Carla - Congratulations on that great loss! Good for you for getting to the farmer's market. I know that's helped you be successful in the past. We are in the process of finishing some of the produce that we bought at the farm stands on our way back from the beach. I wish there was something nearby where we could buy more local produce. Yes, I have had two tomato sandwiches so far this year - not from the backyard, those tomatoes aren't ripe yet - but from yummy tomatoes we bought out east.

Mom2 - a maintain around that time of the month is really a loss so a hearty congratulations to you! x

Michelle - Hi and welcome! I hope you did OK hanging out with the family in Orlando. Maybe you got some activity in? Hanging out in Orlando to me means the amusement parks and while the food there can be tough, there's usually a lot of walking involved.

I didn't manage to get to my meeting but had I weighed in officially it would have probably been up 1.5 pounds. I didn't do badly at the beach: did some walking on the beach, ate fairly lightly and didn't snack at night except for some fresh fruit. Since I've been home I've had a tougher time at night. Not terrible binges or anything, just adding on some extra points when I'm not hungry. My weekend was so-so. Saturday was at our friends' house where there weren't any point friendly appetizers but I didn't do badly, counted what I ate, didn't have as many drinks as I could have, etc. Yesterday, we went into the city to meet a couple from London that we met on the cruise who were here for a few days for a friends' son's bar mitzvah. We met them for brunch, walked a bit in Central Park and just had a lovely time. Brunch was more like brunch and some dinner so we just had a little fresh corn last night - and then I snacked a little. Sigh.

Oh well, that was yesterday. My WW Leader always says that the most fattening thing you can have is guilt so today is a new day. I am determined to get back to my 20 pounds lost and get below 140 or close to it by the end of the month. I bought a gown for my stepdaughter's wedding (day before Thanksgiving) and I need to lose about 5 pounds for it to fit perfectly - otherwise I'll have to wear Spanks! I plan on bumping up the activity. I ordered the new FIRM kit that's been on the informercials because they finally have one without steps - hard on my knees at this point. I was hoping to have it by this week but alas, it's back ordered - grrr! Oh well, I have plenty of workouts that I can do. I'm off now to fill in some online applications for full-time teaching positions (not that there are any out there but I may as well get the resume in) and after one or two, it's a workout before lunch.

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi all,

Judy - I have to hit up some of the local farmstands too. This is the first year that our farmer's market has been worth going to and I'm thankful for that. Sorry to hear that you've been snacky. I'm sure you'll put your mind to it and get those 5 pounds off prior to Krista's wedding.

I had a so-so weekend. It involved pizza on Friday, although I was sane about that, and Chinese takeout on Saturday. But, today is another day. I'm trying to convince myself that I want to take a walk in a little bit. Well, I know I don't want to, but I'm trying to convince myself that I'll go ahead and do it anyway. Everything seems to hurt today, but I have to make myself do this.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Carla - Sorry that the weekend was a little tough. Good for you for being sane with the pizza. Chinese food is always a bit tough for me although if I have chicken with broccoli (very low point for Chinese) the total point count stays a little more manageable (sometimes ;-) Did you count it? My new motto is count it and move on. OK, girlfriend, here's my encouragement for you to go out for a {{{{{WALK!!!!!!!}}}}}}}}} It's any achy kind of day for me too - I think it's the humidity.

I'm trying to decide if I should go work out now (it's around 12:30 and I'm hungry for lunch) or have lunch, keep working online and work out later this afternoon. Either way I *am* working out today. I'll check in later to keep myself honest.

Judy

Hello it has been very hectic and stressful around here. I have been not op like I would like. I am up 2# :-(. One more week and things should be more normal around here.

orlando was good. we actually just hung out at the resorts pool area w/ my family. although i'm not ready for public swimsuit wearing so i didn't get it. but it was so hot i sweated my butt off. i didn't get to eat breakfat that day cause my morning was so hectic and by the time we got there is was 3:00 and the only thing available was burgers and hotdogs at a little snack stand by the pool
so i ate my burger and when we got home we were to tired to cook so we ate some leftover spagetti. i didn't eat much of it though the heat took away most of my appetite.

by today i'm back up to 167 and with whats available to eat around here for the next week (lack of money prevents me from buying anything better) i'm scared of what the scale will say at the end of the week. but i'm going to keep trying. and we'll see what happens.

I have had a breakdown. I gained back the 2lbs I lost I wanted to be thinner going back for my nieces wedding and I think I am going back heavier than the last time I was home. I don't know what it is but I just am not motivated to lose the weight. I know I want to I just am having trouble changing!!! Anyone here want to share what motivated them or how they did it. I have been trying weight watchers for a year now and I am still the same weight! i TOTALLY can not blame it on WW because I have not been faithful to the plan! HELP!

Michelle – All you can do is your best as far as the food that’s available. How long are you going to be there? Just a suggestion. If you have a chance to get in the pool again, don’t let your weight keep you from enjoying yourself, even if you have to put a t-shirt on over the bathing suit. You might be a little self-conscious but in the end, I’ll bet you end up enjoying yourself a lot more than sitting around sweating. Plus, you can walk in the pool for activity or splash around and that would help the less-than-point-friendly food that’s available.

Tracy – I’m sorry you’re having a rough time. I know we’ve all been there. I’ve re-started a ton of times. I think what works is very individual – for me it was the prospect of a BIG birthday coming up and wanting to feel (and look) the healthiest I can be going forward. I also know that (like when I stopped smoking) I had to be really ready. It took a while and quite a few starts. While I have had success in the last year, I find that I still have blocks in the road that I set up for myself. The most important thing for me has been to keep going – keep trying to do the plan even when I’m not being very successful at it. If not, I just go back to ALL my bad habits and starting gaining back what I’ve lost. Just don’t give up and don’t beat yourself up.

brismiley - sorry about the gain. I hope things get less hectic and crazy for you soon.

I did end up doing a workout yesterday – a 45 minute one and it felt good afterwards. I was a little snacky last night but not too bad. Tony is away for the day (and for dinner) on a golf outing (at which business takes place) so I have to really watch myself – in the past I’ve been snacky when alone. I did a short yoga practice this morning, went to Trader Joe’s, and then did about an hour gardening. I have some straightening up to do around the house and then I plan on doing a strength based workout. I got some frozen things from Trader Joe’s to make myself something special for dinner. I got a battered halibut which if I bake is not bad point-wise and some string beans in a Thai preparation (spicy) that sounds good.

I also got some makings for a nice sandwich for tomorrow. Tony and I are taking our grandson to a Yankee game. In the past (as Carla knows), we’ve made Italian subs but Tony is figuring on ballpark food this year. I might spring for some Cracker Jacks but no way am I having a hotdog or any of that stuff.
Have a great one,
Judy

i was only in orlando saturday afternoon. the food issue is at home. i don't have a big enough food budget to buy the good for me stuff like i usually would. this week i really had to stretch it so it going to be alot of ramen noodles, mac n cheese and pb&j. I did buy some chicken but it's not enough to get me through the week. friday my husband gets paid again then i can do real grocery shopping. just there were to many bills to pay last week so the check didn't take us very far. but i'll try to do good however that may be. i still work out too.

Tracy - hang in there, you can do this! Take it one decision at a time and move forward.

Judy - Thanks for the kind words, I get so frustrated sometimes.

I weighed in today. I was down 2# from last week, but I was a little disappointed because, with no loss last week, I was really hoping for a big loss this week. Not bad, but not great. Hope everyone is doing well!

Hi all,

Sorry I didn't get back here before now. It was a busy week and I had a couple of evening meetings.

brimsley - Bummer on the gain. Here's hoping for a less stressful week for you next week.

Michelle - I'm sorry you're having a tough go of it. All you can do is the best with what you have available. It's so unfair that it's so much cheaper to eat foods that aren't so great for you and it's so expensive to eat good, healthy food.

Tracy - I don't even want to think about how many times I've restarted. Really, it seems that's all I ever do. And I still struggle, even though I have diabetes (which I could have headed off if I could have just controlled what I put in my mouth). It's a battle and one thing I've done is to decide to take it one day at a time and, if I need to, one meal. I know perfectly well why I overeat (emotional eating, learned a long time ago to stuff feelings with food, etc.) I just have to learn how to stop doing it. I'm seriously at the point of considering therapy.

Judy - Great minds shop alike! I was in Trader Joe's today and bought some of that halibut. They were giving out samples and Ana just loved it. I also have a package of those green beans in my freezer. How was the game? I can't believe you didn't do the Italian subs. How are your Yankees doing? I haven't been paying much attention to baseball other than knowing that the Cubs are battling for first place in our division and are pretty darn close to getting it.

Mom2 - A two pound loss is a great one in my book. Congrats!

Well, I wussed out on weighing in this week. I was retaining water and didn't feel like dealing with the number. Not a good thing, I know. And truth be told, I wasn't much on program either. I really have to get back to basics and pick one thing a week to focus on. I think for this coming week I'll actually pick two: faithful journalling and getting in my water every day. I'm feeling rather virtuous, though, this evening. I craving the Indonesian Peanut Saute from Noodles and Co. (If you don't have a Noodles and Co. in your area, all you need to know is that it is carbohydrate heaven.) Instead of getting one, I made my own, lighter version for dinner tonight with lots of fresh, organic veggies from the farmer's market. I'm stuffed with all the veggies. And I used whole wheat pasta. No big plans for the weekend other than going to my mom's house on Sunday.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Carla

Michelle - I hope things are a little easier with food now. As Carla says, all you can do is the best with what you have.

Mom2 - congratulations on the great loss!

Carla - good to see you back this week! That's so funny about the fish and string beans from Trader Joe's! I'm sort of in the same place as you are. I wussed out on my weigh-in although given that Krista's shower was this morning, and I would have had to go to the extra early meeting (7:15), I do have a semi-legit excuse for not weighing in. Of course, the fact that my weight has creeped up a bit and I have to get back to what I was doing when I was losing has nothing to do with it ;-) Good for you for making yourself a lighter version of what you were craving! As far as the Italian subs - Anthony was coming with a friend and we didn't know what things he ate, Tony was looking for easy, and I was looking for point-friendly foods, we didn't do the subs. I ended up feeling really full from the sandwich and didn't even get the Cracker Jacks.

Well, as I said I didn't get to my meeting today but I did pretty well at the shower. There was a small buffet with some lunch foods and some brunch foods. I skipped the waffles (with strawberries and whipped cream), had some salad, picked out mostly peppers, onions and a little chicken from the peppers, onions, sausage, and chicken and had a big portion of asparagus (even though it had some dressing on it.) I ate the inside stuff of the layer cake and left the cake and the icing. Not too bad. I did a good workout yesterday but that plus the gardening I did two days ago (way too much weed pulling) left my back very ouchy so I just did a short yoga practice this morning to stretch my back. I hope to do be able to do something activity wise tomorrow.

In addition to getting back to what I was doing when I was losing (which was basically following the program), I really have to watch the emotional eating. I got a call a couple of days ago and am interviewing with the principal of another school in my district for a 3rd grade leave replacement (full year.) I have just about everything ready although I have to update my portfolio a bit - that's my job tomorrow.

Have a great one!
Judy

Judy - Sounds like you did really well at the shower. Good for you! We had the fish fillets tonight - they were really good. We also had corn on the cob and tomatoes from the farmer's market. So good! We've been having corn on the cob every week. I'll miss it when it's gone. Good luck with the job interview!

I had a good day today. I think I was still full from all the veggies yesterday, so it was pretty easy to eat sanely. Tomorrow we'll have macaroni stew at my mom's for dinner, so I'll have to go easy during the day. I think a tomato sandwich for lunch will be in order!