What's on your PHOTO Friday Menu RNYers?

Cute pics!!! Love the tennis shoe one!

Teena, you have such a sparkle in your eyes these days! You look Great!!!

QOTD: My thoughts today are mostly with my daughter who will be going into the Army ROTC Program at the University of Oklahoma after she graduates next Spring. I do have a few military people in my family, but I've not been raised with 'military' in my blood if that makes any sense. When she chose this path I was very torn. Now I'm imagining I will become the biggest staunch Army mom supporter around. LOL I worry with the way things are right now, but feel a bit of comfort knowing she'll be in college during the next 4 years and (hopefully) safe from any deployments should things get worse than they are. My thoughts also go to my son-in-law who is a Captain/Pilot in the Air Force and has my oldest bonus daughter and their 3 kids abroad in Japan right now. They are scheduled to be moving soon, and just waiting to hear if they'll end up back in the states (yes, please!) or on to Germany.

Accountability: Last night didn't turn out great, but I made the best of the not-great situation. We ended up at Popeye's chicken for dinner! (ack, I rarely do crap like this, but I was out-voted). I did pick the beans with no rice, and skipped the biscuit... but I just can't NOT eat the crust! It didn't sit well, and I felt icky for the rest of the night. Popeyes used to be HIGH on my list of fast food joints... boo.

Picture is of me this morning. I love this vest! I bought it last winter, and while I don't wear it enough, it's so much fun! I would have never worn this prior to surgery... (I know we're supposed to be nice to ourselves, but I'm really hating all of the wrinkles and dark circles showing in this picture! Ugh.)

Weight this morning: 137.0/ maintenance diet/ almost 18 months out

B: last of the brisket/egg/salsa/cheese bowls I made 3.5 ounces

L: leftover wings from yesterday's lunch 5 of them and blue cheese and carrots/celery

D: Open... I'll be running my son over to his friend's house so they can go see RENT tonight! Fun for him! There are leftover pork chops in the fridge though, so may have those with cottage cheese

S: I have pepperoni/Canadian bacon in the fridge here if/when I need them.

Have a great weekend everyone!! Make good choices... weekends are always the hardest for me.

What a darling vest, Pammieanne!

Thanks, Karen!

I love that vest Pam and I'm right there with you on the wrinkles. I feel like when I lost my weight I became my mother overnight. I am sure to use face creams and moisturizers and I still just look old. Hence the bright hair colors--the gray just makes it look worse.

I bought the whole Mary Kay 'kit' for skin care a couple of months ago... spent a small fortune, and I've been using it faithfully... you know what??? I'm going back to my Olay Regenerist! It's cheaper in the long run, and I don't look any younger, damnit

I'll gladly trade my fat bulges for skin wrinkles, but I still get to whine about them

I haven't tried Regenerist--maybe I need to.

Pammieanne - I think you look beautiful, slender, and young! Love the fringed vest, skinny jeans, and those boots.

Warning: girly post about skincare below, feel free to skip!

I know that it's probable that as I approach goal (this time next year?), my weightloss will show in my face, making me look drawn and gaunt. I expect this. Hopefully in time this will smooth out a bit, but I know I will want to have a facelift anyway (along with another lift or two!). I have some favorite skincare lines which I alternate every few months. Some of the lines, products, and devices which worked well for me in my 40s-50s no longer seem to have an effect, unfortunately. Here are the lines I see the most results from now:

Clarins - Super Restorative line (I use the Day Cream as well as the Night Cream, have yet to try other items) - this is super hydrating and very soothing. I definitely have dry, mature skin and these creams are just the ticket for me. Expensive, but I find these for much less on fragrancenet.com and other places.

Tatcha - I love her Camellia Cleansing Oil - it's beautiful. You massage it in and then rinse with water. Sometimes I just remove it with a tissue and leave the remainder without rinsing, but not if I have taken off makeup. I also really like her Rice Enzyme Powder. This is a powder which you mix with water, then massage into your skin. It's an exfoliant which works really well for me, but I don't use it every day, more like every few. Pricey too but this stuff lasts a long time. I have several other products in this line, and most of them work pretty well too, but the basic Camellia oil and the rice enzyme exfoliant are my favorites.

Le Metier de Beaute - I like their cucumber water (called Replenishing Cleansing Water). It stings my eyes a little so I don't use it to remove makeup, though it's supposed to be fine for that. But it seems to work as a combination toner/serum on my skin so I like it under other stuff. I also really like both their Longevity Creme (fantastic) and their Ultra-Replenishing Solution, a very hydrating cream. This line is ridiculously priced, unfortunately. Nevertheless, I also want to say that I really love their eyeshadows! These are the best shadows I've ever used in my entire life.

Clientele - I like their Estro-Lift line a lot, the creams work well for me, noticeably. The only downside is that the SPF in the daycream can give a whitish cast and can sort of peel up into little balls on your face if you apply too much, so less is more. But the night cream is fantastic. When I use this I wake up looking obviously better. I'm not that into their cleansers but my sister-in-law, who is older than me, swears by the Soy one.

I used to adore the basic pink Oil of Olay, and it worked really well for me for a very long time - decades. But gradually my skin challenged it too much, and it no longer is as powerfully effective. I personally haven't seen results from their Regenerist line, but I know people who find it to be very helpful.

For my body I like best Lubriderm, the unsung workhorse of moisturizing lotions. I don't love the slight fragrance, but it moisturizes like nobody's business, especially when used on slightly damp skin right out of the shower. Then I top off through the day here and there with pretty scented moisturizers, more for the pleasure of the fragrance than out of need.

Good Morning

QOTD: My Dad was in the Navy. I am President of an organization that includes a homeless shelter for Veterans... Many of them are struggling with Mental Health issues and don't realize it. They are very courageous.... even in their present situation.

OK the Maplr Pumpkin Cheesecake was freakin' awesome.... Low carb, gluten free, sugar free and all that crap.. but not calorie free. So sent the leftovers home with a friend. I think I will make it again for Thanksgiving. I made a whole small 8" cheesecake rather than individual ones... so increased the crust to 1 ½ of the recipe otherwise made it exactly as written. I got the Maple extract from Walmart.

Maple Pumpkin Cheesecake

Food? Not in a groove lately.... not gaining not losing..sitting higher than I like. ...Normies think I am obsessing over the minutia-"You look great"... . of course sitting around on the couch doesn't help.

So many leftovers in the fridge.... need to get rid of some.

B: Latte, eggs and avocado, bagel spice

L: salad with chicken

D: probably more chicken TBD

Snacks: yogurt, protein drink, cheese?

Ex: PT

Good Morning Everyone

I'm glad to be back on the menu board again. I've had some stressful family times as well as thrilling ones over the past couple weeks and I'm looking forward to some normalcy moving forward. Through it all I've maintained my weight even though the food brain devil is constantly knocking at my door. I have today off and I'm really looking forward to some me time!

QOTD: No one in my family services. We are Quaker so it's unlikely anyone ever will.

B: See pic below! My very Favorite to relax and enjoy today!

L: grilled chicken breast with spinach and no cal dressing

S: mozzarella and prosciutto roll, protein hot chocolate, fontinella cheese

D: sirloin steak and broccoli

calories 934, protein 137, carbs 17, fat 37

One of these pics shows my favorite coffee breakfast with sf torani or Jordan's skinny girl and premier protein. I also love the foaming top. I also included the miralax!

The other pic I made when trying to decide what to wear for an event. I could fit my face in. It shocked me to see my body without my head and it gave me a self confidence boost. I suggest you all try it. It helped me with staying on track with the stress and travel!