Turtle Club #86
 

Hi, Everyone,

Here's 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 three 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 in order to lose and keep off the weight. Our main focus is to 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.

Lin

Hi, Turtles,

April, I'm glad you enjoyed visiting your family. I'm sorry you were sick, but glad you're feeling better. :D

Kathy, welcome back. I was wondering how you were doing.

If you decide to read the book, I recommend getting the newest one, The Carbohydrate Addict's LifeSpan Program. It has about 10 years more research behind it and the program is simpler.

About the processed carbs, this plan does not distinguish between types of carbs, only how many grams of carbs per serving. So, if you are looking for a plan that guides you in how much white flour or sugar vs. brown rice and other complex carbs you should have, this isn't it. You can eat any type of carb at the meal where you have carbs, as long as you follow the other guidelines.

Kaylets, congrats on sticking to it during those "I don't care days". That's a really important thing to be able to do because our emotions go up and down so easily, causing lots of problems if we follow our every whim.

Judy, 4 lbs. by Christmas is a very doable 1/2 lb. average each week. And I think it's doable even though this is the "social season". All you need is to figure out how you will handle each situation as it comes up and stick to the plan. Better yet, have at least one (2 is better) backup plans.

My mother is both driving me crazy and (insert usually deleted expletive that I rarely use here) me off. She got her test results back and tells me that it's early signs of emphysema, which she didn't tell me she had been diagnosed with earlier. She hasn't told my other brother because "it's nothing" and she is going to "try" to quit smoking again. My son says she stopped caring after my brother died. I'm so mad, but this will be a huge rant if I write all of that down. And I can't do anything because I'm stuck here without transportation.

But, I've found a few jobs to apply for, which is an improvement in the job situation. They are all in the San Jose area and if I can get hired and commute for a few months, we can move back.

My son still hasn't found a job. So far, we've managed to get enough money to keep him in school, but he has some major growing up to do, fast, if he is going to stay there. I have hopes for him doing that because he wants to and he usually manages to figure out what to do when he wants to do something.

I've been following the new food plan for one day and breakfast today. Yesterday I missed the carbs at breakfast and lunch, but not at the snack I had in the afternoon. I ate a little more protein, only about a half ounce, at breakfast and then I didn't miss the toast. I don't expect to have any problems for a while because it's new. I'll keep you posted how it goes.

This may be my last post for a few days. I have to do some work on my computer and if past computer fix sessions are any indication of the future, it won't take a mere couple of hours. I'll post as soon as I can. If it gets really ugly, I'll have my husband sign on and post an update from work.

Happy turtlin'! :cool:

Lin
:chef:

Hi guys

...I am not a happy turtle today and I won't be until a certain thing happens!!! This is my ugly story. Today we were awaken with a telephone call from our dd in SAc. Someone had stolen their commute car we had given to her and Andre..It was his car and he had his new tools in it. Tools he bought for his job with his hard earned money..All gone. Stolen right in front of their house. We are so bummed. The old car had over 250,000 miles on it but it ran like a charm and if Andre drove in his sandals, he could actually drive it. It is a family airlume...it was my sisters, then mine now the kids..i wouldhave gotten it back if they got another car, so you see it is a family airlume...Now it is lost and is missing home. Please pray our little car comes home, safe and sound...

Needles to say I did not go to exercise today, I was to wrapped up in the car thing...dd had to come up today and pick up my sisters van which she said she could use until she gets home in Feb or March. If they don't find the Honda by then, the kids will have to buy another car. bummer, they wanted to use any extra money on an apt...

I am planning to go to Curves tommorrow no matter what. Will do some planning tonight and start on a plan..Lin I think i will buy the book tomorrow to check out.

Hope it works out with the jobs In san jose..How will you get there though???

Well better let the dogs in and get them setteled in for the night, bye for now..thanks for letting me rave..

Kathy

Hi, Turtles.

Wow! We must all be super busy this week.

Kathy, I'm sorry your family's car was stolen. I hope they find it, but the chances are slim with stolen cars. It's good that they have transportation while this gets sorted out. Hang in there.

I hope you went to Curves and have gotten back on track with your exercise. It's the part you've been most consistent with lately and that's great!

My husband commutes to San Jose every day. He'll set his schedule to coincide with mine for a few months, until we get the money together for moving expenses. That plan depends on my finding a job, of course.

I'm doing fine with this new program. I'm not getting hungry as often as I used to. I'm eating something about every 4 hours, but the amounts vary depending on how much food fills me up. I've lost about a half pound since Sunday.

The way they figure weight loss is different, but it makes so much sense. It takes into account the natural fluctuations of your weight. You weigh yourself every day, but just record the numbers. One day's weight is meaningless, even if you only do it once a week or month, according to the research. So, you take those daily numbers and average them weekly. The weekly average is the number you use to figure out your weight loss by subtracting it from last week's average.

In case you don't remember how to do an average-In this case, you add up the daily weights and divide by the number of days. If you forget to weigh two days in a week, for example, you would divide by 5 instead of 7 (the actual number of days you weighed.)

Anyway, my average for the week so far is .6 lower than I started, even though the scale says 2 pounds. The .6 makes a lot more sense and I like this method of calculating it. The important thing is to think of the daily number as data being collected, not a number that tells you anything by itself.

The rest of my life is about the same. I'm going to be spending a little more time with Harry Potter for a couple of weeks, since the movie opens this Friday. The boards should be hopping. I'm not going to meet the NaNoWriMo goal because life has intruded on my ability to do as many words a day as you need to do. But I have a good mystery going, anyway.

It looks as though I'm going to be running my computer on a prayer for a couple of weeks. The hard drive with Windows on it is starting to have problems. I need to take it off the computer and reformat the large hard drive and install Windows (and everything else, including some downloads that take forever) on that drive. It will take a day or two and with the movie coming out, they need all of the hosts on the HP boards. So, I'm praying the hard drive lasts until the initial hullaballoo is over.

The other major project I have is Thanksgiving dinner. I need to plan my menu and cooking schedule. And I need to figure out how to follow this food plan without telling my mother I'm trying something new. She hasn't said anything, so I don't think my son has told her about it. I think I can manage by just saying that this is what I want to eat. My whole family teases her mercilessly about how she comments on what everyone puts on their plates.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy turtlin! :D

Lin
:chef:

Miata,
That is such a bummer that your precious family car was stolen==and to take it from in front of the house is a super insult!
I hope your kids get it back. Keep going with the Curves and food because you don't want to beat yourself up over this.
Lin,
Yeah, it is quiet around here lately. I find, as usual, that I am working before and after work what with my involvement in my union and trying to get all my work done. I love doing Thanksgiivng and will have lots of family here for the holiday. There will be 12 of us and I really like it. I have to get off the computer and make some pumpkin breads and pumpkin pie for the freezer. I'm tired, but I know I can do it.
Food is not my top priority which means I'm not losing anything.
I keep checking in hoping to get with it. I do take all advice seriously and am sorting things out here at home. Considering retiring this year or next and it's a tough decision.
Lin--good luck with your new carb plan and I'm sure you can keep your mom in the dark if you think up a plan.
Good luck to us all.
Love
Judy

Hi, Turtles,

Judy, I think that your checking in may be helping you to stay more on track than you think. After all, you aren't gaining, either. That's success. You will get there because you want to.

I've been doing this plan for a week now. My average weight is a pound less than where I started. I've had to be a little creative in the kitchen, but that's fun for me. I'm planning to give this plan 3 months, then evaluate if it's worth continuing. If things go the way they have begun, I will stick with it.

I don't recommend it to everyone. But if you take the little quiz in the book and you fit the profile of who this plan is for, it's worth trying. I'm a fan of it for me so far because I'm not hungry. I don't sit around waiting for the next time to eat. I just start to notice I'm getting hungry and so I eat something. I often get too full to finish what I took, so I save it for later. And I'm not taking huge portions.

I'm eating some type of dessert every day. And I'm satisfied with a small portion of it. I rarely look at the leftover dessert and wish I could eat it during the day.

I'm also really happy that the weight is coming off at a reasonable rate. I usually end up with a cold when I start plans that take off 5 pounds the first week, then gradually slow down to a reasonable rate. The authors recommend that you should aim for no more than 1% of your body weight per week. (2 pounds for a 200 lb. person, 1.5 for a 150 pound person.)

Anyway, my husband says that it makes sense that different people need different food plans because we all are a little different. He says that maybe I've found the one that's right for my body. We'll see how it goes long-term.

That's about all in my life right now. The rest is pretty much the same as it has been lately. I hope to hear from you all soon!

Happy turtlin! :balloons:

Lin
:chef:

Lin,
I think your new plan sounds great. It's really wise to give it a three month trial period to give it plenty of time to work for you.
Good luck with your job search. Moving back to San Jose would be heavenly.
All goes well here. My hubby is battling a bronchitis and I realize how much I enjoy his company and our ability to get up and go now that he's been not feeling well at all for a week. However, both of us realize how important health is and we've been watching the food we eat and honing in on that idea. so in a weird way his coughing, etc. got us off on the right foot. That sounds callous and I don't mean it that way, but life takes funny turns every once in a while.
Getting ready for thanksgiving. Made the pumpkin breads, pie, and cookies for Thanksgiving and they're in the freezer. I put water in the bowls right away so I wouldn't be tempted to lick the pans, etc. That makes me proud.
Everybody do well, chime in and let's get through the holiday season. This is often the best time of year for me because it is difficult and I am very aware of doing my best.

Hi Turtles, just a quick note. I'm still here and doing fine, but buried in final projects and final tests at school. And our social life has suddenly exploded and we're busy nearly every night. Right now I've got exercise, food, and school balanced, but I'll be glad when this semester is over!

I hope everyone is doing well. Lin it sounds like your program is right for you and that makes me happy. Kathy I'ms o sorry to hear about your DD's car! I hope that situation gets better soon. Judy, I hope your DH feels better soon.

I have to go, bye Turtles!

Hi, turtles. Sorry for the long silence there. Working two jobs keeps me hopping, and our social life has been a bit crazy, too. One of my jobs has been pretty stressful.

And, to be honest, I've had a hard time focusing on the weight-loss journey. This usually happens to me when I start a new job. Since we went on vacation, I've had a tough time getting re-motivated. I gained up to 186 pounds -- 7 pounds higher than my lowest, which was right before vacation.

Last Saturday I decided to recommit myself again, in honor of our church's Nativity fast. (Like Lent, but it's for six weeks before Christmas instead of Easter.) I've been within my points since then. This week I was down to 183; I think I had been holding hormonal water. But this is also what I weighed LAST JULY. I just realized that last night.

So I'm bearing down again and pulling out the old re-motivators -- picturing myself at my goal weight, reminding myself of all the health benefits (and I'm so close to being out of "obese" range, too). DH recently gave me a gift certificate to one of my favorite clothing stores; I've decided not to use it until I hit the 100-pound mark, which is 9 pounds away.

This certainly is a tough time of year to eat healthfully and lose weight, and spending Thanksgiving at my dad's in North Carolina won't make it any easier. But I'm truly tired of being stuck in this weight range; I've been in the 180s since April! And I also want to observe this Nativity fast, which I haven't done in years past. It's a gift to me, and a way to honor God.

So. Oh, also sobering news ... there's this couple that has been coming to my WW meetings regularly, really neat couple. They've been doing great, always looking at the humorous side of life and this journey. He lost 45 pounds and hit lifetime just recently. Well, last week she came home and found him dead from a heart attack. He was just 56. I guess he had had heart trouble in the past, which was a key motivator for him to get the weight off.

It really brought home to me how short our time is here and how precious each of us is. I came home and hugged my DH a lot last night. It also reminded me that, as important as this weight-loss journey is, it's not ultimately what my life is about. Last night I kept remembering that verse from the Bible: "This night thy soul shall be required of you."

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/183/179 by Jan. 1

Hi, Turtles,

Judy, I hope your dh is feeling better. Mine has a head cold right now, which isn't serious, but it worries me that he might get sicker since he works through minor illnesses.

It sounds like you are well-prepared for Thanksgiving. I'd love to do the bread ahead of time and freeze it, but my freezer is way too small. One of the things I miss most since we moved back into apartments is adequate freezer space!!

Erin, I hope your final projects and tests go well. It's good to hear you're keeping it all in balance at this extra busy time. That's hard to do.

Lauren,

I'm so sorry to hear about your WW buddy's heart attack. It's always hard to realize that we can take care of our health the best we know how, but that's not a guarantee of anything. That's why we need to try to keep everything in perspective. I think it's a good thing that you're combining your weight loss journey with your commitment to God, too. He can give you the strength to stick to your commitment to him and to your plan.

Your real key seems to be commitment. I've noticed that when you make a short-term goal and commit yourself to reaching it, you succeed. Then when you make another goal, and recommit, you succeed with that one. It's the old breaking a large project into small steps and that seems to work really well for you. I'm glad to see you following that path again.

I'm also glad to hear that your 2 jobs are going well. I hope you can find a way to keep the stress level of the high stress job managable.

Well, I'm in the middle of my second week and things are going fine so far. I'm not as hungry, even though it's PMS, which is strange. What's even stranger for me is that I don't miss toast at breakfast. I miss fruit. So, I"m going to make a point of adding fruit as part of my carbs at my carb meal. My body must need those nutrients.

But things are going fine. I'm not hungry. I'm having a problem with figuring out how much food to take because when I do get hungry, I get really hungry. But a lot less food than my hunger feels like it needs fills me up. I keep ending up saving a third or half to eat later or tossing the last few bites. I'm still losing at a slow, but steady pace.

The rest of my life is weird. I'm taking a break from writing to back up the data files on a 36G hard drive. I wish I had a CD-burner!! But, I'm using floppies and zip disks. It sounds like a worse task than it is because a lot of the drive is empty and a lot is programs. It's the graphics and photos that are hard to back up because some of them are so large. I hope that this weekend I can get the reformat done and have a reliable computer again. It's tedious and, luckily my sons took their stuff off to put on their own computers. A friend of my oldest son gave him a computer and he's rebuilding that one and his old one to make computers for him and his brother. I'm so glad that my youngest will have a computer of his own at school. He's been using his roomates laptop.

I'm really looking forward to seeing my sons at Thanksgiving. My youngest is bringing a friend he's been an online buddy with for years. His friend works in San Diego and can't get home to Maine for Thanksgiving. It will be cool to finally meet him.

I'm going to spend most of next week cooking. I promised my mom I'd do as much in advance as possible. That means we're not having all the traditional fixings, but most of my family doesn't like cranberry relish and sweet potatoes anyway. So, I'm making a couple of veggie casseroles and a twice-baked potato cheese souffle thingie that's not delicate like a regular souffle. I can heat them all while the turkey is sitting before we carve it. Turkey, stuffing, salad, rolls and a chocolate cake will be the rest of the meal. I'm making the cake because it's my birthday and I want chocolate cake instead of pumpkin pie, which is a dessert I don't really care about one way or the other.

I hope the rest of you find time to check in soon.

Happy turtlin'! :flow2:

Lin
:chef:

Hi!!

I hope you all are doing fine. I don't have a lot of time today. My husband's cold has him out of commission, so I have to do the stuff he was going to do to help get ready for Thanksgiving.

I wanted to check in and report how things are going. I lost another three pounds, for a total of 4 in two weeks. I'd love for that rate to continue, but experience tells me I'd better enjoy it while I can. ;)

I hope you all have a good plan in place for Thanksgiving. I might not be around much this week. I still have to do that hard drive reformat, as well as Thanksgiving dinner. Have a great holiday! I'll try to check in once in a while.

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin
:chef:

Good for you, Lin! Losing weight before Thanksgiving is always a huge plus, and losing four pounds is just wonderful. There's a shot in your arm! Way to go. Good luck getting ready for Thanksgiving. I can't wait to hear about your menu. :)

You're right; commitment is definitely my ongoing problem. It waxes and wanes; I really have to keep at it. The short-term goals do help. Lately I've been picturing myself wearing certain outfits; that helps, too.

I've been doing reasonably well, writing it down, being either within my points or one or two over. (Well, I did have one 34-point day this week.) I do find this point range difficult and really can't imagine doing down to 20-25 points. But people do it, and I will too.

I still don't have a great plan in place for Thanksgiving. Did I mention we'll be at my dad's, and his wife is a fantastic Southern cook? I think I did. Anyway, I'm planning to go for walks every day and to write it all down. And avoid the snacking.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/183/179 by January 1

Quick update: down a pound this week. It was actually a pound and a half, but I have to take Celebrex right now because I injured my feet (walking in bad shoes). I hold water on Celebrex.

Anyway, I'm glad to see the scale going in the right direction again. 170s for the New Year!

How is everyone doing? Hope you all have a marvelous Thanksgiving.

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/182/179 by Jan. 1

Hi, Turtles,

Lauren, congratulations on the weight loss. It's good to see you getting your WW life back under control. Enjoy your trip and your Thanksgiving. You can do it.

You asked about my menu, so here it is. I'm cooking turkey with cornbread-apple stuffing. Twice-baked potato-cheese souffles. They have spinach and Gruyere cheese. I'm making a green bean gratin, with a bit of caramelized onions and bacon for flavor. I'm making a broccoli and cauliflower casserole that's like macaroni and cheese without the macaroni. It sounds like a lot of cheese, but the amounts make the cheese more of a flavoring, once you divide it into individual servings. I'm doing a salad bar and roasted shallot dressing. Sourdough dinner rolls. I love this recipe because you mix it, then refrigerate it overnight, then bake it. It's one of the simplest yeast roll recipes I have. I'm not sure if my son's friend is coming, but my son requested a cranberry relish, so I'm making one with dried apricots and a few macadamia nuts for a little different flavor. Lastly, my favorite chocolate cake recipe. It's a lot of food, but most of it is veggies of some sort.

On to sadder things. I don't know where to begin. I guess with my kitty. I had to have her put to sleep yesterday. I keep remembering her. I spent most of yesterday crying and I didn't sleep well last night. I keep thinking about all of the little quirks that made her our Blackie cat. :cry:

With my dh being sick last weekend and taking yesterday to take care of our sick kitty, I'm behind on all of that cooking and I still haven't had time to reformat our hard drive and fix our computer. Anyway, the only way I'm going to get done what I have to do is if I stay offline for a few days. Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone, and I'll see you all sometime between Saturday and Monday.

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin
This week I'm super:chef: !

Dear Lin and Lauren,
Now that's the kind of weight losses I like to see. I can pipe in too with a total of a three pound weight loss. I haven't broken my recent bottom number, but I'm getting closer. I'm having soup for lunch and cereal for breakfast and watching the snacks.

Lauren,
enjoy your time with your dad and family. When you had that huge picnic, you had a very good week and the exercise will help you too.

Lin,
so sorry about your kitty. That's gotta be tough. I don't have pets, but that's got to be the hardest decision to make.
On a happier note, your Thanksgiving foods sound yummy. And as far as future weight losses, what matters right now is that you've worked hard and 4 whole pounds came off! Weigh to go.

To all Lurkers and all our Turtle buddies=-I love you all. Have a lovely Thanksgiving. Remember to stop and smell the turkey. LOL
Love,
Judy