Hello,
Thought I would check in and see how everyone is doing. I ordered the Grab1 bars and started on the Red plan yesterday. I decided to wait before doing the Take off as I didn't want to fall off the wagon too soon!

My story.... I was a client back in 2005 before they closed the doors along with about 500 dollars of bars that were owed to me! I did extremely well on the plan and needless to say have gained back all of my weight (PLUS) in the past 8 years or so. I am hoping to find the inspiration from within to stay with the program. :carrot:

Hi Guys...
I'm back from my two week vacation. I had a fabulous time and did not let food get in the way of my enjoyment. In fact... I ate to my heart's content and I enjoyed every bit of it. I tried things I never had before! The presentation was gorgeous and I couldn't wait to get my fork into it! lol
Seriously though, the first part of my vacation was relaxing, a lot of food and a lot of walking. The second part of my vacation involved normal amounts of food and some serious walking. 11 hours a day on average!

I had a great time and I knew I would gain some weight. I stepped on the scale this morning and was pleasantly surprised to see that I hadn't gained as much as I thought I had.
My new weight is 147.5 lbs. I gained 5.5 lbs on my holidays.
I must say that my clothes are still fitting and are not snug in any way... in fact, some of my capris were literally falling off of me towards the end of the trip! And these are the ones I just purchased before the trip!

I'm glad to see that more people have joined. Together we can inspire eachother and help eachother in our weight loss journey.

I'll be posting every day (as I promised before). I need to be accountable for my actions and need to write them down.

I don't have any juice to start a TO so I think I'll just start watching my portions and hopefully the weight will come off. I can only get the Knudsens juice whenever I go to the States. I'm definitely NOT going any time soon.

I still have to update my information.... just be patient.

New weight; 147.5 lbs
Goal weight: 140.0

*7.5 lbs to go to reach my goal.
I've given myself a goal date of mid April. I think that's reasonable. I want to reach my goal before my birthday!!!

Good luck to all of you in achieving your goals/mini goals!!!

Just checking if this works.

To be honest, I haven't really jumped on the bandwagon yet! My legs are still dangling on one side. lol
It's taking me a while to get back into the groove. I've been so busy with helping my kids get caught up on missed school work that I haven't even unpacked! Seriously. That's how busy I am. That's why I haven't been able to concentrate on my weight loss.
Today I plan to start my iron pills again (I didn't take them at all on my vacay because I forgot to pack them and it got easier and easier to NOT take them). However, I need them. I need to get my levels back up and start having some more energy.
I also plan on watching what I'm eating the best I can. I just have to get my mind around it again.
I will attempt to have at least 4 glasses of water as well. To be honest, I didn't really drink a lot of water on my holidays as I knew I would be constantly looking for a bathroom! lol This, I believe, helped lead to my weight gain. Oh well... the point is I enjoyed my holidays.

My weight is the same today... 147.5 lbs

A vacation is not the time to worry about eating a lettuce leaf and some broccoli. Sounds like you had a great time.

I have been following my old WW 1-2-3 Success plan since getting over that stomach flu, because I am not ready to eat a boatload of protein yet. That was always my favorite WW plan. No "flex" points, and had to earn your splurges by "banking" points for up to a week, with a ten point max. Twenty minutes or more of exercise is required per day. It is a nice holding pattern for me until I get back with LAWL. I still have a bottle of juice and a few boxes of bars, so I will be ready when the time comes. I will still post here even if I am not always the best LAWL role model!

@Tracy; You are the best role model just simply by the fact that you will post daily.

I believe that we have to be accountable for our own actions. LAWL taught me this. I have been in the habit of weighing myself daily ever since I started the program years ago. It has become second nature to me and I always kept a mental note of it ... it kept me on my toes and got me to notice that the numbers were heading in a direction that I did not want to go to again.

I am so grateful to have found this site and fellow LAWL'ers (is that even a word?). You guys know what I'm going through and can offer suggestions to help get to the goal faster. After all, we all went to the counselling sessions and the things we learned are stored somewhere in our mind. lol

Sorry... I don't know much about WW. My friend is on it and goes back from time to time. It's some old plan she's on and she says she knows what to do... she just needs to do it. I saw her after a very long time recently and she lost all the weight and looks fantastic!

I've only ever used the LAWL approach. It made sense to me from the beginning and I eagerly joined. I lost so much weight but never learned to stabilize or maintain it. Unfortunately I gained back a lot of weight....

I'm so pumped. I'm super motivated. I can't believe it!
I did exactly what I said I would do yesterday. Except I only had three glasses of water instead of four. The result???? Are you ready???

I dropped 2.5 lbs overnight!!!!!
That is simply unheard of for me!! I think that my body was ready to get rid of the weight I put on during the holidays.
What a way to get motivated and jump fully on that bandwagon!

New weight: 145.0
Goal weight: 140.0

5.0 lbs to go to reach my goal!

Great job! It is amazing how much water weight we put on when we have to eat out on vacations.

I never had any use for WW until the 1-2-3 Success (first points program) came along in the late 90s. I did really well, but they started changing things up, and now it is just too complicated. On 1-2-3, and a few programs that came later, you could take a simple cardboard slide rule gadget with fat, fiber and calories on it to the store to figure out the points in prepared foods and frozen dinners. On the new Points Plus program, you have to buy this $16 calculator and enter protein, carbs and fat grams for each thing. You look like a corporate spy running up and down the aisles with that thing! Not to mention that the slide rules were "free" with your membership and you had to pay for the calculators. It sounds silly from someone who is overweight, but I didn't like having to focus on every aspect of my food that much.

I loved LAWL and lost weight on it like crazy (red and purple plans) at the center. I tell people I didn't quit LAWL, they quit me! I was doing pretty well on it this time around until I got that stomach flu, and since then have been trying to get back to eating a lot of protein. I am not quite there yet, which is why I'm following my old WW plan for a little while longer. I am back to going to the gym, which had also been tough because I was tired and weak for a couple of weeks.

I tell myself that every positive thing I do is a step in the right direction, even if I'm not perfect. I am through with the "I ate something I shouldn't have so I will blow my diet for the next three days" mentality.

Now, it is time to eat a healthy breakfast!

Last tip---I tried the Pink Lemonade Special K Protein Water packets in my blender bottle and really like it. It has 30 calories, but no sugar, and has five grams each of protein and fiber. It really helps when I need "something" but it is not time to eat yet. I use it with 20 oz of water and some ice in my blender bottle and it has just the right amount of tartness. On WW, the fiber content makes it a points-free food.

I'm really super excited!!!
I dropped another pound over night! At this rate, I'll definitely make my goal by mid April. In fact, I may have to reassess the goal again at that point.
I was finding it difficult to lose the last five pounds... I would lose some and gain some back and on and on. It was getting frustrating. Hopefully I'm on the right path and will achieve it without much effort.

I'm truly shocked that I even lost weight. I was eating really well all day and then had some errands to run that took my into dinner time. I ended up picking up fish and chips for the family... nice fried food. Also, I ate one vegetable samosa... another nice fried food! I drank four glasses of water throughout the day at least (I'm having a hard time to get back into the groove of drinking water again... I hardly touched the stuff while away) I try to flavour it when I can but I've run out of crystal light packets :(

@Tracy: I'm glad that you found a drink to satisfy you for the times you need it. Sometimes we need that extra help.
I hope you are able to eat more protein soon. I'm not dissing WW but I KNOW LAWL works and works fast. I want you back on it and, as you stated yourself, you were losing on it until you got sick.
You know, I've not had much of an appetite lately but I am making myself eat what I need to. I don't feel like eating now but I'm going to because I know I will lose weight if I eat! And it's working... lol

I really like your story of the calculator! It made me laugh. I've seen people with these and I seriously thought that they were some sort of spy ... especially when they keep looking over their shoulders! I had no idea it was a gadget from WW!!!! lol
That just made my day. In fact, I'm going grocery shopping later and I'll be on the lookout for one of them.

Hello Again!
 

Well it's been awhile, but it's nice to see the comm active again.

I started LAWL: RR on July 8, 2012, on the recommendation of RobynM, who is my sister.

Today, is 1 day shy of 8 months, and 2 lbs shy of minus-50 lbs!

I had posted a few weeks ago about plateauing & exercise. I think I'm past it now, as my last TO and this week have finally gotten me past the blockade. I was going to start running, even invested in $100 running sneakers, but OMG my shins are wimpy - bad bad bad shinsplints and foot pain, ouch ouch ouch. So I had to find a fat blasting low-impact exercise, and preferably one doable indoors, since we New Englanders were looking at our 3rd snow-storm weekend in a month....

And I found it: Burpees. Otherwise known as squat-thrusts. Anyone familiar with military PT will know these. OMG, serious workout in minimal amt of time. But they are SO effective. I'm doing regular ones now, I plan to add a dumbbell in a couple of weeks.

Good for you, both Shy and Sf. Sounds like you're both on the right track.

I have found that (in the wisdom of my old age, LOL) it is good to have a "Plan B" if you can't follow one plan. LAWL is wonderful if you have the time to cook and plan, the older WW points are good if you need flexibility, and something like SlimFast, with a shake for breakfast and/or lunch is good if you are on the go and can't focus on food prep. I have finally figured out that just eating willy-nilly because I can't conveniently follow my favorite plan is immature and silly. I try to tell myself I will faithfully follow this plan today. One day at a time.

HI Sfandra!
It's nice to have someone new to share experiences with.
Congratulations on your weight loss. That's fantastic. I'm glad you got over your plateau and sorry for the snow!
I'm glad we're actually going to be spared... for a change!
I will definitely look into the Burpees. It would be nice to incorporate some exercise into my routine... although I don't know when I will fit it in! lol
Seriously though, I've been losing the weight and the only exercise I'm getting is from housework and constant errands! I also get a lot from gardening and can't wait for spring to finally make its appearance.
My DH enrolled the whole family into the local 'Y' and he's the only one who seems to make it there. I feel bad and know that I should go because he is paying for it but I can't seem to make the time. Also, I'm afraid I'll start putting on muscle and won't lose the weight on the scale. I want to reach at least 140.0 bs before I start to exercise formally.
What do you think about that? Do you think that I could tone up and not gain too much muscle?

@Tracy: One day at a time is the best plan. That's what finally got me back on track. Once I saw the numbers coming down I was even more excited and remembered why I liked LAWL in the first place. Before I knew it, I lost 25 lbs.
I had to go through all that again recently. Now I'm pumped that the weight is coming off and it's keeping me motivated!
BTW, what are your thoughts about exercise?

As I've gotten older, I have to exercise to lose weight. In my pre-age 30 days, just eating right was enough. I try to get in at least thirty minutes a day, but have been slow getting back into a groove since that recent virus.

I would not worry about getting too muscular, especially if you do more cardio than strength training. I have a five kettlebell next to the couch so that I can mindlessly do some upper body work while I watch t.v. I usually walk the treadmill at the gym, but try to do some strength training every other gym visit.

That's a great idea, Tracy. I might have to invest in a kettlebell and try to get some strength in my upper body. I think I do enough walking around to be considered as exercising! lol

The weather is starting to warm up slightly. It's sunny today .... I don't know where the sun has been most of the week. The clocks go ahead tomorrow night. Spring is in the air ... at least for the next few days.
I feel like I've got a new fire under my feet. I want to achieve my goal and be able to showcase the new me while I'm out gardening. I would love all my neighbours to notice the weight loss. Right now everyone is in hibernation mode and wearing thick jackets.
I also think that I may want to tone up certain areas of my body. It may do some good considering the weight I've lost. Some areas could be toned up and not look so flabby. I think I will start hitting the gym when I achieve my goal.

Anyways.. I'm not sure what I'm doing and what's going on but, I'll take it!!
I dropped another pound overnight!
I've been trying to eat all my proper exchanges but I have been faltering slightly. I don't want to play with fire so I think I have to be really good today!
There is a confession I have to make though. I think my scale might need new batteries. I stepped on as usual and noticed my weight was 143.0. I couldn't believe that I lost one pound so I stepped on again. This time it said 144.0. I don't know what to make of it.
I think I'll take the 143.0 because it's lighting the fire under my feet!

Current weight: 143.0
Goal weight; 140.0
3.0 lbs to go!

I meant five POUND kettlebell.

I think you will look just fine when big heavy coat weather is over, Shy.