thanks i willbe i am trying that but it sure is hard lol

Hi All! Whats NSV?
Ive never counted calories before. WW didnt work for me, at my weight, I had so many points i could eat junk too. I tried Lindora to expensive and restrictive for me. I do well with south beach if i actually stick to it
How do you put all those little things in your posts? pictures too? I tried followind the directions but, I still dont get it...

Hi All,

Well what a great day. It’s hard to believe that just easing up on myself with regards my weight loss has made such a difference. I appreciate what Ruth was saying about needing limits, and I just want to say that although I am aiming to eat normally, and not ‘dieting’ I am keeping in mind my portion sizes and what I eat. I’ll still make good choices, but I won’t crucify myself if I make a bad choice. I really think this is the way forward for me. I might not lose weight any time soon, but I won’t gain it and that to me is a big step forward!

Ruth – with regards to what you were saying about personally not knowing what normal eating is, and sometimes not knowing when to stop. I hear you on that. Some days I have what I call my ‘eating head’ on and I am sure I could empty the fridge and need to go buy more. So, on those days when they happen now, rather than try to stick to points, I’ll just focus on sticking to my 3 meals, and if they happen to be high calorie, so be it. The next day I’ll have to exercise to make up for it. This is all new to me, so watch this space to see if I practise what I preach

I’m sorry that you are struggling, I really do know how you feel. I hope you can find a way to stick OP and carry on with your weight loss. All I can suggest is that you try not to be too hard on yourself. Losing weight IS hard work , you should be proud when you are doing well, focus on that

Patti – I didn’t realise that you were due another check up soon. I really hope that it all goes well, How’s the water retention now?

Littleannie – NSV means non scale victory, anything like clothes being baggier, or managing to do something without losing your breath etc. Anything great that happens because you have lost weight that doesn’t involve the scale.

As for the smilies in the posts, click on Go Advanced rather than using the quick reply box, a new bigger box to write in will open up. On the right there are a few smilies that you can click on to use, or if you click on ‘more’ a new pop up window will open up with the full range of emoticons and you just click on the one you want.

If you want a picture under your name, go to the User Control Panel, you’ll see it first on the left in the purple tool bar. Click on that and then choose edit avatar. It’s all pretty straight forward.

Well I’m going to make a move, time to watch some TV. Take care all and I’ll be back tomorrow,

Hugs,

Ammi

Good morning ladies, wowee, is it hot here in Georgia! We are hovering around the 100 degree mark everyday now. I guess that is why we have those bad thunderstorms. We really need the rain, but I dread those bad storms. Makes me want to do what my doggies used to do...climb under something and hide. Of course I couldn't get this big butt in the tight places they hid.

It looks as if we have lost half of our regular posters since Terri took a break. Come home!! We need all of your input.

Lilion, who is going to keep me in line if you don't come and kick my butt?? Terri is not here to do it either. I have tried kicking my own but my foot won't reach. How is the back?

Ammi, good thinking about excepting that you will sometimes eat off plan. My problem is once I get off plan I have a devil of a time getting back on it, like now! I did fairly well yesterday, could have been better. Calories were low, but choices, not so hot.

The hot weather has kept me inside the last week or so. I miss going outside and puttering around, but I will leave that for DH until the weather cools off. I told you all I am a wimp. Don't like hot weather!

Well chickies, Nothing happening around here. Hope to see MORE of you checking in. Ta for now. Ruth

Good Morning Ladies!

Annie, you wouldn't have any more points than I do on WW – or not more than 1 or 2. I know that 30+ pts is a lot, but that's kind of the point. (Pardon the pun.) What were you eating that constituted "junk"? Even with junk food, if you stay within your points, you should lose, because you are keeping your calories down low enough? Just curious. Heather can tell you how to put stuff in your posts.

Ruth – Not to worry, I'll happily I need it daily, I swear. My skirt today feels smaller, not bigger, than the last time I wore it. I have used a lot of my flex points this week, but really, I shouldn't have gained again. Maybe it shrunk? Yeah, my poly/rayon skirt shrunk! Riiiiight!

Ammi, I think you have a good idea, trying to "eat like a normal person". Assuming, of course, you know how a normal person eats. I have to say, I don't. Everywhere I go it seems like people are living off fast food and NOT gaining weight! Three meals, three snacks, is about all I can do that works. And eventually I lose the snacks once I'm on track.

The back continues to be a pain in the – back! It is better, but I regret having walked from the state parking lots (about ¼ mile from the office) instead of just parking illegally and risking a ticket.

We enrolled my DS in 8th grade last night. I feel so old! Then we went out to dinner – breakfast for my DH. We usually end up somewhere like Country Kitchen – in this case, Perkins – when we do that so he can get breakfast and I can get dinner. I tried to be good. I got salmon and broccoli and rice pilaf, left ½ the rice and didn't eat my dinner roll. I still ended up using flex points. Perkins is famous for its pies and it was 99¢ pie night – and I didn't get any and didn't take a bite of DS or DH's pie! I also won a cookie in a charity thing they have by the register and I did eat a couple (3) bites of that – but counted the probably 3 pts it was too! I know I made good choices, but I'm still just terrified of WI on Saturday. I feel VERY fat today.

AND I've really got to go! Work is waiting! So to all my friends I didn't address specifically - Hello!

non scale victory- i like that! Does only eating 5 oreos as opposed to the whole bag count? Now if i could just get it down to 1 or 2...
Lilion -could you kick my butt too please? My skin feels tight, nevermind my clothes! Wow on skipping the pie! Thats hard. My baby is almost 16 and hoping to drive soon so dont blink! It goes way too fast
Ammi- I read this funny and inspirational book by Geneen Roth called "if youre going to eat at the refrigerator, pull up a chair!" It how she finally lost weight and kept it off by quitting dieting. It seems reasonable to try to eat normal, but it sure isnt easy!
Sorry, I have to go, Ill try to catch up with everyone tomorrow-

Good morning ladies, How are you this morning?

Lilion, thanks for the I will return the favor anytime you want. Skirt shrank...

As I was dusting the dining room furniture this morning (yes, already) I was thinking about my weight and the struggle I have had with it over the years. It seems to me the more I have dieted the fatter I have gotten. I am older than most of you and have been at it longer than you, and believe me I know how badly I need to get some of this off of me. Ammi may just have the right idea. If we could just eat normally, or three rationally sane meals a day, we should be able to lose weight without cutting out one thing or another. What do you all think? Is that even possible? I may just give it a whirl and see if I can be rationally sane. LOL! Of course you couldn't sit down to an all carb meal and expect to lose weight. (what I would love to do! )

LittleAnnie, good going on the cookies! I am not a big sweet eater myself. I don't crave them. (can't say I haven't overdone on the zucchini muffins though). I do love bread and carbs of all kinds, that is my weakness.

Well ladies, I look forward to reading your thoughts. Ta for now, Ruth

Morning ladies,

I just wanted to drop in and let you know that my job trauma is over. I found out on Wednesday that I still have a position; however, not the manager position I thought. While I am no longer in a management position, I still retain my job grade (which affects bonus pay) and my salary. So I mourned the loss of being a manager for a mere few minutes and then am very happy with the direction I'm going.

So I am going to concentrate on getting my life back and headed on a happy, healthy path again. I'm still taking a break from posting much here as I want to really concentrate on the healthy habits and figuring out who I am again without all the work stress. Its been a long time since I've had a life with a job I enjoy and truly enjoy everyday life. A very long time and I didn't realize it until now.

Last night I decided to drag out a yoga tape I've had. OMG, my muscles are so incredibly tight. I had been thinking about going to a chiropracter but finally decided not to since the real problem is the tight muscles. At the end of this tape is a "relaxation pose"; well I call that laying on the floor but by the time I was done and into that pose, I almost melted into the floor. I could feel so much tension just easing away.

Thanks so much for all the continued support and friendship. I am signed up for the Biggest Loser challenge on 3FC that starts in early September so I'll be prepping myself to kick butt this time! So, you better watch out!

Take care and I'll drop in occassionally.

Hey everyone!

Annie: My pleasure Anytime! I'd consider walking away from any amount of oreos a NSV! I LOVE oreos - especially those white-covered ones at Xmas time!

Ruth: My problem is I have to watch every bite! My idea of a "regular meal" would be a ton of fried stuff. When I started back in 05 I had to totally learn a new way of cooking and living - and measure everything or the portions would be huge. I still have a hard time NOT cleaning my plate. At dinner the other night, I put my dinner roll over my extra rice and squeezed the lemon that came with the salmon all over it in order to NOT eat it just because it was there!

Terri: Congratulations that you still have a job at the same pay! I'm not sure I'd be upset about not being a manager. At least around here, being a manager is WAY more hassle than being a peon! They had to hire outside the agency for our last manager, because no one who worked here was willing to apply for it! One of our hearing officers was even asked by the deputy director if he'd take the job and he told her NO!

My back is a bit better today. A woman swapped chairs with me and her's is made with decent back support. I still can tell this one muscle is trying to grab, kind of feels like making a fist right over my right kidney, but at least the stabbing feeling is gone. I plan on trying some VERY gentle yoga and stretches tonight. And when the pain is really gone, to keep it up! I didn't have this much back problem when I was dong yoga regularly.

I've been thinking about my trip in 2010 again. Lately, I've been thinking, I have a 13 yr old DS who'll be in college in five years and we have no college fund started. My DH and I will NEVER pay off our own student loans. (Seriously, at my rate of repayment my loans will be paid off in another 70 years. Given that I'm 44 now, I don't see them getting their money!) So I've been wondering if I'm being selfish blowing what will probably be 10 grand on a two week vacation. Then I think, if we don't go then, it'll likely be 10-15 more years before we'll have the $$ saved up again. Do I really want to wait until I'm 55 or 60? Will I be able, physically, to handle all the walking and bad beds? I have problems enough now with my back and DH has problems with his knees. I don't know, maybe I'm being selfish, but maybe I'm not. It's just been bothering me lately, so I'm venting.

Hope everyone has a good day and weekend to come! Looks like beautiful weather in Missouri!

The idea of "normal" eating is appealing. I think I try to do that. I eat real food, for the most part, I eat 3 "meals" and several "snacks". But I really really do have to pay close attention to portion sizes or I will inhale everything. So, I do best when I can weigh and measure.

But I don't think successful eating for me will ever happen nonchalantly. That is, I don't think I'll ever just fall into knowing how much food I should have to not gain weight without the measuring, or the accountability of writing it all down.

Not to say that I write it all down every day. I took 2 weeks of vacation and didn't write down a thing. I knew I was eating too much and was right! Getting back on track has been... challenging... but I am not going to live my life monitoring every single day. Just 90% of them (or more).

That's my balance. Eat healthy and live healthy most of the time.

Hello All,

I’m pleased to say that I am doing well on the eating ‘normally’ strategy. I think I should say though that it’s right that everybody eats different amounts which is normal to them and therefore they don’t gain weight. And yep, just as Lilion said, some tend to live off junk food and don’t gain an ounce! So when I say that I want to eat normally, I mean 3 meals that leave me feeling satisfied, snacks if I need them, but definitely no chocolate of junk food. Today for example I bought a huge assorted salad. On a diet I doubt I could have touched it because some of it was pasta with cheese, or a Caesar salad. I felt happy knowing that although it wasn’t a low calorie salad, it was still a healthy option, and if skinny girls can eat stuff like that, then why can’t I? I am still having the odd moment of guilt born from years of dieting where I think NO I can’t eat that because it will take me over my limit. Then I remind myself that I’m not giving myself a limit. It’s weird, but it is working for me so far. Like I said, I know I won’t lose weight this way, but maintaining I do believe is actually much harder than losing. Teaching myself that not dieting does not equal eating like a pig. That’s the reason I’ve always been a yo yo dieter. I have always dieted, then given up, then eaten like a pig, gained back what I lost and more, and have had to diet again. I think I am doing it the right way this time, and I’ll be happy to lose the dieters mentality.

Ruth – I really do believe that eating rationally is the key to weight loss because once we get that down pat we can then concentrate on perhaps lowering portion sizes of calories so that we can get the lbs off. You were saying that you’d love to sit down to a plate full of carbs. Well within reason you can. I’d say just make sure the portion size isn’t OTT, and that perhaps you do a little extra exercise to compensate for it. I am sure that skinny gals that can live off junk food can do so because they move a lot faster than us, are naturally more active, and they burn off those calories. In my case just cutting out chocolate and crisps (potato chips) will make a big difference to my weight gain. When I ate the salad today and calories crossed my mind I thought about how many wasted calories I have in a bar of chocolate, and it helps put eating a nice healthy salad higher in points than rabbit food (lettuce, celery etc) into perspective.

Lilion – I hear you on feeling old now that you have enrolled our DS into 8th grade. My DD is 17 and starting her last year of high school in September. She’s talking about which University she would like to go to and I’m like NOOOOOO I’m not old enough to have a University aged young adult!!

Good for you for making such good food choices when you went out for a meal. I know what you mean about figuring out what’s normal for you when it comes to eating food. I know that I have a big appetite, like if one person is satisfied with one sandwich, I’ll need two. So I’ll have two. But as I get used to only eating 3 meals a day with fruit for snacks, I’m hoping that my tummy will shrink so that I’ll end up satisfied with just the one sandwich. It’s all trial and error right now, but I really have to give it a go.

Sorry to hear that your back is no better, do you know what is causing the problem? I have suffered back problems for years, and they worsened a lot after having epidurals for my ostomy surgery. Gotta laugh because when I was giving birth to my DD the midwife said I could have an epidural. I hated the sound of them so said NO WAY. Then I ended up having 3 epidurals thanks to horrid surgery. Grrrr. Back pain sucks and I can truly sympathise with you

As for your 2010 trip, I say GO FOR IT with no guilt. I know you have debts, and you need to save for your DS college fund, but at the same time, this life is short. I’ve always been a person who has thought why wait for retirement before starting to enjoy life. You could put off your trip and pay some debt, but the debt won’t be totally gone, you’ll still have it, you’ll still need to send your DS to college. So I say take the two weeks holiday, enjoy every minute of it, and then you will feel more relaxed, more refreshed and able to carry on paying your bills. How many times have you heard about people dying young, and how many times would they have said what they’d be doing when they stop working? I say enjoy your life now, I’m not saying forget your responsibilities, just make sure that you don’t forget to do some fun stuff too!

LittleAnnie – oh yes indeed I would definitely say that only eating 5 Oreos instead of the whole pack is an NSV. A few more of those and you’ll find yourself buying smaller clothes

That book you read sounds like it would be a good read, I might just have a look for it. I think it’s definitely proven that eating ‘normally’ does help obese people like me lose weight, if only because they are cutting out a lot of the extra calories they would normally eat. But it’s finding out what’s normal for each of us that is the hard part. There is a man over here, a hypnotist, who sold a book with a CD saying that you can lose weight without dieting. His main rules were to eat only when you are hungry, but eat what you want, and really enjoy what you eat, take your time with it, and savour it. That’s all well and good, but as much as I sort of agree with it, I can’t believe that if a person chooses to sit down to eat a plate of chocolate until they feel satisfied that they will lose weight. So I think what I am doing is a version of what he says, but a healthier version.

Terri – I’m glad that you posted and very glad that you kept your job. I’m sorry that it wasn’t the management position you wanted, but hey, at least on the good side you won’t have that extra stress. Take care and I look forward to when you post again.

Heather – yes you do seem to have the right idea when it comes to eating, but can I ask, is it something you are only able to do now that you’ve lost all the weight you have? I sometimes wonder if I’m copping out, trying to eat normally before I diet, but after thinking about it I realise that I have to do it this way. It will teach me to maintain when the time comes, and it will ease me into dieting when I feel ready.

So have you had chance to put any photos on the picture page or anywhere we can see them? I’d love to see them. If you aren’t going to post them, any chance of you emailing me some? Do you still have my email address?

Take care all, I’m off to watch CSI Miami Have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Ammi

Ammi -- I lost weight the same way I am maintaining. I never had an all-or-none attitude about it. But when I was losing successfully, I did restrict myself enough to lose. Not sure that makes sense. I guess what I want to say is that I had a long term idea when I was losing -- I wanted to find things I could do for life. But I also knew that weight loss might involve more restrictions. For example, these days I am more likely to try some sweets and desserts when I am out, but in the year plus I focused on weight loss, that only happened a couple of times. I figured the food would be there later (and it is!).

I have to admit to myself (and everyone) that I have regained 10+ pounds, and I need to get myself back to weight loss mode. Compared to maintenance, that means focusing on more regular exercise and practicing a little more restraint on a daily basis. Take out an extra evening snack or make my time between "feedings" a bit longer. But it's not that much of a shift. I never went back to eating the same junk I used to...

As for pics -- I think I'll get some posted soon!

Heather - I sure wish I was like you because I know it's my all or nothing attitude that has kept me yo you dieting for most of my life. It's time to stop the yo yo effect now

10 lbs that's nothing lol, I am sure you'll lose that again quickly. That's what I said I'd do when I got to goal, gain some lbs here knowing I could lose them again, only when I lost weight before 2 lbs went to 20, 20 went 40 and I never lost the couple of lbs to start with. So hopefully learning to eat normally now will remedy that problem when the time comes again

Can't wait to see your pics, hope you get time to do them soon. I'm a nag aren't I

Hugs,

Ammi

Good morning ladies, How are you all this morning?

I am having a problem and I am afraid it may be catching! I didn't want to post all weekend and I really wasn't in the mood to do so this morning. We all get burned out at times, but I really miss the daily contact with our members that have quit posting. Something I have thought about doing more than once.

Not a lot to write about this morning. It is cleaning day at my house agasin, so I know that is not very exciting for all of you. Same old same old!

I am trying to do my darndest to stay as op as possible today. No tasting or nibbling on anything! I wasn't very good about that over the weekend and I feel bloated and awful today. Blah!

Well chicks, have a good one. Ta for now, Ruth