What is your ATTITUDE??A

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Edith Sitwell

Good Morning Sister W.W.F.F.,

I failed to give a shout out to our Becky yesterday.....Becky where were you?? The weekend before was the yard sale. You were missed.

It was so great to see Michele back with us, even if you were back the week before, I didn't get to see you.

Denise, I know your out there give me a shout here, just to let me know your there.

I just love the above quote, and I just bet if we are all honest with ourselves we have been on the receiving end of being annoyed when other are doing well. Hey I have, not a pretty thing to have to admit, but when I was not following the plan, not exercising, NOT doing all those things that would help me get closer to my goal. Yes, it was very annoying to listen to all those that were doing everything the right way and the results were showing. It's only human to feel this way from time to time.

However, I had the choice, I could become one of those annoying people, and trust me I know I have, ha ha, or I could continue just being on the receiving end of being annoyed. I have to admit, the one annoying others is a much nicer place to be, ha ha.

It is so much about attitude. When I left on vacation, I and my TISSter began the planning in January of making a list of all the places we were going to eat out, and all the food she was going to make for me while I was there. Two of those foods were going to be homemade cinnamon rolls and homemade bread. Can we say poundage packer on'ers?? Now remember, this was in the beginning when I was on the ''I'm being annoyed by those successful W.W. people", then it clicked with me, that ''I don't want another year of setting in the meetings each week, losing a pound, gaining two pounds". I removed head from butt, began to do the program like it was meant to be done, and as you all know I am a walking testimony that the program works, but you have to have the right attitude, and that attitude is, ''I can do this, I will do this, and nothing is going to get in my way"!!!!!!!!!!!! Sounding a bit cocky, yeah probably, but why not sound that way. Since January 10 of this year as of yesterday I have lost 24.4 pounds. I had to up my exercise, I had to get out the measuring cups and spoons, I had to learn to listen for that ''sigh" knowing to stop eating and move on.

Now back to my eating while at my TISSter's. Nancy and I both agreed that we did not want to mess up the progress we both had made. I was very blessed that she has an exercise room and a wonderful place to just go take walks. When I left Nancy was below the 200 pound mark, and my loss of .2 was a thrill for me. This vacation could have totally gone the other way, but Nancy and I had the right attitude, and we were there encouraging each other, knowing how proud we would be when we could look back and say, ''my pants are not too tight".

Do you need an attitude adjustment where your weight loss journey is concerned? Something to look at and think about. Today is a brand new day, if you had an off the chart eating day yesterday, don't allow it to follow you into today. Be strong and remember WE ARE SO WORTH THE EFFORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs to all,

Joan

Always something to work on.....

There is always stuff to work on....your never there.....Tiger Woods

Good morning Sister W.W.F.F.,

Now tell me is the above quote not just the truth, when it comes to just about everything?

Get to goal, someone or something will throw a chair in your way so you have to trip over it, OR, better yet, plant something in your head that you begin to doubt....was it even worth all my time and effort????

In my e-mails, and life in general I seem to just tell it like it is, I've never kept secrets from any of you, so guess what today there will be no secrets here either. I have to confuse I felt as if I had been kicked in the gut to find out just because my doctor and I chose a healthy weight for me, I would not be eligible to become a W.W. l never thought for a moment that when I got to goal, I would immediately become a leader, BUT, it was something for me to look at down the road.
Now I find out that losing almost 90 pounds, actually when I get to my goal it will be over 90 pounds, that this is not in Weight Watcher headquarter eyes good enough??

Toni, I know you can only relay to us what the low fat Big Cheeses tell you to do. However, this information really came as a huge blow to me.

Is it going to make me ''backslide", HECK NO!!!!!! I'm more motivated than ever to not only prove to myself that I can get to goal, BUT to try and find out just what the deal is that Weight Watcher's would make such a rule.

I could understand it better if when I began w.w. and I brought a note from my doctor saying, ''Joan only needs to lose 10 pounds", but that was not the case. If nothing else W.W. should look at the percentage of weight I have lost, NOT, that my goal according to them should be 135 pounds. Trust me, living on water and toothpicks does not appeal to me at all.

OK, my vent is over....for now...and Tiger Woods is right. THERE IS ALWAYS STUFF TO WORK ON.....YOUR NEVER THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Randy you were missed today, shout out to Lisa B. hope your Mom & Dad Anniversary party is a big hit, and Dana you were missed today, and I found a row to sit in, but its going to take some getting used too, and change is good.

Have a great weekend,

Hugs to all,
Joan

Expect More from yourself.

HIGH EXPECTATION IS THE KEY TO EVERYTHING. Sam Walton

Good Morning SISTER W.W.F.F.,

I was actually able to wake up a bit earlier this morning, so I'm really hoping by Monday I'll be up and ready to hit the gym again. Now just because I have not been to the gym in the past two weeks does not mean I have not gotten in lots of activity.

I ran across the above quote the other day and thought, ''you know I may need to save that one". Today is the day we use it.

With your weight loss journey what are your expectations? Since I only know about my own expectations that is the only ones I can share with you this morning. I never expected to be successful doing Weight Watchers, or for that matter any program for losing weight. I still have those times I don't feel like I am a success, especially all those times when the trigger foods won out.

I think one of the reason I never felt like I could succeed was due to I did not have any EXPECTATIONS of succeeding. My Mother, (No not going to be a Mother bashing day) never gave me the encouragement, other people may have, but the one person I feel that could of helped me more, had no faith in my ability for losing weight and keeping it off.

I was putting too much into what My Mother, thought and expected from me, than what I should have been expecting from myself. This for me is a key reason I find that our meetings are so very important. I expect a lot from my fellow Weight Watcher Sisters, and therefore I expect the same from myself.

Sure, we are going to stumble from time to time. In fact we can, do and will fall off the sensible eating wagon, get run over, wrapped around the wheels and at times be rolled over many times before we are able to get back in the drivers seat again. As a group we are really strong, sometimes on our own we feel as if we have been left by the roadside. The being left by the roadside times are the times we all need to pull together and hold one another up, and for me this is what our Saturday morning meeting, and these daily e-mails are all about.

Yesterday may not have been the greatest day for some, today is a new day, and don't fall into the trap of, ''Well, why should I care, tomorrow is weigh-in day, and I'm screwed up already". TODAY, is the day to set your HIGH EXPECTATIONS for yourself.

Wishing Everyone of my Sister's a wonderful day,

SEE U ALL LIGHTER TOMORROW.

Joan

A picture of me and my TISSter. Nance, really hates to have her picture taken. But I wanted you all to meet her.

No Regrets

“Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.”

Good Morning SISTER W.W.F.F.,

Guess the jet lag finally set in, or just the total exhaustion of finally getting the house "Joan Livable" again, lol lol.

The above quote, is struck a cord with me, due to its something Bob tries to live by. Bob has always told me, whenever I've made a decision about something about second guessing myself. So when I saw this quote, I thought to myself, ''you know its the same with our weight loss journey". For example, if we are having weeks that we are losing really well, even if its a 1/10 of a pound, we are feeling good about that. When we are tracking, measuring, getting in the activity, well, yeah, like in the weight loss world is really good.

Then it happens, we see that one thing we just have to have a taste of, or maybe it another birthday celebration we have to attend, oh and vacations, and BAM!!!!!!!!!!!! Our world gets turned upside down, and all our hard work seems to have flown out the window. Then what happens it takes forever, if ever to get back on track. We look at that little metal box, the numbers begin creeping up, we begin with the negative self-talk, which by the way, got us as a rule to why we battle those increasing numbers.

Chalk it up as a ''learning experience", and move on. The longer you beat yourself up and try to figure out, ''why did I do that again"? "Why, did I allow that ''whatever", to get the best of me again". The more those numbers will no doubt move upward. Not always, but more times than not.

I know I have a hard time, not looking backwards, but its true, ''NO REGRETS", if you have been struggling, today is the day you can get right back in the ballgame, and mark everything up as ''experience".

Wishing all a wonderful day, and Cara, sorry I'm so late this morning, but I really was sleeping well. lol lol.

Hugs to all, See U all Lighter,

Joan

05-26-09 Back from Oregon

Hey There my W.W.F.F.,

Rhonda, thanks so much for taking over the e-mail duties while I was relaxing at my Oregon TISSter's. Nance, and I kept each other on track and I am so dang proud of her that she too is now in ONEDERLAND. Who says you can't go on vacation and stay on track. We did eat out, and we really ate well, and if the scale comes in a bit up for me on Saturday I"ll know it was the homemade beef vegetable soup that I splurged on and had two servings instead of the one that I should have stopped at, or it could have been the homemade noodles, and chicken, let me tell you I had some good eats, but I did eat using portion control and Nance and I both stopped when the ''sign'' came.

I also got in activity each and everyday, and each night when I would take my pedometer off, I was able to record no less than 5 miles each day and one day actually had in 8 miles, that is an all time record for me, but Nance and I did a lot of walking that day.

I can tell as I walked into the house I do have my work cut out for me, so doubt if the gym will see me this week. Bob, I"m not sure if there is something wrong with him or if it was just he was missing me, so will have to stay close to him for a few days, you all know how our men folks can be, lol lol.

I do have to say, that I had the most wonderful time, with Nancy, Jim and their family that has become my family as well. It was so very hard to leave them this morning, but it was not a good bye, but more of ''see you later''.

I want you all to do something for me, and that is....if there is someone out there you consider a friend that is really closer than family, let them know, cause I'm letting all of you know right now, I missed each and everyone of you, and I'll be on the third row come Saturday.

Love to all, and wonder when the jet lag will kick in, lol lol.

Joan

Building your house.

The Future will depend on what we do in the PRESENT.

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

What does your future look like? What are you doing right now to have the outcome that you want for the FUTURE?

Just a couple of things to think about today. For me my weight loss journey has been like building a house, first you have to dig a foundation. My foundation was joining you all at Weight Watchers, then we have to do some framing, and I would say for me, the framing came about from watching others becoming Lifetime Members. Now to put up the framing we have to have some nails, and I'm thinking those nails have got to be the pounds I lost each week. Now, we all know a good carpenter from time to time will hit his or her thumb with the hammer, so those were the times I was not working the program, but doing it ''Joan's way". I had a lot of thumb smashing going on there.

Oh almost forgot we need some flooring.......hum, flooring??? Oh yeah, flooring=support=MY THIRD ROW, and the 34 people that I send a GET UP AND GET GOING e-mail to each morning before the birds are even up.

As you can see I would not make much of a house builder, BUT, I do know what it takes to build a house, and I know what it takes to be at my goal in the future. I have heard from time to time people say, ''I have given myself ''X'' amount of time to lose this weight. Let me jump right in here and say this, ''you are setting yourself up for major disappointment". No time limit, No expiration dates. The other thing I have to come to terms with is that I'm never going to be cured from my wanting to overeat, eat the wrong things in excess. So I think when we hit lifetime and are on maintenance, that is the same thing as when you have to take care of your home. Whether it is dusting, vacuuming, washing those windows, whatever it is you do to maintain your homes life, its the same with your weight loss life. There are things we HAVE to do each day. Tracking, Activity, measuring, and being honest with ourselves.

How is your house building going? Do you need to dig that foundation a bit deeper? Do you need to add some more 2x4's for the framing? How about a few extra nails? How is that floor you put in working out? Is it getting smoother as you go alone, or does it have a lot of dips and valley's in it?

Almost forgot two very important things about this house, and that is the roof and windows. Cannot have a house of mine built without a roof to keep me dry from the storms that will come alone with this house building. My roof has been getting my head removed from my butt, and stopping with the excuses. My roof has been getting up and going to the gym on many mornings when I sure wanted to just stay home.

My windows, have to be there for me to see just how far I've come, and to watch for anyone that maybe struggling, so I can open the door and say, ''welcome, its going to be hard, BUT, you can do it".

Wishing Everyone a great day, and a great day for building,

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. Row

Choice or Chooser? Which are you?

We Are Free Up To The Point of CHOICE; Then the CHOICE Controls The CHOOSER.

Good Monday Morning W.W.F.F.,

I hope everyone had a good Mother's Day, the weather was just perfect. For me not to be a real Mother, and I say this only cause I never had a hand in rearing Bob's sons, and I can only guess that is one of the many reason they turned out so well, my day was wonderful.

Do you want to be the one to make the choice of what you do today OR are you going to allow your choice to control you? I think we allow the latter to happen more times than we realize and the best example I can come up with or maybe its a question that needs asking. But, just because it was Mother's Day yesterday did you throw caution to the wind?

I was afraid I might, due to more than it being Mother's Day, but I leave this week on vacation, and we all know how our minds can get when we know we are not facing that scale for a couple of Saturday's. My first test came last night. Leslie and Kevin offered to bring dinner which not only was very sweet of them, but it was pizza and if anyone has ever seen me around pizza, well it is not a pretty site. However, that was the ''OLD'' Joan's way of thinking. The ''NEW'' model Joan took steps to make sure her eating did not turn ugly. I had one slice of pizza, it was a large slice, but it was only ONE slice. I had it on a small saucer, I ate it slow, I chatted with our company, and I never went back for anymore pizza. Not only is this a N.S.V., but it is a miracle due this could have and not too long ago would have un-done everything I have worked so hard for these past 15 weeks.

I was the in control of my choices. I had healthy food for both breakfast and lunch, with healthy snacks thrown in there just for a little extra protection. It all worked out. Now I'm heading out on Wednesday for Oregon to see my TISSter (not a real sister, so she is a TISSTER). I have my plane food decided on, Nance and I know we are going to have some days that we will be eating out, but we have both agreed that we can share the huge portions we are given, or we can bring it home for another meal. We both realize we have been working too hard to mess up now.

It's all about choices. We are in control of our behavior. Sure there are going to be special events, but enjoy the event, don't allow yourself to do what I always have done in the past and that is stuff myself until I am in a stupor, and don't even remember what I was celebrating in the first place.

Last night was yet another new frontier for me. I had heard about this place called, ''being in control", but never thought I'd be going there. I highly recommend a trip there if you have never been, and if you have, a return visit maybe needed.

Wishing everyone a great day.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. Row

Are you ready to do it well?? Mother's day 2009

ANYTHING WORTH DOING IS WORTH DOING POORLY--UNTIL YOU LEARN TO DO IT WELL.

Good Morning W.W.F.F., and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the Mom's out there.

After yesterday's Weight Watcher meeting I began to think about why it has taken me so long to finally get it through my head that, I had to change my own way of thinking about eating and exercising before I was ever going to see the results I wanted.

So I guess I can say that I had been doing a poor job with my Weight Watcher plan, due to I wanted to rename it ''Joan's plan". Well, as all of you that have known me through out this journey, ''Joan's plan" just does not work. Oh I may have had a week that I would lose, but then that was followed up by two weeks of gaining.

What was it that clicked with me? I think I have told you all this before, but I can repeat myself, since I am getting to that age, ha. But, I began to watch what the ''skinny'' people were doing, and the one big thing I noticed about these people was, ''they are never still". They are always on the move, they are not sitting on the couch watching TV for hours, they are not sitting at the computer playing games, they are moving. So that was when it clicked with me, ''I NEED TO MOVE MORE"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had never been able to get my eating and my activity to work at the same time. I could either eat healthy and do very little activity or I could exercise 5 days a week and eat like a lumberjack. I had convinced myself that, ''when I exercised I was more hungry". Found out it was not necessarily my being hungry, but thirsty. I always drank water when I do the elliptical, but usually just one bottle. Now not only do I drank the one bottle but as soon as I get off that thing, I"m at the water fountain filling it up again. I also take my water with me when I do the pool. So what I though was my being hungry turned out to my really being thirsty. Oh trust me, I have to have food, but I now look at the food as fuel. Fuel that will make my body run longer.

So what if you are doing poorly right now on your program. Just stay open to learning to do it well. Remember even though it feels like we put our weight on over night, we didn't, and it is not going to go off overnight either.

Stay Strong and Stay Focused.

Hugs to all,

Joan 3rd. Row

Interested or committed??? Which are you??

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

First off, Jana & Christiane, if you all went to the Hikes Lane place, then you found it was no longer there. I did the same thing, as did Lisa and Amy. I had to call Jenny and get her to find where the place had moved. FYI, it is now located in the Target shopping center.

It was really a good meeting this morning and I got to meet Kathy, she is wonderful. Of course Toni, I'm sure you will hear I had to get up and strut my stuff. It's true I have no shame.

I lost 2.2 pounds, for a total weight loss of 88.8 pounds and a new number of 183.2. So color me happy cause I am ssssoooooo close.

This weeks topic:

So are you interested in losing weight? OR are you committed?

Perfectionist Thinking: If you fall off plan just because you hit a little bump in the road. So what if you had one extra cookie, no one said you had to be perfect.

Generalizing: I've always been so_____ and I'm not going to change. We all have something that we seem to have always done the same way, well if your still struggling, then maybe its time to think outside the box.

Selective Viewing: I'm only going to do this or that, again try thinking outside of the box.

Disqualifying the positive: When someone gives you a compliment just say THANK YOU and move on. Don't begin pointing out all the things your not happy with. Remember, ''stinkin' thinkin' gets you no where".

Absolute Thinking: I have to do this or that. It's alright to do 4 days at the gym instead of 5 like you had planned. Just be grateful that you did the 4 days. So what if you had one meal that may have not been on plan.

Self-fulfilling program: I'm living it out, "Murphy's law". Things will happen no matter how good you think you are doing.

Challenge for the week: Drop the ''interest" and take up the ''commitment".

Happy Mother's Day to each of you, and lets make this a great week.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. row.

I cannot do it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

First off time for a commercial. I found this new product, well it found me, there was a coupon in Sunday's newspaper. The product is called SMARTFOOD. It's individual packaged popcorn. The one I got is called, ''popcorn clusters" (honey multigrain). There are 5 individual packages and this one has only 1 W.W. point per package. Each of these packages have 110 calories, 1 gr. fat, 5gr. fiber. I was a bit worried, due to I was afraid with it being sweet it might kick in cravings, but so far I have not had a problem at all. Got these on Sunday, ate a bag Sunday and one on Tuesday and still have 3 bags left. This is how I know they are not kicking in any cravings. There are other flavors, but this particular one, had the least amount of points. End of commercial.

What kind of week have you been having? I am gearing up for my trip next week. I'm not going to leave you all without e-mail back-up while I'm gone. I have asked Rhonda if she would do the morning e-mails, and she has agreed, so the inspiration will continue even though I'll be many miles away. Thanks Rhonda.

This has been a busy week for me getting things ready so I can leave next Wednesday, and it got me to thinking. Going on a trip is just like my eating plan. I have to be prepared. I have to make my list of what I"m taking, I have to make sure I leave list for Kevin and Marc so they don't misplace their Dad while I'm gone, ha ha. I always think ''if I don't do this or that, then something will go wrong and I won't be here to fix it".

Guess what, I don't have to fix everything. Do you all know how long it has taken me to actually say that sentence out loud? I CANNOT FIX EVERYTHING.

On my weight loss journey, I have always felt ''if I can't be perfect, then I might as well just throw in the towel". As you all know I have thrown that towel in many, many times, until now. It only occurred to me the other day, that I have had several bad days these past five years, but I never gave up. I just kept trudging alone. Now don't get me wrong, there were lots of times I wanted to give up, BUT, I couldn't.

I truly believe the reason I didn't give up was the great support we have on Saturday morning. I have made some wonderful friends at our W.W. meeting that I would probably have never known if I had not joined Weight Watchers.

I know if it were not for the support from not only the third row, but everyone at our Saturday morning meeting, the first time I hit that pothole in the road to weight loss, I would have stopped coming.

Just in case you didn't know this, we are important to each other. We reach out, we tease, and we are always there for anyone struggling.

I like this about our group.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. row

How is your garden growing??

Until you commit your goals to paper, you have intentions that are seeds without soil.

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

I want to begin with wishing our Cara a wonderful trip, she and her husband are leaving this morning for Florida. Have a wonderful time, and a safe trip.

Just a gently reminder, only cause you may have missed this the other times, but we will not be meeting up at Thomas Jefferson Church on Saturday. I strongly suggest you find a meeting at some point this week.

Today I want to talk about commitment. The commitment we made ourselves the day we walked into our Weight Watcher meeting. For most of us, there was an event coming up that we wanted to lose a few pounds, maybe someone said something that finally made us take that long hard look at ourselves. The day we walked into TJ, was the day we made a commitment to ourselves to give it our best. So have you don't this? Are you giving it your best right now?

Two questions, and the last question especially may need to be asked of ourselves on a daily basis.

Remember your first week at W.W., we were so on fire, writing down stuff, dusting off the measuring cups that were only used if we were making a cake, getting out that scale to weigh your hamburger patty, or the slices of turkey that you made your sandwich with. Oh and how about counting out those 15 reduced fat potato chips? You all with me here, right? Well, that was what Toni calls the Honeymoon stage.

So is your Honeymoon over? Maybe you need to go back and think of why we began this journey in the first place. Maybe we need to re-commit ourselves to a more healthy lifestyle. We all know what we need to do, we just need to put those seeds into some nice rich dirt and then watch us grow.

Have a wonderful day.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. Row

05-05-09

FAILURE IS THE CONDIMENT THAT GIVE SUCCESS ITS FLAVOR.

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

I hope everyone's Monday went well. Wanted to throw this out this morning. I know some will find a meeting to attend at some point this week, but our Mama Clare had a thought and I wanted to just throw it out there. Clare made the suggestion that all that wanted to meet at the Ballard track to get in a walk. Walk at your on speed so if your slow, and if I were getting to be there, I'd be the ''turtle one" then make a plan. I think this is such a great idea and I only wish I could join in with you all on your walks, but I have a time schedule with Bob, and that is ok too. So if anyone wants to get together at some point on Saturday morning, LET IT BE KNOWN.

I have been the last few days going back and looking at my old pictures, and I have thought many time, ''how did I get to where I am today". It would be very easy for me to say, "I got there all by myself". Which by the way would be a whopper of a lie. I've gotten as far as I have due to Jenny never giving up on wanting me to join Weight Watchers in the first place, I have gotten as far as I have due to Bob has been no doubt the most supportive husband anyone could have. I say that about Bob due to most times you hear of husbands asking the question, ''what do you mean you can't eat that, what's the big deal"? I know men like this. I could not have done this without the support of all of you, and especially the 3rd. row. Way before now I would have thrown in the towel and gone back to the eating habits that had me at 272.2 when I joined Weight Watchers.

I did set out to fail when I joined Weight Watchers. That is the way my mind had been programmed to think. I had always been overweight, both my Grandmother's were overweight, I had no will or want power. Oh and my all time favorite, which I still hear today, ''Weight Watchers does not work and it is so expensive".

The morning I walked into the doors at the church, my only thought was, ''here we go again, wonder how long I'll last at this"? I have surprised myself, no actually, I have shocked the snot out of myself. I have failed so many times, but I think it was the failing that has gotten me to where I am at this moment, and that is knowing, ''ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE". No matter how much weight anyone has to lose, and I won't say to anyone ever again, ''if I can do it so can you". Yes, you can do it, but only if you want it bad enough. Is your life going to change when you get to your goal? I don't look at it as my life is going to change as much as I look at it as ''I have changed", my thinking has changed, my attitude has changed, and I have after all these years realized I have always had a story, and now I'm working on a happy ending. So ask yourself, how is my story coming alone?

Wishing Everyone a wonderful day,

Hugs from,

Joan on the 3rd. Row.

IT'S TIME.

TIME TO GET BACK TO WORK.

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

Toni, hope you found things a bit better in Indy. Rhonda, have a great trip and tons of fun.

The weekend is over, the Derby is behind us, now its time to think about Mother's Day, vacations, graduations,and no doubt several birthdays thrown in there. I think now is a great time to start planning. Is this going to be the Summer of having food consistently pushed at you? Probably if you leave the safety of your own home this will happen.

In a few short days I will be leaving on my first vacation in two years. Going to Oregon, will be gone nearly two weeks, and for those of you that are worried about Bob, Kevin and Marc will be here. I could look at this as a time, to let loose and eat my way across all the states I'll be flying over, and there was a time I would have done just that. However, in the past 13 weeks, I think I have probably worked harder at the program than I ever did in the beginning, and I don't want to go backwards.

As I mentioned yesterday I have had a consistent loss for the past 13 weeks, then I found my cards from the very beginning, I went back and when I joined W.W. in 2005 I went 31 weeks before I had my first gain, and that gain was .4. That was the week Bob fell in the shower. When I gained that .4 then I began losing here, gaining there. I don't want that to happen again. Oh I'm sure I'll have a gain at some point, but I think ,and I hope I have matured enough with the program and with myself to know ''its not the end of the world".

Someone said to me once, ''its taken you this long to lose your weight". Yep, but any other time I would have already stopped all together, put what weight I had lost back on and it would have brought friend, and by now in 4 years I could be weighing 400 pounds instead of 185.4. I still say it doesn't matter how long it takes you to get the weight off, the trick is to stay with it until you get the result you are looking for and continue on.

I still cannot visualize myself thin, so what I do now is I visualize the number I want to see on that scale. So far, so good. We have to remember WE ARE WORTH THE EFFORT, and if we don't do this ourselves and for ourselves, we are so short changing ourselves.

If last week was a bad week for you, don't allow it to spill over into this week. If you need to go to a meeting sometime this week, go to the w.w. website put in your zip code and find a meeting. Call a friend, do whatever you need to do, but DO IT.

Have a great day everyone.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd.Row

Moving on.

Just pull yourself up by your big girl bloomers and move right on.

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

Hope everyone had a great weekend, full of fun and if you bet on the horses, hope you were a winner.

Want to throw this in this morning our gal pal Rhonda will be leaving Monday for a trip with one of her Grandson's to Disney World, the one in Florida. Rhonda have a wonderful time.

Now we are back to reality. It's true we will not be having our usual next Saturday meeting up at the Church, but that does not mean you can get sloppy now. Now is the time to get right back on ''your horse", and begin tracking again, weighing and measuring again, watching your portions again. With all that has been going on this past week, its a safe bet those things have fallen by the wayside.

Let us all think back to where we were just a year ago. For me I was in the Nazareth Home recouping from hip replacement surgery. I also looked back at my weight pocket guide, (score keeper) and for the past 13 weeks, each week I have had a loss. It may just be a .2 loss, but there have been a few times it was at least a 3 pound loss. Thirteen (13) weeks, and there has been constant movement downward with the scale.

Yesterday when I weighed in Diana said, ''your down .4", I was thrilled with that, and then she added, ''its down...anything down is good". I have been trying to prepare myself for the day I have a gain, cause I know when that happens, I will be so let down. So how do I not allow that to happen? I work my butt off (no pun intended). I follow the rules, I know no one is going to do this for me, I have to get my activity in, I have to weigh and measure, and most of all I have to be honest with myself. All the things each one of us have to do to get to our goal or stay at our goal.

So in the words of our resident ''Teacher's Pet" (Becky) SLAP, SLAP, SNAP OUT OF IT. The Derby is over, the Downs are being cleaned up, so now its time to get back to reality. Getting prepared for the next big event, cause we all know there will be another BIG event.

Everyone have a great day.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. Row

Oaks Day

STAY STRONG

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

First off I want to thank everyone that gave ideas for low point snacks and yesterday when I asked for help on the ''Cocktail" hour problem. We received lots of great ideas, and thanks Jennifer E. for the information on the ''drink cheat sheet". Never knew there was such a thing.

How are the next two days going to be for YOU? Do you have your game plan sorted out? Or are you throwing caution to the wind and going ''hog wild"?

Nothing at all wrong with relaxing your gripe and enjoying these next two days. However, it has been my experience when I relax my gripe for a day or so, and sometimes even at one meal, it is really hard for me to get back in the swing of things.

If you are going to throw caution to the wind during this festive time, and if this entire week has been one of not tracking much, or at all, if its been a week where you have just not had time to get in your activity in, don't allow it to go past Saturday night. Get up Sunday morning with a clean slate and move on. The longer you wait to get back into the groove of things the harder it is going to be.

I hope everyone has a great Oaks and Derby Day, hope your horses win if you pick one. I really hope the rain stays away, and I will see those of you tomorrow that are like myself and will watch it all from the comfort of my home.

For anyone that may have missed Sharilyn's e-mail yesterday, she suggested that we wear our Derby hats tomorrow. If you have a hat or golf visor, and want to have some fun wearing it feel free to do so.

Hope to see you tomorrow, and see U LIGHTER.

Joan 3rd. Row.