We went to the movies last night and I packed myself some carrot stick and hummus and a big bottle of water, instead of splurging on a bucket of popcorn and diet soda. You know what, I didn't even miss it. But I will admit to buying a package of peanut M&Ms, but I only had them after the carrots, and I only had 10. :-) I'm still hovering around 27 lbs of weight loss. Still working on the last few pounds. I fell off the exercise bandwagon last week, but I going to get back on it this week.

lydia -- the 100+ food Elisa test sounds very interesting. I may give that a try, eventually. I'm convinced that I have quite a few food allergies. I used to throw up when I was given white milk as a child. Never drank any once my mother figured out the cause. Except in elementary school when I was forced by a teacher and I threw up. Funny how I was able to drink chocolate milk, though. I read later (as an adult) that in fact the chocolate in chocolate milk reduces the allergic reaction. Anyway, regarding food allergies, I know I'm sensitive to wheat though I'm not a celiac. I am also sensitive to dairy. (Ask me why I can't give up my goatsmilk yoghurt, this is the last frontier for me, hope to give it up eventually.) I subscribed to the test at http://www.enterolab.com/ which is where I got the results about wheat and dairly. The test was expensive. I think over $300.00. Glad I did it though. Sounds like the Elisa test may give you the same results plus some. This food allergy thing is tricky, I think. One of our dogs now it seems has food allergies. I asked the vet to test and she said that testing for food allergies is not very reliable (for dogs). I wonder if this is true for humans? A food elimination diet was the only thing she could recommend plus eating only a particular type of dog food that was "engineered to have a small enough molecule size so it doesn't trigger the allergic reactions" (her words). I was amazed and am wondering if raw food has "smaller molecules" than cooked food, HA, HA. Perhaps moite's methods that she got from her doctor about measuring her pulse rate may be the best way. I'm going the simple route with this raw food diet (for now) because it meets many other needs also. I had a great day yesterday. I went the whole day without the "wave of tiredness" that comes over me every day after lunch. I hope it wasn't an anomaly. Bad news is that with the raw food diet, there is a "detox phase" initially where some claim that you are ridding your system of toxins. The detox phase can produce acne which is what I just got yesterday. I haven't had a pimple on my face for many years but I have two now. Oh well. If my energy level stays good, I'll have to add that as one more reason why I'm glad I found this diet. I was craving cooked food day before yesterday but managed to get by without it. Hopefully those days will get less in number. This was kind of like craving a cigarette after quitting, as I remember it many years ago. Keep us posted about your food allergies. I'm becoming more and more convinced that for some of us, they are literally killing us or are reducing our quality of life (for some of us) to a very very large extent producing chronic problems and diseases that mainstream medicine doesn't have a clue. In my case, I definitely feel like I've become a guinea pig for trying out different "cures". I'm hoping that raw food will by my answer. I realize that because there is no definite proof, I could be wrong on this but as my DH says, it's gotta be better than being so overweight and hungry all the time. We were killing ourselves eating cooked food so how could this be any worse.

Unbelievable! Moo had an ultrasound yesterday. I left him for the day and picked him up late, after work. My vet had the day off so I was told she'd call me first thing this morning. The phone call of doom in my mind. She finally called while I was sitting in traffic this morning. The Ultrasound came back FINE! No tumors, No cysts on the Kidneys, No Obstructions. The urinalysis also came back fine although with a little unexplained suger. I think its those darn Party Mix treats he loves so much, and I give him all the time. (I know, I know but I thought it was his last supper!) I can't believe what wonderful news this is. I cried anyway. So now I still have the problem. Why would he be loosing too much weight? Could it be from switching dry foods a lot this year? Purina one Chicken and rice, to Prescription allergy formula from the vet, to Nupro weight loss formula (I have a very fat cat too)and when Moo got sick, I went back to Purina Chicken and rice. And what caused him to have such a high fever on Saturday? I have to stay in my office all day before going home and giving him the biggest kiss and hug. (NO PARTY MIX!) I have to keep a close eye on him and make sure he gains and not looses the weight. The vet is going to give me another dry food to try to prevent any stomach upset.

I made these, they're great. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Dumplings Ingredients: 2 C Flour 2 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Salt 1 C whole Milk 4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil Preparation: Mix above ingredients, blend them well and turn out on to a floured surface. Knead 4 or five times and divide dough into two parts. Roll out one piece of dough to 1/8" thick and cut into 1"x1 1/2" strips. Place into a large sauce pan that you have place 8 cups of water and 3 chicken bouillon cubes that has been brought to boil and the bouillon cubes have been dissolved. Cook 1 half of dumplings until just about done and strain and set aside. Next finish the other half of the dumplings in the same way. While cooking the dumplings you can prepare the sauce. Dumpling Sauce 3 Tbsp Butter 4 Tbsp Flour 1/4 tsp Salt 1 C Whole Milk 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes (crumbled) 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 -3/4 C Dumpling Cooking Liquid (after dumplings have been cooked) Place butter in medium sauce pan and melt, add salt and flour, stir until thick. Mix sugar with milk, and add to flour mixture a little at a time and stir constantly with a whisk until thick and smooth. Remove from heat. Place cooked dumplings in dumpling sauce and add 1/2 cups of cooking liquid in which the crumbled chicken bouillon cubes have been added and stir gently, Simmer dumplings until blended on low heat. More cooking liquid may be added if needed.