[Itryharder]

We are the Turtle Group here at www.3fatchicks.com. We welcome you to join us as we work toward good health and fitness in a persistent manner. As our inspiration we use the race between the turtle and the hare where the turtle was the victor because he didn't give up. We believe in keepin' on even when the odds are against us. We believe in giving each other support. Good luck to us all!
Judy
Itryharder
(for Lin and Lauren)

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
I'm doing better by drinking plenty of water, the weight gain is almost gone.
Egads! : I want my weight to go down, not up==but at least this time it was a fluke. However, in the past I would have said, "What the heck? Even doing the right thing I gain weight, so what's the use. And I would have 'treated' myself to something high caloric." This time I stayed ontrack and even got on the last night for a short time.
So-=====onward and downward.

Ariana,
Here are the smilies I like the best: Some are self-evident and some will be fun surprises when you type them. Have fun!

all of them start with a colon and end with a colon: angel, balloons, beach, bravo, bubbles, carrot, cb, cheer, chef, cloud9, comp, cp, dance, dancer, ebike, eek, faint, flame, gift, goodscale, hat, hb, high, idea, jig, joker, lol, love, spin, stress, strong, tantrum, tread, wave, welcome, welcome3, wizard,
wl, woo
I love using these and thanks for asking, Ariana, because it made me get out my list and remind me of some adorable ones I haven't been using.

Kerri==good luck on your weekend WI.
Chris--let us know how you're doing.
Bandit--how's the weather?
Princess--it' tough to have a house crowded with people and stuff, but I so admire your persistence in getting everyone tothe table for dinner each night.
Good for you!
Everybody: have a great weekend. I expect Princess to chime in any moment and remind us that it's Friday, her favorite day of the week! My plans for the weekend got canceled and that's a good thing for me. I've got a healthy dinner planned for my dh and me and I hope a fire in the fireplace.
Take care, be well, be happy! :
Judy

[Ariana2000]

All: Good afternoon. Work has been crazy this week, so I'm stressed out, but one of our project managers asked me -- "why are you doing that"? And I realized that, once again, I was demonstrating what we call "Max" syndrome. In other words, I was taking on more work than I should have, stuff that wasn't my responsibility, because it was involved with my node, the Colorado project. So I started re-delegating today and I feel less stressed out. Tonight I'm going to spinning, so that should help too. Then a friend and I are going to dinner. Tomorrow I'll work OT for 4-8 hours (I don't know yet how long I can take it.) Saturday night I have a jewelry show and a girl's night out -- I only have time to go to one, but I think that the GNO will get cancelled.

Anyway, nothing else to say. Have a good weekend, ladies, and take care!

Kerri: Yep, maintenance is very frustrating, but better than a gain. How exotic. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water and don't wait too long between meals. That should help minimize weight gain. And sure, have your treats, but eat smaller portions of them. And walk a lot; that should be easy. Focus on the fact that the pleasure of a trip is in the new sites and people and cultures, not the food. As a culture, we tend to associate vacation and other rewards for food treats, but not all treats are food, and the association isn't a necessary one.

Judy: I'm glad the weight is going down. It's very frustrating when it goes up like that. But your reaction to it is just as important as the WL itself -- as you said, in the past you would have gotten frustrated and -- let's be honest here -- self-medicated (I do it too!) But now you express your frustration and then just keep going. That's a very important step in WL and maintenance. Re weekend plans -- there is nothing wrong with a healthy dinner and relaxing before a fire. I think people in general tend to fill their days with either too little or too much stuff, and sometimes we need to balance things out and have some basic down time.

Thank you so much for the smilies. They are awesome! ;D

[bandit2]

Hi turtles:

Sounds like everyone is doing great.

Ariana - have a good evening, you deserve a nice night out with friends.

Judy - hang in there, you will win the battle with our "baby steps"

Kerri - nice you are going on a trip. Such fun. Ariana had such great advice so I hope you follow it.

As for me it is freezing up here. Minus 10C this morning but sunny, which really makes a difference in even wanting to go out.
I was down 1.6# this week so was very pleased with that. My friends & I have a 10# challenge going on so now I am down 4.4# towards that challenge.

Just finished a yummy lunch - felt like comfort food. So had tomatoe soup
and grilled cheese with green onion sandwich. It was good - nice lunch for a cold Sat afternoon.

That is so terrible about Florida - those poor people. How do you ever recover from something like that? My thoughts are with all of them & their families.

Sometimes we don't realize how lucky we are all.

Anyway have a great OP weekend.

[kerriscards]

Good afternoon to you all....

Well I am bumbed out as I went to my weigh-in and guess what I was so holding fluids today and was up 1.4...I should have found the time yesterday as my scale had me down 2 #s ..I could not put it off either as this is the last day for weigh-in...I over did the green olives yesterday and I should have known....

Ariana thank you so very much, that was great advise as I am in count down now...8 days left...

Bandit we all feel that way..The weather can be a beast...Hope you will stay warm and cozy...

Hope you all are having a wonderful week-end....

[chrily]

Do you ever feel like I'm abandoning you gals??? I've been super busy and all with my homework and other obligations. Today I am helping host a baby shower for my niece who had her little girl a month ago. I'm hoping all goes well today. I'm such a shy person and this is like the equivalent of going to the dentist for me.

The countdown is on. I go to the doctor on Friday to see if we can figure out anything about me. I'm going to see if I can get on a different anti-depressant. I just don't function well off of them. My main problem with being on them is the side effects. To put it blunt-the sexual side affects kill my relationship with my husband. Zero libido.... I don't want that and yet I can't find a pill that will let me have a life. I also want to find out why I feel so run down all the time.

Okay...gotta go get the baby shower prizes wrapped. Check back after all this is done for the day.

Christina

[Ariana2000]

Hello, turtles. I'm at work doing overtime, and I have a few minutes, so I thought I would write you guys.

I had a shock last night -- I came out of the gym after spinning and cleaning up (a friend and I were going to dinner) to find the right front window of my car gone< and glass all around. When I look into the car, the window was in pieces on the front passenger seat. The car had been rifled through -- my WW points books and my nutrition info handouts (which I kept in the center console) were strewn all over the car, the baggie of safety pins that I normally keep in my glove compartment were on the seat, and other stuff had been moved around. The only thing they got away with was my emergency money ($20-$25) that I kept for parking, etc. -- little expenses where they don't take credit or debit cards. I think someone tried to take the car itself, though, not the pocket change they actually stole from me. I think that because there was nothing visible from the outside of any value, and the only thing that set the car apart was that I had it cleaned that day. But they didn't get the car, and I think that was partly due to the fact that I had an auto-lock on the car, which is not impossible to cut, but is probably difficult to remove, unlike clubs. Anyway, it was very unsettling. That kind of thing has never happened to me before. :eep: :eep: :eep:

I went to my local Honda dealer and had them look at the car. They said the only damage appears to be the window, and I was able to get somebody to come fix it for me. That is a big relief.

That's my big news for the weekend, ladies.

On a smaller note, I worked out 5x this week (the 5th time because a friend wanted to hang out with me Friday night, and we always workout and then go to dinner together) I also ate an all-bran bar before we went to dinner, so although I ate more at Sweet Tomatoes than I would have wanted to (the buffet I mentioned before that my friend loves), it wasn't terrible, and I keep getting better at managing buffets.

I got a lot of work done today, and earned some OT pay. I actually feel very productive, when it's quiet and I'm alone.

Well, ladies, time to go. I have to leave soon for the jewelry thing. Have a good night, ladies. Take care.

[chrily]

Ariana, OMG! I would have been so freaked out if my car was broke in to. Sorry it happened but glad that it wasn't worse.

Good job on the workouts! You are such an inspiration to alot of us weight loss wonders...(more or less "wondering" when the weight will wander off my body). You go girl! It's awesome how you just keep pluggin right along and doing what needs to be done, even if you have a bad time with stuff. I really admire you for that.

Well the baby shower is done and hopefully all had a good time. Now I can devote even more time to studying. I got a letter of commendation from the chancellor yesterday congratulating me on my 4.0 for last semester. Gotta keep that grade point average in my "over-acheiver" area.

Gonna go to dinner with the family. Check back later.

Christina

[Princess1122]

Well I was home on Friday with a bad sinus headache so I am out of the loop a bit but will try and get back on line later to get caught up. It is sooooo cold here today -4 below and -25 on the wind-chill... it is so cold that it hurts just going outside. I stayed awake for about 2/3rds of the game last night but could not make it to the end... I am such a light weight when it comes to staying up late... I was very happy to see that the Colts pulled it off though so the city is going crazy today... should be fun to watch, from my TV at home of course! There is no way I am going down town for the parade and parties that are taking place this afternoon and evening.

Ariana: I had my vehicle stolen when I lived in New Jersey... they ripped out the steering column, smashed the windows, you name it! They also stole everything that was not bolted down... My vechile was found in the gettos of Trenton later that night... I was told "You should be glad that you even got your vehicle back!" I guess most don't get theirs recovered but I was not glad... they bent the steering rod and did damage that was never fully repaired and I had to fight with the insurance company every step of the way... I know how you feel though... I came out from work that night and could not find my car... the only thing that was left was a pile of shattered glass... very scary feeling!

Well I have to get caught up since I was out on Friday... I will check back later on.
Susan

[kerriscards]

Hello to all you Turtles....

That is so awful about your car Ariana.....

Susan You are right, who wants the car back when its that bad...and insurance Co..s are the Pitt's...You pay in every month and then God forbid you ever put in a claim...

Well I am still trying on clothes from my closet and deciding what to pack for my trip..I have a massive closet with about 4 sizes in it as I never can get rid of anything so its a collection from years and years....

Wow its quiet around here...

I am going to get weighed this week on Thursday so I can pack Friday and Saturday....

[bandit2]

Hi turtles:

Still cold up here but at least sunny. I am just plugging along trying to keep warm. Today I had a flat tire - thank goodness it was while I was at work so
had help getting it to garage for repairs.

My friend is coming over for our usual Wed dinner tomorrow. We are making "lower fat" quiche so that should be interesting. If it is good I will forward the recipe. I made chili on weekend & have been having that for my lunches.

Does anyone else have the new ww scales that calculate the points as well?
It probably isn't new for you in the States but we got ours yesterday, so will have to see if that makes a big difference on portion control.

Hope you are all doing well & keep up the good work.

[Princess1122]

Cold and snowy here today... we had a snow storm blow thru here yesterday and it dumped about 7 inches of snow on us... not too bad but there were tons of accidents and some of them really bad. You know, you would think that snow in the mid-west would not cause the panic that it does but for some reason it always does. After my ordeal last year when it took me 6 hours to make the 10 minute drive home during one of those snow storms I vowed never again... now I am on my way home by the time the second snow flake hits the ground... my employer knows it and does not give me a hard time, I use PTO time or make up the time to compensate but I leave way before it gets ugly and get home and off the roads. I guess I am just too old and don't handle that kind of stress anymore but that kind of weather just brings out the worst in people and I just can not deal with it. But the sun is out today, kind of anyway, and no more snow is predicted... it is still very cold and below zero here but that is ok with me for now.

The scale has gone way up the last few days... not sure what the problem is but I will get back on track and figure it out.

How is everyone else doing?

Susan

[Ariana2000]

All: Good afternoon. This week is better than the last, but still stressful. I slipped just now and ate half a bagel with a very thin shmear of cream cheese. I usually don't eat them at all, but I didn't get around to eating my 10 am fruit on time, so I was ravenous. That'll teach me to not eat my snacks on time, huh? At least I only ate half, and only had a little cream cheese. It could be worse. Tonight I'm going to a Thai restaurant, which reminds me, I need to pick out something for dinner before I go, so that my hunger doesn't beat my self-control. Workouts are on track for the week, and although I'm going to miss my Wednesday night weight lifting, I am going hiking on Saturday, so it should even out. I'm going to eat out twice Saturday, so that will take more control, but I'm working on it. Everything else is going well. How are you guys doing?

Chrily: Thanks. It was unsettling, that's for sure. I'm glad the car was still there. Why thank you! I appreciate that you find me inspiring and admire me. That's very nice to hear. You know, you can be a person who keeps plugging on in the same way -- but you have to do it long enough for it to become a habit, and you need to believe, really believe that not only can you do this, but you will do this. Congrats on your letter of commendation!

Princess: Sorry you have been feeling unwell. Having your car stolen is a very scary thing, I imagine. Before I was born, my mother had to go to the hospital for neck surgery, and when my Dad came to pick her up, their car was gone. I think they ended up walking home because they didn't have money for a cab back then. This was Brooklyn, which probably isn't surprising. If we had weather like that, I would do the same thing. With my job I could work from home. I don't know how I'd deal with being in the car for six hours, but I'd definitely keep my embroidery, a headset, batteries and an audio book with me at all times. I can't stand to sit like that, it drives me crazy. I just don't idle well. Re insurance companies: actually, I have Allstate, and they are very good. They were there when I called Friday night at 8 pm, and they helped me the next day; I have glass coverage, so I didn't even have to pay a deductible. When my car lost a tire on the freeway and caused $3,000 of damage to the car, Allstate was very helpful and didn't fight us on it at all. I have no experience with any other agency, and I probably won't leave, even if another agency is cheaper; I trust Allstate, and that's worth a little extra money to me. Oh, and sorry it is so nasty cold out there.

Kerri: Thank you (re the car). I say get rid of any sizes that you are too big for you, and do it ASAP. Take them to a clothing resale place and get credit or cash to get new clothes, and take what the resale place won't buy and gift it to thrift. Say it, repeat it, believe it -- you are not going back to that weight, so there is no reason to keep those clothes around (exception -- I would keep one piece, so that you can have a before and after photo in the same outfit. I wish I'd kept the dress that opened my eyes to just how big I had gotten -- I would love to have a picture of it today, with the new me in the old dress. But only keep one piece, maybe two. The rest must go!

Bandit: Sorry about the flat tire. Yes, let us know how the quiche turns out, I'd make it. I have found a tasty lasagna recipe (5 or 6 points), I just have to get around to typing it. I have never even hear of those new scales. How do they work? That sounds cool. I do have a food scale, but not from WW. I'm always using it to control portions.

[Princess1122]

Well it is another cold day here but that is fine... spring will be coming soon... the groundhog says so

I am really struggling with the scale this week... I need to review and regroup I think... I have really laxed in the cardio exercise area over the last week and have basiclaly just been doing Pilates so I am working on getting back on track in that area.

I have to run but will check back later on.

Susan

[Itryharder]

Hi Turtles,
I'm going to try and respond to all that's going on here. : to us all!
Last night I went to WW's and didn't WI. I knew my weight was still up, can't deal with that, but knew I needed a mtg. My leader understood and I listened and have a good attitude again. My dh is working on watching his weight and has things in the house that eaten in small amts. are healthy for you. However, they are trigger foods for me and I'm having a heck of a time.
Sooooo, I have to grow up and work on this. In any case, I'm back on track.
and hoping for a weight loss next week. Oh, this gets old sometimes. I also think that the real cold of winter triggers craving responses and that's also what I am feeling. On the positive side, I have gotten on the for 4 of the past 5 days. Enuff about me and on to you!

Ariana,
So sorry about your auto. It's a real feeling of violation, but I'm glad you weren't hurt and that your car is fixed. Also glad about so much that you're doing right now. You figured out how to "un-max" at work, are handling the buffet much better, and enjoy the smilies. Weigh to go!

Bandit,
for your weight loss and working on a challenge with your buddies. Having a Wednesday dinner with your friend and figuring out healthy foods to eat is so smart. Ordinarily getting together with a friend could be a reason to eat poorly and that sure doesn't make any sense. Yes, the new WW digital scale calculates points according to weight of the food. A friend of mine thought the scale was off when a pork chop came to 10 points for one chop.
But truthfully, the scale was right. No sense in thinking you're eating a 3point chop when the weight is so far off that it really calculates as 10 points. It's very easy for sizes of food portions to creep up. We all know this. Glad you had a : experience.

Kerri,
You must be so excited about your upcoming vacation and trip. Have fun, keep Ariana's good suggestions in mind, and let us know how it all works out.
:

Chris,
Good luck at your doctor's appt. tomorrow. We're all pulling for you and sending you a Glad you gave a successful shower. Good for you!

Princess,
feel better soon. That must have been horrible having your car trashed. These automobile episodes are too much. I don't like to drive in the snow either. Here in NY we have so much traffic that any little mistake or skid can result in an accident. ugh. I'm sorry that your weight is up, but I find that being sick often does that for me when you think the opposite would happen.
I know you'll get right back on track and do well. Here's a for all the good hard work you've accomplished so far.

Okay, I've gone on a long time. Take care, be well, and keep on keepin' on.
Judy