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 several 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.
It's great to see you, Judy. It sounds like retirement is agreeing with you. And, you're 3.4 pounds lower this week. YAY!
Torty, it sounds like you're really getting it together, too. Congrats!
I'm still plugging away on my novels. I'm working on two at the moment. I've been interviewing my characters for the mystery. And working on creating the religion for the fantasy. Holly started another mailing list, so I'm participating in that. It's pretty helpful. It's amazing how much help you can get from an informal question and answer session. An impromptu session in chat helping someone solve a plot problem can help you with yours. It's pretty cool!
I'm feeling really conflicted about the weight loss thing right now.
I just can't seem to get the right attitude. I just don't care. I'm journaling and I'm sure that will change. It always does, eventually. Meantime, I'm working on not gaining weight.
Hi All!
Thanks for the great welcome back! It feels good to be here.
I am going to try not to write too much about my OP attempts, etc. because I have found in the past that when I write about it I feel great and then forget to do it! Now, how psychological is that? Weird. Anyway--I'm here and it feels right. Retirement is absolutely wonderful. I had a boss who made Cruella DeVille look kind and loving, so it's great to be out of that environment.
I also need the time and energy to put my health needs first and when I was teaching, the little guys exhausted me. So, here I am in a lovely spot and now it's up to me.
Torty;, those lusty turtle stories are too funny. It sounds like you've been appointed the neighborhood turtle rescue squad. Enjoy! I'm glad you didn't have to run the 6K without being prepared for it. Life is funny, isn't it? And now you have the time to get yourself physically where you want to be for August. Way to go!
Lin, I know I've been where you are now a thousand times.
My husband always encouraged me and said keep on doing the things you know you should and the motivation will kick in. It's the old baby steps routine and I like the statement that you're going to work on not gaining weight right now. Good luck with your plots and characters. Glad the Q & A forum helps you with your writing. Must be very exciting.
I have some challenges coming up, but when we go to friends for dinner Sat., I'm bringing dessert. A low cal that tastes good. Pound cake slices in a pan with diet Jello and strawberries.
Then topped with Cool Whip and strawberries and blueberries.
Pointed out, it's 4 points for 1/1/2 of the pan, and I'll have a smaller piece. Just got back from Foxwoods and I lost a pound because I had half a sandwich (they're huge) for lunch and finished it for dinner. Also brought fruit and no-fat Pringles with me for the hotel room later just in case I got hungry (who am I kidding? Of course I got hungry). Anyway--it worked and I'm so glad. The slot machines are so much fun and it's not an eating activity, so I am making myself start to see that some activities are fun all by themselves and do not have to revolve about food.
Good to see you. Lauren and Mousie hi there!
Love,
Judy
Hi, tortoise beings. Sorry for the long silence -- our last round of company (we had two rounds this month already) just left on Monday. And the next round arrives this weekend! Welcome to our B&B!
Judy, I'm so glad to see you doing well and back at it. I was just telling someone last night about that book, "Thin for Life," that studies people who take off weight and keep it off for years. One of the things they shared in common was that they had tried *multiple* times to get the weight off. It seems the more you try, the better you get at this. So good for you!! And wow, what a great loss for your first week! (Since you wrote that a week ago, may I congratulate you on your second week as well? )
Torty, I love those tortoise stories -- what a gas! Tortoise love. Hey, you should write a song ... (anyone here remember that old pop song, "Muskrat Love"? Or am I seriously dating myself?) Good for you on the exercise.
Lin, I hear you about having trouble getting motivated again. That's why I recently bought that refrigerator magnet and book that both say "Never never never never give up." That's my mantra lately.
I did NOT eat well during our last rounds of company. Didn't track, which is always lethal. I didn't gain much, less than half a pound, but that's because the last time I weighed myself it was TOM so I was up 2 pounds. So in reality, I *did* gain.
However. That was then, this is now. Each day, each minute, is new. It always is, even when that saying seems trite. Each decision is new, and I always have a choice.
So. Last night I went back to WW and had a GREAT time. My old leader was back subbing, and a bunch of my old WW crew (who have switched to another night) were there as well to see her. So we all went out to dinner afterward, and it was wonderful! I feel like I'm finally making some "real-life" WW buddies as opposed to internet ones. The internet ones -- like you all -- have kept me going for the past 5 years. I couldn't have kept off 82 pounds without you. And now I'm so thrilled to have face-to-face contact with new WW buddies, too -- I'm walking with one of them this Saturday. I feel like I'm entering a new phase of my journey here.
Another thing I really enjoyed about last night. At dinner, there were people at all stages of this journey. We had two people at Lifetime, holding their goal weights, and we had one man who quit and has gained back all his weight (50 pounds) plus more. I really admired him for being there. The rest of us were struggling somewhere in between. I looked around the table and realized that ALL of us were successful in our own ways.
And so are we here at the Turtle Club. We're still here, aren't we? The scale is not a good barometer of our success; my old WW leader reminded us of that last night. What new attitudes, skills, choices, etc. do we have now? What has changed in us for the better during our sometimes seemingly haphazard journies? That's what I'm going to focus on this week.
Well, this has gotten windy. Talk to you all again soon!
Dear All,
Lauren, so glad to hear from you. I don't envy you your company.
Being a B&B is great because you get to see people you love, but the food is just that much harder. I'm sending hugs and good vibes that you have an easier time with the next group of friends coming in. How smart of you to register at WW again. You and I have done this in the past and it does work! And of course, the big thing to remember is the 82# that are off. It's great that you are entering a new level of weight loss and healthy lifestyle.
A walking partner is lovely. New ideas, good exercise, and a feeling of comraderie. Good luck!
I know I can't do this healthy eating bit without WW right now.
I forget about all the things I had hoped I had learned. The scale is a good accounter right now. I lost an additional #1.5 this week. In total I have knocked off #5! I am so proud of myself, but I am also realistic and know that not that much has changed.
I am always about a minute away from the next binge and I want to use my skills to keep the binge far away. I had a thought and I don't want to upset anyone with this, so please bear with me.
It occured to me that so much of my eating is in response to emotional upsets. Food is immediately comforting to me and when I am anxious, etc. I reach for food. I know I'm like lots and lots of people. So I thought this: If I reached for a drink (booze) each time I wanted to eat from anxiety or boredom, would I be an alcoholic? That thought is helping me a tiny bit because I try and stop before I eat something to get at the reason for eating:
hunger or emotion. I know there's nothing new here, but it is something I have been trying and I am having partial success with that train of thought. When I know it's emotional, I try and have a drink of water or Diet Coke and if I'm really good, I'll hop on the treadmill.
Torty, Lin, and Mousie, good luck to all of you. Lauren hang in there with the company. I bet signing up for WW will make this new batch of company easier to deal with.
Judy, your line about your boss cracked me up. I hope not having the stress about working for someone like that will help make this easier for you.
Lauren, I loved what you said about your weight loss journey, being in a new place. And about ours and how it's not only about the scale.
I'm doing a difficult project right now. I'm critiquing and editing a manuscript for a friend. It's not hard to know what to do. It's hard to do it. The book is well-written, but he has a lot of grammar stuff to fix, particularly punctuation stuff. I wish that was the only problem. I'm afraid he's going to freak when he reads that his whole book lost its focus and it seriously needs a complete rewrite. (OUCH!) I hate having to say things like that. Especially since I know he's on a deadline and I don't know what that deadline is. Anyway, it's taking a lot more time than I expected to work through, so my own writing has been put on hold (just until next Wednesday), since I don't have a deadline and I promised him I'd do the manuscript.
I'm doing OK, otherwise. My son is still here. He's taking a break from school. (I hope. He hasn't set a specific quarter when he wants to go back.) I'm not happy about the decisions he's making. It's added to the stress we're already experiencing because we're supporting him right now and we had a 5% pay cut recently, which is tough.
Friday is his birthday. He surprised me by choosing breakfast for his birthday dinner. Eggs Benedict with a sausage patty instead of Canadian Bacon, hash browns, and grapes. With Toll House Cookie Pie for dessert. This is NOT WW friendly. But, it's only one meal. And I'm putting spinach and tomato on my Benedict instead of the sausage because I don't like sausage very much. And I'm making a salad or cooking asparagus, or both, because I really need veggies with my meals or I get to feeling awful. This kid is the one who wanted to be a "meatatarian" when he was little because he doesn't like veggies very much. But he doesn't like a lot of meats, either.
One good thing--we're going to San Jose on Sunday. We're using a rare bit of overtime from when my dh went out on the San Francisco Bay on a research boat to test their product to cover the expenses of the trip. What a life! Getting paid to go sailing. He'd love to do that every day. I'm meeting with some of the people from the writing web site. I'm so looking forward to it. The only bad thing is the woman who set it up won't be able to make it, after all. So, we're planning another get-together in the future so she can come.
Hi All,
Lin,
Have a great time in San Jose. What a great way for your husband to earn his salary. I bet he wishes he had more projects like that! As far as your son, he usually does the right thing and I hope he gets to where he needs to be soon. It must be a little nerve wracking for you right now. Good luck with editing your buddy's book. I give you a lot of credit. Here you are patching up punctuation and yet you know he'll have to do a major re-write to get the plot back in focus. Egads! Well, you're a good friend and I am sure you'll find a tactful way to get your friend back on track despite his deadline.
I'm already having a few snags. Have to get some more groceries in the house and then have to continue to address my emotional eating. Have two places to go tomorrow! A brunch in the late morning, and then a dinner at our friends in the evening.
Too much! I'll just make it a high point day and not binge. Then the next day I have a bridal shower to go to. That is another eating occasion. I've got to go with the idea that I am happy that my cousin found a lovely girl to marry and let the food go!
Then I'll be out of touch for awhile. But I'll be thinking of all you turtles and hope to keep my weight loss on track!
You all take care and here's some good vibes for you.
Love,
Judy
Lin, good luck with that editing project. I hope your friendship survives it. How was San Jose?
Judy, how did the social events go? Those really are tough, as you've mentioned in the past (and as I've experienced as well). Just keep at it, no matter what.
Here's a thought about emotional eating. I've decided I can no longer use that even remotely as an excuse. This past weekend, I went walking with a couple WW buddies. One of them, Peggy, went to WW for a year and a half with her husband, Ed. They did great together. He usually did the cooking; they had a bit of a competition going about the weight loss. They egged each other on to exercise and follow the plan. Neat couple.
Ed made lifetime last September or so. Then, two months later, Peggy came home and found him dead of a heart attack. It was a terrible thing. (I may have mentioned this to you all last fall when it happened.)
Well, I hadn't seen Peggy since then until a couple weeks ago. And guess what? Peggy made goal this past January and is now working for WW as a weigher. She is maintaining her weight loss of 60+ pounds. It was obvious during our walk that she misses Ed very much; we talked about him a lot. But she's taking one day at a time, and she's not using food as an emotional crutch. My admiration for her is boundless.
So now as I'm tempted to overeat because I feel something I don't like, I'm going to think of Peggy. If she can do it, so can we.
Hi Turtles,
Lauren, I do remember you writing about your buddy finding her husband dead. That had to be a nightmare. Good for Peggy for staying centered and not giving up. I know motivation needs to be strong to stay OP. Thanks for telling Peggy's story so that when we feel sorry for ourselves, we've got a strong role model to think about.
As far as my social occasions, I did well. The food wasn't that terrific and although I am sure my points were very high on Sat.
by Sunday I was fine and had cereal for supper so I wouldn't go over with points. Today I am having a great day and plan to keep it up. The odd thing is the social occasions weren't that hot.
Some friends gave me a retirement gathering, but honestly I hadn't wanted one, requested that they wouldn't, but they did anyway. To make matters worse, they didn't seem to put much thought into the get together. So, hmmmmm. But they gave me a gift, I wrote the thank you notes already and I've got that behind me. I love spending time with my husband and we're getting even closer. These are good times for us. I am making weight loss and fitness a priority more times than I have in the past and I even got on the treadmill again today. So onward and upward (or downward on the scale).
Torty--come on back with some more lusty tortoise/turtle stories.
We're here for support.
Lin--good luck with your son and book projects. Here's some good vibes.
Mousie--how does it feel to be the proud possessor of a degree?
Good for you
Love and good vibes for everyone.
I'm glad I checked in today. Always glad to see what's going on
on our site.
Judy
My cat is driving me crazy. She's taken to pacing back and forth in front of me since she can't sleep on our new monitor. That means she's walking on the keyboard unless I see her coming and pick it up. (Thank goodness it's wireless.) She's posted gibberish in chat. She's written garbage on my posts. But the worst is when she hits a hot key and I lose everything I just wrote. When you read this little whine, it's really funny. I'll laugh at it tomorrow, when I'm not trying to remember the post I just wrote.
Judy, you're doing fine. It sounds like the main thing you need to do is plan, plan, plan. That's the best way I know of to deal with an active social life. I have to for you, though. I've known people over the years whose approach to losing weight is to hole up in their houses where they have complete control over every bite. But then they get unhappy because they're so isolated, decide that losing weight isn't worth not having a social life, and give up. Your awesome to keep going no matter what.
You too, Lauren. Your story about Peggy is exactly what I needed to help put things in perspective. I'm in my worst place as far as my weight loss efforts than I have been in a long time. It's due to exactly that type of stress, although not as serious as losing a spouse. The similarity is that in my situation and in hers we can't change it. Mine is more changeable, but it's a very long term project. I just hope it doesn't end up being too little, too late.
My editing project is almost done. It's interesting that you wondered about our friendship lasting. That was never an issue. Critiques are not personal. They're a tool to help improve your writing, both people's writing. You learn a lot from doing critiques. It's better to have a supportive group of writers critique your work and help you get it polished up for submission than to send it out before it's ready, guaranteeing a rejection. I'm looking forward to finishing it, though. I haven't had time to work on my own writing much the past couple of weeks since my son's been home and I've been working on the critique/edit.
It looks as though one good thing will be happening this year. If we can find a place that we can afford and that will let us keep our cat, we're moving back to San Jose. The problem is that most of the places that allow pets are the more expensive places. Some of their rents are about what ours is, but for a one-bedroom. Which is fine because we don't have our kids living here right now. Unfortunately, a lot of the possibilities are several hundred dollars a month more for a one-bedroom. They're super nice, but way out of our league. Or, they allow cats, but require you to declaw them. That's not happening. It's cruel. It's expensive. And it's a surgical procedure, an unnecessary one. A few are affordable, until you add the "pet rent" and parking fees. There are plenty of places that don't charge for parking and don't charge extra rent (plus a deposit) for you to have a pet.
There's one place, though, with a really funny requirement. You can have your pet if it passes their "pet interview". You're supposed to bring your pet to meet the landlord. No way that's happening. My cat is not riding in the car for two hours to be "interviewed" by a landlord. She'd flunk after that stress, anyway.
Our lease is up in December, so it looks like we'll be moving right at the holidays again, unless I can borrow a little from my mother to do a month-to-month rent for a month and move in January. That cost $150 a month more last year and I don't know what it would be this year.
So, I'm changing my writing schedule for a while. I need to start sorting our stuff and packing up the stuff we don't use very often or I'll be crazy trying to move at the holidays again. I'm going to continue working on my mystery and do some preliminary work, as I have time, for a short novel for the NaNoWriMo challenge. (Assuming I have my packing under control and can take the time to write 50K in a month.)
I'm not doing well with weight loss efforts. I'm sort of maintaining. It's hard to tell because it's PMS right now. But I've been giving it a lot of thought these days, which is a good thing. I do better when I'm not pretending it's not an issue. I'll keep you all posted as to how that's going as I try to figure out what to do.
They have some new smilies. They changed a few, too. That neat party hat one is gone and I don't like its replacement very much. But they have one of a person typing at the computer and one of a person writing by hand. Now I can have a writing and a chef's thingie in my signature. !
Sounds like everyone is super busy. Hang in there with the company Lauren. I have the in-laws this weekend for a bit and everyone expects a lavish meal from me- which I admit I foster by always coming through. Gonna make a plan that meets my needs as well this time.
Judy- so great to hear you feeling closer to hubby and enjoying your time. I agree with you on the "just do it" as opposed to talking about being OP. Congrats on the poundage dropped.
Lin- I so admire that you can critique a friends writing and it does not get personal. I think I still have insecurity issues that emotionally make it hard to take constructive criticism even when I know the intentions are all good. Congrats on the plans to move. The pet issue is a tough one. We rent houses for vacation and always "forget" to mention that one of our family members is a 100 lb. labrador retriever. But you don't that that luxury when it is a long term rental. Hope the writing is still clicking for you and that your son's time out of school is a good thing for him. There are so many paths out there and as parents we want to scoot them onto the right one and still recognize that they are adults. Mine is only 12 and it is already getting hard to recognize his independence and keep from always giving my "experienced" opinion.
Just got back on Tuesday frm 6 days in Vancouver. Lovely scenery and the long days were a treat. Food and exercise was excellent- if only I could take my vacation mind-set and make it my every day mindset!!!!! I tried to really enjoy my food choices and to only eat till I started to feel pretty full. It seemed to work. The gellato almost did me in- but since my very first gellato ( am I mispelling this?) was in Florence as a 13 year old in the middle of summer on a plaza- I told myself no other gellato was ever going to be that good- or special so I just let it go. If I had had any at all I think it would have been a slippery slope. Plus we had a greengrocers right on the corner from the hotel and a mini kitchen- so my son & I (hubby is sadly not good with fruits & veggies)- indulged in fantastic fresh cherries and blueberries and even had fresh lychee, rambutan and dragon fruit when we explored Chinatown. My son "coached" me when we ran/walked along the seawall in the mornings and on the hiking trails- it was very nice.
OK- here is a slightly different tortoise story: not such a happy ending - but I think the tortoise persistence and tenacity comes through: lady around the corner told me about her childhood tortoise named Boris. He "came with the house" and was reputed to be about 30 years old. Boris lived in the backyard and even hibernated in his burrow in the hillside. (even in Southern California I guess some tortoises hibernate in winter) When the hillside finally collapsed during a storm he started to hibernate in the house. Through-out the years he always walked around the swimming pool (tortoises like a warm shallow bath but can not swim). As he reached his retirement years he got a bit senile. Was found in the pool- rescued, put on life support etc- and survived for a few months until he landed in the pool again. The second time he caught pneumonia and unfortnately did not make it. I was struck by the adopted family caring so much about the old senior and how by his slow steady just being himself he impacted their lives and they fondly remember him to this day (this happened about 20 years ago)
Have a great weekend and hope to hear from everyone. Mousie- where are you????
Dear All,
Am back from my travels south--didn't find the furniture my dil wanted--and my family reunion. My bil is still silly. The best he does is manage to ignore us in his supercilious way. Next time I'd like the family reunion to just be my dad and sisters at a beach or another location. Even though my grandkids and dil and I stayed at a motel in town, it still didn't quite work out. Well, I've had worse family reunions--that's for sure--and I've had better ones. It was good to see everyone else.
Big plus--I got to know my dil much better and the grandkids who are both under two are darling and I got to know them better too.
They live five hours away by car and it's tough to have them so far away. A real pleasure to hug them and play with them.
Now I'm home for a bit and then I'm off again for a bit. Good news on the weight front, I think. I don't think I gained more than two pounds. I'm heading to WW tomorrow and I'll know more then. In the meantime friends called and we're catching dinner out tonight. Their local place has a lobster special. How good does that sound? So if I have a salad, baked potato, lobster, and skip the melted butter I should be A-OK with points.
Lin, I think it is hysterical that you have a place that needs to interview pets!!!! before you can rent there. That leaves me speechless. How marvelous. I know plenty of places that could have done well to interview *people* not their pets. Oh well.
I'm so glad you are starting to look at your eating. That makes me feel great!
Torty, I like your advice about the lab, etc. Keep on keepin' on.
DEar All,
Got on the treadmill today. Mowed the front and back lawns yesterday. Weighed in at WW and was down .6#. Very hard to figure because I weighed in two weeks ago in the morning and was up 2# then. Tonight I weighed in at night and knocked off a little weight. I am going to simply say that since starting 5 weeks ago I am down 3+ pounds and that's mighty good for me.
Many people would be devastated at losing so little, but I am thrilled because without WW I wasn't losing anything.
So, here I am back from vacation and I held onto a 3+ pound loss.
I'll be gone again for a bit, so I intend to do as well again.
Wish me luck.
Lin, good luck in your apt. search. Lauren, I hope your company has had a great time with you and now they're gone, and Torty I hope you apply the good measures you used on vacation now that you're home again.
Here's to staying OP. My personal goal is to be 5 pounds lighter by Labor Day. Anyone want to join me?
Love and good vibes
Judy
Wow! Nice to see all of us that fell off the wagon getting back on track.
I managed to gain back nearly every pound I lost (and even at that, I was still way out there from my goal). Too much stress and garbage to deal with. Now, I am back to journalling, and watching portions and doing the exercise thing. So far, I have dropped 8 pounds again in the last few months.
I am planning a move to Las Vegas,NV and packing like crazy. That should earn me a few activity points!
I'm not on the computer everyday, but, will check in periodically.
Here's to a "slow losing" week to all of us turtles!
I want to keep thread #99 going for a while. I've asked the mods to remove the #100, posted by a complete stranger. I don't know if it violates site guidelines, so I don't know if they will. If they don't, I'm changing our heading in some way so I can write the special "100 threads" celebration message I've been looking forward to while we've crept our way through the 90s.
Torty--thanks for another great tortoise story. They're so motivating. I think it's great that you indulged in trying some new produce. And that your son coached you in your exercise.
Judy, congrats on losing 3+ pounds!!
Things are OK here. I'm maintaining at a higher weight than I'd like, but I'm maintaining. The good thing is that I've been eating all of my fruits and veggies. And eating a mix of simple and complex carbs. We've been eating a bit more vegetarian dishes these days because with my son and his friend here, I have to stretch the food budget really thin. So, we're not eating meat as often, which gives me a bit of extra money for summer fruit. Produce has gotten really expensive lately. Now, the summer fruit comes in, but it's not cheap anymore, even though they grow it just a couple hundred miles away. I miss my favorite grocery store in San Jose most in the summer because they had better produce than we get here and it's significantly ($.50-1.00 per pound) cheaper. I was there a few weeks ago, so I know exactly how much the prices differ.
My writing is going fine. I'm working on another critique, too. I'm about halfway finished with it. I've been playing with Photoshop a little, making logos for my stories. It sounds weird, but when I open the page with the logo, it gets my mind back into that particular story. I need to be able to do that because I've never been able to work on just one project at a time. I'm rotating three, which is the maximum I can do, right now.
I hope everyone is doing OK. I'll see you all later.
Turtle Club #99
Lin
)
He'd love to do that every day. I'm meeting with some of the people from the writing web site. I'm so looking forward to it. The only bad thing is the woman who set it up won't be able to make it, after all. So, we're planning another get-together in the future so she can come.
for you, though. I've known people over the years whose approach to losing weight is to hole up in their houses where they have complete control over every bite. But then they get unhappy because they're so isolated, decide that losing weight isn't worth not having a social life, and give up. Your awesome to keep going no matter what.
