Early Friday morning here. Well, not so early anymore but I want to try to touch base with you all.
Derry -- We had problems getting a new thread started. Seems there were technical problems with the forum or something. Finally got it going as you can see. I'm sorry to hear about the doctor's diagnosis. Since that route isn't offering you much help I would look into alternative therapies, many of which are downplayed by "traditional" Western medicine. I would think the best path here with arthritis would be nutrition. I know that many foods, especially dairy products, are supposed to aggravate or cause joint pain in many people. I would try to surf the Net and find information on this. How is your doctor going to help you with the weight loss, by the way? As for yoga, it will definitely maintain and improve flexibility. You needn't worry about meditation or breathing or unnatural positions. Yoga is from wherever you start. You do not have to be in a certain position in order for it to "work" or so. Wherever your limits are now, that is where you, naturally, must start from. More importantly, wherever you start from is from where you start reaping the benefits. It's like any exercise. It will help at any point. As for WW points I don't know about them. Certain yoga routines are very calorie consuming, others are mere stretches and I doubt they eat up calories. I understand your not wanting to try to fit more things into your busy day but there is much of yoga that can be done just as you go basically. Even a few stretches while you're still lying in bed can be very beneficial. Watching TV too is a great time to move into a few positions. I would focus on doing that. Just try to get familiar with things. You don't need special mats and clothes to move and be conscious of your body, which is what yoga is about to. I'm afraid so much of the yoga boom has made this out to be some sort of packaged exercise, something to be taken into a studio and done there like aerobics or step classes. It's not. It can be but surely shouldn't fall the victim to that kind of thinking. Yes, as far as I go, the salad and apple were very important in ways. As soon as I lose a little weight I usually put it right back on because I am not making these lifestyle changes. I have to do that and this is what it's about, taking fruit with me while I'm on the move, making sure I get vegetables in me during the day even if it means a bit of extra preparation. Good for you, Linda, on resisting the donuts. If you can break the psychological cues of such things as this -- quilt days = donuts etc. you will be making major changes! Good luck!
Chachee -- Good for you for doing your walking. 45 minutes is longer than you usually go, right? Do you walk watching TV? Yes, bad choices, just not wanting to be bothered thinking about eating "right." That's what happened. The usual story of my life. I've been so busy and there is so much to do that anything I do just doesn't give me a sense of satisfaction. I then eat out of anxiety or something, some feeling of dissatisfaction. Of course, this only makes it worse. It seems I don't get much of a sense of achievement out of a lot of very good choices I make. They have to be bigger, like making that salad was. And they only seem big when I haven't been doing them in a long time. It's like everything. I can be doing so well and the longer I do "well" the less it seems to be a big thing and then it's like I want to swing the other way just so I can feel the swing back to better ways. Of course, this constant swinging is what keeps me stuck at the same place. I suppose what I should do is force myself to go even stricter, much stricter and then the swing back would only take me as far as a "good day" instead of a "bad." Hmm. I may be on to something there.
jolly -- Sorry to hear you're not doing well. And ok, if you want to crack down on yourself, that's a good thing. BUT, please don't get down on yourself while you're doing it. You have EVERY justification. Look at your schedule!! And I'd say that's more than a "glimmer of hope" with the not eating at work. That is MAJOR!!
It's this kind of thing. DON'T downplay it! These are victories!
llpounds -- hi there. Are you joining the thread? Tell us a little about yourself. I see you're brandnew. I'm afraid I don't know anything about WW and their points. Maybe Derrydaughter can help you. Come on and chat with us.
Apple Blossom -- hello there. Glad to see you're still with us too! No dessert, no beer sounds tough. Maybe just try for one or the other at first and then ease into both? I don't know about you but often I will think of my victories as useless because I'm looking at the failures too. You know, all or nothing. That kind of thinking is self-defeating. Hope you don't do that. So, even though you had that gooey dessert, at least you had the Lean Cuisine. Keep going in the right direction. You're still ahead of me in the weight game.