Hi girls,
I'm going to make a real effort to get online and post lots this week. I really miss the support and advice from you gals. So hopefully work won't be too busy!
Anyhow. What have you all been up to? Hello to all the newbies!
I've been full of the cold lately (haven't been able to shake this bug and still have a 40-a-day cough - and i don't smoke!). But hopefully I can get back to the gym this week and eat healthily. BF and I are hoping to get away for a couple of weeks somewhere nice, and I wanna look good in my bikini!! We'd love to go to Sicily (Italy) but don't have a lot of money to play with (oh the joys of living in London).
Time for me to get some lunch. The weather has gone all miserable again (summer must be over already) so I'm going to have soup every day for a week. That should keep my points down!
Take care,
Kirsty
PS Any lurkers? Come out and play! If I can do it - so can you!!!

Good morning everyone! Well, last week wasn't an especially great one for me as far as being OP, but I don't think it was too bad, either. I got a lot of exercise. Monday, I took a 4-mile walk. Wednesday, I went to the gym and did my Pilates. Friday and Saturday I went to the gym, and yesterday, took another 4-mile walk. It's not really that I'm super-motivated so much as I'm super-bored.

This week, however, will be better. Last week, i wasn't very good about remembering to journal, but this week I'm determined to do better.

Kirsty--Good morning! Glad to hear that you're going to post more, sorry to hear that the weather is yuck and that you have an icky cough. I'm so jealous of you thinking about a getaway!!

OK, I better get some stuff done here. I'll check back in later!

Hello all, this is my first "daily thread".
So I have high hopes for today, as I usually do on a Monday morning. As usual, I overslept, but still tried to make a "breakfast to go." With the lack of better food, I toasted two waffles (2 points each! bought the wrong kind) but I dropped on in the parking lot on the way to the car. Probably a blessing in disguise actually.

Tomorrow is weigh-in, but I'm kind of nervous this time. Over the weekend I was not keeping up with the journal as much as I should be, but the 4th didn't bite me as I had worried about.

My usual plan is to go to the gym after my 8am class, but this morning I wanted to shower before school, and well.. my hair just looks too nice to get all sweaty. I think I'm going to postpone the workout until this evening.

I went to the 3FC homepage last night and got a bunch of recepies to try out. I'm anxious to get to making them, although I'm not much of a cook. Any suggestions on the really good dishes? I've picked out Broiled Sage Chicken, Sweet potatoes and Roasted Asparagus. I'm excited!

I looked in the mirror today and was frustrated as to how I let myself gain so much weight. Spending two months in Europe definitly paid a toll on my body. I think my "smart mind" turned off and I only thought "ah, so much food! such little time" and twenty pounds later my "smart mind" burned back on.

Well, starting another Monday morning, I'm not discouraged, only impatient.

hello jess and diamond!
diamond - glad to see you posting, although it looks like you've done it twice. you can prob delete one of the copies by clicking on edit then delete this post. hope that makes sense. good luck with weigh in tomorrow. where in europe were you?
jess - is pilates good? i might (eventually) try my yoga/pilates video that i sent off for (free with Special K cereal)!
Well my plan of having soup for lunch all week has got off to a shaky start! Ended up with a tuna salad instead. but it's only 3.5 points (we get to count half points in the UK) so that's alright. and tuna=healthy!
back later, hi to anyone else that's posted/about to post
Kirsty

Kirsty - Siciliy sounds awesome... let us know where you plan to go. Defiantely good to hear from you!

Jess - you're a mad woman with the exercise... way to go!!! SOunds like you're doing great to me. I didn't journal either... why am I so lazy?

Diamond.. I'm so glad you've joined us! Good luck with weigh in. I WI tomorrow also... we'll have to share. Where do you go to school? I spent a summer at UF.

Okay - a few things.

Jay and Sean never called back - which is fine. I was too worried about the whole situation anyway...

Antoher reason I was fine with it was because the sailor I met on the 4th called me and we hung out Friday night and last night. Girls... he was beautiful! I've never been out with such a beautiful man! 23 years old. 6'0", 200 pounds.. all muscle. Used to play hockey but now he dives for the navy. I know it was just fun because he's a sailor and left for VA today... it was fun anyway. Friday we went to a bar and then to my apt (I behaved mostly)... then Sunday we went to dinner and we walked to his ship so I could see it. I couldn't go on though.. but it was still a nice walk around the North End and the harbor. I still can't imagine that he asked me out twice! Man oh man!

And here's stuff I learned at a class at my gym on Saturday. WEIGHT TRAIN. I know we all know this.. we all know it adds muscle and ups our metabolism so we burn more calories a day.. but I found the actual numbers out.

For each pound of muscle, you burn 35-50 calories a day. For each pound of fat, you only burn 2 calories a day!!!! By replacing 5 pounds of fat with 5 pounds of muscle... you would burn 250 calories more a day without even moving. In a week... that's 1750 calories a week.

See ya later girls!
Lisa

Kirsty--The video that I have is OK. I recently ordered Pilates for Dummies and am waiting for that to come. The one I've been doing is Living Arts Pilates Beginning Mat Workout with Ana Caban and I'm not really impressed. Quite honestly, I don't even consider it a workout and I haven't felt any sore muscles or anything. I'll have to let you know what I think of Pilates for Dummies when I get it.

Diamond--Hmmm, I can't offer many suggestions for recipes. I sort of collect them, but never actually end up making many of them. Someone once said "Recipes are like science fiction to me. I read them and think 'Well, that's never going to happen.'" That's pretty much me... It's not that I don't like to cook, it's just that I live alone and have nobody to cook for, so I typically go for something really fast and easy to make. If you want some suggestions for stuff to pop in the microwave, I'm your guy.

Better get back to work...

Good mornng ladies!!!

Ahhh, it is so good to be back, and on a schedule again!! I love family and relatives, but three weeks of it, it is tiring!!!

I ate my last piece of cheesecake last night (remember I had a family wedding and family reunion this weekend) and said to myself, "I am actually sick of food", that is how much food I have eaten this long weekend. So, this morning, I weighed in on my scale, and recommitted myself to WW. The upside is after almost 2-3 months of really being off program, I stayed the same and didn't gain. Which is good, but then I think, if I would have stayed OP, I am sure I would be at goal now....oh well, life goes on.

So, I started my new journal this morning, wrote down my weight, and plan on my WI's to be Friday mornings.

On a lighter note...my brother's wedding was terrific. It was a beautiful day and everything went very smoothly. We are all married off now. Seems weird.

I am getting the pics develped today, so I will post some.

Work is really quiet. It usually is in the summer though. I need to register for my grad classes by Aug. 15th. Then I will be working full time and working on my master's....what was I thinking!!!

So, let me attempt to reply to some of the posts I have seen....

Lisa ~ That is awesome about the sailor, I just love a man in uniform!!! You never know, you may here from him again!!!

Ali ~ In reply to your BF question, I would be torked if my BF wanted to spend time with an Ex....I think Belle probably has some comments on that!

Jess ~ I see you had to work on Fri..I hope the day wasn't too long.

Kirsty ~ Glad to have you back, we have missed you! Now, where is that Lolly!?!?!

Diamond ~ WELCOME!! This is a great group...

I am having a brain freeze now, so I will just say "Hi!!!" to: Lori, Stacey, Belle, Winter, KT, Kier, Jen, Jen (Where are you girl???), Star, Becky (and all the rest I have forgotten!) Wow, we are becoming a large group!!!

Well, better look busy, I will check back in a bit!!

Hi Lisa! Looks like we were posting at the same time! Wow, your sailor sounds yummy. That's awesome that he took you out twice. I can honestly say that, in your shoes, I probably wouldn't have been able to behave, especially when he looks as good as he sounds. (Sheesh, can you tell I haven't seen my BF intimately in a long time?) Thanks for that info about weight training. I'm going to pass that on to my boss at the gym, she'll like that info.

OK, now I REALLY have to get some work done.

Diamond - I read your other post... and I definately feel you... sounds like we have a lot in common. I had gone on WW 3 times also.. and every time I was like "why am I wasting my money?" But the third time was a charm for me. 95% of people who successfully lose wieight and keep it off have failed before. In fact from this National Weight Loss registry of people who have lost weight and kept it off, the average time people had tried to lose weight before they were finally successful was 5 times!!! And I know what you mean about alcohol... and if you want the truth... about 18 months ago I said... I'd rather be skinny and started drinking mainly diet cokes when I went out and that is when the weight started coming off. But the summers I usually slip and drink more because I'm going out more...but if you wantt o drink... stay away from Mike's Hard Lemonade (it's 5 points each!) and if you get liquor... mix it with diet coke... I drink Capt. Morgan and diet coke... or vanilla stoli and diet coke... these are just 2 points a piece. Stay away from cream drinks and drink mixed with fruit juice because you'll be having 4-6 points per drink. Just count the alcohol and write it in your journal. light beer is another good option... Amstel Light I think is the lowest in points of all the beers.

Tonya - that really is great... 2-3 months off and no weight gain... that's awesome. I'm glad the wedding was fun.

Lisa

Hey Jess... we keep posting at the same time. It was VERY hard to behave... it took every ounce of self control I had... but we didn't completely behave... we still had some fun. That does suck you are away from BF! Okay- getting to work too.

Hello Tonya!!

Oh yeah, I forgot to reply to Ali about the BF thing. I'm a super-jealous girlfriend anyway (luckily, BF knew that long before getting into this relationship, so he can tolerate it) and I would be very uncomfortable. It's one thing to still talk to an ex, but making comments about how she's pretty and whatnot would never work and wanting to see her after making comments like that would never work for me.

OK, I REALLY REALLY have to get some work done...

Morning All.

Ali - I'm usually OK with a BF hanging out with an ex if he's introduced us and we've spent time together. Probably wouldn't be OK though if he was always complimenting her.

Jess - great job on the work-outs. That's really an accomplishment.

Kirsty - great to see you back. Hope you feel better soon.

Lisa - mmm - Sailor! Glad you had such fun with him. Also, thanks for the suggestion of vanilla stoli and diet - I was getting tired of Captain's and diet!

Tonya - glad you enjoyed your brother's wedding. I recommitted myself to WW this am too - we'll have to keep each other in line.

Had a very quite weekend. Didn't go out at all and am so glad as I am very relaxed today. Missed my usual WI last Wed so went to a Sat AM meeting. I'm up 5 lbs! That's what I get for a binge week. I'm actually kinda OK with it. Sort of like I needed to do it just to prove to myself that I can't ever go back to the old eating habits. Need to change my signature line and it will be a couple weeks before I hit goal. Made a ton of low-fat, veggie filled food last night to use as lunches this week and worked out this AM for 2hrs in the gym just like I was before last week so am feeling good about being back on track.

Winter

Hi all-Just have time for a quick post-at WI on Weds I was down 2.8!! I made up for it by pigging out over the weekend though-you'd think I'd never seen a brownie before!!!
Oh well-I am back on track today for WI this friday...i hopefully won't be up too much
We had a fun weekend-a 'small' cookout on thursday turned into 20 people! then Friday i went to Newport RI for the first time-that was fun!
On Saturday we had our big keg party-very fun!
Yesterday my book club met and that was cool-Hi to everyone! i'll reply more later

I was going to do a long post and reply to everyone but then my supervisor showed up so instead I'll just say hi. We had a surprise wedding shower for my sister this weekend and she was hugely surprised - yay success! But I didn't go to WI for the second week in a row and now I've totally got to recomit. Well, I'll try to get back later.
Hi Everyone!
KT

Hi everyone!

I have had the hardest time getting on this site lately. It takes forever to load, and I end up getting frustrated. Thus the reason I haven't been around much lately.

I had a four-day weekend and it was lovely just relaxing. Saturday, my fiance, sister and I drove to a nearby lake and rented a canoe and a kayak and just hung out on the lake all day. That's about the most I did, although I did get in two visits to the gym! I've been going at least three times a week and getting frustrated because the pounds aren't coming off quicker. I'm not going to WW anymore, but I'm following the progress. Since June 1, I've lost 7 pounds. I just wish it was more. I really want to lose 30 pounds, heck, 20 would be fine, by the wedding! People have told me I look like I've lost weight, so maybe I'm just putting on muscle at the moment. I hope!

My editor is on vacation this week. Yippee! No one looking over my shoulder all day. I just hope it's a quiet week crime-wise.

How is everyone? Welcome new people!

Jess: I love Pilates. I go to the class at the YMCA every Thursday now and I feel so great afterward. It's so good for getting a good stretch and I find myself standing up straighter afterward. They didn't have class on the 4th and I found myself missing it! I've been doing a lot of arm weights lately (to get rid of the flab for the wedding dress) and my shoulders are tight.

Lisa: I'm with you on the alcohol. I just can't drink it when I'm trying to lose. If I do go out, I'll have one drink then drink water. I usually chose a glass of wine, Amstel Light or vodka and cranberry juice.

I'm hungry. Time to go find some lunch.