Starting thread. Be back in a few.

Ok, I'm back after getting caught up on last week's posts. Sorry I didn't make it here much last week.

Lori - Welcome and congrats on committing to a restart.

Patrice - I'm a scale addict too, except when I know I've not been on program and the news will only be bad. The afternoon is a bad time for me too in terms of having the munchies. Having a bit of protein always helps.

Judy - I'm glad to hear that your tutoring session went well and you enjoyed it. Sounds like you got our weather about a day after we did. Hang on tight, because they're predicting more for us. Sorry to hear that you're not sleeping well/feeling rested. I'm right there with you and it certainly not having a good effect on me.

Karen - Way to go on your workouts and being on track food-wise. So Mike had to hide the scale on you, huh? Probably a good thing - I'm sure you'll find it freeing. Sorry to hear you're having sleep issues too. I'm with you on blaming it on menopause.

Well, my post-holiday weigh-in was horrific. I've gained back all but a little over a pound. What a waste. So it's time for a restart for me. I got WW to change my start date and weight on-line so it would truely be a fresh start. Eating has been ok - not great, but far better than before. Exercise - well I still haven't been able to wrap my mind around it. PMS (I think) has manifested itself as a feeling of great malaise and all around bummed-outedness. I'm hoping to get my period today or tomorrow and hoping this mood lifts then. I'm going to try to get in a weight workout today or tomorrow and take it from there. I may also get to the library and see what kind of exercise tapes/dvds they have for me to try. I know the thoughts of going down to the cold basement to get on the bike certainly isn't helping me get excited about exercise.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla
278.2/278.2/145

Just bumping this thread to the top so it's easier to find.

Carla - sorry about the post-holiday weigh in. It's a new year and a great time for a new start - and listen up girlfriend - it has NOT been a waste. If we had not been changing our way of eating and our habits things would have been worse. I know that's the case for myself and I'll bet you know that's the case for you too! Now, as far as the exercise - you don't have to go down to the cold basement to do *something*. How about this - sometime today, when you are watching tv, get up and walk in place for 10 or 15 or 20 minutes. You don't have to jump up and down, you just have to move. Then you can record this as a workout and get moving from there. Or, do the weight workout you spoke of. Just do something and start today, OK? (This is the drill sergeant being nice ;-)

I did not make it to my meeting on Saturday - I stayed up too late on Friday night and when I woke up on Saturday, I felt like I was coming down with a chest cold - well, with my history of bronchitis, that's my sign to hunker down and rest - so I did. My sneak peeks still show a hefty gain over the holidays but as of this morning, it is down 4 out of 7.8 pounds. I did yoga workouts over the weekend and I'm happy to say that I am feeling better cold-wise. I was also going to get my overdue cholesterol blood test on Saturday (I'm running out of meds) and didn't get to do it so I decided to take the day off today to get that done this morning (and slept late so I had the 12 hours fast!) I made a doctor's appt for during our March vacation so that's now my short-term goal date. I'm not giving myself a particular number but I am going to try to make a good deal of progress by then. Maybe that way I won't get the lose weight lecture from my doctor.

I'm feeling pretty good. We had a friend over for dinner yesterday - Tony's homemade sauce and meatballs. I did have a few tastes of appetizers that werer not too point friendly but I didn't go nuts. I had whole wheat pasta and Tony used mostly lean meat for the meatballs. Today I did a cardio and weight workout and have clocked 8 workouts for the year so far.

Have a great one!
Judy

I lost 1 pound!!!! I celebrate ALL losses especially since I didn't really count points and I am pretty sure I was over my starting weight!!
?..Do I have to re-do the tracker every week? Easier way to do this?
I am trying to just weigh on Mondays but it is so hard. It is like a morning ritual. I know that it is hurting me. It's like I give myself permission to eat or feel bad for not losing. Knowing this is making me try to STOP!
Hope you all had a great weekend and weigh in.

Patrice

Just seeing if I figured out my signature!!

Hi all.

Judy - Congrats for getting rid of more than 1/2 of your holiday gain. Good work! I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better and that you were able to stave off the bronchitis. I'm overdue for my doctor's appointment too and it looks like March will be when I'm going. I have got to show some progress. Of course when he sees me in a couple of weeks for Ana's appointment, he'll see for himself. But he won't be able to lecture me. I'll work hard at getting some exercise in tonight, ma'am.

Patrice - Hurray for a great loss! I think to change the tracker you have to edit the code that is displayed when you edit your signature. I haven't tried it yet, but that's my guess. I think Karen will be able to tell us.

And now to go help Ana with some math homework. We have a couple more evaluations this week - another cognitive test with the pyschologist and another session with the diagnostician. Last week we met with the occupational therapist. We'll still have a couple of tests left. The diagnostician isn't sure he'll be able to finish up this week and may need one more session. And then he mentioned that both he and the psychologist noticed noticed some potential auditory processing problems (yellow flags arose, as he said) and so the speech therapist will be evauating her also. This will push back the formal evaluation until mid-February, but we might as well get everything covered. I'm already fretting that we'll have to decide between keeping her in Montessori or putting her in public school. I have no issues with putting her in public school, other than we love her current school so. It's the having to decide and possibly deciding incorrectly that's getting to me. I guess I really had better start exercising so I can work off some of this stress.

Talk to you all later.

Carla

Carla – Yes, it sounds like a good thing that all bases are being covered with Ana. Please don’t fret – I’m sure you and John will make the right decision for Ana no matter what you decide – hey, she’s already WAY AHFEAD of a lot of kids in terms of parent involvement and concern!! Well, I guess you and I will be concentrating on making some progress by March to stave off those doctor lectures! Did you get any exercise in? You are so right about it helping with stress. There were times in my previous job where I could barely speak to Tony until I had done some exercise!

Patrice- congratulations on losing that pound. Good luck with the once a week weighing. I’m not sure if I could do it.

I had a good day yesterday. The thing I’m most happy about was stopping eating at dinner when I felt full. It’s always important to do that but even more so on core and I found that during the holidays, I wasn’t always abiding by that. My sneak peek was good this morning – better than any I had seen last week. I did not manage to get up early this morning but plan on doing something when I get home today. Tomorrow will probably be my rest day since it’s my tutoring before school day and an early one.

Karen – how are you doing?

Have a great day,
Judy

Hi all.

Judy - Thanks for the encouraging words. I have to keep reminding myself that whatever decision we make, it won't be irreversible. I just want to make this as easy on Ana as possible. You should be proud about stopping eating when your full. That's a tough one for me and a big part of why I'm struggling with my weight. If it tastes good and I'm enjoying it, I can keep on going. And for goodness sakes, why would you walk away from a french fry or 2 or 10. But that's what naturally thin people do and it's what I have to do. I'm planning on getting some exercise in tonight while I'm watch The Amazing Race.

Not too much to report. My sneak peeks have been good so it should be a happy trip to the scale tomorrow. Still waiting for my period to start, but I've been drinking a lot of water, so retention hasn't been too much of a problem. I just realized I didn't have any coffee today and I'm a bit headachy, so I think I'll make myself a cup of tea.

Have a good evening.

Carla

Hello! I started ww core last Mon. and as of today, I have lost 5 lbs. I have been going back and forth on whether to do Core or not. I actually like it because it is not restricting. I hate counting and measuring, so this is great for me. I can't wait until next Tues. to weigh in. See you all next week.
Melissa

Hiya...

Been a busy week so far.

Carla - don't you dare beat yourself up over your gain. Time for a "do over". Getting back to basics and getting moving will take care of the gain and then some. Even five minutes of exercise to start with will give you something to build on. If you still have that article bookmarked that I posted the link for around exercise, have a look and see if it'll motivate you a bit. Yay for the sneak peaks looking good even with TOM on the horizon. I'm sure it's stressful trying to sort out what's best for Ana...but ditto on all that Judy said.

Patrice: congratulations on your loss! That's great. You're right, each pound should be celebrated. I think you have to go back to square one to amend your ticker, delete the previous code and cut and paste the new one. That's what I had to do when I added back my 5 lb holiday gain

Judy: Sorry you weren't feeling well on the weekend. Wise decision to rest when you feel a chest cold coming on. Sounds like you're back in action again. Nice to see that holiday gain being cut in better than half. I swear, here and now that I'm not going to gain over Christmas this year.

I'm feeling good; been busy and active. The dogs have been loving the snow; I had them out to the beach three days in a row. I've even been faithfully TM'ing most days, and do weights with the home gym three days a week. Not being able to jump on the scale every day seems to be keeping me on track. Yesterday was a day off work, so I did a Whole Foods run and stocked up for the week on good stuff. We made a beef stew last night, and it's been in the slow cooker all day...so I'll be going home to a delicious smelling house. Speaking of which, it's time to pack up and go home. Talk to you soon!

Karen

Hi Melissa! Nice to meet you ... congratulations on a great loss so far!

Karen

Hi all.

Patrice and Karen - I was able to change my tracker without starting back at square one. At the user control panel select edit signature and just edit the signature code.

Melissa - Welcome and congratulations on a terrific loss! If you hate counting and measuring, then sounds like sticking with CORE is the right decision for you. But the great thing is that you can always switch back to Flex, even just for a week if you want to shake things up.

Karen - Wow, it sounds like you are really in a groove! Good for you. How's the kitty adjusting to living with you? MMM - the thoughts of coming home to the smell of beef stew cooking in the crock pot is really appealing. I have to make a Whole Foods run soon.

I'm happy to report a 1.8 pound loss this week. It sure feels good to see the scale going in the right direction for a change. I'm sticking with flex points this week as I'm still eating out of the refrigerator and pantry. Next week I'll switch to core for at least a week. This will give me a chance to do some menu planning and do a grocery list. And now to get some laundry going and get the house picked up before I have to go to work this afternoon.

Have a great day.

Carla
278.2/276.6/145

Checking In -

Carla - congrats on your loss! Definitely nice to see the scale on a downward trend. Half the reason for going to Whole Foods is to pick up Cucina D'Oro canned tomatoes from Italy. Mike now can't cook with anything else They're nice, but I can't notice that much difference. Misha is readjusting to life with dogs - she's coming downstairs on a regular basis now. She's very vocal, so you always know where she is and what's happening with her.

Another good day in the bag - I got up and TM'd before work. Just going to get changed in a minute to do a short lower body weight session. Portabellos with goat cheese and tomato sauce in the oven for dinner this evening. After dinner...absolutely nothing. A nice slothful inertia-filled evening in front of the telly.

Have a good one...

Karen

Hi all.

Karen - I hope your evening in front of the telly was nice and relaxing! I'll have to try those tomatoes. I love Whole Foods house brand (something or other 354) of tomato sauce and paste. It has a nice, bright, flavor.

Not much new here. The weather bites. It was in the low 60s yesterday with a lot of rain (just in time for me to have to be outside playing traffice cop for REP - my Wednesday night gig. Today it's in the low 30s, it's snowed and it's slushy out. The temps are going to drop to the single digits and all this wet stuff is going to freeze over. Hate it. I think after I pick up Ana at school I'll make a nice cup of tea.

Talk to you all later.

Carla