Hi, Turtles,

Mousie, I'm glad to hear you're doing fine. I hope dh gets back to normal soon, but I also hope that you'll be able to continue to make your own choices. I know how important that is. I need to do it that way, too. So, I took responsibility for my own decisions. If my family doesn't want what I make, they can (and do) fix something else for themselves.

Lauren, I can feel your disappointment through cyberspace. I was in about the same place you were re: weight and this program at the end of May, right after dh lost his job.

I know that what has worked best for you in the past is to keep that journal going. Go to the local office supply or teacher supply store and buy yourself some gold stars or pretty stickers. Put them on the top of every completely filled out journal page. I've found that when I do that and get a streak going, I start making an effort to be sure I don't have a stickerless page.

The other thing I do that seems to help is to keep that journal handy so I can keep track as I go along. Somehow, looking at those blanks that need filling in helps me to do what I need to do in order to be able to fill them in. It also helps to be looking at it throughout the day. It keeps me focused.

I think that a deep breath to calm yourself down from the desperate feelings might be in order. Give yourself a month or maybe two of just writing everything down, weigh and measure portions, if you need to, stick to your point range and your exercise program before you make any other, more drastic changes in your program.

I admit I'm not a fan of eliminating foods or groups of foods. I also don't believe that there is a magic combination of food that will make anyone lose weight. But, there are foods that are better for one's health than other foods. My goal has been to eat more of those. So, I try to choose complex carbs more often than refined carbs.

I don't remember what you said about why you're eliminating or reducing white flour/sugar products. If it's because you tend to overeat on them, I have a couple of suggestions you might try. Never eat them alone. Eat them with a bit of protein or protein and fat. Don't eat candy, etc. between meals. Use them only with a meal. Doing that prevents those blood sugar spikes and quick drops that are often the cause of wanting more and overeating refined carbs. The other reason is that after a meal you're already pretty full, so smaller, lower point servings are enough, especially if you eat them slowly and really savor the taste.

Regarding the Wendie plan: I'm not sure I personally would use it. I know it has helped some people, but I'm not willing to follow any rules about how many points I ought to eat in a day. I prefer to let my hunger be my guide for making that choice. I also don't like the idea of planning to eat way over points one day every week.

My main purpose is to develop a lifelong, healthy lifestyle. I want to lose the weight I need to lose to be as healthy as I can be. Once I do that, my main goal, obviously, is not to do the dieter's yoyo dance. I doubt I'll succeed in preventing that little dance unless I learn to listen to my body's hunger signals and satiety signals. I think the Wendie plan, by setting rules about eating at a specific place in your range for a certain number of days, and someplace else for a certain number of days, etc. would get in the way of my building a habit of listening to my body. It was, after all, an inability to hear my own body because I was trying so hard to follow all of the food rules dictated by my mother and the diets I was on (and off and on and off and. . .) that got me into this fix in the first place.

Some hope here--As I said, I was about where you are, Lauren, at the end of May. It's a month later and I'm down a total of eight pounds, including the 2 pounds (Yippee!) I lost last week. All I did was to follow the plan. I've been doing my mini meals, eating all the fruits and veggies, getting my calcium, exercising more, etc. I wasn't perfect and I still managed to lose weight. I'm on a roll, and I know that soon you will be, too.

The other thing that has helped, as it always does, is this thread. It helps to keep me focused. So, I make a real effort to come here every day. Without the turtles, I know I'd be back where I was three (or was it four? I've lost track.) years ago.

My dh still hasn't found a job. He hasn't had an interview anywhere, yet. Just that one call and we haven't heard anything. So, please keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin

Hi Turtles,
I'm back from a weekend away. Lauren, don't despair. I've gained at least 11 pounds these last few weeks after only losing 28 to begin with. It was only a few weeks ago I was closing in on 200 and now here I am again.
I;ve read all the posts and have to fly around here straightening up the house and staying OP, but I'll be back online soon.
Love,
Judy
234/ugh?thinner

Thanks for all the suggestions, Lin. I hear you about eliminating foods, being too controlling over what we eat, etc. But I'm not sure that just going back to business as usual is helpful to me right now. Last August, doing something different -- in that case, eliminating sugar and flour -- was the ticket in getting me excited again about moving forward. I never planned to do it forever, just for a couple of months. It worked wonderfully at that time -- I got interested again, and I saw the weight come off.

Last December I started to lose interest again, gained a few pounds -- and started to exercise January 1. That was my new "kick." It helped, too.

I'm not sure what I'll do this time to shake things up, but it's going to be something, and it won't just be doing what I was doing in March and April. I'll continue to exercise, continue to make better food choices, and -- as you wisely point out -- stick to my journaling. I like your suggestion re: stickers. I'm going to do that.

I won't do anything drastic yet, unless I find I'm just not motivated enough to keep tracking without a big change of some sort. For one thing, work is too crazy -- I've got more travel this week. If I can just track and stay within points this week, I'll be happy. But I'm going to keep thinking about my next "phase" and how I'm going to make it interesting.

Judy, well, maybe it's something in the air, then! Hey, can a person get fat breathing air? Sometimes I feel like I can! What ideas do you have for motivation these days?

Before I forget it, welcome, Kathy! Are you a motorcycle fan?

Well, work continues to be interesting. A group of guys I especially enjoy working with, including my mentor in my current career, have left to start a new company. They are currently finding projects and funding, and it looks like they may be close to their first big deal. If that happens, they'd have the money to hire me, which they would like to do. But because of legal complications, I'd probably have to be laid off first. So today I actually asked my boss to lay me off! He said he'd see what he could do. We're having more layoffs the end of this week, but it looks like I'm probably not among them. Life sure is strange, isn't it.

Lin, I will continue to pray for a good job for your husband and for you.

--Lauren

Hi Turtles!!! Harley here...In case you guys were wondering...My husband usta ride Harleys' until his getting hit with a wrecking ball and becoming disabled...he loved them very much and I did ride along when I could talk him into it...He always liked riding alone better...Now he has a Kawasaki which he can ride about 10 miles then he has to put it back in the garage...He says biking is addicting and he couldn't give it up no matter what..so he gets on his bike, goes 60-70 mph then brings it home and dies of a bad bad back ache..It makes him happy. And....Our last name is Davidson!!!!

Had a kinda good day here...Went to my moms which is about 3 hours away...took her to lunch and had the teriki chicken (hawaiian style it said!!! guess I am still wishing I was back) and it had white rice pilaf..The steamed vegies looked really boring so Ididn't eat them, but I did eat all the chicken...I drank ice tea instead of coke which is a big deal with me..I love coke..or did until a week ago..I fell out of love with it for no reason known to man so I don't mind giving it up...Ice tea is a very good alternative!!! I did eat maybe 10 bits of my moms cobbler...but considering I would have eaten my own plus dinner I think I did ok. Just to make sure I didn't over do tongiht...I will eat 3 cups of popcorn... I made a good choice at our stop over place inbetween our house and hers...instead of having chocolate milk and maybe a donut..I had coffee. Jim had the donut... Anyway I think I am doing ok..I know the exercise needs to get put in there, and hopefully I can get joined up tomorrow.

Lauren. I think giving up or cutting down on the sugar flour stuff is a good idea. I swear I can lose 5 lbs just giving up the sugar...It is hard though. It is so addicting. I give it up for one day and my brain says it has been weeks, and then I have to think...."No brain...you are lying..it has only been a day...so shut up" I am sure it will work...

Lin..I like what you said about this being a life long thing...I totally agree with everything you said...

And Mouse...How do you get 8 servings of vegies in one day...Could you like put down what your meal plan is like for like a day that has 8 vegies??? Do you have like 2 cups of vegies (cooked ) for lunch and 2 for dinner or are they just vegies all day long...Vegies are hard for me...Please help us to be good vegies eaters!!! I need help getting them all in...

On a very happy note...I have been praying that someone would buy my jeep...It is only 2 years old with low mileage and the price is high, but within blue book as it is in very good condition..We got no calls and it has been months...I want to buy a little red Honda Civic EX with 5 speed. It will go great with my new body!!!and it is so fun to drive...It is like sports car..or what I think a sports car should feel like..While we were gone to sAc..the only lady who even looked at it came by with the money...She wants to buy it!!! So I will get my civic after all!!!!

Thanks for listening..

Kathy

Harley, my married name is Davison! Too funny!

To explain my veggie counts: I'm a vegetarian. My meals are veggie-heavy simply because that's the space I don't occupy with meat. So if I have, say, Smart Ones Ravioli Florentine (one of the few, surprisingly, Smart Ones that doesn't have chicken fat in it) then I'll steam a bowlful of broccoli and cauliflower and mix it with the extra sauce. I never bother to measure the amount of veggies, they're free and I enjoy them, so I just fill up one of my large bowls and zap 'em then mix it up. I also eat baby carrots (and no, I don't count them, though I should, I just can't see my way clear to doing that). For breakfast, because I go straight to the gym in the mornings, I eat lunch-type foods. So I'll have baked veggie eggrolls, or half a homemade veggie calzone, or something like that. I also LOOOOOOOOOOOVE soup, soup makes me happy. I invented a soup recently that contains lots of veggies (zuchinni, onions, celery, tomatoes) and has some pasta in it. So that's an easy way of getting veggies. :)

Lauren, pick yourself up, try forgive yourself, and move on. Just don't dwell on it! Too funny about asking* to be laid off, especially considering the job market and your worries in the past! I love your boss' response...he'll see what he can do? Um...? "No, I can't possibly fire you, you must work here forever!" :lol:

Judy, glad you're back!

Another good day, DH was still feeling "squiffy". So, I went to the gym, got...um...7 veggies, 31 points (man I was hungry after my workout today! Yeeesh!). So, life rocks. :) Had veggie chow mein for dinner, probably I'll regret that from the water-retention angle, but oh well. Weigh in isn't til thursday night! ;)

Actually, Mousie, because of the bureaucracy of my company, my boss *can't* just lay me off, even if he wanted to (which he doesn't). He turned in a list months ago that ranked everyone in our group, and the upper muckity-mucks have been working off that list when they lay us off. I'm near the top of the list, which means there are about five people who would need to be laid off before I could be. It's possible my boss could ask them to reorder that list. We'll see what happens.

Harley, I love that your last name is Davidson. :)

I'm still eating well. Got my exercise in this a.m. TOM is ending, so I'll at least lose that water weight.

--Lauren

Hey turtle buds!

Glad to see everyone here - lots of great posts. I lost 3.5 at weigh-in on Saturday and got a star for 40 pounds gone. Yay!! Usually, this past weigh-in is a big loss because it's right after TOM, but I'm lucky it was anything at all. We had food-oriented events five days out of seven last week. I just did my best to have small portions of high-point stuff and fill up on veggies and fruit. I did go over several days, and did my best to stay lower other days, but I still felt kind of out of control, which I hate. I'm doing better this week.

Kathy - Welcome! Sounds like you're very enthusiastic about the program - that's great! Have you ever done WW before? I really like the new program and I think the support you get here and at meetings is excellent. My husband compared my WW meeting to going to church - which in a way, it is - gotta get revved up for the week! The turtles are wonderful, too, and are always here when you need them.

Lin - I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your and your husband's job situations. I'm sure something will come along soon. Eight pounds this month - CONGRATULATIONS!!!!:) You should be very proud of yourself - and you did it by following the program - that's the way to go. Sometimes just doing the program really pays off at the scale. It's amazing that you're still learning things after doing this for so long, but it truly is a lifelong process, isn't it?

Lauren - good luck with your job situation - it sounds like a change will do you good. Sorry about your gain - I know how you feel. My weight can also come on incredibly quickly. I gained over 100 pounds in the two years from my lowest WW point until I rejoined in March, and that included several serious attempts at weight loss and exercise. I'm not much of a binger anymore either, but it's the constant nibbling and noshing that did me in, and especially the lack of activity. Do your best with the program, especially with journaling, and they will come off. I like to think that recently acquired weight will come off a little faster, but you never know, and any progress that you make is something to be celebrated. I've seen the Wendie plan and the thing that I noticed is that I've been doing something like it without even really noticing - I usually have at least one day where I go significantly over points (usually on beer or other drinks) and try to have at least a couple of lower-point days to help make up for it. I don't think I could plan to do that, though - sometimes I don't know when I'll be going out and will want to go over points. Good luck this week.

Mousie - Great job this week! How long have you been a vegetarian? Are you vegan or lacto-ovo? You're lucky that you've got lots of great veggies to choose from year-round - the recent improvement in selection and quality up here in the Great White North really makes me realize how little we have the rest of the year. I hope your hubby gets better soon, and I want to tell you that mine has some of the same problems with my weight loss as yours does. Right now, he's happy that I'm losing weight, but sometimes it seems like he wants me to do it without changing anything, especially when it comes to our lifestyle. Last time I lost lots of weight though, I found that the smaller I got the more sabotaging he became, and as I started putting the weight back on, he did nothing to help me to stop it. I was about a size 8 or 9 when we met (10 years ago), and he had a lot of insecurity issues because he had never had a serious girlfriend and was afraid that he would lose me. It also didn't help that every time we went out, guys would hit on me (with no encouragement from me). I also had dated a lot before we met, and I think he was worried that I couldn't commit. I would hope that he knows by now that I'm not interested in anyone else, but I think it still bothers him to think that other men will find me desirable again when I'm thin (although being in my thirties is a lot different than being in my twenties!). Maybe your husband has some of these same issues - I don't know. One solution is to give him extra loving and spend more time doing that rather than eating together - he'll enjoy that, I'm sure!

Lori W - Good job this week - it's really hard to keep OP when you don't have as much control over your food choices. Very exciting about the kitchen - I'm sure it will be beautiful when it's done. We have a new pantry here at work and I love it more than my kitchen at home! About the "too thin" comments - I've gotten those in the past too, usually from family members who have a vested interest in me staying fat - hey, as long as I'm fatter than them, at least they're not really fat themselves, right? I hope to get those comments again someday, but I know how aggravating they can be.

Judy - keep on fighting - you can do this! You've done it before and you can do it again. I know it's a pain to have to retrace ground, but in the end, it will be worth it. The changes you're making will help you in other ways besides just at the scale, as I'm sure you know. Sometimes when I feel depressed about having to lose this weight all over again, I think about how much better I feel, even with such a long way to go. Just doing something so positive for yourself is encouraging.

Have a great week everybody!
Kimmers
332/290.5/269 (2nd 10% goal)

Hi, Turtles,

I'm going to start thread number 31. This one is really long and probably about to go over into 2 pages.

See you there.

Happy Turtlin'! :)

Lin