<p>thanalyst…that’s so funny about the soup. Yours sounds more exotic than mine…but we do share onions and mushrooms and lemon juice in the mix. I may add some more milk tomorrow for creaminess. H does not like broc so I’m on my own with this. I did make a yummy dinner though…artichokes, mushrooms, zucchini and tomato sauce over brown rice - with some wild salmon pieces mixed in. I tried to limit my portion and did pretty good!</p>
<p>And I just LOVE scallops. I coat them with aged balsamic vinegar and sear them in a pan. My H always asks for “brown scallops”</p>
<p>Sorry again about your friend MissyPie. I guess it’s a good thing that she found a diagnosis. I guess the steroids contribute to the weight gain. Puts things in perspective though…</p>
<p>BB…I’m very envious. But we did Florida last week and I got my sun in…no spring breakers where we were.</p>
<p>My friend is a brilliant lawyer who can no longer work due to brain damage she suffered as a part of Hashimoto’s encephalopathy. She seems to function pretty well, but she has *lots *of issues, the weight gain being the least of them. So as we’re all looking in the mirror and not loving what we see, let’s all be thankful for general good health.</p>
<p>Sabaray-Stress eater here. I wanted to snack this afternoon. I don’t think I ate enough lunch. I stopped at Starbucks and got an unsweetened ice tea. Turned down the sample of the new cupcakes. I was still tempted when I got home so I headed out for a walk. It worked. It doesn’t always. I am encouraged by the scale and I am not as tempted.</p>
<p>Agreed, Missypie! Good health is a precious gift - I can’t imagine what your friend is going thru. A woman with whom I was friendly with in college suffers from the same condition. She was a drop dead gorgeous cheerleader with personality to spare. She continues to have the same warmth and beautiful smile, but she has gained a lot of weight. It must be so hard to have been accustomed to being treated a certain way - and then feel the sting of disinterest. She has remained active professionally - but I am sure it has been a challenge. </p>
<p>Hey, soup buddies! I like your ingredients for broccoli soup. I probably would skip the milk and add a potato to make it creamy. And I love the artichokes idea. I created a new recipe tonight - but it needs tweaking. I will work on it for next week and post when I am satisfied.</p>
<p>Sabaray - also stress eater. I just don’t keep anything too interesting in the house. I walk to the pantry and the refrigerator and there is nothing there. </p>
<p>If I am really desperate - I drive to the mall and buy a box of soft pretzel sticks. NOT Auntie Anne’s what a disaster they are!!! I usually eat about half the box and I am satisfied. </p>
<p>OH - and homemade popcorn. Two teaspoons canola oil and 1/3 cup good popcorn in my W&S popcorn maker. Split with spouse. Not a terrible treat. NO butter, no salt.</p>
<p>toneranger, thanks for the tip on the balsamic for the scallops. I will definitely try that. </p>
<p>worknprogress, my broccoli soup recipe calls for a potato and I actually have a cooked baked potato sitting in the frig that I was tempted to throw in the pot, but I’m still using trying to limit my carbs until I’m back to goal (8 more pounds), so just went with the fat-free milk. I also sometimes put in fat-free sour cream (although have switched to low fat sour cream since I haven’t found a fat-free yet without additives. I usually use shrimp rather than scallops in my broccoli soup for protein. I keep a big bag of cooked shrimp from Sam’s in the freezer so there as an instant protein if I haven’t planned well by defrosting something.</p>
<p>My worst enemy in my cupboard is peanut butter. I had to put the jar out of sight the other day. Much easier if I don’t see it every time I go in the pantry.</p>
<p>Happily, thanks to all the excellent tips and advice I refrained from my usual binge because I’m stressed. I white-knuckled my way home- we’re in the midst of yet another winter storm here in VA- and had a reasonble dinner of soup. Prepared by my mom, who knew I had a tough day!</p>
<p>Ah - Menopause. I am just beginning with the hot flashes. They are waking me up at night, too. I am going to try to count how many times I wake up tonight. I wake up and throw the covers off because I am too hot. Then I wake up again because I fell back asleep without covers and I am cold. And then I wake up again with another “personal summer”, and on and on and on… I am very busy girl during the nighttime hours.</p>
<p>Some engineering brain should design a heated thermal blanket that can sense the body temperature gradient and adjust its temperature rapidly. They make thermocyclers for PCR that can change the temperature of the reaction chamber very quickly… I’m so not looking forward to this menopause thing!</p>
<p>good - finally fixed some Bionaturae whole wheat spaghetti tonight (picked it up at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago), and it was awesome. I think I could have tricked anyone with it, really. The best taste and texture of any whole wheat pastas I’ve ever had.</p>
<p>bad - I’m incredibly and utterly frustrated with my progress. Last week I was 1/2 pound away from the 10-pound weight loss. It was very surprising to me as I never thought I’d lose that much weight that quickly. Then, from one day to the next, I gained 2.5 pounds! Pardon my french, but WTH? I’ve been religiously doing 45 minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week, and have been pretty consistent with my eating… have made some serious changes in some areas, and some more subtle changes in others, but I’ve got the same eating habits now as I did when I lost the initial almost ten pounds. I’ve now lost 1.5 of that 2.5 back, so that I’m back to a net loss of 7.5 pounds. I’ve been very conscientious about weighing myself, in the morning, before I eat anything, sans clothes so that I’m getting a consistent reading. I’m pretty sure that I’m keeping my caloric intake at around 1500/day, + or - 100.</p>
<p>When I went to the gyne last week, she wouldn’t run the bloodwork that I wanted, saying it was too soon since my last bloodwork was done just last May. She also encouraged me to remember that if I wait until May, the results will be much better than they would now, after only six weeks. But, she was sure, with the amount I was working out, that my numbers have to be improving.</p>
<p>Next week I have a long weekend trip to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to see a couple of elderly aunts. I have no idea what will be planned for meals, or if there will be any workout opportunities. I’m afraid of a further setback. It would almost be easier if I stayed in a hotel, where I knew there’d be some machines to use.</p>
<p>teriwitt, it’s frustrating. I’ve weighed the same thing for over a week. But I remember that there were fluctuations last time I paid attention to my weight. I think some of it is cyclical and some of it may just be digestive and some of it may be that muscles weigh more than fat. At least that’s what I’m telling myself!</p>
<p>My weight can vary as much as 2 or 3 pounds from one day to another for no good reason (at least on my scale at home). It’s frustrating, but has also made me learn to accept a RANGE in my weight with a limit of what I’ll allow my range to be.</p>
<p>me too. my weight can go about 2-3 pounds, it seems to be related to salt intake for me. I can tell when I get up in the morning - if my rings are tight, I will be up. I don’t eat much salt, I never add it, but if I am out to eat, it’s a lot tougher.</p>
<p>Teri - hang in there. Just think, if you had thought you would have lost 7.5 pounds by now, when you started, you would have been happy. Just think how much progress you have made. You are doing terrific.</p>