If you have 50 or more pounds to lose, this is the group for you; so jump on in and join, you'll be sure to get a warm welcome!

JOYce and Linda, good luck at your WW meeting today! (JOYce, I sure hope the fire isn't any closer to your house today!?)

Hi to Texaslady, Janet, and Carol!

Well the fire has moved on across the ridge. The Sheriff's came around Monday night telling us to be ready to leave when they announced evacuation. So we gathered some neccessities and were ready, but didn't have to leave. I think the roadblock on our road has been lifted today,at least they let the paper guy in with our daily news. We've had to show I.D. to prove our residence for the last 2 days to be able to come home!

It proved to be a time to get re-acquainted with neighbors and to encourage new families that had just moved in this year....as we all stood out watching the progress of the fire.

I was going to skip WI today, but Linda is insisting that I go...must go face the iron monster!! I didn't have a good first week. According to my scales, I have gained a cupla pounds.
so I begin again! Good thing I bought 10 weeks coupons last week! I knew it would be harder this time, lots of stress in my life!!! But eating only makes it worse.....I went to Back to School night last night...they don't make those student desks for obese grandmas!

Whew, JOYce, what a relief that the fire has retreated! At least that's one less stress in your life right now. How like you, to find the good (visits w/neighbors) in all this, and to offer comfort to the new families as well!

And kudos to you, going to WW even if you might have a slight gain. (Those are the weeks we most need to go, though, aren't they? Been there, for sure ...)

I don't know if you like Dr. Phil or not, but he's on right now, and the topic is how families cope with cancer. He said there were some resources on his site, too (www.drphil.com) if you click on today's show topic. Also mentioned was a site called www.bymyside.com. Just thought I'd pass that along...

Had a really off program day (or really night) yesterday. I let something get to me and had way too many wine points, which I usually don't even have on weeknights. So today, I'm back on program and feeling much better. I even walked my two miles this morning, though I had to drag myself out of bed and rush to get to work on time. There, it feels much better to 'fess up! I just have to remember my goal of getting past the 'kerchunk' before Thanksgiving. Just two months to go!

Hope everyone has been having a good week ... drop in and say hi!
Jan

I'm glad i went! I only gained .2 pound, if you can even call that a gain!
Linda was there as well as another friend, Linda who joined today. I'll have lots of good suport.

Thanks for the Dr Phil link. Although I don't like to watch him, I appreciated the advice given on his site.

Must go get dgd!
ttyl

I had a good WI -- lost 3.1, even though I was not completely OP every day last week. The program really does work when I write down everything that goes into my mouth! This has spurred me on for sure.

Jan, too bad about the over-points evening you had yesterday; I do think that confession is good for the soul, and I applaud your doing so to us. It isn't very often that you go overboard on anything, and I see that you are right back OP, including taking that two-mile walk this morning, so you are doing just great (as usual). I know that you can get to your personal goal before Thanksgiving. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other!

Linda, I am doing the happy dance for you! That is a terrific loss! I know you must be feeling on top of the world right now! And thanks for the encouraging words, too; that really helps. I did manage to stay OP today, 21 pts, and am starting the Wendie plan.

JOYce, I agree, .2 can't even be called a gain. I'll bet you were more OP than you thought! After all, you substituted that Haagen Daz for dinner, and walked, too. I'm sure you'll have a nice loss next week! And how great that you now have two friends going with you! I know that will make it so much more fun. Do y'all have an interesting leader?

Well, am heading up to bed with a glass of water and my "Thin for Life" book. Hopefully it'll be easier to get up early tomorrow morning! The full moon has been really lovely these last few days, and the brisk morning air feels great; it hints that fall is coming, anyway!

Hi to Texaslady, Janet, and Carol!
Regards,
Jan

Jan, thanks so much for your encouraging words about my loss today at WI. I feel like I am going full steam ahead! Gosh, a 21-point day today? That is so little, did you feel satisfied after only that many points? Can you give us some ideas on good, low-point foods you are liking? Today I bought a bag of TJ's ahi tuna fajitas (frozen), there are two servings per bag, and only 2 points per serving. Right now I am enjoying a big glass of V-8; an easy way to get 0-point vegetables.

I have "Thin for Life" in the bookcase somewhere--if you are reading it, so should i!

Hello to texaslady, Carol and Janet -- check in when you can, I miss your posts.

I keep forgetting to ask Linda what the Wendy plan is????
What is it???

Hi, there, JOYce! Hope you had a nice dinner with dh's db and dsil.

The Wendi Plan--it is a way of eating that many people, especially over on the WW website, swear by. You eat at the low end of your range for awhile, then all of a sudden, have a high-point day. You vary your points pretty drastically, and they say that it is helpful to get off a plateau. Go to the website and then to the discussion groups, and search for "Wendi Plan." If you can't find it, let me know and I'll see if I can get it for you.

JOYce , try this link to get to the Wendie Plan:
http://groups.msn.com/POINTingMyWayt...endieplan.msnw

Hope that works!

Thanks Linda that worked fine! I'll give it a read.
And yes we had a nice time at b-i-l and s-i-l the brothers had great fun talking about their 'roots', and I fixed a nice OP meal to take over. a small pot roast with potatoes and carrots, with some clear mushroom gravy with a green salad.

I just finished a piece of cake which had chocolate chips in it (I baked it yesterday, it was a recipe for only half a cake, actually). It was good going down, but now I feel kind of "yuck" because it was wayyyy too much sweetness. I have been eating much less sugar than I used to. Have any of you had this experience, that you have eaten something you thought would be really good (read: high point!), and it wasn't, after all? I have learned a good lesson, I hope....

Hi Linda! Yep, I know what you mean about feeling yucky after something sugary or high fat; I've felt that way too after eating something fried or creamy. I can actually taste the "hidden" fat in some things, too, like this egg drop soup I ordered last week but threw out. It didn't even taste good! Unfortunately, though, chocolate still tastes like heaven to me ...

Re: low points stuff, lately we've been cooking lots of spaghetti squash. It's 0 points, and can be a good "filler" (like in layered chicken enchilada casserole) or a base for a stir-fry, in place of high point rice or noodles. Last night, for ex., I stir-fried shrimp in one tablespoon of ginger oil, added sugar snap peas, carrots, onions, and broccoli, made a nonfat sauce, and served it over the squash. Really good, lots of veggies, and very low point, divided by 3! We're also eating lots of strawberries and apples right now. And thanks for reminding me of the V-8; that's good stuff, and filling, too.

That ahi tuna sounds great! Sure wish we had a TJ's around here!

Hope everyone's having a great Thursday!
Jan

Hi, Jan! your spaghetti squash-based meal sounds good. I don't think I have ever noticed that our stores here carry it, I must pay attention. You seem to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, I know that is important to the success of the WW plan. I had thought that you had a TJ's near you, do you have to go far to get to one? If you can take an ice chest with you next time you go, I recommend the ahi tuna fajitas.

Texaslady, Janet and Carol, where oh where are you? Check in when you can -- just a line or two! Hope all is well with you three.

Hey girls! I'm sorry it's been so long since my last post, but this site hasn't been letting me log-in for some reason. I don't know what is different about today, except that it's my birthday, so maybe the powers that be decided to give me a break today.

JOYce, one of the main reasons I have wanted to be able to post was to tell you how sorry I am about your sister's cancer. It sounds like she has a wonderful attitude though, and that counts for so much. I will always believe that is one of the main reasons that my mother has been a breast cancer survivor for over 20 years. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.

Mother nature is a funny thing. Here you are worrying about a fire destroying your home, and we are about to float away. We have had 12 inches of rain in some areas from the hurricane, and there has been a lot of damage to our beaches and businesses on the coast...almost 1 billion dollars worth (at least that is what I heard on the radio this morning). I am so glad that we sold our vacation homes on the beach. When I got home last night at 7, my neighbor came over to tell me that they had just opened the only road that goes to our neighborhood because a huge tree had fallen. Apparently, we had been without power since 7:30 that morning (I left my house at 6:30 because I wanted to get to work before all the wrecks started occurring on the interstate), so I never knew the power was out. He is a fireman, and had been at home all day with no electricity. It's just ironic how different areas have to worry about different things. I'm deathly afraid of fire, and I can't imagine knowing that there was one so near by, but I guess y'all are used to it. I'll keep you in my prayers about the fire too.

I better get to work, but I wanted to try posting from this pc. I hope it isn't something about my connection at home that has prevented me from logging-in because it is very difficult to post from work.

Hi to everyone else, and thanks to those of you who always say "hi". It sounds like everyone is doing great. I'm sorry our reunion didn't work out. I will miss coming to Texas, but hopefully we can plan another one when EVERYBODY can come. I wish we still heard from Sara. I miss her posts.

I'll try again this weekend to post from home. In case I don't succeed, let me go ahead and tell everyone to have a wonderful weekend!! I need to do some serious thinking this weekend about my eating. I have NOT been doing good at all. I haven't been following the WW plan or the plan they gave me when I was diagnosed with diabetes that counts carbs. I need to figure out some good combination of the two plans, because I can't keep eating like I have been. I have gained almost all of the 40 pounds back that I had lost when I first started posting here. I know I can "start again"...but I'm tired of that. I am ready for it to click like I thought it had last time so that I can get this weight off once and for all. Y'all are all inspirations to me, so I know that will help.

Hi to Jan, Carol, Texaslady and Linda Jean!! Talk to y'all soon...

Love,

Janet (Kudzu)