Hi Lunchlady....I was here bright and early looking for your post and decided to wait on you.LOL....I had a pretty good weekend food wise but I didn't get on the scale this am. I really wanted to but it is in the guest bathroom and we still had a kiddo sleeping in there....so I don't know if I did any damage to myself...I didn't eat way over or really bad just more than I have been eating...well I had a burger but I sliced the meat pattie in half so it was a very thin pattie and I added lots of tomato, lettuce, onion etc and only mustard...no mayo and no cheese...I made it fit in my point range but it is still more than I would normally have eaten so I am hopefully at the same weight and have not gained any back....problem is that I don't usually eat that much bread or if I eat bread it is strictly whole wheat...which I much prefer just from my dieting...

It is so good to have our home back to our lonesome selves after all the fathersday festivities...I love having them come but I even more having them leave.

Here's my tip....We cooked up a ton of meat on the grill so I have a stash in the fridge for the next couple of days and an even bigger stash in the freezer for later in the week....chicken, steak, ribs, sausage and HB patties..all ready cooked and all I have to do is make a salad and a veggie and we are good to go...Every time I turn on the grill I do this and it makes meal preparation during the week so easy...

We went to happy hour at a friends home on Friday night and she is a lifetime WW person...she is good at maintaining so we are always talking diet...and she said to me....Hey you are looking good...I perked right up believe you me...I have a long way to go but I'm feeling good about it....with just my DH and I here there really isn't many to notice so it makes it awfully nice when people do notice and especially that they comment on it...

Hope everyone has a great week and everyone manages to stan on plan...I know I am going to be working hard at it....

Hi Lunchlady and Ruthie.
Today has been a hard first day for me. We got busy and left for lunch an hour late. I was soooo hungry! One of the owners of the company I work for took us out for lunch. We wound up going to a bbq place. Dorothy and I split a sliced bbq sandwich (we didn't have much choice). I refused the chips and desert. So guess I did okay.
A few minutes ago a close friend called and ask me to call her as soon as I got home from work as something was going on in her life that she had to talk about. I thought we could have a large glass of wine, but then started worrying about how many points are in wine, LOL. So guess we'll either drink water or black coffee.

It is Monday, isn't it? hehe

Hi all. Welcome back Maryann.

I know what you mean about a rough day. Somehow I'm going through one of those days where nothing I eat tastes just right or satisfies me. I need to shopping tonite and get some more food so I be more creative with my menus.

Ruthie good tip on cooking up extra meat on the grill.

MaryA, you did good at the lunch. That is the worst when you just do not have a choice I have been there and it has almost made me cry. I decided not to be so hard on myself if I am then I will not be able to make this a true lifestyle change.

Ruthie I would have never thought of freezing already grilled meat. We gilled yesterday and tonight DARN, next time I will be better prepared. Yes, it is nice to get compliments:)

WhoooHOOO ChairLady where are you :)

OK here is the scoop...I didn't weigh over the weekend because we had guests and finally this am I staggered in to the bathroom where the scale is located. It is in that inconvenient spot because that is the only level uncarpted space around...anyway back to story...phew....I am exactly the same as I was on Friday...While it would have been nice to be down a bit...I am so thankful not to have gained that I am really smiling...

I watched Dr. Jambolis on FitTV again last night doing the weight watchers evaluation and she once again made me believe that WW's is the best way to lose weight...

Eat good today and enjoy....

HI!! Ladies
Today is an eating out twice day for me:( I had to go over to my DD's high school with her and load up my van with junk from her classroom~~it is about a 80-90 mile round trip so it involved eating lunch out of course. But we did good we ate at MIMI's. I had grilled chiken on greens with fruit, it came with a carrot raisin muffin, I have them put it in a to go box so I never see it and my son eats it as soon as I get home. Any minute now my pal is picking me up for our quilt guild meeting, we meet her two SIL's for dinner before usually, but tonight is a pot luck. I am having them stop at Wendy's so I can get the spinch chicken salad and an iced tea I do not want to even look at the pot luck food!!! And I put a 100 calorie snack in my purse so I will not be tempted with the desserts:)

Hope everyone has a nice evening:)

Just did my morning exercise....I did a 30 minute workout on the Gazelle...I made sure I did 1 and 1/2 miles total. I will try to get in another 30 minute session on the bike this afternoon....What are you all doing today to move your body...I hope you all are not laughing at my meager efforts...remember I am an overweight 67 year old so 1 and 1/2 miles is a lot for an old fat woman.

WOW!! Ruthie, you are doing great!!! I will be going to CURVES this afternoon with my pal, then we walk over to Starbucks for a plain green iced tea and gossip:) 1 1/2 miles is alot for anyone I think, I need to start walking too. But I hate to walk where I live we have small hills and no sidewalks and no shady trees~~~whine whine :)

I am going to try the yoga classes, but not til the begining of July~~I could drive a short distance to a nice flat tree lined street and walk, I think I will do that. My DD and I are going to Stanford Calif for a swim meet she has entered for three days the first weekend in Aug, I am sure we will have to be doing alot of walking around the univeristy there. From there we are going into San Francisco for two days, she wants to stay at a Hostel she was at last summer (has anyone done that before??) it is right on the bay. We will take public transportation or walk everywhere while there so I better start a walking program and get ready eh???

WC what goodies did you buy when you went shopping??? Anything new and tasty???

MA how are you doing today?? it will take you a few days to get back into it, I found myself eating something I thought was good and part way through realized it was not and I was always mad at myself:(

Good morning everyone! I haven't been doing real well with my points, but I'm still hanging in there. I sure need to start an exercise program. Would love to be walking, but it's so hot!
Hope you all have a great day.

maryann it takes a bit of energy and work to get back into the swing of things but just keep on working at it...truth is that if you are at least trying, you probably are doing better than you think...We went out to dinner last night...sigh...I tried to eat healthy but this am I was "up" on the scale...I have to work hard today because I was so thrilled with what I weighed yesterday...I want to check out taking a yoga class in our area...I noticed that fit TV has a new series starting on July 5 called Manaste yoga...I'm going to tivo them so I don't forget.

I am ready to exercise this am and hope to get a good one under my belt so I won't see that scale rise again tomorrow morning...I copied this from a site because I thought it very informative...we all know this but need to keep reminding ourselves...

The truth about what it takes to lose weight the correct way...

1. Strength training to build muscle and increase bone density.

2. Cardiovascular exercise to burn additional calories and to strengthen the heart.

3. Intelligent caloric deficit and consistency.

You guys have a great eating day and check in and tell us what your plans are for the day...

OK...Ladies...my cardio exercise is done... 1 and 6/10's of a mile in 30 minutes on the gazelle...I'm cooling a little before I do yoga...

What kind of moving are you all doing today?

Maryann, Ruthie is right you are trying and that means you are eating way less that your usual and are trying hard to make right choices it just takes time. I always wish I could just throw everything out of my cupboards and only have my foods in them.

WOW!! Ruthie you inspire me to get moving everyday!!! I need to do more, but just can not get my butt moving:( I will go to CURVES this morning~~I usually go after I get off work at 2pm, now I am on summer break and can not decide if I should go in the morning or just keep my regular time. I like doing my chores in the morning, I think if I go work out I will get distracted and not come home on time and end up doing chores in the afternoon and I am way to lazy to do that:( WOW Such a decision to make LOL!!

I watched my food very carefully yesterday, I feel like I am getting off track and now is not the time for that. I do the Core Plan, but when I feel off track I write everything down for a few days to make sure I am not over eating. I started a summer journal and it is helping me to track my food and exercise and feelings for the day. Maybe I will discover why I over eat:)

Hi all. I've been doing real well for the last two days. Went to the store and stocked up on a variety of foods.

I am not one who can plan their meals ahead of time. I need to be able to eat what I want at each meal or I will feel unsatisfied.

I have to be a bit selfish when I want to lose weight. I treat myself to the things I like. I went and bought some boneless centercut porkchops and pineapple so I could do teriyaki with them. I got some dark rye for the egg salad I've been craving. Bought a bunch of ground beef for freezing into weighed out patties for the freezer.

I keep a few Lean Cuisine frozen meals and I like the new Pannini sandwiches. I will buy the regular ones as well as the Lean Cuisines because I find a half of one fills me up fine.

For snacks I usually have regular ice cream that I eat in a 1/2 cup Tupperware snack cup. I like the Jello fat free Devils Food pudding cups. I also like the new Weight Watcher's Key Lime Cheesecake and I love the peanut butter chocolate or mint Skinny Cows.

I fool myself into "healthy" desserts by using a frozen pancake as a base, topping it with sliced banana, cinnamon sugar and a squirt of whipped cream and calling it "pie".
Do the same with a nuked sliced apple or canned blueberry topping.

For take-alongs I carry little cups of natural applesauce, chewy low fat granola bars or breakfast bars, the above mentioned cheesecakes or pudding and fresh fruit. When I know I'll be out for awhile I pack a small insulated lunch bag with snacks and a diet soda so I won't be tempted by the drive-though or heaven forbid the donut shop.

I have a challenge tonight, will be meeting some Red Hatters to eat at Dave and Busters. Looked at their menu and it's going to take some doing to stay on program. I see they have rice and they have steak and grilled shrimp. Maybe they will sub the grilled shrimp for the fried on the shrimp dinner. Or I could bring my insulated bag with gel ice, order the steak and shrimp and bring the steak home for a cold steak lunch tomorrow YUM.

Tomorrow is my weigh-in and I'm shooting for a break even day what with eating out and hanging out in the bar to watch some friends in a karioke contest. They won a cruise last year and are shooting for a trip to Hawaii this year.

As for exercise temps are in the high 90's today and maybe hit tripple digits this weekend. Because we don't have that many hot days we've never bothered with air conditioning. This is the first day my Lab isn't begging me to play fetch. Both dogs are conked out on the tile floor in the hall.

I'm going to walk around the mall between dinner and karioke time. The dogs will be exercised when the sun goes down.

I seem to feel the heat more now that I'm older. Told DH we may have to break down and put in an air conditioner for our old age.

I would die without AC, it is supposed to be triple digets all this week:(

Wildchild where do you live that it does not get hot enough for AC??? WOW!!! Red Hatters @D&B :) I have only seen them at quilt shops and tea rooms~~~Wildchild runs with a wild bunch:)

All of your food items sound better than my preWW's food:) I keep my menus simple, easy for me to get something ready fast and not many snack items.

Ruthie I lied I did not make it to CURVES today:( I got a bad headache and felt ICK! I just lazied all day reading. Tomorrow I help my DD carry all her stuff into her new classroom, I think that will be exercise esp if I can not park my van close. Late afternoon my pal and I are going to the mall that will count for some type of walking:)

Lunchlady, I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. We only wish we had AC around 10 days out of the year. It hit 99 in my city today but now at midnight it is quite cool outside and the house is comfortable. Even though we're far south of SF when the fog bank hits the ocean it affects our weather also. That's why the Bay Area is considered a great place to live....we have a great climate.

Did well at Dave and Buster's I think. I had the shrimp and substituted grilled shrimp for half and rice for fries. No quilt shops for the Red Hats I know. I did belong to one chapter that did stuff like that but they fizzled out. The groups I belong to now are about having fun. Unfortunately they also love to eat while having fun.

Morning Ladies....Feeling great this morning and am up early. Neighbors came for Happy Hour yesterday and I actually feel off the wagon and had a drink so I was concerned I would have gained a little but no I am back down so feeling good...that was a cheat I did without even thinking about it so I was worried..

Going to shoot for a good day today...bought salmon and talipia at Wal-Mart yesterday so I am going to have a fishy week...I am only 6 pounds away from the highest weight in my "ideal weight range....I don't want to be the highest, only in the lowest range but boy won't it feel wonderful to be inside that range for the first time in a long time...Oh I almost forgot to tell you this exciting news...I measured my waist yesterday and it is down by 4 inches so the exercise is paying off....YaaaaaHoooooo.

..Here in TX it is hot hot hot so all my exercise has to be inside...Eat Good today Ladies and get some exercise.

Good Morning~~~I did well at my weigh in yesterday I was at 144.5, that is one pound below my declared weight goal:)

Ruthie, I picked the high end of my weight range, the lowest part for me is not realistic, I wanted to do a diet that would be hopefully a permanant lifestyle change~~before on WW's way back I picked the low end and I could not stay there and it was such a struggle that I quit and have been a YOYO dieter since (20 years)

WC sound like you are in a fun Red Hatters group, I find anything you do with other ladies always involves food???

I am getting ready to go to my DD's beach party~~I do not do sun so I am taking the dinner goodies and going around
4~~hopefully it will not be too hot.

Yesterday we moved her into her classroom it is so exciting a brand new school everything is new, at her old school that was over 100 years old everything was old and nasty:( Then I went shopping twice once by myself at a cool mall by her school then with my pal in the evening I felt that was exercise enough:)

Have a fun weekend!!!

Well I sure was wrong about that one...I am much farther from my ideal weight or the top margin than I remembered...I agree lunchlady...I don't need or want to be skinny again...I will be happy to be sort of in the middle of the ideal weight thing...I figure if I can get to 135 it would be a good weight...That is about where I was when I quit smoking and started to gain weight....at least that is what I am going to shoot for...if it becomes an issure then I can raise it if need be...Idon't ever expect to be thin again but I would like to rid myself of this belly and everyday I look in the mirror and see more of it gone and I get happy all over again...

Ruthie I think you will know when you've reached the right weight for you. What I like about these threads is that it seems we are all about better health rather than fitting a number.

I notice that the older I get I tend to look a bit better with a few extra pounds. If I get down to Weight Watchers weights I start to look a little worn around the edges. I find that around 10 pounds above their goal weights work for me. I'm only 5'1" but built "sturdy".

Ha Ha I am "sturdy" too but I agree with you on having a little extra weight...I don't have good skin anyway so I don't want to get to thin and look haggard...

I know that everyone doesn't believe in weighing every day but one thing that I have learned from doing so is that my scale moves down just about every day by 2/10's of a pound when I am on plan...so usually by the end of the week I am down by a little more than a pound...occasionally I'll have a day when it doesn't move but not often....

I would like to add also that I am strictly adhering to the WW plan but I have tweaked it to my likes and to what I am trying to accomplish....and that is not only losing weight but also being healthy...I am using the glycemic index a lot in planning my meals and have learned to love whole wheat everything...At first I was so used to plain old white bread that ww was foreign to me and I had to gag it down...well not really but it wasn't my first choice...Now I love the stuff...I shop for whole grains and 7 or 9 grains and that sort of thing and I never buy a loaf of bread without reading the nutrient panel...There are other things that I do too ...like no sugar...or maybe I should say no added sugar because it seems like in this day and age...sugar is added to everything...

I've learned so much about food and diet since I have gained my weight...I thought I knew it all because my Dearly Beloved has always had weight issues and I prepared his food but now I am getting really smart about choices.

Speaking of choices too, the one choice that has served me well is from the CORE plan...and that is...to eat until you are full/satisfied and then stop...now for a Mz Piggy like me that is hard to do but I have learned that all I had to do was tell myself...Look MzP, you can eat again when you feel hungry...you don't have to eat everything in sight right at this moment...that's more or less the way I quit smoking and it seems to be working with my food and weight issues too..

So now I've run off at the mouth about some of my ways of doing it...how about you all...what are you doing to keep it working?

Have a great Sunday and a great day for eating on Plan.