Hello ALL:

See that wonderful number above - YAY!!!  Down 3.2 lbs. this week.  I felt it was going to be good because I tried something new this week.  At TV time, I only had an 8 oz. glass of diet cranberry juice - no apple or banana or 100 calorie snack as I had been doing.  Also, there was more exercise - on Monday, I worked on the lawn weedwhacking, blowing and sweeping. Also, went to the pool and did some arm and leg exercises.  Yesterday, I trimmed some shrubs and planted six Mexican petunias in 90 degree heat.  I also watched my salt intake the last couple of days prior to weigh-in so, all in all, I was hoping weigh in would be much better than last week and it was.  

Was supposed to get together with son and DIL to celebrate Mother's Day early since hubby and I are joining our good friends in Vero Beach for an overnight getaway tomorrow but I was feeling a bit out of sorts, so I spoke with son and asked if we could do it next weekend instead. It's DIL's BD on Friday and the plan is to go to a Mexican restaurant that she likes so maybe we will do Mother's Day that Sat. or Sun.  It's no big deal because I see them often.

Daughter is getting ready for her surgery on Monday.  I haven't been sleeping well the past couple of nights because I've had that on my mind.  We've been very fortunate not to have had any surgeries in our family (except hubby years ago) so I'm stressing somewhat.  I know she is going to a great hospital and her doctor is very confident that this is a routine procedure, etc. but still...  Thanks for all of your kind words and thoughts on her behalf.

Well, that's about all that's new with me for now.  I'm SO glad I decided to rejoin DD and to chat with all of you again.  It's great to have the support and caring.  I wish all of the Mothers a very happy Mother's Day.  I hope you are treated royally as you truly deserve to be!!!!

Regards,

TM (Pat)

Happy Thursday!

Tomorrow is weigh-in day and not sure what the WW "official" scale is going to read but I'm hoping to at least hit the 30 lb. mark if not more.  Food has been good, exercise has been good as well.  I'm waiting for the water softener guy to come check out our unit.  It does not kick off as often as it should and we're not sure if it's based on water consumption (it's just hubby, me and three kitties), so we'll see. Afterwards, I need to get to Home Depot to buy three more Mexican petunias (very pretty purple flowers with dark green leaves) to plant on the side of our house.  I have two plants already but hubby said it would look better with five.  Hopefully we will plant them when he gets home from subbing today.  He is at the same elementary school that son teaches at. 

Spoke with daughter and she told me she is to have the gall bladder removed on Monday, May 14th at 10:00 a.m.  She is going to Johns Hopkins Hospital and has to be there for 8.  Procedure should take approximately one hour.  Thankfully, David (fiance) will be by her side so I do not have to fly up to MD.  Please keep her in your prayers.  Thanks so much.

Eating light today due to weigh-in tomorrow.  For exercise, I plan to trim some shrubs and plant the Mexican petunias.  Depending on how all of that goes, we may take our evening walk around our subdivision.

Hope you are doing well.  Have a GREAT day.

Regards,

TM (Pat)

Hello All:

It is HOT, HOT, HOT in Central Fl. today.  Just got back from going to son and DIL's home to wait for Sears to show up to fix their dishwasher.  Unfortunately, when DIL got home at 3:15, they still had not come but at least I was free to leave.  Went to Dollar Tree (dollar store) and bought a few things.  It always amazes me how they can sell such nice stuff for only $1 and yet still make a profit.  Must be a very profitable business because there are tons of dollar stores around here. 

So far, this week has been somewhat challenging but I'm able to cope by not eating over it.  Found out that my daughter does have to have her gall bladder removed after all.  Not sure if this is going to take place before or after she and my future SIL visit over Memorial Day weekend.  Waiting to hear when her doctor is available.  She and her fiance live in Silver Spring, MD. 

This weekend (Saturday), hubby and I are going away overnight to Vero Beach.  Heard that it's a really nice area of FL.  Going with our good friends (and neighbors) and whenever we travel with them, we always have a great time because we all get along so well.  I'm somewhat concerned about food but I will pack my WW diining out guide, points calculator and food pocket guide to help me make the best choices possible. 

Yesterday, hubby and I cut our lawn (he did the lawn, I did the weedwhacking, blowing, and sweeping up).  All in all, I was outside for about 2.5 hours so I earned some activity points (I estimate 12).  Afterwards, we went to our community pool and enjoyed the entire pool all by ourselves.  I did some arm and leg exercises in the pool so I got additional exercise.  The water was great, very refreshing, however, I did get a nasty burn which made for a lousy night's sleep.

That's about it for now.  Hope you are having a good Tuesday.

Take care,

TM (Pat)

Good Sunday to all:

Well, weigh-in on Friday was disappointing to say the least - down only .4 lb.  I wasn't expecting that although a couple of days before I did have a bit too much salt intake because I noticed I was feeling a bit "puffy".  Not looking for excuses because I thought I had a good week food-wise and exercise-wise.  Did a lot of walking on Wednesday when I accompanied hubby to Universal Studios.  He has the annual pass but I'm not a fan of that park, so I sat at CityWalk and people-watched and listened to their piped in music.  Just the walk from the parking garage to the area that houses the stores had to be a good mile not to mention that it was 93 degrees so that should count for something, I would hope.  I sat down by the water spritzers and sipped my water and just watched the kiddies having fun with the spouting water.  Hubby returned after an hour or so but it was even hotter so I decided to walk back to the parking garage (another mlle) and sit in a covered area while he went to the second park.  All in all, this took four hours.  I was exhausted from the heat and waiting for him.  Had I known he was going to be that long, (he said he would be only an hour or so) I would have stayed home.  Lesson learned.  We still took our evening walk around our development, though.

Yesterday was cinco de Mayo and the wife of our good friends is Mexican so to celebrate her holiday, we went to a Mexican restaurant.  I was very proud of myself because I didn't have any of the tortilla chips and salsa that they put on our table while we were waiting for our meal.  Two baskets of chips and I ate NONE - YAY!!!!!!  So far in 12 weeks of doing WW, I'm down exactly 29 lbs.  That averages out to 2.4 lbs. per week so I am not complaining by any means.  

On Friday, I went to David's Bridal with my DIL to look at MOB dresses.  I tried on three and they looked really nice.  I didn't order any because I'm hoping to lose minimally another 30 lbs. by 11/11.  I was just looking at what styles they had available.  DIL ordered her bridesmaid dress too.  As I'm writing this, hubby is at the cinema with son and DIL watching the Avengers.  I'm not a comic book hero fan so I stayed home and did a few things around the house.  Once he gets back, we need to go to Home Depot and maybe to our community pool.  Usually on the weekend, there are a lot of kids so I prefer to go when the kiddies are in school but we'll see depending on what time he gets home.

Hope all of you are having a good weekend. 

Regards,

TM (Pat) 

Hello All:

Today was a good day (so far).  Hubby just got home from subbing and is resting a bit.  We were supposed to go to Pier One to check out something I'm interested in for a Mother's Day gift but I told him we can go tomorrow since he is off.  We took a really nice walk with our good friends and their two dogs last night.  It was nice to walk and chat.  The dogs are two little ones so they are easy to handle.  Afterwards, I had some delish SF jello with light topping as my TV time snack.  Today was a quiet day in that I watered the plants and lawn (sprinklers only go off on Wed/Sun due to water restrictions).  We desparately need rain down here.  Went to Wal-Mart for a few things and straightened up the house (not much to straighten since it is just the two of us).  Food for today was:

B - 1/3 cup p.s. ricotta, one banana, 2 cups of coffee 

L - 1 coffee, 1 cup honey nut cheerios with 1/3 cup 2% milk, banana, 3 pt. ice cream bar

Snack - coffee, banana

D - one stuffed pepper, beet & onion salad 

Snack - either SF jello w/light topping or unsweetened applesauce with splenda and cinnamon

Gotta go make the beet salad and heat up the peppers so I'll read your blogs later.   Wishing you all a GREAT day!

TM  (Pat)

Good Monday morning:

Hubby is subbing today at the same school where my son teaches (St. Cloud Elementary) so I am here catching up with all of you.  Thanks SO much for the various suggestions on how to curb the "chewing/spitting" situation. Sorry that it sounds so disgusting (which it is) but I seem to do it when I'm feeling bored.  Again, I'm still adjusting to the new lifestyle.  Food was very good this weekend.  Son and DIL invited me to dinner yesterday as hubby was at a fundraiser golf tournament.  I ate very carefully having 8 oz. of london broil, 1/2 cup scalloped potatoes and 3 tablespoons of mixed veggies along with a nice tall glass of water.  This was both my lunch and dinner.  In the evening, I had a cup of coffee with animal cracekers and some SF jello with topping.  All in all it was a good day food-wise.  Daughter called me to say that she has IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and also may have to have her gall bladder removed.  Needless to say, I'm on pins and needles waiting for her to have a sonogram to find out what's what.  She and her fiance are scheduled to visit us for Memorial Day weekend so I don't know if this is still going to happen. 

Plan on taking my evening walk with hubby tonight.  Our development is very flat so it's easy to walk up and down the various streets (there are only 5).  Making WW style stuffed peppers for dinner - can't wait.  Haven't had them in a while.  Also plan on making WW style eggplant tomorrow.  There's a great produce place that sells every kind of fruit/veggie under the sun.

Hope you are having a wonderful day.

Regards,

TM (Pat)

Hello ALL:

Today was WW weigh-in and I posted a 1.4 lb. loss for the week.  I was pleasantly surprised as I've gotten into my nasty habit of chewing and spitting out food when I have a craving.  It was under control for the first 8 weeks of the program but now that I am seeing (and feeling) successful, this nasty thing is starting to rear it's ugly head.  Any suggestions on how to eliminate it completely?  I do allot WW points for this but it is such a waste of food and precious points - not to mention the guilt.  I was feeling so guilty that last night I agreed to go with hubby to Disney World (we have annual passes and live about 25 minutes away) just to walk off the points I had consumed.  One of my biggest problems is that I eat out of boredom.  After working for so many years and now being reitred and empty nesters (we have 3 cats), I guess I'm still trying to get used to the new lifestyle.  Hubby does substitute teaching 2-3 days a week so that means on those days, I am by myself until 4 p.m.  I'm looking for a hobby - any suggestions?   I curerently do gardening and reading. 

Anyway, going to visit our good friends and neighbors in a few minutes, so I will close.  Thanks for the warm welcome back. 

Have a GREAT day.

TM (Pat)

P.S.  Does anyone know how to update my profile?  Do I have to open a new blog?   Thanks.

Hello ALL:

It's been almost four (yes FOUR) years since my last post.  A lot has happened.  First...hubby and I are now retired and living the good life in Central Florida (left NJ in 6/10).  My son got married in December '10 in Florida on the beach at St. Petersburg and my daughter is getting married on 11/11 of this year.  She and her fiance live in Maryland but the wedding also will be held in Florida (St. Cloud).   I am doing well - still fighting the battle of the bulge.  Rejoined WW on February 10th starting at a whopping 256.6 - my all time highest weight.  After 10 weeks of doing the program, I'm happy to say that I currently weigh 229.2, a loss of 27.2 lbs.  Weigh-in day is Friday.  Not sure how this week has gone but I'm hoping for a loss.  Last week I lost 2.4 lbs. so we'll see.  Even though I haven't posted, I still have read the blogs over the past months.  It's nice to see some of the "old timers" still posting as well as all of the new people who have come and gone.  I'm planning to post at least 2-3 times a week to report on my progress.  I have so many little goals - my first one is hoping to be 220 by the time daughter and her fiance come for a visit over Memorial Day weekend.  

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Regards,

TM (Pat)

Hello to YOU~ I cannot believe it's been SO long since my last post. Time sure does fly! I've been having slow but steady success with WW at work program that started five weeks ago. I am currently down 5.4 lbs and am very grateful for this success. It seems to be coming off a lot slower than last time but at least the scale is heading in the right direction once again so I must keep this in mind. Work has been on the quiet side but hopefully things will be picking up soon. The boss has been coming into the office a little more frequently since her foot surgery almost two months ago. As some of you may recall, she and I did not have the best working relationship but things have drastically improved since her review in March. She's done a 180 and we have been getting along so much better. Things on the homefront are going well. Hubby, son and son's gf returned safely from their two week trip to Disney World. Daughter and I had a wonderful girls' weekend with my sister and her daughter a couple of weekends ago when we stayed at a cute B&B in Lancaster, PA. It was so nice to be able to catch up and tour the area. We even went to a couple of garage sales, outlet malls and farmer's market. Got home around 7 p.m. on Sunday the 17th and I decided to cut the lawn. I was cutting grass in the dark. Good thing the tractor has headlights and I actually found out how to put them on - LOL! The office is closing early (2 p.m.) tomorrow so we can get a jump start on the long Labor Day weekend. Where did the summer go?????

Going to see how all of you have been doing...well, I hope.

Regards,

TM (Pat)

Just got back from WW at Work. Lost .6 lbs. WHIPPEEE!!!! Everyone else lost 4, 5 and one person lost 7 lbs!!!! There I am .6. I have to say I really didn't follow the program so I probably got what I deserved. Nonetheless it was disappointing because the last couple of days have been greatly improved food-wise, not to mention I worked out in the yard trimming trees (no small chore, that's for sure) on Sunday for a good two hours. Doesn't that account for anything???? Today's subject of the meeting was to "move more". Weel, geez, doesn't trimming trees and picking up debris constitute moving more????? I really didn't put 100% percent into my food choices this past week but, hopefully, this coming week will be better especially since I don't have to cook for anyone but me!!!!! The obnoxious co-worker was there and as usual, she had a comment for just about everything the leader talked about. I just ignored her and that helped somewhat. Maybe next week will be one of the weeks she'll be traveling. That would be nice!!!!!

Heard from my Disney-bound family and they are doing well. Right now they're at my brother's and then having lunch at my sister's. They'll be getting on the road tonight after dinner. They like to travel during the night (which I HATE). Should arrive in FL in the early morning.

Nothing else is new. Plan to stop at the grocery store after work to get some more fruits and veggies. I'm not keeping junk food in the house while the guys are gone so it will be less temptation for me. I'm hoping for at least a 2 lb. loss next week. Let's see if I can make it happen!!!!

Hope you're all having a GREAT day :)

Regards,

TM (Pat)