calling out to women 50+

I'd like to start this thread specifically for women who are 50 or over.

As a 53 year-old woman, myself, I am finding new challenges, unexpected difficulties and wonderful insights on my path to getting to and maintaining my health, weight and body shape.

What seemed to work for me as little as five years ago doesn't work quite the same anymore. My body doesn't seem to respond to what I consider healthy eating habits and good workout schedules as it even in my middle to late 40s'.

SO, I am would to hear from those out there who are finding themselves in situations. OR NOT, maybe you can enlighten the rest of us as to how you keep your shape, or how you're getting into better shape and a healthier overall lifestyle.

Hopefully this will be the start of something wonderful, educational, funny-offer up jokes anecdotes, whatever!

LET'S GET STARTED!

hi everyone! 

last week:  138

today:  139  (no biggie...  hehe  you guys no it'll be gone in no time!)

it's pretty cool seeing beth want snow.  lol  i hate snow.  i just hope we don't get a blizzard or something.  it seems to have been awhile.  ya know, "just when you feel safe..."  a bbq sounds awesome, too!

happy thanksgiving today, phox & southern  :D

great job, peg, bonton, southern & beb!  i dunno, beb.  i didn't have that much turkey, but i sure was tired.  maybe it was all the excitement & having the kids here, etc.  it's been pretty busy.  yeah, i always weigh in the morning, after going to the bathroom & before getting dressed.  i eat a little chocolate everyday, too.  that keeps me from having alot here & there instead.

an mp3 can hold as many songs as an ipod.  it just depends how many gigs it is.  i have a zune & it's 80 gigs, i think.  if you put wma songs on there, they are 1/2 the size of a mp3 formatted song.  lol  the superbowl is in january.  they just start playing more games at different times now, because it is nearing the end of the season.  that way people can watch more games & follow more teams.  that sucks, beb, that you had no family or friends to share the holiday with except for rick & us.  my mom never liked me either.  so don't feel too bad.  :D

helene!  LOL  tie your foot to the bed...  that's so funny!!!  hey, you're only up 1 & it's the holidays.  i wish i could help you more with some good advice, but lately i've been such a bad influence.  lol  just keep it up with them fresh fruits & veges!!! 

i didn't have any oranges yesterday & i feel kind of deprived!  i am so looking forward to my usual 2 today.  :D  we have tons of salad & good stuff here, too, so i am all set for today & tomorrow.  then hubby is making another entire turkey dinner!!! 

frost, yeah!  i can't believe i did that!  but i had to...  and nope!  LOL  i never even imagined ME having to drink to seem heavier.  what a difference a year makes  :D

"It was overeating daily and lack of exercise.  I think balance in lifestyle and eating habits is a good thing."

very well said!!!  :D  that's what made me fat!  overeating daily & NO exercise.  i will never do that again.  LOL  i will overeat...  just not daily.  AND i will exercise daily from now on, too.  that old me is gone forever.  there is no going back.

oh!  congrats on the 133, chris!!!  :D

Good morning all,

Last week's Friday weight was 155.6

Today my weight is 155.2

So I guess that's okay because all week long my weight has really fluctuated and mostly gone up but yesterday and today it finally started going down.  Tomorrow is really my official weigh in day and I'm going to have to drop another pound to not be officially up from last Saturday. It's funny, I guess I'm just a day behind everyone else in everything: Thanksgiving, weigh ins...

Well we just got home from shopping. We got to Target right before they opened at 6am. The line was huge. We knew it would be. So we joined the end of the line and it took us about 15-20 minutes to get into the store. Then I had to wait another hour in line at the electronics department. We bought an iPod, a phone and a jewlery box.

Helene - I also think you might be retaining fluid. Of course you will know that better than anyone else. But it's the only thing that makes sense to me. Can you get watermelon there? I think watermelon helps with water retention.

BEB - Congratulations on the new pants size. That's so much fun when the sizes go down, isn't it? I'm not familiar with your sizes though. But you are doing great. Aren't you tall like me? I'm 6 foot. Oh a funny story on that. A new client came this week and her husband looked at me and said "You're taller than you are on your website."

Phox - Enjoy your Thanksgiving! I'm glad I'm not the only one who is doing things a bit different this year.

Snow - That is funny about your family weigh in. My husband has been telling me that I've lost enough, too. I'm just telling everyone that I'm happy with my weight but only want to tone up and if I happen to loose another 5 pounds while doing that, then that will be okay, too. My family all seems to be okay with me when I tell them that way. Honestly, I think my husband's only concern is that I might loose more in my boobs. But even with the smaller boobs, he has obviously appreciates me being trimmer. At least I'm getting even more complements from him now. He's always been so sweet to love me as I am but I can still tell that he appreciates the difference now.

I'm about to start my cooking for the day. I'll try to be good today but I'm not going to sweat it too much. I want to enjoy my day, too. So I'm just going to be reasonable and do everything in moderation (hopefully). I'll let you all know how it goes later.

Enjoy your day,

Beth

Original Post by snowfence:

...

it's pretty cool seeing beth want snow.  lol  i hate snow.  i just hope we don't get a blizzard or something. ...

No risk of blizzard here! That's for sure. We just turned on the a/c again. It's supposed to get up to 80 again. And with all the cooking, I need the a/c on for sure. Oh and humidity is about 90% YUK!

Beth

Hi everyone!  We got our first big rain of the season on Wednesday, which made a lot of mud out of our normal dust here in California's central valley.  It has been foggy and gray yesterday and today, but not raining. 

Last Fri 153, today 152.5 despite not tracking anything yesterday.  I only had one big meal at 5 pm, English muffin in the morning, but  I snacked on little chocolate chips all day and probably ate almost a cup of them total    I still lost .5 from last week so I'm upbeat and doing well with eating today.  My lowest weight for 2008 was 148, and I still might be able to get below that by the end of the year.  My lowest weight for the last few years is 142, and that's what I'm ultimately aiming for.

Bonton, I forgot to mention that last Sunday I played GOLF!!  I went to a little 9 hole course with husband and son and I made my son promise not to laugh at me.  Not a very good score, but considering I haven't swung a club in 15 years, I was happy with the few solid hits I managed.  My best hole was a bogey on a par 3.  My son has a great swing and can really hit the ball straight.  He's a high school sophomore, and he is thinking of trying for the golf team next semester.   My husband's swing has, um, changed over the years, to put it nicely.  He still scores about the same (low 90's) but gosh, his swing looks more like he is playing baseball!! 

BEB, the superbowl isn't until January.

Beth, Snowfence, BEB, Bonton, Peg, Helene, Phox, Chris, I am proud of you all!   (And anyone I missed - proud of you too!)  The rest of us, let's get with it.  No time like the present.

I have lots of thoughts about non-weight loss, water retention, setpoint etc, but I think I'll put them in another post so I don't get carried away. 

Last Saturday I had a loooong day, left at 3 am to drive to Death Valley and hike Telescope Peak plus two minor peaks along the way.  Here's photos:

http://tomcat-rc.smugmug.com/gallery/6638751_ BDj6t#423556431_5hazQ  Great hike, about 16 miles and 4000 feet of gain, and I got home around 10:30 pm.  Tomorrow it will only take me 90 minutes to get to the meeting place - that's what I consider a local hike.

My challenge this 4 day weekend is to get enough exercise on my non-hiking days.  My trainer was sick on Tuesday so I ended up doing the elliptical machine for about 45 mintues.  Wednesday I did the same for 30 minutes.  Nothing yesterday or today (yet).  And probably nothing Sunday, since I'll be recovering from the hike.  It does take a lot more recovery time at our age.

Alice

LOL  you're taller than you are online!  :D  i love it!  yeah, it's like a heatwave here.  it's just over 40, snowing & quite windy.  i just got back from lunch with hubby.  i didn't even want to go.  i hate going out in the cold, but i might as well get used to it.  like i said, it's not even that bad today!  i don't like being too hot either, though.

at least you are down a little.  you'll get there soon.  i didn't do the shopping bit.  i probably would have if i had even bought the paper.  i forgot to buy it yesterday & then i didn't want to go out special to get it.

yeah!  watermelon is great!

i think my family is finally getting used to the new me.  geez...  well, i've been here long enough already!  lol  if i would lose any more, though, forget it.  i had to laugh to myself yesterday when wendy said, "so mom, you ARE closing up the treadmill for the holidays, right?  where are you gonna put the tree?"  i answered, no freakin' way!  that treadmill was here last year for christmas & it will stay right where it is.  the tree will go in the same spot it went last year.  :D

135 with her clothes on & stuff...  gimme a break!  and she keeps telling me how skinny i am.  she walked right in the door on wednesday complaining about how big her butt is.  LOL  i asked hubby, "seriously, her butt isn't any bigger than mine, is it?"  he said, yes!  her butt sticks out like it's supposed to & yours is flat.

oh well...  my belly is big though.  :D  maybe i can work on that in time for christmas!  i gotta do less walking along with more exercising & toning.  that's all.

congrats on the loss, moon!  :D  good luck with that 142, too!  it must've felt great golfing again after such a long time. 

i could never hike like you do.  you are awesome!!!

Weight last week: 125

Weight today: 124.5

Thanksgiving preparation for me is always a test of my mental state. I love to prepare a beautiful meal to share with friends and family, but  the process unfortunately surfaces my perfectionist tendencies. For the past several years, we have "extended" our family to include our friends Lynn and Dave and their two sons. They usually arrrive with a few extras (Dad, brother), although yesterday it was just Dad. They are a wonderful chaotic messy lot, and I truly love them.

BUT--did you hear that coming--they put stuff everywhere and in their efforts to help, get in my way at the critical time when I'm trying to put together all the last minute items (gravy, rolls, salad) so it's all served simultaneously hot (or cold). While trying to make gravy, Dave decided to "help," and kept trying to add flour while I wasn't looking, and Lynn's Dad had to stand in the center aisle (in my way) to watch "how beautifully Tom carved the turkey," and everyone else (my two boys, Lynn's two boys, my younger son's girlfriend, and my sister and brother in law) was scooting in between me and my tasks to steal turkey skin while it was being carved. I, of course, am trying not to ruin this Norman Rockwell painting by screaming, "Get the #*#* out of my kitchen or I'll kill you all." On the bright side, that was only 5 minutes out of five hours, so I think it went well.

Beth, this is very braggadocios of me, but I hope your turkey turns out as well as mine did. Nick made a brine of salt, herbs and Molasses, where it soaked overnight before we slathered it in herbs, oil and pepper. It was the best turkey I ever made, and there was NONE leftover for sandwiches, which definitely cut down my snacking at night, Chris. Congrats to you both on getting back the right direction on your scales. Ohio: My only virtue is not loving sweets, so instead of eating my pie first, I had cranberry/apple/walnut relish with light cool whip for dessert. Snow: We watched Tropic Thunder, too. I had seen it with my boys in August on vacation, but I enjoyed watching Tom react to it. Frost: I did not even try to log yesterday, so good for you on doing so and the portion control. Such discipline. BEB: I think it's wise that you elect to indulge Kyle without abusing your Visa card. If we give too much, they appreciate less and less. That was a hard lesson for me. Bon: WooHoo, still going down. We have played Cranium before, and I think  it's much more fun with more wine! I don't know if you'd eat my stuffing, giving your selective-ness, but I put in apples, sausage, and craisins. It was well received here. Helene: I was stunned when you recognized my fragility; most people perceive me as strong, but you nailed it. I agree that you should use your patience on yourself in this health management weight loss path. And, I appreciated the Metta sutra; I printed it out. Is there no mantra that's sleep inducing? Phox: I'm sending you happy feast vibes, but with the yoga, sounds like you're OK. Alice: So glad you're still with us, and hiking for all of us. Thanks for the photos, inspiring as ever.

Happy weekend all. We're off to the cabin.

Robbie, CONGRATS!  You are staying SLIM!! 

Snow, I am so hearing you about flat butts.  Mine was never very round, but it is a sure sign of age when a woman has a really flat butt.  My trainer is working on that with me.  Stiff-legged deadlifts, keep your back straight.  It is an easy exercise but hard to describe in words.  Maybe there is a little video that shows it.  I lift 30 pounds about 15 times and then repeat 2 more times during the hour.  Your butt will be very sore the next day or two!   Also lunges touching the ground holding weights.  Also the elliptical machine.  Regular walking does nothing for the butt.  I think biking is more effective.  I have to say that my butt is higher and a little rounder than it was before I started with the training, but still nothing to take a photo of! 

Alice

congrats on the loss, robbie!  :D  i love your thanksgiving story!  LOL  now, that is a real thanksgiving!!!  it all sounds too familiar...

moon, i wish i could just somehow manage to twist & pull this darned belly around to the back of me & down a little lower. 

i used to do more squats, lunges, crunches, twists, playing with the weights, etc.  i am already working on getting back into that, today.  as always, anything is better than nothing.  :D  i'm not sure what to do with these weights anymore...  lol  i'm sure i'll find something...  and make a routine out of it!

Alice: if a flat butt is a sign of aging, I'm still young. My boobs, however, are showing drastic signs of gravitational pull. So, Beth, cheer up. If you lose there, you'll have less to sag.

Snow: Can you do exercise tapes? That's the only thing that keeps me doing weights on unmotivated days.

robbie LOL well I have neither a flat butt nor boobs to sag so I'm not sure where that leaves me!!?? LOL Maybe I'm just the fountain of youth ... yea right LOL. You sound so much like me - as I was trying to get everything finished - EVERYONE was in the kitchen - there were 12 of us, snitching turkey, in the way, standing around ... I wanted to yell everyone out of the kitchen!! but I didn't LOL it all turned out well. Your turkey sounded good - everything in your stuffing sounded good except I don't like sausage! you might have know LOL  Wine definitely makes Cranium more fun!!

Alice - Oh I'm glad you got to play golf!! It is a hard sport to learn and where your swing goes when you don't play for a while I don't know LOL but it's great exercise. In the spring when I start playing again it will feel all foreign again for a few weeks - takes a while to find a rhythm again. Maybe it will be a new exercise for you! Haven't had a chance to view your pics yet but I know they will be inspiring and beautiful! Your hikes always look like something fun to do and the scenery is always fabulous!

Beth - congrats on your loss Hope you are having a wonderful day without any babies coming!

snow - I can't believe you drank water to weigh more LOL You're doing great with maintaining!

phox- Hope you are enjoying your feast today!! My daughter said she ate too much yesterday .. I said well you need to cook this feast - then you won't over eat! LOL Seems like by the time I get it all done I'm not very hungry.

Helene - With perseverance you will succeed!! . I'm still trying to find things that work for me too - it definitely takes trial and error and I have found no magic thing that works for me either. Age, hormones, thyroid issues only complicate it! We could be millionaires if we could find the solution that worked! I love all your wisdom and kind words - thank you so much for being a part of our group! I do so enjoy reading your posts!!!

chris - You are so brave to go out shopping on black Friday LOL I hate crowds and thus that is why my xmas shopping is done! LOL Sounds like you did very well with your healthy eating! I didn't eat anything after we ate our feast at 2pm but alas at 11pm the apple pie my daughter made was just screaming at me to come and get a piece ... LOL which I did but I sent the left over home with her so there is no more here.

Peg - Sounds like you are right back in the swing of things. Hope work went well. Well calorie intake for me was missing the apple pie - so maybe only a half a pat on the back -  I decided to eat at 11pm!! LOL but it sure was good 

Everyone - Hope you are enjoying your Thanksgiving holiday!! Sorry if I missed anyone ... there were so many posts it was hard to keep up!

i never tried using tapes.  well, i did a long time ago & i could never keep up.  i could never take classes either.  i'd be the class idiot.  maybe i could watch the fit tv.  i just remembered they use weights on there alot.  i could never keep up, but i can just hang in there & do some stuff.  :D

bonton, that's awesome!  you had a wild thanksgiving, too?!  that's the best...

i just had this huge piece of cake & ash snuck a pic of me & the size of the cake to send to wendy & ang.  LOL  the little sneak...  it was the last piece, too, AND i was licking the icing & coconut off my finger.

i don't know what got into me!  then, when i was done, i came back into the bedroom & yelled, crap!  i forgot i was already eating carrots & 2 oranges.  oh well...  i ate the carrots.  now it's time for the oranges.

at least i walked 6 miles today.  :D  maybe somebody can slap me now anyway...

Opps, I accidentally posted my previous post. So this is another attempt to post something new...

We had a wonderful delayed Thanksgiving. But it got interesting. I originally planned our meal around 5:30 to 6:00 pm. But about 10 am, one of my clients called thinking she was beginning labor. But her contractions were only 10 minutes apart. Still she lives 2 1/2 hours away. So I had to think fast.

I called everyone and said, "Let's try for noon." and they all agreed. I couldn't believe it, we actually got everything done by noon. It was a sure a good thing that at the last minute when shopping for the meal that I decided to get an already cooked turkey and ham! But it was still a lot of work to get everything ready quickly.

I had made the desserts the day before. But I still had to make the dressing which was from scratch. It all turned out yummy. We had such a fun time.

I kept worrying about getting called out before I got to eat. But the girls were ready to take over for me if necessary. Still I wanted the time with my family. I called my client after the meal and her contractions had slowed down. So I'm still waiting on her. I don't know whether she is just having a slow warm up or what I call a practice run. But the day is pretty much over and I got to enjoy every bit of it with my family. Yeah!

The girls and I went for a walk after the meal. Boy they can walk fast! We did the 3 miles around the park. It was sure nice to have their company.

It sure sounds like all of you are doing great and that you also had a nice Thanksgiving. I enjoyed reading your posts but will comment more individually when I have more time. I need to fill my car up with gas and get a bath in case I have to leave tonight.

~ Beth

Fat - 24.5% (982 grams)
Protein - 23.3% (2,098 grams)
Carbohydrates - 52.2% (4,695 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%        ;       &n bsp;        ;       &n bsp;        ;  didn't show but registered

       &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;            as B

Daily Calorie Intake - 1,254 cals
Daily Sodium Intake - 2,652 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 65 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 134 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 13 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 26 gram

Last week 166lbs

this week 164lbs

Boy i go shopping for a few hours and the site has been hopping...

I am so very proud of all of you, several pounds were lost by the group this week......excellent............losing weight, sensible eating over the holidays...i couldn't be more proud, truly!!

Robbie, i hear you about getting everyone "out of your kitchen", i am the same way, and a perfectionist too, maybe to much i expect to much from myself, always, and am almost obsessive!!!!!!It's like a crooked napkin or doolley on the table.....i think i get worse the older i get...like Jack Nicholson in that movie with Helen Hunt "as good as it gets", !!...lol  Cabin living i envy you a nice roarig fireplace, how wonderful the life you have!.  Have a good time!!

Moonduster: i think all that trail walking you do is great, didn't you mention once you tried Everest??  or was that someone else???  Have you heard of the "Stanley Hotel" it's there in Colorado i hear it's haunted and this is the hotel from the movie the shining!!

Well you guys are talking about flat butts, i guess i could join in there, in fact my son says i have no butt...hehe it gets mighty uncomfortable i'll tell you sitting on un paded chairs for a long time, like at the hospital today, my back was killing me and all i could think about was lieing down somewhere....glad that's over.....phew....

Beth: I am 5'8" with longggg slim legs so i look taller, my weight isn't in my hips or butt just my belly and face.....to answer your ??? our size 0=20, size 2=22, size 4=24, 6=26, and my size goal is 8=28 although i might accept 10=30 if nothing is hanging out or over the top.....aren't your sizes the same.....not all sizes but alot of times you'll find half sizes in stores not all stores though like jeans 4,6,8,10,12,14,16,1 or 24,26,28,30,32,34,36,38 and the half sizes 7,9,11...or 5-6,7-8, 9-10,11-12,13-14,15-16 as they are often refered to....i hope this didn't confuse you, i think they are the same as your aren't they.....your 8 is our 8 or 28!!..sometimes refered to as 7-8!!

I went to the hospital this morning, my shoulder has gotten worse and so painful, i can't lift it, my motion is restricted and when I apply pressure to it like lifting something, wow....sharp pain.......grinding noises too....and now it aches all night long, so i went up to the hospital 3-1/2 hours later and exrays my results.  Funny last week they tell me i have bones better then that of a 35 year old and today my blood pressure i s150/87 and according to the doctor i have arthritis in the left shoulder, and muscle damage, lifting weights is out, maybe this caused part of it??..laundry carrying out, etc....i have to go for physiotherapy in the new year to get movement back as i can' even turn my arm in a circle.....whaor pull back with it...the thing that bothers me the most is i am left handed and i can't even put my clothes on without using it.  I don't know much about arthritis, but the grinding bones is an unpleasant sound, i am however surprised my oxycocet (percocet) and my oxycontin don't work for it???  Weird isn't it???

Frost( Scarlet) You are a nurse, i was wondering if you might possible have any advice, as this is a whole new thing to me and haven't had an opportunity yet to online study arthritis??..Does heat help??

Well i am off for the evening going to Future Shop with Glenn shopping tomorrow, still looking for a stereo for Kyle, now they have ipod docking ones too......should be fun, and first time seeing Glenn since halloween.....

Have a wonderful weekend all and i am proud of everyone that lost weight, and I also am proud of the ones who didn't and are still sticking with it..love you ALL...............bye have a nice weekend..BEB

Hi BEB,

I am in California, so don't know much about Colorado.  But I have never climbed Mt. Everest, which is in the Himalayas and is almost 30,000 feet high!  I couldn't even afford the airplane ticket over there, let alone the huge amount of money it costs to actually climb Mt. Everest.  I HAVE climbed Mt. Whitney (twice) which is in the Sierras in California and is the highest point in the continental USA at 14,500 feet.  The highest point in Canada is Mt. Logan in the Yukon, about 19,850 above sea level.  The highest point in North America is Mt. McKinley in Alaska, at over 20,000 feet. 

That's Mt. Whitney behind me in my photo.

Alice

Right, sorry thought you were in B.C. have you ever met Clint Eastwood, he's where you are in Bakersfield right??Yea that's high, we have a few neat caves about 30 miles away in Collingwood great skiing in winter...

Helene should be on soon!! 12 hours ahead of me!!!  I bought boxes of chocolates for xmas and opened one...oh oh!!!...hehehe

I am watching the haunting of Stanley hotel,, areal place in colorado where they filmed the shining, and the wild thing is it really is haunted....booooooo

I am on and noone is here...how lonely???...oh well...

Hi Alice: So good to see your screen name again. LOL  It's been awhile. Sounds like you are well and still enjoying the California terrain. Beautiful photographs. Thank you for sharing them with us.  I fell off the wagon so to speak for awhile. Bought a new (actually old) place and along the way got derailed. I am back up to jogging now. Ran 3 times last week. Already back up to 40 minutes. Thank goodness for muscle memory.

Robbie: I can understand your aggravation with the extra "help" in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. Nothing wrong with wanting the overall Norman Rockwell look. LOL. I truly understand.

Glad all of those of you in America enjoyed your Thanksgiving whether you had it on Thursday or Friday!

Take care

Peg

?????...nobody want to talk to me...wha...hehehe...lol  Kyle is sleeping at his friends tonight, so i am all alone, i was hoping someone was on but i guess no one wants to chat tonight...i hope it's not me!!!

Hello everyone!

I am so glad to see you all did well in spite of Thanksgiving - apart from me and I was NOT celebrating anything... - so well done girls, you should feel proud of yourselves.

This morning I finished a book by Paulo Coelho while waiting for my chiropractor's visit, and there was a short story in it: a dialogue between a saint and a criminal. First the criminal asks the saint if he could look at the most beautiful prostitute and say she is not attractive, and the saint answers: "No! But I could control myself." Then the criminal asks: "If you saw a pile of gold, could you pretend they are just pebbles?", and the saint says "No! But I could refrain from stealing it." Then the criminal asks: "If you saw two brothers, one really nice and the other one really unpleasant, could you love them both?" And the saint says "I would have a hard time, but with a lot of effort, I think I would manage in the end." That's when the criminal suddenly realized that he was no more and no less than the saint. That we are all the same person really, and that the only differences existing between people are the choices they make...

I really liked that story and thought I would share it with you. We are not condemned to do this or that, we don't have to do anything really. But we spend a lot of time justifying the choices we make, to make them appear compulsory. I meditated on this and decided Snow had it right. We are not dieting, we are choosing one lifestyle over another, each one of which has consequences. If we decide that flabby butts and bulging middles, painful feet and double chins are NOT what we want for ourselves, renouncing that second slice of cake or that second helping of pasta is no big deal... Going that extra mile is no big deal, and going to bed an hour earlier is a matter of course. If this is our choice, we can't possibly feel deprived, frustrated or put upon. I know that sometimes I have eaten things I knew I shouldn't have just because. Because it is not fair, because I was tired of "depriving" myself, tired of having to watch out, to count every bite, to work like mad for no gain ( or rather loss in this case LOL). I think that's what BEB was trying to express when she said sometimes people commit to a certain course, then complain they don't get the results they hope, when in fact they never really did what the commitment entailed. I, for one, am guilty.

Of course, we revolt against such an idea. We are only human, we are entitled to some pleasure, we can slip once in a while. All true. But it is not the one slip that matters. We have the proof of this in the fabulous results you all had in spite of Thanksgiving. It is the many small slips that put the extra flab on our bodies. Those that are so small we do not even think of them as slips... The choice to have two peanuts instead of a slice of orange. To drink pop instead of water or tea. To put sugar in our coffee. To have dessert when we are already full. Just because.

And the deadliest slip of all: to justify our weakness by the words "I am only human", when our humanity is precisely what makes us so strong. Because it gives us the choice.

I have thought long and hard about all this, and decided I would watch every small slip like a hawk, and see if I can't lick that blubber... LOL

To answer some suggestions: I do try to drink more, but I have to watch out, because I have Meniere disease. It is also called "Inner Ear Hydropisy" (or dropsy, more commonly used). It's a build-up of fluid in the inner ear that causes dizziness and vertigo, together with rupturing of the capillaries containing the lymph that helps the brain control balance. It results in dramatic attacks that make you feel you are in a centrifuge machine, and induces deafness after a while, as the increased pressure kills the nerve. That's why I lost hearing in my right ear several years ago. When I drink too much too fast, it makes me dizzy and increases the tinnitus, which is both distracting and tiring. For the same reason, I am already very careful about the amount of salt in my food.

And BEB, rice doesn't contain sodium, apart from the salt you put in it. Vietnam is the second rice exporter in the world, after China. It has the best rice quality too, called Jasmine rice, a naturally fragrant rice that in the West is better known as Thai rice, as they have it there too. It costs 5'000 dongs a kilo (that's 30 US cents). We steam it, with just a piece of cinnamon in it. No salt (Asians can't believe we add salt to our rice...). And believe me, I would never trade it for any brand of parboiled rice... I always had a rice-cooker full of fresh rice when my children lived with us, as they ate it at any time of the day, with just a bit of butter in it, or even plain, wrapped in dried seaweed, a la Japanese. It was just like candy for them... My two Swiss kids each have a rice cooker that I bought for them, and my Canadian son asked me one for Christmas... LOL Oh! And 100g of rice only contain 130 cals (that's a nice portion).

Robbie, it takes one to recognize one... You speak of yourself the way I speak of myself. That's how I know... LOL You are smart and witty and you have the courage to act on your shortcomings. You have plenty to be proud of.

Thank you all for your encouraging words. I am sure next week will see better results. After all I am human!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Helene, in Saigon, who almost has a brand new kitchen counter...