Plan Ahead, so you Don't get Left Behind.

I don't care what team you pull for, we all have to be very, very proud of the Lady Cards, they went all the way. How exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fail to Plan......Plan to Fail

Good Morning W.W.F.F.

To begin with I welcomed Mary and Emily here yesterday, but I'm pretty sure Mary Mac didn't get the e-mail due to I did not enter it correctly in my address book. Sorry about that Mary, so hope today this one gets to you.

I had a different quote ready for this morning, but when I saw the Lady Cards won the tournament, I remembered at several meetings the above quote has been used, and since we are coming upon another ''eating'' weekend or at least Easter Sunday, thought it would be a good quote to use.

It's not too early to begin to plan our attack on what foods we will and will not eat on Easter Sunday. I'm in good shape due to I'll be the one doing the cooking and there will only be three of us here for Easter Dinner, and all the leftovers will go home with Marc. So my plan is much easier than most, and I don't have to deal with what someone else is preparing.

Now with all that being said, it is not just the holidays and special occasions we have to plan, we need to, and really have to, plan every single day so we don't hit the pot holes, detours, and drop offs on our weight loss journey. Planning,Being prepared, & Moderation is the key to this whole eating thing. We have to eat, but we really need to take the idea of ''EATING TO LIVE", not as I have done all my life, ''LIVED TO EAT" and put it to work for us.

So plan ahead, get in attack mode. DO NOT let one meal turn into a lifetime. (Thanks Becky, I love that quote).

Wishing everyone a great day.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. Row

Saturday's weigh in

Bob and I had made plans to go visit Ruthann and the family on Saturday, so I never got over here to my blog. So this afternoon, I just wanted to write down that I was down .4 pounds for last week. I'm happy with that, due to its a loss.

Failure/Success 04-05-09

I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And

that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan , American businessman & Basketball player

Good Morning W.W.F.F., (Weight Watcher Friends Forever),

First off, want to welcome Emily (whose moving to Iowa, you will be missed) and Mary to our little group. We welcome you both, and hope you enjoy our daily e-mails, and anytime jump right in.

We missed Rhonda, Edi, Denise (who was on Spring Break), Jana, where were you, did you and the doggies walk all the way to China, and forget to come back? I feel like there was others missing, but it 4:50 a.m. and my brain is not awake just yet. So if you were not at yesterday's w.w. meeting, we missed you.

Love the above quote, loaned to me by Cara, and with the stress we put ourselves under to succeed, I find it refreshing to know that someone like Michael Jordan had times that he felt as if he was failing.

There was a lot of talk about candy, cake, all those things that we normally don't eat and having them....if we want them...on special occasions. I for one, have finally come to realize after a lifetime of kidding myself, that I can no longer have those special treats at anytime. If I do, then I have that monkey on my back all over again. When people talk about ''you know how it taste", yep, that is the problem, I know how it taste. I so envy people that can eat their favorite things and do it in moderation.

I took a big bowl of strawberries down to my sister's, I had sliced them sweetened them with splenda, and she knew I was bring them, and she made a yellow cake to serve with them. Have to tell you all I was so very proud of myself due to I never even ate any of the strawberries and stayed away from the cake all together. In fact, after tracking my food for yesterday on my e-tools, I came up with 3 points leftover yesterday, and didn't dip into the 35 bonus points at all. Never, Never has that happened to me when I've gone to visit my sister. It is those N.S.V.'s that are helping to keep me on track, as well as, I have finally come to terms with the things I can no longer have, and not long ago that would have made me feel sad, but today, I feel like a SUCCESS story just about ready to be told.

Wishing everyone a great day, and a great week.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. row.

Don't let that Cookie Boss you around. 4-03-09

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

Our Rhonda on the 3rd row will be gone this Saturday, as will Edi. Edi is going to go babysitting. Lisa B. is still on vacation, and I think those are the only ones that I know for sure that won't be there on Saturday. So Ladies, have a good weekend.

Here we have arrived at Friday yet again. For the most of us, that means tomorrow we will be back on the scale to see how our efforts of this week have paid off.

I have been saying this for the longest time, but I'll still continue to say it, probably more for myself than anyone else, and that is, ''DO NOT ALLOW THAT SCALE " to mess with your mind. As I said, I say this more for myself due to I know I'm getting so close to my goal that things are really going to slow down. I say this each week, I can handle staying the same, but just don't let me gain.

So what will I do if I do gain, knowing I've done everything possible and BY THE BOOK?? Here is what I hope I will do. I hope I will be able to look at that scale and walk away without having that feeling of ''well, what's the use". I hope I've grown that much since being on this journey. I hope, I don't say ''well, I worked my butt off this week, ate right, tracked, exercised and I still didn't see on the scale what I wanted, what time does Dairy Queen open"?

I don't want to say any of those things, AND, I don't want to allow that little metal box to have that much control over me.

Becky (Teacher's Pet) First Row on the right shared this quote with me the other day, and I loved it and you can insert whatever word you need.

YOU HAVE COME TOO FAR TO TAKE ORDERS FROM A COOKIE

Truer words have never been spoken. Hope to see the rest of you at the meeting tomorrow, and hope to see each of us LIGHTER.

Have a great day,

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. row

Battles...04-02-09

YOU MAY HAVE TO FIGHT A BATTLE MORE THAN ONCE TO WIN.

Margaret Thatcher, Former British Prime Minister

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

When I saw the above quote I just knew it had to have been said by a woman, and I was right. There are so many areas of my life this quote rings true, but since we talk about weight loss, eating and all that goes with it, today it will be ringing in regards to my weight loss journey. With a little different take on the meaning.

When you've been overweight as I have been my entire life, there are things that happen after you lose a large amount of weight (137.6 pounds in the past 10 years and 4 months) that you really begin to notice. So just wanted to share a few of those with you this morning.

First off, and this maybe the biggie for me. My thighs don't rub together. Trust me if your thighs have never rubbed together, then you have no clue what I'm referring too. I so remember all those hot Summer days, that I would actually be rubbed raw just from the friction of my skin touching. I know way more information than anyone needs, especially this early.

Second, When I went places where sitting was involved, I would have to look around for the chair that would hold all my weight, and me. Have to admit, it is sorta like buying clothes, I still go to the much bigger sizes, I still scope out the furniture.

Third, and no doubt the best benefit, and that is I'm eating so much more healthy. I don't like that feeling of being bloated, and being so tired that I have trouble putting one foot in front of the other.

I love trying new recipes,even if some end up in the garbage, but most don't.

Fourth, and probably the most rewarding, is I don't allow anyone, I mean NO ONE, to rain on my parade. I know we all cannot be happy, all the time, but I'm sure we all have ran into those people that just seem to have that ''dark'' cloud hanging over them. That dark cloud is ''negativity", and nope, not going to have that messing up my party. I want to be around people that are going to help to lift me up, not anyone that wants to try and pull me down.

I'm sure there are tons more things, but these are the ''batt;es'' I have had to fight, over and over again, but TODAY, I am winning those battles,with a lot of help from my W.W.F.F., and anyone out there, that maybe struggling a little, just remember.....one day when you least expect it you will begin to win that battle for the last time.

FINISH STRONG!!!!!!!!!!!

Wishing Everyone a great Day.

Hugs to All,

Joan 3rd. Row

April 1, 2009....Can You Do IT???

Good Morning W.W.F.F.,

Lisa B. hope you and your family are enjoying your vacation and getting in a lot of skiing.

Lisa T. (Love's Wife), I do hope trying to get organized did not keep you overwhelmed yesterday. Remember, sometimes baby steps are all you need.

I thought today we would do a little review here. I was thumbing through the book Rhonda gave me, and what I came across, just seem to be what some of us need to read today.

YOU CAN DO IT

Dream Big: Don't just try easy things because you know you'll succeed. Set that bar just a little higher. Maybe instead of walking for 30 minutes, pump it up to 40 minutes.

Make A Plan: Plans turn dreams into goals. Write down all the steps you have to take to achieve your dream. Then tackle those steps one at a time. Same thing Toni talks about when she tells us to story book.

Work everyday at your plan: Don't expect overnight success. Breaking Big Dreams down into little steps makes it seem more doable. If I looked at all the weight I had to lose, not a doubt in my mind that I would have become overwhelmed. This is why in the beginning, I took it 10 pounds at a time, then 5, now I'll take the tenths and am very happy with that loss.

Don't get discouraged: Sometimes a part of your plan won't work. Don't lose hope--sit down again and rewrite that step or next few steps, whatever the case maybe, until you can get back on track.

As we all know there is no magic bullet to this. It does take time, patience and a lot of endurance. So today if you need to re-focus, re-write or whatever it maybe you need to do if you have fallen off track a bit, then today is the day to do that. Do it for yourself. Demand a little more from yourself.

HE/SHE WHO DEMANDS LITTLE GETS IT

Ellen Glasgow, Novelist

WE have a new day, a new month so think about your dreams, your goals and then plan how your going to get there.

Wishing everyone a great day.

Hugs,

Joan 3rd. Row

I'm sorry...

I failed to thank Lisa (Loves wife) for stopping in to check out the blog site. Thank you Sister Lisa.