A hare met a tortoise one day and made fun of him for the slow and clumsy way in which he walked.
The tortoise laughed and said, "I will run a race with you any time that you choose."
"Very well," replied the hare, "we will start at once."
The tortoise immediately set off in his slow and steady way without waiting a moment or looking back. The hare, on the other hand, treated the matter as a joke and decided to take a little nap before starting, for she thought that it would be an easy matter to overtake her rival.
The tortoise plodded on, and meanwhile the hare overslept herself, with the result that she arrived at the winning-post only to see that the tortoise had got in before her.
Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.
This comes from a book handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. The book is so old it doesn't have a copyright date or an author/editor's credit.
That fable has been the motivation for us turtles for about three years. Someone on the ancient WW forum mentioned the fable and I discovered it was very motivational for me. I talked about it in posts and other people said that the tortoise philosophy worked for them, too. So, I started a thread for us turtle types.
We work toward accepting that our bodies have a natural speed of weight loss when we choose to live a healthy life, instead of "going on a diet". Many of us have experienced "the diets" as go on/lose weight-- go off/ gain the weight plus more back.
We choose to perservere with each choice we make throughout the day. We believe that choosing to be slow, steady turtles helps us to learn the skills we need to in order to lose and keep off the weight. Our main focus is to become the healthiest people we can be.
So, welcome to all who realize that losing and maintaining a weight loss is a lifestyle change. And who want support as we all learn the skills we need to successfully make the changes that will allow us to reach our goals.
Congratulations, Kathy. 6.8 is almost 7 pounds. That's so cool. Great job.
Looks like your quilt will be done on time. Have fun with your quilting group.
Lauren, isn't it weird? The calcium thing. I've been making a super effort to get them all in and it really calms things down.
Well, I'm sorry that you're up a bit. But you'll get it back off plus more soon. You're doing terrific!!
Sounds like you're getting ready for a terrific time with your family.
My big new (and old) project is to get rid of the latest ant invasion. I keep thinking about that old folk song, with a little twist on the words:
"The ants came back the very next day,
The ants came back in the usual way . . ."
What I wish is that instead of calling out the guys to come and spray pesticide at the bottoms of the buildings (wehre the walls and cement meet), they'd try to do something about the darn nest!!
WW is so so, but not awful. I'm feeling more motivated than I was. Now it's a matter of rebuilding the habits.
The book is doing much better. Got some great ideas in the Think Tank brainstorming session on my heroine. She's too sicky sweet to be believed and it's driving me crazy. They helped me to see how to get her less admirable qualitities in without turning her into the Wicked Witch of the West.
Everything esle is going along about the same. I'm waiting for my official host name for the web site, then I will be able to start volunteering.
Hi, tortoises. We're quiet these days! End-of-summer, beginning-of-school busyness?
I'm enjoying my last few hours of quiet and solitude here. My dad arrives this afternoon, and he and DH will be remodeling the basement this weekend. I'll be cooking for them and for my brother. I always find myself a little tense around my dad. I love him, but we have a complex relationship.
Monday I start working on both my part-time gigs -- next week should be interesting! And probably exhausting. Beginnings are always harder than middles.
Did fine yesterday until DH came home with a birthday meal that a co-worker made for him. It was curried chicken with rice -- very good, but very fatty. I don't know how many points it was, but I'm estimating that I went over for the day. I really want to stick with the program during these months, because this is my prime losing time of the year. I just don't lose as well in the winter or spring, so I want to make the most out of summer and fall!
Lin, I hate ants. Especially swarming ants. When I lived in Asia and Africa, we had huge problems with ants. In Africa, we had the kind that will swarm all over you and kill you. You didn't want to get in their way! In Asia we had the kind that just swarm. One time I flushed the toilet, and suddenly MILLIONS of ants poured out from behind it and covered the entire bathroom wall. It was incredible. They got into our food, into our dirty laundry, everything. So I feel for you!
Congratulations on your new car, Lauren! Last Christmas we looked at those cars too, and they were nice. We decided to get a Saturn SL2 (my family has had 5 cars from the Saturn dealership, 4 Saturns and a pickup truck), but we also seriously considered Hondas.
Lin, ants are awful! I absolutely hate them, they make my skin crawl just to look at them. And Lauren, your stories and experiences REALLY make my skin crawl!
WELL! Isn't this a result! After a week of worrying about my nutritionist, DH took matters into his own hands and called the head guy (the man who actually sets the menus and meal plans and things). The Head Guy, DH says, was an reassuring, intelligent human with a Master's in nutrition and sports. DH was very comfortable turning me (And my health) over to this man's program, so I went in and got the official program from the other nutritionist guy.
This program is great! It's basically exchanges (1 dairy, 1 protein, 1.5 carbs, etc) but I filled out a form of foods I disliked and/or reacted negatively to, so all of the foods are foods I would actually eat. Because I am an athlete (or so I like to think) the program is built around supplying necessary nutrients for an athete, along with the needed energy. It's also totally doable--english muffin, glass of milk with protein powder, vitamins for the first meal of the day (It's all I've gotten to so far). The Head Guy also told DH that they had spent quite a few hours working out the balance of micro- and macronutrients for me, and that getting things to balance for a lactose-intolerant vegetarian was an "exhilarating challenge". So they really did know me, really did pay attention, and this REALLY is made to me. I'm very excited.
For the first week, I'm going to reward myself every day for following the program. I see the Nutritionist every 2 weeks, for reassessment and adjusting of the program. I see him 5 times (3 months worth of visits). So for each time I see him, I've decided that I get a new set of lingerie! My lingerie is in woeful condition right now. My mom raised me with the belief that a woman should always wear nice lingerie in matching sets--"no one will know, but you will feel pretty". So I get new lingerie!
I've got to run to the gym right now, turtles, I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing well, and my nutritionist is not fired!
Hi TurtlesQ!!! Well the quilt is done, yea Kathy~!~~ Just got to sew on the hanging sleeve, and put a label on it. I am so jazzed. It is a wonderful quilt...I am so very proud of it. I will have dh take picture of it before I have to give it up (just for a month) and when they get develped, I will get them on the web. I found a few more that I had done so I will put them on too.
I am going to call it "New Moons" and it will have it in Russian too, that is if I can learn how to say it..Why you may ask? I don't rightly know, but I do know I don't want to name it what the leader suggested which was Many Moons. I want it to be my name, even thought they helped me by putting the circles on that ended up looking like colorful moons.
Eating way too much, was just concentrating on the quilt and cooking was not even a consideration. My dh left on wed night late, and will be home tonight so I was all by my lonesome, excep that my dd and sil came to visit. Didn't feel like cooking for them either!!! I am so excited about sil...He is about to have his 2nd interview with the school dist for a job as a school cop. He already passed the obstical course, written test and 1 interview. We want him to get this cause he likes kids and I think since he is so big he can make a differnce. The job also has insurance!!!
WEll going to sit down a while and relax before I start cleaning. I went to bed way too late, and got up way to early..Now I am tired!!!I will prob post tomorrow, but then it is off to the coast for a few days. Will be gald to get dh alone. And away from his smoking buddies. (cigars) He doesn't slleep much and coming into the house at night to relax gives him the creeps, so I hardly ever see him at night. I am really getting tire of this and that is why this camping trip is soooo important.
Lauren, I hope your visit went well. Enjoy your writing this week. I know it's probably a pain that both jobs started the same week, but, I'm sure it will work out fine.
Eirn, I'm glad you're enjoying your program. Protein powder is on my list of "nasty stuff". It's like drinking sand because it doesn't dissolve. ICK! However, I don't have to do it. YAY! Does this program give you enough calories? The meals you've listed sound awfully shrimpy for the amount of calories your tests showed that you need. Just being a mamahen worrywart. Sorry.
Kathy, glad your quilt turned out so well. Looking forward to seeing it. I know what you mean about getting into a project and not thinking about what you should be eating and so on. That happens to me when I write, work on web pages, read or do anything else I really enjoy.
I had a horrible day yesterday. Not with food or WW, but with my mood. It's not PMS. It's just that every once in a while life gets to me. I cry a lot and write in my journal, but until I can get out of this town or get a car so I'm not stuck in the apartment all day, I will get these moods once in a while. My dh said that he expects this because except for going to the grocery store or for walks in our boring neighborhood, I don't get out of the house or go anywhere. It helps that he understands. I just wish I could figure out a way to change the situation.
Other than that, things are going fine. My book is humming along. I'm almost caught up with my homework. But-the next assignment I have to do is work out my plot and that's the hardest part for me. Not plotting, doing it as prewriting. I usually figure it out as I go along and make an outline of where I've been to help me remember to tie up the ends and fit everything in I've set up. This is an important exercise for me, though, because I've been trying to figure out the level of preplanning that I need in order to get through a book without getting stuck or lost.
I'm starting the Harry Potter volunteer job this week. It sounds like a lot of fun. If I can think of a creative and different approach, I might do a fan web site. But right now, I can't think of anything one of the other hosts hasn't already done.
WW isn't going, nor is it gone. I haven't been writing anything down, but I haven't been eating tons of food, either. Mostly I've been eating the same. I really, really do not want to do this right now. I really, really am tired of working this hard, but not being able to sustain it long enough to get to goal. I've been fussing with my weight since I was nine. That's forty years and I'm tired of it. So, I don't know what I will do.
One thing I won't do is go back to unhealthy habits. I want to keep exercising and I want to keep eating my veggies, etc. But I don't want to count points, etc. So, I'll keep on for a while and eventually make a real decision about what I really want.
Right now, I want to finish my book and figure out how to move back to San Jose in December instead of renewing our lease. I don't think that's going to happen, but I need to keep researching options.
I must be a turtle also. I have lost 8.4 lbs. since the end of May this year. For the most part I am doing well doing the WW points at home. As long as I keep losing--well that is good. Am eating healthier & forming new eating habits. So that is what matters.
Welcome, April. 8.4 gone is 8.4 gone--right now I'd love to be able to claim that much (or anything!). You've got the Turtle Attitude all right--it's not how fast you go, it's what you learn along the way.
Lin, don't worry. I'm eating every 2-3 hours, and I'm getting about 1800 calories. What matters is that I balance protein/carbs/fat within those meals--that's what I was messing up. But I'm getting straightened out, and I have immense amounts of energy now! I feel fantastic, I really do. Don't worry about me.
Kathy, congrats on being done! Be sure to post the link when it's up on the net.
Hi Guys,
Again, I've been impossibly busy and I read but won't be able to comment on all your doings. You guys are the best and have so many interests. Lauren is right and I'm about to return to work.
Will set up my classroom tomorrow and start officially on Tues.
In the meantime I have a million events planned, and yes, too much food is around me again. I'm working on it and absolutely will promise to record all.
Take care, good buddy turtles. Hey, April, glad to have you chiming in!
Judy
Welcome, April. Glad to have you join us. Learning and following new and healthier eating habits is one of our major goals as turtles.
Erin, sounds like they've got you doing the mini meal thing. I hope this works out well for you. It's an interesting approach.
Glad to hear from you, Judy. Good luck when your job starts again. Hope you get a great bunch of kids to work with.
Things are going OK, here. PMS is looming, but it's not being a pain, so far. I've been really strict with myself about the supplements and it's making a difference.
Everything else is about the same. The icky ants found a hole that's hard for us to get to, so we're having harder time than usual getting rid of them. So, my pantry is still on my dining room table. They have never managed to get to the table so it's a safe place for my food. But--we have to eat on trays in the living room. It's the pits.
The book and the volunteer work are going fine.
I'm doing about the same. Eating OK, but not writing it down and all of that stuff. I'm still debating what I want to do. I seem to be maintaining my weight.
April welcome..It is nice to have new people join us. Im Kathy, and I am a very slow loser..Prob wouldn't be if I tried a bit harder!!!but Iam learning!!! ...
Going camping today, food may be off but I plan on walking my dogs endlessly. Looking forward to going somewhere with my dh. Dh won't let me bring any quilting..darn it, I was going to do some hand quilting of a quilt I did yesterday (small wall hanging) I guess my quilting of the big quilt got to him, he said "no quilting on the camping trip!!!" He thinks i am obsessed...he is prob right..but it is a fun thing to be obsessed about. My goal is to start making quilts for me. I usually do quilts and give them away. (baby usually). but now I want to do me some wall hangins and learn to do more stuff. Practice with different patterns, practice my quilting, etc. Oh well, I can do that after the trip.
I was up early today. Went to coffee with my friends at Tim Horton's. It's a coffee shop that is very popular here in Canada. It is in the U.S. also
It is cloudy here today. We have had a very nice summer---nice & warm. It's been the hottest summer in decades.
Dh & I are picking up our ds's gf's son at the airport this afternoon. Ds & his gf were supposed to do it. They are in Edmonton & his transmission went. So they are a few days late coming back. Ds's gf's son is in Victoria on Vancouver Island visiting his grandmother. He is 11.
I have been doing well with WW this last week. I am doing it at home.
LinS--we have had the odd ant. I don't like them either.
I seem to eat mini meals also. I seem to eat about 8 times a day--but samll amounts.
Lin, yeah, it's the mini meals thing. It's irritating, to a degree--I really would rather get immersed in something and not have to worry about eating so often!--but if that's what it takes, I'll grit my teeth and do it. I'm on a 50/30/20 split (50% of my calories from carbs, 30% from protein, 20% from fat) and it seems to be going well. I meet with Bill every 2 weeks, so I'll meet with him this coming friday and see what my results are. As far as numbers go, that is. Physically and emotionally, I feel FANTASTIC! I can see, too, that when my food is a bit off or unbalanced, my mood goes way down and my energy level plummets (start needing a nap again). But not, oddly, when I have just fruit by itself, or just protein. But when it's carbs, whoa does my mood plummet! I'm learning lots of important stuff here.
Lin, the protein powder that I use is actually nice. It dissolves completely, and it tastes like chocolate milk. Kinda like, but not as heavy/sweet/thick as, Nestle Quick. Or however you spell it. I don't mind it at all, it's just a glass of chocolate milk in the morning and in the evening. I can deal with that!
School starts next week (tuesday), and I'm excited. I'm so happy to be going back! It's been nice to have the summer off, but I'm really ready to apply myself to studying again. And I had better, too, to justify the $110 that went to my anatomy book. I've actually gotten a hint that the end of my degree may be coming: I am enrolled in all major courses. No general education classes. Wow, never been here before!
I'm going to go do something that requires energy, Turtles, I feel too good and too alive to sit behind a computer all day. Hope you all are doing well, and having a great holiday weekend.
I went to some garage sales this A.M. with DS & his GF. I didn't spend much. Got 4 books---historical romance. It was raining-not much fun in the rain.
I was doing okay with WW until yesterday afternoon. I just got tired of counting points & weighing food. So I ended up going OP. I am back on it today though. For 2 weeks in a row I stayed the same. That bothered me also---doing well with the program, but staying the same for 2 weeks!
My DH & I went to see a movie---My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was good & funny.
I have 117 days til Boxing Day (the day after Christmas). Why is this significant, you ask? IN LAWS FROM ENGLAND ARE COMING! Yipes! Haven't seen them in 2 years, by that point. DH and I are both geared up to really work and get in shape--we have a goal! MIL is vocal (always has been) about DH's weight, and we wish to...um...not supply her with ammunition. So I'm off to the gym with DH, but I thought I'd share a giggle.
Turtle Club #79
