Cherry, that's what the flex points are for. You may not need them later in the week. You're doing great. Keep posting and you'll fly into the next WI with a :

Love,
Judy
234.6/192.2/189 and closer to goal I can do this!!!!

G'day everyone

I have had a good day did 30 mins on sprinkled myself with plenty of LOL went for a nice walk around the neighbourhood for and hour and had a good day watching points I even bought myself a hula hoop as I read somewhere it is a good exercise tool.

Take care everyone stay focused and keep safe!

Julie

Wow Newyearnewme, You're doing great! That's a lot of exercise. Weigh to go. Efforts like yours and then tracking and watching points is exactly the way to lose weight.

I've got today planned and it should be a good one. Went out to dinner at Outback last night and tried something new. It wasn't a celebration, just a dinner out. I had the house salad w/o cheese and croutons and with the tangy tomato dressing on the side. Then for my entree, I had the shrimp cocktail. It was 6 jumbo shrimp----which was enough for me. I threw away the idea of a complete meal last night and had this instead. Then my little family and I went shopping and walked a bit, so all in all a good day. (I pointed it out----made some very filling popcorn later in the evening and sprinkled the popcorn with some almonds I counted out) I think it was an idea I will try again.

Hey---it's beautiful here in NY. Lots of sun. Here's : for a sunny happy weekend on track and moving well!

Judy
234.6/192.2'189

Judy, you continue to be such an inspiration to me. You're doing great, lady! Three miles, that's wonderful! DH and I walked about that last night, out in our neighborhood. We both felt a little sore when we got home! Took about an hour. (I stopped to smell the lilacs everywhere.) Loved your Outback story, too. An appetizer and salad is really a full meal; it's just that our expectations have gotten so that we can't usually see it that way. You are one smart cookie!

In fact, I read something recently that has stuck with me -- it said that to eat healthfully and the right portions means you have to buck everything in our culture. You have to constantly go against the norm. I'm finding that helpful, reminding myself that what's going on around me all the time *isn't* good, and it isn't even normal for what human beings have typically eaten down through the centuries. It's an anomaly of our time. And we're all paying the price, too.

Julie, a hula hoop!! Good for you! How's that going? I never could get those things to stay up.

Cherry, good to see you and feel your new mojo!

Bandit, those social occasions are tough, aren't they? I've got a couple coming up this weekend (hello, mother's day) and am already thinking ahead here ...

Lin, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. How is she doing now? Stress eating is so hard to resist, I know. Our rational minds tell us it won't solve anything -- in fact, it will make things worse -- but our lizard brains yell for more chocolate! (At least mine does.) {{HUGS}}

My eating has been getting better, and I'm doing more walking. Still haven't been heading to Curves, but I'll get there. I find I eat best when I'm very busy and worst when I'm sedentary. I was very busy yesterday at my new gig, and I was also on my feet most of the day, which helped enormously. Had the best food day I've had in a long time! Weight is slowly coming back down. Emphasis on "slowly."

My Pop (stepdad) is in the hospital, getting his heart jumped back into rhythm. So far so good. He may get to go home tomorrow. His health is so brittle, it has been rough.

This weekend, we're heading to MIL's over in Canada. It's supposed to be cold and rainy, so not a great weekend for sitting on her balcony and watching the ships go by. We've got a tornado watch right now, in fact! But I'm looking forward to it anyway; I usually find it very relaxing staying at her place. Like a little vacation. Then back on Sunday to take *my* mom and stepdad out for Mother's Day. Fortunately, we're going to one of my favorite restaurants, and they have a great salmon meal. So that's what I'll get.

Have a great day, everyone. You look beautiful today!

Evening turtles

I have had a good day watching points and moving a lot more than I was more walking today for an hour I walk until my ankle starts to get sore I have a plate and screws in it from when I broke it about 20 months ago and it doesn't like the cold weather much it is getting cold here downunder we are in Autumn but you can feel winter is on it way.

Lauren the hula hoop is still being practiced I think at the moent half the workout is trying to keep it up LOL it is funny I could keep it going forever when I was a kid I thought it would be easier as I have enough butt to hold it up LOL.

Judy your dinner sounded nice and also very healthy it is good when you can say I've had enough and walk away feeling satisfied.

Take care stay focused and keep safe everyone!

Julie

Julie- I had gotten a hula hoop and my kids 4,3, and 10 months found it and crushed it. It was just a cheapy one. I have heard if you get one of those expensive weighted ones that you really get a workout.

Lauren - sounds like you are doing good with the exercise. Hope your Pop is doing ok.

Judy- You made great choices at the restuarant. Good to hear your planning ahead.

I ended up at McDonalds with the family and didnt really know the points so i just got something. Then when i got home i figured it out and had 8 pts left for the day. But you know i am ok with my eating out today and i am going to do my best to work with what i have got left. Thanks for all the encouragement and advice i have gotten. I have a thing that is like bike pedals on a stand and i have it under the computer desk and i can pedal while at the computer. I am hoping that it will make a difference.

Turtles,
It's great to see us all chiming in again and working the program! Yay to all of us for keeping on track!

Lin, that iPhone must be a lifesaver and fun for you at the same time. I give you credit and : to get through these busy times. I that you're putting thought into what you are doing weight wise to help yourself eat in a healthy manner. Weigh to go! We are all pulling for you.

Lauren,
wow! three mile walk in an hour and time to smell the lilacs. That's really good! Thanks for the kind words. Right now I am highly motivated and from my experiences in the past I realize this is the time to push hard and do as many things right as I can so I can lose weight. I am determined. I took to heart your comments that you had read about everything in our culture goes counter to what we should be doing. Giant portions, etc. really don't do us any good. Interesting side FYI: Outback cut back the sizes of their filet of beef from 9 and 11 oz. to 6 and 9oz. Isn't that interesting? They also have calorie counts on some of their menu items. I think the restaurants will be scaling back so the calorie counts don't look as horrific as they had been. This will be informative to watch. I hope you had a good visit with your mother-in-law and it turned out to be relaxing. Also, have a nice day with your folks today.

Julie, I love the hula hoop idea. I tried one a few months ago and was a complete flop with it. I couldn't remember how to get it to go around and around. Hey, you're right-----picking up the hoop has to help and count as exercise too. LOL.

Cherry, keep up the good work. Today is Mothers' Day and you've got those three adorable kids. Have a good one and let's all keep in mind what we want the most----good health and a fitter body. I'll let you know what I do when I "end up" at McDonald's and with my grandson that happens quite a bit. If I'm hungry, I get a small burger. They are tiny, but with the bun they point out to 6 points. Some McDonald's around here offer a side salad and I'll get that to help bulk out my lunch. If not that, they do offer a side of fresh sliced apples. I avoid the dip and nuts and eat the apple slices and that's a decent choice too. My favorite place like that is Burger King where I get a Whopper Junior w/o mayonnaise and that also points out to 6 points. The lettuce and tomato help fill me in. With a cup of tea or a Diet Coke, I'm okay.
The biggest help that has helped me recently is that it is perfectly okay to leave a fast food place or restaurant hungry (what an ) because I've got VitaTops at home or fruit or popcorn to fill me in. Hope this helps.

Bandit, will you be with your daughter today? How's the socializing? You're my socialization guru. You do so many fun things. Good luck with all you're doing.

My family is coming today for Mothers Day. I made a fresh fruit parfait (just fruit) for dessert. I counted out a frittata and it looks like 3 points for 1/6 of the dish. I'm also making French toast with skim milk and Weight Watchers bread and I may have that. I made VitaTop corn muffins (I'm in love with these products----so filling and only 1 point each) and I'll have a pot of tea ready to go. I've got a couple of other things for the family (an onion/gorgonzola quiche and breakfast sausages ) that I'll skip and fill in on the foods I mentioned and the fun of having my family here.

You all have a good day. Be kind to yourselves and keep the big picture in mind. We are doing this!!!!! Let me just say that I am inspired by the wonderful losses I've seen here over the years and those losses are keeping me going right now.
Judy
234.6/192.2/189 and thinner

Morning, turtles:

WOW - so many posts to read, thats great!

Hope you all had a nice Mothers Day & didn't overdo it too much. My dd came home yesterday for the afternoon & we went out for a late lunch, which was really nice then I visited my mom last night & had my dessert there with her. So didn't do too bad with my menu.
Went to comedy club Fri night & dinner beforehand & had smallest steak with baked potatoe & salad - so again, not too bad.

It is freezing up here today & we actually had frost last night, but I know by now not to plant flowers until after May 24th weekend.

So, looks like everyone is chugging along on this weight loss adventure, so keep up the good work & lets all have a great OP week!

well it is weigh in day again. Last week i gained 2.2 pounds and this week i lost 2.4 pounds so i guess i am down .2 . Not what i was hoping for. I guess it could have been worse.

Hi turtles:

Cherry - that is a wonderful loss. Keep it up & you will do great!

Just finished a big salad for lunch with tuna on top & was really good.
Got in 2 hours of yard work last night & was exhausted after that.

Biggest Loser tonight - anyone here watch this?

Hope everyone else is behaving & staying on track.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Hi Turtles,
Cherry, that's a :. You're doing it!. Don't look back, please look at what you've accomplished. Keep it up and you'll see a good loss next week too. I know it's disappointing to have a week where in total from the week before you lost .2#, but if you can, think of it this way. You might have continued the gain and you'd be so annoyed at yourself. I yo yo much more than I want and then all of a sudden something clicks and I'll lose another 5-10# and that's how my weight has come off. You're doing great! Keep up the good work!

Bandit, great I have to remember to eat some tuna or salmon this week. I haven't had any in a long time and I like it! Here's hoping you have a : this week! I'm heading to WW's WI in a couple of hours.

Okay Julie, Lin, Lauren, and everybody : and for a : this week. What are you doing that might help everyone?

Judy
234.6/192.2/189 and thinner

Hi, everyone,

Too many posts since I last posted, so I'm not going to try to respond to individual ones. You're all doing great, even if what you're doing is hanging in and posting and doing what you can. That's better than just ignoring it all, which is what got us into this mess in the first place.

My mom is out of the hospital and in a really nice care facility. If we can get her out of the hospital gown and into regular clothes, then get her out of bed and moving around so she gets strong again, she can go home. But her OCD issues get in the way. She doesn't want me to bring her clothes because she's afraid they'll ruin her jeans by not washing/drying them the way she does. I decided that I'm bringing her clothes and she's going to have to just deal with whatever happens with the laundry. She can always buy new jeans.

Anyway, I realize that the situation with my mom is going to remain stressful because of all the things that made it stressful before she got sicker. And the burden is falling on me in a lot of ways. Her tenant, Tracie, is a godsend, but there's only so much she can do because she's not related. The rest is mostly up to me because my brother lives too far away to do a lot. A couple of examples: my brother's not going to make all the phone calls to tell relatives Mom's new phone number or do other, similar time-consuming chores. And I get to listen to the lecture from Mom's ex about how Mike and I "need to do more" because Mom's alone too much and feels abandoned. But we can't quit our jobs and spend hours with her. If we were retired and had the time, we'd be there more. Anyway, I have to figure out how to deal with it all without overeating.

I'm currently working on making sure to get in as many fruits and veggies as I can. I tend to turn to carbs when stressed, but when I eat lots of veggies and fruits I manage better and don't over eat sweets. Right now, keeping myself fueled with the healthiest food is my best plan of action. I'm trying to watch portion sizes, but I'm not doing well with the whole weighing and measuring thing. I've got to get back to where I care about that stuff again. It seems like I don't have the mental energy to deal with planning meals, counting points, etc. So, I'm working on my inner attitude. Until I get that back, nothing will get better with my weight loss.

I'll try to check in more often, too. You all help more than you know.

Keep on turtlin'!

Hi Turtles,
Lin, so good to hear from you. I'm glad your mom is out of the hospital and into a facility. : and to you. I can feel how stressful this is for you. You've got a good plan and I know you can follow it. I'm sending your mom : too because that may make it easier on you in the long run. Yeah, don't worry about the nit picky things with WW's. Fruits and veggies----a little protein here and there to keep you going. You should do fine with that. I wish we could all help you in some way, but you know you have our support!

I'm back from my WW's mtg and WI. I lost 1.2# this week and I'm down to my WW's virgin weight by a tiny bit-----but I did it! ! I need to lose another 2# and then I'll be in the 180's. I need to do this! I told my leader I wanted to lose so much more because I exercised like crazy this week (3mile walks most days and toning with 5# weights some days) and cut back my points. Younger, I would have lost 3# doing this. Now I have to settle for a little more than a pound. But!!!!!!!!! a pound a week is still 52# and that would get me to goal. So...........I can do this. I am doing this. The past doesn't matter. I can eat less and move more and I can accomplish this very important goal.

: to all the Turtles. Chime in when you can and keep on keepin' on.
Love,
Judy
234.6/191/189 and thinner

Hi Turtles,
I've got a minute and this thread is running long, so I'll start a new thread. See you all at #231 Bale of Turtles Doing Our Best!
Judy
234.6/191/189 and thinner