Good Saturday morning, All! Went to my meeting @ 7:30, and as always, it was packed!! Our Leader is awesome!! Great topic....Urges and Cravings, and as always I took notes. I like to read about it during the week, as a reminder.
It was very interesting, I never knew the difference between the two.
Erica...good luck today!! Go get 'em Cheers from my NY roots!!!
Laura I found I like th Fiber One bars...2 or 3 pts, depending on which one, but they're good, even having some water as the drink of choice. I am not a big cereal or oatmeal person. If you haven't tried them of yet, give it a whirl.Oh and yes I love Ace of Cakes, but did not see it that night. I usually catch up with it on the weekend. They really are talented! I espcially LOVE the challenges they have on the Food Channel on the weekends. I am in awe of these people.
Linda I did check the complete food companion out for Chillis' and found most were very high in pts too. The grilled chicken items didn't seem bad though.
It I am sure the ambience is great!
One of the things members call about is finding out how many pts something or other is that they just had before calling....but then we find out they ATE it already,and are just curious I love the much much older people, like in their 80's, concerned if they ate too much or too many pts. So many times we want to say AND OF COURSE WE CAN'T AND DON'T , is God Bless you, at this age eat what you want. I had someone call in my office the other day, she was 87 years old. God love her, and she was very concerned about her pts. But she told me she worked it off by going square dancing with her boyfriend.
I don't get many member calls any more, I am no longer in member care, and most of those calls are from members who attend the Traditional meeting places, but I do get calls from At work members though, and I love that part of it. I love helping them with their struggle, because we all have them.
I work in the At Work Division, I staff the meetings with Leaders.
I hear some great heartwarming stories though, even from the Leaders...and they LOVE what they do. It's all about their members.
Linda,I want to ask you when you have 2 of the same item at the same time are you doubling everything for the correct pt count? Like the biscuits you mentioned. As for soup, I could eat it year round too
In most cases those 1 or 2 pts then becomes 3 or 4 at one sitting.
Paige how are things going? Are you doing well with Core this week?
Maybe you can put one of your cakes here so we can see. I love watching that on Food Network...everyone is SO talented. You are all amazing. As for me, I have no patciences for that...I say God Bless that you are so talented.
Pixie hope you are feeling better after the dental surgery. Nothing like tooth maintainence!! It's a necessary evil
You are such a good motivator when it comes to the program...I love reading what you post. I loved what you wrote about 'self-sabotage'
Haylo good going on the walking...it's so hot here, I hate the thought of being out there in the heat...Hope all is going well with you!!
Ann how are things with and for you this week?
Hoping to hear from you.
Well, I guess that's about it for now...have some house chores to do...it's so hot out already..ughhhhh
Breakfast was good...had WW waffles, first time in a LONG time, I'm kind of getting back to program basics...program 101. Sometimes, you need to feel like you're on the honeymoon again, instead of feeling...gosh, I have been doing this, what seems like forever!!
So with that being said...Have a great day out there...I'll check back later...

LJ, yes I always double the points. So, if I had 2 one point biscuits, I would count it as 2 points. : )

I guess I was just wondering if you are 'doubling " the calories, fat and fiber, and then get the point value, not just double the points?? It' s just a concern that comes up in our member calls, that is why I asked.
It came up about a veggie burger...1 was 1 pt indeed, but 2 @ 1 pt each, eaten at the same meal, doubling 'everything, on the pts finder = 3
It's not a big deal, but in this case the member didn't realize that she needed to do that. It comes up a lot, and just thought I'd throw it out there to ask.

Hi all,
Yeah Erica, you are back and with a great attitude. I knew you could do it. Good luck on your run. I hope it is awesome. Remember it is being there that mattters. Trying your best is all that matters.
Linda, walking around the mall sounds like a good idea for exercise. I enjoy walking. My friends are always making fun of me because no matter what the weather is like I am always outside walking or running. It is something I need to do. I did notice you have been getting your exercise in. That is awesome. Have a great dinner tongiht.
L.J. thanks for pointing that out about the points if you have two of something. I was unsure if you just add the points or if you double the calories, fat and fibre. Now I know. thank you.
Paige, how was last night? I hope you had fun.
Haylo, You inspire me to exercise. Thanks for that. Have a great weekend.
Future pixie, that is too bad the smoke was too bad to run. It is better not to run in those conditions because I hear it is not good on your respiratory system. I hope you weekend goes well.
Laura have a great day. I eat fibre one every morning, well almost every morning. I find it keeps me full longer than other things.
Ginny, Hello, I hope all is well with you.
Kim, Hello to you and I hope you are doing well.
Take Care all
Ann

Hi all,
Well I'm back and the race was AWESOME!!! There were thousands of people there. It was very emotional to see all of the survivors of breast cancer and also to see the children who lost their mom's to breast cancer. It was held at the NY State Fairgrounds, it was unbelievable. So inspiring, there were bands playing all along the course, bagpipes, so motivational. It was very emotional. I'm so glad that I did it.

I'm going out to dinner with DH tonight. We so need a night out, we've been kinda emotionally disconnected lately. It's fun to go out to dinner when on CORE, I see a small beef tenderloin and steamed broccoli in my future tonight. I probably will have a couple glasses of white wine and count those flex points.

Ann-yeah, I'm back. TOM always gets the best of me mentally and physically, but that all changed today. Thanks for helping me to mentally pull myself out of the ditch.

L.J.-where in NY did you used to live?

Linda-all this talk about biscuits!!! I just hear the WORD and I begin to salivate! Ever had the ones at Red Lobster? Those are soo good!!

Laura-you working today?

Well, I'm off for another bit.... hope everyone is having a great day!!

hello all

well I need some pep talking here. I went to WI and another gain..... I don't know what is going on I stayed on plan and did tons of excercise. One of the girls at the center reminded me that maybe I am not getting enough points. Hmm... hadn't thought of that. We will see...

newlifestyle: I am glad I have inspired you in regards to excercise. Even though I showed up with a gain I know in the long run it has to pay off somehow if only I could just figure it out. Anyways, the way I see it excercise is always good.

L.J. yeah it is hot here too, luckily I have been able to walk around inside the building at work and the day's were a little cooler then usual.

rosegarden: my muscles are doing much better thanks for asking. Also thanks for the tips on the hot shower/bath's it definatly helps.

paige: Hello.......... Tenesse Titans, my cousin would flip out, both of us love football that is one of her favorite teams and has become on of my favorites teams as well b/c of Vince Young. I graduated from the same university he did so I am one of his fans. My cousin is such a fanatic that she has a couple football jersey's from the titans. It's is so funny the image that I have of her in my head she would so freak out if she was in your position.

OK so I'm starting to mentally prepare for my #2 WW meeting on Monday night. Thinking back to last weeks first meeting, there was a certain "heaviness" (ha,ha, no pun intended!) in the room. There wasn't just the weight that people wanted to lose, but I personally could feel the "weight" on people's minds about this big task in front of them to lose as much weight as they could in the next 10 weeks. It was the looks on their faces that I could feel, their body language, all of it, I could feel because for all of them, this was their first night, they had all just done the deed and stepped on the scales.

So I wanted to share with them this whole "journey thing" that we often refer to here. That it's really not about the numbers going down on the scale every week. I mean we all love that and strive for that, but it's not what is the most important in the big picture. For me, my journey was being able to go to a Christmas party and having only one cocktail and for the rest of the night it was water. It was going to a party and eating more than I had planned but then getting right back on track the next day. It was putting a piece of gum in my mouth when I was bored and just wanted to have a handful of chocolate chips. It was melting the peanut butter and chocolate chips, eating it, then being mad afterwards, not even truly enjoying it. It was going for walks at night in the winter even when it was only 20 degrees out and blowing snow. It was going to a WW meeting even when I knew that I had gained that week, the list goes on and on. So if I could, I think I would try really hard to convince everyone that it truly is about the journey, what we learn about ourselves and our habits (good and bad) all along the way.

One night at my own meeting, my leader said to all of us, why are we here? And I thought about my answer, I thought about it hard. She gave us all a green stone and she said that the stone represents why we want to lose the weight. During times that I felt weak, I put that stone in my pocket. Especially if I was heading out to dinner and all of the temptations were right there in front of me, I'd put my hand in my pocket reaching for that stone, grounding me back to why I'm doing all of this. So I think I will share these things with my group on Monday night, because I think, they were the key things that helped me to finally "get it" and hopefully not continue this battle any longer, that it won't feel like a battle anymore, but truly a journey.

I think the journey is exactly the biggest part of it for me Erica - thanks for the reminder of the long walks in 20 degree weather. It reminds me of when I took Pearly Mae out for a walk in below zero weather and I had to push her home because she wanted a longer walk and I thought I had frostbite

Erica: thanks for sharing your thoughts, it put these past two weeks into perscptive for me. As dissapointed as I am about not lossing weight and gaining weight despite my hard work, your story made me think about how I probably would not be watching what I was eating and excercising so hard if I wasn't doing this to make my self healthier. In the end that is my ultimate goal to be healthier and feel good about myself. I don't want to have to pay the consequences later in life so I figure now is a guide time to set me on the right path. Thanks for you thoughts.

BRAVO Erica!!!: Well said
I have a poem and a TurnAround Rock (small stone with a 'smilely face painted on it) one of the leaders made and gave to us. I'll have to remember to post it here. Your thoughts were beautifully written.
You are an awesome and inspirational Leader.....

P.S. I am from Westchester

Good morning everyone!

Well yesterday was an alright day as far as eating. Didn't get my requirements in but I didn't go over in points by any means. And I got my flowers in so my AP points were racked up. I tend to not eat the points that I earn though. Some days I need to so occasionally I count them in but not very often.

Off to church in a bit and it's the day to Honor Graduates and my youngest is graduating this year. I need to get a few pictures on a a picture board here in a couple minutes and then get ready to go. I have my food planned for the day. I'll be working tonight so I'll have to prepare dinner early.

Haylo - let us know what you need. Where you are losing your step. Is it tracking (or are you on core?) or just eating too much?

LJ - the doubling issue is always a good reminder

Ann - you didn't say how you are doing?

Erica - I'm glad you had such a great day, hope your dinner out with DH was good.

Paige - where are you? We want a report!

Linda - how's your weekend going?

Hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Gooooooooood rainy Sunday morning all!!! I had to quickly skim posts, so I will have to go back and do a good reading later.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! My Friday turned out to be not-so-hot! We had decided not to go to that charity night (a lot of reasons) but my MIL still took the girls so dh and I could have a night out on the town for his bday. As soon as we dropped dds off, I started to get a migraine. If any of you ever get them, you know it's not just any headache!!! I lose my vision, can't stand any noise or light, and this time I was so incredibly nauseous I spent the entire evening in the bathroom. Some birthday for dh! I felt pretty bad about it, too. On the upside...we had gone out to dinner before that and I had stayed on core...not that it mattered in the end!

Yesterday I wasn't on core; I don't think I did that exceptionally well, either. Oh well...today is a new day.

Yesterday, however, we did go to the charity softball that BIL was putting on. Haylo...you'll like this...if you like the Titans, my BIL is #53. He brought all of his celebrity football friends...Vince Young, Steve McNair, Samari Rolle, Lamont Thompson...plus a lot more that I can't think of right now! They played the police and firefighters of the county. It was pretty cool! It wasn't like it was at a huge stadium, either...it was in the park! We sat in the front row of the bleachers. Every year we go down to TN to watch a game and we go hang out at BIL's house...LOL...it's my claim to fame.

Anyway...sorry for my tangent...I hope everyone has a fabulous Sunday! We have a birthday (indoor) pool party to go to this afternoon. I'll check back in later!!!!

LJ, Actually, that is a valid point in terms of doubling the fat/fiber and checking out 2 servings on the points finder. I'll have to re-check that when I have those biscuits in the house again. I have always felt that if I used my points calculator and calculated ONE of something, then I would just double that if I were having two of that same thing, guess not.
Well, I am here to report that you can't always rely on yourself to select the best thing to eat when you go to a restaurant. If you think through how YOU prepare something and what points it is when you prepare it, that can't be what you use to base your ordering decisions on. OUCH!!!
We did walk the mall yesterday and enough so I could count it as an exercise point. I really enjoyed doing that, by the way. We ate at Ruby Tuesday's though. Yikes. I checked Dottie's Weight Loss Zone this morning as I had a half rack of baby back ribs. OMG! I figured about 12 points in my head for those and thought that would be quite a generous number. When I make ribs at home, I count the ribs/pork and the BBQ sauce. It might be 10 points for the ribs, but I do use a spare rib vs. baby back rib (so that might be part of this?) But, when I checked the points for a half rack of BBribs on Dottie's site, I had 25.5 points worth of ribs. Yikes. I had no idea. You know what would have been the best possible choice for a meal for me? It was the petite sirloin that was only 5 points. I had 19 points (including the last of my flex points for the week as it was day 7 of my tracker) left so figuring that the BBribs would be "ok", I chose them. In looking over their menu, I felt that it was certainly (and it was for the most part) better than a burger. Well, never every again shall I be fooled by having those out somewhere. I'm bummed as that put me about 20 points over for the entire week when I'd really been very well behaved all week, even exercising 5 out of 7 days.
My daughter had what were called Ruby Minis, but only ate one of them. They are tiny hamburgers and we "figured" that tiny hamburgers would be pretty "tame" to order and now I see on Dottie's zone that 2 of them are 32.5 points, that doesn't include the salad bar that comes with it or the fries, just the two mini burgers. OUCH!!!! We unintentionally blew it, but this can happen. A mini burger for about 16 points, yikes! It was about 3/4th the size of a McDonalds burger.
In reading their points values on Dottie's site, I do see some much smarter choices, but even their Bison Burger is 22 points and the Veggie burger comes in at 20.5 points. This is not really a WW friendly place to dine.
Thank God that I turned down the "loaded potato" (would have been 14.5 points and asked for a plain one with butter on the side. I did eat the butter, but goodness knows what my meal would have been for points as I blew it on my entree had I thrown caution to the winds and had the "loaded potato".
So, for last night's fiasco of a dinner, I "spent" a whopping 37 (estimated) points on ONE MEAL. I'm really bummed out as I truly thought I was ordering something that would end up completely different. I really "guesstimated" about 18 points for it all. Stupid.
Had I ordered the petite sirloin, cheddar mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, last night's meal would have been 15.5 points in total. I could have had the salad bar on top of that and had oil and vinegar and been at 17.5 (using only 2 tsp of olive oil, no croutons, etc.) and would have been exactly at my points that I had allowed for this meal, and allowing 18 points for a Saturday night dinner out is something I will often do.
Now, I feel pretty badly today, but I have also learned not to trust what I think I know based on my own cooking practices. I wonder how they can offer steamed broccoli which I would count as 0 points and have it come in as 3 points? They must add oil or butter in preparation?
Whatever.... I'm pretty bummed today. I am feeling like an inept "newbie" who doesn't know the program well and blew it unintentionally. However, I am not a newbie and should have thought differently.
If I use BBQ sauce at home, I use the nutrition information on the bottle and calculate how much my serving will be and then add that to the meat. I do wonder how a restaurant could possible add that MANY points to something like a rib. Would you imagine their BBQ sauces contain oils? butters? Do they cook ribs in fats? Do they buy fattier cuts that supposedly will taste better?
I need to revert back to my old adage that I used to follow when I was on core. Order PLAIN foods vs. prepared foods, however when 3 points is listed for steamed broccoli at a place, I'm about ready to give up. What the heck is wrong with a place for offering a steamed item and having a usually 0 point thing become 3 points. I'm more than annoyed about that in particular, I might even write them. Though, Dottie's Weight Loss Zone may not be accurate, her site is not sanction by WW or anyone, it's just one person's slant on food calculations.
Sorry for my ranting here, guys. I just had to get this out.
I read what Erica wrote about the journey, very good. So, last night's segment of my journey was a flat tire, engine melt down and I had to call in triple A to get the car towed, I guess. However, now I have a new spare tire and an engine warranty so that I can continue my journey? : )
I'm so disappointed in myself. I truly felt that my choices were more OK than they really were.
Ruby Tuesday might be off my list from now on, or at leastnow I know Dottie's had a menu preview there for me to read and I have learned a valuable lesson.
Darn, I hope this one meal didn't blow my entire week's worth of hard work. I have lost only .2 for each of the last two weeks in a row, after a gain, and I'm still not under where I was on April 21st.
You could just about scrape me off the floor this morning.

Awww Linda - that stinks. It's always things like this that throw us for a loop. Just use it as a learning experience and go forward. It's already done and you can't do anything to "undo" it. But you can make some good choices and go forward. Big hugs. I too wonder about the steamed veggies. I don't eat out much for budget and for WW reasons. I'm not very good at estimating myself and I probably should buy the dining out book but I don't eat out enough to justify it.

I hope today is a better day. Get outside and move a lot. Plan a low point day and go forward.

Linda-You are feeling the same way I did after I ate at Johnny Rockets and thought that I had made an "ok" choice...only when I checked DWLZ afterwards, I found that there are NO ok choices at that restaurant! Johnny Rockets was a spur of the moment thing, so I just wasn't prepared. Ruby Tuesday's used to put nutrition facts on their menu, but I know why they stopped doing it...I bet they lost a lot of customers when they tried to make people aware. It is very difficult when we try to merge the things that we have learned with eating out...you would think we'd come up on top every time...but when we don't truly know what is being used in preparation, it's impossible unless we plan ahead and know what is what first.

Off to church!