I have to tell my experience with amaryllis. I purchased about 6 different ones on clearance one year. They bloomed well, & in the spring I took them outside. They bloomed again in very late summer, & in the fall I brought them inside. They didn't bloom during the winter, but did bloom again the following summer, & continued a couple more years until I forgot & left them out overwinter. I could kick myself for that because I've never seen those varieties again locally for sale. Of course, I never really gave them that dark, rest period. I think if you give them that dark period it lets them think they must bloom when they get light. Without it, they have a different cycle. That is just the experience I had & may be different for others.

@ Harold: You do deserve it. Your conviction and dedication to your health was tangible and contagious and your willingness to help the rest of us and have a consistently good attitude was inspiring :) @Marita: I'm in S. California. I try to eat meat in the morning. Leftover steak or chicken and my carbs for the day. Lately I've been eating a veggie burger for breakfast. It's easy, quick and delicious. Oatmeal and cereal don't stick with me long enough. I like my egg breakfast too: Four egg whites: 64 calories 1 C Spinach: 7 cal 1/2 C chicken (or steak/pork/whatever leftover meat I have from dinner the night before!!): 116 cal 1/4 C tomato: 8 cal 1/8 C feta cheese: 50 cal 1/8 C onion: 8 cal Total: 253 calories I saute the onion in some spray olive oil (0 cal!!), then put in the spinach and chicken until warm and just barely wilted, add the tomato and egg whites, and fold until cooked. Then put the feta on top (I use Spike seasoning) and let sit for a few minutes until the feta kind of melts. That leaves plenty for a slice of toast, some fruit slices, etc. And it's a LOT of food for so few calories. But meat chunks, cheese chunks, bread chunks in the morning are good too. It gives me good energy and fills me up, and I can kind of much for a few hours on that. I don't eat at home, I can't eat in the early morning, so I pack my breakfast and eat at work. This morning it's two scoops of chocolate protein powder 260 cal with one frozen banana 80 cal and 1/4 cup plain yogurt 38 cal. Total 378. Kind of a lot, but it's in two containers so I can ration it out for a meal/snack. I love fish too. Costco has great frozen fish (mahi, salmon) and I can just defrost one piece at a time. They also have good salmon patties- quick protein, low calories. Wodka, I can't imagine losing my home, community, way of life let alone dad and sister. I'm so sorry for your loss. I have empathy... I gained 10 lbs from July 09-March 10 after losing 28lbs from Feb 09 - June 09 with HWW :). I blamed it on the heat, losing my grandpa, family issues, etc... So, I've taken pro-active measures. I joined a gym (combating the heat issue) and am focusing more on strength than weight loss this time. Strong body, strong mind. I'm glad you joined us!! Use that $40 for a gym membership (and still have $$ left over!) or join some club that makes you feel good about yourself. It's easy for me to care about me and take care of me if I'm feeling good emotionally :) Have a great day everyone!!!

Good morning Iva! (and everyone else!) I went to the gym yesterday. 17 minutes on the stair machine (ugggghhh!!!!) I do it until I hit 150 calories burned, and I really can't last more than 15 minutes. Then 40 minutes on the elliptical, total calories burned was around 500. Then I went upstairs and did some weights. For the first time in a while I actually saw leg muscles coming up. It was really validating. Weighed myself before I left the gym and was 139. There is something so wonderful about moving that big block weight thing from the 140 to the 120 before using the slider, even if the slider is all the way to the right!!! Went home, made a big salad (black beans, peas, feta cheese, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, a little fish with balsamic vinegar and olive oil) Poured myself a half glass of wine and only drank half of that. Resisted the temptation to go out and get a snack before bed. Stepped on the scale this morning.... 137. 145/137/125 145/8/125 12 more pounds to go!!!

Well, haven't done so well this week. With SS having early morning wrestling practice this week, just haven't had the extra time to exercise. So, up 2 pounds too. Next week is back to after school practice, so hopefully can get back into the routine before turkey day takes over the weekend. 195/192/155