Hi, Turtles,

Welcome, Mom4! My best advice agrees with the advice of Mousie and Lauren. Keep going. 50 pounds in slightly less than a year is actually a very safe rate, especially for a person with a lot of pounds to lose.

I know that it can seem like you'll "never" get there. But, as I mentioned in my previous (and very long post :lol: ), focusing too much on the goal can end up sabotaging the journey. You're doing great.

And, as Lauren said, learning the lessons we need to maintain that goal is so important. One of the main reasons we've chosen the turtle journey is because we're tired of doing this over and over and over again. We hope that by going slowly and deliberately we will learn what we need to do to make this our last journey to goal and then allow us to maintain that goal.

So, again, welcome. We're glad to have you join us on our journey. Be prepared--some of us turtles (especially me ;) ) are very long-winded. But we need the writing to help keep us going, so we don't apologize for our wordiness. Feel free to write as much or as little as you need to write in order to help you on your journey.

Mousie, good luck on your test. Just keep thinking--"I'm not a chemistry major. I don't have to spend the rest of my life doing this. Just get through this class. Pass it and I'm done with it." That's what I always did with the classes I didn't like very much. Mostly general education math and stuff like that.

Judy, I'm so glad my suggestion was helpful. Your suggestion about using a ribbon for keeping track of my measurements is one I'm planning to take. It's TOM, though, so I'm going to wait until the bloat is gone before I start using the ribbon. My plan is to keep it even simpler. I have no intention to ever need the full length again, so instead of marking the ribbons, I'm going to just cut them shorter as I lose the inches.

Lauren, you've been very steadily losing for a while now. Maybe your body is just taking a small breather to adjust to those losses. I know that it's very disappointing when we see those little blips in the scale numbers. But, I'm sure that those pounds will come off, since you're so cool and not panicked (OK, this writer is going crazy. No matter how I spell that word, it looks wrong! That's how I spell, by how words look.) and just keeping on doing what you know is working for you. Write it all down, as you always do, and I know that you will see the numbers move.

Things are going well for me with WW. I'm OP, but today I'm taking a break from my walking. The weather is awful today and my back aches from TOM and I'm really tired. I will probably take a nap instead of that walk. I know that exercise can help with TOM, but today my body is saying, "Rest". Actually, I haven't even gotten dressed yet, and that's really unusual for me.

It looks like we're going to be on our own for Thanksgiving. My mother and my brother will be alone at her house, but because of our transportation issues, we can't go there. Because of their respective health problems, neither of them can drive here. It's really frustrating. But, my family hasn't been all together for several months. I'm so looking forward to having both of my sons home with me and cooking a special meal for them and my dh and me.

Hope you all are preparing your strategies for the food fest of the year. Thanksgiving can be a real challenge since it is literally about food! But, luckily, the main course is actually pretty healthy. I'm not worried because I will be choosing the menu and I have some terrific recipes that my family loves. I also have some I've wanted to try for a long time and since I don't have to take the tastes of my extended family into consideration, I can experiment a little.

If any of you are cooking and need low(er) point recipes, let me know. Or if you have an old family favorite that everyone just "has to have" and it has a bazillion points, send it to me and I'll see if I can make some suggestions that will cut the points without ruining the recipe.

Hope all of you are having a great day!

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin
272/238/135 or so

Wow, there's a lot to respond to, but here goes:

Mom4,
Welcome, glad to have you posting here. You asked for specific tips to speed up the process. I don't have any. But I can help you feel better about what's happening. So many of us have been through what is happening to you. I think what I want to say is to put yourself in the present. Be happy about the hard work you've put into yourself this past year. Be happy about that lovely weight loss. You must feel and look so much better. Now put yourself in the today. Don't worry about more than five pounds that you want to lose. The next five pounds. After that we'll talk about the *next* five pounds. But for now, let's concentrate on the task at hand. Here at this site we understand that a million things can slow a weight loss. I think the other girls covered the possibilities really well. We also know that staying OP and exercising gets great results. So, I don't have a magic pill. I have talked to two gals at my WW mtg. group who have each lost over 200 pounds. One did it in a year and a half. She was in her late twenties at the time, exercised like crazy, and ate the least that WW allowed at the time. The other one was older, ate full points, couldn't exercise at first because her legs wouldn't allow her to (she swims now). It took her five years. Today they both look great. Of course everyone wants a really fast weight loss, but it doesn't always work that way. I wish you the best of luck. We;re here for support. It sure sounds like you've got a lot to offer, so thanks for posting here.

Lin,
I sure am interested in recipes for the holidays. Do you want me to send you my e-mail address? I think your Thanksgiving with your sons will be lovely. I am so glad you're OP and losing weight. This is just the best!

Lauren,
I remember when you've *peaked* before at the scale and by the time theWI comes, you're okay. You've also been doing extrememly well and you're my role model right now. These little blips affect us so badly, but let's both try to stay with the reality of the program and remember that in a normal weight loss cycle, some weeks some of us go up at the scale.

Mousie,
I had to take biochemistry in college which isn't as hard as organic chem., and I still shudder. Not my forte. But you've been doing really well with your marriage and coping and weight loss and getting back to school and working. So, egads!! I'm glad you had the day to study and I'm sending you good test-taking vibes to help you through your exam. Good luck!

All goes well here with me. I had another very challenging weekend with food and my kids being here. We celebrated my dh's birthday yet again and that involves food with us. I made a million good choices, had a great day yesterday, have my breakfast/lunch/snacks packed for today and am down a pound on my home scale. I'll weigh in on Wednesday at WW and hope to see another loss. Wish me luck. I love everyone's ideas and focus points on how to work this program. I am starting over today at this weight, forgetting about the amt. of time it took me to get here, and focusing on doing the right thing for myself each day.

love and good vibes,
Judy
234/209/199#by Christmas!!!!!!!;) :cool:

Hi, Turtles

Judy, send me an email and tell me what recipes you'd like. I have a lot of them and would be happy to send you any that could help your weight loss over this often stressful season. My email is in my profile.

I am so glad that you're so positive about this journey right now. It sounds as if you've really figured out what you needed to do. Way to go! I also congratulate you on your decision to forget how long it took to get to your current weight. When I get to feeling that it's taking so long, I'm going to reread your post to Mom4 about the difference between the two ladies who both lost over 200 pounds. It's really inspiring to hear about someone who was persistent enough to reach her goal, even though it seemed to be taking so much longer than the rest of the people around her. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks for the kind words. I am still OP. I did substitute a nap for a walk yesterday, but I really needed it. Today, I was back to my normal routine, including that walk. I've noticed that I tend to eat higher in my range on the days I walk, but on the days I skip (once or sometimes twice in a week), I tend to eat around my minimum points. That seems to be working pretty well right now.

Gotta go! Hope you all are having a great day!

Happy turtlin'! :cool:

Lin
272/238/135 or so

Hello, fellow tortoises. As always, such good posts. Lin, I want a good stuffing recipe with low points. That's my favorite Thanksgiving/Christmas treat. We only have it during those two holidays. I also have a cranberry compote recipe that came from my grandma -- last year I tried using 1/2 sugar and 1/2 Splenda at your suggestion, I think, and it came out pretty good. This year I may up the sugar a bit but cut out the nuts, just let people sprinkle nuts on top if they want.

Judy, there's apparently a great pumpkin pie recipe over on Dotti's (www.dwlz.com) that's a whopping 8 points for the WHOLE PIE. I've heard it's very good. I plan to check it out.

Judy, I loved hearing about the two women who've lost 200 pounds. No one in my WW meetings has lost even as much as I have, so it's wonderful to hear about other large losers -- and such different journies.

Well, I was up THREE (3) whopping pounds tonight at weigh-in! :eek: Don't know what's up with that, but I suspect (hope) it's a combination of Celebrex and ovulation! I ended the week with banked points and 5.5 hours of exercise, so I don't think it's fat. :) I did have a couple of high-point days, though, and I also think (gulp) that it's time to go down a point range. Realistically, I've been eating at a lower point range for a few weeks now, since I've banked so many points.

My foot feels fine, so I think I'll cut the Celebrex out tomorrow. It's giving me indigestion anyway.

Tonight, my WW leader passed out paper plates and had us write down on them what we planned to eat for Thanksgiving dinner. Then she showed us a list of point values for most common Thanksgiving foods. It was a great exercise, because it made me stop and look at exactly what I wanted to have and what it would cost me, and what other choices I might want to make. My "dinner" came to 19.5 points, which is actually do-able for the day. That's assuming, though, that I can figure out a lower-point stuffing recipe! :)

Well, I'm still going to post my home weight numbers for now, which are up 2 pounds for the week.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/206/199 by Christmas

Hi, Turtles,

Ladies, look for your recipes sometime tomorrow. I'm working on Thanksgiving dinner plans and recipes today and tomorrow. I haven't made Thanksgiving dinner for a few years, so the recipes haven't been input into MasterCook, yet.

Lauren, since you know that Celebrex and your hormones cause you to retain water, I think you should stick with your plan. You're eating within your range, writing it down, drinking the water, and getting in the exercise. You're planning ahead to Thanksgiving. You're doing just great. Keep going!

While I was walking today, it occurred to me that there is a really good reason why we focus on the goal, instead of on the journey, as I discussed n an earlier post.

The word is ATTITUDE!

We have a very positive attitude toward the goal we want to reach. We make lists of why we want to reach that goal. We make lists of affirmations to use to convince us that the journey is worth it.

Yet implied in those words is the sneaky feeling that the journey itself is negative. Something only worth it because of the goal. It doesn't have it's own worth. We put up with it. We complain about it. We whine because we have to do it. We moan because we want to lose the weight, but we just "can't stick to the program." We can't seem to stay motivated. Well, that's all bad attitude. And it causes sabotage and regaining the weight.

The attitude we have when we start a weight loss program can vary from enthusiasm all the way down to gritting our teeth and forcing ourselves because we hate ourselves and we can't stand the way we look and we just HAVE to do SOMETHING. So, we join WW.

And often we fail to reach or maintain our goals, starting over and over again. But the points system is so flexible that we can make the journey itself a positive experience. Something we want to do every day. And by making small changes, for example-- counting our points starting with dinner (one of my best "tweaks"), we begin to create a positive attitude toward what we're doing. And anything we feel good about, we want to repeat.

So, I realized, in hindsight, that the reason things are going so well for me right now, despite the other issues and stresses in my life, is that I have tweaked the right things in the program so that I feel positive about it. No more whining because I have nothing to whine about.

The last thing that made the biggest difference is a change I made a long time ago, but I've realized recently how powerful it is in my ability to make this program a positve lifestyle. I don't talk about it. (Except here, of course.) I don't tell anyone that I'm on WW. And no one ever notices or makes comments about what I eat or don't eat. They don't give me unasked for bad advice. And my standard response to people who want me to eat more than I want to eat or different things from what I've chosen is, "Oh, I really can't. I'm so stuffed!" And then I change the conversation." What makes it so powerful is that if they don't know you're on some kind of program, they have no expectations about what you're going to do. It makes things so much easier.

Anyway, I just noticed that since I don't feel so negative about being OP, I'm not having problems staying motivated to do it.

So, I don't know if this is permanent, since nothing seems to be in this life, but I sure hope so. I love being this way. I was so tired of being depressed! :D

I hope you all are having a great day!

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin
272/238/135 or so

whoops--I just lost a nice thread reply. oh well.

Lin,
Are you going to cut and save the ribbon pieces? Just curious.
I love the whole bit you wrote about attitude. In the long run, that's what keeps us happy.

Lauren,
I'm sure the weight gain is temporary and you'll see a correction this week. Glad to hear your WW lecturer is the plan and prepare type. I like that nice practical approach. I am planning ahead to for the day and the day after Thanksgiving as well.

Everyone,
I lost another pound this week and am thrilled! I feel like I've made a turnaround and I can do it. I had to realize how many challenges I had and prepare better for each one.
Now for Thanksgiving, my Dad is coming out for several days. Then my son and his wife and baby will be here from Wed. through Sunday. Then it's back to work for me. There will be nine of us for Thanksgiving. That's a nice, manageable number and I'm looking forward to it. I have to figure out dessert points because I do want a sliver of two things. Just have to calculate how to get it. I am also seriously considering banking at least 10 points for Thanksgiving and hopefully a few more for Friday because I love leftovers. Starting now I can really help myself out by planning well and leaving some points in the bank each day.
Good luck to everyone.

Judy
234/209/199# by Christmas!!!!;) :cool: (My weight is WW for the first number, and home scale for the others)

Hi, Turtles,

Judy, I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to save the pieces. I'm feeling as though I want to put the past in the past. Think of it as gone, totally, forever. Can't even tape them back together if I regain. ;) That's why I always get rid of my large clothes. It would really be a pain to have to buy new clothes in those sizes again! :lol:

Congratulations on that pound! It's so super to see you moving downward again. You're doing so well at rising to the challenges you've been given. Bank those points. And enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Remember--it wasn't Thanksgiving or any other one, single meal that made us fat. It was a constant pattern of eating more than we should. So, if we do our best, but still end up a point or two over for one day, it's not the end of the world. It's one day and we can eat a couple of points less the next day and move on. We can and will be successful through this holiday season. We all picked up our motivation and got great attitudes right at the time when we need them the most.

One thought I always remember at holiday time--one of my leaders once told us what I said in my previous paragraph. She followed it by saying we could have any ten days every year to be off program. Her point was that it isn't the ten special occasions and holidays that would be a problem. It was the rest of the days, if we eat as if it were one of the ten freebie days.

BTW--Judy, I need, if possible, to have you send me your regular email address. There isn't enough space in the PM for three recipes and my usual wordy, but, I hope, helpful comments. I believe my email is avilable on my profile, so you can email me there with your address, if you don't want to put it in a PM online.

For Thanksgiving, I decided to look for my recipes from an old Bon Appetit magazine. They had American Regional Thanksgiving dinners as the theme one year. One of the regions was the Southwest and my dh has been after me to try their spicy turkey and stuffing for a long time. Since I don't have any traditionalist relatives to cook for, I can try new recipes this year. And the best part is that if I can't find my copy of the recipes, they're on Bon Appetit's website.

The not fun part is typing them into MasterCook so I can get the nutritional info and figure out the points and then revise them to keep the flavors, but lower the points so I can eat them without totally going off program. (Did I tell you I hate paperwork? Of course I did. :lol: )

Today I ended up walking for almost two hours. I was super hungry by the time I got home. I realized that since I always walk between my midmorning meal and lunch, I need to make sure my soup is in the fridge, already made. I ate the last of it and I realized how much I rely on zapping it and eating it to take the edge off my hunger while I prepare the main part of my lunch. So, I'm constantly learning how to make this program work its best for me.

So, things are still going OK, as far as WW goes. The rest of my life is pretty much the same old problems. My dh is getting really depressed, though, and I'm worried about him. It's that the company didn't hire hime after three months, as they originally intended to do. They still intend to hire him, but they're in "cost-cutting" mode and are waiting until after the holidays to do it. Saves them paying holiday pay and benefits. The ironic part of the tale is that part of his job is to fix one of the things that costs them a huge amount of money every year. You'd think the least they could do is hire the person they expect to fix their problems!!
Anyway, some prayers and good vibes for my dh would be greatly appreciated.

Hope you all are doing really well today.

Happy turtlin'! :cool:

Lin
272/238/135 or so

Hello, tortoise beings. I've been somewhat distracted of late, between having MIL here and dealing with a sick kitty (turns out to be a urinary tract infection and something called "crystals" in her urine -- nothing lots of antibiotics and special, expensive food can't cure, apparently). Snickers had her first pill ever today, and let's just say it was not a positive experience for anyone. :dz: At least we got it down, and we're all still in one piece. Only two more weeks of this to go.

Have been right OP in my new range, though, which feels good. My exercise has been a bit decreased, just walking for 30-45 minutes the past couple of days with MIL, which has been nice because of the lovely weather and the company. But my foot is acting up again since I got off the Celebrex, so tomorrow I may just go back to the aerobics. For whatever reason, those don't seem to hurt my feet as much as the walking does. Go figure.

I've also been making a lot of trips to the bathroom myself, either out of sympathetic pangs for my kitty or because my body is flushing out those extra 3 pounds of liquid. I hope it's the latter!

Lin, thanks so much for the dressing recipe. It looks great. I want to figure out a way to keep the regular bread version lower in points, too, since I'm not a big cornbread fan. But no doubt the cornbread is healthier.

I love what you had to say about attitude. It really does make all the difference -- in so many areas of our lives. It's an area I really struggle with. I recognize that often it's my own attitude that does me in, especially regarding work. I just really dislike working in most corporate environments, and it's hard to make myself positive about it. I also had to catch myself doing some negative self-talk today about my writing ("I'm not cut out for this, I'm not even interested in pushing myself to do it, why did I ever like writing, etc."). Had to stop that one cold, since it's our attitudes and self-talk that become self-fulfilling prophecies.

I also loved the "10 days off per year" comment. A perfect turtle sentiment, and one that keeps me sane for sure.

We'll continue to pray for DH. Very few companies actually hire this time of year because of end-of-the-year budget constraints. January should be much brighter. I'm pretty sure I won't get a job until then, though I'm sending out feelers now (and being told to get back in touch in January, by the way). It isn't about your husband or me or the quality of our work or capabilities; it's about timing. Here's hoping January looks better for both of us.

Judy, so great to see you doing so well!! :) Cheers and hooray on your loss this week! I'm especially impressed by how you handled all those events by planning ahead and then sticking to your plan. Boy, that makes all the difference. I can feel your new enthusiasm in your posts; it's just wonderful. I plan to bank for Thanksgiving, too -- good suggestion to also bank for the day after!

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/206/199 by Christmas (home scales, a.m.)

Hey, how did we get to two pages like this? Weird. And our old turtle threads have 3 pages??

Anyway. Just a quick check in to let you know that I did lose the weight that I gained last week, plus another half pound so far. I just had to peek this morning to see. :) It was the Celebrex.

Now I'll wait until Tuesday before I get on the scales again.

Onward and downward,

Lauren

Hi, Turtles,

I'm starting number 40! See you there.

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin