Good Morning girls!

It's icky here in NY - cloudy, rainy and just plain miserable. What a nice day to have off from work! I love days like this to putz around. Except I never get to putz. Oh well!

We're off to drop the car off at the shop (FINALLY) for that auto body repair from the end of July accident. And with that I've got to get a rental, call the ins company, get laundry soap, I'd like to hit the book store, etc ... oh yeah & CLEAN! Ttttthhhhppppbbbttt!

Yesterday I spent a good deal of time driving in HORRENDOUS rain. As soon as I hit the NY border, the monsoon hit.

I've got a camping trip this weekend. That I am excited about!

How was everyone's weekend?
Who's off today?

I've got to get the weekly food journal going ...

Talk to you in a bit!

Good moring! I have a 4 day week this week....I took off on Friday and all of next week! I NEED A VACATION! I am so excited.

Today is going to be a long one. I got up at 4:45 so I could be at work at 6am. After I work all day I have class form 5:30-8:30. I bet I am at home and in bed by 9:30!

Deb - weather's the same here in Boston... ugh. And camping sounds like fun.. where are you going camping.

Morning Marcie - Taking Friday off will be good. Hopefully today won't be as bad as you think... have a nice one.

So, Brian and I went to Portland. The cruise was great. Dinner was great. The B&B was great. We got to the hotel after the cruise and before dinner.... and Brian pulls out a little blue box! He got me a bracelet from Tiffany's! I almost died. I kept telling him he shouldn't have... it's so perfect. Daisy's are my favorite flower... and he got me this silver bangle, with a clasp on top... and the clasp is covered with a silver daisy with a gold center. I love it. I wonder if I shouldn't have accepted it. What do you girls think? We've only been dating for 2 1/2 months. It's an early b-day present (my birthday is in 2 weeks)... but he wanted to give it to me now so I could enjoy it this weekend.
What a boy!

Lisa

Lisa - That is so AWESOME! Wow! What a boy is right.
Boston seems like a fun little town. We didn't do anybar hopping, but some walking around, into Little Italy and then it took 2 hours to get back to my friends house in CT. The Blue Men were fabu as usual. Glad to hear you enjoyed your "dirty weekend". Tee-hee! I know how you feel about accepting the gift, it can be uncomfortable; but you are obviously special to him.

Marcie - Drink caffeine! I'm feeling like such a lazy bum ... don't wanna do nuttin.

I did tell a friend I'd meet up w/ her today. And I did tell my boss I'd stop in and do payroll & check messages. Grrr ...

I need to get moving!

Some one lite a fire under my A$$ !

Morning All -

Congratulations Marcie! 50 lbs is a huge accomplishment.

JenK - how did your race go? So glad you and your Mom have the opportunity to do that together.

Ali - hope you love your tat - the picture of it looks great.

Deb - Consider the fire lit!

Lisa - keep the bracelet and the boy! He wouldn't have gone to the trouble and expense unless it was important to him to give you such a gift.

Had a lot of fun with my friends bike riding on Saturday (although my rump was a bit sore after 16 miles!) and enjoyed the drive-in with Christian. We saw Serving Sara and it was a cute little romantic comedy.

Am very frustrated with my weight loss efforts. Had an OP week last week and actually gained weight! And it can't be blamed on TOM or too much sodium (I practically drank a great lake in water last week). I'm trying to keep my chin-up and stay OP this week but it's hard to find the motivation when the scale changes for the worse and your clothes don't fit any better. If any of you have suggestions, I'm all ears.

Laura

Laura - Keep up the OP work! Sometimes your body may take a week or 2 to adjust and next week it will show off. Remember that your body doesn't know what a "week" is ... it has no concept of days, dates & time. You may also be adding muscle, which weighs more than fat, if you've changed your exercise routine. Did you weigh in before or after that big bike ride? I find that if I go for a walk in the AM, then weigh in I am retaining water.
Point is ... your efforts will be rewarded! And you know what, if you know that you were OP and your body hasn't rewarded you yet - go out and reward yourself w/ a little something to give your mood a boost! Maybe a manicure or book or something like that.

Maybe we should get a little list of reward ideas going. I always reward myself w/ food which isn't a good thing. That's a habit we're trying to get AWAY from!

I don't have class tonight (Yom Kippur) so somehow I feel like I don't have much to do, even though work is really busy. It's weird on days when I only have one or the other that it doesn't seem that bad. Like Saturday, I had class for 4 hours but because I didn't have to work as well, I felt like I had the day off!

Deb - Glad to hear your weekend away was enjoyable. I really like Boston.
Marcie - I am so jealous of your vacation! Relax some for me too, okay?!
Lisa - WOW!! I say as long as you aren't uncomfortable with the gift, it is fine. I would only worry if he is moving 10 steps faster than you are. Otherwise, there is no official timeline that needs to be followed. If you guys are that into each other, enjoy it!!
Laura - Unfortunately I don't have any words of wisdom for your dilemma. I have been at goal for 3 years now, and although I still want to lose more weight, my body REALLY likes the weight it is at now. It is fairly easy to maintain, and in order for me to lose anything now, I need to average about 18 points a day. I don't mean to imply that you can't lose anymore, but it may be that your body likes where it's at. You are close to your goal weight, aren't you? But, I would say just keep truckin' and you will lose it. You will probably end up having a big loss one week after a few weeks of not losing anything.

The race went really well. I don't know who all has participated in a Race for the Cure event, but the survivors get pink shirts and they do a good job of making them the highlight of the event. Also, a lot of people wear signs participating "In Memory of" or "In Celebration of" someone. I always run "In Celebration of MOM" and it never fails - when I run by someone running "In Memory of Mom" I start crying. It is the only 5K I do that I cry in! But I realize how lucky I am that my mom is ok. The sister of one of my mom's good friends lost her battle with breast cancer last Wednesday, so my mom participated in memory of her and in celebration of herself and a few of her friends. It really is a remarkable experience and you realize just how many people are touched by it.

Have a good day!

Deb - I'm glad you had a good time in Boston. The North End (Little Italy) is so great. I have a hard time staying away from all the pastries when I go there.

Laura - hang in there. If you were OP program last week... then it's just a matter of time before the loss shows up. I'm sure the loss will show up next week. It is SO frustrating... I know... but it sounds like you are doing so great... don't let some digital machine measure your success. Okay girl!

Jen - that is so amazing that you ran that race. And I'm glad it was in celebration of your mom. I'm sure I would get teary-eyed also. You inspire me.

Here's me trying on bridesmaids dresses for a friend's wedding. I like it because I look slim.

Thanks for the encouragement girls.

Deb - things I do for rewards are: a new bottle of nailpolish, a pair of funky sunglasses, treat myself to a movie, buy a new workout video, etc. I try to reward myself every 5lbs and so that I don't break the bank, I keep the rewards under $10.

Jen - enjoy the night off from school! I can't imagine keeping your schedule. I think you may be right about my body "liking" where it has been at because even earlier this summer when I was struggling to stay OP, I was always losing and gaining the same couple pounds. I'm only 4lbs from my WW goal and at this point I'd settle for that and forget the personal goal for a few months or a year.

Lisa - love the picture - the dress does look good on you!

Well, I'm off to take a yoga class on my lunch hour.

Laura

And someone please motivate me, too! I have been eating horribly, without regard to whether I am hungry or not and points? what the heck are points? Anyway, I keep trying to get myself back on track to no avail, but seeing the pictures of Miss Skinny Minny Lisa and hearing just how close Miss Slim Jim Laura is may just do the trick for me. If you all can do it, so can I!!!!!!!!!

Aaron took lots of little groups of steps this weekend, so we keep waiting for him to give up crawling and just take off walking. So he did, of course, in our baby class, when I was in the parent room and he was with his teacher. I'm telling myself that it doesn't count unless I see it, so we're sort of pretending that it didn't happen.

Jen, I am so proud of your race! I have always wanted to do that. I have a grandma who is a B. C. survivor, and I have always wanted to honor her that way. I'll have to find some info on that around the Minneapolis area. I'm glad you and your mom had such a good bonding weekend. My mom and I are great pals too, so it's nice to know that it's not odd...glad to know you have the same kind of neat friendship.

Deb, you are so busy! Your camping trip should be a nice restful little vacation for you. I couldn't handle the traffic around where you live. When I lived in Greenwich (CT) I would absolutely refuse to drive outside the city of Port Chester...that's as far as I would go. Although we did drive out to Amityville once, to see the house from the Amityville Horror, and we did do the Ikea thing in New Jersey a few times. My point is, I would just go nuts if I had to drive the Merrit or !-95 every day, let alone in torrential rain. You're a far more patient person than myself!


Marcie, sounds like you have quite a day in front of you...but it's half over now! I'm glad that you too have a vacation thing coming up. I read on Sunday's thread that you're a Sopranos fan...isn't James Gandolphini absolutely hot? We have a support group on this thread for people who aren't really sure why they think James is so incredibly sexy but can't stop drooling over him. And as far as Six Feet under goes, Brenda better watch out...Nate is too hot to be wasted on a cheater like her!!!

Lisa, your weekend sounds fantastic. Your bracelet sounds gorgeous. As far as accepting, you have to follow your instincts within the moment. If it felt right to accept it at the time, then it was just fine. If you would have been completely uncomfortable when he gave it to you and had given it back, then that would have been the right thing to do. This relationship seems to be going so well for you...I'm glad, you deserve it. And I love that we get to come along for the ride!!!

Laura, isn't that the most frustrating thing in the world when you do all that you can do and you still don't show a loss? Just keep truckin' honey, and you will be there, I promise! Our bodies show results of things usually a week to ten days after we do them (which is why we don't see immediate weight gain after we are "naughty") so give it at least that long. Jen might be right, though...you may just have hit what's right for your body. Talk to your leader and see if this might not just be where you're meant to be. I'm proud of all of your hard work, though...you are inspiring!

Oh yeah, non-food rewards...

Here are some things I have done:

massage, manicure, CD, new clothes, scented lotion, a candle, a facial, a new WW cookbook, pricey fruit or veggies that I normally can't afford ( like out-of-season berries or ripe-on-the-vine tomatoes), a new book, a pretty hair clip.

And my ultimate reward:
I go to bath and body works and get a scented set of bubble bath, body spray, and scented lotion. I also get the candle scent that matches. I either go to the library or Barnes and Noble and get a completely trashy paperback ( the Kelly Ripa book club is good for this) and go to a gourmet grocery store and get some really pretty and expensive fruit that I wouldn't otherwise buy. I then turn off the phone, get rid of my family for the afternoon, run a hot bath, and just soak with the candle lit all afternoon/eventing. While I'm in the tub, I give myself a facial, too, and munch on my pretty fruit. Afterwards, I use the spray and lotion to make myself smell pretty and take lots of care with hair and makeup and wear nice clothes. I just feel so good about myself when I'm so relaxed and looking nice, that it's the best reward ever! This is a big one though...I used it for my 25 pound loss, I can't afford to do it too often!

My reward is often a manicure because I love them! I also do books, cds, night out at the movies, a dvd...

Someone once told me that they bought a charm bracelet and then got a new charm every time they lost another 5 lbs. What a cute idea...but I do not wear much jewelry.

Thanks for the great suggestions. I love the charm bracelet suggestion. I'm not much of a jewlery wearer, but that I just might do. Time to do some research!

Lisa - silly girl, you look slim because you ARE slim, silly!

No time to really respond. I've got to get Jeremy from a playdate.

Ta-ta ladies!

Anyone want to go to class for me tonight??!!?? I just am not in the mood. I would love to curl up on the couch with a good book and spend the entire afternoon there!

I have rewarded myself with a bottle of wine too! Not so on plan, but I sure did enjoy it!

Marcie - I'll go.. if you could clean my room for me.

Deb, thanks! But really the wrap is covering my hips and part of my waist. He he!

Laura, how was yoga? Good I hope.. I stil want to try that out. I went to one class once, like 3 years ago.

Jayne - hey honey. Aaron.... almost walking?? that's so cool. As for those rewards... that is awesome. I like your ideas.

Have any of you had Slim Fast Snack Options? For 120 calories... you can have candy bars that taste just like butter finger and snickers... MMMMmmm.