Hi, Turtles,

Lauren, congratulations on shifting your attitude to deal with your scale. Exercise is a great way to give an attitude lift, too. You know what? I've been reading recently that exercise is more important than eating right or even what the numbers on the scale say. Did it occur to you, though, that your exercise program is fairly new and you may be replacing fat with muscle? Maybe the scale isn't the best measuring tool for you right now. How do your clothes fit?

The slab floor affects my breadmaking because I have varicose veins and my legs really hurt if I stand on slab floors for too long. It makes it really hard to do a lot of cooking. It's one of the main reasons I worked so hard to get out of retail. The thing is that if I didn't have to stand on my feet for hours on end; work nights, weekends and holidays; and the pay was better, I really like retail work.

It also affects my lower back, but that can be helped by using a trick I learned when I was pregnant, all those many years ago. Open the cupboard door and put one foot inside the cupboard. It changes the alignment of your back and makes it easier to stand in one place longer. If you get tired, you switch feet.

When I worked retail, I wore the old lady super support pantyhose. It's like pulling on rubber bands, and it's very uncomfortable, until you get the hose stretched out over your leg. I don't want to wear support hose every day. I've been looking for some mats I can put down on my kitchen floor. I'm thinking about heading to a restaurant supply store and getting those thick mats they use in restaurant kitchens.

The other bad thing about slab floors is that it's hard to do aerobic tapes. My knees take too much of a hit dancing on this floor at this weight, even low impact tapes. So, I'm sticking to walking for the moment. (Sigh)

The calcium information came from diet articles in a couple of the women's magazines I've read recently. I get them from my mother at least a month past the issue date, so they're not current. The problem is that today's magazines don't do in depth reporting. It's all blurbs. I guess they think today's generation is stuck in toddlerhood with it's Sesame Street attention spans! So, there's no real details, just the "headlines".

Anyway, I figure that as long as I don't take too much, it can't hurt and it may help. I'm sporadic with taking the calcium supplements, though. It takes me a while to get into a routine with pills because I hate taking them. I have to make a real effort to remember to take medicine on those rare occasions I've needed to.

However, over the last couple of months, I've managed to get in the two recommended servings of milk that WW requires almost every day. I'm considering adding a third serving, even though I'm not yet over 50, since osteoperosis runs rampant in my family. My mother, at 68, is at least an inch shorter than she was when she was my age. If I do that, I would only need to take one supplement pill to get up to the recommended 1200 mg. It would be a lot easier for me to do it that way than to try to remember to take more pills. Currently I'm also taking a multivitamin. I only forget to take it about once a week. It has some calcium in it, but it also has iron. I couldn't find one that didn't have both. Any suggestions?

Things are going about normal for TOM. I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning when life will be normal again. The pattern every month is so predictable that it would seem like it ought to be simple to deal with it. But the severity is different each month, so I never know exactly what will help. I feel good about how I've done and I'm ready to move on past this. We'll see how it goes when I weigh in on Sunday, provided I don't forget to do it. Sometimes I do that, too.

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/230/lower

Lin, a multivitamin with both calcium and iron in it isn't a problem if you're only concerned about getting the calcium. It's the iron that doesn't get absorbed. If you're concerned about iron, take an iron supplement at a different time during the day.

I take a multivitamin in the morning that doesn't have calcium in it ("Hair Nutrients" -- I get it at my local health food store), then I take my calcium in the evening.

About the slab floor ... I've been doing my workouts in the basement. We've got a rug on the floor, but it's just cement underneath. It certainly isn't ideal. Occasionally it does bother my knees; then I have to modify my workout considerably. But walking, for me, just takes place on cement or asphalt, so it's not an improvement. That's one of the things I like about doing weight training or Pilates -- no impact on the knees.

Here's kind of an off-the-wall question, but what colors do you all decorate with? What styles do you like? How do you feather your nest? I'm trying to personalize this online experience a bit more, and I love to find out how people live. Do you like a homey, country style with rose and blues? Are you a minimalist, with chromes and black and white with a splash of intense color here and there? Are you into southwestern themes, with turquoise and earth tones? Do you just go with whatever got thrown together -- a mishmash of colors and styles that have nothing to do with each other, but you don't have the time or inclination to care?

--Lauren

Hi all,

Welcome STH -- those were great ideas and although you addressed them to Lin, I found many of them useful for me. And Judy, you have a great attitude -- just keep sticking to it.

Well, folks, I went in last week and had a gain. Now I'm at the end of my little BCPs but it's not quite TOM yet. So this past week, I decided to do one thing really well and that was to write down every thing I ate. So I went in on Friday morning around noon and was up again 1.8#. Now I could be discouraged but I'm another week closer to TOM and I went to a meeting at 12:30 instead of 8:00 on an empty stomach. I'm thinking of switching my meeting times and so whatever I do, there will be probably a gain for at least a week or two because I'm going to an evening meeting.

I am switching because a) I want to do things on a pretty spring/summer Saturday morning and b) I'm in a rut and the people on my Saturday meetings are incredibly upbeat, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with it but when you say something negative, you sort of get a tidal wave of "bliss", "happiness", and a form of "just turn that rock over and you'll be doing great!" Well, that's good for newcomers but I've been doing this now for 3 years. And after the last meeting, several of the old-timers came up to me and said, "Thanks for mentioning that -- I was sitting there getting irritated at our needs not being discussed." I sound curmudgeonly but it's one thing to be happy with the program if you just started and have lost 10# right away.

Lin, I know that things are a bit rough for now. Is the weather good out there for you to do more than walking? Are there any kind of civic/town classes available for exercises? I know that in a dinky town I lived in 15 years before, they had a lady's night at the weightlifting room. And it only cost (then) $1.50. Maybe there is something there for you. I know how hard concrete slabs can be on the feet and legs.

Lauren, I do admire your perserverance. I just know that the job situation will be okay for you; you're a talented lady with many good skills and traits. You'll be in demand! You, Lin and Judy just keep plugging away.

I hope to get to exercise again. I've been very lax about it. I do walk my dog but not very far and that's not good for either of us. It's getting to be very spring like weather here on the East Coast. The hyacinths are in bloom, the daffodils have been up and just the other day I saw a tulip or two. It's amazing and the sunset takes longer now. So I have no excuses! I have not been keeping up with things but how is Beth? I thought of her the other day b/c we have started our cycles of running/walking marathons. One of these days, I will be in one (the walking kind -- let's be realistic about all of this! LOL!). Beth, if you are reading, drop us a line and say howdy.

Hey Shakes, drop us a line and tell us how you are doing! Don't be a stranger (like me!)

Take care everyone,

Lori W.

Hello turtles, remember me?

I'm glad to see you are still here! I've finally given up trying to lose weight on my own and went to my first WW meeting yesterday since two summers ago. It's about time, too - apparently gaining weight is not something I'm a turtle at!

According to the WW scale in the summer of 99, I was down to 241. My avatar pic is from that summer. As you can imagine, I've been avoiding the camera lately. I was shocked to see my weight yesterday - a new all-time high. What's amazing is how fast I put the weight on - 91 pounds in 21 months. It's just about a pound a week gain. Unbelievable!

I'm going to work hard this week and reverse this trend - wish me luck!

Thanks,
Kimmers
332/332/299 (10% goal)

Hi, Turtles,

Kimmers, it's really great to have you back. I'm sorry to hear that doing it on your own didn't work out well for you.
Even though Lauren and I don't attend WW meetings, we do believe in support. So we come here. And we're glad you've come back to go through this with us.

Lori, Beth hasn't posted lately. I've been wondering about how she's doing, too. So I hope she reads this and checks in. We miss the folks who sort of disappear for a while. Mousie hasn't posted lately and we've been wondering how her wedding went.

As far as my exercise goes, right now the weather is absolutely wonderful for walking, not too hot and the sun is shining. They're supposedly heating the pool so we can swim, but my son says the water is freezing. I'm hoping for a little warmer temperature than that before I start swimming, but that's one of my favorite types of exercise. I'm planning to start in a week or so, weather permitting. It's a bit breezy, which makes it a little cold for swimming, at least until they actually get the pool warmed up.

I don't kow why, Lauren, but walking doesn't seem to bother my knees as much as dancing, even low impact. I'd love to get a tape of Pilates. It's a form of exercise that really intrigues me. I used to have a Callenetics tape and it was a bit different, but it seemed to work in toning more than in aerobics.

I like your question about decorating. I don't really know how to answer it, though, because there are so many rules about what we can and cannot do in our apartment complex that I feel really constrained. So, I don't do much of anything. I have some ideas about what I'd like to do to make it more mine, but the basic style doesn't thrill me. It's your basic, boring white walls, beige carpet, white vinyl squares in the kitchen and bathroom. Vinyl vertical blinds and mini-blinds on the windows. The most interesting thing in the place is the imitation marble tile inside the door and on the fireplace. It's a gas fireplace that works like a furnace, not a real fireplace.

So, we've decorated with family knick knacks, pictures and calendars on the walls. My son put up some fabric maps from a bunch of computer games we've played. Our decorating is really personal. That's something I'd keep. I tend to surround myself with things I enjoy. The last thing I want is a house that looks like a model or a magazine article on decorating. The main thing that people see when they first come in is the wall of bookcases with my cookbook collection. By the time we're unpacked, it will look like we live in a combination library/computer room. Once the kids move out, we will be able to move the computer and computer books into the extra bedroom (They are NOT moving back in! and we wil be able to do more with the front of the place.

If I could, I'd paint, put in wallpaper, moldings and new light fixtures. The ones in here are really ugly. I love color, but not too bright, especially in a small space. I also change my mind frequently, so if I could, I'd change my surroundings every few years. Maybe if I could afford to redecorate, I'd quit moving so often! My one indulgence, if I had the space to store it and the money to indulge would be to buy 2 place settings of all of the china patterns I couldn't decide between. Then I'd mix and match them on the table. That's about how I decorate, mix and match whatever I like. I decorate very personally. If I don't like it, I don't care how well it "fits". Out it goes. If I love it, I don't care if it matches anything else.

Happy turtlin!

Lin
272/230/lower

Hi gals!
It's a new week and I'm ready to slay that dragon. Wait a minute--the dragon is me. Guess I'm gonna have to work on baby steps and journaling and water and everything I know how to do and am resisting major big time.
You asked me what's bothering me:
1. I'm involved in a lawsuit that is very important to me.
2. My son married someone he loves, and I'm having trouble seeing her with his eyes.
So, I'm letting my control freak self out of the closet too often and that leads to a conflict inside myself. Then I eat to lessen the bad feelings the conflict produces.
Well, we all know how well that works. So I'm up a few pounds and that worries me. So--time to do what I have to do each day. That will get me back on track.
Good luck to us all. I love this site.
To Kimmers, I'm here to support you and I'm sorry trying on your own allowed weight back. To Lori and Lin, good luck with everything that is going on.
Gotta run to work, but it's good to know the slo turtles are keeping on keeping on.
Judy

Hi,

Turtles, this thread is getting really long. Time to hit the quarter century of threads. Starting #25. See you all there.



Lin