Hi all! I'm back from my two week trip to North Carolina. It's taken me a few days to get back on the forum. I ran into some computer woes on my return, but we seem to have it fixed now.

I had started a topic called "Weight Watchers and Wii", but I decided to change it to a more generic "weight loss" since not everyone here wanting to lose weight is doing Weight Watchers. It doesn't really matter what food program you're following, I am just interested in providing/recieving mutual support!

The trip was great. I go to a place called John C. Campbell Folk School (www.folkschool.org), which has it's challenges with regards to diet. You eat in a communal dining hall and the best description for the meals is "southern comfort food". But I did much better than I ever have in the past. I made better choices, eating a lot more salad and veggies and avoiding the bread and some of the desserts. I wasn't perfect by any stretch, I still ate more than I do at home, but far less than I usually do when I'm at Campbell. In addition I WALKED, WALKED, WALKED. I parked my car when I got there, and didn't use it again until I left. I walked in sun, rain and snow. I walked when it was below freezing! My knees held up great. All the PT and Wii really paying off.

The net result was I gained half a pound during the two weeks I was there. Believe me, that is a HUGE success. In the past I've gained as much as 5 pound there! I'm thrilled with my half pound!

I'm now back on program both with my diet and my exercise. Currently working the Advanced level of Island Cycling. It's taking me almost 5 miles to find all the flags! Hoping to get that down over the next week or so.

How'd everyone else do the past few weeks?

I just realized I posted this in the wrong section. It should be diet and life style. Any way to move it? or should I just start over there?

ow... Yesterday I added ankle weights and hand weights to My Routine. Today I'm stiff and sore!!! I think I may do a yoga DVD today instead of Wii to stretch my body out.

Today I warmed up with Island Cycling (advanced level) adn then switched to a Yoga DVD.

I tried a different route on the Island and promptly lost a couple flags. Took me forever to find them again. Back up to 3.9 miles and 15 minutes. Only two stars. For some reason I have a heck of a time finding the entrance to the mountain at the top. I always end up going in from the bottom and having to struggle my way up the ramp inside.

After that I dusted off one of my old Yoga DVDs and gave it a shot. I hadn't tried it since before my knee injury. I was thinking a little yoga would help loosen up my muscles from the workout I gave them yesterday with the weights. I'd forgotten how HARD yoga is! It whipped me. And some of the exercises put too much strain on my knees and I had to skip them. Next time I try that I'm going back to my old standby. I've got a DVD titled "Yoga for Inflexible People". Still a good workout, but much kinder to my body.

Weight Watchers Weigh-in on Sunday. Keeping my fingers crossed!

I had to make an adjustment to my workout today. My heel started hurting from all the exercising barefoot. I had tried wearing my supportive athletic shoes, with my custom orthodics, before, but I kept stepping off the balance board. I found I needed the feedback from my feet on the nubbly surface to let me know where I was. Today I tried putting a chair in front of me to give me a visual reference instead. That worked ok, although I sitll drift a little bit. I am going to try setting a walker (courtesy of my father-in-law) around the balance board tomorrow to give me a framework on three sides. I really have to wear my shoes.

I did about 40 minutes of Island Cycling today and 20 minutes of My Routine. Weight Watchers still going well. I weigh in tomorrow. keeping my fingers crossed!

Hi PamEast,

I had to start wearing my sneakers (actuallu one sneaker and one surgical shoe) on the Wii board because I developed a stress fracture. So I got one of those protective skins for the board covers and started.

It was difficult at first beacause I did not feel like I had as much control, BUT I got use to it pretty quick.

cd1

I took the dog for a walk instead of doing the Wii down in the basement. Too lovely a day today to stay inside. It felt good to get outside! And I am definitely feeling the benefit of the Wii. I was able to walk a lot farther today, without pain, than I have in the past. Woot!

Dog liked it too. I hope the weather holds for a while!

Hi,
I think I'll join in here if I may !

I've been in a diet rut/stuck on a plateau for too long now. I consider myself to be very active, not an athlete exactly but, I wear a pedometer, I don't own a car, I walk my kids to school and back every day, I walk to the shops and back, often carrying heavy weight (of shopping) back. I always clock up well over 20,000 steps a day. I do wii fit plus pretty regularly, this week I've done 40-45 mins everyday for the last 3 days. I think it's because I haven't got much to lose, my weight just doesn't want to go back down. When I had my daughter, 7 years ago, I had a lot to lose and at first it came off really easily.

I feel I need that extra boost to my metabolism. I always maintained that a change of lifestyle was better than obsessing over every calorie, but for a limited period I am counting calories again, so that I can see exactly where the calories are, and not kid myself ! I'm weighing everything too, as it's hard to estimate portion size especially if you are really hungry !

I'm following a low GL diet, so it's designed to stop energy slumps which can send me off track. It is quite high in protein but doesn't cut out the 'good' carbs (like the Atkins type diets), and avoids the bad fats. It's centred on beans, pulses, chicken, fish, fruit, vegetables, eggs, and wholegrains like barley, buckwheat, quinoa and brown rice, wholewheat pasta, grain type breads. I know from experience that cutting down on fat and eating more carbs, makes me bloat.

Good luck to all. Hope we can help each other with weight loss and wii support.

Welcome Alexa! I'm delighted to have a buddy on this topic!

That's great about all the walking you do! Keep it up! In the end, being healthy is more important than losing those last few pounds. It sounds like you have a very healthy life style.

I've had to deal with a variety of joint issues, but I'm slowly recovering. I'm starting to walk and exercise more and it feels great.

I'm doing Weight Watchers. I like it because there are no "forbidden foods". You can have anything, so long as you watch your portions and keep to your points. Points are pretty much like calories, although you get rewarded a bit for eating foods higher in fiber and lower in fat. I go to weekly meetings and I'm learning a lot about how to eat healthy and still be satisfied and enjoy my food. Also, about making good choices. They talk about "filling foods" a lot. If you eat a lot of filling foods you end up getting to eat a lot more for fewer points. These are fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats. At one of my recent meetings they held up expamples of "one point snacks". A few potato chips vs. 3 cups of popcorn. 4 ounces of orange juice vs. a whole orange. A miniscule number of rasins vs. a baggie of grapes. It was easy to see which snacks were going to be more satisfying when it was spelled out like that. The nice thing is, it's a lifestyle change. You can eat this way for life, unlike wierd diets that only work while you're on them.

Sounds like you have a healthy, reasonable approach too. Making smart choices rather than obsessing about a "Diet".

I look forward to sharing this journey with you!

Hi Pam,

I know a lot of people have great success with Weight Watchers. I certainly agree with their 'no food's a sin' slogan. I must admit I've tried some of the fad diets over the years, but now stick to the more sensible and healthy eating plans.
The GL plan sounds similar in some respects, as no foods are totally forbidden, but sugary, and very processed foods are not encouraged. I also agree that it makes sense to swap a filling snack for a 'low quality' sugary or fatty snack.
From what you say we are probably eating similar foods.

Luckily I enjoy walking, though the British weather has been awful lately ! I was bought the Wii fit plus for my birthday in November and I'm glad to say I have used it, my kids like it too. At present I'm doing My Routine most days for about ten minutes, either yoga, muscle or a mix of both, then either free cycling or jogging and a few of my other favourites mixed in.

I had a minor slip a few weeks ago when I hurt my hip, that still acts up a bit when I overdo exercise, so I'm hoping that's due to the injury not the start of a hip problem ! Hope your joint problems improve so that you can continue to get out and walk plenty. You've got a dog too, a great asset to walking !