Weekly Chat -- July 21-28
 

New Pages for a new week. :hat:

Thanks for the pages, Paula. I'm hangin' out with DH today, so I gotta go!

:eek:

I'm here! It's frantic as all get out!!! Two little ones, under the age of 3 in a very small space. They're great but the adults are frazzled!

Rhonda

Hi chickies! I am staying op and back to core. I will be trying to keep track of my eating on a thread. If anyone wants to join me, you are more than welcome. I need to get serious!

Have a great core day and drink your water!!!

Hey chicks! How are you all?

Rhonda-glad you're still alive!

Tracie-Posting your food choices is a good idea!

Still have a lot to do. BBL

Hi Ladies,

Tracie - Thanks for welcome and the info concerning my question. I really appreicate it as I did misunderstand how that part all works.. I do enjoy the my old fashioned oats and whole wheat pasta so it is nice to know I can have them and the other. I normally wouldn't have a potato and brown rice the same day, but nice to know how it works if I did.

I am new to the Core Plan and because I made a lot of mistakes yesterday I made today my first day OP making Monday my WI day from now on instead of Sunday. I have had a very good clean OP day and actually have enjoyed it. I love knowing that I don't have to eat anything else unless I do get hungry instead of having to try to get all my points in. Believe me I'm not knocking Flex as I think it helped me to learn portion control, but I honestly believe that having to eat when I am not hungry to get all my points in for the day was doing me in. I have seen that there isn't as much info on Core as there is for Flex so I plan to read your recipe section and get some ideas to use. And I look forward to getting to know y'all.

Trish

Hey everyone-I've been in a weird mood today. Lots of family business going on here, and I feel like I'm in a fog. Mostly spinning my wheels and not getting much accomplished. My eating has been on core today, except that I have not gotten in all of my fruits/veggies. I also have not had my milk servings. In keeping with the weekly challenge, I re-read my week one booklet today. I think I've been doing okay, but I've not always stuck to the good health guidelines. I am inconsistent with getting in the fruit/veggie and milk requirements. I need to pay more attention to that.

Looks like you guys are all busy; not many postings today. Hope you all have had a great day! TTFN

Trish, you are right, core isn't as known or talked about as flex. When I say weight watchers, people say, oh, you count points.
Luckily, my ww leader is on core, so it is brought up a little more than other meetings I have attended.
That's why this is a great place for core info, discussions, recipes, etc. If you have any questions, just ask and someone usually knows the answer, or can figure it out for you.

Thanks Tracie and thanks Sloan for the welcome.

I do have another question. I assume that all the things in our book that has the check marks are Core and we don't have to count the points for those and if we eat anything not checked other than what you shared with me that we have to count those points off our WPA. Am I right?

I like your quote Tracie. I think realizing that this is a lifestyle change and not a diet makes a big difference in whether I will succeed or not.

Thanks again,
Trish

Trish, you are correct. Anything not checked, is not core. So you would have to count points for this, using your 35 WPA or if you earned
Activity points(AP) on that day, you can use those. Just remember, if you earn AP's they must be used the same day your earned them. You can't carry forward AP's.

:welcome: Trish.

We're home. I got 1st and Curtis got 3rd. We're sleeping in our new home tonight. Hopefully, things will normalize soon.

Rhonda, have a glass of wine. And give those babies a hug for me.

Have a great, OP! day everyone. I'll be back tomorrow.

Good morning ladies. I did well yesterday -- I got home from work late (dh got dd from camp at 4). His suggestion was to go out to dinner. OK, twist my arm! We went to our usual place and they had a broiled blue fish. I've never had blue fish before, it was very good. Not a delicate taste like cod, a bit stronger. It had a dijon crust on it ( very light). I was happy with my choice. It was a nice Monday night treat.

Today dd and I are heading to the beach. There is only 6 weeks of summer left - 4 weeks then I'm on vacation for the last 2 weeks. I can't wait for vacation, but my Tuesday's with dd are quickly going away. Its going to be a sad September with her going to kindergarten full time and our special time ending. Sad until I start taking advantage of a full day BY MYSELF! No dd or dh......hmmm, could be nice! I do also want to do some volunteering in her class. I never could do that with preschool as I worked those 3 days.

Sandra - :encore: Congrats on the win! And Welcome to your new home. Hope things get into a good routine soon.

Trish :welcome2: -- Its too bad that leaders don't talk about core much. I do think core is much more a lifestyle change than flex. Realistically you are not (at least I would never) live my life couting everything I eat. I hated that part of WW and always failed. I would not write down something and feel the day was blown and then go downhill from there. I started core when it was first introduced in 2004 and hit my goal and became lifetime in 10 months. In my life I had never gotten to a goal, let alone become lifetime. By changing how I eat I have pretty much kept all my weight off (except for 5-8 pds that I continue to struggle with).

There are a lot of mis consceptions about core. In the last group I went to there was one man who talked as an expert (he was really annoying :o ). He started talking about core and how after 2 weeks you could eat anything -- he was basically giving really wrong information. I tried to correct him for the sake of others, the leader had to step in as well. Finally we were able to clearly talk about core. Oh well, it works for me I know it will work for you if you truely change the make up of your pantry and how you cook. The more you substitute things, the easier it gets. So many great recipes can easily be made into core.

Sloan, hope things are better today and that your family issues are not too serious.

Tracie - I'm tracking my food on ww on line. I've decided I just need to track everything to keep me honest. As long as we find what we need to do to succeed.

Well, taking dd to the beach today. I'm packing boiled eggs, fruit, veggies and dip for me to snack on. And tons of water. I am also going to bring my ww books to read.

Be back later!

Hi chickies!

I did well yesterday. I stayed op, got all my requirements in and feel good today. My scale says I'm still up, but oh well. At least I'm only up about a pound or so. I will have the actual gain tomorrow when I go to ww and wi.

Today, doing good so far.

Paula, I had to work all the time my kids were in school, but I volunteered once a year for each child as a helper on a field trip. So I went all over. If I didn't have to work I would have been a room mother, but I couldn't do that. I had to work.

I will check back with you all later!

Hi Ladies :)

It was a long long day as we left for the center at 7:45 and got to the hospital for the blood test and when we went to see the doctor before the treatment they didn't have the blood test results.Had to sit in the waiting room for over a 2 hr.Than They Led Leo into the chemo treatment room and I had to wait out side.

Got home around 6PM,traffic was horrendous as we had a county fair traffic heading our way and it was stop & go and I had two rotaries to deal with also. So thats the reason I did post yesterday.


We both still exhausted today,not going to do much of anything.

Our DD & DS will come up for Leo birthday Aug 2.So I have 2 weeks to decide where to put them,as the hotels are solidly book for Aug. She going to bring up her air mattress and we will have to buy an extra one for my DS.


As far a the core is concerned don't expect to lose on Thursday being that I'm really stressed :stress: and need to relax the next couple of days.


Going to have dinner now,will be back later


Hugs :) BB

:wave: Chickies,

:thanks: For the warm welcomes. I am so glad I found this group. I have been reading and I am learning a lot from y'all. I am happy to say that I truly enjoyed my first day OP and my scales awarded me with a 2 lb loss this morning.

Tracie - I appreciate you explaining about the AP's. Thanks for sharing that as I wasn't aware they had to be used the same day. That sure does give me the incentive I need to exercise do in order to use the AP's each day so I can save most or all of my WPA for eating out or special occasions.

Paula - I hate counting all the foods too. I have always loved the concept of Core because it reminds me a lot of Intuitive Eating. I just didn't trust me to eat only when I was hungry and to stop when satisfied, but it is so easy. I think doing Flex first was good for me because I think it prepared me for Core because I hated having to eat just to get all the pts eaten. I remember a horrible dream I had once where I was being forced to eat. That is how I felt on Flex. I don't know if this makes sense or not, but now that I'm doing Core, I feel a freedom I didn't have before. I've heard Core people say "You can can eat anything you want on Core, you just might have to count pts on some things". I feel like I'm eating "normal" now and definitely a more healthy lifestyle. I was blessed to be able to be home with my daughter (and my boys) as they grew up. I worked but I had a Registered Child Care in my home. Didn't get to go to many activities but had great times with them. You need the "My Time". I used to make those times for me when all the children took naps and late at night when my kids went to bed. It makes your time with your DD and DH better. Enjoy all of it.

BB - Sorry you and DH had a long and trying day. My prayers are with you and Leo. Very stressful I know. My DH just had a Prostectomy in June, not sure I spelled that right. Everything looked good according to the doctor because the cancer was inside the gland and had not spread to the outside. Now we are dealing with after effects that can take up to 6 months to recover from. Now he had a hard fall flat on his back Thursday or Friday night and won't go to the ER or hospital so we have a doctor's appt this afternoon to see what is going on with that. These things are hard on them and just as hard on us wives and the children walking through it with them and we try to be strong for them. Isn't easy either to watch them suffer. My heart goes out to you. Remember to take good care of yourself.


Sandra - I'm new here so I don't know what you won, but Congratulations any way. It is great to have that accomplishment. We moved into our new home will be 2 years ago this coming November and I still get excited about having it. You enjoy it.

Hope everyone has a great day.

:hug:
Trish

:welcome: Trish. (If I already said that, I want to say it again.) I won the Texas State Archery Target Championship. That's outdoor bullseye target out to 60 meters.

Paula, you will enjoy your alone time. I don't have much any more as we're both retired. I'm proud of you for stepping in to correct that man.

BB, right now you need to do what gives you strength. I wish you and Leo the best.

Tracie, you have a good attitude. Atta girl.

Rhonda, so how's it going, Cuz? Are you holding up all right? Are you going to Niagra Falls?

Sandra - That is great. I loved Archery when I was in high school and was pretty good at it, but that was mmaaaannyyy years ago. Never did anything after I left although I would have loved it. I didn't notice before that you are in Texas. I live in SC now, but I was born and raised in Waco. I moved to Dallas when I graduated from high school and lived there until my first hubby passed away. Then I moved back to Waco and married my second hubby an old sweetheart. Then we lived in League City, Gatesville and moved back to Waco and lived there until he passed away and I met my present hubby who lived in FL. I never thought I would ever live anywhere but TX. DH and I lived in FL until approx a year and a half ago when we moved to SC. SC is a lot like TX. DH says the people here sound just like me when they talk. lol

Trish

Hey Chickies-I'm having a better day. I got up at 5 am with DH (he goes to work early) and walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I ate a small piece of cornbread and went to work. I saw two patients then came home, ate lunch and straightened up a little.

Paula-Yesterday was not about problems, just decisions and they were a little frustrating, thanks :hug:.

Sandra-I knew you would win!!:bravo:

Tracie-I'm proud of ya! You go girl :carrot:

BB-I'm prayin' for you and Leo. Get some good rest today, and don't worry about your family's visit. They only want to be with you, so they won't care where they sleep. Maybe for this visit, you could let them take care of you instead of you taking care of them.

Trish-I hope you like it here with us. It is a very supportive group. Without them, I'm not sure if I would have kept at it.

Rhonda-do you still have company? I hope everything is going okay and you are not bald, yet:rofl:

I hope the rest of you chickies are staying on core and drinking lots of water! TTFN

Sandra - I forgot to tell you. DD's favorite activity in camp this summer is ARCHERY! They didn't have the preschool group do it last year, but she is doing it this year. She said its with the real bow and arrows. I don't think she has yet hit the target, but she said she is getting close.

I'm back,just got finished cleaning out the computer room,where my DS is going to sleep and my DD & the grandkids will be in the living room. We're going get a extra air bed for future use.

TRISH-Welcome:welcome2: to the thread,you love it here woman are very supportive.Sometimes I think the ladies on this board know more about the Core Plan than the leaders do. Thanks for the kind words you expressed. Hope that your DH will do ok after those side effects,& hoping that he didn't do too much damage on his back,with that fall.

SANDRA-Thanks:thanks: I already stated to take it easy,after fixing a place for my DS.Tomorrow I'm going to the movies to see Momma Mia.Missed the play but won't miss the movie.Congrats:cheer: on winning archery champions.

SLOAN-Thanks:thanks: My DD will be a great help when she here. I can't believe how she can take care of 4 kids all under 8.She is amazing if I could say so,much better than I could :chin: handle.Good for you, getting those exercising:woops: done for 45 mins.

PAULA-Thats a great achievement :yes:for your DD to be able to used real bow & arrows. If she loves playing let her continue doing so.


Hugs :) BB

Sandra, You are awesome!!! 1st place!!! Wonderful!
:cheer3::dancer::cheer2::dancer::cheer3::dancer::c heer2::dancer::cheer3::dancer::cheer2::dancer::che er3:

They are all cheering for you!!! And Curtis too, of course. You guys did great!

BB, have fun with the family. I'm sure it's great to see them.

Hey Chicks! I'm alive and lurking. I'm not doing well. I'll be back as the full fledged charter member that I am as soon as I can finish kicking my butt into getting back on program. Someone asked for a chocolate muffin recipe. Sorry I can't remember who. I'm looking for new recipes to help me get back on program and I ran across this on BCB. Here it is for whomever was looking for it. Let me know if it's good.

Chocolate Core Muffins

12oz Espresso or Coffee
2 Tbls Skim milk
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 cup granulated Splenda
4 ripe bananas
2 tbls Baking powder
2 eggs
4 cups quick cooking Oats

Preheat oven to 400

Take 12oz Espresso or Coffee in a 16oz contianer (i use a 2 cup Pyrex wet measure)
[decaf is fine]
{if you hate coffee use 12oz hot skim milk}

2 Tbls Skim milk, 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, and 1 cup granulated Splenda, and mix until all cocoa is dissolved

In a large mixing bowl, mash 4 ripe bananas. Add 2 tbls Baking powder, and left sit 2 mins to allow it to rise. Add 2 eggs, and mix well.

Pour the espresso/ cocoa/ splenda mixture into the banana mixture, mix well.

Add 4 cups quick cooking Oats.

Let sit for 10 mins [the oats will suck up much of the moisture]

Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with Pam.

divide batter evenly into 12 muffins.

Bake 400 for 24 mins.

Let cool in the pan, then slowly and carefully remove.

Gas price poll -- whats the cheapest you can find it?? I've noticed prices here in the NE are starting to drop a bit. I actually found a local station selling for $3.85. Sad commentary when I feel I got a bargin :(

Did also stop at the farmers market this afternoon. Got a pasta squash - supposed to be similar to spag. squash but its white. Also a yellow zucchini, papaya squash and eggplants. I'm going to grill all of that tomorrow night. We had fresh corn on the cob tonight. YUM!

Hope everyone has a nice night.

$4.21 here today but in the last month it's been closer to $4.29. Now I bet you feel like you really got a bargain. It hasn't been under $4.00 here since the first of the year.

Hmmm...is unsweetened cocoa powder Core? Guess I should have looked that up before I posted.

GREAT NEWS FOR ME!!!! I found my old Leader who helped me lose my first 45 pounds on Core. Maybe she can help me take it off again....since it's almost all back....and lose the next 120? I can't go back to meetings for a couple of weeks but I'm going back to her meeting just as soon as I can.

I think I might cry....sniff. It's a happy cry though.

Vickie-Please don't wait until you are finished with the butt kickin' to come back. We can do it for you :lol3: Seriously, it's kinda like going to wi; if you wait until you feel thin, you'll never go. Just come back to us while you are working through things! BTW I was the one who mentioned the chocolate muffins. Is the cocoa core? I can't find it in my week one book. Thanks for posting the recipe.

Paula-$3.89 is the cheapest we've had this week in the Nashville area.


BB-give us a report on the movie! I hope you love it :D

My DH came home with four watermelons! We've gone watermelon crazy, and he found some that are as sweet as sugar, so he bought four. Believe it or not, we will probably have them eaten in 5 or 6 days! I may end up on the front page of the National Enquirer as "The Woman Who Became a Watermelon".

Trish, I'm about 60 miles from Waco. I have lived in Johnson County most of my life but lived in Montana the past 11 years. We moved back to Johnson County last September.

Paula, I'm glad dd's doing archery at camp. This past weekend we had a lot of youngsters participating in the state championship. Now at Nationals in 2 weeks? They have so many youngsters, they devote a whole field to them separate from the adults. I think the U. S. is in good "archery" hands for years to come.

Sloan, thank you. I think I set records for Women 60+ Compound Shooters. I have one more major event with compound/release. After that I'm devoting most of my efforts to longbow. That's the play, anyway.

Tracie, I love the cheerleaders! How sweet--and cute! Thank you so much.

BB, thank you for the kudos. I'm glad you're getting some time for yourself. "MaMa Mia" sounds good.

Vickie, I'm about to cry for you, too. And mine are happy tears for sure. I want to tell you what happened to me today. I was cleaning out the office in the condo getting ready to move all to the new house when I came upon "before" photos of myself that were taken a few years ago. Now this was a page of poses that Curtis had taken of me to help give me incentive to lose.

Well--I am about 20 lbs heavier now than I was in those photos. Am I upset? Surprisingly not. I saw those photos and thought, "This is my new goal. I can get down to this and look pretty darn good."

It's funny--and all in the mind--but when the photos were taken I thought I looked awful. Now I'd like to look like that again. I'm like you (Vickie) and have too much life getting in the way for the next two weeks to be too serious about losing, so I'll get with it hard core after August 10.

I'm going to change my tracker. I know what I'm thinking is nothing new. People all the time talk about setting short, realistic goals instead of looking at the big picture, but seeing those photos was like having a light come on in my mind. I thought, "I CAN DO THIS!" And I thought it with a big smile.

You can do this, too. I'm so glad you found your former leader. That's the best news I've heard all day. Life is good.

I saw gas at $3.87 Saturday.

Trish

I got gas today and it was $4.01. Cheapest it's been in awhile. But, the price of the barrel went down $4.00, but the savings isn't passed down to us for awhile. Ever noticed when the price of the barrel goes up, our prices go up immediately. If they go down, we don't really see it for a few months. Kind of sucks, but what can we do? Not a whole lot.

Vickie! Glad to see you again! We've missed you!!!! Please stay with us more often. We can help you through anything!!! We will all be here for you!

BB, I really want to see Mama Mia, but my dbf won't go with me. I'll have to see if my mom wants to see it. I owe her dinner and a movie for her birthday. This sounds like a good movie to go to.

Sloanie, that's a lot of watermelons! I love it. My dbf cut up 1/2 watermelon last night, and I told my kids, if you eat any, save me some so I can take some to work for lunch. I had about 1 cup left and that was it. They chowed down. Better that than junk food.

Well, we got the hot tub here, and it's not a 4 person, not a 6 person, but an 8 person hot tub! It's absolutely beautiful!! I can't believe we got it for a little bit of labor, on my dbf's part. It's about a $5000 to $6000 hot tub! Now we will be extending my deck to have the hot tub into it. Now I will have a bigger deck with a hot tub in it! I'm so excited(and I just can't hide it!).

Good Morning Chicks! I'm off to another busy day. I feel more hopeful than I have in a long time. I know the secret to success. Now I just have to do it.

Have a great on program day.

Mornin' chicks!

Well, we've managed to eat almost one whole watermelon since yesterday afternoon. I think I'm turning pink already! The watermelons are "sugar babies" so they are about the size of 1 1/2 soccer balls, they are not the giant ones.

I've come to the part of the summer where I can no longer ignore the fact that school is starting soon. In summers past, I would be mourning, but this summer has been very restful (the past few summers have been working summers) so I feel like I actually had a vacation. I haven't forced myself to look at a calendar, so I'm not exactly sure of the number of days we have left.

Sandra-My geography is bad, so I don't know exactly where you are located in Texas, but is the hurricane affecting you and Curtis? Also, I am so excited about your record! I feel like I know a celebrity!

Tracie-The hot tub sounds awesome. Are you starting on the deck soon?
Oh yea, sorry about your watermelon. I know where you can find some ;)

Vickie-I'm glad you're feeling better. Hope you have a great day!

I'm off to do some de-cluttering. BBL

Hi Ladies:)


Had a good night sleep and I ready to go. Going with my friend to see the movie Momma Mia and to walmart to for some shopping.

TRACIE-Can't wit to see my family again I haven't seen them since Christmas.

SLOAN-That would be a great birthday gift for your mom. One woman on another board saw Momma Mia twice and she said that the theater was packed.So I'm going to leave early so we can get a good seat.

Have to get my dinner ready, hope you all have a wonderful afternoon


Hugs :) Maryann

Hello chickies.

Sloanie, we are starting the deck in the next week or so. It's going to be awesome.

I've been eating good, and need to keep it up. I know I will be up this week, because my home scale says I'm up. Oh well, I'm staying op now and will continue to do so.

BB, have a great time at the movie. I will talk to my mom and see if she wants to see it

Hi Vickie!

Hi Trish!

Hey Sandra, Paula and Rhonda!

You all have inspired me. I think I'll ask DD if she wants to see the movie with me for a "girl date".

Hi Ladies,

This is a quick flyby and I'll do indies later. Been a busy phone morning and have to take hubby for chiropractic treatment in a few hours. I just couldn't believe I got up this morning and wasn't hungry. This is the way I felt growing up and as a teenager until I went to college. It feels great. However, I know everyone stresses the importance of breakfast which I never ate unless we were on vacation until my college day. I couldn't decide on what to eat, but I was a good girl and grabbed a slice of ham and cheese wrapped the cheese around the ham and ate it with a cup of coffee and later had a peach. I just can't believe how little food I can get by on. I hope this is the way this is going to be for me for the rest of my life, but just in case it is not... I am going to enjoy it while it is.

Sandra - I can't remember, but isn't Johnson County somewhere between Waco and Ft. Worth? Are you closer to Ft. Worth than Waco? I know you are glad you don't have to worry about hurricanes. Lived through many of them and Wilma was the last straw for me. Decided then if I had made it through a Cat 4, I never wanted to be in a Cat 5.

Y'all have a great day and I'll check back later.

:hug:
Trish

speaking of hurricanes :rofl: We survived one week with 3 adults, one dog and 2 children (ages 33 months and 11 months) in our house! The house is 800 square feet. Yes, you read that right!

They (adult and children) are all at the airport now. Their flight was cancelled, they were put on another one, it was cancelled. Then, they were put on yet another one that apparently will take off soon.

It was a blast, like a family camping trip or something. I wouldn't want to do it again, but I would. :yikes:

I haven't been very Core, I'll tell you that. But, I'll get back on board tomorrow.

:welcome2: Trish. :congrat: Sandra

Rhonda

Sloan, thank you for being concerned about us. We are in North Central Texas well inland from Dolly. We're not even expecting much needed rain.

Tracie, you're going to have a lot of fun with your new hot tub.

Maryann, I love your trackers. How was MaMa Mia?

Trish, we're about 30 miles from Ft. Worth and 60 from Waco.

Rhonda, I can tell you had a great time with family. Now how about a glass of wine tonight?

Hi chickies, Just finished my core dinner, extra lean ground beef on a 1 point bun with oatmeal baked onions, and also sauteed onions. Yummy!

Well, I wi today and lost .6! I so thought I was going to gain, so I was very excited to have lost.

Rhonda, I'm sure it's nice to visit with family, but I'll bet you're also happy that you have your house back!

Keep it up Tracie. You're an inspiration.