Starting the thread. Be back a little later (this week I promise to get back here!)

Judy

Hello all.

Wow, I hadn't realized how long I've been gone until I logged in. I honestly didn't think it had been two months. There's no way I'm going to catch up on all that time, so a "hi, nice to meet you" to all the newcomers since I last posted and a "good to see you again" to those of you I already "know".

It's very, very cold here, although the sun is now shining and my desktop weather icon tells me it's 22, so it's improving. Perfect weather for comfort food. I've been maintaining, mostly, while I've been gone. I haven't followed points, or anything, really - just watching carbs. I need to get back into losing mode, so I'll be getting back to points, probably on this Wednesday - weigh-in day. Exercise is nil and may be for a bit longer since I have to take Naproxen just to function due to a pulled muscle or something that's been causing me pain in my right leg. I do need to try the stationary bike, though. I may be able to do that without too much difficulty.

And now off to meet a deadline for my writing job.

Carla

Nice to meet you Cece, I am a fairly new one to this forum.

This week was so much better! Down 4 pounds and I am now only 5 pounds from my Christmas Eve goal! TOM is due though any day now, and the cravings have started in a very big way already. I'm going to The Cheesecake Factory on Friday, so I have to save up all week for that!

Congrats to all the losers, hugs to those that are struggling!

Nice to meet you too, Mom2! What terrific stats you have! Cheesecake Factory could do me in. In fact, I think I'm gaining weight just thinking of their chicken and biscuits.

I've never been, I'm going there on a date so I will probably be too nervous and excited to really eat!

Carla - it's so good to "see" you here! Welcome back, my dear friend! Yup, it's been a while. 22? Yikes! We're not supposed to get out of the 30's today which is a shock since we were having bizarrely warm weather recently. I'm sorry to hear about the muscle pull but it can't hurt (well, too much ;-) to try the stationary bike. If it doesn't hurt, maybe you can get moving a bit. Just be sure that you are stretching. With the whole back/neck issue I find that I have to stretch a bit in the morning as well as after the day is over. I think this is a great time to start counting points again - it's great that you've been maintaining by watching the carbs (and watching your health!!) but this time of year, I figure the more we can fight the gain and maybe even lose the better. Good luck with your deadline.

Mom2 - that's a fabulous loss. Funny, when I was still getting TOM (it's been 4 months since), I used to have the worst cravings right before and once it was TOM, they subsided. That's a good plan to save up points for the Cheesecake Factory. I've never been to one but the name sort of says it all....... Good luck - I'm sure you'll do really well. I hope the date works out well!!!

I've had a pretty good couple of days. My weigh-in on Saturday showed a 1 pound loss which I was thrilled with considering the amount of leftovers we had from Thanksgiving. Still, I supposed even though I indulged, I did it the "WW" way - counted points, didn't go much over, got activity, etc. I even baked on Sunday. I decided because of time and my back, I would cut down on the cookie baking - just doing 3 different recipes (instead of the usual 4 or 5). They are out on the screened in porch - out of sight and pretty much out of mind. I counted the batter I "cleaned up" and a cookie I taste tested and so far so good. Work is good. Physical therapy/insurance company is another thing but I have to get to work so I will try to get back a little later.

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi everyone, I lost 2 pounds this week, so down the 1.2 pounds I gained and then .8 so I am happy. I have had a cold this week so really have not been hungry so not getting in all the points. Congrats to everyone on the pounds dropped.
I hope the cheesecake factory date went well!!!

Hey everyone! Welcome back, Cece!! Good to see you! And what a great loss, Mom2Q!!

I lost one pound this week, down to 221, which is what I weighed the last time I lost 50 pounds on WW five years ago, and then I gained it all black plus 4 more! That won't happen this time!

I didn't think I'd lose this week because of my injured knee -- I didn't do ANY cardio the whole week. I did one session of strength training for abs and upper body, and I overate on Saturday!

Hi all,

Mom2 - Forgot to congratulate you on your great loss last week. Cheesecake Factory has a huge menu with all types of food on it and a lot of comfort food. Their portions are huge, so plan on taking a lot home. Enjoy!

Judy - Congrats on your loss and on your restraint with the cookies! I will try to give the exercise bike a go. Sounds like your having insurance problems. Sorry to hear it. We are too. They declined payment on my mammogram. It really bites. They've also declined to pay for my diabetes education classes. John's waiting for them to call him back with a better explanation. The cold snap you're feeling is **** freezing over. Speaking of which - we had unseasonably warm weather last week too. Last Wednesday it was warm and rainy, then Thursday the temperature dropped quite a bit and Friday was the great snowstorm of 06. It was zero this morning when I got up, but it did warm up to 22 as promised. I am not looking forward to working traffic detail at Religious Education tomorrow.

l&dnurse - Congratulations on a great loss. I hope your cold goes away soon.

Lisa - Hi, good to see you too! Congratulations on your loss. I'm sorry to hear you injured your knee. I hope it's better soon.

Aside from the frigidity, all is well here. I'm trying to decide what I want to fix for dinner. And I'm trying to get Ana to settle down and do her homework. I hate these afternoon battles. So, off I go. Have a great evening.

Carla

Hi all! Im new and need lots of help lol. Im trying and hopefully Ill get better. This morning my weight was down 4.6. Im really happy about it even though Im pretty sure it was water weight. We have a christmas party this weekend and Im kinda bummed. I feel ugly and squishy since my second daughter was born. Im hoping to get in gear and feel better. I also joined the pres. challenge on here, so maybe that will help to keep motivated.
Schell

l&dnurse - great loss! Sorry about the cold - I'm fighting something off right now.

Lisa - congratulations on the loss and getting to where you were before. Now this time is going to be different - you're going to keep losing just as I
have. The key is just to keep doing what you are doing! Sorry about your knee - I hope it's feeling better now.

Carla - the insurance company denied payment on your mammogram????? Is it because you went to a place not in their network? That's just outrageous. Yeah, I'm having a problem with the insurance company and I really do have to sit down and write a letter to appeal their cutting off the PT. It's just that there is so much to do both for work and the holidays. I'm going to the orthopedist tomorrow (who sees me for 5 minutes and collects his co-payment). I'll try to write the letter once I get home. Brrrrr - it warmed up to 22???? Today the temperatures were better but we are getting your arctic express on Friday. Sorry about the battles with homework. How is Ana liking school this year? How is the reading going?

Michelle - welcome!! I'm sure you'll do fine and we're here to help! That's a great loss. Yes, a lot of loss at the beginning is water weight but you are starting to establish good habits and if you keep working it, the weight will continue to come off. Anyone who is a mom is beautiful in my eyes so try to think positive things about yourself - it helps you feel better and helps in your efforts to start living a healthier lifestyle! Do you have a strategy for the party? One of the things I like to do is to have one or two glasses of water before I have a drink and to try to see what there is to eat that I *really* want (and not eat those things that aren't special.)

I guess the stress about the whole insurance thing got to me yesterday. I came home from my last PT session (which I paid full price for) and even though I had a good, low-point dinner, proceeded to eat everything that wasn't nailed down. I used all my flex points plus some - I journalled and counted the damage this morning and I'm going on. I did a yoga session yesterday after work - nothing today although my pedometer says I earned an activity point. It must be all the walking I did while shopping for my Secret Santa at work. Most other shopping is done (online). I just have to order things for my students which I will try to do tomorrow. When I got home from shopping I had a larger snack than I wanted to - lunch was just a yogurt and some fruit and after dinner Tony brought some chocolate up from the basement and I had a couple of pieces. Nothing since then but still not quite back on track. I've gotten into the habit recently of a short yoga session in the morning recently although I haven't done it for the last 2 days - not that I slept any longer. Maybe it's the cold temperatures. In any case, since I don't know when I'll get back from the doctor's appt tomorrow, my plan is to do the short yoga session tomorrow morning. Hopefully, that will help me get back on track. Wait, strike that - I *will* get back on track because not only will I *not* gain weight this month, but I intend to lose more! I've got a little less than 4 months before I turn the big 5*0 and I will get to goal by then!

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi all -

Michelle - Welcome aboard and congrats on your loss. Water weight or not, it certainly is nice to see the scale go down like that. Try to fight those "squishy" feelings. Take care with your makeup (if you wear it), put on something pretty, and maybe even buy yourself a little something, like a new lipstick or whatever and feel good about yourself.

Judy - Yeah, they denied payment. I think it was more of a clerical type error though. The reason they denied it was because there wasn't money in some funky plan they put money into for you for some reason I can't remember, but the mammogram isn't supposed to be paid out of that anyway, I don't think. It's just extra aggravation, as you well know. I hope you're able to convince your insurance to pay for the extra PT. Did our arctic express arrive in NY yet? It's still here, that's for sure. It's 10 degrees out right now and yesterday I think 13 was the high. Yuck. Ana's doing well in school and reading is going wonderfully. We had an IP review in October because her final review last year was a bit early and the diagnostician reduced her time with him from 300 minutes a week to 200 since she's doing so well. Since she needed some extra time in speech therapy, it was good, as she was near to maxing out on pull-out time. How's it going at your new school? Are you liking it? Sorry to hear about the snacking, etc. WW had a bit of info on what the new plan was bringing vis a vis on-line members and their blurb mentioned new CORE rules on snacking. I thought of you as I know snacking is your bugaboo as well as mine. Of course, I never really get into CORE, so it won't much matter to me.

Ana is home sick today with a fever and a headache. Her school had it's Holiday Market last night (kids get to shop for presents on their own) and as I was working at it she was there the whole time with me and that's when she started not feeling well. Poor thing. She was really burning up last night. Luckily her temperature is down a bit today. And now I'm off to try to get some housework done.

Have a great day.

Carla

Ok, the Cheesecake Factory date was today (it was our 5th date) and can I say that I don't want to step on the scale tomorrow? I had some sort of chicken and pasta and a piece of cheesecake, but that is all I ate today. No idea on the points, but I stayed totally on plan eating the minimum for the day every day this week to earn it (flex points confused me, so I do the Winning Points program). Let's keep our fingers crossed that it is out of my system by the time I weigh in on Sunday.....

More congrats to the losers and hugs to all who are struggling!

Mom2 - I'm glad you enjoyed yourself at the Cheesecake Factory. You certainly planned well for it, so I bet you'll see a loss on Sunday.

I went on-line today and the changes, or at least the points allowance piece are there. (I didn't really look for the others.) Basically you take a quiz that asks your age, height, current weight (pre-filled for on-line users) and how physically active your job is. Your points are calculated based on those answers. I was given two extra points. I'm not entirely sure since I basically sit all day, but I'll take them. On the boards at the WW site there was talk of people going up as much as 10 points. I'm guessing they have physically demanding jobs. Others had points taken away. I guess this is a better way to calculate caloric needs. Now to go off and find what else may have changed.

Well, I cheated and got on the scale today "just to see" and I was down 2 pounds from where I was last week! So, it didnt' kill me Does anyone else ever worry that you'll go off plan for one day and wake up back where you started? It is a silly, irrational fear, but one that I have nonetheless.

Cece - - I'm not an online member, but I may join just to take that little test. I've also thought about going to a meeting when they do the "free enrollment" at the beginning of the year just to get all of the info. As a single mom I just can't justify paying for meetings, but I could pay for a couple if the new information is worth it.