just an aside - i sure do wish i had the gosh darn motivation to WORK OUT! helppp haha. i know none of you can really help i just need to not be lazy but i feel like my weight loss is really struggling (or not happening haha) cause i can't unlazy myself and get a work out in as much as i want to (or more than once a week.... UGH haha)

just a vent.

Suite - I agree completely with Faerie. It's human nature to make mistakes - we're not perfect all the time, and if we were, well, that would hardly make life interesting. But you've recognized that this isn't what you want, and that eating more candy will make you feel even worse after a long day at work (which sounds incredibly stressful, btw, and your boss sounds like he was just taking out his own stress on you, which is completely unfair!). You have come so far already, and been so dedicated, that you deserve to succeed and reach your goals. No habit can be broken overnight - I have a problem with emotional eating as well and it's such a struggle sometimes not to fall back into old routines. But you're doing so well working towards conquering the things that the old you would do in favour of new habits, and a new lifestyle, for the new you. We are all so proud of you for dusting yourself off and getting right back on the horse! I hope that work gets better for you, but know that you always have us here to talk to and rant to, because we'll help you through it and to step away from the chocolate! Keep your chin up Jaime! You've already made a great big step towards your goals, and the fact that you're going to get back on track as soon as you can even after a little slip up is fantastic!

Ifindhope - Were I there, I'd give you motivation alright! For me, in order to make it the routine that it is now I had to force myself to schedule it in. Since I was already so close, I'd drag myself to the gym in the same building as my job. I'd bring my gym clothes, and when I got to work I'd say to myself "Okay... now remember, you have plans to work out today, and you don't skip out on plans." It took many weeks of doing this (and I wasn't continually successful) before it started clicking and I'd automatically turn to go into the gym. Ta da! Routine.

Well had my weekly weigh in, down, another 1.4lbs. It's very slow, but it is going in the right direction. Does anyone have this problem, too many points to get rid of each day? Sounds funny I know, or maybe not, but I've found that I do enjoy this one tape I have, turbo jam, but it earns me back 11 exercise points, then I have those flex points and my daily. I did try, not eat my flex points but my weight loss stopped, and I started to gain, that's when my leader told me, I might not be getting enough and my body thinks I'm trying to starve it. My problem is this, I work 3rd shift and the normal eating pattern is thrown out the window Sunday-Thursday, since my breakfast lunch and dinner times are so upside down. I do try to eat something healthy for each meal, getting in all my necessary fruits,veggies,milk and healthy oils. I tend to have a ton of points left over, how do I eat them without just filling up on the goodies {all within my points allowances, but even those, can't be helping me to shed these pounds} Any help or guidance, or, if something has worked for you, to help push me off this plateau, that would be great-thanks Sue

Institches - Congrats on your loss I just wanted to clarify that you're not on a plateau at all. You've lost 1.4 this week, and that's a good average amount.

Doing one tape earns you 11 points? Woah! That's a ton of working out

Do you find that you have to eat those points back? I ask because I don't eat my exercise points ever.

Either way, I found a good way to use more of my points was to use the fuller fat versions of dairy products. That and a little bit more oil during the day. That usually gets rid of those pesky extra points right quick!

HAAAAAAPPPY FRIDAY, Flexers

We've worked our butts off all week long, and we're rewarded with a weekend!

Tomorrow is dress shopping. I'll be sure to let you all know (briefly! ) how that goes.

On the weight loss/fitness front. I mentioned before being interested in trying the Wendie Plan. So, I've decided to officially give the Wendie Plan a go for two solid weeks. (For anyone unfamiliar there's a Sticky in the main WW area about it.) Here's my Point Cycling schedule:

Note: I regularly get 32 daily points. Thursday is my weigh-in day so I begin my Points weeks with Friday.

Friday: 36
Saturday: 47
Sunday: 32
Monday: 36
Tuesday: 34
Wednesday: 32
Thursday: 37

This schedule leaves me with 5 leftover Flex Points, which I will use if I need them. I've put the Super High Day (+15 Yikes!) on Saturday, which gives me the opportunity to still enjoy my weekend, while being quite far away from my weigh-in day so that the brief gain I might show from the amount of food I eat should not affect the scale on Thursdays. I'll be adding some servings of healthy oils & fats on the days I need to fill in extra points. (Avocados & Nuts anyone? ) (Or if any of you have healthy, but higher in cal. food suggestions, I'll definitely take them!)

I'd like to be able to keep you all updated with how this works for me, because I'm honestly nervous/scared of eating so much food. My brain is telling me "Hey Faerie, you've read all over these boards the tales of people who lose more when they eat more and calorie cycle. You'll be eating healthier foods, too. Not like loading up on an entire lasagna each night." My body is saying back "But Brain... more food means more fat ;_;" Even though we all know that's not really true, but it's sort of what we've been taught our whole lives. I'm sure you all go through similar problems when learning about actual nutrition and eating healthier. Calories matter... but frequently it's what those calories are from that impacts us. That "food = fat" mindset is the biggest thing holding me back right now. I need to force myself to get over that, and using my FP like this is the best way to get over that stupid fear & go on to being healthier.

I think trying this Points schedule for two weeks will allow me to explore what my body needs. Even if it doesn't end how I want it to. I know I can lean on all of you for the support I'm going to need for these two weeks. (New things can be nerve-wracking!)


I hope you all have fabulous Fridays & are looking forward to your weekends ^^

Well, I didn't make it back here yesterday like I promised. I came back a little after my last post and saw your responses to me and I pretty much just started crying at my desk. Luckily I guess I cry quietly and no one noticed... I got up and retreated to the bathroom and didn't come back to 3FC after that (too many potential problems with being seen crying at your desk, I guess!). I had a really tough emotional day yesterday overall... There are just a lot of things weighing on me at the moment, most of them not related to WW or weight loss or anything. I'm one of those people who will just keep stuff inside for so long that at some point it all just has to come barreling out, and I guess that's what happened yesterday. I felt kinda bad cos I kinda broke down when I got home and scared DH half to death -- he thought I had been fired, or something terrible had happened, but it was just the frustration/anxiety of many weeks being let go of. I'm not 100% yet, but I'm hoping that yesterday was the worst of it and I'll start being able to "see the forest" as it were, despite all the damn trees.

Good thing I gave away the chocolate yesterday, or it would all be inside me right now. I still found plenty of stuff to overdo it with last night, but thankfully that didn't include 8 kit-kat bars and a bag of Reese's miniatures. I also had about an hour where I was close to jumping in the car and hitting a drive-through... I was talking to DH about it and told him that that's the only real way I know of to deal with feeling depressed/anxious/whatever. I just eat myself into a hole and let my body shut down from fighting all the junk. Then I go to sleep. But since I wasn't letting myself go that far I couldn't figure out how to deal. So I played Nintendo for a while til Wario's worries replaced my own I was thinking about it and I may have actually stayed pretty close to my points range anyway because I ate so little real food yesterday. Obviously I haven't been tracking. I'll have to get back on that wagon eventually.

I'll be interested to see what the WI tomorrow brings. It's weird -- I spent the weekend in DC eating out (and not eating very well), and the past three days eating far too much sugar/chocolate/junk/comfort food, yet I wake up this morning and look in the mirror and think, huh, I look kinda skinnier. Walk into the bathroom and DH goes, huh, you look kinda skinnier. I put on my pants, they feel looser. I put on my belt, it slips effortlessly into a smaller notch (the last one on this belt, too!). What the...? So I'm all confused and have no idea what to expect. I guess I'll just have to wait and find out!


free - Almond milk doesn't taste like dairy, since it's not. It's kind of the same consistency as skim milk, or maybe 1%. If you get the unsweetened kind you'll definitely start to notice how naturally sweet dairy is in comparison. It's definitely nutty, though it doesn't taste like a mouthful of almonds. I just finished my first carton of it last night and am itching to get more -- I'm definitely on the almond milk bandwagon! I find if I want a beverage that tastes more like milk I just add 1/2 packet of Splenda to it and it gets the same sweetness as dairy milk does. Anyway, let us know if you try it, I'm always curious about others' opinions! Thank you also for your words of support, it meant a lot to me to have your response. Emotional eating is probably the single biggest roadblock to my success and boy, is it a big one. But you're right, it can't be undone overnight, and little by little we're just gonna have to find other, healthier ways of dealing with emotions. Oh, and I hope you enjoy your trip!!

texastar - WTG on not eating sweets! I wish I had your willpower

Rosegarden - You're right about everything... food isn't the answer. Boy is this a hard habit to kick or what? I just don't know what else to do with my stress and anxiety aside from eat it away. It's a process, though, learning what works. I feel I was successful to some degree last night and the night before in that I didn't resort fully to my old ways, but had some kind of compromise in which I still overate but also went for a walk and then played a video game to distract myself. Eventually food is gonna be entirely out of the equation, but it's a tough journey....

Faerie - okay woman, enough with all this unconditional support stuff. You're very sweet. Thank you for telling me all that, it's definitely not how I felt at the time but I guess you're right. I'm trying to see the small victories in what is otherwise a big failure. Well, nothing to do but move on, huh?

Good luck on the Wendie Plan. I tried it for a bit but found it so counter-intuitive it was difficult to adjust to! Especially getting in those points on the SHD. I ended up adopting the concept without the strict points schedule - so I do points cycling but on a smaller scale and with more flexibility. But anyway, good luck with it, it might be just what you need to break back through to seeing good weight loss! As for high-point healthy foods, I'd do a big ol' mexican thing with guac/avocado, ground turkey, sour cream, black beans, rice... I also find lentils are relatively high point and healthy. I made this moroccan chicken lentil stew thing last night that was fantastic and 6 pts/serving (a little high but it's because those lentils are small and dense). You can also easily up your points by using salad dressing with oil instead of ff, and eating regular dairy instead of ff... Just ideas.

ifindhope - Put on some really, really upbeat music and see if it doesn't make you want to move! That's what I do -- if I put on a workout song it makes me want to workout!

institches - TurboJam gives you 11 pts?? Which one are you doing? Or are you doing, like, all three workouts that are on one tape? That just seems a little high for a workout, you know? For me the TurboSculpt gives me 4 points, and the learn and burn gives me 2, and the 20 minute cardio gives me 3. How are you calculating your APs earned? Are you being honest with yourself about how hard you're working for how long? It's easy to say 'boy that was tough' and assume you were at high-intensity for 40 minutes, but if you think about it, at least 10 if not 15 is low-med with the warm-up and cool-down. Maybe thinking about the segments in your workout will help you recalc your APs? Anyway, even if you do get 11 APs (which isn't impossible, of course!), like Faerie said, do you need them all? If you don't feel you need the extra energy/food, you could just eat part of them or something. But definitely eat those FPs as best as you can, your leader was right in pointing out the correlation between stalled weight loss and too few points. My final thing -- 1.4 pounds in a week? That's AWESOME progress, that's not slow at all!!! You should be very, very proud of that kind of weight loss. It's healthy and more likely to be maintained than seeing 5lbs/week every week. You should give yourself a big pat on the back for that!!

Jaimie - sounds like you are on a better path. A big part of the journey is acknowledging what happened and why and to find other outlets. I'm still struggling with it too so know that you're not alone

Freedom - enjoy your trip - I forgot to say that you had a stressful day a few days ago too and it sounds like you are handling it well.

Faerie - let us know about the Wendy plan. It works well from some and not so for others

Waving at everyone else. I'm going to try core for a week but I'll be checking out this thread frequently because of all the positives you guys have, if you don't mind.

Suite - Oh I hope it was one of those better cathartic cries I'm glad you're feeling better today. Also, you played a game to unwind instead of doing what you might have done normally. I know that's tough. The problem with trying to rid ourselves of that emotional eating is that we can't eat when we get emotional You made it around that yesterday by choosing something different. (And planning by giving away that chocolate.) It's so much easier to say "Oh I won't eat when I get lonely later." It's quite another to be lonely with nothing to do and nothing planned and then trying to avoid food to fill the void at the same time. (Just using "lonely" as an example.) You will see that beautiful forest soon enough! (Bob Ross painted with happy little trees & all!) And don't you even try to make me stop with all my support nonsense, because idunwanna stop!

And thank you for those ideas! Especially the mexican, I haven't had good Mexican cuisine in awhile (probably due to points) and I miss it. I think I might be able to work a good filling Mexican meal for my super high day! Thanks

Rose - Best of luck with Core! Please let us know how it goes for you

Started on flex 6 weeks ago...down 13 pounds...loving it...lost 3 pounds at today's weigh in. Hope to join you guys in your post...thanks.Bethz

I tried eating before I went to the supper and it worked pretty good. I took a few little tablespoons, skipped the bread and was in the process of patting myself on the back when she put this wonderful piece of cake in front of me. I have to admit that I ate every little bite of it. If I'd had to go get it myself I would have been fine but darn it! there it was. Then the guilt started setting in. Good grief!

Ifindhope--I agree with you about being motivated to exercise. I know I should and I also know I lose weight better but....

Faerie--I think you are right--its all in a routine. Now to kick my butt into a routine I can live with. I think I'll check out the Wendie plan. I've never heard of it before.

Bethz - That's awesome. Keep it up!!!

Texastar - One piece of cake does not a failure make! You did fabulous. Don't let a tiny thing like a piece of cake ruin your feeling of success. That's what the extra 35 are for. Try to make your best guess as to what the cake's value was. Write it down. Move on

---

Just a note that my first day has been pretty good with the Wendie Plan. I scheduled out my meals, and am just now snacking on a few frozen grapes to "rid myself" of the final days points. 36 points. All gone. It was a little tough to eat that much, but I'm not feeling guilty or bad. I'm actually feeling accomplished.

Everyone have a good night! ^^

Just have a few minutes, so not much time to post. I will let you know which tapes I do in Turbo Jam, yes I did try not to eat my exercise points, but my loss stalled, and then I started to climb back up. This past loss was after a month of down a few ounces, up 1 or 2lbs, back down a few oz. When I did try to eat all my daily, flex and exercise, {which by the way goes againist all I've been told eat less and move more} after about 2wks of this, I started to lose again. I really love this message board. Have a Great Day

As luck would have it, I do have time Seems I can't do any exercising today, I had minor surgery yesterday, any activty that raises your blood pressure is off limits for a few days. I thought maybe I could just do my yoga tape, which isn't for many points, but I do enjoy it!! My DH pointed that fact out to me, who by the way has not exercised a second since we started in May'07 and has lost 40lbs!! So unlike the old me, I would never look forward to exercising, the trying to improve me, does like how I feel after, not so much the during. Plus Saturdays, is our date night, so I like to get in some extra points so I can eat what I want and not worry. Luckily I still have my 35 to dip into.

Well the Turbo Jam tape I mentioned before is Total Body Blast, which uses the turbo ball, the on screen segment timer says 61:34, but I don't count 6 of those minutes, warm up/stretch, so my slider tells me 55mins on high, {which it is} is 11pts. Then some days I do 2 DVD's to get in my cardio/weight training. Which earn me back between 8-10pts. My husband thinks that might be one of my problems, that I tend to earn back too many points!

Well need to get my day started-Hope everyone has a great one!