Hi All,
Just thought I would start the TOPS thread over again. Looking for some support from fellow TOPS members. Gained some weight last year and want to take it and more off in the coming year. I know that I can do it with my TOPS pals at my chapter and my on-line TOPS pals. Would love to get to know any fellow TOPS members out there? Please feel free to join me here.
Thanks,
Kerry

Hi

I'm a TOPS member too. I was hoping to see a few more posts here but maybe it will grow. I sort of played with my weight loss last year and only lost 7 lbs but since Christmas I've had a 6 week weight loss along with a 10 lb weight loss. I want to be Queen!!!!

I'm new to this sight and think I will find it helpful.

Em

Hi Em,
There was a couple TOPS thread on here before and it just went by the wayside. So I am hoping that we can keep this one going. I had a 71/2 pound gain for the year last year. So I am trying very hard to get back on a good losing track for the year. I lost 3 1/2 pounds so far this year. I would like to be in the good when the end of the year rolls around this time.
I am the weight recorder for my group. I have been a member for I think 5 years. How long have you been a member? Looking forward getting to know you better. Have a great weekend!
Take care,
Kerry

I've been a member of TOPS for about 2 1/2 years. The inital group I joined with a friend and we became a bit frustrated as the person with the scale was always late and the meetings started late. The leader at the time was very self invovled and the meeting was mostly about her (she is no longer there) and that group is doing great. The final straw was when I was suppose to do program and she went on so long that she asked if I could squeeze down to about 5 mins! I said no I couldn't and chose not to give it. My friend and I decided at the beginning of last year to each go to meetings closer to our own homes in the meantime I put on most of the weight I had lost. She went back to her original group and was promptly elected leader last year and I found a great group near my home. They are a very supportive, and fun group with great leadership and programs. I'm so glad I found this group and gave it another try. We are currently doing the Octopus Challenge, I plan on keeping all my legs, made it through week 1.

Hope you have a great weekend and it's not snowing there as much as it's raining here this week.

Em

Hi Em,
I have been with the same group for the last 5 years. When I first joined the leader was very wishy washy. I am a school teacher and love to try new things. So I was gung-ho at first and would try to get everyone else motivated and she would kill whatever motivation I had going with them. Then she got mad and left the group and for the last 3 years, we have had a great leader. She is really energetic and fun-loving. So we are getting motivated again. My biggest problem was for the last 2 or 3 years, was stress and eating when I was stressed. I am trying very hard to get over being so stressed and do other things when I start to feel stressed.
We are going to do a ten week Pledge to Lose Challenge. I have to decide by Tuesday night how many pounds I want to pledge to lose in the 10 week challenge. Congrats on making it through the first week of your challenge.
I need to find a good food journal chart for either a week or month at a time. Do you have any ideas where I can find one on line?
Well I better close for now. I am thinking about getting ready for the day and then going out to the local state park that has a lake and go for a walk. It is suppose to be in the 50's today with sunshine. Haven't had any of that this past week. Lots of wind, rain and cold temperatures.
Hope you enjoy your Sunday!
Chat with you later,
Kerry

Em just wanted to wish a great start to the week! Hope that you stay op and get some excerise in. My weigh in's are on Tuesday nights. Where are yours? Hope you have another loss this week. Have a great week!
Take care,
Kerry

Hi!

My weigh in is Tuesday night also, I guess that's good because it causes me to keep in control oover the weekend. I'm the Greeter/Closer at my meeting tomorrow. I havn't found any good on line journals as of yet but it would be handy. I got a quick walk in with my dogs today between the rain showers only got a little wet but it felt good. Look forward to hear how your weigh in went tomorrow. I'm sure I lost this week I'm hoping for 2 lbs but we'll see.

Em

Hi Em,
Hope that your weigh in goes well for you tonight too! I am hoping for a little loss. I guess time will tell. Glad that you got your walk in yesterday with your dogs. What kind do you have?
I try to do a walking video every day during the week. On the weekends, I give myself a break. I usually go to the lake and take a walk at least one of those days. My dh and I are going to join the YMCA after we get our income taxes done. So I will probably go there two to three evenings a week and once on the weekends. So that is what I do for my fitness. I am starting to see changes in my arms and legs, That they are starting to take some shape. I guess that is a good thing.
Well I hope that you have a great Tuesday! Have a wonderful weigh-in and meeting tonight. We have our Open House this evening.
Take care,
Kerry

Hi Em,
So how did your TOPS weigh-in and meeting go? I gained 1/2 pound. But that is okay. Because I am figuring it is muslce gain were I have been working out again after not working out for about 7-8 months. So I am hoping that I will start to see results in a few weeks of my weight going down. I have noticed that my arms, waistline, and legs are toning up though. Our Open House was a bust tonight. No one showed up. But it has been raining here all day long, so we wonder if the rain stopped people from coming out. But we did start our contest tonight and I pledge to lose 10 pounds in the next ten weeks.
Well I hope you had a great day!
Take care,
Kerry

Hey Kerry,

Just got home from my meeting, I had a 3.2 lb loss. That dropped me below the 250 mark so I was really happy about that. I was greeter closer tonight and my closing had to do with "What you think about you bring about." So I gave everybody an index card to write down an "I can" or a saying that motivates them. I read on another support group one lady wrote she can't lose 100 lbs but she can lose 10 lbs 10 times! I then told them to post that on their mirror or dashboard as a daily reminder.
I have two dogs, a small Jack Russell named Angel, she's about 6 years old and weight about 10-12 lbs. Then we have a large Papillion named Tucker he's about 20 LBS. We adopted him from the county animal shelter a little over a year ago and he was 7 months old at the time. He's extremely cute and just one of those dogs that always looks happy and he's very loving. The female is more reserved with affection and she's the alpha dog which seems to be fine with him. They play with each other a lot and chase around the house after each other. Tucker likes to hide along a chair or wall and jump at Angel when he hears her coming from the kitchen to the familyroom, they also have stare down contests until one of them goes after the other.

I need to work on some form of regular exercise I've got several tapes I need to dig out. Have you found any CD's or Web sites where you can down load a walking tape to a MP3?

Later

EM

I wish I would get the signature thing on my User cp so I can put a ticker under my posts. Time to sign off.

Em,
Congrats on your weight loss! That is awesome! All your hard work is paying off. I figured out what my problem was with my gain. I started my TOM when I got home. So that is why I had a slight gain. I really like that idea you had for your closing. I might have to use it with my group. We are all trying to be postive and movitate each other this year. Since last year we only lost .15 pound per member and we have over 20 members. So we are going to make this our year. I think your dogs sound like a lot of fun. We don't have a dog yet. But I think we will be getting one in a few years. I bet they keep you laughing and enjoying life to it's fullest. I don't know if Lesile Sansone website has anything that you can download or not? I use a lot of her walking dvd's and tapes to get fit. As for your signature, can't you go to your user cp and click on the signuature tab and follow the directions from there. Well I need to go and get back to work. Hope have a great day!
Take care,
Kerry

P.S. Do you think that maybe your group would like to do a walking challenge sometime in the spring? I am my group's contest leader and need to come up with one for the spring. Just let me know.

Hi!

I'll check with the person who does our contests about doing a walking challenge this spring. Not much new going on here. My oldest son is turning 25 next Monday so we're doing his birthday dinner on Sunday so I'm trying to eat really lean until then, although I won't go very crazy then either just leave a little room for a few cake calories. Our tradition has been that I make what every they want for dinner it used to be weiner wraps or pizza, now it Philly Cheese steaks or this year it's meatloaf, twice baked mashed potatoe casserole and corn, just a little starch and of course chocolate cake with strawberry filling. Although none of my kids are sweet eaters birthdays seem to require cake.

I guess the web site has made it so that you don't get the signature option for about 30 days, I guess because of spamming?

Well time to head to bed.

Joan

That's right, Joan. Sorry, everyone. We get a huge number of spammers here, and sometimes it's overwhelmingly difficult to catch them all quickly. Hence the new "rules".
Keep posting... the time will fly by.

Best wishes to all of you!

Hi Em,
Sounds like you have a great plan for making room for a few cake calories on Sunday. Your son's birthday dinner sounds like it is going to be very yummy!
My eating has been pretty good concerning that it is my TOM. Plus I am drinking water like crazy. So I am hoping to see the numbers go down on the scale come Tuesday evening.
That is fine about checking with your contest leader.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Take care,
Kerry

It's been a long and exhausting weeked here. Our middle son (21) moved back home yesterday, he told us on Thursday. He had to move because awhile back his apartment had been flooded from an apartment above his and he was having a hard time getting management to completely fix the mold problem. The plan is for about 3 months, which is fine he's easy to have around. So we had to empty his old room because it had become storage and move everything into my office. My DH and I also took the dogs for a walk for about 40 mins yesterday. Then today was the birthday dinner. I should have lost weight just from being on my feet all day cleaning and doing prep. I did real well on the eating, I just had a little everything and didn't over do. I did tell my DH he needs to take the other half of the cake I made to work tomorrow for the guys. My oldest son took home most of the leftover potatoes and the remainder of the meat loaf that was sliced and the 3rd loaf I had DH freeze for another day. I am so ready for bed. Hope you had a great weekend.

Em