Bandit, alcohol brings my weight loss to a screeching halt. It's too bad; I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner and a glass of scotch on the weekends. But I rarely indulge anymore. Your social life sounds like a lot of fun.
Judy and Lin, you're a great cheering team for NaNo! I signed up yesterday, before I read your posts, but of course you've confirmed my decision. I'm excited and looking forward to it! Talked with Mr. Twitch yesterday about it, since it'll require a time commitment on my part; he was very supportive and is intending to spend his entire weekends next month pursuing getting yoga teaching certification. So that works out well.
Lin, loved the comparison between NaNo and our weight loss journeys -- doing things in increments. Very smart.
Judy, woo-hoo on that bloodwork!! That's AWESOME!
Doing fine. TOM looms, so there's that. But I don't really bloat anymore, and the scale is holding steady. Took a nice walk yesterday evening with DH ... I love walking this time of year. Shuffling through piles of leaves, with the moon peeking through the branches above ... woke up this morning to dense fog. Perfect for Halloween!
Judy - you are doing great, we all have detours along this journey - that is part of lives. Hang in there!
Lin/Lauren - you sound like you are on the right track. Keep up the good work.
Cherry/Princess - good luck this week!
Msmeri - thanks for all the helpful information!
Went to comedy club last night & that was really fun. I just drank club soda with lime & we ordered a 2 plates of nachos to share between 5 ladies - but the scale still went up abit this morning. So have to be extra careful over the weekend!
Almost time for the kiddies to come out for halloween. I am buying my candy today so won't be too much time to eat it.
Bandit! You posted after my last post so I didn't get to see your weight loss yesterday. Great job!
I have a suggestion for you re: the club soda idea. Club soda has so much salt in it that I can't drink it. It tastes like fizzy salt water to me. So, your up on the scale may be water retention due to the extra salt. I prefer to spend the money on sparkling water like San Pellegrino or Perrier or whatever they have in stock. They often have some sodium, but usually a smaller amount than club soda, so they're less likely to cause you to retain water and they're better for your overall health. And they're at most comparably priced with alcohol.
Judy, maybe you ought to consider doing what Lauren does--don't eat anywhere except at the kitchen/dining room table. Having to take the food out of the refrigerator/pantry, put it on a plate, take silverware and a napkin and sit down to eat makes it a real decision to eat. And it gives you lots of opportunities to question whether you're actually hungry or you're bored, stressed, tired, etc. My trick is to keep very little "grab and eat" foods in the house. (I keep mostly Kashi TLC bars because they have between 1.5 and 3 points and are super filling.) If I want to eat, I have to make it, so I usually don't eat unless I'm really hungry. Stress eating and other emotionally charged eating are habits that are particularly difficult to break. You're making progress, so give yourself a big for that.
Today is my weigh in day and I had a very nice surprise. I ate a bit more than I have been, but well within points. My activity was down just a bit because I worked from home Wednesday, but had a couple of trips to the post office which added about 20 minutes to my Monday and Thursday walks. Anyway, I lost 3.5 pounds this week, down to 217. When Paul and I were walking the track I couldn't break the 220 barrier. It's been years since I weighed less than 220. So I'm patting myself on the back today.
LIn, : weigh to go! Here's to breaking a new barrier!
Wow, that must feel so good!!!!! :hugs: What a great loss!
Always glad to have a pep talk and I'm right back on track. As a matter of fact, I postponed my WW WI until this morning where I was down .4#. I like that a lot! Now I'll be super careful (just ate the most delicious cauliflower soup for lunch) and will enjoy the weekend and stay OP.
Happy Halloween to us all! Enjoy the kids and get rid of that candy! LOL.
Have a great weekend.
Judy
234.6/194/190 and deeper into onederland
Congrats, Lin! Another wonderful loss. You're doing great!
Judy, good for you, too! Your stats are fabulous.
Bandit, yup, between the nachos and the club soda, you're probably holding water. You'll de-bloat in no time.
Well, I didn't do so well at the work potluck today. Had my lunch as planned, then tried bites of pretty much everything else! Finished it off with a glass of scotch tonight, sitting outside on this balmy evening with DH. Ah, well. It might take me just a teensy bit longer to lose the last of this vacation fluff.
Have a fun Halloween, everyone. DH and I are planning to hit a local historic cemetery!
Lin - thank you about the club soda. Never would have thought of that. I just keeping thinking it must be just the alchohol. So will keep that in mind.
Nice job on the weight loss!
Judy - nice job too on the weight loss! Keep it going.
Lauren - hoping you get back on track.
Msmeri - hope you are doing good.
Tonight, giving out candy (going to buy shortly) then a fellow is coming by and we might go to dance or just hang out & have quiet evening. Think I am due for one of those, just sit around & get to know him better evening.
Anyway, have a great Halloween & "Back away from the bowl of candy"
MsMeri, great incentive to start a new month, new beginning!
Lauren, sitting on a porch with a scotch suddenly sounds devine. We've got to enjoy the journey along the way, right?
Bandit, have a great evening and I agree-------back away from the candy!
My dh and I are giving out pretzel bags this year-----but the poor kids. There must be quite a few others doing the same thing because the trick or treaters had more pretzels than candy. Oh my goodness. Oh well, I really can't have any kind of candy in the house but the square wrapped dark chocolate I allow myself to have one of daily. At one point it's a bargain and I feel much in control when I do that.
Okay---gotta run----have a great weekend. Here's and for my fellow NaNoWriMo'ers.
Judy
234.6/194/190
Studies now correlate an increase in certain health risks with soda consumption. For four years, researchers tracked the soda drinking habits of 50,000 women. When women went from drinking one regular soda drink a week to at least one a day, they gained an average of 10 pounds during the four year period. An increase in body weight was also seen when consuming fruit drinks, but not with diet soft drinks. In another study of 90,000 women, those who drank soda or fruit drinks daily had about twice the risk of developing diabetes compared with those who drank soda less than once a month.
Currently, the federal government is considering its first-ever warning that soft drinks can cause unhealthy weight gain. While soda sales have nearly doubled during the past 20 years, so has the percentage of obesity. Battle lines are being drawn and the debate is heating up.
I hope you all had a good Halloween. I had a fabulous time and managed to keep the eating reasonable. My friend who plans the Family Shelter meals dosen't do low fat, but she does do a lot of veggies, so it worked out OK. Now I have to manage my share of the leftovers. They're especially welcome because I can use the cooking time for NaNo. Bet you all thought I'd never be glad to give up cooking time for something else, but writing trumps pretty much everything. That's why I'm doing NaNo this year. I haven't been writing and I miss that.
I've mentioned the Weight Watcher online site is amusing sometimes because they program it for specific instances and you get weird contradictions in their advice. This week it complained that I'm losing too fast, because it talks about "average loss of 2 pounds a week or loss" but only looks at one week's weight loss and pops up the message. The weight loss tracker calculates your average and mine since I started is 1.1 pounds, well within the safe guidelines. But, the suggestion is to add more points because of the large loss this week. On the other hand, it also wants me to recalculate my points, adjusting them down because of the actual weight I'm at--going under 220. So--it suggested both that I increase and decrease my points the same week!! My point is that we have to use our brains, educate ourselves, and make good decisions, not just follow what we're told because no one else knows our habits, needs, etc. as well as we do. I decided not to change anything. I'll adjust my points when I hit a plateau. As long as I'm losing, I think it's best to stick with where I am.
Yay, Judy! Nice that you ended up with a loss. I like your one point bargain of dark chocolate, but I'm a truffle fan. I also love caramels, so next time I replenish my stock, I'm getting some of those, too. Godiva gems are small versions of their truffles and caramels with milk or dark chocolate around the filling and each is 1 point. Very rich and satisfying when I want a chocolate fix.
Ms Meri, thanks for the stats on soda. It's interesting. So, how are you doing?
Lauren, you ate your planned lunch and bites of everything. What if you hadn't brought your lunch? I'm thinking that lunch + bites may be less overall than if you had just eaten pot luck food. You did great to plan in advance and bring your lunch. Maybe next time you'll only eat bites of the most fabulous stuff. Or take a look and see if you want to save the lunch you brought for another day because there's plenty of food that fits your plan at the pot luck. Essentially, using your lunch as a back up plan. I don't know. I'm just thinking you're needlessly feeling down, when actually you did a lot right. Hope your first day of NaNo's going well. I know you're not usually a fast writer, but you can do this.
You're welcome, Bandit. Hang in there. You're doing really well.
LIn, I have to say that I share your amusement at WW's online services. I do my tracking online and like that feature very much since I am probably eight years old inside and like the smiley faces I receive when I eat the right amount of healthy food choices. But, I have met the same silliness that you have. I remember specifically one week after counting points, exercising, etc. and doing everything right for several weeks with very little loss at the scales, I finally lost a little over three pounds. Yay! I thought. Nay! thought Weight Watchers. It took me aback for a second, but now I've gotten to the point where I can predict the "advice" the machine will give me. The feature I do like is the charting and the fact that I can go back over the whole year and see where I've done well and where I've hit snags. I'm with you with the silly recommendations since the machine isn't factoring in the whole picture. By the way, : and again for you! It's great seein you hone in on 200# You go girl!
I've had quite a bit of stress here and although my food hasn't been perfect, it's been controlled and I'm very happy with that. Members of my family are dealing with swine flu and it's been disconcerting. My dh is coming up this weekend and we've decided to cancel a get together and let everyone get healthy and we'll have a cake later in the month. I think I will show a tiny weight loss at my official WI at WW's this Wednesday. That's the trick-----keep it moving and move it downward. I'm back to my and toning tape and it makes me feel good about myself.
Princess, chime in when you can. We miss you.
Cherry, how are you and your little guys doing?
Best of luck to all our Turtles. It's a beautiful day here in New York and I hope the sun's shining wherever you are.
Judy - good luck tomorrow at the scales. You are doing great!
Nice & sunny up here today, which is nice since yesterday was rainey.
Got in a 2 mile walk Sun & Mon evening, so feel good about that. Will miss tonight since I have a "epicure party" with the ladies. Never been to once of these - apparently it is spices & herbs & you get to taste test things.
Have my weigh in tomorrow & I think I will be OK even though I had way too many drinks halloween, but have stayed away from the candy. All my leftover candy is in my daughters room out of site, for her to take back for her & her roomates.
Hi Turtles,
Well it is weigh in time this morning. I am down -0.4 to 240.8. Not much but much better than going up. Every one is still coughy and runny nosed. It just doesn't seem to go away and is driving me nuts. Glad to hear everyone is doing well.
Cherry : Weigh to go! You're doing great to lose weight while dealing with sniffles and little guys. to keep on treating yourself well and keep on keepin' on.
Bandit, I hope your WI is a good one. Like you , I find keeping candy in the house is almost torture. My dh bought one bag of fun sized candy in a flavor he didn't like much (and I love) and in my stress yesterday I had two of them. Now that was only four points which I counted in, and I didn't eat the whole bag which has certainly happened in the past. I noticed the empty bag in the trash this morning which either means he ate the rest last night or he decided to toss the bag. In either case, I don't have those yummy devils LOL to worry about any more.
Good luck to everyone and keep on keepin' on!
Judy
234.6/194/190 and deeper into onederland
Am off to do my twenty minute toning tape.
Judy, being in control during this obviously stressful time is a major reason to celebrate. You go!! Glad you're getting that toning video in. It makes a huge difference.
Bandit, yay for the walking. And yay for handling the candy in a positive way.
Cherry, way to go!!
Good going, everyone!
I've had a difficult week for various reasons. I'm grateful for the COBRA, because the plan is a good one and Paul got his blood pressure medication prescription renewed finally. He had one of those headache things again. Now, we have to put a bit of pressure on the doctor to deal with the headache, not just the blood pressure.
Anyway, dinner was a challenge. We chose the restaurant because Paul needed to find a place with good soup, which was all he could keep down yesterday. The restaurant had a special three-course meal for a nice, low price. Our dinner ended up being only $20, before tax and tip. But the things I really wanted to eat would not be a point-friendly meal. In the past, I'd have eaten too many points by choosing small amounts of everything. But that way leads to disaster. So, I chose the dish I wanted the most. Then I chose the lowest calorie appetizer-the vegetable soup, which turned out to be a wonderful minestrone. I had the butternut squash ravioli with shrimp. The tomato cream sauce was the downfall on this dish. However, the soup was so filling, that I only ate a few shrimp and one-and-a-half ravioli. That wasn't on the nutrition menu, so I had to estimate. Lemon is one of my favorite flavors, so I chose the lemon mousse, the lowest-calorie choice, for dessert. I ate the blueberries and raspberry sauce and only a bite of the "mousse". It was disappointing to discover that it wasn't actually lemon mousse. It was some kind of gelato or sorbet with a nasty bitter aftertaste and no lemon flavor at all. According to my best estimate, I ended up with points left over for the day. I had one of my Godiva truffles and still had a couple of points. Not a big deal. They can be insurance in case my estimate on the dinner points was a bit low.
Anyway, the point of all of that is--this is the first time I've ever made that kind of choice. Choosing the one higher-calorie dish and choosing lower-calorie dishes that may net be what I most want to eat is a real breakthrough. My thinking was that the other dishes I was interested in trying are on the regular menu, so I could try them the next time. And that I want my habit to be that I make the best choices available in whatever situation comes up. I guess I'm slowly learning how to do that.
Bandit! You posted after my last post so I didn't get to see your weight loss yesterday. Great job! 
for that.
: weigh to go! Here's 
to breaking a new barrier!
Halloween
:belly :
and 
for my fellow NaNoWriMo'ers.
is coming up this weekend and we've decided to cancel a get together and let everyone get healthy and we'll have a 
and toning tape and it makes me feel good about myself.
