Happy Mother's Day!
I hope you all enjoy the day with those you love. No cooking...yesss!

The kids will be here today. The weather is supposed to cooperate, with temps in the 70's so we'll probably spend the day in the yard.

Have a great day.
~Jen

Hi Everyone! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!

We are going to the Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll. It is an annual stroll. The graves there are from famous Huntsvillians and Confederate soldiers and they have people dress in costume and stand by the graves and then each one does a presentation and pretends to be that person. Brittany and I loved it last year. The cemetary is beautiful and it is right in the middle of a neighborhood. ewww! This year we are all going and then we will go out to dinner.
We will wait to open presents until we get back (Britts went nuts since she started working this year) I told her she shouldn't have but she was so excited to have the money this year. We wailt because we have to leave as soon as Brittany gets home from work. She gave me one gift this morning. It is the DVD of Mr. Mom and a book with pictures of Cats called Bad Cats. It is hysterical.

Zoe,
Enjoy cleaning. Hope you enjoyed your pedicure.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!
Confrats on the loss.

Sandy,
Yes Britts turned 19 on Thursday. We went to TGIFridays. I got the sizzlin cicken and shrimp. OMG! It was so good. The boys got the Jack Daniels steak and they were better than any steak house. So juicy and tender.
I did pretty good with the baking. I licked the spoon when all was baked before cleaning up. Not to bad. I had 1 cookie when putting them in the tupperware. Before WW I would have had at least 6.

Jen,
Enjoy the kids. Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!


Luv y'all!
Terri

[COLOR=Purple][B]HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MY FRIENDS![/COLOR]

I hope you are all enjoying your day with your families. Today the Pastor gave a great sermon about being kind to one another and he told all the husband's to make sure they did the dishes, etc. today - all the women said "AMEN!"

We're going right next door to Darren and Lizette's for dinner. Yesterday was "The Jessa's" birthday - she was 4 and we went to her little party. So cute, and tomorrow's her mom's (Lisa's) birthday so a lot happening at once.

ZoeGirl - Happy Belated Anniversary - hope it was great! and on the loss.

Terri - Happy Belated Birthday to Brittney - I can't believe she's 19 already.

Hi to everyone - sorry I can't "talk" more, I'll be back tonight or tomorrow.
I lost .4 this week so that's cool - surprising since I did not exercise at all this week. I'm getting bad with that Well, I'll try to do better this week.

Hi Amiga, Jen, Sandy, LeeAnn and Lj. Have a great rest of the day everyone.

Hugs,
Dianne

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Hi Ladies,

I hope everyone’s Mother’s Day was wonderful. We went to church and from there visited both of our mom’s. Dave and Greg got together and got me a gift certificate to one of my favorite restaurants- “The Naked Fish”. The four of us will go together another time since there were 20 of us for dinner with my mother at the dining room at her new community. They had a special buffet for Mother’s day serving prime rib and seafood newberg. (I am so not on program lately, but I am still exercising. I have to regain my momentum soon, before I drift off altogether). Mom was pretty happy to have all of her children and grandchildren together. From there we went to see my MIL and brought her a big flower arrangement and had tea and dessert together. Two of my SIL’s are taking her on a trip to Ireland later in May. We are planning a joint graduation party for our 2 boys (young men) but not until July 9th when everyone is in between their summer travels.

Zoe, Great going on your loss this week:, despite all the socializing lately.
Terri, That is so sweet that Brittany enjoys being generous to her family, it comes from knowing she is loved. Good going with handling the baking. I think you do so well because you stay conscious of your “red light” foods and plan for them. We can all learn from your experience.
Jen, I hope you had a great Mom’s day and got to be outside, we seem to be caught in a pattern of rain every weekend. So we were glad to be inside for now. I do want to be gardening though.
Dianne, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jessa and Lisa!
on your loss of .4, I ended up staying the same at my last weigh-in and so I am really in a holding pattern for over a month now. I have to do something to shake things up!
Es, you seem to be really busy, I hope you had a great weekend, did you get to see David?
Hi to Leann, and L.J., did I miss anyone?

Sandy

P.S. This week's Avatar is Burgundy Gaillardia Grandiflora, my little seedlings are doing really well.

Hello and Happy Monday..... I really LOVE being off on Mondays.

Been busy all morning......didi the bills, ran to curves, the bank, Home Depot and the grocery store (in that order) and now, I'm going to put the laundry away, vac up the first floor of the house and then relax the rest of the day, till I have to make dinner.

I am trying CORE this week. My problem is that I never really know when "satisfied" has hit me but I'm going to eat slower and pay more attention. Also, I really didn't know what the heck to eat. So I went on the WW website and printed out some breakfast and lunch menus. I am having a banana berry shake as I type.....YUM! Being able to have fat free things, I just put some fat free plain yogurt, fat free milk, a banana and some frozen berries in the blender and wow, a nice smoothie for breakfast!!

Sandy ~ Your Burgundy Gaillardia Grandiflora look so pretty. I'm not a "from seed" kinds person but I'll bet that it's so rewarding. Glad you had a nice Mother's Day.

Dianne ~ on your loss. We just like to see the scale go DOWN, no matter what the number. I wish I could have a loss every week, but that just doesn't happen to me. Happy Birthday to Lisa and I hope your Mother's Day was nice.

Terri ~ Your stroll sounded very interesting. Hope you had a good time. My pedicure was great and the cleaning.....well, I'm finishing up today. That should keep me for another 2 weeks (big cleaning) I hope.

Jen & Es ~ Hope you're both doing good and had a great Mom's Day.

Hi to the rest of you ~ come back a chat.

Going to enjoy this 86 degree sunny weather we're going to have today. Talk to you's guys later.

Me

I’m BACK!!! I was at a sewing conference Thursday, Friday & Saturday with my mom (I take her for mother’s day) and had so much to do before I left, I didn’t get a chance to post. When I got back, I was doing the schoolwork that I didn't when I was away. The conference was good, learned lots of things. Bought a few things too, mostly for embellishing clothes. I wish I had brought my WW stuff. The hotel I stayed at had a WW meeting Thursday evening. I could have gone. Instead I bought the orange cream smoothie and the honey mustard pretzels they had. Both are really good. I also bought a WW scale at WalMart while I was in Beaver Dam. The scale I was using was anywhere from 2.5 lbs to 5.5 lbs heavier than WW. It was so unreliable. This one, I hope, will be better. I’m going to weigh myself right before I leave for my next meeting and see how it compares. I hope Mother’s Day went well for all of you.

Sandy: I still don’t have the basement set up for exercising, but when I get my machines set up downstairs, I’m also going to have a boom box down there so I can listen to music as well. If nothing else, it will take my mind off of the exercise. A holding pattern isn’t such a bad thing – at least you aren’t gaining. Sometimes the body just doesn’t want to give up the weight without a fight. Comes from being the child bearers, I think. At least that’s what I was told and it made sense to me. All I can say is, lucky us!!!

LJ: How is core working out for you? Core certainly isn’t for everyone, but the people in my WW group that are on it, really like it and are quite successful. This weight loss stuff certainly takes lots of effort, dedication and time. I hope all is going well for you. You’ve come so far, I just know you can do it. Hang in there.

Zoe: I hope your May is going at a much slower pace than your April did. Happy belated anniversary! Walking 3 miles to eat? Wow! That is WAY more motivated than I am (at least for now). Good for you for going to Curves! I have a really hard time getting to any gym. I don’t know what it is – maybe a mental block or something. Keep up the great work! Congrats on the additional lb. gone! How is core going for you?

Es: I have started doing the WalkBlaster tapes. I just watched the tape at first and thought “This is a workout???? It looks way too easy!” Yeah, well, that was before I actually exercised with the tape. By the time I’m done, I’m sweating, but it isn’t so bad that I’m dying. I think I like these tapes. I’m still walking at lunch time, in addition to doing the walkblaster tapes and taking the dogs to the dog park after WW.

Dianne: How’s Willie doing? Congrats on the .4! Every little bit adds up.

Jen: Congrats on completing PT. Great job on continuing at home. Did they say this was going to be a forever thing or just for awhile? What kind of vehicle stickers are you selling? Do you work at the DOT or something? Sounds like it is going to be one hectic time for you in the coming weeks.

Terri: You have iron willpower. It is hard making all the “goodies” and not splurging. Good for you for your control – someday I hope I can do that. Didn’t know you were a role model, did you??? I’ve been trying to substitute fruit for sweets during my cravings. I’m not a big fruit fan, but it still gives me that sweetness I crave without really annihilating my points. Britt’s birthday cake sounds heavenly. Journaling does tend to bring us back to reality, doesn’t it?

Hi ALL.....still hanging in there......still 'doing' core....cause when I think of counting points for the day I realize that 20 comes very quickly even with the up to 5 we can use per day of WPA to make 'things better' go quick. SO what I HAVE to do TRY NOW is......core and keep it in portion control...As I told all of you I just don't have that satisfied / full thing down. But I do make better choices with doing Core, that is for sure. I am such a MESS and have been battleing these same freaking 2 lbs for what seems like a month of Sundays...ughhhhhhhh and have at least 10 to lose.....
I can't seem to focus on one or the other now.......I am so NOT satisfied with my weight where it is....and yet I keep screwing up. ..like I can afford to do that!!!!!!!!!!!!!...WHY???????? What in the heck is it going to take to "snap me out of it" I start out soooo good, and then.............I so envy those of you who have it all together.....I have been doing this since 2000 and I realize getting to goal was a lot easier (although it didn't seem it at the time) then staying there.......ughhhhhhhh
See you all later..............Lj

Donna,
Congrats to you for losing this week and give Jessa a hug from me.


L.J.,
Maintenance is harder then losing if you ask me. It is scary. This will be something that will be everyday for the rest of our lives and when I realized that it became easier. I am glad you like CORE. They say when you sit back and sigh that you are getting satisfied. Do you do that?

Leeann,
Thanks so much for your wonderful words. They were very motivating.
I had a piece of that cake and it was good. What I do with cake, pizza and any other food where we share like that, I put my piece away and I eat after it is all gone. That way while it is sitting there I keep thinking that I have a piece waiting and when I do eat it there isn't any left to tempt me. It works.

Sandy,
Your day sounded wonderful. I am so glad your mom had so many people honoring her. Ireland? WOW! She will always remember that.
The graduation party sounds like fun. I love big parties and family coming together. 2 boys at one time. How proud you must be. We are going to Ohio in July and going to a wedding. I can't wait.
Brittany is a wonderful girl. She brought me baby roses last night. She bought them on the way home from school. She said "Just because I love you. "
As far as my willpower, it is there most of the time.


Zoe,
The stroll was wonderful. The boys and Bruce loved it. They are looking forward to next year all ready.

I watched the Oprah with the Drs. on last week. I am buying the book called YOU. They say it is written for the lay person (Don't need a medical degree to understand it) and it is funny.
I started taking additional Folic Acid and Vit. D. They say your cancer risk is cut down by 50%. Also if you get constipated and take Calcium supplements they can be doing it so you have to take Calcium with magnesium to help the "poop" as they called it. It works. I am going regularly now.
Those Drs. were great. I watched it twice. They had a lot of great advice.

Gotta go do the bowflex.

TTYL,
Terri

Terri - Am I Donna again??? I hope you like this Donna person Aww, Britt is so cute what a sweetie! A little more info than necessary re: the "poop"

L.J. - I agree with Terri - one of the things that is helping me this time is the realization that this is for life. Also, that it's not a race, I don't have to lose the weight in a certain amount of time. Things are gonna happen - life gets in the way sometimes (you guys must be sick of hearing me say that ). Something else that helps me is to NOT overwhelm myself - I don't think about what I'm gonna eat tomorrow or the next day - I just take one day at a time, sometimes, hour by hour. Give yourself a break - just think about today. Also, as far as your points going fast - if you find you don't have any left, eat something low points, like the 100 cal. nabisco cookie packs for 2 points or a ww vanilla sundae cone (YUMMY) for 2 points or a piece of fruit. There are alot of low point snacks out there and at least you will satisfy your craving to eat something more and at the same time you won't do much damage. You'll be fine.

ZoeGirl - Sounds like Core is going well for you. Let me know how it works out. I'm still not ready to try it, but maybe some day.

Sandy - Congrats on both boys graduating - how terrific!

Jen - How's you knee - feeling any better?

Es, mi amiga, how are you doing?

LeeAnn - Sounds like the walkblaster is fun. I'm still thinking about it. I'm hoping to get out there to one of the lakes in the area and walk, walk, walk.

This Friday willie and I leave for Binghamton for Alana's graduation weekend. We had to book a hotel like in January, cause everyone's parents are going up there of course. I am taking Monday off as well as Friday, cause I know I'll be beat both physically and emotionally Its weird, I'm happy and sad at the same time - am I cuckoo??? On May 28th we are having a graduation party for her in the back yard. That should be fun - I just hope it doesn't rain cause they'll be a lot of people in my house if it does.

Well, guys, gotta get going. I hope you all have a great evening. I'll talk to you's soon.

Hugs,
Dianne

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Dianne,
Sorry about that. I just replied to a Donna on my e-mail list like 50 times today and I guess I got used to it.
Have fun at graduation.
Terri

I wasn't going to recommend this book until I was sure for myself wether the messages worked. I too am tired of reading books that offer no help. But I have read exerpts from the book from Christianbooks.com on the day that I gave my weight worries completely over to God. I found this book called The Lord's Table by Mike Cleveland. I was totally ecpecting God to show me something and I stumbled on this book just before I was about to shut the computer off and go to sleep--thinking that God may not have heard me. If you can, please look on the web site for this book. Amazon gives it a 5 out of 5. Everyone who's read this book has lost lots of weight and most of all has gained a tighter relationship with God. I have ordered the book and the Lord's Table Leader guide. Both cost a little under $30. I think it's worth it-- you're worth it to God. If this doesn't work... I don't know what else to do God. SO I'm trusting that this will work for me and those who buy or borrow this book. Amen.

Check it out and let the forum know what you think!

http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/lords_table/

~Mochahontas

Hello

Dianne/Amiga, so funny Donna. I hope you have a nice time this weekend. It's going to be outdoors right?

Terri, I heard about the Dr. that was on Oprah. The Points Police was telling me about it. She taped it & she's going to let me borrow it. She told me about the poop. Brittany is so thoughtful just like her Mom.

Mochahontas, welcome to our group. The book sounds very inspirational. I don't have time to even read a magazine but I will look into it. Thanks.

L.J, we are both in the same boat I start out okay then I blow it, then I get mad at myself for blowing it. The evenings are the worst. Hang in there buddy.

Leann, the WW orange cream smoothie sounds good. I find their chocolate one is too sweet. I gave it away. Have you tried the cheese twists?

Hi Zoe & Jen.

Be back later. I'm off today.
Es

Es, Dianne, Terri, EVERYONE!! Please, please save me from myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for all your encouraging words, but I feel like such a failure.....over something so stupid as losing this weight with all that is going on in everyone's lives. AGAIN today.........yup, blew it....what the is up with that, I feel like such a failure.....I know for me core has to be the way because I just can't do the points thing any more, but for the Love of God, I cannot get pass Day freaking one......did great for 8 days and then I totally messed up one day and that was it!!!It has been down hill from there.....geez-us!! you'd think I can really afford to mess up but I cannot!! 2lbs leads to 5 and so on and so on.......I know the drill, I know what to do, so WHY am I failing at this????????? Any more post like this from me I may get kicked out of the club and/or you'll all be asking "would you like some cheese with that WHINE" ..........ughhhhhhh sorry everyone, hopefully I can 'still' stay here......I am sure though, you all don't want to hear that 'same' song and dance - and probably think I should change the record....record???? I mean CD

LJ,
Hold it right there! You're not going anywhere! There's no way on God's green earth you could ever be "kicked out" of this group. Period.
Trust me, I KNOW. We are in it forever, through thick and thin....and believe me, for me it's been all thick
Oh, and about some cheese with that whine?.......that's my downfall! I can count points from now till doomsday, but then want to reward myself with a glass of wine. But I digress...
I know what to do to lose weight. I desperately want to lose it. I could write a book on how to do it. I support coworkers and they come back for more.
But...when it comes to Jenny.....just doesn't happen. So what does that mean? I've done so much soul-searching but can't figure myself out. I crave beautiful clothes, better health, and a more active lifestyle, but am too stinking lazy to stick with the program. I've spent my entire life telling myself, "When I'm thin, I will......." just fill in the blank..go on that vacation, wear that outfit, try that sport....
HOWEVER, to keep this thread positive and upbeat...we cannot give up. We can fake it and try and wait to hear the "click" that will lead us up the path to success! Please don't give up. And don't beat yourself up; believe me, I've been black and blue for years.
Meanwhile, I know I'm a beautiful person. I love many people, and, incredibly, am loved by so many, regardless of my weight! THAT is what life is all about. Too many times we forget that.
It will happen, of that fact I have no doubt. Just hoping that it's sooner rather than later!
Hang in there. This group of women is fantastic. We've become friends in spite of everything

On a different note, thank you to everyone for your support and concerns about my knee/health. Went to the dr. last Friday; got a cortisone shot in the bursa below the knee, which he said was inflamed. Felt immediate relief and was pain-free from Friday till yesterday. I was in heaven, literally. He said there's torn cartilage in the knee, but he will not do an arthroscopy to clean it up because it can interfere with the arthritis, which is very brittle, and if a piece broke off it would be floating in the knee. So,I pretty much got my "walking papers" from him, there's no more he can do for me. I've got to stick with the stretching and exercises. And lose weight, to put less stress on my knees. I'm doing my best at staying positive, but am freaking out about my lack of desire to do so (lose weight, that is).

Don't know who asked..I work in a village where a windshield vehicle sticker is mandatory for every vehicle in the town. The revenue collected by the village goes towards street repairs, building, etc. in the village.

It's so difficult to address each post! Kudos to those of you who have been doing so!!!!
I love you all. Thank you for being here for me whenever I come here. It's so much fun to read what everyone's been doing.
For all the losers.... WHOOOO HOOOO keep it up!
For everyone else...let's hang in there, we can do it.

HI Terri, Dianne, Es, Zoe, Sandy,Ruth, LJ, LeeAnn

~Jen

Wonderful post Jen.
You are so right. You are a beautiful person and you are loved by so many.
Weight loss looks so easy written down on paper. Once applied it is not as easy. Not by a long shot. All we can do is be friends and encourage each other and love ourselves. We will never give up. I have to do this the rest of my life and I will always think about it whether I stay this weight or gain it all back.
We all should never think of leaving this group because this whole thing is not just about weight it is about everything. Everything is associated with weight anyway. Our emotions etc...
As we all turn 50 we should get together and start a Red Hat Club. Over 50 women wear red hats and purple outfits. I am reading the book The Red Hat Club Rides Again. It is the sequal to the Red Hat Club. They are 5 55 year old women from the south. It is a hoot.
I will continue to pray for you about your knee. Poor thing. Health is what got me to finally get serious. My heartburn was horrible. I was having heart palps and so many other minor annoyances.

L.J.
You stay with us. We are all in this together. We will be here for you as we know you will be for us. DON'T LEAVE. We are here for you to vent. So vent away.

Es,
The Oprah show was great. I am using a lot of the advice they gave us. I ordered the book on Amazon.
Britts is a great girl. She went out yesterday and bought Bruce and I a couple DVDs a piece and had a thank you card and they were in there own gift bags. They were a thank you for her b-day gifts and for sending her to college. It is just her and I this weekend. Bruce and Bradley went on a backpacking trip for scouts until Sunday and Brandon is spending the night at a friend's house for his friend's birthday. We were successful tonight because of weighing in tomorrow. It was such an excuse to have a movie and food night. We watched some of our favorite shows that we missed this week and are now all caught up. We didn't eat any food. YAY!!!!!

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Terri