Oh Oh ....it was this PAST weekend. We left Sat am @ 6:30 and returned on Sunday night at 10pm. Because I'm not from the area, I don't even know where to tell ya the lecture/meeting was. When I get home from work tonight, I'll try to get some photo's posted. So sorry I couldn't be more helpful for future gatherings but I'll research that so you won't miss another one. Later, Love, Lisa

Hi, Vannie! I rejoined WW back during the winter, and I opted to do the Core plan this time around. I found the Flex-points plan exhausting to keep up with, to be honest. I've been much more successful this time by knowing exactly what foods I can eat and have really enjoyed the cooking that goes along with it. I keep a mental list of the "required" foods needed for a healthy diet: 2 tsp. healthy oil, healthy grains, lean meats, veggies, and dairy. So much easier! They didn't want you walking out of there with their literature because you didn't pay for the privilege. It may seem mean to you, but the literature goes along very well with the training you receive after your first meeting and sign-up and subsequent literature you'll receive over the first 10 weeks of membership. Members pay for this knowledge, which is why you weren't given anything to take home to read. If they'll allow you to attend another meeting for free, by all means ask if you can stay for the info meeting for new members afterwards to learn if or which plan is for you.

My story, I joined when I worked at my last job. I was able to do lunch visits. I loved my leader, and though I lost slowly, I did ok. It's a very do-able eating plan. Then May of 2004 I quit that job. I was home for 4 months, remodeling house, etc. and didn't really stick to it. Since I was no longer working at that job, it was hard to get to that meeting location. I have meetings near my home but I said to myself, "Self, you'll never like any other leader as much as this leader". (I know, excuses excuses). So I also thought I could do it all on my own. Well without accountability and journaling, and support from friends in the group, I gained. Very very slowly but over the course of the last 27 months, I guess I gained an average of 1 lb a month. (about the same rate as I lost it originally). Amazing how it sneaks up! Anyway I went back to work 2 years ago this week. Tried to find a WW nearby but this job rarely allows me to get away for lunch, so I knew I would never stick to it. So a couple of weeks ago, an old family friend chatted me online, and said she joined in June, and has lost 15 lbs so far. I asked if I could go with her to her evening meeting and she was happy to have a WW buddy!!! So I joined up last Thursday. I am following the flexpoints plan. I have been doing great with the eating, not really hitting a lot of the 35 extra, except for on Labor Day (used a few for 'liquid refreshments') :-) I'll know more tommorrow when I go for my first WI! Oh by the way, another mom at my DD's school joined right about the time I left and has lost all her weight. She looks great. Well when I got to the meeting she was also going to this meeting! So two good friends, who are a lot of fun to be around, are both in my Thursday meeting! Used to - I did Monday's because I felt it kept me accountable over the weekend. But I also think Thur is good - you get a good boost of willpower heading into the weekend. Anyhow! hoping I'll see you in the lifetime circle again soon!!!!

foodonastump - There are technical differences between whole grain (or wholegrain, or whole-grain) and whole wheat, in accordance with the laws that dictate such things, when you talk about commercial "whole wheat" flour and labeling. And to add to the confusion, there is also "whole wheat" flour called whole meal or unbolted flour, and graham flour. Most of these names have been used interchangeably for "whole wheat flour". For all practical purposes, because these commercial flours have a certain percentage of the whole grain in it, by law it can be called "whole wheat". "The original "Definitions and Standards for Food Products" published by the Department of Agriculture specified Graham flour as "unbolted wheat meal" and further described meal as "the clean sound product made by grinding grain." This means nothing added and nothing taken away. Graham flour was also a coarse flour, instead of being milled into the superfine flour most flours are milled today. This definition would exclude the reconstituted whole wheat flour products by modern roller mill factories." Bolted flour (or reduced bran flour) is whole wheat flour that has about 80% of its bran sifted off. Some "whole wheat" flour is nothing more than white flour (bran and germ removed) with some of the bran raked back into it to make it "brown", which occasionally is directed by law to meet these standards, to give the flour longer shelf-life without refrigeration. The wheat germ oil quickly oxidizes once the grain is milled into flour and the oil goes rancid quickly. The bran is the "coat" that protects all of this from happening to grain. Once that bran is cracked/shattered, the oxidizing starts to degrade the oils and the nutrients in the grain within 3-hours of milling. In some instances, commercial whole wheat flour is processed like white flour, with the bran and germ separated from the endosperm. Then bran, germ, and white flour are recombined according to some standard formula. This gives the flour consistent results in baking and flavor. This flour is NOT 100% whole wheat flour. King Arthur and Hodgson Mills mill their whole wheat flours from the whole grain into 100% whole wheat flour, nothing removed and nothing added. This is also known as 100% extraction. Then you can get into speciality flours like Irish Wholemeal Flour, which is a coarse grind of American whole wheat flour. It can often be milled from a soft wheat, or low-protein wheat, which is a traditional wheat variety used for making scones and quick breads, without as much gluten in it as in high-protein hard wheat flours. The endosperm can be milled into a fine flour, but the bran and germ milled into a coarse grind and the 3 recombined to certain specifications. All commercial flours are milled from a combination of wheat with different protein levels to give it a standardized protein level. Within the same field you can have wheat that is 14-16% protein, and in an area where it gets run-off water and sits in too much rain water, or it gets a bit of shade from trees, it might be 8-9% protein. So the protein level is based on a mixture of wheat proteins. -Grainlady