WELCOME TO "IN IT FOR THE LONG RUN".

We're still the same bunch of folks who posted in "COUNTDOWN TO 250 AND BEYOND" but we chose a new name. We started with more than 100 lbs to lose and are doing our best to attain healthy bodies through weight loss and exercise.

Most of us are using Weight Watchers to help us along this road but we welcome anyone who is trying to successfully change to a healthy lifestyle.

Got a lot to lose? Pull up your keyboard and join us for fun, support,advice and just plain talk. We love to "see" new faces so jump right in.

j-ann

I started a new thread. # 2 was getting pretty long.

So far today things are still OP. Hopefully they'll stay that way!

Have to run and eat lunch. I forgot to copy my intro post and it got eaten , so I've run out of time.

See you later.

Good morning!

Just a quick post to say ITS FRIDAY!!!!!!

I had a decent day OP yesterday. I had my exercise plans interrrupted in the evening because one of my brothers came at 6 pm to work on our privacy fence (unscheduled) and the other brother came over to pick something up from him. My brother is great about helping but unfortuntely you do things on his schedule and sometimes he forgets to tell you what his schedule is! They didn't leave until 9 pm. All I had time to eat for dinner before he got there was a BLT. The good side is that it kept me from eating two!

We're having hot hot temps again today. Heat index will be 105 with ozone alerts. I'm ready for a drop of 20 degrees and crisp days for about six months.

Everyone have a great OP day!

Hellooooooo

Whew, we've all been pretty quiet lately.

I'm here to announce that at WI today I lost ONE POUND. Not bad considering I backed into one of my best friend's car last Wed. and had to sit on telling her til she got home on the weekend. (she'd left it in my driveway where it would be safe.) I usually use either eating or sleeping as a stress defense mechanism. This time I slept. (HURRAY!) I was a walking Zombie until she got home and I could tell her what had happened. And yes, we ARE still friends.

Terri: I think you sent that heat eastward. We've been in the 90 degree range for thelast 3 day and have one more to go. I HATE! hot weather. Autumn is my favorite season. Bring it on!!
Don't forget that Terri has started a new LONG RUN CHALLENGE thread for us. I've had to do some serious thinking about what a want to work on this 3 weeks but I'll post there tomorrow.

I'll try to get back tomorrow night after my aquajogging class.

Hello ladies!

Besides J-Ann, Where is everyone!!!!????

Ladies, don't let this thread die out like all the others. Quit lurking and come on in!! We need support and comraderie. It doesn't make any difference if you're doing well or just plan maintaining. I've been maintaining the same weight for quite some time and when the thread gets quiet, I get tempted to quit. Don't give me an excuse!

DH made a fabulous "Lemon Greek Chicken" tonight. Its a pampered chef recipe. I've just about turned him into a gourmand. Very OP too.

I did 25 mins exercise this morning. I didn't get home until after 6:30 and by the time I did "meet and greet" the DH and the dawgs, talked to MIL, it was quarter til eight and too pooped to move. I'm giving my fingers a cardio workout now!

The bulldog is now wearing herself out by running up and down the stairs. The rott is smart, he's laid up chewing a rawhide. About time for both to go to bed!

One of the things I need to work on with my food is the snack habit after lunch. That is one area that I forget to plan for when grocery shopping. Carrots just don't cut it - chocolate!!

OOOOH! I found mint skinny cows at Hy-Vee yesterday. They are wonderful! DH loves mint chocolate chip ice cream - prefers Baskin Robbins. Woohoo because he needs to be eating skinny cows not BR.

J-Ann: Ouchy about the car. I do remember reading that now. That must have been very stressful. Good for you for sleeping instead of eating!! Congrats on the loss. You had asked about the cheese sauce for cauliflower. I just use velveeta light. I measure off a hunk (read the label to determine points and that determines how big you want your hunk to be!) and pop into the microwave. I then add some skim milk to thin it and pour onto the hot cauliflower and add lots of pepper. By making it thinner, it doesn't all stick to the cauliflower and tastes great. DH loves it.

I better go check in the challenge and then off to bed.

Have a great day tomorrow!

Hi everyone! Sounds like it's time to delurk and introduce myself.

I joined WW last week, and so far I'm having a wonderful time. I'm amazed at how easy it is to follow the program. (I realize that this might just be the enthusiasm of a beginner.)

I'm 41 years old, married with no children. I have a home-based importing and jewelry-making business with a Buddhist emphasis. We also rescue and rehabilitate abandoned animals. We have a houseful of "dented" critters of 6 different species!

Most recently, I enjoyed fostering a beautiful young mother cat and five newborn kittens. They were the most excellent kittens in history (my totally unbiased opinion, of course!) And as soon as the mother cat started calling me "Mama", I knew that she was destined to be a permanent resident. Anya's picture is my avatar here at 3FC.

I stay busy, because my family seems to think that working at home is the same as not working! I started my business because of a chronic illness, and I'm grateful for the chance to be productive despite being mostly homebound.

I look forward to getting to know everyone. Love and many many blessings to all of you!

Auntie_P. Glad you've joined us and are managing well on WW. When you really work within the program you will stay successful. It's when you start playing around with it that trouble appears. (Believe me I KNOW!!!! )
Although I don't foster animals, I work with a national Pointer rescue group and do occassionally help transport animals to their new homes or from shelters to their fosters. It's a way of giving back for all the pleasure my dogs bring to me. Our cats are those that show up for a meal and decide to stay. If we're really lucky they arrive already neutered and save us the costs of the surgery. Me=OOOW. Your "Mama" looks like our Mister, who arrived in a snowstorm 12 or 13 yrs. ago. He still acts and looks like the kitten he was when he arrived!

One of my best friends worked at home for years and we'd always joke "You don't go to work so you can do ....." and her answer was "oh no, I'm busier than you are at the office". And you know ... she was!

Stop in often,
j-ann

A beautiful day here! J-Ann it should be coming your way in a day or so. Maybe the heat is gone. Woohoo!

I had a good day. I was so busy at work that I barely got to eat. For some reason, I'm not really hungry today. Isn't it funny how somedays you can eat a whole large pizza by yourself and then again, some days you can barely eat a regular serving.


A_P - Welcome in from lurkdom!! I look forward to getting to know more about you too. We're animal lovers in our household too. You'll get to know alllll about the two spoiled rotten dog baby brats! We're about the same age - I'm 42 and also no children. Just the DH, dogs and a horse.

Time for bed. I'm so tired I can barely read what I'm typing.

God Bless!!

Mornin,

Got some quality exercise time in at the Y pool last night.
Can't believe how hard it was after only a 2 week break. Back on the 3X a week schedule now.

Met some friends for dinner at a Chinese buffet before swimming. Was GOOD! Had a little white rice and mostly veggies. Tried to stay away from the shiney stuff. That's not easy.

TERRI: I love those not hungry days. Wish I had more!!!

Morning Ladies,

It's a beautiful, cool day here. I don't want to be at work.


Had a bit of a food slip-up yesterday. The temptations were everywhere! I'll have to adjust my food plans for the next few days and eat at the lower end of my range. It's OK. I CAN do this!

BUNNY ...BUNNY ...BUNNY..... I miss you. COME ON OUT AND PLAY. Hope all's well for you. Stop in to chat when you get a sec. OK?

Good morning!!

No time to post last night. DH and I started a new church study program last night. Actually my first ever study group at the church. Its a 22 week program geared to "The Big Picture" of the Bible. Right up my alley since I'm the type who has to know the underlying structure and background before I understand (too much of a student for life!!).

We went to chinese buffet last night before class. I tried to steer clear of anything that looked fried but could not resist a crab rangoon and spring roll. DH noted that I did not eat as much as usual. Again, I'm in that not as hungry mode. Hope that lasts awhile. Especially since at lunch time, I had a small salad, a small amount of leftover pasta and only half of my chicken breast. That's really unusual for me - but I won't complain.

I didn't do my morning exercises yesterday. I convinced myself I needed to give the muscles a rest. However, I walked like I was 80 years old all day. My hips and lower back muscles were so tight and sore. I got up and as much as I wanted to snooze this AM, I did my workout. I can feel a difference already.

I'm off to work. Have a great day!

Good morning everyone!!! I am new to these boards, so please bear with me. I joined WW 8 days ago and as of yesterday's WI have lost 4.6 pounds!! Yeah me!!! I was on WW several years ago, but as usual, never really stuck to the program and didn't lose anything.
I have been overweight all of my life (I remember weighing 95 pounds in kindergarten!) and I know that this journey that I am now on is going to be a difficult and long one, but I am determined to succeed. I want to be able to see my son graduate from high school and play football in college. I want to see my girls get married and cry my eyes out when their babies are born. And the only way that I am going to do it is to lose all of this weight that I am carrying around.
The past year and a half has been very difficult for me and when I am stressed I tend to gorge myself. It doesn't help that I quit smoking and replaced that with eating also. I have probably gained 60 pounds or so in the past year and am determined to get it off before the end of this year. (Well, the end of February at least!)
I enjoy reading your posts and get encouragement from each and every one of them. I thank you for sharing your journeys with me!

Liann, WELCOME TO OUR LITTLE CORNER OF 3FC. It's nice to see a new face.

HURRAY! Congrat's on your 1st week's loss. FANTASTIC.

Man, nobody told me losing the weight I've carried for so many years would be easy but there are days when it's so hard that I can't believe it. The one thing I have learned this time around is that you have to be willing to bounce RIGHT BACK if you fall off program. Don't let yourself get dragged down by the "I did bad yesterday so I might as well blow off today (or the rest of the week) too" syndrome. OMG I sound like a pessimist (sp?). Must be cause it's Friday the 13th.

On the other hand, if you are really sticking to the program, staying for meetings, journaling your points (and your feelings), and doing some kind of exercise you can be BRILLIANTLY SUCCESSFUL!. When I'm really doing my best OP I feel so happy about myself it isn't even funny.

Anything we can do to help you along you journey to a healthier, thinner self we'll be glad to do. Everyone that posts here is well aware of the ups and downs a larger woman experiences as she tries to lose weight. We share anything that may help us along the way.

Please stop in often Liann,

Hey-ho, all!

Long, long week. We started physical therapy this week with my teen. Its almost 2 hours of driving for a 1 hour appointment - plus she has "home work". We're going to pick up a weight bench this week to make some of the exercises less awkward. She's being a trooper - remembers on her own to do the once, twice and three times a day stuff. We're also in the market for a heating pad.

We've all gotten better about our healthful eating this week - and the weather has turned soooo hike-able (but work and PT are keeping us mostly indoors).

I've started a quilt for my bed - family is coming for the holidays and someone will be in our room (my gramma, maybe) - so I want to have everything matching. *g* I'm using the fabric from the curtains as one of the fabrics in the quilt - so it'll all pull together nicely, I think.

Terri and J-ann - thanks so much for keeping the homefires burning here!

And a big WELCOME to our newest members!!

Hi ladies!

Its great to see posters again. I was just about ready to give up on this thread. Where has everyone gone? Its hard not to throw in the towel.

Its a gloomy Saturday here. It started out with a little blessed rain but has remained cloudy since. We desperately needed rain and didn't get nearly enough. I'm feeling very arthritic today. I think its the weather, too much salt lately and just plain being over 40.

Friday wasn't a good food day. DH was to be gone and I had great dreams of how I'd spend my evening. I had planned on making a pizza on my pampered chef stone, rent a few movies, do some housecleaning and then relax. Well, I didn't sleep well Thursday night and I was really tired by the time I was headed home. Homemade pizza became a Papa murphy's Hawaiian (large) since its right next door to Blockbuster. For me, pizza is a food I have trouble resisting but don't get often. I should have bought a medium. Is is rationalization to say it is very thin crust, canadian bacon and not other high fat meats and not as much cheese? I fell asleep for a half hour at 7 pm. I watched most of "Kate and Leopold" before falling asleep again. I slept through to the end (thank goodness it was rented). So, no housework was done or anything that resembles productive.

Today, DH bought me 8 lb weights. I've been using 5 lbs handweights for a long time. I don't plan on using them but every other day or so just to help with upper body definition. I showed him the medicine ball I'd like to have so he can buy that for me for Christmas if he wants. I'd like to get him to use it to to help build his back and shoulder muscles. Maybe he wouldn't have so much pain.

Liann - Welcome to the group. Congratulations on your first steps and looks like a great start towards your goals. Looks like you've got lots of great reasons to make you a healthier you. I'm looking forward to getting to know you and sharing support.

J-Ann - I've noticed that while we may not be losing as steadily as we'd like right now, we are getting better about getting right back on track.

Bunny - GF, its great to see you again. Looks like you've got a lot on your plate (not food!) right now. I'm so happy that you're daughter is getting PT and has a great outlook. That must make you very proud of her.

I better get up and get moving or doing something. Have a good weekend!