<p>Welcome, lavalava!</p>
<p>PackMom, the chia seeds remind me of poppy seeds. They don’t have much taste, but they add a nice texture, and they are very nutritious. They are also good in smoothies, because if you mix them with a little water, they form a gel which makes the smoothie thicker, and the little seeds are still there.</p>
<p>Trader Joe’s carries them in pouches. I keep them in the frig.</p>
<p>Welcome, Lavalava!</p>
<p>Welcome, Lavalava. I find walking boring also–but when I listen to a good book, my walk seems to fly by.</p>
<p>Another good thing to listen to while walking is NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” - although people may look at you funny when you start laughing out loud. I don’t really like walking around my neighborhood because there are always gardener and construction trucks and workers everywhere I go. There’s a nice forest preserve where I can walk along a river but then I have to get in the car and drive there and probably get stopped by the train going through town and I’m just plain lazy. So I do my exercise indoors on my Wii Fit and have no excuses. It’s also where I do my morning weigh in so I know how good or bad I’ve been doing and can moderate my day’s eating as needed.</p>
<p>Lavalava - My story was very similar to yours four years ago. When my youngest came home from her freshman year, she was upset to have gained a few lbs. on dorm food. She and I joined WW and I was very aware of the example I was setting during that summer when we did the program together. Because I was so conscientious, I lost a good chunk of weight during those first 12 weeks and when she went back to school, I carried on. Just as you said, it was finally a time when I could put myself first. Over 8 months or so, I reached my first goal and then over the following year, lost another 10 lbs. I have kept the 30+ lbs. off for three years now. So my point it, you CAN do this! And just as you said, there IS a thin person inside you. For me, I felt that the extra weight just wasn’t really me, that it was a huge distraction and source of unhappiness. And I was right, as I now feel more like my true self, like the essence of myself. My message to you is to believe in yourself. I think I’ve said it here before but my mantra was something I read on a WW blog that is apparently a quote from Yoda (!) : Do or do not. There is no try. The other thing that really made an impact on my thinking was a conversation at a WW meeting where we talked about other difficult things members had tackled. A young woman stood up and talked about how she beat mouth cancer and that compared to battle, losing weight really wasn’t so hard. So I would say to myself “This isn’t hard.” Sorry to blather but I think it’s great that you’'re doing this and want to encourage you. Welcome!</p>
<p>*I don’t really like walking around my neighborhood because there are always gardener and construction trucks and workers everywhere I go. *</p>
<p>This time of year- also leaf blowers. At least my neighbor ( has his kids) use a rake. We’ve had quite a burst of construction the last couple years, but it seems to have settled down.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten to where I can walk a little farther, but that doesn’t do anything to build up my muscle to support my knee, so I am going to have to either start going to the gym or back to my PT. thinking about getting a stationary bike, since my days of spending three hours at the gym just a couple years ago are intimidating and I don’t make the effort knowing I might only last 30 min.
:o</p>
<p>EK–30 minutes one day, 31 minutes the next time you’re at the gym…before you know it, you’re back in the groove. I really am a fan of starting where you are at and then improving little by little as the weeks go by.</p>
<p>The only thing that I know about chia seeds is that they grow into a chia pet.</p>
<p>Hey, was it this thread where a couple of moms said they had kids looking for programming jobs? We’re hiring, Javascript, Ruby on Rails REALLY important.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the welcome messages! </p>
<p>The listening to a book while walking is a great idea, ellemenope! I usually take the ipod along, but a book may be more interesting. I’ve also wanted to learn another language, does anyone know offhand if there is a ‘rosetta-stone like’ app that is any good?</p>
<p>I understand totally, Marilyn, I’m about a 20-30 minute drive to some beautiful mountain hiking trails, but just can’t seem to find the extra hour to spend in the car to get there and back more than about once a month or so.</p>
<p>Thanks for the inspiration and encouragement, Puzzled88! I’m confident that once I ‘get there’ I can stay at my goal weight, and I do count my blessings every day. I know that there are so many who are so much less fortunate than me in so many ways. And really, it hasn’t been very hard so far. I seem to be stuck at the moment at some sort of plateau, but it’s the end result I’m after, not the daily one, so that keeps me motivated!</p>
<p>Alumother - me! I’m one of those moms - I PM’d you. (I am a continuing helicopter mom. :o)</p>
<p>Hi! Hey, we’re just offering support, right? :)</p>
<p>LavaLava, I listen to books all the time. I download them from our library onto my cell phone. I listen while doing boring housework and while falling asleep at night (nothing like being read to). And I listen while walking, outdoors or on the treadmill at the gym.</p>
<p>First week weigh in at Weight Watchers; I lost 5.4 pounds!</p>
<p>A weight loss that big is only possible in the beginning because my body will adjust but, hey, I’ll take it! Best part? I didn’t feel hungry once this past week and I’m eating so much better.</p>
<p>That’s great, pugmadkate!</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Good for you, pugmadkate! Getting past the constant hunger as your body adjusts to less food is a wonderful advance.</p>
<p>Congrats, pugmadkate! I just take one day at a time.</p>
<p>Keep up the good work, PMK. But I agree that 5 pounds a week isn’t likely to happen, so adjust your expectations, lol!</p>