Nov 28, Friday Night:  I am happy to report that I had a wonderful and feast-free thanksgiving :o)  No stuffed belly, no weight gain!  I had my delicious soup as planned and I didn't feel deprived one tiny bit.  And I have no leftovers to worry about... just a nice big pot of soup!  I'm one happy camper. Really, I am.  It feels so good to think about food as a way to energize my body instead of as a way to sedate myself.  I am really getting addicted to finding the best possible way for me live the rest of my life without food being a burden on me.  I feel so free!!!  And I'm anxious for Sunday's weigh-in.  I can't wait!

Nov 26, Wednesday Night:  I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!!  Be good to yourself and remember, no one is forcing you to overeat :o)  I'll be eating my delicious soup (I'm using ground turkey so I will be having turkey too) and I will be very thankful for my new food plan that is going to let me lose 100 pounds without feeling deprived one bit!  I can't wait for next Thanksgiving to see where the scale is then!

Nov 25, Tuesday Morning:  I wanted to talk a bit about the upcoming holidays.  Holidays can be tough for some people when it comes to sticking to a food plan.  The funny thing is I have never been a holiday eater.  In fact, I'm not one to eat in public or with groups of people.  I'd rather eat at home all alone.  I guess that's why I don't eat at restaurants.  And I guess that's why eating with the family during holidays has never been my downfall.  In fact, I have been known to get through entire holdays without touching a morsel of food.  The danger for me was the leftovers.  When everyone was gone and I had all the food to myself... watch out!  So now I have changed all that.  There are no food gatherings in my home.  And if I go to someone else's home I leave with no leftovers.  This Thanksgiving I will be staying home and I'll be eating my delicious soup and I will be 100% content.  The best treat I can give myself on any holiday is to go to bed satisfied with how I handled my day.  There is no way tradition is going to get in my way :O)  And there will be no leftovers in my home.  You can make your own decisions but just remember... no one said you have to eat pie in order to have a great holiday.

Nov 23, Sunday Afternoon:  I guess I will be the poster child for the slowest weight loss ever!  But hey, I'm happy.  I'd still rather lose a tenth or two at a time and keep it off.  But I have noticed something this week and it's has been driving me crazy and I think I figured it out.  I have been very sluggish and more hungry than normal.  Then it finally dawned on me that I have been off my soup and have been eating frozen dinners... and that means I've been getting more carbs!!!  So I think the carbs are getting me down in the dumps.  It's neat to try different ways of eating and noticing the way food can make you feel.  With my survival soup I was always full yet never stuffed.  And I felt full of energy and never groggy.  So I think I'm going back to my soup!  But since I still have 12 frozen dinners to eat what I'm going to do is eat soup and one or two frozen dinners a day and see how I feel after that.  Then if I still think the carbs are affecting me in a bad way I'm going back to just my soup.  And I really do miss my soup!!!  I can't believe how much I miss it.  Tomorrow I'm going shopping for soup stuff and making a great big pot!!!  I bet my energy comes back right away.

Nov 19, Wednesday Afternoon:  I must admit, it feels good to be off soup for awhile and on frozen dinners.  What a treat to not have to do any cooking at all!!!  But I know I will eventually get tired of the frozen dinners too and will have more periods of eating soup, soup, and more soup.  Or in the summer it's usually sandwiches, sandwiches and more sandwiches (and smoothine!).  But for now I'm delighted by my current frozen dinner plan.  And I'm anxious to see what it will do on the scales!  I'm eating 5 meals a day.  As I stated before (at least I think I did), I'm buying cheap store brands on dinners, not the expensive Lean Cuisine or Smart One or whatever else is out there.  I pay just $1.25 to $1.50 per meal.  I buy some really low calorie dinners like Banquet turkey dinner (only 230 calories) or their new Banquet Selects (one is only 180 calories) and I mix and match them with higher calorie dinners.  When I bring them home I immediately arrange them in stacks of 5 and I make sure each stack is 1,500 calories or less.  Then I put 4 stacks (4 days worth) in the fridge (I let them thaw so they are easier and quicker to heat up) and pop the other meals in the freezer.  I eat one meal every two hours.  I get up late and don't like to eat right away so my first meal is usually around 1:00pm then I eat again at 3 and 5 and 7 and the last meal at 9.  If I happen to get up early I eat every 3 hours instead of every 2 hours so they are still spread out throughout the day.  Then before bed I still eat my popcorn and popsicles if I want.  Anyway, for now I'm loving it and I'm sure this will last at least a month.  And mentally I'm ready to be eating the smaller portions that you get in a frozen dinner.  And I really think the grazing method (eating every 2 or 3 hours) keeps the metabolism going at an even pace.  I'm so anxious for a few weeks to go by to see how it goes!

Nov 17, Monday Morning:  If you read my Nov 16 post you know that I was on my way out the door to do groceries yesterday.  I needed to stock up on all my soup supplies.  But as I tuned into the canned veggie aisle I stopped dead in my tracks because I saw someone I know.  In case you don't know me very well, I suffer from extreme anxiety disorder.  I can just about drop dead if I have to talk to someone in a store.  It's not because of the way I look or my stupid new short hair cut (see Nov 14 post) but for some reason I just feel like fainting when I see someone I know.  I think it's mostly because I hate small talk.  I just want to buy groceries.  I don't want to be answering the typical "how are you" question.  Gee... got a few days?  I'll tell you all about myself.  But you want me to explain how I am while I'm reaching for my can of mushrooms?  Don't think so.  I also find that I'm not in the least bit interested in anyone else's life.  I can't think of one question I can ask that I really care to hear the answer to.  How's your husband (I don't care).  How are the kids (I don't care).  What'cha been up to (I don't care).  I just don't care.  At least not while I'm pushing a grocery cart.  Now put a margarita in my hand and I'll ask all kinds of questions and will listen to you like you are the only person in the world who matters.  But if I'm holding a grocery list in my hand please pass me by because all I care about at that moment is finding the best deal on chicken broth.  Okay, so.... to make a long story short (or at least shorter)... I left the canned veggie aisle and wanted to get out of the store as quickly as possible.  So I decided in that moment to change my food plan to frozen dinners.  The timing was perfect.  I was just about out of all my soup supplies so nothing at home was going to go to waste.  So I moved two aisles over and grabbed 10 frozen dinners.  I bought the cheap ones for only $1.25 each (you do not need to buy the more expensive "diet" dinners, just check the calories on the back of the cheap ones).  I bought some under 300 calories and some under 400 calories.  I have them arranged in my fridge so that I have two stacks of 5 meals and I can eat all 5 in one day to get me to about 1,600 calories.  That leaves me room to still have my popcorn at night if I want.  And that will bring me down to about 2,000 calories a day.  That is 500 calories a day less than I have been eating so maybe that will move the scale a bit faster.  It has been 11 weeks now and I think I'm ready to cut back a bit without feeling like I'm eating less.  So for a few weeks you will hear me talk about my frozen dinners and only frozen dinners... and let's see how it goes!

Nov 16, Sunday Afternoon:  Another week gone by and alomst another quater pound off.  Does not sound like much but I'm happy as can be.  I'm eating exactly the way I want to be eating and I'm still losing weight.  I'm still enjoying my survival soup and will continue eathing that until it comes out of my ears.  I did try broiling some chicken but as I have stated before, I have a very hard time controlling myself when it comes to meat and I swear I could eat 10 chicken breasts in one meal and then I just don't feel good, both physically or emotionally.  So I gave the rest of the chicken to my mother and I'm sticking to my soup.  Soup and pudding.  And popcorn and popsicles.  Every day is easy and delicious.  Now I'm off to the store for more chicken broth.  I buy 20 cans at a time!  And if any one of you are thinking to yourself... gee, she thinks she's doing good by only losing 8.8 pounds in 11 weeks... (and I KNOW some of you are thinking that), the answer is YES!  I know I'm doing good!  Fantastic, really.  I convince myself of that every single day :o)  And later on down the road, that 8.8 pounds will turn into 100 pounds.  It will happen!  And it can happen for you too!

Nov 14, Friday Evening:  I sit at my computer wearing glasses.  Two rounds of Lasik eye surgery and I'm back to glasses.  I actually have two pairs because my vision is so messed up that I need one pair for close up but just for the right eye (and the left lens has to be popped out so I look like an idiot) and then another pair for watching TV.  My eye surgeon keeps promising me this will get better but I'm very discouraged.  But it's still better than before I ever had the surgery.  I was blind as a bat before and could not do anyting without glasses.  At least now I can see, just not as clear as I'm supposed to be seeing and my depth perception is way off.  Oh well... oh, on another note, I now look like a big fat BOY!  I have been growing my hair for about 2 years now, mostly because I got lazy about cutting it, but also because I wanted to donate it to Locks of Love.  So today I chopped it all off and will be sending out my ponytail tomorrow.  There is nothing much else going on.  I'm still walking on the treadmill... a mile a day.  Thursday night was the first time I did a mile all at once.  Just over three weeks ago I could only do a few minutes at a time.  So if you have a treadmill that you are using as a clothes rack clean it off and walk for just 3 minutes?  Too long?  Do 2 minutes!  Honestly, I would do even 1 or 2 minutes at a time and would keep track of the tenths of a mile on a piece of paper and would just keep doing a minute or two at a time until I got my mile.  And now I can do a mile all at once and I can even jog a bit and with NO HANDS holding on!  That took quite a bit of practice but now I can do it and I feel like a pro!

Nov 11, Tuesday Morning:  Good morning everyone.  My Nov 9 blog generated lots of emails so I thought I'd answer a few...
I could never stick to a food plan like yours.  In fact, I can't stick to anything and I feel like such a failure!  I've been at least 100 pounds overweight since I was in my teens... that's 20 years of trying to lose weight and still no success.
Oh, oh, oh... that statement is a doozie.  First, you do not need to stick to my food plan.  That plan is designed for me and only me (unless, of course, you happen to like my food plan).  Second, it's appears to me that you are very capable of sticking to something... for 20 years you have stuck to keeping on that extra 100 pounds!  Third, trying to lose weight is just that... it's trying.  You need to stop trying and start DOING.  You really have to give yourself some credit and do not say you can't stick to anything.  Forget about food for now... just try doing something you love and complete the task.  Example: knit an afghan, read a book, clean a closet, polish your nails... whatever!  Just pick a task and complete it.  The more tasks you complete the more confidence you will get that you are not a failure.  Then slowly start to make your own food plan and see how it goes.  You can do it!
I love love love pie.  It's my weakness and does me in every time, especially during the holiday season.  I can't think of anything to substitute for pie.  I can't think of a better version.  Any ideas?
Yep!  They make sugar free pies now or reduced sugar pies.  I know they are still loaded with calories but it does cut down a bit.  You can also try deciding what exactly it is that you like about the pie.  Is it the filling?  The crust?  The ice cream that you plop on top?  If you like the filling you can try just buying a can of filling and topping that with lite ice cream and leaving out the crust.  If it's the crust you crave bake a crust then make a pudding pie with SF pudding and FF whipped cream.  If you really, really, really can't live with a substitute then put it on your food plan just the same and make better choices on the other foods.
Darlene, I just filled my fruit bowl with something other than fruit and wanted to tell you about it.  Normally I have fruit and it never fails... they always end up spoiling!  But I keep buying them and I keep them on the kitchen table because that what I thought we should be eating.  They looked good but they always end up in the trash.  So now my bowl is filled with folded up slips of paper and each paper has something written on it.  Some are tasks and some are messages.  When the kids come home from school we each pick a slip of paper and we must do what it says.  Yesterday I got "empty the trash in all rooms" and my daughter got "do one load of laundry" and my other daughter got "smile at a stranger tomorrow" and my son got "say something nice to someone in your family."  The kids just love it and so do I!!!  It's fun and we actually gets some tasks done without fighting over who is going to do it.  As for fruit, I will now buy it in cans so it will be there when we want it and it won't spoil! 
Absolutely wonderful!!!  I love the idea so much and I'm sure other readers will too.  Thank you for sharing that with me!
Why do you stress that you eat such huge portions.  Don't you think that sends the wrong message?  Do you really expect to lose weight eating as much as you do?
Oh boy... here we go.  I stress that I eat huge portions because it's the truth.  And I don't think any honest message is the "wrong" message.  And I certainly do expect to lose weight eating as much as I do for now!  But if you read my food plan page you will see that I plan on cutting down on calories as I lose weight.
I can't afford diet food.
But you can afford junk food?
It's impossible for me to eat one way and feed my family another way.
Then feed your family your way!  Trust me, if they are hungry they will eat what you put in front of them.
My husband does not support me and every time I start to do well he sabotages my efforts.
DIVORCE HIM!!!
Can you print more recipes?  Your survival soup has become a staple in our home.  We all get a bowl of soup before our evening meal and I noticed that it fills us up so much that we all naturally eat less of our main course.  Do you have any other "all in one pot" recipes you can share... like chowder or stew or casseroles or whatever!
I'm glad you like the soup and yes, it is very filling.  And I do plan on sharing more recipes... just need to find the time.

Nov 09, Sunday Morning:  Well here it is... another Sunday.  This is week 10 in my weight loss journey!!!  I can't believe 10 weeks have passed by already.  How the time flies!  And I'm very happy with my results so far.  Sure, I could have lost a bit more.  But I am eating to my fill and I love my food plan because I don't feel one bit deprived.  So, as long as I keep going in the downward direction I'm going to stick to what I'm doing right now.  Personally, I'd rather have a steady stream of teeny tiny losses and keep them off than yo-yo up and down each week.  This way I know that the pounds that I have lost are gone for good.  I'm always shocked on Sunday to see that the scale went down.  And I just keep eating!  Take last night for instance... for supper I had my famous helping of survival soup then my delicious pudding fix.  I had a very late supper so when it came time to watch TV I really wasn't hungry.  And I got excited thinking that I would skip the popcorn and maybe going to bed on a more empty stomach would push the scale down a bit more.  But before bed I decided that I'd rather have my night time snack and not worry about the scale.  So I had my huge (and I do mean huge) bowl of popcorn (see my food plan to see how I make it) and then I moved on to a very big helping of SF pudding and FF whipped cream (rum flavor for both... sooooo good), and then 6 SF popsicles.  I almost had more soup too but I was stuffed.  I eat like that every night before bed and I'm steadily losing weight simply because I switched to sugar free and fat free versions of my favorite foods!  So when you hear people say you CAN lose weight and not feel deprived, trust me... it can be done!  I am doing it!  And you can do it too.  NO MORE EXCUSES!  Can't do it my way?  That's okay... do it YOUR way!  My food plan is not for everyone.  But maybe you can try something... please just try this and see how it works for you.  Write down your very own food plan and try to stick to it for just three days.  But here's the kicker... write down any food you want.  I don't care if you put potato chips on your list.  Just make a list of, oh, let's say 20 to 25 items that you would love to eat for three days.  Your list can look like this: fried chicken, potato chips, milk, ice cream, cookies, soda, hamburgers, french fries, mac and cheese, and so on.  Once your list is done go shopping, but try to pick better versions of everything you wrote down.  Instead of fried chicken, maybe you can pick up some breaded chicken tenders that you can bake (don't microwave them 'cause you'll lose the crunch).  Get some lite potato chips or fat free pringles instead of the totally greasy kinds.  Buy 1% milk instead of whole.  Get lite ice cream.  Buy sugar free cookies or just grab something cheap that has less calories than your regular brand.  Make a burger and squeeze the fat out of the patty with paper towels before plopping it on the bun (get lite buns) and lode it with lettuce and tomatoes.  Want some fries?  Don't go to McDonalds!  Instead buy some frozen fries and bake them in the oven.  Grab a low cal frozen dinner version of mac and cheese.  You get my drift?  Get everything on your list but try to buy a better version of each item.  There is ALWAYS a better choice... just get creative!  Now, once you have all your goodies GO HOME and don't buy anything that is not on your list.  If you have to shop for your family do it during a separate trip to the store (have your kids make a list too... teach them young!).  This shopping trip is for you and only you.  STICK TO YOUR LIST!!!  When you get home, put your list on your counter (or even better, get a white board and make it look like the "specials" board at a restaurant) and when you eat, pick something from your list.  Don't worry about how much you are eating.  Just eat.  But eat from your list... DO NOT STRAY FROM YOUR LIST!!!  If you can eat from your list for 3 days then you know you can follow a plan.  YES, YOU CAN FOLLOW A PLAN!  So what if you ate 6 boxes of baked chicken tenders and had a half gallon of lite ice cream along with two big bags of lite chips while watching TV.  So what!  No biggie.  You were most likely going to pig out anyway!  At least this way you have the satisfaction of knowing that YOU controlled your food choice.  YOU made a choice.  Yes, you are capable of making a choice!!!  How exciting is that!!!  You did not walk around aimlessly opening and closing cabinet doors grabbing stuff you didn't really feel like eating but ate it just because it was there.  Instead you showed yourself that you made a choice and you stuck to it... even if it might not be a good choice, it was YOUR choice and no one else's.  You owned it.  Once you know you can stick to a plan and that you can allow yourself to eat whatever your little heart desires you are going to have a blast trying to find better versions of everything you feel like eating.  You don't have to go out and stock a fruit bowl full of boring apples!  You know what is in my fruit bowl?  It is filled with colorful boxes of sugar free pudding and sugar free jello!  I even arrange the boxes so they are all face up and pretty, like a magazine display.  I surround myself with stuff I like and just pick a better version of my goodies.  Do I keep stuff off my list?  Absolutely.  I do not have candy on my list.  I do not have chips on my list.  I choose to have pudding and popcorn instead of candy and chips.  That's my choice.  What's yours?  Go ahead... make your list.  It's fun!  And I promise you will feel like a new person just by taking control of what you put in your mouth.  Don't eat just for the sake of eating.  Eat because you need to eat and eat in a way that makes you feel better about yourself.  In no time you will find that your original food plan will change.  You will start to make better choices.  You will eliminate foods you never dreamed you'd eliminate and you will add foods you never thought you'd enjoy (I never thought popcorn could truly replace potato chips, but now I'm totally chip free and loving it!).  And you will find that not having a great big variety helps you to not over eat as much.  Lately I have been hooked to my survival soup, my perfect parfait, my special cheddar flavored air popped popcorn and popsicles in a wide variety of flavors (including fudgsicles)... oh, and fat free hot dogs for snacks (I boil 8 at a time and I dip them in mustard and eat those wieners like there is no tomorrow... it's only 320 calories for ALL EIGHT... look for Oscar Mayer brand).  This is all I have eaten for close to two weeks now.  When I'm finally sick of it I'm going to switch to sandwiches and baked french fries seasoned with a bit of paprika, I think.  Not sure yet.  I'm also thinking I may do a week of broiled chicken, no skin, sprinkled with a bit of seasoned bread crumbs and a salad on the side.  Yum!  All I know is I will love what I eat and I will eat what I love.  And I will eat it until I'm sick of it then I will switch to something else.  And I will lose 100 pounds in the end!  YES I WILL! And you will either watch me do it or you will do it with me.  That decision is totally up to you!

Nov 08, Saturday Morning:  Sorry that I have not been posting much this week but I had Lasik eye surgery again on Wed and at this point my vision is even worse than before the surgery.  I'm very discouraged!!!  My surgeon says to give it time but I just have a feeling I'll be in for a third surgery at some point.  I never dreamed I'd have this much trouble with my eyes.  Oh well, c'est la vie!  On a good note, I'm still walking on my treadmill and still loving it.  But it's only been about 3 weeks.  The real test is to see if I'm still walking after 6 months :o)  I'm usually good at doing something for at least a month but then I poop out and stop.  I hope I can keep walking but I don't force myself to do anything I don't like so if I start to hate it I'll stop.  But now I'm walking a mile a day and even did 1.5 miles the other night.  And I'm still hooked to my survival soup and just made the most delicious pot with a mix of ground beef, ground turkey, rice and diced tomatoes along with three kinds of beans (pinto, black, soy) and some veggies.  I think it's the best batch so far (I say that about every batch).  I'm anxious to weigh in tomorrow but I'm not expecting any sort of big number.  I would have thought that all the new walking I'm doing would move the scale a bit faster but so far it looks like I'm still creeping along.  But I'm happy with any kind of loss and will not give up on the treadmill just yet.  It's bound to boost my metabolism at some point.

Nov 04, Tuesday Late Night:  I can't sleep because I'm worried about tomorrow.  I'm having Lasik eye surgery for the second time.  The first time I was so excited because I was finally going to be able to toss my glasses out.  Glasses bothered me for years, always sliding down my nose, hurting my ears, always dirty and scratched... just hated them, but practically blind without them.  Anyway, after my Lasik I was thrilled.  I couldn't have been more happy.  But after the first year I notice some blurry vision.  And now, 2.5 years after the first surgery, it's blurred to the point that I need glasses again.  I can still see, but I can't thread a needle and it's hard to read anything on TV... two things that are important to me :o)  But my surgeon is doing a touch up surgery for free so I'm going to try it again.  I just hope it lasts this time.  Most people's vision does not keep changing but mine did.  Bummer!  I do look forward to the valium they will give me.  And to the two sleeping pills I get for after the surgery.  It will be a day of complete rest for this insomniac!  Probably the only good sleep I will get since my last surgery.  And by sleeping all day I won't eat :o)

Nov 03, Monday Evening:  I think I have a new addiction... the treadmill!!!  Well, not really an addiction.  At least not at this point.  But I sure am having fun building up how far I can walk.  I've only had it 2 weeks now and in the beginning I could only walk a few minutes at a time.  But Saturday night I walked an entire 30 minutes with only one tiny break to turn up the TV (I've got to attach that remote to the treadmill somehow).  In that 30 minutes I walked one mile.  I don't usually walk that much without breaks but Saturday I was just in a walking mood.  What I usually do is hop on the machine a bunch of times throughout the day and during commercials at night.  I can easily squeeze in a mile a day without even noticing it.  I love it!!!  Now I just hope it helps me burn some calories :o)  It certainly can't hurt!  I need all the movement I can get.  And I find that walking just a few minutes a bunch of times during the day is cutting into my appetite.  I find myself eating less the past few days.  Maybe it's the treadmill.  Or maybe I'm just sick of soup!  Naw... I can't get sick of soup.  Especially not during the fall and upcoming winter.  I just made a fresh new pot of soup today.  I'm totally addicted to soup and pudding right now.  It's quick and easy and delicious!  And I feel that soup is so healthy.  I get protein and complex carbs and veggies in all colors... all in one bowl.  Yum!  Well, time to get ready for TV.  Dancing with the Stars tonight.  I think I'll warm up some soup too :o)

Nov 02, Sunday Afternoon:  I'm back from doing groceries.  How fun it is to pick out my flavors of SF (sugar free) pudding and SF jello and my extracts.  Honestly, I really am having a good time with this food plan of mine.  Anyway, I thought I'd share my recipe for my "Survival Soup."  The good thing about this recipe is that you can create it any way you want.  I give you just the basics and you make it to your liking.  You can see the recipe here... Survival Soup.  Enjoy!

Nov 02, Sunday Morning:  Oh how I love Sundays!  I'm getting closer and closer to my first 10 pound loss.  And I'm enjoying every minute of the journey.  Each day I feel more and more in control.  Each day I try to make new tiny changes in the way I eat.  And I'm simply amazed that I'm losing weight while eating like a queen!!!  One new change I made was adding something to my food plan.  I added fat free whipped cream!!!  I had forgotten all about this wonderful stuff.  Yes, in a perfect world I would eat only 100% all natural cream.  But for now it's all about calories so I'm sticking to the fake stuff just to satisfy my sweet tooth.  I add extract to my whipped cream and use it to make parfaits with sugar free pudding (see the dessert section of my food plan).  I now keep my two parfait glasses (I make them for my mother too) right on the counter with my other dishes (I keep everything I need right at my fingertips).  Lately I've been eating lots of parfaits.  And if I'm feeling extra naughty I'll just eat the whipped cream straight from the tub.  Oooh la la!  Another thing I wanted to share is my recipe for "Survival Soup."  But right now I must take my shower and head to the store.  I'll give you my soup recipe next time.