Just starting the topic. Will be back sometime later.

I haven't had a chance to catch up on any weekend threads but hope to later. The bad news is that I gained back the 1.6 pounds I lost last week - BUT, I had a really good talk with my leader and I feel renewed. I've started to right down some winning outcomes (I want to stick with the program and lose the weight because....) and that's helped my focus.

We also had a good meeting on re-framing - figuring out what's behind eating that's a problem - e.g.what's really in the picture where the eating is frame around it. I'll write more about it if anyone's interested.

In any case, the meeting really helped because I did really well at my mom's last night. I did not overeat and ended up going over by only 1 point which I will make up today. TOM is over thank goodness and my sneak peek this morning was very good.

I hope everyone has a great Motivated Monday,
Judy
163.6/161/4/135

Hi everyone.

Judy - Sorry to hear about the gain. Perhaps some of it was water due to TOM? At any rate, I'm glad hear that your meeting helped and that you stayed OP at your mom's ( a difficult place for both of us, I know, to stay OP). WOuld love to hear more about reframing when you have the chance. I'm going to have to write down my winning outcomes as well.

Well, a couple of weeks of less than stellar eating plus almost zero activity has lead to the predictible gain of several pounds. I'm a bit bummed, but anticipated it. On the brighter side, my weigh-in this morning was less than my sneak peeks earlier last week, so I feel better about that. At any rate, there's no point fretting about it. The only way I can change that number on the scale is to stay focues this week, which is what I will do. On another brighter note, my ankle seems to be healing nicely. I still need to wear the brace, but I'm getting around much, much better.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla
250/255/138

Good morning

That's a great idea, Judy, to write down WHY you want to lose weight. I'll make a point of doing that in my journal tonight. Of course we all know why we want to take off the extra pounds, but putting it in statements seems like a great way to get more focused on the goal.

Yeah, I went over my points last night too! We had my sister and brother in law over for chili and my sister brought some Jiffy Mix corn muffin mix to make up. I learned (re-learned, actually!) a valuable tip: calculate the points BEFORE you eat. I ate 2 corn muffins at dinner, which I already knew I shouldn't, and then I took the box and calculated and discovered that the little buggers were 4 points a piece! And then I discovered that because I had French toast for breakfast earlier that I was actually 9 points over! So I got rid of one point by converting an activity point, but now I need to subtract 8 points over the next few days.

Carla, so glad your ankle is getting better and better. Don't let that gain get you down. You're changing bad habits, and in the long run that is what has to be done to lose the weight and keep it off forever. Once you're able to be more active you'll see a change in a hurry too. When I get a fast poofy gain I have discovered that if you triple your water it flushes out the retention in a hurry. Stay near a bathroom, though

Have a great OP day everyone!

Jeri

Carla - sorry to hear about the gain but I am so glad to hear that your ankle is healing nicely and you are getting around much better than you were. Have you thought of doing some upper body work while your ankle is still healing? It counts as activity and it will help build some muscle (which burns more calories). You don't need to buy dumbbells if you don't already have them – you can use cans or laundry detergent bottles. Anyway, I KNOW you'll do well this week – I can "hear" it in you voice.

OK, I couple of things from the meeting. I asked my leader about celebrating my weight loss with food and she says it's OK since it's unrealistic to think that we all will never celebrate with food as long a) you keep it within program like banking points for that Reese's and b) you start to think about and use other ways to celebrate so that food isn't the only way.

Re-framing. She started the meeting asking why do we stray from the path of points (OP). The answer is to ask ourselves, what does it get me to do this. What am I getting by over eating. Some possible answers are things like: comfort, pleasure, social benefits, relief from boredom, escape from stress. The analogy is that the food is not the picture; it's the frame around it. Food is the frame around what you are after. In order to "re-frame", you have to identify the benefit first and then start a list of things you can do to either not eat to get what you want or eat but stay OP. So if you overeat with your friends and you realize that the "picture" is to be social a couple of things on the list for re-framing could be to choose another activity (go to a museum with your friends instead of a restaurant) or plan what you'll eat beforehand (get the menu, etc) so you stay within your points, bring your own food, entertain so you can control what's served, accept less invitations, etc. I "KNOW" my re-framing needs to be around my evening snacking first (then we'll get to stress eating) and that's what I'm going to work on this weekend.

Jeri – I had to LOL about those "little buggers" being so high in points – yup, I've done that and once it’s eaten it’s history. I'll bet you'll do OK whittling that deficit away this week. The "winning outcomes" are also supposed to be positive thoughts – not "I don't want to hide from the camera anymore" but 'I want to lose the weight so I can enjoy looking at pictures of myself" – if you get my drift.

Jeri - Thanks for the words of support. Yep - I'm trying to change bad habits - bad habits that I changed once and that came creeping back. But I'm going to chase them away for good this time.

Judy - I have dumbbells and have thought about doing upper body work. That's pretty much as far as it's gone. I wonder if I'll ever re-discover my motivation to exercise or be able to just make myself do it. Thanks for the summary of re-framing. It's something I'll definitely do. It will be interesting to discover why I feel the need to snack on the train ride home. I'm not sure what that brings me. It's probably not about the train ride, per se, but about how my day went.

Today is going well. It put the 20 minute rule into effect after lunch and was able to save my apple for a 3:00 snack and my 2 point bag of conversation hearts (you know those little hearts with the sayings on them) for the train ride.

Talk to you all later.

Carla

Carla - I think you've got a start on re-framing the train ride home. Good for you for putting the 20 min rule into effect. I'm sure part of my evening snacking is "winding down" but I have to work on it some more.

I had a good day yesterday. I earned 3 activity points and used one of them to erase my 1 point deficit. I wanted to snack away the other 2 points but stopped myself because I realized I will need to bank points for Saturday. We are going over to my mom's for my sister's birthday and I will need some points for cake. I also used the 20 minute rule Carla, and it helped.

Have a great Think Thin Tuesday!
Judy

Judy - Good for you for erasing your deficit and banking a couple of points. Better yet, you were able to put aside your short-term wants (snacking away the other 2 points) for a longer-term benefit (cake on Saturday night). That's terrific! The 20 minute rule sure does work, doesn't it. Such a simple concept, such a long time that passed before I thought of putting it into action.

I had a good OP day yesterday, points-wise, but didn't get all my fruits and veggies in. I'll have to work on that today.

Have a great OP day everyone.

Carla

Hi group! Just got in from Tues P.M. WW meeting and lost .4 :-) It is truly a gift considering I didn't "reframe" my social overeating very well over the weekend ;-). So much for all my self talk. I even looked up pts for Olive Garden BEFORE the social event, but when faced with putting my plan into action, I fell back into old, comfortable habits. I find it very hard to not use food as a major part of my social life. I have that "I was jipped" mentality if I try to stay OP when out to dinner or at a party. I could use any advice on how to work past this. I'm finding that I go off program for this reason more than 2 X's every week.

Judy -- sorry about the gain. I'm glad you got something out of the reframing lecture also. I found it very helpful. I need to keep it in mind and really work on putting it into practice.

Carla -- great attitude! You are right, the only thing to do after a gain is get right back on track for the new week. What exactly is your 20 min rule?

Rhiannon -- I can't resist Jiffy corn muffins. I can easily eat the whole box myself, so I have to just walk right by it in the grocery store :-).

Talk to you all soon...Holly

Sounds like everyone is getting recharged, reframed, re-upping the program.

I am down a half pound, just slowing down in the weight loss, but feeling great. I am into the second week of using my ski machine. I have been watching my taped TV shows and really feeling constructive. This has also freed up my early evenings, as I do not plop in front of the TV to watch the taped programs.

Last night, got home from work, made cupcakes for the daycare, baked cookies for a party on Thursday, baked a pina colada cake for work today, and made a small heart cheesecake for Valentine's dessert. I was a baking fool last night.

We are staying in, thank goodness, and I can control the food very nicely. I am making rock cornish game hens, rice and asparagus. I have my 5 point WW lunch and will have some points for dinner. I love cooking for my family, and with a 2 year old, she loves having us all to herself and then discarding us when the puppy becomes more interesting.

I am hoping that everyone out there has a lovely day, and does not get too much candy.

Liza 195/189.5/140

Good Morning Everyone and Happy Valentines Day !!

I had a good weigh in this morning in spite of a rough week...down 3 pounds and for a grand total so far of 11!! My sister noticed the changes in me yesterday and it made me feel so good to hear it!

Judy I love that quote "food is the frame around what you are after". It seems I have alot of food frames to work on...and even though there are diffent subjects in each picture, it all boils down to one thing: food is a diversion from my fears about success and failure...and about relieving the frustration when I feel like I'm not getting anywhere I want to go. I'm working on reframing each problem part right now...my biggest being snacking to relax late at night.

Holly That's still a loss and moving in the right direction! Well, I am not an expert at this new behavior yet, but I can share what is helping me. I am taking the importance off of what I am eating in social situations and putting the emphasis on the people I am with. Sometimes people seem to pressure you to join the crowd with whatever they are eating, sometimes it's well meaning and they just want to be a group and sometimes it is a way of sabotage....but I'm learning that people don't care what I order or eat most of the time, and I just quietly do my thing. You need to convince yourself that it only tastes good for about 20 minutes, but changing your body will last a lifetime...and which will you feel better about. I have said to myself: I have the rest of my life to eat cheesecake if I want to..right now, I'm not going to go off my plan and feel rotten later for it. I'm going to do this because I want my goal MORE than pleasing my palate for a few minutes. The other thing I do (and it helps that I often socialize with overweight people who aren't healthy) is that I look at what they're eating, how big those dang portions are, what they're doing to themselves, how many points are in there anyway?, and do I really want to keep doing this to me? I babbled on alot, but maybe something I babbled was helpful to you

Lisa You are a really brave person doing all that baking! I would be eating it for sure! Congrats on your self control

Have a great Valentines Day and remember to be your own favorite Valentine. Go to the mirror and say "I Love you!"

Jeri

252/241/130

Hi everyone.

Holly - Congrats on your loss. Sorry you had a hard time with social eating this weekend. I think you have to ask yourself what you're getting jipped out of. There's nothing at Olive Garden that won't be there the next time if you choose not to eat it this visit. It's hard. I know, as I often feel the same way. It's all a matter of priority. What's more important to you - the food you choose not to eat or your weight loss. And remember, it's when you over-indulge that you're jipping yourself - out of a weight loss, better health, etc. Now if I can only put what I preach into practice. The 20 minute rule is waiting 20 minutes before deciding you're still hungry after a meal and need/want to eat more. It was born out my realization that most times I make up my mind before I even eat lunch that it's not enough and that I will still be hungry and I don't ever give myself a chance to feel full.

Liza - Congrats on your loss. Glad to hear you're feeling great. I really have to start taping my favorite shows for later viewing so I have more productive time in the evening. What ski machine did you buy and are you happy with it? You sure were a baking fool last night. It all sounds yummy.

We don't have any specific plans for tonight - it will all depend on how late I have to work tonight (we have some client conversions going on today). Tomorrow I'm spending the afternoon on a third and final round of interviews for a new job that I'm in the running for. Wish me luck.

Carla

Jeri - We were posting at the same time. Congrats on a great weigh-in! You're doing terrific!

Carla

Hello there! I am unhappily reporting that I didn't lose anything last week. I am still the same. I have been doing pretty well on my eating, not perfect. I think it's mostly due to the fact that I have been sick and have not been on the treadmill this past week. I am almost feeling up to it. I'm trying to be careful because I just had pneumonia. I will walk tonight for sure!

HOLLY- I know about those old comfortable habits-LOL! I don't have any advice for you, but I did want to say Great Job! You're down 4 lbs! That's wonderful! Even though you are feeling like you're not sticking to the program perfectly (like there is such a thing), the choices you are making are certainly working for you. I think you should be proud of yourself.

LIZA- Good job on that ski machine! Keep it up! You are motivating me to get on my treadmill.

JERI- Down 3 lbs! WOW! Isn't it great when others start to notice? I can't wait til I'm there. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...LOL!

CARLA- Good luck on that new job!

My hubby is out of town this week, so I am all alone (with my two year old son) for Valentines Day. We'll have to celebrate this weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful evening. -Amy
178/174/135

Thanks for the great words of encouragement everybody :-). Things were a bit shaky yesterday with a work pot luck for Valentines Day. I ended up not keeping points, but had a low pt. subway for dinner and went to the gym for a swim in the afternoon. (I did journal the pot luck stuff, but hadn't measured, etc... so didn't know pts.) I also bought the book by Dr. Phil McGraw from Oprah, and am excited to apply his "life strategies" to weight loss. Did any of you see the show? It was excellent.

Today my goal is to faithfully stick to points. Although yesterday was a bit of a bumpy start to my week, I want to focus on keeping ot exact points (including over the weekend ;-) ) to I can see what kind of weight loss I can achieve.

Rhiannon - thanks for the great advice :-). What kills me about my Olive Garden night is that I had a plan right up until I got to the restaurant :-Z. My friend made a little joke about "sure you'll do that," and that was the excuse to chuck in all my good planning. Old habits die hard.

Cece -- Starting today, the 20 minute rule is in effect! I think I will also use it with unplanned snacking -- especially evening snacking. Once again, I found myself starving at 11 P.M. while watching TV. If I made myself wait 20 min, I would have been asleep and the calories wouldn't of had a chance to gell on my thighs!

Talk to you soon -- have a great day!! Holly