Happy new week all! I know we've been busy posting under the 12 Week Challenge Threads, etc. but I hope we do continue the Thin4Life thread too. I like it, anyway.

so......

had a lovely weekend mostly due to the incredible clear sunny perfect summer weather. Even just running errands was a pleasure. Completed working on my compost pile and as a result have the backache from **** for the last 2 days. Owww.... Now the next project is the worm bed. Have to dig out the old stuff and pick out the worms and put new stuff (leaves & horse manure) in the bed and throw the worms back in and get the cycle going again. I'm sure it will be easier on the back though.

Had a very nice bbq at mom's house yesterday. Ate heartily (hey, I'm trying to push the envelope seeing how many points per day I can eat while still maintaining) - and especially adored the one precious Hebrew National hotdog I had. Unfortunately, it ruined me for my HN 97% FF dogs that I've grown used to. Oh well, that's life!!!

Hope everyone had a similarly pleasant weekend.

Can I go home now?

- Laurel

Hey Laurel you can't go home unless we all can!

We posted the new thread within seconds of each other. I won't repeat what's on mine; we can use this one for the week.

Later,

Hi all-
Back at home for a few weeks. I am so excited. I can get back into my groove and out of my plateau and slow grade back up and back down....

Had a pretty laid-back weekend here. It appears that summer has not really arrived here. Its been grey and cool, but then clears up a bit. Its good gardening weather and our garden is in need of a very thorough pruning.

Laurel: good for you and your compost moving and creating! Is the pile so far away that the worms can't find it? Picking out worms seems rather tedious, but rewarding too.

We are doing a type of composting at our ppatch that we have never done before: we just take the weeds (with a little bit of soil) and put it in a black plastic bag and sit in the sun for a week (when there is sun) and poof- we have some really nice compost for top dressing.

Busy week for us here. Lots of work, some chances for new funding and a slew of houseguests from now until the middle of August. Lots of people with dogs making our 15 year old cat a bit crabby.

okay, i guess i should get to work. I have 8 blinking new messages on my machine and about 76 emails I should read or delete.

More later,
lala

Hey there gals. I love this thread as well... I feel I've been also pushing the threshold LM seeing how many points I can use and still lose. But I think it's going to catch up to me if I'm not careful.

I'm beginning to exercise more and am consequently getting hungrier and feeling I "deserve" more. It's a dangerous mind set for me to fall back into. Any thoughts?

I'm going away this coming weekend... sailing to Catalina Island from Marina del Rey (California) - it's a gift but it's 6 hours each way and we're taking Jonathan, my stepson. I seem to always get a bit bored / stressed / etc. and start eating. And I'm starting to resist eating the healthy munchies (raw carrots, celery). Also, as much as I love sailing, there's really no where to go on the boat.

ANY IDEAS GALS??? I really need to bank points this week and plan for this weekend.

Hey Patch I can totally relate to eating as a reaction to boredom. That about sums up my weight problem in a nutshell. The obvious response is, of course, not to let yourself get bored but if you're like me, that's not as easy as it sounds.

I too got kinda fed up with the carrots/celery routine and a few weeks ago, I started eating more fruit. Now I know that fruit isn't a "free" food, but I find that it satisfies me faster than veggies (the natural sugar, no doubt). Another life-saver for me have been the mini rice cakes and corn bran cereal, a bargain at 1 point per cup. And there's always water, which if you drink enough of it will solve the boredom problem cause you'll be busy running back and forth to the head.

Have a great trip; it sounds fabulous.

Hello ladies,
Ugh! Another Monday!! Why do the weekends just sail by??? The weather was VERY VERY hot & muggy this weekend - they even had a "heat advisory" warning on Sunday with predicted highs of 90-95 & a heat index of 100-105 with the humidity. I don't know it that prediction panned out or not. DH, DD & I went boating on the Wisconsin river on Saturday afternoon & we camped overnight on one of the many sand bars along the river. It is free camping - first come, first served - plus the water is warm & is very shallow for a long ways out & the river has a nice sandy bottom. Perfect for young kids to play - DD loves the water, so she was in seventh heaven. Being by the water is so much cooler, too. Our boat is a "cuddy" which means there is a sleeping berth up under the front of the boat. It was quite comfortable in there sleeping - we were worried it would be too hot, but it was quite nice. Got caught in a short downpour of rain on Sunday, but we just put the camper tops up on the boat & we were dry & protected.

Ate pretty well over the weekend because I packed plenty of good LF snacks, water, etc to take out while boating. Also am keeping up with the exercise, so I hope to continue to post losses at the scale.

Sounds like the rest of you gals had much more temperate weather than I did here.

LM - wow, you are quite the composting gal! I don't have enough time to get my house clean let alone anything else!

lalala - nice to see you're back at home again. I don't know how you do all that traveling & keep track of your eating & exercise. When I go out of town, it is so hard for me to stay on track.

Patch - bring healthy snacks for your trip - that always helps me to keep on track especially since you're out of your comfort zone of being at home & having more control of what you can cook or eat. Banking points is a great idea to do, too. Maybe do a little "mental rehearsing" of how you are going to handle possible food situations - it may help you plan how to handle an overeating situation....

Seasaw - hey there!!

Gotta go - check in with you guys later....

Thanks Katie and Seesaw

Great idea the mini rice cakes (i'd forgotten about them!) And you're right when I eat fruit instead of veggies it does satisfy me more. And thanks for bringing up mental rehearsing Katie. I always seem to forget about that one. I'll try to think up some other LowFat snacks. If any others occur to you gals, let me know. Thanks. - Patch-

Patch:
Have you thought of low point protein snacks? I really find that
things like string cheese help me when I'm looking at lunch at 10:30. You could combine string cheese with veggies for a more filling combo.

Fruit is great and if you have room in your cooler or fridge, try dipping it in some lf/nf ricotta sweetened with honey or vanilla for a bit of a protein boost.

I also would think things like trader joe's jars of bean dip would be good quick snacks.

Sounds like a delightful sail!

lala

What a great idea Lala, ricotta sweetened with honey or vanilla, I really like that. And, you're right, I also tend to forget about string cheese. Thanks! - Patch -

Good morning everyone.

We're under a smog alert in my part of the world this morning - very unusual. I may go for a short run after work today so I hope things have cleared up by then.

katie: Sounds like you had a fun boating/camping trip despite the weather. You're right - the water is the only place to be in those kinds of temps. It was very warm here again yesterday so DH and I went out for a dip (me) and float (him) in the lake behind our house.

My sister and I went to see Twelfth Night on the weekend - a production of our local Shakespeare in the Park. They perform every summer in our largest city park which is adjacent to the harbour, so the setting is perfect - Shakespeare against a setting of cruise ships, sailboats, etc. Really enjoyed the play, altho it always takes 15 minutes or so for my ears to "adjust" to his style.

lalala: I too will have a houseful of people, but only this coming weekend. My sister and her soon-to-be ex-husband are finally making the physical split after almost a year of emotional estrangement and she is moving to her own apartment. Several brothers and sisters are coming to lend a hand, and we'll be congregating at my house for eating, sleeping and perhaps, if we're lucky, some swimming at the lake. Of course, the panic is on as to what to feed everyone. Man, do human beings ever do anything that isn't centred somehow around food?

Bye for now

I gained lifetime status in 1990. Since then I have gained and lost the same 30 lbs. three times. You would think I would have learned what it takes to stop gaining the pounds back. I am hoping, with your support, knowledge and encouragement, once I reach goal, I will keep the weight off for good. I am going to start keeping my journal online and join the 12 week challenge.

Hi all-

Wow, is it 4:45 already and I haven't gotten anything concrete done at work? sigh. Lots of
phone calls and data sniffing, but nothing fabulous to look at. I guess some weeks are better than others.

ktYour weekend sounded divine. I love the idea of warm pools of water and sand bars. My bro just moved to Milwaukee, so I'll be heading out there in September for a visit. Gotta buy him a housewarming gift, right?

Seesaw: your family seems awfully tight. This is a good thing. . Food, heck, just give them a twenty and head to the local pizzeria. NOT.
Fruit salad, marinated pasta salad and shrimp, grilled chicken breasts and mango salsa and lots of beer is always a good thing. I am also wondering how to keep five different sets of guest amused with breakfasts in the next few weeks. DP just made a couple of batches of freezer jam. I have a great english muffin bread recipe and lots of ground turkey for turkey, apple and sage sausages, so I think I'm set. They'll just have to deal if they want something else. Then again, I have 148 boxes of kelloggs pastry swirls in my front hall and I could let them eat them if they wish -- five delightful flavors to choose from.

okay, welcome winterstar! You'll get back to shape in no time (well, maybe some time), but these are some awesome women here!

LM: How are you feeling today? Are the worms cooperating? I have the most amazing cavolo nero to harvest and some really nice zucchini. No tomatoes yet.

lala

a good (and steamy) evening to you all - but not triple digits, I'm happy to say, austingal!! yuck!!!

home weigh in tonight - either lost a pound or stayed the same, so I'm happy about it. averaging about 26 points a day (with exercise points subtracted). So next week, we'll reach for 27 or 28 points per day and see what happens. That should be quite easy since two people are leaving work and there is a cavalcade of lunches out - 2 this week and 2 next week. So not only more points, but much less exercise. Should be interesting!

re: compost - that is my fav part of gardening. I find all things related to composting the most fascinating. More than growing flowers and vegs!?! My worms in their separate worm bed eat all the food glop, and my compost pile deals with the big stuff, the autumn leaves, the weeds, the stalks etc. I actually love picking through the worm bed. Call me crazy. I didn't love hurting my back turning the big compost pile. Ouch - we're on day 3 of hurting now.

re: vegs vs. fruits - or raw vegs vs cooked vegs in my case - while I like salads and raw vegs to munch, i find cooked vegs so satisfying, esp spritzed with butter spray. My husband is a salad man and also the pot washer in the family and he's quite exasperated about my need for a cooked veg (large portion) with dinner most nights. Of course, I love a nice piece of fruit too. Is there any food I don't love? Not too many...

winterstar - love that name welcome and join the crowd.

lala what's a cavallo nero? all i've got out there is a lot of bolting lettuce and some teeny green marbles, I mean tomatoes.

Okay, Eddie and I are going into the AC!!! meow!!!

Good night gals. talk to you tomorrow.

- laurel

Morning. I'm having my first coffee of the day. Got my 5K run in before work, hubby is going sailing after work so my evening is FREE! Maybe I'll get out and pick up a few salad ingredients. There's a yummy sounding salad in this month's Cooking Light magazine - with orzo, tomatoes, fresh corn and basil.

Congrats Laurel on another successful weigh-in. Wasn't it you who feared that you would be restricted to 23 points a day for the rest of your life? I hope you'll find that you can inch a little higher before you need to level off. Just remember that exercise will give you a lot of leeway.

lalala: 148 boxes of pastry swirls? Is there a story you want to share or do you consider this normal?

Welcome Winterstar. You will find lots of knowledge, support and the occasional bout of silliness on this thread. Pop in often.

Austingal: Hope things have cooled off a bit for you.

kt: How's it going?

Patch: Don't know if I mentioned how pleased I am with the 12-week challenge. Even tho I'm not doing so well, the realization that comes with writing everything down is sinking in, and I know I'm going to do better eventually.

Hope Melissa is having a great vacation.

Happy humpday. it's whoppingly hot & humid out. Makes coming to work in the AC almost bearable.

seasaw yes that was me with the 23 points. I am happy that I seem to be able to eat more without doing any damage - knock on wood! And I do believe that the exercise is extremely important. I take 2 points off for the classes I go to or the treadmill/stairmaster session. Prob should take off more, but this system seems to work for now.

yeah lala what's with the pastry swirls? been meaning to ask...

okay, back to the "paperless" society - I am surrounded by piles of paper.