Jen, glad to help if we can. Do you get Weight Watchers magazine in your area? library? I weigh 145 pounds at present, started at 157 pounds. I use about 18 points a day which works for me. I don't miss meals, I actually eat when I am hungry during the day but I annotate what/how much I eat in a diary so I don't forget. I know I am hungry mainly in the afternoon so that is when I 'graze' on healthy foods - fruit salads, low fat yogurts, low fat chips (small portions) and I count everything. At night I am more tired than hungry so I usually have a nice veggie/broth soup, some fish/meat (about the size of the palm of your hand and fruit or veggies. Some nights I just have soup and a slice of toast. Most of my food is in the afternoon. Do check the link above. Someone on one of these threads has posted a points calculator link online. Start reading food packages - avoid hydrogenated oils of any type. There is a lot on WW website but I can post more info for you. Please feel free to join us on the Diet Pals thread. Later on I will start posting more info on portions and points. If you can tell me a basic list of foods you enjoy eating, I can give you the points for them from my books. I have a family funeral today, so I may not be posting again until tomorrow. I will start a new thread about Weight Watchers basics. Cheers, McPeg

I am a farmer too, but 4 years ago became a vegan per a naturopaths recommendation. I was bloated, had chest pains, allergies since I was a child, my joints all hurt and I was so tired that I just didn't want to do anything. It was recommended that I eat No meat, no dairy, no salt (except an occasional sea salt) and No High Fructose Corn syrup or artificial sweeteners (equal, nutrisweet, aspartame, or sugar, etc.)....I now have more energy than I had as a child and I am 55 years old. I no longer have to take steroids for my lungs, allergy pills, inhalers. My joints don't hardly hurt at all any more. And I dropped 70 lbs. the first year. I feel great! Yes, there are days I would love a piece of bacon, but it really isn't worth feeling bad again. I have been working with people for the last 3 months who have had every kind of flu out there this year as well as bad head colds, etc. Guess what....I have not caught any of it and I use the same computers that they do and touch the same stuff they do. I was told that sugar and dairy break down your immune system and fresh fruits and vegetables(not cooked) build your immune system. I do know this to be true as I used to catch everything that came along. My regular doctor always teases me and says he can't make any money on me as I eat too healthy. LOL I do eat a small amount of dairy in the form of real butter or ranch dressing, but always make sure to keep it below 5% of my daily intake. If you have Netflix, there is a movie on there called forks over knives which is real informative. Some of the Doctors on there who did the research came from family dairy farms. My whole family does not eat as I do, so we still raise our own chickens and fresh eggs and they are chemical free and fed organic feed. We don't feed genetically modified products to our animals either. Quite expensive, but much healthier for us.

I subscribe to the NYT Weekender home delivery and with that package we get access to the recipes. We get an email a few times a week with links to excellent recipes and I just love the writing. It's really fun to read. I also subscribe to the print edition of Cooking Light and so I can access it on line to save recipes. About 5 years ago, I went on a diet to lose 30 pounds and I found that reading recipes (especially before going to bed) was immensely helpful in helping me control my urge to eat! I know that it sounds counter-intuitive but it really worked for me. Something about imagining food satisfied my cravings. I don't actually have to eat it! I have signed up for a few blogs too. I really like the Mediterranean Dish blog and the Proud Italian Cook blog.

-All the random jigs, jogs and bump outs on the exterior walls will add to cost and create a complicated roofline. -The secondary bedrooms, bathrooms, closets are too small to accommodate five children total and their storage needs. -The pathway from the mud room to these secondary bedrooms forces the kids to navigate around a lot of furniture in both the family room and game room to get to their own rooms. The constant in and out of kids going to and from their rooms will also be disruptive to those in the family room. -The kids have to walk through the game room/study room to go to another part of the house, which leaves them little privacy and is disruptive to the people using the game room/study room. -The exterior door through the powder room and so near the kids' rooms causes concern for security (and you may not like it when the kids' are teenagers too...trust me). -The sitting room is very small once you accommodate the clearance for the French doors. -The mud room is very small for such a large family. There is no closed closet space that I think you will want for overflow storage, especially considering how small the closets are in the kids' rooms. In the custom homes I design, we try to always include a walk-in closet in the mud room. This is important especially if you live in a climate with a change of seasons. -The master bedroom and bathroom and so large they are inefficient with a ton of wasted space. -All of the built-ins shown on the plan will create a lot of extra expense and are not the most efficient use of the space. There are enough negative issues with the plan, mainly as it relates to flow, privacy and storage, that I think you should scrap it all together. Do you have a builder yet? If so, ask them for architect referrals. Instead of telling the architect how you want to lay out your home, or showing them a stock plan you like, tell them all of your requirements...give them a list of wants and needs. All of the new build homes I work on (I'm currently designing seven) are from custom-designed architectural plans. Given the size and grandeur of the home you want to build, I think it's a necessary investment.