Hi Ladies,

meanmom, I put my fabrics in the mail for you today. I am grateful that you give us 3 months that we can ship for. Thanks for being our hostess.

I've managed to NOT stress-eat during this storm in our home, but the scale is still not moving. I"ve been wearing my FitBit everyday and tracking all my calories. I'm still waiting for the evidence that you have to burn more than you eat to lose weight. I've been in a deficit all month. May be time for a splurge to shake things up.

Our weather has been gorgeous, which also brings the pollen. Hoping that the Flonase my DR has me on gets me through the season without getting sick like I was in Nov & Dec.

hugs

I have been having a hard time. Snacking and more snacking. I also added some diet soda to the mix. Maybe once the Holiday chocolates are gone. I did not help that several of my adult children gave me bags of chocolates for Christmas even though I had asked them not to do it. I asked for gift cards to Hobby Lobby. Nothing like that. Hubby did get me a nice big rotary cutter. I was told I was ungrateful for not being excited about the chocolate. I have blood sugar issues so it is not just a weight issue. I guess I am a grump.

Annaquilts, I do not think you are a grump and you have real concerns about your health and well being. Shame on them for not realizing that.

Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate.

Having a piece of chocolate just makes me right with the world. I have to admit it.

I know I shouldn't be emotionally attached to any food. But if I don't have my fix, I know I will be searching for other things to eat to compensate.

So to make this not too bad for me, the only chocolate I will have is the 86% bars. Ghiradelli is good. And there is a German brand sold at a local Aldi's store that I find supreme.

There's nothing wrong with dark chocolate. It's the amount that gets us in trouble. Isolate as much as you've allowed yourself for the day and eat it in slow bites. Even on days you have more, separating the amount you feel is reasonable keeps you accountable. Kudos on eating that high a percentage dark. I'm not there yet. I'll try the Aldi's one.

I've had four heart attacks and 2 mini strokes. I'll take the little bit of heart health dark chocolate offers.

Anna, it's very rude of your children to buy you chocolate when you have health problems. Some is allowed on your type of diet - can you ration it? I buy all my grandchildren Santa Bucks (chocolate bars that look like a dollar bill.) I have to find something else for the diabetic one.

Hey everyone. I haven't weighed myself this week yet. I am kinda scared to but need to know if I made any progress. If not, I will need to hammer down! I hope you all have a wonderful day. I have to go into work soon.

[QUOTE=Irishrose2;7434934]There's nothing wrong with dark chocolate. It's the amount that gets us in trouble. Isolate as much as you've allowed yourself for the day and eat it in slow bites. Even on days you have more, separating the amount you feel is reasonable keeps you accountable.

Thank you. That advice is helpful.

It's regretable that your children took offense about your not wanting the temptation and empty calories of their gifts. I would have no problem with giving them away to someone who can enjoy them guilt free. They don't need to know about it. Just thank them and leave it at that.

Re the weight loss. I am doing terribly. Weight only fluctuates 3 pounds up then three pounds down, etc. Perhaps next month. When I eat what I consider to be sensibly, I find myself searching (and usually finding something) for munchies a couple of hours later. The house is just about stripped of my favorites, but I do manage to come up with something. Please don't tell me to fix a tray of celery sticks and carrot sticks. lol

Gail, carrots and celery are good in soups and stews, but I won't tell you to eat rabbit food. I don't know what to tell you as we are all different. 1/2 a Dove dark chocolate after a cup of tea usually helps me get over a munchies attack. Are you restricting your calorie intake too much? It may be time for a feast day once a week to take your body out of starvation mode. Without a feast day, your body thinks it's starving and adjusts its calorie requirement. It worked when I had more weight to lose. I think I'll try it now for this amount.

I'm feeling a need for exercise and fresh air. I took the dogs out, but it was super icy. I slipped three or four times in the first block, even with the YakTrax so I gave it up. I can do a exercise video or something on Youtube or Grokker, but that won't get me some refreshing air. Speaking of exercise, last week my morning yoga class was wall to wall - this week there were four of us. Have the New Year's resolution exercisers given up already? My evening class was down a little, but not as dramatic a drop.

I am losing weight and becoming healthier.

I like vegetables but much prefer them steamed or in soup. Eating celery sticks would only make me feel deprived and would cause me to grab something to get rid of the flavor.

I had to laugh at your description of the full and then empty exercise class. It wasn't me. I still haven't made it out to the gym. My 26 year old son is very sweet and keeps on encouraging me. I am kind of scared to go. I did see two ladies at the vegetable store that had obviously just worked out at the exercise place next to it. They looked like they had just started. DS pointed them out to me to encourage me. He even cut out one of those one time free coupons for me. DH is on a business trip this coming week. Maybe I'll go with my son to the fitness place. He goes all the time and has those nice in shape muscles. I asked him if he wouldn't mind him being seen with his old out of shape mom. LOL Oh he was not one of the ones giving me chocolates.