water is a magic part of my weight loss. I find when I slack on my water (anything less than a gallon a day) my body tends to bloat and hold onto anything I put in it.

I've also become more sensitive to sodium or maybe more aware of it. I can count on being up a pound after eating out or eating prepared foods.

I've been down on water, and ate out a bit too much last week and my fingers feel like fat sausages, so I know the scale is also going to be up.

You might want to try changing up your gym routine too. I try to do upper body weights at least twice a week to keep my body moving in different routines.

I just ate a 1/2 a bag of Tostito's with Lime chips...that might be a problem. :yikes:

Maddy...I think I'm screwed on the salt intake for today. :D

I guess I didn't realize exactly where I was at currently. A little bit ago I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I got out of the shower and I was taken aback. I know things haven't been going well for the past couple of weeks for me but oh boy. I got on the scale and found that I'm now 10 lbs. lighter than where I was at the start of the year. I'm going in the wrong direction in a big way. :(

I don't want to sound like a pitty whore or something but I need some help. Please, can someone send me some words of encouragement? I'm at the stage right now where it could take me about a year to make up for what these last couple of weeks have dealt me and frankly I'm pretty down about it.

I think we need to find IowaMan a hot little personal trainer. :D

(((((IowaMan)))))

Today I was back at the university pool with the girls but I didn't have as much time as usual so I only did maybe 24 laps - thursday I'll be less of a slack-ass.

March 13 : 0.6 km

I am joining WW with work. We start Monday. I was wondering if anybody has used or seen the point bracelets. I want to make some and need to see some examples.

Oops, I've been forgetting to log my swimming here!

March 16 : .75 km

March 22 : .5 km

Lack of time means that I have been swimming less lately.

Pssssst.....you spelled WI wrong. :p

I'm up to 30 pushups and I've added crunches to my 'routine'.

Mr. Lil and Most Honorable Son #1 are doing push ups too.

I am trying to recreate the bracelets but don't know the typical amount of points a person usually consumes. Any help?

I don't know, Lil, but the bracelets I am seeing have 30 points on them, if that's any help.

Lil, it used to be very easy to figure out, but now its some formula that WW won't publish as far as I can tell that factors gender, weight, and amount of normal activity in your workday.

I don't know what you weigh, but I'm relatively certain you will be below 30 pts per day.

I'm not familar with the bracelets but I can guess how they work - for me personally it wouldn't be a good tool. Without using a journaling tool you are likely to guess on pt values and guess wrong.

I find journaling to be the best way, it allows you to reflect back over a particularly good or bad week and determine what you did wrong or right and adjust appropriately.

WW also operates on a 8 healthy guideline system and you are likely to be more successful when you spend your points making sure you meet those guidelines. The guidelines are:

1. Eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits each day.
2. Choose whole-grain foods, such as brown rice and oats, whenever possible.
3. Include two servings of milk products – low fat (1%) or fat-free – each day.
4. Have some healthy oil (olive oil, canola, sunflower, safflower or flaxseed) each day.
5. Ensure that you are getting enough protein by choosing at least a serving or two of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or dried beans each day. Many dairy products are also good sources of protein.
6. Limit added sugar and alcohol.
7. Drink at least 6 8-ounce glasses of water a day.
8. Take a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement each day.

Oh, I meant to add more thoughts on the journaling. My guess is you want to use the bracelet to help you during the day? I know your situation is very different than mine but I would think planning will be your best mechanism. If you are taking your lunch with you, you should plan the points for that food when you pack it in advance. And if you are eating at school, my guess is you know the lunch menu in advance and can again plan in advance.

It might be helpful to understand why you'd like to use a bracelet. I hate to sounding like I'm poo-pooing your idea.

I eat lunch at school but the menu isn't 100%. I actually don't necessarily want the bracelets for me. I wanted to have my group make them together. Kind of team building.

Something I read in that YOU on a Diet book really spoke to me and that was the part about constantly thinking about food or planning it. I like the idea of the bracelet to sort of keep track without me thinking about it. Not sure it would work but feel I should give it a try. I am hoping with the corporate rates we still get online support/tools.

You can sign up for the message boards for free (without access to the online system) - it's very different than here, that's for sure. But it can be a good support mechanism.

As far as points, in the new system (introduced in December), I think the low end of points is 18. And most people I would believe would be under 30. I'm not sure how helpful that is in trying to plan for bracelets. Your points also decrease as you lose weight, so I would think you'd want to build that flexibility in.

Thanks! I was trying to make sure I'd have enough supplies. Do you know of any :p renegade WW :p websites/forums that I can direct people to for additional support?

I am the workplace "go-to-girl" so I am trying to put together some helpful info.

Honestly, I've mostly stuck to ww site. But I do poke around occassionally on hungry-girl.com

Day 1- I've made it this far, but once my points are gone I'm going to bed :p

I've finally been able to get the mind over matter thing working again and got to working out again. Been going at it pretty well for the last 4 or 5 days and I can tell a difference in the way that I feel. Just sort of tough sometimes to just put it out of my mind that I can barely breathe while I'm trying to finish up another set on the weight bench.

Since the weather has been nice I've been able to get out and walk a bit in the mornings which hopefully will help a bit as well. It usually does.

Still, I've lost yet another couple of pounds. I guess I know that I'll probably lose a bit before I put on more muscle weight but I don't know where I'm losing the weight from to tell you the truth. The scale I've got measures body fat % and this morning it had me at 8%. That's pretty lean. Must be losing more of that fat I've got stored between my ears again. :p

Anyway, I'm struggling but I'm still plowing a trail forward. Go IowaMan Go!

March 28 : 1 km

Yay Neige! 1 km!

I'm up to 35 pushups.

If I lie down on the floor beneath you I bet you will either be doing lots more pushing or a lot less getting up :D



I am down 3.2 lbs this week.

woohoo Lilith!

I really need to find my give-a-damn. I think perhaps I'll have veggies for dinner tonight.

Just a little free find to pass along ... seems to have a lot of useful information and resources...

www.sparkpeople.com

March 30 : 1 km

I will be missing tomorrow at the pool and probably the rest of the week... Hopefully next week I'll be able to get back on track!

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th so I'm not even going to think about stepping on the scale then, I need all the good luck I can get. :yikes:

Still sort of struggling to even keep my weight steady but I'm still giving it the best I've got. Got a bit of added incentive if I can gain the weight that I need. ;)

Well I went swimming for the first time in years, which was great fun and I can see me doing it more often. Only down side is that now for some reason I can't stop sneezing. :(

But it was great to do something for once, especially now I don't get so much walking everyday through having a car.

I've been absolutely terrible ever since Easter with my workouts. Sort of screwed up my good knee then and I've used it as an excuse to be lazy. :(

This last week though I've got in more physical activity while coaching the kids baseball team than I have in an awfully long time. It's not helping me put on weight but I can tell that it is helping as far as getting me into a bit better shape.

I've gained 2 lbs in the past 2-3 weeks, but I am soon to be done with class and I will be good then!!

I'm on an exercise kick but I am far too lazy/x= a million other reasons, to join the gym. I am picking up some equipment. I've still got my elliptical. I picked up some free weights and now I just got the Ab Lounge Ultra. Anyone use home equipment instead of a gym? I think when you add in the old punching bag, I may have a home gym soon.

yep, I'm a home equipment kinda guy. :nod:

What do you use? What's your fave?

My favorite thing is actually an impulse buy from probably six, seven years ago off of an infomercial. It's a Body By Jake Total Body Trainer. Easy to use, doesn't take up much room and it actually does work (when I'm not too lazy to use it).

Mostly I'm a free weights guy though. I have probably 250 lbs. of weights (much more than I need anymore) and bought a new weight bench a few months ago that has a leg extension/curl attachment.

Been very tempted to buy the Ab Lounge but I know I wouldn't use it.

I just used it.

OMG ouch. Works stuff I didn't know I wasn't using.

Be sure not to over-do it!! Start slow so you don't develop a Pavlovian response when you see the weights. :p

i have some small weights, a stair master thingy, an ab crunching thingy and an ealstic band. i also liked to just boogey to the dance music channels on the tv. i used to walk in the mornings but i got out of the habbit a few months ago and now that things are better, i haven't gotten back into it. i really should, it was my zen time.

i can't afford the gym and i'd never get my money's worth out of a membership anyway, so i do stuff at home when/if i feel like it. those ab loungers look very temping to me, i may have to look into one after el nino tercero arrives.

I gave my parents a really nice clothing rack.
























They're using it as an exercise bike. :rolleyes:

My best friend's mom has a basement full of all sorts of exercise equipment. Can honestly say I've never known of any of it to be used. Was actually out there when the UPS guy (may have been FedEx) brought the Bowflex machine that she ordered. The look on her husband's face was priceless. He just got up, went down to the beer fridge and yelled, "Anybody else need one?"

When he came back upstairs he said to her, "I think there's room for it over in the corner by the freezer." That was around Christmas probably five years ago and when I was out there over the weekend I noticed the thing is still there, unopened, right there in that corner. :rofl: