Oh yeah, it is 5 days ..AND yes it is possible ....and Yes I am in....Let's Do It......starting tomorrow then!! We CAN do this you know, we really can. Maybe by the end of the week we'll figure out what our freaking problem is After all like you said "Good grief, it's only an eating plan"
I know we're stronger than it!!
And maybe JUST maybe we'll have a good result next Saturday!!

In the meantime enjoy your evening with Judd and your company!!

Thank you, my dear! They are pretty much slugs right now, but that just means they're easier to deal with!

So tonight is a blow-off day ... tomorrow is new. I will DO IT! Me and you, baby ... let's race!

I just have to be down next Saturday, otherwise I think I might just give up completely.

Oh my goodness....can I join????!!! You guys are expressing exactly how I feel...so confused and wanting to do better but also engaging in self-defeating behaviors...I really want to do serious strict core-ing to see if I can! As long as I have been doing ww I have yet to do it well enough to see just how good it can be! Does that make any sense? Can I join you Linda and Kathy? I think I can do it (especially if I have to answer to you guys). I'll do Core strictly and 5 wpas a day. I think I can, I think I can!! I've even been planning a menu for the week, so surely I can manage to get through 6 days. Right??

Kathy, thanks for sharing about your experience with crochet. I enjoyed your "tangent". I think that I am going to just wait until my friend can show me how to do it...I got so darned frustrated I thought that I might throw the hook across the room. Anyway, your scarf project sounds really wonderful. That is so great of you to do that. Maybe if I get good enough I can do something like that too. Do you think crochet is hard?? You think I can learn?? Also your post about deciding what plan to follow is cracking me up. I keep saying I might go back to flex but now I have gotten used to not counting things, like the steak or chicken....like Linda said it takes up so many points and on core you don't have to worry about it. I don't know.

Linda, you sound like you are doing really great. Your attitude is so good. Thanks for posting your challenge, I hope you don't mind if I join in. I agree exactly with what you said about points, like I said above...its so hard to go back to counting points for meat, etc. after you do core for awhile. The desserts and what-not really get me too. That and eating out, I am terribly lacking in self-control in that area. Core does teach us to make better choices doesn't it?

Anyway, after a major downfall AGAIN tonight (in-laws brought over veggie pizza), I am up for the challenge tomorrow! I have no special holiday parties or anything, DH is working/sleeping tomorrow, so I don't think I'll have any temptations. But something always manages to find us doesn't it?

Okay, so we're a threesome now!!! Woohoo!!!

I am in a snit ... self-made, of course, but still a bonafide snit. The friend helped me clean up the kitchen after dinner, and I casually said "Oh, you do things around the house?" He said if it gets done, he does it. I said I would love to have some help ... which I have zero right now ... and then we started talking about the lazy spouse. I hope Judd was listening. That's my biggest gripe about him, that he expects me to do it all. And I just can't!! He even had the nerve to start criticizing the ribeyes I bought. He said they cooked up too thin ... and then said "you get what you pay for." Well, I paid a little over $10 for those two smallish steaks, and I don't think that's cheap. The filets I bought that were about $2 each turned out better, probably due to their thickness. Which ... I believe points to the cooking method. He cooked the snot out of the ribeyes and if they were overdone, then that's not the fault of the cut.

But anyway ... I'll get over it. He just has to grow up someday and I hope I'm alive to see it!

Now where was I? Oh yes, starting bright and early tomorrow morning, we are 100% Core. I will go and sit down and think about my menu right now.

Kathy, I'm glad you're excited!
Helping out around the house has been an issue with me and DH since we got married. He does not complain or gripe about what I do, in fact he tends to praise me more than I deserve. But it seems like he just never takes initiative to do things. He wants me to tell him exactly when and where and how. That's frustrating. But its minor, considering how truly wonderful he is! I hope that things get better for you guys. At least you had a sympathetic ear, attached to a mouth that talks to your DH!
I am going to work on my menu too. I'm headed to the grocery store first thing in the morning, hopefully before the memorial day crowds.
DH is gone to work so I am kind of lonely. Anybody out here??

i'd like to jump in, too. what exactly does core 100% mean? (guess i should have asked before i jumped in but i'm a jumper.) at first i thought it meant no waps. then i saw where we could have waps. does it mean making sure to get 5 fruit/veggies, 2 milk, etc.....? or just eating core foods and not getting off track?

we just got home from our friends'. dinner went well. of course, i'm wanting another piece of cake now. it's talking to me from the fridge. do ya'll ever hear food calling your names? i made some fruit salad. i'll try to just eat fruit and no more cake. i'm guessing i had about 15 waps tonight at dinner. i'm not sure i had that many to eat. i know that if i stop eating point foods now i'll be all right. this is my difficult time, though. dang that food for knowing my name!!!!!!

Sandra, I think we are just eating 100% core foods, using our waps....you know, doing it like you're supposed to. Although I personally want to really work on eating more veggies.
It sounds like your dinner went pretty well. You should have left the cake there. It definitely knows our names!! What are you up to tonight?

Okay chicks, count me in. These last few days have shown me how far I've fallen. I can't even make it through the day without cheating now. Right now I'm sitting here with a big handful of M&M's (darn things!) . In the beginning, I was SO good. I can do it! Maybe if I have you all to keep me accountable, it'll be better. This week will be hard for me, but I am still going to do it. We're taking a 2 day family vacation to a nearby amusement park and will probably eat at mostly fast food places. But I can bring fruit and oatmeal packets (they'd give me hot water if I asked, right?) for breakfast, have salads for lunch, and maybe dinner can be at a Country Kitchen type place where they'll have some Core choices. I just want to do it to show myself I still can. Plus, I'd really like to get down another 5 pounds or so, so I have more breathing room at my WW weigh-ins. And yes, I am going every week still. I know better than to stop going, plus my Mom wants the company still.

Should we start a thread just for us in the challenge? That way we can keep close tabs on each other.

I'll start our conversation with a request for food ideas when you're traveling. I already know about fruit, but what else Core travels well? I think I need to see if our hotel suite will have a fridge/microwave.

Thanks for starting this guys, I really appreciate it.

Angela

Angela, don't be too hard on yourself for the m&m's. I have a hard time keeping my hands off of those darned things too. I think that starting a new thread would be a good idea, that way those who aren't interested don't have to wade through our info if they don't want to.
I am impressed that you want to do this when you are going on vacation this week! What discipline and determination!
I honestly haven't traveled while on core, so I probably won't be much help in that area. But oatmeal is probably a good idea. Maybe a cooler full of fresh veggies and ff dip for snacks? If you had a microwave in your room you could take popcorn for snacks too.

I made the thread a "One-week" challenge. Hope that's okay. I know Kathy originally said 5 days.

I have a question that I'm sure has been asked before (heck, I may have asked it before )....what do you working women take to eat for lunch?

melissa, i have avoided that cake. i think i have it made now. i stayed outside till a few minutes ago so i couldn't hear it yelling at me from the fridge. i watered and fed my rosebeds (i have over 100 rosebushes for the deer to nibble on in the evenings), then i did a little weeding. curtis and i just finished soaking in the hot tub. now that all my reality shows have ended and my foot's better, i'm getting outside more. i love this time of year. it stays daylight soooo late.

angela, i am very proud of you for getting a grip on this early. i didn't. i think i was at goal about 15 minutes. even at the end of my 6 weeks toward getting lifetime i regained almost 2 lbs. it's been uphill and upscale ever since. i like your idea about a separate thread for the challengers. also, i wanted to tell you that i have requested a fridge and microwave for hotel rooms and gotten them. you could tell them you have to have special foods on hand. if they can, they will accommodate you and they usually don't charge extra. now for traveling snacks. hmmmmm? off hand i can't think of anything besides the fruit either. i'm anxious to see what others suggest.

melissa, i don't work outside the home. do you have access to a microwave and fridge, or do you go out to eat? if you have a microwave handy, you could have about anything from leftovers.

well, i'm excited about the challenge. thank you for having it. this should give us a muchneeded boost.

i'm going to get off here and have a little bit of fruit salad while watching tv. have a good evening. i'll catch ya'll tomorrow.

Boy lots of catching up to do - and I should be in bed by now! but nooooo....why get some rest when you can check in on your buddy chicks?

Well I am happy to report that 2 of the 3 lbs I gained the previous week are gone - despite some challenges last week - I did get on the treadmill friday night after the wine and cheese extravaganza which I think helped!

Sandra - congrats on keeping up w/the boys - and I suggest you banish that talking cake!

kathy - hope Zuki is feeling better and glad dh is back safe and sound despite his non-helpfulness. I think this is a common complaint as I just spoke to my dh about the same thing - like he can walk into a room and just "ignore" things that obviously need doing! He does help when I delegate, but I just wish that he would sometimes just see what has to be done and do it!

Vickie - hope you had a successful shopping trip.

...and as for the challenge - I'm DEFINITELY IN! While I tried to stay op this weekend it was a bit hard for me as I am still in the clutches of the bad sugar beast I think.

Yesterday was pretty okay altho we did have popcorn at the movies. The worse was my "late night snack" of light havarti cheese and a glass of red wine - very yummy!

While I started out okay, and even had a sf/lf orange vanilla bar when visiting Dairy Queen w/ds and dh, I lost it after the trip to the bagel shop where we got still warm bagels straight from the oven - sorry but I just can't resist those!...which led to more carb binging (some party sandwiches, lf chips).

Then took dd to dress rehearsal and could not stop eating! Like a machine - had some snacks in my bag (diet pepsi, giant apple, rice krispie square, baggie of popcorn) but when that was done I approached the vending machine right across from where I was sitting reading my library book (yes I was there for over 3 hours tonight) and got a COFFEE CRISP!!! Can you believe it? and you know it was sickly sweet but I did manage to finish it. So you can see that a pure core challenge is something I really need to do!

Poor dd I think is still up finishing up her Italy project due tomorrow but I know she could have done it sooner if she had not proscrastinated so much! She will be a wreck tomorrow.

First recital this thursday and I am already nervous and excited for her. Have family and friends coming to watch her (7 of us).

I am also expecting company for the weekend as my gf and her 10 yr old daughter will be here from Toronto - to see the dance recital (sat night show) and we have theatre tickets to see Oliver on Friday night - plus visits to the canal and the market area and a festival on Sunday - I can't imagine how we will fit this all in...and I am a crazy woman trying to get everyone to CLEAN UP THEIR JUNK and make the house presentable for company. Thank goodness cleaning lady comes this wednesday! - the hard part will be keeping the place clean longer than 24 hours!

Now that I have described this I can see that I am feeling somewhat stressed by the whole situation - I always find end of May and June to be hard due to how busy everyone is - we wind up w/2 graduations - dd graduates from middle school on June 27, ds graduates from hs on june 30th - and then we're off to see Mickey a week later! YIKES - no wonder I feel like a basket case! Will need a vacation after my vacation

Definitely need that challenge to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Frouf

Good Morning Chick-a dees!!!

Alrighty then Kath, weee'rrreeee OFF.....Hey Melissa jump in with us, Sandra you too....being 100% is just what Melissa said...it's being 100% can be quite a challenge at least for me. ...it will only be 5 days before Kat and I w/i on Saturday though. I think this would be so good for us since we 'seem to slide' during the week. I don't feel it's a contest though, it's a way of owning up and being responsible to let those who TRUELY understand know how we did. And at the of 'this' week we'll see. Then and MAYBE then we can do the next week....so let's give it at least a shot....Ok?? I know Kathy and I are starting today...right Kath????
I'll have to check out the One Week Challenge board Melissa did. There are so many post here from when Kathy and I "talked" last
Angela....jump on yes indeed. You are in a situation now that needs all your dedication. Believe me. Looking back.....doesn't 'getting there' seem easier than staying there!! Even though it was hard, staying there can be harder. I think we start to think 'we have arrived' It's a never ending battle and we have to do this, all of us for our own reasons. Don't slip come join Me, Kath and the rest who want to 'at least try' for 100% week.
Frouf so you're definately in too? GREAT!! You seemed to have done a good job losing 2 of the 3 you gained though, so you must be doing something right

Melissa as for lunch (when I am good) I usually take tuna salad or chicken salad (mixed with FF mayo) and a side of vegetables. Since I do most of my eating at my desk...this works for me. I do like to bring soup too, and when I am good, I add some extra vegetabels and barley to the mix. I HAVE to STAY away from CousCous a BIG RED LIGHT food for me....can you believe that AND I never ate CousCous in my life...Go figure!!
Oh and I drink at least 2 liter of water and a liter of flavored water. I have not problem with that at all.
We all need this. And I think it will good for us. We're asking 1 week (5days for some) and see how we do at the end of an entire 100% Core week!!
Again 'challenge' seems like we are competing and I don't believe we are. I feel we are making ourselves accountable for what we chose to do this week and letting the rest of us know how we did.....so a big ole high-5 to everyone.....and Let's Do It..
I too am going to journal my day...talk with you all later........Linda

Linda, I'm glad that you originally challenged Kathy to a week of totally core eating. It seems like its so much easier to say, "For this week I am going to stay totally on plan." A week seems doable!! I named it a week, even though I know its less for you guys, just cause it seemed like an easier description. I think its a challenge because we are challenging ourselves, not each other. Thanks for the lunch ideas. I am really tempted at work because we cook for our clients and I always want to eat whatever I have to prepare. We usually have some salad though, so at least I can have a little bit of that.

Frouf, good to hear from you, wondered what you were up to yesterday! Sounds like you have been really busy. Congrats on losing those 2 pounds! With all that you have going on, that's a real achievement. And the next couple of weeks sound so nuts. So I'm glad that you are joining our little challenge for the week.

Well I have my meal plan for the week so I am off to the grocery store after I get cleaned up this morning. Then I will probably go visit my grandparents, since DH will be sleeping. I think that he has decided to give a one-week notice tonight. They are working him like a dog, not giving them appropriate breaks, etc. We really feel like he will get this job that he is interviewing for, but even if he doesn't, he can't keep going like he has been with this job. I know lots of people do it all the time but we just aren't used to it, and its been really emotionally/physically/spiritually draining for him (and for me too, honestly!). So anyway, I think he's going to give his notice and apply for other positions until he figures out what is going on with the job at the church. Talk to you chicks later.

Question: Do you all know if there's any difference between regular quick oats you buy in the canister and the individual packets of plain oatmeal? I want to take some oatmeal on our vacation, but don't have any packets right now. If I can just put some quick oats in a baggie, it'd be easier.

Thanks!
Angela