Hi everyone!

Lynnie - Aww Poor plant. I'm sure it was lovely in bloom.

Silentarctic - Hope you're able to get up earlier and stay on track with a busy night ahead of you!

MrsTee - Be prepared for a long response filled with "howevers" "ifs" and "then agains".

The plan works if the plan is followed. If someone starts WW, tracks their food, does their exercise, gets in their healthy eating guidelines...they will see results. Just like with any other program.

What it comes down to is if it a liveable plan for you. It is for me, but I'll explain why. I joined several years ago and lost 108 pounds following the plan. I was originally interested in it, because it offered something so many other diets did not. There are no off-limit foods. You can make anything part of the plan if you plan ahead properly.

Now, the breakdown of the online version itself works very similarly to most Calorie Counting programs. It has many articles and tools at your disposal to see how many Points foods are, healthy recipes, message boards, etc. I like the program, I like the application I have on my phone that I can use to track my foods. I like knowing that the Points take everything into consideration: Fat, Carbs, Fiber & Protein. It's not just a number based on calories anymore. But, I'm also familiar with the program and already know it works for me.

I should also note that when I did lose those 108 pounds I was an AVID meetings-going member. (And I should return.) More than the Points and the system, I loooooooved the meetings. I loved them, because even on those low days I was accountable to go weigh in and just listen. Listen to others who were struggling. Listen to those who made a change and have it work for them. I was joyful when people lost weight, and understanding when they gained. I am alllll over the support system. I -need- it to lose weight and maintain.

If you are ONLY looking for the WW ONLINE program, I might actually suggest saving money and trying calorie counting to start. There are free programs you can quickly use... heck even a pencil and paper... to get started. Even with their extensive online site, frankly the community is lackluster at best and clique-ish at worst. (I use WW as my plan, but 3FC is my online community heart.)

WW can in fact be expensive for a lot of people and I realize this. For me, it was (and always will) be worth the cost for my health. I decided that a long time ago. It's not that case for everyone, but for me it is.

If you're looking for the whole WW program including meetings, I couldn't recommend it more. Go to a few different meetings, find a leader you like, get the pamphlets and try it out.

If you're looking for a way to keep track of your food intake, WW may be the right program for you. Different people like to keep track different ways. But, if you're worried about the cost. Try Calorie Counting first.

Whew. I hope that helped some!

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I had a very busy day, and was pooped when I got home, but still got in my short walk. And I'm quite proud of myself for it. Food was also pretty good today. I still made out well even though I had to rush from the house. I stopped in at Dunkin' Donuts and went for the (every so slightly) healthier choices. No big bagels or donuts or heavy creamed drinks. Just a skim milk coolatta and a veggie eggwhite flatbread. Certainly not the greatest thing in the world, but I weighed it against 'nothing to eat' and figured something was better than nothing.

Tomorrow's Friday! =)

Lovely:

Yes it was very beautiful when it bloomed and very fragrant!!! Thanks for being compassionate!!! The husband is going to buy me a new baby lavendar plant when we get the money.

Lynn

Lovely sounds like you are doing lovely Making Health(ier) choices is the first step. I definitely consider that a WIN :-D

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to pop in and wish you all a great weekend!

hey everyone!!! Well I lost another 4lbs but that just puts me back to being closer to 50 lbs loss goal again. After that I am going for another 25 to reach my 75 lbs loss goal. I feel awfully tired I don't know if its because I have been running steady with energy for the past couple of days and I am finally pooping out or if its the weather thats got me tired. I would give anything for a really nice day with no humidity and cool breeze with temps about 75.

Lynn

I lost one pound, so only one more to be 'legal'. I think the depression/moodiness was my body adjusting to the new HRT coz since about Thursday/Friday I'm still tired but not 'down'. I've exercised and changed my routine to a Salsa-based exercise dvd with strength training with a resistance band which is SO much fun. I treated myself to a new microwave oven, the old one was shooting sparks out! I LOVE my new one, it weighs & automatically defrosts/cooks stuff, my old one was a basic one bought after the previous one 'died', so it is SUPER exciting trying this one out! I also treated us to a new swingball game set and a salsacise exercise 2 dvd boxed set for me & 2 special exercise bras as I need 'more support' lol.
Lynnie 75? Here it is relatively COLD to that, 17 degrees C. Hope you have good air con! Exercising always makes me SO hot! xxx
Nancy how are your food choices going? If you forgot I can post the recipe for the veg quiche cups to go (South Beach breakfast/lunch recipe)xxx
Lovely, did you have a good week-end? xxxx
Ratkitty how are you doing? Hope you are well.xxxxx
xxxx sharon

Lovely – That was a great write up on WW. It seem like a good plan.

Lynnie – Grats on the 4 pounds!

Sharon – I went with protein shakes for breakfast for now. I am hoping after awhile I can build up a morning hunger response. Although who knows, it may never happen. Yay for a pound down and new microwaves!

I was pretty lazy yesterday. I didn’t exercise, or go shopping. At least I got all my laundry done, which was significant. I had been planning on going on another long walk, but it rained yesterday. I could have done a video or some Wii dancing, but oh well. I will try and make it up this week.

Hello all!

Updated TOM news, the biopsy was negative for everything. My grape-sized fibroid is causing lots of problems. I am doing the "wait-n-see" until I can get my vitamin K up to where it's supposed to be. After that, the doc has suggested a hysteroscopy (DnC and scraping of said fibroid). I don't want to do hormones at all.

I worked my butt off all weekend on the yard and the house. Ever work and work and still not look like anything got done? Seems to be the story of my life LOL. At least the yards got mowed before the rain started up again. It seemed like everything I tried to do, I'd have to do 3x. I'd leave something in the basement and have to make another trip (imagine 2 big golden retrievers and a cat that thinks he's a dog following me around each time). On the way I'd pick up something else and forget what I was going downstairs for.. you know the drill. Frustrating! I did that all weekend.

My little picket fence needs some TLC and I never got around to that. The crazy fence vines need killing and the rain probably diluted the weed killer.

Sometime this week, I'd like to wash the stinky dogs!! It's supposed to rain all week, so I'm not sure when I can do this. Washing big dogs with long hair involves lots of old towels and sheets for the floor and then lots of washing of bedding and said towels and sheets.

Meanwhile, my food choices haven't been all that good. I paid for it with an upset stomach last night. This morning I felt like death-warmed-over, so I went into work late and took my time getting my act together.

Wednesday I get to go to jury duty, oiy. I never get picked in the end - lawyers don't like scientists. Still, I have to be there at 7:30am.. ugh!! In the middle of this, TOM is supposed to show up.

Animals are fine, family is still chaotic. Nothing else new.

Hugs to all my peeps here!
Ratkity

Hello Kitty,
I hope you are taking sometime to just relax!! You sound so busy. Make sure you come visit alittle more often I always enjoy hearing from you.

Lynn

Its not 75 here yet but I can't wait for this weather to be that. We have AC and believe me when I need I make sure to use it.

Lynn

Day two of feeling pretty ugh. I am really starting to wonder if I have a wheat or gluten intolerance because I at crab cakes for dinner the last two nights and they had a small amount of wheat in them. On Monday working out with my trainer, my knees hurt so badly that I had to cut out all the lower body stuff. I also feel lethargic, bloated and headachy. Something is going on. Now I will have to do some testing with that! I have still been working on the fruit and other carb testing. Asian pears - not so great. I have some kiwis to try, but haven't eaten them yet. I had a sweet potato Saturday night, which didn't seem to make me hungry, but I didn't feel very good the next day. Sigh. This all feels so complicated this time around. However, if I can figure this stuff out and keep myself feeling good, then that is a very good thing in the long run.

Nancy,
I am sorry you are not feeling up to par. When its raining out my knees give me trouble. Hope you get to feeling better.

Lynn

Hey lovelies. I feel like I should pop in and give a bit of an update... I am doing well, spending the month with my girlfriend in Thunder Bay before we move into our new apartment next month. After the insanity of my student teaching practicum and my best friends' wedding I must say my lifestyle was suffering a little... not by a lot, but a bit. I was up a few pounds but nothing discouraging. Part of the visit with the girlfriend this month is for the two of us to work out some of the kinks of living together before we move in... so that includes getting back into eating on plan. I didn't bring my scale because that's not the point. So we're finding our groove, I'm finally at a point where I feel like my eating is right on plan, and we'll see when I get home how that's reflected on the scale. I'll admit that it's nice taking a break from the numbers for a while... but not forever! Once we're back I'll let you know how things are coming, and then hopefully I'll be able to be around more often! Miss you folks!

Hi everyone!

Lynn - Grats on that weight loss! Weather gotten any better for you? It's been raining, raining and oh, hey raining some more up here in the Northeast.

Sharon - I had a good weekend. How's your new microwave treating you? Fancy? I love getting new exercise-y things to play with so I hope you're having fun with the new equipment and DVDs.

Nancy - Keep at it. You're doing healthy things. I'm sorry that it's feeling "blah" right now.

Neonwildflower - Hi there I have a friend in the Thunder Bay area. It's good to hear how you're back on plan and focusing on that rather than just the scale ^^

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Been having a pretty good week myself. A little strange, still. I can't shake the feeling like the days are long, and things aren't moving fast enough. It's like my brain is six months ahead of my body.

It's my fifth week of being OP, and I added a few more minutes to my exercise routine. I'm getting the urge to return to my yoga dvd before going to bed. It can be intense holding some of the positions, but the very end of it is so... relaxing.

It's extremely odd for me to be thinking about doing any kind of physical activity for fun... *shakes head*

Ah well. Hope everyone is having a great OP week

Hello my darlings....

I can not continue to lurker any longer (several weeks) Before that I have not logged in since Sept. I was struggling with getting caught up in some of the soap operas on other areas of this sight...Lost focus...But going to try to keep focused.

Restarted my plan @ Christmas wi was over 335 since the home scale did not register. The gym scale said 338....now I am back down to 305. Keeping a log of my food. Goal for calorie intake of 1800 on inactive days and 2000 on busy or workout days.

I have missed you all...