Good morning. Just getting thread started. More later.

Susan

Hi everyone. Good weekend?

I weighed in on Saturday morning and stayed for part of the meeting. The good news is that my home scales are only off by 0.1 of a pound. The bad news is that the "last hurrah" meal on Friday nite (chicken fingers and potato wedges) showed up quite nicely on the scale. Ahem. Have I learned nothing??

Anyway, for the purposes of our challenge I will weigh myself (with confidence) on Wednesdays and keep you posted on my "official" progress at WW.

I like the little changes that they've made to the program. Personal daily points make sense to me. So far, I've been able to remain within my personal allotment but I know there'll be days when I'll be dipping into the flex pts.

I had an awesome 10km run on my treadmill yesterday morning. I set it up in my (cold) garage and by the end of the 72 minutes I had ditched my shirt and was in a jogging bra only ... with pants, of course

I've been carrying my tracker aound with me, recording diligently. I feel like a good little doobee this morning...

How are y'all?

Susan

Good morning!

The snow missed us here by the lakeshore, although Friday night was pretty slippery on the ride home. The snowbelt got the brunt of the snow (14" in some places) and we just got a dusting.

I worked on some decluttering in the small room and found my locks for my suitcase that I had been looking for. Amazing what you find sometimes!

Susan: I like the change to the personal points--the group that really affects are the men--they get more points which helps to "slow' down their rate of loss. I lost a point with the conversion and it took a little getting used to. I also like the fact that with the milks it states that if you can't get them in that you can take a calcium supplement. I can generally get 1 milk in but struggle with 2. Good for you for getting on the treadmill!

My trip to Chicago is a go (I was really hoping it was going to be cancelled) so I'll be off on Friday. I'm trying to work on getting more variety in with my eating and so far it seems to be helping with keeping me satisfied.

Susan, Thanks for getting the thread up today. You ARE a good little doobee. I'm glad you're doing well on the new program. I read the materials, but I think I will stick with what I've been doing on the old Flex Plan.

Melissa, I'm glad that Calcium now counts as one of the "milks." I like to drink milk, but did not like the amount of points they carried. Sure as close on that snow! Stay safe.

Well, we'll have an interesting Super Bowl coming up, at least I hope so. I think both teams have an offense, so we'll see.

My car wouldn't start this morning, so that made for a great start to a Monday morning. The mechanic thinks it was the battery and the cables need to be replaced as the old one was leaking badly.

This weekend, I certainly did my activity points: golfed, walked, and worked in the yard. Unfortunately, on Saturday night DH and I were invited to dinner and I overate and drank!! Doh!

Tonight is WI. I'm not expecting much because of my great time Saturday night.

Oh, Susan I'm glad you had pants on, too. : )

Hi girls and happy Monday!

I like the milk change - I didn't like spending points on milk when I already take a supplement. Now, the only milk I drink is in my coffee. My yummy, yummy soy milk.

Lisa, sorry about your car troubles. I'm sure your active weekend balanced out your celebrating on Saturday. I celebrated a bit too much on Saturday, too, and paid for it all day on Sunday.

Susan, SO cool that you can run that far. I'm envious. I got into running a couple of years ago and loved it. Unfortunately, I can't do it anymore because I have tendonitis in my heel. It's hard when your heart and soul really want to do something but your poor old body won't cooperate!

Melissa, Chicago's one of my favorite cities. Will you have time to do anything fun while you're there?

Went to WI on Saturday morning. Man, it was packed! Standing room only. I hope it's not that crowded next week. I'm gonna hit lifetime and I'll have to go up in front of everyone to share pearls of wisdom. Very nervous about that - I'm a sit in the back row kinda girl and public speaking is not my thing. Luckily, there's someone else hitting lifetime the same week as me so we'll have each other to lean on.

Karynlee, what a great photo. You look wonderful. Congrats on reaching goal again. I tried running, too, and the benefits were great. My body just didn't like it. I had hamstring and knee problems.

Car is all fixed. Unexpected expense, but I don't have any car payments so it's worth it. Went to WI last night, down .5. Whooppee! Well, it wasn't a gain. I'll keep working on it. I've got to get rid of this excess weight. It's uncomfortable and my clothes don't fit as nicely as they did. Going to Pilates tonight and will use the reformer machines. They can be tough, but they help one to keep the proper form.

Melissa, I forget why you go to Chicago so often. Is it for work? I like Chicago, but not this time of year.

Good morning. It's still cool here but supposed to warm up toward the weekend.

Karynlee: It is nerve-wracking, standing at the head of the class. But remember that you worked hard for to achieve this goal, and you deserve the recognition. My WW meeting was packed too; my file had been sent to Toronto (inactive) so I had to fill out a new card, etc. I was not impressed.

Melissa: Yes, why do you go to Chicago? Is it really that cold there, compared with where you live?

Lisa: One of my pet peeves is spending money on my car. They are evil - ruining the environment and the bank account. Unfortunately, they seem to be necessary for many of us. If I didn't live outside of town, I'd get rid of mine and take the bus.

I have another "date" tomorrow after work. I must be getting better at this; no butterflies. We both agreed that online chatting was of no value so I'm meeting him based on his profile and photo - nothing else. We'll see...

Susan

Good morning! It's a chilly 28 here this morning and we've had a dusting of snow. The ski resorts are happy because they've been losing money the last 2 months.

Lisa: I know what you mean about unexpected expenses with your car--at least it was something easily taken care of. A loss is a loss, and like you said it wasn't a gain. Keep plugging along. I think this challenge is actually helping me.

Susan: Have fun on your "date"--it sounds like you're becoming more comfortable with getting out. That's great!

KarynLee: The meeting I worked on Sunday morning was packed--we had 67 members come through the door. The crowds will start to taper off--historically the first and third week of the month are the largest for members joining. I'm working tonight and Thursday evening as well this week.

I go to Chicago because I am recording secretary for a national German heritage organization. We used to meet monthly and then it changed to quarterly. Usually we don't have a meeting in January but rather February and at the last meeting they decided to meet this month. Generally Chicago temps are a lot like the temps here in Erie...whatever they have we usually get a day or two later since we're both situated on the lake. Unfortunately this time I won't be heading downtown but will do a little shopping in the German section by the meeting. I was secretly hoping the meeting was going to be cancelled but no such luck!

I'm not going to be able to walk outside today so we'll be heading down to the Wellness Center to walk the track. I've found we don't walk as far when we're indoors.

Hi Ladies,

We finally got a little bit of snow last night, probably just short of an inch. It's very cold though, we're getting hit with a blast of cold Canadian air...brrrrr.
Not too much going on. Still journalling and exercising regularly. I'm not sure how tomorrow's weigh in will be since TOM arrived today.

Melissa, yes the ski resorts here will be happy also. Not a good year for skiing. Wow 67 is a lot of people. I'm used to the small group we have at weigh watchers at work. Usually between 20-25. I've also been walking on our indoor track which has been quite busy lately with the temps so low.

Susan good luck with your date tomorrow. Sounds like you had a nice run on your treadmill the other night. I don't know if I could brave going into my garage this time of year to run. Just too cold for me.

Karynlee I really like the picture of you and your son, very nice! You'll be fine next week at WW. You look terrific and the other members will be very anxious to hear about how you got there.

Lisa No my body doesn't like running either. Too many aches and pains.... I'll stick with walking. I'm the same way with the car expense, I don't have a car payment so it's a little easier when you get hit with the unexpected repairs. I've got to bring my car in for new tires soon.

Well ladies, I should grab some lunch and get back to work. Hope you're all having a great Tuesday.

Susan, Another date? That's great. One of these days a guy will click with you. Thanks again for starting the challenge, it's keeping me on the straight and narrow.

Melissa, That must be a big organization to meet in Chicago. What is the official name of it? Cold where you are.

Karynlee, You'll do fine. Just think that none of those attendees can do better than you can and it's YOUR story! You know it the best. It's so important to share your successes with the other members.

Pam, Brrr, cold your way, too. I gripe about my car, but as I said earlier "it's paid for."

I'm so happy. WI today--down 2 pounds! It's hard work though. I've passed up brownies and cookies at work every day for the past week!

Took a pilates class with the machines last night. Boy that was tough. I know I'll be sore tomorrow, but I worked those abs good.

How's everyone else?

Congrats Lisa on another great week! Good job on resisting those brownies.

Pam: Good on ya for keeping on the straight and narrow. Even if you don't record a loss today because of TOM, it will show up eventually. I used to lose an average of 2 lbs the week after TOM ...before THE CHANGE.

Melissa: Interesting that you're involved in a national heritage assn. What sort of work does the assn do?

Hi Karynlee

I am 148 this morning, that's down 1.5 lbs from last week and .5 from my weight when we started. Not bad seeing that I was 150.5 at home on Saturday morning.

apparently the tracker records only 1-lb increments. I'll have to be content with that, I guess.

Susan

Hi everyone!

Awesome, Lisa! Congrats on the 2 lbs and resisting the beckoning of those brownies! I've only seen the pilates machines on TV. Nothing like that available in this small town. We really don't even have any pure pilates classes at our gym - just something called Yogalates.

Susan, good date? Hope you had fun!

Have a good trip to Chicago, Melissa. Maybe it's one of my favorite cities because I've only been there in the summertime. I loved the feel of it and the museums and other attractions were incredible. Oh, and the restaurants! Probably not good for weight management, but YUM!

Pam, good luck with your weigh-in today! No matter what the number is, though, it sounds like you're doing wonderfully with your eating and exercise!

Thanks for the compliments on the pic, guys. I really love that one. It's of my youngest and it totally captures what a happy little boy he is.

Thanks also for the support regarding my nervousness about getting up in front at my next WW meeting. I'm embarrassed for being such a chicken, but I'm determined to do my best to convey how I feel about WW. Geez, getting butterflies just thinkin' about it. I'm excited, though - the ladies there are so warm and supportive (like you guys!), so I'm sure they'll make me feel comfortable once I'm up there.

WW has helped me maintain toward the bottom of my weight range so I've been realizing lately that most of my jeans have become too big. I love WW for that!! Decided to go to Ross (discount clothing store) and pick up a few new pairs of jeans one size down. Very fun - one of those special payoffs that make all the point counting and working out worth it.

I went to a step class on Monday and man, are my calves KILLING me! Haven't done it in a while so my body is just rebelling a little. Hoping to make that class a regular thing on Mondays. It's so fun!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

Susan, congrats on the 1.5 lbs!