Good morning! Hope everyone had a good weekend.

I'm tired but the sun is shining and I'm hoping to head outside at noon and get a walk in.

Weekend eating was horrible for me and I really feel it this morning. That coupled with the fact that TOM is waiting in the wings doesn't help!

So how's everyone else?

Hi to Lala, Susan, Domina, and Ideal!

Hi Melissa. I'm feeling about the same as you are today - discouraged about my uncontrolled eating on the weekend and a little tired. I did not weigh in on Saturday; just couldn't face what was sure to be another gain.

I did have an excellent 9km run yesterday; perhaps my exercise will get my eating turned around since it's hard to lug an extra 5 lbs. over long distances

Hi Ideal, lala and Domina. How was your weekend break?

Well, we're all in the same boat. I ate all sorts of junk food items on Sunday during the Super Bowl and today I feel "like I ate the whole thing." I'm disgusted with myself. I'm also afraid to get on the scale. I did get my walks in, but the eating probably invalidated that. DH was very upset; he gained 5 pounds this week!! The thing with him is that he'll go for his training run tomorrow and lose all of it.

Back on track today. We can do this!!

Hello to lala. If lala says the same as we did, then we can blame it on some cosmic disturbance.

er, no comment on the weekend either. The only positive sink is that I did exercise and show some restraint on saturday.

So, lets just say it was a cosmic disturbance .

I will be happy to tell you all that I had dinner guests last night and the superbowl was not mentioned once.

lala

Hi ladies again,

Thinks here are sort of strange. My folks called on Saturday and said they had spent the afternoon in the emergency room. Apparently, my mom's blood pressure went sky high on Saturday afternoon and she wasn't feeling well. My dad took here bp and couldn't get a reading and his was fine, so he rushed her in. They really couldn't find anything wrong with her and sent her home. It was high again yesterday and again today. They are at the doctor's now, I am a bit scared. My mom turns 76 tomorrow and is the bestest looking 76 yo I know that hasn't really been enhanced.

Anyways, my mind is preoccupied. I am hoping its controllable with medication and some stress management. They just had an offer accepted on the house they are buying in California, so hopefully that is a bit of stress off their shoulders. However, I wish they were here, not there....

Needless to say, I should be more off my kibble and I'm not.

lala

Sorry to hear about your Mom's difficulty lala. Hopefully they found some answers yesterday and whatever it is can be controlled. It's tough being so far away when this sort of thing happens. As you say, she's in good shape, and that counts for a lot.

My Dad seems to be holding his own these days. I'm thankful for every good day he has.

It looks like my goal of a 7-lb loss by Feb. 14th won't be realized. I am discouraged. Need to find some motivation somewhere (as if the fact that my jeans are tight isn't enough). Ach - sometimes I hate this struggle.

lala, I'm passing along good thoughts to you and I put your mom on my prayer list. I think sometimes the older folks just have weird happenings, but things straighten out. I heard someone say recently that he was taking a pain medication and drank some grapefruit juice for breakfast and the combination put him on his butt!

Susan, don't be discouraged. Just keep plugging.

I received a call last night from a Weight Watchers person asking me if I still want to work for them. I thought about it and discussed it with my DH. I'm involved in so many things now that I'm not sure if I can commit to too much. She was discussing Saturdays. That really is not appealing since I work M-F. She also asked me if I was doing Flex Points and I had to admit that I had not changed anything. I like Winning Points and I don't see a need to change.

Good morning!

Lala: Hope your mom is doing better! My boss' mom had something similar happen and they couldn't figure out why her BP would skyrocket. It's always scary when a parent encounters some health problems.

Susan: Maybe you're putting too much pressure on yourself to lose the 7#...step back and re-evaluate what you're doing good, what you could improve and go from there. The storyboarding tool works great in regards to setting up a plan of action

Domina: I can't blame you for not working on Saturdays. At our center it was crazy on Saturday mornings. They hold 3 meetings (8-9:30-11) and it's crazy. I quit the Saturdays and opted for a more calming pace on Friday evening/Sunday mornings. I enjoy working as a receptionist and being able to help the new members as well as the old members. Your schedule is pretty crazy so working might not work for you. You could always ask if you could work as a "fill in" rather than being put at a specific meeting.

Weather here is rainy (surprise!) and a balmy 38...we're supposed to get snow a little later on. Thank goodness the ice didn't materialize here in town. The outlying areas got hit again. I'm fighting PMS/munchies big time.

Have a good day!!

Melissa, I was thinking of asking if I could be a fill-in. Thanks for the suggestion.

There was an ice cream social at work today; oh well, I ate it all!

I head to Salt Lake City on Sunday for a few days of business travel; it's also balmy there--32! I'm not looking forward to it.

Susan, Melissa's right; take baby steps. You'll feel better overall and not beat yourself up.

lala, let us know how your mother is doing.

Hi ladies,

Thanks for the kind thoughts. My mom is doing better. They put her on drugs and it has stabilized her bp. My dad (the doctor) thought that she might have had a mini-stroke on Saturday (her symptoms were close), so he smartly gave her an aspirin and went to the emergency room. The neurologists yesterday says that her brain looks fine, her arteries are like those of a teenagers and it just could be elevated blood pressure. She is really upbeat, she says that lots of their friends are on all sorts of meds at their age, so she feels fortunate that she is only starting to get some of the maladies. I am still freaked out. I am glad she was not travelling.

As for weight, I can not believe I am saying this. I am up 5# from my pre-christmas weight. There I said it. I think that today I weighed in because I felt that I better. I am not making excuses, I have not been on program. Having gotten my short sharp shock, I'm back. I have guzzled water and eaten moderately judiciously at lunch (chinese with my work group). I did work out today with the trainer, but didn't really do much cardio, so I'll try and either do the new dvd from WW or go back to the gym for a run/bike session.

Susan -- We can try for a Easter challenge?

Melissa -- I don't think I could handle a Saturday meeting, there are soo many folks, I would be very confused when it came to counting money and doing all the paperwork.

Domina -- I have never been to Utah. I heard its beautiful. Enjoy the change of scenery!

Okay, back to work for me.

lala

Okay, I'm back.

I just signed up for the trial run of etools. I am commiting to two weeks and then we'll see. I like the idea of just logging on a doing it, but its soo depressing to see my weight. Then again, if I was not in a telecon all tomorrow am, I could go to a better meeting than the one I'm currently suffering through.

My brother called today, he thinks my mom is depressed and is asking me to go down this weekend and see the folks. Easy for him to say, but I can't go this weekend as I'm gone to the Bay Area, however, I am thinking that I can make it down tomorrow afternoon after my meeting is over and just spend the evening and night with them. I think that might cheer her up a bit.

Would you be happy to see someone even if it was for a short period of time? I can use a free ticket, so its not a money issue. I can work on the plane going and coming, so its not a work issue.

Argh, getting old sucks.

lala

lala: I think she would be happy to see you for whatever length of time you're available. And I agree that old age is no picnic (all the more reason to be as fit and healthy as possible). Re the extra 5 #s, well, I'm up for an Easter challenge - altho I'd probably need a mini one in between since that seems so far away.

Melissa: You are right, I'm probably making things worse by pressuring myself - it's just that this is the longest period of time since making goal almost five years ago that I've been over goal weight. I'm trying to chill out a bit.

Domina: Saturday mornings at my WW centre are chaos. Fortunately, the leader is high-energy and off-the-wall, so it all seems to work. Although I think some of the other workers are a bit overwhelmed from time to time.

Last night was run clinic. I toughed out another heart rate monitor run but I think I'm going to speed things up a bit during the week and use the monitor for the long slow runs on the weekend. A little experimenting and I should have it all straight by run weekend in May!

Good news. My running partner from Sunday also does housecleaning at a reasonable rate. DH and I talked it over, and she's coming on Friday! Yippee!!

Hi all,

Thanks again. I think that I may end up going down tonight. She is seeing a neurologist (thanks, bro) today. I think she's a bit depressed from the anesthesia and
the surgery.

I did okay last night, once I journalled in my dinner before I ate it, I realized I had no more points without dipping into the flexies, so no more eating. I even managed to get into bed by 10:00 pm. That is a new miracle.

I worked out today with my trainer. He killed me and my abs and shoulders. I will be wearing sleeveless frocks this summer if he has his way. I could wear them now, but it wouldn't be as nice.

Susan -- Yipee on the housecleaner. Mine is coming tomorrow. I have been pretty good about keeping up, but honestly,the house glows when he is there.

gotta go get ready for a telecon. It was supposed to be a videocon, but the equipment pooped and I got dressed up, oh well.

lala

lala, don't stress out over the weight gain. You know what to do, so take it one day at a time. You're the brave one anyway; I still haven't had the courage to get on the scale.

I'm glad to hear your mother is doing better. Go visit her; she'll appreciate it.

Susan, I was talking to my DH about the heart rate monitor and he said he would not want to change his regimen or methods at this time. He pretty much knows how to run a marathon (the Galloway method), so he just doesn't want to upset that.

Hi everyone!

Lala: No matter how short the visit it's always good to see someone. My GF met me for a brief weekend in Chicago and it was great. I haven't seen her in over a year so even though the time was short we had a good visit. I use the e-tool and like seeing the graph part--it shows me where I'm at, where I've been, etc. I love gadgets like that. I journal my dinner before I eat so I know my points and if I have a balance left at the end for a snack later on in the evening. Last night I fought off the urge to return to the kitchen and seek out the tortilla chips that were calling my name; I went to bed instead! You'll get rid of that pre-Christmas weight--persistence!!!

Susan: I'm jealous--good for you for being able to get someone to help with the housework! I'd had to clean first before I'd let someone in to clean my house, I need to work on decluttering big time! Maybe I'll tackle a little this evening. It's so easy to put things off until tomorrow *sigh*

Domina: I'm sure 32 is a lot colder for you; it's a balmy 23 here today and that's warm compared to the teens we've been experiencing! We're getting a little break from the snow/ice so it's nice. Check out about being a fill-in; you can work as much/little as you want and you're not "locked in" to a specific meeting. That's how I started and I'll admit it's really helped me maintain my weight loss.

I went to my meeting at noon and I was down .8 (surprisingly!) I'm not going to complain in the least because TOM is due on Saturday. I am going to be careful that the tortilla chips don't come back to haunt me later on.