Hi everyone and welcome to a new week!

I hope you all had good weekends. Mine was pretty relaxing, although we did have to go to a wake yesterday and ended up having dinner at my cousin's house, which is always a test of self-restraint. I did ok - not great by any means, but not as bad as it could have been. Got some more walking in on Saturday as we walked into town and back. I did quite a bit of moving last week compared to my usual weeks.

Well those five ugly pounds from last week that came off soon after stayed off, so I'm happy about that. I think I'll count this weigh-in as a maintain as the five pounds were off by Tuesday and I know that they weren't really fat - just water and a heavy dinner eaten late at night.

This week, so far, is blessedly free of any major challenges (other than reigining in the stress/emotional eating, as always). I know we have to learn to work the program regardless of any "eating events" that come our way, but it's a relief to not have to think about parties, bbqs, dinners out, etc. once in a while. I really, really want to see a loss on the scale next week, so I'm really, really going to act like I want that loss when it comes to following the program.

Have a great day and a great OP week everyone.

Carla
260/260/140

Hi Cece, glad to see you are hanging in there!

I did weigh myself at the doc's office. 216. I have actually gained weight on this program. I've been on it for 10 weeks now and I've gained 5 pounds. Yes, I realize that I have a huge problem with water weight and part of that is the reason I'm seeing a doctor (endometriosis). I keep gaining and losing and gaining and losing and I've just had it counting the points - it doesn't matter. Maybe surgery will help. Doc says that the endo isn't causing the water weight but something is not right to cause a 16 pound gain and loss every month.

I did better last year when I quit coffee, soda, beer, wine, chocolate, and fried foods and went to acupuncture and herbal therapy. Yeah, it took me 4 months to drop 10 *real* pounds, but I did get down to 191. Then the holidays hit. The flexibility of the points system is apparently too much freedom for my fat. I tried moderation, but it isn't working. The exchange program worked for me once upon a time, but now that I'm a vegetarian and don't drink milk, the program is too limiting.

So I'm going on the Chopra plan - the book is called "perfect weight" for those of you who are interested - it stresses your body's most natural weight to be and how to get your eating habits back into balance. The methods are actually similar to what I did when I was thin (165 without even trying). Somehow I lost touch.

And I'm not going to weigh myself anymore. The reasons I'm fat are not really too many points, they have more to do with stress management. I'm going to take some time to deal with that. I find that I'm obsessing too much about how my diet is going and how awful a person I am if I go over points at all.

So thank you all very much for all of your support. I will check in periodically and give you all your well deserved "hurrah"s. Remember that I'm wishing you thin!!

Best,

Jennifa

Hi all - I've got to keep this pretty short - I have a ton of work this week to get a system finished by Friday. It will be a busy week next week too and then, finally, vacation!

Carla - congratulations on the maintain. I'm sorry that you had a wake to attend. Way to go on doing better than you could have at your cousin's and getting some walking in. I know what you mean about it being a relief when there aren't any planned challenges!

Jennifa - I'm sorry the points plan hasn't worked for you. Good luck with the Chopra plan and let us know how you are doing from time to time.

I am very pleased to report that I had a 2 pound loss on the scale on Saturday. It was the biggest loss in one week in a while and it was nice to see the hard work finally pay off. I did OK on Saturday at the bar-b-que (we only stayed 2 hours and I just had a beer and a couple of shrimp). Tony and I went out to dinner afterwards and while I had baby back ribs and some fries, I counted them. Sunday we had my cousin's brother over for a small bar-b-que and I did OK during dinner but had a little mini binge later in the evening. I don't know why I did that but but this morning I counted up the damage and figured I'd go on from there. After doing a pretty intense 60 minute step tape at lunch today, I've decreased the deficit to 13 points. Today I'm planning on eating at the low end of my points range and hope to wipe out the deficit in a couple of more days. We have a bar-b-que on Saturday at my cousin's house that will be a big challenge - I'm bringing an appetizer that's fairly low point and I know there will be fruit salad for dessert (as well as cakes etc.) but the rest is a total unknown - I'll just have to do my best.

Judy
163.5/156.2/135

Hi guys! I'm back from my mini-vacation near WI Dells (camping). We had a great time, even though I had to leave hubby at home to work :-P. My sis in law went, and she has recently lost 20 lbs on WW and looks great! Even so, we both went a little hog wild. (If only alcohol was zero pts !) Both of us agreed that we needed to get right back on track when we got home, and that is exactly what I'm doing. It feels good to have a plan; now I need to drop all my excuses for overeating and get down to business + I haven't changed my numbers in my signature, but I'm up to 183, and the weight gain stops right here!

Cece - Hi! I missed your post where you gained 5 lbs, but I'm glad that it came right off. It is hard to face a gain number like that and not just throw in the towel...good for you sticking it out :-) I totally understand being glad that you aren't faced with any food challenges this week. I am buckling to every food challenge this summer (BBQ's, going to the ice cream place, having some beers...you name it, I give in to it) Keep up all that exercise!

Jennifa - I'm sorry to hear about your medical problems. I also have endometriosis (am taking Lupron injections now). If you ever want to talk..drop me a line at [email protected]. Good luck with your new program. I've heard a lot of good things about that book -- keep us informed :-)


Have a great week everyone...I'll be checking in a lot trying to find motivation to get through 1 week OP

Holly

Hi all,
really good week on the scale 3 pounds down! Don't you love it when that happens! That is a very rare thing for me. It's weird too, because I probably ate at the high end of my pts every day.

Carla~ congrats about losing those 5 pounds, you sound really motivated, I bet you will have a nice loss at the scale next week!

Jennifa~I am sorry to hear about the endometriosis, I have a friend who had that, she also had to have surgery. Hope everything works out, just take some time for yourself, It's not worth it beating yourself up if you go over pts, we all do it. Best of luck with the new plan.

Judy~ Congrats on your 2 pound loss! Good luck on the bar-b-que on sat. If you have banked pts from the week enjoy yourself, but also pace yourself and drink lots of water that day, good idea to bring a low pt appetizer.

Holly~ Glad you had fun on your vacation! Don't worry about eating over pts on vacation, that's what vacations are for, to have fun. I have a cruise planned for Jan and I know I will be eating more than usual! As long as you have been o.p since you have been back, it will be fine

Hope everyone has a great week!

Good morning

Judy - We must have been posting at the same time yesterday! Congrats on the loss!!! Keep on meeting those challenges (bbq's , etc...), and you'll be at goal before you know it BTW, I'm still in awe of your excellent exercise habit!!

Casey - Wow! Great weight loss! How many more pounds until your goal? Did you do anything special this week? More water, exercise, etc..?

I did great until the late evening when I found a row of chips ahoy cookies left over from vacation and had 6, and then went back in the middle of the night for 3 more. However, I did journal the whole darn mess. I don't know if I can be as good as Judy is about working off a defecit (I usually just "oh well" it and move on), but at least I didn't leave it unjournaled and forgotten.

I CAN'T quit. I WILL succeed. My husband has a reunion a week after we get back from our 2 wk family vacation (8/18) and I don't want to go as the fat wife. This means that I will need to be in control over my vacation. Hmmm, I better think of some good strategies (Strategy #1: Don't brink chips ahoy cookies ) hehe Have a great day everyone! Holly

Hi everyone.

Jennifa - I'm sorry to hear about your health issues. That constant water weight gain/loss cycle must be incredibly frustrating. Good luck on your new plan and let us know how you're doing.

Judy - Congrats on a great loss! I know you'll have that deficit wiped away. I hope this week and next isn't too stressful. Just keep your sights on that vacation! I have four more weeks at work after this one before my vacation. Can't wait.

Holly - Sounds like you had a great time at the Dells. I've never been up there. Good for you for getting right back OP. Sorry you had a run-in with those cookies, but it's good that you accounted for them. And you're right - leave the Chips Ahoy at home during your next vacation!

Caseyboo - Congratulations on a wonderful loss! You must be walking on air.

I had a run-in with Mexican food last night, but other than that am doing ok. I'm determined to break the cycle of three bad weeks after one good week.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Holly - welcome back! It's good to hear from you. Thanks for the kind words about my exercising - I feel I've been slacking off a little lately because of the hiatus from strength training (because of my shoulder). Hmmm, it's funny that I wrote that - it's so easy to beat ourselves up about something, isn't it. Yes, you did the right thing to journal those cookies - that's an important step! Hey, I don't always work off the deficit as you'll see below.

Caseyboo - way to go on a fantastic loss! Interesting about eating at the high end of your pts every day - maybe you haven't been eating enough and now your body knows not to go into "famine mode".

Carla - sorry to hear about your run in with Mexican food. As long as you don't let it throw you off. I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails for vacation. I know you must be too.

Yesterday was another busy day at work - pretty non-stop. I did a leg workout at lunchtime to decrease the deficit by 2 points. I was doing pretty well until later in the evening and then I managed to snack too much. Instead of whittling away at the deficit as planned, I managed to increase it by one point! Oh well, today is another day. I'm having lunch out with a friend - I'm not sure where we are going but I plan on a very low point dinner.

Have a great one! Judy

Hi everyone.

Judy - Are you going to the shore for your vacation? You usually go there, right? I love being near water - it calms me. You better believe I'm not letting my run-in with Mexican food sidetrack me. That's one behaviour I think I have under control now - not letting a slip-up lead to a "what the heck, might as well really blow it" attitude. Now let's hope I can keep it up. So the snacking got to you last night, huh? Well, increasing the deficit by one point isn't as bad as increasing it by several points. It's only Wednesday, so you have a few days to recover.

I have to really start planning easy dinners or have something ready. We ended up going out to dinner again last night because it was 7:00 by the time John picked me up at the train and we were all too hungry and tired. This is definitely a danger zone. I plan on doing a couple of lower point days to make up for it.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Hello evryone,
It's going to be a quiet around here for the next few days, my husband went on a golf trip with his buddies, the good thing about that is the house stays clean.

Holly~ I have 60 ponds till goal, and I could kick myself because this will be the second time on w.w. to get that weight off! Two years ago I had lost all the weight and was 10 pounds from goal, so I went on vacation and when I got back I never was o.p. again! So I only have myself to blame. You know what I did different this week, I took some strength training videos out from the library. I did those a couple of times along with walking on my treadmill. Make sure you get those chips ahoy cookies out of the house

Judy~ Hope lunch was fun with your friend, way to go with doing the leg workout.

Carla~ you sound like me, my husband and I go out to eat a lot. I find if I eat lower points the other days I am fine.

Well that's all for now, have a good day everyone!

Maryjo

Hi Carla - Thanks for the encouragement. I'm with you on having conquered the not letting a slip-up lead to a "what the heck, might as well really blow it" - now if I could just get the rest down! ;-) Do you, John and Ana like pasta? Lots of times, Tony and I will just come home, put some water up, dump a jar of sauce in a pot with some frozen veggies and have a quick meal. While the water is boiling, I'll take a chicken breast, grill it in the toaster oven, cut it up and throw it in the sauce. It's pretty quick, nutricious and not bad point wise. Now this one may sound funny, but sometimes (especially in the summer), we'll have cereal, milk and some berries - a bit more of everything than I'd have for breakfast. You might also try keeping some egg beaters in the house - you can throw leftovers in or just microwave some frozen veggies and squeeze the water out before throwing them into the omelette.

Maryjo - Way to go on taking out those strength videos and getting on the treadmill. That's a sure way to ensure that this time, you'll get the weight off and keep it off! Every article I've ever read (that isn't trying to sell supplements that is) that talks about people who have been successful at getting the weight off and keeping it off, talks about exercise as an important part of the picture. You go girl!

I had a so-so day yesterday. Lunch with my friend was fine - I had a soy burrito that was pretty large so I counted it as ten instead of 5 like in the WW book. It didn't leave me a whole lot of points for dinner and snacks - that plus the fact that my commute home was a nightmare did't help. I ended up going over by 1.5 points. Today is a recovery day - I'm telecommuting today so I should get a good workout in at lunch that will help decrease it a little.

Have a great one all,
Judy

Hi everyone.

MaryJo - Don't kick yourself too hard. When I started doing WW at home in September of 98 it was my third attempt at WW - and I had never gotten anywhere close to goal. I was doing great and then went out of the country for six weeks just about 2 and 1/2 years ago. While I was gone I lost another 19 pounds (the high altitude in Bolivia does that for you). When I got back home I quickly put on those 19 pounds and spent the next 2 years putting almost all of the rest of the pounds I'd lost back on. It's frustrating yes, but we can't do anything about the past. We can only move forward. And it sounds like you're doing just that with vigor and determination! So instead of kicking yourself, give yourself a pat on the back!

Judy - Yep, we love pasta. I need to put my crockpot to work this weekend making sauce and then freeze it in batches. Cereal for dinner is great too! I know there's lots of quick and easy stuff I could making - I jsut need to get my act together and do it. Sorry to hear you had a tough commute home yesterday. I hate the commute, I truely do.

Still struggling with dinner and last night I did some indiscriminate snacking. But I'm still not letting it throw me completely off. I managed to resist the call of Chinese food at lunch. I'm probably looking at another maintain this week because of the eating out thing, but we'll see.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Carla - way to go on not giving into to the lure of Chinese food! Carla honey, unless Tony has made some sauce that's in the freezer, we just open up a jar. We like Classico and Barilla sauces and there are "flavors" that are low in fat and calories. There are a couple I like that are 6 points for the whole jar. Oh, and Mrs. Paul's makes "healthy" fish sticks. Does Ana like them (Anthony does). That's what I'm making for dinner - Mrs. Paul's healthy fish sticks (6 of them are 4 points), baked fries (18 pcs for 2 points) and then I'll open up a jar of red cabbage - dinner will be done in 20 minutes (and it's not too hot today to turn on the oven). OK, I'll stop now!

So far so good today. I earned 6 points with my new step tape (the sweat was dripping off when I was finished). Now I have to stop the snack machine in my head! I'm creeping towards PMS so I'd better watch out!

Judy

Happy Finally Friday everyone! I hope you all had a better night than I did! I was doing pretty well (ready to get rid of 7 points of deficit) until right before bedtime and then I had a chocolate craving (I MUST be heading into PMS) - I ended up having two "Just 2 Points" bars for well, 4 points so I managed to go over max. I still managed to decrease my deficit a bit but not as much as I could have. The funny thing is I don't even know why I did it. It's almost as if I'm *trying* to gain back the 2 pounds I lost last week! Well, that was yesterday and today is a new day. I'm (once again) planning for a low point day - I have a late meeting so I'm not sure if I'll do much exercise when I get home - maybe just some yoga - a good idea after a stressful week.

"Speak" to you later,
Judy

Judy - You're a peach for passing on all these great ideas to me. I never think to keep a jar of cabbage around, even though we all like it. It's going on my list. We do the Mrs. Paul's (I think) healthy fish fillets and Ana does like them. I keep forgetting those tubs of Lloyds BBQ in my deep freeze as well. As for the spaghetti sauce, well... That's probably my one bit of food snobbery. I'm all for convenience foods - doesn't have to be from scratch for me. Except - spaghetti sauce. Must make my own. Silly, huh? Although in Bolivia I used jar sauce and liked it. It's just a thing I have. I hear you on the 2 point bars - I had a couple of Chocolate/Peanut Butter Rice Krispie treats last night that I DID NOT NEED. They're only two points, but still.. Why do we do that?

The good news is I actually made dinner last night! Ok, everyone, pick yourself up off the floor. Mrs. T's pierogies (low-fat and yummy), onions sauteed in chicken broth, broccoli, and green beans. Of course, I also got home about a 1/2 hour earlier last night. Makes a big difference. This weekend I have to get grocery shopping and I'm also going to do some menu planning for next week. Judy - when you make the veggie pie in advance, how long do you reheat it and at what temperature? Do you see any problem in getting it all ready except cooking it, refrigerating it, and then cooking it the next day?

Well, must get to work. Have a great day, and if I don't get back on, a great weekend.

Carla