Shelley there is nothing wrong with eating carbs at all. You ARE following core, if you are counting the points for those carbs you mentioned. With all that running, you have the points to eat triscuits. I don't think the point of Core is to forbid any food, but rather to encourage us to "count" the foods that we might otherwise eat too much of. You have EARNED those points-- eat them as you wish. Us mere mortals who thing WALKING 2 miles a day is an awesome achievement may have to skip the triscuits-- but I would never expect someone more active to!

Robin

Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. I would think that someone who runs like you do should eat the activity points every day--if it is carbs you want (love those Triscuit and will eat them using points myself) then carbs it should be. You are not falling off the wagon when you eat something that is not on the Core list, as long as you count it. There are plenty of carbs on the list--you could have eaten a baked potato with ff sour cream and butter for the same points as the Triscuit wafters but you were still on plan because you had the points to cover it. With your activity points, you would never have to touch the 35 flex points anyway!

HI guys! So many of you, I can't name all names, but you are all great, full of enthusiasm and great ideas! Cin, thanks for the ww input, you are helping us all so very much!
Danny, I think you are probably correct in your own common sense things. I think ww has to postition themselves for the "overall" good of people who might not know as much about nutrition as you seem to. Remember the saying, "if you give people an inch, they take a mile"? I think that's the concept they have to have. If they said YES to that one margarine, then suddenly everyone would begin to interpret their margarine to be "ok" and it might not be at all. I bought the Lee Iococca olive oil margarine yesterday after reading every single container information on my grocers shelves, people probably were staring at me and thinking I was nuts! I determined that this particular margarine gave me the absoulte "best bang for the buck" when it comes to what I am trying to acheive. WW might not recommend it, but I interpret it as a good choice if I am going to have any margarine at all. I will be counting the points, but I want the absolute best product here.
Shelley, if you are going nuts craving carbs, I know the feeling. I am not a runner, just person who loves carb snacks like pretzels, crackers, cookies and the like. I have been missing those things, but have found that the 94% FF popcorn is helping me get through my cravings. I micro an entire bag of that stuff and pig out on it in the afternoons. But, this was something I was doing (and counting the points for) when I was on Flexpoints as well, just have to have volume and this helps! The sf, ff pudding is helping with cravings for sweets.
Now, ta da!, tonight is a special night at my house..... I'm calling it "Crazy Pizza Night". I am making a few different kinds of CORE or CORE plus a point pizzas to see which I like the best......
1. Boca burger pizza
2. WW one point English muffin Pizza (will count the points, of course)
3. Egg plant sliced brushed with olive oil and broiled pizza
4. Huge portabella mushroom cap pizzas
5. Cornmeal (polenta) crust pizza

All will have diced tomotos or tomato slices, no sauce with added fats will be used. Some will have a variety of toppings......
Hawiain, (sp?)with pineapple and canadian bacon, artichoke and bacon bits, mushroom, green pepper and onion, maybe even some spinach and ff ricotta mixed with a bit of ff cheddar or low fat parmesan (have not found a ff parmesan anywhere, have any of you? so will have to count points if I do this) and artichokes?
All will have a drizzle of olive oil over top and oregano and ff mozarella.
It will be fun to try small amounts of them all and to report back to you all which we liked the best. Also will be making a salad to go along with it all.
Should be a really interesting experience and whatever is left (no, it all doesn't give the excuse to pig out and overeat, portion control is essential!) will pop in the freezer for great lunches next week!
Also, the scale dipped down one pound this morning and I don't know if that means my weigh in on Tuesday will be a good one or not.
My problem is the weekends and dining out. Thank you for relaying the Italian dining experience, Nita. I make try to focus on what you did! I am sure that I will go through the rest of my flex points this weekend when we eat out, but will really be looking for a place that is more adaptable to CORE!
Also, I bought all the stuff to make the pumpkin pudding AND also found the low fat version of the Keebler graham gracker crust is 2 points per 1/8th of the pie.... not too bad if you wanted to make this into a pie and count 2 points for the crust!
Linda in NH, waiting for the remants of hurricane Ivan to come through

Hello Room!
I agree with much of what has been said..even the part Danny said about his "tweaks"...I hesitate to respond even tho I agree with many things people are saying but I hesitate because I do not want to be "mis-quoted" about saying this or that.You cannot believe the things people say Leaders say....keep in mind members could also "hear" incorrectly and the Leader gets the blame......and vice versa!

All of you are very knowledgable and have wonderful ideas...............I totally agree about the Triscuit thing...for Heaven Sake....use those Weekly Points for whatever you please!

I loved the idea of a Portebello Mushroom pizza! I love those turkey pepperonis by Hormel.......17 for 2 points! I tell my members if you eat half of them while topping the pizza................you still have enough! Since many of us nibble on the ingredients as we "assemble" BLT's ( bites,licks & tastes...yes they add up)

Keep sharing..............it helps us all!
Cin~

OK CIN - have you been hiding in my kitchen cabinet when I was cooking pizza???? One for the pizza, one for the mouth - with 17 for 2 points, that leaves 8 1/2 on the pizza and 8 1/2 in the mouth!!!!! - If you like olives, cut a pepperoni in half, roll it up and put it in a black olive for a snack! Or try the crustless pizza with pepperoni & Canadian bacon if you are a meat lover!!!! I prefer the veggies on mine.

I made a quick concoction last night: Boiled a serving of whole wheat pasta, added my olive oil, a can of mushrooms, some garlic, green olives, lean ham and topped with a bit of ff moz cheese and let it melt - AWESOME!!!! Amazing what you can come up with to satisify yourself and stay CORE!

Maybe I'm simple in the head, but when I want pizza I eat pizza! Once a week on Fridays my husband and I have pizza night. It's a big deal, something I choose not to give up. I just calculated what 1/4 of the pizza (frozen vegetarian pizza with turkey kielbasa added) would be in points (14) and I save my points diligently all week and enjoy! It actually kind of forces me to dole out my points sparingly through the week if I want to enjoy that pizza on Friday.

Kind of reminds me of what a friend of mine says (she successfully reached goal some time ago)... this is a life plan, not a life sentence.

Take care,
Robin

Debra, your concoction sounds yummy!
Robin, you are totally right about it not being a life sentence and believe me, I fully intend to have pizza, and enjoy it, again and again, in my lifetime.
I am having fun with CORE and trying to find my way with it. Real pizza with real crust will certainly be part of my life, but maybe not this week or the next few weeks until I truly can get a handle on this and unload a few extra pounds.
I think the most important foods to us are the ones that we should use our flex points on. I love dessert and chocolate, in particular. Right now, using flexpoints on that part of my life is worth it to me.
I love that we can all spend those points and freedom to create other things to satisfy the urges!
Cin, by the way, the portabella mushrooms I have are about 5" around - just HUGE! I can chop up the stems to put over top of my eggplant and other pizza treats and fill these giant mushrooms up! Portabella are my favorite, they are so "meaty"!
Looking forward to my dinner!
Linda in NH

Thanks everyone for not making me feel guilty about craving the carbs yesterday. Indeed, runners do need more carbs in order to run without tiring out. I find out that I need to eat a well rounded meal the night before I have a long run (such as tomorrow, I am planning on 9 or 10 miles.) I do snack quite a bit on air-popped corn, but it is really not heavily loaded with carbs at all.

BTW, those portabello mushroom pizzas sound heavenly!!

Trudy, check out www.barbosdietkitchen.com/archive.pl. There are lots of great core recipes here including dessert. There is one for peach custard that I'll be making tonight. YUM!!!!!!

The recipe site is being updated every day and it keeps track for you which recipes are new since the last time you visisted! I, too, am on core and am constantly looking for great new recipes.

My problem is finding exciting lunches that don't use up my rice or potato for the day.

Hi All....well I've been on the CORE program now for 2 weeks and last night at the weigh-iin I gained 1/2 pound. No loss in 2 weeks. So bye-bye to the CORE program for now. I'm now going to try eating the CORE foods and counting points. Has anyone else experience no loss on the CORE. It's not like I eat a lot. I eat until I'm satisfied. Here's a sample eating day....Breakfast waas shredded wheat and milk.... Apple for morning snack....lunch salad with some protein and low-fat dressing.(2 points)..........afternoon snack - fruit....and dinner was tuna fish, non-fat cottage cheese, no sugar applesauce....I always did lose very very slowly even when I was younger. I'm 55. So I'll try the Flex plan and exercise and see what happens....

Maybe you aren't eating enough? I lost a lb. this week and I know I ate more than you did and I am in the 160s. Did you get enough good fat? You said you were going to exercise next week. Did you exercise this week? I know at my age I have to exercise regularly or I won't show a loss at all.

Maybe Flex is the right program for you to make sure you get in all your veggies and eat a minimum amount of points per day. Good luck. Let us know how you are doing.

Well, last night was a huge sucess! I gave myself 3 flexpoints for everything I ate, not sure if that was correct or not, but I was comfortable with it.
First, the new family favorite of this family is now the polenta crust pizza. I'm going to cut and paste it here to save you all from having to go back and look for it on this thread, as it's getting so big!!!!
Yes! Pizza Crust On Core!!!!!!

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First, credit where credit is due.... I am on another thread and have been whining about not having pizza and the wonderful, dear Melanie came back with this pizza crust recipe!

PIZZA WITH POLENTA CRUST

Non stick cooking spray
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup cold water
1 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon salt to taste
1/2 cup grated fat free parmeson (Kraft makes a Non Fat "grated topping" that is on my core companion book,but I have yet to find it anywhere, so I used low fat parmesan)

Spray a 9 inch pie pan with non stick spray. Preheat oven to 375. Place cornmeal in small bowl. Add cold water and stir until well mixed. Stir cornmeal mixture into saucepan of boiling water. Cook, stirring over low heat until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stirr in salt and parmeson. Spread cornmeal mixture to form a crust in the greased pan, using wet hands or a spatula. Spread evenly across bottom and up sides. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Add toppings and bake until finished.

6 points for the whole crust for those who are doing points.

This was excellent! I used tomato sauce from the can, with no added fats, etc. I used ff mozarella and added sliced red pepper, mushrooms and artichoke heards. I put on a bit of parmesan (real, not low fat) and also added a bit of ff shredded cheddar. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was, everyone had it and asked for more. My daughter, who also goes to ww and is on flexpoints, said she liked it better than regular pizza! I gave my meal 3 points for the real parmesan on top and the low fat parmesan in the crust, but it was amazing, great and worth the 3 points! This was much more like a "pizza pie" made with cornbread. It was tasty, flavorful and gooey with cheese.
Then, the pizza eggplant and portebella mushrooms were great too. I would do them all again, 9.5 on the 1 - 10 scale for sure. I might even give the polenta pizza a 9.9, is anything EVER a 10?????
I never made the pizza with the ww one point English muffins in the end, I just had way too much food. Will save that for another day... but I have used English muffins to make pizza before and they are always good.
I love this core thing when I can end a meal feeling satisfied and not feeling as if I am leaving the table hungry, as I often did on flex. I do hope the scale rewards me this week at weigh in, I am kind of worrying that I might have to leave the table feeling a bit hungry in order to acheive that???? We'll see!
Linda in rainy NH

Linda I hear you, one man's pizza is another man's chocolate for sure!!! I'm happy to give up bread and baked goods for the most part. One of the things I like about core is that it challenges me to think about alternatives to bread.

Ree I eat easily twice what you eat and I'm losing (I weigh 180). And normally I'm one of those half a pound a week losers. Maybe you will just do better on flex points. I know lots of people who tried core for a week or two but decided they were more comfortable on flex, which was working for them. Do what feels right and enjoy!

Vickie for my lunches I've been eating bean-based or barley soup, or else a bean based salad. Like yesterday I took about 3/4 cup of chick peas, 2 tbsp ff sour cream, curry powder, salt and pepper and mixed it up-- added fresh tomatoes (I have a ton of those coming ripe from the garden) and about half a cuke. The other one I like is kidney beans (half a can), salsa, celery and cuke. Sometimes I also take a tossed salad. And usually I take 2 or 3 fruits as well. I have a fruit at 10, the salads somewhere between 12 and 1, and a fruit at 3 in the afternoon. I save the rice or potato for night because my DH is the cook in our home and he's happier cooking foods that are familiar to him. I'm so thrilled he cooks breakfast and supper that I'm not about to spoil a good thing! (He does the dishes too-- I waited 45 years for this man and it was SO worth it.)

Good Saturday Morning ALL!!
Well today is the day I am starting my CORE, as promised, and hoping for good results. I have already planned my entire day, so I am good to go.
I have been on a LOSING streak these past 12 weeks, except for that +.5 lbs lbs I mentioned......BUT the good news is..........it's off with today' W/I !!! So I am back to my 3 lbs to my WW goal.....of course my personal goal is another story :-) My WW goal is smack dap in the middle of my range. I made lifetime as I said BUT, then a year or so ago I lost my umf and 18 lbs came right back....but now I am back and so focused!!! Even encougaring fellow WW at work to 'get with it' and let's do this!! They thank me for it.
The more I read the more I find it interesting and doable!! Between Linda's recipes and CIN pumpkin pudding, I think I can do this. I will gladly give up my frozen yogurt - for 1 week :-) to see how I do. I know that Core helps in making better choices. I am going to fix Barley soup with chicken and Peas and Carrots - All Core - for my lunches for work. I WILL stay away from the bread and use Romaine Lettuce as a wrap for either Chicken Salad or Egg Salad, Tuna Salad.......speaking of which....just wondering if anyone has tried to make egg salad out of Egg Beaters?? I know we can have eggs on Core but I have egg beaters and I am SOOO tired of them hot. Let me know any thoughts on that.
TRUDY - congrats of your great loss your first week..that is very encouraging....what are you doing so right!!
LINDA - I have copied and pasted the Pizza Pie Crust and will be trying that....THANKS!
REE- Hang in there!!!
EVERYONE else I hope you all have a great day....