Joanne,
I like the small goals too. Realisticly. That is close to my goals all ready.

Bobby,
I love my scale, and fitday. I don't know what I would have done the last 3 months without them.
And of course learning from all the ladies here has been the biggest help.

Good Morning Everyone,

I'm off to NYC to the 2nd Ballet - the 3rd one will be while I am in Ogunquit, ME. Another woman bought that ticket from me.

Hopefully, I will walk a lot and eat a little.

Check back tonight.

Lynn

Good morning girls

I realized something this a.m.
I should have started the waitress job at the nursing home earlier!
I am down 3.5 pounds since june 1st.
I know...I am tooting my own wistle.
I had to tell someone!
why not share with the girls.

First, Femme what a cute puppy with a great name!!!! We have a Doberman and he is going on 14 yrs but acts like a puppy some times...seeing yours makes me want a puppy again!

Thanks JayJay for that 10% info....it really makes a lot of sense....I am trying to work on 8 lb. chunks now, my mind can accept that.

Lynn, it has been years since I lost 8 lbs. in a month...it is just a goal. I'd be thrilled with 4 lbs.

Theresa, congrats on reaching your first goal...that is so great, you will make the second one! Your calorie range is very realistic and healthy...I try to stay between 1400 & 1600 and it is good to mix it up from everything I have read.

Paula, I hope your Dad feels better soon. I know from experience how exhausting it is when one of our parents get ill. Keep us updated.

Ella, I was looking at your daily menu on the other board.....you don't eat much and I agree a small treat on occassion will usually keep us from going off the deep end!

Well, I mostly follow the Scardsdale eating plan but have to tweak it because of my kidneys. It is more like the ATkins without so much fat and has lots of veggies and fruit. I try to stay at 1400-1600 cals./day and use Fitday several days a week to see how I'm doing. I do the walking DVD and take Sundays off from exercise. I drink at least 64 oz. of water/day.

Lynn, my kidney Dr. says no restrictions on how much water I drink as long as the body doesn't hold fluid and my cardoligist agrees with her so I guess like anything else the Dr.s all have different opions and every person is different.

I made TWO MILES on my walking DVD yesterday!!!! I was tired afterwards but so proud of myself....patted my own back all day! lol

Phyllis

I hate not not being able to check in more than a couple times a day. I scanned over the posts and it sounds like everyone is doing OK.
I saw the Dr. while I was visiting my dad yesterday. He said my dad has been stable for a couple days now. That would explain why he's been more alert. I asked about them downsizing the trach. He said that would be the surgeon that would order that, but he would put a note on the chart about it. He orders the fluids in the drip to be discontinued. He said they could put the fluids in through the feeding tube. So one thing gone. I tried to have my dad write yesterday and it didn't work out. I've decided to try an alphabet chart instead. I made one today and I'll see if he can spell out things by pointing to the letters. He said he felt a little better yesterday.

Theresa- on the loss! Are you enjoying the nice weather? The weather channel said no rain in site for the next 5 days so that's good.

As for what I'm doing to lose weight. I'm trying to follow the You: on a diet and eating whole foods. I haven't been eating too bad, but the exercise (walking) has been neglected.

I have a dentist appointment to get a crown replaced today. That should be FUN! (not).

I am just catching up on all the Golden Girls Posts. You are all terrific and inspirational "posters". I'm going from memory now so if I forget anything or anyone please excuse me...

Theresa congrats on reaching your first goal. Yes...Setting short term goals is critical and important to overl success. You're right on.

JayJay - the information on the mind set of dieters and most being disappointed with a 38% loss is incredible. I am doing WW and they strive for a 10% loss as a first and acheivable goal. Believe me, if I get close to 10% I will be pleased as punch!

Femme, AWWWW..those photos...how cute. I was just saying to my DH that I figured out what I want to do when I retire. I want to get an English Springer Spaniel puppy...we had 3 of them in succession as I was growing up and they are wonderful dogs. I would like to eventually train him/her to be a therapy dog--you know the ones who visit nursing homes.

Ella, We have watched the Sopranos on DVD and have marathon viewings that way. I enjoy that as you can get totally immersed in the characters..We don't have cable - except the basic channels.

Lynn, I too used to go to Ogunquit (however you spell it) when I was going to summer camp in NH. One of the field trips we took was a day there and it was wonderful. Of course that was ummm....about 40 years ago..yikes!!! Am I that old?

What am I doing to lose wt? Well right now I'm in my second term with WW at work. My daily target is 25 points - which corresponds to about 1300 calories....but then I get an extra 35 points a week to add to that. I usually try and save these for the weekend. So I probably average 1500-1600/day and I try to exercise 5-7 times a week. I walk and do the eliptical, some biking, and upper body stregthening. Oh and my Yoga once a week.

My leg is better...I walked for 45 minutes yestrday and did the eliptical today. Will write more later.

Lyn

Good Morning Everyone,

Hi Ella, you are doing a lot of bike riding and eating a REALLY healthy diet. You wrote, "I don't feel like I'm on a diet..." I think this is the key - if we can just change our way of eating/exercising (instead of "dieting") I think we could maintain a weight loss.

Hi Theresa, you wrote, "I think that if I only ate the amounts you eat, I would always be hungry." The funny part is that since I stopped eating so many carbs, I'm never hungry anymore. I REALLY believe that we lose because we eat fewer calories than we burn - doesn't matter what makes up the calories. However, I also believe that for me, carbs make me hungry. Veggies are OK - it's all the rest that do me in. However, you're losing faster than I am, so they don't seem to be slowing you down!
I have so many new recipes - I will write a few down and PM to you. Can I add an attachment to a PM? I'll try this evening - I'm on my way to scrapping this morning. 3.5 lbs since June 1st - HaPpY dAnCe HaPpY dAnCe HaPpY dAnCe

Hi Joanne, you wrote "anything under 1200 calories starts putting your body into starvation mode" I'll try upping it to an average of 1200 and see if that does anything. The information in the article you read is included in the Rethinking Thin book - you can maintain a loss of around 10-15%. But, my question is - what if you maintain a loss of 10-15% & then, after a while, loose another 10-15%?

Hi Woodlily - OK - let's prove that book wrong - then we can write a book, make millions, and go on Oprah!

Hi Femme - I think that my way of eating boils down to a "SouthBeach" kind of diet without their recipes. Have you eaten his imitation mashed potatoes (made with cauliflower)?

Hi Bobbi, I'm so glad the rummage sale was a success. Good for you!

Several of you wrote about "fitday" - I use DietPower - I'm guessing it's pretty much the same - record your food intake, weight & it gives you charts/graphs/nutritional information?

Hi Phyllis, 2 Miles is GREAT. Do you use Walk Away the Pounds? I need to go back to that DVD.

Hi Paula, when I was doing hospital duty with my dh, I used to wish they had a gym or at least a treadmill for the visitors. It's such a LONG day just sitting in those uncomfortable chairs. My heart is with you.

Hi Lyn, I'm glad to hear that your leg is better. I have done WW many times in my life. It is really a very healthy way to eat.

OK - I'm off to scrapping. Afterwards, my df and I are stopping at a computer store - she needs to buy a new computer. I'll just nose around and see if they have one of those new light-weight laptops.

Hope we all have a Happy and Healthy day,

Lynn

Yep, I fixed it once and it was pretty good. I try to do something new every day...a new recipe. I've used some from the SB book, some from from their cookbook and some I've found online. I print them out and if we really like it, I put it in a recipe binder. I also have adapted my "old" recipes by replacing butter with olive oil etc. I really haven't felt deprived at all. I think those first 2 weeks of "detox" to get rid of the cravings was the key to it. I am such a sugar/bread/pasta/rice/rich sauces addict and I really haven't wanted any of that stuff since the "detox"
I now make my own whole grain bread (with a bread machine and mixes I order) and only have WW pasta and brown rice, but only a couple of times a week instead of one or the other almost daily.

I had tried brown rice years ago and didn't like it because I could never get it to come out right...it was either "crunchy" or "mushy". Being from N.O. where cooking rice is an "art form", it drove me nuts trying to get it to work. My white rice is always absolutely perfect...then I tried Alton Brown's baked brown rice recipe and it comes out perfect every time. I just substituted olive oil for the butter in it.

Hi my dear GOLDEN GIRLS I only have a tiny bit of time. Today is my last day at work and I am not sure if I will have any time tomorrow morning to get online. Tonight I am off to have a pedicure and leg wax -- gotta be all primped for vacation . I will try to pop on later but I have a few huge projects that must be finished before I leave today and I am planning on attending my noonhour bootcamp.

Speaking of bootcamp I went to my evening one on Monday night (stop me if I already told this story LOL). Met a girl there that just started the week before -- turns out her husband gave her a gift certificate for Christmas. Only thing is she didn't ask for it --- quite honestly I wouldn't be happy if someone gave me something like that without my request. She said all her friends got diamonds and gold stuff -- she got Cardio Core -- YIKES!!! She sort of ignored the gift but decided to try and now quite loves it -- the hubby is still not off the hook but she is a bit happier.

My eating this week hasn't been the best -- and next week could be danger danger -- but I am going to take a note book and jot down my food intake -- keep myself accountable.

Lynn -- just one thing about the 10% and this is my take on it. Last year I weighed 267 pounds -- I lost 36 pounds which is in the 10% - 15% range. I have maintained that loss for a year now. I am now going to try to lose another 10% and maintain that loss for a year. I know it sounds like a long long time to take to lose the weight but if it works it will be worth it. After so many years of me losing and then gaining it all within a few months -- this should be much healthier for me. Again this is just my take on it.

So to everyone if I don't see you for a while (not sure about internet access in the hotels and I don't own a laptop) enjoy your next while -- have lots of successes (YAY Theresa) and don't forget me LOL.

Good Morning Girls!
Lynn and I have been thinking up a new plan for July to encourage us to lose weight. July is a hard month for most of us since that's picnic time, potato salad, brats and summer fun with family. Lynn thought it would be fun to challenge the other 50+ group. We are going to propose a challenge for the month of July with them and we are taking a poll to see who would be interested. We will set it up like the "Biggest Losers" , they have a special thread where everyone post their weight weekly. But we'll get into that after the poll to see who would be interested. I'm going to post this same challenge on the other group to see how many people would be interested. Please vote on this.

Bobbi & Lynn, I will vote for the challenge and will join in. We will basically be home for the whole month so that will make it easier for me.

Phyllis

Count me in, Bobbi & Lynn....

Ella

The challenge sounds like fun. I vote yes on doing it.

Bobbi and Lynn,

Count me in too. I'm on vacation (on Cape Cod) the week of the fourth, but I'm still game.

Femme - Thanks for the brown rice cooking tip. Mine always came out too crunchy. I copied it and will give it a try.

Ella, I agree - we seem to be a good group together. I look forward to checking in and miss it whane I don't. News for upstate NY is that it's one of the most gorgeous days of the summer here today....about 75 and sunny - why am I shut inside at work??!!

Jay Jay - Have a great vacation - I forget where you said you're going, but take a few photos for us.

Back to work...

Lyn