Oh, the small coffee shop sounds so nice. I am in a suburb of Phoenix, so no small town nothin here. I brew my Starbucks coffee here at home and hit a location once if not twice a day. I am going to try to cut that out though. After not losing for two weeks straight, I have to make some changes. Here's what I had today.....

oatmeal 3pts

three jack in the box tacos 9pts

6 oz chicken 6pts
red potatoes 3pts
mixed veggies 0pts

a few bites (2) of my kids' mac n cheese 1pt

22 out of 24 pts. That's not bad. I did not make it to the gym today. It is good that I was shy two points. Will journal tomorrow.

I have been the worst about exercise this week. I rode my bike to town Sunday, that was it. Today I tried taking the kids to gymnastics, they were both whiny and Wil (3.5) hurt his knee. I think it is actually hurt, he is still limping.

I was going to ski, but it is raining and 50 degrees here, so I am assuming that it is yucky on the mountain. I didn't want to drop the kids off at the day care at the gym... excuses, excuses, excuses

Breakfast: oatmeal with berries (3), Latte (2)
Snack: Chicken (3)
Soup and Crackers: (7)
Soup and Crackers: (2)

It isn't the soup that is doing me in, it is the crackers that I put in the soup.

17 points for they day so far - it looks like I will be having a small dinner tonight.

And then just to be annoying, our school district seems to have "lost our checks". Everything that went out has been lost somewhere on the wire service and they don't know what has happened. Their bank sent a wire to the federal reserve, but none of the depositing banks have received the deposits.

... and so much for a small dinner
chocolate at grandma's (1)
nuts at aunt's (1)
more crackers (1)
homemade bread (1)
chicken with pesto (8)
salad with croutons (1)
Cheese (2)
pasta (2)
milk (3)
cereal snack (1)

37 points for the day

Hi there. Oh I hope they figure out your paycheck. That is just not good. Hope you are not the weekend without your money. I did great today. However, not so good tonight.

Breakfast
oatmeal 3pts

Lunch
Applebees shrimp skewers 4pts
lemon berry cheesecake (1/2 order) 2.5pts

Dinner
1 breast from Church's chicken 5pts
1 regular oakra 5pts

Misc
1 beer 3pts
bites of fried fish
bites of more oakra
I got a bit carried away with the bites. Oh well. There were a few days this week when I did not use all of my base points, and I have not used flex for the week. We will call that flex points.

Worked out at the gym 4 days this week. Three were with the trainer. I am going to TRY to go tomorrow. Only if I wake up early. I have a day packed with birthday parties. I will not have ANY cake!!!

Have a good day!

Good job going to the gym - I have been the big slacker when it comes to exercising this week. DH is sick, maybe if he stays home tomorrow I can sneak away for awhile.

Saturday 3/25/06
 

Breakfast: oatmeal with berries (3), bites of cereal (1), coffee with creamer (1)
Lunch: Salad with chicken (4), dressing (1), cottage cheese (1), croutons (2),
Muncha muncha: leftover sherbet from the kids snack (2)

15 points so far today.

I finally made it to the gym (45 minutes - more intense than my usual lollygagging). I pay to be a member of a gym that has free daycare, yet I hardly ever take advantage of it.

I think part of it is that doing things like going downhill skiing for 4-5 hours, XC for 2, riding my bike to town (10+miles), swimming the lakeshore (summer of course) for 2-3 miles, or going on a hike in the mountains (1/2 day) all feel like exercise. 45 minutes at the gym in the midst of a lazy day feels more like a hiccup - not worth the bother. I mean I know it is, but I am just too lazy to do it. And I don't do all those other things 3-5 times per week like I used to prekids, now maybe once a week. Well except for the skiing, but the ski area closes on April 9th. And this week I didn't ski at all.

I had to put in the url because I live in one of the most beautiful places on the earth and have to show off once in awhile. This is the town to vacation in if you want to relax (no casino's, crowds, nightlife). Problem is, most people drive across the long bridge once and then move here. My great-great grandparents drove here in a covered wagon - I am sure glad they made it.

Dinner: Soup with crackers (6), salad with chicken (3), goldfish crackers (1)

25 points today

and then random sweet tooth snacking
sherbet to peanut butter to blueberries to apples - I treid to get healthier as I went

36 points today

Hi there. Yesterday was crazy busy for us, so I have not had time to write until now. We had back to back birthday parties from 11am until 4:30pm then we had to go get small fish tanks that the kids "won" at the carnival birthday party. We were thinking about getting fish, so this was our catalyst. So........here goes

Breakfast
no time. ran out to buy birthday gifts last minute.

Lunch
1/2 of a sandwhich with just meat and lettuce. But the bread was SO YUMMY. Don't have any idea how many points. It was from a deli of some sort. I also had about 1 C mixed fruit and some pretzels. I chose the healthiest of all the food available.

Snack
at the second party, I had two small bags of popcorn.

I am proud that I did not have but two bites of cake. One from my hubby at each party.

Dinner
chicken strip salad with honey mustard from Chick-fil-A. It was yummy and the WW book says 10points for all of it. ??? Not too sure I trust it though. It had sunflower seeds and croutons.

One thin mint girl scout cookie

That was it for Saturday. I feel I have had success. We will see at the ww meeting on Tuesday night.

I have had great success with the gym. I joined with a friend and we go together at 9:30 every day (except our busy weekends). It is the only thing that keeps me going I think. If she were not going to be there, I may not go so much. We also paid for our joint personal training in advance. If we don't show up for that on Mon, Wed, and Fri, then we lose that money. I'm not up for waisitng that much money, so you can bet I am there. We chose the gym based on the child care. It too is free, but is excellent. So, I don't feel bad taking the kids there. They even do fit kids and yoga.

Sounds beautiful where you live. I have never been to Idaho. I was born and raised here in Arizona. I don't have any desire to live anywhere else, as my family is all here. I love the heat. Love the sun. So this is a good place for me. We can drive 2.5 hours north to the snow. We have to drive about 3.75 hours south to the beach in Mexico. We do that about twice a year.

Well, better run for now. Have ANOTHER party to go to this am. We are having some old friends over for dinner too, so I have lots to do. Check in tonight or tomorrow am.

Good job at the Birthday Party! I have one tonight. My grandma is 72. My great-aunt (her sister) is making dinner like their mom used to. Fried chicken, homemade bread, apple cake. It is going to be wonderful and completely not on program.

I live in Sandpoint for the same reasons you livein AZ. I live on the same property my great-great grandparents farmed on. My neighbors include my grandma, her brother, her sister, 3 of her first cousins and their kids, and my mom's little brother. My parents live in town nearby and I am related to 1/2 the people in the county (at least the 1/2 that didn't move here from CA). I feel extremely spoiled raising children here. I can drop the kids off at mom's, grandma's, aunt's or cousins when I need to run errands, clean house, work out, go out, whatever. My kids have never had a babysitter and my DH and I have had a lot more time to do stuff together than your average M2K. Plus - it is great for the kids to spend so much time with their family.

There are always issues (like my grandpa bit DS after DS bit the dog at 18 months), not enough for injury, but that was how grandpa learned. We have had some very hot debates over what is acceptable with the newest generation and discipline. On the other hand, I survived, went to college, have a great job, etc... so I am thinking it is better for my kids to spend time with my grandparents than worry about the possibility of an occasional spanking or thump on the head. And though I keep at them about what my rules are, I know they don't always get followed when I am not there.

Spent most of the morning at grandma's house - very bad place to diet.

Breakfast: oatmeal with berries (3), toast (3)
Snack: DD's oatmeal with berries (3)
Snack: Spinach with balsamic vinegar (0)
Lunch: Tortilla's (4), beans (2) and cheese (1) with chicken (2)

18 points so far and I still have the birthday party left to go.

I did very well at the birthday party - all things considering...
Like my g-g-grandma's recipe for coleslaw with 2 cups heavy cream
and waldorf salad made with real mayo and whip cream
and chicken breasts stuffed with cheese
and potatoes mashed with cream and butter - gravy on the side
and the one safe looking veggie (asparagus) that got olive oil poured over it just before it made it safely to the table
and the apple cake with frosting made of cream cheese and butter
and homemade rolls

So here is what happened. I filled about 1/2 my plate with asparagus (3), cut a small chunk off one chicken breast to avoid the cheese (3), snagged and sliced a vine ripened tomato out of the fruit bowl and onto my plate, had about 2TBS of potatoes (1), ate 1/2 of DS's roll (1), ate crackers before hand (2). No cake, no gravy, no wine, and I refused the stacks of leftovers that everyone else took home.

28 points for the day

This put me at 206 points for the week and 3 points over my Extra Points.
I am a bit discouraged because I sneeked a peek at my scale this morning and it looks like I am going to have a gain at weigh in today. So far on WW, these are my points per week and my weight loss per week.
189 -6
202 -1.4
230 -0.8 right before tom
224 -3.2 tom
233 -1.2
204 -2.2
246 0.2 right before tom
230 -4.8 tom
216 -1.8
206 Today???

Don't be discouraged. I gained the past two weeks and go for my weigh in tomorrow night. I am quite confident that I will have a loss this week. Next two days may be hard. I can't go to the gym today due to my daughter having a fever. Who knows what is going to happen tomorrow. It is a bit dangerous for me to be home ALL day. I have nobody to run to school, preschool, or the gym. Lots of time to obsess about food. Anyway, if you do show a gain you will adjust for next week and don't worry. Here is how my day ended up.

breakfast
oatmeal 3

lunch
2 slices cheese pizza 6
1 piece of cake ???

Dinner
shredded beef 5? (should have weighed it)
2 wheat tortillas 1
lettuce and salsa
spanish rice 7
some chips lots ?????

oreo pie (ww recipe) 3

Not a good day, but not the worst I have ever had. Scale this morning said 190. That should be down. I had been weighing 193 first think in the am.
We will see what happens at the "real" scale.

Going to try to do real good at home today. Eventhough that left over oreo pie is calling my name. I am going to make a double batch of the zero point veggie soup. I enjoy that and feel I should keep some around.

Will check in later. Have a good day.!

I had to type in something really big and exciting because other than all the people that know I am dieting, no one has said a word about me losing weight. I am a high school teacher. You would think that among 100 students with not a fully developed connection between brain and mouth and our factuly - someone would have noticed. Ahhh... I guess another month and it will start to show.

Part of the problem is that I have gained 20 lbs in the last year, so I don't look much different than I did last year at the same time.

Today: Coffee with creamer (1), Salad with chicken (4), Apple (1), Apple (1), 2 points bar (2)

Dinner: Salad with Taco stuff on top (9), refried beans and cottage cheese (4)

Oh my gosh!!!! Congratulations. I hope I have similar good news for you tomorrow. You know, I don't think people noticed my weight loss until I bought my first round of new clothes. Sometimes when my clothes are getting loose and I don't "retire" them, I look frumpy. Just as you said, give it another month. I am so excited for you. I am headed to Vegas next week, and wanted to be down 20 for the trip, but I am only down 13 (after two weeks of gain). I will be close though.

today so far.......

breakfast
my usual oatmeal 3pts

lunch
cheese sandwhich 3pts
salad 1pt for dressing
some chips here and there :( :( 2 pts??
oreo pie 3pts

Today: Hope to go to the gym when the kids wake up from their nap. Should have gone skiing, but I went to my cousins to get the kids together with little ones their age. We have 6 kids from 9mo-3.5yrs, they were all very cute. We got some great group photos.

Breakfast: oatmeal with berries (3), latte (2), creamer (1)
Lunch: Taco (5)
Snack: tuna, mayo, and crackers (4), apple (1)

16 points so far @2:30 pm

Snack: edamame (2), apple (1)

19 points - which leaves me 5 points for dinner

wine(3), chicken (5), salad dressing (2), cheese (2)

31 points for the day,

I finished off my day yesterday just horrible. I ate a ton of regular tortilla chips and a total of four servings of the low fat oreo pie. That pie alone is 12 points for the day. So, ate my 0 point soup for lunch. Have no idea what my total points for the day ended up at. I should be ok considering flex points for the week. My only concern is that when I got on the scale first thing today, it was up three pounds from yesterday morning. Is it possible to gain three pounds in one day??? TOM is not until late next week. Anyway, I learned that if I make any dessert (low fat or not) I will toss left overs after company leaves. This, along with any opened bags of chips.

Today..........much better

Breakfast
oatmeal (I see a trend here for us) 3 pts

Gym
30 min eliptical
15 min stairmaster
total calories burned according to machines was 465.

Lunch
0 point soup
Jack in The Box taco 3pts

Snack
string cheese(lf) 1pt
1 small tootsie roll 1pt????

That is it so far. I weigh in tonight at 5:30. That is why I am trying so hard to recover from yesterday. I will give you results tonight or tomorrow.

I hope you don't teach English. I have very bad grammar, and no spell check on here. It says I have to download something, and I don't download anything. I am worried I will goof up our computer. :)

Must run. I am a girl scout leader, and have a meeting to prepare for.

Nope - Math

"One Day At A Time - No Guilt - Move One" I love that quote.

I am sure that my run-on sentences as well as my overuse of ( ) and the ~ symbol would drive any English teacher insane. I try to stop myself ~ but I write like I talk, and frankly, living in North Idaho for the last 10 years and working exclusivly with teenagers and skiers has put a damper on both my grammer and vocabulary.

And then I got to thinking... I feel stressed out by having a 30 point day (like I went way over in points), and then I did the math. If you figure a point is roughly 50 calories, then a 24 point day is 1200 calories and a 30 point day is 1500 calories (plus 200 or so if you eat a lot of free veggies). So if I have a 30 point day once in awhile, that is still far less calories than I ate pre-weight watchers, so I shouldn't be worrying about it. I should just cross off my extra points for the week and move forward to the next day.

bty

Check out this thread "What works for You?" on the support page. It is wonderful and has a lot of good things to think about.