Conference rocks::weight_control

.0>    I was wondering if anyone was over 200 and has lost weight.
.0>    It would be helpful to other people that are there and 
.0>    need to lose weight.
    
    I was at my heaviest at 250 +/-.... I am now at 160 +/- ... my lwest
    was 155...  I am trying to hit 140.
    
.0>    So can some of you that have lost 100 pounds or even
.0>    less tell us how you did it and how you feel and
.0>    what changes are you having?
    
    The way I did it worked for me.  It would never be recommended to
    anyone, and people flame at how I did it... but it worked!..  I
    ate only processed food at dinner.... 1 leMenu, or 1 lean Cusine,
    or 1 weightwatch TV dinner... pop it in the microwave type dinner.
     Total of 300 to 500 calories. (plus a LOT of sodium I know).. for
    lunch... one small salad (small = < 10 ounces) with a small bit
    of normal salad dressing.  I would drink diet cokes whenever I felt
    like it.  Total calories for the day - less than 750.  I did this
    each and everyday until I hit 155.  I have since been off the diet
    for now almost a year, and going have gained 10 +/- pounds in that
    year.  I am getting ready to go BACK on the diet to go to 140 pounds.
    
.0>    Are the ladies and men asking you out now?
    
    I do go out on dates.  No one comes up to me and asks me out - But
    I think it has something more to do with having 3 children then
    my weight :-)...
    
    
Gale    
    
    

    I was over 200 pounds, and I still am; but that should be changing
    next month.  I was also over 400 (barely) and 300 and have successfully
    transitioned those hurdles.  My best guess now is that I started
    at 402 pounds twenty months ago tomorrow, at last weeks WW meeting
    I weighed in at 210, down a total of 193 pounds.
    
    How did I do it?  The one thing that I think has created my success
    this time around, after earlier failures, was that I did not plan
    to lose as much as I have.  I only wanted to lose a little, the
    400 pound barrier was a shocker.  As a result, when I fianlly admitted
    I was on a diet instead of just eating a bit more reasonably, I
    only set a goal of 350.                                
    
    This did two very important things.  It set a gaol that seemed
    realistically attainable in a reasonable ammount of time.  This
    in turn kept me from rationalizing the excuse that I should quit
    because I could never reach my ideal weight.  When I finally reached
    that goal I set another one; equally attainable.  I've been doing
    that ever since and am currentily aiming for the two hundred barrier.
    When I reach that I will probably set a final goal in the 180's
    -I am 6'3".  After that my goal will be to mantain that weight for
    the rest of my life, a goal that is only reasonable because of the
    time invested so far in developing new habits.
    
    I did not start on a particular diet.  I was dating a vegitarian
    and when eating out I ate a lot more rationally than ever before.
    That did not last - the woman and the diet -, but I did continue
    with the more rational patterns.  Eventually I switched to WW because
    I needed the support and it became available here at work in BXB2.
                                                                 
    The other thing that helped was developing the attitude of taking
    things on meal at a time.  When I fell off the diet don't feel guilty,
    just start right up agian.  NOT NEXT WEEK!  NOT TOMORROW!  NOW,
    as soon as I realized I havd failed.  This didn't work as easily
    as it is said, but the principle seems to be a major factor in whatever
    success I have had.  It is the same principal; basically one day
    at a time; that are used by groups like AA, CA, and NA (Alcoholocs-
    Cocaine-Narcotics Anonomouss) in their programs.  I think real success
    was attained when I realized the similarity of my weight problem
    with their problems probably meant that the road to success was
    probably similar also.
                         
    The dating question is something else.  No one is coming begging
    me to go out; but I am going out more.  This is probably because  of
    feeling more comfortable asking someone myself.  Not only because of
    the weight loss but because of having handled some other old baggage
    from the past.  I used to have reasons for wanting to avoid
    entanglements, at most the weight was a symptom of that not the
    cause.
    
    I think what it comes down to is that if things are better in that
    aspect of my life it is not because of others perceptions of me
    and my weight.  It is because of my own perceptions and self worth.
    
    I've babbled too long here, and ask you all to ignore the spelling
    and grammar.  If I went back and looked at this I might not even
    write it out.
    
    See you later;
    
    -Joe Coyle

    Joe,
    
    You're a hero --- keep it up!
    
    
    

    
    
    JOE,
    
    
    You should right a book that is SUPER.  Thanks for sharing
    you are someone we all can look up to.
    
    I can tell you are going to do it... 
    
    I have been having a hard time sticking to my program but
    with your reply I will try what you have done and have 
    little goals..
    
    Thanks and Good Luck 
    
    
    Ann
    
    
    

    
    
    Gale you have done great also.. Keep up the great job, both you
    and Joe will help out many I am sure.. Thanks for sharing
    and keep it up.. 
    
    Maybe someday my story will be here.. wait on minute not maybe
    it will be telling my story..
    
    Ann
    
    

    Thanks, Joe.  When I need motivation to stay with the program, I
    read this notes file.  
    
    I've been experiencing frustration at my lack of progress on my
    weight loss program and it seems unusually hard to resist temptation.  
    Just now, I was trying desperately to convince myself NOT to go get 
    a candy bar out of the machines to satisfy my sweetness craving.
    
    I just read your note and that was what I needed to see.  I can
    now settle for a diet soda.  It still needs to be sweet but I can
    stay on my diet.
    
    				Thanks again for you help,
    							Donna

    RE .6
    
    Your welcome.
    
    Regarding the need for something sweet.  We all have that problem,
    the diet soda is a good alternative.  I have always used diet soda,
    but on the early days of my diet I increased the ammount to an
    incredible level.  But that has even changed now, and without any
    attempt on my part, now I usually just have one at lunch and don't
    even have any at home.  I didn't plan this, it's just a change
    with time.
    
    If you are on the WW program, I am now, the optional calories are
    a Godsend.  It allows the satisfaction, without any guilt.  Guilt
    has always been my downfall.  During this weeks WW meeting the 
    subject was binges.  The leader was comparing them to forest fires
    and drawing analogies between the two.  My immidiate reactio was
    that they fight the major fire with small backfires, and we fight
    the binges with our optional calories.
    
    Just remeber that we have to change our lifestyles to succeed;
    but also remember that is probably too big a target.  On the other
    hand we often change them, like movinging out of our parents house,
    getting married, having children, or changeing jobs.  When we make
    these changes we usually don't know the real impact that they will
    have on our lives, if we did we would be scared to hell and never
    do it.  Our eating habits are the same way; the change really needed
    is too scary to even contemplate.  Yet; if we make the acceptable
    and reasonable commitment of one day at a time we know we can do
    that.  Somewhere down the line that one day at a time rational approach
    to eating become our lifestyle.
    
    With wishes for success TODAY;
    
    -Joe 

    There's a good article in this month's Weight Watcher magazine about
    a woman from Michigan who has gone from 248 pounds to 138 pounds.
    Ann, I've already sent you a copy.  If anyone else would like a
    copy, please send me mail at STAR::YANKOWSKAS.
    
    
    Paul

    Delete my previous reply as of todays Weight Watchers meeting I
    am now a two hundred pound loser. 
    
    Only thirteen pounds to goal.
    
    -Joe
    
    PS >> Todays weigh in; a nice Christmas present from myself to me.
                                                        

    
    This is not my success story, however, I heard this on WEEI as I
    drove in this morning.  They told of how a man who weighed 1200lbs
    (yes 1200 lbs) last year this time was able to go into his living
    room this Christmas for the first time in 16 years.  He is now 400
    pounds lighter.  I don't quite remember what his dinner consisted
    of, but dessert was one cake, one pie and a gallon of cider (last
    year).  I didn't hear the first part of dinner for this year, but
    I believe it was some sort of nutrition supplement and water.
    So, hang in there everyone.  All is not lost (no pun intended).
    
    D.

    
    
    re: 9,10
    
    Mike and Joe your stories are SUPER ! You two sure gave yourselves
    a wonderful gift and you also are a gift to us these are the best
    stories I have heard ..  
    I have been sick and not feel like eating but then I seem to be
    craving sweets but reading your stories has made me not want to
    touch them..
    
    I have been doing well and I am on a losing streak so I won't stop
    now thanks for you Great sharing you will help many by your stories.
    
    If ever I feel down and feel I can't do it I will read your stories
    again and again until I can say I want to be a success like Joe
    and Mike!!  Maybe you will read my story someday here....
    
    
    
    Thanks Keep up the Great Job!
    
    Ann
    
    
    

    I have read every note in this file but have avoided participating
    because I was afraid of failure.  I have lost 110 pounds (it has
    been 115) but I have been afraid to talk about my "success" since
    it's not complete yet.  Whenever I used to start a diet, I would
    tell everyone I was on one so that I couldn't feel comfortable eating
    in front of them, then I would blow it and be so embarrassed and feel 
    terrible when I gained it all back.  I am still afraid of not losing
    the rest of my weight, but I have to keep reminding myself of how
    far I've come, and this is the first step in getting back on a losing
    track.  I apologize in advance if this story seems long-winded,
    I have more things to say than the number of pounds I've gained
    and lost in my lifetime (I think we're into infinite numbers here..)
    
    I've been fat all my life.  Had to be put on a diet as a baby because
    I couldn't sit up or learn to walk.  My well-meaning parents did
    not allow me any desserts because I was ALWAYS on a diet, we're
    talking kindergarten on up.  However, I was allowed to eat all the
    "healthy" food I wanted (in a family of six kids, my mother would
    buy and cook to feed an army, I ate enough for an entire batallion!)
    In those days, salad and fresh vegetables were not common in our
    house, canned peas and corn were our veggies, potatoes and bread
    was what they used to keep me from eating entire roasts or chickens
    or 6-7 hamburgers.  My favorite was 6-8 hardboiled eggs and 6-8
    bagels on Sundays.  In any case, my worst problem was that I loved
    meat, but especially fatty meat.  I ate all the fat that came with
    pot roasts, corned beef, all the chicken skin, and all my brothers
    and sisters fat as well.  I used to lick the fat drippings at the
    bottom of the cooking pans when no one was looking.  I did a lot
    of sneak eating, still have dreams (nightmares) of stealing and
    eating unbelievable amounts of food while no one is looking...
    
    When I moved out on my own, I tried every diet I heard of.  In between,
    I did most of my eating at fast food places.  I could eat McDonalds
    or Burger King or Kentucky Fried Chicken for every meal I ate, usually
    one large one a day.  I was never NOT on a diet.  They all worked.
    For a while.  Losing weight was so easy for me.  I could eat nothing 
    and lose 20 pounds in a week.  I often did.  I always gained it right 
    back.  A meal could put on seven pounds.  I weighed myself constantly, 
    especially when I was losing.  My favorite diet was high protein and 
    fat.  When Protein Sparing came around, I was in heaven.  Most of the 
    time 40 pounds was what I would lose on a diet.  About 8 weeks was my
    attention span.  I never had food in the house unless I was on some
    diet (I didn't shop and I didn't cook) so my binges were usually
    fast food places or buffets or Chinese food or the vending machines 
    at work.
    
    I'm 5'4", (I was 5'5 but my weight flattened my arches) and by high
    school my high was 215.  My college high was 230.  My best times
    came when I was involved with a guy, at one point I crash dieted down
    to about 160.  I always found plenty of reasons to gain it all back.
    I was around 200 when I finally decided to accept my fat and marry
    another heavy person.  Within 2 years we had both gained 60 pounds
    and at a high of 260 I was never more miserable.  We divorced and I 
    started losing again, without much success.  My health was starting 
    to affect my job, I was always sick.  A trip to the doctor gave me 
    the reason I needed to start taking my weight seriously - my liver 
    was encased in fat and I could be dead real soon if I didn't 
    drastically change my ways.
    
    In March of 1986 I started losing seriously.  I was on Protein 
    Sparing at first, taking lots of vitamins and supplements.  I lost
    about 30 pounds the first month, 15 pounds each the next 2 months,
    and 10 pounds the next month.  My quick success inspired me to
    keep going at first, but the most important factor was all the nice
    comments that people at work kept making.  I worked in a group of
    about 100 people then, they saw me infrequently enough to have at
    least 5 people every day notice the change and say something.  When
    I started to lose interest in the protein sparing, I did two things
    to keep going.  One was to make a bet with someone at work (thanks
    Pam, I love you!) to lose weight for the next three months so that 
    we would both look better for a wedding we were attending (I was a 
    bridesmaid and didn't want to embarrass the bride by my appearance).  
    The bet and fitting in that gown kept me focused and I lost about 
    23 pounds over those three months, less than I wanted to but still
    okay. 
    
    The bad part was that I was still desperate to lose lots of
    weight but not motivated to stay on protein sparing so I started
    skipping lots of meals again.  I would not eat all day until I would 
    finally succumb and go get something out of the vending machine.  By 
    then everyone knew I was on a diet, so I didn't eat while anyone was 
    looking, then I'd go get a package of Cheese Peanut Butter crackers 
    out of the machine for dinner.  Other days I'd have a couple of 
    packages, or maybe a piece of fruit if I got bored.  I was never 
    really hungry because I also took an appetite suppressant called
    Acutrim, and drank coffee. (I still take one everyday..)  Some days 
    I would eat a small meal if I went home (I usually worked late or 
    went out at night).  Weekends I would try to stay away from food,
    if I started eating I would tend to snack all day long.  I did a
    lot of sleeping to avoid temptation, and my roommate was great about
    keeping me occupied and away from food (he never ate much).  I went
    out to eat occasionally, but never fast food places, and always ate 
    the bread or salad and took the rest home.  Then I'd eat the
    leftovers over the course of my next 4 meals.  I always took lots
    of supplements and was never sick.
    
    After the wedding, I lost about 5 pounds each in the next few months,
    and started to visit plastic surgeons to see about getting some
    of the extra skin I had hanging around removed.  As of December
    I had lost 115 pounds, and planned to lose another 20 before surgery
    in early March.  I figured the last 10 would come off in the extra
    skin..  I desperately wanted to remove those last 20 pounds, but
    I got more lax with my eating, and crash dieting only seemed to
    keep me at a constant weight.  I even gained a few pounds.
    
    I lost no weight with the surgery, and stopped all exercise during
    my recovery (I had been doing aerobics, dancing at least twice a
    week, and playing volleyball once a week).  I intended to keep losing
    weight, but I no longer wanted to diet.  For the first time in my
    life I felt normal, people treated me like I did not have a weight
    problem, and that's how I felt.  I was not eating fat, I
    did not eat a lot of meat (usually fish if anything), but I ate
    everything else I wanted.  I would eat candy but no meals, or toast
    and no meals.  I ate only when hungry and only until I was satisfied,
    but I gave no thought at all to what I was eating.  If all I wanted
    was cookies or ice cream that's what I'd eat.
    
    I had always planned on going to Weight Watchers to learn to eat
    after I finished losing weight, but I decided to join with a co-worker
    in July and take off the last weight and then go on maintenance.
    The first few weeks I gained ten pounds.  I ate everything on the
    diet, and then I ate everything I had been eating while I wasn't
    dieting.  I still ate the sweets, the extra bread, the rice, the
    crackers, the potatoes, plenty of veggies, etc.  I tried substituting
    for calories when I realized I didn't want to be deprived of all
    the things I had been eating for the past months, but the Cremora
    in my coffee took all my optional calories for the week, so I didn't
    have lots of rational choices.  I was drinking all the water, but
    it didn't seem to help.  I finally panicked and left the group,
    lost my ten pounds and have stayed within three pounds for the past
    5 months, eating anything I want, not weighing, measuring or caring
    about portions.  I find that I don't really want much, as long as
    I don't think diet and don't deprive myself of anything I want.
    
    I just got back from my annual checkup, I'm in great health, not
    even anemic thanks to my supplements.  I feel great, my social life
    has improved immensely!  I have no patience waiting for men to get
    up the courage to ask me to dance, so I still ask them, but at least
    now they no longer refuse!!  I think a big part of my maintenance
    (I've weighed the same for over a year now) is due to the fact that
    I got rid of all my clothes and bought new ones that fit and made
    me look and feel good as I lost.  I often feel I should be more 
    serious about losing these last 35 pounds (I'm so close, I've lost
    35 pounds so many times in my life), but I guess I'm just not ready
    yet.  For various reasons I never started exercising again, and
    I stopped drinking the water, but those are two of the New Year's
    resolutions I've decided to start up again immediately.
    
    Without a doubt, the highlight of my life these days is not being
    recognized!  I've been at DEC eight and a half years and whenever
    I run into someone I haven't seen for a while I get high on the
    comments!!  Even my relatives haven't recognized me.  The biggest
    problem I have is that I'm now a size 8 on top and a 12-14 on the
    bottom so I still look like I have a weight problem to some people.
    But I feel so NORMAL and uncompulsive about food for the first time
    in my life, a BIG change.  If only I didn't still need to lose weight..
    I try to remember where I've been and keep my comparison pictures
    close by at all times.  That keeps me patient.  A little more exercise
    and a little more time, and I may just be ready to put a little
    more routine in my life.  
    
    I have tried just about every diet that's been mentioned in this
    file, and would be happy to give more information on all my experiences
    to anyone trying to lose weight.  I'd never recommend my methods
    nor do I condone the things I'm doing today.  But at least it's working
    for me and I never lose sight of my goal...to one day have earned
    the name "SKINNY" (maybe then I'll go back to my maiden name!!)
    
    Let's all keep trying one day at a time, one small goal at a time..
    
    Thanks for listening and sharing your strengths and efforts.
    
    Robin (SkinnIer)
 
    

Ann..

When I was 23 my first marriage broke up...  through the trauma of it all I 
managed to go from about 130 pounds to 198 over a summer!!!  I had sought
refuge with my Grandmother up in Maine with my two small children and 
living on a farm and eating all the time I gained enormous amounts of
weight.  In the late fall I went to Mass. to live and start out life as
a single mother.  Well I had the good fortune of making a best friend
that changed my life.  She was slim and lovely and kept telling me I 
was not done just cuz I had gained weight.  She dragged me out dancing 
and when the men did not pay any attention to me I danced with the other
girls in our crowd.  We took the kids out on the weekends for trips and
I got plenty of exercise... by the following summer I was down to the 
weight I am now (still about 35-40 pounds overweight) but it was a new
look at life again!  What I am trying to tell you is don't let the weight
keep you from being young and doing the things young people do!  Go
dancing with your friends, get out and be young..  you can't let the 
weight coming off let you put your life on hold, think thin, act thin
and before you know it you will change the image you have of yourself!

I remember when that weight I lost came off all of a sudden I had more
offers for dates than I could handle.. at first I accepted them all 
basking in the attention and then I realised I was going out for the 
sake of it, not because I necessarily enjoyed the company of the men 
doing the asking!  I wanted so much to be told I was pretty, fun to 
be with and so forth that any source did the trick... wrong!  I had a 
much better time back when it was just the girls and I, if the truth 
were to be known!

Now I am married again and live in England.  I met my husband at my
current weight, and he loves me just the way I am.  Certainly now I
have made the commitment to finish the weight loss that I started almost
7 1/2 years ago but life did not end for me just because there was still
more weight to loose.  

You be yourself.. from your notes I take it you are a bubbly and outgoing
and certainly a very caring person.  Someone, someday will think that in
itself is pretty special.  The slimming will just be a by-product of your
liking yourself.

Think thin and dance those pounds off, don't wait!!!

end of lecture!
Mother gail ;-)

    Anyone out there besides me see yesterday's Oprah Winfrey show?
    
    The topic of the show was weightloss.  Reason I mention this under
    this note was because one segment of the show featured four people
    who had lost over 100 pounds, including a woman who had gone from
    420 pounds to 160 pounds (a 260 pound loss) and a man who had gone
    from 850 pounds to 320 pounds.  No, there weren't any typos in that
    last sentence -- that gentleman had lost 530 pounds in just over three
    years!
    
    One of these 100 lb. losers made an interesting comment.  She said that
    in order to succeed, she had to approach her weight problem as if it
    were a chemical dependency. In other words, she felt she was as
    addicted to food as a smoker was to nicotine or a junkie was to
    cocaine.  She felt that successfully dealing with *why* she overate 
    was a must in order for her to take off the weight.  As she worded
    it, "Don't diet.  Take care of what's inside you first.  The outside
    will soon follow".
    
    A very inspiring show to say the least...
    
    
    Paul

    
    
    Paul,
    
    Yes I watched that show and wished I taped it. That was a great
    show and it sure makes you want to do well.  That man that lost
    all that weight looks so much younger now and they all looked\
    happier.. One lady that lost held up her dress she wore..
    
    Two of her could fit in it now.
    
    
    That Oprah sure had great shows and seems to know as she has
    been fighting weight Problems for Years.
    I liked how they had all that food there and asked the Dr  how
    can people that love to eat not eat these foods..( it isn't
    easy) but if we really want to stay healthy for Us we will.
    
    
    Thanks for sharing Paul.. You yourself have done Super ..
    
    Ann
    
    

    re .18:
        
    >    I liked how they had all that food there and asked the Dr  how
    >	 can people that love to eat not eat these foods..( it isn't
    >	 easy) but if we really want to stay healthy for Us we will.
        
    Ann, you missed the point of that segment entirely.  The doctor was
    saying that one *cannot* and in fact *should not* make themself feel
    deprived when on a weightloss program.  Yes, one is going to want to
    eat "goodies" such as those that the waiters were parading down the
    aisle once in a while.  It's human nature.  And that's fine -- *once in
    a while*. The key thing to keep in mind in such situations is portion
    control; i.e., just have one cookie, not the whole box.  (Of course, if
    a given food is a "red light too hot to handle" food, then it's best to
    stay away from it altogether.) 
                      
    
    Paul

    
    While it is true that one should not feel deprived while losing
    weight. It is also true that certain foods, known as "trigger" foods
    can lead to a binge.
    
    A drug addict can not have only one snort of coke. A Compulsive
    Overeater (food addict) can usually not have one cookie.
    
    The idea is to abstain from compulsive eating, and not diet. Only
    dieting leads to feeling of deprivation. I have not had any sugar
    or caffeine in over 4 months. I very rarely feel deprived.

    Dieting is following a strict regiment of foods. Abstinence is
    making better choices. As long as I can choose what I eat, I don't
    feel deprived because it is up to me, not some diet, what I eat.
    I choose, just for today, not to eat sugar.
        
    							--- Neal
    

    RE .20
    
    Knowing what foods for the individual trigger the compulsion is
    half of the battle.  At least then it becomes possible to avoid
    the situation.  I said situation because it is not always just a
    particular food.  Cookies are my down fall, I cannot have them in
    the house without eating them.  Ice cream, another favourite, is
    not quite the same.  I love ice cream, but can and do pass it up
    and never over do it.
    
    On the other hand if there are extra cookies, they must disappear.
    I can buy one cookie in a mall and get by with just that, yet I
    couldn't eat just one if there were others in my possesion.  This
    is what I mean by uderstanding the situational trigger.
    
    By avoiding the 'bad' (for me) situation I am able to control the
    problem.  
    
    -Joe

     Very interesting.
    
     My last two diets have failed.  Both times I gave in to
     ONE bar of chocolate and then couldn't seem to stop eating sweet things.
     It sounds so stupid - that only one bar of chocolate
     could send you on a massive binge of sweet foods.  I'm going to 
     take your advice and treat chocolate as the drug it is.  I am fed
     up with having only 10 lbs to lose and never getting there.
    
     I wish I had never smoked.  Then I wouldn't have had to go through
     the pains of giving up and putting on 10 lbs.  I wonder if I'm
     substituting sugar for nicotine?
    
     A.

.22>     the pains of giving up and putting on 10 lbs.  I wonder if I'm
.22>     substituting sugar for nicotine?
    
    	It's very possible.  Recovering cocaine addicts are advised
    to avoid stimulants like caffeine for 3 months because it can
    trigger a cycle of stimulant cravings.  In the case of a cocaine
    addict, this can mean a return to the drug.
    
    -mike z

    Mike,
    Everyone says that exercise is the key, but so many of us give up
    a program regime after a period of time.                       
    I have discovered a great way to motivate one into exercising...
    money !!! I have been helpling a friend deliver newspapers in the
    morning to apt buildings. Up and Down stairs, Climbing Hills, etc.
    There's that nice extra paycheck, nice toned legs, a real workout
    before work...get the idea ?  
    
    Carol
                                                                   
                                                                   
     

.24>    money !!! I have been helpling a friend deliver newspapers in the
.24>    morning to apt buildings. Up and Down stairs, Climbing Hills, etc.

    	That's exactly what I did for exercise in high school!
    
    	I lost 20 pounds in one year. and that was without changing
    my eating habits.  Plus you get lots of fresh air.
    
    -mike z

    Has anyone tried going to a 50+ Weight Watchers class? 
    
    I have about 120 lbs to go, and although I'm doing fine and like my
    regular At Work class, I wonder if a 50+ class would be more helpful. 
    Like, how do I deal with the fact that I have about 72 more weeks to
    go, or that people probably won't start complimenting me until I lose
    25 more pounds (I've lost 34, but it isn't very dramatic yet).
    
    I see one 50+ class listed in ThinLine.  It's Friday night at 7:30 in North
    Dartmouth.  I grew up down there, so it's not really a problem getting
    there -- except for the hour and a half drive ;^) --  so maybe I'll try it.
    
    Please let me know if you've tried 50+ and like it!
    
    Karen
         

    OK, I haven't gotten to a 50+ class yet...
    
    ...but I have found two more classes.  One in Woburn on Monday 
    nights, and one in Framingham on Wednesday nights.
    
    I'll try to get to one this week and post my "review."
    
    Karen
    

    I went to the 50+ class in North Dartmouth last Friday night,
    and it was great!  
    
    The leader is Irving Zangwill, and he's funny, energetic,
    and entertaining.  He lost 120 lbs (don't know how long ago).
    The class was small, maybe 10 people, but they all knew each
    other well.  There was a lot of give and take with Irving.  At the end
    of the meeting, he got four people to commit to some kind of good diet
    deed for the week (no McD's, will walk 3 times, etc).
    
    Everyone there was very big, except for one lifetime member and two 
    people very close to goal.  It was great!  I know weightloss is tough
    no matter how many pounds -- 10 or 100 -- you have to lose, but...
    Well, let's just say I felt better surrounded by people who know what
    an extra 150 lbs feels like.
    
    Anyway, the topic for next week's lecture is EXERCISE.  I'll be there. 
    Anyone want directions?
    
    Karen