Starting the topic - be right back (maybe - the computer at summer school is realllyyyyy slow)

Grrrr….. I typed a whole post and lost it. I’m reporting a maintain. Yup, I didn’t end up losing any more. Well, I lost another pound during the week but it was back this morning. I’m a little disappointed BUT I did have a few more peanuts over the last few days than I should have, and ever more, TOM just doesn’t seem to want to make an appearance so I’m very hormonal and retaining water like crazy. Oh well.

I started Phase II this morning with a great breakfast of high fiber cereal, blueberries (yum) and soy milk. I’ve decided to eat according to the SBD Phase II guidelines but for today and the next few to count how many points it comes up to. My guess is that it will be WW target plus a few FP’s. It’s been nice to have a break from counting points and I’d sort of like to continue to do that, but I’m a little nervous about going overboard so I want to see what the next few days calculate out to be. It sounds a little jumbled but that’s my thought process.

I’m hoping that the good carbs I’m adding in slowly will give me a little more energy than I’ve had the last two weeks and I can use that to up my exercise.

Have a great one!
Judy
163.6/151/135
125 of 240 workouts

Hi all

Judy - Well, I know you're disappointed by a maintain, but my guess is that it's the water retention and you'll see a really nice loss once your body lets go of it. Being hormonal doesn't help the disappointment, does it. Here's hoping that adding back some carbs does give you an energy boost. I guess there's a reason why marathoners carbo load the night before a race. I just got done munching some blueberries myself. I have some soy milk in the fridge - Ana wanted it - but haven't tried it yet. For some reason, it just doesn't sound appealing to me. I'll bet you'll come very near to eating your target points by sticking to the SBD plan.

My weekend was not good. It wasn't horrible, but it was not good. Ah well, I know what I could have/should have done differently and I'm back on track today, so I'll just move forward. Like Judy, I'm retaining water like crazy, although I'm not sure why as it's too early for PMS, and my sneak peek was horrible. I'll keep guzzling, because I know that eventually it will help, but gee, when you guzzle and it doesn't go anywhere... I'm gearing up for a tough couple of weeks. Wednesday I'm going into the city to have dinner with a friend (the one I used to have monthly dinners with). We'll be eating at a French brasserie, so it could mean some flex points. I'll see if they have a website so I can plan ahead. Wednesday is also when my sister arrives at my mom's so we'll be down at her house a lot. My sister also would like to spend a couple of days in the Wisconsin Dells, which of course means eating out. It's going to be a bumpy ride - I'll just have to hang in as well as I can. In the meantime, it's hot as heck here, so I'm spending as much time as I can indoors. Judy - I do not envy you the non-air conditioned classroom.

Have a great day.

Carla

Hi All...

Didn't make it here yesterday other than to quickly read your posts.

Judy - hang in there and those sneak peaks will make themselves permanent. Just wait till that water leaves; you'll be doing the happy dance again! I can't face counting points while doing SBD - my brain doesn't want to do double duty. Nice to know already though how many points most things are worth to help with making good choices.

Carla - I like vanilla soy milk; but plain doesn't do it for me. If you end up hating it, add some fruit and yogurt and turn it into smoothies. Yum. It sounds as though you have your challenges cut out for you for the next few days. Be strong!

I had a nice sneak peak this morning; now all I have to do is make it last till tomorrow's official weigh in. I'm off work today...taking FIL to a Dr.'s appointment and then taking he and Zia to MIL's grave, and then I have some running around to do this afternoon. No food challenges on the horizon, and staying focussed on an OP day.

Have a good one.

Karen

Carla - sorry to hear you had a tough weekend. My guess as far as water retention could be the not-so-great weekend especially if there was eating out involved. Restaurants and fast-food places just use a ton of salt! Yes, you do have a couple of rough weeks ahead. Great idea to check on a website. Just remember, no matter what happens (and I know you'll do fine!) you'll be handling it tons better than when before you started. It was cool today - and it's been raining like crazy. Yes, the maintain was a disappointment and the hormone roller coaster ride doesn't make it any easier! Still, I'm hanging in there. I like vanilla soy milk too - actually, I really love it.

Karen - phew! Sounds like a very, very busy day off! Yeah, I know what you mean about counting points while doing SBD. I think I'm only going to do it for a few days just to see what I'm eating and then stop for a while. I ended up eating around 25 points yesterday - that's 3 above my target and I'm about target now. Of course, I had too many peanuts so I've sworn off them totally for today. I concentrated on eating more protein (chicken breast) at dinner and it's worked - it's 9:00 pm and I haven't had any dessert and am way too full to even consider a fruit (1/2 peach) which was my plan.

I'll be skipping the non-air conditioned classroom tomorrow. My car is in the shop. My headlight was out today and it turns out that the assembly cracked when I rear-ended that guy back in May. So it will cost more than just the headlight itself but at least I can sleep a tiny bit later tomorrow and get some work done during the day (they are re-paving our street so I think I have to move my car by 7:00 but it's still an hour later than if I were going to summer school. I hope to get a lot of work done tomorrow since the end of the week is a bit busy. We are meeting friends in the city for dinner on Thursday - I haven't eaten out on SBD yet, Karen - have you done it? I don't suppose it should be too hard as long as I can stay away from the bread and have fruit for dessert (maybe with cheese?) Friday morning I'm taking the train into the city and meeting someone from videofitness. We're going to a yoga class (90 minutes!) - I haven't been to a live class in ages and I'm a little nervous as well as really looking forward to it.

Have a great one!
Judy

Hi all.

Sorry I didn't get here yesterday. Ana was hogging the PC.

Karen - I hope you found a few moments to yourself on your day off! I still haven't worked up the courage to try the soy milk. Smoothies is a good idea.

Judy - I hope your enjoying your air conditioned day today! As for eating out, I would think that as long as you stay away from the bread basket you'll do great. If a starch comes with your meal, I'm sure you can ask for extra veggies instead. And a nice cheese for dessert sounds lovely.

I skipped weigh in this morning. The sneak peeks have been horrible and I just didn't feel like dealing with the number. It's a cop-out, I know, but it's just how I felt this morning. Tonight's my dinner out. I checked out the menu on-line and I should be fine. There are a couple of chicken options and a vegetarian crepe that sounds nice. I won't have time to walk to the restaurant as my train gets in shortly before we're to meet, but I'm hoping to be able to walk from the restaurant back to the train station. And now, off to the pool.

Have a great day.

Carla

Good Morning...

Had my post evaporate last night - grrr. Only have a minute as I'm posting from the salt mines, aka work.

Carla - I don't blame you for not weighing in when you've had horrendous weigh-ins. It can put you in a funk for a day or two. Gee, Ana certainly is growing up - hogging the PC now! Hope you enjoyed your dinner out last night.

Judy - sorry to hear that your car repair is going to be expensive, but at least it got you out of sitting in a hot stuffy room all morning. We've eaten out several times; I've had a meditteranean chicken salad, a shrimp ceasar salad minus croutons, steak and asparagus...it's actually not that hard to fit in a meal out.

Reporting a half pound loss again...not much, but I figure that half a pound a week adds up to 26 lbs a year, which is an awful lot more than I've managed to lose in the 6 years I've been posting here...so I'm very happy with it. Today bears no challenges if I manage to convince myself to shop for groceries on the way home from work...I forgot my lunch at home this morning, so I'll be off to Wendy's for a salad at noon.

Hope you're having a great Thursday!

Karen

Hi all.

Karen - Congrats on your loss. Good attitude about the 1/2 pounds adding up. They certainly do, and as much as we would like the weight to melt off, slower weight loss is more likely to be sustainable weight loss. And I for one know that when I finally finish losing this weight, I don't ever want to have to do it again. Hope you enjoyed your salad today. I'm sending you "go to the grocery store" vibes so that you have a stocked larder and less temptations. How's zia doing?

I had a lovely dinner yesterday. I also took the day off from counting points. I guess I was in some kind of mood. Despite that, I really didn't have that bad a day, eating wise. We spent the afternoon at the pool, where I managed to slip on the stairs leading into the pool. I now have a huge, and I mean huge, bruise on my butt. Dinner was onion soup gratinee, aka French Onion Soup, (if you're going to be in a French brasserie on Bastille Day, you're almost obligated to have French Onion soup, right?) and 20 vegetables in pepper sauce wrapped up in a phyllo dough bag. It was delicious. Dessert - well, I gave into the profiteroles and loved every single bite. Today, back to reality and fat free hot dogs. I bought some lovely peaches and cherries at the farmer's market to see me through snacks. If we're home tonight, it will be tostadas. If not, I'm saving myself lots of points so I have wiggle room.

Have a great day.

Carla

Carla - I understand skipping weigh-in. I'm sure your sneak peaks will be better soon. Just remember (as I have to tonight) that when you eat out you have to drink lots of water! I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner. I agree, it's doesn't sound like it was bad food wise. Ouch - sorry to hear that you fell. While I'm sure you are sore, I'm glad you didn't break anything!

Karen - way to go on posting that loss. I too will be happy to see 1/2 pound losses if they are on a more regular basis! I'm going to be sur to have a snack before we go tonight so that I am not starving when we get there (dinner is at 7:30) and head for the bread basket but I think I am going to have my first glass of wine (and only one) in almost 3 weeks. Have you found your food bills to be a bit more since being on SBD? We have but it's all such good food (so many veggies).

I did not have a good day yesterday. I knew it was going to be tough. For our math class, we had to bring in two bags (small) of M&M's (lots of lesson possibilities). I realized that I had bought one that was the wrong size so I left it home and got another one. At first I told myself that I wouldn't have any - then I realized that was probably unlikely so I only had a few from each bag (maybe 10 - 15 in total from both bags) and threw out the rest. So far so good, right? We had bad thunderstorms and on the way home when I called Tony he told me that we had lost power. He was in a pretty rotten mood but I tried to make the best of it although I did take some peanuts out to the (screened in) porch with candles and my book. After hearing that we wouldn't get power back until 11 pm (which often means later) I ate the bag of M&M's! I felt pretty sick afterwards and decided that I wouldn't have anything for breakfast or lunch to trigger any more cravings today. I'm going to do my best to recover during dinner too althou since we are going out with friends, I would like to have a glass of red wine.

I did do a half hour yoga today and tomorrow is the class I'm going to with a VF'er. 90 minutes at a studio in Chelsea (I think). It should be interesting!

Have a great one,
Judy

Hi all.

Judy - Sorry to hear about your run-in with the M&Ms. They are the crack cocaine of the candy world for me. One always leads to another, and another, and another..... Ah well, it's one slip on one day. You'll be fine. How was dinner last night? Did you enjoy your glass of wine? I find that if I haven't had any wine in awhile, one glass is about all I can handle. Have fun at your yoga class today. Going into the city to take a yoga class - sounds so sophisticated.

I had a very good day yesterday. I ended up three points under target. Snacking was minimal. I'm not sure what our dinner plans for today are. We're heading to my mom's house and I don't know if we'll cook or go to a fish fry. Either way, I'll watch portion sizes and do the best I can.

Have a great day, and if I don't get back, a great weekend.

Carla

Good Morning!

Judy - I swear if it weren't for chocolate, I'd have the body of a goddess! Darn those M&M's! Tell those educators they should be developing healthy cirriculi - not those involving chocolate...we want to set good examples for kids! How did you make out at dinner? I haven't had a drop of wine in 2 months (she says, adjusting halo).

Carla - I haven't figured out what's for dinner tonight, so you're not alone in the unknown dinner arena. Fortunately, I have complete control over the matter. Glad to hear you had a good day yesterday. That must make you feel good.

Just back from the dentist - the good news: no cavities. The bad news: I have four 2.5 hour appointments for onlays. I'm off work today. Going shopping with zia. She's lovely, and so far I've been able to stop her cooking huge pots of pasta. FIL is driving her round the bend with his never ending repetative stories, so it'll be good to get her out of the house. Yesterday didn't go as planned. Instead of going out to pick up a salad for lunch; some of the girls at work had arranged a potluck lunch in honor of a 50th birthday, so I ended up having all kinds of bad things, topped off with the most incredible birthday cake I've ever tasted. Back OP today though.

Hope you're having a super day. Will check in over the weekend.

Karen

Hi all.

Karen - I'm envying you the birthday cake (as guilt-inducing as it may be). I'm not envying you the four 2.5 hour dentist appointments. And I'm in awe at the no wine for 2 months. What a good girl you are! But tell me, speaking of wine, will you and Mike be bottling wine this year? I'm glad to hear that things are working out with zia. There's probably enough that she can cook that you can curb the whole pasta thing while she's staying, anyway.

Speaking of zia, we ended up going to an Italian restaurant last night. It was lovely. I managed to stick to one piece of bread (which wasn't hard since they only brought enough for one piece per person), a nice cup of minestrone, and for my entree I had pasta con pollo cacciatore that was so good I nearly wept. It was a chicken breast sliced up in the cacciatore sauce. Mmmm. I used a bunch of flex points, but dinner was worth every one. And I stuck to a couple of cookies back at my mom's house and refused a piece of cake. (Again, easy to do as it was whipped cream frosting.) And now I must get Ana off to Spanish class.

Have a good one.

Carla

Carla - it sounds like you did great at the Italian restaurant! Good for you for only having a couple of cookies and skipping the cake. I love what you said about M&M's being the crack cocaine of candy! So true but they are the source of an incredible number of lesson plans in math - we did one of them in the 3rd grade last year. Thankfully, that should be it with the candy, at least until school (work) starts in September. Have you had an opportunity to "move around" (she asks in a kindly, non-drill sergeant way?)

Karen - Yucko on all those dentist appointments. What are onlays (I probably have them but call them something else)? I'm overdo at the dentist - I haven't found one close to home (mine is still in the city) and I have to get in to see her in August. It's great that you are getting along well with Zia and that you've been able to keep her from cooking huge pots of pasta. I had to chuckle a bit about the repetitive stories - my FIL is the same way. Sorry to hear about the potluck lunch but kudos for getting back OP.

Dinner on Thursday worked out really well. I didn't touch one piece of bread (and it looked yummy) and had about a glass and a half of wine (my friend and I split a 1/2 bottle and she had a little more since I was sort of nursing mine). I had a cold tomato soup (no cream - very yummy) and sauteed soft-shell crab. There was a little coating of flour on it and the chef definitely used butter but I don't think it was too bad and I asked for extra veggies and hold the rice. Everyone else had very indulgent desserts (I had a spoonful of two of them). I had a mix of fresh berries that was really yummy. It really wasn't too hard.

Yesterday's yoga class was fabulous. I took the RR into Brooklyn and met my friend for coffee. We went to Manhattan to the yoga studio and it was just great. It did not have the super trendy kind of vibe - many of the people in class were more in my age range and the instructor was really fabulous - very good at explaining how you should be aligned, very good adjustments, and she was really helpful to me in attempting (with modifications) three of the more advanced poses (here are links to two of them - I did NOT look like the pictures
http://www.yogafamily.com/posture/popuppost/crow.htm
http://www.yogafamily.com/posture/popuppost/wheel.htm
I was dripping and after 90 minutes felt worked out, relaxed and great. I definitely want to take her class again before Sept (she teaches on Wed and Fri at 12:30) and plan on catching at least one more class - maybe two. I'm not sure what kind of exercise I'm going to do today - maybe Tony and I will play some tennis or I might walk or jog in the pool later.

I had a lapse last night - Tony had gotten baked Doritos a few weeks ago when we had a bar-b-que and there was a little left in the bag that I saw every time I opened one particular cabinet. I gave in last night - not too bad as there wasn't much left but I think I have to re-think when I have fruit at least for a few days. I think I do better craving-wise when I have it during the day rather than in the evening (my danger zone). Of course, it doesn't help that TOM is still no where to be found.

OK - back to my paper for school. I'm trying to get a lot done this weekend so I don't have a crunch at the end of the semester (only two weeks away!)

Have a great one!
Judy