Jo, forget the 6 pounds. That is now in the past and part of it can chalked up to the PMS. Yogurt and fruit, a salad and three bottles of water. What a great way to start the Christmas challenge. Then, the walk home tonight. Way to go! We'll be there very soon. Keep up the great work.
Last Friday. a friend called and commented that she had seen me in the hallway at work. She was amazed at how much I had lost and asked how I had done it. I explained that I was following WW and tried to eat sparingly through the day, so that I could have my treats at night - I really like meat and cheese and sweet treats. She told me that she was on WW for a while, but found making the special food, like the vegetable soup a real hassle.
I didn't understand until she told me she followed the recipe right to the letter, including chopping all the vegetables. I told her that I make mine by getting out the pot, throwing in a can of tomatoes (Aylmers makes great herb seasoned ones), a can of mushrooms, a can of ff broth (Campbell's has the chicken broth that is seasoned with garlic), then the little ready to eat carrots, some cabbage from the ready to go coleslaw mix, and any 0 point vegetables that I happen to have in the freezer. Takes about 5 minutes. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours and package ready for work.
She hadn't thought about doing it the easy way, so went home this weekend to try. Just a suggestion for you if you find cutting and chopping a lot of work. I know that I wouldn't be making it for myself if it took too much time. I just wouldn't have the same motivation. Once it's in my lunch, I can't bring myself to eat anything else. LOL
Meet you at the Christmas challenge later in the week. Keep it up!
Peggy, I like you! After the walk last night (details to follow) Rich and I decided to make the WW soup. He's the cook so he immediately started with the saute pan and the chopping of onions and garlic, etc. I stopped him with "No, no, no! Here's how you do it!" Then I grabbed a big pot, dumped in the fat free broth and the tomato paste and pulled any veggies I could find out of the fridge and freezer and we did a little cutting but mostly just dumped them all in. Not enough liquid? A bit more broth. Not "colorful" enough? Well, we have some red peppers here. How's it look now?
Anyway, we put it in the crock pot (the only pot we had that was big enough!) and let it simmer all night. Whole house smelled sooooo good this morning!! It was still warm when we put some into some tupperware containers and brought it in for lunch today. Can't wait!!
Huh? Yes, Jo is looking forward to healthy food!!!!! Wow!
Well, I was really good yesterday. Ate really low points and drank gallons of water. Oh and that walk!!!! I told you guys it was about 2 miles, right? I forgot to mention that it was all up-hill. Did I say up-hill? Should I say "up the mountain side"!!!! What a hill that was!!!!! Boy, were my legs sore by the time I FINALLY made it to the top! I had been all bundled up in my heavy coat and scarf but had pulled off the scarf and opened up the coat by the time we got home. In fact, I had Rich hang onto one end of my scarf and pull me along at one point! But I made it!!!
And here's the really strange part. I, uh, want to, uh, would like to, um, er, do it again tonight! Who said that!?!?!?! It was FUN!!!!! Hope the weather holds out for a while longer. My treadmill has an incline setting but I don't even think it goes up as high as that hill!!!
Guess I'd better go now. What's up with this 2 page thing again! I can't go back and read all the older posts! Grumble. Well, I do know we're all waiting for pictures from Queen CJ!! Can't wait to see the wedding photos!
Have to refill the water bottle and get moving on this pile of paerwork now. Hope you all have a great day!
Jo, you are doing so well and I am so proud of you. I have been doing the soup thing at lunch for a while, and add piece of high fibre, low fat bread (1 point), along with a salad (of course the bagged lettuce that I don't have to chop) with ff dressing (1 point). Add a piece of fruit (1 point) add a diet pop, water, or something like that and you go home having had a 3 point lunch. If you have a low point breakfast, then, hey, you have most of you points left to enjoy the evening.
I have always found that I like treats and nibbles in the evening, so can plan to enjoy stuff I really like. Most of the time, I feel like I am having to eat it to meet the minimum points in a day. That actually contributes to not wanting it. When I check my points before bed, I often find that my points are too low, so just have to have those 2 little cookies there to bring me up to the minimum. Enjoy!
I went to a bake exchange last night and was enjoying my coffee with the others when I decided to have a couple of sweets (we all bring samples of our baking). The women there have all noticed the weight I am losing, so when I had two small chocolate chip, coconut cookies (3 points), they were all teasing me. After I got home, recorded them in my journal, I was still one point short of the minimum, so ate a piece of cheese (I love cheese). Even after all the teasing about the cookies, I was still able to manage it. The funny part about the whole point thing, is that I had to change range levels yesterday, so was operating on 2 points less than what I am accustomed to and still barely hit the minimum.
Of course, I don't always do that, but try to save points during the week so that I can have a bit of freedom on the weekends or during special occasions. We often have Sunday dinner, so saving points during the week, allows me to have Sunday dinner without guilt. I also find that if I eat one day per week with saved points, it seems to boost my metabolism so that my body doesn't think that it is starving to death. I think that is the basis of the Wendie plan.
I have gotten really stingy with my points during the day because I like to have the flexibility with my food at night. So far, it has worked for me. It was originally difficult to resist the donuts, cakes, cookies and desserts when I am with people. This has become easier as the months have progressed. Now if I decide to have something that people think is not a "diet" food, it is because I can have it, not because I am breaking the committment I made to lose weight. That's a great feeling.
Be sure, be sure, be sure to write everything down. It is really difficult to get into that habit, especially if you have a bad day, but if you write it down, then you can always go back and see what the trends are and when your difficult times are. Even though you feel guilty, it ends up to be a benefit in helping establish new patterns for the future.
When I first started counting points, I took my journal with me everywhere. I actually wrote my food down and calculated the points before I took the first bite. In a restaurant, I took my journal and food book out and calculated points before ordering off the menu. My friends thought I was nuts because I would get my journal out, write it down before I would even take a candy from anyone. Seeing it written in black and white really helped me to decide how much I wanted it. Now it seems really silly, but for me it was part of the discipline that I was trying to teach myself.
I'm not so obsessed anymore, but I still write down everything that I eat, and have done that every day since July 9. All but one day. We were in the Middle East, it was hubby's birthday and I decided it was time for a treat, so we ate off the buffet that evening. I would have written the food down, but I really didn't know what the heck I had eaten LOL.
Keep in touch. We all want the hear about your successes.
WHERE IS EVERYONE!?!?! Remember the good old days when we all used to post and post often??? I miss those days!
Well, I did the walk again last night but have to admit it wasn't as thrilling and stimulating as I hoped. The first one just seemed to be more "fun". And my legs really hurt this time. Don't know why. I admit to ending up at the VFW last night but I drank only Diet Coke and didn't take part in any of the snacks they usually have. Went home to have a fat free turkey sandwich on light bread with mustard and lettuce and pickles....
....so why the heck am I UP when I get on the scale this morning!?!?!?! I HATE THAT!!!!
Have to weigh in on Friday morning this week because I won't be able to go to my regular class on Saturday morning. I'm not looking forward to it.
Peggy, I want to be just like you. You always seem to record your points and plan ahead by banking points, etc. I hope some of that rubs off on me!
Have to run. Hope to hear from ALL OF YOU soon.
Much love, Jo.
Good morning gals. Thought I better check in. Yes, Jello, I miss those days too when we all posted a lot! Well, maybe after the 1st of the year things will get busy again.
We are up at the cabin, of course, and we have SNOW! It looks so pretty up here. I am going to WW meeting today in town ... If I wait until we go home I will have missed 5 weeks and I need that weekly weigh-in! I jsut got myself back journaling the last couple days. To me, that is the thing that keeps me OP - you have to count those points!
I think today it will be a work in the cabin day. We have a tiny small bathroom that we are going to rip out and make bigger. We already put in the extension last summer - just have to knock out the inside wall ...
Peggy, were you ever able to download the excell wt chart from the WW site? I can send it to you if you didn't and want it. Keep up the good work on your wt loss, you are doing so well! I know I will too soon, as soon as I get myself back on track (and I am on my way again)
Well, have to get dressed and fix breakfast. Something lite, WI is at noon. And I am going! I'll let ya know later....
Hi everyone. So good to hear that everyone is well.
Jo - Way to go on keeping OP. Last night at the VFW was one of those hoard times when everyone else is drinking and eating. BUT, you did sooo well. How do you feel this morning now that you got through that. I know that the scale doesn't always cooperate, but it will take a little while for your body to re-adjust. Just keep it up and you will soon be seeing the effort on the scale, too.
Good for you on the walk. It's so good to know that you have accomplished that, even though you didn't want to do it very badly. The efforts will pay off.
How is your kitchen reno going? Ours has come to a standstill at the moment. Both DH and I have university assignments due within the next week, so we have been working on those. We also volunteer for the Salvation Army and this is a pretty heavy duty time for them, so we have been out most nights this week. We still hope to have the reno done by Christmas, though. Just need to get down to the store to order new appliances and counter tops...
CJ - So good to hear from you. We have snow in Alberta, also, and the weather is dipping to the -10 degrees. I have been freezing cold for the last 2 weeks, which is not normal for me - expecially when everyone else thinks I'm nuts. I'm beginning to think it's because I don't have the same insulation as last year. I'll take being cold...can always put on another sweater and wear mitten indoors. LOL
Let me know how your bathroom reno goes. We are presently trying to get the kitchen finished by Christmas, then we move on to the bathrooms. One of ours needs to be done very badly, so we hope to take some time off in Feb. and just get it done.
Thanks for asking about the excel spread sheet. I did try to download, but couldn't download. The computer techies have the port for the download closed here - part of their firewall. If you can send me a copy, I would appreciate that. Thanks.
Where is everyone else? We're all waiting to hear from you and see how y'al are doin'. Gotta run - have a meeting in a few. Take care. Beeeeee good (hehehe)
Last edited by sweet tooth; 11-28-2001 at 10:00 AM.
Well, today was my weekly WI, and the good news is, I didn't GAIN any weight, but then again, I didn't lose any this past week too. Of course, I know why So I accepted the Christmas Challenge and am gonna work at losing 6 pounds this month. We'll see
Jo---you are doing so great lately with your motivation Just look at the way your legs hurt the second time you went up that nasty mountain/hill of yours!!! That's great---that's your legs saying that they are giving up fat to make muscle And we all know, muscle may be the hardest thing to get, but it's the best thing to have to lose weight Did I make any sense? LOL I just wanted to say way to go!
Well, I was just checking in. I love hearing what you are all doing out there.
Oh and it's finally sweater weather here in Las Vegas. Hehe. One of the mountains outside of the valley may have snow on it, but besides the chill factor, we're pretty normal around here.
Well, I confess that I have not journaled or drank my quota of water daily since we were in Kansas .... and believe my, I feel it. I went to WI today here in Gaylord because I needed it to get myself going again! I did start journaling again yesterday so it will take me a good week to get that in my regular routine without thinking about doing it ... and I have started getting my water in also again. So, my WI today was 172.5 (2 1/2 lbs UP)!!!
But, I have a really funny story to tell about my WI. Back home I get weighed in on digital scales. When we started staying up here most of the summer, I would go to WW up here to get weighed in, but they use the weight scales - not digital so it always showed me as 2 lbs lighter than the digitals - of course I always went by the digital scales weight. So this morning when I went, I was thinking "I'm probably up a couple lbs, so thank goodness these scales weigh me less - it won't show that I gained"!!! Can you imagine my surprise when I walked in and saw a new setup for weighing in and NEW DIGITAL SCALES????? The girl in front of me said " be aware that these scales weigh you a couple lbs more than the old ones" and I jsut laughted and said "I know, I was counting on that this morning" and then proceeded to tell her about the differences in the two scales and how I was hoping for that difference today!
Tricia: That was good that you stayed the same! Keep up the good work - next week will be better - for both of us!
Jo: Hope you don't mind I joined your "I was UP club" ... we can all work harder this week. I think Sharon joined the "UP" club this week also, but I will let her tell you herself. I commend you for walking tho ... I have to get myself hyped up to get busy on exercising!
Peggy, glad you got the chart ok. It is very similar to one I had, but I didn't have the BMI figured in mine.
OK ... hubby is calling - needs my help. See ya all later...
CJ, welcome to the club. But I gotta warn you, it's no fun here. Not like The Thin Group or anything. There's only one rule. You have to work very hard to get out of the I Was Up club.
Speaking of working hard, I have been. I admit to not getting any exercise yesterday ....
Wait! Change that! I got home and did a couple loads of laundry (up and down the basement stairs, etc.), washed dishes, gathered up and took out all the trash, straightened the living room.... I'm counting that as exercise!!
The truth is that my period has come and hit hard as usual. I'm so cramped and uncomfortable, I can hardly stand it. And it's only 9:30. Oooh, it's going to be a long long long day. There's not enough Midol in the world!!!
Otherwise, I've been a good girl. I've been counting points and writing it all down. I had just a bite of a chocolate covered pretzel (my favorite!) last night but then wrapped it all up and put it away in the back of the fridge. I counted it as a point even though I don't even think it was that much.
And the scale has simply not budged. I'm giving up! No, not on the weight loss efforts. I mean, I'm giving up on the scale and stepping on it every morning. I'm going to do my best and hope for the best. Sometimes that's all we can do, right?
Well, I'd better go. Time for more water and a few more drugs. Did I mention it's going to be a llllooooonnnnnngggg day?
Love you guys!
Jo.
P.S. CJ! Sharon who!?!?! Tell that girlie to get herself in here!
It's good to hear that everyone is just about back to a normal routine after the holidays, etc. It is so difficult to manage losing weight when there are tempting things around. So far, I have not been tested, but I know with Christmas coming, it is just a matter of time.
We start out Christmas celebrations at work the week after next. We have a staff dining room that the students cook in as part of their studies (the college I work at teaches culinary arts). Sooo, they will be serving Christmas dinner - I will be going with my work unit one day, with hubby's work unit another day and then with some friends on a third day. On top of that, the students also compete in the World Culinary Competition. This group is having a fund raiser to send them to the competition in Europe in the spring - they will be cooking for the event, so it is a don't miss night. Theeen, the week before Christmas, our unit has a bar b que in the carpentry shop, following a bowling tournament. At least I will get my exercise before eating. I am trying to plan now for managing the extra food those days. I guess the good part is that most of the events are at lunch, so I will be able to adjust dinner points if I need to.
I start my Christmas volunteer activities tonight with the Salvation Army. I am NOT looking forward to standing on the street corner (-20 degrees today), ringing my little bell and collecting money. Tricia, it's past sweater weather here. We are into long underwear, sweaters, big socks, boots, hats, mitts, scarves and parka weather, and it's still toooooo cold. Fortunately, tonight they will be having their emergency response vehicle there and will serve coffee and stuff. I'm only interested in the coffee, I don't want to know what the stuff is. LOL.
Jo - So good to hear that you are staying OP this week, even though you feel so yechy. I can relate... It probably is one of the reasons that your weight was up so much this week, also. Hopefully that will re-adjust by the weekend and you will show a great big loss. Keep it up!! I laughed about your exercise last night. I often think about our mothers and grandmothers who were in great shape, not becuase of their gym memberships, but because of all the laundry, washing floors, yard work, etc. that they did. I think that you are right about getting your exercise last night. We often don't appreciate the physical labour that it takes to keep a home.
CJ - Thanks again for that spread sheet. It is so easy to manage and gives a really good picture of what has happened over the past five months. It is a super tool. If anyone else wants an excel spreadsheet, complete with graph to chart their weight loss, this is the one. Very easy to use.
A 2 1/2 pound gain? That's not bad after a wedding, visiting with Sharon and Thanksgiving. It could have been a lot worse. Buuut, now is the time to change that, get back with the program and work toward your goal for Christmas. Way to go!
Tricia - Good to hear that you didn't have a gain last week. Those donuts, they do it every time, but fortunately, there was not too much damage. Keep up the good work. Glad to see that you have joined us in the Christmas challenge. This is a secret, but CJ said it was 5 weeks til Christmas.....SURPRISE! It's only 4 weeks til Christmas.
I'm already counting down to Christmas. We start vacation on Dec. 21 (I usually skip out at noon) and don't return until Jan. 2. We are planning to spend Christmas with our daugher and son-in-law and, of course, the 2 grandchildren in Swift Current, Sask., then on to Winnipeg, Man itoba to spend the rest of the week with our son - the one who moved out when we were away in September. He moved out and left his dog, so we thought we should go at Christmas and deliver the little devil to him. We will then be down to only one animal (unless you count the son that won't move out) at home.
Well, I guess it's just about time to get to work. I piddled and diddled too much time away already. Have a great "rest of the week" and keep up the great work on keeping OP. Take care.
Hello Ladies, hope everyone had a great week-end. I did and stayed on program all week-end. That is hard to do. I have a group of friends who always "pot-luck" it on Sat. night and it is very hard to stay on program there. But I did. Now I think of all those goodies I passed up and I feel I should lose 5 lb. instantly! Heaven knows if I had eaten them, I would have gained !!!
I want to share this easy recipe with you. Use 2 cans of shoe peg corn, 4 or 5 green onions cut up, 1 large tomato cut up, and stir in 2 T. of low fat mayo. It is a cold corn salad and very different. Goes well with hamburgers (or Boca burgers). The men really liked it. We figured it was about 3 points per serving.
What's with only being able to see 3 or 4 posts at a time? Probably something I did.
I am still exercising (still means I have gone for 2 weeks). That's major progress for me. Sorry I didn't address everyone but will try next time when I can see all the posts. Everyone stay well and try not to stress over the holidays.
Carolyn
Signing in as a member of the Up Club ladies. I'm afraid though, that I don't intend to stay long. Mind you it's like 5 pounds, so that may take a while to get rid of.
Jo & Peggy hope you got lots done on your renos this weekend!
And CJ, cannot wait to see photos..
It is quiet around here isn't it?
Well 3 weeks til Christmas break, yay. 7-14 days off work depending on how much my boss allows. The more the merrier, silvous plait!
Things came to a head with the bf on Friday. Strange the same day we almost break up, one of his best friends gets engaged. We saw them yesterday, she was glowing with excitement. So cool. Then of course I went home and cried because I want love like that. But I guess not everyone gets it. And they do have two high disposable incomes, good jobs, happy families. We have a baby, huge mortgage, both overweight with little time to work on it and family situations that are pretty sad. Ah well. Our lot is better than many...
Charlotte is doing really well and tonight we will decorate our tree. It will be exciting to have our first Christmas together
Would love to hear from everyone else too. Sylvia? Sharon? Gail? Judy? Everyone else?
Checking out - lets move one and all!
Sam
179/149/130
You know, guys, I'm seriously considering changing my weigh-in day to Monday night. I weigh in on Sat. morning and then go completely insane and off-program over the weekend. Maybe with a Monday night weigh-in, it would be different. The weekend is when I seem to go completely out of control. The only problem is that I love my Sat. classmates and leader. I'd miss them too much. Just have to come up with another idea.
Spent most of Saturday outside raking the leaves and cleaning the gutters. It was about 70 degrees here! Love this kind of "winter weather". Sunday was colder and overcast but my sweetie was still up on the ladder hanging the Christmas lights. I spent most of the day decorating. But then I made the mistake of watching Mystic Pizza on TV and getting hungry. Yes, I did have pizza for dinner but it was Weight Watchers with a little chicken added to the top. Still the chocolate covered pretzels seemed to disappear rather quickly while I was wrapping presents.
Again, I made the mistake of getting on the scale and lapsing into panic mode. But I'm not going to give up. I'm going to face the weigh-in scale (spent $120 for 12 weeks of coupons) every week and do my best. Have plans for every meal this week. Unfortunately, it also includes chinese food for lunch tomorrow. But I'm hoping if I plan it and calculate all the points, etc. I should be OK. We'll see.
Have to blow the dust off the treadmill again too. Haven't been doing any "real" exercise. Raked leaves and all but it didn't really feel like exercise. I need to sweat and feel like I've worked. Starting tonight, it's at least 20 minutes every night, I promise.
OK, I've rambled enough. Boss just walked past for the third time and I just found out the other "phone girl" called in sick. Going to be a long day.
Hi, everyone. I haven't been able to post on the weekends because my son decided to take my 'puter in to have a CD burner put in it - Christmas present. He just hasn't gone to pick it up yet and now he has gone skiing for the week. Makes it really tough to post and also complete university assignments this week. Just have to stay at work - my fav place to be???
Just got back from WI - another 1.75 pounds. Missed my next mini-goal by .75 pounds. Hopefully, next week I will be down another .75 pounds, bringing my total weight loss to 40 pounds. Yes....40 pounds gone forever.
Jo - I think you might have something in changing to Monday WI. I find that weighing in on Monday changes how I choose to eat on the weekends. It may be psychological, but it helps. If you don't like the leader or friends on Mondays, go to the Saturday meeting, but WI on Monday. I don't know if that would work for you, but it might helps with the binge eating on the weekends. How was your WI last Saturday?
I'm really jealous of you and your winter weather. It was minus 12-15 here all weekend and I am darn cold. I have discovered the down side of losing weight. I just don't have enough insulation to keep me warm - I have been complaining about the house being too cold, I have the thermostat at work cranked up (thank goodness my thermistat operates only my office), I wear my mittens and parka everywhere. The only time I am warm is in bed with my puppy heater. He can't figure out why I want him to go to bed with me (hubby feels a little left out there LOL).
CH - So good to hear that you have stayed OP all weekend. I also find it difficult to stay OP when out with people or at pot lucks. We had a pizza day at church yesterday that I didn't know about beforehand, so I ate two small pieces of pizza, a diet pop and left it at that. It was difficult to stop because I haven't had pizza for so very long and really, really wanted more, but didn't. It is getting easier to resist in situations like that than it was a few months ago. Way to go and keep it up.
Sam - Don't worry about being up. That happens, especially after holidays like Thanksgiving. Just stay OP as best you can, then it won't seem so difficult to manage Christmas. I have been fortunate so far...we missed Canada's Thanksgiving when we were out of the country, so the only tempting holiday time I have had so far was in September when everyone thought it would be a good idea to have 50th birthday parties for me. I wasn't prepared for them because they were all suprises, so had difficulty managing to save points beforehand and then preparing myself mentally to eat properly there. I am already starting to prepare myself mentally for Christmas, and hope that I can succeed in staying OP. I am planning, in advance, even if I have to take my own stuff to eat. This is serious business...LOL.
Hope everything is working out with your bf. It is very difficult to see friends go through wonderful times when you are suffering yourself. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.
Well, I guess I should be off. Time to get some work done around here. Have a great week, everyone.
After the walk last night (details to follow) Rich and I decided to make the WW soup. He's the cook so he immediately started with the saute pan and the chopping of onions and garlic, etc. I stopped him with "No, no, no! Here's how you do it!" Then I grabbed a big pot, dumped in the fat free broth and the tomato paste and pulled any veggies I could find out of the fridge and freezer and we did a little cutting but mostly just dumped them all in. Not enough liquid? A bit more broth. Not "colorful" enough? Well, we have some red peppers here. How's it look now? 
Huh? Yes, Jo is looking forward to healthy food!!!!! Wow!
Who said that!?!?!?! It was FUN!!!!! Hope the weather holds out for a while longer. My treadmill has an incline setting but I don't even think it goes up as high as that hill!!!
Remember the good old days when we all used to post and post often??? I miss those days!
Morning, morning
So I accepted the Christmas Challenge and am gonna work at losing 6 pounds this month. We'll see 
There's only one rule. You have to work very hard to get out of the I Was Up club.
