Good morning,
Started WW (for the second time!) on Sunday and am looking for motivation to stick with it this time. Lost over 20 lbs a year and a half ago, then quit journaling, and am now at "my all time high" weight! So this time I've resolved to keep a food journal the rest of my life.

About me ... I live in SW Wisconsin, am single (hard to cook for just one!), and am retired. I love to cook and sometimes eat out of boredom. I don't like exercise, but am going to make myself start walking again as I feel so much better when I do it. My dog even gets healthier when we walk!

Would love a buddy to chat with on a "day to day" basis ... need someone to keep me accountable. Bev

Welcome Bev!

Sounds like you've made a good start, and hopefully have learned what can happen when you don't journal. My mistake was thinking that I could do it on my own and calculate in my head. It's amazing how you can miscalculate this way until you stop bothering. My mom always said my eyes were bigger than my stomach, and I guess she was right! lol.

For exercise, what I like to do is hold off on something that I want to watch unless I'm on my exercise bike. I'll spend 20 minutes on the bike, then do some stretches and floor exercises to keep it up while I'm watching my show of choice. It's a great motivator to know that the tv doesn't go on until I've done at least that. So you might want to work out some motivator/reward system that you can do for getting in your exercise. Having a dog is a great excuse for getting out and walking. Now if only the weather would behave! lol! Spring is around the corner and its snowing here at the moment. So walking outside for me is not much of an option!

But I think I might go shovel - get some great activity points for that!

Welcome Bev - where are you located in SW Wisconsin. I'm just south of the WI/IL border in Freeport.

This is week 3 for me - I have weigh in today. Journaling is the only way I can keep track of my points. If I don't write it down, I"d surely go over on points.

Thanks for the welcome. Helps to know that none of us are alone in this! I live just south of Platteville, WI ... just across the Mississippi from Dubuque, IA. We had snow last night (again) but it's almost gone already. Spring just doesn't want to come. Went grocery shopping yesterday, and bought so many fruits and veggies that it took me over an hour to get everything washed, cleaned and put away. But what a good feeling...now I know I can just "grab" whatever out of the 'frig and it will be good for me. Has anyone tried the Walden Farms calorie free dressings? I bought the Honey Dijon and had it on a wrap (loaded with veggies!) last night and it was so good! Hope everyone has a great day ... Bev

Sounds like you're off to a good start, Bev. The hard part of me is getting in all the fruits and veggies, so having things on hand to just grab is a good start.

I love honey dijon dressing, and have a local brand I use here, but use the regular dressing and just have it on the side. I don't know if you've heard this one, but there's this great WW trick of just dipping the tines of your fork in the dressing, then taking a bite of salad. You still get the taste of the dressing without all the fat calories. I find it's the only way I can eat salads now because I always used to hate getting to the bottom and finding what was left drenched in dressing.

I think I got your snow, too. 7" here in the Boston area and I am so sick of winter! lol Spring can't come soon enough for me!

Hi Snowyowl ...
Strangely enough, I like fruits and veggies. Only problem is, I also really like lots of meat, butter and desserts! And I like to cook and bake. So it's simply a matter of making the right choice when I eat. As long as I journal, I do fine. But the minute I don't "have" to write it down, I find myself eating all the wrong things. Isn't that childish??? You'd think that at my age, I'd be smarter! Snow again this morning ... but I'm taking a walk today if I have to use snowshoes! Seriously, it will be gone by ten o'clock, but we are supposed to have rain. But I AM GOING TO take a walk. That's about my only exercise and once I get back into the habit, I'll enjoy it. Have four days OP, three more to go for a great week! Everyone have a good day ... Bev

Bev,
You're off to a terrific start! I'm in NY and we've had two more snowfalls this week and are expecting more on Sunday. I've been exercising indoors. Weren't you smart to wash and prepare all your fruits and veggies to have them ready so whatever you grab is OP and good for you! Weigh to go and great success to you.
Judy
234/?/thinner

One of my big mistakes was thinking I could track everything and journal in my head. It's amazing how many little things you overlook in the process, so writing down is a great habit, and not childish at all when you can't track it without writing! It's just that you have so much going on, that you have sit and rethink "what did I have today? Or was that yesterday and I'm just thinking it was this morning....?" Do it all the time, so the best thing is to write it down and have that journal with you to track it.

The great thing about journalling is that I date mine and keep them so that when I'm having a hard time at the scale, I can do a comparison to my first few weeks and see what I'm doing differently. It's a great way to get back on track, especially when you've been doing it a while and think you're tracking properly when maybe you aren't.

How's the snowshoe walking going? I'm hoping I've seen the last of the snow here in Boston!