Thank you guys, for your tough love!

Re: Alcohol. I am really going to work on this. I'm not making excuses because it's totally my choice to drink or not, but the challenges in this area for me are:

1. Socially, I feel it's "safer" carb-wise to go out for drinks rather than dinner. I'm not singled out, I don't have to worry about sugar in salad dressings, etc etc, and besides, if I did go out for dinner instead, everyone would still drink and I'd feel singled out and left out.

2. I really like drinking. Not in an addictive way, but I love having a glass of scotch as a nightcap or sharing a nice bottle of wine with dinner.

3. Drinking is par for the course when it comes to my friends, and in my experience, my age group.

But ok, enough excuses! I will do better to make daytime plans on the weekends with my friends (we don't drink then!), and I'm going to try not to drink more than one night a week, and if I do drink one night, I will not expect a loss.

Re: Veggies. (and almonds) Since for the most part I have been eating very few veggies, I'm going to increase them for a while and see what happens. I am looking forward to the variety! Plus, if I bring a salad for lunch I won't have a problem giving up the almonds.

Re: On plan, for real! I'm going to go back and read the book (one of the older versions). If I still don't see any changes (after counting real carbs as well), I will get my thyroid checked.

One final thought...I have been trying to limit how much I think about food, which has left me feeling bored and uninspired by what I consume. I really love food, so I need to get excited about it again and have some fun in the kitchen. I think I'm stuck in that I've tried to oversimplify things, and here I am unhappy with my weight and with what I'm eating...a recipe for disaster!

Thanks again!!

Oh and Pennink, it is unsweetened baking chocolate! It tastes sweet to me!