[Itryharder]

We are the Turtle Group here at www.3fatchicks.com. We welcome you to join us as we work toward good health and fitness in a persistent manner. As our inspiration we use the race between the turtle and the hare where the turtle was the victor because he didn't give up. We believe in keepin' on even when the odds are against us. We believe in giving each other support. Good luck to us all!
Judy
Itryharder
(for Lin and Lauren)

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
Just as I was going to start a new thread, Princess chimed in with a nice long message. Please check back on #210 to read what she had to say.

Keep on keepin' on!
Judy 234.6/215.8/214 onward and downward to onederland

[Princess1122]

Morning all and happy Thursday to everyone! Warmer here today and supposed to be in the 70's on Saturday, that is wonderful! Helps to pick up the spirits when it is warmer out I think.

My TOM had the nerve to arrive yesterday so I am not holding out huge hopes for my first W/I on Saturday but that is ok, I feel better now that I am back on track with my eating that is huge for me.

Judy: I know how you feel and I am sorry that you did not get the results at W/I that you had hoped... it will be better next week!

Bandit: How are you doing these days... tell me a bit about your boot camp.

Lauren: How are you doing?

Talk soon,
Princess

[Itryharder]

Princess, I am so glad you're on track and feeling better. Weigh to go. Hopefully TOM will subside a bit to let you see some progress on the scale. I bet it will.

Today I am working on including milk and healthy oil in my food plan and being consistent with all the other things I do well. Also==and this is big--I am getting through the day without weighing myself just in case I was allowing a weight loss during the week to "set myself up" for allowing more food or even small binges.

Take care and be well and keep on chiming in!
Judy
234.6/215.8/214 and thinner into onederland

[bandit2]

Morning, turtles:

Judy - it is so hard to stay focussed all the time & I know how it feels when you expect to be down then show even a tiny gain. But, you are doing great with getting back on things. Have a nice loss this week!

Princess - glad to see you back with us & great you are back at WW. You have done fabulous in the past & for sure, can do it again. Good luck with things. As far as bootcamp - I really enjoyed it. His main tips were to focus on getting fit & weight loss would come. Find exercise you enjoy & try to better yourself gradually. Stay away from fast food. I watch the show all the time, so really was excited to meet him & got to give him a big hug before leaving.

As for myself, I am doing pretty good. I was down .75# this week & that makes a total of 22.5# down since mid September. I am wearing some clothes I haven't been able to for quite awhile & that feels wonderful.
Really, gives you a boost & incentive to stay on track.

But, as we know it is hard to follow any plan day in & day out. So, just doing the best I can but enjoying myself along the way.

Hope all of you have a great OP week!

[LaurenH]

Welcome back, Princess -- so good to see you posting again! Good for you, stopping at 30 pounds instead of the 60 I regained. My goal is to get to the point where I stop gains before they reach 5 pounds. I know one woman who has lost about 100 pounds and has kept it off now for more than 10 years. She stops any gains of a pound or less! She's very vigilant. I'm trying to learn from her.

So glad you've got a new project, too. That certainly takes some of the financial pressure off, doesn't it?

Bandit, you're rockin'! Fitting into smaller clothes is such a boost; good for you!!

Judy, sounds like not weighing yourself during the week would be a good idea, if that's part of what's making you sabotage yourself. Is there anyone in your life that doesn't really want you to lose weight? Or are there some negative results you envision if you lost weight? I'm asking this because it does seem that you do sabotage yourself. Part of you really, really wants to lose, and part of you doesn't. That's a tough place to be. {{HUGS}} You're such a sweetie, I so want you to do well.

As for me, I think my re-gains haven't been so much due to a conflict within but rather just a gradual lapsing of good habits into old bad ones. It's so easy to return to food when stressed or down or bored; it's very, very old ingrained behavior for me, since I was a child. But I'm more like Princess; when I re-gain, I re-gain a lot. Not necessarily quickly -- it took me about 3 years to put back on 60 pounds -- but steadily. I think I just go into denial mode: It's just a few extra bites. It's just a slightly larger serving. It's just one extra snack. It's just one day. It's just one week. It's just one clothing size. It's just 5, 10, 20, 50 pounds ... I still haven't figured out how I manage to let this happen to the degree that I do, but I need to stop it.

On a bright note, I hit VIRGIN FAT TERRITORY today!!!! Finally lost the last of my re-gain and am now entering numbers I haven't seen for 20 years -- I'm so geeked! It took me just under a year to do it, and I'm a month ahead of schedule; I had hoped to hit this point in time for our anniversary next month. Hooray!!

Also, today in our back yard I saw a robin! In Michigan, that counts as the first sign of spring. Never mind that our weather won't cooperate for at least another month.

Parents are visiting and househunting. I hope they can find a good place; it will be good to finally have them nearby.

Have a great day, turtles.

[Princess1122]

Hi all and Happy Friday! Still hanging in there with my eating, not expecting much at W/I this week but that is ok, I am back on track and feeling pretty good. DH and DS joined with me last Saturday so this time around I have company.

Lauren: Congrats! I am thrilled for you!

Bandit: Great job! Boy you have really turned this thing around for yourself, what a huge accomplishment!

Judy: You are doing great, just keep at it. I agree with Lauren though, we both need to figure out why we do what we do.

Have a great weekend all!

[Princess1122]

Morning all and happy Saturday to everyone! I am heading out to go to W/I and a meeting then a day full of errands and chores but I wanted to pop in and see what is going on.

Had a really good week food wise but did not get in any real exercise, walked a whole lot more then I had been with starting the new job this week so that helped a bit. With my TOM I am not expecting much but that is ok, I am looking forward to going and attending the meeting and basically just being back on the program and that is enough for the first week even with out a huge loss.

It is very warm here! We actually have windows open at 8:00 AM! I had them open last evening also to air out the house, funny how the odors really build up over the winter with everything being closed up.

Talk soon!

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
Bandit, : again! Wow!!! I am so happy for you and I want what you've got.. Weigh to go. So glad you joined TOPS and the gym and you're making this work. Many congrats on fitting into smaller clothes. Isn't that the best? I remember that feeling and I want it back.

Princess, so glad you're back and posting. As far as why we allow ourselves to sabotage, well--if I knew the answer to that I could probably sell it for a million bucks. What I know about myself is that I am a Weight Watcher--on maintenance! LOL, but not funny. My weight has not returned to the high of 234.6#, but I haven't been losing the way I know I can. If I eat properly, track, and exercise, I can lose a steady pound a week. Now the tricky part is to do it. I sabotaged myself again on Friday with a dopey food item. I didn't have what I wanted for lunch (corned beef on rye==I would have watched the portion) but had an old CORE standby of split pea soup. Well, the dopey soup is 6 points and I wasn't aware of that. For the rest of the day I kept banging my head against the wall, well not really but you know what I mean.
And then-----I ate many more points than I had available.
This morning I planned out a low point day and it's 4:30 pm and I'm sticking to it. I'll do the same tomorrow. Also got on

Now my challenge as Lauren mentioned is to figure out why I keep on allowing the sabotage. I have gotten so much stronger, my dh is considerate and not a saboteur, and I think I just need to work this one day at a time. The time to stop a relapse is before it happens, and I'm very good at having fruit and veggies in the house for snacking and meals, etc. In other words, I'm doing a lot right but it's not enough to counter the bad slips I have.
I'm promising myself and you that I'll work on this to get the intended results.
I may need to catch a meeting on Monday if I'm still shaky. Interestingly enough a close friend at WW's mentioned that all day Tuesday she's crazy with food--we WI on Wed., and I thought I was the only one who did that. Okay, now I feel better. I'm having a great day and I send you all : and good luck.

Lauren
Weigh to go! It is wonderful that you've reached your goal of Virgin Fat Territory and that you're early!!! Who wudda thunk it? Weigh to go! I'm so glad you're chiming in here and helping us all. You make me think and that's a good thing.
Judy
234.6/215.8/214 and into onederland by August!

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
A positive message from me: Yesterday was a wonderful day. Today I have my food planned out again including milk products (which I had ignored in the past). I plan on getting on the today again and I have a mini project that I'm going to start on to keep me busy and away from food. How's that?

Let me hear about the good things you're doing!
Fondly, Judy
234.6/215.8/214/ and into onederland by July 4th.

[bandit2]

Hi turtles:

Princess - hope your weigh in was good & great you are back on track with the programme.

Judy - Baby steps! Keep it going. Remember small changes = big results
in the longrun. We all know you can do this & so do you. Hope you have a great week!

Lauren - Virgin fat, WOW!!

I got in a 2 mile walk yesterday, my knee has been abit sore but still OK to walk & the hot-tub afterwards feels great. Did some cooking today for the upcoming week. Beef stew, bbq ribs, coleslaw and a jello for night-time snacks with frozen yogurt - really hits the spot with a cup of tea & keeps me away from the crunchy snacks I love. My friend came over yesterday & we ended up ordering a pizza for supper, and boy that was wonderful. We ordered the thin crust & it isn't really all that bad point-wise considering it was supper & not just a snack.

We are suppose to get freezing rain from midnight through until morning, so the drive in tomorrow will probably be quite bad, so I will go with another co-worker who doesn't mind driving in that crap.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

[Princess1122]

Morning all and happy monday to everyone! I am sleepy today, would not think that an hour could make that much of a different but it seems to for me. How was everyones weekend?

W/I was not at all like I hoped it would be... I was up a pound... ugh!

I have to run, busy day today, will hop back on later.

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
Okay Princess, this is the "ultimate unfair" to be OP and TOM and have a gain. Ugh. All I can say is that your next WI will be good. : for getting back on program and doing the right thing for yourself.

Bandit, you go girl! Thanks for the encouragement and support. It helps! :

Lauren, okay--come on--please brag just a smidge more so we can enjoy the Virgin Fat Territory acclaim you've reached.

After a really crummy FRiday that was ridiculous, I started talking to myself, wrote down the food I wanted to eat, and have done very very well. Today a trip to the dentist helped me stay on track more than I wanted to. LOL. I needed a filling replaced and the doc wanted me to not eat until dinnertime. Usually she says to wait about half an hour and then it's okay to chew. Well, I scarfed down a WW yogurt and chewed some Boars Head turkey on the "other " side of my mouth and now I'm about to eat dinner for real. I feel great and am noticing some behaviors that have been sabotaging myself. For instance, every time I enter the kitchen I look for something to eat---it doesn't matter that it's healthy, the kitchen itself is the prompt to eat. Not smart. But I'm proud of myself for recognizing what has been happening. Please wish me well. Tomorrow , Tuesday, has been a tough day for me in the past so I'm counting on eating well and having a good WI.

Okay===: and to us all!
Judy
234.6/215.8/214/thinner into onederland :Cool:

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
Well, my infamous Tuesday is here. I am determined to eat well today and have a great WI tomorrow. I'll have to watch it because my grandson may be here for awhile and if so we often go out to eat or order in food since he's a picky eater. I need to gear up for that! Just checking in to say hello and see how everyone's doing.
We've got a nice sunny day here and I hope the sun is shining where you are too!
Judy
234.6/215.8/214/thinner into onederland

[LaurenH]

Hang in there, Judy -- hope you're happy with the choices you make on Terrible Tuesday! You're certainly doing well with the exercise; I need to take a page out of your book on that. I'm always finding great reasons not to do it.

Princess, want us to come over and drive over your scales a few times for you? :P I'm finding that my good and bad behaviors don't show up right away on the scale; sometimes it can take even a couple of weeks. Very weird. It pays to persevere, but what a pain. Well, I'm pulling for you. I know how hard it is to get going again, especially when you don't see the results you were hoping for.

Bandit, good going on the walk; sorry about the freezing rain. Blech! I'd take snow over ice any time.

Up a pound, but I'm ignoring it. I'm getting excited about my next goal, since that will be my 100-pound mark from my highest point 10+ years ago now. And I'll also officially just be overweight instead of obese! This time I WILL get there.

Parents are visiting again; they made an offer on a condo, and the seller refused to even make a counter offer. My parents' offer was consistent with what the market is right now, but the sellers obviously haven't quite caught up with reality. It's too bad; the condo was perfect for my folks. So back to the drawing board. No idea how long they'll be staying, but of COURSE we just had another domestic problem -- this time it's the fridge that went blooey. The repair guy is due to arrive at any moment. This winter has been nothing short of amazing on the domestic disaster front, and ALL of the problems have occurred while we've had house guests!!

Well, have a great day, everyone. Spring is coming, and we can all be a bit healthier and thinner when it does!