Hi Turtles,
Dear Mousie,
I remember you very well. Good for you for posting back here. Lauren will be so excited. " on your weight loss. Gaining back weight isn't fun. It makes us feel so low. You know what to do and I'm glad you're trying the Flex Plan to knock off some of the weight.
In the meantime, I'll catch you up on what I'm doing: I'm retired for two years now.
I have three grandkids--one of which lives nearby. I am trying to get my original weight loss back and have to lose 8 more pounds to do that. Then-----my next short term goal will be to get into onederland. Exercise is still a bugaboo for me--I remember how excellent and enthusiastic you are about it. It's to hear from you. Guess what? Miata (Kathy the quilter) just posted the other day as well. I feel like it's old home week.
Take care, take it a day at a time, post often. Spread good cheer.
Love,
Judy

Wow, Judy, two years of retirement must be grand! It must be nice to have the grandbabies nearby. My parents are nearby but none of the grandkids, and they plan every year for their [too short] visits! Whoa, all the oldies are back, I'm excited to see everyone else. What has happened to Lin? I look forward to 'seeing' Lauren again.

8 pounds, single digits! You're so close!

Hi Turtles,
This has been a great week. Because of social commitments, we have eaten out four times. That's tough, but I made good choices. I also got on the treadmill every day this week. Tomorrow is WI and I'm hoping for the best. I would love to have lost a pound, but that's not showing up on my at home scale yet, so we'll see.
In the meantime, Mousie, Lin has decided to post elsewhere but was happy to have us keep the Turtle name. I miss her because she always had good ideas about weight loss, but right now she's very interested in her writing and is pursuing that. We've all gotten very busy here, but I'm hoping with you rejoining us and with Miata out there and willing to write that Bandit, Lauren, and I will join you in giving support to each other.

Everyone take care--do what works for you--and keep coming back.
Love,
Judy

I'll have my fingers crossed for your weigh-in, Judy. It looks like I've dropped the water I was holding last week, but I'm only halfway to weigh in so I'm not counting on it yet!

I wish Lin all good things with regard to her writing, but I'm sad she's not here. Lin always had good things to say. I'm trying to break into the published masses myself, as a teens/tweens author. Nothing yet, but I haven't given up hope!

I'm still eager to hear from Lauren. Lauren...where aaaaarrreeee you...?

Hi Judy - way to go on your weight loss last week & good luck this week. Good for you.

Mousie - a nice big Welcome to you & am looking forward to talking with you.
Am sure you will have lots of tips for all of us & I need all the help/motivation I can get.

Not going to meeting this week - the girls are going to see Tim McGraw & I have to get some yard work done before long weekend but I will behave myself as best I can and we will all be back at it next week.

So everyone have a great evening & talk to you soon.

Hi Turtles,
Bandit, keep on keepin' on! I'm always interested to see how your WI's go and the last three have been great! Wouldn't it be wonderful if we finally we able to put everything together and get this weight off?

Mousie,
Glad to hear the water weight is evaporating. Just keep with it and you'll be fine.
You show a lot of good traits to come back here and post. I'm so glad you are doing this.

Yes, I miss Lin tremendously. She always posted such thoughtful comments and I always felt that she really understood the weight struggle. I'll try and give you great support and in this group we'll do the very best we can and more!!!!

Today was another good day. I WI tomorrow and I hope to see a shakeup on the scale. so far at home, nothing is happening, but I know I could drop a pound overnight. Wish me luck
Love
Judy

Hi Turtles,
Chime in when you can. Success at WW's WI yesterday. I lost .8# and am only
1 1/2# from my lowest point in five months. I need to keep this going and I know I can do it.

Good luck to us all. You're all the best.
Love,
Judy

Oh, Judy, so close! My weigh-in for the week is tomorrow. I peaked today and nothing besides the water weight from last week has come off yet--but then I realized that I'm two days pre-TOM! So keeping the water from last week off is a good thing, and I'll take it!

I got some bad news about my dad's type II Diabetes earlier this week--he's taken oral meds for 7 years but hasn't taken any weight off, and his doctors have switched him to insulin injections. They say if he takes off the weight he can possibly go back to oral meds, but for now he's on needles. This is scary partially because, well, he's my daddy. It's also scary because I have his body--there is very very little of my mom in me, but BOY am I obviously my dad's little girl! I'm very afraid of going the same way, and I'm even more afraid that something like that is building in my body, and I just don't know about it yet.

So anyway, the upshot of this bad news is that I'm following WW, but I'm also following the principles of a diabetic diet and paying attention to regular eating, cutting out simple-to-process carbs, and trying to get protein at each "meal". I have felt really good this week, with stable energy levels and a firm resolve. We'll see if I can hold onto it!

Hi TUrtles,
Mousie, you can hold onto these good habits you're developing. here's some cheer to spur you on. I'm sorry about the bad news about your Dad. Diabetes is a tough condition and I'm sorry he has to go onto injections. However, Diabetes II
is a condition you can prevent by taking very good care of yourself. I'm sending you a to give you strength for those times that seem tough and I'm sending you a to let you know I know you can do this.

Swania, I'm booking for the Labor Day challenge. I have to go back and check my figures, but I know I've lost weight since we started this challenge. I'm not quite sure how much, but I know I'm on the right track. Let us know how you're doing.

Lauren and Bandit and Choosie and Lin and everybody: Have a great Labor Day weekend and chime in when you can. Keep on making good choices.
Love,
Judy

Hello all! Weigh in this morning, and I lost 3.0 pounds! I rarely lose in big chunks (hence being a Turtle!) but I guess the water from last week and some fat came off this week! It makes me feel like dancing...

I have struggled for a very, very long time with how much to exercise and how much to eat. Some of you may remember from when I was here before. The combination of too much exercise and too little food (yes it is possible) and a host of emotional upheavals ruined my previous losses. It's been years of hard work, both my own solitary work and work with my DH, to put life back in order. We're still married (thankfully) and both of us are still alive (there was a time when that was in jeopardy) and life is stable enough for me to do this work.

I decided that I didn't want to just do it off-the-cuff and take what other people thought was good for my body as gospel. Instead, I've been tracking Points and averages and trends and everything to try to get a feeling for what my body responds to. I've removed any emotional attachment to the numbers and have been looking at it from a purely scientific perspective.

My first week I just focused on writing everything down and didn't much care about being over minimum or using up too many extra points. I averaged about 34 a day all told, but I did not exercise that week. I lost 3.0.

I did that for the second week, too, but started to exercise. I lost 2.0.

I tried only eating minimum Points--didn't work. I was miserable, and I had no loss. I was also, interestingly, napping in the middle of every [possible] afternoon.

I tried eating minimum with only two of my APs on the days I exercised. That was last week, the week it was so ungodly hot and I was bloated and gained 1.5.

So that brings up to this week--when I told myself my minimum goal was 35 a day and I hit an average of 33.5/day. I also focused on the diabetic principles (as of monday) and ate all of my FPs last weekend, so really my average was a bit more than 38 points a day. And I lost!

Now, not enough data for conclusions yet, but I'm going to continue this "eat more" trend and see what happens. I've got a lot of emotions tied up in the idea of eating (as we all do) and a lot tied up in exercise, and I struggle with letting my body have enough food. There seems to be this breaking point--I can either let myself starve and sleep all day, or I can give up and just eat everything all day. There's got to be a middle ground in there, and I'm trying to use Points to help me find it.

Anyway! This has been a long post, but those are my thoughts! Sorry if I'm boring! I hope everyone has a great week, and I'm here and watching again.

Hi Turtles,
Well, good news for me. In wrapping up the Labor Day Challenge, I'm down about five pounds. Yay! Now I'm committing to getting down to 207 by Halloween. I know if I keep up this pace I can do it. I'm exercising most days--exercising a little longer than I used to and I'm eating core foods when it's time to eat--not when I feel an emotional urge to eat. Big change for me and I'm very proud. I know this can change any minute, so I have to be ever vigilant.

Mousie, I am so thrilled to hear you working this through. You are the best.
Hooray on keeping your marriage together. Hooray on making the strides you are making. And mostly hooray on finding a way that satisfies your scientific mind in losing weight by balancing food and exercise. You are absolutely right that we are not here on earth to starve ourselves and nap our lives away. That is not the way to go! The trick is finding the way to go!!!! Take care of yourself. for your wonderful weight losses. You've got this on the run.

To all the wonderful turtles, have a great weekend, do what you do best, and chime in when you can.

Love and :
Judy

Alright, what's happening to me?? I actually have energy!

This morning I got up around 7:30 and had breakfast, then had a quiet morning to myself. Nothing fancy--went to my parents' place to feed their cat, got a paper, measured off a new distance for my walks. Made lunch (toasted sandwiches) for DH and I, and then he decided to curl up in bed and read for awhile. And I...

Got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen floor!

While I was down there I noticed that the cupboards need to be wiped down, too, so I'll tackle that next. And the fridge (already did the dishwasher). There's one load of laundry in the dryer to be folded, one in the washer to be changed over, and the last one to go in to the washer. I've noticed that the carpet needs to be vacuumed, too, and the upholstery on the couch wants to be scrubbed. My windows are okay but the patio needs to be weeded and replanted...

Where did I get all this energy? I'm possessed!

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I love having energy to do something other than nap! I may have to continue this "diabetic diet/small meals often/careful of blood sugar" experiment!

Hi Turtles,
Mousie, I'd say your experiment is a proven at this point!!! Weigh to go! To eat right, exercise, have more energy and feel alive is a very very very good thing. All your enthusiasm made me feel great and the little figures interspersed throughout your post are adorable. Keep up the good work.

I had company last night. Ate the foods that are good for me, avoided the ones that aren't going to help me, used some WW points for small slivers of other foods and had a great time. This is a very good feeling.

Love and : to us all,
Judy

Judy, well done! I'm going to help a friend pack and clean her house this afternoon, and am facing that challenge myself. This morning I've had breakfast (Smart Ones) and a snack (yogurt and a banana) and I'll have lunch before I go, but I'm at a loss for Tea. I don't know how long I'll be gone. So atm I'm planning to take my [sugarfree] peanut butter and [homemade] banana bread with me (to share), and if I'm there long enough to need a snack/tea then I'll have good choices with me.

I'm very entertained by all the smilies that 3FC has, makes the posts much more expressive and much less open to misinterpretation. No more trying to figure out "exactly what did she mean by that?"

I have dug around in my fridge and pawed through my pantry, and now have a list smack in front of me on the freezer door of options I have for meals. I'm a bit concerned about gas prices and about sticking to a budget this month, so I'm trying to minimize going out to lunch/dinner. I'm a good cook (when I take the time!) and readily able to make pleasing meals at home. So I'm making it my project this month to eat as much of what we have in the house as possible. In reasonable portions, of course!

I'm planning to 'watch' the finale Celebrity Fit Club II this evening. I'm very fond of that show. We have a treadmill set up behind the couch/in front of the TV and an exercise mat/weights bench next to the living room table, so I do treadmill walking and abs/floor work while I watch. I'm kinda sad that it's over--I've been getting good workouts!

Anyway. I need to see if my chicken is thawed so I can bake some for the week, so I'd best be off. Judy it sounds like you're doing great! Everyone else, I hope things are going well for you and I'm eager to hear from everyone!

Hi Turtles,
Mousie, I've found that Lauren has been really really busy over the summer. She's had a lot of changes in her life that are time consuming. I can always count on her to get to this site whenever she possibly can. Bandit and I chime in consistently and I'm so thrilled to see that you are right on board with comments and posts. You've given new life to this site.

I love how you are organizing things around you to help yourself. Posting a list of available foods to budget and avoid eating out and end up with healthful foods that will allow you to lose weight is monumental! What a clever idea. I also love to hear that you planned what to do when you were helping your friend. good for you.

Things continue to go well here. I am at my lowest point in 5 months and am well on my track for Halloween Challenge. Today I'll be baby-sitting and that can run me ragged, so I'll have to keep in mind the good foods I have here and make use of them.
The big thing to me is to eat as a response to hunger, not as a response to an emotion! I'll keep on keepin' on and am thrilled with Mousie and Bandit's participation. It helps me to know I am not alone.
Love,
Judy