From us three hotties still trapped in fat bodies ~ we wish you a very Merry CHRISTmas and Happy New Year!

Many Blessings,

Linda, Sandy, and Debbie

Happy Thanksgiving

We three sisters hope you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving day!
Hope your food choices are smart (ours as well)!!

Many Blessings,

Linda, Sandy & Debbie

Okay, since starting this blog I have gained about 10 pounds. What's up with that?????? I am outta control. I am really at a loss. I know I don't feel great. I am anticipating surgery and a little nervous and I really wanted to be down a few pounds. Oh well. I have all the head knowledge to succeed but the heart and mind have to be willing. I know it will come. I just have to take that first step for the millioneth time.
Linda

Okay Kari this one's for you!
My sisters and I seem to have slacked in our new blog!!
Busy with life, busy with family and well weight loss sometimes takes the absolute last spot on our list of priorities. I cannot speak for my sisters but I had a spell there where I was stuck at the same number on the scale - can you say aggrevating!!! I have seemed to make a break through and am now down 16 lbs. from when I started this low carb thing.
Weekends are killer for me. Fridays are pizza night for our family and I LOVE a good pizza. I have been having my hubby make hot wings for me on Fridays and that has seemed to take care of my craving for pizza. He makes some awesome wings!
Alright sisters ~ time for you to post. I know you are both having your own struggles so post em! Let us know what you are up to!!
Have a wonderful weekend. Tomorrow is friday so you know I'll be having wings and not pizza.
Blessings,
Sandy

Down 13lbs!
Thanks for the push Kari - it is about time we posted! Way to go on the 41+ weight loss girlfriend!! Keep up the awesome job!
I have been doing really good on the eating front but haven't had much time to exercise lately!
I spent $230 on a 6 month gym membership and it expires in October and I have to say I haven't gotten my monies worth - my fault not the gyms! I have decided that at the end of the time period I will spend my money elsewhere and join this center that offers water aerobics instead. My friend Barb has been going up to 5 days and week and has gotten me excited about joining there. I have a treadmill in my house but with the amount of other things I have going on I haven't had the chance to jump on it either which is a shame.
I am down 13 lbs. from when I started this journey again on the low carb way of life. I am down 21 lbs. from Jan. 07 which I know was a long time ago but I think it's awesome that I'm down that much since then.
I have to say my biggest struggle - other than not making exercise a daily priority is my head hunger issues. I have tackled most of it but I have craved and wanted key lime pie now for almost 2 months. I think I will break down and have a piece when I hit 20lbs lost to give myself a treat! and then get back on program.
Okay, sisters - time for a post!! Get with it ~ good or bad!!
Have an outstanding day and LOVE yourself - we beat ourselves up way too much and I think that leads to a lot of weight issues!!!
Have an outstanding day!
Sandy

YIPPEE....One Week down

I have been eating the low carb diet for 1 week now and I am down 7. I am so excited that it has actually worked. For a while there, I felt bad but I think I might have jumped that hurdle. My sis was right, I don't think about what I am going to eat anymore as I am usually full and satisfied when I do eat. Sometimes, I have to remind myself to eat which is not a usual task I am accustomed to. I am usually the one that watches the clock....Is it 1200 yet so I can eat lunch. By 1000 I am usually planning on what I am going to have for Lunch and my 200 I am usually planning and salivating on what I am going to have for Dinner. That is not what I am doing now. Alot of the time now, I have to remind myself to prepare for dinner by deciding what we are going to have so that I have stuff thawed out. The reason is because I am no longer feeling hungry or deprived.
Thank you to all my supporters, Sandy, Mom, Linda, everyone!
Love you all!
Debbie

Sandy's Update ~
YIPPEE!! I have to say I'm loving this feeling of eating and feeling full without over eating. I have been on the low carb thing now for 10 days and have lost 9 lbs. My hubby has been on it for 8 days and is down 8lbs. I'm sure he'll pass me on the lbs. soon as most men do. I have to actually make myself eat because I'm usually not hungry. I've gotten over the head hunger which is awesome - actually the Healthy Chocolate that I take has helped with that because it curbs your appetite for sweets. I cannot say that I've missed anything ~ I thought for sure it would be the bread that I absolutely love to eat or pasta but so far I've not missed a thing.
I feel so much better as well - that roller coaster ride I was on daily has all but gone. The ups and downs because I had too much sugar or not enough and now my main goal is to tackle the caffeine in my system. I started drinking way too many sodas again and have to get on top of that.
Well, hope you have a great weekend. Tuesday is my weigh in day so I'll update then!
Sandy

2nd Day is Over!

Well, I lasted two days with all but 20 grams of carbs each day. Today was tough as I was home all day and wanted to eat everything because my head said so. But I will tell you my body was not hungry. I decided to use this mind trick, everytime my head said "Go ahead and get the pop tarts you want" I would take a drink of water. Therefore, needless to say, My eyeballs have been floating all day and my bladder is getting a big work out.

Sandy said that it was important to drink water, so why not battle the inner thoughts and mind with what it needs most water to flush out the system. Sandy is also right, I am not hungry. I ate an omlet for breakfast. I had chicken salad on lettuce for lunch and dinner. It was good and filling.

Well, I must go. Need to get some rest to keep up with my beautiful 3 year old son Andrew. Plus I have to get up early and get my beautiful daughter Hannah off to school. Have a great weekend.

Debra

OK OK

I am 3 weeks out from surgery so I am going to take my sisters lead and start the low carb diet tomorrow.
I had started cutting back on carbs but now I am going to go all out and quit. As it has helped her feel better with more energy...I am hoping to have the same result.
Wish me luck.
Debbie

HOORAY!
Okay, so after my last post I did some real soul searching and really thought about how I was eating and what I was eating. I know that I am addicted to sweets and carbs and although those are the things that I LOVE to eat those are the things that make me feel like I'm on a roller coaster all day. I decided that I would eat a low carb diet and my hubby has joined me so we are able to support each other daily with detoxing our bodies from carbs. YES, I said detoxing because we are both addicted to carbs. I could eat pasta and bread all day every day and cakes, pies, and donuts oh my all day as well. I was always hungry on the Weight Watchers plan and although I know I probably could have eaten more things to make it work better it just didn't work for me - for the 3rd time. So...
I started last Monday - sensible eating but low carb ~ a week ago and I feel incredible!!! I started last Monday weighing the same thing I did on May 30th when I joined Weight Watchers and the entire time I was on WW from May 30th until last Monday I lost and gained and lost and gained and lost 6 lbs. I weighed this morning and am down 8 lbs. I have more energy and haven't felt like I've been on a roller coaster either.

TODAY I am celebrating my 18th Anniversary with my husband and looking at the wedding pictures gives me even more encouragement to get this weight off! By my 20th Anniversary I'd like to be down to my pre-wedding weight and maintained it as well!!

Hope you have a fabulous week!!
Sandy

Not too good ~
that's how I've been at updating all of my blogs and well, actually how I've been at my food journal and sticking to my plan. It's amazing how you forget what you've eaten in a day ( I can't remember from morning to afternoon) if you don't write it down. I have several days in my journal that have breakfast and lunch written down but nothing for dinner. I know I didn't miss a meal that night but obviously forgot to write it down. I also have other days that I got the date written and that is about it. Well, it's Monday! A new day! A new week! I ate a lot of yummy food this past weekend between my husbands birthday celebration, my mother in laws birthday celebration, & my in laws 50th wedding anniversary celebration. You can go on over and check out my pics at my other blog here.
I started thinking about this blog this past weekend and how disappointing it might be since we've hardly updated it and it doesn't seem to be filled with posts of huge loses but you wanna know something? It's REAL! It's the real deal! and if you are like me ~ losing weight isn't just a daily struggle it's an hourly struggle. I've thought at least a dozen times in the last week that I should stop Weight Watchers and go to the one thing that has worked best for me and that is the low carb Atkins diet. I lost a bunch of weight and maintained it for 3 years. HOWEVER, I cannot stomach a lot of meat, cheese, and eggs like I did during those 3 years. It's like watermelon - we used to eat it all the time as kids. My dad would cut it open and put it out on the picnic table in the backyard, give us lots of spoons and my sisters and the neighborhood kids would dig in. TOO much watermelon as a kid and it's something I cannot eat now.
Wanna know something else, I'm 10 lbs. heavier now then when I started that diet in 2000 and 35 lbs heavier then when I was at my lowest weight in 2003 but it crept back on slowly.
I've started and quit the low carb thing probably 25 times this year alone.

This time around I wanted to be REAL to myself and get to a point where I was eating to nourish my body, mind and soul and not because something taste good or I'm having a craving for it or just because it's there (like the 3 krispy creme donuts yesterday were just "there" and I ate them)!

So back to it being REAL! It's a real struggle to get it off and keep it off! I know you understand where I'm coming from. I'm trying to keep it real and like I say to my kids sometimes - "get real" when they are being unreasonable - I need to get real about my food journal and sticking to a plan to be healthier!
Today is a NEW DAY! Thank God!
Have a wonderful week. I'll be back to post my weight loss on Friday!
Sandy

Happenings...

Okay, so I have not been around a while and for a weight loss blog you know what that means.... I have been bad, very, very, bad. I will make no excuses. I brain told the hand to feed the mouth and the hand obediently complied.
My sister, Sandy, who is ( or was before she came here this weekend) doing well on program came for a short visit with my 3 nephews so we had six boys in the home, 3 of which are teens, taller than us, and very hungry beings. What are two moms to do but feed them tons and of course test all the food to make sure it wasn't poison.

I thought I'd share our ww menus with you for the weekend.
Here goes...
Friday dinner
5 pieces of papa john's pizza 50pts.
Sat. movie popcorn 20 points
fried chicken burritos 15 points each
cheese cake 8 points a piece

Sunday
spagetti with fried meatballs 15 points
you get the picture. We have eaten our points for the month but we will not let that stop us from starting again this morning. :) Why is it when we have company everything is about the food??? It's like it is a get out of jail free card. I know I am not in jail but sometimes I feel like I am because I don't want to let go of certain foods (carmel fraps) that I like. I know that there are ways to make your favorite foods into a lower calorie food but I think sometimes I am too lazy for that. How bout you? Do your visits with relatives or friends revolve around food? Do you use these visits as a time to slip, or in our case flat out fall, off program? We would love to here what happens in your lives in this very rewarding, yet sometimes frustrating path to weight loss.
Linda

First things first! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER IN LAW DAVID! Love ya and glad we're here celebrating your special day with you!

Second, No WW meeting today!
I'm away from town so won't be able to go to my Weight Watchers meeting or weigh in today. I feel good though. Been following the plan and more than that really trying to make it life change instead of a diet! Diets for me are temporary ~ a life change is what I need so that I can eat and know that it is going to benefit my body not sit on it for years - you know what I mean.
I'm at my older sister Linda's house in Memphis and with 6 boys between us we're sure to have a grand time with lots of fun and lots of NOISE ~ gotta love it!
If you want to see an amazing before and after you have to go on over to http://donnadowney.typepad.com/ She has been doing Nutrasystem and looks fabulous! You have to scroll down in her posts to see her and she is so incredibly funny! Watch her videos. She's a scrapbooking goodess and I absolutely love her inspirational personality ~ oh, and did I mention she PAINTS!
Have a fabulous weekend!
Sandy

YIPPEE!!
I lost .2lbs today. Was so ecstatic that I did a little dance on the scale - thankfully no one was there but the two ladies at the counter.
After spending a weekend in Atlanta, a week in Florida and then a week busy at home catching up on everything from being away I was really anticipating a gain on the ole scale. I went many (too many) days without journaling and I have found that that is a big KEY to keeping me on track.
I've been in a funk lately as well. I eat when I'm emotional ~ okay, I eat when I'm happy, sad, mad or indifferent. Working out today really got my mind off of some things today and I'm trying to keep things in perspective.
I was looking through my closet today and decided that I needed to pull some things that I'd really like to get into (I made a goal!) and I put those so that those were the first things I see when I walk into my closet! Some still have tags on them and it will be nice to take those off and slip into those clothes.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Sandy
TIP: If you are doing Weight Watchers here is a time saver for you ~ when you unload your groceries after shopping take a Sharpie and write the pts. value on the items that you eat. I can't seem to remember (must be this 40 yr. old brain of mine)hehehe

Weigh in

Well I have had a pretty good week this week but my monthly visitor arrived so I did not expect big numbers but I expected at least 2-3lbs. Didn't happen, -1.6 I know it is a loss but I was a little discouraged. During the meeting our leader talked about how in the summer we tend to get so busy we don't eat on a regular schedule and how that can sabotage your weight loss if you save all your points and use them in the evening. She said your body doesn't have enough time to metabolise the food. Made perfect sense and that is exactly what I did this week. I worked so hard during the days this week to prepare for a yard sale we are going to have that I mostly ate only at night. I guess a loss is a loss though and I am happy about that. It's another week and I will be monitoring my eating schedule a little bit better and hoping for a bigger number next week. I do feel a little less focused on food right now which is also a plus. I am seeing some and feeling some emotional changes going on as well so that is good too.
The pictures above are what one pound looks like. The pound of chocolate looks so much prettier but I guess if the fat was served in it's real form yuck( the second picture) I think it would be less appealing. Looking at pictures of one what one pound looked like made me feel a little better about my small loss this week.


Here is a wonderful WW recipe that I got a while back and I make it quite often. We all love it and it is so easy.





Cheesy Crockpot Chicken (7.5 PTS)

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Cans 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Cooked rice
Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Put chicken in the bottom of the crockpot. Add rest of ingredients on top. Cook 8 hours on low. Serve over rice or noodles. (Points include rice)

Per Serving: 328 Calories; 8g Fat; 55g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 146mg
Cholesterol; 631mg Sodium.



I usually don't cut up the chicken it just makes it that much easier to make. I don't see the serving size above so I try to keep it at about a cup to a cup and 1/2 I also use brown rice.


I have a close friend who said her family would never eat this but her son was over here one night with my son and he had 3 helpings and still wanted more. It really is great and very easy.


If you try it let me know how you liked it.


Hope you are having a great week.


Linda

By the way, Becky if you are out there I tried to find you but blogger said your profile cannot be seen. I would love to visit you but can't thanks for the comment you left a couple of posts ago

Finally a post by the middle sister of the three!

I'm Sandy and was so thrilled with the characature of me in the car - perky is all I can say - and I like it! I'm excited that my sisters and I have started to journal our journey that I know we've all struggled with all our lives. We're hoping to make some bloggin' friends that have the same issues and struggles and hopefully along the way we can INSPIRE each other to be better!



So why the BOZO punching bag you ask?

Well, I am one of those people that continues to beat myself up over things that cannot be changed or for only things I can change.

I just came home from a week in Florida for a painting covention and like all things (wedding, reunions, etc.) I was hoping to loose about 25 lbs. before I went. In March I decided I could get it off. Well, a week before, I was beating myself up because I was only down 9 lbs. since March. I did manage to lose a few lbs. while there because of all the long walking between the room and the conference rooms. It certainly wasn't from eating correctly or on plan with WW at all. I ate what I wanted and didn't give it a second thought - until I came home and hadn't changed the way I was eating and put those few lbs. back on ~ phewy. Now, I ususally do two things when that happens - beat myself up and start eating to make myself feel better or I stop eating and by about 3 p.m. am so hungry I binge on things that aren't good for me. Plus, I've completely messed up my metobolism in the meantime and it just really doesn't know what to do.

Donna Dewberry spoke to us at the painting convention and asked us all to make a list of our goals and to start it out with stamping out NEGATIVITY in our lives. Now, that is a hard one. I have lots of negative people in my life to include myself. But I've printed out this negativity button and put it on my fridge, in my wallet, on my mirror in my bathroom. I need that reminder to think positive, be positive, not only with my weight but in all situations in my life. I've decided that everytime I start to think/do something negative or am faced with a negative situation that I pray about it immediately. I am not capable of handling it on my own and know that only God can help me change it into a POSITIVE!

Have a healthy and positive day!
Sandy

Just so you know...Linda does have sisters and is not the only one that is going to blog...Here I am. I am Debbie, the baby.

I struggle daily with eating. I work a full time job that sometimes is two(60 hours a week instead of 40). I work in Retail which in itself is a very stressful career, but now a days it is even more stressful because of the state of the economy. I am an emotional eater like Linda, Sandy and our Mom. The stress of my position keeps me wanting to run to the snack machine or the front of my store for a candy bar, chips, diet coke, of course, and anything else I see. I don't do it but man are those thoughts always there. I walk to the registers to do a void or answer a call and walk by not one but two ice cream machines....OH MY! KLONDIKES

We all like to eat and have fun but Linda is right...we are not eat to live, we are live to eat.

It is a day to day project to work on ones self instead of always wanting to work for others. Lots of self analysis. I have always been the largest one in my family and it is a struggle to try and teach my kids too the best eating habits. Andrew is a eat to live and Hannah is a live to eat. My oh My....do we have a lot to learn on this journey.

Closing for now....

Balance

I am finding myself wanting to veg out in front of the tv and eat. I am trying to overcome that by cleaning. My house in on the market so cleaning it is not bad in fact it needs a pretty good deep clean. There are a million things I could clean, but at the same time I don't want to fully replace one thing for another. Does that make sense? When I am done cleaning and organizing I will go back to wanting to veg out on the couch. If I play with my kids everytime I'm hungry what do I do when they go to bed? Of course I know I can eat something healthy but I'm trying not to eat if I am not hungry I don't want to feed the "emotion" I have got to figure out a way to own these feelings and deal with them. I so wish I was an "eat to live" person. I am so a "live to eat"person. I am raising two kids that eat to live and I watch them and it fascinates me that they can turn down really great food. "No thanks, I'm full is what they say and everytime it amazes me "what do you mean you don't want chocolate?". Now I am also raising one just like me so I have to be very careful with him.

I believe that excess in anything is not good so I don't want to trade one excess for another. I want to walk on this journey and embrace every bit of it the good & bad the easy & the hard.

Since I haven't figured it out yet I think I will go buy some gum to chew while I clean my house and play with my kids and if I run out of points I will go to bed even if it is only 1:00 in the afternoon.

Have a great day!

Linda

I cannot separate the two

For me food has been a "drug of choice" most of my life. I eat when I am happy, sad, lonely, bored, you name it and I can find a reason to eat. It really hit me one day when I was at the store with all three of my boys whom I love dearly and am blessed to have but I never want to take them all three at the same time to any store ever. Did I get my point across???? :) I struggle through the store and very quickly found everything I needed but it was not quick enough to avoid the kids bickering and wanting everything in sight. I was frazzeled by the time I got to the car so I quickly pulled out a candy bar and devoured it in probably less than a second. I then took a deep breath, started the car and prceeded home. As I pondered the events of the day I had to step back and was really ashamed that I numbed myself with candy. As a christian it is even more alarming as I know the only way to obtain true peace is through the Father. An idol is anything you put before the Father and believe me food could certainly be called an idol in my life and I can promise you that food has never brought me lasting peace ever!!!! That's why for me I cannot put God in a box and say okay Lord I am going to try to lose weight you take care of bigger things and I will see you on Sunday okay? I know for me to succeed I have to include Him on this journey. How about you? Is food your drug of choice? How do you cope when you so want to numb the emotion you are feeling? I would love to know.
Linda

Welcome

I am so excited!!!! Even if we don't lose and ounce didn't Brandy do a fabulous job on our new blog????
I called my sister, Sandy, one day and asked her what she was doing. She said I am on my way to WW and I immediately jumped on the bandwagon so did my little sister, Debbie. We got all excited about creating a blog to journal our successes and failures etc. We went back and forth with silly titles and this it what we came up with. We just wanted to bring some humor into our journey as it is not an easy one to tackle. I contacted Brandy about doing our blog and I believe that was back in May. Since then. I joined and rejoined WW, Sandy's lost about 6 pounds and Debbie is a little hesitant but willing to try:)

I will have you know that one would think I am trying to set a record on who can join and quit WW the most in one calendar year. haha I would say that I have joined 4 times this year. I know without a doubt that it can work but I must have that motivation that I feel I have right now. At one time I had a weight loss ticker on my other blog to sort of hold me accountable but after a few weeks it mysteriously disappeared. :) I still haven't figured out who removed it(me) Anyway I hope you enjoy our new blog. Please feel free to comment with any ideas or help that would enable us to get on the track to being healthier.
Nothing negative please as we do a good enough job of heaping negative on ourselves daily. ( another battle to fight)
Hoping to form some new friends that are on the same journey.
Linda