Well, I usually lurk in the Protein Power thread, but I'm lurking early, so I'll start it. Good morning!

Bawdy, can you post the Guiness stew recipe. I would love a good LC stew on these winter evenings. I'm going to try your Chicken recipe later this week- sounds good.

Well, off to the treadmill, coffee in hand.

Mark

Hi, Mark! You're officially a Protein Power Pal now that you've started a daily thread! CONGRATS!!!

Be careful with that coffee -- we don't want you spilling any whilst on the treadmill!

The Guinness stew is easy. First, buy stew beef from the chuck, not the round. Whenever I get it from the chuck, it's tender and "stringy" the way I like it; when I get it from the round, it's often chewy.

Here's the best way. Brown the beef in oil and saute some onions (I leave them in quarters so DH can easily pick them out if we wants). When it's browned and the onions are a little limp, pour 1 can of beef broth and 1 bottle/can of Guinness (gently) over the meat. I put enough liquid in so that it comes up to near the top of the meat, but not covering it. Add some pepper, maybe a bay leaf. Turn the heat down and simmer for hours (at least 2). Sometimes, after browning everything, I'll pop the whole pot into the oven at 200 degrees for about 3 to 4 hours (if I'm using cast iron).

To thicken it, I usually use Wondra flour. It's in a blue can near the regular flour. I've tried the various LC thickeners around, but haven't been happy with the results. Wondra has fewer carbs than flour, and you don't need much to thicken the gravy.

You can also add chunked potatoes and/or carrots to it, but I don't. DH has gotten accustomed to eating it over fat noodles. I eat it plain. Sometimes I'll make the faux mashed potatoes (pureed cauliflower) and then pour the stew over that.

Now for Acipenser (Michelle, if I remember correctly), whom I woefully and totally ignored the other day! Actually I just had yet another senior moment and forgot to respond to your questions.

I live in Norway, Maine. It's about 55 miles NW of Portland. We have about 45 acres of woodland and fields, and there's a lake across the private road from us. We do have bog frontage, which is lovely (DH tells me I'm like Morticia Addams because I brag about my bog frontage!). We have all sorts of wildlife -- deer, moose, bear, fox, coyotes, coydogs (half coyote, half dog), herons, geese, ducks, etc.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but last winter (while DH was out of town), a moose bashed in our front wooden screen door. I heard a couple loud thuds during the night, but the dog didn't seem worried, so I figured it was just the cats. The next morning when I opened our front entrance door, the screen door fell in toward me. It seems the salt we were using on the front porch and walk had attracted him (not terribly uncommon, I'm told). Also, the door is red, which I'm told they don't like. There was snot or slobber all over the screen, so it was either a moose or a burgler with a wicked case of nasal drippage!

Speaking of nasal drippage. . . You're right, Acipenser, flaxseeds do get mighty snotty in texture when wet! Some people eat flaxseeds heated up with water in the microwave (like oatmeal), but I've never gotten past the texture.

Once you bake the muffins, they're fine. Very nutty flavor. Be sure to bake them long enough. When you think they're done, bake them 5 to 8 minutes longer. Sometimes they seem done, but then when you cut them open, they're still a bit slimy in the middle.

I eat them plain or with butter. You could top them with anything you like. Jams are often too sweet for me, and I've never liked the texture of the SF jams, so I stay away.

That's it for now. Don't know if I'll be able to pop back in today (I'm in the office). If I don't, have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow!

Got a PM from someone who was worried 'cause I haven't written much over the weekend - I'm fine - did 6 hours of retail therapy Saturday (actually more looking at backpacking equipment and hunting gear - they overlap and hunter's gear is often better made and cheaper).

Yesterday was to be a church doings day, but the snow cancelled most activities so we did a 5 mile hike in the Smoky's instead - was to be a 6 mile hike, but my body couldn't handle that just yet (I've been off all hiking since last fall due to some health problems - I'm out-of-shape). Was some pretty rugged terrain (over two good-sized ridges and third-way up Bote Mountain) and had about 4" of snow on it.

Good morning.
2.5 lbs down on the scale at work for our diet challenge in addition to the inch or so I mentioned yesterday. I ate 1900 cal yesterday. I read the PP website Protein Power and Calories thread Bawdy mentioned. I wonder if is 1500 too low for me? I've eaten higher this week and lost.

Bawdy, sounds like your place would be a great B&B

Hi Mark!

Orang, the retail therapy is also like walking on flat terrain. So you DID hike 6 miles

To Elaine and Dawn:

good monday morning all. while everyone is back to work, i am sitting here sipping my coffee, eating my dobi muffins, and surfing this site!!!! not to rub it in or anything. i will pay for it the rest of the week when i do my 4-10hr days in a row!!!

about the dobie muffings, they are good, a little dry (which i fixed up with a pat of butter) and even though i used vanilla protein power, vanilla syrup, and vanilla extract, don't taste much like vanilla. they are very nutty, and kinda like a bran muffin (i also added a dollop of strawberry jam)--all in all i like them.

btw, the jam is homeade with NO sugar, just strawberries and pectin. i also don't like the store brands of sugar free jams and jellies, too sweet, and to artificial tasting.

Bawdy, you got the name right, michele. Norway is very close to my familys cabin. In fact, Norway is the town we go to for groceries, the vet, and hospital. which we have used all of.... (nothing serious, mostly ear infections from too much swimming, the dogs too....) sometimes we go the other way to windham, but usually norway since the trading post is on the way and we can get out fishing licenses there. okay, enough talk about it, i have to wait till august before it is my week up there. (so i guess i will be in your neck of the woods next ausust)

simplydawn-- i also have weak ankles, they will turn on me very easily. i have found that i need to use hiking boots that go pretty high up the ankle. this helps alot.

well, i guess this is long enough. need to get off my duff and to the gym. i am still VERY sore from saturday though (my legs) anybody know any tips to fix very sore muscles!!!

welcome lurker mark!!

Mark:
Great to see you here early. Wonderful you are jumping on the treadmill.

Kat:
Snow in Chattanooga - I don't even want to think about what the ridge cut section on I-24 must be like in snow. The dogs here are used to flurries so they aren't much fun... except for the puppy the kid next door got for Christmas - the little furball was tumbling end over end trying to catch the flakes.

The salmon recipe sounds yummy - I may try it with chicken breast (if I have any sf maple syrup ) - will let y'all know if it's good.

Smoothblu:
No problems with FitDay, but I only logged in once - about 5 AM Sat - over the weekend.

Absolutely awesome share yesterday re: expectations and goals - I agree that we are personally responsible for applying the guidelines from the books and not blaming our failure on the program if we're not actually applying the guidelines.

My take on expectations: I feel the books do paint a rosier pic than most are going to see... that people often set unrealistic expectations for themselves in terms of how fast the weight will come off and what their goal weight will be. My goals are based on something besides the scale - when I get there, I will switch to maintaining rather than losing. The goals - fit into the clothing I fit into when I last liked how I looked and felt. Be somewhat physically fit. Feel good - be medically stable and have energy & stamina. I'm already looking at options for maintenance - that is, a WOE, exercise regiment and other considerations that will keep me where I want to be. I was at 145 lbs the last time these conditions were met so it is my stated goal weight... I really don't care if I get there or not - I want to meet the three goal conditions.

Dawn:
Congrats on 5 lb weight loss.

Welcome to Promised land I lived in the frozen north for about 3 yrs - long enough to convince me that snow, ice and associated scraping and shovelling are to be avoid whenever possible. Living down south can be hot in the summer time, but I too don't miss the snow or ice.

So you hiked up the office stairs - actually stairs are one of the things hikers training for long hikes in mountain regions use if they live in flat areas. Works some of the same muscles. Killer day at gym - I admire you for tackling stairs under the circumstances... BTW, you can hike with weak ankles - just watch the terrain carefully at first and build up gradually. I used to wrap my weak ankle in an ace bandage before hiking in addition to using high hiking boots - I don't have to do that anymore - I can even hike in trail runners. Walking on paved paths / graded trails won't strengthen the muscles that stablize your ankle's lateral movements - you need to be walking on uneven surfaces to do that.

The calories per pound thing is something I have found that has worked for me in the past... I lose well by eating roughly 9 to 10 calories per pound of my body weight. Since I am about 176 lbs - I'm trying to keep daily calories between 9 X 176 or 1584 and 10 X 176 or 1760 in addition to getting adequate protein and restricting carbs. Obviously, as I lose weight, the number of calories I eat inches down.

Unity:
You have posted twice about chocolate - step away from the chocolate Seriously, don't over-do the sugar-free chocolate. An LCer I know here swears those are simply chocolate ex-lax in another package

Robin:
If you are still in pain, please do see a doctor.

Mary(mem2)
PP likely would it be more vegetarian friendly than Atkins because of the limits Atkins places on dairy products and the very low carb limits that would make it nearly impossible to use legumes and soy products in quantities sufficient to meet the protein needs of a vegetarian. There are vegetarian members at www.eatprotein.com who post on this forum Protein Power for Vegetarians . I suggest you read that site to get some idea of what some vegetarian PP users eat. Unfortunately, this group doesn't have any vegetarians or vegans. We would love to have you as our first.

Michele:
Congrats on your 3 lb loss

I'm with you on TGIF - the local ones are owned by a firm that ruins every restaurant they get their hands on - but the one I tried in the Atlanta area was fairly good. Tried the 'black and blu' salad yesterday at O'Charley's -neither I nor hubby were impressed. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't very good either.

Going to try your butter/ garlic 'dip' for chicken along with Brawdy's (found boneless breasts for $1.50/lb Sat - bought 7 lbs of them and will cook them all this afternoon - seasoned several different ways in the same oven)

Elaine:
Congrats on the 2.5 lb loss and the inch - I knew the extra work you have been doing would pay off - way to go!
Do the 'Walk away the pounds" tapes have any twisting from the waist type motions or things like stretching arms over the head / to the sides with weights? I'm actively looking for something I can safely do when the weather is nasty so I don't ever get as out-of-shape as I am right now. Granted, the medical problems played a role, but they weren't the only culprit.

Lisette:
So good to see you back. I missed you so.

Sorry to hear about the treadmill. Hope it is just the belt. Hubby goes thru about one a year. Great that your hubby realizes that the treadmill is an investment in your health.

Bawdy:
"Just a word of caution on the chicken recipe I posted. I did the "normal" thing and dipped one breast (the chicken's, not mine!)" Sprayed the keyboard with water this time... Bawdy, you must post warnings before saying anything that funny.

Will be trying your chicken recipe with my 7 lbs of breasts - the chicken's

Hope the bowflex 'message' relieved your tension.

Charran:
"I don't believe that ANY plan should tell you how much you're going to lose " Amen to that. I enjoyed your take on the expectation issues and your observation that if return to the eating and exercise plan we gained on to begin with after losing the weight, we will gain it back regardless of how we lost it.

Ellie:
PMed you re hairstyle - girl you are looking so good - you really do need to post a pic.

Hi to Marnie, Rob, Keith, Kristine, Black57 and Wendy. Wendy, please let us know you are OK.

Thanks Bawdy! I wish it were not the same 2 pounds I seem to lose over and over . I think having to compete with the folks at work is an incentive. You definitely think twice about going off plan.
Way to go Disapearing Dawn!!

RE jam: I saw a coupon in the Sunday paper for Polaner SF jelly with Splenda. Haven't checked out all the local markets but that beats Smuckers with Aspertame.

When I make the Dobie muffins, I put in Banana extract and walnuts and they make great banana walnut muffins!!

EDIT:Me again, I was posting same time as Orang. So if I multipy my weight by 9 or 10 then I would eat between 2074 and 2305. That's a lot of cals!!!!

Hi, All!
Boy! Am I CONFUSED today!!! I was getting so tired of eating right, and being GOOD and getting NO RESULTS (I mean NONE!) that I ate a pint of Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream last night ! And this morning my weight was down 2 lbs!!!!! !!!!! Can someone please explain this? DUH!!! I am still new enough to this lowcarb stuff that it is still extremely confusing to me! I keep losing and gaining the same five lbs. up and down! Grrrrr
Renee, We didn't get any snow on the ground except on the mountains. Looks like we may get through the whole winter with no real snow. (Unless it shows up in March like the Blizzard of '93!). I was reading an article in the online Oak Ridger that was talking about the quintuplets born in Knoxville! Did you know about them? They are so cute!
A neat thing happened yesterday to my neighbor! I had tried to get her to adopt a dog at the same time I adopted my last one and she decided against it at the time. She said "if I was meant to have a new dog, one will be put in my path"....well, yesterday she went to the neighborhood laundromat to do her clothes and heard a puppy crying in the women's bathroom! She found it and brought it home! Appears to be about 5 wks old and looks like a golden retriever! Now if that's not fate, I don't know what is!! I told her she should name her FATE.!
Well, gotta get off here and do some laundry myself!
Everybody have agood day!
Kat

Hi all!

Well I found out that my walking deck is cracked (of course in the spot where we run) so I need one of them and a new belt, I am SO relieved!!!!!!! Infact, it is not expensive at all! So this week I should have it up (and I should be up) and running in no time!

I dug out my pilates tape yesterday, WHEW does my stomach feel it today! I just need to have one day of tapes and one of treadmill to get all of the benifits! (I carry enough grain buckets and chop ice to count as weight lifting!)

Elaine, WTG!!! I do know how ya feel on losing and gaining the same stubborn pounds, (like my mum said to me"your just so sweet that they miss you and want to come back to visit!") But atleast you are losing something AND inches!! I am happy for you!!!! I think that I am going to go online looking for those tapes that you are using, there has been a few times that I am not in a place to use a treadmill or go out and this would help keep me consistant with that!

Orang, glad to see you post today! Our threads are not the same without your wisdom and wit! (not to mention the outrages photo island pictures that keep us in stitches!) BTW, how have things been going with your step daughter?
My middle girl is going through such bad luck, She had just gotten married in Dec, is due in July, well our son-law was in the Army for basic, graduated 25 out of 250 ((sounds alright huh?) WELL he started getting these seizures that they can't figure out, so now they are DISCHARGING him! The poor kids have nothing, neither one has a job, one baby and one on the way NO insurence, (they had planned on the Army for all of this!) They are now staying at my Dh's mom's house, (we live so far in the boonies that college and work is to far away). It just breaks my heart at all of their bad luck and just starting out too! We are so strapped down now since we took over the payments now that my dh's dad is deceased that we are in no position to help either! It does not matter how old your kids are, they continue to be a worry, and the worse part is that since they ARE older you can't just make it go away anymore either!

Bawdy, I cought your breast joke! I had to look at it twice to see if I had read it correctly, I had! How did your workout go yesterday? Did you have any problems come up with your bowflex from the recalls??? So what did you name your new moose pet???(that is to funny!)

Mark, good to see you post, another idea for good stew is to cut the roast in chunks, and (as Bawdy said use the wondra) I then saute it in the pan with soy sauce! And I usually add a can of beef broth too! Good luck with it!

Ellie, Girl I have been hearing about your new style, if you have some time could you pm me with it????

Unity, if you are still jonesing for chocolate, I can relate, either it is being used as a stress reliever, or you have been eating something that might have some hidden ingrediants in it that is causing the fierce cravings, try to eat VERY CLEAN and simple for a few days and see if that helps!

Dawn, for the loss!!!!

Michelle, WTG on the gym workouts! Keep that momentum going and you will not be as sore down the road!

Wendy, ARe you pulling a mia???? Even if you can not write more than a few lines, give us a hello! WE MISS YOU!!

Robin, please be carefull, like Orang said go find out about the pain! Let us know!!

Kat, this weightloss stuff will ALWAYS hold some mistery, for me it is not usually the next day BUT the day after that when i pay for it! Just stay on track, keep active and give things time! Are you getting enough variety in your meals? I have a tendancy to eat the SAME things day in and out, that alone could cause you to feel deprived enough to step out of sorts!

I best sign off for now!
Hello to Rob,Marnie,Blu, Char and to everyone else out here!! Have a good one!!!!

Mark – “Well, off to the treadmill, coffee in hand.” Enjoy your coffee and your exercise. Have a couple of cups for me.
Bawdy - Your home sounds beautiful. Your breast joke will live on forever in our minds.
Orang – Glad you was able to get out and enjoy your hike. Still can’t get into Fitday.
Ewinpa – Congrats on the loss. Way to go.
Simplydawn – Congrats to you also. Way to go.
Acipenser – “not to rub it in or anything.” <smiles> your not. It seems that everyone is on a different Phase of Protein Power and that’s cool.
Katlynweb - Congrats on your lose also. Way to go.
Lissette – That’s good new on the treadmill.
For those that haven’t posted yet I wish you all a great day.

blu- i am having no trouble with fitday. are you using the on-line version?? can you get there by clicking the link in my signature??

My, but we're chatty today! I just wanted to check back in with a couple comments.

Michele, about those Dobie Muffins. Yes, they seem to either be too slimy or too dry. This last batch, though, was perfect. If you want a really tasty version, try using the SF maple pancake syrup as the sweetener, and be sure to use maple extract. Another idea is to drop a small teaspoon full of SF jam/jelly on top of each muffin before baking. As it bakes, the jam/jelly sinks down a little and flavors the muffin. I have a regular muffin recipe called "Jam Puffins" that use this technique and they're very tasty.

Also, I was lurking on the PP board (eatprotein.com) last evening and noticed that you're a new member there. It's a great board, full of tons of information. The only drawback I have with that board is that there aren't many posters, and sometimes it's days before you get a repsonse back to a question, and then it's often just the moderator who answers you. But, if you're a died-in-the-wool PPer, it's a good place for solid information.

Orang (and others), about dipping breasts into the wet stuff. I about sprayed the keyboard, too, after I had typed it and was going back over my post looking for typos! But please, Orang, no pics!

By the way, glad to see you back. And thanks for stating the obvious that we can use the salmon recipe on boneless breasts, too. I hadn't thought of that. I can't make fish when DH is home. For whatever reason, the last two times I made fish, we both thought it was excellent, but then DH got violently ill during the night and ... er ... lost it. So, no more fish for us!

Ellie, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me post the pic of you! It's so cute! I could send it to you first, but I don't have your email address.

Elaine, I'm with you. I keep losing the same 4 pounds (166 to 170) over and over again. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get down below 166. I've been trying to keep the calories around 1500 and percentages at 65% fat, 30% protein, and 5% carbs (some days higher, some days lower). I'm going to give it another couple weeks, and if I stay the same, I think I might try upping the calories a bit but keeping the percentages the same. If I use the numbers Orang mentioned, I should be eating between 1494 and 1660 calories. I guess I'm right in that ballpark already. Who knows!

Also, thanks for the tip on the Polaner with Splenda. You're right. The Smuckers with Aspartame is so bad I took one taste and threw out the jar!

Kat, I wish I could lose a pound for every time someone posted and said "I've been stuck at this weight for so long, and I've been so good, and then last night I ate <whatever, but off plan> and I'm down 2 pounds this morning!"

No one knows why this happens. But please don't think that this will happen every time. The most popular theory is that every once in a while (like once in a blue moon, not once a week), we need to shake up our bodies and give it something different. This is also the idea behind the "free day" on the Body for Life plan. "Keep 'em guessing." No one knows why, but gorging on carbs sometimes (sometimes) helps.

Also, Fate is a nice name. How about Karma? That's too funny about the puppy! These things do have a way of happening on their own.

Lissette, good to hear from you again, especially sounding so upbeat. Sorry to hear about your dead treadmill, though it sounds as if you will be able to resussitate (sp?) it. That really stinks about your daughter and husband. Sometimes, though it is hardly any consolation, couples that go through hard times in the beginning form lasting and strong bonds. They'll get through this.

________

OK. That's it for now. My fingers are tired. Catch you all tomorrow morning!

Hi guys, just have a minute.

Thanks, re hair style Bawdy you can post it if ya like, could you please PM the info to Shelly for me?

I got some bad news this morning, my step-mother died very suddenly this morning. Still don't really know what happened. DH also had oral surgery this morning, I had just got him into bed when I got the phone call from my Dad. I am still so shocked....