OPPS!!!!
 

Hi Fellow turtles...I have an opps to confess!!! I had to weigh 2 days early, as I can not attend the sat day meeting anymore, and I gained 1 lb...I am so upset, but I know it was either water gain, or 4th of July gain...We had a little get tog with dd and sil and we had some great grub..I didn't want to think about points or anything...and I had 2 1/2 beers...

I will try not to beat myself up over this...but I will try to learn from it..I don't like gains...I really hate them...I realize I have to keep on top of this 100 %..no slacking...If I want slack I should plan for slack right??? Not just eat...Plan..

I went to the store tonight and I got some non fat cottage cheese, some egg beaters substitue, and some turkey sausages..I wante to start eating more protein for breakfast. I will keep my points diligently, and I will make that 1 lb disapear.

bye for now..

Kathy

Hi Turtles...Just wanted to tell you things are going good again. I ate pretty good yesterday. I discovered Morning star vegie patties..1 pattie, 1 pt...I did the calculations 10 just to make sure I was not doing it wrong.. when I went to the store after my meeting...I took my slide ruler and started figuring out points of lots of things and since I heard the leader talking to the knew ones, she said the women are basically carb eaters, and not protein eaters, and if they would eat more protein then the program will work better. After listening to that I figured I would try to add protein to the breakfast and then maybe I wouldn't not be so hungry at 10:00 and lose too...

I got some egg beaters...1/2 cup equals 2 pts...Then I got some healthy lean turkey sausage that is 4 pts for 1 link..they are ok but won't buy them again.

I will try to drink my water at work. And I have until 8:00 to get to the gym..Hoping to start a program today!!!

Hope to hear from you guys andhope you have a good Saturday..

kathy

Glad things are going better now, Harley. You'll get over that gain in no time.

I'm up two pounds this week. I've been tracking, but that's about all I can say for myself. I'm eating a tad too much, exercising too little. Today I finally decided what I was going to do to shake things up -- I signed up for six months of Weight Watchers meetings. I somewhat surprised myself by doing that. (I did it online; haven't been to a meeting yet.) But it makes sense to me right now. I lost weight best when I attended meetings. In any case, I'd like to get the new materials.

So I'm hoping this will be the new leaf I need right now.

Oh, my new outfit arrived today. Good news and bad news: the good news is that I could actually wear the outfit. This surprised me, since it's not even a plus size. The bad news is that it doesn't look as good as it did in the catalog, and I've decided to send it back. Too expensive to not look absolutely terrific.

--Lauren
274/220/down

Kathy,
Glad things are going better for you. I like the Boca breakfast links. They use soy protein and are fewer points than the turkey sausages you tried. I know more protein keeps me feeling full for a longer time than carbs. You are really working this program, so keep on doing the things that work for you and you'll be successful.
Lauren,
I think it's great news that you could wear the catalog outfit even though it's not a plus size. That's great news. As far as sending it back, I'm with you. If something isn't fabulous, I don't want to pay a lot for it. Good luck with the meetings. I hope they give you what you are looking for. Sometimes just a change of pace gives us the boost we are hoping for. Good luck.
Everybody,
I've been really busy. Fourth of July was ok food wise, but not as great as I planned. Then I had another day that wasn't spiffy, so this is a mixed bag kind of week. Thank goodness I have gotten over eating to punish myself. I am staying off the scale and that helps. Now I *must* get back on the treadmill. Using my expanded journal (just a spiral notebook with more room to write) helps a lot. My kids are here this weekend and they're lots of fun. My dh and I are very fortunate.
Feel well, be happy. Let's all do the best we can with each day.
My sister arrives for a vacation with us in a couple of days. She loves NY food, so this can present a problem for me. I've got to figure out how she can have the food she craves and not gain weight by my eating the same. This will take a lot of thought.
Judy
234/thinner;)

Hi, Turtles,

Kathy, your commitment to the program will easily take care of that pound.

Lauren, good luck with your WW meetings. I hope your leader turns out to be terrific! It's great that the outfit fit, but I'd send it back, too. It's so disappointing when something comes from a catalog and it doesn't look as good as the picture! I've had that experience, too.

Judy, I had a thought, but I don't know how valuable it is. You'll have to judge that for yourself. Your sister's visit to NY is special for her. She doesn't get to eat NY food much, so for her it's a treat. You live there. You can choose to eat these foods whenever you choose to save up the points. What's special about this visit for you is sharing it with your sister. Maybe you can save up some points for your absolute favorites of the food she loves and choose simpler foods like salads, grilled fish, etc. for the rest of the meals. Or, if she's willing, have a taste of what she's having and eat salads, soups, that wonderful grilled fish, etc. for your own meals. Good luck!

Kathy, I wonder where your leader got the information about women, carbs and protein. I also wonder what she means by women eating carbs and what protein she thinks we should substitute for carbs. Also, I wonder what balance of the food groups overall she is thinking about. And I wonder whether it's really correct that in order to lose weight we should go against what our bodies are telling us we need.

I guess I've been around the block with every "diet fad" since I was a child and I'm closer to 50 than I'd like to admit. One thing I've learned is that there are no magic food combinations that will cause anyone to lose weight. There are food combinations that are better for your health, but losing weight is a matter of burning up calories and eating just a bit less food than you need to fuel that energy level, forcing your body to burn up its fat stores. It's a delicate balance becasuse if you eat too much less, it hangs onto the fat in case it's a famine and uses up muscle tissue instead.

The problem with substituting animal protein, which is what most people automatically think of when they hear the word "protein" for carbohydrates in your diet is that you increase your saturated fat intake, which increases your risk of heart disease, etc. And the carbs most people think of when they say "carbs" are the refined ones.

Before substituting animal protein, including dairy products, for carbohydates, check out what kind of carbs you're eating. If you regularly eat white bread, white rice, and sweets made from refined flour, try switiching to whole grain products for at least half of your carb points. The whole grains usually are about 1 point more than the refined choices, so you may find that you're choosing a slightly smaller serving size. But they are more filling, so I find that I couldn't eat that large serving, anyway. They add fiber to your diet, which is crucial to weight loss and to a healthy body. For breakfast, I find that eggs and sausage is way too heavy in the morning for my taste, even if it's a light turkey sausage. One egg and some high fiber toast or oatmeal made with skim milk works better for me and keeps me full longer. Also, try beans, split peas, and lentils. You can increase your protein that way without adding saturated fat to your diet. Remember that potatoes and many other veggies are also complex carbs. A baked potato with some beans, veggies, and a simple, lowfat sauce, makes a great low point filling meal.

If substituting different carbs doesn't help, take the quizzes in "The Right Mix". If you find that your body needs the higher concentration of protein, stick to the point numbers in the booklet. You can do serious damage to your health by overdoing the protein, especially animal protein. The super high protein, super low or no carb diets are a prescription for a heart attack. They cause other health problems, too, if they're used for a very long time.

The important thing is to choose an overall balance of foods that includes enough of all types of foods we need to be healthy. I think the WW booklets do a great job of educating us in what we need to be healthy, but I also think many people don't read them or use them enough.

I hope you realize that my goal here is just to give you something to think about. Maybe even to research a little. WW leaders and folks on the Internet and friends and relatives (and me, too) aren't usually trained nutritionists, registered dieticians, or MD's. We just pass along the best of what we've learned. The problem is that much of what people pass on came from books and articles written by people with an agenda--usually products to sell. Much of the so-called research isn't done using good double-blind research methods. That's why I tend to be a skeptic. I tend to disbelieve what I hear until I've researched it a little more. That's why I wondered about the details of what your leader said. I've been noticing lately that many, many, people seem to have an automatic reaction these days--want to lose weight? Ditch the carbs and eat lots of protein. But I've researched that subject and I know it's not a healthy diet and I don't want anyone to damage their health in an attempt to get thin, so I thought I'd share my thoughts about this with you all, for what they're worth.

Happy turtlin'! :D

Lin

Judy, I hear you about problems with guests. That's mostly how I gained my recent 9 pounds. We had two sets of guests for almost 3 weeks, and they ate like they were on vacation (which they were) -- and I did too! Just think to yourself -- do you *really* want to see that food show up on the scale? Is [fill in food here] really worth seeing the scale go up and having to fight to get those pounds off again?

Lin and Kathy, regarding carbs vs. protein ... I read something interesting in a cat magazine yesterday. It was on feline diabetes, and it said that fatter cats tend to develop diabetes more often. Not a surprise. But it also said that most cats who got fatter and developed diabetes ate almost solely dry food. The dry food is higher in carbohydrates than the canned food, and the article said that cats gain more weight on the higher carbs.

I love carbs. Giving them up -- or even cutting them down to tiny levels -- will never work for me. I know this. But I also know that I lose better when I cut back on them and eat more protein. Certainly the less refined carbs are better in every way than the refined variety, but even eating the less refined carbs slows or even reverses my weight loss. Lent is a great example of this. (For those new to the group, during Lent we stop eating all animal products and get our proteins solely from stuff like beans and soy. I have never yet lost weight during Lent, even staying within points.)

I'm no advocate of the all-fiber-no-carbs diets. I've done them, and I felt rotten on them. And who can eat like that forever? For me, the really hard thing is to try to find and achieve a healthy balance. That does NOT mean just eating whatever my body craves, I'm finding, because I seriously crave sugar and carbs, often to the exclusion of everything else. I suspect that because diabetes runs in my family, I probably have a screwed up gene somewhere that doesn't process sugar and carbs properly.

So ... part of my process over the coming six months is going to be forcing myself to cut back on the beloved carbs and incorporate more vegetables. (I think I get enough protein.) The trick is going to be making sure I don't start feeling like I'm on a diet, because that's a recipe for disaster for me. Actually, the trick will be doing it at all.

--Lauren

Hi, Turtles,

This thread is getting way too long! See you all on number 32!

Happy turtlin'! :)

Lin