Hi, Turtles,

Here's the fable that started it all:

The Hare and the Tortoise

A hare met a tortoise one day and made fun of him for the slow and clumsy way in which he walked.

The tortoise laughed and said, "I will run a race with you any time that you choose."

"Very well," replied the hare, "we will start at once."

The tortoise immediately set off in his slow and steady way without waiting a moment or looking back. The hare, on the other hand, treated the matter as a joke and decided to take a little nap before starting, for she thought that it would be an easy matter to overtake her rival.

The tortoise plodded on, and meanwhile the hare overslept herself, with the result that she arrived at the winning-post only to see that the tortoise had got in before her.

Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.

This comes from a book handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. The book is so old it doesn't have a copyright date or an author/editor's credit.

That fable has been the motivation for us turtles for several years. Someone on the ancient WW forum mentioned the fable and I discovered it was very motivational for me. I talked about it in posts and other people said that the tortoise philosophy worked for them, too. So, I started a thread for us turtle types.

We've been reflecting on what the turtle philosophy means as we start our second hundred posts. The turtle philosophy was a difficult one for people to accept. People want the weight off--NOW!! But reality is that it took time to put it on and it will take time to take it off. People want it to be easy to take off the weight. But reality is that it's not easy. You can have a program that's easy to follow, but following it steadily--that's hard. People don't want to exercise much, if at all. But reality is that our bodies were designed to move. So, we're setting realistic goals that take the weight off at a healthy pace. We're setting goals that will keep us moving steadily toward the healthy weight we want to be. And we're just plain moving. We're setting realistic exercise goals that will move our bodies the way they were meant to be moved.

We've also noticed that our turtle philosophy has affected the rest of our lives. I've started writing fiction again. I realize that I can finish a novel, or two, or ten. All I have to do is to set realistic daily goals, work steadily toward achieving them, and they will build up into finished books. Turtle Power at work in my everyday life.

Anyone who wants to join us in steadily moving toward all of our goals is welcome. I've met some wonderful people on this thread. I hope to meet many more. I know the battle with our weight is a difficult one. Having such supportive people come and post regularly keeps it from getting overwhelming. I hope to see many more people join us as we move forward on our journey.

Let's Get Moving!!

Hi, Turtles,

Choosewell, it sounds like you have a great plan going to deal with your travel. Good luck! I had a coffee, cats, and computer day yesterday. It's rare for me to be completely alone right now, so it was great.

Are you doing any prep for NaNo or just sitting down and writing? I've seen people be successful with both methods. I'm prepping this year because I'm on a quest to learn how to do a decent synopsis and outline before I write the book. Next weekend I'll get to do the double inspiration. We're going to San Jose to look at apartments and we'll definitely make a stop at one of the Barnes & Noble bookstores while we're there. It's like giving a drink to a person walking out of the desert when I get to go to a decent bookstore.

Hey, Judy. To do the chef smiley-- : chef : without the spaces. It looks like you must have left off one or both of the colons. Your reports are wonderful these days. You're doing great!

Exercise points: I use the slider and calculate them each time I exercise because my workouts vary in intensity. Even when I walk, some days I walk faster or longer or both. The tape that I calculated at 12 points was a pretty vigorous one. It's his aerobic Broadway tunes tape and I was sweating more than I usually do and I couldn't have talked if I had to. So, I went with high intensity. Most of his tapes I judge at moderate intensity and earn 3-4 points doing them.

The toning tapes: I have two of them. The Broadway toning tape is much more suited to beginners, so I'm going to do just that one for a while. Then I'll start adding in the Tone & Sweat tape, which is a much harder workout.

I think I know which ice cream place that is. I tried it once, too. I thought they needed more flavor in their ice cream. I think they're relying on the gimmick of the mixins to fuel their franchise. It seems to be working, though. It's pretty popular here. But I ate plain ice cream and wasn't totally impressed. I can make better at home. (The trials of being a good cook. )

And I was worrying because I only have 14 flex points to last until tomorrow evening. It's the weekend, though, and I tend to use a few more. Like last night when my family brought a Claim Jumper chocolate cake home. 1 piece is 11 points. I had a half piece, but I'm not eating any more. I don't know if they made some changes to sell it frozen, but it's not as good as the cake we had in the restaurant a few years ago.

You said: I also love that with flex points, I don't feel like I irrevocably blew it. I had a very high-point day, but I used flex points. And now I can see exactly where I stand for the rest of the week. That is VERY cool. It stopped my bad eating right in its tracks and kept me from that shame spiral that just causes you to keep eating.

That is precisely why I think that flex points is such a brilliant idea. But it still takes commitment to counting them and to dealing with the consequences. I've noticed that people don't want to face the consequences of the choices they've made. I see people whining about making bad choices, having no flex points left, and wanting to borrow from next week or do something to fix it--as in make it not cause weight gains. That having your cake and eating it to, to borrow an apt cliche, is what got us all into this mess in the first place.

It's better to ignore the day that you went over, stick with your target, and start fresh with a full compliment of flex points. Learning how to let go and move on, instead of getting stuck trying to make that bad day become a perfect day, seems to be a key skill in the process of losing weight. Otherwise, you end up getting deeper in the hole, point-wise, and in a cycle of trying to fix things so you're never off program, an unrealistic expectation, at best.

You also said: "Lin, good luck with the writing -- sounds like you're having a lot of fun with it. Which is the point, right?? How on earth have I lost sight of that through the years?"

Thanks for the good luck wish. You lost sight of the fun thing because you're not doing it, girl! I still want to know Molly's secret. I've heard from other writers that it's hard to have a day job that's writing, then work on your own writing in your off hours. But, I know people who do it, too. They kind of compartmentalize their writing in their head and do their own out of the love of it. You're so talented and I wish you'd do even a paragraph or two a day, just to keep in touch with one of the loves of your life. And I hope you don't mind that I said that publicly. You can send me a nasty email if you do. And I'll apologize profuesly and abjectly. But I'm not taking the opinion back.

I'm a bit behind where I wanted to be on the marathon. I have until 2pm to get 3k words. I think I can do it. I just got stuck and needed some think time. The marathon and my muse were not in sync this weekend.

My weight has been weird this week. The scale went up 6 pounds in three days then down 4 overnight. I think it's just being wonky while my body gets used to the exercise and I had a salty meal in there, too. So, I'm ignoring the numbers for now because my clothes fit and the mirror looks like I'm at least where I was before this weird glitch.

So--are you all moving?

HI Turtles,
I am determined to post during the weekend. All goes well here.
Yesterday was my birthday. It was a fun day, but I ate more in points than I intended, plus today I've done the same. However, with Flexpoints there is a process to do. I counted out the points, crossed them off the Flexpoints for the week and I'm moving on. This way I can enjoy what I ate rather than feeling guilt and letting the guilty feelings lead to a spiral of bad eating with mixed emotions. That's a very good thing.

Today should be a nice, relaxing day. I hear you all about ice cream places and parlors. It must be in the air because Suzanne even wrote about an ice cream place in her journal. I don't love ice cream all that much, thank goodness. MY real favorite is cookies. Yum. However, when I eat ice cream, it's really a vehicle for toppings like wet walnuts and whipped cream. Now that sounds yummy. Isn't it great to have a discriminating palate and prefer homemade ice cream like Lin, or to have an ice cream treat and find it's just not that great like Lauren? Hey, it sounds like we're choosing well! Choosewell, enjoy your trip and don't worry about outrageous flirtateous behavior--you're too funny! Everybody do well and keep on keepin' on.
Love,
Judy

Judy! Happy Birthday! How wonderful. Did you have a lovely bubble bath, glass of wine, and a good book...or something more daring?

I think that "moving on" concept is an important one. Like Lin, I've seen the threads where people won't cut flexpoints the next week, and then keep beating themselves up. It's like co-dependent weight loss.

Re: writing...I'm not sure where I saw this, could be at Holly's...it was a thread about The Artist's Way. Everyone was signing up. One person did so with the caveat that they did not intend to do the no-reading week, because reading is part of their work. For whom is reading not part of their work? That just cracked me up....to start that wonderful program already saying you aren't going to do it.

Enough about that. Re: NaNo, Lin, I'm actually going to outline very generally for it. The hardest part is choosing one storyline! This is my personal issue...like many writers I have so many ideas that I'm paralyzed by the options. I'm hoping this exercise gets me over this hump.

Hey...I wanted to tell you all...I bought that Epson printer that does cd faces. It was less than 200 dollars, and the demonstration cd's they had were just lovely. I will let you know a website address when it's ready, so you can see how they turned out. Thanks for the support on that, and the specific suggestion Lin.

OK, kids. We had Outback tonight. I get appetizer coconut shrimp (serving is 6, I bring home 4 and freeze them) and house salad with dressing on the side. No alcohol. Very nice, and I'm stuffed. I think my stomach is shrinking. Inside, not outside...there is still a very definite pooch there!

Must run and pack. Hugs all around, and I might not see you til Monday, so keep drinking that water! choosewell.

Hi Turtles,
All goes well here.

Choosewell,
what a great idea to have only a couple of shrimp and the salad at Outback. By the time I chat and eat my salad which is quite good by salad standards, I am not hungry. I usually eat 1/2 of my entree, but that's 1/2 I don't even need. I have considered asking them not to bring a salad for me and simply packing it up to bring home for lunch the next day. Right now I'm concentrating on not eating out too much. But the next time we head to OUtback I'll be even more creative thanks to your tips.
Yes, my stomach is satisfied more quickly than before and that's a very good thing.

My weekend has been relaxing and nice. I made some placemats which are reversible (Autumn and Christmas) and a table runner of the same fabrics. Also made some napkins. It was fun to get back to doing some sewing again. I miss MIata and her chatting about quilting.

Everybody have a great day. Choosewell, have a good trip. Lin, have a great write. Lauren, have a great exercise!
Love,
Judy
234/221.4/thinner

Hi, turtles,

Happy Birthday, Dear J-u-u-dy, Happy Birthday to you! I'm glad it was a fun day!!

Great use of your flex points. That's one thing they're there for.

It sounds like you're really enjoying your crafts. It must be wonderful to be retired from your stressful job and be able to enjoy a relaxing activity that I bet you didn't have time for before.

Yes, Choosewell, the Artist's Way thread was at Holly's. I'm one of the guilty culprits about the no reading week. But, in my defense, I did that exercise when I went through the Artist's Way the first time and it didn't do anything positive for me. So, I didn't see a reason to do it again. But, it was someone else who said they couldn't do it because reading is a part of their work.

Choosewell, I get paralyzed by options, too. Too many ideas going around in my head. I'm learning to choose the one that best fits the story I'm writing now and putting the rest in the idea file. Somehow, putting them someplace where I can get to them again seems to free me to get on with what I'm working on.

It's great to read all of your great choices, ladies. You're doing great!!! And they become tips we can all use to boost our success.

I'm doing fine, too. I did some walking yesterday. But, the scale ended up a pound higher than last week. I'm not really worried about it. I think if I keep going, it will go the other way again. I think my body needs to get used to the exercise. I also expect some water retention starting sometime next week due to PMS.

I need to go get ready for my son and his girlfriend's visit. They're coming for lunch and briniging a movie for us to watch. I doubt I'll get in much exercise today, but I have flex points and am eating a light breakfast so I can enjoy the lunch I've planned.

Are you moving?

Holy tamole, we are a busy little group here!

Glad to hear people's weekends went reasonably well. Mine definitely did. I worked out Friday to my aerobics tape, walked nearly 5 miles on Saturday, walked about 3.5 miles on Sunday. Today when I get home I plan to walk again; it's just gorgeous out there. I also have stayed within my points. I have two (2) flex points left for today and tomorrow, so you can bet I'm going to keep exercising just in case I need the extra points!

Lin, I agree with you about the lack of flavor in those folks' ice cream. I was surprised people like it. I guess it's the gimmick.

I'm sure the weight is hormones. Whatta blast.

Thanks for the encouragement to write. I don't know why, I just don't find it much fun. You're probably right that I just need to keep at it. Right now, I don't know how to find the time to do everything I want to do, between working essentially full time, working out, and spending quality time with DH (who does not like to do stuff by himself). Not to mention the real time hoggers -- the cats! They SIT on my keyboard. But the fact is, if I really want to write, I'll write. What's that writing site again?

The other problem is that I don't have a font of great ideas bubbling up, demanding to be written. My mind is one big creative vacuum right now. No idea why. I usually have to sit down and start typing before I get ideas, I guess.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JUDY!!! Of course you ate too much on your birthday. For most people, that's one of those days they don't count. Good for you for not getting derailed.

Choosewell, you went to Outback and only ate 2 shrimp and a salad???? Whoa!! Now, THAT's motivation. (Not to mention superhuman.) Way to go!

Well, I've got 3 points left for dinner. This 24-points thing sure is interesting. Can't IMAGINE what 20 points is going to look like. Tonight looks like a great night for an eggbeater omelet!

Onward and downward someday,

Lauren

Hi Turtles,
Lin,
I hope you enjoyed the movie with son and dgf. You're an inspiration with those tapes and writing. I'm thinking of getting out my quill and hitting the poetry tracks again.

Lauren,
Wow! You exercised great and are right on track. It's wonderful that you haven't used all your flexpoints. Walking 5 miles is quite an accomplishment.

Choosewell,
If you're peaking in while away from home, hi! Good luck with those restaurant meals. You really know what to do if you can eat only 2 shrimp and a salad at Outback.

Today a friend is coming over. We're driving to the north shore and hitting the boardwalk. I probably wouldn't do that by myself, but it is wonderful to walk along the water. Then we're having a light lunch that I'll throw together. Maybe we'll even picnic at the park. We both worked at the same place and retired at the same time. We decided it would be fun to get together. She suggested going out to lunch, which is a typical thing to do.
I suggested we head out for a walk and have a light lunch and she thought that was a great idea. Everyone I know is watching their weights, so this is a good plan.

Have a great day. Tomorrow is my WI and I'm over on points this week. I'm having a little trouble curbing my point intake, so I'm going to get on top of this. My exercise is good and I'm feeling well, so onward and downward!
Love,
Judy

Hi, Turtles,

It's so good to read everyone's encouraging posts. Not only encouraging each other, but encouraging ourselves. We need to encourage ourselves and be our own best cheerleader. That's important, too.

Lauren, way to go with the exercise. That ought to get things back on track for you.

Re: writing. First, here's the link to Forward Motion: http://fmwriters.com/community/dc/dcboard.php

As for why it's not fun and why you don't have ideas--probably because you're not writing, planning stories, or even thinking about it much. You're so busy with everything else. I understand that. Real Life gets in the way of a lot of people's plans. As John Lennon said: "Life is what happens when you're making other plans." For me, it was having high-maintenance kids. I could not have raised them well and had a writing career. They're raised now and I can arrange my life so I can write more.

Re: ideas. When I write regularly, I get more ideas than when I don't write, mainly because I'm thinking about stories more so I'm paying attention to the ideas that come my way. As I was doing background for the novel I'm writing for NaNo, I had to create thumbnail sketches of the various worlds who make up this Consortium, but there are a ton of stories in those thumbnails waiting for their turn to be written. At the rate I'm going, I'll need the immortality pill I keep joking about just to write a quarter of what comes out as I'm working on something else and walking around observing humanity.

Re: Fun The thing that brought the fun back into writing for me was freewriting. (Thank you, Natalie Goldberg.) When you have to move your pen for 10 or 20 minutes without stopping, letting whatever comes out land on the page, you surprise yourself. You relearn how to play with ideas and words the way you did before the academics made it boring. For me, it was reconnecting with the 10-year-old who wanted to write Nancy Drew mysteries--but with her own characters and plots. I still write mysteries. The book I'm planning to start the first draft on in January is a mystery. Anyway, good luck to you in your quest to figure out how you want fiction writing to fit into your life.

Judy, I love your plan to go for a walk and a picnic with your friend. What a great way to deal with your tradition of having lunch together. When you say that you're over on points, are you including your activity and flex points in that? Maybe, if you're not eating your activity points, you need to start using at least a few of them. You've been exercising regularly and that can increase your need for food.

Choosewell, I hope things are going well for you. Looking forward to reading about how it went when you get back.

I'm not sure how I'm doing. I walked yesterday and I'm walking today because I need to run errands. I may do the shorter toning tape today, too. It depends on how long my walk ends up being. It's been gorgeous and I like being outside. But I've been keeping up the exercise. I skipped Sunday, but I was on my feet for hours cooking, so that's good enough. I think one light day each week is probably important if you're working out a lot, anyway.

But my scale has been flaky--up and down lots of pounds overnight. I think I need to replace the batteries. That may be the problem because I know I'm not gaining and losing 3-4 pounds in a day. That's not physically possible, even if it's a time when you retain water. Right now, it's not PMS, so I don't know what's going on. I'll change the batteries in my scale and see what happens.

I hope you're all moving!

Happy Turtlin'!

Just a quickie, more later. My official at-home weigh-in this morning was ... 191. Gee, I haven't seen that weight before. Except, like, ALL SUMMER LONG.

We leave Thursday for the Adirondacks. Sure would be nice to break 190 sometime this month, but I'm not seeing it. Maybe I just need to come to terms with staying in the 190s for the rest of the year, what with three vacations coming up. But I'm soooo sick of it. Sorry for the downer. I'll write more later.

--Lauren

Hi, Turtles,

I can see why you'd be feeling discouraged, Lauren. A couple of thoughts. First, maintaining is much better than going back up. Second, your vacations can be helpful to your weight loss plan if you choose your treats, special regional foods, etc. carefully, count your points, use your Flex Points wisely, and get some exercise. Walk in that beautiful fall foilage. I envy you every fall when I wish me and my husband and our cameras could be hiking with you in the Adirondacks. My oldest son would love it, too. He's working on starting a photography business. Third, no matter what happens, celebrate your accomplishments. You don't want to be where you were when you started. I have confidence that you'll break this evetually. It's just a matter of when.

Well, apparently I was correct. My scale needed a new battery. I replaced it and 7 pounds mysteriously disappeared. Anyway, it turns out that I didn't gain a pound last week, I lost 2. YAY!!

I'm calling yesterday "Guilty Pleasures Day". I should write a romance called "Guilty Pleasures". It's a great title. Anyway, I picked up the new Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb book at Costco. I couldn't put it down. I didn't take a shower or get dressed until 4 pm. That's a guilty pleasure day. The woman can tell a gripping story. And her gimmick of collaborating with herself worked really well. I hope she does another one like this, where Nora Roberts writes a contemporary crime story and J. D. Robb finishes it in the future.

The bad part of Guilty Pleasures day is that I never got out for the walk or did a videotape. I don't want to lose the momentum on exercise, so I'm making an extra effort to get in that walk today because I still need to do the errand. I'll walk extra, though, because I'm not doing a tape. I don't have time today to do two exercise thingies.

Everything else is going OK. I need to work on the plot for my NaNo novel today. That's my biggest project right now.

I hope you all are having a great turtle day.

Are you moving?

Wow, Lin, seven pounds overnight!! Woo-hoo! Congrats on the 2 pounds down for the week, too. That's awesome!

Thanks for the encouragement. I've decided to stop eating my activity points, and to keep exercising, preferably daily. DH thinks that walking won't be enough, that I need to do aerobics. He may be right. I do work out harder when I do the aerobics.

So I did my 30-minute tape today (that's what I can fit in before work) and will do a 60-minute tape tomorrow when I work from home. Tomorrow evening we head to the Adirondacks, so after that I'll just have to get my exercise via walking until next week.

I'm also going to focus on my accomplishments, as you suggested, rather than on this three-month plateau. So ... last week I walked almost 9 miles, and I did one day of aerobics, and I stayed within my points (had one flex point left at the end of the week) in spite of that monster day last Thursday, and in spite of adjusting to 24-point days.

Also, in the bigger picture, I have lost 84 pounds over a period of five years, and I am keeping it off. (OK, it was 94 pounds a year ago, but we're focusing on the positive here!)

Finally, I was down a pound this morning, and I'm TAKING IT.

My goal while in the Adirondacks: to maintain my weight.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/190/down, down, DOWN!

Hi Turtles,
Lauren, have a great vacation. You'll be doing a lot of walking in the beautiful hills of the Adirondacks. Enjoy enjoy. You know what to do about food. And great news that you lost a pound this week. I know the rest will follow if you keep on doing what you know is right.

Lin,
Wow. Have you thought of sending Lauren your scale? 7 pounds overnight is heavenly. You are doing so incredibly well.
It's why this site is so important. It wasn't long ago that many of us were lethargic in our attempts to healthy up our lifestyles. Now look at us!

This week was a toughy for me and I'm up .8#. That's okay because yesterday and today I got myself back on track. For me, eating more does not correspond with a weight loss. I tried it out to see if it might, hoping that it would. When I didn't eat my exercsie points and ate not more than 20 of the Flexpoints, I had a nice steady weight loss. That's what I will aim for again.

My WW leader had a fabulous analogy today. She said, "Picture this:" Plan a trip. Pack, make hotel and air arrangements, make arrangements for your pets and/or children. Then head to the airport. On the way you see a favorite restaurant. You stop in and have a leisurely dinner thereby missing your flight and your vacation. Would you stop for dinner? Of course not, and yet when our lifestyle changes are most important--getting to goal in a timely manner--why are we allowing ourselves to be sidetracked? Hey--isn't that the turtle philosophy? Slow and steady, keeping on track and keeping our eye on the prize. We can do this. Hope you enjoyed the analogy. I loved your birthday wishes. Thanks a bunch.
Love,
Judy
234/222.2/thinner using flexpoints!

Hi, Turtles,

Judy, I didn't really lose 7 pounds overnight. That was a joke. My scale was showing really crazy weights because the battery was low. What really happened was that it's been weighing strangely for several days, including my weighin day. I thought I'd gained a pound, but when I replaced the batteries and it started weighing accurately again, I discovered that I'd actually lost 2 pounds. I like what your leader said. That's a great analogy. (But I'd rather have the restaurant food than airline food any day. ) It's great that you've found the level that works for you. I love it that you're making it work. YAY!!

Lauren, YAY on the pound!!

About the changes you're thinking about: I don't think I'd make two changes at once. If you make two changes, you won't know which one made the difference so if you get in a similar situation again, you won't know what's the most likely way to break the plateau. I'd change my exercise level first and see if that made a difference. You only need to find the level at which you're eating about 200 calories less per day than you're using in order to have a healthy, steady weight loss. That's an average of 4 points. If you continue to eat the same amount of points, but increase your exercise level, you'll probably attain that and start losing again.Then, after two weeks to a month, if it didn't, I'd cut back on the activity points. I don't think I'd cut them all out, either. One or two at a time until I find the level that works. Good luck!

Have a great vacation!! Looking forward to hearing all about it when you get back.

Today went well. I had a very long walk, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. We went out for dinner. I didn't know that the sauce on the pasta was a cream sauce because it didn't say so on the menu, but I didn't eat that much of it. I took 2/3 of the pasta and sauce and half of the chicken home. If I divide it into two lunches, I can eat the leftovers and stay within my points. I'll probably go into flex points tomorrow, but I have plenty.

Happy Turtlin! Are you moving?

Hi Turtlelinas,
Lin, sorry I wasn't clear about your scale. I knew it was a battery problem and not a 7 pound overnight loss. I'll make it a point to use LOL when I'm joking online. However, another 2 pounds down for you is amazingly wonderful. I'm so glad you made a point of the 100th. thread of the Turtles because that seems to be what kicked a lot of us into action. It's also great that you have shoes that allow you to walk for such a long time.
That's wonderful.

All goes well here. With Lauren and Choosewell at different locations, we'll keep in touch and keep Turtles buzzing. Or is that bees? LOL

Today I have a full day planned. Am going to finish up my Halloween costume. I'm going to be the meat eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors. Don't ask! It should be a lot of fun to put together. I am also making walking on the treadmill a top priority.
I'm going to see if I have to do more, but for now I make sure I exercise 5 times a week. I'm also going to get the lawn cut. That doesn't take much time, but I figure everything helps. Then tomorrow or soon I'll start washing windows. Wow! My activity will make the house look better. Now the important part is not to just say it, but to do it.

Take care Turtles wherever you are and keep on a steady course.
Love,
Judy