Good Morning Everyone!
Betty Jo - Hope you don't mind me starting the new thread. I was kind of waiting for you to start it as you mentioned it in your last post. I know you have been having some nasty weather in your area and I hope everything is O.K. there. It is unusual to not see you post more often!

I had my WI this morning and am happy to report a loss this week - almost 2#. I have been struggling with staying motivated the last month or so. Now that the weather has been nicer and I am not wearing the coats and heavier clothes I've been getting more compliments on what I have lost and I think it really went to my head. I was starting to feel too comfortable with where I was. So yesterday I jumped on the boards and did lots of reading of posts and found that I was not the only one that ran into this problem. I have hopefully re-mothivated myself!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!
Kathy

Hi Kathy:

Shot no, I don't mind that you started the new thread. I've been so busy, I guess I let a day go by and didn't do what I said I would do. So thanks for doing it for me.

Congrats on the weight loss. You are doing great. My weight loss had slowed a little bit since I passed the half way mark. I'm happy about that though. I'm 30 pounds from goal and if I lose that 30 pounds now, I'm going to look like a prune. So a plateau at this point would be rather nice and then I can pick it up later after I tone a little. The main thing I try to do is watch what I eat at meals (keep to the proper portion sizes) and have three snacks a day--two fruit and one JC snack. And of course have my salad each day. That really seems to work for me right now.

Our house went on the market Wednesday so I have to keep the house ship-shape in case our realtor calls and wants to show the house. Hey, do you have problems with birds building nests on your front porch? We have a barn swallow we've been trying to get rid of for years. She built her nest on top of the light and raises two nests full each year. We let her raise them and then cleaned up her mess and it really wasn't a big issue. But now we want her gone. How do you do it in a humane way? We took the lights down. So far that has discouraged her. But if we put them back up, I'm sure she would come back if she knew they were the there.

Have a great day.

Betty Jo

Hi Betty Jo and Kathy,

Kathy - every diet I've ever been on in my life has ended up just the way you described: I lose some weight, start getting compliments on how I'm looking, let it go to my head, and off the diet I go!! But not this time. At 61 years old, I've SURELY learned better than to do that again, wouldn't you think? Don't you do it, either! This time, get yourself to that finish line, girl - look how well you're doing!

My next 2 weeks food came today, and I'm kinda upset with my counselor. She asked me if there was any food I specifically did NOT like and didn't want again, and I told her - and I'll be darned if I didn't get it all again. I also got the planned menu printout with the "1500 calorie level", and I thought sure she said we'd stay on 1200 for awhile. What's up?!?!? I'm also not to happy with FedEx - all the dry ice had evaporated, and some of the cardboard on the boxes was really soggy. I don't think anything had thawed out, but when it gets up in the 90s in Carolina, you'd think they'd plan with a little extra dry ice!

Wow - do I sound like a biotch or what?!? I promise I'm not - just had a couple burrs under my saddle I needed to get rid of.

Betty Jo - you're doing so well. Keep it up - you're a big inspiration to me!

UPDATE: Today is Wednesday, my official weigh-in day. I'm down a full FOUR POUNDS, bringing my total to 10 pounds in two weeks. YAY - that's two sacksfull of potatoes!! Jenny rocks.

See you soon!

Hi,
I'm glad there is an over 60 blog.I'm in Ontario Canada.I am a life member with jenny.I am back with jenny ,and i'm doing the JennyDirect.It has worked out for me so far,but the shipping and handleling charges are kinda expensive.i do have a jenny centre about 12 miles away,but JennyDirect is more convenient.So I'm trying the Volumizing jenny's food.I do have the creative book.I would appreciate any of your ideas out there.
Thanks!!!!

Good Morning Everyone,
I've been busy planting a garden the last couple of days. Didn't have enough room for all the seeds I bought but this year is going to be an experimental year. We planted lots of things and will see what does the best this year and then eliminate anything that does not grow good in this area next year. My son worked up all the ground with the tiller but I did all the actual planting myself. I was really amazed that I was able to do it all!!! I feel a little achey today but nothing too terrible - mostly the backs of my thighs from all the bending down - guess I haven't been using those muscles too much lately.

Betty Jo - glad to hear you got your house on the market. Hope you get what you want for it and hopefully during the summer months in time to make the move to Alaska!!
Sounds like those barn swallows are really pests!! We haven't had a problem with them at the house but I have talked to people here having the same problem. We don't have any porches so they don't have a place to get out of the weather here.

Tall Jo - Congrats on the loss - you are rocking!! Keep up the great work! As far as the difference between the 1500 and 1200 menus the Jenny food is the same so if you are doing the 1200 just eliminate the extra milks and fruits that are on the 1500 menu. I'm not sure of the amounts of each anymore but I think it is 2 of each. You can look up the menu's on line to see what the difference is between the two menus. As far as getting the foods you don't want, I started telling my counselor I wanted personalized menus and the week I order I have a list of what foods and how many of each I want. Since then I have not received any items I don't like. I have my favorites I order every month and the rest I mix up a little each month just to have a variety to choose from. There are several items I don't ever get either because of the nuts or I just plain don't like them. So just have a list of the foods you want for the next month ready the next time you have to order. She should have all the items come up on her computer and it only takes a minute or two for her to do the personalized menu. Hope this helps!!!!

How has everyone else been doing? Looking forward to hearing from all of you!
Kathy

Hello Ladies:

Well guess what? I think I am finally experiencing my first plateau. I didn't lose anything last week or this week. I was 12 pounds from my 3/4 of the way goal weight too. Well, I'm not going to fret too much. My body really needs to catch up, but it will be interesting to see how long the plateau lasts. If it lasts longer than I want it too, I might have to do something to get my weight started down again.

Kathy:

I'm so proud of you. You planted your garden!!! Yipee!!! I can't believe how easy it is for me to pull weeds now. Before my stomach was so big I couldn't reach the ground to pull weeds or plant seeds. The weeds are the hardest part of the garden, I think. I actually put mulch down this year. Sometimes if it's really wet, its hard to keep the weeds out of my gardens. So I think the mulch will really help.

I think taking the lights on the front porch down for a while will work to discourage the barn swallows. She comes to the porch every night, but goes away because there's no light there any more. As soon as we don't see her anymore, we'll put the lights back up.

Hi Gram Mom:
Welcome to the best thread on the JC site. Or at least I think it is. I do have a suggestion for volumizing JC foods. There is a lady on the JC message boards by the name of Pricess Rose. She posts under the Recipe portion of the message boards. She is a chef and has some great ideas for ramping up the JC foods. I have the creative book and use it too. Good luck and keep up the good work.

Hi MimiJo:

I don't like what anyone else orders for me at JC either. I do a personized menu and select the foods I like. You can do the same thing. I really like the meatloaf and salisbury steak. I aslo purchase the macaroni and cheese. Because I'm half way, I cook from JC's cookbooks. But you really want to stay on the JC processed food until you get to the half-way mark. You need to change eating habits such as portion sizes. I was eating way too much and didn't even know it. The other mistake I was making was that I was drinking milk three times a day. I don't do that any more. I drink Crystal Lite Lemonade at night with my supper or water. Those two things have helped me really lose weight more than anything else.

Well ladies, I've got company. Gotta go. Have a great day.

Betty Jo

Hi, I'm in my 5th week and only lost 6 lbs but 4 inches in my potbelly. Whatever. Unfortunately, I can't seem to pass up good food so it's best not to have anything around other than JC food plus fruits and veggies.

Judy in DC






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Hello Judy:

Welcome to JC. You are doing a great job. Keep up the good work.

I still have a bit of a potbelly too. That's my main concern now. I could probably lose about another three inches off my belly. I'm sure it's going to be the hardest part of this weight loss journey. Stay on the JC food and fruits and veggies as long as you want. I stayed on them until after I passed the half way mark. Just by staying on the JC program, you begin to get control of your eating and it teaches you so much, like portion control. That was my down fall. I was raised in the restaurant business and as we all know, restaurants are in competition to see if they can outdo their competitors by serving bigger portions. The other problem I have is that I have a sweet tooth, but JC has taught me that if I eat sweets in moderation I can still have them every day if I want them. Consequently I don't binge anymore on sweets. I'm sure that was why I couldn't stay on diets very long. I felt deprived all along. So Judy, identify your triggers like I did and then come up with a plan to defeat them. And take your time. We are not in a race here so that we can go back and make the same mistakes again. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of losing the same weight again and again and again.

Good luck and come into the message boards often. These ladies all have the same goals so it's very encouraging to journal all your problems and successes to them.

Betty Jo

Good Morning Everyone,

I was pleased with a 3.2 lb loss at WI this morning. I'm hoping that my recent plateau has ended and that the trend will continue downward. I'm doing two days on my own, and also exercising alot more (50 minutes per day on my stationary bike plus walking), and am sort of struggling with, on the one hand, eating too much and not losing (or even gaining), and, on the other hand, not eating enough and going into "starvation mode." Last week, my consultant ran my numbers in the computer, and I should still be on 1200 calories. And, now that the heat has arrived in force, I'll tend to retain fluids. Since the air conditioning in my apartment is not all that stroing, I think I'll ride the bike early in the morning, when the heat outside is in the 70's, and the A/C is on, and get that part my exercise regimen overwith early in the day.

Mary in Baltimore

Hello friends!
Life has been going strong the last week. And we will be going out of town for about 10 days next week. My WI day was a bit dissappointing this week .... It was above my 'lowest' WI . But, I wanted to loose at least 3 lbs by this next Tuesday WI and it looks like it might happen. I'll let you know. Unfortunately, that also will be the day before we leave -- we are going to Jersey. Our sisters live there and cook all too gooooood. And the pizza's and subs are too die for!! Other than that, I don't want to go to Jersey. ... I am one of those people that are FROM Jersey! Taxes and INsurance are too high to live there.

Betty Jo -- we used to have barn swallows in Teexas... the way we got rid of them was to leave the porch lights on ALL night. They don't like that...... but you got rid of your lights..... if you put them back up, try that. I am envious of your weight loss (in a good way) and cant wait to mimic you.

Mary in Baltimore -- sounds like you get good exercise in. Thats my BIG problem... trying to fit exercise into my day. YOu'd think at this age and retired there would be time. I'm just slow at doing whatever happens nowadays and run out of time - not things to do. LOL. You have done so great with JC.

Judy in DC -- well, you sound like your slow weight progress is getting you down. IF you ever get enuf time and read the backlogs.... that was / is my story!!! Ghee, everybody has such great weight loses to begin. Not me. In fact, yours is better than mine. OK, I've been practicing JC for 10weeks now and I only dropped 12 #s total. UGH. So, I know what you say.

Kathy -- Love hearing about your garden! We joined a CSA group this year - a community garden and everybody partakes. We do not work the garden tho. All's we had so far is greens. lots of greens. did I say greens? Oh, yeah, a few radishes. LOL. But, it is so rewarding to eat local. I wish you luck! All of that gardening after working on your flowers so hard ?! Wowee. YOU go girl on looking better.... there are lots of rewards that do not include food and eating!!! Go get a massage.... or your nails done.... or a miniday vacation. Congrats on your loses too !!

Gram Mom -- your story too sounds like me. I ,oaned about the shipping charges. But I found out my local center (120 + miles RT) was a franchise and charges tax and a few more pennies per item. Well, that ate through my Rewards discount quickly!!! So, I just decided to get JC Direct. But I'm not 12 miles away. Also, my girlfriend in Texas joined a JC Center and it doesnt seem like she gets the same quality counciling. Between me and her, we have got quite a few questions answered tho. Ha!

Mimi JO -- "bringing my total to 10 pounds in two weeks. YAY - that's two sacksfull of potatoes!! Jenny rocks." Wowweeee!!! I never thought of it that way... ( I'm a slow learner....) so, I've lost 12 lbs (in 10 weeks) and that's a bowling ball. I love the competitions ad (NutriSystems) where the "get'er done guy" loses bowling balls. Unless you are a bowler, you cannot realize how hard it is to drag 2 bowling balls in one bag ON wheels into the bowling alley !!!! I just love that ad. Your order was prpbably for 4 weeks and ship 2x's (2 weeks shipments). So your next 'order' can be more customized. AS far as the dry ice disappearing -- my large container is always disappated (sp?). Yes, we had that 90* weather this week and I am wondering what will happen this summer.....

TinyDancer --- "I'm in my 5th week and only lost 6 lbs but 4 inches in my potbelly. Whatever. Unfortunately, I can't seem to pass up good food so it's best not to have anything around other than JC food plus fruits and veggies." Ditto! No other food would be great!!! That is my downfall BIG time. I love those pretzels with peanut butter in them right now.... yummy. Hopefully yo can keep-on keeping-on..... it actually gets easier the longer you are on JC and AWAAY from that street food. It really does. I knew this when I joined Jenny in 1993. I was amazed. I think she has the best plan out there. Good luck to you!!!!!

And Jeannine in TX -- glad to see you are around here.... yakking here is just easier to each other.... come on this column...... I know what you mean when you only get time for once a week chatter.

And lastly ---- ME. My question of the week. Maybe I'm not doing so good because of my following the JC Plan not so goodly. So, please let me know WHAT your take is on this. I've completed 10 weeks of JC BUT only 8 weeks of food plan. There was the few days here and there being away from home, People came into town, Life, etc. etc.. Translation: I did not follow the JC PLAN for 2 weeks out of 10. This is NOT a good thing. What say you?

OK -- we are getting a thunderstorm that is a little too close. Gotta' go.... if I forgot anybody -- sorry. But you are extremely important here!!!!!! Talk. And we'll hollar at you too.

Good Morning Ladies,
So good to see all the posts and welcome to the newcomers. The weather here was nasty again for a couple of days and I was not able to get on line - AGAIN!!! Nothing real bad but the winds and a few trees down. I worked and babysat all weekend. Today is beautiful so far and have to get out to my garden to see if anything is starting to grow yet - besides the weeds that is!!! I am heading down to my Mom's tomorrow - she is not doing the greatest so all us sisters are getting together to clean her apartment while she is gone to a doctors appointment. It is also Mom's birthday and if she is up to it we want to take her out for lunch and just spend some time visiting.

Jo - I personally think you are doing great. There are always going to be times when life happens and we do not follow the program the way we should. I've done it many times myself. The thing I have found is that even when I am off program nowdays I don't indulge near as bad as I used to and after the company is gone or whatever the occasion - I get right back on program. If my scale goes up a pound or two I make sure I stick to the program. I am losing slower right now but I do NOT want to start gaining and undo all I have accomplished so far. It will take me a little longer to reach my goal than what I was figuring on, but I am learning how to deal with the traveling and company etc. and my choices are getting better all the time.

Mary in Baltimore - WTG - What a great loss!! Sounds like you are doing great with the exercising! Wish I could get myself motivated to do more. I have been getting in more of the natural exercising in with the gardening etc, but I know I should start doing more of some kind now the the losses are slowing down.

Judy In DC and Gram-mom- Welcome! There are lots of great ladies on this thread and we look forward to hearing from you. If you have any questions or problems I am sure there is someone here that can offer help and/or suggestions. Look forward to hearing more from you/

Betty Jo - How are things going with the house? Have you had any inquiries yet? The mulch in the garden sounds like a good idea. I know I will have lots of weeds this year as it is the first year the ground was worked up. Oh, well, at least I'll get some exercise in doing the weeding etc!

Hope everyone has a great day and will try to check in again tomorrow before I head out. Tomorrow is WI for me so hopefully I'll have a loss to report!!!!
Kathy

Thank you so much for the tip on how to get rid of my barn swallows. I never thought about that, but I guess turning the lights on at night would irritate them. We noticed that she made a new nest above the down spout, so we are going to try putting the new lights up. The old lights were rusted and looked terrible. Can't show a house looking like that. Thanks again. If she comes back, she going to get a dose of light from me !!

Betty Jo

Wow Mary, you are really getting with the program (pun intended ). Something that helped me stay on program was writing everything down before I ate it. I made it a habit. That will usually keep me from eating too much. How tall are you Mary? I'm still on 1500 and losing. I'm 5'71/2" tall and moderately active. I've been on 1200 calories before and my body went into starvation mode and I didn't lose any weight. I think they figure out how many calories you are supposed to have by using your height, current weight and how active you are. If you are shorter or sedintary, I'm sure you wouldn't burn as many calories. Keep up the good work and be sure to journal all your foods.

Betty Jo

Hi Kathy:

Sorry to hear about your mama. I love what you and your sisters are doing for her. It will mean so much to her. How old will your mama be this year? Sounds like she's still pretty active anyway if she can live alone.

We have not shown the house yet. It's slow I guess. If you want to look at the house, go to realtor.com, put in Burlingame, KS or the zip 66413. We are the second to the last house. It's yellow with white trim and green shutters and includes a picture of a pond.

Have fun on your trip. We'll see you back here soon.

Betty Jo

Hi Ladies:

I weighed this morning and I've lost another pound this week. That puts me at 198 pounds. It's so good to be below 200. I can't tell you how good it makes me feel. I know it's going to be slow now, but I'm not worried. I've done so well.

I'm concentrating on firming now. I'm walking to tighten my legs, lifting weights for my arms, and doing sit ups for my tummy. Still have a bit of a tummy there if you know what I mean. I got one of those measurement charts from my favorite catalog, took my measurements and found out that I know wear size 16 pants and extra large tops. I started out wearing 2X clothes so that tells you how far I've come. I've lost a total of 29 inches from my butt, waist, abdomen, and bust. Still a long way to go to get where I want to be, but I'm having a blast doing it when I have all of you. Thank you so much for being there to support me.

Your friend,

Betty Jo

I have to say I have had that "dry ice" problem myself. The first shipment I received was all melted, the next one was good with a large piece of ice in it. The one that came yesterday, All Gone!!
My counselor did good this time, she took the Anytime Bars off my list and I did not get them in this shipment. I told her I just do not like them. She did talk me into ordering one of the "soupitizers" the Chicken Rosemary. Have any of you tried it, and how did you like it?? Today (Thursday) is my weigh in day and I did get the counselor to go to a later time to call. My fault really, forgot the time I picked for my appt. would interfere with my getting my son up, that is his bed bath day, so I cannot get him up early.
Any of you eat your foods are irregular hours? The counselor, Nickole, said as long as I eat the foods needed it did not matter at what time of the day.
Well be back with hopefully, a weight loss tomorrow.

You are all doing so well.

Hello Everyone:

Well, I'm totally surprised this morning. I've lost another three pounds. I weigh 195 now. That appears to be my pattern of losing weight. I'll go a couple of weeks not losing and then bam, 3-5 pounds off. I am now 8.5 pounds from my 3/4 weight off goal. After that I have 20 pounds to go to get to my goal weight.

Betty Jo

Hi Jeannine:

The dry ice on my food is usually gone by the time I get it, but the food is still frozen. With the hot weather coming, I hope JC puts a little more ice in there. I order once a month so I don't have to contend with delivery too much. Your counselor is right. It's calories in, calories out. It does not matter when you eat your food. It's how much you eat. Looking forward to hearing how you do at weigh in tomorrow.

Betty Jo

Good Morning Ladies,
Well, I had a great time visiting with Mom and my sisters. Mom actually got a good report from her doctor, all things considered, and she went out to lunch with us after we finished the cleaning. First time she went anywhere other her doctors appointments since she was put on the oxygen. Visited my daughter and grandkids during the day and then the sisters and Mom all went to one of my sisters last nite for a fish fry. It was delicious and I'm afraid I over-indulged some. Eating the fish was bad enough but then I had to have a piece of birthday cake too!!!! Today I am busy making potato salad and tuna salad for my granddaughters graduation party in Appleton tomorrow so it will be another traveling weekend and eating away. Hopefully the weather will be good on Saturday so we can get some boating in.

My WI was Tuesday morning and I had take off 1 1/2# but I'm afraid I put it back on again the last two days. I'll really have to watch what I eat over the weekend so I don't have a gain for my next WI.

I had asked my counsellor about the possibility of adding more dry ice to the shipments and she told me that according to the shipping laws they are allowed to put so much ice in a shipment because of it being a hazardous item. Has anyone else heard of this? My last shipment the ice was all melted but the food thankfully was still frozen and now with the warmer weather coming I hope we don't have to worry about the food itself starting to thaw out!!!!!!


Betty Jo - Congrats on losing another pound - you are doing so great!! Looked up your house and I think I found the right one. The only one showing a pond - it's hugh and gorgeous!! No wonder you have been so busy cleaning with all those rooms!! It's amazing how the dust accumulates even in the rooms that don't get used much.

Well, my potatoes have cooled off so time to get back to the potato salad. Hope everyone has a great day and will check in again tomorrow.
Kathy

Hi Kathy:

Did you get my email via your home email address. I just loaded a new version of anti-viris and it's telling me that my email messages are not being sent. Could you check to see if you received an email from me today (6-13) and then send me one back so I can check to make certain I'm receiving emails.

Thanks.

Betty Jo

Good Morning Ladies,
Well, I have to report that I gain 4# since WI last week! I figured there would be a gain but not quite so bad!!! I didn't really binge or anything like that, just ate to many meats and starches. Didn't get in my fruits, veggies and milks like I should have. It was basically cook-outs all week with potato salad and other pasta salads which I ended up eating cause there was nothing else to have with the meat. My daughter had raw veggies but I am not able to eat them. Then besides that, I didn't get it much activity at all. Sitting all the while driving, sitting more at the graduation and the cookouts, sitting in the hotel room etc. It is just so much easier sticking to the plan when I am home and have all the right foods on hand. Next time I am on the road for a week I will have to have a better plan in mind. I have been sticking to the program yesterday and today and I am hoping to be able to report a loss for next week!

Betty Jo - You sure are doing great - I give you so much credit for sticking to the program like you do!!! After seeing the gain I had this past week I am determined to plan better the next time I am traveling. I do good at home but I definitely have to come up with a better plan when I am away. I didn't get an e-mail from you at all. I will try sending you one as soon as I get done posting here. I also just got a new anti-virus program but haven't installed it yet. Hope I don't have any problems with it when I get it installed!!

How is everyone else doing? Is anyone besides me finding it harder to stick to the program during the summer months? I actually did better during the winter holidays than I have been doing lately. But then we had the company here and I made sure I had foods on hand that I could eat.

Hope you all have a great day!!
Kathy

Hi Kathy:

Oh, after hearing about your trip, I'm getting nervous about my trip to Alaska. I've got to plan also. It's going to be hard. I love fruit and muffins for breakfast, so I can do that while I'm traveling. I can take chicken salad kits and sandwich meats for lunch with sugar free pop, and we could eat out for dinner or use our little portable barbeque and broil chicken or steaks. To go with it, I'll see if we can't find a place that has a salad bar and get salad to go with it. That is really the secret. Have a plan and stick to it when your are traveling. I could also take lots of JC snacks. That part is easy. Probably eating out at a restaurant at night would be much easier than trying to find something to fix in the camper. We'll be tired anyway. I'll just order items I know I can have on program. Today we went to South of the Border for dinner. I had the Frita Salad and brought half of it home with me and had the rest for supper. It worked out great. I carry my dining out guide with me where ever I go. I am just so determined not to go back where I was before. And it can happen so fast. I figure it's going to take me a good two to three years to really change all the bad eating habits I had when I started JC. Mostly getting used to the portion sizes when I go out to eat. It's definitely a journey and a long one at that. I think it's a lot like quitting cigerettes. I quit them 30 years ago. It took me 5 years to get over the cravings for cigerettes. Food is even harder because it really is good for you as long as you eat correctly.

Well, guess I better go for now. It's getting late. Have a great evening and I'll see you back here tomorrow. Weighin if Thursday. So for sure I'll be in to report my weight. Oh, by the way, I got a digital camera today. I can take more pictures and put them on line now. Yipee.

Betty Jo

Hi everyone!
Well, I'm back from our little trip north and the company that came 12 hours latrer -- they left this morning. So............ I weighed myself. UGH. Kathy, I feel your pain.... but mine feels like the biggest thorn because I haven't lost that much since JC -- 11 weeks ago. OK, I gained. I gained 3.5 lbs. Tomorrow is WI -- it aint going to be pretty. I do feel like a lot of mine will disappear quickly (hopefully!!). Sitting in the car and inactivity makes me nuts. So, it is good to be home! And I don't want to talk about food choices... I did not follow anything stringent. BUT, I did not pig out and did try to eat wise. There were things that got in front of me..... and in Jersey I had custard ice cream (which I cant get here). OK -- got to settle down. And focus. Betty Jo, you are doing so good!!!!! And looking at your food plan to travel is so good. I cant wait to hear how disciplined you stay. Good luck. When do you go 'north'?

Well, I got to do lots of weed pulling and nursing my flowers. We were suppose to get rain while we were gone, and it didn't happen. 1/4 inch is all that we got in the last 10 days. We are already 4" behind in rainfall. Some of my things are dead. boohoo. And the dry weather made the weeds go nuts! ;-(

JO

Hi Jo:

Good to hear from you again. A gain of 3.5 pounds will disappear in no time. Just get back on program. That custard ice cream sounds so good. I would have had it and allowed for it in my program. That's what I love about JC. You can have a meal on your own and it won't hurt you. I have ice cream whenever I want it, but I fit it into program. I puchase the low-fat kind made by Breyers. It tastes just like the real thing. Its double churned. Have you tried it. Because I can have it on program now that I'm doing some meals on my own, I don't crave things like that any more. I really think that's why I would binge all the time on other diet programs. I had to deprive myself to lose weight and a person can only take that for so long. When you get half way to goal Jo, you can do meals on your own too, but for maximum weight loss and to help you change eating habits, you really need to stay on JC meals until you get half way. I don't lose every week now, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I know I can have any thing I want in moderation and it really helps me to stay focused. The most important thing I learned was the portion sizes and that I was drinking too much milk. I was having a glass of milk with each meal and when you add the calories for the milk to what you eat every day even if in moderation, it will cause a person to gain weight.

Weight loss is a journey and we all make mistakes along the way. When I make a boo boo, I write it down for future reference. Then the next time, I make a plan to overcome those problems. Maybe you could do the same thing when you go on your next trip.

My husband and I will be moving after we sell our house, which could be a long time off or it could be in a couple of months. It depends on the market. We aren't in any hurry. We are just taking one day at a time right now.

Well, there is a storm coming. Guess I better get busy. We have had way too much rain. If I could send you some I would. Have a great day.

Betty Jo

Good Morning Ladies,
Well, I went out Wednesday and my friend and I went out and celebrated her birthday and had a few too many drinks!! It was also a stress relief night for me - hubby has PTSD and hasn't been doing real well lately - and I really needed to get out and unwind. Yesterday I went 4-wheeling with a couple of friends - put on approx. 100 miles. Did good with the eating yesterday and was able to walk to the waterfalls that I couldn't make it to last year!!! When it started to cool off in the evening, I dug out a shirt I had packed in the wheeler from last summer and I drowned in it!! Last year I could hardly get it buttoned over my big belly. That really made me more determined that I don't ever want to go back there again! And it also felt really good to be able to do the walking I couldn't do last year. So right now, I am hoping to at least maintain or hopefully lose a little during the summer months. We still have a few more birthdays, cookouts, etc. coming up - but I am NOT going to undo everything I have accomplished so far! I will try to make better choices when traveling and eating out and now that I have found a hotel that has a fridge and microwave I will bring more of my Jenny foods when we are down that way.

Jo - doesn't it really piss you off that you can gain those pounds to easily!! It seems like it takes forever to get them off and in just one week of not sticking to the program l00% - they are back there just like that!! When I was gone last week I think my problem was that we just ate twice a day and when we did eat I was really hungry and ate too much! Next time I will bring along extra snacks to eat between times so I don't feel like I am starving when mealtime rolls around. I am thinking that even if they aren't quite the right things to eat they will keep me from over-indulging on the really wrong things at meal time!!

Betty Jo - Did you get the e-mail I sent you? I still haven't installed my new virus protection - hopefully will get it done before I go to work this afternoon. Hope I don't run into problems with it. When you have your ice cream what exchange does it count for? A Milk? I have had a few of the sugar-free popsicles now that the weather has finally warmed up but the Ice-cream really sound good!!

Well, have to get back to my laundry and get some cleaning done around here so hope everyone has a great day and will check in again tomorrow.
Kathy

Gosh, Kathy - you are so funny. I wish we lived closer to each other. We all could jump on the 4wheelers and support each others goals. 100 miles!! zowee. That was hard to do on the bike when I rode. It sounds like you are pretty active. I am active but cant do / accomplish lots of things. Translated: I run around in circles. Kathy, if I'm not too nosey, can I ask what is it that your husband has? And yes!! it pissed me off to put a few pounds back on. But today was WI and I was 1.4 more than 11 days ago. So, a few lbs. dropped since I got home from this eat-myself-to-death road trip. I love the Jersey subs, the cutard, and the real Italian pizzas!!!! Zowee. I'm glad that those aren't here in Tenn. I think one of our problems was that we used to eat 2 meals a day... which definitely left room for a snack or dessert. When I was younger, I used to not eat for days -- except for a cracker or two.... and the doctor told me that I was starving my body and when I ate it would store it all in fat in case I starved myself to death. I really think that is why it is hard and slow for me to lose weight now.

Yes, Betty Jo, you've got my attention -- what does the ice cream count as? I love the ice cream idea. That is definitely my dessert of choice. But, I have done pretty dagum good staying focused with JC..... except a few times and the Jersey trip. I like Breyers... will have to remember that when I go to cooking and planning on my own. I try to encourage my friends to try JC Plan because it does retrain your mind and let you eat normal... not dietary or shake style. And I love milk too. Warm Milk at night is a favorite. I hear you all gagging.... sorry. It still kills me that I don't drop a few more pounds now... it's suppose to be slower at losing later... I wonder what mine will be like. Maybe I'm bass ackwards. slow now and faster later. I can only hope. My goal for July 4th was 214..... and that is just around the corner. I'm 8.5 lbs short for now. Are you planning a trip to Alaska beforee you sale the farm and move? Did I miss that part? Or forget? Thanks for all of your great support!!!

Jeannine, I hope you are doing good with JC and your crazy schedule. Actually, my husband has always had a 2nd shift body clock. We go to bed at 1am... and don't know "early" is on the clock.

Well, you all need to send rain our way. But they think we'll get some tomorrow.... until it hits the plateau and dissolves. WE can only believe it when it happens.

We have to take our doggie, Murphy, into University of Tenn. at Knoxville Vet clinic on Wednesday. We took him 2 weeks ago to have his hips evaluated. But they said it is his knees. They will operate on both knees at once. I am in the most anxiety over this. Next week will be rough in our house. It will take 12 weeks before he can move around on his own. So, I bought a 4' square puppy pen and a pet gear jogging stroller for him. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not jogging anyplace. But I can get him out for walks. He has to be closely watched and extremely limited functions for the 12 weeks. I know I'll be in tears over him a lot of the time!

Everybody else is so quiet....
BTW, I tried to set my account up to receive emails when you all post.... but it doesn't happen.... cant figure out why. Kathy -- I think you explained it to me. But I cant get it to work.

JO

Hi Kathy:

I am so proud of you. Doesn't it feel good to know that you've lost that much weight. I had a similar experience with last years shorts. I am swimming in them this year. I think I still see myself as the same size as last year, because to me I still look the same size. I've heard that it takes your mind much longer to accept that you are smaller. I guess I'm experiencing that phenomonen right now.

On the ice cream. I decided to count calories rather than exchanges. I don't always know the exchanges for the foods I eat, but you can always count on the fact that you can figure out the calories. There on the back of the box or can. I want to turn you on to a really good internet site. It's called calorie count plus and its at the about.com internet site. You can find the calories of any food you want. It also gives you the fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, etc. I love that site. This site also analyses the foods you eat A-F. All you do is enter the information about the foods you eat for the day and the site analyzes it for you. So by the end of the day, you know how well you are doing on your choices. I usually stay in the A-B range. The site also gives you the calories for each exercise you do during the day. When I look at the information on the label of a box or can of food, even though I know a lot about nutrition, it's hard to determine how well I did for the day. This site does it for me and I never have to worry about going over my calorie limit for the day because I'm keep track as I go. Here's the address: http://caloriecount.about.com. Don't put www in front of this address.

I did get your email. Thank you. I also got the same email you got from the unknown person. I just deleted it. Never received another one.

Well, guess I better get going. I have to mow today. That's my exercise for the day.

Betty Jo

Hi Jo:

On your computer issue, are you going to the bottom of the page after making your choice to receive emails, and pressing OK or whatever it is. It's easy to miss. I've done it myself and wondered why it wasn't working. If you don't verify by pressing ok, it won't update your new choices.

As far as the ice cream goes, now that I'm half way, I can have some meals on my own. I don't do exchanges. I have a hard time figuring them out. I decided to count calories. It's easier just for me. Some people prefer exchanges. I don't. I think calories are more precise. But if you want to check it out, I know a good site with lots of information about calories, exercise and healthy foods. Here's the address: http://caloriecount.about.com. It's free and you can set up your own account and keep track of your foods for the day. It actually grades your choices too, which could be good . I kind of know what's good for me and what's not, but you have no doubt after you use this site to analyze what you are eating. It's kind of fun. It even lists the calorie count for exercises so that you can calculate how much you are burning every day. Let me know if you like it.

Well, have a great day ladies. See you back here tomorrow.

Betty Jo

Thanks Betty JO for the website. I'm looking at it right now.
My girlfriend in Austin called this a.m. She has lost 17lbs in about 8 weeks... maybe 10. I'm envious. I've got to be the only person that cant kick start this weight loss. But, I'm focused. And thats a good thing.

Have a great weekend!!
JO

Jo, if you go into the portion of the Calorie Plus website called "My Account", there is a place to search out the calories and nutrients of every food you can possibly think of. I love string cheese, but I noticed that some brands really get a bad grade and others get a good grade. I use the site to find out which brands get a better grade and then purchase it instead of the foods I eat with a bad grade. It's very handy.

If you have any questions, just let me know. I've been using the site for some time, so I can probably answer any questions you might have. Just play around with it. It's fun. You can't mess anything up.

Betty Jo

thanks again Betty JO --
I've been on the 'puter too much today... but will definitely look every corner over on that website. I love string cheese too. That was a problem when I went from the 1500 JC calories plan to 1200. the cheese disappeared!
JO

OK -- Trumpet roll.

I was depressed yesterday. Instead of losing what I gained on the Jersey trip.... I gained 3 lbs. BUT WAIT........... TODAY, it is gone! I was so elated !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A-N-D I lost inches....... and that's what my consultant told me -- since I'm not losing pounds, check the inches. Hurray!!! Sorry if I sound like I'm holding my own party here. But, I needed that.

I had noticed that my pants (not the tops) were looking saggy in the drawers. So......... my consultant had asked me last week what I would do to reward myself IF I had a good week..... well, I had no plan. I'm kinda' conservative with the mula. Too much world, not enuf income (if you know what I mean). Anyhoo---- I told her that I'd buy a new pair of pants. There is a Liz Claiborne Outlet near me. Too near me. I go past it every time I leave the house. And I love those clothes - I can pickup a size and know how it will fit. Sometimes they get some pretty funky stuff and I wonder who on earth!? would wear that.
Not today. I decided to go 'look'. I had 6 coupons in hand. If they did not let me use all of them, I'd make several stops as I drive past. Then, they handed me another coupon in the store. Yippee! I found 2 pair of pants and 2 pair of knee-length pants and 2 tops. I told her I wanted to see how many coupons she'd let me use first. She could tell I was excited about buying these things. They know my face. But didn't know that I went down a size. She let me use every coupon!!! I bought $148 worth of clothes for $104. Oops - I now wear a Liz size 18W.

She gave me another coupon for next month and I told her it was my incentive for my next size drop.

Ok, I'll calm down now. Thanks for listening!
Jo

[font="Arial Black"]Well it has been quite awhile since I came here. I only lost one pound, but hey better than nothing!
I did have a weird experience, I reported it to my counselor, and she was upset also.
I came here and it said I had a message, well went to read it, and it said from ??? under the Adviser Column. Thought maybe I had been given a new counselor, so I opened the letter. It was a letter from some gentlemen telling me how much he liked my smile? and he has been lonely and wanted to get to know me!!! This was not something my "adviser" would say. I immediately blocked his name and deleted the letter. My counselor said if I ever get another please forward it to her and she will send it to the head folks.
As for the diet, do any of you get a craving for salt??? I am not a normal salt user, my family will agree with that statement!!! But lately I crave some salt like mad. Been putting a good shaking on my apples and that seems to help, tonight it was not helping, I ended up cheating? with some fritos!!
Well I wish all of you good luck, it is getting a bit hard some days. Make a nice dinner and then have to eat one of my frozen entrees, and smell the meal I made. Of course with the tomato's going great guns, I have plenty of fresh tomatoes to fill up on!!

Good job Jo. Doesn't that feel good? I've been wearing my old clothes to death. I want to wait until I get down to a size 16 before purchasing anything new unless I'm rewarding myself. My clothes are just hanging on me. When I started I was really pushing a size 2X. They were really getting tight on me. Now I'm down to an size 18 and extra large tops. Oddly enough, I still have a bunch of belly fat. So I can't get into a large top yet. Anyway, I'm swimming in my clothes. I have to be careful so they don't fall off when I'm walking . I had to retire an outfit I really loved this year. It was so big I looked like heck in it. This fall I will have to have new clothes for sure. But I'm going to be careful not to purchase too much because I'm still losing weight. Maybe an outfit or two. I wish I lived near that Liz Clairborne Outlet. You got a heck of a deal on your clothes. Where do you get the coupons? Maybe I can go online and get a deal.

Well, keep up the good work. I'll see you back here tomorrow. I think I'm losing weight again this week. I feel tired and everytime I feel really tired I lose weight. Weigh-in is on Thursday. I'm hoping for at least 2 pounds.

Betty Jo

Hi Jeannine:

I have the same issues with sugar. I love sugary foods. I just make certain I plan to eat sugar everyday. Just a little bit, but it seems to work for me. Can you do something like that with salt? Talk to your counselor about it. She might have some other ideas.

You must not have hight blood pressure. My husband loves salt and has high blood pressure. He really had to scale back on salt because of his health. For me, I get those cheese curls and the Bruschetta Chips. They are pretty salty and helps me to get my fix of salt for the day. For my husband, I get sea salt. It has less sodium and he never complains. He can't tell the difference.

Hope some of these ideas help. Have a great day. See you back here tomorrow.

Betty Jo

Hi to everyone,
I'm finally back, and boy did we have a good time! Our actual anniversary was on June 15th, and we returned to the same restaurant on Maui (Mama's Fish House) that we went to on our 25th, and our waitress gave me a beautiful lei for our 40th! The weather was beautiful, the water was beautiful, as were the sunsets...golds and oranges and brilliant pinks... Probably the best news was when I got back on my scale the morning after we got home, I was only up 3 pounds. I am looking forward to seeing what I am in the a. m., hopefully some of it slid back off by this time!

Everyone seems to be doing so well, I read all the messages before I posted this.

Betty Jo, I need to look at the website you listed so I can see your pretty house. Kathy sure raved about it! How is the mama bird problem coming along?

Kathy, you are so fortunate to still have your Mom. You are indeed a blessed lady. Even if she's struggling with some health issues, you are just so lucky.
And how is your garden doing? I don't raise many vegetables, we have an awesome organic farmer's market here that's open 2 days a week, so it hardly seems worth it at this time. We do have 1 tomato plant...nothing like your garden!

well I'll try to keep up with everyone now...it's good to see so many new faces!

Hi there everyone, I finally got to get some time in on the computer. Life has been busy lately!!! Son's babysitter didn't show up a few times in the last couple of weeks so she got fired and so now I am filling in till the new one they found can start in Mid July. Have to be there by 5:45 in the morning so there goes my puter time!!! Had to work all weekend and then my daughter and grandkids showed up kind of unexpectedly on Saturday and stayed till I went to work again on Sunday. Had a good time with them!! I did have the day off yesterday but we went 4-wheeling again - about 85 miles this trip. Rode some new trails that were really fun. Started at 9a.m. and got home about 8:30 p.m. - needless to say we made a couple of pit stops!!! I did my WI yesterday morning and managed to take the 4# I gained the week before back off - exactly to the tenth of a pound - go figure!

Jo - Husband has PTSD - post traumatic stress disorder - that goes back to when he was in Nam. Has lots of nightmares and other problems. He has good times and bad times and the bad thing about it is that you can never plan anything too far ahead of time or make any commitments for anything. Congrats on the loss and it sounds like you had a good time shopping - and got things at a good price too!!! I do lots of my shopping on line as there aren't too many places to shop around here other than Walmart or Shopko. I picked up a couple nice outfits when I was in Minnesota and probably won't buy much more till fall again and hopefull then I can get into another size smaller!!!

Jeannine - I also have some terrible cravings for salt. I use the imitation stuff which helps some with the flavor but not the cravings when I get them bad!! I am supposed to stay away from it because of the high blood pressure but every now and then I cave in and use the real stuff. Usually the sourdough bites, popcorn or Jenny chips will take care of it but there are times when I just plain want something saltier!!!

Betty Jo - your computer site sounds like what I need to keep track of what I am eating when I am not eating the Jenny food. Haven't had time to check it out yet but will hopefully have time to after the weekend. You are doing so much better at planning your MOMO's that I do and I need to take more time to do just that. Did pretty good with the eating yesterday but didn't get in my veggies and fruits again.

Well, I have to get up early again tomorrow so I better get going and get my food ready to take along so I can just grab it all and take off right away. I also program my coffee pot so it is ready when I get up!! NO ONE wants to see me before I get my cup or two of coffee in the morning!! Have a great day everyone!!
Kathy

Welcome back Arlone. Sounds like you had a great vacation on Maui. I've been to the big island but never Maui, but I understand from those who have been there that it is a sight to behold. Three pounds is not bad for as long as you were gone. I'll bet you get rid of more by morning as you always are lighter in the morning. I have a four pound weight loss to report this week. That puts me to within 6 pounds of my 3/4 weight loss goal. I'm excited about that because once I get there, I'm 25 pounds over weight. The last 25 pounds will be harder, but I'm up for the challange. It might take me a while, but I don't care. I'm practicing for maintenance and the longer I practice the better I'll do when I get there.

My mama bird made a nest on top fo the rain gutter in the back of the house, but get this. She always visits the porch every night. I'm sure she's checking it out to see if there is a place to build her nest again. Can you believe that? They are so smart. We aren't going to put the lights back up this summer. And when someone comes to look at the house, we'll stick them up for looks only and then take them down again after they leave. Eventually she is going to give up and we will put the lights back up for good.

Have a great day.

Betty Jo

Hi Kathy:

Whew!!! You sound busy girl. Don't you work too hard now. Ya hear.

Okay, now about the internet site. It really does help me to eat correctly now that I'm doing MOMO. I usually do pretty well as far as eating the right foods. I don't eat donuts or anything like that anymore. Sometimes, I'd like too, but I know what they do to my waist line. So I just don't go there anymore. I can remember when I was young, I'd eat a half dozen in one sitting and call it a meal. That's a lot of calories in just one sitting (about 1800). Now the sugar in them would probably send me into a fit or something !! Anyway, this site guides me in the right direction. It takes the guess work out of whether or not a food is good for you or not. Oh, and something else I like about it. You can put in a recipe and the site will analyze it and give you all the nutritional information and calories. Isn't that crazy. Let me know how you like it.

Betty Jo

Good Morning Ladies,
Well, I have the morning off and I slept in today. Feld good after haveing to get up so early the last few days!Will be on the road tomorrow and then celebrating one of my son's birthday on Sunday. Got my potato salad and cherry cheesecake made to bring along tomorrow and now have to start with making some of the salads for the birthday party. For that I am making foods that I can legally eat - fresh fruit salad and a 7-layer salad and we are cooking out on the grill so that shouldn't be too bad!!

Arlonne - happy to see you back! Sounds like you had a really great time and you did so good as far as the food went!!! I put on more weight than that in just one week! Doubt if I will ever make it to Hawaii or any of the islands but they sure are beautiful!!


Betty Jo - I will be checking out the web site after I get done here. I am anxious to put in the ingredients of some of the recipies I have to see how many calories etc. Sounds like it will really be helpful! As far as the clothes goes, I bought myself a couple of new outfits but am sill wearing some of my older things. I just don't want to spend a whole lot on the sizes I am wearing by now cause I am hoping that by next summer I will be down another couple of sizes. I have to say though that I feel much better about myself when I am wearing the clothes that fit rather than the baggier one from last year. The tops of my arms are really getting saggy - extra skin hanging (sounds really gross) so I feel funny wearing the tank tops now. Is there any way you know of other than surgery that you can tighten that area up at all? I am also starting to have that same problem in the tummy area. I guess that is why I feel better wearing the clothes that fit better - helps to hold that area in a little more!!!

Well, I'm off to check out a couple more sites on the puter while I have the time!! We are planning a 3-day 4-wheeler trip for sometime in the beginning of August so I was elected to check out the hotels and trails etc. Hopefully we will have good weather! It will take us one day on the wheelers to get there, then we will ride around that area the next day and the third day will make the trip back home again. We try to make a trip to a different area every year and so far have only had one trip where the weather spoiled some of the fun.
Hope you all have a great day!

Kathy

Hi Kathy:

I've been experiencing some saggy skin also, but I've also noticed that it is tightening up as long as I don't lose weight too fast. It took me a long time to gain all this weight and stretch my skin this far, so I'm sure it's going to take a while for it to remember where it was before I gained the weight. So my thought process is that I think eventually the skin will tighten. It will just take some time. That's one of the reasons I'm not in any real hurry to lose the last 20 pounds. I want my body to tighten up a bit first. Since I started with JC last December, I've lost 60 pounds. That's just an average loss of 10 pounds per month, which really does not seem like that fast of a weight loss, but overall it is a lot of weight, which unfortunately translates into saggy skin if you lose it too fast.

Exercise is the only thing I can think of to help us with our saggy skin. I have been doing some arm toning exercises with five pound weights. Your four-wheeler should help you tone those muscles. I also use a hand mower in the yard, which should help me tone too.

Help these ideas help. I hate the thought of surgery. I'll probably try anything but surgery.

Betty Jo

Hi Betty Jo and Kathy and all!

I've been in and out of the docs the last couple days, and couldn't use the computer because I haven't been able to wear my glasses. Reason: I've doing the skin cancer/pre-cancer checks. The doc did the "freezing" thing and the chemical thing in 2 different spots on my nose and forehead, and then right where the nose pads of my glasses sit! I have "grandma" eyes, so have to have my glasses to read print for any length of time at all. Not fun, real sore, and I also had a biopsy done on my left eyebrow. I do have a small surgery coming up latter part of July for a squamos (sp?) cell cancer spot on my right thumb. It's right over the joint, so he'll probably be doing a skin graft. If so, I'll have my right hand immobilized for a week, then hand therapy to get the thumb moving again. So the eyebrow biopsy is in case he needs to do that also, they can both be done at the same time. That way I only have to be put under once. I go in every 2 years to a dermatologist because I've got hazel eyes and reddish hair...I'm at big risk for skin cancer.
Bet this is more than anyone needed to know!!!

It's good to know you are all doing okay, and that life is pretty good for you. I'm pretty well, also. This little surgery is a blip I wasn't expecting, but I caught it real early, and that's good!
........
Betty Jo,
Have you had any nibbles on your farm yet?

Kathy,
The islands are beautiful, and have been fairly reasonable to go to if you live in California. The way the flying rates have been raising because of the gas prices, it may make it inaccesible for everyone very soon...we got our tickets back in January, when they were a good price.
..........
We're off to a friend's daughter's wedding this evening. It's outside at the beach, in a very pretty area here in Carpinteria. It should be a lot of fun, we're looking forward to it. There is a dinner, so I am eating on the lighter side today, trying to save up some calories for this evening....

I'm not down any pounds yet, but I am loose in the pants and skirts....which I'll take!

talk to you soon!

Good Morning all!!

Had a good trip yesterday, the skies looked pretty bad on the way down to visit, but the rain missed us entirely and had nice weather for the cookout. They had a severe weather warning out close to the area Jack's daughter lives, but we didn't even get a drop of rain while we were there so we were pretty lucky! We have rain and dreary looking skies here this morning but I am hoping it will clear up this afternoon for the cookout for my son's birthday. If not, we will still cook outside and just have to eat inside!!

Arlonne, Sorry to hear about your problems with the skin cancer and having to have the surgery. I had heard that some people are more susceptical to skin cancer than others but never had any idea why. I assume that with the hazel eyes and reddish hair that you are fair complected? I have the hazel eyes, but have darker hair. When I was a kid I used to blister bad every summer and back in those days we didn't have the sunscreen and products to help protect your skin like they do nowdays - or at least it isn't anything I remember using at all. Maybe my parents just couldn't afford it either - I just don't ever remember using any till I got older!! I'm glad to hear that they are keeping a good eye on it for you - and hopefully everything will go well with the surgery!!

Betty Jo - I do believe the 4-wheeling is helping with tightening up the arm muscles - hopefully the skin will eventually start to tighten up to. Like you said - it's been stretched out most of my life and is going to take awhile to start shrinking again. If not, I just won't wear the tank tops as much. The weights sound like a great idea!! I've been doing some basic arm exercises but not on a regular basis.


How is everyone else been doing? Hope you have all had a good week and hope to hear from you soon!

Kathy

Hello Arlonne:

Sorry to hear about your medical challanges. If it were me having surgery, I'd ask him to take an extra tuck or two while he's got me under . Not that you need it, but I think I could use a tuck or two here and there. I'm getting some jowls and I don't really like the look of them. Good luck and don't worry. God has his hand on these procedures. You will be fine.

We have not had the first person come to look at the house inside yet. The realtor put up road signs the day we listed it, so we have had a few people come by and look at the outside of the house from the road. Potential buyers have to go through the realtor first and he requires everyone to get prequalified before looking. So if they aren't qualified when they go there, they would have to get that done before they could look any further or make an offer. I'm glad he does that because I don't want to clean the house just for someone who likes to look at house. So I'm thinking maybe next month we may have some showings. I'm not in any hurry. My husband is, but I'm not . I hate moving and I'm the one who will have to do most of the work of packing everything up. So I'm not in any hurry, although I have been looking at homes on the Alaska MLS, which is fun. We want a ranch with about 1-2 acres in the three hundred to four hundred dollar range with 1800 to 2500 sq ft. It amazes me how the builders in Alaska build so many house with no curb appeal or character. I have to have curb appeal on my house. I'm funny that way. I hate the look of a big box attached to a garage. Turns me off instantly. But this is all a process. I know that and I also know it could take time, so I just goooooo with the floooooow!!!

Have a great day. Talk with you soon.

Betty Jo

Kathy:

Yes, wearing less tank tops is an option, but I think you will eventually tighten up. It's just going to take time. Have you had time to go into the Calorie Plus site yet? I just love that site. So much information on there.

Well, not much news today except we continue to work on selling the house. We had a couple come to the house last night while we were outside mowing. They were retired like us and looking for a place in our area. They seemed really interested and were going to go see our realtor. I guess we will find out soon if they were for real or just looking. We gotten a lot of lookers, but I don't think many people can afford a really nice house with 80 acres. It really reduces the size of your market. Oh well, I'm just waiting and trying to keep the house clean everyday, which can be a real chore sometimes.

Have a great day. See you back here tomorrow. If I forget to start the new thread for July, you go ahead and do it. The new month starts on Tuesday.

Betty Jo

Welcome back Arlonne! - your vacation sounds so restful. It would put me into high success gear after returning. 3 lbs? get out of here!
Kathy -- you're 4 wheeling is amazing. I love it. And keeping up with your grands will be a workout!!
Betty Jo - I get glazed over with envy when I hear your weight loss. But, my envy is excitement for you!
Jeannine - salt! Answer: lemons.

Seems like you are not alone with your craving. That is my problem too. My blood salt levels used to go off (sky high) -- I could hardly taste salt... family used to die from too much salt when I was cooking. Well, it's happening again. After 2 weeks, and me sucking the salt off pretzels, I knew it was my craving for more salt. I wonder since Jenny food gets us back to better eating, if our tolerences had gotten skyrocketed off the charts by what we were eating?

Ok, so what's the SALT answer? After complaining to my consultant, she looked it up on their nifty-difty computer under find-solutions category. tada..... the answer is: LEMONS !!!!! She said lemons in water. Well, I want immediate relief.... and I love to eat lemons. Yeh, skin and all. So, I went to SAMS and bought a bag of lemons. Cute one into 8 pieces. Ate 2 pieces that night! Ate one piece yesterday. I really do love lemons -- just like apples !! And, I found myself pee'ing my head off yesterday. So glad we were home!! And I could not wait to weigh myself this morning. I lost almost 3 lbs. I really think the lemon (skins and all) are the reason. Nothing else is different.

So, I can see you all eating lemons now. Pucker up.
Til later,
Jo

Hi everyone,
well, made it through the weekend and the wedding...lots of fun! I ate very carefully, there was a lot of good stuff to choose from. grapes and strawberries were served early on, which really helped! Of course, there were margaritas-no, I didn't! wines-yes, 1 small glass, and water in lovely goblets...with orange slices. yum!The parents did a real fun thing for the bride and groom: they are both surfers, so the parents had 2 custom surfboards made with a white side and the colors of the wedding on the other side. Their initials were somehow put on them within a heart... Then instead of a guestbook, the guests signed their new surfboards on the white side! It was really fun, and when Matt the groom, saw them, he was so amazed, he started crying!

Tomorrow I go for the pre-op stuff. Hope they don't do too much; this is supposed to be a minor surgery!

I'm getting ready to paint another picture, this one of my son and wife's yorkie. I did our maltese, it turned out cute.

Well, I'm seriously getting back to walking again this week....

Betty Jo,
thanks for the encouragement on the medical stuff...
I fight the sagginess also. I think it's partly our age, and for me if I let up on the exercise, which I have lately, I immediately start getting saggy again. For the first time in my life, my arms are doing a "flippy thing"....hate it! I think your weights are a good idea, I'm going to try that.
anything happen with that couple you mentioned to Kathy?

Kathy,
thanks for the encouragement...and yes, I am fair, and yes, I did sunburn terribly a few times when I was a teen, just like you did. We didn't have any decent sunscreens then! I agree with you!

how did your son's birthday turn out? were you able to have it outside?

Jo,
thanks! We did have a blast!
Lemons? I really really get salt cravings also. Sometimes I do my chicken in lemon juice and rosemary, and that helps. But lemon juice and water, hmmm....would lime work? I like limes better....

see you all soon!

Good Morning Everyone,
The birthday party went well. It wasn't the warmest but we were able to eat outside - with sweatshirts on - which was good cause my stepdaughter and grand-daughter are alergic to my cats. I didn't eat toooo bad till it came to the birthday cake which I had a piece of. Have to get back with the program now again. Nothing special coming up this next week so I will hopefully be on program all week!

Jo - Lemons!!! I will definitely get some next visit to the store. Besides helping with the salt cravings, it should be really refreshing with the warmer weather. Thanks for the info. My cravings for the sald haven't been as often anymore but when I get them they are really bad!!

Arlonne - Sounds like the wedding was really unique!! Having everyone signing the surf boards is something they will cherish forever - what a great idea! Glad you had a good time and you did awesome with your food and beverage choices! Hope everything goes well with your pre-op stuff. Let us know!!

Betty Jo - I did get onto the Calorie Plus site but didn't have a lot of time to check it out real good yet. I should have time to do that today after I get my cleaning caught up.

Jeannine- How are things going with you? I am going to try the lemons to see if they help.


Well, I have WI tomorrow and I don't know if it will be good or bad. I ended up haveing some of the cook-out potatoes with supper last nite which have seasoned salt in them and I am really feeling bloated and have the swollen hands today from the salt so I am hoping that if I drink all my water today it will be better by WI tomorrow!! Hope you all have a great day!

Kathy

Hummmmm. No wonder I don't retain water. I drink lemonade all the time and I'm in the bathroom half the time. Toooooooo funny. I've never been much of a salt fanatic, but my husband is. I can't eat his pop corn. He just layers his salt on there. Everytime I think about it, I get a little sick to my stomach. I'm good with just a little salt.

Now let's talk sugar. That's a whole different story. I love sugar and can eat it just plain, brown sugar in particular. The other day I was baking cookies and I really had a hard time keeping my hand out of the sugar cannister.

Congrats on the 3 pound weight loss. You keep up the good work and eat those lemons to keep from gaining water weight.

Betty Jo

Wow, what an interesting wedding. I think more and more young people are getting away from the traditional wedding because it's so darn expensive. Plus, the divorce rate is so high. I don't know whose idea the surf boards were, but it really added a nice touch to the wedding.

So far we have not heard anything from the couple who dropped by the house the other day. I expect to hear something this week if they were for real. He really seemed interested, but she didn't say much. So we'll see.

Arlonne, do you have peach trees out there. Our peach trees are loaded down with peaches this year. The limbs are almost dragging the ground. I will be canning until I'm blue in the face here in a few weeks. I'm going to can every last peach so I can take them to Alaska with me. That's the one thing I hate about Alaska. We don't get fresh produce up there. I always called it card board fruit. So I'm canning every peach I can get my hands on. My apples didn't do anything this year. A storm blew all the blooms off. So I'm going to trade a bushel of peaches for a bushel of apples and make apple butter. That's my husband's favorite toast spread. I like it too. I make it with brown sugar and ummmmmmm ummmmmmm ummmm. It's soooooo goood.

Right now I'm canning beans. I snapped green beans for four hours last night. Today, I will can them. I will also be doing tomato sauce and canned tomatoes this year. We are going to build a green house in Alaska to grow our tomatoes. You can really grow a lot of different vegetables in Alaska. Potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and beans all do well outside. Corn doesn't do well in Alaska at all. Anything else you grow up there, you have to grow it in a green house or under cold frames. I love canning and freezing foods. It's kind of a hobby, I guess. Tell me about what you can grow where you live. I'd love to hear about it.

Betty Jo