Well ... hahaha, Zumba is ... Interesting!!! We have classes available at the College I work at, and the girls want me to go to the classes with them, I'm not sure about all that!! If you have a wii or even just a dvd or whatever ... I would totally suggest getting the video's .. You will sweat!!!! I do the 45 minute class (first night I did low intensity, the second night I did medium) ... Its fun, but its a workout alright!!! I'm not sure I'd be comfortable in the class with other people because it's fast and if you dont know 'whats coming next' you can totally get lost ... plus, I have more wiggling than what I feel should be wiggling, and I dont want to go in there and embarrass myself!! lol ...

SoMuchFattitude ** Huge props to you guys and your cycling skills ... I'm terrible on a stationary bike, I could only imagine how I'd be on the real thing!! I'd need a large wall or bush to crash into to stop!! I think I've become much more uncoordinated in my old age!! lol ... I remember it being a very tough workout tho! I wasn't sure what I had gotten myself into when I went to spin class!! A 33 mile race?!?! That's a lot of miles!!! I'd be good with MAYBE 3 !!!! lol ...

I do have to say I am BEYOND excited for the concert Sunday night!! His concerts are amazing ... and he's amazing ... and ... well yeah, you know!! lol ... :cloud9:

I am going to head over to Amazon and see if I can find a few cheap ones. I have a gym membership. I just hate going alone. Or maybe I'm nervous to go alone. Idk what my reason is. Maybe I'm just lazy? I'm hoping I can find the fun in something like Zumba. Maybe one day I will learn to love working out? Haha. Maybe not.

oksoitsjen- before you buy, try your public library!!! Lucky for me I do alot of the DVD ordering at my library, and we have ALL the videos! Request that they purchase something you want if they don't have it. :D

Also! I was talking to my sister last night and she was telling me the cutest story about how she is making friends with her WW leader and they were sharing WW food recipe/non-cheats. Here is what she suggested for sweets, 1 WW vanilla protein shake, blended with... get this... a celebration cake... :hyper: I LOVE CELEBRATION CAKES. (I try to stay away from food science, but c'mon). The next one was pretty clever too.. Take some of those cinnamon sugar crisps, plop some ff cool whip, put it in the freezer.. MINI ICE CREAM SAMMICHES!

I just loved all that.

Do you guys eat the skinny cow ice cream sandwich?? I love LOVE love 'em!! I can eat one every night and still lose weight!!! Now that's what I'm talkin about!! lol ... :dizzy:

oksoitsjen ** Also, if you're comfortable, check Craigslist?! Thats where I bought mine from. A lady was getting rid of Zumba 1 and 2 and some kind of Jenny McCartney - hook up to a camera to monitor motions?!? - workout. <~~ I havent used that one yet ... But I got all 3 for 50.00 ... If you buy them separately they are like ... 40.00 each!!! If you do look into them ... I will say I like the 2nd one much better than the first one. I will tell ya tho ... They do some CrAzY dance moves on there! Even my cats stare at me while I'm doing it!! lol ...

Lunch time ... Salad with grilled shrimp .... I sure hope its good cause I'm pretty hungry today. :)

Thanks for all the suggestions ladies! One of the girls that I met through blogging lives close to me and she is going to meet me and let me borrow her Jillian Michaels 30 day shred, and a yoga video. I am going to look for Zumba. I think I will check Craigslist!! I will call the library and see what they have, too!

I eat the ww ice cream sandwiches. They are big and only 4pts. They are so so good!!!

On another note, we had lunch delivered today. I killed the whole day with Chicken marsala. I did have a big salad and grilled veggies. 0 and 1 point foods for the rest of the day! Sheesh.

I had my salad with grilled shrimp ... so proud of myself ... and then I ate a stupid cookie!! lol .. BUT, I did turn down the free pizza they brought into the office ... and thats pretty huge for me cause pizza is my weakness!!!

We gotta stay on track ladies ... we just gotta!!!!! we * will * win!!! :D :D

Zumba is SO MUCH FUN!!! I do it twice a week at the school that my mom works at. I'm the youngest one there by far....but we have such a blast!!! The hour flies by and we laugh the whole time :)

Whoa, what a day. Here's my menu.

AM green juice from juicer, 3pts
(Had an awesome early morning work out in my new DIY home gym)
AM snack, bagel thin, tofutti cream cheese, tomato, red onion 5pts

Lunch: smoked herring (I freaking love it, can't stop) 4pts
Spinach, chick pea, sliced almond,dried cherries, feta, 4pts
String cheese, 2pts

Pm snacks, ff ranch, peppers, carrots, celery 1 pt
Mini quiches, 4 pts

Dinner, shrimp with wheat pasta and tons of awesome veggies. 8pts

Daily: 34 used
10 left... I ate so much. How do I have so many left?

smashlers I don't know the real ww rules, your menus sound great to me! I would just keep doing what you're doing and see how it pays off after the first week!

I did ok today... We had lunch delivered and it really threw me off =/

Breakfast
English muffin w/strawberry jam 4pts
Coffee w/fat free creamer 2pts

Am Snack
Banana 0 pts

Lunch
Chicken Marsala w/fettucini I had to guestimate these points 16pts
Grilled mixed veggies 1pt
Large salad w/banana peppers and fat free ranch 2pts

Afternoon Snack
Strawberries

Dinner
Grilled Chicken filets 2pts
Grilled Asparagus 0pts
WW Ice cream Sandwich 4pts

Total-31pts
Unused-0

I ate every.single.point today! Hahaha!

Hope y'all had a good day!!

I'm also 29, married, with no children (my reason for wanting to drop weight is so that I can have them, lol). I do have some challenges as I am (newly) vegan, but I refuse to let starches and sugars (pasta and rice) be the staples of my diet. I am fairly certain that as a result of my weight (and how my body reacts to certain foods) I have metabolic syndrome. Sugary/starchy crap is just not an option.

When it comes to menu items, I will put links to anything that I absolutely love that I think other people will love :). You can also be assured that to the best of my knowledge, all food is free of animal products (including dairy and eggs).

Tuesday
Breakfast
2P Silver Hills Little Big Bread (2 slices) - http://www.silverhillsbakery.ca/
2P Nuts To You Nut Butter (1 tbsp) - http://www.planetorganic.ca/goodfort...tsyounutbutter
1P Real Fruit Apricot Spread (1 tbsp)

Lunch
0P Raw Kale (1 1/2 cups)
0P Roma Tomato (1 whole, diced)
0P Bell Peppers (1/4 whole, diced)
1P Hemp Hearts (1 tbsp) - http://manitobaharvest.com/category/13/Hemp-Hearts.html
1P Dressing (1 tbsp)

Dinner - We don't often eat out anymore, today was a treat day
9P 6" Subway Veggie Patty with FF Honey Mustard (no cheese)
-Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Green Pepper, Pickles, Cucumber, Banana Peppers

Snacks - I try to make sure that I eat all fruit before 1pm, and that the afternoon and evening is only veggies
3P Tall Soy Latte (spiked w/ sugar free vanilla) - http://www.starbucks.ca/
0P Large Banana
0P Medium Gala Apple
0P Medium Kiwi
0P Raw Carrots (1 cup, diced)

19P Total - I really struggle to eat all of my points. I have 44 total. I don't really ever get a chance to dig into my weekly points, and never get to touch my activity points. I know the theory is that we are supposed to eat all of our points, but I just can't. The only time I was ever able to do that was when I was binging on junk food, which wasn't an every day thing. I keep trying, though!


Sorry for the overflow of comments below, just catching up (missed my Monday forums). I'm new to this thread, though, and new to WW.

SoMuchFattitude: I personally think it would be okay. I mean, the whole point of the plus points is for us to be able to be human. I don't know that I would use them every weekend for alcohol simply because of the health affects on your body. As for the shrimp, I would look up the nutritional value, and use the calculator to be safe :).

smashlers: :welcome2:. Is your sister also on 3FC? I have major issues with trying to use up all of my points daily. I just can't eat that much. I suppose it's because I didn't gain this weight by consuming 3000 calories a day, it happened through periodic binges. Also, without meat or dairy, those calories can be hard to fill unless I use starchy carbs, like bread or sugar.

MagicEyez: Zumba is an awesome and fun way to burn calories, but holy does it kick butt, lol. I have Zumba on my xbox, but the one thing that concerned me was that it informed me that i burned 800+ calories, but my heart rate monitor said that I burned 400-ish. Congrats on your win! Have fun :). Pizza is definitely one of my weaknesses, good for you!

chickadeee55: Whether you join a meeting or not, you are MORE than welcome with us, and we'll help you all that we can :).

Chele615: Curbing those sugary carbs can be such a challenge, especially when you just get that... hankering! You can do it!

Closing this night with a pretty good dinner ... 4pt pork chop, 0 pt green beans, and some 'tators that I'm gonna guess at 2 pts since I ate VERY few!! I did an hour worth of zumba tonight ... it said 669 calories ... I'm not sure I * totally * go for their count BUT I know I worked up one heck of a sweat!!!! lol ...

Y'alls menus sound so yummy ... I sure wish I could cook!! If I attempted some of those things ... well, lets not even go there, they would be horrible!!! lol ...

I hope you ladies have an amazing night and I'll talk to y'all tmr!! :D

Good Morning Ladies,

MagicEyez - Yes, spin is definitely something that takes a lot of endurance. I started on a work out kick last year and my goal was to a specific event monthly. I have a bit of an addictive personality (hence my weight) and it started with a 5k, then a 10k, and then I started doing sprint triathlons (600yard swim/12-15mile bike/3.1run. DH is a cyclist and talked me into a 33 mile ride with him. He's crazy - and also thin so 33 miles is easy for him. Come mile 25 I was yelling every obscenity in the book at him. :rofl: I told him to do his stupid 50 milers by himself and I'll stick to my 15 mile rides. HA! Cooking isn't that hard! It's just following directions. Buy a WW Recipe book and literally just follow the directions. I grew up in a culinary/foodie family and cooking was a chore for me a kid. You can follow recipes and have great results!

oksoitsjen - The points are there to use them! WW encourages you to eat every single point and don't be afraid to dip into your weekly either! I know it's so easy to think if you don't eat them all you'll loose more/more quickly, but I've learned over the years that you end up depriving yourself and failing. This is the first time I'm following it to the T and eating all of my points and not playing those head games with myself. It feels so good to not feel deprived!

smashlers - What are these celebration cakes? I do online and not the meetings, so maybe it's a product they have in store? Maybe adding a wheat roll with a pat of butter to dinner? I've found that if I use all of my healthy requirements I can easily use my points. 1tsp of EVOO = 1pt. 1 tbsp light butter = 1pt. 1/4c. RF cheese = 2pts. Stuff like that. Throw some parm on your pasta and you add 2 pts and meet a dairy requirement. A salad w/ a light dressing with EVOO in it would a point or two, also. Just a thought. :)

MandeLea - Yeah, I think it'll probably always be a lot harder for you to reach your points, but maybe something like adding oil to your sub would help. You could incorporate more beans to your diet, too. That would help with points and protein. Like chickpeas in your salad; black beans w/ a snack? I don't drink every day at all. Just typically one day on the weekend, but it's an all day event w/ football. :lol:

-----------

I'm loving how active it's becoming in here! :D

I'm a foodie. A serious foodie. I've recently taken to baking. I love the artistic aspect and the chemistry. Fortunately I am not a sweets person so I don't feel compelled to eat it. I may have one bite at the end to critique what I've made, but it's never an issue for me. Baked goods didn't get me to my weight by any stretch of my imagination. My love for bread/butter/cheese/all things rich and savory did. Anyhow, I digress....my point is that I'm going to start taking cake decorating classes offered by a store we have here called Cake Art. They are Wilton led classes with homework and a text book and I'll get a certificate at the end. I end up baking for nearly every family/friend function and I'm never happy with my decorating skills. So, DH said to take a class. It's a month long class. :D I'm so excited!!! I'm going there tonight to sign up! EEEEEEEE!!!!

Breakfast:
2 Vans High Protein Waffles - 5pts
2 tbsp PB2 Plain - 2pts
1 banana - 0pts

AM Snack:
Apple - 0pt
Babybel Light - 1pt

Lunch:
2.5oz smoked turkey sausage - 3pts
3/4 c. rice w/ veggies in it - 4pts

PM Snack:
Fiber One Brownie - 2pts
Blueberries - 0pts

Dinner:
TBD - eating with family - 18pts left

SoMuchFattitude I am going to need to know where you get those waffles! I LOVE waffles!!!!

We are having lunch delivered again today, So I am not sure what I will eat although I brought grilled chicken and brussel sprouts!

Breakfast
Coffee w/fat free creamer 2pts (This happens every day. Love my coffee)
2 Morning Star sausage patties 4pts
Strawberry Jam 1pt

AM snack
Apple...maybe two. Depends how hungry I am. LOL!!

Lunch
Chicken Taco w/black beans and salsa 7pts
Ice cream sandwich 4pts

Afternoon snack
String Cheese 1pt
Strawberry yogurt 2pts

Late afternoon snack
Banana 0pts

Dinner
Ranch pork chops 4pts
Roasted squash 0pts
Brown Rice 5pts

I will let you all know what I decided for lunch!
Have a great day, y'all!

oksoitsjen ** Grilled chicken and brussel sprouts sound amazing!!! I love both! Truthfully, probably the brussel sprouts more than the chicken!! LoL - Sometimes its hard to stick with what we have when there is somethigna round us that sure looks good. Like yesterday ... Not only did free pizza get brought into our office by one of the professionals, left over from his meeting ... All the girls went out to eat. They asked if I wanted to go, but as much as it sounded good (I knew where they were going) - I had to say no to that as well as the pizza and eat my salad w/ shrimp. Giving in is so easy - but I was kinda proud of myself afterwards, that I stuck to my plan and ate what I knew I should be eating!

SoMuchFattitude ** I totally envy your bike riding skills ... I have a bicycle but to be honest, I'm kinda afraid to get on it ... I only see one possibility for getting off ... and that'd be by crashing!! LoL :yes:

Breakfast, Kellogg's Pop's this morning, no milk = 2 pts

I'll have my 0 pt Yogurt for a snack (Someone asked me what kind it was, but I cant remember who ... It is the Yoplait Light w/ Fiber) 0 pts on WW, 1 pt on WWPP

Lunch will be a Lean Cuisine Pizza = 8pts and a Salad with fresh squeezed lemon for dressing and a wee bit of olive oil that I always add a point for .. So a 9 point lunch

Dinner ... Umm, not sure on that one yet. I have to bowl tonigth so that always throws everything off. :chin: