Good morning Lifers, soon-to-be Lifers, and anyone else lurking Feel free to join us!

Well I'm happy to report that I lost 3.6# on Fast Track last week. We had our WI at the Center yesterday morning and I've managed to rid myself of the Christmas weight gain. I'm going to go for another week and hopefully get a little closer to my personal goal.

So how's everyone else doing? We're having a balmy spell here...it's 45 this morning although from what I've heard it's going to be short-lived. The cold & snow are waiting in the wings!

Lala, Domina, Susan: Hi! Hope you had a great weekend!

Woo-hoo, Melissa. Congrats to you. That is great. What is Fast Track. When I went to a meeting, there were people talking about a CD, but our meeting place had run out of them. Is it a new program?

I had a good weekend watching lots of football. Unfortunately, it means some snacking (remember Chex Mix??) There went my resolve to lose that 1.5# I gained over Christmas. Ugh!

My DH and I had a good weekend working around the house. We are not very handy, but we managed to work on a support post on our back porch, replace a ballast in a light fixture, and hooked up some audio visual equipment. We were proud of ourselves.

I am going to do a much better job this week of watching what goes in the big mouth!!

I have a show this Sunday and I really want to look good on stage. Some of my gowns are form-fitting. Hmmm, that should be motivation enough!

Hello to Susan and lala.

Hi ladies,

Oy Domina -- My skirt is form fitting. Grr. I have a week of skirts and they all better not be this tight. Good on ya for getting the home repairs on the way. Must be nice to do work outside and not to have to wear coat and gloves.

Pat yourself on the back -- only 1.5# gained. whoo hoo.

Melissa -- I am soo excited for you! Great job on sticking to the program. I'm excited to get new materials tomorrow, not excited about what mr. scale will say.

Susan -- How is the training going? I understand its very cold up your way.

Well, had a very bad eating weekend and a marginally productive weekend at home. We bought a new desk for my study and a new filing cabinet. I moved or shredded tons of stuff and now will control my destiny with one active file cabinet drawer. Hows that for decluttering? I also went through a bunch of other stuff and decluttered it, but still need to find homes for some of it. I kind of wish we could have one of those home experts come and figure out what would make this one room work. After living there for 13 years, its still not hanging together. Oh well, its a 1924 house, not a lot of closet space.

Spent friday afternoon at the emergency vet with Jacques who managed again to get into a chocolate confection. He's fine thank god, but we're being really careful about all things chocolately and tempting to low slung bassets.

Okay, off to review my talks for the week.

Have a great week ladies.

lala

lala, good to hear from you. I'm sorry about Jacques; what type of dog is he?

A 1924 house? That must be very interesting. You're right though that they didn't have much closet space. I think they used standing wardrobes back then.

I was good today. I ate some leftover beef stir fry for lunch.

Ditto to Susan: how's the training?

Morning everyone.

As luck would have it, my training is not going well. I'm at home again today; sick with a cold all weekend. I'm not surprised really; felt rather odd Wed and Thurs of last week, and it hit with a vengeance on Friday. The good news is that it's at the start of the training and I don't anticipate a problem catching up.

Congrats Melissa on the excellent loss. I am anxious to get to a meeting this weekend and see what the new materials look like. I could use a kick-start. I still have my eye on a 7-lb loss by Feb. 14th but I need to get with the program, as they say.

lala/Domina: My jeans are form-fitting at the moment. I'm fighting the urge to change into sweats at every opportunity. This is not good.

Since I was home yesterday, I saw the Dr. Phil program and it was a progress report on his latest weight loss challenge group. Do any of you have the book? I must say I was tempted to run out and buy it after hearing about their success. But I have to ask myself if there's anything new in this or just the same stuff I already know. Anyone??

Good morning! Another blustery day here in PA. The roads were pretty icy on the drive in to work; I feel bad for anyone who had any distance to drive (I live a little over a mile away from work). I'm hoping the roads a clearer at noon because I had thought about taking a quick run to the store but if the roads are still nasty I'll be staying in.

Classes started here yesterday so the campus is once again alive with students. I'm sure they're not happy with the weather though!

Lala, Domina, Susan: You'll all be fine and will get back on track...we all take a little scenic route every now and then. I'm fighting the weather and the urge to just burrow in and eat, eat, eat.

Lala: The flat that DH and I first rented had 2 tiny, and I mean tiny, closets so I understand the dilemma of not having enough room. I hope Jacques is doing better.

Susan: I hope you're feeling better! DS #2 is coming down with something, he's all stuffed up and he's really pale (sure sign for him!) and I fight with him to get to bed at a decent time so he can get enough rest. I haven't been following Dr. Phil--he kind of grates on me.

All in all things are moving along...I'm working 2 extra meetings this week for WW and by Saturday I'll probably be wishing I hadn't but the extra $$ will be nice for my trip in February.

Hi ladies,

Jacques is a basset hound and recently just a chow hound. Last week it was applets and cotlets, this week, chocolate. Needless to say, we're watching him like hawks.

Closets -- I'm glad we don't have too many, but I would die for a real linen closet.

Well I weighed in today. Up 3# from before xmas. This would explain the exceedingly tight skirt of yesterday and the tight skirt of today. I did get the new materials and will check out the dvd tonight. I have all week meetings downtown, so I have little time for the gym unless I carve it out. I will probably return there tonight to finish up my paltry work out of today.

Last nights dinner was atricious. Lemon drop martini, some emadame, some turkey chili and baked chips and a night cap of cereal and soymilk w/ half a banana. The martini was the best part. I love meetings.

Susan -- get well soon. Sorry to hear you caught a cold.

Melissa -- Be careful driving and pm me about London if you want. I'm going next Thursday and will make a concerted effort to scope more things out in your hood.

Domina -- I love our house, it has had some strange remodels, but its still a nicely appointed old craftsman bungalow.

off to listen to propeller heads (not my term) talk about well, networked supercomputers saving the world on forecast system at a time.



lala

Melissa, I always disliked icy roads; driving in snow was okay, but not ice.

Susan, I hope you're on the mend. DH kicked his cold in about 4 days--Coldeeze and Alka Seltzer cold medicine. I don't know about Dr. Phil's diet stuff; I haven't really paid attention. The trouble is that I think he needs to lose a few pounds!!

DH and I have been looking into the BlueNose, but the website doesn't have a lot of information yet and they want our money by the end of the month. I want to know about accomodations and if there are any airlines giving deals, etc.

lala, meeting city for you!! That's terrible to have meeting after meeting.

As Melissa said, I'm fighting the urge to burrow in. We've had cold weather here--40s in the morning. Yes, that's cold for us.

Good morning everyone!

Thankfully the roads were pretty clear by the time I left work yesterday. I don't mind driving in snow--ice is my #1 of dislikes in driving conditions. It's supposed to snow a little more today and then the temps are supposed to drop and we'll be lucky to get into the teens tomorrow.

Lala: I can't imagine having to sit through meeting, after meeting, after meeting...I'd be pulling my hair out and heading for the snacks when I got done! I don't do well having to sit in one spot for very long, If you have any questions about the Fast Track I might be able to answer them for you. I'm finishing up week 2 of using the High Protein menu. I feel really good and haven't been hungry using it; in fact, some of the days I've actually felt stuffed at the end of meal!

Domina: I know 40 is cold for you; I talked to my GF in Clearwater over the weekend and she was commenting on the cold temps there. 40 sounds like a heat wave to me.

Susan: Hi! Are you feeling any better?

Well, off to get some paperwork done...I'll check in later after my meeting today at noon. Have a good morning!

Good morning everyone. I'm back at work and feeling a lot better, thank you. Some of that is due to killer nasal spray that I took last night so that I could sleep. It should wear off soon

Melissa: It's freezing cold here too. The roads are icy as a result, but we really don't have all that much snow. This is not supposed to let up until some time on the weekend. Glad I have my treadmill.

Domina: Yes, they've been rather slow with information on the website, haven't they? Hopefully you'll get the info you need soon. I too think Dr. Phil could lose a few himself

lala: I don't miss day-long meetings. Most of the time, you can accomplish what you need to in much less time, but people tend to go on and on, don't they? Don't be too discouraged with the gain; sounds like Fast Track may be the answer for both of us. I'm anxious to see the details.

Hi Ladies,

I noticed the subarctic temps in the east today. Please be careful.

I giving two papers tomorrow at said meeting. Some of the talks have been really good and this lunchtime I'm going to hear a panel that did a review of our government line office and is making recommendations to consolidate some labs. Er, this could affect us big time. Should be good for some heartburn. Yesterday's sessions were actually really interesting and I learned a few things. Today I'm going to try and get a bit of ann taylor shopping in after the last session.

Made it to the gym this am and did 45 minutes on the elliptical. I have a standing appointment with my trainer starting on Mondays. I am happy to get a permanent slot.

Melissa, I take it you take one from each category to fill your food allotment. I was handed a dvd/packet with no explanation what so ever.

Everyone else, have a very on program day!

lala

Susan: I'm glad you're feeling better. Being sick drags you down and it's hard to do anything. I wonder if "Dr Phil" has followed his own program?

Lala: From what I understand they're going to be talking about the Fast Track next week. In any case, yes, you pick from each column. Just watch dinner because the last column you pick 2 for a total of 4 points. It's worth the extra effort. I'm down 6.8# since January 4th with this plan. It takes planning and making sure you have everything.

I was down 5.2# since my last WI on 12/31/03 when I weighed in today. I'm so close to my personal goal of 135 that I can see it!

Temps have been hovering around 17 F here...and it's snowing again. They have Lake Effect Storm warnings out with 5-7" or more possible by tomorrow morning. Ugh! Only good thing is that I can get some AP's shoveling snow!

Melissa --
I am going to look at what I have in my pantry and try this for the next few weeks. I have a valentine's day goal of my 10% so that would be a good kick in the pants.

I am back at work to try and wrap up my talks. I had a sucessful foray into the ann taylor shoe department with two pairs of sling back mules I had been coveting down to 29.99 and 39.99 from 99.00 each, so I'm pleased. I'll wait for pants until I'm back down a bit.

I see you can have 6 egg whites as a replacement for 1 egg on this new program, so I'm going to be hitting the store on the way home. I'm seeing a goat cheese, spinach and egg white omelette for breakfast tomorrow.

lala

Melissa: Wow - congratulations!! Regardless of the new program, it takes effort to stick to it, so give yourself a big pat on the back.

lala: M-m-m, new shoes, and at such a good price! I've been trying to stay out of the stores. I get so wrapped up in "all the money I saved" that I often end up with things that don't go with anything else in my wardrobe. It sounds like you stick to a plan when you shop. I could take lessons.

I think I may be down a pound or so and am anxious to weigh in on Saturday morning. Hope it has warmed up a little by then. Looks like my running will be indoors for the next few days at least. Too bad, really; the sun is shining and there's not a cloud in the sky

Hi Domina.

Good afternoon! Well the "Alberta Clipper" appears to have left our region--it caused quite a few accidents yesterday and lots of snow. Can't say I'm unhappy that it's moved on.

Lala: I'm a shoe collector as well and was just commenting to one of the girls in the office this morning that I need a pair for walking while in London that would be functional as well as comfortable. I'm thinking about hitting the stores over the weekend to see what's out there.

Susan: It's still cloudy here and we've had intermittent snow showers this morning. Temps have been steadily falling...it's down to 10 and it's supposed to get colder later on. It was 15 when I came to work this morning. I doubt I'll be able to get outside and do much walking over the next few days.

Domina Hi!