Hi Kerry!
Sounds as though you have a busy day ahead of you, and the extra sleep is well deserved. One day of not working out will little difference, if any. I know you will be back on schedule tomorrow, or later tonite if you stay with what you planned. BTW, I know that this is "WWspeak" and I will be simplifying this a bit for the sake of brevity, but figure for each 15 minutes of moderately intense excercise you get 1 activity point.
WW really wants its members between 3-4 AP's a day(for a total of 21-28 per week), and it does seem as though you get within that weekly range on a normal week.(I am just trying to make you feel better about not working out yet today, that is all! :)).
I hope church was recharging to your spirit....and a positive experience.
We got to church this am, and even that was a bit full of turmoil (Dd and her moods strike again). But she is out now with Dh and Ds to Ds's pitching coach, so it is just our youngest and me now. And at least for now,she is a peaceful, calm kid.
BTW one thing I mentioned yesterday that I feel the need to clarify. As far as driving styles go, I would be hopelessly lost, swallowed up, overwhelmed, whatever in a city driving situation- so I do appreciate the different styles of driving. (although I confess to being a bit edgy when Dh drives sometimes). I did not mean that I am a better driver, just that we drive so differently (and he loves to tease me).
I hope to get a real walk in this afternoon, once I help Dd clean her room.

Mouse, Robyn, Summer (how are you feeling???) Elana, and Paisley I hope your weekend is going well!! See ya tomorrow.
Ginny

Ok, lets try this again!!!!!!!!
(the last post I left got booted out for some dumb reason........)
Kerry, I hope that you enjoyed your day, and that church was refreshing to the spirit. (gotta recharge those batteries). I am sure that the extra sleep was good for you, and you will be back to your very active ways tomorrow (if you do not sneak in a workout tonite).
Summer - how are you feeling??
Mouse, Robyn, Elana and Paisely- hope you are enjoying what remains of this weekend.
This is much shorter than what i posted before, but I do not want to get this one lost either! See ya!
Ginny

HUH???? Now the first post shows up.......think I am losing it! (and I left myself wide open for a wise crack from Robyn, or anyone else for that matter!)
Ginny

If you find it, let me know, Ginny... becuase I think mine went the same place. I am just so annoyed right now...

I am going to get to the gym if I get off my rear because I'm going to the gym's holiday party and since I don't know where I'm going I need to go up there first. I thought the place had a website, but the address they gave me doesn't jive with Mapquest's directions! So, I may as well sneak in a swim!
Anyway... I'm annoyed because we have this whole block of people with no heat because the gas is being repaired. And the gas company doesn't know what is wrong.... and of course, its in the City, and people rarely have money to get a hotel or anything, and neither the city nor the gas company is willing to help them. And of course, the Red Cross can't do anything, because its not a disaster caused need, and we're limited to assisting in those cases only. The chapter I'm with currently is a lot more strict on their definition of disaster caused needs than some of the other chapters that I've been with. PArt of the reason for that is that we have a lot of fire calls in the city, especially in the winter, and people just don't donate money in the cities to help us. We don't get a lot of money donated to our chapter.
Anyway, at the same time this is going on, we did a fund-raising effort at a race that was sponsored by the MD Running Assoc. or something like that. They raised over 7500 dollars for the tsunami relief efforts. So that is why I'm annoyed: we can't help these people in this area because we don't have the funds to do anything but the most basic needs, but we can give all this money to people in another country. I know they lost everything, and lots of people died, but shouldn't people try to help at HOME first????? :mad:
Even my school is on the tsunami bandwagon. Last year, I couldn't get them to let us raise money to give to local disaster relief in the wake of hurricane isabel (and there are still people living in those cheesy FEMA trailers because their homes were destroyed!), but this year they're letting us do tsunami relief.
:mouse:

A day without bleu cheesing dressing--I survived!
 

Hi everyone--Thanks for the encouragement as I wrestle this new trigger food into submission and out of my life. My brother and sister-in-law visited from NYC this weekend; it was a lot of fun. I made buckwheat pancakes for breakfast and served them with plain ff yogurt and frozen raspberries. We made him a reasonably healthy, low points blueberry pie for his bday (frozen blueberries in a reduced fat graham cracker crust, topped with bran flakes cereal, use enough flour to find everything and a bit of sugar). When grocery shopping, I bought lots of fresh vegetables and no salad dressing. I have low points ones already in the fridge or I could always make a vinaigrette. There is life outside of bleu cheese dressing! Besides, if I could kick the potato salad addiction, I can beat this one too.

I made it to the Y early Saturday morning but not today. I will go tomorrow before work. I am also expecting a DVD I ordered to use with my stability ball. I rarely work out at home; for some reason I prefer to go out to do it. But I bought a stability ball so I could regularly do abs at home.

Hope the week starts well for everyone.

Well, after a weekend of "taking it easy," my back, neck, and right arm are much better. When I woke up Saturday morning, I had one **** of a time getting out of bed. From my neck all the way down to my butt and my right shoulder to my fingertips, I was soooo stiff and in soooo much pain. But, I basically did very little yesterday, and iced everything every two hours as ordered. DD and I had a Jerry Lewis marathon. I own 4 of his videos, and we watched them all. It was great to just laugh. It helped me work through my anger toward all those nasty people I had to deal with on Friday. I don't regret the complaint letter I wrote, and if they do take it out on DD, there will be **** to pay. I deserved to be treated much better than I was treated. This morning, DD woke up with a cold, so we skipped church and stayed in the house. It was good for me to have another day in the house to get some simple things done and rest as needed. So, as of right now, my right arm is all bruised up, but I can use it now. It is so funny that my hand healed just in time to get reinjured. But, amazingly, at 40, my bones appear to still be pretty young and resilient (thank you God). Whatever damage was done to my back and neck can be treated by my chiropractor. So, I'm just going to put all of this behind me and move forward.

A woman in my church is dying of cancer. It has spread to her bones and brain. It is awful, because she is only a little older than me. Her DD is getting married. She may not be around for the wedding. She will miss seeing her grandchildren. Her situation is very similar to my mother's. I really feel for her daughters and now that I am a mother, I really feel for her as well. All that her family is going through is really putting my life in perspective. You know how scared I was in October. Well, I could have been her. You have no idea how grateful I am that I'm healthy.

My nephew and his fiancee are flying in from Oregon for two weeks to plan their wedding. My DS has a lot of issues with him so as excited as I am to see him, DS is dreading it. DS can't stand it that she can't control him, and to top it off, he is marrying a very strong woman who won't be controlled either! :lol: I love it!!! I can't wait for them to move east and have some family on my side!!! DD is going to be their flower girl, so she is going nuts waiting to see them. It will be an interesting two weeks filled with excitement and lots of family drama.

Mousie, you are smart to avoid a difficult situation at the Red Cross. You have enough drama in your life. You certainly don't need more.

Ginny, as you can see, I'm okay. Thanks so much for your concern. What is going on with DD that she is upset?

Kerry, I love how you find time to squeeze in working out. You so have your priorities in order. I wish you were nearby to drag me out of my house to work out!!! (I did have plans to get back to the gym before I got hurt.)

Hey Robyn, how's it hangin'? I really need you to share some of your 'tude right now. I miss it.

Elana, wow, how healthy are you? I could learn a few things from you. I'm on the 2nd week of South Beach, so I can't have any carbs including fruit right now. After this week, I can slowly reintroduce some healthy carbs.

Paisley, I understand your hesitancy of going to a class alone. I used to work out with a friend. Now, I'm on my own. I don't mind doing the machines alone because I just do the weights and read while I do the bike. But I haven't done a class in a long time. I used to do yoga before DD was born. When I tried to do it again after her birth, I had a lot of trouble. It wasn't just my weight, since I had her, I can't lie on my stomach comfortably. There were a few positions that just caused me pain, and when the instructor tried to press me further into the floor, I thought I would die. I tried to explain to her my limitations, and she didn't understand. I never returned to the class again. Maybe I can build up my flexibility again as I continue to lose weight. If I regain some confidence, I will try a class.

Have a great week everyone!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a great week at school! I was able to get a walk in last night with my dh for about 30 minutes. So I did squeeze in some form of excerise yesterday. I will check back in with you all later today. Have a great day!
Kerry

Hi!
A good morning and Monday to everyone!
Ds is home from school (stomach bug) and Dd is still home (she returns to college next week),, so this will be short.

Paisley- go ahead and have that ice cream! Unless it is a trigger food for you, the denial thing always slaps you in the face. Just do so with some caution, and remember to eat it slowly. Each bite tastes the same- (so if the first tasted great, the millionth will taste no better, no excuse to over eat!). Congrats on the 5#!!!!! WHo cares if it is the initial jump- take it and run! WOO HOO!

Summer- so glad you are feeling better. I was worried about you. Glad you had a good day of laughter too..we all need that from time to time! WHen does Dn arrive? Hope the family tension is not too bad.......and that you can enjoy the wedding planning process.

Elana- the breakfast and bday pie sounded good.....just like something my Dh would like. And blueberries are so good for you! (I freeze a ton of them when they are in season). Great outlook regarding that nasty bleucheese dressing- just stay away from it until you can really control your input of it. (will I ever outgrow peanut butter??? a major trigger food for me!) Glad you got to the Y for those AP's.

Mouse- still looking.........and I think for me I will never find it. Can't lose what you never had! :lol: :dizzy: Did you get to the gym? I hope so, and know it is important to a happy Mouse! It must be hard on you to see some dire needs right here on our own turf, and large amounts of aid going overseas. You have such a kind heart. But then I have told you that before.

Got my new DVD in this am (WATP kick box). ANd today I found it just as challenging as Saturday. Makes me huff and puff......but then this week I am low on energy with TOM ready to make his guest appearance in a few days.
Gotta go.......hope this week is a good one!! (anyone have MLK day off next MOnday?)
Ginny

Well, I returned to school in not so great shape...actually in quite a bit of pain. Guess who wasn't in today?! Paisley and Elana, just to fill you in, I have the most irresponsible and unreliable aide ever. She is on probation for calling out sick all of the time, and she still has the nerve to be out anyway. Supposedly she is in danger of being suspended, but still called out today. Anyway, a day that was already not so easy because of my neck and back pain (my arm is a lot better, just bruised up.) was made all the more difficult by her being out. :(

Well, every 4 hours I popped 4 Motrin so that I could function. After work, I saw my chiropractor, and for the first time in days, I have some relief. He cracked my neck and did some adjustments. Then the therapist used the combination ultrasound machine which helped to loosen up my neck and upper back. Then the therapist used the electrical stimulation and heat on my lower back. I finally feel somewhat better. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm grateful for how I feel right this minute.

DD has a cold, but no fever, so she went to school today. We will see how she does tomorrow. It is DH's turn to stay home with her if she is sick, so I won't have to miss school.

My friend invited me to a party where specialty foods and kitchen items will be for sale. I was planning on attending. However, DD has a birthday party to attend during the same time, and DH is working Saturday during the parties. To top it all off, with DN coming in from Oregon, Saturday may be the only time I get to see him. It depends on whether they will be with her family or our family. It is totally up in the air, and my friend is pissed off. I don't blame her for being mad, except that he won't be east again until the wedding. Am I being selfish for wanting to skip her party to be with DN?

I was totally on SB today, but because of my injuries, I couldn't exercise.

Hello to everyone! Paisley, congrats on your weight loss. Ginny, sorry DS is sick. I hate stomach viruses. :p Kerry, keep up the motivation to exercise.

Evening Ladies,
Hope everyone had a nice Monday! My day was good. It was a long day because I had to work the afterschool program, but then I went to Curves and burned off some stress before coming home. LOL
Summer, glad to hear that you are feeling a little bit better. Give yourself a few more days and then you will be back to excerising again. Sorry to hear that your TA was MIA again. Be sure to work her hard when she comes back. As for you wanting to spend time with your dn that is not selfish. Your family is very important and if that is the only time you will be able to see him then go for it by all means. But don't feel selfish about it.
Ginny, sorry to hear that your ds is sick today. Hope he is feeling better this evening. So your DVD is a more challenging workout, huh? I might have to check into getting it then. That way I can spice up my mornings a little. Yes I have next Monday off. Then next Tuesday, I have a waiver day so next week I will only have my kids for 3 days.
Mouse, hope you were able to get in a workout before your gym's holiday party. When do you take your kids' on the Border's fieldtrip? Did you figure out where to feed them at?
Robyn, how are you girlie? You were awful quiet this weekend. Hope that means you were getting some sleep.
Elana, your blueberry pie sounds yummy. Glad to hear that you had a wonderful visit with your family this weekend. I am proud of you that you found the time on top of that to go workout at the Y.
Paisley how was your first day back to school today? Don't beat yourself up over having ice cream. I love ice cream. So I work it into my diet so I can have some every once in awhile. Have you tried the Carb Solution ice cream? I like it and my sdd likes it alot too.
Well I best go and get ready for bed. My eyes are starting to shut as I type. So it is time for bed. Everyone have a great day tomorrow!
Talk to you tomorrow. Definately tomorrow evening after my TOPS WI.
Take care,
Kerry

Hi everyone!

Summer--I'm glad to hear you're feeling a little better. That stinks about the unreliable aide. I hope you get someone better eventually (not being insanely niave, I'm not gonna say "soon" because this is school, and things NEVER happen fast enough!). btw, I don't think you're being selfish at all, especially not if you're gracious about it.


I survived the first day--no cravings (thanks for the reassurance, Ginny! :wave: ), and the kids don't come back until Wed. I spent it cleaning and rearranging my classroom. It was kinda cool, though. there's a couch I've wanted for my reading ctr all year, and the custodians kept saying they'd bring it down, but they're swamped. The science teacher offered to help me get it--I haven't because the custodians guard that key with their lives. So, he got the head of security to open the door, and there were 3 matching chairs! We carried all of them from that building to mine. :sumo: It was cool to be able to do an equal share of that work. It was especially cool since in the process we were seen by the asst football coach, the basketball coach, the girls volleyball coach, one of my athletic friends, and this girl who's always talking about how she needs to work out! I was like, :coach: "um, hello? opportunity to flex those muscles, people!" But actually, I preferred to do the work--I felt all strong, plus I now have the sweetest classroom in the bldg! :cb:

THEN, on the way down the hill on my walk tonight this giant piglet crossed the road--not the Charlotte's Web kind, the big bristley wild kind people hunt for kahlua pork. I was SO panicked that there would be a bundle of others coming out at any second that I froze (imagining a frothing wave of fur and tusks--those suckers are big!)--and called my friend Lika, who (when she stopped laughing at me) said that there were probably at least 3 or 4 adults nearby, but that they were more scared of me than I was of them, and to just walk on by. I did, but only after requiring her to stay on the phone with me just in case, and vowing to learn more about the habits of the local fauna! :lol:

In all, a good day back. Oh, and I came up with a way to make sure I haul my butt out to walk after work--I come home, get a glass of water and open up the internet--->to 3fc. I get a chance to relax for a few minutes, AND I'm motivated to get out there and exercise!

Take care everyone, I hope your monday went well! Kerry, I'm glad to hear yours was a good one (at least from the stress burning perspective!)
[/COLOR]

Oh, bother!
Ds has given our computer a virus....a real one, so I am at the library. Will probably be MIA for a few days while I get the darned thing back to normal.
take care!
Ginny

How to eat enough during the day
 

Once again, I seem to be facing my big challenge from last year (which was my 1st year teaching public school). I couldn't eat regularly during the day, snarfed a huge amount after school and gained 15-20 pounds. Joined Weight Watchers in May 2004, made goal in September and Lifetime in November. I am very committed to keeping the weight off--I feel much better and am exercising a lot.

The challenge: eating enough during the day. Otherwise I get home hungry. Today I had 2 huge bowls of salad after school--1 with hummus on it, 1 with feta cheese and low fat Greek dressing. These seem like reasonable things to eat, and they are. The key is that should be it for the night. Even though I have to make dinner for the kids (dh is out of town), I don't need a dinner. I am full, and I ate those at 4 p.m. So that should be enough to carry me until tomorrow morning.

Tips? How do you all eat regularly/healthily during the day? I have been bringing in lunch and some snacks, but I definitely need more ways to make this work.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, all. I had to skip the gym today to be able to talk to both my endocrinologists, but I went yesterday... after I chased a kid up 6 flights of stairs. ;) So I'm not upset. Today was a good day, I think... the kids were almost normal. And we had good news: All THREE of my kids who wrote paragraphs for the leadership seminar this weekend were accepted!! :cheer: :cheer: I didn't help at all, I just edited and typed. There was some concern whether the kids could handle it, and I turned to my TA because I typically think the kids can do anything. She was confident that two of them can definitely do it and will be just fine, and the third will do it if she is motivated enough (and her parents want her to do this and she loves her parents, so typically tries harder... and she was just a LITTLE excited when I told her this afternoon).
Its very cool, because they'll learn to present pieces of a leadership curriculum and ultimately present them at National Headquarters in DC.
Ginny (I think it was you!) asked where we are taking the kids to eat: Pizzeria Uno. There really isn't a more appropriate place to take them nearby. We're actually going to the one that is across the street from my old school. I'd love to drop by for a visit, but I can't because we'll have all the kids with us. Oh well. I'm not typically down that way when school is open, and we'll definitely get there before they leave, because Tuesday's are their late days for staff meetings.
Elana: I have the same issues, because I just won't eat in front of the kids. I have started drinking in front of them, though, because it just works better. I try to eat something at lunch like soup or other liquid because you stay full longer... I discovered that when I have trouble keeping food down because I started drinking protein shakes. Also, high fiber foods work, so maybe a high fiber cereal, some fruit and milk? Salad is a good choice. Make sure you eat breakfast (another challenge for me).
But I don't typically snack. Part of that is because I go to the gym either to work or to swim on my own right after school, and there is no time. I do try to drink at least 16 ounces of water (I buy the Propel water) while swimming. When I come home, its too late to snack.. I need to get dinner. And for dinner I almost always have a salad, protein (varies: lots of boca burgers and morningstar farms chik patties), and carb. If I'm having a sandwich and salad, I'll also add some soup. I don't avoid dessert either, though I try to make good choices: my ice cream is almost always sugar free now (or no-fat frozen yogurt).
:mouse: