Thanks for these reminders! Most of these seem to relate to accountability. It's so easy to justify/make excuses for behavior. I think it's tougher to do that when you are accountable to yourself or someone else. That's one of the reasons I love this board. Even when I mess up, I know that others are here to support me and push me back onto the right track. Hugs, Stephanie

CONGRATULATIONS RICK! That is such an impressive feat. Your family must be so proud of you. I know that we are extremely proud of you. Walking has surely helped you attain many goals and I'm certain that your good mental as well as physical health benefits everyone. Happy New Year! Hugs, Stephanie

I'm sure you've heard this quote before... "Failing to plan is planning to fail". It just keeps coming up in my head. I guess because that's the track I'm on now. The planning track. Planning has always, even pre-op been the only thing that really works for me. Unfortunately back then and now the track sometimes gets a big wavy. LOL But this thought keeps coming up in my mind and it has been helping me and just wanted to share. If you think about it, if there is no plan then you just do whatever when the time comes. If you don't know what you plan to have to eat, then you eat what's there, what's available at that moment, that location etc. and those choices are not always the best, and impulse choices are just that, impulses and we know impulses can be dangerous. So maybe that should be the boards new motto for 2008... the year of the Plan! Some of us have met goals, some of us still have to get there. So let's PLAN on doing just that! Let's not plan to fail by not planning. Rules can be good!!!

Ok...now that you have me drooling...lol those sound awsome.....and wicked easy especially since I have most of the ingredients and the crock pot is empty and have magic bullet...gonna pop on over to the food tv see what they have next...thanks for the suggestions and recipes.... Jannine

we had chinese food for xmas eve, I think the first time I've eaten a good portion of it since surgery), I'm SO glad its gone!! I stayed away from things with sweet glazes like teriyaki, spareribs and chicken wings. Instead I ate the greasy fattening things like chicken fingers, crab rangoon and fried shrimp uughhhh.. It didn't make me sick, but it sure made me think about the post op days when I would eat that stuff once a week! We're having a small get together at bf's house since I'm not allowed to go out for the next few days (bf's orders after the dr. yelled at me today for "overdoing it" ). I'm going to make turkey kielbasa with (12oz sf apricot preserves, 1" grated ginger (or 1tsp ginger powder), 2 minced garlic cloves and 8oz teriyaki sauce) slice teriyaki into a crockpot with the rest of the ingredients, cook covered on low I found the NY Style bagel chips (they sell in bags by the deli) now come in multi grain and they're yummy! I bought some boursin garlic spread cheese spread on the cracker, making ****tail sauce (Laura Arnold's recipe - sf ketchup, lemon juice, horseradish) and layering a shrimp on top of it. I've also seen about 3 shows on food tv this week making a white bean spread that looks so good (and full of protein) so I figured why not! 2 cans white beans drained, 2 Tbsp roasted garlic, 3 Tbsp EVOO, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, salt and pepper, puree until smooth, serve with veggies or some whole wheat crackers