Starting the topic. Be right back

I hope everyone had a weekend filled with the love of family and friends. It was truly a blessing to see our grandson on Friday night. What can I say? The giggles of a 3 1/2 yr old did wonders for my soul.

We got home on the late side and somehow I didn't get to sleep until 3 am. I wasn't going to go to my WW meeting (to get there I get up at 7:30ish) but I decided I needed to be with people. I'm so glad I did. There were some friends there that were terribly worried about me (and another woman who also works downtown) and they opened up their doors early and Beth (our leader) told us to come in - people were worried. I was bear hugged by Laura who said she had been worried all week and had been watching for car drive up that morning. The other woman, Fran, was OK - she walked uptown on Tuesday.

Oh, the weigh in? I have to tell you that this was the only week I went to the meeting and didn't care a fig about the result on the scale. I ended up being up a pound (although my sneak peek that morning didn't seem to reflect that) but I had gotten TOM so even under "normal" circumstances, I wouldn't have cared.

I had a pretty good weekend food-wise. Otherwise, I worked a little on Sat but got to see my parents yesterday and relax some. This evening, the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah begins. We'll be at my parents for dinner this evening and tomorrow evening. It will be great to have us all together and I'm very much looking forward to being in synagogue tomorrow.

Judy
163.6/157/135

Hello all,

My waist is down another inch. It is amazing considering how much dieting has gone out the window. My thoughts continue to go to the victims and heroes on the East coast. I spent the weekend shopping and spending to keep our economy going, hope you all can do the same. Of course we know WW will get some weekly fees! Went to yoga this weekend and it was soooo hard to do, you could tell that everyone was having problems even getting into the asanas. My instructor had us do backbends which are very energizing and joy-producing. I am sure we all needed it.

Shashe, you asked about the Chopra plan. Deepak Chopra has a book called Perfect Weight and it can work well with the WW plan; it has some odd characteristics to it but it is based on Ayurvedic medicine and it is working for me where WW alone did not. It specifically helps with boredom eating or stress eating. Chopra is an interesting man; he is trained in Western Medicine but works to unite Eastern wisdom with Western advances. He's written a lot of self help books and some other books too. You can get a glimpse of him at www.chopra.com. There was a thread under Diet Plans but I seem to be the only one who is able to stick with it. You only eat when you are hungry and you make sure that it is quality food when you do. I do not eat anything "diet" or "low fat" because the quality of the food is more important than the quantity.

My resolve is stronger than ever to be a hot American woman just like all the world thinks Americans are. Getting closer every day.

Be strong,

Jennifa

said it once, I'll say it again: stupid terrorists.

Hi everyone.

Jenn- Thanks for the thoughts. The support of our neighbors to the north, and of all the countries who stand behind us, means a great deal.

Sharon - I think you may be right - sometimes it is better to have that hot dog or hamburger, or whatever it is that we want. If we eat it and enjoy it, we stop thinking about it. Sorry to hear you had a tough evening. Eating for every reason but hunger has been and continues to be a real challenge for me.

Judy - Happy Rosh Hashana. May the new year bring blessings to you and your family. Sorry to hear about the gain, but its probably TOM related and will be all gone next week. It sounds like you have a wonderful WW group.

Jennifa - Congrats on another inch gone from your waist.

The weekend was so-so, food-wise. Really didn't do too much damage at my company picnic, but snacking was a bit out of control all weekend. Today though I'm right back at it. Seems like a good day for refocusing all the way around.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Sharon - I'm looking for my old motivation too. I've tried going back to the foods I ate a lot of while losing and concentrating on what I'm doing right. It seems to slowly be helping.

Judy - Happy Rosh Hashanah. I'm sure spending time with your family will help. Sorry about the gain, but its probably TOM and will be gone next week.

Jennifa - Yay for the loss of another inch in your waist.

Carla - Sorry to hear you were having snacking problems this weekend. Hope you got back on track today.

I lost those two pounds I gained last week and am feeling more in control. My boss told me today that he doesn't think he'll retire by December, but probably by next April. My sister (the one in Florida) is a medical transcriptionist and works from home. She has suggested that I take a home study course she knows about. I'm seriously thinking about doing it.

Talk to you later
Pat
(178/147/135)

Hi all,

Yes I'm still looking for that elusive motivation. Pat thanks for the idea of going back to the same foods I ate when I lost the weight last Fall. I know I walked alot more. I was walking about 5 nights a week even after I got home from work at 9p.m. It's that "all or nothing". I know I can't go back that extreme but I can walk 3 times a week.

Last night I knew my friend was going to call and ask me to walk around 9pm and I didn't want to go and the struggle in my head of I don't want to go but I should go and I don't want to go and I really shoud go because she doesn't like to walk alone was too much and I folded and ate a bunch of Oreos and potato chips. Next time I'm just going to call her first and say I'm not going instead of waiting for the dreaded call. I know this sounds a bit much over somerthing little but these are the little conflicts that I eat over.

On another site I go to they do a 24 hour challenge so I'm going to commit myself to stay on my program for 24hours! Anyone want to join me?

Hi all,

Shashe, hope your friend struggle gets better.

Cece, sounds like you are firmly back on track. Good job!

Judy, how are you doing? Children really are a blessing, aren't they. Hope you and your family are recovering from last week. I know it has been hard on all of us, it must be worse when you are there.

Pat, congrats on the loss! 2 pounds is a huge amount to me, I usually lose about 1/4 of a pound at a time!

I am fasting today - I do it almost every Tuesday, it helps me a lot, and if anybody thinks I'm doing it for the victims, well, I am this week. I overdid it at yoga on Sunday and was too sore to even deal with stairs yesterday. Today should be better. I haven't weighed for some time. I'll have to find a scale sometime this week.



Jennifa
216/190something/170

Hi everyone.

Pat - Congratulations on taking those 2 pounds right back off. It's good to hear you're feeling more in control. I bet its a relief to finally get something definite from your boss. You should look into that medical transcriptionist home study course. It can't hurt to check into it.

Sharon - I'm with you on the 24 hour challenge. Sorry to hear you had a run-in with Oreos (I can't even keep them in my house) and chips. It's good, though, that you recognize your triggers to overeat and have come up with a plan to deal with this one.

Jennifa - I hope your soreness goes away soon. When you fast do you take in any liquids such as fruit juice?

I had a good day yesterday and managed to bank 2 points. I just got done enjoying a great frozen dinner for lunch: Stouffers Slowfire Classics Chicken Minestrone Stew. Delicious and just 5 points for a "regular" frozen dinner. I'm finding that some of the regular Stouffer's dinners aren't much more, point-wise, than the Lean Cuisines. Granted they are higher in fat, but if you balance your fat intake for the rest of the day, it's not bad.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla

Hi Carla,

When I fast I drink juices and sometimes I will have a soymilk shake or soup; the main thing is it's all liquids. It is amazing how grounding it is for me. I am getting all my protein and fruit and veggie requirements, they are just liquid. I calculated points, it's about 20-24 points for a liquid day. I have done a full day fast of just water and I don't want to do it again! But it did help me kick the coffee habit.

Hope everyone is doing great today - good luck on your challenges, hope you meet all your goals.

best,

Jennifa

Hey, hey, hey! Weighed in tonight and lost 2 pounds this week!!!

I was rather happy.

Hope everyone has a good week, and hope all of you are safe and sound.

Sorry, have to run, my thoughts are with you.

Jenn

Sharon - Sorry the Oreos and potato chips got to you, but at least you know the reason and have made a plan for the next time. I know what you mean about the exercise. Last summer I was jogging three mornings a week and walking several evenings. I know it is what kept me at goal, but I just can't seem to get up in the mornings any more.

Jennifa - Hope the soreness goes away soon. I think the 2 lbs was mostly water that I put on the week before (TOM). It is unusal for me to lose that much in a week.

Carla - Way to go on banking points and having a good day. I do plan on looking into the home study program. It is supposed to be a growing field and my sister said a lot of hospitals are even sending the work out to be done in the home. It would be something I could do and still keep the Tue/Thurs job.

Well I had a rough day today. My sister was baking cookies when I stopped in this morning and I started nibbling the dough. Chocolate chip cookies (and dough) are a major comfort food for me. My mom always had cookies in the house (the neighborhood kids called her the chocolate chip cookie lady). I tried getting it back in control by eating a light lunch, but still came home and started nibbling after work. I think a lot of it had to do with being tired. It was rainy here too, so I didn't get out for my walk.

Talk to you tomorrow.
Pat

I'll make this a bit short - back to work and this morning is crazy.

Carla - out of control snacking? I've been with you on that one but it stops today

Pat - congratulations on the 2 pounds lost. Good news from your boss and I think your sister's idea is great. Sorry you had a rough day.

Jennifa - way to go on losing that inch!

Sharon - I'm with you on the 24 hour challenge - count me in!

Jenn - congratulations on the 2 pounds gone forever!

It was great to be with my family on Rosh Hashanah and I found that so many of our prayers in synagogue seemed to be written for this last week. At the end, instead of the usual "hymn" we sand The Star Spangled Banner. It was very moving and very affecting. Food wise has been so so - I find that during the day (even at my mother's) I've been OP and journalling - but then late night - wham! I know it's emotional eating - last night was the worst - I managed to polish off a good deal of Chinese food that was leftover from Saturday. Needless to say, the sneak peek was frightening. Well, I'm on a 24 hour challenge now. I will not snack away my emotions tonight.

On the positive side, I was able to exercise both Sunday and yesterday - I did about 30 minutes of a new step tape - even taking it a bit easy (I've lost a lot of cardio capacity when I was sick) I was dripping wet when done. Unfortunately, last night I noticed that where I thought I had "turned my ankle" (not exercising - some other time that I don't even remember) was a little swollen so I iced it and have been wearing an ankle brace. No aerobics this morning but I plan to do some upper body weights on my left side (I'm doing physical therapy on my right).

Have a good one,
Judy

Good Morning,

Well I didn't get past the first few hours of the challenge but I am on for today. I won't even tell you what I ate yesterday. I did go for my mountain walk last night and will go again today.

I have been having some extreme mood swings and really need to figure out what is going on. I'm not sure if it is pre-menopausal or some kind ofdepression. My mother dealt with depression for years.. My first step is to keep a journal and figure if it happens the same days eachg month. Then I'll go from there.

I'm going to stay with my programan & healthy eating but I'm not going to focus on the numbers right now.

Jenn and Pat Cngratulations on your weight loss.

Judy thanks for joining me. We can do it. Before I grab those cookies or leftovers tonight I will think of you and our challenge. we can do it. OK maybe we need to go to bed at 7:00pm but we can do it~lol. Hope your ankle is on tyhe mend. You made me think that I do feel a little better today. Maybe it was last night's walk. Of course I usually have good mornings we'll see if it lasts thru the afternoon. That will be the true test.

Pat hope you are back on track today. You had a triple whammy yesterday...tired... dreary day and cookies in your face. I would have folded too.

Hi to everyone else. I'm at the library with Brielle and we have some errands to run before we pick Sara up at the bus stop. Stephen's (Hubby) birthday is Saturday and we need to get him a present today. It's a beautiful day here and we'll probably get to the park too. Talk to all later.

Hi everyone.

Jennifa - I don't think I could do a day of fasting with just water, either. Shoot, I don't know if I could do fasting with juice and soup either. Good for you for being able to do this.

Jenn - Congratulations on a great loss this week!

Pat - Sorry to hear you had a rough day yesterday. I'm sure being tired had a lot to do with it. I know you've faced those cookies before without eating them and you'll do it again! I know what you mean about not being able to get up in the mornings. And now that its dark in the morning again, it doesn't make it any easier. But I also know that once we get up and at it a few times, it gets easier. So, are you up for an exercise challenge next week?

Judy - Glad to hear you've been able to get some exercise in. I know how much that means to you. Take care of that ankle. Sorry to hear about the evening eating. Sounds like its time to take up your knitting again. I hope that the glugging noise I hear is you chugging down mass amounts of water to counteract the salty Chinese food. By the way, did your mom make latkes?

Sharon - Enjoy the beautiful day and your trip to the park! It's rainy and dreary here. And enjoy your mountain walk. I envy you those. I hope you're soon able to figure out what's causing your mood swings. I know that must make it tough to stay on program.

Well, the scale reported a 2 pound loss for me this morning! I'm not sure why, but I'll take it. I guess I was better than I thought I was over the weekend. Now I just have to work hard to make sure the scale doesn't change its mind and give me back those pounds next week. Had a good day yesterday. Ate my maximum, but that's quite alright, especially considering I was feeling tired and stressed and really wanted to eat anything I could get my hands on.

Have a great day everyone.

Carla
266/261/140 (239 - 1st 10%)

Dear friends,

It's been a horrible week for us, and I haven't come by to check on you, shame on me. I am so depressed and guess I didn't think it appropriate to share it with everything else going on. My sister is a fashion designer working in Manhattan--she is fine but lost many dear friends, including two on flight 11. My brother lost several employees who were in a meeting at the WTC. Instead of doing anything positive to deal with my feelings, I got mired down in depression. I think it's an ongoing problem with me, sometimes worse, and this week it has been terrible. I'll talk to the dr about it tomorrow.

Weighed in Monday, and I have gained 2.5 pounds, which didn't help me feel better. I think you all were right - my body went into starvation mode because I wasn't eating enough. I thought counting calories, and keeping at 1200 would avoid this situation, but I was wrong. To add insult to injury, I haven't been able to eat much, 4 of the last 8 days have been under 800 calories and 15 points. I have to work on eating at least minimum points this week and keeping up my exercise, which has been hard because of the pain from arthritis I have been experiencing. I managed to work through the pain today and felt better afterwards, so I'm going to concentrate on that thought when I think I hurt too much to move. Anyway, enough of the pity party, I have never talked about this before and know it will be hard to bring it up to the dr, but feel I have to do something now.

I'm glad everyone is here and well and unscathed by the terrible events of the past week. Thanks for being here.

Karen