Mern, trading recipes is great! I can't wait to "test drive" some of yours. I think Hellmans might be zero or low carb but it has sugar, which is my mortal enemy. I am thinking of maybe going sort of modified Primal, as much as I can, and seeing what happens. From experience I am learning what I can and can't eat. My problem is I can eat a little (health wise) but I can't eat a little (self control wise.) I can eat a slice of pizza but when I go crazy with the tomatoes, dairy and carbs I pay dearly for it. And it is starting to seem not worth it. (Duh, you think I would have got it by now.) But ya know, I get moody, self indulgent, "social," what can I say? So while I agree we should enjoy and not feel guilty, I am already feeling positive effects of just 3 days of eating "clean." So I am gonna try to keep that going. And if I don't, I will chalk it up to being human.

I will let you know what happens, Bubbaleh!!! I feel like I know you, I swear. You have such a warm generous presence.

And if I see "The Situation" in Joisey I'm running the other way!!! Can't deal with that whole GTL thing (Gym, Tan, Laundry) Why do I know this? I don't even watch the show!!!

Cassie, take him with ya. Make it a family trip. :)

Who else is going to try to make it? Quinniepoo, April, Hope, Mern, Amy? Oh Amy, where are you?

I'm gonna chalk that up to your ADHD. It's HS tennis season. Can't miss matches!

But it sounds like a blast. I would really like to do it! We'll see what the schedule looks like when it comes out. I'm only 4 hours from Charlotte!

oh yeahhhh. :o

Where IS Amy? I miss her.

And when is this alleged trip taking place? 2016? I don't even know where the hell I'll be in a month. But hey if y'all (get that - y'all) make it happen I'll come cheer you on. I'll um bring my pom poms. Or at least a big sign that says Fitdayers are winners or some such.

2016 is Cassie being silly. We are getting together next March. I posted about it a few pages back.

Hi Hope! Ah, thanks! And I really do love to watch the swimming - we are lake and boat people so it is really vital that he learns early.

Burning Love...check it out: Burning Love: Episode 1 - Yahoo!

It is a spoof on "The Bachelor" - really quite hilarious! There are about 14 or so episodes, each around 10 min each. Ama

Hey Judi! You just inspired me to make pickles! I have been staring at the cucumbers on my counter for 2 days wondering what to do with them, thanks!

PS - I definitely plan to try freezing pesto the way you described... float oil on top, and leave out the cheese. :)

Ama

Mern - You're the best! You definitely gave me a boost in the positive attitude category just now! I didn't do too bad after all - I guess 2am is not a good time to be reviewing my goals for the week... :rolleyes: The lake was great! I even managed to drive the boat on the trailer in front of a big group of people and looked like I knew what I was doing! Hope your weekend is going great! Ama

Just popped on to read a bit. Man you guys are chatty this weekend! I am on track but haven't looked at my goals today. Spent the majority of the day deep cleaning the kitchen. Cupboards, fridge, stove ... then 2 bathrooms and our bedroom a good general cleaning. Tomorrow is the rest of the house in general and the fish tank. Hoping to make my way to the town community days also for the meet the breeds / obedience event. I like to take the girls to socialize a little.

I saw an invite in there somewhere. I have to say I will be among those who suck. We don't have it in our budget for any serious trips any time in the near future.

Hope.. thank you for your open & honest discussion about DD. I am sometimes unsure if I ask too personal of questions.

Oh and my weight this morning was 229.8lbs. Under 230!! Woohoo!

Pickle recipe and instuctions please? Do you have one with no sugar? (picky, picky.) Generous neighbor: cucumbers aplenty.

Mern's good like that. I admired her spin onit but it wasn't just spin, it's true. We gotta give ourselves credit.

Man, you are a busy bee. No wonder you're losing weight prolly burning off cals with all that work. And you are a good mommy to your children and your doggies.

Your questions are not personal; they show concern and make me feel less alone in my struggles. And when Quinn and others share, it helps. Make me less likely to reach for that comfort food when I have real comfort here.

Mike, thanks for the invite, but I won't be attending the meet and greet. I'll be looking forward to reading about it, though. Maybe y'all can post nightly updates for we "homebound." :)

mhibdon and Hope, seems like I've heard that before about the effects of caffeine on memory. Should be easy to google.

Hope, I'm that way with cream. Can eat a little healthwise, but have no self control. I'd just down a pint of it straight out of the carton. Must be horrible eating something yummy like pizza and then feeling horrible afterwards. Only thing that affects me that way is regular baked beans because I guess my body no longer makes enough of the enzymes necessary to break them down and I wound up in horrible intestinal pain last time I indulged in that treat. Yeah, it certainly wasn't worth it and I'll never do that again. BUT I have found I can make them with black soybeans; they taste just like regular baked beans to me; and they're low carb. :) I can't think of any substitute for tomatoes. That's great that you're feeling better after three days of eating clean! Sure is a great reason to eat clean on your getaway! I never watch Jersey Shore, either. I learned of The Situation when he was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. Caught who Snookey/Snooky/Snookie is (however you spell her name) on TMZ or Extra which I also don't watch but the TV was on that station in the kitchen when I was cooking one day and they were talking about her being pregnant and engaged, as I recall.

Yeah, Hope is right: that was no spin on Ama's report she had in blue or red. It was Ama's own words that I copied that deserved the green. Like Hope said, we gotta give ourselves credit.

I miss Amy, too. She's probably just so busy with her daughters, summer, etc. She always has so many projects going on. :) Maybe a PM is in order, eh?

Ama, there ya go with that positive attitude. Yeah, 2AM probably robbed you of the self-congrats you deserved. :) Kudos on making it to the lake and the boat trailer maneuvering! How fun to be able to do that! My weekend has been very relaxing so far. Thanks.

April, kudos on all the cleaning. That takes a lot of energy after working at your job all week and burns a lot of calories, especially with the deep cleaning. I did some badly needed decluttering the other day on the computer desk and rolltop desk (which we leave open) and was so glad because we had unexpected company right after I finished and I'd have been mortified for anyone to see that mess... and I'm not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination, so that give you a clue how awful it looked beforehand.

Hope - I use the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Do you have that book? Super easy recipes for bread n' butter and dill pickles, but it has been several years since I have made pickles... I love BH&G - and usually need to replace my cookbook every 5 years as they fall apart on me from overuse. Current copy is covered in packing tape to hold it together...:)

Judi - I was going to ask you for your recipe... ? Sounds like you are our resident expert on canning/pickling!

Ama

I just got run over by an tumbleweed when I came into the thread. I haven't. Even posting much but I've been on the wagon ever since my neighbor called me a fat ass. ;)

I hope everyone else is on the wagon and just haven't gotten around to posting.

So who else is up for the part in March? Maybe we can also have a "night out".

Mike--run over by tumbleweed. Yeah, it's kinda like a Texas ghost town in a dust storm here today, isn't it? LOL Kudos for being on the wagon. Uh, oh! Now you KNOW you set yourself up, don't you? Tori's gonna jump on what your neighbor called you. You know how she likes calling men by letters. :p

I'm on the wagon, just got busy doing other things including EXERCISE today. Went to the Y --treadmill sounded different and felt a little different. I looked down and discovered I'd forgotten to change into my gym shoes at home so was walking in my faux Crocs. :p BUT it was a nice accident because now I know I can wear them to Mackinac Island Wednesday and they'll be cooler and more comfortable for walking than my gym shoes.

Ama, I tried making pickles just once and used a hot pickling liquid. I guess the cucumbers weren't the pickling variety because they came out mushy--and I like a crispy pickle. We love cucumbers but didn't plant any this year.

Saturday: Well, got 12 pints of the low sodium dill pickles put up, as well as 6 jars pickled beans. I also started a gallon jar of fermented pickles (started a slightly larger jar about 10 days ago - not quite ready yet, but already tasty!). Busy day, but had a girlfriend show up to help and to learn. Many hands make light work!

Regarding the pickling recipes - I would be more than happy to share them with you all. Couple questions, tho - shall I post them in entirety on here, individually message the interested parties, or can I post the addresses where I get them from?

One of the simplest pickling recipes actually is inspired from my 90 y.o. neighbor. He would bring these to all the picnics: Slice the cukes as thinly as possible (peeling is optional). Place in a bowl, sprinkle lightly with a bit of salt, toss together with a bit of thinly sliced onion. Choose a good white wine vinegar and sprinkle the veggies lightly with a few tablespoons. Grind a bit of black pepper over all, toss again and refrigerate for a couple hours. I swear, I always asked him if he added sugar - the cukes added such a sweet taste to it!

Numbers for Saturday: Cals: 1,564 Fats: 59.7 Carbs: 97.2 Protein: 105.4
:eek:Went out to a chain rest. and had a disappointing grilled chicken sandwich dinner.(some kind of wings place - new to the local mall and obviously struggling) Didn't finish it (the sodium was sickeningly high), and neither did DH. He ordered a grilled chicken caesar salad - they put some kind of nasty dressing on the chicken that was so salty, he sent it back (I tasted the chicken - it burned the back of my throat!!). We don't cook with alot of salt added to the food, so perhaps we are a little picky - but it was just sooo bad.:eek:

Gotta stick with homemade. :smile

We sorta made up for the dinner today - went to a great farmer's market on the other side of the state. There was a Revolutionary War encampment, re-enactors, demonstrations, and even a parade of 8 or so fife and drum corps (in costume - too cool!). Bought some great tomatoes and an artisan type bread, split a homemade blackberry turnover and some mint tea. From there we headed north to a very cool dairy farm (1100 acres - wow) with a incredible lavender garden planted into a huge old barn foundation made in the 1800's from stone. (yeah, we had a bit of the homemade ice cream - and glad we did!)

Afterwards, we headed south to a nursery that specializes in tropical and house plants - I took soooo many pix! I am a sucker for nurseries and garden places...Some of the greenhouses were so packed with huge palms, ferns and vines, we almost had to use a machete (no,not really;)) & Dh kept expecting to see a monkey or a tiger:rolleyes:.

Well, the carbs were off the charts for this weekend, and the sodium too - so the scale will be pointedly ignored until Tuesday or Wednesday!

Calories: 1,603 Fat: 88.9 Carbs: 121.4 Protein: 91.0

We did walk quite a bit today, as well as working on my feet all day yesterday, so that's gonna have to count for exercise.

We'll see you all on the next thread! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

She's called me MUCH worse than fat. I can take it because I can dish it.:D

That's funny that you were on the dreadmill with Crocks!