Well, another busy Sunday. After church I splurged at the Chinese buffet. But, we plan a light dinner, so if I estimated my points correctly, I should just use a FP or 2. The skit at church went over GREAT. I felt truely blessed. Probably the best comments were that I almost made 2 people cry, one did, and another lady said I missed my calling and should have been an actress. I told her that I believe what I did today was my calling and I'm blessed to be able to do it. I told DH that while I like helping wherever needed in the church, but it is great to find something to do that is really a passion that I love to do. Drama can really demonstrate a message well in just a few minutes and add variety to the service. I'm already getting excited about next month's skit!
Dawny - I'm anxiously awaiting hearing from you again. I hope things are going better and this is just a rough patch. Marriage is probably the hardest thing we can do, but the pay offs are also great!
Nat - Hope you are recovering from your parties! And yes, I am quite chuffed about the WI!
Linda - I know. Some people just don't see counseling as an option for them. But, it has helped me greatly in the past. As with weightloss, there is no one right answer for everyone. Sorry the politics are bringing you down. I know DH and his dad can never have a calm discussion about it. It is now pretty much forbidden for them.
Well, time to get ready for 20 loud preteen girls!
Just nipped in quick, yesterday wasn't an easy day, DH was working am so that was some time to myself, when he returned, I was trying to be calm, and he kept losing his temper over the smallest things, even taking it out on AJ, when really, he was being quite good. We didn't talk too much during the day, or the evening when we had time to ourselves. He didn't say goodbye when he went to work this morning either. I think we need a bit of time to calm down, then maybe I will bring up the counselling idea. Not sure if he'd go for it or not, not sure what I think about it really, but I do know that things need to be sorted out, and I don't want to give up easily on my marriage. Hopefully, DH feels the same!
Anyway, thanks for your kind words, I'll keep you informed.
Melanie, so glad your drama went well. It must have been a lovely feeling to know that others enjoyed it as much as you did. Makes it all worthwhile. Hope you enjoyed the Chinese just as much!
Linda, thanks for your advice. I do take to heart what more 'experienced' people tell me about their marriages, and I'm glad to hear that its the same for everyone, not just me!
Anyway, gotta go for now, AJ needs getting washed and dressed. I'll be back later.
Hi guys!
Monday morning here. Oh joy. Not looking forward to the week ahead in some ways, but in other ways I am. Hard to explain.
Dawny, sure wish there was something I could do to make things better for you. I'll keep you in my prayers. Reading what you wrote about not saying goodbye and things like that really remind me of a few disagreements that my own DH and I have had over the years. I hate when things get that way and you go through your own day with this awful feeling in your chest that just won't go away. I hope you can figure out a way to get him communicating and "break the ice".
Well, time to start my morning.
Linda
One more thing, Dawny, it's been a long time since my DH and I have had an arguement like that, but it could happen, without warning, tonight over something. I can't even remember what our fights were about now. I hope that down the road, you will not remember what this one way about as well!
Linda
How many points in a cough drop? I have eaten about 12 million today. But, otherwise, things are good.
Dawny - Hope things start looking up soon. Just hang in there.
Well, this is a short note. Not much to report. But, this is the only day I’m working this week! So, if you don’t hear from me for a few days, it’s because of the lousy home PC I’m looking forward to getting rid of in a few weeks! I plan to clean house, watch TV, workout, cook, and play. Five of DH’s nieces and nephews are in town. Yippee! Gee. My desk looks clean. I should take off more often! Gets my butt in gear!
Well today has been an ok day i guess. Im getting a cold or something too. I have been sneezing all day. Anyways, i did my walking today. It was soo neat because i am on a yahoo group called freecycleknoxville, and what it is is people trade stuff for free. Well i advertised for a walking/exercising buddy. Well i met her today for the first time and we went walking and we are going to walk everyday thru the week in the mornings. At any rate she was telling me about a gym she belonged to so i went over there tonite and toured the place and they had a sign on special for first month free so i joined. I go to my first orientation on wed and they are going to personal train me to get me to where i want to be. They know how much weight i have to lose and they are going to show me the best way to do it. Im excited. Anyways not much more than that happening here. Eats wasnt so good today but i did stay within my ww points.
Hi there. Not much to report today, on the homefront, not too bad, playing it one day at a time!
It could be TOM coming early, but I feel a bit 'bloated' today. Hopefully nothing, I was hoping for a loss at tomorrows WI, I guess nothing I can do about it if I don't get a loss, except wait for next week!
Melanie, I wouldn't count the cough drops! 12 million of them is probably too many points to consider anyway, so just pretend you didn't really eat any at all! Enjoy a few days off work, I always find its tempting to keep raiding the fridge though if I'm home, so keep busy!
Tracy, good work on joining the gym. The thing is with gym membership I've always found is to actually go - it makes all the difference. Plus of course, you do need to get your money's worth, so make the most of the personal trainer and get working out girl!
Well got to go, tracking an item on ebay, not for me unfortunately, so I'll be back tomorrow. Take care.
Dawny, I was on "pins and needles" (do you have that saying in the UK?) waiting to hear something about you and your DH. Hope all is well. I would take great pains to make his favorite dinner (the heck with the points), do one or two of his housechold chores for him that he dislikes, offer a message, wear that special outfit he always complimented and maybe even surprise him by getting a sitter and telling him you and he need to get out together, etc. I'd bend over backwards to show that I am more than willing to meet him beyond halfway. My favorite saying is "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" and I sometimes think that is true.
Bringing up a young child can be overwhelming at times and a couple just doesn't have the same intimacy as they did in the past, do whatever you can to re-create and maybe even remind him of what you guys HAVe together.
Melanie, if I am sick I don't count points for things like cough drops, etc. If I feel the need for them, that is that. I think we all agreee on that! Considering that they help you with your symptoms and all that, they are worth it. Baby yourself a bit.
Tracy, glad to hear you are joining a gym, also I'm confused with the remark "eats wasn't so good but stayed within flex points". In my humble opinion, any time I stay in my points range is a "good" day for what I ate! Certainly, you want to eat a balanced diet with fruits, veggies and the like, of course, but if you stayed in your range, I'd be happy!
As for me, today was weigh in day and I gained .8. Honestly, I am kind of confused. I was able to do some yard work to earn points this week. I didn't use all my flex points (first time in about 4 or 5 weeks that has happened), yet I gain. I used my treadmill, I drank water, I journalled. I did everything right and had a gain. On some of the weeks when I have been a "very bad girl" I still had a loss. One of my peers in ww today said, "maybe you didn't eat enough". Hmmm..... I only wish that was so!
I don't want to gain this week as well, but Thanksgiving is on Thursday and I don't have much hope of losing. We'll see what happens!
Linda
Hello all! Yippee! My home computer is behaving today.
I didn't count anything for the cough drops and I did baby myself a bit. I had enough points that I got a strawberry sundae without using FPs. And, I'm having a good day off. Lazy morning followed by an hour workout. Now, I'm cooking for the church dinner tonight and prepping some things for Thursday. So, I am staying busy and thanks to the lingering stuffiness, I've avoided the munchies pretty well.
My plan for tonight is to just have the items that look most tempting and try not to stuff myself. I still have some FPs and my week starts over Thursday, so I'll have a whole new batch of FPs for Thanksgiving!
Linda - sorry about the gain. It is odd, but it just happens sometimes. It could be gone with more next week. Just stay on track and it will go away.
Dawny - glad things are calming down. I really like Linda's advice on treating him special. Sometimes we need to be the ones to make the first effort even if we don't wanna. Good luck with ebay. I'm watching something for DH for X-mas too. Good luck to both of us.
Tracy - great news on the gym. I miss my membership. Funny. Now that I've gotten into the exercise groove, I can't afford it. Before, I paid and didn't go!
Well, back to the kitchen! I've got about 2# of carrots to peel!
Melanie, hope the church dinner goes well and is fun! I could use something like that in my life, but nothing like that is on my schedule. OH well. Hope you stay in your points range for the day with Thanksgiving coming!
More on the point I was trying to get at before.... take this advice from an "old married lady" who has "seen it all".
I really have found that sometimes in a marriage you have to extend yourself and be the peacemaker. Even when you KNOW you are right, I am not saying to be a wishy washy Stepford Mom type of person here, but a graceful, forgiving person who totally tries to see the other side of things.... kind of a role reversal thing?
If you always try to put yourself in the other person's shoes in any disagreement (hard to do for me with teens in my house sometimes - more on that when I have more time later) you might just learn something about yourself. I am not perfect, what a surprise! Wow, what an enlightening thing that was for me to learn!
My DH tells me that I can be very selfish at times, yet I don't see that. He will explain what HE sees me doing and if I really think about it, and it is SO hard to admit that I would have any kind of flaw, I can see what he means. I am not necessarily admitting the err of my ways to him, (God forbid I admit I was wrong!!!!) but I have taken on a "kill them with kindness" approach more than once in my family to prove a point that I can and will bend over backwards to put their needs ahead of mine. That is what love is all about, after all. If we do this for those we love, we ultimately should find they do this kind of thing for us as well?
I can wrap DH around my little finger sometimes (whoops, hope he doesn't read this stuff I write, I doubt he has time!) and he never even realizes! Just doing a few extra things that are downright simple and nice can turn him around. Do you guys ever pick up the phone and call your spouse just to say "I love you" in the middle of the day and nothing else but that? Wow, that makes their day! Remember when you were dating and madly in love and you counted the hours til you saw each other? I sometimes, send him an e-mail, out of the blue (and I think I will right after this!) and say, "I miss you and wish you were home". That lets him know I appreciate him and I am thinking about him, and I truly am! Bring the small romantic things BACK!
I tuck notes into his lunch that he brings to work now and than (not every day as it would be boring then!) and just write "I love you" and draw a heart of something silly. He opens his lunch in the middle of a boring day to have lunch at his desk as he works so hard and will find an unexpected treat from me!
Occasionally, I will get up in the morning after he's left and find a tiny love note that he left me on a post it note on my coffee pot that says he wishes he could stay home with me. Take the time and remind yourselves of why you are together and the feelings that you had originally and you will stay together through thick and thin!
Well, enough philosophy for one day... time to get some laundry done and perhaps even do some cleaning, something I am accused of NOT doing quite often!
Linda
Hey what i meant by my comment was here lately i have been eating like once a day and using all my points within that one eating.. its usually mcdonalds or pizza.. so i havent been going over my points but need to eat more healthy and more, but smaller meals.
Tracy, my dear, that actually is not the best choice and you know it. It is certainly not going to sustain you over a 24 hour period in the long run. So, now that you've clarified this, you have just got to stop doing this!
Are you too busy to make decent meals? Are you "addicted" to these foods and having them is so important that you must starve yourself at other times? Think seriously about this, only you know the answers. Once you break the cycle and this addiction to this kind of food, you will find the weight comes off more easily and you will be more able to resist these things. I'm not perfect, I break down and have certain foods too, but you need to have smaller more balances meals to be successful.
For your weight, how many points are you allowed in one day?
Perhaps we can brainstorm and come up with some satisfying menus that will fit in with your lifestyle. We can all help you if you try.
I can only have 20 points a day right now and it's awfully hard to stay on track. The foods I want can be intoxicating at times. I have a saying that I use to DH, at times, "I could kill for chocolate" and it is not literal, but he knows how I am struggling, not daily, but hourly, to conquer this.
MacDonalds and pizza, and things like that are ok in moderation, once in awhile, as treats. You've got to figure out ways to be satisfied. If you are in a position where you work somewhere that they send out for food and this is your addiction, get salads! A grilled chicken salad with lite dressing from MacDonalds is something like 6 points. With a diet soda and perhaps a SMALL order of fries for 5 points, you can still feel part of the crowd? If you get more points than I do, certainly the small fries might be a once or twice a week consideration???? But, would that trigger a binge?
If you get pizza, is this a place where you can exercise portion control and order by the slice? Order a slice and a large garden salad with lite dressing! You can do this!
Let us help!
Here is what I have to eat on a typcial day:
Breakfast:
2 slices lite bread, toasted with one triagle of Laughing Cow lite cheese spread in between, eaten like a sandwich. Cut in fourths, having FOUR pieces makes me feel like I am eating MORE! Two Points
One apple. To get my sweet tooth satisfied, I sometimes cut up my apple and put Splenda and cinnamon over top and microwave it covered in plastic wrap with a few holes poked into it. I think it tastes like applie pie and is more satisfying! One Point
*sub-total 3 points for the day so far.
Of course, I am drinking my water and by the time breakfast is done, I've had two of my waters for the day! I keep water with me all the time and never am without all the water I should drink for the day!
Lunch: Soup, 1 point . I generally have Five Can Soup (one can diced tomatoes, one can Progresso soup, one can of black beans, drained, white corn, drained, and Veg-All, drained. One cup = one point)
Some form of protien such as 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese. 2 points
(I sometimes have tuna for 3 points or a salad with lite dressing and kidney beans as well for 3 points)
16 low fat wheat things, 2 points.
I spread the cheese on top of the wheat thins, it's yummy!
tea with one point WW chocolate cake or one point chocolate rice cake, one point
Sub-total 9 points
mid afternoon, 3 cups lite microwaved popcorn, one point
sub-total 10 points.
Activity for the day = 2 points earned
Remaining total by dinnertime is 12 points
Dinner will be (using an example here )
One split chicken breast without skin, 3 points
one cup rice with margarine = 5 points
vegetable or salad, one point margarine or one point salad dressing
Remaining points after dinner: 3
Now, I can have a 3 point ww dessert!
I always make sure to leave at least 2 points for a dessert, it's necessary for me to do this. Some days I eat different things and have to use some flex points for dessert, but I always have dessert as I will feel deprived.
If you start feeling deprived regularly, it is the largest contributor to failure, I feel.
I know, as your weight is higher than mine that you have more points, but you sure can use my example (and hopefully the rest of our group will post some sample days for you to learn from) and space your points out throughout the day.
Even if you are working full time, you can make lower point lunches and bring snacks.
Good luck, keep tying to do better! You need to take care of yourself!
Now, I really have to get rolling!
Linda
Thanks Linda for the encouragement. I get 34 points a day. Its not really that i starve myself to where i feel i need to eat all 34 points at one sitting, i just dont think much about eating. Sometimes ill eat a banana for breakfast. I almost always drink my water though, i love good cold water. I have been doing my exercise pretty regularly. I have found a work out buddy. My only deal now is portion and healthy. Tomorrow is weigh in. I hope i have lost that .6 to make it an even 5 lbs for me. I do have trouble with finding things to take though because i am way to busy to cook. and probably shouldnt be saying this but to prove a point i will. i live with my grandmother and my uncle. Well my uncle is a lazy azz, he never works just sits around the house all day long and eats and sponges off of everyone. So needless to say. Even if i do buy groceries for me to take to work and school. He always gets into them while im out making something of myself.
Tracy, I feel for you, I really do. I found a bit of humor in something you said, though, what about buying stuff you know you like but your uncle doesn't like? That would fix that problem!
Also, sounds really strange, but you probably own a car and can you keep non-perishable foods that are totally YOURS in your car to keep others away from them? How about a suitcase that locks, do you own one? You could easily lock your own personal foods that are YOURS and you paid for and are healthy for you up and put the suitcase in a closet. This can be done quietly, without making a big deal and accusing your uncle. Sounds like he could use some therapy and weight watchers himself! Sad thing and you should be proud that you are pulling yourself up and out of that! You go girl!
I found that Phillidelphia cream chease is making these packages with a bagel and cream chease at my grocery store in the dairy section. It's all set up to be portable and really makes a nice lunch. I gave my daughter a few of those to bring to school and she really liked them. Not sure if you would have them, but the entire package, with the cheese, is something like 4 points. You could bring that to work with an apple or other fruit and have a very nice, and easy, five point lunch. They must be refrigerated, but you can buy them on the way to work vs. keeping them at home!
Also, do you like lentil soup? Progresso Lentil soup is really healthy and 1 cup is only two points! I think the entire can might be something like 1.6 servings or something really odd like that (hate when they don't have one or two full "servings" in the container, don't you all?). You could open the can, pour them into a container and maybe microwave that at work, or use a thermos? Most places have microwaves nowadays. If you have two pieces of lite bread and that soup, all that fiber will be healthy and fillling! You could then add carrots, grape tomatoes and maybe a piece of fruit? I am not envious of how much weight you have to lose, but I sure am envious of how many points you get per day right now!
Also, microwavable popcorn can be quite portable. If you don't have a micro at work, pop it at home and fill a gallon sized zip lock bag with it and bring it along. Again, these packages are small and you could certainly keep that in your car or tuck them into a bureau drawer to keep others away from them!
Tracy, just so share this, if I totally let myself "go" I could easily weigh as much as you do, if not more. I know I have this trait in my family, I have a cousin who is probably about your weight and only 5'5" tall, and an aunt who is almost the same way, and they are both on opposite sides of the family. My grandmother, who I resemble greatly, was almost as wide as she was tall! She found out she was a diabetic when she was about my age. I see all of this obesity in my family and live in fear of it.
This drives me to exercise, to eat what I know is good for me, and to always put myself and my needs on the "front burner".
Don't allow things getting "difficult" to get in your way to a healthy life, you deserve that!
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.... we should probably all have a conversation about what this day will mean to us all here in the US in terms of eating and working our way through this.
For those of you who are not in the US, you can surely recognize what a day of mixed emotion this is. Thanksgiving is a day set aside to give thanks and also kind of celebrate the bounty of the harvest, in other word a huge feast! Most families get together and anything goes as far as food is concerned! Turkey dinners are traditional, but I've heard of hams, lasagne, seafood, and of couse, tons of desserts!
This year, our applie pie, at least, will be made with Splenda! I'll be "safe" with that!
What activities do we plan on doing to counteract these extra foods?
I will be on my treadmill for sure tomorrow morning!
Linda
Good afternoon to you all. Wow, some deep and meaningful posts to get through today!
Melanie, hope you get what you want on ebay too. I won my item, but it was a boring tool thingy for DH to use at work - not exactly my idea of fun shopping! The Christmas shopping is going quite well so far, despite lack of funds, not too many to get now.
Tracy, listen to Linda's words, she's very wise and knows her stuff! I think that the principle behind WW, and any other diet out there is getting your mind into gear first, and that's to change to a whole new healthy lifestyle, not just losing a few pounds. Once you really, really want to get healthy, nothing will stand in your way. You need to believe in yourself and put in the effort - I know you can do this. You have made the important first step in admitting that you need to get on track and sort yourself out, it's just a case of finding the best way of actually doing that. WW is the easiest way I have found of losing weight and eating healthily, (and of course our programme is so much more basic than yours!) take some of Linda's idea's, see if you can put even a couple of them into practice - once you see the results this can make, the rewards will be yours to take. A few more pounds lost just makes you want to work even harder to lose a few more. Before you know it you are slim, fit healthy and jogging around the block with the best of them! (ok, so the last bit takes a bit extra work, but you get the idea?)
My daily menu goes something like this. (don't pay too much attention to the points values, as ours differ slightly to the US)
Breakfast: crunchy nut cornflakes with skimmed milk, medium glass orange juice. 4 pts
snack: apple .5 pts
lunch: no fat yoghurt, 2 satsumas, sandwich made with 2 slices WW bread and some wafer thin ham ( I don't eat butter or other spread at all), low fat cereal bar . 4.5 pts
afternoon snack: packet Lf crisps occasionally (potato chips)_ 1.5pts or 2/3 plums .5 pts
evening meal: typical - spaghetti bolognese. eg. 225grams (cooked wt) pasta, 100grams very lean steak mince, tin tomatoes, italian style oxo cube, onions, sometimes red peppers (ok, I'm not a good cook!) 6 pts.
supper: depending what points I have left, maybe 2 slices WW bread, toasted with a laughing cow cheese triange spread on top. (yes, we are addicted to them on here!)
1.5pts, or maybe a glass of wine occasionally 3pts(a v. large glass!)
I only get 18 pts per day to use, which sometimes doesn't really seem enough, but I don't go hungry. I couldn't do this thing if I did. If I can do it anyone can!
Linda, I've taken note of what you said to me and in general I do agree that we have to get on with things, usually 'take the blame' to some extent, and treat our DH's with kid gloves, let them think they are in the right, when we know they very rarely are!
Yesterday, he was quite chatty, but there is definitely still tension in the air, maybe after my WI tonight, I will cook a nice meal and try to break the ice a bit. I haven't mentioned counselling to him, maybe I will, maybe I won't, I'm not sure, I just want to get our lives back. I feel that our marriage just hasn't been the same since we had AJ, we used to be the best of friends, would spend every moment that we weren't working together, and would really enjoy each others company. We really wanted a baby, yet from the moment we got pregnant things started to change. Then, with sleepless night, nappies,etc, for obvious reasons, things have never been the same. We argue lots - something we never used to do, and usually about the most stupid things, odd socks or a speck of dust maybe, then we fall out and it can take days to get back any sense of normality. I'm aware that now we have a child, things can never really be the 'same', but it would be nice for things to be good in a different way, but they are not. I will take your advice, oh wise one, and make the effort, if he can't see it, then it's his loss as far as I'm concerned. There's only so many times you can fill his tummy with yummies!!! I'll keep you posted. I don't really like taking up all the room on here with non-forum related problems, general chit chat is one thing, but real problems are another. If I need to moan more, would you mind if I emailed you? Even if you delete it straight away, it would help to get things off my chest. Thanks.
Anyway, back to other matters. I'm due to become a granny shortly. My step daughter Kirsty is due today. Not in labour yet though as far as we're aware, you'll be the first to know when I have to start wearing specs at the end of my nose and carpet slippers to go to the shops! It'll give us something else to think about at any rate!
Better go, I feel as if I've been typing forever. See ya later.
I told her that I believe what I did today was my calling and I'm blessed to be able to do it. I told DH that while I like helping wherever needed in the church, but it is great to find something to do that is really a passion that I love to do. Drama can really demonstrate a message well in just a few minutes and add variety to the service. I'm already getting excited about next month's skit! 
So, if you don’t hear from me for a few days, it’s because of the lousy home PC I’m looking forward to getting rid of in a few weeks! I plan to clean house, watch TV, workout, cook, and play. Five of DH’s nieces and nephews are in town. Yippee! Gee. My desk looks clean. I should take off more often! Gets my butt in gear! 
