Peggy: Sorry but I am weird! Just ask my DH!

Glenda you can do it I have faith in you!
Here are some places for images:
http://www.cutecolors.com/
http://www.allfree-clipart.com/
http://www.animfactory.com/

Karen: Love your image you found! Its very cute! Glad your meeting went well. Im sure the others will to!

Slavika: You are just getting to much rest. I should of made you start this thread. You are slacking off there!

It is a bit of a trap going straight from my email link to our thread. I didn't realise that Lily has been hard at it and started a new thread, so here is a repeat of my last posting!

G'day all,

Glenda Hope all the shared experiences on smoking have helped you. Slavika I don't do ANYTHING gradually and had I given up smoking gradually I would still be smoking now! That is not to say I did not have a few lapses but I am soooo pleased I persevered and yes it feels great.
Now for my next battle, I weighed myself this morning and assuming the scales are correct I have lost about 5lbs (2.6 kg) I asked dh if he thought the scales were correct, he seems to think they are. I know what has done it No alcohol. Another vice I do only full-on, if only I would stop after one or two glasses Even dh says that I look so much better and he now understands that perhaps I shouldn't drink at all. He is a person who does everything in moderation quite the opposite from me. It was becoming a habit of having a bottle of wine every night with our meal and if we were out some liqueurs as afters as well
The last time I achieved goal was when I limited my consumption of alcohol to weekends but with this life style just about every day is like a weekend. Tonight friends are coming to visit us for dinner (they are here on holidays) and I know they will assume I will have a few drinks. I have decided to tell them that I have discovered alcohol does not agree with me and I feel so much better without it so I will stick to water

And as I talk of doing nothing in moderation, I was up till 2.30 this morning messing about with my webpage! I decided to go back to software I know rather than try and get my head around 'Dreamweaver'.

Lily Goats??????? I will take your word for it that they are cute

Karen love your new avatar, looks great!

Ann My dh works for an American Co., Lucent Technologies, it is the type of work he does that takes him all over the place. Being an American Co based in Warren, New Jersey we really hope that one day they will decide that it is a good idea for us to get to see headoffice

Trudy I miss your posts but I hope you are having a great holiday. Any cyber cafe's where you are???

Have a great day all
Cheers
Maria

Hi Lily: Thanks for the new thread. Slavika is just on vacation. Also thanks for setting me straight on the Big Daddy.Can't get that here either. I do like the Blue Bunny products, and also the Sugar Buster Ice Cream.So I guess we have East Coast and West Coast ice creams, and for the Central & Western, must depend on the distributors. Then there is Canada, a whole new situation.
Have you checked out the Kashi web site for more recipes? Do you like the GoLean cereal? I like the Golean Bars too. They make a good meal replacement now and then.Since Webtv can't put in all those neat little pictures I'll just have to use my simple one. We are starting to talk about some sort of computer.

Glenda: We'll just keep praying for your resolve. I know wanting to have your grandbaby near is a big incentive, so you will make it, struggles and all.

Hi everyone. Have a great day Ann

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Maria: Congrats on the loss! 5 pounds is super! Guess that alcohol does hold you back even if you count it. I do enjoy a glass of wine on the weekends, when we watch a movie. Dont know if I can give that up!
Big Goats arent cute but little baby pigmy ones are.

Ann: See I dont get Blue Bunny here. I have looked for it but havent found it anyways. I didnt like the Go lean ceral. But I do like the Go lean bars. They are really yummy and fill me up. I usually eat them as a meal. They really fill up up for hours!

Slavika: Where are you?

Cleaning house make me forget I was hungry-------not in this lifetime. If anything it would increase my appetite and make me think that all that work entitled me to something sinful. I don't think I will try that plan.

Maria, maybe we can and hold a pity party for you because you have no house to clean. Poor baby! Oh, girl, I envy you. I hate housework! I hate it even more after this past week. However, I would get tired of eating in restaurants all the time. I love to cook and would miss the taste of real home cooking.

Lily, talking to the goats. You know, I like my dogs better than some people I know. Maybe you will find that you feel that way about goats How big do pygme's (sp?) get? I am trying to get my DH to let me have another dog. I have 2 now and I want my daughter's dog.

Need to go eat my Good Friends. I like Go Lean too, but not as often as Good Friends. I can eat the bars, but I am not real crazy about them.

Nitey night.

All this talk about drinking. I do believe that some where in my WW materials , It talks about alcohol slowing down weight loss that is why I tell the members in my meetings to limit to 1 or 2 a week. my meeting went well today and yesterday. We are having so much rain that I didn't expect a good turn out. Well I got fooled. We were very busy this morning and tonight. Well got to go to bed I need to be up bight and early in the morning. talk to you gals later.

Karen

Great going Maria!!! I think alcohol makes you retain water and makes you lose slower. At least it does to me. If I get any slower I will get depressed. Lost a pound this week. Now if I can keep it off. We are going away for the weekend. I just got finished coloring my hair. It is now blonde again instead of whitish. Lily pigmy goats are cute. I saw them once. I have a niece who wants one for a pet. We don't get Blue Bunny here - at least I have never seen them. We are lucky to have Skinny Cows. I haven't tried the Go Lean Bars either. I sometimes make fruit and yogurt smoothies for lunch. They really fill me up. Have to run, my painting lady is coming to pick up her stuff. I have some glass baking in the oven and have to go check on it. Peggy

Good morning all. Maria 5#. Awesome! Here is your happy dance. ****** Lily----keep up the good work on your maintenance program. You can teach the rest of us how when we get there---if ever.

Glenda, you can quit smoking! You do it the same way you lost weight---one at a time. Except now you will be giving up cigarettes instead of calories. You have an incentive to work for-----a grandbaby. Why don't you get your DIL to give you a copy of the sonogram? Every time you think you just can't go without a cigarette you can look at the baby's "picture". It will then be worth it. You can do something for your grandchild that you couldn't do for yourself. When I quit (the last time) I did it sometimes 15 minutes at a time. I would think I couldn't do it and would pray for strength (literally pray) just for now. God was good---I never asked Him for strength for the next 15 minutes that He didn't come through. We will keep you in our prayers. I know you can do it.

Geri: I would love a dog. But DH and I cant agree on it. He wants a big outside dog and I want a little inside dog. The pigmy goats only get to be about 2 ft high. I wouldnt want one tho. Im sure they are just as bad as big ones and eat everything in site. They are cute to see specially the baby ones. You will get there! Trust me! How is your plan going?

Karen: I think alcohol would slow down the process to. Thats why I dont have that much any more. I know when I have more than normal Im always hungrier to. So its just not worth it to me anymore, cept every now and again.

Peggy: I love to make smoothies to. The New WW one is pretty good to. I like the Chocolate one the best. Ohh you got a new hairdo! Where you going for the weekend? Any where fun? Course going any where is fun to me!

Its cooling down here. It was in the 100's now it back to a normal 90's. This weekend its even suppose to be better. Hope so as I still have lots of yard work to get done!

Thanks, guys. I know I can do it too. I just took a test that was to tell me why I smoke. I scored high in the "crutch" thing and "the psychological aspect". They say these two together are a difficult habit to break, but that when you do, most people don't ever want to go through "that" again. Geri - your idea about the sonogram is wonderful! I need to have one with me in the evening. That is when it is the hardest.

Maria - I am so impressed with your 5 lbs. lost while traveling. Don't you just feel wonderful! And by saying that the alcohol doesn't agree with you anymore you can make it through that awkward socializing time without making a big issue. Then make sure you have a drink of water or diet coke in your hand all the time. My father was an alcoholic who didn't drink anymore, so this is one thing that never bothered me. Nobody in my family can drink socially, so we just don't drink at all. But I obviously have an addictive personality with food and tobacco.

Lily - Don't know what I would do without you. I am going to attempt to add a cute sign to this post.

Slavika - Isn't it just some sort of great to be friends with your son's in-laws? My older son, the one who has been divorced twice, has had some of the craziest in-laws. I tried to be at least on friendly terms with them, but it kind of proved to be too much of a task. But my other DIL's mom and dad are so warm and loving that it is just wonderful to be included in their family.

My sister just called with the results of a medical test. She had a kidney problem and they did a test that scared her to death, but it turned out to be nothing. She was ecstatic! But why, oh why, do they make you wait two days when the test just had to be interpreted by her doctor and it was just sitting on his desk!

I have a young friend who quit smoking 10 months ago and gained over 100 pounds. She just told me she has some kind of surgery in which they bypassed her stomach and make a little pouch out of her esophagas. In 6 weeks she lost 42 pounds. I am glad for her, but giving up one thing and substituting for another and then doing such a radical procedure sounds so awful to me. I am trying to just stay where I am until I have some kind of a handle on this thing.
Glenda

I got lost trying to add an image and almost lost this whole post. Will try another time.

Hi Everybody If this continues I am going into the "ark building" business.
I went to WW yesterday and gained .6. That was not good but then I haven't been working the program to well either. I have been working a "Slavika Version" which does not appear to be good. I will try harder this week, with staying within my points range, writing in my journal and pick up my walking on the treadmill. Our meeting this week was about allowing at "LEAST" 20 minutes per meal so that the stomach has a chance to let the brain know it's had enough food. So, when we journal this week, we are to put the time it took us to eat, and to rate our hunger on a scale of 1 to 10, at the time we ate. All good ideas, don't you think Karen ???
Maria Good for you on the 5# weight loss. Before WW days, I used to buy those cardboard container's of Hochtaler Lite Wines (the one that has the bag thing inside the box and a little spout for getting the wine out), and take it to the lake. Well around 4:00 my friends and I would decide it's wine time and we all had "OUR OWN" wine and we would fill our glasses. I drink a lot of water (with ice) and always had, so then I drank wine (with ice), lot's of it. I guess because it was a lite wine and I had ice in it I figured I wasn't "really" drinking all that much. I never have been much of a drinker unless it's something that looks and tastes like a milk shake, but that wine seemed to go down quite easily. When I started WW I just didn't want to use up the calories on wine so that is when I stopped doing that. I went back to water and ice with an occasional glass of wine. Sometimes I get a BIG wine glass and pour in some grape juice with Sprite or 7UP and that is very nice. Try it.
Geri you are so lucky to have 2 doggies. I just love dogs. I often am tempted to get another, but when you go away it's so hard to get someone to stay with them. None of my friends have pets anymore so I can't impose on them.
Lily you are getting all the sun and heat and we are getting all the rain and cold. You would think nature would even things up a little bit better.
Glenda hi there. When I quit smoking I read someplace that only 6# gain could be contributed to quiting smoking the rest was just plain pigging out. Our WW Leader quit smoking over a year ago and gained about 15#. She told us at the time she had given herself permission to gain a few pounds but after a few months of not smoking she said that was it and worked to get the weight off and has. She was flying to England and course you cannot smoke on the plane....that was the day she quit. My Son said, the reason I quit smoking was because there was an ad on TV that said, "If you smoke, you stink". He said, it didn't matter how many ads were run about smoking being bad for my health, those I could ignore, but to say. "I stink"..............
Anyway, my friend, you can do this.

Last night I went to the musical "RENT" with my friend that I see every Wed. Well we enjoyed the singing and the music, but the story line was certainly different. My friend said to me, "gosh I wonder what some of the older people in the audience thought"? I said, "we are the older people". "Oh right", she said. LOL LOL
Did any of you gals see RENT???
My friend and I went out for lunch and shopping today too, so I saw her twice this week.
I had the gals over for tea yesterday and we had a very nice time, but I missed Trudy.
Well it's almost time for DH to be home for dinner. I'll stop by later.

Maria, you won't be lying when you say alcohol doesn't agree with you anymore. It doesn't because it makes you fat. I am not a teetoler due to religious reasons----what I do with a bag of potato chips is a bigger sin than any wino does with a bottle. Alcohol does make me fat because it loosens my inhibitions and I eat very poorly. (Unfortunately that is not the only time I eat poorly.) However, that is one thing that I can eliminate without a struggle.

My First Place program is doing quite well. My participants all met or exceded (sp?) their goals. I was the only one who didn't. However, this was a particularly stressful period in my life. And we all know what I do when I am overstressed. Things are okay now and will get better. The boys will be going to Maryland for the summer so my weekends will be free and clear. I will get to sew and do the things for fun that I enjoy. I always lose well in the summer. We will be starting another cycle of First Place next month. I think my class will be considerable bigger and will include my pastor and his wife. Talk about being under pressure.

Lily what is the new WW smoothie? Chocolate sounds good. We are just going to Athens, Ohio for a graduation party. It is about a 3 hour ride. It is in the Hocking Hills - a very pretty spot. It would be nicer if it was warmer. We are having April weather now. Cold and rainy. Geri what kind of dogs do you have? I agree with Slavika that you have to have someone to watch them when you are gone. I have a son who still lives here who can take care of ours. You all have empty nests and mine still has one in it. I tell him he will have to take care of us in our old age and diapers. Haven't seen Rent. Isn't it about something depressing? Can't think of the storyline. Phantom is coming this fall. Would like to see it again. Glenda you can do it one cigarette at a time. Talk later, Peggy

Glenda: I wouldnt worry about gaining that much weight as your friend did. You can quit with out gaining any weight. Just make sure you have lots of fresh veggies to munch on. And go for walks! walks really helped me alot. Got rid of the stress.

Slavika: Those are good ideas, you got out of your meeting. I have a hard time eating that slow, and I really need to work on that. Sorry about the gain. You better get back to the WW plan, instead of the Slavika plan. I like my wine with sparkling water. Never tried 7UP so I will have to give it a try.

Geri: Glad the first place is working out for you. And now a bigger class! Dont worry about the pastor and his wife. Sounds like everyones sets goals when they begin? Thats a good idea!

Peggy: WW Shakes: Its just something new that they started selling in the WW centers. They have Chocolate and Vanilla. You can either mix it with water, or milk or half water and half milk. I usually throw in some rasberries or Strawberries. Makes it Yummy. Worth a try if yours sells them. Im not real fond of the vanilla tho.

Have a great night all!

Hi everyone... We came home late afternoon, the 1st thing I did was read my important e-mail and then scoot over to you guys. So much has been going on this week so I didn't read all of it yet... but I will. We had a really great time, it was a nice get-a-way.

I did read about the annoying things "some" DH's do... the first thing my hubby did when he retired was straighten the curve out of my grapefruit knife. He will never hear the end on that subject. He spent the first week of his retirement, closing cupboard doors, putting out lights and turning off the TV,..... I would come back in the room and could tell he had been there. He almost didn't make it to the second week of retirement. He came grocery shopping with me.... to help.... and would say "what are you going to do with that?" when I would put things in the cart. I had to put him straight in the cereal isle. Yes..... it was a rough start, but we survived.

Tomorrow morning I will gently tip toe onto the scale to see how I did. I tried to be sensible, but it was hard, so many temptations.

Well, I still haven't unpacked everything so I will come back later and try to catch up with all the news.