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 by using the skills and techniques we have learned from experience to keep us on track. We believe in giving each other support. Good luck.
Itryharder
Judy
(for Lin and Lauren)

I am back from a mini vacation....haha...way to short
offical WI on Saturday was up 1.4# for no reason. This weeks focus....less sugars from fruit, eat more veggies for snacks
back later

Hi Turtles,
Nancy, I did the same thing pretty much...…….away for a long weekend, ate perfectly, up 2#. Sorry it happened to you . I like your motto about always working on your goal! makes so much sense.

Judy

Hi turtles - Hard not to gain while on vacation, even if you are good. There is always hidden calories somewhere.

So tomorrow another storm is coming but hopefully the roads will be OK - if not, vacation day tomorrow!!
I don't mind using some days for bad weather, better than worrying about it all day.

So I have stayed on track this week, got in my walks with the dogs and making better night-time snacking choices.

All - keep it going!
Gail

Hellow turtles
So the frustration train keeps chugging along. WI up more today and yesterday. Why you ask? Beyond me and I am sure it is not to set my self up for a whoosh......pts consumed Sat 26 of 23, Sun 27 of 23, Mon16 of 23, Tue19 of 23...activity pts earned since Sat 40, .not sure where I warranted almost 2# gain. I logged even when I knew it was going to be ugly this weekend while on my weekend away.

So I will ask the wonderful seasoned vetrans here...any insights? Since starting ww in Dec I have had gains 7 weeks out of 12. and a total loss of almost 5#....got my charm at one point.

thank you for reading

Hi Turtles,
Gail, I hope the storm missed you! And yes, vacation days to stay home all cozy is a great way to use them rather than having to brave miserable roads, etc. Keep on keepin' on! Believe it or not I still plan on reaching goal this year. Setbacks come, but using those good habits can bring us out of a setback.

To reach my goal I am looking at each day as a truly new day to eat in a healthy manner and that's been working so far. Got over my hissy fit of gaining weight after being Perfect away for the four day weekend and the resultant binges (very mature of me) and am now back on track and eating well.

I am a very seasoned and not so successful member of WW's. Nancy, I am scratching my head as to why you are getting the results you are. Again, a WW online coach might hit on something. Your points sound very good and your exercise is phenomenal. I don't think you should have so many weeks where you gained. Could this be a factor? As part of those points are you counting in things you would not ordinarily eat if you were on a "diet"? I know WW's says we can eat anything in moderation and count it in, but I spent the last 3 years doing that and it didn't work for me .How about fruit or other zero point foods? Are you eating more of them than you need? I really hate to say anything since I really know you know what you're doing and I can't figure it out either. I can only offer a couple of things that have worked for members in my group. Some of them go to the "robot" kind of eating...…….same breakfast and lunch daily. I think you are already doing a version of that. If so, shake something up! If you always have yogurt for breakfast, have an egg white omelet. if you always eat Boca burgers, try a real one. Gosh, I'm sending you for being persistent and : to find something that works. One more thing: have you had a program in the past where you did very well? For example I did great on OA eating plan many years ago. Ultimately it was too strict to continue and I regained my weight. However, I know from that that bread, white pasta and too much fruit are not my friends. That's how I knew the purple plan could work for me. I hope you take this in the very kind spirit in which I send it. All the best to you and let us know how you do. (Of course that gain could be because of the salt found in foods from eating out over that weekend although drinking water and having time go by should take care of that. Ugh. I wish I had a magic wand!!)

All the best to the Turtles. So glad a few of us are chiming in. This can be a very lonely journey so it's great to have friends along the way.
Judy

Good day to you all
WI is seeing a small drop on my personal scale.
WO eh only 45min on elliptical today, did not feel up to doing free weights today

Judy
Thank you for the insights, this week I have cut out all fruit execpt a cup of berries in the morning in my ff yogart and for snacks I am down to eating cucumber/celery/carrot mix with a little dressing. At one point on Wed and Thur I had only used 8pts each day. I try to keep my zero points to no more than 6-8 a day, the rest is in 'countable points' So I am really mindful of the 'free' foods....free foods do not mean 0 calories LOL. I will reach out to an online coach soon, I am also thinking of changing studio times. When I asked my current facilitator 'why' the first thing she said was why are you eating so few points? That put me off completely. I just am frustrated that answers are not so cut and dry as to the why. Of couse the facilator asked me if I wanted to stay after the meeting to talk about it...did not feel the confidence I should. I know changing up foods is supose to help but I do change up all three meals, it is just for work I have to pick 1 breakfast and 1 lunch I can eat for that week, it is way to hard for me to bring a 'new meai' everyday. I tend to bring all my foods once a week. Dinner is planned for 6 nights a week something new to keep my DH happy too.

ok I am back to work
checking in again later

Hi Turtles,
Nancy, I hope that small drop on your personal scale shows up at official WI. That would be :

Things going well here eating healthy each day. Of course nothing is smooth and I'll be with my dd for this next week while she has a procedure and then recuperates with us. I can make the food work even in the hospital, and it will take some planning. In the meantime I'll keep on chiming in here.

Judy

Saturday's WI did see a drop of 2.2 which totally took me off guard, Tonight I am changing studio times and day. As the days get longer I don't want to be home on a saturday morning wating for that 8am meeting. So I am sure there will be a little differnce tonight but I am ok with that I expect it.

Eating well and clean for the most part (Sunday was nancy's day to eat out and have an adult beverage so she can have her nap LOL day) I find that when we eat out the following day I usually have more issues internally than the rest of the week. I do miss my pizza <sigh> I might try making one this week with the 2 ingrediant dough recipe though.

I know this is short but I will be back

Hi Turtles,
Nancy, so wonderful that your official WI showed a weight loss and an unexpected one at that!!! So you are doing all you should be and getting results. Yes, I used to WI after work and the weight was higher than mornings of course, but once you set that new weight you are good to go!
Keep sticking with this. What you are doing is working for you!

I had a great loss this week. I lost the 3.4# I gained last week. I am still low for this year but the best thing is I did well, then had to stay over at my daughter's house and drive her to hospital next morning for surgery...………..you know the drill. All good and successful and she was released noon next day and I drove her here and we've been hanging out with dh. Why am I telling you all this? Because it's hard to be away from a kitchen so long and have to rely on poor chocies. I didn't do that. I brought protein bars, and an overnight oatmeal, and yogurt with fruit and blah blah blah and made it work. I think I'll take that as a NSV!!! I am determined to make goal this year!

All the best to all who read here.
Gail! Hope all is going well with you.

Judy

Good morning!
Judy I think your NSV is a real winner! and woza what a loss!....I will be dreaming of a large loss like that one day LOL I am so glad your daughter had you there to drive her and you went prepard!!! Like you, I do try to plan for those types of trips. Which plan do you follow? Just curious.

Just an update, the new studio time on Monday evening was a sucess for me on several levels. Of couse the WI ...well I am going to call that one a NSV of sorts because I neither gained nor loss from Saturday morning--my thought was because it was the same and at the end of my day that is pretty cool. No jump up which I was totally planning on mentally. The difference in facilitator was amazing too. Saturday the gal was super high energy, bouncing all the time and had a higher pitched voice and I did not find I was getting a lot out of the meetings. Of couse I did not know that until I switched times and days. My Monday night guy is the total opposite, low key, kinda laid back and so informational! My take away was so much more positive. For the first time I felt like I could go under or be over on my points and my world would not implode. It truly was a releif to know the 'blue dots' are not the be all end all of ww.

My weight of couse has been all over the place so far this week but I started tracking my daily weight on a spreadsheet I started a few weeks ago and I am noticing a pattern that on Sun and Mon I tend to be lower on the scale and Wed seem to be my high day for the week. So odd but this too has taken the stress out of they daily ups and downs.

ok got to run happy friday eve

Hi Turtles/Chickadees,
All good.
I love the way Nancy took charge of your weight loss. You weren't thrilled with your original coach and changed and found a marvelous coach to give info and fit your personality and help you succeed. All important. To stay the same weighing in at night in contrast of course is a loss and next week now that you have established a new set point you'll see another loss. Also, those blue dots caused me a few problems...………...so it's important to get your coach's realistic outlook on it. Glad he's so good.

I had a bit of information from the gal who weighed me in this week and is young and has lost over 100# and has a bit to go. She said she always used to be an all or none person and has recently realized that when she eats something that in retrospect she wished she hadn't, it was really okay and to continue with what she knows works instead of throwing in the towel and bingeing, etc. She says for her continuity is what works. Keep on doing what you know works.

Gosh, I know everything I write is common sense and stating the obvious but for so many of us we are coming into our own and realizing we can make this work and it's worth it.

I am doing the purple program. When I was on the blue program I ate a lot of zero point foods and had lots of points leftover and, like a dope, ate those points at night. That program just didn't fit my personality. The purple works for me and types like this program thru my life also worked, . I am very happy. Getting thru the week having my adult daughter here and making so many positive changes in her life and supporting her all the way was wonderful. It didn't make it easy to eat well, but gosh isn't that life? So I am trying to get foods into my freezer in portions so I always have something "safe" and good to eat. Also, I'll be making up a chicken salad real soon that will have 3 portions to it so I'll also have something handy in my fridge to eat.

Okay, long today, so I'll sign off. I have good food planned for today and it's sunny here and spring is on its way and life is good! : to all who read these messages and Nancy thanks for being here and Gail I always love to hear what you are up to up there in Canada.

Judy

Well this is just a quick fly by today
WI seem to be up this morning but tonights wi will be the test
WO same ole same ole but I was dragging today...darn daylight savings time...that 4:45am alarm was just a bit early for me today

more after my meeting

Hi Turtles,
All the best to all of you.
I too am having a heck of a time adjusting to the time change. It takes me a week to feel normal 2x a year and I'd love to see this changeover stop.

In the meantime I am lucky since I am retired. Having a few too many treats this week made my weight shoot up, what a shock, so today has been very good. I tried a harissa sauce on chicken thighs and I loved it. At first I thought it might be too spicy for me, but I do like it.

Not much to say except keep on keepin' on! Chime in when you can and do the best you can!!!

:
Judy :

sheesh where does the time fly????
official WI up .8, well I knew I would after all pizza and beer the day before weigh in???? bumped my head hard that time.

I am back on track yesterday and today. Just finished making 8 mini two ingredient bagels. Yum I ate 3 of them LOL
'
Anyway I am fly by too back tomorrow for all the gory details