The other thread seemed a bit long -- so I've started a new one.

We're thrilled to have you here with us -- we're a group of folks who are losin' weight. We mostly started somewhere above 250 pounds and we're all headed down! Come by often for support, comeraderie, and commiseration.

WELCOME!

So to begin, I'm actually keepin' two windows open so I can continue from the other thread. Took me this long to figure out that was how to do that! LOL!

Ellie45 -- Just keepin' on track, no matter what happens with the scale, is the real accomplishment, imo. I find it harder to remember that I'm getting healtier, fitter, trimmer when my scale doesn't move. Congrats on being on track!

LindaBC -- Feels good to make up for lost time, eh? How are things in the great white north? Got lots of snow or not so much?

Melissa -- Good planning ahead. I have to do that, too -- learned it here, I think. The idea of just making sure that I've only got things in the house that build my body, not break it, was a new one. Have you been scrapbooking long? I've put together three good ones following a Creative Memories class I took some years ago and then I lost momentum -- combined with getting a digital camera and not having nearly as much on paper any more!

We're off to Mass in a moment and then an afternoon of family fun and rest. Hope you all have great days!!

HA, scared ya,didn't I? I am a looser,and proud of it! I've been on WW for 13 months and so far lost 62 lbs. I want to loose 80 more....I hope you'll let me into your group,it looks like a great bunch!!

344/282/200
sue

Hello!

I thought I'd get a post in while I'm working on bills and laundry. It was another long week at work and I'm trying to get things accomplished today without wearing myself down further. I have about six more weeks of work challenges before it settles down again.

So with the stress, my eating has been so-so. I have journalled but I'm over in points. Mainly due to stress eating. I think part of it is when I am so overtired, I think if I eat something I will perk up and feel better physically. Like I'm trying to gain strength. My focus this week will be to keep on the journal and keep fruit and healthy snacks at hand. I have only managed to walk the dog a few times this week. That will be my other focus is to keep exercise part of the day to help with the fatigue.

Wow, so many people back on the thread. Some new and some returning. Welcome to all the new folks and welcome back to the returning.

Linda - Congrats on your 2.6 loss! You can moan and groan here any time. We're all here to help and inspire and share. You guys keep me hanging in there.

J-Ann - Woohoo for muscles!! Keep up all your great work in the pool. If the scale is stuck, a few small changes can make a difference. Maybe a few more minutes in the pool or more intensity. Or even a change on how you're eating your points. Hang in there. It is making a difference. You asked about Bear - he's a rottweiller which is about the same size as the mastiff. He has such a lovable personality. A very good companion.

Melissa - Wow, five pound loss is great. I had seen the WW skinny cows and had not tried them yet. Our skinny cows have gone up 30 cents to $4.29 a pack. Getting kind of expensive.

Sherry - Welcome to the group and welcome back to WW. I think we have all been there many times. Good luck with the program.

Bunny - You weren't losing your mind about the post. I had read a few posts at lunch and remember yours. When I went back to the website a half hour later it was under maintenance.

Ellie - Hang in there too. This is a long haul. Your DH is a sweetie to help you.

Cindi - Welcome back. Ice Skating I'd love to try that or rollerblading but am a little afraid of how bad it will hurt when I crash. Good for you. You'll have to keep us posted on how it goes so I can live vicariously through you!!

Lilac - I know you had a post in there somewhere too. You mentioned about getting a dog. If you're wanting a walking buddy, you'll want to think about how far you'll want to walk. My dog is good because he can handle two or more miles or hiking in the woods. He can pull me up if needed. Plus I can walk at night without worrying about anyone bothering me. Even though Bear loves people; most people give us space because of him being a huge black dog. DH doesn't worry about me.

Well, seems like I'm missing something or somebody. Food this week will be a challenge because we're going out to eat on Monday and Tuesday. One to a steakhouse to have our corporate boardmeeting (for our camper rental side business) and Tuesday is to meet mom & dad at a catfish place. Those will be a real challenges. Saturday night, my company is having a late Christmas party.

Have a great week and be strong.

Checking in again -- bleh. Sick -- but that kind of slow, drowsy, get-winded-making-the-bed kinda sick, ya know? I'm totally devoid of energy -- even posting here is making me woosy.

Terri -- its great to hear from you! My brother has a big o' Rottweiller (er, or however you spell it). I'm not a dog person and its taken me years to get to the point where I can be in the same room with this mammoth beast who -- truth be told -- is as sweet as they get. Silly, huh?

Sue -- Glad to have you join us!

Hello, everybody. Nice to see so many here, whether returnees or newbies.
Sue welcome to our group. You have done GREAT! Wow, I wish I could lose that much. It's taken me 6 months to lose less than 20 lb. I have over 150 to go still tu I try not to think about how far I have to go...just how far I've come and the positive changes I've noticed in my body and my stamina.
Bunny in my part of Canada we don't get much snow at all. The rest of the country calls us the Banana Belt....or do they just call us bananas, I forget? If you know much about the American west coast, you could compare us to Seattle, Wa as far as weather goes. Very mild due to the influence of the Japanese current and lots of rain year round. When we do get the occasional snowfall everybody panics and spins their tires and crashes into everybody else. But, our snow seldom lasts very long. I once made a snowman and stuck an umbrella over it to protect it from the rain.
I've had two days (since my WI) where I've gone a few points above my maximum but I think that will stimulate my metabolism into thinking it's going to get more food so it will start burning calories faster. Then I will shock it into losing weight when I start eating below my minimum points. HAHA, I'll fool this old sucker of a body yet.
Enjoy your Sunday.
LindaBC

I think I promised to post this recipe last week and then forgot:

Caramel Apple Salad

1 small sugar free/fat free instant butterscotch pudding
20 oz can crushed pineapple, undrained
4 cup granny smith apples, chopped into bitesize pieces
1 cup roasted peanuts
8 oz fat free cool whip

Mix the dry pudding with the pineapple and juice. Add remaining ingredients.

4 points per serving. I don't have what the serving size is, but seems like a 1 cup serving is reasonable.


Enjoy!

Don't sit too close to the monitor -- believe me, you don't want this cold! *aaaahhhhh-chooooo!*

I'm having a hard time comin' up with things to eat that sound even slightly appetizing. Yesterday I finally settled on burgers and baked fries for dinner and forced myself to eat it. And I still ended the day way under my goal for points. Plus -- no exercise 'cause I'm getting winded just walking from my desk to the kitchen right now. *koff* *sniff*

No fun.

Terri -- thanks for the recipe! I'm really bad at coming up with fun dessert ideas -- but that's what my family would really love to see. We'll try it next week when I'm up for more experimental cooking, I'd guess.

Y'all be good and have fun. *koff*

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the new ones and the returnies...

Didn't have a good WI on Friday, was up 1 pound and couldn't figure out why, I had been so o o o good !

Then the mind starts to remember maybe it was the Chinese I had on Wens p.m. ( all that m.s.g.) then when reading through my journal... could the Hot Cross Buns my DH brought home to surprise me??? and butter on them also??? And swimmimg just before weigh in... body with sponge effect??? Needless to say I found the reasons. On to a new week and hopefully down again!

Been real busy and haven't read all the posts yet ...

Rottweilers, love them, they have been a part of our lives for almost 20 yrs. yes, they are babies. we put our old 10.5 yrs male named Bear down last January... great loss. Our son still has his full sister... Kaboose 11.5 yrs now ( thats very old for a Rotty).

Have to dash as my lady is getting up, talk to soon, keep up the good work by exercising, drinking water, journaling...thanks for you all being here.

I am excited and nervous. I didn't have to work late at school today so guess what??.... I decided to go to my first kickboxing class at the gym. The class starts in an hour, so I am psyching myself up for it. I hope I don't look like a fool, or feel stupid and incapable. I will let you know how it goes.

I havent been having that great of a week, I've had those bad muchies/eat everythig in site vibes. I have not been happy about that. I really want to try better this coming week.

Sue - welcome to the boards and congrats on such a terrific loss. Way to go. Keep up the good work and jump right in to share info and take as much as you want.

Teaki - I must say, there are many times when you can always find out what went wrong during a bad week. It is also important to remember all the good things you did during the good weeks. It helps.

Bunny - I have been scrapping for about 4 years. This past year I have been doing Creative Memories, but I just haven't as much time lately for the business end of it.

Well, time to get myself ready for the gym......Here goes nothing.

Melissa

Melissa, I'm talking a scrapbooking class this Thursday with some of the ladies of my women's group. I'm pretty sure it's Creative Memories doing the class. I made two scrapbooks of my photos from my trip to Scotland last fall and it was SO expensive at the scrapbook supply store. I'm pretty sure I don't want to do this as a long term hobby but I wouldn't mind making a memory book for each of my daughters with a bit of family history for them.

Yesterday I agreed to go for a walk with my neighbour and I barely made it two blocks. She continued and I turned around and came home. It was just too darned cold for me and my lower back was just aching. I guess it was too much on top of a fairly energetic morning water jogging but I still feel like an old crock.
I suppose if I did a bit every day I'd build up my stamina but I'm such a lazy old slug. Oh well.

Trying to find some recipes that are simple and low point. I have so many WW cookbooks and magazines catering to light cooking but never seem to find a recipe that calls for what I have on hand. I hate having to make a special trip to the grocer just for one recipe.

Tonight it will be a ground beef & pasta casserole which I'd better get started on as it's nearly 6 pm now. Hope it tastes as good as it looks in the picture.
LindaBC

Well, just a quick update. I went to the kickboxing class and I felt like such a dork. It was a small class, only about 10 people and I was able to tell the girl that it was my first time. One woman was waiting for the class and said the instructor was great and I would like the class. Well......it started out okay, but after 15 minutes I wondered if I was going to be able to do it. Halfway into it I was truly considering just leaving, forget my water bottle and towel, I would just do without. But then I remembered something.

I had read in Stop the Insanity book, that part of taking a class is learning how to modify it. I am not a skinny person and I will not be able to do everything that everyone else does. I will do what I can and if they don't like it I don't really care. I felt uncomfortable about it, but I stayed until the end. This was a great feat for me.

After coming home and taking a shower I feel some of my muscles that I know are going to be killing me tomorrow. Right now my attitude is that I don't want to give up. I want to go again next week, and maybe it will be easier then. And the week after it will be easier...etc.. So, I am going to need some encouragement next week to get me there.

Have a good night...I know I will sleep tight.
Melissa

Well, I wrote a great post and it disapeared.

Congratulations Mellissa, keep up the great effort, I am so proud of you hanging in there and completing the class. I would fall over if someone asked me to stand still on one leg, let alone start waving a leg and arm around...Ooops, there's me... the pile on the floor

My friend did this kick stuff and found a whole new person full of confidence, co-ordination and weight lost.

My big effort is to swim once a week. For over 3 years my sore knees, and back have kept me very restricted... but last week I walked slowly around in WalMart for 1.50 hour waiting for my film to be developed... this was a big deal for me and I was so proud of myself and the healing progress and stamina that has happened in my body.

Just want to encourage everyone to do what you can for exercise, and don't compare your accomplishments to anyone elses... WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS.

I just had to chime in with a high recommendation for Susan Powter's videos and books - of which Stop the Insanity is one! When I lost my first pile o' weight, it was using these videos, this philosophy. I took my first aerobics classes at my local YMCA. The classes they offered were all step aerobics. I was over 300# at the time. I was attending with a friend who was 5'10" and 120 pounds at most -- a very encouraging friend who taught me about modifying.

After my first class, the instructor informed me that I wasn't allowed to take the class because I was too out of shape and my doing the exercises differently was distracting to the other members of the class. I told her that I paid to join the Y to take this class and I was bloody well continuing on. I offered to stay at the back, front, side, or where ever she preferred so I'd be less distracting. She called the manager of the Y over to tell me that I couldn't stay. We talked for a couple hours -- talked LOL! we yelled and argued. Finally, they agreed that I could continue but that they wouldn't be responsible if I hurt myself.

A year later, the instructor was encouraging me to become certified to teach aerobics. I learned how and taught classes for larger women locally.

Modify, modify, modify.

You can do it even if no one else believes you can.

Bravo!

I'M STUCK! And I'm gonna whine and type my way to feeling better...

So hold on to your chairs. Here goes:

I'm still at 262 that's FOUR WEEKS so my WW Leader has decided I'm officially on a plateau. She say, and it's true, that I've lost a lot of weight in a short time. Even tho I've stayed OP and didn't "short cut" to lose faster my body has decided it likes where it is and is replacing any losses with water.

I can accept this and I'm sure not even close to giving up but Jeez, it's a bummer! She wants me to try to shake myself loose by varying my points. One day at the high end of my range, the next at the low end, then high again for a day or two then back to low. I'm going to try it. It really does make sense to me. I'm also going to try to vary my exercise a bit. I'm going to try to get thru at least 20 min. of either a Richard Simmon or Susan Powter exercise tape as well as my usual 3 trips to the pool. I'll probably kll my self dancing

Okay, wish me luck. I'm gonna get the fat moving again. I really enjoyed all of those months of losing 2-3 lbs a week. Now, I guess, I'm paying. Maybe I should make 261 my next mini-goal?

There goes the dryer. I'll get back soon to comment on everyone's great posts.

Off, damn fat, off ... GO AWAY!