Conference rocks::weight_control

    re .0:
    
    Now that you mention it Ann, I don't recall seeing any pictures
    of fat Pilgrims...  :-)
                                      
    
    In our house, snow days are usually the days that Monopoly, Trivial
    Pursuit, and the playing cards get dusted off and put to use.
    
    As far as the overeating is concerned, I'll repeat the same advice
    that I've put in a few other notes:
    
    	DON'T HAVE JUNK FOOD AROUND THE HOUSE!
    
    Days where there's nothing better to do (like snow days) are days
    where I can find myself eating more than I should if I'm not careful.
    If I keep the "red light" foods out of the house, that at least
    minimizes the damage if I do get munchy.
    
    
    Paul

    
    That is true that there weren't many FAT Pilgrims .  That is
    what I was saying,  If they did it we can too.
    They didn't have a warm house or a Frig or a phone.
    They were lucky to have anything to eat..
    
    That would be nice a day with the Family or catch up on
    letter writing or put on a record a buggie!!
    
    BUT what if the electricity is out and the furnice is not going
    
    and the food is going bad ..  Some how you don't feel like 
    playing cards then..
    
    
    We can make the best of all of it and still enjoy the Winter..
    
    Just think of the stories you can tell your Grandchildren!
    
    Ann
    
    
    Keep Warm and smile
    
    
    

    I know what you mean about bad weather days, it makes it easy to
    succumb to those urges.  For me, when one "routine" goes, everything
    else does, too.
    
    Instead of sitting home and eating today, I got myself going and
    made the commute just to keep myself busy.
    
    Stacie

The reasons there weren't many fat pilgrims include:
    	LIMITED refined sugar (it was a luxury).
    	UNLIMITED work.  Remember the Protestant Work Ethic?  Where
	    do you think it came from?  How many of them do you think
	    had desk jobs?  Exercise wasn't something they had to think
	    about.  They didn't have cars - they either walked or took
	    care of their horses.  All year round!
    
    It's harder for us, but we have to learn to make physical activity
    something we do naturally.  Easier said than done -- I always look
    for the closest parking space!
    
    Several notes have mentioned Middle Eastern Dance (ie belly Dancing).
    Does anyone know of a teacher in the Merrimack area?  It's something
    I've always wanted to learn, and this long hard winter may be The
    Right Time.
    

    If you really think about it the weather isn't really bad....Find
    a friend to go outside with and take your shovels and shovel the
    sidewalks for elderly persons in your neighborhood...I know they
    would be appreciative...They might even invite you in for some hot
    herb tea...That will take care of the exercise part of it...
    
    Also why do we require routines to keep us afloat....
    
    Do something out of the ordinary on an out of the ordinary day..
    Loretta

    The malls are almost ALWAYS open.  If your budget can stand it,
    go clothes shopping.  Or, if you do Christmas, go get presents.
    The library is usually open.  And how about all those things you
    wanted to do at home or in shops when you were "stuck at work"?
    Go buy a bird-feeder and seed, or get a feeder kit and make it,
    or get some wood and directions and build one - our feathered
    friends have to be OUT THERE in the earlier-than-expected snow 
    and cold.  Or, if you don't want to spend cash, pop some corn and
    thread it up, and hang it on your favorite pine-tree for the
    birds - so what if it's early for tree-decorating!  Even if you
    eat some of the popcorn, if you make it in your microwave or hot
    air popper the stuff is very low in calories.
    
    ---Louise (ps, they didn't close ZK or I'd be out shopping!)
    

    
    
    There are storms when everything is closed and power lines are
    down and they tell you not to leave your homes.  Those are the
    times I feel are hardest.  
    We had our lights out for three days and nights one year and\
    we were so cold , we have a fireplace but it just keeps part of
    the house warm. The heater is needed for the hot water and
    it was hard getting ready for work when the house was cold
    and cold water..
    
    It sure seems funny when all you have is a radio for the
    outside world..
    
    There are times when you can go shopping, but there are times
    when they close them because of the weather..
    
    Ann
    
    

    One of the easy ways to keep on dieting is to have ... children!
    They get so incredibly bored when the weather is bad that you've
    just got to do something with them: play, read, teach them something
    new, play instruments, sing, build cardboard houses, paint, anything
    so you don't hear them say every two minutes:"Mommy, I'm BORED!!!!"
    
    If you don't have children of your own, you probably have nephews,
    nieces, friend's or neighbour's children whose parents would be
    awfully relieved if you could take them off their hands for a while.
    Your challenge for the day is to prove that you don't need to be
    bored just because the weather is bad - and I include watching TV
    among the boring things one does in bad weather ....
    
    Joana
    
    

    
    
    Well here we go it is DECEMBER so I guess we can't have Idian
    summer for ever.  How will you face this after your drive 
    home and tired will you open the Frig and get something to 
    eat? Or make sure you have enough food in the house and stock
    up at the store before going home?
    I like it when it snows, people go to the stores and it's
    like they are afraid that they won't have enough food and
    they go crazy and buy everything.
    
    Good Luck to you and I hope you get home alright..
    I am suppose to go to a Christmas Party tonight..
    We shall see..
    
    Ann
    
    

    re .9:
    
    If you've planned your meals and snacks for the day ahead of time
    (as WW suggests -- that's why they give you the menu planner each
    week), the weather outside should be irrelevant.
    
    (Have to agree with you about the stores before a storm...you'd
    think that the end of the world was coming  the way some people
    go hogwild stocking up!)
    
    
    Paul

    
    re:  .9 and .10
    
    	I'll bet the stores are even worse here (Atlanta, Ga.) 
    when it's predicted that we might have one of our few snow storms!
    It's crazy!  LIke you said, Paul...you'd think the world was going
    to end!  
    
    	We don't have the severe winters that ya'll have up there but
    it still gets cold, especially for those of us who have lived in
    the south most of our lives.  SO I  try to keep either canned soups
    or makings for home-made soups on hand for winter warmers.  And
    popcorn (no butter, little salt of course!) and sugar free cocoa
    mix....and wood for the fireplace!  Then I'm all set if we get one
    of our rare snowstorms!  I also have some sort of craft work to
    do...to keep me busy! 
    
    	Ya'll stay warm up there!  :^) 
    
    		Myra

    re:11
    
    It is snowing here today.. It can be fun if you are warm in your
    home and warm meals like soup or LO cal hot choc..
    
    It's not fun when you are miles from home and people are
    sliding all over the place..
    
    The best thing is to use our heads and try to enjoy
    it and do the best we can..
    
    We all will try for sure to make it through thanks!! and you too!
    
    Ann
    
    

    
    
    How did everyone do driving home?  I took it slow and easy and 
    had no problems..
    
    I am on a special diet so and my family is also so we don't
    have alot of food to pick at..  
    
    I did go to the store to get some cat fooD and it was funny
    to see all the people shopping, .like they thought it was
    going to snow for a week.. (-:
    
    
    Take care,
    
    Ann
    
    

Hi Ann,

I had no problem going home, though I was pretty nervous the whole way.  I
hate driving at night in good conditions, so you can imagine!  Luckily, Bill
was already home, so I started dinner in the microwave, we both went down to
the study and logged in to read mail (I was out of the office all day) and
notes, ate dinner, and went off to a trails committee meeting where I had one
cookie (and it was good, and lasted a long time).  Came home and went to bed.
No time anywhere for eating what I shouldn't; I guess I like it that way!

Jill

    Well, I drove from ZKO to the gym, Muscle 'n Motion, which is on
    Daniel Webster Highway.  Stayed there for about 2 hours, working
    my tushy off (literally - Tuesday is legs day which means 6 sets
    of squats which you can REALLY feel on your tush the next day).
    By the time I went home most of the lunatics were safely stashed
    in front of their TVs, and it was raining, which wasn't bad.  Got
    home at about 8:30, fixed dinner, ate, had my after dinner snack
    (not much time between dinner and snack, but it's all mental - see,
    now I can say to myself "you've had dinner AND a snack, so you're
    not hungry"), played with the kitties, talked to Jim, washed some
    dishes, and went to bed.

    Not too bad.
    
    --Louise

    
    I live in Concord, NH, about 30 miles north of Merrimack.  After the
    Hooksett toolbooth it got rather exciting, but I made it back okay. 
    Since yesterday was day one on WW for me, I really needed to go
    shopping.  It wasn't nearly as crowded as it usually is about that
    time -- I guess most people had done their stocking up!
    
    Beverly
    

re .13
    
<    I did go to the store to get some cat fooD and it was funny
<    to see all the people shopping, .like they thought it was
<    going to snow for a week.. (-:

	In reading this entry it hit me like a ton of bricks that as much
as anything this conference is dedicated to observations of HUMAN BEHAVIOR.
For example we've made entries on:

	Shopping behavior in inclement weather
	Rude behavior toward those of us NOT the 'favored thin'
	Our own obsessions/behaviors with food (the why's and wherefores)
	Well meaning(sometimes) 'friends' pushing sweet gifts
	Guilt and how we deal with it
	How we deal with failures (and successes)
	How we relate to loved ones and how they relate to us (support???)
	etc.......

More than anything I find myself taking a critical look at my own behavior
under the circumstances offered.  Unfortunately, as often as not, it points
out areas where I 'could do better'.

I learn much more than weightloss from this conference, thanks to all of you.

				Al

			(25 down, 27 to go)
PS. Congrats Ann on your 12 1/2 this past couple weeks.  That's great.

    
    
    Does it seem to you that people are in funny mods this time
    of the year.. Do you think it's the weather?
    
    Do you ever gget the feeling Who cares if I lose or not?
    
    Are there somedays that you just don't even care about 
    looking at your Program or Diet?
    
    I think the weather has alot to do with it, how about you?
    
    Ann
    
    

    re .18:
    
    Your stomach doesn't know that it's rainy or snowy or cold 
    outside... 
    
    As for your question "Who cares if I lose or not?", I certainly
    think you can include the readers of this conference on your list
    of people who do care.
                          
    
    Paul 
    

    
    RE.19 I have read and heard that the weather can affect a 
    persons mods!   I have a couple of friends that say they
    feel real down and tired and that if must be the weather.
    
    On day it's warm and the next day Snowing...
    
    I was asking the question Who cares if I lost weight just to
    see what people would say.. 
    
    We all have our days of ups and down days..
    
    YOu can't have Sunshine without rain ...
    
    
    But put on an happy face and make the best of it..
    
    Ann
    
    

  In my case, I'm not so sure it's the weather particularly, but rather the
time of year.  Every year around this time my wife and I both get very
depressed, anxious for change, very dissatisfied with the status quo.

   We consider moving, or vacation, or job change.  This mood swing is very
predictable and will swing back in mid-March or early April.  We are fortunate
enough to be able to take 2 weeks in Florida most years, which is:

	1. something to be excited about before you leave, 
	2. the change we were looking for while we're there,
	3. winter is almost over when we get back
	4. depression gone with no 'bridges burned'

   I have heard statistics which show most suicides occur in the Jan - Mar
time frame.  You would think the anticipation of spring would keep spirits
high, but as in my own example such is not the case.

		three more weeks to sunny southern Fla,


						Al

    I think a lot of it has to do with the short days.  There's something
    really depressing about leaving the house when it's just barely
    daylight, being inside all day, and having it be dark when you leave
    work.

    Research (sorry, I don't remember where) has shown that people in
    environments where there's natural light during the day are MUCH less
    likely to get cabin fever!  So try going for a walk at lunchtime.

    Bev

    

    
    Speaking of bad weather how did you all do in New England..
    If I make it out of my own street!  Then I have no problems
    after that. Seeing also I just live two minutes from work.
    Drving that is.. 
    
    I didn't pig out last night like I could have as there 
    wasn't alot in the house... any No No's..
    
    Did you head for the Cookie Jar last night?
    
    
    Ann
    
    

    re .23
    
    >    I didn't pig out last night like I could have as there 
    >	 wasn't alot in the house... any No No's..
    
    That's exactly why I make the comments about not keeping
    junk in the house.  If it's not there, you won't eat it.  Sounds
    like you've taken a step in getting things under control...
    

    *************************************************************************
    
    When I first saw this note, I didn't really think there was that
    much to the theory that bad weather can trigger lethargy and
    overeating.  However, after seeing a segment on the Channel 5 (Boston)
    weather last night, I stand corrected.  Weatherman Dick Albert talked
    a little about an affliction called something like Seasonally Affected
    Disorder (I know the initials spelled out SAD).  SAD is triggered
    by the short amount of daylight hours during the late fall and winter
    months.  Symptoms of SAD include such things as oversleeping, lethargy,
    inability to concentrate, mild depression -- and overeating.  Dick's
    suggested cure for SAD -- a few weeks in a location with much more
    sunlight than around here (like Florida, Hawaii, etc.).  That's
    a prescription I wouldn't find to hard to take!
    
    
    py
     
    

I have a friend who just can NOT diet in the winter time.. even when 
she was slim and did not concern herself too much with dieting perse'
she always put on extra weight in winter that she shed quite easilly
come summer.. she once explained it as a feeling she had that almost
forced her to pad herself.  She feels the cold and somehow eating
offered her a warmer feeling and she felt the need to eat more and
felt she was staying warmer by doing so.  Now she has some pounds
put on during her pregnancy she is trying very hard to shed but
almost gives up during the winter months as she just can not fight
the battle at that time of year....  she says she hates to talk about
it as people always thinks she is off her rocker when she tries to 
explain it.

I, strangly enough, have always had a much easier time of dieting in
the winter then I do in the summer... in summer I fall into bad habbits
of fast food, high cal drinks and nibbling that I don't seem to experience
in winter.  I love hot soups, stews and steaming oven meals and have learned
to prepare ones full of veg and grains that keep me on my diet plan and
leave me full and satisfied.... in summer I must be extra careful not
to fall into fast foods and such in an effort to stay out of the kitchen
and enjoy the nice long days. 

I DO think the time of year, lenght of the days and such have a very
real effect on people's eating habbits.

gailann

> . . . she once explained it as a feeling she had that almost forced her
>	to pad herself.  

    I have no trouble believing this; I'd bet her ancestry is from a
    climate with very cold winters; it's pro-survival under those
    conditions to put on an insulating layer of fat.

    I don't have that problem because my background is Mediterranean, but
    my husband's ancestry is Bavarian, and he always puts on an extra layer
    of fat come winter.  It's not out of control, though, as long as he's
    working outside or otherwise getting exercise.

    A lot of the way our bodies behave can be explained by the conditions
    under which our ancestors evolved.

    Beverly

    The latest issue of Family Circle states something about SAD...I
    picked it up when I went to the grocery store...(the no-candy aisle
    still has magazines)...I saw a show about SAD last year...and there
    is some kind of light machine that you can buy...not the kind that
    gives a tan, but just normal light to make you feel it is still
    daytime....
    
    I didn't think I experienced that extra layer until I started reaching
    those continuous plateaus(sp?) in the winter time...and it was so
    easy in the summer/spring/fall....
    
    An original midwesterner....Loretta

    
    
    I must be a sunshine person for sure.. I am getting that
    draggy feeling and also down feeling again..and when
    I get that I want to eat... and I don't want to blow it.
    I did pretty well over the weekend but I had some tempting
    times...and some I failed... 
    
    I know it was a full moon last night and I heard that that 
    can affect some people as well..
    
    Well as they say on days like this we should think good thoughts
    so..I'll give it a try...
    
    
    I am doing pretty well and I don't want to blow it..
    
    
    Let the sunshine
    
    Ann
    
    

    Hello all...
    
    First of all, re: SAD - You can buy special lights, I think they
    look like fluorescent tubes, that put out light like the sun does.
    Did that make sense? What I mean is, they give you whatever the
    *something* in sunlight is that seems to cause depression and lethargy
    when you are deprived of it. (If anyone is interested in where you
    can buy these lights and/or how much they cost, etc. send me mail
    at JJM::ASBURY and I'll tell you what I know.)
    
    I am another person who tends to get really down in the winter.
    One of the worst things is when I leave work after it is dark outside.
    I hit the parking lot and it is DARK and COLD and all I want to
    do is hibernate! It is a really strong urge. To combat this, I have
    tried to tailor my hours just a little so I can leave work when
    there is at least a little light left in the sky.
         
    I, too, have discovered the benefits (listed in a previous reply)
    to spending some time (a week is all I can afford) someplace warm
    (Florida - March 11!) during the winter. (I can't wait!!!)
    
    There is another thing I do to "cheer up" my winters. I keep a vase
    of fresh flowers somewhere where I will notice them everyday, sometimes
    in my room or maybe on the dining room table or wherever. Flowers
    really are not very expensive. My favorite flower is the carnation.
    I have a very-pretty-but-not-very-expensive red vase and I just
    pick up 3 carnations every so often. (They last quite a while, too,
    which is good. Dead flowers don't do a heck of a lot for morale
    ;-) )                                                     
    
    Keep smiling!
    
     -Amy.