You have received a lot of excellent advice (and you always will) here.  Something that I would like to share regarding what you call "comfort" eating.  I too went thru stages of depression and binge eating.  Like you, thinking food was my comfort only to realize after I had eaten that whole bag of chips or 3 plates of dinner food; that I was more depressed.  Depressed because I didn't like myself eating all that food, I felt worthless and my self esteem was very low.  Then you think everyone else feels the same way about you, thus a vicious cycle because the next day it was easy to do again.  Of course I've tried so many different ways to control my weight.  Being 58 years old I always said that I wanted to be in good shape at 60 and be able to enjoy life.  Wellllll...I'm really close to my age goal and half way to my FTS goal.  Not until FTS did I find out and realize that even though I am not a diagnosed diabetic I was well on my way because of my sugar and carb addiction.  Now I can say no to foods that I can't and won't eat.  I am so thankful for me, my life, my family and all the wonderful things that have come my way.  I was especially moved by your following comment, remind yourself daily of your blessings.  Make it a goal every day to find something to replace the wrong foods you are eating, learn something new each day, add another reason to be thankful for your life, celebrate that breathe of air you are given each morning and look in the mirror and say "I love you!"

  Please do not

and as for things I'm thankful for : my wonderful supportive boyfriend, my three wonderful dogs, the new house we just bought, and the deck I'm going to spend considerable amounts of time sunning myself in this warm weather . I can't thank everyone enough for their positive outlook, you people, this whole community is a blessing.

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone.  So far we are having a blast.  We got to KS on Thursday, May 17 (husband's birthday) in time to get set up and meet up with family to have dinner for his birthday.  So glad we didn't have to break down and move this morning LOL.  So were the cats...they were hiding under the table thinking we would be in the truck again.  I've been taking lots of pictures but haven't had time to upload any yet.  Granddaughter graduates tomorrow around 3 PM so tomorrow is big day here.  Might be a couple days before I can get back.  Love the rig Doug and Umpa.  We see all kinds on our travel, some make us drool.

Where ya going suz:-*

Sorry hadn't responded Umpa, we left this morning at 7:30AM.  We are traveling thru GA, KY and MO to get to Wamego, Kansas.  We have a granddaughter graduating high school the 19th.  We will go to Wichita, KS; Kansas City, MO and return to Wamego for another granddaughter's wedding.  TooSweet and her daughter (another granddaughter) are on the road too.  They are traveling by car.  We are pulling our 35' camper with our big pickumup truck.  We are traveling with our 3 cats.  After June 3rd we are headed for South Dakota badlands, Yosemite, Washington state, California and areas unknown or seen by me (hubby has seen some of these areas).  All this in our camper with 3 cats.  We will probably be on the road at least 2 months, maybe 3.  It took some arranging but we closed up the house and are on our way.  Thanks goodness we bought a MIFI Verizon hotspot.  Now I have secure traveling wifi...too cool.

Love the camper life, it supports my FTS lifestyle a lot better.  I precooked a lot of foods and planned menus.  I pre-mixed dry goods for Izzet's breads and the OMM batches I make.  I brought lots of FTS foods that I can't buy just anywhere.  I had already tested the camper oven and know how it bakes LOL.  Hopefully, I can keep loosing even while we travel.

I just checked my panty for these ingredients!  I know what I'm having for breakfast later this morning.  Thanks Shawn!

Reading all these posts is helping me prepare mentally for the next few weeks.  We will be traveling and I plan to see an old school friend I've known since the 6th grade.  Her and I have always had weight problems.  When I spoke to her recently about visiting she asked me if I was still fat and proceeded to tell me she could stand to lose 100 pounds...hmmm.  I wouldn't fathom to guess how much my friend weighs now if she feels she needs to lose that much but I replied to her that I still feel fat but that I have been doing FTS since last year.  I sent her a link to the forum, kind of a hint that I'm not eating everything I can get my hands on.  I wish I had kept the email she sent me where she scheduled our visit.  I can only remember that our first stop was the hometown donut shop for breakfast and Taco Tico (like Taco Bell) for lunch.  I am going to have to disappoint her somehow or be "not hungry".  These two places are old haunts from our high school days and I might like to "drive by" but they would never be my choice for dining now.  Of course if I say something I know I'll get that "one time won't hurt you" comment.  Thanks for giving me some ammunition for a response.
 

Andrea I have always experimented in the kitchen with "pot luck" dishes but now with FTS I just use different ingredients LOL.  Thanks!! TooSweet your post brought me good luck...this AM I hit my halfway mark.  Yippee.

How cool is this!  I linked an old post of mine about my weight control journey and how it took me 3 years to get to the exact weight I am now.  I have only been on FTS lifestyle since July 2011 so in less than a year I have returned to a weight that took 3 years before.

http://www.fattoskinny.net/index.php?topic=3599.msg33540#msg33540

Well I am sure am glad BigTex and Buford brought this to my attention again.  I had watched Gary make this when I first started FTS last July but had forgotten about it.  I had some HWC that I needed to use as well as some cream cheese.

I used Smucker's Sugar Free Strawberry Topping (didn't have any Walden's) Net Carb 0 but 9 carbs less 9 sugar alcohols..it's only a 10 ounce jar versus the 12 oz Gary used so I add 2 Tablespoons of DaVinci SF Banana Syrup (could have used 3 Tbl or maybe some banana extract).

BUT WALAH ABRA CADABRA Magic has happened in my mouth!  This reminded me of strawberry shortcake without the cake......hmmm next time I will add the cake LOL!

Umpa, you are toooo funny.

Okay, now for that chicken salad recipe.  It is really hard to make and for some reason I never seem to have enough (LOL)

2 large cans premium white chicken meat drained (I use Sam's Club brand members mark 0 carb)
Put the drained chicken meat in a large bowl and separate the larger chunks with a fork
Add 5 Tbl of Mount Olive SF sweet relish (5)
Add 1 Tbl of minced dried onion (1)
Add mayo as desired (I probably use 3/4 - 1 cup)
Stir together then add a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste
Last ingredient 1 packet of splenda
Makes about 8 servings

Serve on romaine lettuce leaves or crispy parmesan chips (my fav) or Izzet's bread.  By the way, it can be eaten plain too LOL.  P.S. This is how I make my tuna salad too only I might add a boiled egg.