For those of you who are joining us for the first time, we have taken the tortoise in the story "The Tortoise and the Hare" as our mascot and mentor. The hare was fast, but the tortoise won the race! Please join us; we don't bite, and we welcome all fellow tortoises on this journey.

---------------

Hi, folks. Just a quickie here. I'm at work but wanted to start a new thread for the group. I'm getting back on the wagon, slowly at this point. Today I'm having major sugar cravings and have had only moderate success fighting them. But I did shovel the driveway yesterday, so that's good. My main goals right now are:

-- Track what I eat so that I can get back within my points
-- Increase my exercise to 4 times per week, OR make sure I get some exercise every day, even if it's just a few minutes.

I'll try to respond individually next time; have a great weekend, everyone.

Onward and DOWNward,

Lauren
274/216.5/down

Hi Turtles,
Lauren, thanks for starting a new thread for us. Also, great and clear cut goals for yourself.

to us all: we've had challenges and we recognize that life will always be full of challenges. Now it's up to us to use our brains and figure a way around these obstacles. Bandit, way to go to choose so well when you ate out. Inspiring! And I agree with you because when I eat the way I want to for good health, I feel much better both physically and mentally. So Weigh to go!!!

Swania,
Of course next year your neighbors and friends will not give you--the svelte one--fattening food gifts. They'd be silly to! So here's to all of us envisioning ourselves thinner and making it happen this year.

Love and good vibes to us all~~
On a very short note, We're having company for dinner tonight and I've got it all planned to stay OP and still have fun. I asked the couple coming in to bring dessert and I plan not to eat it--to sip tea and have an apple--(okay it could have been bread and water, but I'm on Core!!) and send the goodies back home with them. I'm doing great so far and plan to make it a very good weekend.
Love again,
Judy

Hi everyone:

Did pretty good over the weekend - big indulgence was Mandarin (chinese buffet) but
I saved up for it & for the most part picked sensible things.

My goal this week is to keep OP & get in exercise at least 3 times and plan ahead for snacks.

Hope you are all doing well & are re-motivated for this week. Have fun, bye for now.

Time for a quick note -

How's everyone doing?

Since I was last here, a neighbor brought over muffins. Can you believe this? And again, since I don't like them it was easy for me to throw them all out untasted. In a way, I feel bad about throwing food out, but I'll live!

I have been sucessful in drinking only one diet soda each day, having water or milk the rest of the time. I got up this morning to do yoga and I have used my new heavier weights a few times, but not as much as I would have liked.

Bandit - what is that workout tape that you've mentioned?

Did anyone watch 'Biggest Loser'? Everyone made real progress. I rarely notice evidence of weight loss in anyone, but I could see their results. Good for them!

More later. Hoping to hear successes from all of you.

Hi Turtles,
Good to hear from you all. Swania, I see how determined you are. Good for you!
Bandit, I hear that you're doing great with the challenges you have. Weigh to go.
I got to my WW mtg. this week and wasn't pleased with the WI, but I think it was a good wake up call. I gained another .8# after gaining 2.4# last week. Ugh. However, I know I haven't been doing the right thing for myself and the mtg. helped ,me get my head a little straighter.
So, for today I'm tracking the Core section on the Quik trak pamphlet they give out.
I'm doing much better with water and when I'm hungry, I check the check off sheet to see what I should eat rather than what I want to eat. Winter has been mild here, no snow for awhile, but it's been grim for two weeks now and it's getting old. So--I need to find things to cheer me up and a weight loss would certainly do that.
You all take care, do the right thing and complete this sentence:
When I come in the door of my home, I will eat......
This is from my WW leader who tackled the problem of members coming home and being starving and eating all and everything that was in their path rather than planning something good and OP for that time. What are your ideas? Does this help anyone?

Love,
Judy
234.6/216.4/thinner on my way to onederland

Hi Turtles,
Swania, I haven't been watching the TV show The Biggest Loser. I was afraid it would be too sad. I'm glad it helped you out.
Here I've been tracking what I eat and lo and behold I find that when I drink 2-3 cups of milk a day and eat the right number of fruits and veggies and drink the water, I'm not as hungry as I had been and I don't go on a hunt and search mission for some yummy foods that I shouldn't be eating! I hadn't realized how little water I had been drinking until I concentrated on that aspect.
All goes well. I am using *but* counting the extra points for foods that are off core. I know I've had a weight loss and hope that it is spectacular by Wednesday when I go to my meeting.

Good luck to us all in the New Year and here's to a great Valentine's DAy WI.
Love,
Judy

Hi everyone:

Swania - The tape I use is called "Walk away the Pounds" by Leslie Sansone.
It is the 2 mile tape & takes 1/2 hour. I really like it. Also we keep a food bin for animals outside, so sometimes I throw out perfectly good (but not good for me) food so don't feel like I am wasting it. Better for the racoons, squirrels & birds to gain the extra weight than me :-)

TryHarder - Hang in there. I find even if I gained I am re-motivated after going to a meeting. I tried the Core plan but was out of points after 2 days, so went back to Flex. Maybe I will try it again.
"When I come in the front door of my house I will eat what I have planned for supper".

Sometimes I save part of my afternoon snack & eat it on my drive home (I have a 50 minute commute) and I am used to eating late so I am usually not starving.

Keep up the good work everyone & talk to you soon.

Hey everyone!

Happy to hear that everyone's eyes are on the prize!

I just made myself do The Firm's 'Total Sculpt plus abs' routine. It was the first time I had used 10 lb weights for parts of it. I am now very stinky and off to have a shower before lunch. There are less than 4 weeks until Valentine's Day as of yesterday.

I am excited for your hard word, Judy! I hope that the scale rewards your efforts. Even if it doesn't this week, eventually your continued efforts will produce results. Keep up the good work!

Thanks Bandit. I think Lauren also has done Leslie's walking workouts. Do you sweat?

Off to the showers!

Swania - yep I do sweat abit. I am not a big sweater anyway.

Last night at w/i I was up .2# - not much but I really need to see a minus sign.
But I stayed for the meeting & there were quite a few newer members & they were
really pumped so that always helps.

My goal this week is to stay within my points & do my tapes 3 times and have a weight loss by next weeks meeting.

Stayed focussed & motivated, bye for now.

I'm kinda bummed out. I've had a perfect week. I ate 20 points from the flexpoints and stayed on Core. I've only lost about a pound even though last Sat. I had lost 2 1/2 pounds. So , staying on Core and doing everything right for a week somehow I gained back 1 1/2 pounds. I know it's probably fluid retention and a lot of other dopey things, but it doesn't feel good. And in the meantime I am not going to be able to make my mtg. because it's snowing really hard and the roads haven't even been sanded or plowed. This is an unexpected snowfall and I guess I'll stay put and get to WW's as soon as I can tomorrow or Friday. Ugh.

On a brighter note, I like how Swania and Bandit are keeping the good fight going. We'll all get there~~there's just a lot of bumps along the way.
Love,
Judy

Hi Judy - Don't lose heart. We all have ups and downs. I honestly think that our bodies rebel against losing weight. It is a contest between your mind and your body. Stay focused and your body will eventually have no choice but to comply. The trick is to continue regardless of results. Easier said that done I know.

Must go fix dinner. I have not been tracking in my journal, but I have been doing pretty well. I'm still drinking water at lunch, limiting my pop intake, and have done The Firm's workouts with weights.

Hoping to reach goal sometime this year (or die trying)...

swania ,
thanks for the encouraging message. i got to ww's this week and i'm up another .4#. however, i'm having a great day, am planning ahead and keepin' on keepin' on.
love,
judy
all turtles are the best!!!!

Judy - .4 is nothing to worry about. That's almost the smallest amount of weight gain that WW's scales can detect. Perhaps you had on heavier clothes this week. I was such the neurotic that I always wore the same outfit to weigh-ins so that I would know exactly how much I was up or down. And I always went to the bathroom first. See why I have to leave the scale alone?? Keep hanging in there.

Where is everybody else? I hope the silence means that you're all exercising and planning healthy meals. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this year we ALL made goal weight?????

We'd have to go on Oprah!

I have not been tracking, but have done ok with food selections. Still drinking the water and only one soda a day. I have been more consistently exercising with 'The Firm' (4x this week) and yoga (2x this week). I noticed that my legs were tired from all of those squats with weights so tomorrow I'll either rest or just do upper body. I keep telling myself that in June I'll be happy that I did this in January.

Onward... Have a great weekend!

Hi, turtles. Sorry I've been MIA; it's just been really busy lately.

Judy, I didn't lose on Core because I still ate too much. The only way I'll lose on Core is by measuring and counting points, too. I'm too much of a volume eater to be told I can have unlimited amounts of *anything*! Good for you, sticking with it, though. Maybe try doing Flex but with only Core foods?

Bandit, I like your plan -- aiming for doing your workout tapes 3x a week. Good goal.

Swania, I can't get over your neighbors! Nobody every brings me food; I just can't imagine that. Good for you, tossing those muffins.

I'm pretty much maintaining right now. I'm writing down my points, and I've started exercising again -- after watching "Supersize Me" a week ago! Boy, was that an eye-opener. I don't eat a lot of junk food, but still, just seeing how easy it is to get unhealthy in a very short time was jolting. He gained more than a pound a day and severely hurt his liver. Also, the amount of sugar he ate in one month was staggering. Has anyone else seen this movie?

Anyway, it inspired me to get active again. So I worked out five days in a row -- and hurt my knee. So I took a couple of days off, and yesterday I just walked. Today I'll take off (except for walking to work), and then I'll try my tapes again tomorrow. Yes, I do Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds, too. When I'm in good shape, it's too easy. But right now, it gives me a good workout. Swania, you may need something harder since you've been more active. I have some recommendations for more tough tapes if you're interested; I couldn't do them right now, but they're very good.

Well, I'll try to remember to come here more often -- heaven knows I could use the support!

Onward and downward,

Lauren
274/215.5/down

Hi Turtles,
Thanks for the encouragement. My weight isn't budging and I'm still on Core. However, I'm doing Core and using the extra points available. That isn't working for me, so I'll avoid off Core foods and see how that works. I know the real thing I have to do is exercise. Why do I approach it screaming and resisting? So, I have to remember to keep in touch with the comfortable, not stuffed feeling of full. Then I have to exercise. sounds like a plan, but I have to admit that not seeing the scale go downward is the pits. Swania, I thought I was the only person who wore the same clothes for WI each week. LOL. Well, gotta do this. Lauren, glad you chimed in. I'll come here more often because it's good for me and I love to hear how we're all doing.

Love,
Judy