Good morning everyone

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Mine was pretty busy with soccer games. The weather here has finally cooled down (only 56 this morning when I got up) and it's supposed to stay on the cooler side for the week. Thank goodness the humidity is gone

My refrigerator is acting up and so we're waiting for the repairman to come and tell us what's wrong. I thought part of the problem was the temps being so high that the fridge wasn't cold enough...so I turned it up as high as it could go and still not cold, cold. Anyway, here's hoping it's something simple.

On the eating/exercising front...I'm doing okay. The weekends are really tough with not keeping up with my journal. I've really slacked off with this and I need to be faithful to doing this.

Have a great day everyone! I'm taking a half-day off to do some things around the house and then we're off to a ballgame tonight.

Hi Melissa,
I'm sorry about your refrigerator woes. I can relate. Have you cleaned the coils in the back?
Soccer games sound like fun. I hope the weather was better for all of the players. Do your kids play all year around?

I can also relate on the food end. I made a concerted effort to limit the number of eating out opportunities this weekend to curb over eating. It worked this weekend, but who knows. I have two weeks of work travel ahead of me.

Nothing new here, lots of yard puttering, work stress and travel headaches. I'm hoping to be extra productive in the next two days so that I don't have to be at work at all on the 4th!

I hope everyone else had a good weekend.

lala

Happy new week everybody!

Melissa - as a carryover from last week, I wanted to say I was so sorry to hear about your friend from work. grrrr, it makes my blood boil...

Yes it suddenly cooled off dramatically last night - actually a little chilly. Love it. It was so horribly hot & humid this weekend. We went for a dip in a local small river. So refreshing and beautifully shady.

I overate so dramatically on Friday and Saturday nights (restaurants), now I have to do a little damage control before WI tomorrow night. Gotta stay in the range!

The stresses of life are beginning to mount up rather quickly lately - Eddie, husband's unsuccessful job search, my own job "challenges" - I feel stuporous as a result. I just want to crawl into bed and sleep...somebody wake me up when it's over...

catch you all later.

Laurel

Well it's a pretty dreary morning here and my allergies are acting up. Hopefully the weather will clear up by noon and I'll be able to get outside and get a walk in. I've been slacking in this department and I can sure feel it. My eating has been out of control as well.

Update on the fridge: the repair guy came (same one we had had 4 years ago)...anyway, it seems that those lovely little dust bunnies under the fridge are causing trouble...he vacuumed and cleaned the intake area so hopefully this will solve the problem. The temp is slowly coming down. I checked it this morning and it was down to 38 degrees...he said it would take 24 hours for it to come down if that's what the problem was. Here's hoping!

Laurel: Everytime I think about how she's been treated it makes my blood pressure rise. Here's the kicker...she works in the Campus Ministry office! They're a different bunch to say the least. I think she's better off without them but the office could really use her type of personality. She actually listened to the students and could tell if something was bothering them. The others there were just worried about their own "little world" it seemed. I'm curious how things are going to go. I'm hoping that something will open up here that she'll be able to apply for and get but my gut feeling is that she won't be back. It's truly a sad time. Thanks for letting me vent

lala: My son only plays in a summer league that runs from June through July so it's a fairly short season. He enjoys it and it keeps him busy. It's fun watching the kids play. I find myself pacing on the sidelines.

I'll check in later!

Hello, hope I'm not intruding. I'm one pound away from my goal of 129 pounds, and suddenly I realize that I have no idea how to maintain. I've been following the WW points system, but have not been attending meetings. Ideally, I'd like to know how many points to add on to stop losing, but not gain! (Not much to ask, is it?? LOL)

My weight has gone from 155 in March to 130 this morning. I weigh in once a week, and keep my points between 20 - 23 usually.

I'm nearly 39, have 4 chidren that range from 4.5 to nearly 14 years of age. We live in a small town in Ontario, Canada.

Lois
155/130/129 ~ may go down to 125 for a 'buffer', don't know yet...

Good morning all!

Just wanted to check in quickly here. We are still in the Twin Cities - we went to a wedding up here on Saturday. It was very nice & I felt great in my spaghetti strap dress! I received a few compliments so that was good for the ego.

It's been difficult for me to journal while out of town, but I have been trying to watch what I eat to a certain extent. I have been diligent about the exercise, though. We plan to go back home on Wednesday, so I should be able to get the journalling back on track.

Lois - welcome!! Feel free to join us. You can also post your bio on the Bio #3 thread if you want to. Congrats on making it to your goal.

Hello to everyone else! Laurel, Melissa, lalala, AustinGal, Seasaw & anyone else I missed. Got to run - going out boating on the river this morning with some friends. I'll probably check in again on Wednesday.

Take care,
Katie
191.8/146/153WW/142-145 personal goal

good morning all-
Its hot here in the temperate NW and the temperate NW Natives are getting cranky (that would be me ). However, it means that I may get nice fava beans and cukes in a few weeks so that would be cewl.

I think its one of those days where they will give us early dismissal. That would be nice but I have so much work to do I really need to stay. Its torture.

melissa: good for you that the fridge was just a dust bunny issue. New fridges are expensive, I've been drooling.

kt-i'm jealous. I loved St. Paul and MSP. Are they snoopy statues still up?

Laurel and Myra:I'm thinking of you guys today as I go out with some colleagues for a vietnamese food fest. I think its one of those places that has the excellent make your own wraps. I wonder how to count the rice paper?

Lois: Welcome. I am not a goal yet, but I like posting here.

So, our calm 4th is turning into a New England salmon and green peas bbq (alaskan salmon, no doubt) and lots of blueberry and rhubarb crisps. I don't feel like entertaining 12 of my closest, but what ever.

Have a great day ladies.

lala

Hi everybody. Trying to get in gear after 4 days off and it's tough. Hope I'm a little more intelligent now than I was this morning.

lalala: the meal sounds yummy. Does New England salmon refer to a particular method of preparation?

katie: Sounds as though you are having a nice time. I'm sure you were striking in the dress. Will there be photos at some point?

Lois: Welcome and congratulations on the weight loss. You must have remarkable resolve to have done this on your own. Regarding your question about maintenance, I believe you add four points to each end of the points range that you're in. For example, if you were in the 18-23 point range, you would aim for 22-27 during your first week of maintenance. After a week in that range, you would add or subtract points, depending on whether you gain or continue to lose weight. However, don't take my word for it. I never did go through maintenance on the points system. Just got back into goal range and tried to stay there.

Melissa: I'm happy that the fridge didn't turn out to be a major expense. I just cringe when appliances start to act up. Repairs are often as costly as a total replacement, and that makes no sense to me.

Laurel: You certainly have a lot on your plate right now. Hang in there.

We have a good weekend on PEI. The golfers got a couple of rounds in, I got out running, DH did some biking so in general, everyone was satisfied. There was a violent thunder and lightning squall on Saturday evening which scared the heck out of everyone and was awesome to watch. Overate, but that was pretty much expected. Happy to be back home and more in control of things.

Happy 4th, American friends.

Almost forgot - weighed in on Friday morning and actually lost .8 of a pound Running covers a multitude of sins

Seasaw

Happy 3rd everyone!

Melissa - so funny about the dust bunnies! (though I bet the bill wasn't inconsequential). I hate to think of what's populating the back of my fridge. I guess if I ever get around to cleaning my house, I'll vacuum the back of the fridge.

Lois Welcome, please post here! And you are doing great! It sounds like you go for weigh-in but don't stay for your meetings. Am I reading that right? If you are doing official WW weighings-in what will happen when you reach your weight goal, is that they will give you a new booklet which explains what to do next. What that is, is...add 4 points to the top & bottom of your range every day. If the next week you lose weight, you add 2 more. If you gain weight, you take away 2 points. If you stay the same, you continue at that points range. This goes on for six weeks. If you are still within your weight range (in my franchise that is =/- 2# from your goal, then you've reached lifetime and hopefully in the process learned what points range you can eat while maintaining. Make sense?

KT - i knew those spaghetti straps would be a hit (if something is named after food it can't be all bad). PICTURES, PICTURES, WE WANT PICTURES!!!

lala I wanna go to the salmon bbq too! sounds good. all your garden vegs sound incredible. I have the last of my lettuce and that's about it. The tomato plants are doing exactly nothing. Haven't planted the zucchini yet. I guess sometime in November should be about right...hey speaking of fruity crisps, Breyer's makes a fat-free vanilla icecream (2 points per 1/2 cup) that is not half bad, esp on top of a crisp - or mixed with some sorbet.

seasaw - thanks for the words of encouragement. This phase too will pass.

Okay gals tonight is weigh-in on week 6 of maintenance for me...you might be yakking with a lifetimer come tomorrow!

Happy 4th everybody! Enjoy the fireworks.

Laurel

Well, the fridge isn't getting as cool as it should so we had to take the plunge and get a new one. In talking with the salesman at the shop where we purchased our new one, the year that we bought our present fridge had problems with the compressor (which we had to replace 7 years ago). Evidently, even the replacement compressors are not holding up which seems to have some truth to it because we've had repairs every 7 years for a compressor. On a good note, they'll haul out the old one and deliver the new one for no extra charge.

Lois: Welcome to the group! We're all here for support whether we're at goal, close to goal, etc.

Lala: Salmon sounds really good! I've wanted to try and grill it but haven't done it yet.

I'm looking forward to the day off tomorrow, although Thursday will be a bear with trying to get caught up and back on track with getting ready for the orientation program. I'll take the day off though

Have a safe 4th everyone!

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! I did WW in 1994 and it worked out very well for me. We lived in Vancouver Canada then, but now I live in a small town and re'd all my info from my sister, who lives here as well, and is a lifetime member. She's given me her old 123 info, and been my support. I weigh myself every Tues morning on this old grain scale my husband fixed up as a coffee table in the living room. It is accurate, although not too sensitive. It can weigh up to 2000 lbs. (!)

In 1994 I went from 160 to 135, then we moved back to Ontario, and I became pregnant with 4th child. Anyway, I'll go look for the bios.

Lois

Okay a quick post because I am lethargic from all my lunchtime eating, kevetching and running around.

Laurel: My garden is doing okay, not great. We have a large garden at home, but I've had a community garden plot for the last 13 years and I love it. I get to plant in early April and garden until mid-October. its all organic and fantastic since we compost the heck out of it each year. We recently got a year round plot too, so we have about 700 sq. feet of space there and a regular city lot. What can I saw DP mother was English and I am a landscape architect by training.

Melissa: I'm sorry the refrigerator is not working well after the repairman vacuumed it out.We recently replaced our dishwasher and were really happy with the range at sears. Lots of really nice appliances to choose from and good repair service. You just bought a new car right? What did you end up with?

We are having the traditional New England 4th of July dinner. Isn't it salmon, green peas, baby potatoes and some sort of fruit dessert? I have yet to get a salmon, but here, they are easy to find. I really don't want to have others bring things. I am a bit of a control freak and I want a very simple, very WW friendly meal. I will probably buy lf icecream and the good stuff too.

Lois: I'm cracking up thinking about the scale. I think I weigh close to 2000lbs right this second.

okay- torture, DP stops on the way back from lunch at the Dilettante seconds store. Dilettante is a upscale chocalatier in Seattle. I just shrugged and watched her get a few lbs of chocolate. Yikes.
You win some, you lose some and in this case, I'm determined to be at my fighting weight by the end of September, so said chocolate is going to work and other places.

okay, enough droning. Have a great Wednesday if I don't check in tomorrow.

lala

Hi everyone. Hope you had a nice day off. lalala, your plans for dinner sounded scrumptious. How did things turn out?

It poured rain here overnite and not a moment too soon. The lawns were beginning to turn brown and crunchy. My front flower garden is looking pretty good, but the back certainly needs some attention. I saw a wonderful garden of different varieties of coleus a few years ago, and have tried to re-create it in a small shady patch around a large rock. It looked great last year, mostly because I bought mature plants. Cost me a small fortune. So this year, I tried to get away with less expensive, smaller plants, and it's just not doin' it for me. It's still early tho; things might perk up.

My cleaning person was in yesterday and has raised her fee due to the larger, harder-to-clean bathroom. DH is in fit-mode; it's strange how he can justify major expenditures on obscure items (or at least they are to me) but doesn't see value in spending an additional $15 for a clean house. It's not like we can't afford it. I suggested in the heat of the moment that perhaps the real issue is that he expects me to be cleaning the house. Gr-r-r-r.

My sister and I went for a run at a nearby park last nite after work. It was hot! I didn't realize how hot until I stopped into the local market to pick up a few things and the check-out clerk said, "did you run all the way here?" I laughed and said no, but that I had been out for a run. She replied, "oh, I suppose you're one of those people who runs all of the time." It suddenly struck me that, yes, I have become "one of those people." I have been out faithfully every second day for a month! And the heat doesn't seem to be bothering me quite as much as it did last year. Yeah!

Gotta go and do some work now. Later...

Good morning everyone! Hope everyone had a nice 4th. We had a picnic and I didn't do too bad eating-wise. Back on track today I went walking this morning before work and am planning on getting out again over the lunch hour.

lala: We ended up purchasing an Amana refrigerator. It seems that the Hotpoint we purchased back in 1987 has had problems with the compressors. Anyway, the new one arrives this afternoon...I'm excited. As for the car...I ended up with a 1990 Volvo sedan...a deep blue.

Seasaw: Our lawn was in dire need of a good rain as well...we did get a little last evening but I don't think it was enough to do any good. I've found it's better to purchase more mature plants rather than to get the cheaper ones, although I have to admit I've gotten them before and they do perk up but it just takes them a little longer. Hopefully the rain will help. I've also gotten to the point that I purchase perennials rather than the annuals...it seems such a waste to get plants that only live one season so I tend to go for things that come back year after year.