Hi Turtles,
Mousie, I'm on the other coast. I live on Long Island, NY. Luckily the little guys stopped coming to the door by about 8 o'clock and the big guys didn't bother us.
Yay!

You're not a scrooge or Grinch about Halloween. Giving the volunteer-ees stickers for Hallowenn is adorable. They'll get plenty of candy and stickers are always fun for kids.
As far as me, the pretzels worked out great. I'm with you in the sense that I felt like I was disappointing kids by avoiding the yummy candies I like and offering pretzels instead. Lo and behold, you'd be shocked at how many kids were incredibly happy with pretzels--and the moms were too. Some even said, "It's great to get a healthy snack." So I stopped feeling sheepish and started saying this is definitely the way to go so I can weigh less. When I did my CVS run, I picked up Smartees and Milk Duds and before I went to bed I ate one MIlk Dud. Even that was 15+ calories. Egads!!!!
I'm really proud of myself. Tonight I have a challenge because nieces and grandnieces are coming over to see our "haunted basement" (dh loves Halloween and does a great job with decorating our house) and have pizza. I am allowing myself one slice of pizza,
a bigggggg salad, and tea. I'll pop popcorn if I have to to get through the night.

Hey, you are walking up a storm!!! Good for you. If I try and step up my pace at all from this point, I'll be jogging! I also think that the most important thing we can do for ourselves right now is making wise choice after wise choice to allow our path to good health to be the easiest we can make it. Why try and resist yummy stuff we have a problem with? That's too hard. Keep it out of the house! You're doing great and so is Bandit. Let's keep on keepin' on!
Love,
Judy
234.6/206.8/thinner into onederland :cool:

Hi turtles:

Hoped everyone survived Halloween. Didn't have as many kids as I thought - so have lots leftover & most will be going back to school when dd comes homes. I allowed myself 2 little treats throught the night & was satisfied with that.

Our getaway to casino was really fun - didn't win any money but Trisha Yearwood concert was good. I won $350 at bingo last Friday so that more than covered my casino losses.

I went to ww last night & was the same - so was glad not to have a gain with being away in hotel for a few days. But I will really focus this week, get in some swims and walks & show some kind of loss next week - that is my goal this week.

So keep up the good work & lets all move forward together!!

Bye for now.

And remember:

Success is hanging on when you want to let go!

Dear Bandit, Congrats on staying the same after such a social weekend. Weigh to go!
And I know just what you mean in that you'll make a push this week and lose some more weight. Yay! :bravo: I love your saying about success because it is so true.

All goes well with me. Had one slice of pizza last night and went to bed hungry. With three desserts, I decided to have a few chunks of fresh pineapple and call it a day. Very glad I did because at my official WI this morning I was down 1.6# for a grand total of 7.8# over these last 8 weeks. Hooray! I'm just not that far from onederland and I've got to keep on to my commitment to myself and stay strong past the 200# barrier. Mind over matter and muscle over mind is my new saying. Take care and let's all keep on keepin' on.
Love,
Judy Itry
234.6/205.2/thinner into onederland :cool:

Congrats Judy!! Good for you. That is a great loss. Keep up the good work - you are doing awesome.

Hi Mousie - hope all is well with you.

Have a baby shower to go to tonight after work. One of the ladies that works here is hosting it & is serving persian food - so that will be different for the rest of us.
Then I meeting bf at nearby hotel that he has a course next day at & will stay over and he is treating me to a spa day while he is working. So I am really looking forward to being pampered - love that stuff. Also will get in a swim too.

Anyway, have a great day!

Good morning Turtles!

Woo Judy, great loss! You're burnin' it up, this month. You should be really proud of yourself, you've had great focus and great results! :high:

Bandit, what a nice day you have planned! I've never had a full spa day before. I hope you have a fantastic time!

I'm doing okay, Turtles, writing and exercising. I've been busy this week, but I'm at about 4,000 words and am debating going to a new class at 9:45 this morning (BodyWorks plus Abs). Will I, won't I, I can't decide! We'll see how I feel in an hour, right? :)

Hey Mousie, You're doing great with writing and exercise. I wonder what you'll decide to do.
Hey Bandit, what a lovely day planned. I've had a massage once in my life and it was heavenly. I wonder why I don't get myself going more often? Hmmmm something to ponder as I run to the grocery store, etc. Have a lovely pampered time and enjoy yourself.
Last night at WW's my leader reminded us all again about BLT's, bites, licks and tastes.
She showed us how without too much trouble we could all fool ourselves into eating over 35 pts. a week without even realizing it. She suggested we accept a challenge to only eat sitting down. (I must admit I took the challenge in mid-summer and it didn't work for me. I was so horrified at how often I BLT'ed that I got depressed and it had the wrong effect on me.) I'm passing on this challenge because I'm on a roll and don't want to block it, but it would be interesting if anyone else thinks it might be a good challenge to accept.
Good luck everyone as we close in on the weekend. My promise to myself is to get on the treadmill and eat carefully today. I want to be down another pound this upcoming week.
Love,
Judy Itry
234.6/205.2/thinner into onederland :cool:

Well...I did it, Turtles! I went to the class! :strong:

Some of it was intense (seriously...48 lunges IN A ROW with no breaks? Can we say OWWWWWWW???) but I tried to keep up. I checked in with the instructor beforehand, told her about my injuries and said I would have to modify but I knew how, etc, and she was cool. I enjoyed the class, except for the "not able to walk anymore" part! :lol: I also did 30 minutes on the treadmill before class started, so I'm proud of myself. :) I'm taking myself to Souplantation for lunch--lots of veggies! I'll take some light dressing with me, their dressings have too much sugar.

I think your not taking the challenge is a good idea, Judy. You're listening to your body and you know what works for you and for your mentality. I'd say you're doing just exactly the right thing. :)

And on that note, I must get a quick shower and be off! Later, Turtles! :)

Hello Turtles!

So I'm up this morning, for the second week in a row. That's not good. However. I think I know why I'm up this week, and it has everything to do with what I did to myself yesterday.

What did I do? I took that new class at the gym. I have, for 3 months now, just been walking/running for exercise. No weights. I've decided to add them back in, though, and started with this class. It was a lot of leg work!

I can barely walk today. I have to kind of aim myself at the chair and fall, because I can't squat. My quads are so damn tight I can barely bend my legs. My knees occasionally give out and collapse, because I haven't got the quad control today. Urgh. I'm extremely sore, and extremely sore also means extremely swollen. Give how sore I am, I'm figuring I'm holding on to a good bit of water in these sore thighs of mine. So I'm not too terribly stressed about it.

I do intend to add this class to my regular schedule. The first class is always the worst, and I should not feel this rough next week.

I will also admit, however, that my "one cheat meal" friday at lunch last week turned into "three cheat meals and additional cheat snacks until saturday dinnertime". I cannot be that lax with myself. I will pay better attention this week.

So. 286.0, and I'm down 8 pounds from starting. At least I'm down, right? :)

Oh Mousie,
You're going in the right direction. You'll never be close to 300# again. You can do this. A few cheats here and there won't do any damage unless you let a spiral start and you're too smart to let that happen. Here's a :high: to give you support and keep you going.

Bandit, hope you're having a great and pampering weekend. Hope to hear good news from you about swimming, etc. when you're back!

As far as me, I picked up a cold and feel miserable. I know it's just a cold, but I hope to be over it soon. I'm up 1 1/2#, but I think it's the salt from the Chinese food I had--lots of soup to open up my sinuses, etc. Also haven't gotten on the treadmill which isn't good, but I'm too tired. Will put this behind me and keep on keepin' on.
Love,
Judy Itry
234.6/205.2/thinner into onederland :cool:

Oh, Judy, sorry to hear that you're sick. :( Lots of soup will help keep you hydrated, and once you're better you'll drop the salt. I'm sure you'll head in the other direction in time for your official weigh-in. :) Just take care of yourself!

Bandit, I hope you're relishing your pampering this weekend! I can't even imagine...hmm. At least get your toenails done! ;)

Mousie,
Thanks for the words of encouragement! As you said, the salt weight is going away already and with any luck I'll be down a bit again this week. Only .4# makes me down 30# from my start in 2000. Has your swelling gone down yet? I sure hope so. I've read about muscles holding onto water weight as the body rushes to repair tissues from the rigors of exercising. Good luck with your weight lifting. Once I get the treadmill down pat, I think I'll start a bit on my arms with weights. That's a good goal.

Good luck to us all.
Love,
Judy Itry
234.6/205.2/thinner into onederland :cool:

Good morning Turtles! Looks like we're having a great WOOOSH happening here, because I'm down my water weight, too! I've dropped the 1.5 I was holding last weigh-in, and 0.5 of what I was holding before that. :cb: It's not official til friday, and with my new class on thursday I'm not sure how that's going to be. BUT I know I'm going in the right direction anyway. :)

I got up this morning and did my walk. Because I didn't want to push my thighs I "walked easy", 3.1 miles in 58 minutes. I'll be better tomorrow. :)

Bandit, check in when you have a chance!

Have a good day, Turtles!

Hi turtles:

Yes, I had a wonderful time - got in some swims and my day of pampering was well needed - had a massage/facial/pedicure & even got my eyebrows waxed. So I felt great.

Had a few indulgences once again, but back on track. So my w/i is tomorrow so we shall see then.

Sounds like both of you are doing well. Congrats mousie on the weight loss & exercise.

Judy - hope you are feeling better.

Talk to you guys soon. Have a great Monday!

Hi; Turtles,
Gee, I hope all our water gushing doesn't start a tsunami. That would be terrible.
Mousie, weigh to go. I have to laugh at your "taking it easy" walking speed. I'd be running just to keep up with you. You're terrific. :cp:

Bandit, sounds like you had a wonderful time away. That's a lot of pampering all at one time and I'm relaxed and stretching my tension away just reading about it. Yay!
Good luck on the scale this week. Have you noticed that your indulgences are getting smaller? I think we are all making huge progress. Here's to keeping it up! :grouphug:

My cold is going away. I dropped a pound on my home scale. My job today is to keep it off. Today is dh's birthday and we're having Italian food tonight. I'm going to pick it up for my dd, dsil, and dh, but I'm thinking I may just make some WW pasta for myself, have salad and a sliver of dessert and call it a success. That's why it's so good to have this site because I can think out loud and come up with a plan. Yay.j
Tomorrow is my official WI and I really want to be down a pound.

Good luck to us all. We are doing this!!!! :bravo:
Love,
Judy
234.6/205.2/thinner into onederland :cool: