Hi ladies! Well, another day has past. I'm still feeling a bit blue, but not as bad as I was yesterday. I am going to figure out a way to keep doing my ww plan and we'll see about meetings in the near future. DH has a contract in the works for some consulting work that has yet to be signed and officially approved. If this works out, I can breath a little and maybe get back.
I guess I might need to rely on you guys a bit more and maybe I can do some journalling here on line for a bit?
Speaking of which, breakfast was just three points. 2 slices of Lite bread toasted spread with laughing cow lite cheese and a half banana.
I am going to a meeting this morning and there will be a three point pastry that I just know I will eat, but those can be my flex points used for today. Lunch, I've not decided yet, but dinner will be about 12 points and if I eat nothing else in the afternoon as a snack, I can be "ok" with my points today.
I have found Perdue makes these pre-prepared breaded, baked, chicken breasts and I buy Al Forno Italian Baking Sauce by Barilla. The chicken comes to only 3 points and the sauce comes to two points, I pour it over top of the chicken and then put low fat mozarella over top. It makes a great and easy chicken parmesan for 8 points. I then have salad with 1 point dressing and 3/4 C of pasta with the squirt margarine (0 points) over top of it. It's pretty good and the family really all like it.
So, that is partly what I am planning for today.
I hope to get on my treadmill for a few mintues in a little bit, maybe counteract the pastry a bit!
I'm hanging in....
Linda

Can't stop, just to let you know, WI was good - 2.5# down! Only 1 to go!
Back tomorrow.
Oh, almost forgot, Nat, good WI too!
Bye, (again)

Dawny, congratulations! You are just SOOO close! I'm envious.
I've got to get back on track, these last few days have been very "iffy". I've had all the best intentions, but have had cake and a few other goodies.
I need to re-start my journalling for about the third time this week.
Linda

Dawny, you're a star!!! Wow, you're at goal now, sounds great! Will you continue with WW to get below target or not? I hope you don't leave us, we need you for inspiration!

Linda, hope things are going well. Take care and stay focused.

I'm doing ok, could do better I suppose but anyway.I have a big party on Saturday night where there'll be loads of wine and food, but I think I'll manage. I'm actually looking forward to it, I bet we'll have fun!

Take care everyone!!!

Yeah! Way to go, Dawny! You are doing awesome! Oh, to be that close! I bet you will be on your best behavior this week to snag that extra pound! You will get it for sure!

Linda - Great attitude. Keep on starting over as many times as it takes. Don't lose your focus just because you are not going to meetings anymore! You still have a weekly check-in here! Daily, for that matter. Just decide each day that you are going to stay on track. Oh, and I learned a new breakfast trick that I tried this morning and LOVED. Pour about a ½ - ¾ c of chucky salsa into a lightly oiled skillet. Separate the salsa to make 4 open spaces. Fill those spaces with 4 eggs. Bake 400 deg. for 15 min. and then add some light cheese and bake another 1-2 min. Very yummy and I popped out one of the yolks to make it lower in points.

Natalie – Great news on the WI and sounds like you had a great weekend away too!

Well, now for my news… I dropped 1.8# for a big total of 60.1!!! I was so excited when I did the math and figured I had hit that mark! Yippee! I’m feeling the motivation to keep going now! The sky’s the limit! I told my office manager when I got to work today because she has been excited for me. She has told everyone else in the office the news because she is just flabbergasted (she weighs about 110 dripping wet and can’t fathom it). It is a fun day. I’m wearing the green sweater I bought in November that I can finally fit in comfortably. Hope everyone else is having a fun day! And don’t forget the green. (Is it just an American tradition to pinch someone not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day? I have no idea how it originated.)

Okay. These guys are so cute, I just have to use them…

Happy St.Patricks day, girlies, I think alot of you in the US celebrate it more than people do here, although I have to say, my next door neighbour is Irish, and he probably spent all the day in the pub drinking guiness, and will be there until throwing out time! Sounds good to me!

Thanks for the boost everyone with my loss this week, and don't worry, Nat, I won't be going anywhere when I reach that goal - next week, if I have anything to do with it! Enjoy your party Nat, sounds like a good one, have a drinky or two for me, I'll be so good this week, people may just mistake my scruffy hair for a halo!

Linda, I can tell you are still down on yourself at the moment, and lets face it, with your current circumstances, its totally understandable. You have come so far with your weightloss, and its been a slog to come this far, take each day as it comes, and don't give up! We want to see those numbers on your scales drop as much as you do.

Melanie, that breakfast sounds yummy, but you must have to get up so early to make it! I have a 10 minute slot in the mornings, on a work day anyway, to make, eat and clear up. A good reason to stick to crunchy nut cornflakes I think! Great loss this week too. Goodness me, 60.1 loss so far, thats a fantastic amount. Just think back if you can to how you felt when this journey started for you. Could you imagine that you would be able to lose that much, and how great you would feel for doing it too? I hope you are very proud of yourself. I agree too, that it definitely gets that motivation up sky high when you reach those kind of targets. Can you remember adding your first little 'groovy guy' to your signature? You have so many now you'll have to start a new line of them!

What will I have for dinner tonight? I think a sweet and sour sauce I have in the cupboard, its about 2 points I think, with some lean turkey breast and some brown rice. Yum. Not very exotic or adventurous, but its about as good as it gets in this house I'm afraid. If its nice and fills our tums then who cares!

Ok, gonna go for now, have a great 'green' day, and no, we don't pinch, Melanie, it must just be you! See ya later.

GGood morning all.... or afternoon to those of you in Europe!
Well.... time to face facts and move on for me. I pulled out a fresh journal and re-started this morning. Yesterday, I had cookies, and I was a bad girl.
I have to regain my composure and recognize that life has it's ups and downs and I need to behave or all the good I have accomplished will just disappear. A lesson for us all.... including those (a-hem) who are just about at goal. There ARE really and truly going to be times when you feel defeated and let yourself go. I've done that this week.
BUT, there is some good news. DH was awarded a contract to work for the next 4-5 weeks doing consulting! We'll have some income, it's not permanent but it's still very good news. I can maybe get some sleep and calm down a bit? Might be nice.
We chatted this morning, and I found a WW meeting on line to go to today. It's not my regular meeting/location, but I am going! It's at 10:00 am and a bit of a drive from here, but I need to go and it will be good for me to step on the scale. The number is going to go up, it's just a question of how much. I have not been weighed in about 4 weeks, and I've been out of control for a bit of that time. So, this could be a rude awakening, but I need to hear that number and I need that as kind of a "slap in the face" to get myself back where I need to me. My bet is that I've gained about 3 pounds, I hope not more than that?
So, here I go again. I will try to get weighed in at my regular meeting next Tuesday as well, maybe with that in mind, it will force me to behave all weekend?
Also, more good news, DH is going on a job interview tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed!
Well, that is all for now. You guys are really great.

Hi, can't stop, but just wanted to say, Linda, that I'm so pleased DH has found some work, albeit temporary, to easy things for you a bit. I know how worried you have been of late. Hope WI went ok, that maybe it wasn't as bad as you anticipate. Oh yeah, and do realise that the ups and downs will come too. I feel that I've had a fair few recently with the weightloss, but I know have my friends here to help when it happens!
Gotta go for now, see ya later.

Thanks, Dawny, a quiet day here I see.
I went, I was weighed and I gained - but only 1.2. Not too bad considering I thought it was going to be about 2 or 3 pounds. I'm glad I went. I will do better.
I've been fairly good today and passed on Chinese food... that was an NSV!
Linda, eating 94% ff popcorn to fill up

Good morning everyone. Well its a new monday, a new week, and does anyone agree that it may be time for some kind of new challenge? Something to give us all a boost and something to aim for? Spring almost seems to have 'sprung' here now and I think a new spring wardrobe would be in order as a treat if I can complete a mini challenge. Not sure what challenge though - any ideas?

I've been relatively good this weekend, stuck to points and was exceptionally good at MIL's birthday party yesterday, managing to avoid all kinds of chocolate cake, sausage rolls, quiche lorraine and lots of other things that I know that if I start eating I just can't stop, so I didn't start! Stuck to salad, lots of it, and turkey sandwich, healthy, healthy, healthy! Scales don't show much improvement this morning, but thats just one of those things. Hopefully by wednesday....

Linda, I'm glad that your WI went better than expected. 1.2 should be gone again in no time at all. Even if you only go to the occasional meeting, you know you have our support at all times. You know how to do this thing and just because you don't go to a meeting every week, it doesn't mean its an excuse to slack off. Great NSV avoiding the chinese food too. I've not had any in two weeks or more, which is quite an achievement in itself, so well done.

Speaking of NSV's, my mum's doing well. She phoned me this morning with news of getting into some jeans she hadn't worn for years. I explained the NSV concept, and she thought it great. She wasn't able to go to WI last week as she was ill, and officially has so far lost 6.5, but I think things could be much better this week for her. I hope she can keep it up!

Anyway, got to go for now, need to go and feed some ducks! Back later!

Good news on your mom, Dawny, as well as you being so good this weekend.
I was the opposite. Don't know what is wrong with me, I seem to have lost total control. What ideas do you all have?
I will go to my regular meeting tomorrow and I think I am going to weigh in again. I think it will be good for me to really key into this.
But, as Dawny said, today is a new day and new week.... let's get some kind of challenge going for us all. Easter is next week.... I have given up chocolate for lent and have been very good. I think I need to forgive myself a bit of chocolate indulgence on Easter, but that doesn't give me permission to blow the entire week!
Linda

Hello all! Yep. Spring is here, or so my sinus tells me!

I was just looking at a photo my step-mother took of me over the weekend in the Easter costume she made for me. I need to dress like a Roman woman for a monologue I’m doing. She did a great job making my costume. It’s going to be fun playing dress up. I want to do dramatic makeup and I have to come up with something for my hair. Probably pull it up into ringlet curls. I just love doing this stuff. I FINALLY have the 5- 6 minute dialogue memorized. I was a bit nervous about it and still expect to leave something out, but oh, well.

Linda – congrats and WOW on giving up chocolate for so long! Just thing, Superwoman, if you can do that, you can do anything! You can get back on program, and do fantastic! I’m glad you get to go back to meetings. I think it will help your moral to keep as much normalcy during this time as possible.

Dawny – Great job on resisting the party food. Hope you see that goal this weekend!

Challenge? Hmmm… I have a personal challenge of dropping 15# by my birthday May 15. Since we are so international, we could do a Cinco de Mayo challenge (5/5/05), or April challenge. Choose a number, or we could aim to walk x miles during the month. I’ll keep track of things, if we can decide on a challenge.

I want to challenge myself to pick up the exercise a bit more. I've been slacking off, though not the last few days. I think the month of April sounds good to me. I should be exercising/walking at least five days a way.
I wonder if I can find, either on my computer or on line a calendar page to print out and maybe put a star or something like that on every day that I work out in some way?
I'm going to my usual Tuesday AM ww meeting today and I'm planning on weighing in again. Not sure if I lost anything since I was at the other meeting on Friday, but I want to get in the habit again, it creates such an awareness.
Linda

Hi there, quiet again today, hope everyone's ok!

I have been so good again today that I ought to have a shining halo at the end of the week, Unfortunately, unless things change dramatically, I don't expect the right amount of weight loss this week, maybe a maintain, but you never know, 24 hours until then, who knows what can happen!

Linda, hope your extra WI went well,good luck with the extra exercise, some days its just hard to find time to fit it in. We all read the articles about how to make the extra time, doing less of the things we really shouldn't be doing, but theory is always so much easier than practice.

Melanie, I have to say, I have no idea what Cinco de Mayo is. I've heard of it, but it could be a day to celebrate eating mayonaise for all I know. I'm sure it's not. I wouldn't mind if it were though! I think my personal little challenge will be to keep up the daily exercise I am doing at the moment. It's not alot, and unsure how much benefit its having yet, but its got to be better than before, seeing as I was doing little more than a bit of walking now and again. If I can keep it up for a month, then maybe it will just feel like habit, and I won't slacken off.

Just a little bit of info, the other night we found AJ counting his pennies from his piggy bank - in Spanish! Bearing in mind he's only 3 1/2 then I think that's pretty good. There are some kiddies that are his age that still have problems counting in English, never mind a language that none of the rest of the family speak! He has picked it up from a kids tv show (Dora the explorer), and who says children don't learn anything off the tv?!

Ok, going to get off for now, got a yummy chicken stir fry for dinner thats calling me.

Hello all. Sorry I was absent yesterday. I was having a day when I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, even in writing. Just trying to get my work done. Good me.

Linda – how was the extra WI?
Dawny – I like that, Mayonnaise Day. (dry laugh) Cute. If you have an enquiring mind, Cinco de Mayo is “the 5th Of May, commemorates the victory of the Mexicans over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862.” If you don’t care to know, skip that part. Oops! Too late!

Well, I guess I can make this easy for us. I will also dedicate my life to exercise for the month of April. My goal will be 5 days per week of 30 minutes or more. But, now the good stuff… what will be our rewards? I think I choose a manicure. Working on the computer all day, and doing filing, my nails tend to be a mess.

I honestly do not expect to be wowed at WI tonight. The pants I’m wearing were loose last week, but TOM has made them a bit snug. I don’t expect a gain, just nothing too exciting.

NSV, we had to retake photos for our office advertisement yesterday because my office manager refused to run my old photo. She says I’m half the woman I used to be and it deserves a new photo. It was one of the first since the weight loss and I was amazed to see myself. I looked thinner on paper than I see in the mirror. I still have trouble seeing the new me in my reflection. I guess that will come with time.