Don,

I've been so busy this week that I've only peeked on the boards. I saw your name as the last entry and didn't realize it was a 2nd posting to say you lost another 3!!!!! You are doing AMAZINGLY well!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for your applause for my loss!!

I lost another 1 lb myself - now at 14. I even moved my belt up another notch :) :) . That felt good. However, I went shopping yesterday and there is NOTHING IN THE WORLD like the bright lights of a dressing room with a 3 way mirror. It really burst my bubble. I saw things I hadn't seen at home before. :( Back to doubling up on my efforts. Only 9 more weeks to go!!!!

Kimmi, thanks so much for your encouragement. It helps so much!!! I agree, the glass of wine would have topped off the hot tub!!

Kimmi, I had a French Vintage in my hand the whole time. Unfortunately it was Perrier. Not quite champagne, but at least it sparkled. LOL

We did have some Tattinger Champagne this week though at our cruise planning party with friends that are joining us on the Whisper. Just one flute though, even though it was so little that I really thought it was a piccolo! :D

Cyndi, great job. Don't worry too much about the mirror, just concentrate on how much better your clothes are fitting and keep it up. Doesn't it feel great to put that belt to the next notch!!! I'm proud of you.

Awh shucks!! Thanks, Don. You are right. It feels GREAT!!! I told myself how bad I would have felt looking in the mirror if I hadn't already lost the 14!! The old glass is half full technique :D

Did you get high on the one flute after abstaining for so long? :D It probably tasted like the best champangne you ever had.

Yeah, now I'm a cheap date!!! LOL

Well, I gained nine pounds in Aruba. But at least I enjoyed it. The food was very expensive and I couldn't make myself not eat everything on my plate. The nightlife was also good, so I had to have a few drinks. Now that I'm home again, I KNOW I have to work at it. And I will.

Trish

Trish, I will have the same problem when we go on our Med cruise. I have factored in gaining while we are gone, but then factored in starting back again the very day we get back. I figure that it will take about 20+ days to lose what I gained in 9. I know you will get back at it. Good luck!

Don,

Vintage Perrier is quite an excellent substitute for Vino du jour. Love a glass of it with just a nice fresh lime. No hangovers, no calories and almost as festive.

Kathy, true, true!

Well today was weigh in and I am down another 4 lbs this week, making a total of 55 lbs so far. It looks like I am going to make that goal of 75 lbs lost by cruise time. We have 8 more weeks to go before we leave for Rome. Tried on the tux yesterday and it is getting closer all the time. Upset that I even got to this point, but I can't look back, I just need to look forward to being half the man I used to be! LOL

Trish - I told myself I'll only eat 1/2 of everything on the PIP cruise. Something tells me that isn't going to work :D . Best intentions fade with all that good food around. Just get right back on and those "temporary" pounds will come right back off.

Kathy - you are making a very good case for the Vintage Perrier :) :banana: :banana: I can see you in that Tux now :)

Cyndi,

PIP will have lots of fresh fruit and fish. So indulging won't be too bad if you choose those things!

Fresh fruit and fish will work for me!!!!! But desserts. . .I'll HAVE to have desserts!!! Can't wait :banana: :banana:

Hi all, well, I still haven't lost an another ounce, at least not last time I weighed myself, and I've been putting it off.

BUT, David put my new elliptical together this morning, and I just finished my first workout. And I'm back pretty religiously on South Beach (SB), and am feeling pretty good right now.

Oh, and my smaller-sized bathing suit arrived, and it fits. And no more wine except on Saturday evening, until the cruise, that should help. Now, if I could just lose 5 pounds.

Wendy, remember it isn't all about the weight, it is how you feel and getting into that smaller bathing suit! :app: Keep it up!

OK, I will admit that I sinned this week! We went out to Lawry's The Prime Rib Restaurant Thursday night. We had a package deal that included wine and dessert, and yes I had both and I have to admit that it was GREAT!!! However, the next day I was miserable. I was suffering from carb overload, felt like I had a hangover, and could hardly function. I practically drowned myself with water yesterday, but today I worked out and feel much much better. I guess it was a good reminder.

Oh, I just discovered this thread....I need to be in this group!! I've lost almost 30 pounds since November, but want to lose about 5 more....and (here's the HARD part), KEEP them off....actually, as some of you have said, I've gotten used to eating "light," and when I cheat I feel bloated, weighted-down and sluggish. I was telling Kathy (chatkat) about my "Food Channel Diet" today--involves watching the food channel for my food fixes, but NOT making any of the recipes---i.e. look, but don't touch.... sometimes it tortures me, of course. And there ARE some lo-cal/lo-carb/lo-fat things on there.... K, here's the really important question....Anybody know how many calories in a glass of wine (maybe I don't really want to know, LOL).... :ohmy:

Liz - see here:
http://www.adwnz.com/Pages/wines/calories.html

:)

Masaki

Masaki---thanks, this is helpful. (I don't know why calories aren't on wine bottle labels)...I suppose if I stick to 2 moderate weeknight-type glasses, that's not TOO bad, but if I want to have more than that, then we could potentially be looking at nearly half my daily calorie allowance.... NOT a good thing, LOL. But the news is better than I expected....I thought it would be more than that!! I mostly drink dry cabs....thanks!!!

Wendy - 2 more months!!! If we are really good, we can make some real progress. I'm going to try to cut way back on the carbs now for the final push. I've been pretty good, actually, but on the weekends where I eat quite a lot of carbs I put on at least 2 lbs. So if I lose 1-2 lbs during the week, I blow it on the weekend. The elliptical exercise is really going to help you. Good for you!! And like Don said, getting into that smaller size bathing suit and feeling good is the very best of all!!!

Liz, Welcome to this thread!!!! CONGRATULATIONS on the 30 lb loss!!! Fantastic. How did you do it? I am finding it is taking me forever to lose now that I've hit the big 50 (a couple of years ago). I've now lost 15 lbs since January. It has been a constant struggle. I'm with you about wanting to keep it off. I don't ever want to have to work this hard to lose weight again. But in the process, for the first time in my life I'm changing my ways of eating and eating much healthier. I really like that.

Re: Wine. It really isn't too bad in calories in itself. It's the munchies that I get when I drink it :D That's what does me in.

Thanks Masaki for the info on wine. I've printed it out for my calorie notebook.

Don, I understand what you are saying about the Carb hangover. I got one a couple of weeks ago. Tom (who has been on Atkins off & on for a few years) used to say how awful he felt after a carb binge. Now I finally understand what he meant. But Don, you have been SO GOOD for so long that you really deserved a treat. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now you can be proud of yourself that you got right back on track. You've got less than two months now for your cruise! Wow, has time gone fast!!!

This coming Friday night will be real test for me. It is our anniversary (33 years!!!) and we are going to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We are already planning ahead to watch the carbs. We figure a salad, lean steak and shrimp will be good, mushrooms instead of potatoes and with all of that we'll be too full to even think about dessert. Wish us luck!!

Good luck to all of us in the next week ahead!!!

Liz, the only problem with wine isn't so much the carbs, it's the alcohol, which stalls any weight loss. While you have alcohol in your system, your body is busy burning that off before it burns off the fat.

Cyndi, the joy of the food is definately dampened by the miserable feeling the next day. It took well into the afternoon before I came alive again.

Only 7 weeks from today before we leave on our cruise and now I have a new plan. DISPOSABLE CLOTHES!!! Here I was trying so hard to get into my tux and what I think I am now going to do is take the clothes that I am growing out of and just leave them. I figure that at the rate I am going, I will be down about another 15-20 lbs and approx. 2" by the time we leave for the airport. I figure that I will gain some while we are gone, but with no big clothes, I am forced to go back on the diet just as soon as I return.

My wife added that it was an excellent idea. Now she will have more room for the things she wants to buy! On second thought.... :ohmy:

Don - great plan!!! I can see why Diana would like it too :D :D :D

LOL, Don, disposable clothes...great idea. It DOES get tricky about fitting into clothes, and what you do with the clothes that don't fit. My "heavy" clothes no longer fit me, b/c of the weight loss, but now I can fit into wonderful clothes I wore BEFORE I gained weight.

I've also bought new clothes (lots for the cruise) and use them as a motivation NOT to re-gain the weight, b/c they'd never fit if I were to gain the weight back. Everytime I get cravings for some kind of binge, I look at the adorable new outfits I bought and I lose the urge REAL QUICK, LOL. Oh, BTW, thanks for the tip about alcohol---I never knew that it interfered in that manner with fat-burning. Not that I'll stop drinking wine, LOL, but at least I'll know what to blame stalled progress on, LOL.

Cyndi--We're about the same age (I'm 53) and I KNOW what you mean about how much harder it is to lose weight at this age. I actually was kind of plateaued for about a month, but am now showing some (slow) renewed progress. Like you, I NEVER want to have that weight again....this will have to become a way of life....even on the cruise, I'll try to avoid really fattening stuff...although I'll indulge more than I do here at home.

As for my diet---I follow an overall regimine, rather than a particular "diet." I watch calories, fat and empty carbs, but do keep some luxuries.

I have a couple of systems that really help. For lunch (if I'm at work and have to eat out), I order a salad with maybe some chicken, and use only a vinager based dressing, and make sure there are no "cheat" things in the salad (like tortilla chips, etc.). If I'm at home, I'll make a salad (with no meat, but a little feta cheese) OR haul out my wok and stir fry a little chicken with scallions and other ingredients (depending on what's around). Yesterday, after church, I had a craving to treat myself to a nice lunch, so I stir fried chicken, scallions, in a nice seasoned wok oil, added about a tablespoon of a not-too-fattening Thai peanut sauce (45 cal per tablespoon) and a small handful of dry roasted peanuts...(a luxury, but they really made the dish). Needless to say, I did NOT make rice with this. It was yummy and healthy.

For dinner, I follow a routine almost every day. At the beginning of each week, I made an enormous bowl of fresh salad brimming with good stuff--dark greens, scallions, grape tomatoes, baby gourmet carrots, red cabbage. I then put it in a huge zippered freezer bag and have fresh salad every night without having to chop and prepare....Every dinner, I fill about 2/3 of my plate with a heap of this salad. I then sprinkle 1 oz of Feta cheese (it adds zing) and a small handfull of roasted sunflower kernels (a small cheat) for fun, and a TON of freshly ground cracked pepper. I use regular dressing, but it's pretty low in calories---KRAFT Roasted Red Pepper Italian.

Then, for my entree, I eat whatever dish I've cooked---might be a really fresh, healthy pasta sauce with a small amount of pasta, or a delicious chili (which I made last night from a new cookbook), with a small tortilla or a tiny bit of rice, or any other dish that's relatively healthy and doesn't have fattening ingredients. Oh, BTW, I use 4% fat ground beef when I use ground beef. I use olive oil in almost all of my cooking.....I DO love to cook and there are TONS of healthy but satisfying recipies that aren't just "diet" food.

Anyway, part of my "trick" is I make myself eat the huge amount of salad first before I touch whatever else is on my plate. I've actually come to LOVE that salad....by the time I've eaten it all, I'm pretty full and then don't feel deprived eating such a small portion of dinner, and am NOT tempted to go back for seconds...something that was hard until I discovered the stuff-myself=with-salad trick. Truthfully, this portion-control is a big factor in my overall weight loss. I used to eat heaping amounts of main course AND go back for 2nds and even 3rds.

I do enjoy wine with dinner. I avoid keeping anything junky or fattening around the house, so if I do get a craving (for say, microwave popcorn) there isn't any, LOL. I do "cheat" in the mornings and add real cream and sugar to my coffee...that's probably a couple of hundred calories right there!!! I don't drink regular sodas (I've always prefered diet) and don't have a sweet tooth, thankfully.

That's pretty much my daily routine, has been since November, and the weight really has come off.... I could get even stricter, but I'd rather diet moderately this way then live with misery and then rebound from the deprivation by returning to old ways. This chili I made last night was DELICIOUS, and since made with 4% beef is pretty healthy.

Let me know any tips or ideas that have worked for you--maybe I can incorporate them. What a great board to swap ideas. :)

What works for me is controlling the carbs, not necessarily the fat intake. With the absence of carbs in my system, I find that I am much less hungry and my body burns off the fat as energy instead of storing it. At least it is working for me.

One thing we do is buy more expensive meats at Costco. Instead of buying sirloin for example, we buy Filet Mignons and if there are 4 in a pack, I take three out and bag them with our foodsaver and store in the freezer. I take the one Filet (about 8 to 12 oz) and will grill that for both Diana and I to share and either top off with a small dinner salad or some grilled asparagus. I can even have it topped with some bernaise sauce (again because there are little to no net carbs).

Today was weigh in and inspite of my one evening binge, I still lost 3 lbs last week, so I am still on track.

Good luck to everyone this week.

Don - you continue to amaze me!!! :app: :app: Please, please send us a picture of you in your tux from the Silver Whisper. You'll be so handsome.

Liz - sounds like you are doing a lot of great things with your diet. I always believe the diet that works is the one that works for YOU!! Sometimes its a combo of diets. Right now I'm on the low carb (South Beach) diet but I found that I still had to count the calories. Like you, I've been having a problem with portion control the last many years. So counting the calories and watching the carbs is working for me. I'm not losing quickly. But like Don said, I am not ever hungry and my cravings are WAY down. I feel so much healthier now. I'm exercising 5-6 days a week, too. So I know that is helping. Even though I've only lost 15 lbs, my clothes are fitting like I've lost 25. So I'm now a true believer in low carbs and exercise (and always, always counting calories - at least for me).

Liz, I also like your tip about eating your salad as a 1st course and THEN the entre. How clever. That way your meal lasts much longer and you have the time to fill up on the good salad. Smart girl.

I've been eating more fish than I used too. I get the Groton's frozen fillets and bake them. Then I add a 0 Carb (Carb Options) terriyaki sauce to it (also the sauce is only 5 calories per 1 Tbls!!!). So good. I use that sauce on shrimp, ground sirloin patties, chicken. It's been a lifesavor for me. I get the good shrimp at Costco. It's frozen and I just take out as many as I want. Already cooked and peeled.

Another good tip is to put Laughing Cow Cream Swiss Cheese on celery sticks. Only 35 calories/1 carb per wedge. This takes the place of chips for me by satisfying my crunchy cravings. I also eat a lot of mixed unsalted nuts. I divide the can up into little baggies (1 small handful each) so that I can control myself and not eat all the nuts at once - :D . I take those to work for a protein afternoon snack. It really seems to help. I don't feel like I'm starving at dinner.

Unfortunately I do like sweets. Tom & I have discovered Russell Stover's sugar free chocoate candies (low carb too). Plus, I love the Jello brand sugar-free jello with a little bit of whip cream and slivered almonds (jello only 10 calories/0 carbs) About 100 calories total. This is very often my dessert at night.

I'll try to come up with more tips to share. Hope these are of interest.

I don't know what a Lawry's is, Don, but I think I'm glad I don't? I LOVE prime rib.

And, Liz, how can you watch the food channel nd not go running for your kitchen? I might be ok if I had just eaten a huge steak with fried onions, but otherwise I would go crazy. You are so good! Also, I need to Think Before I Drink. Alcohol just throws me right off the appetite chart.

Cyndi, you were just a baby when you got married! Congratulations to you and Tom. I know what a Ruth's Chris is. We have one in Mpls and love it. We ate at one on our wedding night in Hawaii as well.

Oh, and I found a new food. Blue Bunny Carb Freedom ice cream. It has 2g net carbs.

To All the Great people here;
I have been reading this thread for a few weeks now. I was mildly interested in the content, and then it hit me!!! I started to GAIN weight!!! Not ME!!! I NEVER gain or loose!!! Well, I quit smoking in November, and now I am up 10 lbs. I have never, never watched what I ate. I am the poster boy for bad eating!!! Lots of red meat, no fruit, very little salad, etc. etc. Thanks for the suggestions, I am now starting to walk every day, and I am watching the food network with more vigor…Low carb and lovin it!!!
Thanks again;
Bob

Wow, all of you guys---what great ideas!!

Cyndi, I LOVE the laughing cow/celery idea--b/c sometimes I get those crunchy cravings, too and I DO SO LOVE cheese!!

Don--Oh, you go, guy, with the filet mignons---I LOVE that cut and it IS so low in fat, too. Like you, I have bought multi-paks and then frozen the rest, to pull out when I have a real beef craving. I could eat filets every night......worst problem, though, is that I want a baked potato with it, LOL......

Bob--I smoke, too, and until I'm past my cruise (not till Nov.) I won't quit, b/c then my weight will no doubt go back up. Once I feel REALLY secure that this better way of eating is a permanent fixture in my life, I would like to try to quit.

Loon---LOL, LOL, it is HARD not to want to cook the wonderful things I see on the food channel....terribly hard. But, at least it gives me a sense of the wonderful sensuality of food and cooking without having to eat any of it, LOL. As I watch the dishes being prepared, I can "imagine" how they smell and taste, and in a strange way, I find that satisfying enough....Yes, I'd rather jump up and prepare them, but it's a pleasure to at least be able to watch....and quite often, I see a recipe that I CAN eat and/or one that I can adapt with a few cuts or modifications....

Don and Cyndi both--I've had the same experience that when I really cut down on carbs, too, I actually feel less hungry and have less cravings. And, Cyndi, I SO agree that the best diet is what works for YOU. I've seen people fail with many diets and then, suddenly find something that works for THEM, and they do great.

For me, the big killer is the portions....that's my weakness....and so stuffing myself with the salad works in that way, to control my extra portion cravings..... Wine is satisfying, too... my mottos is from that refrigerator magnet...."I love to cook with wine, and sometimes, I even put it in the food..." :app:

Oh, no!!! AFter having gotten off my "plateau" and lost 3 more pounds, suddenly, this morning, there they all were (all 3) back again!!! I can't imagine what I did....actually for the last week, I've been following my diet even better than before..... Oh, I HATE this...I weigh myself just when I get up in the a.m., so I know it's pretty accurate. What's hard about dieting is having to THINK about everything you eat....sometimes, it's hard to just enjoy when you have to count calories, carbs, fats, etc....I was so happy about finally getting off the plateau and here I am right back on it again. :mecry:

Try just weighing yourself once a week.

And remember, a pint of water weighs a pound. So some change in the food you're eating that affects water retention could do this. Or just eating more fibre could do it (water soluble fibre???)

Liz, Wendy has probably come up with your "culprit" for the weight gain. Same thing happened to me this weekend. I put on 1 1/2 lbs. My calorie intake wasn't bad, but I ate much more carbs than usual. I've already lost 1 lb of it. But I want to lose more, not keep gaining/losing the same pounds. <img border="0" alt="[bang]" title="" src="graemlins/banghead.gif" />

I know what you mean about it being hard to constantly count everything you eat. I think that is why I tend to go off my diet. I just get sick & tired of having to think about it all the time. But, if we want to keep it off (and lose more for me) we'll just have to accept it as a way of life. We can relax for a weekend every now and then. But not give up the counting completely. Oh well . . . no one ever said it was easy :)

I thought of another tip to pass on. Especially since you like salads, Liz. I love the creamy type salad dressings (ranch and blue cheese). What I do is thin it out with water. If, I use 2 Tbsp of dressing, I add 2 Tbsp of water and stir it well before I pour on the salad. It's the same great taste, but covers a lot more salad!!!

Trish - We were just babies - 19!! We thought we were so MATURE back then. I look at people that age now and wonder how in the world could they get married that young :D But somehow we've made it despite our youth. Glad you've been able to enjoy a Ruth's Chris. My husband was the construction superintendent on the one in San Diego across from the cruise terminal. We got several comp dinners for that job!!! Enjoyed every bite of it. I sure hope I can find the Blue Bunny Carb ice cream out here. I'll look for it tomorrow. I LOVE ice cream!!!

Bob, Welcome to this thread!!! We need as many people as possible to share the support!! Walking is my favorite form of exercise because you're out in the fresh air. I love to walk in neighborhoods to see the flowers, birds, etc. CONGRATULATIONS on quitting your smoking. :app: Since November - that's a long time!!! Since you've never had to watch your weight before, this must be a shock to your system!! We'll help you through it. Stay with us!!!

Wendy---maybe you're right, b/c 2 of the pounds were GONE again, this morning. And I think your advice about weighing yourself 1 time per week is really good. I've been checking in every day (first thing in the morning) and it just adds to that feeling of having to obsess about it all the time. I think I'll put the scale in a closet and haul it out once a week. I DO think some of the up and down may be fluid retention--has to be, to appear and disappear like that within 24 hours.

Cyndi---it IS so hard to have to live this way. Sometimes it's really depressing to think of living this way forever, but I know that I'll have to, or the weight will just come right back on. Once I get to a target weight, I think I'll occasionally enjoy a weekend of NOT watching/counting/measuring, but it can't be a regular thing. THANKS for your salad dressing tip--actually I do like some of the creamier dressings sometimes, and I've learned to avoid them, but sometimes I miss them. At first, I hated using the thinner, vinegar based dressings, but now, I've learned to enjoy them. What's hard is craving something like tuna salad, and not being able to have the darned mayonaise. (I refuse to use fat free, yuck). It's pitiful when a plain tuna salad with no bread, even, has to be an occasional "treat"

Bob---I'd love to hear about how you quit smoking. I've decided NOT to try prior to my cruise b/c I know that the weight will become an issue. But I'm tired of being a slave to this disgusting habit. It's so awesome you quit!!!

Liz, I HATE plateaus, but Wanda is right, sometimes it isn't so much what you eat, it can be a number of things like water retention. Also agree with only weighing once a week, though I have to admit, we all want to peek and see.

Cyndi, I guess we have a lot in common. Diana and I were married at 18 and next year will be our 35th anniversary. We are hoping maybe to celebrate on the MUSH cruise, but it depends on the pricing among other things. Of course we aren't as old as you, we are only 52!!! LOL Actaully I was laughing when you said "we thought we were so MATURE back then." In some ways I think I was more mature back then than I am now. We sure had to grow up faster!

You are right though about kids today though. Our son is 28 and our daughter is 25 and I can't imagine them being married and having kids.

Bob, I agree with Cyndi, your body is going through shock right now and you will probably have to make some adjustments. It just takes time. Hang in there!

Don - Hey!! I'm still 52 (till December) Don't make me any older :D :D Congratulations on your 34 year "young" marriage!!! It's great to hear another success story of youngsters getting married. See, it CAN work. I think it is part luck (that our views and desires grow together in the same way) and a lot of hard work and dedication. I sure hope you can celebrate on MUSH. You deserve it!!

Liz - Have you tried the Best Foods "Just 2 Good" mayo? Per Tbsp it is 25 cal, 2 g fat and 2 g carbs. I think that it tastes just fine in a tuna or chicken salad.

Another thing that I have found that helps me is to eat fiber rich cereals in the morning. They stay with me and I'm not starving by 9:30.

Trish

Oh no! I am actually older than you!!! LOL My birthday is the end of November. I just made the cutoff for school. Dianas is in January. I graduated a year ahead of her, and continue to tell her that it was because I was that much smarter than her!!! Actually she is the bright one and is really good at trivia. She probably could even have given Ken Jennings a run for his money if she was quick enough on the buzzer.

Thank you for your kind words and constant encouragement.

Cyndi--I've never seen the "Just 2 Good" mayo, but I WILL try it. I really miss having a good tuna salad, and I can't STAND fat-free/low fat mayo. I'll pick some up next grocery trip.

And yeah, Don, I'm going to try the weighing once a week--or maybe twice, but NOT every day. It's too awful to wake up in the morning (after you've been really good for a whole week) and see that you didn't lose any pounds, or that you GAINED a couple...it kinda makes you feel like "GEEZ, WHAT DOES IT TAKE??????!!!!!" So, I think by not weighing myself so often, I'll put it more out of my mind.

Don and Cyndi---well, I got you both beat, b/c I'm 53.....will be 54 in June.

Trish--I've had a lifelong habit of not eating much of anything in the morning (I know that's really BAD for you, but it's always the way I've been), but the rice-cakes sounds like something light and pleasant. Do you like them pretty well?

Liz - before I went on the low carb diet I had just gotten into the rice cakes. I LOVED them. They are fairly low in calories and took the place of chips for me. I even spread a little butter and parmesan cheese on them and toasted them in the oven. Yummy!! But alas, they do have carbs so I gave them up. Try them, you'll like them. Get the flavored ones.

Don - Tom's birthday is in November. He's 5 weeks older than me and I NEVER let him forget it :D :D I promise I won't give you a hard time about it :)

Liz - 53 (almost 54) is still young in my book!! It's amazing how many people on this board are around this age.

Cyndi---Oh, I LOVE the butter (ok, margerine) and P-cheese idea..... Although I'm not on a low-carb diet, I AM trying to avoid carbs except for at dinner, when I have a tiny bit of pasta or a tortilla or rice....but perhaps these snacks could fill in during a crisis when I just get that snack-craving.

About the age---I like Jean's attitude--she's in her 80s, I think, and has a kick-butt attitude (she's the one with that wonderful doggie who's driving the car, LOL). It IS nice that there are so many of us at LCT who are part of the "boomer" generation---lots more to have in common!! I think whatever age we are, we still think it's young, LOL..... :cool:

It's not so much that the rice cakes are carbs, but they are fairly empty, rather refined carbs, and because they are "puffed", they have a very high glycemic index.

Cyndi, Quaker makes these things called "Crispy minis soy". I buy a small bag of the white cheddar flavour once in a while for a treat.

I also like celery sticks slathered with peanut butter (in fact, I'm going to go make one now!)

Would you believe it, I lost a pound!

Wendy--Yay!! Way to go!!! Now, I'd LOVE some celery sticks w/peanut butter, but then, I worry about the high fat content in the peanut butter (which I DO LOVE!!!). So many things to watch for. Sigh...........