Sue, your advice to silveraynebow is great.  I've heard of HALT but this one:

Remember "If hunger is not the problem, food is not the answer!"reply to silveraynbow is wonderful. 

is new to me.  I'm going to write both phrases out and post them on the fridge.  I may even embroider them to help myself remember.

Thanks,

Jane 

Jane,

I can't claim that as my own, but it helps me so I offer it to others. I like the idea of embroidering it on something!! Thanks!

Sue

Ack, krismasself, I quoted that one too a couple of days ago ... I was about to go back and give you credit for it!!  I wish I could remember where I saw it first.

I love that one too, it's especially helpful for stress-eaters!!

Walden Farms caramel dip.  Zero Calories. No sugar. No carb. No fat. No guilt.

Get a crisp, juicy, tasty apple. Slice it up. Drizzle it with Walden Farms Caramel Dip.

Enjoy every tangy, crispy, juicy, caramel-y morsel.

Just 72 calories for a medium apple.

Over-the-top yummilicious. Trust me. www.waldenfarms.com

=^..^= MOLLY

Original Post by silvraynebow:

i'm kinda wondering about walden farms, molly. they say they have a 0 calorie peanut butter. how can that be possible? are u sure they are for real?

I've tried their zero-calorie peanut butter. I'd give it a C, actually. When I am out of "spare" calories and want to make something tasty, I'll put it on a toasted,  buttered english muffin and it's not bad. Sometimes I can even add a few pieces of banana.  And it's ok on crackers. I haven't decided yet if I will buy it again once I've used it all up.... it's the consistency of cool whip and does taste sort of peanutty.... but their salad dressings, caramel dip, and chocolate syrup and cocktail sauce are all WONDERFUL!

=^..^= MOLLY

I got an incredible cardio work-out today that did NOT (thank goodness) involve huge, scary spiders. Nope, this time it just involved one very large, very fluffy, skittery cat named Tigger.

Let me back up a bit and explain about my fluffy, sweet, scaredy-cat, Tigger. We spied him in May of 2003 at the local SPCA as a cute orange tabby kitten ... precocious, precious and playful, and we scooped him up (along with a little grey mouse of a kitten named MollyMouse) and brought him home to our newlywed house! For about 6 months, brave Tigger was fearless and ferocious and feisty and fabulous -- a typical tomboy tomcat! But then one day he got very scared when he got his head stuck through the handles of a paper bag. He fled in terror under the bed, dragging that crackling-crashing sounding bag behind him. He was quite traumatized by the time we caught him and saved him. Poor guy. Then, about 6 months later, he had a similar traumatic event involving a helium balloon that "chased" him.... and then popped. (sigh) Poor Tigger.

For Tigger, the straw that broke him and made him a permanently skittery Tigger was the night he was playing with our wood horizontal blinds in the middle of the night and got the strings wrapped around his neck. Fortunately, we heard him thrashing around, jumped out of bed, grabbed him and cut down the blinds and saved him. But he's been extra timid ever since. So he lives in the back half of our house -- mostly in the safety of our bedroom and our closet. He loves us and loves to be petted, but any loud sound, the doorbell, the telephone ringing, or even a shopping bag send him diving for safety under the bed.

Fast forward to today. For the past 2 months or so, Tigger has been getting some mats in his beautiful long and fluffy coat, but just wouldn't really let me brush them out or snip them out with scissors. So we called a local groomer to make a house call to help take care of the mats. Well, that was OUR plan, at least. I thought I was being so clever by cornering Tigger in our glass-walled shower and then closing the bathroom door ... but he managed to escape under the bed. My wonderful DH and I called, coaxed, cajoled, and offered wet food ... but Tigger would NOT come out to be groomed.... so we ended up chasing him around the bedroom for a good 25 minutes before we safely caught him. Holding him down for the 15-minute grooming was a LOT of work, and Tigger yowled and howled the whole time. But, thankfully, Tigger is now mat-free and sporting a modified lion cut ... and we all emerged scratch-free and bite-free. Whew.

There's STILL fluffy orange fur wafting around our bedroom. And Tigger is still in our closet ... hiding in the corner by my fuzzy slippers. He'll be OK ... we'll give him plenty of time and lots of space. Poor guy. Ahh ... the many joys of cat ownership, huh?

* * *

Dinner tonight was grilled chicken with Tofu-Shirataki fettucini with a spicy Sicilian-style marinara sauce with lots of fresh garlic, onions and peppers. Mama Mia! It was delightful ... and I even added a Thomas' light multigrain english muffin.

I put a can of tuna in the closet for Tigger. (150 calories)

=^..^= MOLLY

Happy Saturday, fellow ranters.

We went to Boston Market at lunch ... roast turkey, low fat new potatoes, green beans ... yay! Stayed within my calories.   My afternoon snack was three servings of cabbage to make up for my paltry lunchtime veggie showing... hee hee hee.

So .... ummm..... if I had an USWID today (that's "Unofficial Sneaky Weigh-in Day"), would anyone out there in Rantville want to know how I'm doing?  Or should I just keep quiet until Christmas?

By the way, I've now successfully completed 12 weeks of dieting /eating healthier (assuming I behave myself tonight!)

* wiggles toes*

=^..^= MOLLY 

Ok, a question for all of you -- How often do you weigh yourselves?

I've been doing it every day, but I think I've become obsessed & am considering altering my practice.  I mean, I like the gentle daily confirmationof a few tenths every day or so, but there simply will be days when the weight will go up slightly for one reason or another.

But I'm afraid if I only do it once a week and then I happen to weigh in on one of the "up" days I will get really bummed out!

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS Molly for making it to 40# in 12 weeks! That is amazing!!!

Well, I had been weighing myself once a week (on Saturday/Sunday), but my wonderful DH noted that I seemed to have .... ummm.... hissyfits .... on those weeks where water retention was involved. I think my shrieks and sulks and sighs and sobs and sadness were a bit much for him, so he decided a couple of weeks ago that it probably would be best that I not get on the scale again until .... Christmas. Yep ... about 2 months from when he made his big announcement. He even HID the bathroom scale.

*whispering*

(Of course, I found the scale ... hee hee hee .... and there may have been one or two USWID's since then ... unofficial sneaky weigh-in-days .... but since they really don't OFFICIALLY exist, I really can't officially discuss them.)

Maybe you could go to twice a week? Thursdays and Sunday? (or something like that?) Just a thought.

=^..^= MOLLY

Hi Everyone, I just found this forum and love it! I really enjoy reading your posts. I do see some familiar people on here. Hi Sue and Pam.

Well I dont have any rants as of this moment but give me time and that will change. As far as weighing I try to weigh once a week usallly on Friday mornings.I started CC in July and have lost 31 pounds so far and have 61 more to go.

Well it is getting late here so I am going to hit the hay. Have a great night everyone.

Sarah~

Hi Sarah, thanks for the response. I've been here for about 3 weeks.  Have lost about 13 since I started trying about 5 weeks ago.

Molly, you make me laugh!

Not get on the scale til Christmas! I just know I could not handle that much mystery in my life! How about measuring?  I just had the pleasant discovery yesterday that I've lost two inches in my waist! But the measurements don't change as much as the lbs..... I think I'll try for twice a week.... maybe.... I'm all about instant gratification, you know, that's what got me here in the first place!

hee hee hee ... be careful! Those hard metal measuring tape thingies are dangerous when they go whipping and zipping around your tender tummy!

* * * HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY! * * *

I've often wondered if my wonderful DH gets to celebrate Veteran's Day. After all, he's not a veteran, per se, because he's still IN the military. So how does THAT work? Do I get to wish him a Happy Veteran's Day, or not? I know that there is a military appreciation day tucked away in obscurity in May ... but no one I know ever mentions of acknowldges it, you know?  And, for those of you keeping track, 6 days ago my DH celebrated his 24th anniversary of joining the military -- so he is now 6 days into his 25th year of service.

Yay for him.

Looks like he'll be heading (once again) back to Iraq again in 2008. Oh well. Fourth time's the charm, right? (sigh)

=^..^= MOLLY

Original Post by mollymouser:

Happy Saturday, fellow ranters.

We went to Boston Market at lunch ... roast turkey, low fat new potatoes, green beans ... yay! Stayed within my calories. My afternoon snack was three servings of cabbage to make up for my paltry lunchtime veggie showing... hee hee hee.

So .... ummm..... if I had an USWID today (that's "Unofficial Sneaky Weigh-in Day"), would anyone out there in Rantville want to know how I'm doing? Or should I just keep quiet until Christmas?

By the way, I've now successfully completed 12 weeks of dieting /eating healthier (assuming I behave myself tonight!)

* wiggles toes*

=^..^= MOLLY

Molly, If you posted the USWID I missed it...what was it?  In your favor, I hope!

We saw our old friends this weekend.  They've both also gained weight so I fretted for nothing...as often as that happens you'd think I'd have learned to stop fretting by now!  We had a lovely visit.  

I say "Happy Veterans' Day" to Ron and all our brave current and former military folk.   My life has been blessed by my father, a WWII and Berlin Airlift vet, and my BIL, a Vietnam vet.  My brother served in peacetime.  I also pray that all our people are out of Iraq and back home ASAP.

Jane 

I am being good and NOT posting my USWID number....after all, if I post it, doesn't it somehow freakishly morph into an OWID number?

*silly grin*

=^..^= MOLLY

P.S. I bought a pair of shorts today, 2 sizes smaller than what I was wearing when I started this... woo hoo! And I bought a pair of new pink undies, too ... also 2 sizes smaller than before.

Early last summer, I'd spotted the prettiest bright green dress at one of my favorite clothing stores -- a pretty classic button-down-the-front style in two shades of bright green. The original price wasn't bad, but they didn't have it my size. "Oh well," I thought, "that's the story of my life." We were at that very same clothing store late this afternoon so I could look for treasures since they were having a season-end Clearance Sale.

The green dress was still there .... and still three sizes smaller than I used to wear. And it was on Clearance, having been marked down numerous times. I spent a long time looking at the dress and then, rather bravely I thought, I took it into the fitting room. It doesn't fit .... yet. But it will fit. It will! It will! It will! So we bought that pretty green dress ... for less than $11.00. My plan is to take it to Hawaii and wear it there. My plan is to be able to wear it for my March 17 St. Patrick's Day Birthday. I have four months to fit into that lovely green dress that makes me smile.

For me, it's a symbol of hope. It's a symbol of faith. It's a symbol of perseverance. It's a symbol of health. And it's a symbol of new life. For the next four months, my happy green dress will keep me company on my weight loss adventure. When I waiver, I will try her on. When I am discouraged, I will try her on. And when I need motivation, I will try her on.

My old life? I just hopelessly gave up on the pretty green dress and found something else to make do. My new life? Wait patiently for the pretty green dress, grab it at a fabulous bargain, and work my butt off (literally and figuratively) to actually be able to wear my pretty green dress.

Wishing you all ... your very own Green Dress!

=^..^= MOLLY

I have a "New Life" dress too...my wedding dress. I could wear it now, is I were willing to squeeze myself into one of those neck to thigh girdles things! But I know, without any reservation, that by my wedding on Ground Hog's Day (hehehe) it will fit perfectly without any restricitve under things!!

This weekend I went shopping for shoes to match that dress. Oh, how I've been longing to wear "sexy" shoes again! Well, the six yr old granddaughter proudly pointed to a pair on the sale rack and said "Try those on Grandma...they're so sexy!" WOW, what does she know of sexy? But she was absolutely correct...and they fit!!! No pinched toes, no fat foot seeping over the vamp or out the sides! Hooray!!