Hi everyone! Great to see folk coming back. The Atkins is really popular in the UK too. It seems there are now a few of us at work slimming down and I can see results everywhere. I caved last night to about 1 cup of popcorn. Tonight is movie night and PIZZA HUT (I thought that was NEXT weekend!!!!) I'd better behave myself today. I know a slice of pizza is about 7 points (a whole meal)...so I will start with the salad bar (skipping the pasta portion). Going to get some flavoured water to sneak into the movie and skip the high priced coke. Might even bring a bag of sliced, crunchy NO CAL veggies (yep - good plan) - like celery, peppers and carrots. Going to drink lots of water BEFORE going out to fill myself a wee bit. Pizza Hut and I are squaring off today - I HAVE TO BEHAVE. For those of you stalling - that has been my weight loss for the last few months and still the same - 1/4 to 1/2 pound and then stay there. I know part is my body and part is my eating but I am eating better, losing slowly, changing shape and generally feeling better. Got home last night and my stepping machine was at the back door from my ebay purchase. Today is my Saturday morning stroll - library, grocery - with my wheelie shopping bag - NO BUSES - and then carry on to visit two very young friends (5 & 7) to get my hair and makeup done (lots of fun). Finally drag my wheelie cart back home to get ready to go out to P.H. and movie. Keep in mind my neighborhood is HILLY, I will be carting a large box of laundry soap and other things that are usually heavy and library books. Will be very interesting over the next month to see how I get on with that stepping machine. I need to change my physical routine to get my metabolism going again. Even the lightest setting is not easy and I can feel the muscles I forgot about. This will be great since we are back into windy, cold weather again. YEACH. Candy - glad to read your post - you are doing great! It's good to see the Atkins on here too as the results are encouraging. I am not much of a meat eater and prefer more fruits/veg. Keep us posted you are helping us think about choices. Teresa I have heard about the South Beach diet. It sounds similar to Atkins. Great choices there too. Do you feel better as well cutting down on the carbs? Looking forward to hearing more from you too! Yellowhair - never hurts to reassess your habits. We will have to maintain our successes after all of this, so looking at your routine and checking yourself is probably something we will all have to do. Planning empowers you towards making that goalpost. Last week was last week. You are still here, still making progress. If I showed you my graph of weight loss since xmas it goes down, up, sideways, down, up, up, up, down, across - basically all over but in the LONG HAUL slow loss and it is moving down. That's fine with me. I mentally started this thinking - at least 6-8 months before getting close and then another 6 months of making sure I have healthier habits without thinking about it. Overall I am targeting 18 months of 'taking better care of myself'. We deserve this. We have looked after our families all these years, it's time to look after ourselves. Best part is, our efforts seem to cascade around us and everyone else seems to pick up on better habits to. It is true/proven that the meals we serve our families are the meals that set things - they eat what is infront of them. Really, no offense to the guys, but I feel the fellas see us as their 'mom' when it comes to meals. If we put a balanced meal in front of them - they just eat it. Also, Kathy posted a very interested link on an earlier Diet Pals thread about spreading the food around on the plate instead of piling it, using flatter soup bowls instead of large deep bowls - mentally folk generally thought they were eating the same amounts when in reality they were eating less. Is this a strategy/tool we can use at parties or events out? Instead of piling up the plate from the buffet - flatten the food on your plate, spread it out - eat slower, put your fork down - chat with your pals, drink some water and by the time you finish your meal the food should be registering in your bloodstream and you should start to feel satisfied. Do your homework - today I searched on nutrition portion control - here's a link with good reading. Have a fabby day - I have to get moving! McPeg Here is a link that might be useful: Portion Control

I've got one, and enjoy it periodically. You can take store-bought yogurt and make it into frozen yogurt...I like taking the Yoplait Light's in various flavors and making frozen yogurt from them. The Black Forest Cake Yoplait and Raspberry Cheesecake yogurts are both delicious frozen! Also, if you want to make ice cream from scratch, try one of the recipes that comes in the little booklet. I changed one to fat-free half-n-half and it was delicious! Donna

We've decided to go ahead and move all the boxes I've packed and the furniture that has been redacted from the rooms (now residing in the attic) to storage in our new home state. DH is coming home next week and wants to load up a truck to take back. He's crazy, but I love him. I'm trying to locate a professional home stager but it is not easy when you live in L.A. (lower Alabama) I need help getting them in the front door - that has been our biggest problem, then the inside. I don't want to spend another dime on the house without real professional advice rather than real estate agents who have had "classes." Obviously, their advice hasn't worked. I read up on them and thier fees and it appears that you can get a variety of services from an initial consultation, to a stage using your stuff, then one with their stuff and on up. I tried to get one earlier but she never returned my call, probably cause most of the interior designers work for builders and don't have time for us little folks. I think if you are in a slow market and have a hard house to sell it would be best to consult with a professional. Just my .02 cents.

I love TJs....we don't get wine in grocery stores here so I've never had the $$ chuck...but would love to try it some time. I've been addicted at various times to various things at TJs including their meringue cookies and their chocolate nonpareils. While their cookies are very tasty, I don't find any soft and chewy type. Great selection of chocolates from around the world....can use it like wine tasting. We always shop there for crackers as their selection of whole grain and multi grain is the best. Love their edamame crackers. I also get my whole wheat english muffins there. If any of you, like I, have certain issues, try their 100% cranberry juice. I put just a splash in a tall glass of seltzer and it is amazing. So different from the usual sugary water with some cranberry in it. Lately I've been buying their grass fed beef and it is incredibly flavorful, besides not having any pink slime (bleccch). But whenever I'm baking anything that calls for chocolate, I always buy their belgian chocolate. I make a chocolate lava cake using their dark pounder plus and it is A -MAZ -ING! I recently made Awesome Brownies using their chocolate as well. Excellent! I also buy their lightly salted mixed nuts and get other nuts there for baking and eating. But in our area, TJs prices their bananas by the "each" not "lb". Once I bought one of their chicken sausages that was really good, but since then, i can't seem to buy the right one again....they have several. I've been not happy with their frozen foods but based on your recommendations, will have to try some again. I typically don't eat any frozen prepared foods as I make my own.