Hi, turtles.

For those of you who are joining us for the first time, we have taken the tortoise in the story "The Tortoise and the Hare" as our mascot and mentor. The hare was fast, but the tortoise won the race! Please join us; we don't bite, and we welcome all fellow tortoises on this journey.
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Listen up, boys and girls; here's your lesson for today. It's called: How To Be a Turkey (... or, how to gain 3.5 pounds over Thanksgiving weekend). [NOTE: I wrote this on Monday.]

1. Don't count points on Thanksgiving. Give yourself a day off, for heaven's sake! We're only human. Eat a lot of stuff you'd normally never even be interested in, just because you CAN! Swear you'll start counting again tomorrow.

2. Thanksgiving is so much fun, why only celebrate it for one measely day? Have Thanksgiving dinner again the next day! Thank heavens you saved those leftovers. Note the sunny skies outside, but decide you'd rather just stay indoors and relax. Put aside those walking shoes. After all, you had a big day yesterday with all that running to the kitchen. Start decorating the tree instead. Swear you'll start counting again tomorrow.

3. The next day, go up north with some friends. Road trip! Bring loads of leftover snacks from Thanksgiving, plus a few new ones. Don't let their dogs eat any. Stop at Cherry Republic, ostensibly to buy Christmas gifts for family. Wow, check out all those free samples! Try everything at least once, and grab big fistfulls of chocolate-covered dried cherries each time you pass the bowl. Free food! Excellent! Pick up a pounder bag, ostensibly for your dad. Top it off with dessert at the ice cream place next door. When you get home, decide you're too exhausted to cook and order pizza. Don't forget the scotch! Swear you'll start counting again tomorrow.

4. Sunday already, where does the time go? Decide to eat moderately. Think about skipping lunch. Skip dinner instead; just snack a bit here and there, because everyone knows there are no points in food if it's not on a plate. Aren't you clever to have cut calories this way! Hey, aren't those the cherries you bought for your dad? Oh, go ahead and have a couple; he won't notice. Besides, you didn't really even have dinner, right? Do something else while you're eating them, like read email or surf the web, so you won't have to think about how many you're actually eating. OK, so maybe you had more than a couple. Maybe, in fact, you ate half the bag and now feel completely sick. What were the points in chocolate covered dried fruit again, anyway? Something astronomical, wasn't it? Feel absolutely horrible, and ... (wait for it; here it comes ...) swear you'll start counting again tomorrow.

And that brings us up to today. Weigh-in is tonight. Think of a million reasons why you can't make it. After all, your cats miss you when you get home late. Not to mention your husband. You still haven't finished decorating for Christmas. There's laundry to be done. You've got to finish writing that article for one of your clients. And you're right in the middle of a totally gripping John le Carre' novel. Besides, you can lose weight before *next* week, right? So why bother to go to weigh-in tonight, when you know you're way up and will feel embarrassed yet again and don't want to deal with the disappointment that the weigher will no doubt feel on your behalf since you've just gained back all the weight you've lost since recommitting a few weeks ago and really, who needs all this grief??

You go anyway.
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Followup note: When I went to weigh-in, I had a funny/horrid moment. I noticed when I stood on the scale that the needle vacillated a bit between two numbers. So I told the weigher to use the lower number. She said "Oh, I'd rather use the other one; I just love using BIG, ROUND numbers." As soon as she realized what she'd said, she immediately felt just terrible and thought she might get fired. Fortunately I thought it was hysterical.

How is everyone else doing?

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/215/DOWN

Dear Turtles,
Lauren, well just go ahead and ditto me for the Thanksgiving experience. To top it all off, dd and dbaby needed to stay with us for a week and I ended up skipping my mtg.~~lots of excuses, but I hate to go when I know I'll weigh up rather than down.

Today I got hold of myself, am on Core and will not eat off core at all!!!!! I've used up my extra points through July 4th. No wonder each year has the same progress--little and none.

Gotta run. So glad you chimed in. Let's all keep on doing the right things. I'm looking as my Thanksgiving experience as practice for what I don't want to do and I'm looking forward to a weight loss soon.

Love you all,
Judy

Hi Turtles,
Lauren,
I love your welcoming introduction to the "Turtles". Thanks for starting a new thread.
Your explanation of how to gain 3.4# over a Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful.
I laughed the whole time, but underneath I know there's a frustration we all feel.

All I know is that yesterday and so far today I am OP. I was really annoyed at a workman who was here earlier today and I wanted to eat! Why not? Why would any other response be mature and sensible. Luckily I had a can of tuna out as a reminder of what I intended to do for lunch. My tuna salad was on Core--I even put olives in it because I needed something special. So, I remain on Core. Seeing friends tonight.
I think I'll bring baked apples. Honestly, I think I will. I can't let socializing get me down.

You all take care. Please chime in and share where you are right now. If you're down, we'll help. If you're up, you'll inspire us.

Love,
Judy

Goodness, looks like the holidays are keeping folks busy. I've got most of my shopping done and the decorating is done, so that's all good. It'll be a quiet holiday for us, since none of our family is coming (for various reasons). We'll be spending the day at church and with friends. It feels strange, but it'll be nice, I'm sure.

I'm keeping to my points and have peeled off all but one of my Thanksgiving pounds. Amazing the damage one can do in a long weekend, isn't it?? I'm saving flex points for a party this weekend.

Judy, how did the baked apples go over? I think that's a great idea.

Check in, folks! How are you??

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/212/down

Hi Turtles,
Lauren, so glad you knocked off the weight from the Thanksgiving weekend. Good for you. Your ability to take charge and do the right thing is inspiring. Thanks for chiming in.

As far as me, I've been beating myself up for getting back to 212.8 at my WI yesterday. However, when I looked at my book since joining Core in August I realized that I'm only up 1 pound from my lowest point. That deserves a instead of sadness. So, I'm on Core and staying there. As far as bringing baked apples, I fell asleep instead. With dd and db here, my sleep has been way off or non-existent. However, sometimes we get a "save" in life. My friend had snacks I could eat--olives, shrimp, as well as some I avoided. Her dinner was close to Core and dessert was a small sliver of some pretty awful angelfood cake. I came out unscathed and managed to knock off all but .2# of my Thanksgiving binge. So, I've got to stay upbeat, get the things done that need to be done and relish the nice home improvements that have been frustrating, but pretty.

Today I'm going to stay OP using Core, get the gifts wrapped that I've bought, get to the post office to mail presents and cards, and buy a few more gifts. Then I'll take stock and see where I actually am in the holiday fling. I love Christmas and need to get my inner peace back. There's an enormous amount still to do, but I'll get it done.

You all take care, take care of yourselves, and remember to chime in.

Love,
Judy
234/212.8/thinner into onederland in 2005!!!!

I'm sending a huge to all of us. Sonia, Bandit, Choosie, and Lauren, we've done well before and we can do well again. Let's all pull together and get through this time one holiday at a time. cheers for entering the new year lighter and OP!!!!

Just back from a short respite~~dh and I took a bus trip to Newport, RI to look at the beautiful summer mansions on the water. Absolutely gorgeous. They were decorated for Christmas and were beautiful. The Breakers featured a huge poinsettia tree of red poinsettias grouped together in a Christmas tree form. When we were there, a male chorus entertained and the whole time was great! Food was disappointing, but that can easily happen on a tour. I did the best I could and today I am OP on Core and trying to get everything done in time for Christmas.

Some friends are coming in Wed. night, so I've gotta get going and do some more preparation. I'm offering a lot of desserts, but my plan is to have fruit for those of us who want that and to freeze any of the other desserts left over to have on hand for Christmas and Christmas Eve.

Good luck to us all.
Love,
Judy
234/212.8/thinner into onederland in 2005!!!!!

Hi turtles- I have been away in Vegas & was up 2.2# at my Mon w/i for over the last 2 weeks. Actually, thought it would be worse since had some over-indulgences. Had company dinner last night (2 hours of sitting - course after course). Did pretty good overall getting through it - had a few bites of everything leading up the main course, then ate meat & veggies only). Vegas was great - didn't win any $ but Celine concert was fabulous & was a really fun trip.

Sounds like you are all doing well. Keep up the good work & talk to you soon.

Hi Turtles,
I'm sending good cheer and to everybody. I went to my WI a day late and found myself up over 2#. Not fun, but I'm doing well with snags here and there. I think I'll have to settle for maintaining over the holidays and knocking off weight in the New Year. If I'm careful, I won't have any "new" weight to knock off and can start at 212.8#. Realistically I can lose enough weight this year to make a huge difference in my total weight. If I average a pound a week, that's 52#. 52#'s from where I am now puts me at about 160#. Even though I'm only 5'4" tall, I look fine at that weight.
What has kept me from doing this over the years? Well *obstacles of life*, of course!
So I've been bouncing up and down for years now. My aim is to shake off emotional eating and stick to Core. To do that, I need to get groceries in the house and be prepared.

Please chime in whenever you can. I miss you all so much.
Love,
Judy
234.6/214.6/thinner into onederland

Hi, everyone!

It looks like everyone has been very busy this month, and we're just moving into the two holiday weeks at the top of the year.

Lauren, I really got a laugh out of that Thanksgiving how-to. Also, your remark on 'big round numbers' ....I have moments when I speak without thinking, so I know how she felt. You are absolutely right about doing some damage in a short amount of time. This week I finally got the scale to budge south by eating 1500-1800 calories a day and (of course!) WRITING IT ALL DOWN!!!...and in two days of eating whatever I *@&^# well please I gained back 3 of my 4 pounds lost. Sigh. WHEN will I learn? Sheesh.

Anyway, new day, new attention.

Why won't my husband get off the riding mower and go with me to Pier 1? Oh, I just answered my own question. Never mind.

Judy, hugs to you. You are very close to your current goal! Good job, good job.

Everyone, have a wonderful week. The year has sped by me and I'm excited to see what these last two weeks can bring.

xo choosie.

My best holiday wishes to everyone! I'm not sure how much I'll be checking in this coming week, though I'll try -- it really does get busy this time of year, doesn't it?

I'm hoping to just maintain within a pound or two through the rest of the month. I'm generally doing well, though I haven't been journaling the past three days -- bad idea! Journaling again tomorrow (and weighing in ... sigh). Last week was a maintain, thankfully.

We're having a fun season, though; I'm really enjoying all the lights this time of year. It helps make the dark days brighter. Only two more days until the solstice and the shortest day of the year! Hooray!

It's 3 degrees outside here right now. Bundle up and stay warm, everyone.

(Judy, loved your description of the Newport mansions -- I'd love to see them at Christmastime someday.)

Onward and downward,

Lauren

Hi Turtles,
Bandit,
You did great with your weight since you were away for two weeks. good for you!

Choosie,
Yeah, I've found that when I eat out of annoyance of having to watch what I eat all the time that I gain huge amounts of weight fast. Especially when I don't track the points. However, I also find that if I catch it fast enough, the weight goes away and I'll find myself back where I started. So I hope that you've had a minute to write down what you're eating since you do so well with that. The "sheesh" remark was to the point. We're all there more than we'd like to be. I'm remembering my leader saying about 1,000 times, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Since I love to eat and hate being fat, it's time for me to decide which is the stronger emotion. I know I want to be less fat. Dare I say I'd love to be my right weight? Yes!!!! So, let's stay on track with whatever we need to do. Core is helping me especially now that I've stocked up on foods. When I'm hungry I eat something Core and that does the trick. Last night I almost impulsively ate something off-Core, and I fought that urge. Yay for me! Good luck to you in doing all you know you want to do to knock the weight off.

Lauren,
You sound great and enjoying the Christmas season. Good for you for getting rid of the excess pounds and getting on track.

Sonia,
thinking of you during this beautiful time of the year. I love your challenges and am up for one starting January 1st. My goal right now is to knock off the fast pounds I put on and maintain 212# to have a head start on the New Year.

Glad tidings to all of us.
Love,
Judy
234.6/215/thinner

Just popped in quick to say "Hi everyone" Sounds like you are all doing well.
Let's get through the holidays - I am going to try & at least maintain. If I do that or even gain a couple# I will be happy. There is just so much going on. My goal is to take a point-friendly dish whereever I go & include a few at my own table on Christmas & get out for a few walks along the way. My other ww friend has quit going, but I am still hanging in there. She wants me to join a gym in the new year with her & hire us a personal trainer. I told her she would probably be going be herself.

Anyway, keep journalling, drink your water & keep some friendly snacks in your purse.

Have a great day. Bye for now.

Bandit,
What an inspiring message. Good for you. And many thanks for the reminders. It is important to keep track, drink water when you think you're hungry, and keep friendly snacks in your purse. Thanks for putting what we need to do so clearly.
I happen to think you're really smart to keep on going to WW. I know the scale keeps me accountable. When I stopped going, I regained 12 pounds I had to get off *once again*. So, if your buddy wants to work out with a personal trainer, that's her right, but I think you're doing great with Curves and WW.

I had a nice WI. I lost 2# of the 2.4# I had put on the week before. This hasn't been easy because I would rather eat, but I figure the longer I stall *Christmas eating* the better off I will be. I would be happy to enter the New Year at 212.6# because that's my lowest new weight since Core and I have to knock off almost another pound to reach that goal. I've included some Core recipes for the days coming up and I'm planning on selecting the right foods if we order in.

So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our friends! Let's get this act together in the New Year!
Love,
Judy
234.6/213.2/thinner on the way to onederland

Hi, turtles. Judy and Bandit, I'm so impressed with how you're doing. I need to take a page out of your books!

Happy Christmas Eve to everyone. We're having a white Christmas this year, which makes me very happy. This morning I watched the bright red cardinals eating birdseed against the bright white snow ... brilliant blue sky, sunshine ... just a perfect winter's day.

We're having friends over shortly for a Christmas Eve brunch, then we head to church for vigil service. Tomorrow is liturgy in the a.m., then over to have Christmas dinner with friends. This is the first Christmas in a long time that we haven't had family here. On the one hand, I do miss them. On the other, it's certainly more relaxing! And I'm very thankful that we'll be spending Christmas with people we love.

To you and yours, a very Merry Christmas!

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/215.5/down
Next goal: 209

Hi, everyone,

I'm still around. Writing. Still living at Mom's. Paul's still jobless. The temp job ended up being a 3-month contract. So, things are pretty much the same around here. But I wanted to pop in and wish you all a wonderful Christmas. And a great New Year. My wish for you all is that you meet your weight-loss goals for each and every day.