WW Clubs and Groups - Turtles Group #148 Let's Go Turtles!

:carrot: :welcome3:
We are the Turtles Group here at 3fatchick.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)

Good morning lurking Turtles, good morning Judy and Bandit! I'm in an exceptionally good mood this morning, I don't know why but why fight it? ;)

Successful weekend, if you call battling a head-and-chest cold successful. At least I survived, right? I'm still adhering to my goals, and I feel positive about the choices I'm making. :)

Keep on keepin' on, Turtles! Never never never give in! ;)

Yay! I loved that pep talk, Mousie. This is a tough time of the year for planning and preparing and at the same time avoiding all sort of unmentionable goodies. Thanks for the pep talk.
Hey Bandit, are you back from your trip? Hope all goes well.
Love,
Judy Itry
234.6/202/thinner into onederland :cool:

You know, Judy, I was thinking about that today. I realized that I've done exceptionally this holiday period (so far!). I had no Halloween candy--put a sign on the door and left the house dark. Thanksgiving was at a restaurant, and I had measured, reasonable amounts of just a couple of things. I baked 26 DOZEN COOKIES for Bah Humbug Day and mailed off/gave away every single one of them--I didn't even sample the batter! We missed hubby's Christmas party this last saturday because we were (are still) sick. We have another Christmas party coming up at a friend's house that I have to tackle, and then on Christmas my parents (the only family who lives here) are traveling to PA and TX to see my siblings and their families so we're not planning anything 'big' then. Since Halloween I've lost 6.5 pounds!

I know it sounds like I'm bragging, and I guess I am proud of myself. But the point I wanted to make here is that it IS possible. I've had to be a bit of a humbug, I guess, but really I'm just trying to make decisions that are right for me. And that's reasonable.

Make the decisions that are right for you, Turtles. Take care of yourselves that way.

(I'm really turning into a motivational speaker today!)

Mousie, Motivate away! What an inspiring recap of these past months. My goodness, I hope you are incredibly proud of yourself. What you've accomplished is amazing. First of all, you've lost weight during this really tough time. Secondly, you've faced food challenges that would have brought Hercules to his knees. So, brag on Mousie!!! I don't think you bragged anywhere near enough! Here's a :wow: :bravo: :cp: and a :hat: to insure that you continue to do well and to be sooooooo proud of yourself.

Hey, I have a funny thought: I love the dancing carrot smilie. Why? Because it shows that you can be fit and healthy and still dance. No need to be morose about eating right. Surely we're doing the right thing for ourselves!
And, although my two Christmas celebrations are almost here and eating will be challenging to say the least, I am the cook and have plenty of foods that I can eat. So here's a :grouphug: for Bandit, Mousie, Granny, and me that we can support and encourage each other, have a wonderful holiday, and emerge from 2005 slimmer, healthier, and more fit! Bring on 2006: we're ready!

Love,
Judy
234.6/202/thinner into onederland :cool:

Dear Turtles,
Whoops, I had a tiny gain at my official WW WI yesterday. Even so, if I keep it all together in my head and stay on track I can meet my goal of breaking 200# by New Year's Day. My WW leader had a great idea. She handed out
blank calendar pages for the month of December. She suggested we go home and mark each day where an eating event will occur. For example, office party, holiday gathering at friends, dinner out with bowling group, etc.
You get the picture. Then she suggested we write P for "pure" in all the boxes that are left. Stay OP for the P days and use WPA's for the events.
Sounds sensible and mature to me. Let's go Turtles!

:goodvibes:
Judy Itry
234.6/202.8/thinner into onederland :cool:

Judy, you're so close to your goal and you've still got two weeks--I can see it happening! I usually go up then down a big chunk. You seem to do the same, though not quite as dramatically! So I think next week will be a good loss. :)

I'm trying to "collect" as many good days as I can. I've got one more event, and then I've just got to resist the "holiday spirit" trap!

Hi turtles!

Sounds like everyone is doing amazingly well considering all the challenges.
So keep up the good work!

Mousie - nice job motivating everyone - we can all use that.

Judy - I really liked the calendar idea. I think that would be a big help.
I think sometimes we overdo everything when we really don't need to and just use holidays as an excuse for making bad choices.

I am all for enjoying yourself etc but I for one use events/holidays as excuses.

Anyway, had a lovely trip (didn't win any $ at casino) but got in some shopping and had some nice dinners and some swims and walks. Also bf got his meetings done and I mostly relaxed (slept) while he was away. But overall it was really nice break for all the functions up here.

Next week I have Christmas things everyday except Thurs so I really need to do well this weekend and I am trying to get in some extra excercise as well.

I have my w/i tonight and know I will be up. I can feel it through my middle.
But will still go to meeting and face the music.

We are expecting lots of snow tonight & tomorrow so I will be shovelling lots.
That is really good exercise. It takes me 1 hour to shovel drive & walkways.
And after that I am really hot - but feel good, even though my arms & butt are sore.

Sending lots of Holiday Cheer and Best Wishes to all our Turtles!!!

Hi Bandit! Glad to hear your trip was a real vacation and you got to relax and play a lot. It's so nice to have a chance to just pause and regroup, isn't it?

Wow, you've got a lot of events next week! Good idea to set your sights on doing well this weekend, and to get some extra exercise in. I'd go out of my head, with something almost every day!

I hope you got acceptable news at your weigh-in. I know it hurts to go up, but it sounds like you're learning lots from it. Once things settle down and this season is over, I'm sure you'll be out of the gates like a racehorse for a win. :)

Snowshoveling does NOT sound like fun! Eww! Too cold for me. That's why I live in Southern CA. :) It's expensive here, but we don't have to shovel snow, or scrape ice off our windshields!

I weighed in this morning with a 1 pound loss! YAY! I could hardly believe it. I expected to be up, after a large loss last week, but it said 276.0. :) So I'm down 1 pound for the week, 6 pounds for the month, and I'm 1 pound away from my Christmas goal! I'm going to work very hard to get that goal--what a good Christmas present! :)

Touch bases when you get a chance, Judy. You still out there, Granny? Check in, we'd love to hear from you!

Keep on going, Turtles! :)

Hi Guys,
Have to make this very short, but I need to keep in touch. You guys are doing great. Mousie, you must be so proud. Looks like tweaking your eating is really paying off.
I've got big doings this weekend as it will be our "first" Christmas with son and his family and the other kids all joining us. I've got good food planned, but there are too many snacks around for me to be comfortable. Ugh. Gotta think of the people, not the food.
Good luck to us all. I'll write more on Monday. Bandit, exercise like a wild woman because your upcoming week is a toughie. Mousie, keep on keepin' on. You've done tremendously well. Send a big hug for me because I am two pounds away from my Christmas goal and need all the help I can get.
:grouphug: and :goodvibes:
Judy Itry
234.6/202.8/thinner into onederland :cool:

Judy--Just a quick note to let you know that I got your mail! Thank you!

Excellent Mousie. Let me know what you think.
Well, this was a wonderful weekend for me. All my kids and grandkids were a pleasure and it was exciting to have them all here. Now I'm exhausted and still not finished with getting ready for our real Christmas. Food wasn't the best, but also not a disaster. I think if I just count all the extras I had, I've used up my 35 WPA's and I'll hang tough for the upcoming days until my WI/
I fell and hurt my foot pretty bad, and it's getting better, but the treadmill was out. That's never a help.
Hope all goes well with you all. Take care and :grouphug: for us to do the best we can all the time.
Love,
Judy Itry
234.6/202.8/thinner into onederland :cool:

Ouch, Judy, I hope your foot is okay soon! I've been fighting this chest cold for two weeks now, I understand the frustration of wanting to exercise but just not being able to!

I've read through the booklet and you're right, it looks a LOT like how I [would like to think that I] eat! I'll have to find some recipes and things, this is definitely a more effortful way of eating.

I've finished my Christmas shopping as of this morning, and now I'm exhausted. Still need to finish wrapping hubby's gifts, get my nephews' gifts down to my parents' house so they can take them on their trip, and generally clean up the detrius from a "getting all Christmased up" weekend.

Party last night went brilliantly, I was so busy helping with the food that I never ate the food! The whole evening I had one piece of broccoli. Then we got home and we were both so tired, so we just went straight to bed. So actually, I came in under my calorie goal for the day!

This was my last "event" that will be excessive. My parents would like to take us out for a holiday meal before they leave on their trip to visit my siblings' families, so that's wednesday night. No idea where we're going yet, but my confidence is high that I can make a good choice. :)

I've got my eye on losing that last pound to make my Christmas goal. Eyes on the prize, Turtles! What is YOUR next goal?

Mousie,
You're doing great!!! :bravo: Right now I want to send :goodvibes: to Bandit because I remember her saying she'll be out doing Christmas parties every night but one this week. So Bandit, stay tough, walk around a lot, and let us know how you're doing!

Mousie, there's lots of food on Core that is out of a can if you get stuck: veggie baked beans, lots of soups, so it's not as work intensive as it first looks. There are also lots of recipes on the Core board here on 3fatchicks that you might be interested in.

I love that you're so close to your goal! Weigh to go. :bravo: :cp: and :hat:

My goal is to break 200 by Christmas, but that may not happen. Actually 2 weeks ago, on my home scale I broke 200#, but I've been going up and down since and right now after our wonderful weekend my weight is up pretty high.
My aim today is to stay as close to Core as I can, drink plenty of water and tough it out. My goal is to break 200# by New Year's and I think I can do that. Best of luck to us and all the lurkers!
Judy
234.6/202.8/thinner into onederland :cool:

Ah, Turtles. I'm painfully bored. I've got a package (my new laptop) being delivered today but UPS. Unfortunately, apparently during the Christmas season their delivery window is 7am-MIDNIGHT! :faint: So I had to scrap my plans for the day (gym, volunteering) and hang out at the house. At least my laundry is done! :rolleyes: The kitchen is clean...bed is made, bedroom is cleaned up...I've had a nice 30 minute walk on my treadmill...possibly I'll tackle my ironing next.

I'm doing well with regard to food, though! Hubby offered to go to Rubio's (mexican food) and get me lunch, but I told him no, thank you--and ate a salad with grilled chicken instead! :D So far today I've had breakfast burritos made with egg beaters, "carb chopper" tortillas (high fiber, in other words), a bit of cheese, and leftover taco meat from last night, a protein shake made with skim milk, and my healthy lunch. Woo me! Not eating out of boredom or frustration--yet! :crossed:

My weight is steady, and I honestly don't know if I'm going to see a loss on friday or not. I don't ask much...just one pound! :^: Heehee.

I read in another post the idea that we try to boil this all down to a numbers game--calories in, calories burned through exercise, BMR, RMR--and we need to remember that our bodies are living organisms. There are other things going on, besides just weight loss/gain/maintenance. When this living organism is ready, it will adjust its weight. Somehow the phrase "living organism" is very comforting to me, and I thought it might be to you all, too. :) Especially being so close to breaking through the 200-pound barrier, Judy--your "living organism" is very busy right now! :dizzy:

Hi everyone:

Well, I am surviving up here with all the snow & food. Had my office lunch Mon & brought a nice point friendly salad for my contribution & loaded up my plate with that & had a few meat things to go with it & last night I had grilled atlantic salmom & veggies which was fabulous & skipped dessert. Tonight is office dinner and probably will order steak (that is house speciality) and have tomorrow off - so hopefully eat light.

I was up 1# at w/i last week and hoping to be OK this week. Basically only excercise I have been getting is shovelling & shopping.

Sounds like everyone is doing great - so keep it up!

Talk soon, bye for now.

Bandit,
You're my hero! Wow, you're making fabulous choices at work and at the gatherings for Christmas. My goodness. Of course shoveling snow is a wonderful exercise and something you need to do to get out of the house, so I'm sending you :bravo: for doing it! Glad you were only up 1#. It looks like you're doing great.

Mousie, I hope your brand new laptop :comp: arrived in good time and you were able to continue to make good use of your "waiting" time. Keep on keepin' on and I think YOu'll be thrilled with your end of the year WI.

I had a sad WI this morning, but without being able to exercise because of my foot and because I kept my mouth actively engaged with the wrong kinds of foods, I was up another 1.2# this week. For the last two weeks I'm up a total of 2#. Yuck! Well, breaking 200# by Christmas just flew out the window, but if I'm careful and if I use good common sense, I won't gain any more this week. Also my toe is pretty good and I plan on exercising this week and I know that helps tremendously. Sooooooo, I still have my goal active on breaking 200# by New Year's and I know I can do it. Just have to keep on keepin' on.
:grouphug: and :goodvibes: to us all and our lovely lurkers. Merry Christmas,
Happy Holidays, and a lovely thinner New Year to us all!
Love,
Judy

Turtles, I DID IT! I made my Christmas goal! 275.0 on the scale this morning, baby! :cb: :cb: :cb:

So I've lost 19 pounds in 21 weeks, and I've made goal #2 (was also "Christmas goal"). YAY ME! WOOT WOOT! :dancer:

I'm so excited about this, Turtles. I feel like I can really keep living/eating this way. :) I know that it's slow loss, but really, who cares? I'm losing, and I'm not suffering unduly for it! ;)

WOOT!!

Bandit, I'm sure that 1 pound will come off soon. Right now you need to stay warm and snuggly! I don't think I would have the strength to live in such a climate, I admire you. :)

Judy, good idea to back your goal up just a wee bit. In the scheme of things, the direction we are moving is what matters--the speed at which we travel does not. :)

Merry Christmas to all Turtles and all lurkers if I don't find time to check in before then, and have a wonderful joyful time with your family and friends!

:carrot: :strong: :jig: :wave: :spin: :love: :bravo: :cp: :hat: :dance:
:woo: :dancer: :goodscale: :cloud9: :balloons:
Well Mousie, you get the idea! I remember your posting when you came back to 3fatchicks and you sounded so down. Now look at you! I don't think you've had a slow loss, you've been triumphant! Weigh to go. I am thrilled that you made your goal and your goal!!!!! You must be so proud of yourself and I'm so proud of you. What exciting news at the best time of the year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.

Bandit, here's toasting you for sticking with our little group here. I find you inspiring and helpful as Mousie, you and I go through the days together. Best of everything for Christmas and a Happy New Year.

To all the lurkers, post once in awhile and let us know what you're thinking.
I've got my family here, so I don't know if I can post tomorrow. Just know I'm thinking of doing the right thing as far as food. It's the people, not the food. (ONe year I'll be able to make that work for me. Too bad I'm such a good cook! LOL) In any case, I'm down two of the top heavy pounds I put on, and if I'm careful I can still break 200# by New Year's Eve/

Love and good wishes and glad tidings and good cheer to us all.
Judy Itry
234.6/203/thinner into onederland :cool:

Good morning, Turtles! I had some cookies on Christmas Eve and an unplanned fast food meal on Christmas Day (we were driving to L.A. and back) but beyond that I made it through the holidays intact! How did everyone else do? :)

We've still got one holiday left, of course, but I've never found New Year's a challenge. Since I'm not a drinker and I'm not a night owl, I very rarely over indulge.

Judy, fingers crossed :crossed: for you making your New Year's goal! You're so close--4 more days and you'll know. :)

On the "such a good cook" thing: I asked for low cholesterol cookbooks for Christmas, and my parents gave me two printed by the American Heart Association. The recipes look GOOD! Yumyumyum. Do you know if these recipes would be considered Core? How do you decide if a recipe is Core? They include things like...chicken breast and low-fat ricotta cheese and goat cheese and spices and no-salt-added tomato sauce (that's one I got the ingredients to make this week). Low-fat dairy is Core, right? But then, do I have to count the goat cheese? 1 ounce of that is 70 calories/no fiber/6 grams of fat, and the recipe calls for 2 ounces spread over 4 breasts. So one point each? :shrug:

'tanyrate, I'm all excited about this year to come! I've got all sorts of plans and all sorts of lofty goals, but I'll wait until we have a new thread and officially close this holiday season to tackle the next challenges. :) Friday will be my final "end of holidays" weigh-in, and I can assess where I am. :)

Check in when you get a chance, Turtles!

Hi Guys,
I was just going to start a new thread and I realized that waiting until Sunday makes a lot more sense.
Mousie, you have done overwhelmingly well over the holidays! Good for you.
I am thrilled for you and the fact that you've met your goals. I can't wait to see your new goals for 2006, so that will be a very active thread, I'm sure.

My holidays have gone nicely people-wise, but food wise they've been a disaster. I've been tired and feeling not quite right physically and I've certainly let my guard down. I'm up so much that I skipped my Wed. WI and am actually up another pound today. I need to get on my treadmill and I need to clean out all the holiday "goodies" that turn into baddies. Well, I need to get back on track. Today has been good so far, but even if we get take-out food tonight, I need to eat Core. Enough is far more than enough.
My girls are still here and it's lovely, but the food is out of control. They've been here a full week with the baby and it's a little much. I love 'em to pieces but I'm too tired and that's not great. Hey, no complaints and move on. Right? I'm thinking of Bandit's great advice: Just do it! So I will. I'll start the new thread on Sunday and we'll all welcome in the New Year doing the best that we can.
Mousie, as far as Core: FF cheeses and dairy are OP. And yes, you count the points of the other products that make up recipes. Lots of times I'll leave out or substitue ingredients. Also, WW's has a Core cookbook, but the heart foundation should have recipes that are close. Primarilly, you leave out things like breadcrumbs and concentrate on veggies, lean protein. As far as soy powder, I'm checking my book and for soy it includes soy milk, soy cheese, and soy yogurt. What does soy powder list as its ingredients? I'll try and update you on Core every so often. Gotta run. You take care and Bandit, hope all goes well with you.
Love,
Judy Itry
234.6/?/thinner into onederland :cool:

Hey Judy. Hang in there! As much as you love your daughters and their families, I can understand needing to get back to your own routine. It's really hard to focus on yourself--even if that's something you KNOW you need to do--when there are lots and lots of other things pulling at your attention. Try to make good choices food-wise, get back on your treadmill, and above all take care of yourself! Forgive yourself for any slips, learn from them and move on. Right? :)

you may well be feeling "tired and not quite right" because of your food choices and your exercise schedule being off. It's a chicken-and-egg question. Which comes first, feeling off or bad food choices? I'd bet that once you get back to making good choices, you'll feel 100% again. :)

Thank you for helping with Core. As yu saw in my thread, I just don't seem to "get" it. :shrug: Natural peanut butter (peanuts and salt) isn't Core because it's a trigger for some people? But it's not for me...um....:?: And sf/ff pudding is Core but my protein powder isn't...that makes no sense at all. To answer your question, one of my powders (unflavored) says, "Ingredients: 90% soy protein isolate. Contains no sugar, salt, starch, yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, milk, egg, or preservatives." The other powder is Spiru-tein (YUM!!!!). The ingredients are "soy isolated protein, fructose, calcium, fiber, beet juice, flavor, guar gum, psyllium..." and a bunch of vitamins. :shrug:

Thanks for the help, this is confusing! :chin:

As for me I'm a bit bloated, so I'm probably looking at a small gain tomorrow. But that's okay, because I've still lost for the holidays. :cheer: I went back to my class this morning, and did 37 minutes of walking beforehand. :tread: I'm hoping I'm over the whole "flu season" thing, and I can be consistently healthy again!

Check in when you can, Bandit, and let us know how you're doing. :mag:

Dear Turtles,
Hi! Mousie, thanks for the uplift!! I could sure use it. And of course you're right and I never thought about it, but the poorer eating choices and high carbs are absolutely robbing me of energy. Duh for me! So easy to be blind to the truth or in denial. I can't exercise right now because I headed to a podiatrist and although my toe isn't broken (from my fall two weeks ago) the ligaments were hurt and its still swelling. So, no treadmill, but yes to any yoga I can do wearing sneakers. That would be some classy exercise, right?
I will give it a try, though.
As far as Core, keep with it because a lot of it won't make sense. :chef: The oils we use on Core are Canola, olive,safflower, sunflower, or flaxseed oil and the needed amount is 2 teaspoons a day. Of course you can have more, but then you take the points from your 35 points allowed per week. The first protein powder you mentioned in your post sounds A-OK to me and I would use it and not think twice about it since you've been losing weight these last months using it. The second powder has fructose and you might want to point that one out. Look, this is all personal and a lot of girls on the Core site are tweaking the program with foods that still allow them to lose and you know so much about nutrition through your studies that you'll be able to do the same. Some of the girls over at Core post daily menus that could give you some good ideas. I swear by starting the day with oatmeal cooked in ffmilk and with an added fruit. The points are astoundingly high, but on Core you don't think about that. And I find that this dish is so filling that I don't hunt for food until later in the day. Lunch is still tricky for me. In the summer I made myself hamburgers, but somehow now they're not appealing to me. In any case, keep asking and doing and let's see where this goes. You've been very successful so far and you, Bandit and I are victorious here on the Turtle Thread! Happy New Year All.
Judy Itry
234.6/?/thinner into onederland :cool:

Ouch, Judy! You're taking ibuprofen or some other anti-inflammatory, right? Don't make me worry about you more:( . An interesting thing about the inflammation response in the body (I learned this in one of my classes, when I was finishing my B.S., and it was fascinating to me. I've always remembered it): the body can't really control the response. You hurt yourself, it sends all these chemicals and fluids and things to the site to try to help itself get better. And a little bit of those chemicals will help, but the body floods the site with them. And then because there's too much fluid/too many chemicals at the site of injury, it causes more inflammation, which causes more chemical release, which causes more inflammation...you get the picture. That's why we benefit from taking anti-inflammatories. We get some of the chemicals we need at the site, and then we cut it off and let them go to work.

I was always fascinated by that. But then, just about anything about the human body is fascinating to me. :)

My last weigh-in for the holiday season was this morning, and I've lost 0.5 pounds. :cb: I'm at 274.5, baby! :carrot: I was sure I was a bit bloated and wasn't going to see a loss this week, and I am definitely sore after taking my class again yesterday, but I guess it all worked out. :) So, downward we go! I've lost 8 pounds since the friday before Halloween. More importantly, I think, I've lost 6.5 of those pounds since I changed my eating and started making low-cholesterol, low-sodium, low-sugar choices. Seems like a key idea to me, and I'm going to pursue it. :mag:

On that note, are we all thinking about how we're going to approach the New Year? I am loathe to call it "resolution making" because that always feels false to me. After all, I've been working on this and testing things for months now, it's not like I'm just starting as of sunday. But at the same time, the renewed energy and dedication of the new year is something to soak in and take advantage of. :) I'm very eagerly planning what I will say on sunday, and I look forward to hearing everyone else's ideas!

Be well, Turtles!

Mousie,
Thanks for the info. about the inflammation. Makes perfect sense, and yes I am taking an anti-inflammatory med.
I'm making "resolutions" but I really look at them as simple life style changes that I work on all the time. Today has been a much better day. How funny that the high carbs and refined sugars actually made me feel exhausted.
Mousie==you've got the right idea about the foods to choose that work so well for you.

Here's a :bravo: for losing even more weight. You go girl!@
Judy Itry
234.6/206.5/thinner into onederland :cool: