What's on your Thursday Menu?

My parents got married after World War 2. They had seen a movie called "Cheaper by the Dozen" and decided to have 12 kids. There was a new baby every year for ten years. Then they missed a year and had twins the following year. When I was 13, I had eleven little brothers and sisters. Five years later, my mom thought she was going through menopause, but it turned out to be Peggy. They had a baker's dozen.

We moved to a house when I was three and my sister lives there today. I married at 21 and lived in Warren, Ohio my entire life. I can walk from my house now to the hospital where I was born and to every house I have lived in during the last 74 years.

None of us had weight problems growing up. Everything was prepared at home and very little processed foods. We had a lot of chores to do and very little time to sit around. Things like cake and ice cream, and soda were an occasional treat. The younger kids did have some problems after McDonald's moved to town and food came from there or the pizza places instead of home cooked.

I graduated high school in 1966 and got an office job at a company that had just started using a computer. I learned programming there and loved it. Then I married a hairstylist, went to cosmetology school and worked in his shop for 20 years. During that time I went to college at night and got a degree in computer science. I worked in that field until I retired at 61. My husband had died from cancer and I no longer wanted to work all the time.

After a few years of mostly play, I got a job doing income taxes and now do that part time from home, helping people with TurboTax. I have one son who is now 50 and no grandchildren.

My weight became a problem when I was diagnosed with diabetes at 39 and put on insulin. I had weight loss surgery 20 years later. It put the diabetes into remission for about 10 years, but it did come back and I am on insulin again. Insulin makes everything turn to fat and I have to be very careful with what I eat so I do not gain.

Wow, thanks for sharing. That must have been a full house! And a very close family. Love small towns. My uncle, who passed in 2016, had never left Binghamton, NY, where he grew up. He loved his town!

Mornin' All! It's much colder out today, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do exercise-wise. I missed the water aerobics class this morning at the branch of my gym that's closest to my house, so I'm contemplating going to an Aqua Zumba class at one of the other branches. I actually prefer Aqua Zumba to the water fitness class we have on this side of town, it's just driving all the way over there that keeps me from attending that one very often. But...I'll probably do it. This far-flung branch also added some new water fitness class to its line-up - riding stationary bikes in 3-4 feet of water. OMG - why does this other branch get all the fun stuff? Maybe I should move over to that side of town..

QOTD: I grew up in Ohio and North Carolina (the former until age 16. Then at age 24, after I finished my first master's degree, I moved to Wisconsin for a job, and have been here ever since). I have a BS in computer science, a master's in counseling, and a second masters, which I got in my 30's, in library science. Believe it or not, there is some overlap between these fields - esp the first and last. My two jobs in the library field (one with the state education agency, which has a library division - and the second at the university) both had huge IT components. I've been retired for four years. My husband, a former New Yorker, is still working - as a career counselor. No kids - just cats. As you all know by now, I spend my time biking, auditing classes, and serving on boards and/or committees of a handful of civic organizations. I'm also the legal guardian for a woman who lives in a nursing home who supposedly has no family, but I found out after doing some research that she actually does. I'm not sure of the story there.

I want to add that my food intake for the last four days has been fantastic! I'm so proud of myself! I've really struggled with that lately - and my recent uptick in weight shows it. But I stepped on the scale yesterday and discovered I was actually down a pound from last week - and that was with the conference, whi*****luded massive eating and wine drinking - occurring in the middle of the two weigh-ins!

B: plain skyr with fruit, coffee with half & half

MS: probably none since I haven't had breakfast yet

K: a Keto shake that I got from the conference (we got lots of samples...)

AS: may not need it because of the Keto shake, but if so, a protein muffin or yogurt with raspberries

D: salmon and coleslaw with Asian-inspired dressing

have a great day, everyone!!

P.S. that Mondavi cabernet savignon at the Costa Mesa Hilton was really good - I'll look for it here (although I need to hold off for awhile - it was too good - and I have an addictive personality, unfortunately...(alcoholism runs on my mom's side of the family (not her, but her two brothers), so I've always had to watch myself!!)

Congrats on your food wins! And thank you for sharing your story. I'm curious though, what makes a former New Yorker. That's my home state and I claim it...it sounds like your DH has written it off!

in his case, only that he no longer lives there. Although he still claims it!

Congratulations on your food intake and weight being down. Especially after traveling!

Good morning QJB and Menuers,

Enjoy the trip to the museum. Sounds like it will be a nice day for you. Enjoy.

I think I finally sobered up from the conference and I am caught up here at work. Yeah. Still struggling with exercise but I am going to take a HITT class on Saturday morning to see if I can get motivated again.

QOTD Born and Raised in a town 20 miles south of Pittsburgh called Canonsburg Pennsylvania. We are the home of Bobby Vinton, Perry Como. Mark Spitz, and the Four Coins. Married to Ron for 16 years and I have no children. It was a choice not a medical condition. WLS journey looked like this. In 2014 when I went through 6 months of approvals and weight loss and when I got my clearance and approval from my insurance, I chickened out only to hit my highest weight a year later. My turning point was when my A1C hit 5.9 and I decided I never wanted to live with Diabetes. I have friends and relatives who had body parts removed and I did not want that for my later years in life. I love to travel, and I saw that all going away if I did not do something and do it soon. I am 57 years old, and I had my surgery in December of 2017 I went in on December 11,2017 for a VSG and left the hospital on December 22nd with a RNY not my plan, but it must have been gods. My gains only came between year 4 and 5 and struggling to get back the support here is what I need to continue on my journey, and I am thankful for all of your support. Oh I also sale medical supplies nationally and have been in this position for 26 years.

Accountability: Coconut whipped cream

TSS: 4 years 9 months 25 days: 158.6 LBS, (Lowest 129.4)

B: Coffee with Coffee Mate SF Chocolate Caramel creamer

MS: overnight oats. I have so many protein powder samples I thought i should do this. berries

CB: Coffee with Coffee Mate SF Chocolate Caramel creamer

L: : Mediterranean chicken Protein snack select

D: Greens and sausage w/ Asiago cheese.

Exercise: nope

Hydration & vitamins: On track. I take a Bariatric Advantage Ultra multi w/iron I use bariatric advantage Calcium chews and 500mg of Magnesium. I also use Miralax and fiber in my first coffee of the day.

Have a great day my friends.

Brightest Blessings.

Chrissy

It's kind of ironic that we spent our evenings gorging on food and drinking boatloads of wine given we were at a WLS conference, when you think about it. LOL! Oh well - it was really fun. But back to it!

I have not been away from DH in over 20 years. I deserved to let my hair down a bit and not worry about everyone else *****lies on me. And all and all it was really only a 1lb gain so no regrets.

YES! NO regrets, it was great time and I wouldn't change a thing!