Here's a place where we can discuss Flex and WW, as well as issues of our everyday lives. New Flexers are always welcome, so please join in, to give and get support and encouragement on your weight loss journey.

Flexers that attend meetings, At-Home Flexers, and anyone just curious about Flex are all welcome here.

#4 was getting a little long. So here's the new one

Here's a link to the previous Flex Talk if anyone needs it!:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137086

Happy Wednesday, Flexers

Kel - Yayayayayayayay!!!! You got that trip weight off and then some!!!! You stuck with it, and you moved past it! That's what this is all about Keeping at it!

---

Oh boy did I go to sleep early last night. And it felt great to just sleep for a little while. Though I did hit the snooze alarm twice in my sleep this morning. Oh well, got to work plenty on time.

Got to finish a few things before noon, so off to actually getting some work done I go!

Have great days, all!

Thanks for the new thread Faerie

I read an article today about how people who get 8 hours of sleep end up weighing less over time than people who get too little or too much. (I think it was like people with insufficient/too much sleep on a regular basis end up 4lbs heavier in 6 years.) So you probably needed that sleep in more than one way!

Here's the link if anyone is curious:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../nsleep101.xml

The weight differences aren't much but I still found it interesting. Just something to show those who ridicule me for going to bed at 9 or 10 so I can get my 8 hours

Man, I have been incredibly thirsty the last few days. Like when I don't have water sitting next to me I have this terrible parched salty feeling on my tongue. It's good because I'm definitely getting all my water in, but it's rather uncomfortable when I find myself without immediate access to water. Then I don't pee for hours and I wonder where the heck this water is going, huh? Bodies sure are crazy things.

I'm pretty sure I'm a little insane today, my brain has kind of officially gone on strike. As I said in the avocado thread, just... don't listen to me for a while. At least, not when it matters. I'm writing a report on effective methods for providing feedback to college students right now at work, and I'm pretty sure when I read it tomorrow it's gonna be full of stuff like "The best way to provide feedback is to say, 'Hey! Dimwit! You sucked on this essay. Do better.' Then storm off laughing maniacally. The student will see the value in your point and appreciate its presentation." Needless to say, I bet tomorrow will involve lots of editing.



keli - congrats on getting the rest of your travel weight off!!

& thanks to all for the words of support regarding my friend situation. I'm gonna stop being mad about it and just move on. I can't afford to be sidetracked by being mad at someone who's being irrational.

Thanks, ladies!! Your support means so much!! We went for a looooooong walk tonight. I was probably like a 5K, I think I measured it once and it was something like that. It felt good to be able to do that without feeling like I had to train for it. We just got to a certain point and I said if we go around this corner we'll be at the next road. So we did!

So, that was the part I'm proud of then we got chinese, I got shrimp & broccolli and DH got general tso's chicken. Well, the plan was to split it between 2 nights. We didn't eat it all, but ate more than I needed too that's for sure.

I actually had that feeling that I'm full, but this is so good I'm going to keep eating. Then I had that "just eat it all and get it over with" but I didn't, then sanity kicked in again and I boxed up what was left.

Lesson learned, if the plan is to save half, do that first and then start eating, then I would have had that feeling of eating it all without eating so much of it.

I still feel great (probably not so much when I get up after sitting)

Hi! I am new around here, just started WW at home (online) a week and a half ago. So far I haven't lost anything but I'm not going to give up! Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself. I am a SAHM with two daughters, 8 and 2. I take care of my 1 yo nephew during the day which makes life a little hectic - 2 toddlers to chase after; which is the reason I can't do meetings right now. I just started taking them out in the double stroller, they will ride for about an hour which is great. That's about it for me!

Hi there Yodaeyes &

So glad to have you join us. Hopefully we can all be your "meeting" and you can chat about what you need to with us ^^ Keep on posting! Best of success to you!!!!!

Oh dear, this may be my new favorite place! Congratulations on a great choice, yodaeyes! I love the flex plan, and I think it's the most sensible way I've ever found to change your eating habits.

Congratulations, Kelijpa! I had a similar success a few nights ago while out to dinner with some friends. We'd gone to this "family style" Italian restaurant with AMAZING food. But, I split a salad with a couple of buddies, and I didn't even overdo it with that. I worried, on my way there, that my willpower would falter and I'd eat a huge plate of fettucine alfredo! THEN, they ordered this MASSIVE piece of chocolate cake. I had two tiny bites, and let them have the rest. I was proud of this.

Alright, ladies. I have a bit of potentially unhappy news. The scale is being bad for me again. I've been doing all the right things. I've been using my FP's Wendie style, and I've been exercising regularly. Yet the scale has moved away from the lovely onederland range and back up to 201-203ish. BUT, I have been failing miserably at drinking the appropriate amount of water this week (something I was really pushing myself to do last week), and I've also started BOXING this week. (Like true, for real, actual boxing, where you hit people! It's awesome!) I have significantly increased my exercise over what I'd been doing, so I'm hoping that has something to do with it, as well. I'm definitely dehydrated though...

SO.... I'm going to go to my meeting anyway and just face up to the scale. I know it can't be a real "fat" gain, as I've been consistently on plan and exercising. I have to fight this battle I've got going with the scale-fear. Still, it's sad to see my ticker move in the anti-thin direction.

Yes I have been hating my scale lately too!
I just started Wendie plan, and so far nothing has happened! No loss!
In fact, I only lost around 3 pounds for the ENTIRE month of March...really depressing as I expected to lose at least twice that.

I talked to my boyfriend about it and he said I probably just haven't been diligent enough. I know it's probably true. I did have a drinking binge around 3 weeks ago, and then I ate 15 points over my planned flex points last weekend. I am just hoping I can be 100 % completely on track this week and see a loss.

Can drinking alcohol make your gain weight even if you are in your points? For example, I have to consume 44 points on Saturdays for my Super High Day on the wendie plan. If I drank 5 shots (10 points) worth of alcohol, but still stayed within 44 points, do you think it will make me gain weight????????

I'm really wondering if that is what has stopped me from losing.

Suite - Neat article. Getting sleep is just another thing on the long list of "must do's" for me to be healthier, but... one thing at a time. I was so thirsty on Tuesday I thought I might have grown gills overnight, so I know what you mean. And I totally lol'd at your amazing writing skilz with how to give feedback.

Kel - Awesome job on the long walk And I'm glad your sanity kicked in just in time so that you got to save some of that dinner for another meal!

Aero - Woohoo So glad to have you posting with us! I'm sorry the scale is not being a friendly buddy at the moment, but it's always a love/hate relationship. And you know you're doing things right. And you know that you changed two things this week (perhaps not getting enough water and starting BOXING omgosh how cool is that?! You have to tell us all about it!) that probably have affected the scale. Get that water drinking up and you could potentially see a good difference next week Oh and one more time I have to say "boxing" so that I can this this cute little guy: O-(<_<Q) ... It's a guy throwing a punch! Hee hee ^.^

Vday - I understand your disappointment with March, because in February I "only" lost about .8. That's right. The entire month. .8. The point is... you're moving in the RIGHT direction. DOWN. It might not be as fast as you want, but it's a heck of a lot better than sliding back up the scale to where you used to be! Now to address your questions... Because you went about 15 points above your points just last weekend, it's going to take some time for your body to use that energy and lose the weight associated from that. So you may not see a loss for this week or the next as your body does that. Basically, your body has no reason to use it's stored resources (read: fat, muscle etc.) because you've given it more than enough food. Your boyfriend may be right. It might take a little bit more diligence. Patience. Planning. You can do it! The alcohol... very, very individual unfortunately. I know some people who can only have about one drink a week or for whatever reason, their bodies react strangely to what their having and holds onto more weight. (Could be that when they drink they forget to have their water... but I'm not them so I don't know.) It's something you're going to have to experiment with on your own. From what I see, what I think has stalled you this very week is the 15 extra points above and beyond. It WILL GO AWAY. Be vigilant about this week Track every single thing. If next week doesn't seem much better, I know we'd all love to help out by taking a look at what your week looks like food-wise!

---

Weigh-in day... woo...hoo! hee hee I'm always happy about weigh-in days... just because I love meetings so much! I'm about to eat my yummy breakfast and get to work. Not so excited about the work part. Plenty to do today as usual. Tonight it's out to a friend's house for our pretty much weekly game.

Hope you all have a great Thursday!

Hi everyone! Not new to 3fc but I am pretty new to online WW just signed up last friday. I'm a SAHM to a 4yr old and an almost 2yr old, and like my name says i'm married to a soldier. We have been busy moving and getting settled and all the weight I had lost while the hubby was deployed has came back so this time I decided I needed more help and here I am. Love reading inspirational posts on here ~Amber

Hi Amber Welcome to the WW area! Keep on posting. We'd love to get to know you better ^^ Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions. Our combined WW experience & knowledge should be able to help out. And we can all be your support group (along with the rest of fabulous 3FC!). Best of success!!!

Keli - WTG on taking that long walk! It sounds fantastic. As terrible as it is, I want nothing more than to devote an hour or so to exercise in the evenings but I simply can't right now. It's like having a broken leg or something - this exam that's looming is like having a crippling injury. All I can do is go to work, come home, cook dinner, study. Sleep, repeat. So I've got total walk-envy over here.

yodaeyes - Welcome!! You must be busy busy with those little ones, but I bet they keep you on your toes (in a good way - exercise!). You know they love being outside, too, so they're probably enjoying the long walks your giving them

aero - You know the scale is not the most reliable indicator of our progress. You've impressed the pants off me that you've started *actual* boxing, that must be so much fun! And you say you've been staying OP, that's fantastic! The weight will come off. Unfortunately you can't really choose the speed at which your body lets go. Your weight could be hormone-related too, which is entirely not something you can have a say in! Maybe put the scale away for a week? See if you feel more confident in what you're doing when you don't have constant scale feedback? Hang in there, keep doing what you're doing!

vday - I'm in the same situation - I had about 15 over my FPs last week and was up at my last WI, and I'm not confident that this WI will be much better (takes time to undo a gain, plus I'm expecting my wonderful monthly weight gain this week). But I know I've been OP all week, and if I stay OP next week I know the scale will start showing me some love again. Just gotta hang in there I don't really have any input on the alcohol thing, hope you get good advice somewhere!

Faerie - I'm the same way! I get so excited when I go to bed Friday night because my meeting is first thing Saturday morning. I just love going to my meeting, even if the scale doesn't show me something good, I still love being there. My leader has this alter-ego thing person that she brings in every now and again, her "cousin" Delia from Tennessee. It's really funny. She brings in a wig and talks in a southern accent and tells us that if we want to lose weight we just stop eating, right? She's full of bad information but somehow it's really funny coming from our leader. She's scheduled to makea "visit" this week so I'm excited.

Amber - Welcome to the WW area of 3FC Moving and life change sure can pack on pounds, can't it? WW is a great program, I'm sure you will find the success you're looking for here. Hope to see you around!

--

I said I'd stop griping about my friend, right? So I guess I won't complain about the fact that before class she wanted to stop at Starbucks, which is fine, but I told her I didn't want anything. I was just gonna wait in the car, eat my grapes and cottage cheese before class. She asked if I was sure I didn't want anything, I said yes, off she went. She comes back. "I got you a latte and a cookie." ...I said I didn't want anything. "Oh, and I forgot to ask for skim, I know that's what you like but you won't mind this once, right?" And you know Starbucks cookies are something ridiculous like 11points each. I didn't have room for a whole milk latte, either. I took the coffee and said I didn't want the cookie right now. I definitely dumped the latte out in the bathroom when we got to class, and I didn't bring up the cookie so she still has it. It's just aggrivating. She knows I'm doing WW, and I'm sure she's trying to be generous, but sometimes I get the feeling she doesn't quite have the most innocent of intentions (me losing weight may be making her feel uncomfortable with her weight, so why not stop me from losing?).

Annnyway. That was just a little hurdle which I managed to overcome quite easily, actually. I was so irritated that it didn't even occur to me that I should eat her cookie.

Guess what, everyone? Tomorrow's Friday!!

Suite - You are so strong. I am so proud of you for dumping that latte down the drain. I'm sure your annoyance at your friend helped you trash it. (Heck, it'd probably make me feel REALLY good getting rid of that latte and forgetting about the cookie.) I've gotta say, I'm kind of looking forward to the day you can go for long periods of time without that toxic sort of relationship going on around you. *whew* But you're handling it well! More hugs for you!

And that other personality your leader does? Hilarious! My leader dances and sings (badly). She knows it though, so she's always joking that she's going to put on a concert for us. It just goes to show that finding the right leader is so essential!

Faerie – thanks for starting a new thread here. And as for sleep, what is UP?? I have been sleeping like 10 hours and could totally do more if I didn’t need to get up! Normally I’m an “up and at ‘em” kinda girl but lately…I don’t know what to make of it!
Suite – bodies ARE ridiculously difficult to understand! And I think that your suggestion is a great way to give feedback. Make an impression! By the way, I didn’t know you were in school!! That’s great (though it clearly doesn’t feel that way now…)!! OH MY GOD just reading your second post – what a horrible thing to do! Is this girl jealous of your weight loss or what’s her deal?? Anyway, good job resisting the latte AND cookie!
Kel – hey I had that feeling of “this is so good just keep eating” and then I put down the fork but then an hour later…whole thing gone and I feel sick! Haha I just saw that you struggled with The General – after I ate all my pad thai (this was last night, during class) I got home to leftovers that my boyfriend brought me from Chinese – General Tso! He’s on the warpath, apparently…
Yoda – I’m doing WW online, also.
Aero – Boxing?? That is SO COOL!! And your gained poundage must be from increased exercise coupled with lack of water. How do you FEEL?? Stupid scale…mutter mutter mutter…
VDay – I remember a thread on the 20-somethings board about how alcohol totally affects weight loss…I don't know how to post a link to it but it's called "boo alcohol." and just so you know, I’ve been really off the past few weeks, too. Vowing to get back OP today!!
Married – welcome to WW online!! Good luck!! This is such a great source of help – I went on the boards on the WW site a few weeks ago and it was like bizarro world…I stick to 3FC now!!
--------------------------
As for me, I have been so so so sick of planning everything out and counting and don’t want to go grocery shopping. I do want to be healthy (like, I’m not in binge mode...well not today) but I haven’t been doing such a good job of it. Like I said in my response to Kel, I couldn’t resist the half a thing of pad thai that I wasn’t actually hungry for, and felt so overly stuffed last night, only to come home to an egg roll and general tso (which I did not eat, but it was tempting, especially since egg rolls don’t really taste the same the next day).
But, I am really dedicated to the weight loss. I am. Let’s just keep reminding me of that. My scale is on the shelf so that I am forced to only look at my behaviors (the scale has been too kind to me lately, letting me get away with bad behavior that I know will catch up with me!). Today, so far so good (i woke up an hours ago). I’m planning on a 3 mile jog in a few minutes, and then I’ll head to the gym tonight for some weights or a class. I’m actually getting excited for that. I’m going to go on the planning thread now…I never use that. Any suggestions for kicking myself back into gear would be appreciated (I am thinking again about switching to Core for a week, but not today. Maybe Monday).
S

it's been a while since i wrote!! i've been reading a lot.. just haven't had the time to sit and bang out a post. but here i am!!

thank you everyone for your input on my friend situation! i took all your advice and did what i needed to do. one i realized this was more my own thoughts and problems with things i was unhappy about in my current situation and i was taking it out a little on her. i decided I myself am going to save up money (and take this opportunity where the one i spend the most money with will not be able to spend any longer) and rack up a good down payment for my OWN house/condo/what i can afford. it will be a while and i'm really ok with that. things will come to me. and i have spent plenty of time with the friend spending no money. we do often anyways cause she was getting herself into credit card debt, but even MORE time now. and it's been fantastic. and let me tell you watching me pay off all my bills and still having my bank account increase is making me feel better in and of itself (seriously me and this friend like... had a PROBLEM with thinking we were rich when we weren't and spending way too much money HAHA). and i talked to this friend. about everything i was feeling about these changes and stuff. and she totally understood and was there and made me feel so much better. and i went and helped her with her house (it's a REAL fixer-upper) and we imagined things in it together. everything just really helped a lot. thanks everyone for your advice as well!!

on another note - my last week AWFULNESS turned into basically saying eff it and "i'll start over monday." and yeah.... let's just say i didn't change my tracker, current weight, post in the loss threads, or anything. maybe cause i didn't want to admit to myself that for a week and a half i did pretty rotten and gained over 4 pounds. but this week i'm TOTALLY back on track and already lost about 2.5 of those pounds since monday (i think a lot was just still in my system) and all in all i feel so much better about myself. (could be the sun and warmer temperatures too!) i'm still not gonna change my tracker cause i'm pretty determined to get back to that weight by next weigh-in and keep on trucking.

suite - i've been reading through your friend problems and some others (i think i started a trend!!! haha) that's awful about the latte. you're so strong i think i would have thrown the latte in her face. (not really haha) good for you throwing it down the drain though!! i had a friend who's not my friend anymore who i suspected of doing something like that. she was really insecure ... she was actually doing weight watchers which was awesome cause she was doing something for herself, but she still just didn't like herself and would do things like trying to make a friend and i eat junk, or when we tried on clothes and things looked OBVIOUSLY ridiculous she'd say they looked really awesome and we should so buy it... just things like that. i sound rotten saying it i guess you'd have to know her. i'm not friends with her anymore. she was really toxic. so that's that.

anyone have an annoying dog??? HAHA sorry just as i'm writing this one post (which is prob another reason why i can't post these days) i have had to run after my dog eating things from my room like 10 times. he demolished a reciept (who knows where he found it) so i really hope there was nothing to return on there. stole my shoes, my CAT haha. he's got it all. he's lucky he's cute.


ok that's all for me!! keep up the great work everyone.