Wow, Lauren! You sound so much better. I'm glad we were able to help. People who have the fortitude to live in cold climates have my respect. I couldn't handle it; first chance I had to move home I took (of course, then I went on a vacation to England that turned into living there for 9 months that meant I didn't actually get home til 11 months after I'd made the decision, but that's another story entirely). Days are passing and it's almost April--you'll be on your trips and then it will be Spring!

And WAY TO GO with being in the 180's! I love that your DH danced you around the room. Now that's what I call a team player!

You're right, RPGs are role playing games. A text game to try is NannyMUD, heard of it? It's the oldest/largest LP MUD out there (LP is a coding language). Telnet mud.lysator.liu.se port 2000 if you want to check it out. I'd give you the IP but I don't know it...

Lin, I notice the same thing with TOM. I am so much more hungry than I am any other time of the month during that week, and it's for carbs and sweets. Well, let me clarify: I am more hungry in that my stomach is growling more often; what I am hungry for more often than not is carbs or sweet stuff. The week after* TOM, now, is when I am least hungry. That is generally a very low week for me.

Judy, you're here! Sometimes life is just too much to take, isn't it? I'm so glad to hear your DD is doing well. Surgery is scary, but it sounds like you're doing well with it.

I think it's a great idea to "begin again", as it were. For a long time I berated myself for regaining weight I swore to myself I would never regain. I abused myself mentally and made the problem worse, instead of accepting it, dealing with it, and getting the job done. Good for you for catching it, forgiving yourself, and giving yourself the tools you need to take care of yourself.

My official "meeting" was this morning, and I've lost 1.5 pounds this week. (My scale doesn't do tenths, only whole pounds and half pounds. It's SUPPOSED to do tenths, but since when does that affect anything?). So officially, since DH got on my side, I've lost 7.0 pounds. It's amazing, I haven't been struggling and fighting, and he's been wonderful. Last night I said to DH, "Life is getting so good right now, it's finally working," and DH said, "Well, I help you get what you want.". Now, NO COMMENT from me regarding how long I've been telling him I want this, and NO COMMENT from me regarding the fact that in the past he has outright sabotaged me. I just accept what I have now, and get on with it.

Oh, and the amusing other side of it all? DH has lost 1.5 pounds this week too! So by him not tempting ME, he's not tempting himself, either. Weird how you pull one string and everything falls into place, isn't it?

I have 10 points left over--had 200 points these 7 days, and can have 210 max--so there's my first contribution to my Boot Fund. I'm thinking of pulling out a beautiful white sculpted pitcher given to me by a friend's grandmother to use as my "bank". My philosophy is, if you have pretty things, why not use them? Why keep them locked in a cupboard where you never see them? So I collect dishes, yes, but I also USE my dishes. They make me happy. And I haven't broken but one plate, yet. So I'm doing well.

Anyway, Turtles, off to do a bit of grocery shopping I think. Have great days!

Hey Good Turtles,
So good to hear from you.
Lauren,
Big time applause to you all the way from Long Island, NY where I live. That's as southern as you can get in NY. I'm about an hour's drive from NYC depending on traffic.
I am applauding you because you met your April goal and it's not even April yet. Boy--you just keep going. I love the way you're handling your weight loss journey.
I have a bit of good news in the foot department and I remember that your dh is a podiatrist. The spur on top of my foot has stopped hurting the nerve near it and I'm pain free right now.
This is a very good time to have this happen.

Mousie,
I am so proud of you for losing so much weight so nicely. The fact that you didn't yell at your dh when he said he was helping you also shows how much you want your marriage to work. I'm thrilled you've done so well, and he will benefit from having healthier foods in the house and fat-type snacks out of the house.
How wonderful. You're in a good place right now.

Lin,
I hope you're enjoying your Easter family dinner right now.
TOM is tricky and predictable. Luckily you've learned what to do.
I'm not saying it's always easy to do the right things, but you know what's worked in the past and you know to journal, so you're way ahead.

Chrissy,
Come back in when you can. We'll give you as much maintenance help as we can. I go to a dynamite WW group and I'll be glad to pass along hints that the girls who are lifetime members share with the group.

Happy Easter and holidays Everyone!!!!
Judy
234/ugh/199
on Wednesday my signature will be updated to my new numbers at WW
I am kind of excited about this new venture
I am eating quite well today. Luckily my daughter is feeling quite a bit better today. Yesterday was not fun for her--more painful than any of us anticipated. Love you guys--take it easy.

Happy Easter, my dear Turtles. I'm up early again (Daylight Savings is TOO LATE in the year, it needs to be about 1-2 weeks earlier) and having a quiet morning. DH is still asleep, but I've got British Easter Eggs for him when he wakes up (In Britain they make hollow eggs that have different candy bars inside--they're large eggs--and that's about it for their Easter offerings. But DH likes them, so...).

Judy, I'm glad to hear that your foot is so much better. Was it just a spontaneous thing? I mean, did it just decide to fix itself, or did the doctor help?

I don't know why but I feel like I should thank you for your comment about my wanting to make my marriage work. That's what I want more than anything else--I want to have my safe place, my dearest DH always on my side. I was writing in my journal yesterday about how this hasn't been about my weight, per se, it's just a metaphor. It's been about him accepting this as part of me, and not trying to change it. Now he has, and we're so happy with each other. He looks at me periodically and says, "kitty's back!" (kitten/kitty/kit is his nickname for me) so he's definitely getting the message that accepting this has been a good thing!

Try to reassure your DD (and yourself) that the pain will pass. I promise you it will. Even if it's a situation where there will always be residual pain, the body will adapt so that it can handle a higher level of pain signals. I promise you, this will pass.

Christy, where aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeee you?

I have been thinking about Lauren and how having a set goal, set date seems to really make focusing easier, and about what my rewards should be. I have, of course, my Boot Fund. But then I got this idea...

Okay, slightly painful story. When we got to this country last year we had 90 days to file with INS, for me to start work and school, get things moved from the UK and from MN and move into a new place, deal with surprising family tensions, and do ALL the steps involved in getting married (like, find a priest, get paperwork, organize schedules, pick a date, get DH's kilt organized, organize the wedding party, everything). One of the things I had to do was pick out a dress. I had tried on a dress in MN the year before and loved it, but they didn't have it here in CA. So, what to do. I had to order it blind, was what to do. I could not return it once I had had it special ordered, and I could not get it altered because we were so tight on time. NEVER DO THAT.

Anyway. This was about the time I started gaining weight again. The dress didn't fit. But, two friends and I got creative with undergarments and managed to get me into it. I spent the day uncomfortable, in terror that a seam would split if I took a deep breath. The worst part was that it was a backless dress, and as I moved I sorta...bulged...out more and more. I have some pictures that are NOT flattering. I do not remember this as a positive day. Yes, it was my wedding day. Yes, I had a wonderful time, my family and his family were there with us and I was and am very happy about getting and being married. But I was uncomfortable, and it didn't mesh with my idea of...being a princess on my wedding day, I guess. We were so rushed and so stressed and so hurried that we made mistakes.

So. What I was thinking, as an ultimate reward, was to get formal pictures taken in my dress. Yes, I know, it wouldn't be on my wedding day. But I would feel so much better, knowing that I got to wear my dress. It would comfort me. It honestly is a beautiful dress, and when it did fit right (the first time I tried it on) it was MY dress--you know how you try a dress on and that's the one? (There was another dress that was utterly gorgeous, that I would have loved to have, that I still long for, but it was out of my price range).

What do you all think? Am I being silly? I was thinking about setting a goal date of our second anniversary (Feb 24 2003). So I'd have nearly a year to get back to "fighting weight"--I'd have 45 pounds to lose. Reasonable? Tell me opinions!

Hi, turtled ones.

Erin, I love your goal. I think it sounds great and very creative, getting formal pictures done in your beautiful wedding dress. For me, I've found I can't make weight goals that far in the future. I just don't know how I'll do, or what life will throw at me in the interim. So I've been setting weight goals just a few months in advance. (I'm already thinking about my next one.) You may be built entirely different from me, of course, so do what you think works best for you. In the meantime, if you think making weight goals would motivate you, why not make some shorter-term goals too? That way you get to applaud yourself along the way.

I've also found that just looking three or four months ahead has felt more manageable for me. I know, for example, that I have three occasions coming up in the next month or so that will almost certainly inhibit my weight loss. When I go up north for our anniversary, for example, I will count points but I'm also not going to sweat going over my range. I plan to have at least two outstanding meals. Also, in early May, we celebrate our Easter, and I don't count points that day. (And it's a MAJOR eating day.) So that helps me figure out how much of a weight loss to aim for without getting discouraged (i.e., not much!).

Finally, the other reason I personally have difficulty setting long-term goals for myself is that once it becomes apparent that I'm not going to hit them, I get very discouraged and am prone to "giving up." With short-term goals, I can be more realistic.

But I've noticed you doing well with your "long-term" weekly point goals, which is something I personally couldn't handle. So you may be made very differently from me in this regard. Whatever, I do think you should have the portrait done as soon as the dress fits, and that you should post it so we can all see it!

Judy, glad DD is feeling better. And glad your foot is better, too. What made the difference, do you think? I love your idea of "starting over" with WW this coming week. Spring is a great time for new beginnings. Something I'm learning on this journey is that each *meal* can be a new beginning. In the past when I would overeat, I just felt I'd blown it and would drop everything. Now I'm learning that the time to get back on track is right now, the time to begin again is today, this afternoon. (That's not to belittle formally marking a moment of starting again, like you're doing -- I think that's extremely smart and powerful. I did that last summer, too, and it was a huge help.) Having that mentality is containing my weight gains and keeping them down to just a couple of pounds now, which I see as MAJOR success and a sea change in my life. I really applaud your doing this.

Lin, hope your Easter dinner with your family is splendid and blessed. I miss sharing Easter day with my family. It's one of the weird side effects of having converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.

Had a great day yesterday out in the sunshine. We've got more today, so I plan to go out and enjoy it before the clouds move in again this afternoon. Have a lovely rest of your weekend, everyone.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/189.5/189 by April 17

Slightly miserable, Turtles. DH was fighting a cold on thursday/friday, and he got better...and gave it to me. It's the heavy hacking cough/deep joint pain kind of cold. He was only down with it for a day or so, so I don't have to suffer for too long, but in the meantime...!

I'm trying to decide if my stomach is upset (I know my head is killing me) and if I want to try drinking something. I have medicine, but I can't take any more for awhile. Hack, cough, wheeze. This is not fun.

Lauren, your idea of interim goals is intriguing to me. I do well wtih long-term goals (the way I see it, I have time to fix anything that goes wrong) but I can also see your point about rewarding myself along the way. Problem is, I can't think of anything that's coming up between now and then that's significant to me! I mean, there's finals week this semester, the start of Fall semester, and regular holidays sprinkled in, but my birthday, DH's, and our anniversary have passed for the year (well, DH's birthday is monday, but it might as well have passed), we don't have any relatives visiting until next summer, and we're not planning any trips this year. Ponder. So I could set up...like..."10 weeks from now" but somehow that seems...I don't know, intangible. Amorphous. Whatever. I'll give it some more thought.

Back to bed with me. BLEH.

Poor Erin! I hope you feel better soon.

As for those short-term goals, here's what I've been doing. I estimate how long it'll take me to lose to a certain milestone (like the next "decade" on the scale) based on my usual rate, which averages at about 3 pounds per month. Some months I lose more, some less. So one idea could be to pick a number on the scale and figure out how long you think it might take you to get there. Then set a date.

I also find it helpful to overestimate the time I think it'll take me, because it's such a great kick to meet my goal a little early.

I'm lucky in the "meaningful dates" department. There's Christmas/New Year's, which is always a good date to aim for. Then a little over 4 months later is our anniversary. And just under 4 months later is my birthday. So I can divide my year into thirds pretty easily and think about what goals I want to achieve by each date.

Since your year doesn't pan out that way, you could try solstices/equinoxes. I may do a summer solstice goal this year, not sure yet. I do know that I want to be in the 170s in time for my birthday. An aggressive goal would be 174 by August 4 (my birthday, and officially no longer "obese"), but that's 15 pounds in 18 weeks. I don't tend to lose quite that quickly. Maybe I'll make a goal like that and then re-evaluate at the solstice. In any case, I do plan to make it to 174 some time in August. And I'd LOVE to be in the 160s by the time I go to the Adirondacks in October.

I'm going to the dentist in a few minutes (AGAIN) to get an x-ray and see what this deep ache in my mouth is. Here's hoping it's nothing.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/189.5/189 by April 17

Hi, Turtles,

You all posted a lot over the weekend. This thread is really long, but I'm not going to change it until tomorrow. I wanted to post a short note to let you all know I haven't deserted you, but I'm fighting off a cold and just want to rest today.

Things are going OK with me. I'm eating a lot less than I was last week. I'm not quite sure about points because I don't have an accurate count for some of the food in my fridge. (I made some last minute substitutions and didn't have time to figure the point change. I don't think any of it is drastically different from the original point count.) So, I'm eating reasonable portions and making healthy choices.

Tomorrow, after a good night's sleep and a ton of extra liquid, I ought to feel more human. I'll post a longer letter and change the thread then.

Hope you all have a great day! Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/235/230/135 or so

Hope you feel better soon, Lin. I think you're the sixth person I've heard so far who got sick over the weekend. Maybe there's something in the water out there in California.

I went to the dentist today; had an x-ray, and it looks like I'm going to need a crown and a ROOT CANAL. If you have horror stories about root canals, this would NOT be the time to trot them out. I'm phobic enough as it is. I think I may have DH get me a valium for the big day. I had that once when I was a teenager and had four teeth pulled; it was great stuff.

No firm date for The Procedure yet.

On the bright side, I always lose lots of weight when I'm terrified!

Onward and downward,

Lauren

Lauren,
How's your toothie? I hope whatever pain you had has passed and your tooth wasn't absessed after all. I love your comments about my getting back on track and I love the example you're setting. I have a long way to go to get close to goal and seeing you do what you're doing reminds me that it is possible.
Your guidance is valued, trust me!

Mousie,
By all means, go for it! My ddaughter-in-law has lost about 25 pounds since her wedding. I actually thought, but did not say, that it would be lovely for her to have my ds rent a tux and have the two of them pose for pictures again. She is so much trimmer now. So I was amazed when you said you were thinking of doing that. I bet it's not as unusual as we think. I think it's a great goal. And I love Lauren's idea of your posting your picture. Lauren's picture for a long time was of her in her bridal gown lifting her head upward--very pretty.
Get over your cold soon and feel better.

Lin,
Hope all goes well with you and your family. Thanks for keeping my spirits up. I know last year was tough for you and that you still have overhanging problems from last year. And yet, you're losing weight, and you're writing your book. Fabulous.

All,
I drove my dd back to her apt. today and she'll continue to rest (I hope) tonight and tomorrow. I took very good care of her while she was here. There's nothing like going home to Mom, right? I am praying that this is the end of procedures, etc. and she'll just need frequent check-ups for awhile.
I've got my food pointed out and I recorded it. I can have one small snack tonight and still be within points. I can also have a cup of decaf tea or lots of water and that will get me through the night.

Take care, be happy, and be well.

Lin,
Feel well.

Lauren,
Sorry you need that dentist *stuff*. I'll be praying for you when you need it done.

All,
I forgot to mention in my last e-mail post that I've been going to a podiatrist twice a week for almost 3 months. I get a whirlpool treatment and ultrasound each time. Heavenly. All of a sudden last week I felt a difference. Hopefully the inflammation around the bone spur is gone and I can avoid surgery. That would be great.

All take care.
Judy

Hi, turtles.

Judy, I'm so glad the whirlpool treatments are helping. So much nicer than surgery! Thanks for the prayers in advance. Believe me, I'll need them! And good for you on staying within points yesterday. Celebrate those victories!

Well, turtles, I NAILED my April 17 goal already! This morning I weighed in at 188, which is about 3.5 down from last week. So I don't lose all month, then I lose all at once.

What made the difference? Same old, same old:

1. Banked 15 points, not including exercise points, which meant I ate in the middle to low end of my range. I seem to be able to do that much more easily the first week after TOM ends. I still find this point range difficult, though.

2. Bumped my exercise back up a bit again. I'd been letting that slide, just doing 1.4 mile casual walks downtown, half-hour walks instead of an hour, that kind of thing. I have to keep that a priority. It's so easy to fall back into old, easier habits!

3. Bumped up the protein. Ate more fish, more egg beaters. I do so much better when I eat non-carb proteins.

4. Was anxious about the tooth. That helps me stay lower in my point range, too.

Well, better get going and get to work. Happy turtling, everyone.

Oh, Lin, how is your brother doing?

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/188/189 by April 17 -- 86 pounds down!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Lauren! YAY! You can hear me cheering for you from here, way to go!

That's so cool, you made your goal! You even overshot it, how cool is that? You must be just happier than anything. Did DH dance with you?

I'm sorry about your tooth, maybe you could ask for general anesthesia? Seriously, what I do (I too am terrified of dentists) is concentrate really hard on my breathing. I use a technique called the "yogic breath": loooooooooong inhale, hold it for a split second, looooooooooooooong exhale, pause. Loooooooooooooooong inhale...etc. It's very calming.

I've been thinking about shorter-term goals and I think I'll shoot for 10 pounds off by Midsummer's Eve (summer solstice). I've got 11 weeks, roughly, so I think I can do it.

Judy, hoping your DD continues to do well. It sounds like you're on your way again with your program. Remember, we're behind you!

Lin, you know, leave us alone with computers and we'll write the Great American Novel...

I'm doing much better, a bit of residual cough but nothing major. I was tossing and turning so much the night before last that I've strained my piriformis, though (the muscle over your pelvis that helps your hips and thighs to "swing"). So what's the prescription for that? GET MOVING! So DH and I may go kite flying but definitely will be OUT today.

I had 12 points yesterday (DH had to force me to consume half of them; I didn't want food but he insisted on it or he wouldn't give me medicine) so I'm at a grand total of 62 for three days. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I think I need to eat. But I figure I'm allowed to be low, I've been sick. So it's all understandable. I'll just focus on "gentle" foods until my tummy feels a bit more stable.

I'm going to miss Spinning tonight because of this muscle strain; I missed it yesterday morning; I may miss it tomorrow morning. This sucks, frankly. But hey, I'll get back to it, and I'm not going to injure myself. I know better than that. So life goes on.

Have a good day, Turtles!

Lauren,
How fantastic! WEigh to go! To lose 3.5# in one week is amazing and yet you had the perserverance to keep going when you weren't losing any weight. The end result was about the same because you made it be the same. You didn't lose, didn't lose, didn't lose, then *lost*! These are all things I have to keep in mind for myself. I am thrilled with your loss and your new accomplishment.

Lin,
We are getting carried away here while you nurse your cold.
Feel well and join in.!

Mousie,
Feel better soon. Sorry you had to miss your spinning classes. Get well and keep on keepin' on.

All,
Today I head to WW to rejoin. Wish me well. A fat-holder-on demon wants me to wait until next week to do so because I am on vacation. What do you think? *No*! I heard you all say it.
I've gotta run and get dressed and be on my way. Today is the first day of my new weight loss journey and I'm psyched. even if we (dh and I) go to the movies today, I'll bring my own popcorn, so that I can have a good day.
All the best to all of us.
Judy
234/ugh/199 soon

Hi, Turtles,

Wow! We really need to start a new thread. This one is heading rapidly for three pages. Tht takes way too long to load (on my computer, anyway). See you all there.

Lin