TERRI: It's not been a good year for your horses, has it? for you and Anne too. I'm glad you won't be trailering Spanky every week. Winters can be bad enough w/o towing a trailer on country roads at night.

CAROL: I like your idea about concentrating on form. I remember when I aqua-jogged with a group that some of us didn't go as fast but worked harder while the others would scoot by faster but were so busy chatting that they couldn't have been working their limbs the way we were supposed to.

Gotta run. It's time to take Paige Pointer to her agility class.

Evening!

Well, it's the 10th week of a 10 week term. I'm feeling it. But I can see the light at the end. Actually, this week will be easier for me than the last few. I will make it though the term without a lot of excess binging! And the scale nudged down a little over the term. Yay me!

Hi all...very quiet here. Are we all cocooning? I know I did for a couple of days. But today a friend I met when I went to Vermont to the Green Mountain Spa two years ago is coming over (she lives just and hour away) and we're going out for a nature walk around our municiple lake park. There's a wilderness area at the back side of the lake, about 1.5 miles to walk the loop.

My friend is an avid hiker. Wish I could break away from kids and parents so I could go with her sometimes. Will have to make plans/arrangements to do so.

Terri, you're in my thoughts.



PS: It's later in the day now. My friend Chris and I had a lovely walk outside. I got my heartrate up and worked up a nice glow. It was a perfect day. We went out for Mexican food at lunch and I was totally OP with a yummy tortilla soup and some guacamole and chips. It was a no-cheese meal! (Cheese is like heroin for me.) Afterwards we came back to my house and we exercised more, doing a complete body weight training "express" workout for 35 minutes. And here it is, nearly 5 p.m. and I'm feeling really good! Except that I'm feeling rather "womanly" tonight too...TOM!

HI..Im here just busy with my kids I keep and hubby.
Counting WW points is interesting to me and I do think its helping me stay focused. I also am amazed at the points in normal foods. I would have eaten it certain foods last week based on calories alone. Hoping this will get my weight off and be able to keep it off.
hugs to all

Georgia - not sure about cocooning - maybe more like an old bear and hibernating. It's cold and wet and I just wanna curl up and wait for spring. Not good this early on. You're right - very quiet here.

I've been doing a little experiment this week also with WW points. I'm counting my calories and keeping track of points. As Debbie says it's interesting - for me truly eye opening with the focus on fats/fiber. After my grazing on Saturday the scale is still up - who said it didn't happen overnight. I know I did not eat 24,500 calories in one meal though.

Heather - you did it - you made it through the term successfully - there's that old resolve you had been searching for.

Judy - I have a personal theory about chatting while working out - if I have enough extra breath to talk I'm not working hard enough. How's your week going?

Where's everybody? Hope you are all well and warm.

I've been working out..thats where! lol I feel great. Child care schedule has changed again and I am taking full advantage of having 8am-9:30 am to go to the gym. What ever I dont get done there like streaching I do at home. Looked into hiring a trainer but wow way to much money especially right b4 christmas...going to look for some good books to teach me more about free weights. Will add more later kids are needing me!

Okay, I've had some food breakdowns the past couple of days. But I think I can get and keep myself on track for the next week. I will keep you posted!

I lost 2.6lbs this past week counting points. I do think it was just what I needed.A closer look at just what is going into my body. I also can feel it in my energy level.I did my walk dvd 2 times yesterday with the kids and then walked outside last night. It felt great!!!

I even got into the cabinets and pulled out my snowmen dishes and got them all washed up and in the cabinets. The funny part is I did this at the time of night I would usually be crashed on the couch. Im hoping to seee the same kind of energy today.I even had a bit of trouble going to sleep last night. Its like I was wound up and full of energy.

Carol- Im so glad your trying this also. I am watching my calories also and they are coming really close to what I was doing before my dr cut my calories back to 1200. Hubby has already made a few comments about my eating more veggies.

heather- Im so glad the semester is coming to a close for you.I know I will be glad for my daughter to finish this semester of college. She has a good grade but has really struggled to keep them.I could see the relief on her face yesterday as her labs was finished.

geo- how are the boys? anything exciting going on with you? IM jealous of your spa day!!

judy- hi and good to see you

julia- I saw on fb that you were heading to the gym.Im so proud of you!! Keep it up!

teri- how are you?

lillion- are you out there lurking? come in and talk with us...we miss you!

HI barb!!!
hi to anyone I missed..

Calling ALL lurkers!!!! Esp old friends: Lilion, Valerie, Angela, Ruth, and more!!!

I struggled and did not stay on plan yesterday, but it wasn't as bad as Tuesday. I have the whole day planned today. I have to get back on track.

Hey Ladies!

Passed on gym today as I feel the pleasing tightness of muscules today! Not sore so I know I know the work out was just right! Was struggling for a bit not pushing myself hard enough...fear of not being able to do it...so I decided to stop being a chicken and giving it a REAL honest try! Feels great! Energy level has been up with regular work outs too!

Watched Rachel Ray today and Prevention mag had a lady on who talked about having 4 - 400 cal meals a day = 1600 cals a day. Is that a reasonable break down? Or even 3 - 400 cal meals with 2 - 200 cal healthy snacks? Whats your take?

Hi Ladies,

I'm all 's. Just got back from WW and I'm down another 1.4 lbs. That's 18.4 total. No regular meeting next week because of Thanksgiving . I'm planning on finding a Friday meeting. I have the day off and I figure if I have to W/I on Friday it will keep me OP during the tough, holiday week.

Hey Dgramie, Congrats on your loss. I love counting points. It's aways what I climb back up to if I fall off the wagon.

Heather, you CAN get back OP. You've done soo very well in the long run. You know you don't want to slide.

This weekend will be my challenge. Two "out to dinners"with friends. One to a pricey steak house. That is not too much of a problem as portions will be reasonable. The other is to a buffet place. I'm going to have to sit on my hands to keep that meal within limits.

May be back later.

Debi!!! You rock! I've never counted points and it sounds like more math to me, but I'm glad it works for you with accountability.

Julia, I tried having a series of smaller meals but found that was too much time of my day spent thinking about food. But I do know it works well for some people. Me...I fight structure. My natural inclination is to snack throughout the day, so I'm trying to just stick with how I do things but make sure I have all the right foods readily available, and to eat in a balanced fashion. If I stay close to my natural ways, I don't eat so much and I can make good choices.

Tonight I'm cooking broccoli beef, but I've got to find a way to make it without soy sauce. Maybe I'll use some sherry and beef stock.

I've had a downer day. Life isn't always exciting for me, Debi. I'm going to blame today on hormones. I experience loneliness quite a lot these days. I can see why some women make really poor choices when going through a divorce. I don't feel like learning from making mistakes, but I seriously miss having some companionship. One good thing I realized today. Food is seriously not doing it for me anymore!

I think I'm going to have plenty of time getting comfortable with being alone. Because really, being alone if preferable to being in the wrong relationship. I was lonely for years while I was married. Maybe I'm not really lonely right now, but rather, still mourning the last few years. I'm really happy to have my sons with me, and my life is busy. It's time to explore my possibilities.

I am new here, and not quite 40 (19 months away - yikes!). But, I have been so inactive for so long, I don't know where to start. There was a time, when I weighed 250 pounds, that I was very active - going to the gym 5 days a week, and loving it. But, I'm not there anymore.

How did most of you start? I know walking is probably the best way to start, but I'm not sure if I can motivate myself enough to go on my own, and my husband is in excellent shape - I don't want him to know how out of shape I am (not that he is blind or anything).

When did you fit it in? I work full-time, I have 2 young kids at home, so by the time they are in bed, I am exhausted. But I know I need to do something.

Any tips you have would be appreciated!

It's a quiet board today. Hope everyone is doing well.

4mygirls, congratulations for starting on your road to health before you're 40! Because it doesn't get any easier as you get older, although getting older doesn't mean you're doomed. It's all about working smarter.

Getting started on your road to health, while a personal journey, doesn't mean you have to go it alone. Getting good support is part of the success equation. Support can come from online sources (like us chickens here - and we're happy to have you join us), it can come from new friends who are more supportive of good health measures, from professionals like trainers and your doctor, and from friends and family.

Try to keep from looking at your new path as an all or nothing venture. Your current state of health didn't occur in one day, from a single decision or life choice. Your destination to health will mean that you'll take a lot of different steps, one or two at a time, from a broad path. And that's great because you can do a lot of different things that lead you to optimum health. If your days end up with you succeeding at 80% of what you were planning to achieve in a day, you're doing great!

Walking is a great choice for starting an exercise routine. If you walked just 10 minutes, three times a day, you'll start getting your body ready to build muscle and use up stored energy. And its something you can do with the kids too. Throw them in the stroller and get moving outside. The great thing about exercise is that it creates energy in you. You get stronger and you're more able to accomplish more over time.

As great as exercise is for us, managing our food is what causes us to lose weight more quickly. Instead of choosing a diet that tells you what to eat, how about switching out some of the things you normally eat for healthier choices, or letting go of some things altogether. If your a soda drinker, wean yourself off that and drink tea and water instead. I was a coffee drinker, especially with cream and sugar, four or five cups a day. It took some doing, but now I have just one or two cups, with Stevia and a tablespoon of nonfat dry milk. Just switching to that saved me 570 calories a day and I really don't miss it at all. You might also add a few more veggies to your meals to help you feel full so you're not so prone to between meal snacking.

Take a good look at what you normally eat. You might even write it all down for a few days and calculate your calories and really see what you're eating. Then you can make changes from there.

And don't beat yourself up for how you eat or what you look like now. That's not allowed here!