I'm still stalled and can't seem to lose. I keep creeping up. So last week I started back excercising. Doing the treadmill since the weather is the pits. I'm happy with my commitment, and it's not a 'chore' at this point. Sporadic journaling last week but not where it should be. Baby steps! Starting back regular exercise is enough. So this week I started journaling again. Now that is tough to do regularly but I know it will help me understand why I'm stalled out. As I have said before, I can't really rely on those 35 flex per week. To lose, I can only eat extra points that I earn thru activity. Otherwise I maintain or gain. I think it's metabolism and hormones. Those 35 extra a week can make me lazy and I'll say - oh this bag of chips is ok since it's part of my 35 per week. But that sloppiness on writing it down can lead me down a path of no loss. :-) As I walked on the treadmill this morning I thought to myself that journaling for me is something I have to make a part of my daily lifestyle. I'm sure if I kept the journaling up when I lost last time I would not have gained it back. It really keeps us honest with ourselves. So this week's KEY!!! Journaling (and keeping up the treadmill). As I add things in one at a time, I don't want to leave another key habit behind. Oh and H2O is going really well this week! Hope you guys can also choose a Key to try and stick with for the week!

TK and FW, sorry to hear about your family memebers. I know all about emotional eating, I think I am your Queen :) I am a worry wart~~~it is my resolution to put a stop to it, I can not control things so why worry about it:( It is very hard for me:( DLily congrats on your weight loss!! My DD and her family go to the Y all of the time she does yoga there and one class that is yoplaties (may have spelled it wrong. She loves it! TK I agree with you on focusing on a few things at a time. Breaking it down into small goals makes it easier for me too. YAHOO!!! I have lost 2lbs so far this week:) Just cutting out junk and salt gives me a quick 2 pound loss everytime~~~so why do I eat that junk??? Now I need to melt off 3-4 more pounds before the end of the month so when I do my January WI I will be within two pounds of my goal weight if I am lucky maybe even at goal and not have to pay! I also have an appt at CURVES tomorrow to learn the advanced workout and see if it is for me. I love CURVES but I need to step it up~~I would rather step it up there than have to go find another form of exercise to add to it. Garden Veggie Soup 2/3 cup sliced carrots 1/2 cup diced onion 2 garlic cloves minced 3 cups fat-free broth (beef chicken or veggie) 1/2 cup green beans 1 tbl tomato paste 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 cup diced zucchini 1 1/2 cups cabbage diced 1. In lg saucepan spray with nonstick cooking spray, saute the carrots, onion, and garlic over low heat until softened, about 5 min. 2. Add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano and salt~bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer covered, about 15 min until beans are tender. 3. Stir in zucchini and heat 3-4 mins. Makes 4 1 cup servings per serving~42 calories 0 gr fat 2 gr fiber 0 points per serving I was a little hit and miss with it since I forgot to bring the recipe to the grocery with me~~but it is simple just add what veggies you want. I am having it again tonight with chicken and I added canned tomatoes. I had it last night too with grd turkey meat.

Good Morning, Wish I was camping with Ekl. I bet she would really push me with that paddle. Reminds me of the time year before last when DH and I were camping and decided to float/paddle down the river. About halfway through, the sky blackened and I could hear thunder in the distance. I am terrified of lightening, especially anywhere near the water. Have had, locally, on 2 separate occasions in the last few years, a young boy struck and killed by lightening, near water. I grabbed the paddle and let me tell you I had an upper body workout that day! I think DH got a real kick out of watching me kill myself trying to get down river and off of the water before the storm hit. It wasn't a bit funny to me. Thank God, the storm turned and didn't hit us. I never could have out paddled it as far upriver as we were. SS, Thanks for the vote for the award. But remember, I only lost 5 lbs last week. The other 2 were from the weeks before. I've also found a big difference in weight with different times of day, different clothes, and after meals. I only go by 1st thing in the morning weight in my nightgown. Counting calories would be too hard for me. I am so lazy. I have found it easier to just forget the bun completely at BK and have the meat in a dish with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I have to have my mayo. I've never been big on bread anyway. Lots of meals I cook I just forget to fix any bread. Drives DH crazy because he feels he has to have it. But, he will settle for WW sliced bread with butter spread on it when I forget! Harold, How are those eyes doing? Can you see us yet?!?! Sorry we are confusing you with the multiple weigh-in days. Weekends aren't good to me, so it is best to have a day to get back on track before posting an official weight. 48 lbs lost! WOW! Such tenacity! If I can hang in, that would put me right around my goal weight. I shall set my sights there. Peg, 3 lbs! Great job! I can't wait to get below DH in weight. I HATE HATE HATE weighing more than him. That's why I get discouraged when I only lose 1 lb a week now. I think he hangs around high 150s -low 160s. Once I get below him I will be ok with "slow and steady wins the race". Can y'all tell I'm from the "I WANT IT NOW" generation? That's how I got so large. I wanted those 2 big bowls of chocolate ice cream everyday while I forgot veggies and exercise. Now I'm paying for it. Those chest pains were my gift from God to wake me up. It worked! Karen, I'm glad you held steady while being sick. Are you feeling better? I bet you are weak as a puppy. Take it easy 'till you get some strength back. I know what you mean about night snacking. DH eats stuff every night after we get in bed. Can't fall asleep because of all of that eating noise on the other side of my bed! Some nights it's peanut butter crackers, others it's 2 peanut butter sandwiches, chips & dip, whatever he can find in the kitchen. If I can't resist, I will do celery with a very little PB, or 15 or so pistachios (sp?) shelled and eaten very slowly while he pigs out. I try to resist "Roseanne" that is giving Silver such a hard time!!! Helen, Everybody needs some fun with friends occasionally. And to still lose a pound, how sweet it is! Jas, About the WW. If it helps you get where you are going sooner, it is worth the $8 weekly. I did WW for a while once. My meeting was about 40 miles from home, so I quit going. Being right at work would really help you. My friend does it and it has helped her. It's just about finding what works best for you. If you have friends who are doing it at work with you, that would really help you stick to your diet. Nothing like having that up close and personal encouragement. If it would still be you working alone and you can get yourself kick-started, Save the $8 to use at the grocery store on healthier foods and spend the time you would spend at the meetings working out, walking, etc. Check in here more often for encouragement and our tried and true diet tips that have worked for us. As you can tell from the length of my posts, I love to talk. I can talk until you beg me to shut up!!! Have a great day everyone, Betty

Thanks for the fitday link, Joann...I'll give that a gander. :-) Nice to see there are people who do the "moderation" eating as well! It's weird - this week, my fiance started the Atkins induction period. I cook for both of us, and had planned on just cooking one meal for both, then a carb for me. What I've found is that when I eat with him, I really don't need the carb until later - and not at all at lunch (we have chef salads for lunch - very filling). So while I'm not following his atkins thing as strictly as he is (I still have my morning breakfast shake, and snack on a carb before bed, eat sandwiches when we go out, or french fries), I'm finding that it's pretty easy to just kinda "fall" into the low-carb thing without any thought on my part. LOL I can easily see myself eating low to moderate carbs right along with him when he gets past these first two stages of the diet - he's enjoying it so much that he thinks he might stay with the maintenance phase of atkins after he's done with this month. But to be honest, I don't think it's even really "low" carb for me...it's just that my portion sizes are small, so I don't need all that food at once. It's more of a "natural moderation" thing, if that makes any sense. Amazing how the "answer" is so easy for most people and they don't even realize it...everything in moderation, exercise, and be healthy. Weight doesn't come on in a month, and it won't drop off in a month either - such simple concepts. Maybe that's the problem...we need something more complex to wrap our heads around. LOL Thanks for the comments, gals!