Just a quick hello to start the thread. I had a fun weekend, not bad foodwise and did manage to work out a little. The drive to DC did take its toll though and my neck/shoulder/back muscle thing is a bit aggravated. I'm working from home today and probably tomorrow and think I'll check out a chiropractor. It's hot and humid here today and for the rest of the week so I don't expect to get many walks in (no running until I feel better) - so I'm going to be watching my food points carefully. Since I was away on Sat. I didn't weigh in officially. Unofficially it looks like I may have 1 pound to go before I get to pre-vacation weight so I'm pleased and plan on taking care of that this week.

Hope all is well with you all. I hope I can catch up on last week's posts but I still have to watch my computer time with this neck/shoulder thing so it may take me a while!

Have a great one,
Judy

Judy -- sorry to hear about the neck/shoulder pain. I'll bet that can be a real you know what...

As for me, I decided that even though I started last Tuesday, I would weigh in on Mondays. I figure having to face weigh-in first thing after the weekend would keep me at least fairly honest!

And the good news, even with it being that TOM, I lost 3 lbs!!!

Hope everyone else had a good weekend.

TracyD
227 / 208 / 200 (first mini goal)

Hi everyone.

Judy - I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your weekend and sorry to hear that the drive aggrevated your shoulder/neck muscle problem. I hope you're completely healed soon. I know that you'll have that pound off in no time.

Tracy - Congrats on a terrific loss, especially in the face of TOM. Losses like that are real motivators, aren't they.

I guess I'm not really sure how I did at the scale this morning. I was down 1 pound from last week; but most of that was gone in a couple of days, so maybe I'm really up? Who knows. I think I'll reset my high weight to last week's weigh in and take it from there. I'm so looking forward to the start of my vacation. We leave on Thursday afternoon and will drive as far as Cleveland (6 hours). On Friday we'll drive to Virginia, near my sister's house and then on Saturday we'll all go down to North Carolina. Can't wait to be on the ocean. My sister is doing WW too (with much better success than me, mostly because she's doing it with more dedication than me) so I'll have an OP partner. I also plan on taking lots of walks on the beach.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla
265/264/140

Judy - Glad to hear you were able to get away for the weekend. Take care of that shoulder.

Tracy - Congratulations on the great loss.

Carla - The vacation sounds like fun. I love walking on the beach. Darrell keeps saying we should get to go again since we had so much rain while we were gone. Maybe you and your sister will be able to motivate each other. The sister I went to visit is on WW too and we were able to trade a lot of ideas.

I had a pound gain this week...definitely deserved it after the last few days. I've been walking, but not much else.

Sara went back to the doctor Friday and he said the lab wasn't able to determine anything from the needle biopsy he did. She has to go to the hospital tomorrow so they can do an ultrasound guided needle biopsy. We don't go back to the doctor until next Tuesday. This waiting is really aggravating. She is supposed to check in to the dorm on the 23rd and we still don't know if she will need surgery now or if it can wait. He told the referring doctor that as long as it is benign he will probably try treating it with thyroid hormone, but because of the size it will probably evenutally have to be removed.

Talk to you later.
Pat

Tracy - congratulations on that super loss! What a great start!

Carla - congratulations on that pound gone. Any special plans for your birthday tomorrow? Whatever you have planned, I hope it's a happy one. That beach vacation sounds great. Oooh, how I wish I could go back to the beach. It certainly is beach weather today (yuk!). Do you plan on packing a lot of point friendly things to eat on the road? I find that if I don't do that, I get into trouble.

Pat - sorry to hear about the pound. I'm sure it will come off quickly once you get an answer as far as Sara. Waiting to hear must be so stressful. Please know that I'm thinking of you both.

I had a pretty good day food wise until the evening. I think the stress of being so uncomfortable just got to me and I had a run in with some snackwells that put me 4 points into deficit. I can't exercise (my usual stuff) and even if I felt well enough to take a walk I wouldn't in this heat and humidity. Oh well, I'm just going to have to accept that I need to take a rest from exercise for a few more days and take care of my deficit by watching my food points. I'm planning a low end point range day. I hope another visit to the chiropractor this afternoon will make me a little more comfortable. I'm working from home all week (I have to ice my neck every hour) - maybe by the end of the week I can go to the gym and just walk on the treadmill.

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi everyone.

Can the heat and humidity just go away now? I, for one, have had enough. I am not a summer girl.

Pat - I'm sorry to hear that Sara will have to undergo an additional biopsy. I know that this is worrisome for you. I feel so badly for her that what should be such an exiting time is clouded over with uncertainty. All of you remain in my thoughts and prayers. Walking on the beach is one of my favorites too. Actually, I find just being by water, be it the ocean or a lake, so soothing. When we lived in the city, we were only 4 blocks away from Lake Michigan. I loved it.

Judy - Sorry to hear that your shoulder is still bothering you. I know it drives you crazy to not be able to exercise. Hang in there. No special plans for my birthday. One of my friends is taking me to lunch. We'll be busy getting ready to leave so no plans for the evening. Knowing I'll be leaving on vacation the next day will be celebration enough! I'm going to try to get to Trader Joes to stock up on snacks. But I'm not really worried about the trip. I don't feel the need to snack in the car and when we're driving like that I don't like to eat heavy meals. We'll be cooking most of our own meals while at the beach, so it should be a healthy vacation.

The stress of trying to get my desk cleared is not doing my any favors. I'm just trying to maintain some control and be rational about what I eat. I did get a bit of a walk in today. Had to renew my driver's license and it was a 16 block round-trip to the DMV. But the weather certainly wasn't conducive to walking. I took it nice and slow.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Happy Birthday, Carla!!! Hope you lose 10 pounds. I know that's what you want!

Pat, hope Sara feels better soon. Here's some healing thoughts for her ~~~~~~

And Judy, you need some too! ~~~~~~

A big congratulations to Tracy, who is a big loser this week! Good job!

I am annoyed, I weighed in on Friday and I gained 13 pounds in 10 days. I am so sick of this water yoyo and I'm really mad at the doctors who seem to think it's nothing to be concerned about. I'm going to a naturopathic physician - they LISTEN and they try to do something about it. I don't feel like I've truly gained but it's impossible to tell anymore.

Jennifa
216/212/170

Judy - Sorry your shoulder is still hurting. I'm sure you're missing the exercise, but it should only be for a couple of more days.

Carla - Have a happy birthday and a great vacation. Fortunately Sara is very easy going and isn't really worried. (I'm worse than she is.) She is always telling me things happen for a reason. She was really disappointed when we couldn't afford to send her to her first college choice, but now says this must have been the reason. She would have been 3.5 hours away instead of 20 miles. Also the other school didn't require a physical so we wouldn't have known about her problem.

Jennifa - I sure hope the new doctor can help. Sometimes you just have to keep looking until you find a doctor to listen. My sister had to go to several doctors to find one that didn't just tell her that her problems with TOM were because of her age (she was only 29!!!) or her weight. Hope they find a solution soon.

I did a little better today. I got out for my walk and ate lighter, although still not OP. Can't believe how soon school is starting. I took Laura to high school to pick up her books today. She has freshman orientation next week, and starts on the 20th.

Talk to you later.
Pat

Carla - Happy Happy Birthday!!!
I'm glad road trips aren't a challenge for you. Good for you for trying to keep your eating rational - I know how stressful it is when you are trying to clear your desk before vacation. Have a safe drive and a wonderful time at the beach. Will you be gone all next week?

Jennifa - I hope the new doctor is helpful and listens.

Pat - Sara sounds like a young woman with a good head on her shoulders. Must be her Mom's good influence! Way to go for getting out for a walk and eating lighter. Small steps are the way to go.

I did a little better last night. I didn't go over my max and I ate dinner slowly (for me). I ate my masx so I didn't whittle away any of the deficit but will try again today. It's actually a 3 pt deficit, not 4 so it's not too bad. Yesterday when Tony came home I had him pull out the hose to I could water the roses. Big mistake. It definitely caused a little setback for my neck (that's where this new problem is). I was in quote a bit of pain last night but luckily the chiropractor appt this morning helped a bit and I'm a bit more comfortable. NO activity, garden or otherwise for me today. Tomorrow afternoon I have a 1/2 massage to try to work out some of the knots caused by the neck problem. I hope I'm more comfortable by the weekend. The discomfort has definitely been a snack trigger.

Have a great one,
Judy

Thanks all for your well wishes. I weighed 197 this morning.

Pat, keep up the good work on the exercise! Yes, time does fly, that's why we need to stay OP so we can be THIN by the time the holidays come around!

Judy, I hope your neck feels better soon. I have had to go to pt twice for that; once for a phone crick and once for whiplash. It's not fun but it's treatable. I find that once you feel better, yoga can help strengthen opposing muscles so it's less likely to happen again. Just a thought.

Looks like the Chopra plan is working better than I thought. What to do about the water weight is still a mystery, but I definitely feel better than I used to. There is a plan thread under Diet Plans if anyone is interested in lurking and seeing if it might help you stay OP.

Jennifa
216/197/170

Hi everyone.

Thank you for your birthday wishes!

Pat - Sounds like Sara is well-grounded and sensible. I agree with her - things do happen for a reason. But it took me a lot longer than 18 years to figure it out. Is Laura excited about high school? Good job getting the walk in.

Judy - Ouch. Glad to hear the chiropractor helped. Now just sit still, ok?

Jennifa - Glad to hear your weight is back down. I hope you can figure out what's going on with this water soon.

Well, I'm still trying to get things off my desk. Since I've worked late the last two nights, I haven't done anything at home to get ready. But we're not leaving until tomorrow afternoon, so I have time. And I have my packing list all made out so that will make it easy.

I'll talk to you all again on the 21st!

Take care.

Carla

Jennifa - glad to hear that the Chopra plan is working for you. I hope that you get an answer about the water weight too. Thanks for the suggestion. I plan to get back to yoga once this is better. It helps me in so many ways.

Carla - LOL, about sitting still - that's a tough one for me. Have a wonderful rest-of-your-birthday and a wonderful time next week. I'll miss you (and I'll be a little envious too - I wish I were back at the beach!) I'll bet Ana will love the beach as much as Anthony did.

Judy - Glad the chiropractor was able to give you some relief. Now take it easy for a few days. The 3 pt deficit isn't bad at all considering you are unable to exercise.

Jennifa - Glad to hear the Chopra plan is working for you and you are feeling better.

Carla - Have fun on your vacation. Laura is excited/nervous about high school. She has been at the same grade school since kindergarten. Her 8th grade class was only 45 kids and her freshman class will be around 500.

I did pretty well today so hopefully I can get back in control. I did get in another walk, although the heat slowed me down. Work is still stressful. My boss still hasn't decided about retirement...one minute he is taking a new case and the next he is talking about quitting in December. He is having the same surgery Sara might need next week so I know he won't make a decision until he is back to work.

Off to bed early tonight. Talk to you later.
Pat

Pat - sorry to hear that work is still stressful. Do you know how long he'll be out after the surgery? What is the timing for Sara's 2md biopsy? Way to go for getting out for a walk. Double way to go if you are having weather like we are (heat wave).

I did OK last night - ate at max but still OP. The heat wave here is ridiculous. I shouldn't complain though - because of this whole neck thing I've had to work from home all week - no railroad or subways to contend with. I have a 2:00 half hour massage scheduled at the chiropractor today (the whole neck thing has give me a ton of knots in my back). I've been told I might be a little sore afterwards - I'm still looking forward to it. Well, time for a quick shower and then back to work.

Judy

Hi there,

My name is Sandra and I'm doing the at home WW. I'm on my second week and I've lost 7 pounds total. I can't tell you how happy I am, it's the first time in over a year that I've had any lose at all. I've just been piling on the weight and it feels good to feel positive.

I know about those aches and pains. I've been suffering with back problems, recurring from surgery years ago this summer. I've been in water therapy which has been great and I feel better than I have in months.

School will be starting back soon, and I hope staying on program will be easier. I think walking will be much more pleasant as well when it isn't so hot. I've been exercising at home, plus doing the water exercises, but I do enjoy walking.

My goal is 155-165 and right now I'm at 231!

Sandra