Gretchen, I am all about eating within my points! Actually, the whole grain stuff is much lower in calories, so it pays to eat whole wheat pasta (3 points per cup) than the white stuff (4 points per cup). I tried to do it within the context of SS, but I get to eat more and be more flexible here. Most veggies are 0 points per cup (including raw carrots!), so I bring at least 2 cups of veggies with me to work each day....grape tomatoes and celery sticks, or cucumber slices and baby carrots...you get the picture. Most fruit is 1 point per serving. I think that you personally would probably be able to eat at least 20 points per day (goes by present weight and gradually goes down as you lose in order to lose more), so you see how great it is to fill up on veggies! They give you 35 flex points per week to use all at once, or spread out---however you need them. There is a website that gives you the points of most foods. Here is my day of eating (note that I like to eat all day, so I spread out my food intake...no set rules at Weight Watchers...they say "you can eat anything, just not EVERYTHING" LOL): 8 am: 1 cup Kashi cereal (dry) with my decaf coffee 10 am: 6 oz Dannon Fit and Light Yogurt Noon: 1 sandwich w/ low fat ham, ff cheese, mustard and "diet bread" (2 slices = 1 point); pickle, 1 cup of cherry tomatoes 2:00pm 10 baby carrots 4:00pm 1 pear 5:00pm exercise class (you can get back 2-3 points for this!!) 7:00pm 1 salad w/ oil vinegar, 1 large portion of fish (7 oz), asparagus, 1 cup of rice 9:00pm 1 point sugar-free Edy's all fruit ice pop I may still have points left, because I haven't done the math for my dinner here. I've listed approximations here...I would only use 1 tablespoon of olive oil for a 3-point salad, etc. You will get used to the measurements. Anyway, I hope this helps you. I've eaten pizza, ice cream, lasaagna, and still lost weight...you just need to count the points and plan the rest of your day/week accordingly! Here is a link that might be useful: WW Points

Hi Jasmi, I do Jari Love's Ripped 1000 three days a week for one hour. I do little half hours here and there on my exercise ball (sit ups,etc) or weight lifting while I watch TV (10 lbs). Then I go hiking 2-3 days a week for 2-3 hours. I found a friend who wants to lose weight too, so it works out well. We were up to six miles a day last week, but I took a week off because my husband was going out of town and I wanted to spend those afternoons with him. We want to go hiking this afternoon but it's 90 degrees out. I'm not doing anything this afternoon!!! Maybe lift some weights tonight when it cools off. But I'm also concentrating in other ways. Walking to pick up my dd at school (1/2 mile round trip), parking furthest away from the shopping center, gardening, walking the dog, etc. I stand up at work and do jumping jacks when no one is in the office. Sounds silly, but it revs up my metabolism. I also eat a big breakfast. I've heard that's really good to do. I have a hard time eating in the morning, but i force myself to do it, and I think it helps get me going on burning calories because my body knows it has enough and doesn't feel depleted.

Harold, glad to hear the surgery went well. Recovery is pretty quick, isn't it? Don't strain your eyes while you wait. I had LASIK about 9 years ago and remember having to be very careful for a few days not to get poked in the eye or anything, wearing sunglasses even inside for the first day or two. Silversword! You are just rockin', girlfriend! I am amazed at you. 129--one TWENTY nine! Woo-hoo! Here's something some of you might be interested in. There's a site at www.weightview.com where you can upload a photo of yourself (in somewhat form-fitting clothes) and plug in your current and goal weights. Then they will adjust the photo to give you an idea of what you'll look like at your goal weight. It's free, but you have to have a Facebook account to log in to their FB page where they will post your altered photo for you. (They don't post your weight or any info about you, and even though there is a weigh-loss community there you can join, you don't have to do it.) I did it today (it's totally free) and got my photo a few hours later. Of course, I don't know how accurate it is, but if it is on target, then I might want to drop my goal weight a little more. I don't know. My body type is really weird. I wonder if I'll ever really be happy with my end results. I doubt I'll ever look sleek or svelte, always "matronly." Here is a link that might be useful: Upload your photo and goal weight for a preview

From a website: Our ancestors - for thousands of years, ate all day long. A bit of food here, a bit of food there. The last 400 years we decided to eat 1, then 2, then 3 big meals a day. The problem is our bodies are not "programmed" to eat 3 meals a day. You eat, then do not eat again for hours and the body responds by storing body fat because your body literally thinks you are starving! Include the foods we eat daily - highly processed foods that we digest in less than 1 hour - we are hungry all the time! So we eat, and eat. So how to eat now? Eat portion foods. A portion is a small hand-full of food. Every 2-3 hours, eat one portion. As you go along through the weeks, you will re-teach your body that your are not starving, so the portions will get smaller and smaller. You will never be hungry again. What to eat; fruits, vegetables, nuts, and ONE protein serving. Again, our ancestors ate very little protein. A can of white chicken breast, small can, in water, will give you all the protein you need each day. Throw away the water. Try different foods to see what you like, and do not. Fast food? Get the kid-size burger, kid-size coke.