Mern

Edited in: Wow! This post went right through first try without having to log in again! Yahoo--hope the glitch is fixed now!

Quinn, whatever snacks you eat that are lower in fat and calories are worth it--even if you do indulge too much you're still minimizing the damage. I only shop for gifts for the youngsters in the family. The teenagers want cash and the adults enjoy gift cards for restaurants or stores to buy themselves things to which they wouldn't ordinarily treat themselves. Even more than that, they enjoy our meal sharing at my house Christmas day.

Vicki, I like both your and Quinn's way of simplifying Christmas. When my kids were little I always stressed to them, and also taught my Sunday school class (5 year olds) that "we give each other Christmas presents to celebrate Jesus' birthday because we can't send the presents to Jesus in Heaven." My 13 year old granddaughter (she lives just 4 miles away) came over today and volunteered to make me a pot of homemade veggie soup. I taught her over the years by "dump and taste" method--starting the broth from leftover meat juices that I save and freeze from cooking chicken and roasts, and then adding some beef bouillon powder, water, tomatoes, herbs and spices and then adding whatever veggies we have. She knows exactly how I like it and can do it totally alone now--and it's delicious.

Libby, thanks for your suggestion. I make black soybean brownies because those beans are only 1 net carb per 1/2 cup serving and the brownies are absolutely delicious. I fooled my family with them--they thought it was just regular homemade brownies. LOL I've been having posting issues, too. Lately I almost always have to log on at least twice. I try to post and then it tells me I'm not logged in so I have to post all over again.

Annette, I'm appreciating my tap water more because of your post. Congrats on your good food day yesterday. I cheated today with stress eating two chocolate chip cookies and two baby food (yeah--my 14 month old granddaughter's) strawberry banana cereal bars. But I pulled myself out of it, telling myself I DO care about the consequences of those treats, and am back on track.

rosabella2012

Mern: We all go sideways every once in a while! I guess learning to eat just what our bodies need and what we plan is rather like riding a bicycle--you're gonna fall off sometimes, but you get right back on and try again! In times past, if I fell off, I'd give up for sometimes months or even years and be really negative to myself about it. Hopefully I've learned to love me along the way and treat myself a bit kinder.

Libby: I've never heard of red soybeans, but I sure do like the green ones that I buy frozen, especially in a salad! In a magazine I take, I found a recipe for pomegranate salsa I plan on trying this year--it has no sugar, veggies and pomegranate--sounds pretty nice to me.

Veggies cooked except for the fresh broccoli and to roast the corn. Had fish with a mustard sauce tonight for supper and turkey breast hits the crockpot in the morning just before we leave for church.

Had fun trying on more clothes today--in fact, cleaned out the closet but still got a BIG basket of heavy winter stuff to sort. It seems I've got more clothes that fit than I realized--I'm glad in a way, cause that means I won't have to buy much at all, but I really was kinda looking forward to buying some new stuff! Oh well, it's been so long since I could fit into any of this stuff, folks will probably think it's new anyway!
Vicki

rainbow24

I don't feel all that motivated when the scale is taking a wrong directional turn.

rainbow24

Strangely enough the tape measure was fluctuating too much so I set it aside for a while. I think its been at least a month since I last measured.
When it comes to the scale, I have to get over it. Since I am focusing on eating for my heart, I don't expect a daily loss or even a weekly loss, but sometimes I just like it to happen.

I am going to go and slip into a skirt that I haven't worn for years because it fits again.

libby135

We give way too much power to the scale. It is just a tool like the tape measure. Focus on what you can control like the food you eat, the water you drink and the exercise you do and you will lose weight.

libby135

We give way too much power to the scale. It is just a tool like the tape measure. Focus on what you can control like the food you eat, the water you drink and the exercise you do and you will lose weight.
I found a recipe for kidney bean chocolate brownies on the web. It looks delicious.

rainbow24

I just realized that even though I have lost a lot of edema, I am still retaining water. I'll have to discuss this with a doctor. Just which one?
One doesn't listen to me and gives me a pill for everything, but he is the easiest one to see.

calvindream

keep it up!