WW Clubs and Groups - Turtle Club #23

Hi, Turtle Buddies,

Here it is - my "official" version of the fable:

The Hare and the Tortoise

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 two 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 learn in order to not only lose the weight, but keep it off and 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.

Happy turtlin', everyone!

Lin

PS--There's a new post from me yesterday on thread #22, if anyone is interested.

Lin and Lauren, thanks for the welcome. I'll try not to wait to come here just to complain :p

Lauren, sorry about your sniffles--at least we know you didn't get if from me! If you're not running a fever and your chest isn't hurting, getting warmed up from exercise might actually even help you fight the cold. I can sometimes get rid of the beginning of a cold by going for a brisk walk, then coming home, jumping into a hot bath, and spending the rest of the evening bundled up drinking hot tea. My theory is that increasing my body temperature scares away the bugs.

I played hookie yesterday and went skiing all afternoon. I telemark ski--well, let's just say I used to know how to telemark ski, back in my youth. Now I just know how to mostly control my fall down the mountain! I'm already getting very sore, because I used all kinds of muscles I don't usually pay attention to, and my back is a little sore from the spills I took. But what fun it was!

I skied for 4 hours, but to be conservative and take out lift time and time spent trying to get the snow out of my shirt, I'm only counting it as 2 hours of exercise. I already used up more that that in points--I knew if I didn't eat something pretty heavy last night I'd be out-of-control hungry today, so ate a full dinner last night.

Lin, thanks for the encouragement. Lots of things in my life are in flux right now, so I think I need to cut myself a break. My weight is something I've always beat myself up about, and this is a time to be standing up for myself, not cutting myself down. Even WW has been about being "in control", as though the real me was out of control. I need to start seeing that eating well and exercising aren't ways to be in control, but to take care of myself.

Anyways, I hope your feast tonight is a success, and everyone have a great weekend.

Hi, Turtles,

My feast went very well, Lenore. Thanks for the good wishes.

I envy you your willingness to hurtle down a mountain, but with my lack of depth perception, skiing isn't my sport. But I'd love to find something I could do for four hours and love it!

I love that attitude--taking care of yourself is the best way to look at this journey. I'm a believer in treating myself with gentleness. It's too easy to sabotage my own efforts by being so hard on myself that I could never live up to my own expectations.

The past couple of days and the next few are my monthly challenge. I'm so bloated and uncomfortable right now. It's so hard to stay within my point range those last few days before TOM. So, I'm trying to eat healthy things and eat enough to be satisfied. If I don't, I get crazy and really overeat. Then I put on pounds that aren't water and get on that gain and lose the same weight every month cycle. I also am working on keeping up with my journal. I don't get as crazy when I write it all down and when I keep up with my general journal.

Hope all of you are doing well. Looking forward to hearing from those of you who post less frequently.

Happy turtlin'! :cool:

Lin

Lin, I hope it ends and you feel back to normal soon!

Lenore, welcome! (Why is it that most of the turtles are L's? Am I missing something? ;) Beth and I are the only holdouts!)

Wedding is on saturday, priest has a ruptured blood vessel in is eye and may or may not be able to perform the ceremony. Yipes! British family are beginning to arrive. I HAVE A CLEAN HOUSE! YAY! No, really. DF told me on Friday night that family were due in Saturday tea-time, so I did a bit of flapping about and then got serious and cleaned this place up (I had been letting it slide so I could deal with school). So I have a clean house!

Beth, we're planning just that kind of honeymoon--the "hide in a cabin in the woods" kind. We'd like to just get away from all of this mess and get on with OUR life, rather than the life our families think/expect we have.

It must be nice to be running, Beth. That's so cool about running the weight loss group! I relate to the "can't talk the talk if you don't walk the walk" feelings you're having. I make sure I exercise regularly and I never give anyone (in orientation, or private clients) exercises I'm not willing to do myself. I'm feeling a bit touchy about being "heavy" right now, but the women in my club like it because it makes me real. No blonde California babe here!

I know I'm forgetting to comment on something. Whatever it was, whoever it was for, I'm sorry!

Hi,

Mousie, it's always great to hear from you. I guess we're all "L's" because we're just "Lucky". LOL!

Wow! You have had a lot of stuff going wrong at the last minute. Cleaning house can be a real stress reliever. I don't know if it's just the physical labor or not having to look at the mess anymore.

I know that when Saturday comes, you will have a great wedding day. We'll all be thinking of you.

I really am having a difficult month with PMS, but I will get past it. And it will get better. I weigh four pounds less than I did when I weighed myself last, about three weeks ago. If I can keep the PMS munchies under control, I may end up this month on the down side. I'll let you know.

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin

Hi, Turtles,

Everyone must be really busy this week.

I'm not doing well with sticking OP. I'm in "I don't care mode". I'm noticing a pattern. When I have an especially bad bout with PMS, I get into that mode. When I'm having an especially difficult month, everything seems like too much of an effort to do because I feel so awful. The problem comes when I get to feeling like I'm permanently stuck in that mode and continue to act that way after TOM gets rid of that PMS stuff.

The good news is that now that I can see what's going on, I can make a plan to deal with it. One thing I know helps is to drink an extra quart of water. It helps keep the water weight gain down. Sounds weird, but it does help.

Extra exercise also helps. What works best for me at that time is walking, but the weather is really bad right now. I don't want to get drenched. So, I'll just wait and see if it clears up, then go for a walk later.

I've gotten past a lot of the blues I've been feeling for the past couple of weeks. I sat myself down and set up a routine that includes specific times to study my new books. I have time since we're pretty much unpacked and settled in. We have a little left to do, but an hour or so every weekend for a couple of weeks should take care of that.

Anyway, now I feel less scattered and disorganized. I have some ideas for my currently defunct web site. I have set aside specific times to update and maintain it, once I get the latest version up on the Web. It seems really dumb for a would-be Web publisher not to have and maintain her own site!

I shouldn't beat myself up, though. The TIE cinema site has taken up a lot of my time lately. I've finished the page I was editing, but they're working on the new logo and design stuff, so it's not been uploaded yet.

Keeping up with my new schedule will be a real boost in my efforts to stay OP. For example, I won't be eating as much out of boredom. I'll be too busy.

I also plan to add a section to my web site for weight loss support, including putting up my journals, exercise, etc. The purpose is to help me stay honest with myself. I think knowing that I will be posting it for anyone to see will help me to make more careful decisions. I need to make myself more accountable.

It's not that I worry that people will judge me badly if my posts show that I've gone off program that gives me the accountability. It's that I will be writing my journal twice, once when I make the decision and write what I ate, my exercise, etc. and once when I post it. I'm thinking that by I writing it that second time, I won't be able to just forget what I did. I'll have to face the music and really consider things more carefully. That's what I need for myself. I find it too easy to ignore the bad times. Or I make up a plan, and "forget" to follow it. But, I'm motivated to make changes and I know that I can do what I need to do.

So, we'll see how things go. I'm not ready to give in to this PMS mood and give up. I will get there, and so will we all.

Happy turtlin'! :cool: :D

Lin

Lin, sounds like you're really finding your way back. When you get the site up, I'd love to see it. Great idea. I've been toying with the idea of doing something similar. The problem for me is time. I'm supposed to be updating another site for a customer, and I'm just not getting to it.

Lenore, I'll have to try your remedy for preventing colds!

Mousie, best wishes for the wedding -- and for married life with your sweetie. I can't wait to hear all the details of the big event.

I'm still plugging along, still OP, still barely losing. I was sick last week so I went a week without exercising -- and boy, was it tough when I tried to do it again! Like starting at ground zero. Amazing how quickly you can lose the ground you gain.

This weekend we start Lent. I'll no longer be eating any animal products, but I'm going to make an exception for tuna. Canned tuna. I loathe the stuff, but it's protein that's good for you and easily works on the program. And loathing the stuff is part of the Lenten picture. :-) I'll be eating tofu, veggies, beans, rice, fruit ... Although I'm not doing this to lose weight, I'll be interested to see how this affects my weight loss. I'll also be pretty much cutting out sugar except for breakfast cookies, but that's not a big change from now.

If I don't write as often during the next couple months, it'll be because we take time out during Lent to reflect and meditate. But I'll still check in as often as I can -- I need this place!

--Lauren
220/217/down

Hi, Turtles,

Lauren, good job with staying OP, especially since you've been sick. That's hard to do. What you may find is that even though you lose what you've gained regarding exercise, it comes back faster than when you originally built up the routine.

Spring for white albacore tuna. I hated canned tuna until I discovered that albacore, despite it's greater expense, is actually edible.

How do you fix tofu? I've been flirting with eating it sometimes, but I fear that I'll never get my family to eat it. Or that I'll hate it and never want to eat it again. I've tried it and I liked it OK in a restaurant soup I had once. But so far I've not found a recipe that I like.

Good luck with your yearly Lenten diet. I admire you your ability to stick with that kind of Lenten restrictions. I admit that I would find it difficult.

Also, thanks for the encouragement regarding my web site. I know what you mean about time. I felt really bad about not updating my old site, but I realized that my grades would have suffered if I had taken the time to do it. But now I have the time, and a lot of new ideas. We'll see how it goes. I'm giving myself an hour or two each day specifically to work on the site. I don't know how many hours it will take to get it up, but I'll keep you posted.

I downloaded Netscape 6.1 and it shows this site in a really different manner. The page I'm replying to is in a small window with a scroll bar. Below it is the text of the previous posts, without the formatting, in the regular window. It's strange, but kind of cool, too.

TOM finally got here and it's Motrin time. I'm relieved and planning how to manage the next month so that I have a shot at having a mild attack (or none, which happens once a year or so) of PMS and I don't totally ignore what I want to do. I think I have to spend the points on calcium and/or take supplements. I have a hard time remembering to take the supplements, but I have to come up with a way to remind myself. It did help when I did that.

I have the kind of motivation I had when I lost my last bunch of weight. I know I can do it again. It's just going to take a while, since I do not lose quickly, as you all know.

I hope things are well with you all--Beth, Mousie, Lenore, and Lori. Lori, if you're lurking, we hope you'll post again and let us know what's happening.

Happy turtlin'! ;)

Lin

Lin, I remember you talking about how calcium helped you, so I tried it and after a couple months it helped me, too. Then I fell off the wagon. Let's remind each other to take that calcium! For me, it's especially tough because I can't take it with my multi-vitamins or I won't absorb the iron I need. But I can still work it in.

I finally lost my TOM weight plus another half pound. I'll take it -- 4.5 pounds down from my plateau weight, and in virgin fat territory.

Today I also worked out with real weights. That was an eye opener!

Onward and downward,

Lauren
(274/215.5/down)

Forgot to answer your question about preparing tofu, Lin. I'm probably the wrong person to ask for good recipes, since I don't think I'm much of a cook. But here are some of the ways I prepare tofu:

--Crumbled and browned (you can buy it this way) and thrown into marinara sauce instead of meat, then poured over spaghetti. People who eat this usually think they're eating ground beef and don't notice the difference.

--Cubed, sauteed lightly in sesame oil with hot peppers and garlic, then add zucchini or other veggies; put the whole thing over rice

--Cubed and cooked with Tofu Helper (comes in various flavors; I like the curry and pasta one)

--Soft silken tofu mixed with vanilla and sugar or some other sweetener; tossed with frozen fruit; I let this thaw a bit so that the fruit melts and flavors the tofu; it's kind of like yogurt

--In prepacked foods like Boca burgers and different burritos

--With the moisture pressed out, cut into pieces and cooked in a Thai curry sauce with veggies; put over rice.

When you cook the tofu for a while with othe seasonings and sauces, it'll take on the flavor of those sauces. This seems to be especially true if you squeeze the moisture out of the tofu first; it absorbs the flavors better.

--Lauren

Hi, Turtles,

Lauren, way to go! I'm glad to see you back in virgin fat territory. It won't be long before you're so deep into virgin fat that TOM won't kick you back above that number.

Maybe you need to take your multivitamin in the morning and your calcium in the evening or vice versa. I think that I need to start taking a multivitamin, too. I've always been one who believes I ought to be able to get all of my nutrients directly from the food that I eat, but I'm thinking that as I work on losing weight I need to rethink that idea.

Thanks for the tofu ideas and the tip about pressing out the moisture to help it absorb the flavors of the sauce. I need to reduce my food costs and a few more vegetarian meals can help with that. Adding some extra red meat to boost my iron has helped me to feel better, but it's more expensive to eat that way in my family of "red meat loving" men. I cook a recipe that ought to serve 6-8 and there's nothing left over after one meal!

I've decided that since I'm recommiting to this program by purchasing the new materials, I'm going to set my next goal at that 10% level that WW talks about. And I'm going to reward myself when I get there with Ghirardelli. No, not the chocolate. The mug! They have a gorgeous blue coffee mug in their store in Monterey. If we can't get to Monterey, I'm going to see if it's available online. So, that's what I'm working toward right now.

Hope everyone has a great day and you'll all post when you can.

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin

Hi, turtles,

It's the weekend. My computer is acting very strange. It's jumping all over the page while I'm typing. Weird!

Anyway, I hope you all are having a great weekend. I am OP today. YEA! I sat down and made a menu plan for the week. I wish I could have this point range forever. It's enough to get in all of my nutrients and still have a few points left over for baking stuff a couple of times each week. Tonight I'm making a really good low-fat, low point brownie recipe.

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin

Hi, tortoise beings. Lin, how did the brownies turn out? Congrats on staying OP!

I actually had three over-point days in a row. Not entirely sure why; I think part of it was that our Lent arrived Monday and we were cleaning out the house ahead of time, as it were. In any case, my weight will be up this week. It's amazing to me how little I need to overeat in order to gain weight.

Did aerobics today. I'm working out a bit less than I'd like, but at least I'm working out. Baby steps ...

Hope Mousie's wedding was lovely!

--Lauren

Hi, Turtles,

Lauren, the brownies turned out great. It's an old favorite recipe that I was afraid I'd have to stop making because I couldn't find Dutch process cocoa or instant espresso powder here in Salinas. I substituted regular instant coffee for the espresso powder. But you can't substitute regular cocoa for Dutch process cocoa. I found that Hershey's is now making Dutch process cocoa. Yea! It's the basis of a lot of low-fat chocolate recipes.

Congrats on keeping up with the baby steps and not letting a few over point days get you down. Good job on working out. I know that this whole process is especially hard for you because your body doesn't let you get away with minor slips. Hang in there. You're doing great even if it's just because you're not giving up! And your persistence is paying off. Look at where you are now compared to where you might have been if you had given up during that long plateau and congratulate yourself.

I'm looking forward to hearing about Mousie's wedding. I'm so glad for her after all she went through that they finally were able to get married.

I've been OP this week. I weighed myself and I'm down to 236, 5 pounds lower than a month ago. Woo Hoo! :D

I did something different with my food plan. I've always had a salad and at least one other veggie with dinner. But I decided to eat some kind of soup and a salad with both lunch and dinner. I also often add one more fruit or veggie with dinner. Those changes have made a huge difference in how this program is working for me.

I get full so that I don't eat as large a portion of the main dish or the potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, etc. So, I've been getting all of my fruits, vegetables, and milks in and banking a few points a day. I've planned a very small treat every day. And I've managed to bank enough points to make one of those low-fat desserts three times in a week and a half, which I eat in place of the previously planned treat.

It sounds like I'm creating a plan to indulge my sweet tooth when I put it that way. But what really happened is that after I planned my main meals and snacks, I ended up with a bunch of banked points so I decided to use them to indulge my love of baking. It works for me because I plan and eat 1 small portion and my family eats the rest long before I'm tempted to eat more.

It's the process of creating the dessert that matters to me. I eat one portion to see how it turned out and what I want to do differently next time. Same thing for my regular recipes. I love the process of creation in the kitchen and if I can't do that, and stay OP, then I won't stay OP. I guess there are some things more important to me than losing weight. My preference is to use my kitchen creativity to make the program work for me by redoing recipes and creating my own to make them the lowest points I can without giving up the qualities that make it good food.

One other thing that is different from before I got serious again and planned my meals. I had been having a problem with heartburn at 8 pm every night. Weird for me because nothing ever bothered my digestive system until recently. Well, I'd been indulging in some meals with the full fat content and eating in my childhood pattern of three meals and no snack. I was afraid it was the spices, bell peppers, onions, etc. that was causing this. But since I've started dividing up my food into 5 smaller and lower fat meals again, the heartburn has gone away completely. And I still eat my spicy food! Whew! I really don't want to give up jalapenos, chipotles, and Tabasco sauce. I'm a real Southwestern girl! ;)

Have a great day, everyone. Hope to hear from you lurkers again, soon.

Happy turtlin'! :cool:

Lin

Only time for a quick note here -- way to go on those five pounds, Lin! Woo-hoo! :)

How about a recipe for those brownies? They sound marvelous. And what's the difference with Dutch process cocoa?

--Lauren

Hi, Turtles,

The brownie recipe is from "Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts". I put all of my recipes in MasterCook and print them out when I make them so I don't get spills, etc. all over my cookbooks. Some of them are out of print and some are expensive to replace.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Michael's Fudge Brownies

Recipe By: Alice Medrich
Servings: 16 Serving Size: 1 brownie
Points: 3 per brownie

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached flour -- sifted
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1/2 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1 teaspoon hot water

Oven: 350 F

1. Dissolve espresso powder in hot water.

2. Spray an 8" square pan with vegetable oil spray.

3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Off the heat, stir in the sugar until combined (texture will remain sandy). Add the egg, egg whites, vanilla, and dissolved espresso powder. Beat with a wooden spoon about 40 strokes, scraping the sides of the pan as necessary. Add the dry ingredients and beat for another 40 strokes, or just until completely mixed. If an electric mixer is used, be careful not to overmix, but be sure it's blended well.

4. Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out a little gooey, but not drippy wet. Be careful not to cook them too long or you don't get that great fudgy texture. Cool on a rack. Cut into 16 squares. Enjoy.

Dutch process cocoa: Dutch process cocoa is richer and darker and many of the low-fat baked goods recipes I have use it. It's been treated with alkali to neutralize some of the natural acidity of cocoa. The difference in acidity reacts differently with the ingredients, particularly baking soda and baking powder, in baked goods. So, if you substitute, you don't get the same results.

Enjoy the brownies. Your husband will not know they are not the regular brownies unless you tell him. He'll think you're being totally bad when you eat one. They're not huge, but they're so rich that one is very satisfying. I eat mine slowly to savor all the chocolate flavor!

Things are going very well. I've stayed OP even though I've eaten over my planned points by a point the last couple of days because I had unused banked points available.

Have a great day, turtles. Hope to hear soon from those of you who haven't been posting lately.

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin
272/236/down

Thanks, Lin -- 3 points is do-able, and the recipie looks great. I love coffee in things. Wonder what it would be like to substitute apple sauce for the butter?

I'm up a half pound this week. Not a surprise after those two 40-point days. But with reverse banking, I ended the week ahead. I've been back within my points for the past four days or so, and have worked out twice. (I'm sore today!)

Lin, looks like you and I are keeping this thread alive at the moment. At least we're in good company. :)

--Lauren
(274/216/down)

Hi,
I'm hoping to join you. I joined WW about a year ago and have lost 24 pounds. In October I lost 6 1/2 pounds and thought I had this thing licked only to find that was the last weight loss I'd have even though I've been OP. This week I lost another pound, so there is hope. With me, I think an awful lot of this is hormonal. But I really am looking to give and get support because I need some and also like to reciprocate.
Good luck to us all.
:cool:

Itryharder, welcome! I think there must be something in the air. In more than three months, I've lost 5 pounds -- most of it recently. I was on a long plateau, though apparently not as long as yours. Any ideas why you might be plateauing? I'm discovering that I no longer have any wiggle room -- if I go over points at all, I won't lose. I'm wondering if bumping up my exercise might help -- instead of aiming for 4 times a week, I may start aiming for 5.

Anyway, glad to see you here!

--Lauren

Lauren,
Thanks for such a nice warm welcome. I have tried everything the whole time staying OP.The week I added exercise I gained .6 of a pound. I really am not complaining. I think that this may just be the TIME for me to lose, so I'll be real careful not to blow it by going over my points. Also, since it's Lent I'll be eating more tuna and fish when I can. My wonderful WW leader suggested "unit foods". Something you can't get more of. Like a chicken cutlet. Weigh it, eat it and it's gone. So I've been doing that and also I've been trying more protein--starting with an egg in the morning. I am also back to my veggie soup which bulks up my lunch without points.
I'll let you know how things work out, but I am optimistic again.
Good luck to you. We're still lighter than when we started and that's a VERY good thing.
:cool:

Hi all! I apologize for not writing; I haven't had time to read anything until tonight. I won't be able to write much as my wrist and shoulder are killing me from work (ergonomics it isn't!).

Not much is happening right now. I had a big weight of 4# and I've been struggling with going to the gym.

Lauren, I had been thinking of you. I had decided to give up sweets for Lent. No candy, etc. I've also been reducing my caffeine (so I can increase my water). It's been tough. I have come home and fallen asleep immediately after playing with the dog.

Work is good; home is good although my cats have been acting up -- I've been struggling with the weight and the program.

Itryharder, welcome! I love your name. It is my goal to try harder too. Right now I'm concentrating on the water and not eating in between meals. And the candy. I should say that I occasionally binge but more likely I have 2-3 tiny Tootsie Rolls a day. Nothing major but on the other hand....

It is TOM and perhaps that accounts for my weight gain but let's be honest. I am not trying hard enough. I am grateful to have kept off about 50# so far but still! I worry.

Lin, it sounds like you are doing great and keeping busy. Lauren, congrats on the virgin fat territory! Yippee! And Beth, good work on the group. I too am looking forward to Mousie's account of the wedding. She deserves much happiness!

Well, goodnight folks and I will write in. I should be getting my new keyboard at work soon and maybe that will help with the arm/shoulder pain.

Take care,

Lori W.

Mousie,
Best wishes on your upcoming wedding. Have fun and really enjoy the day.
Everybody--joining this thread must be good luck because I am back to losing again.
Now I have to keep my head clear and not celebrate a little weight loss with fattening foods. My challenge right now is to stay OP and do the right thing for myself.
Good luck to everyone and let's do this!
:cool:

Hi, Turtles,

Welcome, Itryharder. You ought to fit right in here. We all try harder.

Congrats on your renewed weight loss. And don't let the gain get you down. It's fairly common to gain a bit or to plateau when you add exercise to your program.

Lori, it's so good to hear from you. I've been thinking about you a lot lately. I'm glad to hear that even if you're struggling, you're not giving up. Good luck with your Lenten resolution.

I hope the new keyboard helps you. Make sure they don't install it too low. When you type, your arm should be level from your elbow, through your wrist, to your fingers. Keep your wrists up, as if you're playig the piano. Remember, the wrist rest is for when you're resting from typing. And sit with the best posture you can. I had a similar problem with my last job. I do a lot of typing at home, too. So, I read up on the subject and those were the tips that helped me the most. Those tips and my ergonomic keyboard.

Lauren, regarding the trick of substituting applesauce for the butter. My instincts suggest that pear puree or that prune puree that Sunsweet sells as a fat substitute for baking might be better choices. Those purees would not affect the flavor as much as applesauce can. Regardless of which puree you used, I wouldn't replace more than half of the butter.

Two reasons. One--getting rid of the fat affects the chemistry and the texture. I don't think it would turn out the way it is supposed to. But I haven't tried it with this recipe, so I'm going on my cooking instincts. Two--with the exceptions of fruit, veggies, and most savory breads and grain dishes, I find smaller portions of low-fat food much more satisfying than huge portions of non-fat foods.

You've got me curious, though. Because Alice Medrich is such a respected pastry chef and these recipes are already so low in fat, I never thought about trying to reduce it even more. But, I think my family will be getting brownies again in a week or so because I'd like to try your suggestion. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I'm still OP this week. I'm really becoming a fan of 0-2 point per serving soups. I've been more satisfied with my meals. And my family was disappointed last night when I ate a leftover soup made from veggies they don't like very much. They wanted soup, too. I've been going nuts for years trying to figure out how to get them to eat more veggies and it looks like soup is the answer.

Talk to you all later.

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin
272/236/down

Lin,
Isn't soup a kicker? I can't believe how it can bulk up a meal for so few points. The mistake I've made in the past is to let it be the whole meal instead of an intro to other foods.
Good turtling!
:cool:

Hi, everyone. Lin and ITryHarder, you've convinced me to add more soup into my life. It really does help fill me up if I start with soup. This time of year, we do eat a LOT of soup (beans, beans, and more beans). Lin, this summer I'll look forward to hearing about how we can make cold soups. :)

I made a delicious veggie pizza this weekend. I bought some single-serving crusts for 5 points each. They were seasoned with Italian seasonings. Then I smeared them with roasted red pepper sauce (maybe a point) and mushrooms and green peppers that had been lightly sauteed in olive oil with Italian seasonings. I added thinly sliced tomatoes and crushed garlic (the kind that comes out of a jar). Toasted the whole thing for 6 minutes at 350 degrees, and voila! A large serving of 7-point pizza. Very tasty. You could add a little cheese without doing too much damage, I'm sure. I've also had this with chicken sausage, which is excellent.

I also went back through my journals from August to now, just to see how my weight loss went. Boy, was I surprised. In August I lost a lot, probably because I had just re-committed myself to the program and thus lost a lot of water. But in September, October, and November, I just lost a couple pounds each month. December I lost nothing due to holiday overeating.

The big surprise: In January and February, when I thought my weight was almost stagnant, I actually lost 3 and 4 pounds respectively, my best losses since August. The difference? I started exercising in early January.

So here's what I figured out: By weighing myself so often, I've really lost perspective on how well I'm actually doing. I'm tired of making myself nuts. Like Lin, I'm finally convinced that I need to do the sane thing and just weigh myself once a month. I'm too slow a loser to benefit from anything more often than that.

And I was very inspired to do my workout this morning! :)

Onward and downward,

Lauren
(274/216/down)

Hi, Turtles,

I'm having trouble posting today. Well, I guess I'm going to have to switch all of my bookmarks to IE 5. Netscape 6 has a major bug. It ignores password logins, etc. I can't log in to my Yahoo! email and when I logged in here, it kept asking me to login again.

I created a really simple Cream of Any Veggie Soup recipe. If you want it, ask and I'll post it. I use a lot of other soups, but this one is so quick that it's perfect when I'm making a more complicated main dish.

I'm still OP. I have to redo my menu plan because circumstances prevented me from cooking my planned meal last night and I had planned to eat leftovers for lunch. Not a real problem. I have a leftover green bean salad. If I drain the liquid off, and saute the veggies, they'd probably be great in an omelette.

I officially weighed myself yesterday. I prefer to weigh in on Sundays, so I decided to do the first Sunday after TOM as my official weigh in day. I'm down 8 pounds since last month, to 233. I expect it to slow down, though, because that's the kind of loss I have after a long time of maintaining or even gaining a little.

That's why I'm trying to develop a pattern of losing for a while, then maintaining, then losing some more. I figure that I'll eventually get to a weight I want to permenantly maintain.

I discovered that there is a good side to my absolute hatred of housework. I did an hour of cleaning today and I worked up a sweat. It definitely fit the definition of moderate activity. I think I really get going because I want to be done with it. But it takes a while because I'm really thorough.

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin
272/233/lower

Lin
It is so smart to look back and see what has REALLY been happening instead of what we think has been happening.
I am down more than 25 pounds over this past year. That's real good. I have done this without ever once banging my head against the wall in frustration. Okay, so I had a few tears and panic when I was OP and my weight went UP, but that's only human.
Overall, my weight loss is better. My attitude is great and I truly feel like I am on my way to changing the way I perceive food. I am leading a healthier lifestyle. That's pretty good!
Good luck to all of us.

Lin,
Congrats on an incredibly great weight loss. And yes, I'd love to know an easy recipe for cream of anything soup!
:cool:

Hi, Turtles,

I checked the preferences in Netscape 6 and for some reason, the browser had set all of my sites to "don't accept cookies from this site." The problem is, that the only way the computer knows you're logged in is if it accepts a cookie. What's really odd is that the general cookie prefs were set to accept all cookies. (I go through and delete the obnoxious ones myself.) Anyway, I'm testing again to see if I can post. It let me into my Yahoo! mailbox.

Itryharder--I love your attitude. One of the hardest lessons I've learned is that attitude is everything! Many times the same situation looked at from different perspectives can be either a positive one or a negative one. That's one of the things I remind myself to look at when my motivation gets stalled.

I'll post the recipe tomorrow. The easiest way is to put it in MasterCook and paste it to the thread. I make it without following a written recipe, so I have to write it out.


And--Thanks so much for the congratulatory message. Those always mean a lot to me.

Happy Turtlin'! :)

Lin
272/233/lower

Just checking in on this snowy day to say hello to all of us Slow Turtles. I'm going to make some soup and look at the weather and stay OP all day! It's a promise.

235/207/155(or thereabouts)

Lori, it was great to "see" you up there. (Not sure how I missed you earlier.) Good job on keeping off 50#; that's no small feat. I hope your shoulders, etc., feel better soon. And good luck with the cutback in sugar and caffeine over Lent! My tummy has definitely noticed the change in diet and doesn't quite know what to make of it. But this is nothing compared to how it will react on Easter when it gets reintroduced to all that meat and dairy again! You don't want details.

Woo-hoo, Lin! Eight pounds in a month is terrific. Being OP for all this time is even better. Way to go.

ITry, you're awfully close to that magical 199 number. That must be exciting. Your attitude sounds wonderful.

My attitude has definitely improved since I looked backward and took the bigger view. (That sounds like I just looked at my butt, doesn't it? :))

I've decided to up my exercise to 4-5 times per week. That would be up to 220 minutes or so. At least two would be strength training combined with aerobics and the other two or three would be straight aerobics. I'm finding the strength training is really helping me feel more limber and, well, stronger. (Duh.)

And, weirdly, I'm looking forward to my workouts these days. I'm going to try not to think too hard about that. :)

Onward and downward,

Lauren

Hi,

Here's the basic soup recipe I promised:

Creamy Any Vegetable Soup

Recipe By : Linda Sprinkle
Serving Size : 8


Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 pound frozen and/or fresh vegetables -- thawed and drained
1 medium onion, scallions, leek, shallots -- minced (optional)
1 clove garlic -- minced (optional)
1 pinch olive oil spray -- (optional)
4 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable stock
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
1 pinch salt -- to taste
1 pinch pepper -- to taste
1 pinch herbs, spices, condiments, flavorings -- to taste

1. Saute onions and garlic, if using in a large saucepan sprayed with oil. For a flavor variation, some or all of the veggies also may be sauteed.

2. Add remaining vegetables, any desired seasonings, and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender.

3. If you want a totally creamy soup, puree all of the soup in the blender. Or use a stick blender right in the pot. If you want the soup thick and creamy, but still want vegetable chunks, puree half of the veggies. To use a stick blender, remove half of the veggies and puree the rest of the soup. Then add the chunks back to the pot.

4. Add the milk. If the soup has cooled too much, heat gently over low heat for a few minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

NOTES : This basic recipe can also be used as a main dish by adding beef, ham, chicken, turkey, beans, lentils, cooked pasta or rice, and/or other cooked grains. Beans, small pastas (like orzo), rice, or potatoes also make the soup thicker without the addition of cream. Another way to make a great soup is to pour beaten eggs into the soup while you stir it in one direction to make threads of egg. Most people know it as an Asian recipe called "Egg Drop Soup", but it's also commonly made in Italy. It was one of my grandmother's recipes that I loved as a child.
Obviously, the point count varies depending on what you put in it, so when I make variations, I keep them in a file on MasterCook with the point count and serving size. I created a cookbook called "Point Counts" that just lists the ingredients and the point counts for food I make without a written recipe.

Copyright:
"2001"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thanks, Lauren. I have a suggestion that might help with your annual tummy issue. I've recently been recreating some of my recipes to omit part of the meat and adding some beans. I've also been using a couple of tablespoons of beans in salads a few times each week. And I've been eating more oatmeal and using more whole grains in my baking, etc. I'm doing this because it fills me up more and is a healthier way to eat. But I wonder if you try using more beans and vegetarian dishes throughout the year and if you taper off meat and dairy gradually before Lent and reintroduce them gradually at Easter your tummy might not react so strongly.

It's so great to hear about your exercise program. I know how you've struggled with exercise over the years. It's great to hear you say that you're starting to look forward to your workouts. Congratulations!

I'm still OP. It's taking a lot of work to stay OP, though. My family seems to be going through one of those inexplicable changes in their appetites that cause my well-laid plans to go awry. Sometimes I plan for leftovers and they eat the whole thing. So I make more. Then they leave it sit for days and days and I end up throwing out perfectly good food. There's no predicting it either. It's not particular recipes that they gobble up or leave. Often it's the same one. It just depends on their appetite at the time. So, I spend a lot of time adjusting my meal plans to accommodate what food happens to be available. I'm beginning to see why it's so hard for me to stay OP when I'm working or going to school. I just don't have the time to tweak my plan, do extra cooking, etc.

OTOH--I seem to do better with exercising when I'm working or going to school. I walk a lot more. This neighborhood is boring compared with my old neighborhood. The mall near my house is not very interesting. They don't even have a decent bookstore. They have two of them, but they're both really small and have a very limited selection of stuff to look at. The rest of the mall is clothing stores and fast food stuff. YUCK! Anyway, it's not a place I'm attracted to walking around. I'm looking forward to when they open the pool and I can swim. It's actually large enough to do laps, which is a real change from any other apartment complex I've lived in.

This new forum has a much better clue that the thread has gone over into multiple pages. Do you prefer that I continue to change threads when we get to 2 pages? Or ? I'd love an opinion on how often to switch to a new thread.

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin
272/233/lower

Having good days. Hope to hear from you all soon.
Newest Slo Turtle.

LIn,
Thanks for posting the creamy soup recipe. It looks great and I'm going to make a batch. We're expecting snow this weekend again.
Great advice about Lent and the changes in eating habits. Take care everyone and have a great day.
:cool:

Hi,

I'm still OP. I'm facing a challenge the next two weeks. Due to one of those unforseeable circumstances, my food budget is about half normal for the next two weeks. I'll have to get creative, but it often seems as if no matter how much I cook, planning to stretch a recipe over two days, my sons get extra hungry and eat it all before the second meal! I'll survive. I always do.

I think I'm either facing a mild case of depression or the onset of menopause. I don't have the severe symptoms they talk about when they tell you what to look for if you're clinically depressed. But it's not usual for me to feel like going back to bed and doing nothing all day. I've always been able to find interesting stuff to do, even when I didn't have an outside job or classes to take. I have a bunch of interesting projects to work on, but I can't seem to get the mental energy going to do them. This is NOT me. Last night, I thought I was going nuts. I seriously considered packing my clothes into a backpack, getting on a bus, and leaving. I had no real plan, no destination, no resources. I just wanted to get away. I only thought about it for a few minutes, but it really scared me. This is NOT me, either. I was never one of those adolescents who just did stuff without considering the consequences. I kept my adventures fictional. Anyway, I'm calling today and making an appointment to see a doctor. I don't want to do nothing and have this get worse. Wish me luck, turtle buddies.

I hope things are going well for all of you. Lauren, I love your picture. I saw it on Dotti's forum and meant to tell you how flattering it is, but when I got to this thread the next day, I had forgotten what I wanted to say. (See how wierd I'm getting?) You're a really gorgeous woman and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! BTW--If you don't mind my asking, what's behind your handle on Dotti's forum?

Glad to see that you're having a great day, ITryHarder. Hope you like the soup. It's hard to dislike it becasue it's so customizable to individual tastes.

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin
(272/233/lower)

Lin, thanks for the soup recipe. It looks great. I plan to try it right after Lent.

About the depression ... yeah, it could be hormonal, and you're smart to visit the doctor. But it seems to me that it isn't out of line with your current circumstances. You've had a pretty big upheaval recently which has kaboshed some plans you hold dear. You didn't want this change to happen; it was forced on you. You're not doing what you want right now. You're not where you wanted to be. You're in a new place that wasn't of your choosing. It's a lot.

Just moving alone is ranked up there in the top 5 life stressors. Add to that all the other factors, and it sounds to me you're ripe for fantasies of getting on a bus and leaving! I dunno; I think you'd be superwoman not to be feeling these things.

Also, as we get older, we get less resiliant in some ways. I've seen this happen -- things that would've rolled off your back when you were in your 20s become much harder to dismiss lightly when you're in your middle or later years. It makes sense; our brains age right along with the rest of us. My stepfather had struggled with depression on and off during his life, but it wasn't until he hit his mid-50s that it became life-threatening. (He literally couldn't move.) He now has to take medication.

So it could be that it will take you longer to bounce back than it once did, and that you just need to be patient with yourself and keep journaling. Talking to someone wouldn't hurt either.

But as you say, it never hurts to rule out hormones.

In any case, I'm thinking of you and rooting for you. I know when I moved to Michigan, I was depressed (not clinically, just down) for about a year. I didn't know anyone except my new husband; I didn't have a job; I'd left good friends and a good job and a city I adored in order to go to a dumpy, awful suburb on the border of Detroit. It was a very tough time. I gained a lot of weight, too. At least you're getting a good handle on that!

Thanks for the kind words about the photo. Nothing that a professional hairstylist and one of the happiest days of my life couldn't do! (It's from our wedding reception.) My handle over on Dotti's is "Twitchly." I sign my name to actual posts, though.

Lauren
274/215/down

Lauren,
Not only do I admire how pretty and happy you look, I also admire that you figured out how to get a photo onto your name for posting. It really personalizes you and makes it easy for me to connect with you. Thanks.
Lin, you're going to feel better. I'm so glad you are getting to a doc. I suspect I'm a lot older than you and went through instantaneous feelings like that that I am sure were hormonal for me when I was getting nearer to menopause. You are super smart to get to a doctor and see if there are physical causes behind this. Also there may be simple medicines that can help you out temporarily. Good luck.
As far as eating and your boys' appetites--will they eat split pea soup? I just bought a bag of peas for 49cents and the soup I made was so filling. So--good luck with everything. Take it easy on yourself and be kind to yourself. I'm thinking and praying for you.
Itryharder--aka Judy

Judy, here's how you get a picture of yourself up.

First, you need a small picture of yourself. It needs to be on your computer rather than on a paper photograph. If you know someone with a scanner, they could scan it onto a disk for you. My scanner is on the blink, or I'd offer to do it for you. Anyway, for these boards, you need to get the picture down to about 70 by 70 pixels. (A pixel is a unit of measurement on a computer screen.) I used a computer graphics tool to do this.

Next, you need to put the picture on a web site somewhere. If you don't have any space on the web, ask your friend with the scanner! :-) Many people have web sites that come with their email accounts. There's also a web site that will store your photo for free. I can't remember the name, but if you like I'll find out for you.

Finally, here on this board, you go up to "Profile" at the top of the screen. Then click on "Edit Options." Scroll down until you see the "Avatar" option. That's where you can select to use an "avatar" -- or a picture that represents you. You'll want to select "custom" and then type in the web site address of the place that's storing your photo. You'll also need to type the location of your photo. For example: http://www.mywebsite.com/myphoto.jpg

You can also just pick a cartoon to represent you and be your avatar. There are a bunch of them; you'll see them when you go to "Edit options." That way you can skip all of the above rigamarole! :)

If you have any questions, just ask.

--Lauren

Hi, Turtles,

Thank you both for your supportive posts.

Lauren, what you said about not being as resilient as I used to be--That kind of hit home because I keep expecting myself to pick up and move on, the way I used to. It's really thrown me for a loop that I can't seem to do that this time. I haven't given up, but I do think that a trip to the doctor is in order. I sure would hate to be miserable for months only to find out that part or all of it is physical. I think that if there is a physical component to this and I can get help with that, it will make it much easier to deal with the situation in general.

I knew that your handle was "Twitchly", but what I wondered was whether there was a story behind it or if you just got tired of trying to find a handle that no one else was using. :lol:

Judy, thanks for the split pea suggestion. We do love split pea soup and that's definitely one of the things I'll plan to make. French onion soup is another good one, but the cheese can be a point problem. I'm going to add some beans to the soup and limit the cheese to a smaller portion. Baked potatoes topped with stuff is another inexpensive meal I like to make.

The biggest problem is that I hate listening to them complain when we go more vegetarian due to budget constraints. I guess it's too much to ask for them to just eat what we can afford and stop complaining. Their complaints make me feel bad that I can't feed them what they want. But, if they plan meals they either choose junk or massive amounts of meat. Their veggie of choice is potatoes. If I let them do it, we'd blow through our budget in less than a week! A complete, balanced meal doesn't occur to them. They complain that they get "too hungry" if they don't get enough "protein" (meat or massive amounts of cheese). I feed them protein, just not always animal protein and I think their problem is all in their heads! It's that cave man thing! ;)

Just for the record, I'm 47 years old. And I'm not unhappy about my age, per se. I do get bothered when a younger person dismisses me as being unworthy of even a simple, friendly conversation just because I'm his (it's usually a guy) mother's age. My defense? I talk video games and computers very knowledgably. It saved me when I worked in a place where all of the staff (except me and one other manager) was under 21.

I don't know how I'm managing to stay OP the way I feel this week, but I am. Probably because it's not PMS. :) Plus I'm determined to keep something under control. I'm sure that feeling like my life is out of my control has a lot to do with my present state of mind. But I do believe that I will eventually hit on something that will work to get me back on track with my life.

I don't want to come here and just spout depressed stuff. I'm doing pretty OK, considering. And I'm really pleased that I'm sticking with my healthy lifestyle. I believe that eating a healthy diet, exercising, etc. will help me cope with the rest of it. And I don't want to let that go. Have a great day, turtles!

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin
272/233/lower

Hi, Turtles,

I'm starting thread number 24 this morning. See you all there.

Lin
272/233/lower