Well Noelle--we are close in weight--I weighed in at 221.0 on Friday -my first weigh in & meeting - just four pounds shy of my highest weight of 225, at least the highest I ever was when I stepped on a scale, I can't be 100% it was my highest since I don't even own a scale. I haven's been out of the 200's for a long time and I can't wait to get to 199 and then lower!! I am like you, I feel good about this and I think WE can do it, especially with the great support we get here.
Linda--my weakness with eating out is Mexican--I usually get the chesse sauce for the chips and salsa before even starting on my meal. Hubby and I haven't been eating out much since we are on a budget track to being out of debt this year. My daughter and I are starting a once a month lunch & movie date but we both enjoy salad bars and are favorite place is mostly vegetarian with lots of good choice near a local University. That is a really good point about not letting not being "perfect" discourage us. I sabotage myself with that alot.
Erica--I am doing the tons of water myself--I am starting to make it a habit so it's not so hard. I think alot of times I think I am hungry I am actually thirsty.
Ann-no thanks necessary--the leader is the one that gave the info--I just passed it on. I really like her, she has a good sense of humor and is very down to earth.
Jules, a quick posting here as we are heading out for the afternoon, and I am waiting to leave while DH is taking a nap as he is fighting off the end of a cold... seems like many are sick, but still not me. Maybe it's all that healthy eating???
Just want to add that I have checked and checked on what foods are best at various types of restaurants. If Mexican is your thing, always fore go the cheese sauce with "chips" at the beginning and get only salsa if you feel you must have the chips. If you must have a beer with those chips, have a light beer and only one and then switch to water. When you order a meal, get fajitas, they are basic foods (if you refer back to what I was saying about a plain steak) and there is little done to the lean meats that are used in fajitas, but they are delicious and savory due to the spices.
I usually give myself one "treat" by using the tortillas that comes with the fajitas and making myself one really nice full bundle of what comes with your plate and then I eat only the meats and veggies that come on the plate to fill myself up. I never feel deprived as I eat ONE of those tortillas with all the good stuff I want in it, but I draw the line at only ONE of those. I bring the tortillas home with me, sometimes, or my son (the resident pig) will steal them off my plate and dip them in his cheese sauce.
I drink lots of water along with my meal and always decline dessert. By the way, flour tortillas are really pretty low in points, but if you have several of them they can add up. What they force me to do, though, is glob on the guacamole, cheese and sour cream and those are the true things that you need to avoid. I allow ONE of those tortillas loaded with the good stuff, though, so I will get that "passion" satisfied and then move on to only meat and veggies so I am always leaving the place satisfied.
If you think of what goes into fajitas, it is VERY healthy, especially if you order the chicken ones as they use chicken breast.
So, don't feel like Mexican is off limits, but you must discipline yourself. If you must taste the cheese sauce, don't order it yourself and ask your companions if you can have "just one taste" and limit it do that.
Hope that helps?
Linda, off to the North country
Hi Erica - Welcome back. Were you away for a few days or did I just miss your posts.
Jules that is great you like your leader. I am hoping to join this Wednesday and go to meetings rather than doing WW on line.
It was so nice to see about the Fajita's. Last night we went out for supper and I order the chicken fajita and ate one in the tortilla and put a bit of chicken on the lettuce and tomatoes. It was so yummy. I was unsure how many points the tortilla's are so I only ate one, and the waitress forgot to bring the sauces for it other than salsa so I didn't have those. I thanked her for that. She felt bad but I was being sincere. I really wanted desert so I got my husband to order desert and I had a teaspoon. It was awesome. Today though I have wanted to eat non stop.
Happy Monday to everyone? Ann, glad you got the fajitas when you were out.
No new posts from everyone else, hope all is well.
Linda in dreary, rainy and chilly NH
Good morning all...I'm feeling some better, but had a rough night. I finally ended up sleeping on the couch because I was afraid my constant coughing was keeping dh awake.
How are all of you (that are on flex) doing on the new pts? Mine went up 4, but I'm thinking I'm going to go back down where it was before. I think I lost some this week, but I'm not really sure how much because TOM was ending, so I don't really know what came from that and what came from WW.
I really want to go back to the Y today, but little dd still isn't well enough where I can leave her with the child care center. I feel kind of envious that dh is able to go every morning (I'm actually being sincere saying that, too!)
Linda- thanks for the suggestions with eating out, it is a pretty big challenge for me. I really need to make the switch to wine spritzers. I am a beer lover especially pale ales and draft beer, so when I started WW, I made the switch to white wine which was difficult at first. But now, I just need to switch to the spritzers, thanks for that.
Ann-I didn't go away last week, but I am going away this weekend. I'm going to visit my youngest sister who lives in Washington D.C. I've been mentally gearing up for it for awhile now especially since last week she emailed me all of the restaurants that she made reservations for, yikes!! It'll be the biggest challenge for me yet.
Paige- what is it with this cough thing that is going around in NY? Our two youngest DD's were up all night with it, our 2 yr. old actually had to go on antibiotics for it b/c it went into her lungs. I feel like I'm going to be a zombie today, b/c of so little sleep last night. Thankfully my DH is going to stay home for a bit this AM so I can go get my workout in. He really realizes how desperately important it is to me that I'm able to workout everyday to lose this weight. Last week we attempted the Y one day, got into the child care room, and had to make a U-turn when youngest DD started barfing b/c of her cough.
Hope everybody starts off their Mondays great for a great week!!
Erica- Good luck this weekend in DC. Restaurants are so hard for me, too. I always have the best of intentions...! Since you have a list of restaurants that you will be going to, maybe you could check and see if they have a website with a menu listed? It usually helps me if I can plan ahead of time what I'm going to eat and then when I get there I don't even look at the menu. If I were to look at the menu in the restaurant, my defenses would be down and chances are that I would differ from my original healthy plan. Another thing that usually helps me is to make the company and conversation the focus, and not the food.
Yeah, this darn cough/cold/flu thing has definately been going around. Little dd has had a runny nose for so long...it gets hard to tell if it's her teeth or a cold or allergies (they are saying that people have been developing winter allergies because of the mild weather.) She also has that cough, too. I've been debating on whether I should take her to the dr...I hate putting her on medicine for every little thing, and I know that antibiotics will make her diahrea worse. It's hard being a parent sometimes, not knowing exactly what to do! Isn't the Y sooooo nice, though, with the child care center? That's nice that your dh is able to stay home so you can work out. My dh leaves here at 5:15am so he can get a work out in before going to work. Oh well...I'm just thankful that he doesn't commute to the city.
Wow I have been MIA. There are so many post I was only able to read the last few pages. First, I want to let you all know that my sons had whooping cough. I am not sure who said the daughter barfed when she was coughing but if it continues that is a sign of whooping.I just know it is going around and kids can get it even with shots given at a young age. My oldest is still coughing especially at night and it has been 3 weeks. He is not as bad by any means but I was told the cough can last 3 months.. ARGH
Finally got back into the swing of things. I worked out EVERYday since WEd. WHOOO. I am going in a while. I even did a form of hip hop on Sat. It was so much fun and I was not the oldest in the class. I am no dancer but the shimmys and movement I thought were so different that It had to work parts of my body that never work out.
I am like a few of you I was considering trying the core but not sure how it works.... I am afraid cuz I can not blow this this time around. I have too much to lose to ruin it and try different methods. I weigh in tom and am anxious to see the results.
Have any of you tried the ww site? They have great recipes on there and I was sure if any one is doing it on line. That would not work for me but tje recipes and ifo is nice to have.
Do any of you have a hard time doing your pts,figuring it out? Sometimes when I make something I can not do the pts. I made a beef pot pie with a left over roast.Usinf nf suces ect.... I had no idea how to do the pts. So I just give it a lot of pts or so I hope I do, and I hope that is not screwing me up. Last night my dh made some remarkable ribs I had 3 ribs I have NO idea the pt value. I just hate the time it takes to try to find everything... I can not be on the computer 24 7 asking either. Oh well. I hope you all have a succesful day. I also hope you and your familes are feeling good or better . Thanks for Listening jto me ramble.... Next time it will not be so bad I will try to oget on this thing more this week.
Hi everyone. This virus cough thing is really bad. Firstly, my uncle passed away last night. He was my dad's brother. He caught this cold/virus/flu thing and was taken to the hospital on Saturday. He ended up with pneumonia. I got a call that they didn't expect him to make it through the night, and he didn't. Take care of yourselves, please. Take this cough thing VERY seriously. Though, he was elderly. Illnesses like that, this time of year, often "take" people in his age bracket.
I'm pretty sad.
My husband, son and daughter have had this cough too, but I have remained untouched - at least so far. I guess all the hand washing and healthy eating have paid off? Also, the moment I feel like I may be coming down with something, I begin a regime where I take Echinacea 4X per day, I swear by it. I also increase my vitamin C intake.
Sorry some of you aren't able to get out and exercise due to having sick kids around. Just a thought, I used to own a few Richard Simmon's dance workout tapes and my kids would actually kind of do those with me. I tried to make it fun for them to work with me and they just did it for awhile and then played nearby. Sometimes, I would have to stop early but at least I was getting some form of exercise. Also, when all else fails, I "do the stairs". If you go up and down five or six times, extra, a few times throughout the day, it helps.
DJM, I'm loving the CORE plan, but we shall see what happens when I weigh in tomorrow. I'm keeping my finger's crossed. I made a few poor choices when we ate out on Saturday night, so I don't know how that will affect me. Right now, my home scale is showing a loss still for the week, even with clothes. But, when I weigh in there, the scales are different (as we've talked about before) and my weigh in is at the end of the day and my weight is always quite different that time of day. I can very as much as 3 or 4 pounds during a day. Drinking fluids and eating throw off my weight, I would prefer a morning weigh in and meeting, but I go with my daughter and she needs a meeting after school. I try to eat "light" the day of a weigh in to see if that helps at the scale, but so far nothing seems to make a difference. I do make sure I don't have a big glass of water within two or three hours of weighing in as well.
DJM, it's very hard to figure out points in improvised and homemade "casserole" type of recipes, for sure. I do some "guesstimates" and hope for the best. I always do pay special attention to the meat, starch and fat part of these recipes. If I know it makes 6 servings, I divide the total fats by 6 to make sure I count those points, especially. If a recipe calls for chicken, I use white meat and a half breast is 3 points, so I figure I will count 3 points for the chicken part of the recipe. I estimate other ingredients like rice, potato or pasta and I've come up with a point value per serving of this. Good luck with that!
Linda
Hey Jules! If you are craving Mexican, go look up some of the mexican recipes here, Amysadventure.com and weight watchers. They have some great slimmed down versions. I am so looking forward to trying the ones in the Take Out Tonight book too.
Life is crazy - it just never seems to slow down. I need to take down my tree tonight. I'm supposed to go to a Senior Send off meeting but I really need to get some stuff done at home so I think I'm skipping this time.
Hey ladies, it's a dreary day here in Hawaii as well...gray skies and the drizzles but still nice in the low 70's. I am in day 3 of my 1st week back on Flex. I actually am allowed 1 'extra' point with the new point allowance formula, I don't know how I feel about that yet . I'm not able to get my walks in just yet as my knee is acting up and I'm scheduled to see my orthopedic doc in a few hours. I had to go through physical therapy last year for my other knee, and well, now I have a problem with the other one... it's frustrating! So even more important for me to make the right food choices.
Linda, I'm sorry for your loss. You are so right about taking these coughs/flus/viruses seriously. One of my employees' grandmother just passed away similarly to your uncle, the day after Christmas. It was unexpected since it seemed like it happened so fast.
dj, I have some difficulty counting points up when doing a recipe and like you, I probably shoot high on the points, I feel better to estimate too high, than too low I guess.
Offering some virtual soup to those of you w/the sniffles, coughs, colds and flu, 0 points of course.
Linda, I am sorry to hear about your uncle. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. Also thanks for the advice about seeing a doctor for coughs and my DS has had a cough for quite a while, I will take him to the doctor just to make sure it isn't something worse. Also, a friend of mine is on LA weight loss and she mentioned on the days she has to weigh in late she eats more liquid foods such as soup, jello, and stuff like that because her centre told her they go through your body quicker than foods like hamburger and stuff like that. I am not sure if this is true or not, but it seems to work on the days she gets weighed after work. Then she eats her regular supper.
Erica- I hope you enjoy you visit to Washington. I have a hard time with restaurants too. I think from now on I will order broiled chicken, rice and fresh veggies. I had that at Red Lobster, it was so good. I really wanted shrimp scampi......
Linda- Sorry for your loss. It is awful how that will affect older people. My grandmother was hospitalized just a few weeks ago with pneumonia. Luckily they caught it in time, but my mom said that it came on SO fast; one day she just had a sore throat and the next it was full blown. She also came down with the flu while she was in the hospital. She is back home now and is doing better, but it is just so hard to believe how fatal a cold or the flu can be.
DJM- Figuring out pts can be a pain, but the easiest way to do it is to be precise in measuring and add up every ingredient for the entire thing. Then just divide it by the total amount of servings. For example, when I make my pizza, I figure out the pts separately for the crust, cheese, and sauce. Then I just divide it by the amount of slices I get out of one pizza. I do also have Mastercook software and with that you can put in your own recipe, your own ingredients with their nutritional values, and it will give you a nutritional analysis for the entire dish and per serving. Then just put the per serving info into the pts calculator.
Noelle- I didn't realize that you were in Hawaii. The weather has been nice in NY, but I have been ACHING for the ocean. I'm not a huge beach person, but there is something about being near the ocean...the smell, the sound... I am always instantly relaxed. I might have to come and visit you! LOL! We actually just booked a house on the boardwalk at the shore...for June. Guess I have a few months!
I know what you are saying about not being sure about the new pts allowance. I decided yesterday to go back to my old pts. It wasn't that difficult to stay op, either. With 4 extra pts, I had ended up eating more than I should because I knew I had some more pts to work with. Last week I ended up using all of my flex, too. I think I will do better with my old pts allowance.
I think I'm going to try to get to the Y today. I still need to wait a few hours, though, and see how dd is doing. I spoke with a nurse from dd's dr's office, and she told me to keep doing what I had been doing (no dairy, bland diet.) I'm sure the nurse was pretty annoyed with me because that just wasn't a satisfactory answer! I mean, that's what I had been doing for 5 days and it wasn't working! She didn't want to take into consideration that dd has had this runny nose for a very long time (more than a month) and she has had that awful cough for awhile, too. She said she understood my concern and would run it by the dr, and if the dr wanted to see dd they would call to set up an appt. I'm sure it's frustrating on their end to get a parent like me, but it's frustrating to have my kid be like this and not be able to do anything else. I'm hoping today she will be better.
Anyway...sorry for my rant. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday!
I didn't get to post from home last night - and I didn't get my tree down - I just don't have the umphff in me. I think it's the lack of light. I'm going to go out at lunch to try to get some filtration of sunlight through the clouds and hope that helps. I feel like a cave dweller. Dark when I get up and drive to work and almost dark turning to dark for the commute home. Only a few weeks and that will start to turn around but the sunlight is a big motivator here.
Hope everyone's week is doing well. I'm feeling bloated today so I'm going to drink more water than called for to see if I can kick that sensation. Noelle, I long for Hawaii even if it was overcast yesterday. That is one beautiful place.
Paige - did you make it to the Y? I know about the pts but I'm on the other side of the point monster, I lost 2 pts. I have Mastercook and right now am subscribing to the online WW which gives you the opportunity to input recipes and it figures out pts per serving. I really like the WW one.
. I'm not able to get my walks in just yet as my knee is acting up and I'm scheduled to see my orthopedic doc in a few hours. I had to go through physical therapy last year for my other knee, and well, now I have a problem with the other one... it's frustrating! So even more important for me to make the right food choices.
I'm sorry for your loss. You are so right about taking these coughs/flus/viruses seriously. One of my employees' grandmother just passed away similarly to your uncle, the day after Christmas. It was unexpected since it seemed like it happened so fast.
soup to those of you w/the sniffles, coughs, colds and flu, 0 points of course. 