KimL - I think there are some foods that are not only a source of iron but aid the body in iron absorption. Sorry, I don't really know details. Beyond that I think beans, lentils and dark green veggies are good iron sources.

Judy - Here's a typical day of eating for me and some other info about what I'm doing...
Breakfast - activia yogurt cup and kashi go lean cereal (5 points)
Snack - fiber 1 bar (2)
Lunch - usually leftovers from supper the night before (5-10), cucumbers (0) and baby carrots (0) or fruit (1-2)
Snack - olive oil and rosemary triscuits (2), light laughing cow cheese (1)
Supper - most suppers I make are anywhere from 5-10 points per meal. Tonight we had santa fe chicken (3) with rice (4). Sometimes salad or cooked veggies on the side (1-2 points).
Evening snacks might be free veggies, celery with peanut butter, almonds, 2 point thin chocolate bar treats, popcorn, rice cakes, or fruit depending on how the rest of the day has gone.

I'm walking at least once a day (30-45 minutes at lunch and/or 45-60 minutes in the evening with the dog). I'm doing weight training 3 days a week and cardio 3 days a week. For cardio I'm working on the elliptical at a high intensity (based on monitoring my heart rate). I usually don't use more than 10 of my weekly points and haven't yet used my activity points.

Good morning all and happy Friday to everyone!

It is cold here... ugh, just not really ready for the weather to make the big shift but I guess it is rather I am ready or not... LOL.

DH and I have a busy weekend ahead with chores, errands and also some fun stuff planned.

Went to W/I last night but the meeting was cancelled because the leader was sick. I was down .6 so was happy about that. Nothing major but at least it was not a 5+ lb gain like the last time I W/I. Will keep chugging forward.

Kim: Low iron - Ugh I have struggled with that for a very long time - actually my iron levels are not too bad it is my ferritin level that is very low - that shows the level of your bodys ability to store iron, it appears that I don't have that ability. Do some research online for low iron and ferritin levels while on a vegetarion diet, it is not hard to find things that have a high content in them but you have to keep at it. The suggestions of the other turtles are all good. The key is what to eat or not eat with the iron rich foods or supplements. Vit C needs to be consumed when you take an iron pill or eat your food, it helps for your body to absorb better. While Calcium and Caffine are huge no no's while you are consuming your iron, it renders it useless and it basically pass's right out of your body with out you getting the benefits from any of it. Hope this helps! I take my supplement (slowfe) after my lunch when I have not had calcium or caffine and I take at least one vit c with it.

Judy: Good for you! You are showing such will power! I just know your party will be a huge success! I eat standing up a lot... will have to try that tip!

Bandit: How are you doing? Any plans for the weekend?

Peanut: Sounds like you are doing great! My daily menu looks a lot like yours!

Life4evr: Hope you are doing well!

Cherry: I hope that you are hanging in there!

Alliez: Welcome to our group! we are thrilled to have you with us! I agree with what you said, I avoid W/I when I have not done well... LOL - guess I just don't want to see the proof of my issues You sound like you are doing great though!

Hope I did not forget anyone! Have a great day all!
Princess

Peanutt, thanks so much for the outline of your eating plan. It's really well balanced and something I can adapt to my own needs. Always great to see how others are doing. I also appreciate the amount of exercise you're doing and how that would make a big difference. I am definitely going to do my toning tape again today. Thanks!

Princess, : weigh to go! and This is a great loss because it's in the right direction and you're on meds. Shows you're doing lots of things right! Onward and downward we all go.
I like all your advice about iron. I haven't had that problem since I entered menopause, but feeling anemic and keeping up iron levels can really be tough.

KimL, don't you love this site? There's always someone who can help us out----with menus, recipes , advice or

Bandit, how is your new TOPS group working out?

Cherry and Mrs. Tho and Tessa and all the Turtles, : and have a great weekend.

We've got a quiet weekend planned. May catch a soccer game for my grandson on Sunday and then catch dinner out. On the other hand, I may just bring a crockpot dinner with me for me and anyone else who wants it. I'll see-----I need to stay on track all the time since I know I can lose weight this week. Yay!

and to all of us.
Judy
234.6/191.8/170's by Halloween

Hi turtles - I have been super busy this week with my gf being here until this a.m. Nice to see all the postings.

Peanutt - congrats on making your 10% that is awesome

Princess - glad to hear you were down at the scales.

I have kept busy this week with extra walking/swimming and last night we went bowling after my meeting.

I was really surprised to be down 3.75# this week, with having company all week. But as I said, my gf is pretty healthy eater and we did get in lots of exercise, so that really helped. My pattern seems to be every 3rd week a nice drop then piddle around the other 2.

It is cold up here and this a.m. I actually seen snow crystals coming down.

My gf left this a.m. so back to normal around here. My dd coming Sunday for visit and sleepover, so looking forward to that. I don't the dance that is being held this weekend, so planning on skipping that. So maybe will have a couple of quiet days & get my menus planned for next week.

All - have a great weekend.

Bandit: A HUGE congrats to you! You deserve it!

Bandit, weigh to go! What a fabulous weight loss. And with company with you=-what an accomplishment. : Good to know your weight loss pattern. That's a lot of weight in a month, but if you got discouraged over the piddling weeks, you could easily give up and give in and not have the nice loss. This is great!
Judy
234.6/191.8/17-'s by Halloween

Hey hope everyone is well. Todays eating has been so so. Overslept so I ate at the school caf, but instead of having two slices of pizza, I just had one cheese with a salad. Which is major for me, lol cause I really like pizza and usually eat two slices easily. Well that's about it. Hope everyone had a good week.

Hi, everyone -- just a fly-by for me. You're all doing so well! That's so heartening. I'm up and down and up and down and up ... and heading back down again. Vacations! They wreak havoc. But I'm keeping at it.

DH is living most of the week at his mom's right now; she fell and broke her ankle. Bad osteoporosis. We're hoping she'll be able to be on her own soon, but she's still in a wheelchair. So I only see him on weekends.

Had a wonderful trip to the Adirondacks, as we do every fall. Now paying the piper -- credit card and gained weight. But it was all worth it!

Have a great day, everyone.

Onward and downward,

Lauren

Hi turtles:

Thanks to all for the encouraging words, you guys are awesome!

Lauren - nice to see you chiming in and your trip sounds amazing.

Kim - I know about the too many points for your drinks. The last few weeks I have limited those but it isn't easy for sure.

Sunny and cold up here. Today I am planning on raking up more leaves (have 7 bags already) and get those out for pickup on Tuesday. When my gf was here she dealt with front garden she had planted for me - so was good I left it since I would have pulled out everything instead off just cutting off - she is the gardener not me. So that is all done.
Sure is lots to do with having a house sometimes.
My trailer is all closed up and winterized, so thats it til spring for up there.

Hope you are all staying on programme. Our next challenge is getting through Halloween - I am not buying treats til next Saturday, too tempting to taste-test everything.

All - have a great weekend!

Oh, I'm glad you mentioned Halloween! I meant to post about this because it was something I thought you folks might be interested in.

I was at Costco last week and noticed that in and among the Halloween candy they also had packages of cards and toys. There was one big package of small decks of cards (Old Maid, Crazy 8's, etc. themed decks). There was another package of things like bouncy balls, those sticky hands, mini slinkys, glo-stick bracelets, dinky cars, etc. We don't get enough trick or treaters to justify buying the Costco sized boxes of these things, but I'm planning on going to the dollar store to pick up something similar along with some Silly Bandz. We'll still buy and give out some candy, but it will definitely be less than in previous years.

Hi all and happy Saturday to everyone! Cloudy but warmer here today, they are calling for rain tomorrow and since today is packed with Chores and Errands there will be no leaf raking this weekend, it will just have to wait till next weekend. The washing machine is down for the count so we had to add a trip to the laundrymatt to our list. We are hoping to go and see the movie "Red" later this afternnon and then on to a friends football game. Cycling class tomorrow morning and either the kids are coming for football snacks/lunch tomorrow and if they dont then I will head up to my knitting group. I finished the baby blanket and a pretty warm neck scarf type thing, now I am working on a hat for DH.

Bandit: Having a good friend over for a while is such a fantastic thing and I am so glad that you got the chance to spend time with her... Good luck raking those leaves... LOL - I get a pass this weekend on that chore. Hope you have a great weekend!

Kim: Well we have lots of stuff planned for this weekend - LOL - some fun and some not so fun but it is always productive and they makes me happy. How about you? Anything planned for the weekend? I rarely drink but every now and then I have a glass of wine and I know it is something that I really have to count on because the points add up super fast... glad you had a good time though and congrats on making the main dish!

Peanut: What a great idea for Halloween give-aways! We bought our candy already - today actually - I had to hide it from DH or it would be half gone, like Bandit I usually wait till closer but they were having a sale and the selection was getting picked over so I grabbed it today.

Judy: So what is on your menu for this years Halloween Party? They always sound like soooo much fun! Do you still do the mystery parties? Those sound like a blast also.

Lauren!!! How good to hear from you and best wishes to your MIL for a speedy recovery! Has to be hard with DH away so much of the time. Your vacations sound amazing though!

Life4evr: congrats on the only one slice! Wow, that is huge, I won't even go into how many of pieces of pizza I could chow down on... LOL - I could do some serious damage! Great job though!

I have to run... lots to do but wanted to stop by and see how everyone is doing.
Princess

After basically a few months of maintaining the same weight i think that i actually GAINED weight. GAHHHHHH! It is so frustrating but i dont have the option to give up. I have three babies that need me and i can barely take care of them because i am so tired and out of breath all the time and i hurt. I read everyones posts and I am so proud of you all.

Just keep swimming... just keep swimming.

Good morning everyone and happy Monday! It is a very cloudy day here, warmer though.

Well today they start the rip-out on the bathroom... I am really keeping my fingers crossed that this all goes as planned with nothing major going wrong - as it is our only bathroom LOL.

The washing machine repair person is due to come out again tomorrow in the late afternoon - I told them to send someone that could actually diagnose the problem this time instead of taking a guess... I really don't mean to be rude but really.... how hard is it if that is your business and you do it everyday. Washing machines are not that complicated. I can not afford to play the guessing game with them so I guess I felt I had to be extremely firm

Food was pretty good this weekend and DH and I went to the gym for a cycling class so that was a good thing. We did not make it to see a movie and I did not make it to a knitting class or my knitting group but over all it was a nice weekend.

Kim: I don't blame you one little bit. I would break just about anything for a real Maine Lobster LOL... enjoy!

Cherry: I know how you feel and what you are going thru... I was way down, then ended up gaining it all back - don't give up... just don't give up!

All: Have a great day!