Hi, all. It's been ages since I got to start the weekly thread.

LM - Hello! We've never met - It looks like you joined this forum while I was away at Tahoe. Glad to meet ya! Anybody who eats dahl and raita is a friend of mine! (My father is from India - I grew up on the stuff!)

I'm happy to report that I have picked up the pace with exercise lately and weighed in at .5 lb lighter at the gym this morning. Hooray! DH is also trying to lose a little weight, so we have banded together and made a pact to eat healthy and exercise this week. It is so much easier to stay on track when you have a buddy in on the effort, no? Now, if my coworkers would just stop brinigng in delicious Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast at the office, I would be in good shape!

What do you guys think of the changes to the forum? I couldn't figure out how to get the clickable Bold icon to work, so I just typed in slashes and brackets as usual this morning.

Off to work now. Cheerio!

Good morning everyone Thanks for starting the thread this morning Austingal!

This past weekend was a tough one for me eating-wise. I'm getting frustrated because the weather has been cold & rainy and I'm unable to get outside and get my walking in. I need to get myself re-focused and back on track. I'm coming on to 2 years at my goal weight and seem to be struggling more these past couple of weeks.

I hope everyone had a good weekend! On the up-side it's not raining so far and I'm hoping to get outside over the lunch hour and get a good walk in. I'm in dire need of it! Doesn't help either that TOM will be starting soon.

Happy Monday everyone!

Hi everybody. I wasn't planning to be at work today and tomorrow, but alas, I was a bit hasty thinking I could get my house back in order this quickly. Instead, I will take Thursday and Friday to paint the master bedroom and put the furniture back in place. My cleaner comes in on Friday afternoon; that will be the icing on the cake.

DH and I are planning a long soak in the new air tub - perhaps Friday nite. I have a nice bottle of wine and a thank-you card for him for all of the work he's done on this project. He deserves some TLC, and I intend to give it to him

Melissa- I hear you about the weather. It was cold and rainy here all weekend and that has thrown a wrench into my running schedule. I don't think it will let up for another few days either, and I am not inspired whatsoever to venture outside.

Austingal - I think I like the forum changes. I had to look around a bit but finally located the bold and italic buttons in the vB code section. Good for you for sticking to the exercise and healthy eating. I wish I could say that.

lalala - I know you're just getting going on the west coast; did you get lots of gardening done on the weekend? I would like to post some pics of the renos but I don't have access to a digital camera or a scanner. Maybe DH can borrow one from work - I'll get working on it.

Laurel - How are you doing with maintenance? I think you mentioned that you had a bit of a gain last week? Don't worry about that too much; you're in experimentation mode right now and will quickly learn how much you can eat to maintain. (I'm a fine one to talk; I think stress has been responsible for keeping the pounds off for me lately. It surely hasn't been personal resolve..).

Take care all.

Hi you all.

Yikes, what a weekend. I still have my mystery cold, so little appetite. The good thing is that I have lost all the weight I gained during my at-sea adventure and had a pretty controlled eating adventure on saturday.

On sunday however, my brother called to tell me that one of my childhood best friends died suddenly on Saturday night on septic shock. She was 34, with a six year old and a nearly three year old. She was Jewish and we buried her yesterday. I am reeling. She was an amazing person and great mother and a dear friend. I didn't hang out much with her after she started having kids, but I still cherished her. It was so hard. Anyways, think good thoughts for her husband, kids and family.

Melissa: good for you and staying at goal. I understand the weather thing, especially living in the beautiful, if not wet, NW.

Austin: Wow, DH is with you on this one. Can you have him cloned? I noticed you exercised in your journal today. I'm hoping to get to the gym soon. I still am congested and not feeling at 70%.

Getting ready for Yosemite this week. Lots of work to do and I still haven't gotten my little dress altered (good thing my mom doesn't read these boards ). It fits very nicely, but it just needs a little tuck at the top. Next week DP and I are off to Rome for a few days. Its going to be hot, but I saw some nice exhibits are coming and an iced granita in front of the Pantheon is calling my name.

ciao meows.

lala

Hello and yes, it's another workweek. blah

AustinGal - yup, I jumped on board while you were on vacation, but your name is very familiar to me as I've been "lurking" for many moons. Letting myself post here was one of my "getting to goal" rewards...As for Krispy Kreme doughnuts, I think they should be illegal. The nerve of some people, bringing them into work. And as for Indian food (or my pseudo-version of Indian food) - I am not Indian but I have spent the better part (in many ways) of my adult life in India. Now that I'm in New Joisey most of the time, I get a little craving for Indian chow every so often. Meanwhile, did you notice I served it over ricearoni?? LOL (it was a leftover from the night before). Anyway, if you don't put too much oil in it, dal is darn low in points and quite filling.

Seasaw - yes, this maintenance thing is not as much fun as I thought it would be, mainly because I can see the writing on the wall..."LAUREL WILL EAT 23 POINTS A DAY FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE". waahh... I was hoping the writing would mention something about 30 points or thereabouts. P.S. what's an air tub?

andlala - I am so sorry to hear about your childhood friend. What a shock. Life (and death) is really a bit too much to take sometimes...

Okay, gals, I guess I should get back to work.

Onward to another day of victory!!!!

Laurel

Not much time to post, just a quick jot to say that I am truly sorry lalala about the loss of your friend. I will pray for her family. What is septic shock?

Such sad news lalala about your friend. 34 is way too young to die, especially when there are little kids involved. It's hard enough for adults to make sense out of.... I hope you are feeling better; take care of yourself OK.

Laurel: How tall are you? I'm sure you will be able to eat more than 23 points at some stage. (BTW - an air tub is the same idea as a whirlpool, it just uses air to circulate the water instead of water.)

Gotta run now. Hi to everyone else.

Hi everyone:
Thanks so much for all your kind words. I shall miss her a lot. I'm only sorry that I didn't keep in such great contact after she had kids. Its hard to hang out w/all your friends as they transition into parenthood when you have chosen another path.

I'm going over to see her parents and family today after my morning meeting. I don't really care how much work I have piling up, I think I need to go.

Seesaw: The Friday night plans sound delightful.

Laurel and Austin: I'm exceeding jealous of your Indian connections. I am intrigued by that continent. I'm from a bit farther west and definitely not as spicy, but the cultures are very similiar.

septic shock is a massive bacterial infection that basically leads to a massive decrease in blood pressure and organ systems failing. I haven't heard the complete story, so I don't know the much more than the skimpy details. I'll leave the it to the pros to figure out what happened.

on a happier note: I think I'm losing some poundages finally. I am getting my appetite back, but I am more in control. We do have dinner guests and I have planned a pretty good little repast. I just wish I was in the mood to eat it.

I did cheat a buy a fresh fruit tart. I just can't even bear making dessert today.

I took my dress in and it costs twice as much as the dress to get it altered. Granted my dress was marked down incredibly, but sheesh. I better get at least two more wears out of this. This is sort of funny since I have never been able to get out of a wedding without spending a good 300-400 bucks on some outfit. My whole outfit runs about 90 bucks including shoes and I can wear it to two more weddings this summer. I wish I had an alterations business, I could retire young.

Anyways, too much to do, so I'll catch you on the flip side.

lala

Happy Tuesday...yeah...

Seasaw,
I'm a measly 5' and have the appetite of someone much taller, much much taller. I was just reading a posting on the WW message boards - some people were having a problem with maintenance - seems they couldn't stop losing weight. This is definitely not a problem I can relate to. The last 2 pounds took about 3 months. Some days our positive outlook gets a little strained.

lala,
I have a feeling that it's only a matter of time before you get to the subcontinent since you do so much travelling. It is a fascinating place and I have never been to south India which i understand is completely different from central western India (nearish to Bombay) where I go.

Okay, weigh in tonight. The adventure continues...

Hi everyone!

Laurel I can totally relate...I never had a problem with continuing to lose once I was on maintenance...and it's true some days are harder to stay positive than others. I find that I need to stay around 23 points in order to maintain. If I need to lose I have to up my walking and really watch the points.

I have my weigh in tomorrow and frankly I have no idea where I'll be at. I do know I'm fighting the urge to step on the scale at home to sneak a peek but last week I did that and it wasn't anywhere near what I weighed in at. I'll just leave it to the meeting. On a good note I've been able to get outside and walk the past 2 days so I'm feeling more in control. Along with that Aunt Flo finally has arrived and I'm feeling less bloated.

Lala: So sorry to hear about your friend.

It's hard to believe it's June--the weather here doesn't reflect it at all...the temps continue to be colder than normal and we're still wearing sweaters and sweatshirts. I shouldn't say this too loud because the way things have gone in the past we sometimes do a complete 360 and have really hot temps.

Have a good evening everyone

Good Wednesday morning. I'm sipping an extra large Tim Horton's coffee (Canada's official drug of choice) and contemplating one more day of work before I can put my house back together. After a major go-through to rid the place of dust, I'll be painting the master bedroom. DH agreed to the most beautiful shade of --gee, I don't know how to describe it -- purplish with soft grey undertones -- heck I don't know but I really like it.

I will have to redo the paint in the bathroom. I wanted a certain buttery yellow and it turned out lemony - not at all what I had in mind. I think we need a yellow with more brown than green (does that make sense?) because the room gets so much light. Anyway, a small thing. It just irks me that I paid someone to paint it and now I have to do it myself anyway.

Melissa/Laurel: I guess I should be thankful for my height. I don't know if I could survive on 23 points a day. Actually, I'm sure I would lose weight (now there's an idea!) About 30 seems to work for me, altho I can go over that as long as I'm getting regular exercise (('m 5'7").

Speaking of exercise, went out to the dragon boat practice last night and managed to get a run in this morning before work. Am positively beaming as a result! My arms feel a little heavy today; we had several muscular men in our boat last nite and they really upped the ante when it came to speed. I had a difficult time keeping up, to be honest. I guess I shouldn't complain; after all, speed is what wins the race, right? As long as we all end up together on June 12th - race day

Have a good day all.

Good morning everyone.

Had my @#!$%@# weigh-in last night and GAINED one !#$!#$ pound on an average of 23 or 24 points last week. Okay, I'm doomed. I just haven't come to grips with it yet. Can you tell!?! I had a conversation with a woman there, same height, same goal weight. She eats 19 points a day to maintain. Now I don't think I ever ate 19 points a day to lose; I'd just drop dead of starvation. But I see where this is heading. It'll be okay once I get my head wrapped around the concept. I'm not hungry at 22 points a day. I guess that's a good thing. Oh fiddlesticks! (You all strike me as a wholesome bunch so I don't want to make you blush with what I'm really thinking )

Seasaw, I just love the idea of buttery yellow walls. I hope you get the paint thing to work out. It will be such a relief, I'm sure, when everything underfoot is no longer underfoot and you can settle into your new beautiful home.
Did you know that Michaelangelo considered 5'7" the ideal height for a woman? (where did I pick up that bit of trivia?) I agree with Mike. 5'0" is just too darn short.

Not feeling too mature today...bah.

xox
Laurel

'Morning all!

Laurel - sorry to hear about the gain. I, too, am not too excited about the low number of points one can eat and still maintain. I think my only saving grace is that I like to work out. So, on exercise days you can fit in a few more points.

lalala - this morning I had a tiff with DH so I'm not feeling like anybody would want a clone of him. If you do...I might be persuaded to let the original go for cheap!! (Just kidding - I love him to death, bless his little heart). Your outfit for the wedding sounds great - what a deal!

Seasaw - good luck with the renos. We just touched up our walls with a color called "bone" - not quite buttery, a little on the taupe side. Your buttery yellow sounds pretty and fresh-looking. The rowing thing sounds fun.

Melissa - glad to hear that you are being able to get outside and run again.

Gotta run!

ah, hump day. Not a pleasant one around here, but
thats not here or there.....

Had a nice dinner with a grad school friend who just got a teaching job at Rutgers. See Laurel, I'll be in Joisey soon enough. The fresh fruit tart w/chocolate pastry cream was very good. I had a couple of bites.

I also feel your points pain. I'm just a scootch under 5' and would be the happiest weighing 105 lbs and eating 35 pts a day, but that would require a 15 mile daily run and a different metabolism.

sigh- lots of cr*p going on around here. DP request for an alternate work schedule while attending grad school was denied, so its either quit (!!!!!) a mid-to-senior level position to persue her dreams or stay and be really crabby. Its okay, we REALLY don't need that income for the next three years. ouch.

austin: life is short to stay mad too long.

seesaw: That would aggravate me to no end. I am threatening to withold payment on the rest of our house painting until they are completely done including clean up and hauling away. We have stuff everywhere and they are 90% done. I hate that.

I'm going to tackle the guest bedroom too this summer and I really like the color you suggested.

Melissa: I hear you and Ms. Flo. I think as I get older, it gets worse. If you exercised and kept close to your alloted points you'll be fine. You are a lifetime and a very diligent one at that . I understand the sweater thing. I am wearing sweater and sandals today, its a mixed metaphor.

Okay, off to download large datafiles and bring the system to its knees.

lala

lalala - you're right. Thanks for putting things in perspective for me. I needed it.