WW October 2008 - Back on Track!

[Couperine]

It's time for me to get it in gear again. I started WW in Oct 2006, lost 50 lbs, got pregnant and stopped, gained those 50 lbs back, and now 5 months after David's arrival, I'm still up 30 lbs from my low.

I promised myself that amidst all the craziness in life, I'd go ahead and restart today. I'm breastfeeding so the tracker gives me oodles of points, but I still feel hungry since I've been eating rather poorly for a while now.

So 16 points left for dinner and my daily milk - hopefully all goes well tonight! I'll have to see if cutting tree limbs and hauling them to the street or burn pile has an activity point association. :)

Anyone else out there?

[SusanPC]

Nancy--You had to know I'd surface! I am starting back (can't decide if I am going to do online or meetings) next week. But, this week I've been eating healthfully just not couting points yet. Which route are you doing?

I am about 8 lbs down from my all time high (when I was last on these threads). But, I was down a bit more and it is starting to creep back on slowly. I, too, am nursing. I find that I am so busy during the day I hardly eat and then at night I go crazy (e.g. ice cream every night, a glass or two of wine once Maddie goes to bed, etc.) So, my challenge is to start eating breakfast and lunch so I am not out of control come the time I put Maddie down!

I've also been in a great stroller fitness class for about a month now. It is really challenging (love the instructor) so I feel like I am slowly but surely getting back into the exercise.
I need all the motivation I can get at the moment. I feel like a frump and don't like it!


PS--DH is 11 years older than I am (almost 45) so we want to have another child before too long. We have to do IVF so there is no telling how long it will take. I told him I don't want to start my next cycle until I am down approximately 25 lbs which would put me at a weight I haven't seen in years. My goal is to be ready before next summer, around when Maddie is a year old.

[Couperine]

I'm doing online - for some reason that eludes me now, we decided to sell one car during the moving process. I just can't do meetings at present.

I had to get into flexpoints last night since I ate the rest of some Godiva treats as a comfort thing. Ethan took a pair of scissors to our brand new wooden blinds - DH and I weren't too happy, and we sniped at each other.

My issues are now at night - David is eating solids, but he's sleepy about the time we usually make dinner, so I feel totally stressed about eating my evening meal. I cook it, David screams, I feed DH and Ethan, start feeding David, and when David is done eating solids, he wants nursing and then bed. I now vaguely recall being a grumpy mom during this phase with Ethan too. It annoys the heck out of me to eat a cold dinner, yet it's not fair to make DH feed David every night.

So this morning is going well, lunch should be too, but I just don't know about dinner. I'm guessing I'm going to have to plan soups and things that don't take too much last minute prep.

As for the next baby, I'm waiting another week or so before I take a test. It took so long for me to be regular after Ethan, but I was back to normal after 2 months. I really hope the stress of Ike is making me late - I wanted another few months before we really tried. I do want to have another baby as soon as reasonable though, and if I were lucky enough to be pg without doing the progesterone and such, that would be awesome.

[JenniferJJ]

Nancy, I'm glad you started this. Hi Susan.

I really need to be here. Again.

Background: I've fluctuated between weights for as long as I can remember. Almost three years ago, I had the highest weight in my life. I would not say I was fat, but definitely chubby. It was 20 pounds more than I would like to weigh, but when you are 4'11", that makes a big difference. It was actually three pants sizes different. So after being at that weight for six months, I joined WW. I took me seven months to lose the weight. I kept it off for eight months and then I had a bad month. I had to pay at WW and then didn't want to go back if I had to pay. I decided to lose on my own...which didn't happen. Without the meetings I just gained. And gained it ALL BACK.:mad:

I joined again in June. So far I've lost six pounds. How has it taken me more than three months to lose six pounds?

Anyway, now I can't go to meetings because Saturday was the only day that worked for me, and I'm busy for the next few months on Saturdays.

Here's hoping that this can be my "WW online". Then I can wear more than one pair of pants!

Anyway, I'm on plan for eating today. My only challenge is that I am going to a debate watching party at the Holiday Inn and there will be desserts there. I either need to not eat anything or walk and eat one piece. I don't know if I can do either. I might be able to convince myself that they Holiday Inn desserts aren't worth points.

Other plan: walk

Challenges for the next month: I am volunteering at the Republican campaign office and there is always something there to eat. Also, I need to get disciplined to get enough rest.

One thing I decided to do was eat the same thing every M - F. This will help for few reasons. First, I am not a quick cook. So, if I am making the same thing, then I will be quicker at making the recipe. Also, I will then have the same weekly grocery list and make the grocery trip shorter. I've noticed that running out of time to prep food and grocery shop leads to getting lunch at the local grocery store's deli or Quiznos.

[Angelina]

Anyway, I'm on plan for eating today. My only challenge is that I am going to a debate watching party at the Holiday Inn and there will be desserts there. I either need to not eat anything or walk and eat one piece. I don't know if I can do either. I might be able to convince myself that they Holiday Inn desserts aren't worth points.



Jennifer, Holiday Inn desserts are NOT worth the points. Just think, you will eat one, it will taste mediocre (nothing like you could have baked yourself), and you will eat it anyway just because it's in front of you and it tastes sweet. Been there myself. Why eat that stuff just so you can regret it?

Stay away from them!

I went back with my Mom last Saturday after a 2 month long break. We did not exactly quit, we just could not go between work, vacations, parties and such. We only weighed in and then had to run. There was a substitute leader anyway and the only one I like is my MaryAnn. :) I am 10 pounds up from my lifetime weight, so I had to pay again, but I am looking forward to going back on a weekly basis from now on.

My workout plan is yoga and maybe try running. I want to try getting up earlier to work out, but I am kind of confused....isn't sleep as important as exercising? Does it make sense to cut down on my hours of sleep and trade it with exercise?

[SusanPC]

Nancy--I am not sure if this is feasible with two kids and the resulting schedule. For me, a challenge is that DH CONSTANTLY travels. (e.g. this week he was out of town from Monday until 10pm last night). But, when he is around I'll do as much prep as possible for a meal before he gets home from work. Then, as soon as she is down I'll complete the meal. Now, she goes down religiously between 6-7pm so this is feasible for us.

Thought I would mention that I bought the "Turn Around Program" cookbook and have made just a couple of things from it, a banana quick bread for breakfast---although it says it makes 16 servings and I cut 16 slices and let me tell you they aren't big! They are 4 pts a slice and I have been eating 2 slices in the AM. But, it is tasty. Also, the Turkey Tetrazzini in this book is fast, easy and quite tasty. It is 5 pts a serving....but with the nursing points you could eat 2 servings and a big salad and feel full/satisfied. Another breaskfast idea I've made a few times are the While-Wheat Cranberry Sonces from the WW TOT book. They are 3pts a scone and are good for a quick bite in the AM.

Some other meals I've made a few times that have been satisfying have been:

Flank Steak with Hot Peanut Sauce (CL April 2008) -5pts- You can marinade this eariler in the day and then throw on grill or in pan and have it in a flash. I'll put brown rice in the rice cooker and steam some broccoli...it almost tastes like beef with broccoli if you mix it on your plate.

Beef Carnitas Tacos (CL September 2006) -5pts- You can make the Beef up ahead and then just throw dinner together in a flash.

Italian Meatloaf with Fresh Basil and Provolone (CL Aug 2000) -6pts- This is a huge hit in our house. I just made a bunch in muffin tins for the freezer. Again, you can make this meatloaf earlier in the day (or ahead and freeze) and then just throw in the oven as you are putting the kids to bed.

Sesame Brown Rice Salad with Shredded Chicken and Peanuts (CL June 2007) -8pts- This can be made in the afternoon and will be fine by dinner time. My DH raves when I make this.

I've made some soups, Whole Weat Pasta dishes, etc. Basically, with those nursing pts. I find we have a bit more in terms of options at dinner time so I try to make something that doesn't make us feel like we are on a "diet." Of course, when DH is out of town I eat lean cuisines for dinner and then am so famished that I go crazy as I mentioned earlier.

[applecrisp]

Thanks for starting the thread.

I have started (or should I say restarted) Weight Watchers Core progam, yet again. I am doing it on my own. I know that's probably a mistake since I think the weighing in at the meetings is a good thing for me, so I might start going to the meetings next week.

I am doing Core instead of points. I like how Core's focus is on whole grains, lean protein, veggies, fruits etc. --- the way I tend to eat. Of course, I didn't gain weight from eating too much Core foods (with the exception of cherries perhaps :D), its those other food choices..... cookies, chocolate etc. It is that mindless snacking, poor food choices when out etc.

I think what I need is to get the momentum going. If I see some progress (and I'm just talking a few pounds), then I think that will help me better stick with the program.

I've been good today so far, but the days not over yet. D

I am writing down everything I eat and trying to plan meals. I made some black bean soup and froze the leftovers (really helps me to have nutritious meals handy when I don't want to cook ---bringing something in for dinner is almost always a bad move for me).

So far:
B: Greek yogurt, strawberries, a few walnuts (points)
L: Whole wheat couscous, chopped up chicken (from the freezer), tomaotes, cucumbes, olive oil, lemon juice.
D: Black beans/tomatoes etc with brown rice (WF sells brown rice in the freezer aisle, you can just use what you need -- very convenient).
Snack: grapes.

Oh, and I need to drink more water!

[JenniferJJ]

Hello

The past few days I have not done well. I have been on track until the end of the day when something is in front of me. Thursday was pizza at the campaign HQ, last night was cookies. I thought that I could eat them because I would walk afterward (I did). I thought I could eat the pizza because I felt a little hungry. (And then I didn't feel stuffed after I ate it.) I think maybe I need to eat more protein throughout the day so I'll feel satisfied.

Anyway, I've had my pizza fix. Check. Last night I was tempted by the sweets. I am actually thinking of baking this weekend something from CL so that I CAN have a sweet and I'll re-adjust my palate to something that is good enough. Yes, I know that the stuff usually in front of my is not worth the points, but I just crave any sweets and the eat it. My original plan was to not eat sweets until I was back at my goal, but that is not working.

I went through my WW cookbooks last night and found a soup recipe and a casserole that I would like to try this Sunday and Monday. I have also had a craving for pasta with cream and found a few that I liked in CL annuals. I'm sure more points than I would like, but if I round out the day with no point veggies, then I'll be alright. Still need to decide.

I am at the library right now and am about to head out for a walk. I need to stay put for a while...the football traffic is awful before and after the game. I want to walk in this forest that is about five miles away. You can drive anywhere DURING the game.

[Couperine]

Glad to have some company here!

Jennifer, how did your plan to walk go? I think your idea of having the same thing through the week sounds really good - I tend to do that with breakfast and lunch.

Angelina, have you tried the morning exercise plan? DH and I wanted to do that, but we had such a hard time with it (mostly me). The baby likes to feed around 5:30 am, and getting up 20 minutes after I feed him just felt awful.

Susan, thank you for the meal suggestions. I've been very uninspired in my cooking - this gives me some new stuff to try. Been looking heavily into Once A Month Cooking and good crockpot meals too.

Applecrisp - I hope you are doing well with Core! I too need to drink more water.

I got a new haircut on Saturday that really helped my state of mind - since I feel more put together, it was easier to make better choices on food. We head to Boston at the end of the week sans children - I'm looking forward to a mommy time out!

[Chefzhat]

Shameless bump to keep this thread near the top! I used to visit this all the time when I was doing WW several years ago. I'm back at it again, mostly to keep a friend company, but also to take care of a few pounds that have attached themselves to my backside. It is unbelievable how 6 - 8 pounds show up on short people!!

I'm beginning my 5th week, and I'm really tired of having to be so "careful". KWIM?? So, I need to get motivated. I've also slacked off on the walking, which has been my key to success in prior attempts . . . only because the weather has not been cooperative. We have a clear stretch for 10 days coming up and I plan to get back out there and accrue some mileage.

JenniferJJ - I was just thinking about you the other day!

[applecrisp]

Hello all.

I am still doing Core and I haven't seen any weight loss in the last week or so. I know I shouldn't but I've been weighing myself every other day or so, and up/down/up/down. But still plugging away.

I am making sure that I get at least 8 glasses of water in, since so many say it is so helpful.

I am preplanning all my meals/snacks and writing down everything. Even the unplanned eating. :D I am even writing down how long I workout on my calendar. Trying to keep myself accountable.

One thing I am trying to do is not to bring food in that is tooooo tempting. I know Skinny Cows and such are a no-no for me since I can't stop at one. No crackers and other just filler food.

I know I need to add some variety, since I can get tired of eating some foods too often. I am on a whole wheat, couscous, cucumber, tomato, chicken, lemon, olive oil kick for lunch, might need to add so more variety.

How's everyone else?

[LakeMartinGal]

I'm lurking, trying to get motivated. I don't really do WW, but I do (when I can make myself) count calories on my PalmPilot with the CalorieKing Diet Diary, into which I have put most of my normal meals, and lots of the recipes that are T&T to me.

When I do this, and with my 2x weekly water aerobics, I lose weight! So, why am I not doing it? Lazy!:o

Let's keep this near the top... I'm almost motivated...:p

[Angelina]

I went this morning with my Mom. I went 10 pounds over my Lifetime weight, so I need to take them off again!! I did good this week, I lost 3. Last week I was up 1, but I blame that on just having had my period. My weight always goes up a pound or two at that time of the month.

My Mom lost 1 pound, and I am very proud of her! We always go together, and we have been going for 3 years now :eek: with no intention to stop. I DO NOT want my 60 pounds back. They are staying off me. And my Mom needs to lose weight still, so she needs my support. So I go to keep her going, she goes to keep me going. ;)

There was another mother/daughter team, and I wish them all the luck in the world. The mother was 200+, and the daughter was 417 (my mom noticed that because she was in line right before her at weigh-in). My heart goes out to them. They were on their second week, and I hope I keep seeing them there. WW has helped me a lot, I must say. Our meeting leader is just amazing, so full of energy and so funny. I love her dearly. If it was someone else, I don't know if I could have kept my motivation up!!

[sararosalie]

I joined in February 2008 and have lost 15 pounds. Wish I could say it was more but it is better than gaining.

I need a kick in the pants to get serious again about the program (after spending the summer and September only following the plan some days).
I'm glad this thread is around---it will help me stay on track.


My plan is to go back to writing everything down, and to exercise 4 to 5 times a week.

Good luck!

[SusanPC]

I have had a bit of a pity party with some family stuff going on and haven't followed healthy eating. I got yelled at last night by DH b/c my food yesterday consisted of handfuls of potatoe chips and orange slices (candy, not fruit) :o

To complicate things, I have had to eliminate dairy temporarily from my diet as my DD has a tummy bug and I am still nursing.

So, I've sit down with my coffee this AM and made a grocery list for the rest of the week. And, I've made and eaten an egg white omelet so I at least start off the day with some food in me so I am not ravished.

Heading to the store when DD wakes from her nap. Here's what I've got planned:


Today

Breakfast- Egg White Omelet

Lunch- Sandwich (baked chicken breast, Whole Grain Bread, FF Mayo, Lettuce) and carrot sticks

Dinner- WW Lemony Baked Chicken, Brown Rice, Salad

Tomorrow

Breakfast- Egg White Omelet

Lunch- Out for Mexican (Fajitas with no cheese/sour cream)

Dinner- Spaghetti Squash with Chicken, Broccoli and Sun Dried Tomatoes (Health Nov 2005)

Friday

Breakfast- Egg White Omelet

Lunch- Sandwich (baked chicken breast, Whole Grain Bread, FF Mayo, Lettuce) and carrot sticks

Dinner- Pulled Chicken Sandwiches (CL), Butternut Squash Fries, Cole Slaw

We are going to some friends' house for dinner Sat night and I know they are planning filets on the grill for dinner...so I'll bring a salad or side that I know I can eat w/o blowing it. Dh is supportive of my trying to eat healthy so the rest of the weekend should be ok, assuming I don't convince him we need to go to Indian Buffet on Sat lunch :o

[Couperine]

Hi everyone! Looks like you have a good plan in place Susan - hope it goes well this week.

We didn't do too badly in Boston for eating, but we're going to do our best until my parents come to visit next week.

Tonight is CL's Chicken with Lime Sauce (my absolute favorite chicken), roasted carrots, and fettucine with broccoli.

Tomorrow is red beans and rice from Cook's Country, and Saturday is ginger chicken from Martin Yan's Quick and Easy with some carrot and rice dish from the same book.

We'll see how things go through the weekend - hopefully I'll be a (weight) loser soon! :)

[scout1222]

I'm beginning my 5th week, and I'm really tired of having to be so "careful". KWIM??

Oh man, I definitely know what you mean!

I've been involved with WW since 1996 - I've been at goal since 1997. So we're talking 11 years now - and I'll be 100% honest with you. There are still days in my life when I get annoyed at having to be careful. Why can't I just eat what I want?!?

That's probably not going to make you feel better, but I think it's important for you to know that week 5 isn't that much different than year 11 in that respect.

The key for me is that I realize that while it is hard work to remain vigilant, IT IS WORTH IT. I have better health, better fitness, better eating habits than I used to. I look better than I used to. I feel good. If I went back to those old habits, in which I didn't pay any mind to what or how much I ate, I would go back to my previous weight. I wouldn't feel as good, I wouldn't be as fit.

Do you really want this? If you do, it's worth the hard work. You don't have to believe that 100% 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, because you don't have to be perfect. But you definitely need to feel like that a majority of the time, in my opinion. Use some of those mental tips you hear about in meetings or read online - repeat those positive messages. IT IS WORTH IT!

(When my face is in a slice of chocolate cake, let's not have this discussion, shall we?) :D

[kbs]

Hi everyone!
After a very long absence from WW, I'm going to join (again) for probably the 6th or 7th time in my life. I have always had very good success, and I'm at point now where this is really something I need to do. I recently had a miscarriage at 17 weeks in my pregnancy which has been very difficult to go through and I'm thinking that having a shorter term goal may be something to help me get through it. Basically, I just need something else to focus on.

So my goal is to try and lose 20 pounds before I get pregnant again. We had to do the whole fertility thing to get pregnant this last time (injectibles + IUI), and I ended up gaining 10 pounds of the 30 I had lost on my own the year before, while we going through the monthly trial and error of fertility treatments. I could certainly stand to lose a lot more than 20, but realistically that's my goal since I'd like to be back at our RE in the Jan/Feb timeframe (well, really I'd like to start trying NOW, but obviously I need to wait until my body gets back to normal).

I'm starting back on my treadmill tomorrow. I was in a really good groove with exercise when I lost the 30lbs, so I'm hoping to be able to recapture that. I do walking/ jogging on the treadmill and then also have a few exercise tapes with 10 min workouts - like pilates, arms/legs, etc. I like to do those too and use hand weight so that I get some resistence exercises in.

It's been quite awhile since I've done WW- the whole Core program will be new to me. But I'm looking forward to just diving in! I'm really glad that there is a thread here for others as another support place/ idea exchange. Some of those recipes that are posted above sound great and I'll definitely have to check them out!


I'll post after my first meeting on Tuesday night (which is literally 2 blocks from my house- I really had no excuses once I found that out!). Hopefully there is a good leader- the last one I had really annoyed me after a while.

-Kim
-Kim

[Chefzhat]

Kim, I'm sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you.

Scout - oy! It's always going to be this way then, isn't it?? Oh well.

I WI on Wednesdays, and each one has shown a loss, but this last one was only ounces. I'm closer to goal and need to cut back on calories even more to get a significant loss. Only 5 more lbs. and I can be - finally - at lifetime and begin maintenance. But this last 5 is going to be very hard, I think. I'm looking at my gym schedule to see about adding a lifting class on top of my usual 4 mile daily walk to see if that will help.

I fear that looking at the rest of my life on 1300 daily calories will be too depressing! Ugh.

[Chefzhat]

I'll come here and talk to myself. :);)

Down another 1/2 pound. Good that it's down, bad that it's only 1/2. Good grief - I'm hungry enough to be fading away!

I'm eating a good lunch right now that fits in WW Core, and satisfies the one thing that is my dieting downfall - I really, really only feel like I've eaten only if I eat warm food. :( Anyway, I'm eating sauteed Kale with tomatoes, 1 oz. goat cheese, and 1 tsp olive oil. Yum. A sprinkle of sea salt on top. Warm, and good!

What's everyone else doing? Losing?? Hope so!

Debie

[Couperine]

Debie, I'll cheer for you. I found out soon after I started the thread that I'm pregnant again, so no official WW for me. It would have been nice to lose the last baby weight first, but oh well!

I'm exercising and trying to make healthier choices since I got stuck on bedrest for hypertension during the last part of my previous pregnancy.

Your salad sounds good - the salads I've been craving are all blue cheese with a garnish of lettuce. Haven't been eating it, but that's what I want. :) I'll have to see what I can find for goat cheese - a warm goat cheese salad could help.

[sararosalie]

I'll chime in.

Bravo on losing a 1/2 pound Debie! I know it is difficult to work hard and only see a 1/2 pound loss--but a loss is still a loss!

I finally ended my summer hiatus this past week.

I wrote down and counted everything I ate and I earned 17 activity points. I'm happy to report a 1.6 pound loss.


This week will be a bit tougher with two halloween parties, a big family dinner and an election night party.

My goal this week: earn another 17 acitivy points and continue being honest about counting my points.

Hopefully I'll be about a pound thinner this time next week.

Good luck to all!

[applecrisp]

My scale is not really moving -- one day down a lb, next day up, and so on. But I am trying to really stick with Core and hopefully the scale will cooperate.

So far today.... (hey I need it for accountability....)
B: Fage yogurt, apple, walnuts (counted)

L: Whole wheat couscous, some chicken, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, balsamic and one of my oils (Core says 2 teasp per day)

Had three glasses of water so far. Not a clue on what I will have the rest of the day. A mistake.... since planning and writing it down is key.

Good luck to all. Keep at it. Oh no Halloween temptation for me -- I fnished off the candy I bought last week. :D

[kbs]

Sounds like the general theme so far is folks are down which is good. YAY!

I weigh in on Tuesday's and I was -4 for my first week which I was happy to see. To be honest this hasn't been a major change for me as far as eating goes because I eat pretty well during the day, so I haven't really had to make any changes there. It's my nighttime eating that I have gotten under control - I swear I would eat enough calories to constitute "dinner" just while I was making dinner.

I've been SUPER diligent about writing everything down because I need that kind accountability and honesty with myself. I haven't been good with exercise, because I've been been sick to some degree for 4 weeks now. I feel pretty good now, but have this nagging violent cough that will overtake me.

So how many of you do Core? And if you do have you always done it or did you switch at some point? I don't feel like I'm disciplined enough for Core, so I'm interested to hear about other people's experiences with it.

My favorite new find - Kim's Light Bagels. Holy cow - 1 point for a bagel??? I love it! I have changed from my standard breakfast of a fat free yogurt with corn flakes, and now have the yogurt and a bagel with 2T whipped cream cheese. it's one point more than my old breakfast, but it is SOOOO much more satisfying. Plus it's portable and I just toast the bagel when I get to work, and keep my cream cheese in the work fridge.

This past week I made all recipes out of the WW TUrnaround cookbook - the New Orleans Red Beans and Rice was really good and very quick.

We're going to dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning, but I'm resolved to making smart decisions. As long as I have the points for it I'm not going to worry too much about what I order, but clearly one of the meals will need to be fairly restrained.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll be dealing with the leaves in our backyard tomorrow morning and plan on getting back on the treadmill- I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it shows on Tuesday's scale!

-Kim

[JenniferJJ]

JenniferJJ - I was just thinking about you the other day!

Aww, thanks Debie. Hi:)

Anyway, I shamelessly weigh myself every day. It actually helps me. But then I can get obsessive about it. Like if I don't like my weight, I'll wait a few minutes. And much of the time, I will weigh a little less. Now this morning, it was four pounds less. How could THAT be?

Anyway, it does help me be motivated through the day, so it's okay.

I had a chicken salad sandwich from the grocery store for lunch and five store-brand "Oreos". They weren't as good as Oreos, and I don't think I'll be tempted the next time I go there (they give them out with their coffee). I was only satisfied with the sandwich (as opposed to full), so I think I am okay. Then I had an apple. I wish I had had more water today.

Tonight my friends invited me to go to their friends' house. My understanding is that a bunch of adults will gather while the kids will T or T. I have no idea if their will be a full dinner, appetizers, etc. I don't think I will be tempted by candy...I had some bad (meaning tasted off or old) candy a while ago, and since then, I haven't had the taste for it. But as far as the food, oh boy. And they are German, so I expect wine. And that blows my opportunity to exercise.

Tomorrow, I will pack food boxes, so there will be physical acitivity. There will be a BBQ at the R campaign HQ in my area, so I will plan the rest of my day after I am there. I plan to start my day with an apple and oatmeal. I plan to get in a walk.

I had a goal to see a certain number by Election Day. I saw that on my second time I weighed this morning (which I don't understand which number was real...at least I saw it. Even if the first higher number was real, it was still lower). Anyway, I think it is now realistic for me to now see my end goal by Nov. 18. Then I can wear a certain pant suit to a fancy business dinner I have on Nov. 20.

I read all your posts, but don't have time to post personals right now. Good luck for the weekend all.

[Chefzhat]

kbs - I don't do core, but for the next two weeks I'm going to focus on only core foods, but still count them. Clear as mud?? I'm so close to goal that I need to do something to get me there . . . without starving to death.

Congrats Couperine! Another baby! I was at my OB appointment the other day and watching all the young couples just beginning their parenting journeys. It was bittersweet to know that I am at the end of mine, but they sure were so cute to watch - so excited and giddy about the changes coming at them. :)

[SusanPC]

Hi ladies, just checking in...and actually officially starting tomorrow. My weigh in day/meeting will likely start Friday but I know the drill and will start tomorrow.

Kim- I am so, so sorry for your loss. I had a m/c last year at 7 weeks...I know this in no way compares with what you must have been/be going through. I hope this helps you focus and get to where you want to be before heading back to the fertility clinic. My goal also relates to getting back to a late winter/early springish ivf cycle. When I cycled before my doc said losing weight wouldn't hurt. I am 10 lbs less now that when I got PG (daughter in May 08) and want to lose another 20 before I cycle again. 30 would be ideal and put me at where I'd love to hang out the rest of my life....but I am realistic as well.

My big challenge is DH travels constantly for work. So, I find I am busy all day with my daughter and eat very little....by the evening I am ravenous but when he is out of town I don't cook...so I'll eat 1/2 a box of wheat thins and cheese, etc....not healthy choices basically. When he is in town, I cook healthy and varied meals, but it is just so sporradic with his crazy work travel that seems to get worse and worse. So, I am making a plan to go grocery shopping in the AM and have eliminated the bad foods from the pantry/freezer.

Hopefully I am finally motivated.

Debie--You sound so close. I hope the tracking the core foods does the trick for you!

Question--I am nursing still but also doing bottles for 2 feedings a day. So, do I need to do some modification of the points? Maybe not give myself the whole 10 extra? I'll tell you....makes me want to go back to exclusively BF just to get the extra pts :o

[applecrisp]

SusanPC --Just an idea..... for those times when your husband is home, could you double the recipe and freeze some of the leftovers to make your own frozen dinner. Then you can just heat up for yourself, but don't have to deal with dishes and such.

KBS -- I'm very sorry to hear of your loss.

Hi to everyone else, just popping in for a quick post. I am going to write out my meal plan for next week. I do soooo much better when I have a plan. I just got back from shopping so stocked with the food I need for a hopefully great Core week. Got the yogurt, black beans, chicken etc. And, will make some brown rice (use Cks Illustrated methog of baking in the oven).

I need to be more consistent with the water. Somedays I get my 6-8 glasses, other days not so much. Do you find it makes a big difference?

How many of you are doing Core vs Flex? I'm doing Core because I think I make better food choices on Core and I'm not a fan of counting all the time. And, I tend to eat mosly Core, at least when I am making good choices ... fruits/veggies, lean protein, beans etc.

Of course I didn't gain weight on those foods. It's those other less than smart choices, especially when stressed etc..... I have to work on that. And, I banished cookies, frozen yogurt etc from my house at least for awhile. On flex, I can see myself eating my points on poor food choices. Hello, 100 calorie pack cookies.

Have a great week.

[scout1222]

Question--I am nursing still but also doing bottles for 2 feedings a day. So, do I need to do some modification of the points? Maybe not give myself the whole 10 extra? I'll tell you....makes me want to go back to exclusively BF just to get the extra pts :o

I have never nursed, so I can't speak from personal experience. But the 10 points you get extra is to make sure that you can still produce enough milk. If you are starting to wean, it makes sense that you would need fewer points. So yes, I think you could modify how many extra you add. You also want to make sure that you aren't losing too quickly. By that I mean that if you didn't add ANY, were still able to produce enough milk, but were losing 3 pounds a week, that's not a good thing.

For starters you might try adding 5 and seeing how that goes, adjusting based on scale/milk feedback.

[kbs]

Hi ladies,
I hope everyone survived Halloween!! For me it wasn't really a challenge since we don't really get a lot of trick or treaters, so I didn't buy any candy, plus we were only gonig to be home for a short time. I don't think that I survived the eating out twice this weekend though, even though I counted all the points for everything I ate (granted I had to estimate some of the stuff). I also did more exercising than I would normally do to try and make up for it, but this morning it all seemed to catch up with me when I stepped on the scale. I'm not really too upset though, because my approach is that I need to figure out how I can realistically live with the changes I am making. Since it's not realistic to think I'm never going to eat out, I'm ok with some trial and error on my part. The error here was not insisting that DH choose which meal he wanted to eat out- not both.

So, needless to say I'm not expecting a huge change when I officially weigh in tomorrow night.

So along those lines, what day does everyone weigh in? Do you go to a meeting or at home? I've done both, but really need the threat of a public shaming to help keep me on track. :p

SusanPC- glad to hear we have similar goals / timeframes. Maybe we'll be on the TTC thread at the same time (hopefully each lighter!). I am going to meetings with a friend who is breastfeeding, but is starting to wean her daughter. Our leader told her it probably made sense to stop taking the extra 10 points, but it sounds like she is closer to stopping BFing completely than you are. She hadn't had a loss in 3 weeks and then when she made the change, she lost a couple pounds. So maybe adjust down slightly at first and see what your body does?

Debi- it's good to hear about why someone may switch to core. I can definitely see why it would be the way to go if you're stuck or on a plateau.

applecrisp- I'm totally with you on having a meal plan for the week. For a number of years I have made a weekly menu, which I find very helpful for staying organized so I don't have to play the "what are we having for dinner" game every night. I think it's really helpful when doing WW to have a weekly plan for eating- keeps me from thinking too much about food since I already know what I'm going to be eating. Good for you for doing Core - even though I eat a fair amount of Core foods, I don't think I'm ready for it. For some reason it feels limiting to me.

JenniferJJ- You're in good company with the constant weighing. I do it every morning. The results are bewildering sometimes. Good luck with meeting your goal this week!

-Kim