Hey, everyone! Linda, I hadn't tried the Egyptian Rice before tonight. We ate it but I didn't save the leftovers. Something I hardly ever do. I added fresh mushrooms and a bunch of garlic but we still didn't like it very much. I'm so disappointed because I was trying to find an entree that didn't have tomatoes in it. My next new thing to try is Twice Baked Chicken with FF ricotta. Has anyone tried that?

Linda, Kathy, Angela, you are all doing an amazing job so just keep at it. You'll conquer those last 10ish pounds. The moment you stop caring or paying attention is when the problems will begin. I've lost the weight before and didn't keep it off. You are now dealing with the hardest part of weight loss. It almost doesn't matter which plan you pick as long as you do whatever it takes not to gain alot and to eventually lose the rest of the weight. Linda, I'm desperately trying to convince myself that this is how I eat. That's why it's better for me to stay on Core. I used to fool myself on Flex into saying that I could eat anything I wanted as long as I weighed/measure/counted. Problem is that I'd stop weighing and measuring and counting! Don't lose faith. You are all amazing and have already accomplished so much. I need you all to succeed to give me hope!

Kathy, I'll eat porkchops for you whenever you want! I'm a good little Austrian girl raised on pork! I eat porkchops about once a week, broiled, and love them.

Vickie, you are always so encouraging. I think I'll go to bed in a little while with a tablet of paper, and try to figure out what's going on. Whatever I decide to do, whichever plan I switch to (and you know I'll be switching to SOMETHING!) ... I think I'll keep it to myself for a while until I see if it'll work. Maybe you guys aren't tired of me, but I'm tired of myself. I have never been wishy-washy in my life until now.

I'll need you all to do the same for me when I get there!

And you know we will. It's the very least we can do ... my goodness, I can't imagine how I'd get thru the days if you weren't right here with constant, unconditional support.

Ok, I'm really hormonal today. You'll have me crying in a minute! I'm going to go shower now and have some popcorn. I know you'll figure out what will work for you.

OK. All this talk of being almost to goal has got me thinking. I've changed my ticker to reflect my official WW weigh-in weight, which is approximately 4-5 pounds heavier than my home scale. This way I have a more accurate weekly idea of how I'm doing.

Here's what I realized. All through my 20's, I was around 165 pounds. Now that I'm around 125, I think I'm doing great. However, my WW range is 109-131, which means I'm at the upper end of the range. I set my WW goal weight right at 131, so I'd have some "wiggle room." But I'd really like to be OFFICIALLY at 120. I think I can do it, if I can just get back that new member enthusiasm and be strict with myself again. It's like if you permit yourself just one little cheat, another one sneaks in, then another, and pretty soon you're doing it all the time without any thought at all.

I'm a little scared to try doing Core 100% again, but as I look at it, I'm more scared of how much I've slipped away from it already. So I think my challenge for this week is to pretend I'm a new member again, and be very careful about what goes into my mouth. I KNOW the program, I KNOW my weaknesses, I did it before, I can do it again.

There. Now, I need you guys to help hold me to it.

Angela

You said it with that "if you permit yourself just one little cheat, another one sneaks in, then another, and pretty soon you're doing it all the time without any thought at all...". And who has total control of what goes into my mouth? Only me. It's not like this is something that's being done to me, but rather something I'm doing to myself.

Hey guys. Boy you sure have been chatting without me. All this talk of goal-reaching makes me feel ashamed for how I've eaten this weekend. I have eaten really, really badly! But tomorrow is another day, right? As always. Maybe I should just come to terms with the fact that I am a cheater, and weekends are the times that my cheating heart goes full force. So at least I am aware, right? But I've already got my lunch and snacks packed for tomorrow, and chicken for dinner in the crockpot. I'm feeling pretty organized and ready to go. Well I'll feel like that until tomorrow I guess. I am trying not to allow myself to dread going to work tomorrow.
Oh by the way, Sandra, I made the pudding pie with banana flavor and everyone seemed to like it. They all had a little piece of cake and a little of that. So it was good. Thanks!
I've got to head to bed chicks. I'll see you tomorrow.

okay, we've had a lot of beatings going on here today, haven't we? it's time to stop beating on ourselves and just keep on with the program. (easy for me to say, right?) i know. i know. i'm a big hefty so why am i giving advice? i just think we need to be proud of ourselves and to think of ourselves as winners. look at all that we've accomplished already. would a loser do that?

so what do we need to do? i don't have any secret formulas to share. i will tell you that i put a photo of what i looked like at goal on my fridge. i can see it from my place at the kitchen table. it's not there to spite me. it's there to give me focus. so far that's helping.

also, i'm writing this statement every day. "i love the way i look and feel in my size 10 clothes!" (right now i'm in 18's.) i'm programming my mind to accept the fact that i can be smaller. sometimes i think my mind doesn't want a "new me." this way there is no "new me" cuz in my mind i'm already there. does this make sense? (i got this idea from lanny bassham, an olympic gold medalist rifle shooter in his book a mental management: with winning in mind. i didn't come up with this on my own. programming our mind is about 99% of the battle.

what are the rest of you doing to help keep you motivated and heading to goal?

vickie, i made the twice baked chicken. i could taste too much egg in the ricotta cheese, so i wound up scraping it off and reheating the leftovers with bbq sauce. you might like it, though. it just reminded me too much of some of my atkins' recipes. i got totally burned out on eggs when i did atkins.

kathy, there is no way that i'm tired of you. i completely understand what you're going through. you'll figure out what's best for you. you're a smart woman and you're strong, too. there's no stopping you. from your posts here tonight i'm seeing a new dedication and "steel." you're on your way.

angela, i can feel your determination. i applaud you. that's a good idea pretending to be a new member. you'll get that spark back and lose those pounds. i am proud of you. you're very creative.

melissa, you're not a cheater. you're making a lot of really good choices. you and i weigh about the same. what do you say we get to goal together? i need your help for that.

okay, my little "cheerleader" is jumping up and down on my weight tracker. i need all of you to help me get her to the 180's soon. she's tired of jumping on 192. she's been there long enough. it's time to make a move.

have a good evening. i'll be back later to read of your successes. thank you for inspiring me to do better. i appreciate all of you soooooooo much!

I just started board #22 - let's all meet over there and keep up the great chatting.

Angela