Good Morning!! Hope everyone had an awesome weekend! Let's plan on making this week a good POP one!

And to those working towards the Valentines goal, this is the home stretch!

Here's some motivation!

Motivation Tips for Weight Loss

Read something inspiring!
It could be a biography, quote, poem, or song. Use other peoples experiences to give you that lift.
Start a walking group!
It's more social and you all get to feed off the motivation of each other.
Think of exercise as a menu rather than a diet!
Make a list of activities and choose 1 each day.
Use a training journal!
By keeping track of your activities you can see the improvements in your fitness week to week.
Start an interest or hobby that requires physical fitness!
It could be bushwalking, rock-climbing, tennis, golf, or scuba-diving. If you require physical fitness to enjoy the activity you will be more inclined to train for it.
Increase your incidental activity!
This is the amount of activity you do in your normal course of your day, the activity not generally classed as exercise. You could: walk to work, take the stairs instead of the elevator, never use the remote to the TV, or play with the kids for 15 minutes per day.
Try cross-training!
If your exercise program is always the same then break it up with one session per week of swimming, bike riding, jogging, sprints, or circuits. You could even play a different sport and use it as a training session.
Use a Personal Trainer!
Personal trainers can provide motivation as well as training variety.
(free-online-health.com/weight-loss-motivation.htm)

Morning Everyone!! Yet another Monday to start the week off fresh and POP! Today is DH birthday and he wants to celebrate at Olive Garden. Any advice on what the good ol Italians can serve me for dinner. I am on the gold plan with lites.

Great tips to start the week!!

Hey gang.. I'm back and glad to be home.. It was a long trip last week and I'm still not completely rested up, but I'm ready to hit the ground running.. Diet-wise, I did pretty well, sticking to salads and fruits to get through the days...

Hope you're all doing well!

momofthree - I was recently faced with the evilness of olive garden and lived through it this way - they do have a grilled chicken entree that is served with veggies and potatoes - I just asked instead for them to substitute the potatoes with asparagus. My splurges were the salad and a few bites of the appetizers that were going around.

Good Morning everyone,

I hope that everyone had a great weekend. I spent the weekend pretty much doing nothing except playing with the kiddo's. I got on the scale this morning and have gained weight. I have been doing Atkins and it just isn't working for me. I lost weight the first week and have gained that back. I think I am going to switch back to LA. The only reservation I have is my DH is doing Atkins and I really don't want to cook so many different ways. So, maybe I will just give Atkins a little longer. I hope that everyone has a great day.

jewljz-Thanks for the advice. Eating out is such a temptation and when it's Bday time you feel entitled to cheat! I'll keep your suggestion in mind when picking tonight.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Yesterday I walked uphill on my treadmill for 45 minutes. I felt awesome when I was done. Its hard to work out but very rewarding when you do!

Dionne- I have tried Atkins, Jenny Craig and LAWL and the one that teaches you the best way to eat is LAWL. I really find it to be close to the Canada Food guide which is showing you the right foods to eat and portion control.
I have lost weight with Atkins but I found it hard to do long term.
I guess only you will know which one works for you.
I have a friend coming to Calgary that I havent see for 4 years so I am hoping to lose a couple more pounds this week so that we can go splurge and have a nice dinner and maybe a little wine!
Have an awesome week everyone!

Joan

hello everyone. just popping in to say hi.

Dionne - what kinds of things are you cooking for DH? Salad and chicken or beef are friendly on both plans. Also, when I am cooking dinner I will usually eat the meat portion of whatever dinner I made and just steam some frozen veggies for myself to have as side dishes... You may want to try that.

Hi all - lurking but not posting. I thought I would share a site that has menus - you have to pay, but I think the cost is minimal, when all the planning is taken out of the equation. The site is savingdinner.com. I paid $9.95 for 3 months to see if I liked it again, and what you get is three different types of menus with six dinner menus. There is low carb (not as low carb as Atkins) with breakfast and lunch ideas, Heart Healthy and just regular Menu Mailer. They have WW points for all meals. They also have side dish suggestions (usually along with Vegetarian, Kosher or Gluten Free alternatives).

Diet wise, not doing so well. I just can't get my mind around it for some reason. I've gained back 30 pounds. I decided to try WW as several people on here have said they are doing well on it. I signed up for the 7 day trial, just to see if I like it and if I can get motivated again!

Hi Stephanie Long time no see.

Well, I made my weekend goal........so I am pretty happy. Today, my goal, again, is to get more water in. I have a bad addicton to Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi......and it is sooo hard to get my water in when I am constantly drinking DP.

You should jsut see my puppy right now. She is 3. 6 lbs now, and she still thinks she can curl up under my chin while I am online.......she keeps trying to get comfy, and it is hilarious.

I so have to get myself to work here......my girlfriend stopped in this a.m., and she just left, and after sitting around, I jsut have zero motivation.

My DD and grandbaby have been at my mom's for a week........and it is very odd to have them gone. It is nice in some ways, but really lonesome. That was her (DD) in the video with the baby...not me. Theya re coming home this weekend, I believe. We are all going to WI (Wisconsin, not weigh in....) this weekend, and DD will be coming home with us. She really wants to move there and stay wtih my mom, but I don't hink it is a good idea. My parents really do not need to deal with a teenager, you know.

Ok, time to get something done here. I will stop back later
XOXO

Hey guys!

Am not feeling so great today, I stayed home from classes. It all started this past Thursday. I thought I got food poisoning at school, but now I am thinking its stomach virus or something. I have had severe stomach cramps and then I threw up twice this morning. UGH! I am actually going to get a pregnancy test at CVS in a bit too to calm my nerves. I never get sick, let alone like this!!

Kimberly- great words of motivation to start us off this week!!

Momofthree- The suggestion of the chicken from Julie sounds good. Enjoy yourself! Life is about moments like these, so don’t stress too much.

I get the hungry girl emails everyday, and this was in the Chain Restaurant Shocker email regarding Olive Garden:
Olive Garden, Spaghetti & Meatballs

PER SERVING (dinner portion): 1,110 calories, 50g fat, 2,180mg sodium, 103g carbs -- POINTS® value 26*

For anyone who missed the big news, Olive Garden now posts its nutritional info online. We flipped when we heard and were brave enough to scour the site in search of shocking new info. Some of the meals are what we like to call "DUH!" items (a dinner portion of Chicken Alfredo over fettuccine has 1,430 calories and 82g fat... DUH!), but others surprised and horrified us. Specifically, the most basic of all Italian food -- Spaghetti & Meatballs. Over 1,000 calories for spaghetti in a tomato-based sauce and a few balls of meat? COME ON!

Better Choice: If you want that classic tomato goodness, o pt for the Linguini alla Marinara, with 430 calories and 6g fat for a dinner portion (POINTS® value 8 - 9*). And if you really need a ground beef fix, start with a serving of Pasta e Fagioli for just 130 calories, 2.5g fat, and a POINTS® value of 2 - 3*. (With two types of fiber-rich beans, it's most likely a POINTS® value of 2*.) Those meatballs are SO not worth it.

Jillian- Hey!! How are things going with the kiddos??

Dionne- good luck with your decision. Atkins is a tough way to go in my opinion, so the best of luck to you!!

Joan, Julie, Nicole- hey!

Steph- I am on WW and I really like it. It’s all about moderation and control. I am looking into that website now!!

Amy, I hope you feel better soon.

Momof3, It helps me to go online and look at the nutritional info and make a choice before I even to go the restaurant. The salt is bad in most of their food, so be sure to drink a lot of water.

Stephanie, Hi! Nice to see you posting again. Let us know how you like WW. I do think trying something new is a good thing. I've done that more than once or twice and tend to return to LAWL after a time, since I find I can stick to it for a long time. I think that is the key, since as you know, you don't have to just lose the weight, there is that rest of your life for keeping it off, and with holidays and vacations and stress and relatives who cook for you to show their love, it is not an easy thing to do.

Nicole, Your DD will probably act differently with your mom than she would with you, so it might be a good choice for her. I imagine your mom has a very good idea what raising teenagers is like. I can't imagine going through the experience and not remembering. I expect that your oldest DD will start slowly morphing into more adult like thinking over the next few years. I know mine has.

I was not POP this weekend. I went to a funeral for my great uncle on Saturday, and he was the one who was well known for his knack with chocolates and nuts, so of course all his close family who he passed these wonderful recipes down to brought chocolates to celebrate his life. He was in his 90's so it was not a sad occasion really, and I just can't say no when my favorite aunt says you have to try some of your great uncle's favorites... So anyway not POP, but it was kind of special.

Barbara.......there are times when one must eat chocolate....and I'd say this was one of those times

About DD......I made an appt for her next week to get a professional screening for Adult ADD. I just can't help but think there is more to her struggles than simple teenagerhood. My 13 yo is more in tune with real life than she is....and I just feel like I need to reach out to her in a new way. I am not a fan of labels like ADD, nor am I a fan of meds.......but this girl desperately needs something to help her focus. Now that I am spending full days with her, it makes me wonder how one can live with that kind of frustration. I hope I am wrong.....I hope she is not diagnosed with anything..... but if she does have something, I will hope for ADD. The psychiatrist I talked to said it is one of the easier things to treat, and if she does indeed have it, treatment plans have very positive outcomes. We'll see. I feel like I just need to double check before I send her out into this great big scary world As far as her staying with my parents.......it is hard to say. We lived with them for a while after my divorce....and my mom is even more of a caretaker than I am......so we'll see. We haven't completely ruled it out.......at least they would be safe....but I just don't know.

Ok, have to go run some errands now
XOXO

Nicole, my BF has adult ADD and it certainly has it's frustrating moments but can also be managed. I think the biggest thing is being aware of it. He tried meds but they made him hyper so he just found his own methods to cope. I think almost every case of ADD is different too and shows itself in different ways. I know for him it was kind of a relief when he found out that ADD was the reason he was the way he was....it was like the answer to all the things he could never explain. And as they say...knowledge is power