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've been reflecting on what the turtle philosophy means as we start our second hundred posts. The turtle philosophy was a difficult one for people to accept. People want the weight off--NOW!! But reality is that it took time to put it on and it will take time to take it off. People want it to be easy to take off the weight. But reality is that it's not easy. You can have a program that's easy to follow, but following it steadily--that's hard. People don't want to exercise much, if at all. But reality is that our bodies were designed to move. So, we're setting realistic goals that take the weight off at a healthy pace. We're setting goals that will keep us moving steadily toward the healthy weight we want to be. And we're just plain moving. We're setting realistic exercise goals that will move our bodies the way they were meant to be moved.
We've also noticed that our turtle philosophy has affected the rest of our lives. I've started writing fiction again. I realize that I can finish a novel, or two, or ten. All I have to do is to set realistic daily goals, work steadily toward achieving them, and they will build up into finished books. Turtle Power at work in my everyday life.
Anyone who wants to join us in steadily moving toward all of our goals is welcome. I've met some wonderful people on this thread. I hope to meet many more. I know the battle with our weight is a difficult one. Having such supportive people come and post regularly keeps it from getting overwhelming. I hope to see many more people join us as we move forward on our journey.
Choosewell, my brother is moving to Houston in early January. He's going to be working for Rice university. I'd like to pick your brain about Houston.
Judy, eating out is a pain, isn't it? Good for you making those good choices.
Lin, hope your computer is up and running again soon.
Well, here's my tip for the week: How to use all your flex points in just one day!! First, eat your usual large amount for breakfast and lunch, saving only about 3 points for dinner. Next, decide on the spur of the moment to get together with friends for the evening. Then order Lee's Famous Recipe fried chicken! Be sure to have at least one chicken breast and two wings, which will immediately put you over by about 20 points. Then have a heaping portion of potato wedges (which are like giant french fries) for another 6 or so. Add on about 3 or 4 jiggers of scotch (20-year-old single malt, of course) for 6-8 points (if you can remember how much you actually drank) and top the whole thing off with Atkins ice cream and chocolate syrup with a few nuts, which turns out to have the fewest points of the whole meal. Voila, a 62-point day!
There will, of course, probably be reprecussions all night and the next day or two, since you're not as young as you used to be and you're not used to eating so much fat in one sitting. And your pants, which were actually getting kind of loose, will get quite tight around your midsection again. And you will probably live on chicken soup and toast for a while. But these are a small price to pay for getting in so many points in just one 24-hour period.
Well then. I'm about to leave to head down to Toledo to meet a bunch of Zonies (from Dotti's Weight Loss Zone) from Ohio and Michigan. We're meeting for lunch. I've never met most of them except online, so this should be fun. Sure hope we turtles can meet some day.
It's nice to have my computer back up and running. Thank you, Lauren, for starting the new thread. You all have been busily posting and I feel a bit out of touch. It looks like, for the most part, you've been doing well.
Choosewell, you're total count is ahead of mine and so is your worst day. My worst days were 0 words, but some of the other days made up for it. I'm a tiny bit behind because of my computer issues, but I'm doing a marathon tomorrow and Tuesday, which will more than make up the words.
Lauren, I'm sorry you had such a bad day. You can come back from it. Just start over.
I haven't been counting points while I was sick. My appetite has been really weird. But my weight is stable. I'm glad of that and I'm feeling much better. I'll be back on track tonight, when I turn over my points for the week. I did a little walking yesterday. I think I'll be able to get back on track with my tapes tomorrow.
Lauren, when you get back you must tell us how it went, it sounds like fun. And, by the way, you could consider writing comedy for a living! I am relieved to see that you mentioned alcohol. I'm often worried that I'm the only one here that drinks occasionally. The real problem with drinking wine for me is that then I have an imperative to make brownies. I know, it makes no sense to me either.
Lin, I had to sprint a little this week because next week I have business travel. Which can completely unravel all kinds of healthy behaviors, as we know. Have you been to Glenwood Springs, CO, by the way? The hotel where the Teddy Bear was named is there, I stayed in it for a meeting once. You could go as a business expense!
Bandit, I see that Bouchercon is in Toronto next year, for anyone with an interest in mysteries (reading or writing). I've never been, but it sounds like a big hullabaloo. In a good way, I mean! Bouchercon Toronto 2004 I understand that they give away alot of books there, bags of them. Free books! Dreamy.
Well. I must take a bath...it's already 216p here in Texas and I am still in my pajamas because I got up and hit the keyboard. Then I am going to SHOCK the dog and take her for a walk. Poor little thing.
Think healthy, think "You are my beloved" when you look in the mirror today.
Turtle Club #115
You all have been busily posting and I feel a bit out of touch. It looks like, for the most part, you've been doing well. 
the dog and take her for a walk. Poor little thing.
