H, Turtles,

It always strikes me when I see those tens on the thread numbers. It takes a while to get to 40 threads, and that number doesn't account for all the threads that were deleted when they changed bulletin board companies. We've been at this for a long time. I think it's so cool that we can have such a great support group and that we can find new friends who live so many miles apart.

Here it is - my "official" version of the fable:

The Hare and the Tortoise

A hare met a tortoise one day and made fun of him for the slow and clumsy way in which he walked.

The tortoise laughed and said, "I will run a race with you any time that you choose."

"Very well," replied the hare, "we will start at once."

The tortoise immediately set off in his slow and steady way without waiting a moment or looking back. The hare, on the other hand, treated the matter as a joke and decided to take a little nap before starting, for she thought that it would be an easy matter to overtake her rival.

The tortoise plodded on, and meanwhile the hare overslept herself, with the result that she arrived at the winning-post only to see that the tortoise had got in before her.

Moral: Slow and steady wins the race.

This comes from a book handed down from my grandmother to my mother to me. The book is so old it doesn't have a copyright date or an author/editor's credit.

That fable has been the motivation for us turtles for about two years. Someone on the ancient WW forum mentioned the fable and I discovered it was very motivational for me. I talked about it in posts and other people said that the tortoise philosophy worked for them, too. So, I started a thread for us turtle types.

We work toward accepting that our bodies have a natural speed of weight loss when we choose to live a healthy life, instead of "going on a diet". Many of us have experienced "the diets" as go on/lose weight-- go off/ gain the weight plus more back.

We choose to perservere with each choice we make throughout the day. We believe that choosing to be slow, steady turtles helps us to learn the skills we need to learn in order to not only lose the weight, but keep it off and become the healthiest people we can be.

So, welcome to all who realize that losing and maintaining a weight loss is a lifestyle change. And who want support as we all learn the skills we need to successfully make the changes that will allow us to reach our goals.

Happy turtlin', everyone!

Lin

Hi, Turtles,

Lauren, I sympathize with you on your kitty troubles. I really, really hate giving a cat pill. I always ask if there's a liquid version. It's so much easier to squirt an eyedropper full of liquid down their throats. Hope she gets better soon.

Congrats on doing so well with your new range. Sometimes that's a difficult transition.

As for the negative self-talk--it always crops up when we're doing something new or something we haven't done in a long time. Or something we feel a little unsure about. I don't believe "practice makes perfect." But I do believe that "practice make easy." The more we practice any skill, the easier it becomes. That includes artistic skills like drawing, writing, music, etc.

I hung my final project from my drawing class on the wall. It's a real inspiration because before I took the class, I wasn't able to draw anything that reasonable resembled what I wanted it to be. But I worked hard and picked my teacher's brain and both of my artistic children's brains and kept at it and I ended up with a nice drawing. And an A in the class. Me--getting an A in a drawing class. Imaging that!

Well, if I can do that, I can certainly lose weight, finish my writing projects, and accomplish the rest of the list of stuff I'm doing. All I have to do is learn the skills and keep practicing. And don't give up or tell myself that I can't do it. I read my signature line every time I post anything and it keeps me going, too.

Congratulations on that weight loss! All that you gained and a half-pound more. Super job! Be prepared, though, if you have to take the Celebrex again for another batch of water to stick around and don't let it get you down.

You're welcome to the stuffing recipe. I wish they had done a regular bread version, as well as the cornbread. My family loves cornbread dressing, but when I cook for the extended family, I get complaints from the traditionalists who want everything exactly the same way it was in the 1940's!

And thanks for the prayers for my dh. He's doing better. He realizes that the issue is the holidays. He's also hoping that his boss will promote him when he hires him permanently. He's had three bosses in the last couple of jobs who had been grooming him for promotions, but the companies laid everyone, including his bosses, off before that happened. Hopefully, this time, he'll get the title and some more money! He deserves it because the job he's doing has so much more responsibility than what his current title implies.

I'm doing fine. I ought to go for my walk, but I think it's too late to get done before lunch. If I go, I'll get so hungry that the fast food at the mall will be overwhelmingly tempting. None of it is worth the points it costs to eat it.

I'm OP. I used a whole point of my ten banked ones to cover a treat the other day. It was worth it because it was one of my favorites. Henry Weinhard's Root Beer and Breyer's French Vanilla Ice Cream, mixed to make a float. YUM! I have one every couple of months or so.

Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/238/135 or so

Lauren,
Sorry you have to treat the kitty with a pill. I think that must be a real trial for you and the cat! Congrats on the weight loss--I don't blame you one bit for checking on the scale. I think we're all getting to the point when we know whether checking the scale will reassure us or set us up for a weight gain if the numbers aren't where we want them.

Lin,
I'm sending your dh a lot of hugs and prayers because this year has been tough for him too. He seems like a valuable employee and hopefully Lauren is right and he'll be hired in the new year.

Thanks a million for the recipes for Thanksgiving. I'm giving them a lot of thought and I appreciate all the work that went into them.
It's great to hear that you're OP and walking.

Everyone,
My foot isn't too terrific right now, but I hope to heal quickly--it's been swollen for a while--and get into exercise. I'm doing fine and am hoping for a positive outcome at the WI at WW this week.
Last night we went out for dinner with old friends and it was nice.
Prepared ahead for what might work out best point wise and I stayed within my range for the day. I even banked one point yesterday.
Today has been great. I'm tired, but I still get a lunch/breakfast together because if I don't, I give myself permission to eat high calorie things and I don't want to do that.
I am planning to be at midrange in points from now until Thursday---eat high range plus ten points then, and then get into range on Friday, Sat. and Sun. Getting back to work on Monday
will put me right back on WW track. Having so many guests for Thanksgiving is tough, but I love them all and I have to remember to put my eating needs at the top of the list--okay--first.

Don't know when I'll have time to post again, but I wish you all well. I love getting to know you gals online and I think it would be a lot of fun if we could meet someday. Be well and happy and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

onward and downward
Judy
234/209/199 by Christmas

Hi, Turtles,

Judy, I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your foot. I hope it gets better soon.

I hope you enjoy your guests on Thanksgiving. Don't obssess too much about the food. Just make a plan, follow it the best that you can, enjoy your company and move on to Friday. It's only one day. You can do what you've planned to do.

I changed my mind about which version of Thanksgiving dinner to cook. I decided to save the Southwestern recipes for a time when it's just Paul and I and do a chicken. My kids aren't as thrilled with the spicy recipes as we are.

But I love the recipes I am using. I don't love the task of putting them into the computer so I can calculate the points and print out copies do I don't get my cookbooks messed up. Plus, the printouts are easier to use than several large cookbooks in my small kitchen. Some of the recipes I'm using came from my collection of cookbooks from Cooking Light Magazine. I recommend their recipes for anyone who is looking for lower-fat, healthier recipes. They have a great website, too. It's www.cookinglight.com .

I just realized I haven't reported in since my weigh-in. Sunday I was exactly the same, but my ankles and wrists were really puffy, so I knew that I hadn't lost all of that water gain from PMS. Well, I got on the scale this morning, since I was pretty sure that I had finally lost that water and I was right. I'm down one more pound.
I seem to be sticking with that 1 pound a week average.

I'm still getting in my walk and staying within my point range. So, things are going fine with WW right now.

I'm also managing to work on some writing even with my dh at home. That's always difficult because he tends to be distracting. So, I wait until he takes a nap. He goes into the bedroom to listen to the radio and inevitably falls asleep almost immediately. (He gets up at 3:30 and on weekends and vacation he usually can't sleep in much. The cats wake him up for breakfast! )

Anyway, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

Thinking about the WW-related things I'm thankful for really is helping me to put this day in perspective. I'm thankful for having the choice of eating this bounteous feast, and eating it in reasonable portions. Leaving some for later. That I don't have health problems that restrict my food choices. That I can indulge my love of the process of preparing food. And that I don't have such a small amount of money that I cannot even afford a decent meal. And that my health is good enough that I can exercise every day. Anyway, that's my program-related list of things I'm thankful for.

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/237 / 135 or so

Hi, tortoises, both those who are posting and those who currently aren't (we're thinking of you and wishing you well).

Lin, that's wonderful about the drawing! Isn't it great to do something you didn't think you could, and do it well? It sounds like you're discovereing all kinds of things you can do well these days, which is so cool. You obviously have a lot of talents, and I'm glad you're exercising them.

Also, congrats on that steady weight loss. And on how well you're focusing on the program, and how sanely.

I do need to ask about getting a liquid for Snickers next time. She really does think we're killing her or something when we shove this pill down her throat. New problem: SHE'S constipated! (Last month it was the other cat.) Must be the new food and/or medication. I'm giving her laxatives, which she hates, but I can't imagine having to take her in for an enema, like I had to do with Chloe. Man, cats can have some whacko health problems -- I never had all this with dogs. (I remember you saying that your cats are never sick, Lin -- must be nice!)

Judy, what happened to your foot? Which part is swollen? Did I ever mention that DH is a podiatrist? And that I often have foot problems, too (I obviously married the right guy)? If it's swollen, ice and elevation (getting the foot above heart level) work wonders. They really do. I hope yours gets better soon.

Way to go on banking those points and on making a plan for the upcoming holiday. You'll do fine. We all will. I like the reminder to just enjoy our guests -- I can really get too fixated on the food and forget the whole purpose of this wonderful holiday.

Having said that, today I pick up our Amish turkey breast. They really do taste better for some reason.

Here are program-related things I'm grateful for this year (great idea, Lin):

-- Getting to know my Turtle buddies and othe online weight-loss friends. Thank you so much.

-- Having more energy than I ever remember having in my adult life

-- Being able to move and exercise, to walk for miles, to stretch my body and make it work without pain

-- To see a waist again!

-- To finally feel that I really can control this area in my life that has been so out of control in the past, and that I'll be able to do it for the rest of my life

-- To be able to fit into that size L denim shirt I picked up at the consignment shop last week. I almost didn't even try it on because I figured it would be pointless -- I'm just now getting into XLs. But it fit! It's from the Gap, and it cost me $6. (Oh, I did finally get my winter coat at the consignment shop, too. It's wool and in great condition, dark green.)

I did my weekly morning weigh-in today, and I lost the two pounds from last week, as I thought I would, plus two more! So I'm still losing an average of a pound a week, which makes me happy. Only three more pounds until my Christmas goal, and even with Thanksgiving coming up, I believe I'm going to do it!

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/202/199 by Christmas (home scales, a.m.)

Hi, Turtles,

I wanted to check in because checking in helps keep me focused.

Lauren, have you considered calling your vet and asking if you could dissolve the pill in water and then use an eyedropper to deliver the medication? Sometimes you can do that without altering the effectiveness of the pill.

Wow! Congrats on all of the successes you've been achieving recently. The size L shirt. More pounds gone. More energy. And reaching that Christmas goal. I can see that you will do it.

What I want for Christmas is that energy you've talked about. Some days I take my walk and get back and all I want to do is sleep! But I know that the cure for that is to keep walking. My body will get used to this trek. I know that today I'm more tired because I walked with my oldest son. Walking with my sons is always a workout because they're both about 6'2" and I'm only 5'5" with short legs and a long torso. I take about one and a half steps to every one of theirs, and still fall behind.

My youngest son is coming home with dh today. My dh got a day of work this week, despite the plant closing, because his boss wanted a project finished before Friday. My son will get an extra day off from school, but it's his first absence for the year. That will be OK.

My main not-program thing I'm thankful for is having both sons home for Thanksgiving. And that they both said it was important to them to be home for the holiday. I know too many people who don't want to spend the holidays with their family not to be grateful for my sons, both for wanting to be with us and for actually telling us they wanted to be. (Not many boys will fess up to wanting to be with their family.)

I'm also thankful for you turtles. I think of you as friends, not just program buddies, but friends. And I'm so grateful for all of the support and friendship you have given me over the years since I started this little "club". I hope some of you lurkers are our buddies who haven't posted in a while because I include you on my list, too and I'd like you to know that.

And I'm thankful for just plain being here to be thankful. It's so easy, especially when I get as stressed out as I have this past year, to get down and wonder why do I bother to keep trying to solve these same problems over and over? Yet, I always end up being glad I hung in there because something positive always seems to come out of it. Even if, like now, the problems aren't really solved, but I see they will be soon.

Hope you all are having a great holiday week.

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/237/135 or so

Hi, tortoisean ones.

Lin, that's great that your sons are happy to be coming home. You're right; it's not that common for teenagers to feel that way. You obviously have a close family.

I'll be busy all day today, partly getting ready for tomorrow. I'm cooking, but just for a few of us. We're also bringing food to church, because our church does a big dinner for the homeless on Thanksgiving. I helped out with it last year, and I have to say I received far more than I gave. We'll be helping out this year, too. Also, DH's sister and family (3 kids) arrive today to pick up MIL. They may or may not spend the night; they may or may not have dinner here. Either way, I have to be prepared. So I'll be fighting the hoardes at the grocery store today, unfortunately, because there a few things I still need. I should probably think about vacuming, but some things just won't get done.

I hardly slept last night, which won't help. I think it's just PMS; I always have one or two insomniac nights before TOM these days. I haven't slept well this past week, though, mostly because of the cat.

Last night at my WW weigh-in, I lost a startling 6.4 pounds. OK, 3 of those were the gain I had the previous week, but the other 3.4 weren't. I looked back at my journal to see what was going on, and the only thing I can think is that I ate low in my points, even in my new range, every day -- banking 29 points for the week. This wasn't intentional. It's my reaction to stress, and I've been pretty stressed out about Snickers. (And probably finances, too, what with my still being unemployed.) I think I'm calming down a little as she improves, so now I'll have to watch for the opposite problem: I often overeat after stress passes. Anyway, WW had me at 205 pounds.

Also, I've been very hot all week. I'm not sure what's up with that, because it's gotten very cold here. Hormones? Upped metabolism?

Anyway.

I hope you all have a marvelous Thanksgiving. I may try to check in, because that helps me, too.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/202/199 by Christmas (home scales, a.m.)
279/205/199 by Christmas (WW scales, evening)

Hi, Turtles,

Boy, did I get spoiled with everyone gone most of the time! The whole gang is here and no one is working or going to school or anything until Friday. So, getting computer time is not easy. It's funny, though, how the words, "I need to check my email," can get a person computer time in this house.

First, congratulations on your success at the scale this week, Lauren. And on your other successes that led to that one.

I sympathize with you. I had to fight the hoardes at the grocery store, too. We ran out of our normal stuff earlier than I had planned. And used up some of the things like salad greens that I thought would last until tomorrow. I thought I remembered how much these two guys eat, but I was wrong.

I'll make you an honorary Italian for this holiday and I guarantee that you will not only have enough food, no matter how many show up, but also have more food left over than will fit in your fridge! We consider it our mission to feed everyone who shows up and feed them well! There's a reason Italian food is the favorite of people who answer cruise line surveys.

The insommnia and heat are most likely hormones. I get night sweats right before TOM and when that extra water goes away. And I have trouble sleeping well. I end up napping some days. My body temperature gets out of whack, too. Except for the night sweats, I get cold. If it persists and doesn't seem connected to your cycle, you might take a trip to you doctor, though. Maybe you should keep a chart for a few months to see if it seems connected with PMS.

I hope your cat is feeling better. Mine just drive me crazy. They like to sit on my writing and bat at my pen. Or sit in the middle of a book, if I'm reading. I think cats are literary and that's why more writers have cats than dogs.

I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, so I chose to take our grocery store up on their sale and buy dessert. The only real problem I had was the points are higher, but I figured out the points for the whole dinner and I will be fine, even with the frozen pies.

I usually am a fanatic about making things myself, preferably from scratch, but I got involved in my story and the time slipped away and the pies didn't get baked. The story is more important than the cooking. Even though I love to cook.

I'm eating really tiny portions of everything that's higher in points to accommodate the higher point dessert, but I have veggie soup, a salad, and three cooked veggies, plus the potatoes to fill in with. I won't be hungry, even though I plan to eat only 2 oz. turkey and 1/4 cup stuffing. I calculated the points for my turkey, gravy, and stuffing separately and I discovered that 1/4 cup of the Madeira gravy is 0 points. If anyone wants to know how to make 0-point gravy for Christmas dinner, let me know and I'll send you the technique.

So, I'm cooking off and on all day tomorrow. It will be a treat! I don't usually write on weekends and holidays, but I may fit in a little bit anyway if I get a brainstorm about the part I've been trying to work out.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Like Lauren, checking in helps me and I will try to do so.

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/237/135 or so

Dear Everyone,
I lost another post. I think I'm getting overwhelmed and doing things too quickly and therefore making mistakes. In the mysterious post I wrote about how thankful and grateful I am to all the turtles and especially to Lin and Lauren for encouragement in this weight loss journey. I'm on track and feeling good about it. I know there are huge challenges coming up this month or so, but we can all help each other out and do this!
I'm cooking today and the turkey's in the oven already. I'm looking forward to a wonderful day of being together with family and loved ones--good friends. I'm all prepared and just have to do mashed potatoes and some heating up and putting things in dishes. It'll be fun. I think I'm going to whip up a veggie soup ala Lin because that would help me keep points down.
I went to WW WI last night and stayed the same. I am hoping that the salt from Chinese food (very low point, but salty just the same) is the culprit. I'd weigh myself today, but my Dad is asleep in the room with the scale.
You all have the best Thanksgiving and be well and happy.

I am so pleased with your continued weight losses and am about to think that the tortoises have the rabbits on the run!!! Weigh to go all of us.
Christmas will see us thinner! New Year's will make us pleased because we are doing the right things for ourselves!

Judy
234/209/199# by Christmas!!!!

Amen, and preach it, sister Judy! I'm also very, very thankful for our little turtle group and each of the people who contribute to it. Salt can play havoc with a weigh-in, that's for sure. I try to have a low salt day before WI day for that reason. I'm sure you'll see a good loss shortly.

Lin, send me that gravy recipe. I tried to make gravy yesterday, and yeeccchh! Oh, well. I also burned the cranberrry sauce. Can you tell I'm not much of a cook? :lol That's great you've been so on fire to work on your story. I haven't done a lick of writing since MIL arrived (she just left). This weekend, DH has lots of projects he wants us to do. So it looks like I won't get back to it until Monday.

So ... how did everyone do yesterday? How was your Thanksgiving? DH and I helped out at the church dinner, which was wonderful as always, and then my brother came to our house for dinner. I had a lot of banked points but ended up using just a few. I had a good-size breakfast with lots of protein and fiber so that I wouldn't get too hungry later on. Then I had a very light lunch, just a few points. Dinner was about 15 points, but I had 'em coming, so it wasn't a problem.

Here's what helped me:

-- I wore my tightest jeans and my smallest shirt. That really helped me remember my goals! I *hate* tight clothes.

-- When I wanted to reach for seconds on the dressing (my biggest Thanksgiving/Christmas downfall), I reminded myself of my Christmas goal of getting below 200 pounds, and I stopped myself. I'm so close!

-- I had small servings of everything, and I didn't deny myself any food I really wanted.

-- I did most of the cooking myself, so I was able to reduce the fat and calories in some of the dishes.

-- We sent all the leftovers home with my bachelor brother!

If you didn't do as well as you'd hoped, remember -- no guilt and move on. Today is a new day.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/202/199 by Christmas

Hi, Turtles,

Judy, it's not you. There is a hot key combination that deletes what's in the window. If you accidentally hit the keys, your message goes away. I just did it, too.

Great job, turtles. We all made a plan and stuck with that plan. I think I went over my planned points by one or two. Not a big deal. I can make them up today. I start counting with dinner, so my Thanksgiving meal was at the start of the day.

Now, I have to build up my bank again between now and Christmas. Christmas and our friend's annual holiday party are the only real food challenges I have left during the holiday season. We're eating at home for my birthday, so that won't be a problem. I'm planning to make one of my favorite, low-point desserts this year.

Judy, staying the same is great. And those high-sodium meals can sometimes cause a gain. So, you're probably right on track and you will see the numbers at the scale next week.

Lauren, 0-point gravy is really easy to make right and really hard to mess up. I'll send you the recipe later today or tomorrow. My dh wants the computer before Chris gets up and starts doing art.

I don't have a bachelor brother to send leftovers home with, but two young men work better than a dog as a leftover disposal. Of course, we also have two cats who will eat as much turkey as we're willing to give them. Turkey is the one people food treat we can give them because they get tummy problems if they eat most anything else.

I like your list. I don't like tight clothes, either. But I hate too loose clothes even more. I can fit into one of my smaller pairs of jeans, but they're still too tight to actually wear. My least favorite part of losing weight is that time when my jeans are too loose and keep slipping down, but I can't quite squeeze into the next size down. I put on a belt and live with it until I'm down at least two sizes. That's because of budget considerations. I can't afford (and few people can) to go out and get a whole new wardrobe every time I go down one size, even if I shopped at Goodwill.

Anyway, things are going really well here. I'm getting ready to eat breakfast and get back on track with my walking. Lauren, I've been really wanting to keep my story going so I don't lose the momentum. But the writing isn't flowing the way it usually does. I write much better when I am alone! No music, TV, people talking to me, etc. My dream is to save up the $300 for a small desk from the J.C. Penny catalog and put it in my bedroom so I can go in there and close the door when my family is home and I want to write.

Gotta go. My breakfast is getting cold. Hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving and have a great weekend.

Happy turtlin!

Lin
272/237/135 or so

hi guys--
gotta be fast because my Dad is going to want to play bridge on the computer.
I ate more than I wanted over these last two days, but I'm off to a good start today and will take time to journal. That will help.
Our friends who came to Thanksgiving are taking us out to dinner tongiht, so I have to figure out what to have in the Italian restaurant.
One whoops I had was I was asleep on the couch and was awakened by my hubby who wanted to open the couch for the kids to sleep on. Almost like a sleepwalker, I went into the kitchen and had about ten points before I realized what I was doing! That's a big whoops.
Everything else is okay and I am on track and on program today. If I can catch today and tomorrow, I'll have done better than last Thanksgiving.
I've got lots of occasions coming up--probably about8 or so. And honestly, having my kids here has always been an eating situation. For example, I made another apple pie yesterday because the one I had made for Thanksgiving was gone and my youngest daughter didn't get a piece. Well, it's all fun and I've got to work WW into this life I've got.
You guys are awesome with the weight losses. Lauren, you're so close to your goal. Weigh to go! Lin, I'd love 0 point gravy if you're not tired of sending out recipes. I cheat and use bottled gravy--it's not very fattening and at the last minute I hate to make gravy with everything else that needs to be done.
So anyway-=-let's all keep on doing this.
My slips weren't too bad at all--I had also banked more than 13 points--and onward and downward we go!
Love,
Judy

234/?/199# by Christmas

Sigh, Turtles, Thursday completely didn't work!

We had a friend coming in from London to LAX, and DH went up to pick him up. I forced DH to take my cell phone, and stayed behind to cook and take things to my parents. Well, I finished the food I was taking, left the house, got to my parents, and was told... "Call your husband, on the cell." Um, uh oh. Traffic between LA and San Diego was stopped. It took DH 5.5 hours to get up to LAX, find our friend, and get back to my parents' house--a trip that should have taken about 3 hours. So that was super stressful!

Then my parents had decided not to cook anything really fancy, and also not to cook the two things I had requested and planned for. Um, okay, desperate scramble. Then we DH and friend so delayed, we couldn't decide whether to do dinner or not, when to do it, etc. Well, I had had an early, light breakfast and a bowl of veggie soup at mid-day, so I was famished, but since I'm vegetarian my parents didn't have protein ready for me...and they had this luscious orange-cranberry bread from CostCo...that was LOVELY toasted with butter...that I can't ever get, because we don't go to CostCo...um, oops.

We finally had dinner when DH and friend got there, and I had seconds of the stuff I had brought, but none of the steak they had prepared, obviously. So really it didn't work that well. I had planned for it! But nothing I had planned for was there...sigh!

But, pick myself up, dust myself off, take on the next day. DH's Christmas party in two weeks!

Hi, tortoise beings. Good to see folks checking in.

Lin, way to go on sticking with your Thanksgiving plan! I'm with you on disliking having to replace clothing as we shrink. It's expensive! For me, I'll wear very large shirts as long as possible. It's baggy jeans that drive me nuts. Lately I've been getting stretch jeans, because they fit me longer (I can wear a smaller size in those because they stretch, and then I can put them through the dryer when they start getting too big.) I've been thrilled to discover a great consignment shop near us; that helps. And I do still have some clothes left from when I was thinner, but not many!

Judy, way to go in keeping on track! Interesting about the "unconscious" mode leading you to eat 10 points worth of food. Yikes. Would it be possible for you to keep quick, fattening foods out of your house so you couldn't eat that many points quickly again? That way you could "wake up" after only eating a couple points worth of, say, grapes or something. Anyway, good for you in already thinking about how you'll handle the different holiday events. With your busy social life, planning ahead really sounds like the key.

Mousie, sounds like a frustrating Thanksgiving! Well, you know what they say over at Dotti's -- no guilt and move on. Like Judy, you're wise to prepare ahead on how to handle DH's Christmas party.

TOM finally arrived yesterday for me, and last night I made up for all my previous insomnia -- I slept until 9:30 a.m., which is just unheard of for me lately. It felt scrumptious! Oddly, now that TOM has arrived, I've been hungrier. That's the opposite of what usually happens to me. Or maybe it's just a reaction to Thanksgiving. At any rate, I've been at the top of my new range (and yesterday I was at the top of my old range). But I'm still writing it all down and forging on. I'm finding that soup is really helping.

Tonight DH and I are going to Barnes and Noble to read books and hang out. I usually get an Italian soda (seltzer water with a sugar-free syrup in it). We like to do this as a sort of cheap date.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/202/199 by Christmas

Hi, Turtles,

Wow! It's nice to get some computer time. My youngest son was hogging the computer yesterday because he was trying to finish an animation before he had to go back to SJ.

Judy, glad to see you're journaling. You might consider writing down what happened on the days that you didn't do as well. Maybe keeping track of those times could help you plan what you need to do to avoid at least those pitfalls again. Just a thought.

As for the 10-point unconscious eating--Wow! That's a toughie. I keep soup around and when I go into the kitchen and want a quick "something", I stick a bowl in the microwave and the worst damage for any of my soups is 2 points. I'm not suggesting that you have to keep soup on hand, specifically, but that you try to find something you can eat quickly, that you like well enough to just grab for it automatically. Since I discovered that I like soup well enough to grab it over other possibilities, it's really helped me.

I think your statement about fitting WW into the life you've got is absolutely right on track. You keep on doing that, and you will reach your goals.

Mousie, sounds like you really had a tough time on Thanksgiving. But you picked yourself up, dusted yourself off, and went on. That's the key to long-term success. Moving past whatever happens. When we get stuck obsessing about the difficult times is when we tend to repeat them. Because we talk ourselves into a really negative state of mind and start a downward trend. So, moving on is what's important.

I've noticed that we turtles are really doing so much better with that particular lesson. We seem to be learning to take our slipups in stride and move on. That may be why we're all showing a more steady rate of success. We learned a lot of lessons last year and I think it's showing. Yea, Turtles!

Lauren, I envy you your B& N cheap date. There aren't any here in Salinas. So, when I get to SJ, we try to go there for a while and hang out. Unfortunately, today we ran out of time before we got to the bookstore. We did have a nice day in SJ. We rented a car (cheap, here in a small town) to take Chris back to his "other family".

A lot of people get hungrier at TOM. Some medical people say we need an additional 100-200 calories a day during that time. I usually eat the maximum of my range, then after TOM, I find that I eat between the minimum and about the middle of my range for a week or two.

I've been doing OK this weekend. The past couple of days I haven't been exercising quite as vigorously, although I have managed to get some walking in.

I figured out a way to deal with the leftovers that allows me to eat the ones I want without going nuts. I thought I'd share, in case other people have a ton of different, yummy foods left in their houses. I take a portion of what I want the most. Then I choose the dish I want the next most. And so on, until I run out of planned points for that meal. What I found was that I was choosing a good, balanced combination of foods and I never felt that I was deprived of the leftovers, as I have in the past when I've attempted to lose weight. So, by doing this, I'm getting some of everything I really want and not going over my point range. Actually, I've built my bank back up to 10 points. I ended up with 4 banked points on Thanksgiving. I'm pleased with how this weekend went.

OTOH--I'm up a pound, but my pants are getting really loose. Even after my dryer shrinks them, they still need a belt. So, I think my walking in is causing a bit of water retention in my muscles. I increased the speed of my walk a little right before Thanksgiving and on Friday I walked with my youngest son. I have to walk like a race walker to keep up with him. In order to get in the time, I have to walk around the outside of the mall and then up and back the middle. Or, in bad weather, walk the inside two or three times, depending on how fast I can walk around the crowds.

Well, have a great day as you get back to your normal routines.

Happy turtlin'!

Lin
272/238/135 or so