Deb - we can talk about it on the phone if you want.
Cool. I'll PM you my number and you can let me know what a good time for you would be. I'm always here and available. I don't get out much!
First of all, you don't have to cook with WW. As a side question, and doesn't John do a lot of the cooking?
Yes, John is the only one that cooks. But he'll make a crock pot meal once every weekend....then eat it most of the week and alternate with a george forman meal or a microwave meal. Or worse yet, we'll order in.
I will do the george forman meals or microwave meals only. I also eat the ordered in foods....love those....I know, not good.
When you say, no cooking, what do you mean by that? Do you mean no cooking at all and only using prepared and frozen foods? Or, do you mean simple preparation?
No prep whatsoever. Once in a blue moon I'll make tuna or a big bowl of salad....maybe a meat loaf dinner. Not often. Only prepared and frozen foods for me.
It is possible to do it with prepared foods and frozen meals. The main thing is to make smart choices that will stretch out points and use filling foods (which are low in points) to round out such entrees and make them, well, more filling.
This is what I need to learn. Do the points have anything to do with counting calories? When I would strictly adhere to a diet, I always counted calories.
If John or you do cook, there are a wealth of easy and quick WW recipes. Right now we have a cookbook that I think is great, it's called the "Now and Later" cookbook or something like that (I should know my products). The recipes are "two in one," you prepare something now, where the leftovers turn into another meal later.
This is complicated for us. Not sure if John wants to get on board with the WW foods. I'll talk to him about it tomorrow. I think he'll shop for whatever I put on a list for him, but he's not going to cook it and he's not going to eat it. I will never eat it if I have to cook it.
Do you cook? Does Sukie eat what you cook?
Not everything has to be complicated.
Welcome to my world. Food is complicated in our house. We need to keep it as simple as possible.
If you have difficulty walking, I would not focus on the exercise and activity part. Sometimes, we have to just do the best we can, and activity can be added later when you are out of pain and able to manage it.
That makes a lot of sense. It'll probably be better to focus on one before the other anyway.
It sounds to me like a first focus might be on eating smarter and healthier. I wish losing weight were easier. It is such a hard thing to do.
When you say that, I think of eating veggies and fruit with little meat and no starches. Is that what you mean?
I would ask the other WW members on this thread to chime in with their experience and their advice about cooking and eating.
Yes, please do. I need all the help I can get.
I have to keep reminding people that I lost 90 pounds and the majority of it was with WW and the meetings were really a key to success.
This presents yet another dilemma. Like I said, I don't get out much. Going to WW meetings in my neighborhood might be a little difficult. I will have to check it out before I speak.
I'm not sure if I ever told "my story."
Not to me and I would love to hear it.
It was 6 months before my 50th birthday, and I have a 2-block walk to the L in the morning. It was February and I exhausted after my 2-block walk. I found myself thinking that I felt like I was going to be 150 years old and not 50. It felt it was just wrong to feel that bad, and not be so old.
I was REALLY upset and REALLY depressed. I decided standing on the train platform that I would go back to WW. I was REALLY desperate.
"Go back," is the operative part of the sentence. I had tried and not been successful MANY times.
I told myself that I was going to do 2 things differently:
1) I was "pretend" the program worked and follow it faithfully. I was going to be honest. I was not going to make up my own rule and my own program. I needed to accept reality and fool myself into believing that portions were smaller, or eating in front of the open refrigerator made it not count.
2) I was going to attend meetings. I was not going to run in and just weigh-in and leave. I told myself that I was going to force myself and "pretend" I liked people.
Follow the program and attend the meetings. That's the key to making it work?
Soon I stopped pretending because it worked. I also found that I really liked the meetings. I liked the people. I liked being accountable. I liked that no matter how bad the week might have been that I felt like I had a fresh start.
I have never tried WW before....but I'm currently where you were when you were standing on the L platform. I'm 52 and at my top weight ever.
I still struggle with my weight. I am currently getting myself back to my goal weight, because it will make me happier and I owe it to my members.
I'm not sure I have ever showed my "before" and "after" photos, well, here they are, I went from a 44 inch waist to 34:
Before (the 3 that exist, and when I was going through a "thin" period. There are almost no photos of me, because I typically did not allow myself to be photographed)
After, about 80 or 90 pounds later (and very happy to be staying at the Boardwalk)
I hope this has come across as a lecture. I am just very passionate about smart eating, because I know that for me, my life was literally transformed by it.
right now - dryer just bussed so I guess I should go out there & get that taken care of.
Everybody else: I just came back from a great visit with Ian and Sukie. My mom joined me and we took a little road trip today. I was so excited to meet Tallulah & Truman! They're SO adorable! It was really hard not to sneak out with them! Cheri is going to fall in love with them for sure! We had a nice tour of the neighborhood (which I loved), had a nice lunch, and I just enjoyed myself. Sukie was a riot, my mom just got a kick out of him and also kept saying how nice Ian is. 
And when you do, please send some of that motivation my way! 
