for fun: Do/Would you still put on all your makeup and decent clothes if you are quarantined

[Roger88]

2 hours ago, awhfy said:

So we’ve got over a foot of snow & still snowing heavily...I think it’s going to be a spaghetti & meatball day!!!  Snow is very light & fluffy but it’s on top of about an inch of ice. Glad I’m retired!!!

This year's winter is the most snowy in the world in general. It has something to do with planet movement or climate change that occurs more quickly now. Well, at least there wasnt something to dangerous 

[Lois R]

Hi again, well, I just saw something from the Governor and will see if he keeps it honest.

He said here in Florida they are going to lower the age of folks who want a vaccination 

"sometime in March".   He was  here in Jacksonville today and those were his words

at a Press Conference. So lets see what happens next month.....which really starts this weekend.

[slidergirl]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi again, well, I just saw something from the Governor and will see if he keeps it honest.

He said here in Florida they are going to lower the age of folks who want a vaccination 

"sometime in March".   He was  here in Jacksonville today and those were his words

at a Press Conference. So lets see what happens next month.....which really starts this weekend.

I hope you have one of the "right" Zip Codes...

 

I got the appointment because UT just dropped their age to 65+ starting this week.  

[Lois R]

3 hours ago, iheartbda said:

Hi Lois, I haven’t been in CC for a couple of years and just decided to drop in and see what’s going on.😀 I think I still have your email somewhere so want to catch up with you privately.

Hey Stranger😃good to see you again........drop in anytime!  Hope you are doing well🙂

[Lois R]

25 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

I hope you have one of the "right" Zip Codes...

 

I got the appointment because UT just dropped their age to 65+ starting this week.  

HaHa LOL......if he opens it up to more folks under 65 then the zip code won't matter. But I 

understand your point.

[cruise kitty]

6 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi again, well, I just saw something from the Governor and will see if he keeps it honest.

He said here in Florida they are going to lower the age of folks who want a vaccination 

"sometime in March".   He was  here in Jacksonville today and those were his words

at a Press Conference. So lets see what happens next month.....which really starts this weekend.

Hi Lois, I hope you can get an appointment soon!  

[purduemom1]

Lois, Christy, Debbie and anyone else battling the darn Covid#, I‘m right there with you! They just sorta show up uninvited don’t they? In my case it doesn’t help that my DH can eat anything and in any quantity and not gain weight😏. 
 

Kat, jury duty, ugh! Maybe you can be excused if you tell them you are in the high risk group because you are a senior. Sorry to hear that the vertigo is bothering you again. Hope it goes away soon. Glad you will soon get the vaccine.

 

Lois, I hope you can get an appointment soon. You have had enough health issues to deal with, you certainly should qualify for the vaccine.
 

Debbie have you had your second dose? I know you are looking forward to a sleep over with your grandkids. Congrats on the long anticipated hair cut. I got one on Tuesday. So much easier to style now. Yay for your booked cruise. Something to look forward to.

 

Melody and Kat,I bet you are looking forward to warmer days and the demise of that ice layer. I love the snow-as long as I don’t have to shovel it!
 

I had a Zoom visit with extended family including my 95 yr old aunt who has recovered from Covid. She said she has good and bad days now. Unfortunately her youngest child is now in hospice care so I imagine knowing she is going to loose him affects her health. I can’t imagine the grief she must feel. It’s a very sad situation.

 

Time to pick up some plants for outdoor planters. Winter plants are looking pretty sad. Can’t believe that March is only a few days away.

 

Time for bed, good night everyone!

Sharon

[Anita Latte]

The COVID weight gain is real. I had realized that our “celebrations” because DS was back with us was becoming the norm and so I decided to cut out alcohol but it hasn’t had quite the desired effect. I stopped gaining I think but I didn’t start losing. Recently I’ve started up my physical therapy that I should have been doing all along for my ACLD knee. I’m on day 4! lol It’s disheartening to be faced with my loss of strength...how simple leg raises are literally kicking my butt...or cramping my butt😜

[Lois R]

I decided to clean out my pantry this morning and gave away a bunch of food. Things that 

maybe I could have kept but decided even if it said low carbs (protein bars for example) it had

a zillion other artificial ingredients.  I had 4 or 5 different brands of those protein type bars

(yes, I had tried different ones LOL) I had some other stuff too and my shelves look pretty barren now.

 

I did go to the grocery store and did not buy much of those "dry goods".......I did get 2 different

bags of nuts which I know are ok to snack on.  I bought different berries😃....I know those are

good and I love them. Got some spring salad mixes as well.  Got some hummus and Tzatkizi 

and some carrots/cucumbers and tomatoes.  Got some other stuff too--veggies. Some of them are frozen but nothing extra in them. Just to steam in the bag.

I didn't buy anything for a sweet tooth.  Will see how things progress. 

[cruise kitty]

Hi Ladies!

 

Sharon, yes I got my 2nd shot just a couple hours ago!  woo hoo!   & also, very sorry to hear about your cousin...

 

Anita, nice to "see" you,  & congrats on having son at home, I didn't realize he was back, I bet you are quite happy & relieved to have him home, so of course you celebrated !

 

Lois, good on you for the pantry clean out, & the healthy food choices, it's so hard!   I really need to go through the pantry & figure out what to do with some of the weird things I bought last year when nothing normal was available....  anyone want 8 cans of trader joes eggplant with tomato & onions lol ;)

[cruise kitty]

ok, yikes I did not mean for my vaccine picture to be life sized, sorry guys.

[PurpleHays]

I try to eat most food as close to natural as I can, but I do eat one serving of sugar free candy a day. Helps keep the cravings down. Hubby does most of the cooking, but he's not as motivated as I am (though he did tell me my @$$ was looking good in my jeans this morning). He buys and eats/drinks more convenience foods than I do.

 

@Lois RThe only protein bars I eat are Clif bars and only once or twice a week. I try to stick to low carb with tiny cheats like the Sargento balanced break snacks. They have cheese, nuts, and different sweets like banana chips, raisins, or chocolate chips. Small cheats. I find the more protein I eat, the less junk food I crave.

[Lois R]

I really don't eat a lot of junk food. I think it is because I am basically doing nothing (most of the time) and those protein bars have more additives than I realized.

And truthfully, they taste good and I ate them more often than I should..  When I say junk food, I mean candy, chips, etc......I don't even keep candy in the house.

So, the only thing I can do is try to make a change.  As for snacks, well, my true weakness is Ice Cream (I admit, I LOVE IT).

  I try to buy light ice cream or the stuff that is lower in carbs but it doesn't

taste as good. 

 

I have had those Sargento snacks........they are good😃

[PurpleHays]

I saw that Breyer's has a "carb conscious" ice cream, but I didn't explore too far--it was only in chocolate or vanilla at the local grocery store.  And there may be non-healthy ingredients in a protein bar, but I can grab one in a hurry for work lunch if hubby didn't make my salad (bless him for doing that most days!) and it will hold me until dinnertime.

[Lois R]

Hi, oh, I wasn't criticizing you for eating those bars,  I was eating them all the time. So, that 

probably wasn't the best thing for me to do.  There are so many brands out there!  I would buy

them to try them...(one or two) of different brands......It just made me think I could probably

eat some grapes and it would be better for me.  If they had something say, Oats/nuts/seeds

together without anything artificial, I would like that🙂...say with a teeney bit of honey to keep

it together..........I guess I could make it myself LOL

[Anita Latte]

4 hours ago, cruise kitty said:

Hi Ladies!

 

Sharon, yes I got my 2nd shot just a couple hours ago!  woo hoo!   & also, very sorry to hear about your cousin...

 

Anita, nice to "see" you,  & congrats on having son at home, I didn't realize he was back, I bet you are quite happy & relieved to have him home, so of course you celebrated !

 

Lois, good on you for the pantry clean out, & the healthy food choices, it's so hard!   I really need to go through the pantry & figure out what to do with some of the weird things I bought last year when nothing normal was available....  anyone want 8 cans of trader joes eggplant with tomato & onions lol 😉

 

Love the hat!

 

DS is in London. I haven’t seen him since we sent him back in August before the academic year began. I was referring to celebrating when he came home last March. My birthday is March and it was like a gift to have him home even if the reason was stupid COVID. I was debating whether to stop celebrating at the end of May, seeing how that week and weekend went and officially started abstaining June 1, though I really started before then. 
 

I’m hoping to see DS this summer.

 

Lois, I have a backpackers cookbook and it has recipes for granola bars in it. Pretty simple but I’ve never made any. DH and I have looked at so many ingredients on the protein bars and so many are full of just too much stuff. We’ve found a couple to try at Sprouts. They are convenient for breakfast on the go when DH and I was to hit the road...keeps us out of drive thru lines. We haven’t really liked any that we’ve tried much and I keep thinking I should start experimenting with the granola bar recipe.

[cruise kitty]

2 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

 

Love the hat!

 

DS is in London. I haven’t seen him since we sent him back in August before the academic year began. I was referring to celebrating when he came home last March. My birthday is March and it was like a gift to have him home even if the reason was stupid COVID. I was debating whether to stop celebrating at the end of May, seeing how that week and weekend went and officially started abstaining June 1, though I really started before then. 
 

I’m hoping to see DS this summer.

 

Lois, I have a backpackers cookbook and it has recipes for granola bars in it. Pretty simple but I’ve never made any. DH and I have looked at so many ingredients on the protein bars and so many are full of just too much stuff. We’ve found a couple to try at Sprouts. They are convenient for breakfast on the go when DH and I was to hit the road...keeps us out of drive thru lines. We haven’t really liked any that we’ve tried much and I keep thinking I should start experimenting with the granola bar recipe.

Anita, I'm sorry I misunderstood, hopefully zoom & FaceTime are keeping you going.  

 

Bar wise, I love the kind bars, but I try to limit them...never thought about making my own....  

 

well, I'm tired, & it's definitely time for bed, have a good night everyone :)

[Lois R]

Good morning, I have tried plenty of the KIND bars......they are very good.  I know that old saying

"everything in moderation" is supposed to be the way to go LOL....but I went over the top with

trying different bars with all the different flavor offerings.😲

 

As for making Granola, I googled "making granola" and you can guess how many different 

sites popped up.....tons and tons. 

 

I forgot to tell you what I did buy to try and this is for baking, almond flour. Any of you try it?

I thought I could make a healthier blueberry muffin. I found a recipe that has the almond flour

and no processed sugars in it. Not sure how good it is going to taste but it does say to use honey.

I may try it today. Will let you know how they come out.

[cruisemom42]

Speaking of COVID weight gain, working from home has definitely been tough for me. I know I've gained weight -- I am tied to my computer all day and have a lot of virtual meetings from early morning through around 2pm. I can't wait until that late to eat lunch, so I end up grabbing something quickly (like a granola bar or something less healthy) then still eating lunch after and usually too much because I feel like I'm starving.  I'm trying to eat better quality noshes but portion control is also a big part for me.

 

Also worrisome, for me, is that I feel like I'm very out of shape. Basically been stuck in this house for a year now with very little motivation to do more than take the occasional walk around the neighborhood. I've never been a fan of exercise machines and have nothing like that at home (would NOT go to a gym here, not until vaccination levels are higher).  And I'm losing flexibility since I basically sit all day. 

 

Anyone know of any good you tube videos for stretching/flexibility? Simple ones, I am not a human pretzel even under the best of conditions!  When I was young and took ballet for a couple of years the teacher commented even then that I wasn't very flexible!

 

[awhfy]

Lois, any processed food has stuff we probably shouldn’t be eating. I’ve found Premier protein drinks (30 grams of protein, 130 calories) are a fabulous meal replacement. I try to have eggs & fruit for breakfast, protein drink for lunch & regular dinner. I’m also an ice cream fanatic. I’ve discovered the mini ice cream cones...only have one!  They’re tasty, 110 calories & take the edge off 

[cruise kitty]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Speaking of COVID weight gain, working from home has definitely been tough for me. I know I've gained weight -- I am tied to my computer all day and have a lot of virtual meetings from early morning through around 2pm. I can't wait until that late to eat lunch, so I end up grabbing something quickly (like a granola bar or something less healthy) then still eating lunch after and usually too much because I feel like I'm starving.  I'm trying to eat better quality noshes but portion control is also a big part for me.

 

Also worrisome, for me, is that I feel like I'm very out of shape. Basically been stuck in this house for a year now with very little motivation to do more than take the occasional walk around the neighborhood. I've never been a fan of exercise machines and have nothing like that at home (would NOT go to a gym here, not until vaccination levels are higher).  And I'm losing flexibility since I basically sit all day. 

 

Anyone know of any good you tube videos for stretching/flexibility? Simple ones, I am not a human pretzel even under the best of conditions!  When I was young and took ballet for a couple of years the teacher commented even then that I wasn't very flexible!

 

 

I like this lady for beginning stuff: 

 

 

Also, there is a lady on Instagram I follow, it's great because she is in her 70's & did not start exercising until about 3 years ago,  google "train with Joan"  she's very inspiring, although I'm not necessarily invested in hard core weights like she is,  she also show really good stretches on her instagram :)  (she's also online & has you tube)

 

For myself, I do stretching when I watch tv in the evening, I sit on the floor on top of a quilt, & do stretches & some small hand weights, some vey awkward modified push ups ( the knee kind) 

 

I think one of the best things I did at the beginning of this is to get a stand up desk at the office & at home, I can type & stretch at the same time lol :)

 

good luck to all of us in this!

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, awhfy said:

Lois, any processed food has stuff we probably shouldn’t be eating. I’ve found Premier protein drinks (30 grams of protein, 130 calories) are a fabulous meal replacement. I try to have eggs & fruit for breakfast, protein drink for lunch & regular dinner. I’m also an ice cream fanatic. I’ve discovered the mini ice cream cones...only have one!  They’re tasty, 110 calories & take the edge off 

Hi Melody, I know you are correct about the processed stuff. I am just trying to find "some stuff"

that does not have so much in it.   There are so many things I like that are not processed but I

just have to force myself to do better.  Example, .ever eat the bagged salads? I love them🙂

You can get baby spring mix, Italian, etc.....I add tomatoes, cucs and sometimes will cut up

strawberries....add some blueberries too and that is lunch for me.  I need to start eating 

that more and add some tuna or sliced turkey and cheese to it.

 

I have never tried that Protein drink before. Will give it look on line. 

[Lois R]

Oh, I will have to look for those mini ice cream cones!!!!

[Lois R]

Hey girls,  I made the blueberry muffins with almond flour and I must admit, they taste pretty

good.  The recipe makes 6 very good size muffins and they are moist too. Each muffin has 23

grams of carbs so not too too bad.  And it is an easy recipe I found on a a website called

veggiebalance.com  First time I have ever used Almond flour.  I read quite a bit about it and 

I think a lot of people who have gluten issues use it. Learn something new every day🙂 

[PurpleHays]

When we were both doing low carb, hubby used almond flour along with some of the other flours. Some of the recipes were good, some were. . .not. It was a lot of hit and miss cooking. I wish I could get him to re-commit because we did so good on it, but I am working my way down gradually. Maybe it will stay off longer, provided we don't have another pandemic and I can return to skating (I've been off ice for four months now and for most of the last two years. I miss it).

 

Hubby wants to hike to some of the NC waterfalls this summer and I told him we need to be in better shape first. As soon as my back heals (I fell down the steps a few days ago and bruised the hell out of my back) we're going to start hiking in the local park. I'm looking foward to doing something new.