awesome, Kate! I just sent you an email!

Congratulations with your success! I haven't tried weight watchers, mainly because my range of food allergies make it difficult to stick to structured diets. I have had luck using Alli though. I lost about 20 LBs over the summer using it. I've also cut all fried food and soda out of my diet except for as a rare treat. That helped me a great deal with both my weight and general health.

Kara

Kate,

Weight Watchers is a great choice. Congratulations! I am a card carrying lifetime member and have been since 1989. I can't believe it has been that long since I am still so young! :o) My weight has gone up and down over the years but not in big swings, mostly because of what I learned at WW. I go back for the meetings whenever I feel like I need an extra boost. I credit it with helping me(so far at least) escape the diabetes and high blood pressure that has plagued my parents and siblings.

Stick with it! I know you can do it!

Melissa

I did it. Well I am still doing it actually. We had a group leader come to our job once a week back in January. We had enough people to keep the meeting going for 16 weeks at the job. I hit my 25lb goal at that last meeting. I stuck with the points system and lost 37lbs total since Jan. My better half read my materials and ate his points value and he lost 42lbs. He is back to his army weight and very happy. I am stuck right now, I have 17 to go but I have been half hearted about it. We have the digital scale at work so I still weigh in every week to make sure I don't go up.

The good news is that my sister in law and her better half were so inspired that they joined too. She has hit 37lbs and he has hit 43. My bother in law is on day 6 right. The bad part is I have to cook thanksgiving dinner and they all want points friendly meals and desserts and I just want to cheat. LOL

The tool on the website where you can key in a recipe and get the points value is a neat feature. I found out that the pecan pie mini muffins are only 3 points so they are on the menu.

We have an email weigh in with each other every Wed so we are accountable to one another. It keeps us all honest.

Good luck Kate. It works for sure. You learn tons about food and you will end up being more aware of everything you eat and then you just have to decide if it is worth it or not :->

Only 1 pound this week, but looking back I can see why I was less successful*. So in that respect it was a very good week and will help me with the coming holiday week. My clothes are already fitting better and the increase in energy is surprising; I didn't expect to feel that already but I do! I'm not tired and I only noticed my knee hurting a couple times.

I picked up a 12 pound ham at the grocery store and just laughed! Twelve pounds is a lot of 'pork' gone!

And I was able to give blood this week at our company blood drive! That may not sound like a big deal, but it's the first time in 3 years. In the past, my blood pressure was too high and they wouldn't take me. This is a pretty sweet victory.

Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement and your stories!
Kate

* What didn't I do this past week? I didn't record everything I ate and I didn't get on the treadmill. Both are easy to fix.

I have been a lifetime member since the '80's. I still attend meetings weekly because I need the accountability. I feel that 30 minutes a week of my time is a small price to pay for staying healthy. Also, you should remember this is NOT a diet but a way of life. I know I can NEVER go back to eating the way I did before I joined. BTW, I lost 55 lbs. & take no medication. Only see my DR. yearly for a checkup. WW truly works!

I finally joined a gym. It is closer to me than any WW though I hear they are great.
It has a hot tub a Cedar sauna and a steam/eucalyptus sauna. Along with the fact I need to excersize I also was looking for the relaxation factor.
I must admit though ouch................
,today I'm a bit ouch,,,,,,,, SORE!

Well, you KNOW I'm doing it too, Kate, and I'm so happy I finally took that first step. I lost six pounds the first week, 2 the second, and 3 this past week. I do WW online, as I find that the charts and Weight Tracker keep me honest, and I would quit going to meetings after one or two. I hate meetings. Even when they are something fun that I want to do. So online works best for me.

I'm having a good time figuring out how to get the most food for my points. I've managed to discover quite a few quick, easy, TASTY, and FILLING (those last two are sooo important for me) recipes. I've printed out enough from the website to make a whole cookbook, plus I ordered a couple of their books, too.

I have the electronic points calculator and I take it shopping with me. I don't like to waste my points on some little item that won't fill me up, so I don't buy them.

Yesterday I discovered these neat frozen fully cooked chicken filets, marinated in Italian seasonings. They are only TWO points each, so I had two for dinner (so easy to fix) with fresh zucchini steamed with Italian diced tomatoes and a big salad. The veggies were only 1 point, and the salad was 2. So my total meal was 7 points, and very filling. I feel like I've been given a gift when I can eat something tasty but filling and low in points. Yippeee.

AND...best of all...I wore a pair of jeans today I hadn't been able to get into in at least 8 months! And a shirt I couldn't button two weeks ago. And I didn't wear it UNBUTTONED, either! Now 11 pounds isn't very much when you have as far to go as I do, but it's so rewarding to see results right away. It keeps ya going!!

Hope to hear more from you ladies working the plan. (And you, too, Tony.) The good thing about WW is that there are NO restricted foods. None. You can eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your total points for the day. If I try to go on a "diet" with things that are forbidden, I'm soon hallucinating about those very things. It's doomed to fail. But THIS works!

Marcia

Do any of you who are doing WW have the scale they sell on the website? It has a points calculator of some sort built into a digital food scale, and looks like it would be very handy when you need to know exactly how much cooked hamburger is 4 ounces. I'm thinking of getting one, and just wondered if y'all have any feedback.

Marcia

I haven't seen the scale with the built in points calculator but I picked up a digital food scale on Amazon. After you use it a few months you start learning what a portion looks like. I don't know how fancy the programming would have to be to have a points calculator built into the scale so I might not trust it but a simple scale works great.

The friend I'm going to the WW meetings with just got the calculator last night. She's having trouble with portion control and thought this would help. We only had a few minutes to play with it, but it really does calculate points. I'm not much for buying accessories but this one looks to be very handy. I think any scale would be helpful though as long as you are counting the points.

So what do you think of the new system? I like the fact that it takes Flex and Core and combines them. That's pretty much what I was doing anyway: selecting mostly foods from Core and eating as much of those as I needed, then adding in a few points each day to get the foods I really wanted.

Kate

The new system confused the heck outta me, Kate. But then, we always knew you were cleverer than I! *grin* I decided to stick to the Flex Plan. It's the one that has always worked best for me, and I understand it thoroughly, and have a good system going. But I DO refer to the Filling Foods List on the new system, because I want the most bang for my buck (or my points) and that list is quite handy. Also, any recipe I look at that has those green diamonds beside some of the ingredients is likely to get printed out and saved. I don't want to be starving all the time! (Can you tell how greedy I am?)

I'm definitely going to get the scale. I checked digital scales in a couple of stores and I don't think the price is TOO far out of line, since it does double duty. And the convenience of having it figure points too is a real bonus. No need to use TWO devices.

I wish they still made the little cardboard points calculator. Anyone remember those? It was so handy to have in my pocketbook. I like the new electronic one, but the "slide rule" version was also very quick and easy to use. I'd like to have a couple of them tucked here and there, so there'd be no excuse to NOT check the points in something.

My favorite new (to me) Weight Watchers find has been the little box of single serving WW Cream Cheese. I love triscuits, and they are only 2 points for 6 crackers. The cream cheese is 1 point for a container, and it will nicely do 6 to 9 crackers for a snack of 3 to 4 points. Crunchy and satisfying so that I don't crave popcorn or potato chips. And having the cream cheese in single serve portions means I'm less likely to dig out big globs of it and eat too much.

Anyone else have a WW product you really like or find helpful?

Marcia

Marcia,
They still have the sliderule calculators! I use them whenever I'm grocery shopping. Since you are signed up on line, you may be able to stop into a meeting and get one of the new booklets for Week 1 of the new program. The slide calculator is built into the back of the booklet. If you have a member number they should give you a booklet, I would think.

My favorite WW brand food is the Cheddar Twists! Very crunchy, salty and cheesy. And I love the Fruities too.

Kate

I was given the cardboard slide rule at week one this year.

I can't find that scale anywhere on their website. Do you have a link?

My favorites are the ice cream. The toffee bars and the cookies and cream. I also buy the ice cream cones when they go on sale. I also have the blueberry muffins in the pantry for when I want to feel like I am having a treat for breakfast instead of my usual oatmeal.

You gals are an inspiration! Hopefully I'll catch the bug. LONG time ago I became a WW lifetime member; sadly, over the years it's aaalll back and lots more. BUT..WW is still the BEST. really REALLY need to go back to program!

Anyway..enough of confession! Here's a link to an on-line points calculator:

http://www.webmilhouse.com/pointcalc.php

Joanm, here is the link for the scale with points database built in. I'm definitely getting one, but I want to wait until after Christmas. (I hate to spend money on myself until after the holidays.)

If you get one in the meantime, let us know how you like it.

Marcia

Here is a link that might be useful: WW Scale With Points Database

14 pounds!

Well it's been a tough couple of weeks, with Thanksgiving, then our big neighborhood Holiday party (at our house), then the Holiday table of endless goodies at work and finally our departmental luncheon and gift-fest! Felt like one celebration after another and all of them accompanied by cookies and chocolate. But I'm proud to say that I'm at 14 pounds and certain I'll make 15 by Christmas. Maybe a bit more.

Kate

Congratulations, Kate! (Haven't gotten to all my emails yet, sorry!) I'm at ten, having gained back one over this past weekend! But I'm already sure it's gone and I'll be down when I weigh in on Monday.

Best products of this week: Cumberland Farm ham "steaks." Two vacuum packed pieces of lean ham, about 1/2" thick and 6" by 3 1/2" long & wide, so we aren't talking thin sandwich slices, here. They are only 1 point per serving, and a pound equals 5 servings. The usual package is only about .79 of a pound, so that means it is LESS than 5 points for the two steaks. So ONE, which is a good sized serving and very filling, is only 2 to 2.5 points!!! Combine that with zero point veggies with 1 tbs Olivio and seasonings, and maybe a zero or 1 point salad (depending on dressing), and you have a whole meal for 3.5 points or so! Tasty, quick to fix, filling, and LOW, LOW points.

Another good find...Weight Watchers bagels...2 points for a whole bagel, and WW cream cheese, 1 point per mini-container. A good quickie breakfast for only 3 points. I jazzed mine up with a shake of Weber's Garlic & Bell Pepper seasoning, and it was VERY good. Okay, not EINSTEIN'S bagels, but still tasty, and filling. For a larger breakfast, combine it with scrambled Southwestern egg beaters, and add 1 or 2 more points, depending on serving size.

You are still my inspiration, Kate! Hope I get CLOSE to catching you on Monday!

Marcia

Weighed in last night at the meeting and had a delightful shock: 3 more pounds! Woo hoo! When I started and said I wanted to lose 15 pounds by Christmas I wasn't sure that was even possible. My total is 17 pounds and I'm confident I can do another 8 by mid February.

My secret weapon has been SOUP! Very hearty, home made soups. I'm using lots of veggies of course, but also whole wheat pasta and white beans, with just enough meat to make it tasty. I'm buying chicken and beef stock by the case!

Good eating and Happy Holidays to all!

Kate

You are doing very well, Kate. Good on ya! I'm down 12, but stuck there for now, and I know it's my fault. I can't seem to ignore the holiday goodies. If I can just make it another week without gaining any back, I'll be happy, and very ready to buckle down and work the Plan again come January 2. But I have several celebrations before that time that will include lots of holiday treats, and if I deny myself too much, I'll get mad and not want to stick to it. So I figure I won't worry too much, but I'll try not to go berserk, either.

I have so much more to lose than you, I'm in it for the long haul, anyway. It will be NEXT Christmas before I expect to come close to my goal, though of course, losing that first 10% will be great, too.

Keep up the good work!

Marcia

Marcie, I'm so glad to read "I'm in it for the long haul". This is my thoughts exactly & I figure if I stick with this lifestyle, the "long haul" will be much longer.Another big plus is, I got to buy all new clothes. BTW, get rid of all your "too big" clothes. If you keep them, it's like giving yourself permission to put the pounds back on.

Oh, good suggestion, happy girl. Only problem IS, I'm still wearing them! I have to lose a bit more before I can really justify buying new sizes. On January 2, I will be back at it in full force. I didn't put this weight on overnight, and I don't expect to lose it overnight, either. Another thing. I don't beat myself up if I have a day that's a lost cause. I just tell myself that before I started WW, ALL my days were lost causes. So one here and there still leaves me ahead of the game.

Marcia

Someone on the Discussions page asked about gardening and weight loss. I guess I'm looking at it from the opposite side: I'm losing weight so that I can feel comfortable gardening again. I'm certain that one of the reasons my garden went to h3ll this year is that I was too tired and sore to enjoy it. 15 minutes of knee and back pain was all it took to convince me it was time to head into the house. Now I'm trying to get my garden back into my life because I really missed it! The weight I've already lost has made me feel much more energetic and I'm actually looking forward to the clean up garden chores that happen in January.

I think one reason weight watchers has worked for me is that I'm not working towards a weight goal (although we talk about the pounds lost here) as much as I'm looking forward to being able to garden again.

But, if you want to check out a great book on garden exercise, look for this one: "Get Fit through Gardening" by Jeffrey P. Restuccio, published by Hatherleigh Press (800-528-2550). I heard him speak and watched him demonstrate his gardening technique last year at Disney during the EPCOT garden festival. I was impressed and bought his book. It's mostly geared towards eliminating back and knee pain while gardening, but if you follow his advice it's great exercise too! (Disclaimer: I don't know the author or have any financial interest in the book or the company. I just like it and am happy to recommend it.)

Here's a sample of his advice:
* Listen to music while gardening and change position every time the song changes. That will lead to less stiffness and less stress on any particular joint.
* He also shows how to alter tools so that using them puts less stress and strain on you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon Books - Get Fit Thru Gardening

Oh, I'm going to order that, Kate! Thanks for the info. I know there are now various types of ergonomic tools available to reduce garden aches and pains, too, but have never tried any.

Like you, I want to be more comfortable and painfree when I garden, so I've implemented several strategies. One is to change my whole garden over to lower-maintenance plants that don't require as much hard labor to maintain. This replanting from scratch every year was getting OLD! And the other is, of course, to get healthier through WeightWatchers, thus making it less EXHAUSTING to work outside.

I am afraid I've not done well over the holidays, but again, I'm not going to stress about it. It is what it is, and I know that after Thursday, I will be right back on target. I've already been collecting new recipes to try to find filling, delicious, and LOW POINT foods.

I was so in love with pumpking pie this year (as I am every year), that I researched some recipes at WW and found a nice one for a low point pumpkin custard that should allow me the flavor without the guilt. Things like that help me a lot.

Off I go to check out that book on Amazon! Might as well have my gardening help me with my weight problem!

Thanks again!
Marcia

Weigh in last night: no weight loss for me this week, so I'm holding at 17 pounds. I'm not disappointed because during the past week I've consumed 3 large chocolate bars and about 3 pounds of prime rib, in addition to lots of other Holiday goodies including alcohol. LOL I don't even want to know how many points there are in a large Tom & Jerry!!!
Thank God for dogs who demand to be walked - at least I got some exercise.
I was sure I had gained a pound or two, so I was pleased with the zero gain at the weigh in. The friend I am attending meetings with lost 2.8 pounds! I was so proud of her! (((The funny part was that we switched name tags for the meeting (just to goof with the meeting leader) so the leader kept saying "Good job, Kate!" Next week we are going to be Chip and Dale. If she still hasn't figured out what we're doing, the week after that we'll be Tweedledum and Tweedledee.)))

DH and I are doing a neighborhood progressive dinner on New Years Eve but I'll pick and choose what I eat at each stop and expect to control it pretty well. Just wine for me, no martinis! Well... maybe 1. The stop at our house is for Greek food and I know I can make several little munchies with a low-cal Mediterranean theme.

Good luck to all this week. This is the final step in the 'getting through the Holidays' process. Once we reach Jan 2, it should be clear sailing for a few weeks. Yea, Us!

Kate

Congradulations everyone!

Kate, 17# sounds like you have really done good over the holidays.

I have a friend that was 480#, yes that is not a typo! He went in to have his stomach made smaller. Just before Thanksgiving he could only have liquids for 3 weeks, he lost 30#. Then he had the surgery and has to be on the same liquid diet for 2 weeks. I talked to his wife and he is doing really great. I can't wait to see him!

So, hope that will inspire you! Keep up the good work.

You guys are inspiring me to get off my rear and get back to it. I cannot seem to get back into the logging of the food and I know that it the key Write It Down! Anyway anyone heard og dotties weight loss zone DWLZ.com. just scroll thru the catagories and she gives you points on it seems like everything. Most of the resturants are in there too with all their dishes broke down to points. Anyway I found the site to be really helpful. I need to get my butt back on the treadmill and get back to writing it down. Thank you all for the inspiration.
Mary

Mary you are so right. Journaling is everything. If you bite it, write it!

I'm happy I made it through the holidays without gaining anything back, but I didn't lose anything, either. Now I have to start the New Year off right by getting back to the program, full speed ahead.

I'm excited, though. I have printed out tons of tasty-sounding recipes, and I bought myself a slightly larger than usual convection/toaster oven with a small rotisserie. I noticed I had been roasting or baking a lot of meals lately and I think this is a more energy saving way to do that. It's faster, uses less power, and will let me roast veggies and chicken without heating up the entire kitchen. Using the oven in my stove not only pulls more power, but it heats the kitchen so much that the a/c has to work harder.

Anyway, I'm excited to have the new convection oven and can't wait to try out more recipes with it. That, plus my slow cooker, plus my new immersible blender are going to make trying out new recipes more fun. I'm all for things that have low points, but are filling, and EASY to cook.

Good luck to everyone working on getting healthier in 2009!

Happy New Year!

Marcia

Writing it down is the key. I was doing well and so I got lazy about the journaling. This week I ate while I prepped the New Year's Eve feast, then ate at every stop on the progressive dinner party, and drank too. Then on New Year's Day I ate, then we went out to lunch Friday at work and I splurged on pizza. Oh my, what a week! Hopefully, THAT's not going to be an inspiration for anyone! One day wouldn't have been bad but this was too many days in a row. I'm getting serious again as of today and already started off with my WW shake this morning.

I know that if I didn't have the meeting on Monday, I would NOT have decided to be so serious about the plan this weekend. For me, the meeting is as important as the food journal. I'm impressed with those of you who can do it without the meetings.

Here's something I learned this week and I'm pretty excited about this one: losing weight is a lot more fun than eating whatever and howmuchever you want! I enjoyed all the food this week, I won't deny that, but eating it didn't give me nearly the lasting pleasure that losing a couple pounds gives me. And the praise I received about losing weight from our neighborhood group during the New Year's Eve festivities was more intoxicating than the wine. That may sound corny but it is absolutely true. It doesn't take many pounds before someone notices you are losing weight and WOW is that fun.

Kate

I jsut want to say I wish you all good luck on your diets!

Here's a link that was on the cooking forum:

Here is a link that might be useful: A cute poem

"...Every last bit of food that I like must be banished..."

No way! I refuse to accept that! LOL, I'll never give up chocolate, butter or cookies! Slow and steady, with the foods that I like. That's my plan.

Thanks Wanda for posting that link. It really is a cute poem.

Kate

Thanks for the kick! I am getting all my WW stuff out and am going to get back to it. I am going to try to do it w/o going to meetings although we are going to see about a leader coming to our office. How many people do you need to form a group? Has anyone checked out DWLZ. com? It is pretty cool. Good luck to all I will be hoisting my big butt on to the scale first thing tomorrow AM. I just have to WRITE IT DOWN! Thank you all for the inspiration. Happy, Healthy New Year! Mary

Soup recipe: Wild Rice with Chicken & Mushrooms
1 cup = 3 points (and the wild rice is a 'filling food')

Here's a soup I made this weekend that was soooooo good!

* Saute a package of portabella mushrooms (chopped to bite size pieces) in a tbsp light butter in a stock pot.
* Add 1 large box of chicken stock (I don't buy the fat-free one but you could use it if you want to) and bring to a boil.
* Add 1 large can of chicken (I use the white meat kind packed in water but left over chicken or dark meat would work just as good).
* Add 2 cups cooked wild rice.
* Finely chop 4-6 green onions, including most of the green part, and add to the soup.
* Season to taste with salt, pepper, thyme and a little bit of sage.

After a couple weeks of small gains instead of losses, I made up for it tonight with a 3.8 pound loss! My total is now 20.2 pounds. I walked more this past week and wrote down everything I ate. That's a combination that works, for sure.
To reach my first goal I need to lose 5 more pounds in 4 weeks. Then we'll start talking about the next 25 pounds. Hey, that's it! 25 more by the Summer Solstice! Perfect! I can do that.

Kate

Kate, that soup looks yummy!

Wow, 20.2 pounds is great. Hope you make your goal! At least your trying.

It's a Saturday morning and we have lots of fun running around stuff planned for today. I looked at an old favorite pair of black jeans and wondered... was it possible? It's been at least 3 years since I've been able to get them on. Well I tried them on and YES!! they fit!!! Oh yeah, this is a GOOD day!

It's been a few weeks since I updated this but I just had to share my good news. Tonight at the weigh-in I was at 24.6 pounds lost! My goal was 25 by Feb 12th so I'm rounding up and counting this as success. I'm sure I can lose 6 more ounces in 2 days.

Good for you, Kate! That is a VERY inpressive lost. I'm sure you will lose the additional 6 oz. this week. I've been on maintenance over 4 yrs now. Some weeks the scales are up, but I know that the next week is a clean slate & I can get rid of the gain. Stick with it.

Wow, 4 years on maint and you've kept it off. Congrats! It's one thing to lose it and another to keep it off. I'm sure it hasn't been easy.

I did make my 25 by my birthday, then had a slight gain the following week. Tonight I weighed in at 26.8 total loss since I started, so I'm feeling good.

Kate

30

Woo hoo!

Congrats Kate! I'm thrilled for you. Are you having fun shopping for new clothes? Wish I were motivated to lose some. I really just need to exercise. But that ain't gonna happen. I can't even get the dog to go for a walk with me. LOL

My shopping while I'm still losing weight all happens at Goodwill! I'm finding great clothes and don't mind only wearing something for a month if it only cost $3. I bring a big bag of clothes in and take a little bag out. Life is good. Bought a Jones New York suit for $12 last week that looks like it's been worn once or twice before I got it.

My motivation was all about the garden when I started. I spent 2 years being overwhelmed with the work. I needed to get some energy back and found it after dropping only 15 pounds. Now I can work for hours in the yard instead of minutes and still feel like doing more. And it's FUN again!!! I have my garden back and that's like gold to me.

Of course, as I've lost weight other things have given me more incentive to continue. The new clothes ARE fun, you are right about that! Cutting my blood pressure meds in half is great and my cholesterol is down about 25 points too. I'm sleeping better, feeling better, etc. My back & hips don't hurt anymore. I'm surprised how quickly the changes happen.

Here's an unexpected benefit: my grocery bill has dropped significantly! We're eating smarter and better, but also eating smaller meals and buying less junk. I make a lot of soups, which are filling and nutritious, but because they cook so long you can use less expensive cuts of meat. I also go out to eat less often because it's easier to control what I eat at home. This works for lunch too since I usually bring lunch to work now. Just in lunch costs alone I've save enough to more than cover the Weight Watchers fee.

It's all good.

Kate,

Since you can't make it to my place, I am going to make Kara's swap just so I can see your gorgeous self! When you started this thread back in November, I wrote this:

"I am a card carrying lifetime member and have been since 1989. I can't believe it has been that long since I am still so young! :o) My weight has gone up and down over the years but not in big swings, mostly because of what I learned at WW. I go back for the meetings whenever I feel like I need an extra boost. I credit it with helping me(so far at least) escape the diabetes and high blood pressure that has plagued my parents and siblings."

And then I went into a holiday season and proceeded to forget everything I had ever learned with WW (or at least it seemed that way) and packed on some significant extra pounds between Dec and March. I ran into this thread again about 3 weeks ago and got reinspired. I rejoined WW online and have dropped 5 of those pounds. I plan to stick with it for three months of "retraining" and then see where I go from there.

I won't be buying many new clothes but I will be able to breathe in the ones I own! Just that five pounds has given me some breathing room.

Melissa

Melissa! I'm so glad we could help motivate you!

Would love to see you again at Kara's swap but seriously I haven't lost much since Willy/Swilly's swap. Maybe another 5 pounds. I have to tell you though that I met with a group of people yesterday that I haven't seen since last Fall and they instantly saw that I've lost weight. One moment like that ("Wow, you look great!") is enough to keep you off cheeseburgers for a week!

I bet I still notice a difference and I could probably even safely bet you a nickel or more that is true. When the pound loss slows down but it is still moving I think your body starts to reshape itself so even five or so pounds shows. When I saw you at Swilly's it had been so long since I had seen you last, I did not remember what you looked like before. This time will be different.

All of that matters little if you are enjoying life more though.

M

Hello, it has been awhile since anyone posted on this link. How about an update from everyone. Let us know how you are doing. I know there are some great results. Kate, Marcie, Melissa & others, tell us the good news, PLEASE!
I just got home from my weekly meeting & am 4# below my goal weight. When I reached goal I continued to lose several pounds so that I had a bit of leaway & didn't have to worry about going over goal & having to pay again.

I've hit a plateau and so haven't been excited to post. I'm holding steady at 32 pounds - up one then down one each week. I can't complain about the program though because I haven't been following it. It's all me. I stopped writing it all down, stopped counting points, etc. Even the exercise has lagged. I can look back at the past 6 weeks and know that I just got too comfortable with where I was! It was so good to be fitting into clothes and even buying a few new things. The success should have motivated me to keep working but instead I just sat back and enjoyed it.\

I had a couple weeks of business travel then a family vacation since I last posted too. That really made it hard and I missed a couple meetings because I was out of town. I guess I should be glad that I didn't gain a bunch of weight during that time!

But the good news, for me, is that I got serious last week and feel much more on track. I started back with the homemade and point-conscious soups on Tuesday. This morning I did a 2 mile walk around a local lake, stopped at a farmers market on the way home and stocked up on good veggies, then came home and worked in the garden for a while. (After that I lounged in the pool for 2 hours, finished a book I haven't had much time to read, and am now on my way to a neighbors for late-afternoon mojitos! Didn't want you to think I had turned into a saint or anything!)

Finally back with the program, I'm working hard to drop another 13 pounds by the end of June. On the 4th of July I want to be able to say I've lost 45 pounds. I think I can do that if I stay serious.

Congrats Happy Girl on reaching goal and staying there!

Kate

As of last Saturday, I had lost 11 lbs. I suppose it is possible another 1 will go this week. My clothes all fit again! I think I am going to try and lose another 4 but we will see. I can't decide. I am just watching what I eat now and seeing what happens. I feel pretty good.

Melissa

Finally broken free from my plateau! Well, at least mentally. I haven't seen a change in weight yet, but I've changed some other things this week and hope to see if reflected on the scale.

I was enjoying my 'new self' so much that I got pretty casual about portion control, tracking what I was eating and exercise. Everyone has been telling me I look great but I know I have LOTS more weight to lose so I needed something to help me get motivated again. And for me that means... technology! Yes, I'm a techno-twit and I love toys. So after trying to get back to recording food - and failing for 2 weeks - I searched for an found an app for my iPod that works exactly like the WW weekly tracker. It's called iWatchr in case we have other iPhone or iTouch users out there. 99 cents and worth every penny. It's with me all the time and so it's easy to calculate and record points.

And then on Friday I scored the best toy EVER! I got my Wii - it's the basic Sport package with bowling, tennis, baseball and a couple other things. Now I'll be watching for a good deal on the Wii Fit package but for now I'm happy happy happy. On Monday at weigh-in we'll see if all of this has had an effect yet.

Kate

When I started back in November I had hoped to be at 45 pounds today (July 4th), but I didn't make it. However, I have gotten back on track the last couple weeks and as of this morning I'm at 36 pounds. After several weeks of no loss, the past 2 weeks have been great and I have a renewed enthusiasm. I bought a couple new things last week and am excited to wear them to a party this afternoon. The weight loss may have slowed, but it still feels awesome!

Every decision, every struggle, and every choice has been absolutely worth it.