It sounds like you're doing great, Turtles! Bandit, I'd like that 3# loss if you're tired of it...but I'm sure you're enjoying it just as much as I would. Judy, good job with the family! It's a learning process, right?

I've started school (as of this morning) and seen the doctor (as of this afternoon). School will be...well, boring, frankly, but not hard. Time consuming, but not hard. So anyway. And the doctor says everything is fine. It's unusual but not unheard of for bodies to react the way mine did to this particular kind of IUD, and since things seem to have settled down now we're good to go. So, yay.

The OTHER doctor--blood tests--I go back to tomorrow morning. I've got my fingers crossed for good results. I've been working hard enough for them! They'll take blood tomorrow and I'll get results back friday, but meantime I can show my doc a weight loss (about 6-7 pounds) and hopefully my blood pressure will be down too. We'll see tomorrow at 8am!

Keep Turtlin' on!

Mousie,
Good luck at your doctor's visit. You've done so well losing weight. Hopefully your blood pressure will be where it needs to be. Good luck with school and glad your IUD is fine. Hey, I keep on seeing that picture of you in my mind and I'm imagining you nice and thin. Great to have a visual.

Bandit,
keep on keepin' on. How do you like the food on the Sonoma Plan? Are you back to eating fruit now or does level 1 still ask you to stay away from fruit?

All goes well here. I have my WI this morning and I know I dropped a little weight. I'll let you know.
Love Judy

Hi turtles:

Mousie - hope all goes well with your other doctor. Nice job on the weight loss!

Judy - food on Sonoma is really good (no processed stuff) but time consuming cooking everything. Try to cook extra for a few meals & that is helping. No fruit on Wave 1 & actually I am not missing it as much as I thought. But today I will be having some cereal with blueberries in it. But that is first kind of fruit whatsoever I have had & that is dried stuff in the cereal. So overall, it is good healthy food.

I know in Floriday with bf I will be having some off-programme things so am trying to drop a few more # this week to compensate for next week. Especially the drinks - I know I will have some on holidays but maybe I will try and stick more with wine & soda.

Will get in lots of walking at Disney & swimming as well.

Good luck, Judy on your w/i today - mine is tomorrow. Heres hoping for a little "less turtles" :-)

Bye for now.

Good morning Turtles!

I'm just back from the doctor. I have lost 6 pounds according to their scales, too (you know how doctor's scales NEVER agree with home scales) and my blood pressure is down! When the machine did it before it said I was 162/83 (OUCH) and then the doctor did it manually and got 148/83. This morning I was 135/83. She wants to wait another month for the cholesterol, so I've got a lab slip and can go directly to the lab for that. BUT the good news is she's not concerned about the blood pressure, and says NO MEDS! YAAAAAY! She says it looks like I'm doing the right things, and "slower is better, because it's more lasting". She's a Turtle at heart, I guess.

She wants to see me in "about 4 months" just to make sure the blood pressure is still coming down, and to re-check the cholesterol (after I get that rechecked in a month, so it'll be a 3-month check).

Even though I'm not going to find out my exact cholesterol number for another month, I'm still happy.

Good afternoon ladies, I'm hoping to join you.

I am a big believer in slow and sure myself, although I have gotten off track in the past enough to have ground to a halt in my weight loss, but thankfully, very little backsliding.

I'm a 26 year old software engineer. I just moved to a new town last October, and have my own apartment for the first time in my life. It's great being able to control what goes in the fridge and who eats it (I was always buying healthy stuff for myself at home and my little sis would eat it before I could, but she rarely put stuff on the grocery list.)

I've been going up a little, down a little, up a little, down a little for a long time, but I started counting points again recently for about a week, and I think I found where I was getting myself in trouble.

My biggest problems are unplanned late nights at work (which lead to me eating a 12-point bag of trail mix for dinner or McDonalds) and the treats they have at my workplace. I know that working late and not having a planned meal is not an excuse for eating junk food, but, well, I was weak, and let my stress drive me to eat junk. I have started keeping an Amy's Pizza Pocket sandwhich in the freezer at work (6 or 7 points) for unplanned late work nights...it sure beats anything I would buy at McD's.

Anyway, I'm getting off on yet another tangent. I hope there's room in this group for another turtle.

test

Welcome Ariana! We're always glad to have new Turtles. Feel free to jump in and let us know how it's going, what you're thinking about, what you're struggling with, what your successes are...anything!

Ariana! Glad to have you here. As Mousie says, we're always happy to have another turtle join us. We give and take great advice, are forming a cohesive group and really care how we each and all do. So! Come on in, the water's fine.

Mousie, You got incredible news at your doctor. That's just a fabulous blood pressure reading. Losing weight and exercise is the route to take. Gee, I am so happy for you. And your weight loss coming out of the holidays like we all did, is absolutely wonderful!

Bandit, I love to hear you say that you are preparing for your trip by losing extra weight this week. And I am especially pleased that ;you are thinking about the beverages you'll have. Sometimes in the past you've had some high caloric drinks and then been annoyed at yourself. Maybe you can have a drink and then a seltzer to split the difference? Good luck and enjoy yourself for your holiday.

I weighed in yesterday and lost the 1# I had gained the week before and another .2#. Now I know this sounds like a very small success, but I had gone up to my ds's home with the grandkids for the weekend. To give her her due, my d daughter-in-law asked me what I'd like to have in the house. I told her tea, fruit, and oatmeal. She did that and it was a huge help. Yes, I had birthday cake for the little guy's birthday, etc. but I was careful and it showed. ANd yes Mousie!!!! This is a learning experience.

Good luck to us all. I've had three good days on program using very few points and staying very close to Core. As I keep this up, I'll be back to 200# in the next month and when I exercise, I can speed that up. Even Turtles like to speed up once in a while.

Have a great day, Ariana==thanks for joining us, and Mousie and Bandit, keep on keepin' on!
Judy Itry
234.6/207.6/thinner into onederland

Hi turtles:

Welcome Ariana - I'm sure you will find this board supportive and motivating and friendly!

Anyway, just popped in to say hello before heading off to Florida. I am packing and will take my ww book & lists and of course, my running shoes!
Planning on getting in big walks everday. Also will have some point-friendly things in room and really try to stay somewhat OP & still have a nice holiday.

Also, I was down 1.4# last night - so was pleased with that.

Anyway, everyone have a great week & talk when I get back home.

Bye.

Good morning Turtles!

Judy, sounds like you're headed in the right direction. And it sounds like you're learning lots, through this journey! Good for you. I know how much you love your family, and it's good to see you're figuring out how to spend time with them and take care of yourself all at the same time. They sound supportive of your efforts, too!

Great loss, Bandit! Have a fantastic time in FL, you're all prepared. I think it's great how you've set things in motion to support you, even when you're on vacation.

Ariana, how are you doing? Feel free to post updates or comments, any time!

I weighed in this morning at 273.0. This means I've lost 1.5 from last week, and a total of 21 pounds since I started this thing. This last week I broke up my food--high one day, low the next--and I really pushed my exercise, doing 421 minutes since last saturday. Considering that I started back to lab classes this week, that's a lot!

I'm waiting for a book to be delivered today, and I have to stay at the house (darned UPS!). It's a book written by John Berardi, who is well known in the fitness/weight lifting world. He's finally written a nutrition book, and it's based around optimal nutrition for the regular, hard-core exerciser/lifter. I'm excited about it, truth be told--I've long felt that I needed the help of a sports nutritionist. Now if only it would come early so I can start reading!

Keep stepping on, Turtles!

Ariana,
(Love that name!) how are you? How are things working out for you? Glad you've joined us.

Bandit,
Have a great trip. Glad you've got your running shoes with you. I know you'll be walking a lot and you planned and prepared this week and had a wonderful weight loss. Weigh to go! Have fun and enjoy the sun.

Mousie,
Oh, you must be so pleased with your weight loss! Look at the total loss climbing! Yahoo! ENjoy the fitness book when it gets here
and keep on keepin' on. You're doing amazingly well.

Today was a pretty decent day and I had family challenges, but think I did okay. We;re expecting snow tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. If so, I'll hunker down and enjoy a good book. Take care, do well, and keep on chiming in.
Judy Itry

Judy, I read your little note about expecting snow tomorrow and I thought, "Snow? This time of year? What?" Then it occured to me that it's February, and actually snow is quite reasonable! We've been having Santa Ana winds (hot winds that come in off the desert) blowing for the last week, and it's been 80 degrees and very very dry, with high fire hazard warnings. This year is a very dry year, we've only had 1.5" of precipitation. Usually by this time (this is our rainy season, believe it or not) we have about 6". The county is *hurting* right now--we could even use some snow, though everyone would start playing bumpercars in it.

The book I was waiting on finally arrived, and I devoured it. What else do you do with a book about nutrition, eh? Sorry, sorry, bad pun. But anyway. It's pretty close to how I have been eating, pays a bit more attention to macronutrient timing and distribution. I'll tighten up and follow his principles as closely as I can with the food I have in the house. Once payday comes, I'll be able to follow more closely. He also lays down principles for measuring, timing, tweaking, fitting the plan to the individual...so I'll follow there too. I have a CD to listen to and a DVD to watch, I'll do that when I'm today.

Check in, Turtles! Ariana, you're a Turtle now, let us know how you're doing!

Mousie,
It's always good to hear from an expert that you're on the right track. I'd say losing 21 pounds since you started is also proof that you know what you're doing. Weigh to go. Yes, about now 80 degrees and dry sounds good. We here in NY are getting a true old-fashioned snowfall. We still have a ceramic village in our window and let me tell you that the icicles outside and the hevy snow make a glorious backdrop for the village. Life is funny. I had packed away the little figures from the display yesterday morning and intended to pack away the houses, but they look so beautiful that I think I'll just let them still on the windowsill for awhile.
Food yesterday was horrible. Dh picked up goodies for his nephews who were going to visit and check out some 3Stooges DVD's. They cancelled and that left us alone in the house with some unmentionables. The unmentionables have been consumed, so it's my job for today to eat the best I can. We were supposed to head to friends for dinner and games,but I bet we're not able to go. It's 9:30am here and still snowing hard. The snow plows have gone through, but they're not making much of a difference.

I hope Bandit got out in time to miss the storm since a lot of the NYC metropolitan airports have closed for now. If she got out (and flying out of Canada she should have) she'll be in a very good spot right now!

Ariana, don't think about what we write. I, for one, just go on and on. Write about what concerns you and we'll chime in.

Take it easy, do the right thing for yourself and everyone keep on keepin' on!
Judy Itry
234.6/207.6/thinner into onederland

WOW, Judy, I've been seeing the reports and the snow is just DUMPING on you! I honestly don't know if I could cope with that--certainly not if I had to go out in it! I'm amazed. I hope you and yours are all safe and warm.

BUT the fact that there is record snow outside does NOT mean that you need to eat comfort foods in record quantities! Have yourself a nice pot of tea, maybe bake an apple with cinnamon. Have some oatmeal in the morning to warm up from the inside. Actually, oatmeal sounds nice, maybe I'll plan some into my day for later--after I exercise!

My program is going well (2 days and 1 meal in) so far. I've dropped 2 pounds of water since I started, which is nice. I know it's water and not fat so I'm not too terribly excited yet, but it's good to have a positive result in some way. This program is basically just good sensible eating--veggies/fruits with every meal, protein with every meal, eat every 2-3 hours. The difference, and the important part for me, is the timing of "other" carbs. The idea is that you can eat all the fruits and veg you want, and he encourages you to really eat a wide variety, but carbs that aren't fruits and veggies need to be eaten only in the 1-2 hour window after exercise (I'll explain the reason for this, if anyone is interested). Interesting. I certainly feel the difference, and in just two days! But then I always did pay uber-strict attention to how my body was responding to changes.

Anyway! Stay warm, Judy. I'm sure Bandit is having a great time and clocking the miles with her feet. Ariana, join in! Let us know how things are going for you.

I'm sorry about the delay, ladies. I ended up having to work a 14-hour day on Wednesday, and then I came in late Thursday, so I didn't take a lunch, and then I went to Phoenix for a long weekend to recover, now that phase 1 of my project is complete...so I haven't been to this forum since I posted.

Thank you for your kindness, ladies. It is wonderful to be so welcomed.

The last two weeks were very, very difficult -- I worked 12+ hour days almost every day, and didn't get nearly enough sleep, I didn't work out enough and I ate more junk than usual (stress eating, carelessness and Denial with a capital D.) According to my Mom's scale in Phoenix I'm at maintenance. I'm not sure how difference my apartment scale and Mom's scales are, but I'm just going to have to work on it this week and see. I've started counting points again today, and I'll go back to working out today too...

I'm glad to hear you guys are doing well. Little by little, you're making it!