Hey everyone, thanks for your comments on the buddy thing, and thanks Judy for making me feel so welcome! And I appreciate you commenting on my progress, I was feeling a little down from the gain last week, but I suppose it was only 0.4 and something not to get worked up about. I'm trying to stay really focused on getting the weight off, as I've never weighed my target, 160, since I was say... 10 years old. Coming from having a sister so thin and in the spotlight always tends to make me shy away.

I wanted to talk about last night. I just want to get some feedback on a couple things that are bothering me today.

Alright, so last night I was invited and tagged along to a party. I can't help that even being on the flex plan I need to go out and have some drinks, especially since I'm moving soon so I wanted to spend some time with friends. Well when I got to the party, whereas I'm usually very extroverted and outgoing, I showed up and there was a big crowd of people that I didn't know, being the first reason for me to shy, but the crowd was alot of young, skinny, beautiful girls and I felt so akward and uncomfortable in my own skin it was unfit. I just wanted to run away. And then I went to go to the bathroom, and there were two girls in there, and when one came out she mentioned I was waiting, and the other girl (fixing her makeup) looked at me and glared and slammed the door right in my face! Just because I wasn't part of her mini-hilton groupies. I felt like a huge ball of crap and skipped over the bathroom visit because I knew they were leaving to go to a bar soon and waited until then.

It was a total nightmare and these are the kind of things that really make me insecure and upset. After they left and it was just me and the guys, (I'm a total guys girl, hang out and have a few beer instead of drowning myself in foundation and lip gloss for the bar.) Anyways, once I got home I counted up my drinks, (1 beer, 2 rum and cokes, and 2 glasses of wine), which I went totally over *oops*, and binged a bit on turkey and mozzarella on english muffins. So that means I went way over, and I guess I'm realizing now that it was just an emotional eating thing, and I want to be able to not do that. But I find it very difficult to control because I just felt so in the dumps that I guess it kinda comforted me a little to be at home and away from everything else.

Well that's my rant, my "problem" eating habit, and how I felt last night. The type of thing I'd usually never tell anyone and try and forget it happened, but I think that telling someone on here might be able to help me push forward and teach me how to handle these situations. I also grew up being overweight and secluded all through school until college, so it's a habit I've had my whole life that's brought me to where I am today, and also contributes to the weight problem I have.

Thanks for reading this.

Well I can tell you from experience that it was probably the alcohol that suppressed your reasoning mind. Our leader always suggests that we drink a diet drink, water with lemon or something calorie free, then have the alcoholic drink and then another non alcoholic drink in between. You then feel like you are participating but you won't be as tempted to overdo. That being said, the very FIRST AND FOREMOST THING YOU MUST DO is to FORGIVE YOURSELF!!!! Do not hold this over your head or allow it to control you and take you from what you want. I can't believe that I'm the one even saying this because I'm one of the biggest emotional eaters I know. But you have to do the rehearsal part of the program. Think about every situation you may be in over the course of the evening. Practice in your mind what you are going to do. If you get to feeling badly, what are you going to do? Are you going to eat or drink your way through it or are you going to pull out your positive self talk and talk your way through it. It's part of the tools that WW gives you. Do you go to meetings? That is where I find the tools and their use most constructive. If you need more help, please don't hesitate to ask.

Remember - FORGIVE YOURSELF!!! Today is a new day and you have what it takes to make it work. Make it work FOR YOU and not against you. Big hugs. You've taken a big step talking about it.

Institches - Yay! Happy St. Patty's Day!

Shrinking - Let us know how today went

Bethz - Awesome job on the substitution and the planning ahead. W00t!

Tendalaya - Welcome to the Flex Talk area!!! I'm very sorry that girl was rude to you. May she get what she deserves! Now that you noticed what happened with the drinks & food you can start to address it. We wouldn't emotionally eat if we didn't find it comforting. The problem is (and we all realize this) that it only gives us more pounds, and ends up doing more harm than good. There may be slip-ups along the way, but if we can replace eating in a situation like that with something more positive later on (like typing about it ) then we will have made a huge step in the right direction. I think it's a very positive thing that you're typing it here. Maybe just letting us know will allow you to see yourself as it happens, or even before it happens, and maybe you'll even be able to stop yourself and ask "What does that get me?" As far as all the drinkies. There are ways, if you'd like, to cut down on the amount of alcohol you have while you're out. One of the best ways is to tell yourself how many drinks you're going to have. (2, 5, 10... ) And then stick to that amount. The other is, drink a glass of water in between each alcoholic beverage. You stay hydrated, you still drink, but you're not consuming as many calories and you may not be thirsty for more drinks because of it. The other thing is that you can stick to drink that are lower in calories. (Rum & diet coke?) Even if it's some calories, at least it isn't quite as many. Back to the emotional eating, this is going to sound all self-help cheesy, but think back on a time that you ate when upset or stressed, and plan what you can do in place of that next time. Will you write about it briefly or talk with a friend? Will you go for a walk? Will you come on 3FC and read a bit of inspiring goal threads? Anything but something that is destructive. You can move past it And as Rose said, today is a new day. Keep on going. Don't let one incident turn into many, many days. Get right back up & move on.

---

Today was that surprise party that I was throwing for my roommate.

So of course there are terrible surprises for everyone on a surprise birthday party day. A few of the attending members didn't get the emails that I sent out about the party & what was going on. So they (all people who I really don't like in the first place (they're her friends & it's her party so that's why they were there...)) were all kind of snippy at me. I honestly used the same addresses that my friend used to send out her invitations (she planned her own party that we then moved to a different house when we "went out to a restaurant" wink wink...) One of the members of this party almost ruined everything by wanting to go out to eat and saying an hour earlier than we were supposed to go that she was hungry and everyone decided to leave then. So I had to call the friend who's house we were really going to and tell him, and he freaked out, and i freaked out. Sorry, sorry... it really annoyed me. It's just that nothing was ready, and people were grumpy.

All in all, the birthday girl was surprised. (As were many other people ) But... never again. NEVER EVER again. I spent nearly $200 for this party... and I don't really think it was appreciated. Deep breath... and move on.

So, my food went well today. I had breakfast/lunch at noon today which left me with 20 points for the party. I had 3 meatballs, some chicken & peppers, a BUNCHA raw veggies with FF Thousand Island (stuffed myself with them), and one slice of Hawaiian Pizza. (All together with my best estimates, 20 points!) I'm actually pretty proud of myself. I didn't have ANY cake! And oh how I wanted it. But I did not have the points and I really did think about having to write down to you guys that I ate cake just because it was there and I thought "No way. I want them to be proud that I stuck with my plan." So you guys really made a difference in what I ate tonight!

I think the only thing that was "junk" food was the one slice of pizza. The rest of the food I had today was fairly good nutrition-wise. I kept thinking I was eating bad, but looking over my day, it really wasn't.

Well then. Day 3 on the Wendie Plan... A-OK!

I hope everyone's day was wonderful! ^^

Jane - both those are awesome songs! I find a lot of their music to be good energy music actually, even though it's not poppy/electronic. It's just fun and kind of infectious.

bethz - Good for you walking every day! That's a lot more than a lot of people, so you're doing great! And I bet as you lose weight it won't feel so bad to get fewer points, as your appetite should shrink too as your body gets accustomed to a new way of eating. But save that worry for when it gets here

Freedom - good to hear you got back safe!!

institches & sonja - good luck this week, both of you!

tendalaya - Girls can be so ugly sometimes, you know? Just know that that girl's snottiness had nothing to do with you, and said everything about her. Forget about it and move on with your life - she and her pettiness are not important enough to dwell on! Take care of yourself!!

Faerie - Man, that sucks that the party didn't work out like you had hoped... $200 is a lot to spend on a party and it must have been frustrating to see your vision get wiped out by other people's agendas. But hey, WTG on the eating! It sounds like you did fantastic, so you definitely deserve a big pat on the back there!



So remember a while back we were talking about quinoa? Or maybe it was just me talking about quinoa... But someone posted a recipe for a quinoa pilaf. I finally tried it tonight and... OMG... was it ever fantastic! It was about 4 pts per half cup serving, but 1/2c is about all you'd want, it's so rich and satisfying. I had it with a portobello cap stuffed with spinach and blue cheese and MAN was it awesome! Pretty much the best dinner ever, and only 7 points It honestly felt like something that could have been served at a restaurant. Highly delicious. Impressed the pants off DH!

Er, yeah, dinner's about all I have to share right now. Been reading for my upcoming orals all day (almost through Gulliver's Travels for the fourth time in my life) and playing some silly video games... Really nothing exciting... I hope you all had great weekends!

Wow you know I think reading what you guys said this morning really did make me feel better. I was having second thoughts on even posting it because I didn't know how I'd come off. Anyways, just to let you know I HAVE embraced today as a new day and am going to implement changes in these situations in my behaviour and try and learn to deal with it in a more positive way.

On a bright and happy note, which I seem to be very upbeat today suprisingly, , I first must congratulate Faerie on not taking that cake, because I don't know if I wouldn't have had like a quarter of a quarter of a piece... haha. And Judy, stuffed mushroom caps? I wanna have those, they sound real good, what do you do with them?

I'll take off and leave ya a tip, I don't know if anyone out there is into it but sometimes I get bored of listening to music when I go for my walks, so now I've gotten a book on tape cut up into chapters that I find very informative and interesting, so I'll usually alternate walking to Jack Johnson or another chapter of the book. Keeps me focused and before I know anything the walks over and I'm home again and it flew by!

*feeling much better, thanks again*

Yay Jack Johnson! He's so feel-good. Just seems like he'd be a really nice guy in person, you know?

Here's an approximate recipe for what I did (I made 4 caps because that's what I had, but cut everything in half if you only have 2):

4 portobello mushrooms, destemmed and cleaned (I cut the little gills out of them because they release such dark water, looks dirty even if it isn't)
1/2 onion, chopped
about 10 oz fresh baby spinach, lightly chopped
1.5 oz blue cheese

Set your oven to broil and let it heat up. When it's hot, put the caps on a pan in the broiler for about 8 minutes, or until starting to get tender. Flip them and roast them another 4 minutes or so.

While that's happening, throw the chopped onion in a skillet with a handful of water. If you kept the stems chop them and add those. When the onions are getting soft, add the spinach (it will reduce a lot as it wilts). After a minute, as the spinach wilts, add the crumbled blue cheese and stir until it gets soft (it won't entirely melt).

Take the mushrooms out and top with the spinach stuff! Eat!

The only thing with points is the blue cheese, and I'd really recommend using it or another very strong cheese. Maybe fresh grated parm would work too. Anyway it's 4.5 total for the cheese divided by four mushrooms, so it's just over a point per cap. The onion isn't in large enough quantities to bear points.

As for the quinoa, the recipe I used can be found here. I halved the recipe and made four 1/2c servings for 5pts each.

Just a quick one to say:

Top 'o the mornin' to ya on this fine St. Paddy's Day!

Awww! St Patty's Day!!!
I won't be going out! =(
I have homework to do and I have to wash my bedding at the laundry mat because it is FILTHY!
It's probably for the better so I don't get drunk!
hahaha

Weekend was successful...even facing company and a BUFFET! Planning was KEY... only had one bite of cake...counted the point, stayed on plan, went on with it...

I do feel like I'm winning the weight battle. It is becoming easier as time passes and I see results. I think that childbearing, complacency, age, and probably addictive tendencies being brought up in an alcoholic family contributed to my weight problem. I really want to be healthier and live longer. So I'm going to work hard for it!!

Sneak peak at the scale shows I am down another pound from Friday weigh in. I have my Biggest Loser weigh in at work tomorrow, so I'll let you know how that goes. Had a great on-plan day today as far as staying on point, exercise, drinking my water, and journaling. Ate leftover stuffed cabbage which seemed a better alternative then corned beef and cabbage.

Oldest son left for Boston area today to visit sister and his children. Will miss him...and it certainly will be quieter around here..."quiet" being a relative term.
Returns to deployment on Thursday.

Have a great evening everyone! Bethz

I have to boast about an obstacle I overcame that I've never been able to accomplish in the past.

My WW meetings are on Thursday at 10AM. This past week was a 2.4 pound loss for me. DH wanted to go out to lunch after my meeting. Right away of course, the anxiety kicked in as I'm sure it does for all of us when we have to eat out. I was in the mood for a fattening tuna salad sandwich. We went to Friendly's--they make an awesome Tuna Melt. I figured out the points before we got there and I came up with 25 points. My daily points are 24. I decided that instead of eating the whole thing at lunch, I would half it and eat half for lunch and bring the rest home for dinner. So when the waitress brought us our food, I immediately asked her for a take home container. I put half the sandwich and half the fries in there and it REALLY helped!!! It felt so good to be able to control the situation and stretch a rather delicious lunch!!! I was so proud!
I just wanted to share....

First of all, Tania, congratulations on overcoming that obstacle. I've learned to do that as well when I go to Tim Hortons, I love the sandwiches there so I take half home to go with supper, and yeah it really does help alot. I think the thing I learned the most by doing that, was when I stopped after eating half, I was starting to notice how my appetite was shrinking, because usually I'd scarf down the other half in seconds like it never existed!! Congrats!

Great attitude Bethz, every positive post I read helps me along as well .

Judy, gonna try those mushroom caps tomorrow, got to get some cheese at the grocery store, I'm sure being so deprived in desolate atlantic canada might come through for me this time haha.

On a personal note, was feeling a little down from the binge the weekend, still working on taking more control over the impulses when faced with those kinds of situations.. Yet very positive after letting feelings out in the thread, didn't think that you guy's feedback would help but it did! Thanks!

Weigh in tomorrow, did more exercise this week then ever since starting the plan, and had that 0.4 gain last weigh in, so hoping for the best tomorrow! Spirits are high tonight let's see how I feel in the morning, I'll be lettin ya know! *fingers crossed*

Finally back home, it was a great time in AZ, but so nice to be home in my jammies on my 3FC!! What a long day that flying is, I think I'm up, but have had these traveling issues before. My leader said it's water retention from the flying, but whatever happens tomorrow is just "what it is" and move on.

We did alot lot lot of hiking over the weekend, the pedometer was around 7.5 8 miles two days, of course not today. My backpack felt so heavy I just read my book (it's great by the way "The Sanctuary" by Raymond Khoury, action packed right from the get go). Usually I try and walk around in the airport, but I just didn't have it in me.

Man there's all kinds of chocolate, Easter type ads, only one more week 'til that temptation is over. I think we're staying home, I haven't had a full weekend home in 3 weekends!!! So unlike me

Anyhow, sounds like you ladies are doing great, I love reading your posts on food, Suite, you're so enthusiastic, it's great.

Faerie, sorry about your surprise party, it's also been my experience no good comes from those!! Evil surprise parties!

Free, enjoy your time at home, sometimes it's just a good learning experience trying to just eat healthier, sometimes it doesn't match up with weight loss, but it teaches you what you should and shouldn't do.

I did better on this trip, because I bought some frozen dinners to heat up in the micro. I was telling DH, I just have to accept that as brave as I think I am, when I'm in a strange city by myself, I won't go out to dinner by myself. Then I end up eating to late and blah, blah, blah, we know how that story goes.

And Tendalaya, good job posting how you felt, it reminded me of times in my younger days, letting alcohol relieve my shyness, it still pops up once in awhile, but in general I love me and feel sorry for those shallow gals. Think how much time and energy wasted...

ok, enough of me. I truly enjoyed catching up on the posts, thanks!!

Happy Mon-er... Tuesday Morning (Having the day off always screws up my brain calendar.)


Suite - Thanks for the back pat ^^ I love trying out recipes that you're excited about, because I generally find that I enjoy them, too! It's like we're taste buddies.

Tendalaya - SO glad to hear that you're feeling a bit better And I have yet to get any sort of portable mp3 player device. (I'm like 10 years behind the times when it comes to muzak.) But, I really should check out some books on audio for something to do while I treadmill. Come on back after your weigh-in and let us all know how things went

Jane - Hope you had a good St. Patty's

Vday - I did laundry, too! Yay for clean things!

Bethz - You ARE working hard for it. It's showing with your commitment! Fantastic job at that buffet ^^

Mustang - You should be proud! That's a difficult thing to decide to do. Nice going getting that take home container right away before starting the meal.

Kelijpa - Welcome home! That hiking sounds like good exercise (I love taking walks outdoors), and it's really great that you prepared yourself for the trip this time by keeping those dinners on hand. You really know yourself!

---

Had the day off yesterday. Got chores done O_O Laundry... Chopped Veggies... Grocery store for extra fruits/veg... Oh, but what was really cool was that instead of doing a video while home, my roommate & I took a good 40 minute walk around the complex while our laundry was drying. It was nice to be outside, cool & a little breezy, but nice. I felt fantastic for doing it. Normally on days off it's very difficult for me to get moving in any fashion. I used to think of them as total days off (from everything ). Now it's getting better.

The Wendie Plan continues well. Yesterday was day 4, and 36 points. Funny thing, this Wendie Plan kind of forces me to plan my meals and snacks a night ahead of time. I have to make sure that I'll be eating the right amount of food (and the right kinds of food). I used to think about planning ahead, but never got around to it. If nothing else this switching it up a bit is helping me to develop my meal/snack planning habits. Hey, one step at a time, right?

Hope everyone is having healthy days!

Jane - Hope you had a happy St. Patrick's day too!

vday - wanna wash mine too?

bethz - it does get easier, doesn't it? That's a good thing, to feel like you're "settling in." Better chance of your habits sticking around after the weight is gone! WTG at the buffet, too, sounds like you did well!

Tania - WTG on putting half your meal away! I always intend to do that but... never get around to it. I also think you did a good thing by getting what you were craving, but being sensible about it -- deprivation is no way to go, and good for you recognizing what would make you satisfied and then modifying it to make it fit into your plan. That's a sign of success, for sure!! Oh, and WTG on your loss, too!

tendalaya - Let me know if you like the mushrooms! I absolutely loved it. Good luck with your WI, but keep in mind if you've been doing more exercise than normal your muscles might be holding some water/swollen from trying to repair themselves. I'm cheering for you!

Keli - Good to see you back! Man, I love hiking. I haven't been in ages and I really miss it. It's so easy to rack up those miles when you're out on a trail enjoying nature. Hey, do we get a break from chocolate for a while? I mean, Christmas chocolate feeds straight into valentine's chocolate which feeds straight into easter chocolate... But there's not, like, memorial day chocolate, right? I think we get a break from the candy-pushers if we can make it past Easter!

Faerie - I was wondering where you ran off to! Glad to hear your day off was enjoyable, and good for you getting some activity in. If you come up with any interesting snack ideas, post them! I'm always up for new snack ideas.


Man, I am TIRED. I barely got 4 hours of sleep last night... and considering I'm no good at existing on so little sleep, I'm having trouble with work this morning. I have two cats -- Loki, who's pretty neurotic and spazzy, and Thor, who's totally laid back and just chills all day. They're brothers, but you'd never know it by their personalities. Anyway, Loki just kept meowing... and meowing... and meowing all night. He's a big guy with a big meow, not some little delicate thing you can sleep through. He's also pushing 19 pounds, so he *will* wake you up if he wants to. Meow, meow, meow. ... meow, meow. Meow meow meow. Meow! Meow! Meow meow. All. Night. Long. Could not get him to stop. Could not figure out what was wrong. Cat mid-life crisis? I just chalked it up to him being so neurotic and tried (unsuccessfully) to sleep through it, occasionally waking up enough to call for him.

So this morning I get up, Loki's still hovering, meowing, being annoying. His food and water are full. WTF. Stupid cat. About twenty minutes later it occurs to me... Where's Thor? Thor usually hangs out in the mornings too, just watching. Weird. I go look under the bed and the couch, he's not hiding. Loki looks at the door to the laundry room and meows. ... D'oh! I open the door to the laundry room and out saunters Thor, pretty unfazed, just sits down in the hall and looks up at me. Loki rushes up to him and headbuts him and starts purring. Silly husband must have let him in the laundry room accidentally and shut him in without realizing it!

So... mystery of the meowing cat is solved, I feel somewhat guilty for being mad at him when he really just missed his brother. However, this doesn't change the fact that I'm tired........

Hope everyone's having a good day

Suite - Wow. I forget sometimes that animals are intelligent enough to try to warn us of some things. Secondly, Loki & Thor... <3. You'll make it through the day