Posts by tinaek

Whenever somebody tries to push food on me (which seems to come from everywhere - except my husband who offers to eat food in another room so I don't have to watch - LOL), I always use the same line - it usually gets a laugh but also gets the point across.

"No thanks, I'm allergic to too many calories". 

I am a paralegal!! (legal clerk, legal assistant - there are various names we get called, but I will only list the nice ones!  LOL).  I've (sadly) worked in the same law firm for the last 17 years (yikes!) in the litigation department and work for 6 different lawyers.  I am in Canada so it probably isn't as fun as it would be if I worked in the US!  Some crazy  claims down there!

I have a few different things I rotate through for breakfast but this morning I had a homemade yogurt parfait -

1 cup Source fat free/sugar free vanilla yogurt - 70 calories

1/2 cup of fresh strawberries/ 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries - 66 calories

Topped with 1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean - 102 calories

Yum

Original Post by amiblue24:

I have thought of buying another summer dress, but everything I try on only seems to make me more sad because I can't find anything that fits right.  *Sigh*

I hear you there ....I live in Ontario, Canada and it is almost impossible to find anything that fits properly or is flattering over a size 12....no idea why, but it is just the way it is!  If you live in the US I only have 2 words for you -- Dress Barn.  I  have actually made a few trips across the border just so I could go shopping there....I swear I have never tried anything on that was a size 16 that didn't fit me perfectly...the first time I went I spent almost $800 (I could hear my credit card crying on the way home LOL)  And then had to pay $75 of duty on top of it because I was honest about how much I had spent (I lie horribly LOL).

I don't know if this will make you feel better or worse, but my youngest just turned 10 -- and my body looks nothing like it did before I had babies.  When I get down about it, I just think of what an amazing thing my body did by creating those beautiful babies and if the stretch marks and wider hips and butt are the only price I have to pay for them, than I consider myself lucky  

Original Post by flybee:

I can't add much to what has already been said about snoring, but I might be able to help you with your blanket issues.

Mu husband is cold at night and I get really warm, so I went to Ikea and bought two twin size duvets - one warmth level 5 and one warmth level 1, with matching twin duvet covers.  I also bought matching twin flat sheets and quilts.  When I make the bed, it looks like one duvet, but we can each customize how much coverage we'd like.  I usually end up kicking off everything but my sheet,, and he can still stay covered.  It has really improved our sleeping.

Flybee, we do pretty much the same thing, only I am always cold and my husband is always hot.  He sleeps with just a sheet (twin) and I have a sheet (twin) and two twin size blankets.  I have a big, thick queen size down duvet that I just throw over them when I make the bed (the key word being "when" LOL).

The other suggestion I might make (I don't think anybody else has suggested it) is one of those travel sleep masks - you know the ones you always see Divas wearing in the movies?  My husband likes to read when I want to go to sleep too, and that makes it so he can keep his bedside lamp on and it is completely dark for me. 

My husband is the one that snores (he has a CPAP but found that when he went back for a follow up sleep study that it didn't make any difference in his sleep patterns, so he doesn't bother to use it now) and he is the one that always jokingly suggests that I would sleep better if I slept somewhere else - because he wants the big comfortable bed to himself!  I am not so crazy to ever fall for it though!

Sorry, I didn't mean for it to be torture!  LOL  I was just curious.  The foods other people and cultures eat fascinates me!  I am sure that I eat some things that seem strange to other people too!

I say go for it, shake things up....what is the worst thing that will happen?  A couple of lbs weight gain initially (maybe) which may just jump start your loss again....

You can freeze tomatoes but they are mushy when you unthaw them - but perfect for adding to homemade pasta sauce!  I have accidentally frozen cucumbers before when they get shoved to the back of the fridge - definately wouldn't recommend that!  Gross!

I use whole wheat flour all the time - but keep white flour on hand as well.  100% whole wheat works fine in things like pancakes or to coat anything, but for breads/cakes etc. use 50% whole wheat, 50% white - otherwise you will be eating bricks!!

You may want to consider NOT substituting soy milk for cow's milk.  My daughter was also allergic to the cow's milk I was drinking when I nursed her (she was collicky and slept through the night for the first time the day after I stopped drinking milk) and the advice I received (from one of the top children's hospitals in London, Ontario where she was also born 6 weeks early) was to avoid soy milk as well -- if they are allergic to cow's milk, soy milk is a bad choice - it is an allergen and they can easily develop allergies to it as well.  I was told rice milk was a good choice - watery but I got used to it after awhile.  Other things we were told to do was to get rid of all the carpet in our house, get rid of all stuffed animals, get rid of pets (yes, we had to give our dog away) and mini blinds are a huge no-no - curtains can be washed regularly, mini blinds are dust magnets.  We were also told to install central air to limit her exposure to the outside allergens in the spring.

We were told that because she developed an allergy so early (around 6 weeks), the more she was exposed to allergens (soy, dust, pollen, nuts, etc.) the more likely she was to develop additional allergies and eventually asthma which she would probably have her entire life. 

We followed all of the recommendations for the first 5 or 6 years of her life and gradually exposed her to the allergens we were told to avoid to see if she had any reactions -  and today she is a happy, healthy 12 year old with absolutely no allergies - including both cow's and soy milk and we have a dog again!!

I did have a list of the recommendations at one point (there were more I don't remember) but it has been 12 years - you may be able to find something online. 

Just thought I would share our experience.

You start counting the calories other people are eating to "compare".  I do this at work all the time!

tmoakley11 - Did you put your numbers into CC and see what it said?  I think with the changes they recently made they are way off base -- I went from a recommended 1500 calories a day down to 1200 when it changed (I was 215 lbs or so when it changed) - yet I was rapidly losing weight eating 1500 calories (more than the recommended 2lbs a week) - I agree with everybody, despite what any program recommends, 1200 is way too few calories - especially when you are just beginning.  Sure way to crash and burn before you even get anywhere - and who wants to be STARVING all day long??? 

A HUGE party sized pizza for my son's birthday party tonight, 2 lbs of strawberries, baby romaine, orange and yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, baby carrots, brocolli that I should eat soon, celery, 3 bags of Granny Smith apples (they were on sale for $1), red apples for my daughter who doesn't like green apples, a canteloupe (yuck), left over cabbage roll stir fry, dill pickles, pickled vegetables, eggs, regular cheese, light cheese, laughing cough cheese, sliced ham, sliced turkey, about 6 different varieties of mustard (no idea why), a jug of strawberry Cool Aid for the birthday party (not a regular drink in our house - I make my kids drink soy milk or water!), at least 6 bottles of different light salad dressings, a Dove chocolate bar (up high where the kids can't see) that I eat 1 square of a day, a HUGE Costco size jar of minced garlic, 2 bottles of half used ketchup, low fat sugar free yogurt, olives, condiments of every description, Aloe juice, Almonds, Cashews, a couple of bottles of beer, soy milk, chocolate soy milk and a jar of salsa of unknown age....

When we had to buy a new fridge, we bought the biggest one we could find! 

MMMMmmmm, I never thought about fish and chips.....with a little malt vinegar and salt....yum!  Definately one of my weaknesses too!

Peanut butter and dill pickle potato chips - if I start eating either one (not together LOL) I have a hard time stopping.

Congratulations on the 25lbs lost - that is great.  Just ignore your co-workers what you are doing obviously works. 

LOL at the rubber sandwich remark.

I have an overweight woman in my office who goes on and on about how she just can't lose any weight no matter how hard she tries and in the next sentence tells everybody about this great place to get all the fish and chips you can eat and pulls out her afternoon snack of a family size bag of chips!!