Biggest Loser Alumni Holiday Edition: past, present and future participants welcome!

[mikamah]

If anyone comes upon any weight watcher's coupons or deals I would appreciate you sharing I seems that I was getting pretty regular offers in the mail to come back, but now that I want to I haven't seen anything

I had a ww frozen meal the other day and it had a coupon in if to join ww with no joining fee. I had never seen one before, and usually they run the promos without joining fees, so I wonder if they won't be doing that any more. I think if you do the monthly pass for 39.95 you don't pay a joining fee. I think I'm going to join this week so I can get started on 12/26. If I get another coupon I'll let you know.

Taryn--please say hi to Ann and Jennz from me! I am still resisting facebook, but might break down and do it after Christmas. Everyone keeps asking me--don't you want to catch up with people from high school? Uh, no. I hated high school. I am from a very small town and the girls were all...can't type that word here... and the guys were all obnoxious jocks. Having said that, I would love to catch up with Ann and Jennifer! And we have some other friends from when we lived in other states that I wouldn't mind trying to locate!

Up at 5. There's a shocker. We got a lot done yesterday. The house is in good shape, the laundry is done, I paid bills and started making some packing lists. Today we are going to do some shopping and some packing. Mike is working half a day tomorrow, so I am hoping when I get home from work most everything will be good to go and that we can have dinner, relax for a minute and then go to bed early. I have not had any trouble falling asleep early. My plan is to get up at 3:30 and be out the door by 4:00. Our plane takes off at 6:00. The first flight is 30 minutes. The second one is over 2 hours. I am hoping there is free wifi on the second flight so I can catch up with assigning teams or I might just attempt to take a nap! We are scheduled to land at 11:30.

Ok, guess that's it for now. Have a great day!

I"m on facebook, and like to see pic of my niece and nephews, and post pics for my sil and bro to see, but don't do much posting. It is interesting to "see" some old friends, but I don't think I need to see them any more than an occassional post there. You must be getting to that crazy excited phase of pre trip time!! Sounds like you are all set to go, and those 2 dozen hard boiled eggs will give you all plenty of protein to do the parks commando.

Well, the brunch yesterday felt like a waste of my time. I didn't learn anything or get any new ideas, which is why I went. They got the upstairs...better, but I think a lot of argument went into it. DH was in a foul mood because of that, blew up,and we had another money argument. I'm trying so hard, both to make more and not stress so much, and he left me feeling very defeated. He did later apologize, but I feel... bruised.

The night was better, we watched Christmas Story, which honestly, I can take or leave. There are some funny parts, but others.. well, I just don't love it like he does. Then we watch Charlie Brown Christmas, and we were all in the bed by 9:30. Purge plan didn't quite work thanks to the tension, but I did have the other half of AK's apple and some of Sophie's orange.

Today is the Christmas play at church, gotta go find white shirts and pants for my s to wear under their costumes, finish cards for church, etc.

Tomorrow I am taking mom Christmas shopping, will be a loonng day. She hasn't done much, and is pretty indecisive. It's hard for her to buy for my brothers, Daddy always took care of that. Tuesday is Sophie's preschool party, and I am taking the kids to Mom after that so I can get stuff wrapped. My goal is to have everything done by Tuesday night so I can enjoy the rest of the week!

FYI - I am facebook friends with Ann -(maiziezoe) and she posted yesterday that her whole family is sick. Little one has double pneumonia, one has stomach virus and fever, she has bronchitis and fever. I am also FB friends with Jennz, going to send them both the link to this thread.

Have a great Sunday all!
Taryn

Hugs to you taryn on all you've got going on. The money is such a stress, and I think so many times I'm lucky I am single, and can do what I want with my money, but on the other hand, when things are tight, I realize there's noone to fall back on to help. Hang in there. You both will get through these tough times.
I hope you and Mom are able to get the shopping done and have a little fun along the way.

Hi! I'm Corinna (as my username would indicate) I've been doing BL challenges since January 2009, but I've been losing (and regaining and losing...) pretty much since I was old enough to have an awareness that one could try to change one's weight. My highest weight was about 210 after my first child was born in 1998. Which would mean that my ribbon should maybe read 75#? The 55 clippie does reflect what I've lost since starting the BL challenges, though. I reached my goal weight last January, I think? and then made it lower, so really, I don't know the exact dates for my "goal-iversary" but I really should pick one! I have been maintaining for almost a year now, more or less, with a bump up over the summer (due to excessive Disney European cruise food - The ship was on a mission to fatten us all up, I promise you.)

I always love to see your pictures, Corinna. You look fabulous, and happy. I love the cat picture. I wish we would be seeing you at the princess too.

I'm hoping to get in a little wii action for today's exercise. Weekends are hard because the days tend to get monopolized by family needs.

I love the wii for the fact I can get some exercise without making my ds come out to the park. I recently got just dance and am having lots of fun with it, and i do work up a sweat.

:I worked our flu clinic this morning and now I am catching up on the boards. I need to get a shower and wash up the boys. We have a bday party for my friends 3 year old son today. Its in jersey about 50 min away. I really need to try to get some wrapping done tonight once the kids are in bed. There are sometimes that I wish santa really was real....it would save me so much time and money!

Hope you all had fun at the party. I think it's 10 weeks today we'll be running the princess. Actually, it's 7:22, so we'll be in the midst of it all. So excited.

I can’t wait to meet my BL friends too! Just have to figure out how to sneak away from the sisters!!

Lisa and I have talked of meeting at the expo on friday morning when it first opens. I figure that way I'll get the bus from my hotel and meet sil and the kids at the park we choose that day after the expo. I hear we'll have plenty of time to meet up and wait for the race to start too.

. Since may 2010 I have lost 35.4lbs.

That is awesome!!!

Hi, I'm Kelli. The spring challenge will be my 2nd BL challenge. I lost 30 lbs on the fall challenge, making a total of 48lbs since this past July. I am working towards losing 60 lbs by my trip- I have just over one month and 12 pounds to go. After my trip I would like to focus on losing about 40 more pounds.

You are doing amazing, and i bet you'll get a good chunk of that 12 pounds gone by your trip. So inspiring to me.

On the second day of the holiday challenge, my true love gave to me . . . two exercise gloves and a big drink of water for me!
I was so happy to get a 5 mile walk in yesterday outside. I was worried since I'd missed my two short runs earlier in the week and it was the first time outside for over a month. It is very likely that it is the last time I will be running outside until I am in Orlando in February. It was freezing but I was fast -- 1:17 all walking -- two minutes shy of a Princess pace. So now I am going to stop worrying and just concentrate on training.

And to that end, signed up for WW online today. 3 months online for $65 and I get the new plan. I've tried WW before but the new plan and lots of reports of success made me decide to give it a whirl again.

Have a great day all!

Whoo hoo on the walk!! YOu are right, no worries. We can do it!!!! Congrats on joining ww again. I'm interested to see the new program too.
Love the 12 days of the challenge song.

I'm CC. My name is really Christina, but who has time to say all that? My parents, sister, and BIL have been calling me that since I can remember. It's also much quicker to type.

BL 10 was my 3rd BL challenge. I love them! I gained about 10 pounds during each challenge (I'm an emotional eater), but got myself much more under control during the fall challenge and lost over 5 pounds! That's quite the success in my book!

The support from all my BL friends has been amazing! I know I am much better emotionally because of all of you.

I can coach after Christmas. It's really busy around my house until then. We've bought 10 pounds of squid already and found out a few hours ago that we need more. Not all the grocery stores sell it, so it could be difficult to find.

I'm getting a "page" from my mother about cleaning something up, so I have to run. Have a great day everyone!

Taryn:

I think the squid sounds delish, but prefer it deep fried. I'm interested to hear how you'll be cooking it. Know that you are not alone in gaining during these challenges, and you should be so proud to have lost this past challenge, especially with all you had going on. The name CC sounds so fun and adventurous. I like it.

Off to make a shopping list now. Have a great sunday!! Drink that water and get those fruits and vegies in!!!

 

[pjlla]

Okay..... I must be losing my mind!! It appears that my post from yesterday disappeared!! I've been sitting here trying to find it! I only have one thought. It was an INSANE day and when I posted I didn't have an extra minute to sit here and WATCH it post (which I usually do). Maybe there was an error or something (too many smilies??) and it didn't post and then I left and DS got on the computer... yada, yada, yada!!

I am SO SORRY!! I was really hoping to hop on here again last night, but we didn't get home from swim until almost 11 pm (after leaving the house at 4:15 am!!) and I was too tired to even CONTEMPLATE it!!

I'll find my QOTD and repost it next... better late than never!!...........P

 

[pjlla]

Busy, stressed, disney obsessed, wordy, couldn't make it without my BL friends that I am "closer" to than my real life friends.

Maintain is the name of the game for the next 3 weeks!

I totally agree with BOTH of those statements!!

On the first day of the holiday challenge, my true love gave to me . . . a big drink of water for me!

QOTD: Tell me what you are hoping to accomplish with your health goals during the holidays and how you hope this thread will help you meet those goals?

MAINTAIN ,MAINTAIN, MAINTAIN!! I hope that just POSTING and SHARING and READING here will help keep reminding me that it is ONLY food... not love, not comfort, not joy and I don't need to overdo.

I had a pretty productive day. I did 3 loads of laundry, a 1 mile watp, ordered my garden grocer, got the team threads up and running, and posted an info thread on the community board and the podcast board for the next challenge.

If anyone frequents those boards and can give them an occasional bump, that would be great! I am not going to have a lot of extra time.

Did you know that eggland's best sells hardboiled eggs? (Please don't tell me they taste bad!) I have a hard time getting enough protein when we are traveling, so I am really excited. In October we had a one bedroom so we just boiled eggs. This time we are in a studio, so this will be great. I love hardboiled eggs.

I also ordered apples, bananas, nuts, cheddar cheese slices, water, beer, pb&j for ds, bread for ds, goldfish for ds. I think that might be it. I might call and see if they can get the mini bagels that Mike and I like. I will take luna bars and pistachio crisps in my carry on along with some nuts in case we get stuck somewhere and I can't find anything except lettuce to eat. I packed some mini chocolates in the box we shipped. Mike called and they have our box, it's just waiting for us to arrive!

It looks like we are going to get snow Tuesday morning, so traveling without checked luggage was a good call. This way we have some flight flexibility.

Ok, probably need to get back to doing something productive!

Glad you got so much accomplished... and you're right... no checked luggage will leave you much more flexibility!!

Hello everybody. I just signed up for the spring challenge, which will be my first.

I'm 39 and have had a very difficult year. I was a surrogate mother, having 3 of my own children and 5 children for other couples. My last surrogacy was particularly difficult when our full term baby died in March, and had to be delivered the following day. To complicate matters, my intended parents blamed me and were pretty awful about the whole thing. Truth is, I'm still dealing with the trauma of it all.

After 8 babies and a lot of grief, I have a good amount of weight to lose. I deal with sleep issues and depression currently, but I really want to get a grip on my life again - and losing the weight to the point that I find "me" is becoming more and more important.

I eventually want to be consistent with calorie counting, but my biggest goal right now is to start exercising every day.

My other stats: I'll be married 18 years in February to my beloved IT geek, have three kids (11, 14, 17), my middle son is a ballet dancer attending HS at the NC school of the arts, I'm a artist but haven't been doing much this year and we live in central IL.

I think that about covers it!

First of all... a big for the difficulties this year. I had briefly considered being a surrogate in the past.... I get pregnant easily and like being pregnant. But DH wouldn't even consider the possibility, so I never really pursued it.

Second of all.....Welcome to our group!!

Third.... you will find a lot of moms here who have kids who are SUPER involved in a particular sport/activity, so you will fit right in with your DS in ballet school.

You came to the right place! Not only are these challenges helpful in weight loss the support you get mentally is amazing. There are days when I feel horrible...I vent on here and get so much support and guidance that it almost instantly makes me feel better. Everyone here is truly amazing. Im so sorry what has recently happened to you. How horrible to be blamed after the unselfish act you had provided and tried to provide to that couple. Hang in there. We are all here for you.


My name is Lindsay. I will be 32 in January. I am a wife and mother of two boys ages 6 and 3. I work full time as a practice manager of a pediatricians office. I Joined the BL challenges this year and just completed my 2nd one. Since may 2010 I have lost 35.4lbs. I would like to loose another 25lbs. I always was very athletic and fit but after my two children I put on alot of weight. I decided to get back to my athletic status and began running. I am currently training for the disney princess half marathon in feb 2011. I am excited to meet some of my BL friends there too.

Thanks to Lisa for getting this thread going to keep us on track over the holidays. I will Pm you some dates for coaching.

Hi Lindsay!!

Hello everyone!! I'm Kathy, a single mom to 9 yo son Michael who pretty much is my life. I work as a nurse in endoscopy, and love WDW. I found WISH after our first trip in 07, and have done quite a few BL challenges, some I've lost on some maintained, and the one after my mom died in 09, I gained. I've been up and down with weight in the past but since I've been doing these challenges, I don't yo-yo as far up as I used to. I did couch to 5k in the spring, and I think running has become a way to get another disney trip, and am run/walking the princess half marathon in feb with Lisa and am so looking forward to meeting some of my "imaginary internet friends" in real life.
Over the next 2 weeks, I plan to maintain overall, which may mean putting on a few pounds over christmas, but on 12/26, I plan to get back on track, and really buckle down and lose some weight. I will continue my run/walking during these two weeks as well.

Gotta watch Yes virginia, there is a santa claus now. Have a great night.

Hi Kathy!!

Hi, I'm Kelli. The spring challenge will be my 2nd BL challenge. I lost 30 lbs on the fall challenge, making a total of 48lbs since this past July. I am using a ipod touch app called Lose It! to count calories, it has been an enormous help to me so far. I started my weight loss journey doing P90x and walking, but had to stop the program in October when I injured my knee after starting C25k. P90x was a great way to shock me into exercise, but now that my knee is better I am focusing more on the running.

I am going to be 34 in January and I have been married 5 years to my DH. We don't have any kids (yet?) but we do have two very spoiled pets- my almost 14 year old dog Jazz and my 10 month old kitten Boo.

I started gaining my weight a few years after high school and it just kept adding up. I've known for a few years now that I need to lose weight, but I wasn't ready to make a lifestyle change until this past summer. It finally just clicked. My weight loss plan partly revolved around my upcomming trip to WDW. I came up with 2 phases - before and after my trip. I am working towards losing 60 lbs by my trip- I have just over one month and 12 pounds to go. After my trip I would like to focus on losing about 40 more pounds.

Hi Kelli!!

OK, I'm in again.

I did a BL challenge (sort of) last Jan. It really jump started my weight loss journey. I weighed in for the BL at 183 and today am 143! I started run/walk intervals in Feb and began weight watchers in June. My big race for the year was the Wine & Dine Half Relay (I did the 4.8 miles) and my longest was a 10k.

Ok, onto the QOTD: My holiday goal is to get through to the New Year at 143.

I was looking at some photos tonight and thought I'd share. This group can appreciate I'm sure.

You're photos show an amazing transformation! Be sure to show those again on the "official" spring thread... it will be such a source of motivation for the newbies!! WELCOME!!

Here I've been under the assumption that my girls' palate's and food interests would widen as they got older. That's EXACTLY what we are packing for them for HHI. The threads look GREAT! THANK YOU!


I did the same thing with my weight loss. Actually, I undershot it. I beat my "what I want to weigh by WDW" by about 5 pounds. When I set that goal in January, that was my goal weight. I thought that would be it. But no, I came home and lost 20 more. I can't wait for you to have all those lovely pictures to share!


Finally got some cleaning done yesterday, but only because I completely shut down the computer, and the router, so I stayed away. Glad I did, b/c MIL and FIL came by last night for a minute! I feel so much better when my house looks better!

I have a pampered chef training/Christmas brunch in NC this am, hoping to be back at home by 2, anyway. Hoping DH and the girls finish cleaning the upstairs while I am gone, but not holding my breath!

I'm considering a kinda of "purge" this week. With TOM here, it's been a BAD couple of days. After brunch this am, I am thinking about doing 90% fruit and veggies diet until Friday. We actually have some in the fridge right now, and I don't want it to go bad while we are gone. I'll add some protein in, but I've had wayyy too many carbs lately. I don't usually stress them, but previous experience tells me they #1. are a trigger, and #2. end up on my belly. No major parties/meals until Christmas Eve, so I would love to be in a healthy digestive place then!

Have a wonderful day!!!!!!!
Taryn

Hi Taryn!!

Taryn- I will be selling the products. I may have my first client too. I was talking to one of our nail clients yesterday and she's interested in them so we said we'd talk after the holidays.

Woke up at 5 this morning. I guess my body is just so used to it now. I've got a bad headache this morning probably since I didn't drink much water yesterday and then had my drinks last night. DD2 has been coughing a bit. I think she's getting another cold.

I think I'm going to go back to bed for awhile. See if it helps me feel better!

TTFN

Hi Tracey! Hope the headache disappeared!!

On the second day of the holiday challenge, my true love gave to me . . . two exercise gloves and a big drink of water for me!


I was so happy to get a 5 mile walk in yesterday outside. I was worried since I'd missed my two short runs earlier in the week and it was the first time outside for over a month. It is very likely that it is the last time I will be running outside until I am in Orlando in February. It was freezing but I was fast -- 1:17 all walking -- two minutes shy of a Princess pace. So now I am going to stop worrying and just concentrate on training.

And to that end, signed up for WW online today. 3 months online for $65 and I get the new plan. I've tried WW before but the new plan and lots of reports of success made me decide to give it a whirl again.

Have a great day all!

Hi Lisa!! Let me know if you find a good deal on WW online. I don't really have enough "official" weight to lose to join WW, but I can't think of any other way to get the info on the new program, so I'm going to fudge my weight and join online.

I'm CC. My name is really Christina, but who has time to say all that? My parents, sister, and BIL have been calling me that since I can remember. It's also much quicker to type.

BL 10 was my 3rd BL challenge. I love them! I gained about 10 pounds during each challenge (I'm an emotional eater), but got myself much more under control during the fall challenge and lost over 5 pounds! That's quite the success in my book!

The support from all my BL friends has been amazing! I know I am much better emotionally because of all of you.

I can coach after Christmas. It's really busy around my house until then. We've bought 10 pounds of squid already and found out a few hours ago that we need more. Not all the grocery stores sell it, so it could be difficult to find.

I'm getting a "page" from my mother about cleaning something up, so I have to run. Have a great day everyone!

Hi CC! Just gotta say it.... EWWW squid!!

:
I am excited to try the new plan too. I am going to start on the 1st. Not sure why I am not starting now...except that my excuse it there is just way to much going on and too much to do right now. Its my story and Im stickin to it.

I worked our flu clinic this morning and now I am catching up on the boards. I need to get a shower and wash up the boys. We have a bday party for my friends 3 year old son today. Its in jersey about 50 min away. I really need to try to get some wrapping done tonight once the kids are in bed. There are sometimes that I wish santa really was real....it would save me so much time and money.

Have a great saturday!!!!

I don't mind the shopping or the wrapping.... but I am hating it this year because of the time crunch. But yeah... a REAL santa would be a bit time/money saver!!

I am having a slow start today. DH and DS are off at the movies, watching the Royal Ballet's nutcracker. (hes been *in* the Nutcracker for 9 years - but has never seen one!) I'm supposed to be reorganizing the house so we can decorate for the holidays, but haven't gotten out of bed yet. When they get back, we're all going to finish watching Harry Potters 5 &6 before seeing the most recent in the theatre. I guess today is a big day for movies.

I'm hoping to get in a little wii action for today's exercise. Weekends are hard because the days tend to get monopolized by family needs.

Good thing we love our families so much because they definitely take all our time!!

Warm up QOTD: Tell us a little about yourself, your past BL challenges, and what you hope to accomplish regarding your health goals during the holidays?


Hi! I'm Corinna (as my username would indicate) I've been doing BL challenges since January 2009, but I've been losing (and regaining and losing...) pretty much since I was old enough to have an awareness that one could try to change one's weight. My highest weight was about 210 after my first child was born in 1998. Which would mean that my ribbon should maybe read 75#? The 55 clippie does reflect what I've lost since starting the BL challenges, though. I reached my goal weight last January, I think? and then made it lower, so really, I don't know the exact dates for my "goal-iversary" but I really should pick one! I have been maintaining for almost a year now, more or less, with a bump up over the summer (due to excessive Disney European cruise food - The ship was on a mission to fatten us all up, I promise you.)

I'm an at-home-mom/chauffer and I do backstage stuff with a couple of theater organizations in the Twin Cities, MN.

Oh, one other thing. I'm a Lifetimer with Weight Watchers (username corinnak4 on the community/blogs), but I was struggling with the new plan - I think it may have too much wiggle room for me at this point. I've started tracking with myfitnesspal.com instead, and my username over there is corinnak, if anyone else is using that app/website.

Hi Corrina! I don't think I had seen that before picture (with your baby) before! Again... so impressive to see the changes! And I'm sorry but... YEAH that sweater was ugly!!

Here I am, late to the party again

My name is Deb. I am 41 years old and have been happily married to my high school sweatheart for 18 years. We have 3 boys, ages 15, 13 and 8. I never had weight issues until I got pregnant with my boys. I gained 60 lbs with the first, lost 30 and got pregnant with the second, gained those 30 back during the pregancy, lost it post pregnancy, gained 10 just cause I wasn't done having kids yet so why bother, had a miscarriage, got pregnant with our last and when all was said and done weighed in at 198 lbs. I decided in 2003 that I wasn't happy being that weight and truly my boys were kicking my butt, I just couldn't keep up. Dh and I did Atkins for 4 months and I dropped 50 lbs. Since that time I've gained a few, lost a few, went to WW, did it on my own, reached a low of 137. I had done really well until vacation last summer. We did a week at WDW, a week caribbean cruise, another week in Orlando and I came back 14 lbs heavier. Since vacation I have started a new full time job plus kept one of my part time jobs. The adjustment has been harder than I thought for myself and for my family. I feel like I have things in pretty good control right now so my goals for the holidays is simply to maintain under 150 lbs. I am going to start WW again, attending meetings after the new year and hopefully I will figure out a way to incorporate exercise into my day.

In my free time I coordinate a Lacrosse program (5 teams), do home renovations (the whole projects), do crafts, ski, ride motorcycles, cut, slit and stack wood. You get the idea. Not a lot of idol time here. My full time job is a desk job (still not liking being on my butt all day). My part time job is bartender and waitress (depending on the day).

I think the Spring BL will be my 3rd challenge.

Hi Deb! You are such a busy lady!! How are you feeling today??

If anyone comes upon any weight watcher's coupons or deals I would appreciate you sharing I seems that I was getting pretty regular offers in the mail to come back, but now that I want to I haven't seen anything

Me too!!

AK is 11, and has just started to eat bread crust, she has a LOT of texture issues. WILL NOT TOUCH any form of red meat, deli meat, ham, soups, stews,oranges, bananas, cooked veggies, etc. Basically, she likes chicken broth , loves shrimp and crab legs , chicken breasts, all bread but especially garlic bread, cereal, pepperoni pizza, salad (pretty plain salad), pb&J, corn on the cob, string cheese, apples, grapes, broccoli, carrots, granola bars, popcorn, and junk foods like chips and pretzels. AND that is, honestly, about all she will eat! Makes meal time hard, kid lives on cereal and salad!

Well, the brunch yesterday felt like a waste of my time. I didn't learn anything or get any new ideas, which is why I went. They got the upstairs...better, but I think a lot of argument went into it. DH was in a foul mood because of that, blew up,and we had another money argument. I'm trying so hard, both to make more and not stress so much, and he left me feeling very defeated. He did later apologize, but I feel... bruised.

The night was better, we watched Christmas Story, which honestly, I can take or leave. There are some funny parts, but others.. well, I just don't love it like he does. Then we watch Charlie Brown Christmas, and we were all in the bed by 9:30. Purge plan didn't quite work thanks to the tension, but I did have the other half of AK's apple and some of Sophie's orange.

Today is the Christmas play at church, gotta go find white shirts and pants for my s to wear under their costumes, finish cards for church, etc.

Tomorrow I am taking mom Christmas shopping, will be a loonng day. She hasn't done much, and is pretty indecisive. It's hard for her to buy for my brothers, Daddy always took care of that. Tuesday is Sophie's preschool party, and I am taking the kids to Mom after that so I can get stuff wrapped. My goal is to have everything done by Tuesday night so I can enjoy the rest of the week!

FYI - I am facebook friends with Ann -(maiziezoe) and she posted yesterday that her whole family is sick. Little one has double pneumonia, one has stomach virus and fever, she has bronchitis and fever. I am also FB friends with Jennz, going to send them both the link to this thread.

Have a great Sunday all!
Taryn

Hi Taryn! Send our love and wishes for health to Ann!

Sorry things went sour for you the other day.

Taryn--please say hi to Ann and Jennz from me! I am still resisting facebook, but might break down and do it after Christmas. Everyone keeps asking me--don't you want to catch up with people from high school? Uh, no. I hated high school. I am from a very small town and the girls were all...can't type that word here... and the guys were all obnoxious jocks. Having said that, I would love to catch up with Ann and Jennifer! And we have some other friends from when we lived in other states that I wouldn't mind trying to locate!

Up at 5. There's a shocker. We got a lot done yesterday. The house is in good shape, the laundry is done, I paid bills and started making some packing lists. Today we are going to do some shopping and some packing. Mike is working half a day tomorrow, so I am hoping when I get home from work most everything will be good to go and that we can have dinner, relax for a minute and then go to bed early. I have not had any trouble falling asleep early. My plan is to get up at 3:30 and be out the door by 4:00. Our plane takes off at 6:00. The first flight is 30 minutes. The second one is over 2 hours. I am hoping there is free wifi on the second flight so I can catch up with assigning teams or I might just attempt to take a nap! We are scheduled to land at 11:30.

Ok, guess that's it for now. Have a great day!

Oh--forgot to say--Corinna--you look fabulous! Christmas sweater and all!

You will have a GREAT trip!! Prayers for safe, speedy travels.

Good morning everyone!! I'll be coach of the day. I love an excuse to spend more time on the computer.

Sunday 12/19/10- The holidays are full of traditional foods, many not conducive to weight loss. Is there anything that you serve or bring to you holidays celebrations that help keep you on track a little bit for that day?

I have Christmas eve, and my family tend to bring the same appetizers every year, and I make chicken,broc, ziti. The healthiest appe is shrimp my sister brings, which I don't care for. I always put out a big platter of fruit. Melon slices, grapes, strawberries to be eaten as finger food, so it's easy to grab a piece of fruit between the dhip and dip, scallops wrapped in bacon, etc. My brother also brings a big salad usually with grilled chicken.

I was pretty productive yesterday. I finished raking the last of the leaves. (better late than never.) I did some baking last night, cranberrry cookies, and more spritz since we ate most of last weekends. I've got gingerbread dough ready to make my gingerbread men today. I've addressed my envelopes and need to put the cards in and mail them. I'll go to the grocery store this am and then will just need to stop for a couple things on thursday.

Well.... I usually try to bring a lighter dessert... but sometimes I just give in an enjoy the traditional desserts for one day! And I have been trying more often to be sure there is "unadulterated" vegetable available. So often the veggies are coated with butter or cream sauce and such like that. So I will bring along something plain that I can fill up on if needed.... green salad, roasted veggies with just a touch of EVOO, steamed, etc. A big fruit platter is always helpful too!

Well... I didn't get all of yesterday's posts repeated, but at least I was here!! I'll make sure this posts before hitting the shower. I need to be out the door in 32 minutes!.............P

 

[dvccruiser76]

I have lost 87 pounds as of this week. I am struggling with a final 2-4 pounds, but I'm trying not to let that bother me too much. I pretty much consider myeslf a maintainer these days.

I have finally realized that it is definitely a life-long journey, not a short excursion.

Hi there, I was going to try and quote you from the last thread, but I couldn't figure it out. Anyway, I am so looking for those pumpkin Vitatops when I got shopping today. I'm guessing they'll be hard to find. If so, I may have to just order them on-line again. My S&S only tends to carry basic flavors, so I ordered some on-line once.

I've lost over 40 pounds.

Hi Lisa, great job

I just got back from Disney last Thursday. I usually get up at 5:15 every morning to get that in.

Sorry, just a little Disney envy

Good for you, I wish I was motivated to get up early, but 6:15 is about the eariest I can do.

I have lost 47 pounds this year and have been a maintainer since September.

Congrats on being a maintainer. It says a lot that you continue to join the threads even after reaching goal. I like your philosophy

My name is Shawn and I just finished participating in the Fall Challenge, my first. It was a very rewarding experience and I lost 12.5 pounds in 15 weeks, thanks to the encouragement and motivation of my team mates.

Hi Shawn, that's great work in 15 weeks. Where are you in Germany? I went last year with my DH. It was a great trip!

Started my first challenge in February after losing 16 pounds on my own in January. I've lost 68 pounds this year, and am mostly a maintainer. I would love to lose 2 more to make it a nice even 70, but I'm not going to think about loss until January. Maintain is the name of the game for the next 3 weeks!

68 pounds is something to be very proud of, I'm with you in maintaining over the next few weeks.

QOTD: Tell me what you are hoping to accomplish with your health goals during the holidays and how you hope this thread will help you meet those goals?

Like a lot of people, I feel that weight loss, WW, and/or the BL thread is just a way of life. I try to follow most of the time, so I can enjoy myself when I go on vacation and around the holidays. If I didn't give myself time to cheat I'd never be able to keep it up.

Hi everyone, I'm Nicole. I am 29 and married with a 2 year old son.

Hi Nicole, welcome back. I think I saw your name on the BL 10 challenge, but I never had a chance to say hello

I'm 39 and have had a very difficult year. I was a surrogate mother, having 3 of my own children and 5 children for other couples. My last surrogacy was particularly difficult when our full term baby died in March, and had to be delivered the following day. To complicate matters, my intended parents blamed me and were pretty awful about the whole thing. Truth is, I'm still dealing with the trauma of it all.

So sorry to hear about your recent loss. It takes a lot to do what you've done for people and that in itself is an amazing accomplishment

My name is Lindsay. I will be 32 in January. I am a wife and mother of two boys ages 6 and 3. I work full time as a practice manager of a pediatricians office. I Joined the BL challenges this year and just completed my 2nd one.

Hi Lindsay

Hello everyone!! I'm Kathy, a single mom to 9 yo son Michael who pretty much is my life. I work as a nurse in endoscopy, and love WDW.

Hello neighbor. Are you at Beverly or Salem hospital?

I'm on Team Donald too! Yay

Hi, I'm Kelli. The spring challenge will be my 2nd BL challenge. I lost 30 lbs on the fall challenge, making a total of 48lbs since this past July.

Hi Kelli, 48 pounds is awesome. Almost to 50!

DH & I at the end of Oct 2010

Wow, that's great. You look amazing!

I'm CC. My name is really Christina, but who has time to say all that?

Hi Christina

March of 2010:
My January pictures are all full of jacket because it was so cold, so I'm subbing a Princess photo.

Hi Corinna, every time I see that photo I am impressed. You look great

My name is Deb. I am 41 years old and have been happily married to my high school sweatheart for 18 years. We have 3 boys, ages 15, 13 and 8.

Hi Deb

If anyone comes upon any weight watcher's coupons or deals I would appreciate you sharing I seems that I was getting pretty regular offers in the mail to come back, but now that I want to I haven't seen anything

I don't have any coupons, but a friend of mine said there are a lot of deals in Dec. I guess the new calculators are half price for the first one you buy, but after the new year prices are increasing since that's when all the New Year's people join. So, just a thought, but it might be worth it to sign up before 12/31.

I am still resisting facebook, but might break down and do it after Christmas.

I am so with you Rose. Everyone keeps asking me, but I feel like I spend so much time on email at work that I'd never get anythying done if I had FB to keep up with too. Not to mention the fact that I now try to keep up with the DIS.

 

[lisah0711]

On the third day of the holiday challenge my true love gave to me . . . three sets of ten, two exercise gloves and a big glass of water for me!

Aren't you glad that there are only 9 days left?

I'm CC. My name is really Christina, but who has time to say all that? My parents, sister, and BIL have been calling me that since I can remember. It's also much quicker to type.

Hi CC! Thanks for volunteering to coach. Let me know which one of the open days works for you.

Lisa—love the 12 days of Christmas! Woohoo on 5 miles and on joining WW!!

Thanks! Glad that your long TM run went okay. We'll see how the new WW plan works out. I'm still reading and trying to figure it out. I'm not "officially starting" until 12/26.

I am excited to try the new plan too. I am going to start on the 1st. Not sure why I am not starting now...except that my excuse it there is just way to much going on and too much to do right now. Its my story and Im stickin to it.

You need time to prepare! And I got a real chuckle out of your Santa comment! I'd pick a fairy godmother because I think she would be useful throughout the year.

I'm hoping to get in a little wii action for today's exercise. Weekends are hard because the days tend to get monopolized by family needs.

So true! All sorts of activities count, even housework, as long as you are up and moving so you may get more activity than you think you are.

As far as my health goals over the holidays go, I am determined to kick this last pound to the curb, continue training for the half marathon in Janary (just 3 weeks away!) and fuel my body appropriately and healthfully along the way. I would like to start the Spring Challenge as a maintainer.

Hi corinna! Nice to see you! I always love looking at your pictures and all the progress you've made. Very, very inspiring!

BRB!

 

[lisah0711]

In my free time I coordinate a Lacrosse program (5 teams), do home renovations (the whole projects), do crafts, ski, ride motorcycles, cut, slit and stack wood. You get the idea. Not a lot of idol time here. My full time job is a desk job (still not liking being on my butt all day). My part time job is bartender and waitress (depending on the day).

Hi Deb! You have such an active lifestyle which beats formal exercise any day in my book!

If anyone comes upon any weight watcher's coupons or deals I would appreciate you sharing I seems that I was getting pretty regular offers in the mail to come back, but now that I want to I haven't seen anything

I might be able to find something for you on the WW site -- I'll look in a little bit here. I'm not at all familiar with the site so if anyone has any ideas about where to find one let me know. Also, ask keenercam because she goes to meetings regularly.

The night was better, we watched Christmas Story, which honestly, I can take or leave. There are some funny parts, but others.. well, I just don't love it like he does. Then we watch Charlie Brown Christmas, and we were all in the bed by 9:30. Purge plan didn't quite work thanks to the tension, but I did have the other half of AK's apple and some of Sophie's orange.

Sorry for the argument with DH. I think the whole manly/provider thing really hits them hard when it isn't going right. And instead of saying "wow, this sucks!" like we do, they get cranky about it.

Had to about Christmas Story. I can take it or leave it, too, but the menfolk in my house love it.

Hope you can persuade Ann and jennz to stop by and say hello.

Taryn--please say hi to Ann and Jennz from me! I am still resisting facebook, but might break down and do it after Christmas. Everyone keeps asking me--don't you want to catch up with people from high school? Uh, no. I hated high school. I am from a very small town and the girls were all...can't type that word here... and the guys were all obnoxious jocks. Having said that, I would love to catch up with Ann and Jennifer! And we have some other friends from when we lived in other states that I wouldn't mind trying to locate!

I could have typed this myself, Rose. I graduated from high school a semester early just so I could get out of there -- and then I got to go to work at Disneyland while I was in college.

Good morning everyone!! I'll be coach of the day. I love an excuse to spend more time on the computer.

Sunday 12/19/10- The holidays are full of traditional foods, many not conducive to weight loss. Is there anything that you serve or bring to you holidays celebrations that help keep you on track a little bit for that day?

Oh, I think you're going to win the Christmas card race!

I have a lot more control this year since it is a small celebration at home. My solution is small serving sizes of the not so good stuff. When it's gone, it's gone. There are plenty of good choices here, too, but even after all this time we pick the bad stuff -- who wouldn't?

Okay..... I must be losing my mind!! It appears that my post from yesterday disappeared!! I've been sitting here trying to find it! I only have one thought. It was an INSANE day and when I posted I didn't have an extra minute to sit here and WATCH it post (which I usually do). Maybe there was an error or something (too many smilies??) and it didn't post and then I left and DS got on the computer... yada, yada, yada!!

I am SO SORRY!! I was really hoping to hop on here again last night, but we didn't get home from swim until almost 11 pm (after leaving the house at 4:15 am!!) and I was too tired to even CONTEMPLATE it!!

I'll find my QOTD and repost it next... better late than never!!...........P

Aww, Pam. No worries! Glad that everything is okay.

I'm hoping that we hear from Shawn today.

I think I finally inspired by DH to get himself back into shape. He signed up for the gym and has been twice this week and he's agreed to try the new WW with me. He was complimenting me on the progress that I've made -- he said when he was putting together our annual calendar (that is really about our son) that he could REALLY see big changes other than I was always getting smaller when he gave me a hug.

Have a great day all!

 

[dvccruiser76]

Warm up QOTD: Tell us a little about yourself, your past BL challenges, and what you hope to accomplish regarding your health goals during the holidays?

Good morning fellow losers! My name is Sue, and I live in Mass with my DH of 4 years and my DS (17 months).

I don't quite remember what I was searching for, but something that I typed in a DIS board search led me to the BL thread just before the BL 10 challenge started, so I decided to join. I was about to start dieting after Labor Day, so it was perfect timing.

I once got down to 134 a few years ago, but felt sickly thin and my friends said I was too skinny, so I set 145 as my goal the last time around and decided I'd assess my situation when I got there and maybe go for 140. I made it to 145 on the last challenge and although I feel like I just need to tone I'm going to try for 140 in the BL 11 challenge to keep myself motivated. I have a cruise planned for May 22nd, so this timing is perfect once again.

I've never been terribly over weight, but I am a HUGE foodie, and many of my plans/vacations center around great food. So, I try to diet or eat healthier most of the year so I can splurge on vacations and around the holidays. I know it's not great to diet around vacation, but I'm a DVCer so I make it a point to vacation every year, which means I'm always working towards a goal.

Anyway, I'm a CPA so pretty soon I'll go into hiding, but I'll try my best to at least keep up with my reading even if I don't have a chance to post.

My DS is the best thing since sliced bread. I'd have to say I hated being pregnant and didn't have anything close to the delivery that I had hoped for, so as of right now it looks like he may be an only child. Time will tell I guess. He's super cute, but does not like it when my attention strays to the DIS, so right now he's pulling movies out of the cabinet

QOTD: Tell me what you are hoping to accomplish with your health goals during the holidays and how you hope this thread will help you meet those goals?

I'm hoping to maintain or stay within a pound or 2 between now and NY's.

Sunday 12/19/10- The holidays are full of traditional foods, many not conducive to weight loss. Is there anything that you serve or bring to you holidays celebrations that help keep you on track a little bit for that day?

Well, I'm not the best example here since I splurge over the holidays, but I didn't want to skip a QOTD this time around since I know that I won't be able to keep up during tax season.


Have a great Sunday everyone

 

[SunnyB1066]

Hi Everyone! I'm new to BL challenges, but watch the show and am in need of alot of motivation.

My name is Sunny and I'm 44. I've been married to Thomas for 22 years, we have two children, Jen 25 and Drew 20. I live in NW Arkansas and work for an insurnace agency.

I've been trying to lose weight for 3 years and have been yo-yoing up and down using WW. I haven't decided what I'm going to do for a program as of yet. My holiday goal is to get all of my water in and limit my caffine. I was at WDW earlier this month and drank WAY TO MUCH caffine.

Can't wait to get started, hope I can keep up.

Sunny

 

[cclovesdis]

Morning!

I just have a few minutes, but I wanted to answer the QOTD and explain Christmas Eve dinner-they kind of go together.

The appetizer is almost always shrimp and cocktail sauce. I skip the coctail sauce to save on calories and sodium. Dinner is a multiple-course affair. First, we have stuffed and fried squid. We buy pounds and pounds of whole squid tubes and tentacles. The tentacles are fried and added to a stuffing of mostly bread crumbs, parm cheese, and eggs. We stuff each one of the tubes and then sew them closed. It is a very time-consuming process, but we wouldn't want it any other way. We then fry each one of the stuffed tubes. My father does this. My grandmother finishes cooking them by adding them to boiling sauce. She makes a special sauce just for this meal. We eat the squid over pasta. I usually have as little pasta as possible. I put the squid/stuffing recipe into the WW recipe builder 2 years ago and I can have 4 of them, which is plenty. I'll have to redo this know and see how many I can eat. I'm guessing it won't change much based on what I know for points already. The next course is ham and some veggies (with lots of sauce, etc.) that I usually skip. I only eat a slice of ham due to its salt content and instead eat a lot of salad. Dessert is never the same, but it's usually something special so I do it. What's good is that no one is into big portions (of dessert at least), so having a small portion isn't out of place at all. Then, Christmas morning it's back to counting points and portioning out food, etc. If we have Christmas dinner too, it is special in that we are together, not in what we eat, so it's easy to count points, etc.

I'm sure some of the meal sounds gross to some of you. I don't think I've yet met a person outside of my family who eats this. I know people who eat fried squid rings and people who understand that Christmas Eve is a fish meal, but again, no one who eats stuffed/fried squid. So, AKA, I'm not offended at all.

Have a great day everyone! It's time to finally decorate the tree.

CC

 

[my3princes]

I think that I may try to join WW next week as I might have a free minute then. It looks like there is only one meeting time that will work for my schedule so not a lot of options there. I think that I can get the initial fee waived because of our health insurance plan. I need to look into that too. If not I'll have to look for a coupon in a weight watchers frozen meal.

I mentioned doing home improvements. That is something that I do for us and family. While I enjoy the results the process is often stressful so doing it as a career wouldn't work for me Besides I always have too many projects going on to actually get them all done.

As far as adjusting to the 2 jobs goes...well working a full time job with normal hours is going well. It took the boys about 2 weeks to adjust to my not being home after school, but they're doing fine now and they really are good at taking care of each other. I haven't heard anything worrisome from them It has been difficult going from one job straight to the other on Mondays and Tuesdays though. I end up working 8 am - 10 pm pretty much straight through. Thankfully it's the beginning of the week so when Wednesday night rolls around I feel like I'm on vacation I don't want to give up the extra money as the full time job has good benefits, but the money isn't terrific. Waitress/Bartending money adds up much quicker, but no benefits and since we need both the benefits and the money I'm just going to do both until we climb out of debt. We are also saving for our 2012 vacation.


DH and I are not baking at all this year. We find that the kids could care less about special desserts etc so we end up eating more than our share and we just don't need it. We will be doing Christmas Eve at my parent's house and Christmas Day at home. Haven't really thought about a menu yet, but just cuttin out sweets should be helpful.

 

[SettinSail]

Just a quick note to let everyone know we made it home last night. Travel was tough as always but uneventful. The flight from Stuttgart to Atlanta is just 10 minutes shy of 10 hours I thought it was 9 but maybe that's going the other way.

I should have more time to post tonight.....there are so many threads I'm not sure which one to post on! WIll probably just stick to this one for now.

Shawn

 

[Tauwillow]

I mentioned doing home improvements. That is something that I do for us and family. While I enjoy the results the process is often stressful so doing it as a career wouldn't work for me Besides I always have too many projects going on to actually get them all done..

We just started our home improvement goals last year! So far we have repainted most of the rooms, replaced the carpeting with high quality laminate, laid tile in the entryway and back door, replaced the dishwasher and kitchen sink. We're currently putting in the baseboards and crown molding.

So much to do still, and then we move to the kitchen and bathroom! Wish we moved faster, but its a very piecemeal operation.

All sorts of activities count, even housework, as long as you are up and moving so you may get more activity than you think you are.

I hope so, because I never got in any wii action yesterday. I did a lot of heavy housework though. Our dining room has been in a state because its the central workstation for the renovation. I really wanted our home back for the holidays, so I had to pack up all the tools and get all the furniture back in place.

We also got our tree up, decorated, and all the gifts underneath. It feels like the holidays now.

I wanted to answer the QOTD and explain Christmas Eve dinner-they kind of go together.

Oh my goodness, CC - that sounds delicious! What a wonderful and unique tradition. Sign me up.

I am a HUGE foodie, and many of my plans/vacations center around great food.

Me too!! I looove interesting food and enjoy fine dining immensely. We just started getting into wine last year, and with the help of wine.woot.com we have quite a collection now. Of course, none of these things will help with my current weight loss goals, but it sure is FUN.

Sunday 12/19/10- The holidays are full of traditional foods, many not conducive to weight loss. Is there anything that you serve or bring to you holidays celebrations that help keep you on track a little bit for that day?

Well, nothing specific to the holidays, but recently Ive decided to give up drinking milk and I gave up soda a while back. I drink mostly iced peppermint tea and coffee, and use almond milk for cereals. I don't really want to skip the yummy holiday foods, so I'm hoping that moderation will win the day.

As soon as I finish posting this I will be going on a walk with my husband. Missing exercise yesterday made me doubly determined to fit it into today!

 

[Octoberbride03]

Evening everybody

5 full shopping days left and then I get to breathe. If anybody would like me to re-post the shopping rules here, just let me know No new ones to add at the moment but if i come across any I'll post it.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Maureen--I loved your holiday rules!

CC--I really enjoy reading about your family traditions!

Shawn--so glad you made it safely! I was thinking about you yesterday.

Taryn--I don't know when you leave, but I wanted to make sure to say--have a fabulous time at HHI!

I'm getting a little stressed out--you know that last minute before you leave, I know I'm going to forget something stress?

Today I got a new bikini top at Target (yes, there is snow on the ground but my top from the spring would have fallen off if I tried to wear it next week.) I think we are organized. Still stuff to do, but it seems to be under control. DS opened his presents this afternoon. That was nice. He bought me a palmetto sticker for my car, a beaded necklace from beadforlife which I love, and a gamecock tree ornament. He got Mike a toy story mania game. Mike loves TSM! DS has always gotten us presents, but I thought they were so thoughtful this year! We got him a bunch of stuff he asked for and we took him to Dick's today and got him new running shoes. Oh and a trip to wdw! He said it's like having divorced parents and getting to have Christmas twice!

***Please consider coaching a week on your team thread. If you are interested you can send me a pm.

Ok, that's it for now. Might be able to check in tomorrow, but if I don't, have a fabulous day!

 

[Octoberbride03]

We just started our home improvement goals last year! So far we have repainted most of the rooms, replaced the carpeting with high quality laminate, laid tile in the entryway and back door, replaced the dishwasher and kitchen sink. We're currently putting in the baseboards and crown molding.

So much to do still, and then we move to the kitchen and bathroom! Wish we moved faster, but its a very piecemeal operation.



I hope so, because I never got in any wii action yesterday. I did a lot of heavy housework though. Our dining room has been in a state because its the central workstation for the renovation. I really wanted our home back for the holidays, so I had to pack up all the tools and get all the furniture back in place.

We also got our tree up, decorated, and all the gifts underneath. It feels like the holidays now.


Oh my goodness, CC - that sounds delicious! What a wonderful and unique tradition. Sign me up.



Me too!! I looove interesting food and enjoy fine dining immensely. We just started getting into wine last year, and with the help of wine.woot.com we have quite a collection now. Of course, none of these things will help with my current weight loss goals, but it sure is FUN.



Well, nothing specific to the holidays, but recently Ive decided to give up drinking milk and I gave up soda a while back. I drink mostly iced peppermint tea and coffee, and use almond milk for cereals. I don't really want to skip the yummy holiday foods, so I'm hoping that moderation will win the day.

As soon as I finish posting this I will be going on a walk with my husband. Missing exercise yesterday made me doubly determined to fit it into today!

Why are you giving up milk? It is soo beneficial in a number of ways health wise and weight wise I can't ever imagine giving it up short of Dr's orders

 

[Rose&Mike]

I think the whole manly/provider thing really hits them hard when it isn't going right. And instead of saying "wow, this sucks!" like we do, they get cranky about it.

I could have typed this myself, Rose. I graduated from high school a semester early just so I could get out of there -- and then I got to go to work at Disneyland while I was in college.

I think I finally inspired by DH to get himself back into shape. He signed up for the gym and has been twice this week and he's agreed to try the new WW with me. He was complimenting me on the progress that I've made -- he said when he was putting together our annual calendar (that is really about our son) that he could REALLY see big changes other than I was always getting smaller when he gave me a hug.

Have a great day all!

Meant to comment on all this earlier.

The first part--this was Mike for the first 20 years of our marriage. He is finally getting better about it. I call him on it now though and he is finally gettin it!

HS--wish I could have graduated early. My 25 reunion was the night of w&d. So sad I missed it. Actually I thought about sending a picture, because I think I look pretty good for 40 something if I do say so myself!

And that's great that your DH is joining the gym. I think it's contagious--working out. It just takes some people a little longer to catch it.

 

[tigger813]

Hi all-

First chance I've had to get on today. I just spent the last 5 hours baking 5 different kinds of cookies. Tomorrow I still need to bake cupcakes for DD2s class for her party on Tuesday and make candy.

We had our church Christmas pageant this morning. It was so much fun! DD2 stole the whole show as the Christmas Star! She had to stand on a chair in the back of the church and then weave back on forth going up the aisle in a gold star costume. Then she had to stand behind the altar on a stool with her arms stretched out. She did that with a big smile on her face and with her arms in the star she started waving which everybody got a kick out of! I thought I was going to cry I was laughing so hard. Everyone kept coming up to us afterwards and telling us she was the best star we've ever had. Then I couldn't get her to take off the costume. I'll try and figure how to post a photo! I still want to post some from Disney.

I wore the dress from our rehearsal dinner from almost exactly 13 years ago today. Hadn't fit into it in all those years! I forgot to get a picture in it so I will put it on again on Christmas Eve!

Tomorrow I'm not leaving the house until I take DD1 to dancing. I will get some cleaning and wrapping done while DH does his shopping tomorrow morning. Glad we're not getting the storm they were talking about last week! And I'm excited that I don't have to go shopping on Tuesday as DH ordered the movie I was getting DD2! Saves me time. I have two clients on Tuesday so I wouldn't have much time anyways!

TTFN

 

[donac]

Just a short note to say hello. I think we are almost done shopping except for the group in KC. We can't decide what to send them. I was all set to send them something they can't get out there but it would have cost more to ship it since it is such a specialty item. I just couldn't do it.

Got most of my cards done. Just have to find three more addresses and they are done. Dh just finished putting address labels on them. Do you think I should remind him that maybe he could put stamps on them too?

Just wanted to make sure that I tell Rose to have a good trip. I wish I was going. I have never been at Christmas and I would love to see it.


Off to get some other things done for the night. We still have to wrap but dh hates to do that too early We put the tree up and the lights on it but we decided to wait to decorate it until Tuesday when ds2 comes home from college.

Have a great evening

 

[mikamah]

Okay..... I must be losing my mind!! It appears that my post from yesterday disappeared!! I've been sitting here trying to find it! I only have one thought. It was an INSANE day and when I posted I didn't have an extra minute to sit here and WATCH it post (which I usually do). Maybe there was an error or something (too many smilies??) and it didn't post and then I left and DS got on the computer... yada, yada, yada!!
P

I'm glad that everything is ok, Pamela. It's that insane time of year and I'm glad to see you today.

Hello neighbor. Are you at Beverly or Salem hospital?

I'm on Team Donald too! Yay
.

I'm at beverly. That's great, your on team donald. We'll definitely get together for a walk some time. My brother does accounting on the side and I know how busy you will be come january. It worked out well for me this year, because sil and niece are coming with me for the princess to watch michael.

I'd love to see Jennz and Ann again too. Hope they are doing ok.
The cards are in the mail!!! Did I win? Sounds like a good holiday plan. I don't know why we don't always pick the good stuff, but anything in moderation is the key. I was baking all day, and not really picking as i have in the past, so that is a positive. Now last weekends baking I was a little more out of control. I think emotions definitely had a play in that.

Hi Everyone! I'm new to BL challenges, but watch the show and am in need of alot of motivation.

My name is Sunny and I'm 44. I've been married to Thomas for 22 years, we have two children, Jen 25 and Drew 20. I live in NW Arkansas and work for an insurnace agency.

I've been trying to lose weight for 3 years and have been yo-yoing up and down using WW. I haven't decided what I'm going to do for a program as of yet. My holiday goal is to get all of my water in and limit my caffine. I was at WDW earlier this month and drank WAY TO MUCH caffine.

Can't wait to get started, hope I can keep up.

Sunny

Welcome to the challenge, Sunny. You are not alone with the yo-yoing. I have done ww many times as well, and since I found this board and the support here, I am definitely more in control, and when I do start to gain, I can get it back under control a little more easily. WDW in december is so beautiful, but heard it was very cold this year.

Morning!

I just have a few minutes, but I wanted to answer the QOTD and explain Christmas Eve dinner-they kind of go together.

The appetizer is almost always shrimp and cocktail sauce. I skip the coctail sauce to save on calories and sodium. Dinner is a multiple-course affair. First, we have stuffed and fried squid. We buy pounds and pounds of whole squid tubes and tentacles. The tentacles are fried and added to a stuffing of mostly bread crumbs, parm cheese, and eggs. We stuff each one of the tubes and then sew them closed. It is a very time-consuming process, but we wouldn't want it any other way. We then fry each one of the stuffed tubes. My father does this. My grandmother finishes cooking them by adding them to boiling sauce. She makes a special sauce just for this meal. We eat the squid over pasta. I usually have as little pasta as possible. I put the squid/stuffing recipe into the WW recipe builder 2 years ago and I can have 4 of them, which is plenty. I'll have to redo this know and see how many I can eat. I'm guessing it won't change much based on what I know for points already. The next course is ham and some veggies (with lots of sauce, etc.) that I usually skip. I only eat a slice of ham due to its salt content and instead eat a lot of salad. Dessert is never the same, but it's usually something special so I do it. What's good is that no one is into big portions (of dessert at least), so having a small portion isn't out of place at all. Then, Christmas morning it's back to counting points and portioning out food, etc. If we have Christmas dinner too, it is special in that we are together, not in what we eat, so it's easy to count points, etc.

This sounds delicious to me. My friend's husband is a fisherman, and whenever she has a party, I so look forward to whatever he makes, be it a fish chowder in the winter, or a cold pasta/fish salad, with shrimp, scallops, squid, whatever he has available, and it's always delish. Hope you had fun decorating the tree.

As far as adjusting to the 2 jobs goes...well working a full time job with normal hours is going well. It took the boys about 2 weeks to adjust to my not being home after school, but they're doing fine now and they really are good at taking care of each other. I haven't heard anything worrisome from them It has been difficult going from one job straight to the other on Mondays and Tuesdays though. I end up working 8 am - 10 pm pretty much straight through. Thankfully it's the beginning of the week so when Wednesday night rolls around I feel like I'm on vacation I don't want to give up the extra money as the full time job has good benefits, but the money isn't terrific. Waitress/Bartending money adds up much quicker, but no benefits and since we need both the benefits and the money I'm just going to do both until we climb out of debt. We are also saving for our 2012 vacation.

I'm tired just reading about your schedule. You must sleep like a baby at night.

Just a quick note to let everyone know we made it home last night. Travel was tough as always but uneventful. The flight from Stuttgart to Atlanta is just 10 minutes shy of 10 hours I thought it was 9 but maybe that's going the other way.

I should have more time to post tonight.....there are so many threads I'm not sure which one to post on! WIll probably just stick to this one for now.

Shawn

glad you made it home safely. You must be exhausted after those flights. Hope you have a little time to relax before the travelling/visiting all begins.

As soon as I finish posting this I will be going on a walk with my husband. Missing exercise yesterday made me doubly determined to fit it into today!

Hope you had a nice walk with hubby. Do you live somewhere warm?

Evening everybody

5 full shopping days left and then I get to breathe. If anybody would like me to re-post the shopping rules here, just let me know No new ones to add at the moment but if i come across any I'll post it.

I loved your shopping rules, and am so happy that you haven't had to create any new ones this weekend. Do you have to get up at the crack of dawn the day after Christmas too?

Today I got a new bikini top at Target (yes, there is snow on the ground but my top from the spring would have fallen off if I tried to wear it next week.) I think we are organized. Still stuff to do, but it seems to be under control. DS opened his presents this afternoon. That was nice. He bought me a palmetto sticker for my car, a beaded necklace from beadforlife which I love, and a gamecock tree ornament. He got Mike a toy story mania game. Mike loves TSM! DS has always gotten us presents, but I thought they were so thoughtful this year! We got him a bunch of stuff he asked for and we took him to Dick's today and got him new running shoes. Oh and a trip to wdw! He said it's like having divorced parents and getting to have Christmas twice!

Aw, that is so sweet ds picked out such nice gifts for you. I'm so excited for your trip! A big jealous too, but very happy for you.

Hi all-

First chance I've had to get on today. I just spent the last 5 hours baking 5 different kinds of cookies. Tomorrow I still need to bake cupcakes for DD2s class for her party on Tuesday and make candy.

We had our church Christmas pageant this morning. It was so much fun! DD2 stole the whole show as the Christmas Star! She had to stand on a chair in the back of the church and then weave back on forth going up the aisle in a gold star costume. Then she had to stand behind the altar on a stool with her arms stretched out. She did that with a big smile on her face and with her arms in the star she started waving which everybody got a kick out of! I thought I was going to cry I was laughing so hard. Everyone kept coming up to us afterwards and telling us she was the best star we've ever had. Then I couldn't get her to take off the costume. I'll try and figure how to post a photo! I still want to post some from Disney.

I wore the dress from our rehearsal dinner from almost exactly 13 years ago today. Hadn't fit into it in all those years! I forgot to get a picture in it so I will put it on again on Christmas Eve!

Tomorrow I'm not leaving the house until I take DD1 to dancing. I will get some cleaning and wrapping done while DH does his shopping tomorrow morning. Glad we're not getting the storm they were talking about last week! And I'm excited that I don't have to go shopping on Tuesday as DH ordered the movie I was getting DD2! Saves me time. I have two clients on Tuesday so I wouldn't have much time anyways!

TTFN

The pageant sounds adorable, and how proud you must be of your little star.

Another fairly productive day here. Baked our gingerbread men, and michael got into it with me, so it was fun. I made him promise we'd make it a tradition every year, even through college. We make all kinds of shapes, and dip them in chocolate too. Michael likes to merge cookie shapes, like a mickey head on a gingerbread body. I forgot to buy more chocolate, but had a little left from halloween, so we went light, and had enough. Did not want to hit the mall today. Also finished the cards, and made chili so I will have some healthy meals for the week. I'm going to change the guinea pig's cage, and then do some wrapping tonight. My bil stopped over this morning to pick up some things, and I sat and had coffee with him, and I thought about all I had to do for a minute, and said to myself, all I really need to do is enjoy the company of my family and friends, and if I don't get all I want done before Christmas eve, it doesn't matter. So I enjoyed his visit, and on christmas eve, what's done is done, and I will relax and enjoy myself.

Hope you all take some time this week to relax and enjoy yourself, and your time with family and friends. Try not to let this holiday week bring more stress than it needs to.

 

[mikamah]

Just a short note to say hello. I think we are almost done shopping except for the group in KC. We can't decide what to send them. I was all set to send them something they can't get out there but it would have cost more to ship it since it is such a specialty item. I just couldn't do it.

Got most of my cards done. Just have to find three more addresses and they are done. Dh just finished putting address labels on them. Do you think I should remind him that maybe he could put stamps on them too?

Just wanted to make sure that I tell Rose to have a good trip. I wish I was going. I have never been at Christmas and I would love to see it.


Off to get some other things done for the night. We still have to wrap but dh hates to do that too early We put the tree up and the lights on it but we decided to wait to decorate it until Tuesday when ds2 comes home from college.

Have a great evening

Hi dona!
sometimes you need to remind the menfolk about things like stamps.
Maybe we'll need to plan a bl wdw reuinion one christmas season. You must be excited for ds to get home.