Starting the topic - be right back.

Good morning. I'm please to report that I got rid of the 0.4 I gained last week and took another 0.2 with it! Small progress but progress nonetheless. I had a pretty good weekend. I did a great weight workout on Saturday and ended up with 9 banked points to use during dinner. I had a fairly low point main course on Saturday (sea bass) but gave in to a piece of cheesecake (the rationalization was that it was my birthday dinner). I counted the points and ended up my week a few points in the deficit but I figured I did better than I have in the past. TOM is here so my sneak peek this morning was horrendous - I did a step workout but just a 1/2 hour of it - my legs always feel like lead the first few days of TOM and today was no exception. I hope get in either a weight workout or a yoga tape after work. This is a short week for me - I'm taking Thurs and Fri off but it's the start of Passover so it will have plenty of challenges.

Have a great Motivated Monday!
Judy
163.6/156.8/135

Hi Judy, congratulations on your loss!! ANY loss is reason to celebrate, WOOHOO!! But this one is even better because you celebrated your birthday!

I've been practicing the 3 same size meals and 2 snacks since Friday, but last night my "snack" turned into a meal, LOL. I ate an extra WW ice cream sandwich and 2 servings of meringue cookies. While I was dong it I was scolding myself. Turns out I didn't do any damage, used banked points, and I have to acknowledge that I'm not perfect. Of course there will be slips whenever we start something new. I just need to make better choices than sugar.

Weigh in today was excellent, down 3.8 pounds! WOOHOO, this is great! Bought myself a new blouse! I cleaned out my closet yesterday and packed up all my fat clothes for charity, but now the closet is empty! I don't want to fill it up just yet (except for the shoe section, heehee), but I need a few things just to make it through the next couple of months.

Michele, I've been thinking about you, hope all is going well!

Oops, forgot to tell you about the meeting. Topic is Dealing With Stress, here's what they suggested:

1. Identify and acknowledge - know your personal physical and emotional symptoms of stress.

2. Reduce or eliminate:

a. Stop and relax

b. Talk - get it out now or later

c. Anchor - anchors are reminders. They can be physical or mental. She gave us a penny with a star on it to use. Here's how to create your anchor:

1. Think of a challenging situation and identify the inner resource you need to handle it (determnation, calm, confidence, etc)

2. Remember a time when you had this inner resource (See what you saw, hear what you heard and feel what you felt then as vividly as you can)

3. What anchor do you want to use to get in touch with that resource (mental picture, word, gesture or object)

4. Remember again that time when you had that resourceful feeling. When the feeling is strong, connect it to your anchor (recall the mental picture or word, make the gesture or hold the object)

5. Use the anchor by itself. Did you get that resourceful feeling? If not, repeat #4 and #5.

Hi everyone,

Angie - It's good to have our cheerleader back again. Sounds like you are doing really well in attacking this program. Good for you for giving up the sneak peeks. If I remember correctly, didn't you once move your scale to the garage so you wouldn't be stepping on it all the time? I promise you that I'll make every effort to get back into the exercise habit.

Karen C - Congrats on a terrific weight loss. I'm glad to hear that organizing your meals is working for you. I'm also glad to hear that your mom is home from the hospital. Thanks for sharing the meeting topic. Dealing with stress is something that I definitely need to work on. I'm going to have to give some thought to what I can use as an anchor.

Michele - Congrats on making goal! Awesome! And good job getting up and running with Bobby. I'm glad to hear that you're keeping a positive outlook. I know you'll be glad to have the results of the biopsy back and will be glad to have that lump out. I'm sure that this weekend in FL will do you a world of good.

Judy - Congratulations on your loss. Progress, no matter how small it may seem, is progress nonetheless. One of my favorite quotes is "A journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step." Every 10th of a pound is another step to your destination. Forget the sneak peek. It doesn't indicate anything except TOM is here.

I had an ok weekend. John and I were both under the weather so we didn't accomplish much around the house. I didn't even get out of my nightgown and into the shower until 6:00 pm on Saturday. Eating was so-so - a lot of grazing, not much in the way of a real meal. TOM started for me too, so I'm going to make a concerted effort to guzzle that water today and tomorrow. I realized yesterday that as much as I want to lose this weight, I really haven't wanted to put forth the effort needed to lose it. And I haven't put forth that effort wholeheartedly and consistently. Which has got me nowhere but right back to where I started 3.5 years ago. I do a really super job of blocking out the consequences of what I'm doing when I'm about to do it. I know that part of the problem is that, emotional eater that I am, I'm using food to comfort myself. I have to learn to deal with what's bothering me and finding other outlets to help me cope with what I can't change, or can't change at the moment. I also have to remember that losing weight isn't just a matter of vanity for me. I have a family history of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure. At 42 I've already lived two years past the age that my older sister died from diabetes. I'm 9 years short of the age that my father died of his third heart attack. I am, in short, a medical emergency waiting to happen. So, starting now, every time I feel tempted to shove food in my mouth, to eat something I shouldn't eat at the moment just because I don't feel like stopping myself, I'm going to take a look at my little girl, either in person or at her picture, and remember that person who could truely suffer the consequences of my actions is Ana. I can't bear the thought of leaving her motherless a second time in her life.

Ok, sorry to get so philosophical and long-winded, but writing this out has helped me work it out for myself.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Wow Carla, what an insightful post! You hit on the MAIN reason, the only really important reason why we are dong this. My leader pointed that out to one member this morning who said she can't get motivated and just doesn't care. It's all about health. That's what has been motivating me and I know you will do much better now that you have identified your anchor - Ana! Thanks for sharing.

Hello everyone. I think I'll be posting during the night time so I'm wrapping up my Motivated Monday and when you all read this it should be our Think Thin Tuesday

Michele- CONGRATS on making goal woohoo!! AND for getting up and starting to jog at 5:30...feels good for the whole day, doesn't it?

Judy- Great loss!! Way to go..especially rewarding when you achieve a loss after you've had a birthday celebration! I know what you mean about legs feeling like lead. I've been marking my daily treadmill progress on a calendar I keep on the wall by the treadmill and as I looked over the month of March while walking this morning, I discovered I've only missed two days of walking- one of which was the first day following the start of TOM.

KarenC- Fabulous loss!! Glad to see you're working your plan. I've had slip ups too and have scolded myself all the while I'm eating whatever it is. Thing is that I'm finding those times are becoming more and more INfrequent.....much more time elapses before I find myself doing it again.

Carla- yep, the scale spent a lot of time in the garage (also becuz it gave more consistent readings when on a level, concrete floor). I was exactly where you appear to be now back in January. I was contemplating my lack of success in the weight loss dept. I talked w/ Tony and actually admitted outloud that it has been the one area of my life which I haven't been able to achieve success....I'm a great mom, great wife, good worker. I've decided this time around to follow the plan exactly how ww lays it out. I bought an electronic scale at my mtg for $25 and I'm convinced that is part of my success. I used to be the QUEEN of putting 1 cup of hotdish into a 1 cup measuring cup but after packing it down it was actually probably 1.5-1.75 cups of hotdish (hey, if it all FIT into the cup then it was a cup, right? haha)

Well, I weighed in with a 1# loss this afternoon I've now strung together 5 losses in a row..which includes the measly 0.4# loss the week of PMS. Let's all keep plugging in the right direction!
Angie

Angie, congratulations on another great loss, and especially on five in a row, that's great. I have three in a row, and I'll try to stay right behind you.

I agree about weighing being so important. I am not religious about it, but actually I'm very honest when I measure. I weigh my food once a week just to make sure I'm measuring correctly and it seems to be quite accurate. I always weigh new things I'm trying out for the first time and I've found some discrepancies. I have also found it's a good idea to weigh fruit and caluculate points on an individual basis. So far I've found the pears and apples I eat are huge and count as two fruits and the bananas I pick out are tiny, only one point.

Well, have a great night!

Michele - Congratulations on making goal!!! It sounds like you have a positive outlook. I'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers. Way to go getting out running with Bobby.

Judy - Congratulations on the loss. At least you are moving in the right direction. Sounds like you did fine with your birthday dinner.

Karen C - Yahoo...great loss. Good idea to clear out the closet and give away all those fat clothes. Thanks for letting us know about the topic. I'll have to print it out and think about it.

Carla - Sounds like you have found a great reason for getting under control. Darrell is always telling me I need to focus on getting healthy. We would like to be able to travel when we retire, but if I don't get my weight under control, I may not be able to do the things I want. He says its scary to see all the patients not much older than him with all kinds of health problems.

Angie - Its great to have you back. Congratulations on the loss and stringing five losses in a row.

I skipped weigh in this morning. TOM should be starting soon and I'm retaining water. I did get out for a walk yesterday and walked at the mall tonight. Darrell and I have been going through some new recipes the last few days. I need to shake things up, but since he does most of the cooking I have to come up with easy recipes.

Talk to you later.
Pat

Pepper, congratulations on getting in all that exercise! What a great way to start out the week. Good for you for focusing on your health. You're right about traveling. Let me just say that it sure is nice to fit into an airplane seat without spilling over into the next one, and not using a seatbelt extender. It's nice to be able to walk from the gate to baggage claim without getting winded. There are so many travel related benefits to losing weight, LOL!

I had a good day yesterday, stayed OP and continue to do 60 minutes of exercise daily. Something new I have started is calculating my daily average points, calories and exercise minutes, and I will report it here weekly. For week ending 3/24 I averaged 27 points, 1450 calories and 60 minutes exercise daily.

Okay, here's a quote from Bob Greene's Get With The Program (pages 27-28):

If you are afflicted with "chronic excuse syndrome," there's still hope. You must first recognize that you are using excuses to hold onto the life that you currently have. Then you must fully understand the consequences of the way you are choosing to live your life, including how it not only negatively affects you, but how it negatively affects others in your life. Accept that you've been avoiding these issues. When you are no longer satisfied defending your choices through excuses, and are willing to take responsibility for all of your choices--past, present, and future--you're ready to Get with the Program.

Good Morning! What a great day! I got up and jogged again with Bobby and feel great. Today is "the call" day from the Dr. keeping a possitive attitude. I made my 1st week of maintenance yest. and if all goes right should be Lifetime by April 29th.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts, I really appreciate them all.

Way to go on the losses!!!!!!!!!! Judy, Karen, Angie!! Carla, great job on the insight, we should all sit down and find our triggers and how to stop/fight them.

Pat- That darn TOM , he is just all over the place this week. Stopped be my house on Sat. That exercise sounds great, walking the mall is a great way to get out and not feel like you are really "exercising". I went last night, and carrying all the packages is like working out with weights. Bobby needed new sneakers, cleats, baseball glove etc. I am broke!!

Karen-Wow! You are doing so great with everything.

Boss just came in, bad mood. Try and get back later.

Have a great day.

Hi Michele, congratulations on your first week of maintenance, that must be a great feeling! Bobby must be a special kid to get up so early just to exercise with his mother. Good luck with THE CALL, I'm crossing my fingers here!

Karen C - WOW! What a great loss! I'm not sure if I'm going to follow the 3 meals, 2 snacks formula from the book or not. I definitely want to limit my snacking but I know a number of members who have done well with more "mini-meals" throughout the day and I think I want to try to lighten the number of points I have at dinner so I can add a mini-meal or two. I am working on the "stop eating 2 hours before bedtime" though. The snacks I sometimes have when reading my book in bed have *nothing* to do with hunger ;-) I'm really focusing on the 3rd part of the book - the exercising is no problem with me (never is as long as I'm injury free & healthy). I did pick up my journal twice and wrote in it instead of reaching for a snack.

Angie - Congratulations on that pound gone forever. I think you've got it this time - doing the program as WW lays it out. That's what I need to get back to doing. I like the "deal" you make with yourself about the water and the diet Coke/Pepsi! "My" Tony is doing well although there are a lot of work changes for him. He's taking retirement from his job of 30+ years as of 5/1 and will be looking for something else. "My" Anthony is getting to be such a big boy - his 4th birthday was last week. He loves pre-school and playing on the computer when he comes over. I'm thinking of giving up stepping on the scale during the week - it will be hard to do though - I've done it for so long. I think I will wean myself off of it and instead of weighing myself every morning, I'll start on every other morning for a week or two; then I'll go down from there.

Michele - Congratulations on making goal!!! Awesome job. I'll be thinking good thoughts for your call from the doctor. That's great that you are running with Bobby!

Carla - I can't think of a better "anchor" to use to remind you of how important this journey is than a picture of Ana! I know what you mean about making the concerted effort. I feel a lot like you in that respect. No apologies about writing a lot about how you feel - it definitely helps. Have you ever kept a journal? I'm not very good at it but I'm going to try to write a couple of lines in it if I'm in a "state" (and about to eat) and right before bedtime. Maybe you can join me? I think it would be a great idea to check out the local hospital's fitness center. I'm glad to hear that your knees and ankles were doing better. If it's any consolation, I've always found that the weather related aspect of it was the worst in the winter so some of those aches and pains should be behind us.

Pat - Sorry to hear about TOM and the water retention. I know the feeling about not wanting to step on the scale. Good for you for getting our for those walks. I know what you mean about shaking things up - I tend to fall into a rut of what we have for dinner - with spring and summer coming, I'm sure we'll be grilling more.

Karen B - how are you doing??

I did OK yesterday. I did a bit of weight work in the afternoon but it didn't seem long enough to add another activity point. I haven't picked up my knitting again - I've done more weight work than I have in a while and I don't want to overdo it on my shoulder. I did shoulder work last night (being very careful about my right shoulder) and I feel good today so I may pick up the knitting for a little while tonight. I did OK in the snacking department - I ended my 1/2 day (since I start counting with dinner) with less points than I have in a long while. I read something in a magazine that was upsetting to me - and instead of reaching for a late evening snack, I pulled out my journal and wrote a few lines about it. I didn't walk to work this morning - the weather was just plain nasty. I'm planning on a smaller dinner for myself tonight - we're eating last night's leftovers and since there isn't a lot left, I'll be eating 1/2 size of the entree I had last night. I hope that allows me to bank a few food points as well as give me a start in helping to cut down on the size of my usual dinner (it will take some doing but I think it will be a real help in the long run if I can do it). Passover starts tomorrow night - this is a tough week but I found whole wheat matzos that are 1 point a board instead of the usual 2 (there's more fiber and the boards are a little smaller) so I hope that makes it a little easier. At least it will be easier for me to resist any cake my sil will have on Easter!

Have a great Think Thin Tuesday!
Judy

Hi everyone. I took today off as a vacation day (to finish cleaning my house) and decided to drop in after I finished my lunch.

KarenC- Thanks for the quote on the "chronic excuse syndrome". Sure hit home. I finally ran out of excuses on why I didn't want to be healthy this past January. Kind of hit rock bottom. I think it's my approach this time that is helping me....I have realized that this is a life change...there is no 'end' to the dieting...it's a way of life. I have come to terms with the fact that I will be needing to count points for the rest of my life.

Pat- focus on the health reason and it'll be much easier. Retirement is a great time of life and being healthy and fit will make it soooo much better! Great job on your walks. Do you still jog for a part of the time? Here's a real quick and easy dinner- warm either Lloyd's BBQ shredded chicken or a can of Hormel Chili (can you tell I'm not too picky about what I eat?!) and put the serving size over a baked potato. Um. Even Tony and the kids will eat it. Pretty filling too because you can get A LOT of potato for hardly any points....you just have to be careful about what you put on it.

Michele- you deserve a pat on the back for getting up and jogging again with your son ! Way to go! Congrats on making it through your first week of maintenance. Last night at my mtg we had a woman who achieved lifetime. She said it took a new way of thinking when she got to goal...it was no longer about losing weight, but maintaining. Strange when I first heard it, but after I thought about it for a bit, it made sense. Will be interesting to hear first hand from you how it goes. Hope your call comes with good news.

Judy- Looks like you'll be in for some changes shortly with Tony retiring. 30+ yrs on the job sure seems long, but as of 4/22 I've got 17 yrs in at my company (I started as a part timer when I was going to college). Sad thing is that only 11 of those yrs count towards retirement becuz I was classified as a temp employee until I was hired full time. I'm all for having you join me in giving up the sneak peeks. I can't tell you how much more focused I am on the whole week because of not stepping on the scale. I honestly have no idea where I stand weight wise and it's truly keeping me honest and on program. I am learning to tackle each day independent of the scale and step on only at ww after 7 days of being on program. GOOD FOR YOU...for reaching for your journal instead of food!!! GREAT!! Each success makes you stronger for the next urge (and we all know, sadly, there will be another time). I have been using bubble baths as one of my methods of getting away from the food thought, urge whatever. The week of PMS I was sooo shriveled becuz I swore I lived in the tub. Tony has been wonderful in taking over the kids so I can go soak away the urge to eat. So far it works, but I also down about 28 oz of water while relaxing. Try it

Well, gotta get back to cleaning. Ugh. Keep plugging away
Angie

Hi everyone.

Karen C - Thanks for your kind words. That quote about "chronic excuse syndrome" hit home in a lot of different ways for me. Thanks for posting it. Those are some great averages you have going. Keep up the great work - you're an inspiration to me!

Angie - Congrats on your loss, and especially for stringing together 5 in a row. Hope you're enjoying the housecleaning. At least, it brings a great sense of accomplishment when you finish it. I'm actually pretty good about measuring and weighing, when I'm actually paying attention to the program that is. I very rarely eyeball anything, unless I'm away from home. The one exception is my fruit. I need to take a note from Karen C and start measuring that.

Pat - Good job getting in all that walking! Being fit to travel after retirement is great motivation for getting and staying healthy. Perhaps you can find something travel related to be your anchor.

Michele - Wow - you're on a roll with getting up early and jogging. I'm keeping my fingers and everything else crossed for you while you await THE CALL.

Judy - Yep, I think Ana is a great anchor too. Of course, in order for it to work, I have to not block my anchor from my mind when I'm about to shove something I shouldn't in my mouth. I've journaled off and on over the years, but the last time was quite a few years ago. I may just join you in doing so. That's great that you reached for your journal instead of food. As for snacking before bedtime, maybe you can set a rule: "No snacking in bed." If you really want it, you have to sit somewhere else to eat it. Best wishes for a blessed Passover.

I had a good day yesterday. It was definitely a day of more rational eating and I ended up with 6 points in the bank. So far, so good today too. I had some Kung Pao chicken from Trader Joes and that helped cure my perpetual craving for Chinese food at only 7 points. Tomorrow is going to be a long day at work as I have a customer converting tomorrow morning so I'll be in very early. I need to go to the store tomorrow to have some good snacks on hand.


Have a great day everyone.

Carla