Starting the topic - be back in a flash

Holly - Congratulations on the 0.6 loss! Glad to hear you did so well with exercise videos. I can't wait to get back to mine. I like your idea of going to sleep when you get the late night snack attacks! I should have done that a couple of nights over the weekend!

Carla - Yes, it's incredible that we've known each other for 3 years!! Glad to hear the donut didn't throw you. Did you manage to avoid the chinese food? I did look for a "contact us" button for the 3FC site but I'll give it another shot later.

I'm happy to post a maintain for the week. Considering the PMS monster and my emotional eating Friday night, I'm thrilled with that result. I had a tough day on Friday and over the weekend. My old boss (up until the merger) was let go on Friday after 18 years at the bank. It was very upsetting to me and while I didn't realize it until Saturday (duh!) I snacked through some of those emotions on Friday night. I did the same Saturday night too but managed to hold to maximum yesterday and hope to recover this week. Next weigh in should be TOM so I'm not sure what I'll see. Oh well, the best thing I can do is forget about the past couple of days & get right back OP. One good thing over the weekend was that Tony and I managed to get out for a (very leisurely) 20 minute walk and I felt OK afterwards. I'm going to try to get in a easy walk every day this week and start working back up to my exercise routine.

Have a great one,
Judy

163.6/156/35

Hi everyone and welcome to another week.

Holly - Congratulations on your loss! Way to go getting in all that exercise. Don't dwell on what you would have lost had you stayed within points, but do use it as a motivator. Have you considered rethinking how you spend your points during the day so that you have some leftover for your late night snack? While it sounds like it's a behaviour you want to change, perhaps in the interim you can accommodate it while you're working to change it.

Judy - Congratulations on the maintain. I'm sorry to hear of your work-related upheaval on Friday. It's hard to see people go whom you've worked with a long time, especially in circumstances like that. I'm sure being in the throes of PMS didn't help. I'm glad to hear that you got your eating back under control on Sunday and even gladder to hear that you were able to get in some walking without any ill effects! Yes, I did avoid the Chinese food, but we won't talk about the Mexican food for dinner.

I did better this weekend. Not great, but better. I did get all my water in yesterday, which is better than last weekend. We actually cooked dinner both Saturday and Sunday, which helps. We'll see what the scale brings on Wednesday because I should really be hitting PMS bloat about that time. So, I plan on guzzling all the water I can. I have dinners planned out for the week, more or less, and I'm armed with low-point snacks. I've got my mind set for a good week. Let's all make it a terrific one!

Talk to you later.

Carla

Judy - I'm glad you're feeling well enough to start back exercising because I know how much you have missed it. I wish I could say the same, it's really the hardest part of the program for me.

Carla - Good luck with the water, I think it really helped me last week when I was dealing with the TOM temporary water weight gain.

I spent last week tweeking everything and doing very detailed journaling. I find I need to count points and calories, don't know why but it makes me feel more in control. Last week I averaged 1200 calories and 22 points per day, which is 2 points under my minimum. I exercised a total of 2.5 hours. I drank all the water I was supposed to each day, some days more. I just felt dehydrated a lot last week and couldn't seem to get enough water to keep my lips from cracking. Weighed in this morning at a 3 pound loss, for a total of 24.5 pounds in 12 weeks. I feel good about this, and honestly think I can keep it up.

There was an article in the newspaper this morning about what people did that had lost weight and kept it off - they have 4 things in common: most eat breakfast and weigh frequently, all eat low fat diets and exercise. I think I'll cut out the article and put it up on the bathroom mirror.

Have a great week everyone.

Holly - Congratulations on the loss.

Judy - Congratulations on the maintain. Sounds like you are on the mend. Like you said, start out easy and hopefully you'll be able to get back to your exercise routine soon.

Carla - Way to go on the weekend improvement. Wow, cooking dinner on Saturday and Sunday. I can't remember the last time we did that. That's probably why I'm having such a hard time on weekends.

Karen - Congratulations on the loss. You CAN keep it up. Just remember you are supposed to eat at least your minimum every day. Otherwise your body will go into starvation mode and you'll stop losing.

I had a horrible 2 lb gain this week. I know I deserve it. I've had a terrible time staying OP for more than a day or two. I'm sure a lot has to do with the job stress, but I can't let it make me gain the weight back. I did well with the food today and took a walk tonight. Now to string some OP days together.

Pat
(178/149!!!/135)

Hi everyone.

Karen - Congratulations on another terrific loss and a great overall loss. If counting calories along with points helps you feel more in control go for it! Actually, you can see that even though you're eating 2 points under your minimum, you're getting in an adequate calorie level. But I'll echo Pat, be careful you don't go too far under your minimum.

Pat - i'm sorry to hear about your gain and to hear that you're still struggling. I know how it is when you have to fight to stay OP. Sometimes it seems so effortless, but then there are those days when its almost exhausing to be fighting the urge to snack, eat the wrong foods, etc. I'm wishing for you calmer, more effortless days ahead. Is your boss still being wishy-washy about retiring. Have you talked to him at all about how hard his indecision is making it for you to know whether to look for another job or not? Perhaps if you gave him an ultimatum along the lines of "If you don't have a decision made by "x", I'll have no choice but to look for another job."

While I was typing this, one of my co-workers came in my office to tell me what about at the World Trade Center and I just got back from watching the coverage on TV. Suddenly points, and what I ate for dinner and how much I ate, don't seem so important, at least not at this moment. Judy, I know that you work on Wall Street, but I don't know New York City well enough to know where you might be in relation to the WTC. I pray that you are ok. May God bless the people in that building and their families. May our governments soon find a way to end this insanity.

I'll talk to you all later.

Carla

I'll try to catch up on everyone's posts later. Right now, I'm just too upset.

Carla - yes, I'm OK. The building I work in is on the other side of lower Manhattan. Thankfully, I'm working from home today. If not, I probably would not be able to get home. Subways are shut, bridges and tunnels are closed. My building ius being evacuated (all of lower Manhattan is being evacuated) and the mayor has asked everyone to walk east and then uptown.

I have been watching this unfold since the first reports and have seen the pictures of the trade centers come down. Having seen those two towers almost every day for years, I still cannot believe what has happened. I have been praying that somehow people were evacuated before the south and then the north tower collapsed. Please pray with me.

Not only do thousands and thousands of people in the WTC, but one of the towers was a major transportation hub - subways and the commuter PATH train from New Jersey all came into the trade center and probably a hundred thousand of people come into that building on their commute into NYC. These cowardly attacks were targeted at the height of rush hour.

I'm going to go now - I want to find out the nearest place to give blood.

Judy

Carla - sorry to hear about your run in with Mexican food but I'm glad to hear that you are doing better. I think cooking on the weekend helps enormously - we chose to do the same thing this past weekend.

Karen - WOW - you are doing great. My feeling is however you need to "work the program" that's what you should do. I'm sending some good exercise vibes your way. Like the article in the newspaper said - any studies I've ever read always have exercise as part of the way to get the weight off and even more so, keep it off.

Pat - sorry to hear about the gain. No, you WON'T gain the weight back because you can do this and we are here to help. Try to stay OP a meal at a time or a day at a time. Good to hear that you had a good day including getting a walk in. Here are a bunch of {{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}!

I just got back from trying to give blood. Thankfully, the response has been so great that all blood centers (even out here on Long Island) are swamped and they are asking people to come back in the next few days. The center I went to hada 2-3 hour wait so I will go on Thursday as the nearest hospital to me first suggested.

Funny what you said about points, Carla. As I was out the door to go give blood, I realized that with all of this I hadn't eaten lunch and I had better have something or else I might faint afterwards. I grabbed a Sweet Success. Now that I'm back, I'm going to try to supplement that 2 point lunch of sugar with something more healthy.

Judy

Hmmm. Posted just a bit ago, but it disappeared.

Judy - I was so relieved to "see" you here. I was really worried. The horror and devestation I've seen on TV is unbelievable. My heart breaks for the families of those whose lives were lost in NYC and the Pentagon.

I'm writing this from home as my building was shut down and we were evacuated. I work right across the street from the Sears Tower so we were evacuated fairly soon with the rest of the downtown area following shortly thereafter.

There really aren't any words that are adequate. May God bless those who were lost and the loved ones left to mourn them. May God have mercy on us all.

Carla

Judy - I'm so relieved to see you here. I've thought of you all day, but don't have internet access on Tue/Thurs job to check to see if you had posted. I can't believe the devastation. As Laura said tonight, I can't imagine the number of kids whose parents went to work today and will never come home.

Thanks for the hugs. I know I'll get back on track again. I'm trying to go back to some of the foods I relied on when I was losing.

Carla - I had actually decided this weekend that I was going to sit down with my boss on Monday and find out what he is planning to do about retirement. He acts like it only effects him, but I need to know if I have to look for a job, Tue/Thurs boss will need to find a new secretary if I can't find something part time, and the other lawyer in the office will need to find someone else to move in the office to share expenses. I think his family is pushing him to retire and he doesn't really want to. This is a man whose only entertainment is gambling and he says if he retires he won't be able to afford to do that. I can't imagine what he will do all day. Anyway he was only in the office for an hour and a half Monday and was on the phone almost the entire time so I didn't get time to talk to him. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance.

I've done well with food today and got out for a walk tonight. PMS monster is due to strike this week, but I don't think I have much in the house to snack on.

Pat

Hi everyone.

Pat - Glad to hear you're feeling back on track. I'll send you positive vibes to keep the PMS monster out of your hair. Hopefully, once you talk to your Mon/Wed boss he'll understand that his indecision does effect others. Doesn't sound like he's well-suited for retirement.

I'm happy to report a maintain today. I'm retaining water and haven't done a stellar job with food the past couple of days, so its a good thing. The PMS monster is definitely here, but I'm well-armed with low point salty and sweet snacks.

It's hard to feel like doing any work today, but I'd better attempt it, so bye for now. Talk to you all later.

Carla
266/263/140 (239 - 1st 10%)

Pat - I hope you get to talk to your boss today. No, it doesn't only affect him. Way to go on having a good OP day. Sorry to hear the PMS monster is due - is it good to have not much in the house to snack on (meaning you might find something point UNfriendly) or do you need to shop for some low point snacks?

Carla - Way to go on the maintain, especially with PMS and retaining water - that's really a loss. I know what you mean. I've found it very hard to concentrate today. Thankfully this afternoon I had some work to do to help plan what we'll do if our building loses power. Having to concentrate on something else was a blessing. Tomorrow will be a busier work day for me (from home of course) and I'm looking forward it to.

I just found out that they have pulled another survivor from the rubble - let's hope that continues to happen.

Judy

Carla - Congratulations on the maintain, especially while retaining water. We'll fight that PMS monster together. I did get a chance to talk to my boss today. He admitted that he really doesn't want to retire anymore, but is worried he doesn't have enough business to stay open. I reminded him that he has been saying this for years and something always comes up. I'm still not sure what he will do, but I don't think he'll retire in December. At least I got through to him that I need to know.

Judy - I'm sure it is hard to concentrate, but at least having some work to do will help. I do have some low point snacks in the house. Darrell has been bringing more high point snacks in lately, but I reminded him I can't keep that stuff in the house all the time. He did much better shopping today.

The control seems to be coming back. I am at max points today, but at least I'm not over. I got out for my walk again tonight.

Pat

Hi everyone.

Judy - Yes, it's good to be able to keep busy. At least work lets us feel productive and useful. Tomorrow I'll try to donate blood. They've set up a donation center at the City Hall here in Chicago and I'm hoping by tomorrow it will be less croweded. If not, then next week I'll try again. The need is going to go on for awhile.


Pat - I'm glad you were able to have a talk with your boss and that he understands where you stand. I'm glad to hear the control is coming back. Yay for you for staying within points and getting your walk in.

I won't even talk about how the PMS monster won yesterday (or, rather, how I conceded defeat to him). But today is a new day and I'm aiming to do my best. I may try to get a walk in at lunch time to stretch my legs. They're a bit achy from walking down the 10 flights of stairs when my building was evacuated on Tuesday. Serves as a good reminder to get moving again.

Jennifa, Holly, Karen, Jenn - where are you?

Have a great day.

Carla

Pat - I'm glad that you had a talk with your boss. As you said, at least you got through to him. I know what you mean about those high point snacks that tend to sneak back into the house. Darrell, meet Tony! Way to go on the walk. I hope to get out for a walk later after work (if it doesn't rain). Tomorrow is going to be fall-like weather (which I love) and I hope to go out for an easy wlak then.

Carla - sorry to hear the PMS monster got you last night. I'm glad that your attitude is good about it today.

I got back a little while ago from giving blood. I got up extra early to get to the center before it opened (7:30) because later in the day (like now) I need to be running some jobs for work. I wasn't the first person by any means. All in all, it took about 3 hours but it was the fastest, most pleasant 3 hour wait I've ever had in my life. If there's one good thing to come from this terrible tragedy, it's that people are coming together in incredible ways. Everyone was patient. Those of us who had given blood before were encouraging those who hadn't. I needed to do this; I just wish I could do it again in the next few weeks (you have to wait 8 weeks).

I also wanted to pass along something I got from a relative through email - please pass this along to whomever you can.

Your help...spread the word

Friday Night at 7:00 p.m. EST step out your door, stop your car, or step out of your establishment and light a candle. We will show the world that
Americans are strong and united together against terrorism. Please pass this to everyone on your e-mail list. We need to reach everyone across the
United States quickly. The message: WE STAND UNITED - WE WILL NOT TOLERATE TERRORISM!

Thank you.

We need press to cover this - we need the world to see (if anyone knows anyone in the news media, please pass this along to them).