Good morning everyone, Linda, I don't know why you have gained a pound. I am fluctuating too. Yesterday morning I was 2 1/2 pounds lighter than this morning. I am now 30 days since my last period (starting to change last two years) and I ate properly yesterday. I am staying the course no matter what because I feel great about being able to control that much in my day. It feels right for me to eat healthy. My body will sort itself out and I am sticking with this. Linda you can rant here as much as you need to. We are listening and understand your frustration. (((((((Linda))))))) I slept last night without any help, yesterday afternoon I crashed too. Being the fall I just roll with it as much as possible. Thank heavens for the internet when insomnia hits. Matti - I've done that too. I'm not wasteful either but sometimes you have to do these things for your health. I am with you on that action. I'll be online this weekend too. I am taking apples with me for snacks when I go out, packing water and planning to stick to my guns with portion control during our holiday meal. I don't enjoy stuffing myself. How do you deal with family pushing more food on you? Here dear - you should have a piece of this too or more of that. Have a piece of pie - one more won't hurt you. My favourite response to pushy people is this one: Thank you. I enjoyed our meal together but I am pleasantly full right now and don't want to ruin it. The word pleasant is not a unusual term so it catches people off guard and they respond to it. My message is clear - I am comfortable. I don't enjoy feeling stuffed at all. More effective than I saying you are on a diet because there are those who like to sabotage efforts because they have their own issues to deal with. This throws them off to. Everyone wants to feel good. So I use this psychological feel good word that everyone can relate to. I have found this to be most effective. Stick with me - we can do this. Follow your dream, take care of yourself because you deserve good health. You deserve to take care of yourself for a change. I hit a lower weight yesterday so I know my body is heading that way. I am sticking with it this weekend. In the meantime while the scales dance around my body is changing. Let's all not go past the "pleasantly full" when eating. You'll thank yourself later. Have a great day my friends! Cheers, Peggy

I drive a lot less then I use to running errands. I combine several into one trip and wait till I do have more then one errand before I go. I compare gas prices when out. I grow my own veggies all year long especially salad stuff like lettuce, tomatoes and peppers. I wish I could grow cukes but never do well on the cool coast. I have 3 compost piles. I freeze or can any extras. I bought a dehydrator at the thrift store and hope to try that. I shop at thrift stores and discount stores (Ross, Marshalls, TJ Max) for clothes and look for sales. Even the thrift store has a half price day. I only buy what I need like jeans when the old ones wear out. And I sew, turning old into new. I cut off the sleeves of long sleeve T-shirts when the cuffs wear out and turn them into short sleeve T-shirts. My Mom use to turn the cuffs and collars on dress shirts. She also use to cut a sheet in half when the center wore out and sew the two outside edges together and you have a new sheet. I buy certain items like paper products, canned goods, and meat in bulk at Costco. I split up the meat and use my sealer then freeze it. And we eat very little meat, about twice a week. I make a lot of non meat dishes. I read this somewhere that you can use half the amount it calls for in detergent or soap in your laundry and dishwasher and they get just as clean. I buy box color and do my own hair and also don't get massages/pedicures or manicures. I go to the cheap hair cutting chain places for a hair cut. I shop at Big Lots, Dollar Store. That is where I buy snacks and some canned food. Always check the dates though. I buy cleaning supplies and shampoo and other personal hygiene products there. I am not sold on buying a certain brand, just get the cheapest. I buy cheap shoes at Kmart and Payless Shoes. I an not a shoe fashion person so just look for ones that are comfortable and fit. I buy all my purses at the thrift store. I can't believe women pay $200 or more for purses. Sorry, but I think that is insane. We check out books and DVDs from the library. The only time I buy books is from the thrift stores or online discount places like Half.com or ebay. And we have a used bookstore locally that will give you store credit (1/2 book value) or buy them (1/3 book value) for your old books. Ones they don't take I send to my Mom or give to the library for their sales. We only go out to eat for special occasions like birthdays and anniversary. I make almost all the meals at home from scratch, no pre-made package food that you just pop into the microwave. DH says I am a better cook then most of the restaurants anyway. And after working in a restaurant during college, I am a little leery of eating out. DH and I, when I was working, brown bagged it for lunch and always had breakfast and dinner at home. He has been taking his lunch to work for 32 years. Imagine how much he has saved. We haven't been on a vacation for 8 years. We use that time to work on house projects. We do all of the work we possibly can ourselves like digging out the septic tank. We had to pay someone to put it in because we didn't have the equipment but we saved thousands doing the digging. We pay off the credit card (1) every month. It is the Costco AE card and we get cash back at the end of the year. A big way to save is don't have a lot of credit cards, it can get out of hand. I either live without or buy things on Craigslist that I want. I just got a 21 speed aluminum bike in great shape and only 2 years old for $60. It was $310 new. I also sell things that we don't need or want anymore on ebay and Craigslist. Why keep it if you don't use it. We also give a lot to the charities. DH likes to clean out the house from one end to the other every couple of years. We use ceiling fans and open windows when it is hot. No A/C. In winter we use the fireplace to take the chill off the main area and don't turn on the heat if we are not going to be around. We cut our own wood from the trees we have been growing for 22 years. And always plant more. There is probably more but can't think of them now. Two good books to read are The Tightwad Gazette I & II by Amy Dacyczyn. I got both copies at the thrift store for a $1 each. Remember Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Clare

My adorable and inspiring Great Pumpkin Cookbook from Ruth Arrived yesterday with the mail forwarded from AZ. It's a winner even if it took the scenic route and arrived after the contest ended.. I love Pumpkin in almost any fashion (NO Pumpkin Spice Lattes for me) and have a good supply of nice winter squash. Look forward to trying several of these recipes.Tammy also sent laminated cards with substitutions and measures. Very useful and handy thanks Tammy. Again sorry about all the confusion over addresses and deliveries but All's well that ends well. I am redoing and expanding your book a bit should get it done and mailed by the end of the week

Agree with the somewhat misplaced emphasis on gifts in our culture. I have never really liked the idea of giving guests gifts or favors at weddings, a custom that has seeped into adult birthday parties, christmas parties and even ordinary dinner parties. I do think that anyone in a position to do so should establish an investment account for their kid and have them read the statements and follow their stocks or mutual funds. Eventually they will appreciate it. We used to say our DD pinches pennies until Lincoln’s face bleeds— I don’t know what’s on a penny now, but she’s still at it. She had many merit scholarships and grants and basically paid for her own education, all three degrees. We contributed in a small way to her living expenses for her undergraduate degree, but once she was working she paid for the second and third without asking us for a dime. Some kids are just made that way. But she never turned down a clothes shopping trip! In her junior year of college I surprised her with a one day trip to the Mall of America. We flew up and back and bought her a new spring and summer wardrobe in a day.