We are the Turtle Group here at www.3fatchicks.com. We welcome you to join us as we work toward good health and fitness in a persistent manner. As our inspiration we use the race between the turtle and the hare where the turtle was the victor because he didn't give up. We believe in keepin' on even when the odds are against us. We believe in giving each other support. Good luck to us all!
Judy
Itryharder
(for Lin and Lauren)

Hi Turtles,
We had a lovely Thanksgiving. I stepped on the scale this morning and I'm up a few pounds, but I think much of that is the salt effect and I am confident that if I track and eat correctly today I'll be back to a good weight.

How was Thanksgiving? Did you all have a good time with family and friends?
Judy

Morning, turtles:

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed yourself with family/friends and are now all back on track.

I was down 3# last Wed at my Tops meeting so was very happy with that.
I received a certificate for having 6 weekly losses in a row, so that was a surprise. But, this week I have my company dinner tomorrow and didn't do great over the past weekend. But back on track as of yesterday, so hope not too much damage was done.

Have a great week, everyone!

Holy Moly Bandit,
You are doing great!!!!! Give us some tips to help us be successful too.
Judy

Hi Judy - thanks for the congrats.

I am basically doing what I did before except doing it EVERYDAY.

I journal faithfully, pack up what food/snacks I need until I return home & when eating out - plan ahead. Thats about it.

As far as exercise, I have been doing abit of swimming and once I drop a few more lbs need to make excercising more of a regular thing.

As well, all the support from you & all the other turtles really helps me stay focussed. I found the change I needed at Tops & hope to stay motivated.

Hope all you turtles are back on track!!

:: Hi ladies. How is everyone? My thanksgiving was okay. Not great. Had to work about 9 hours. And family issues. And I was so good all thanksgiving day and then fell on my face, points-wise at dinner. And then again on Saturday.

::sigh::

On the other hand work just too a bunch of stuff off my plate and a lot of pressure off me. So I worked out to celebrate. Sounds crazy, but my god did I need it!

Hope you all are well.

Judy: you will get back on track. Just salt and a little bit of holidays. But you can knock it.

Bandit: you are doing so well. Congrats!

You ladies are definitely encouraging me tonight.

Hello again ladies! I am back on track. I went to the gym again tonight. I'd forgotten how good that feels (after you're done that is. :P) Counted points today, on track. How is everyone else?

Morning all and happy Wednesday. DH and I came down with the flu on Thanksgiving and we are both still struggling with it, I am managing to get to work but that is about it... not even counting points at this point, I am just trying to get through this. I did not get to W/I on Saturday, I could barely get out of bed all weekend so it just did not seem important. I did not do well with my eating over the holiday, just basically ate what looked good and I know the scale will show that this Saturday but right now I just don't care that much.

Hope all is well with everyone, I just wanted to stop by and say hello.
Princess

Hello, turtle ones.

I had a good Thanksgiving, just followed my plan as usual and had a couple of bites of stuffing. I was surprised how satisfied I was with just a couple of bites. Anyway, I made personal history and actually lost a pound over Thanksgiving! That's never happened before. So I'm pleased.

I really want the weight loss more than anything, even more than tasty holiday foods. My heart's desire right now is to get into the 180s by the end of the year. Four more pounds -- it's possible!

Princess, hope you feel better soon.

Ariana, hooray on the gym visit! Very inspirational.

Bandit, woo-hoo! Way to go! And I agree -- the big key to success is commitment *every day.* When I was just doing this sporadically, I would get so frustrated. It's only when I do it every day, all day, that I truly see results. It's worth it!

Have a lovely week, ladies.

Morning, turtles:

Ariana - great job on getting back to gym & counting points, that must make you really feel good. Keep it up!

Princess - Nice to hear from you but so sorry you are sick. Hope you feel better soon & take care of yourself and just do what you can to get better.
You have done so well in the past, you will bounce right back.

Lauren - Weigh to go with your weight loss and keep everything under control throughout the holiday. That is awesome - you go, girl!

As for myself, I was down .25# this week and managed to be Biggest Loser with my 3# from last week. And was Biggest Loser for month of November with a total loss of 7.75#. So was very happy with that.

This week I will try and do better over the weekend. Last weekend was not good plus my company dinner Tuesday evening. We all have so many temptations over the holidays - but good choices will help us through.

Judy - how are you doing this week?

Everyone have a great OP day!

Hi Turtles,
You are an inspiring group!!!
Ariana, the holidays can be tough, but to you for getting to the gym to exercise. is the weigh to go!! Congrats. And thanks for writing even if things aren't exactly spiffy at times, because I can really relate to that and I love how you picked yourself up.

Bandit, thanks for the tips. I love that you are living what we are supposed to do! and :clap: for being the biggest loser again. You are doing great! Thanks for emphasizing the daily commitment and the 24/7 aspect of this. That's making a huge difference in your success and is an inspiration to me.

Lauren, holy moly!!!! You lost a pound over Thanksgiving? That is amazing to me. Weigh to go! You are so close to the 180's. I love it when you chime in. You're an inspiration to me.

Princess, what you are going through right now is not fun. I'm sorry you caught the flu at Thanksgiving. I know this will turn around for you and you'll be flying high as you have in the past. In the meantime, : for seeing your way through this. For posting and letting us know how you're doing, you're an inspiration to me!

Thanksgiving wasn't bad, but then my dh went into a funk because of some family matters and I let myself get dragged down. I ate too much to get out of the funk==and you all know just what a good idea that is! So, my WI was up at WW's, but I am determined to do better this week. So far, so good. I also got on the treadmill this morning and that's the first time I've done that in ages.

In a completely different vein, last night I made a yummy dinner. I microwaved a spaghetti squash, cooked up a little chopped lean sirloin, added some leftover spaghetti sauce to it. Then I "forked" the spaghetti squash, gave myself a huge portion, topped it with the meat sauce and put a dollop of ff sour cream on top and mixed it all in. Truth be told, it was yummy and not more than 5 points. Yay! I have a recipe for a 2-3point pie made from spaghetti squash and coconut extract. I'll be glad to post it if you'd like to see it. Just a warning, it's turning into a redlight food for me. Now that's ridiculous, but it is.

Gotta run and get some stuff done. Good luck to us all. Let's drink our water and exercise and use portion control!
Judy

Another Biggest Loser award! Excellent, Bandit!

Judy, that spaghetti squash recipe sounds delicious. I would never have thought of adding the sour cream. What time are you serving dinner??

Well, that **WHOMP** you just heard was another 1.5 pounds that dropped off me this week. Whoa. So the weight loss was even better than I expected. Granted, this week and next are the two weeks of my cycle that I tend to lose the best. I'm very regular that way! It has really taught me the importance of not getting discouraged by looking at the scale. One's behavior will eventually show up there, good or bad!

I can see that 189 on the horizon now ...

Lauren, Weigh to Go!!!!!! Downward and Onward!!!! : Hey, I heard that whomp all the way here on the east coast.
Fantastic! You're doing it!
Judy

Hello ladies. I made it to the gym 3x this week, which is very unusual these last few rough weeks. Counting points even if I go over. Going to the movies and dinner tomorrow night with this guy I've been seeing. Making dinner for him Saturday night, a WW stir fry recipe (4 points I think), plus a salad, some fruit and sorbet + dark chocolate chips for desert (1/2c sorbet + 33 dark chocolate chips = 4 points.)

So tired. Gotta crash. But before I go...

Princess: so sorry you are sick. That's awful. And listen, about eating while you're sick, well, don't beat yourself up. Just get better, then pick yourself up and keep going. This little bumps are only failures if you let them stop you, otherwise they're just potholes in the road.

Lauren: Thanks for the kind words. And congratulations on your tremendous resolve and being so close to your goal, and your recent weight loss

Bandit: Thanks for the congrats. The working out especially makes me feel good. It reminds me of why I did it for so long. It's not great fun during, but after, the feeling is wonderful, that good tired, stress worked out and everything. Congrats on your biggest loser award.

Judy: Thanks for the encouragement. I really need it some days. And thanks for saying you're glad to hear from me even when times are bad. I worry sometimes, I do not want to drag you guys down with negativity. I am more forgiving of others than myself, so I'll try and remember my own advice, that it's more important to pick yourself back up and strategize than it is to beat yourself up for slipping. Thank you again. Also, do not beat yourself up about the Thanksgiving and family troubles you are here and posting and you keep going that's what matters, right? Oh and please do post the recipe. I am a recipe junkie.

Okay--I'm warning you--this spaghetti squash pie (Mock Coconut Custard) is good. I kept going back to have more, that's me, and finally threw out the last quarter of this. With that in mind, here's the recipe. (Okay, I don't want anyone to make it, decide it's not really that good, and throw it at me.)

Spaghetti Squash Pie
2 cups spaghetti squash
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4t. vanilla extract
1/2t. coconut extract
1 cup ff milk
1/2 cup evaporated ff milk
2 eggs or 6 eggwhites (I used 1 egg and 3 eggwhites)

Cook squash ( I cut it in half, removed the loose strands and seeds and microwaved it in 1/2inch water)
Blend all other ingredients in blender.
Add 2 cups spaghetti squash after "forking" it into little strands
Blend in blender again
Pour into deep dish pie plate or 10 "casserole dish
Bake 350F. 45minutes-1hour
Test with knife
(I tried putting this into an 8" pie plate and it overflowed)
I recipe built this and made exactly this way, it points out at 2points for 1/8 slice.

The recipe sounds complicated but it is actually an incredibly easy pie to make. It tastes very much like a sweet coconut custard pie and is a good item for dessert.

Today I hopped on the scale and some weight is gone already! Now my dh and I are heading to NYC to see Wintuk--Cirque de Soleil. We've never seen a show of this type, so I am really expecting to have a good time.

Take care, be well, and drink that water!
Judy