captive by the JYSK store there. Found a few neat accents for the house, and a couple of practical things, too. I found a brown basket with leather handles to house hair stuff in my bathroom. When I had a cupboard to hide it in, a power tool caddy made the perfect container for all the junk, but it didn't look very nice sitting out under my new piano leg sink! I have no idea why the shopping is so good in Regina, but I was able to find things I have been searching for in Winnipeg for ages. A Peugot pepper grinder and a Rubbermaid closet organizer in the right size are the first things that come to mind, but there were more, trust me! I have turned into a shopper this year - it must be that the styles available tickle my fancy, because for the longest time, I couldn't find a thing I wanted to buy! Now? Everything appeals to me! LOL

The carpet installers are chomping at the bit to get in and do their thing ...and of course, Rick is going out of town this week. We have to lift the carpeting and underlay, clean the floors thoroughly, add a few screws here and there, remove the baseboards, and paint the house before the carpet goes in. Hmmmmmm what are the chances it will be done at the very last minute before the installers arrive? No wonder I have a sensitive digestive system! There is a knot the size of a football behind my belly button when I think of all the work to be done! I like to get things done ahead of time, and although Rick always gets things done, it is always at the last minute. Oh the stress. But I have decided on the colours for the house. It is just a matter of where to put them!

Now, about the food plan. I was way off track this week, partly because I over estimated the amount of points in foods, that I have later found out weren't as bad as I thought. Who knows what the counts were, really? I guess the tale will be told in a couple of days when I hit the scale for my weekly weigh in, but with the amount of salt in restaurant food, I am not holding out any hope whatsoever. One tasty item we indulged in was called War Wonton Soup. Good? You betcha! It had the usual wonton dumplings, plus shrimp, pork and shrimp. The broth was not oversalted, but sooooo tasty. Not overspiced at all. So, there is something reasonable to have in a Chinese restaurant that won't kill ya!

Onward and upward. I haven't unpacked yet, and my tub is calling me for a good long soak. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend - if you aren't busy, wanna come help pull up broadloom?

Out of the blue...

these little individual packages of cheese just peeled themselves, and jumped into my mouth...all four of them. Sigh. Breakfast at hotel buffets will do that to me. Along with the whopping texas toast, scrambled eggs, and ham? I think I will have to drink water for the rest of the day! It was very good, and I was very hungry. A lethal combination, especially after indulging at Ankor last night...mmmmmm good! Blew the FLEX there, and the rest went this morning.

Regina is growing so fast. If someone would have told me that I would end up sleeping in a Hotel on South Railway years ago, I would have been mortified. But as it happens, it is now called Saskatchewan Drive, and the hotel we are in is quite nice. Very spacious with the all important king bed! It is interesting to see how the city has changed. Still familiar, as I think it always will be...I don't think you ever forget the streets of your childhood. The streets that took me to my first school outing to Palm Dairies, the streets that I learned to drive on.... Even though there are grander buildings standing now, in my minds eye, I still see the greengrocers where we are now parking our car. How quickly time flies when you are living your life - funny, but I never seem to notice it as much anyplace but here. There is a thread that will always draw me back, and good friends that make me sad to leave.

~August 16~I found out tonight that the little packets of cheese weighs 21 gms and has 80 calories. So, two pieces equal 3 points. Not as bad as I thought, but still not something I will repeat anytime soon! After a year of not indulging in a little cheddar? It was soooooooo worth it!

What a job...

Rick has been slaving out in the hot sun for three days now...one to wash the deck, one to stain the deck, and now? He is working on the bench and chaise. Once it is all done, I hope we will have time to relax a little. The next yard project, is to get the flower beds ready for spring planting. I have one flower box this year that is just lovely. I am going to repeat the plants next year, if I can find two more window boxes, I will be good to go.

As a dutiful wifey, I am providing good food for the worker bee. Tonight we are having pork chops and yams, with a tossed green salad, and yes, I think I will make that man a good dessert. I can always send it home with Vince to keep us on the straight and narrow.

Today was weigh in day, and not one ounce lost. Hovering is what I seem to do best these days. I stepped up my intake of veggies, tried to remember to eat my oils of the day, and added a bit more dairy. I go up and down with water so at least I have lost the 'puff' that I had at the beginning of the week. What an ordeal the weighing in part of this program is! The food issues? Not a problem most of the time. For that reason alone, I am going to stick to this, but good grief, shouldn't I be losing an ounce or two?????? I have recalculated my points, I have counted every mouthful. I don't use my activity points, though. No one would believe two old people expend so much energy doing laundry anyway!

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH

Wednesday Morning, another day in the neighbourhood....

so much for a restful vacation! Today we have to go and buy all the stuff to organize three closets. More mess and conniption. Oh joy.

The frig is bare, but when the kids came for supper last night, we did okay pulling from the pantry...pork chops browned then baked in a pineapple sauce, basmati rice and ginger carrots. I made Jocey's Rice Pudding for dessert, and it was tooooo good.

1 cup of milk, brought just to boiling with 1 cup of cooked rice
In a separate bowl, whisk 2 eggs, vanilla and cinnamon or nutmeg, and two packets of sugar twin. Add 1/4 cup of well rinsed plumped up raisins. Add 1/2 cup of the hot milk to temper the egg mix, then put the egg mix in the pot with the rice and milk. Bake in the oven in a bain Marie for half an hour on 350º (I take my pot, and put it in the frying pan with about an inch of water. I have pots with stainless handles, though...it wouldn't work so good with the plastic handled ones!

That is all there is to it. Of course, I served it with a little blob of real whipped cream, Pete's treat! Usually, we have a spoonfull of cool whip.If you get the low fat egg nog on sale, use that instead of the milk, and skip the whipped topping all together. Or not!

Don't know how much more holiday

I can take. One whole week has gone by, and it seems like a minute but feels like a month. I am dog tired. Yesterday, we discovered that wasps were residing under our deck...of course, it was after we all sat down to dinner, and they started to dive bomb us until we relocated to the dining room! So, tonight, with every inch of skin covered, Rick attacked the nest with this neat foam stuff. Quite the picture. Work gloves, hoodie, facepiece from a gas mask! Exactly what a well dressed exterminator wears to crawl under a deck armed with a can of foam and wicked intent! First you plug up the hole, then you stick the nozzle in the nest and smother the little buggers. Worked like a charm. We bought three ways to kill them, just in case. The foam, bug spray for the stragglers, and a wasp trap for the tree. No such thing as overkill when you are dealing with insects!

Thursday....

and all of my Flex points are gone. Today, they were consumed by a Big Mac and half an order of fries. Ah well. There will be more on Saturday!

I'M Sooooooooooo H U N G R Y!!!!!

Must be nervousness or something, but right now I could eat a bear. My internal points counting isn't all that great...I went ten points over the other day. It didn't seem like much at the time, I can assure you. So, today, I am really watching myself. Mainly because I have two Flex points left for the week. Darn Vince and his generous servings of pie! I eat the filling only and leave the crust, but it still is a guilty pleasure!

Tonight, we will be experiencing fine 'pantry dining' at its best. President's choice white cheddar mac & cheese, with bean salad on the side. My preference is for beet pickles, but hey, any port in a storm.

Whoo hoo!

Here we go! Since the first thing on the holiday agenda was to make some major decisions about household purchases, we bought new family room furniture today! It may seem like a lot of impulse shopping, but (whisper) we have been planning this for a good 12 years...we are just slow starters! LOL Finding the family room furniture so quickly was such a nice surprise....I thought it would take a week to find something, but walked into the store this morning and there it was, waiting for us! The pieces all have slouchy, removable cotton covers, and it is no surprise, that the style is called "Beachside". It is a large, well padded (seems to be a theme in this house, from people to furniture) and cotton! I stretched out on the couch in the store, and ooooooo it was comfy! So, now all we have to do, is something with the kitchen, and get all of the painting done. Oh, and a blanket box for the end of our bed. Tomorrow, before the delivery comes I have the opportunity to earn all sorts of activity points, hauling furniture upstairs and into the garage until it is picked up and taken away. Thirty-five years of marriage does seem to be the same as a fire, doesn't it?