almeeker

Why don't you offer to go in 50/50 with dad? My folks used to be so-so on getting the garden started, since they only have 2 mouths to feed at their house and mom still works full time. So I suggested a break down to make it fair and equal and it's working really well. And they are just delighted to have a beautiful garden and the kids and I over there all summer working on it. I buy the seeds and plants, mom takes care of the water bills and the taxes and dad is in charge of plowing and pooing (which he gets from his cows). Mom and I both weed and all of us pick - usually together. I always give them first choice on the veggies and they let me take the balance home to feed my family. It's a great system and all of us benefit, we get fresh veggies galore and lots of quality family time as well.

disujo

Thanks for the suggestion al...I will run it passed my parents when I'm there this weekend. We live an hour and half away from them...so only get out there maybe once a month. But we could make more of a commitment to be there to help with the garden!

HolaKitty

I'm so jealous of everyone with their gardens!! I live in an apartment building in the middle of a large city and I rarely see green! Enjoy getting out there in the sunshine

I'm having really bad cravings this week. I'd kill for a slice of pizza! I've not given in though and have been doing alright. After hitting a wall last week and not losing anything, I've finally lost one more pound so I was quite excited about that. It is a 10 pound loss for me in the past 3.5 weeks which I'm excited about, but if I'm honest, a little disappointed that no one has seemed to notice! lol

almeeker

I hear you on the pizza, I took the kids to Pizza Hut last night for dinner and thought maybe I would be asked to leave for all the drool pouring down my chin. I was actually planning on ordering their "Fit and Delicious" pizza featured on their website, but alas my fat town PH doesn't offer it anymore because nobody ever ordered it!!!

As for getting your weight loss to show, maybe you need a new piece of clothing, something a size smaller maybe? I found that when I was wearing all the same clothes nobody noticed either, but once I went and bought a few new things that actually fit well, everybody notices. Every 10 pounds I buy a few new things, little rewards for the big effort I'm making here.

For garden space you might check around and see if there are any local community gardens or the possibility of a roof garden. You can also grow a nice little crop in flower pots on your balcony. Years ago I had a balcony that was so narrow, I called it the balconette, but still managed to grow potted tomatoes, potatoes, a few herbs and leaf lettuce on it.

speedyfair

These past few days have relly been bad for me- and I thought I was doing so well, but all of my favorite junk and/or comfort foods have come to haunt me. I splurged yesterday and went to Taco Bell, but it really didn't taste as good and I only ate half of the nachos, but it must have been enough to gain a pound back on the scale. It seems that the emotional triggers that I did so well resisting last week are so much harder to fight this week. I just don't seem to have the energy or desire to pack my lunch and take care to have the correct and healthy foods that I should, but I'm going to give myself a break and try to get motivated to start over. I guess I deserve a one day break and then get back to good healthy habits. I never realized how much my emotions were involved with my eating- I either can't eat or I want to eat everything. It's been a roller coaster few days, but I will take my control back- I've come too far to go back to my old habits. I'm so glad I have this board to come to and I know you will all support and cheer me on- Thanks

pattialbert

Evening everyone
been a weird week work wise..my schedule was all screwed up . I feel like I wasnt here enough...started phase 2 last weekend on South Beach..and hoping my weigh in tomorrow is good! I havnt been able to keep off the scale though..Im hopelessly addicted. Tonight I made something that tasted so decadant....I made burgers for my dh..so I had two patties but instead of putting them in buns..I put my regular toppings on them and put them inside a lettuce wrap,,,omg........it was sooooo good!!!! unbelievable!!! I did not miss the bun at all!!!
I have been craving some sweets this week so Im going to make some sf jello,,and maybe some type of dessert this weekend to satisfy it. Had an apple yesterday..could not believe how good it tasted...it was like a real dessert! I did have a sore stomach after though for a couple of hours...did not eat one today..will have to watch that. Trying to reintroduce one new food each week but i keep forgetting..haha. But not eating them every day..so far this week I tried one potato, one corn, one apple and one sweet potato. So far so good...could be the reason Im craving sweets this week though...but its been controlable.
Speedy you only ate half the nachos....good going!!!! thats an accomplishement. Heres to a better week emotionally for you next week. \
Almeeker pizza is my favourite food...Im goign to stuff some portabella mushrooms with my favourite toppings this weekend ...Im nervous to try breads yet.
Holakitty I agree....bring some plants indoors! You can grow some nice herbs to add to your cooking....even a tomato plant! I have to have plants around me..I used to work for a flower shop. I buy fresh flowers every week. Love them
Disujo 30 mins a day is a huge step!!! everyone has to start somewhere right?? congrats!!!
Desertmountain..omg that popcorn sound so decedant.....mmmmmmmm that could be a *red*light food for me.... (that means I couldnt stop eating it)


will be back sometime this weekend to see how everyone is doing?

i was wondering if anyone would mind if we started a new thread..this one is getting long??

HolaKitty

Well I ended up making a pizza last night with whole wheat crust, low-fat mozarella and loads of veggies and it was so good! It wasn't exactly the same as a greasy, high fat pepperonni pizza but it was a good replacement! I definitely recommend it to others! I popped on some parma ham on my husband's side of the pizza and he loved it too.

My clothes weren't feeling any looser so I didn't feel a need for new clothes, but I measured myself this morning (4 weeks since starting dieting) and was really surprised to see that I had lost 4 inches on my hips, 1.5 inches on my waist and an inch on my thighs! I feel so good this morning after seeing that all my hard work has actually made a difference! I'm going to wait one more month to see how much I've lost and then splurge on a bunch of clothes for our vacation!

almeeker

Good morning.

disujo, I suggested making a garden deal with dad, without knowing how far away it is. Sorry about that. My folks only live 15 miles from us. But still I think if you regularly visit anyway, a garden deal is still very workable, and you might just show up with seeds and plants to sweeten the deal. My folks love it because they see the kids a lot more in the summer. And I love it because our kids LOVE veggies and it takes a big fat bite out of the grocery bill too.

Holakitty, all those inches gone is AMAZING!!! Congratulations. I did not measure myself when I started, in truth I did not want to know. Now I wish I had, because I think I would feel very encouraged by the difference. I did start measuring my waist a while back, but let me just say that number is not moving down the way I would like to see it. In fact in the last month it's only decreased by 1/4". Argh!! But last week I did a baseline set of measurements and will be tracking that until I hit my goal weight. This past week I went to Goodwill and just picked up a few pairs of jeans. I needed some pants that fit, and I don't want to spend a lot on a size that I'm not planning to stay in. In fact I'm taking them back to Goodwill when I reach the next size down, it sort of feels like checking books out of the library! They were $3.99 each! I like the sounds of your pizza. I might break out and try that one. I've been eying my whole grain flour tortillas thinking they might make a decent pizza crust....

Speedy, sorry to hear you have bad cravings this week. Me too! For me it's that time of the month, but even knowing that is not really helping. I've been trying to keep my hands busy so they don't have time to fix a fat snack and feed my face. So far I've cleaned the den, worked on the taxes, clipped most of my coupons and done maybe 10 loads of laundry. It's not helping, I still want a pan of lasagna and a whole box of ice cream covered with a pound of M&M's! Fight the fat, fight the fat, fight the fat....

Patti, sorry to hear that you got a stomach ache from an apple, did you eat it on an empty stomach? If I eat an apple on an empty stomach, I throw up every time. Seriously. I used to do that on purpose in high school if I needed an extra day to get an assignment done or to study for a test or something. Shameful but true. I gotta hand it to you doing South Beach, but you are sticking to it and making it work - you're the bomb! I flat out do not have that kind of willpower. A friend of mine was doing something like Atkins while he was training for a marathon. The first day off the diet he ate an orange, peel, seeds, bellybutton and all!!!! I would be like that after maybe 3 hours on South Beach. And yes I think a new thread is in order.

Gotta go, it's time for my Saturday torture, um I mean weightlifting session at the gym.

plwalker89

I would love to join! I have 99lbs to lose in one year, I just reset my start date and weight loss goal. I AM GOING TO DO THIS. It happens to be the only thing in my life that I am currently doing "For me", so its gonna work. Much Love, Paige

desertmountain

LOL - I like your attitude about division of money & I agree you DO deserve it. You're doing great almeeker!! And almost 1/2 way to goal - you rock! You were in The Biggest Loser TV show? How did I miss that post? That's so cool.

Oh yeah, you guys do have a short growing season. Growing with seeds in the ground here, just when the plants are just producing veggies the first freeze comes. I don't know how you do it without a greenhouse. You must have a very, very green thumb or a magic hoe. (hilarious gardening nickname for you & your mom) I just saw an ad on TV about Alaska growing these enormously monster veggies during the summer since the sun doesn't set for months. That would be a fun garden!

This week has been crazy busy trying to get the new gardens ready, one of the new areas was solid clay under a couple inches of topsoil so I've been digging out a huge hole where the garden will be and will fill it with new soil about 12 inches deep, hopefully it'll be enough.

Holakitty-Great job on loosing all the inches! 4 inches gone from the hips is awesome WTG! I find that there's a lot of 'legal' substitutes, like your homemade pizza did, that keep me from feeling deprived & satisfies the cravings. Maybe after eating like this for a while the regular versions won't taste as good--that's my hope anyways. I know that I can't eat a lot of fat now without feeling queasy and I used to be a fried-food chow hound. You handled the pizza craving great! Maybe you can buy yourself a lush patio plant or patio tree as a reward for staying on track & losing the inches.

Almeeker & Speedyfair-this is really strange, b/c I had really bad cravings earlier this week, too. And they've been under control up until then. I had sugar-free jell-0 and diet sodas to tame them. Worked great and kept me on track calories wise - even though they were empty calories, I don't think I would have been able to stay on track without Frakenfoods this week.

Almeeker, I couldn't find the microwave popcorn with only 100 calories per bag. Can you tell me the brand name so they can order it for me? Popcorn is the only salty-crunchy treat (can't eat it too often or I'll stall) I'll eat these days, but the salt just won't stick to the air popped. Microwave popcorn always tastes so much better anyways.