[Lin S]

Hi, Turtles,

Here's the fable that started it all:

The Hare and the Tortoise

A hare met a tortoise one day and made fun of him for the slow and clumsy way in which he walked.

The tortoise laughed and said, "I will run a race with you any time that you choose."

"Very well," replied the hare, "we will start at once."

The tortoise immediately set off in his slow and steady way without waiting a moment or looking back. The hare, on the other hand, treated the matter as a joke and decided to take a little nap before starting, for she thought that it would be an easy matter to overtake her rival.

The tortoise plodded on, and meanwhile the hare overslept herself, with the result that she arrived at the winning-post only to see that the tortoise had got in before her.

Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.

This comes from a book handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. The book is so old it doesn't have a copyright date or an author/editor's credit.

That fable has been the motivation for us turtles for several years. Someone on the ancient WW forum mentioned the fable and I discovered it was very motivational for me. I talked about it in posts and other people said that the tortoise philosophy worked for them, too. So, I started a thread for us turtle types.

We've been reflecting on what the turtle philosophy means as we start our second hundred posts. The turtle philosophy was a difficult one for people to accept. People want the weight off--NOW!! But reality is that it took time to put it on and it will take time to take it off. People want it to be easy to take off the weight. But reality is that it's not easy. You can have a program that's easy to follow, but following it steadily--that's hard. People don't want to exercise much, if at all. But reality is that our bodies were designed to move. So, we're setting realistic goals that take the weight off at a healthy pace. We're setting goals that will keep us moving steadily toward the healthy weight we want to be. And we're just plain moving. We're setting realistic exercise goals that will move our bodies the way they were meant to be moved.

We've also noticed that our turtle philosophy has affected the rest of our lives. I've started writing fiction again. I realize that I can finish a novel, or two, or ten. All I have to do is to set realistic daily goals, work steadily toward achieving them, and they will build up into finished books. Turtle Power at work in my everyday life.

Anyone who wants to join us in steadily moving toward all of our goals is welcome. I've met some wonderful people on this thread. I hope to meet many more. I know the battle with our weight is a difficult one. Having such supportive people come and post regularly keeps it from getting overwhelming. I hope to see many more people join us as we move forward on our journey.

Let's Get Moving!!

[Lin S]

Hi, Turtles,

I've been reading , but not posting while you've all been having a great conversation. I've been busy this week.

.4 --congratulations on your latest move down to your goal. , Choosewell.

I envy you. I've been trying to get my husband to walk with me for months. He says our neighborhood is too boring. I wonder what his excuse will be if we move into the apartments next to the cemetery and close to shopping centers with bookstores and the Bose store and the Apple Computer store?

Lauren, I agree that high fiber helps keep the sugar cravings away. I don't know about high protein, but I know that if I don't eat enough protein, I notice a difference. I know you said that you find it easy to OD on fruit, but I noticed that for me, if I eat three servings of fruit every day, I don't crave desserts. I enjoy them when it's a special occasion, but I don't crave them every day.

I think it's interesting that what's worked for you in the past no longer does. I think that's one of the things that makes it harder for all of us. We get going and think we've got it nailed, then things stop working and we have to figure out something else. I also think that as people lose weight, their body chemistry changes, which is why they're less prone to the diseases we're all trying to avoid. That may be why we need to adjust the program as we lose weight, especially those of us who start with a lot of weight to lose.

What I do about the higher fat thing with adding nuts, avocadoes, and so on is substitute them for other fats. I'll put avocado on my salad, but dress it with salsa or lemon juice or olive oil spray and vinegar. I do a sort of stir fry thing with green beans, red onions, and sliced almonds, but I use olive oil spray to keep the total fat down. I've also substituted healthy oils for butter in any recipe that it will work with. Many of them taste better with olive oil, actually.

But there are still some places where I use butter. Toast in the morning is one, but I want to drain some yogurt and mix the yogurt cheese with cinnamon and jam or maple syrup (I get the real stuff at Costco cheap, relatively speaking) to make a spread for my toast. Do any of you know how to count the points for drained yogurt, though? I haven't been able to find that out, which is why I haven't done it yet.

Yay, Judy!! Another pound down. You're doing great!!

Thanks for the info about your WW meeting and carbs. I think people are really confused about the carb thing because they hear what they want to hear and because so many of the articles and books oversimplify what is really a complex issue. Everyone is different and we all need to find out how our individual bodies work. No "one size fits all" diet book is going to do that for us.

I think it's great that you recognized what was happening with the "baby's cupboard", stopped yourself, counted the points and moved on. That's why things are working so well for you right now.

I'm retaining water and I'm up a couple of pounds. It's from the higher sodium in some of the stuff I've been eating for dinner lately. Good food, but not cooked from scratch, so I have little control over the sodium content. I should be getting back to doing my own cooking tomorrow. This has been a strange week around here and we've eaten more prepared food than we usually do.

I walked yesterday instead of doing a tape. I probably will be doing that again today, too. I have an errand to run and I'm going to do a long walk, then pick up my stuff on the way home. But I'm exercising.

I've decided to make a small change in how I use my flex points. Most weeks I don't have any reason to save them up. So, unless we have a restaurant meal planned or a special occasion coming up, I'm going to use them sort of like the old point range. I want to spend them to increase my calcium servings and to get in those three fruit servings that keep the sweet cravings at bay. I think if I do that as my normal food plan, then a week here and there where I use them for restaurant meals or fancy desserts will be OK.

9 days to NaNo. 9 days to finish this plot. I'd better get back to work on it.

So, keep moving and keep losing.

[choosewell]

Hello, hello.

We all seem to be on track...even when we step off the path we are getting back on again. I like that.

Have you heard that phrase, "and they left in a hurry, like a herd of turtles"? That's us, in our far-flung corners, moving in our little slow but steady group.

I had a busy day off; started with an appt for new inhalers at 730a (!!!!), went to the museum...I volunteer there in the science section, then to Central Market. Usually hub goes there with me and we get a a more balanced selection, but today I was alone. I bought:

Two candles
Assorted vegetables and fruit.

1/2 loaf 5 seed bread.
1 loaf sesame challah (it's Shabbat, after all).
1 loaf raisin pecan bread.
1 loaf cranberry walnut bread.
1 loaf Dia de los Muertos bread (orange anise).
dozen fresh wheat tortillas
dozen fresh jalapeno tortillas
1 angel food cake

Do you think there's any chance I was craving starches? Or, would you believe rebellion? Interesting that the physician's assistant this morning told me he lost 26 pounds this summer by giving up anything white (white flour, rice, pasta...). He said he likes "The Zone" better than Atkins...it's more balanced. Ha!

Fortunately, I am a hoarder, and just having the stuff alleviated the need to eat it. I had challah with chicken salad for lunch and one tortilla with grilled chicken and asparagus for dinner. The rest of it is frozen now and I no longer have to panic because I can't get bread.

I also took a four hour nap. Does the body good.

Will write more later, after I awake. Whoooeeee...

choosewell, the Bread Selector.

[Itryharder]

Whoops--
Family here and I've reverting back to old habits. Had Halloween party yesterday and I'll send photos asap. No exercise and high high carbs. Ugh. Today I promised myself I'd get back on track and didn't. Ugh again. It's supper time and I'm going to relax.
I'll cross off all my flexpoints and stay on target plus exercise tomorrow.
Take care. I'll respond to all your comments.
Lvoe,
JUdy

[choosewell]

Judy, I had a rough weekend too. I just looked at my journal, which stayed in my work bag all weekend, and the last day I wrote was the 23rd. Sigh.

I did write 10K on a piece I'm working on, and washed a few windows, but there was way too little moving going on.

Reality check last night. Hub is down 9 pounds by giving up Sprite, only took two weeks. He weighs in now at 211. I am at 209.4. Oh, my!

So, this morning I recommitted. Tessa and I walked the neighborhood mile before work, and she watched me do speed yoga and my Greer Childer's gym bar (strength). I am drinking water. I am writing it all down.

I am woman, hear me roar!

Hugs to you all...have a glass of water on me. choosewell.

[Lin S]

Hi, Turtle Buddies,

Choosewell, I love your story about the bread. It's interesting that having what you need around keeps you from wanting too much of it. It's so great to see you recommit immediately instead of letting the problem linger after your weekend. Writing it down right away seems to make a difference for me, too. Good luck with that.

Judy, don't cross off your flex points willy-nilly. Try to figure out how many points you actually ate. Deduct them from any activity points and then flex points. If you don't have any left, that's OK. But I think we often overestimate the problem when we go off program and don't sit down and look at how many points it really was. You may be surprised to find that it wasn't as bad as you thought. I think that information will be helpful in the future, too, when you're faced with a similar situation because you can remember which of the items did the most damage and choose more carefully.

Example: My husband bought some cinnamon rolls, which I love, last night. I decided to have one with breakfast. That sounds like a lot of points. But I didn't eat the toast I usually have, so it was a mere 3 points more than my usual breakfast. I can handle that with activity or flex points. No problem. But if I'd kept thinking of it as the whole amount, I might have given myself a hard time over the choice, instead of seeing that it does fit in, since I don't do it every day.

I'm still OP. I didn't use many flex points last week. I've been maintaining, but I think it's due to the exercise because during the time I've maintained, my pants suddenly got looser in the hips and thighs. So, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, sort of. I'm planning to do the toning tape 3 times a week and the aerobics twice. I want to walk on the weekends because when my husband's home it's hard to do the tapes. I also might do one of the 20-30 minute aerobics tapes or a half hour walk when I do the toning tape because it's short.

We're having a really unusual late summer heat wave. It's so weird. We began the summer with super cold weather and it's been getting up to 100º the past couple of days. We're so close to the ocean that it's really unusual. It's one of those inversion layers.

I've got 5 more days to whip this plot into shape before NaNo. I have enough material to write it, if I have to. Mainly I need to put the scenes in order and see where the boring parts and the holes are. Fix those and I'll be ready. I'm starting to get flashes in my mind of bits of this story. That's a good sign.

I also got a brainstorm about how to tie a bunch of mysteries I've had in my file into a series, even though there won't be a single character the series will be built around. It will have recurring characters. The connection will be their college and work history. I think this will work well, if I can sell it to an editor, because when you have the same main character, book after book, there's a real danger of predictability. I get bored too easily and if I'm not interested, I won't write it. So I have to think about that before I commit myself to a series.

I realized though, that mysteries are my first love. I've been writing fantasy lately, which I also love. They're easier to plot and good practice with creating a believable setting. But the genre I've always preferred is the mystery, so I'm planning to get back to that after NaNo.

I hope you're all having a great day. Keep moving!!

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
I am turtle, hear me roar! Wow, what a rallying cry thanks to Choosewell. Today I am back on track. I'm journaling, drinking lots of water, keeping my points on target and getting through the day.
The Halloween party was the best. Of course no one guessed who I was, but that was part of the fun. My eating was okay that night, but the next day I let my guard down. Ugh. But Lin,
you gave excellent advice. Without really knowing how much I ate, I may have overestimated. Very good point, and I certainly have done that before. I am up 2 1/2 pounds. Truthfully I hope that much of that is salt. I had some of the food catered for the party and I could taste how salty it was. We also had Chinese food one night because my kids from upstate can't get great Chinese food in their small town.

Choosewell,
I'm sorry you had a tough weekend too. This does happen and
I'm aiming to first of all have it *not* happen. When it does, my aim is to recover as quickly as possible. I know what happens when I let the problem linger. I gain weight, get disgusted and angry with myself, eat more and gain more weight. The cycle needs to be broken and I'm making my eating plan as a healthy lifestyle top priority. It's just that, guess what, I'm not perfect and I can't always follow my good intentions. However, I'm much closer than I used to be. I'm so glad that you recommited too and are back on track.

Lin,
It's so great to hear that you are using this Flexpoints program so well. I'm also interested in the changes you make in your exercise routines. Clever. Congrats on being where you want to be for your writing challenge. Weigh to go!

Something dropped on my toe while I was setting up for the party. Ironically enough I think it was a can of *Diet Coke.* How fair is that? Anyway, I"m all black and blue and sore on my left toe. Tomorrow I'll try the treadmill, but today I can't do it. I did clean up the house and did a lot of straightening up, so that will have to be my exercise for today.

Lauren,
How are you? Here's some good vibes. :

Everyone do well and keep on writing.
Love,
Judy

[LaurenH]

Hello, turtle ones. Wow, where did the past few days go? This week is a crazy one for me, tons to get done. Just as well my friend cancelled her visit (her mother needed surgery, so she couldn't come), since I'll be pretty swamped until Friday.

Choosewell, all that bread! You are too funny. Have you been getting enough protein? Oddly, some people crave starch when they're protein-deprived. Not too many of us are starch-deprived, I suspect.

Judy, GOOD FOR YOU, not letting a couple overeating days derail you. Isn't it interesting that it's *after* the vacation, *after* the holiday, etc., that we seem to lose control? That certainly was the case for me. I ate slightly over my flex points during the week that I was in the Adirondacks, but it's when I got BACK that I went nuts. And put on 5.5 pounds in two weeks. Incredible. Anyway, I agree with Lin -- write it down and count it accurately. That's the single best way to get back on track that I know of. Just checking off your flex points sounds a little bit like punishing yourself to me, and also setting yourself up for a harder time, maybe failure. It's very hard to go from eating a ton to eating your 26 points or whatever. Much better to go gradually.

My WW leader, the one who does the self-therapy sessions, also has some good advice. Here's one of her points: When she has a binge period (and she truly does binge), she doesn't try to get right back into her points immediately. She's seen that fail too many times. What she does is journal (of course) but aim for 35 points, the top of everybody's range. The next day she'll aim for 28 points, or whatever, until she gets back down to her current range of 20 points. She does it gradually. I think that's great advice.

Lin, I'll bet your maintaining while losing inches is indeed a result of the exercise. And I'll bet it could go on for a while, if you're anything like me. Remember all those months I exercised and didn't lose anything? I even got hungrier, too. It was a tough time. It took a few months before I started losing again. But the inches really went down. Our bodies are weird. GOOD FOR YOU, doing all that exercise! You're an inspiration.

Well, I've lost 5 of the 5.5 I gained. I'm still sticking to my low-glycemic, high-protein approach, and I can't believe how well it's working for my body. Especially since TOM just started today, and usually this is the time that I'm holding the most water. Not this month. No bloat at all to speak of. And very little PMS, too. I really think I'm onto something.

I plan to do this for one more week, then start re-incorporating some whole grains and fruit. But no sugar, no white flour. And I'm going to be careful with the fruit, too.

I'm even ending the week with 14 flex points still in the bank. Probably eating higher fat and higher protein has helped me not want to eat so much. In any case, I feel like I'm turning the carbo train around, and that feels good. I was really going nuts there.

It has also occurred to me how many times throughout the day I turn to sugar. Today when I was at the mall, I thought of getting a TCBY cone before I remembered I'm not eating that stuff right now. When I made DH a No-Pudge brownie, I automatically started to lick the spoon -- then realized that not only was I not eating sugar, I also never write down these little licks and bites and tastes that I so automatically take each day. Hmmm. I was eating at least one Pria bar every day, which has a lot of sugar in it. Raisins on my cereal, Pria bar at lunch, some kind of ice cream treat in the evening. If I went out, I'd grab an ice-cream cone or a biscotti (frosted). Snacks were always popcorn and/or fruit. Potato at dinner often.

Nothing is wrong with any of this in moderation, or as an occasional treat. But I think I have a very hard time eating this stuff in moderation, and certainly not occasionally.

So my next goal will be to learn how to eat much of this stuff occasionally rather than every day.

Colors are still lovely here. I do love fall!

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/189/down

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,

Lauren,
First of all for knocking off those pounds you were working on. That's a great accomplishment. Glad you found a way that works for you. Well, you are absolutely right about the *after* for you and me. I did well at the party, and *after* I relaxed and then ate helter skelter. Often I do well during the holidays and *after* in January I binge eat. Thanks for pointing it out.
I'm very interested in your approach to carbs right now. It's certainly working for you. I tend to grab carbs (2 pieces of LF toast, etc,) because they are so grabable. Right now I'm going to boil up some eggs so that I can grab some hard boiled eggwhites for a snack. They fill me in and I like them. What else are you eating to fill in the munchies?

Lin,
Here's my thoughts on the yogurt cheese. Not any real help, but a way to figure it out. Measure out one cup of yogurt. Make your
cheese from that amount. Measure the cheese to see how much it's been reduced. Now it's simply concentrated and my guess is mostly water has left the yogurt. Now if one cup of yogurt is 2 points, then one cup of yogurt is also 16 tablespoons for 2
points. If your yogurt reduces down to 1/2cup of yogurt cheese, then 8 tablespoons would be 2 points. Right? Is anyone still awake? So, if you use 4 tablespoons of yogurt cheese on your toast, it would be one point. (That's if your original yogurt points out to 2 points per cup.) It looks to me as though yogurt cheese isn't a big point worry unless people are actually slurping it up continually. I happen to love it and need to buy some plain yogurt to have it in the house.

Choosewell,
So, your husband has invented this fabulous diet plan of avoiding Sprite and losing almost 10 pounds in two weeks? Egads, I wish I drank Sprite so I could do that too. I weigh more than my dh and have for quite awhile. Interestingly enough when we were married, I was considered a *dish* and he was considered stocky. Somewhere along the line our roles reversed. In the meantime you and I want to remember that our weight is our weight and we don't have to compare to anyone. All we need to do is concentrate on our healthy turtle lifestyles and keep on keepin' on.
We're to have each other in this group. Thanks for joining us.

Yesterday was a great day. It felt so good to be back on track.
I did well with points and journaled throughout the day. Today is a beautiful sunny day. I'll be out running errands and grocery shopping today. My aim is to try the treadmill for exercise and to hit my target points. It looks like I've lost about one pound, so I'm hoping to lose more before my WI tomorrow. I really hate it when I gain weight during a WI, but the reality is if I eat more than the points I have available in target and flex, I'll gain weight.
This isn't a surprise, so I'm hoping that lots of water, exercise, and keeping on target will minimize the damage.

Have a great day! :
Love,
Judy

[LaurenH]

Good for you, Judy, right back on track! That's the way to go!

You asked about snacks. Right now I'm eating mostly protein snacks, like string cheese, nuts (1/4 cup per day), Laughing Cow cheese wedges, hard-boiled eggs. Those are easy to grab and take with me. I'm also finding I like the Atkins Advantage bars for four points; DH and I have been eating them for breakfast when we have to run. (Otherwise I'll make an eggbeater omelet, Canadian bacon, and/or tofu sausage patties.) The Advantage bars are high in protien *and* fiber; most of those bars don't add the fiber. You just don't get hungry eating these things. They don't have added sugar, either. (I think they use Splenda.) They taste like protein bars, but they're not bad. They're also expensive unless you get them at a discount place; I go to Trader Joe's, but Walmart might carry them.

Other snacks that are less "grabbable" -- hummous or natural peanut butter or LF cream cheese spread on celery; cottage cheese; SF jello.

Once I add back more whole carbs, I plan to add snacks like sugar-free yogurt and fruit. But I also plan to only eat the fruit with a protein, like a piece of string cheese. Ditto for popcorn. I want to stop eating carbs by themselves. And I want to avoid sugar altogether except for special events.

Down a half pound this a.m. for my official weigh-in, which puts me right back where I was before I gained the weight. Inches are also down, amazingly. I'm goin' down from here!

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/188.5/down

[Lin S]

Hi, Turtles,

Judy, I'm so glad you got back on track. You know, I think we sabotage ourselves after a holiday or special occasion we did well with because we unconsciously are using that food as a reward for doing so well. Maybe we all should plan some sort of small nonfood reward for every time we face down a tough challenge like the holidays or a family visit or whatever. Then when we give ourselves that reward, it can be a reminder that we want to keep doing well.

Thanks for the tips on yogurt cheese. That sounds like the way I used to do it, now that I've read your ideas.

Lauren, I like your leader's ideas about what to do after a binge. Although I don't really binge, I can also use it if the portion sizes start to creep up, which is what usually happens with me. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, also, for reminding me about the exercise and how long it can take before the pounds start coming off again. I've been trying to decide if I should change anything. I decided that, other than changing things so I get more calcium into my diet, I'm going to continue along the current path. I don't want to cut points trying to force the scale because I get too hungry if I do. And I get too tired to do the exercise. So, unless I stop losing both inches and pounds, I'm sticking with the status quo.

It's great that your plan is working for you. Congratulations! on the half pound. Learning how to eat sugary foods occasionally instead of every day is hard. The one thing that helped me the most is to refuse to eat substitutes. I don't eat lowfat, sugar-free stuff because that fuels the sweet tooth as much as sugar does and it's not worth the points, even if it doesn't have very many. I'd rather wait and use flex points for the really good stuff. Or for lower point versions I make myself. Sometimes being a little bit picky is good for the waistline.

You can also make smoothies with the yogurt and fruit. A cup of yogurt has about the same amount of protein for fewer points as an ounce and a half of cheese. I don't eat carbs by themselves, either. I'm starting to spray my popcorn with a bit of olive oil mixed with a drop or two of Tabasco, then sprinkling some cheese on it. If you don't like spicy, you can just do the oil and cheese. I air pop it in the microwave. I got a microwave air popper from Target and I use the plain old Jolly Time popcorn, which seems to pop better, with fewer unpopped kernels, than the expensive brands I've tried.

I'm doing fine today. I haven't done my tape yet. I'll be doing it in a while. I just finished a late lunch and I don't like to exercise right after a meal. I'm right there with my points. I need to get some water. I'm thirsty and I didn't notice while I was working on the pips for the NaNo Kickoff Marathon challenge on FM. That put me behind on my plot planning, but I have plenty of time before I go to bed to get it done.

Have a great day, everyone. I hope you're moving.

[choosewell]

Dear Team Healthy Weight Loss:

Wow! You guys should go on Oprah! As a matter of fact, next time I talk to her I"m going to tell her about all the smart things you have to say.

Yes, my chin is attesting to the fact that I've had too much sugar.

Yes, I'd better get more protein! (when oh when will I learn this lesson????)

and Yes, I should know better than to compare my weight to Sprite-man's. Oh, that I only had to give up Sprite to lose 11 pounds! Now which bad habit is the ecological equivalent, the biologist wondered...

I gained .8 at weigh in tonight, congratulating myself the whole time that it wasn't more and almost putting my arm out of joint, patting myself on the back for going in spite of the fact that I knew I had a gain.

Husband, Dear Husband, had purchased a roasted chicken, defrocked the thing, and had chicken with lettuce salads waiting when I got home. Now I'll NEVER be able to leave him, the guy is a saint AND a mind reader. Except when he's NOT a saint or a mindreader.... you know the drill.

Anyway, ladies, I'm glad to be here, and your words of advice are excellent. Lauren thank you for very specifically mentioning your protein choices, I can use the suggestions. And Judy, to 'recover as quickly as possible'...what brilliant guidance. We have so much at our disposal...activity points and FlexPoints specifically. There's no need even for a bad day to be a bad day in the old way, right?

And, Lin, you are absolutely right. counting our FlexPoints without even counting them is like throwing our hands up in the air and saying "whatever!" I did that last week, and I won't do it again. The whole point is Accountability!

Gee. Thanks, Turtle Buddies. choosewell.

[LaurenH]

Good morning, tortoises. I have a slight break here until I have to interview someone for an article (he's running late), so I thought I'd check in here briefly.

Choosewell, Sprite-Man! What a hoot. I'm married to one of those, too. For a long time I weighed more than he did (his weight varies between 204 and 215, depending on how much activity he gets; he's a swimmer). I still remember the glorious day when my weight dipped below his. Yes, it's just a number on the scale, blah blah blah. Call me shallow; it felt fabulous!

WAY TO GO on going back to your WW meeting, in spite of knowing you had a gain, and for stopping that gain in its tracks! You deserve a dancing banana!

Lin, thanks for the protein/carb tips and the popcorn suggestion. And way to go with that exercise, again!

As for SF foods triggering sweet cravings, I had been avoiding them for the same reason. Never ate them on WW. Now, however, I've found out something interesting: it appears that if I eat something low-carb that is SF, I don't have the cravings, especially if it's combined with some protein and some fat. I think what I've really been craving is carbs, sweet and otherwise. I'm guessing this is because SF, non-carb stuff doesn't actually raise my blood sugar and start me down that cycle of sugar highs and lows that causes the cravings. I think it's likely that with my family history of crappy pancreases, I'm probably more sensitive to carbs than others might be.

Whatever the reason, I'm very grateful to have found something my body reacts well to at this point. I'm finding I get quite tired in the evenings; I don't know if that's a result of how I'm eating or just the time of year. I'm also not hungry much at this point, unlike when I first started doing this. Other than that, I feel great. Had no problem walking several miles on Saturday with one of my walking buddies. I feel like I'm my own science experiment right now.

I'm in the throes of TOM at the moment, though I doubt I'll have any de-bloat this month. I don't see how it would be possible, frankly, having now lost 6 pounds in 8 days. (Half of that was the first day, but still.) No doubt this un-turtlelike behavior will soon come to an end when I reach phase II of my plan next week.

Well, best get back to work. (I did my interview halfway through writing this, and now I have to write the piece.) Have a great day, all.

Judy, how's it going?

Onward and downward,

Lauren

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
I'm here. I have to hop on the treadmill right now, but wanted to check and see how you all were doing. We're the best!

Tonight is my WI. I expect a gain, but I think it will be small. I am, like Choosewell, definitely going to my mtg. Monday and Tuesday were great and I'm back on track.

Really gotta run, and run!
Love,
Judy

[bandit2]

Hi ladies:

Your group sounds great. Could use some support & encouragement. May I join in??