Gosh I was proud of myself just to get this setup.

I've met my first 5% goal and close to 10%.

I use the online plan.

Two current challenges:

• I tend to eat the same things. I'm constantly looking for simple recipes for one.  I don't want to cook something for four and have to eat it for half a week.
• Tracking on weeks with a disruption. For example I can accept not tracking on Christmas Eve and Christmas but there's no reason why I shouldn't track the rest of the week. 

I am a Lifetime WW member.  Just went back the Monday after Thanksgiving when I decided I am going to do the Philadelphia Marathon in 2013.  I had a year so my first item on the agenda was to get back to my goal weight.  I'm down 6.4 lbs and have about 9 to go.  I like attending meetings.  I go on Mondays and get very motivated with each meeting.  The motivation starts to wane over the weekend and it's back to business on Mondays.  I got a Garmin Forerunner 10 for Christmas and found this site for keeping track of my training and workouts.

Hi MonkeyBunny, you did well setting up the group!

I'm Tessa, 49, California resident, and I'm lifetime, have been for the past 15 months -- it took me a year to lose the 45 surplus pounds I was carrying.  Meeting member. ActiveLink wearer.

Batgirl, I think WW meetings work better than WW online, but it's worth a try if you want to do online for a month or two and see if that'll work.

WW doesn't tell you what to eat and one of my biggest challenges is coming up with new ideas. If you need more structure you might want to consider another plan.

Hey BexKix,

The most difficult aspect of marathon training is the "I can eat whatever I want because I just ran 20 miles".

I did the same research you did and it seems like most of the commentary is against trying to lose weight while marathon training but I decided to listen to the 20% who said that you can make it work.  I've lost 15 lbs. on my current marathon training cycle and plan to lose more.  Here's how I made it work:

• I'm training for my 7th marathon.  I chose a beginner plan that emphasized 4x week running with less intensity.  I do think you risk elevating your cortisol levels by running 5-6x a week at high intensity.  I'll save that marathon plan for when I'm at goal weight.
• I do my long run on Saturday with my weigh-in on Monday.  I'm usually pretty hungry after a long run, either the day of or day after my long run.  Having Sunday as a buffer means that I'm not overly hungry on weigh in day.
• For whatever reason, I'm starving on days where I workout in the morning on cold days.  I usually have extra fruit and a cheese stick, maybe cottage cheese, to help with the hunger, but stay within my points.
• Long runs do generate a lot of activity points but I count everything that I consume during a long run.  I use a somewhat different method to calculate long run activity points.  Also, you'll find that most WW runners don't eat all of the activity points generated during a long run.  For example:

I'm running 17 miles tomorrow.  I don't count the amount of time spent running which will probably be 190-200 minutes of running.  Instead number of miles x 10 = 170 minutes running or 34 activity points.

Sounds like a lot but I also count:

Pre run

reduced fat wheat bread = 1 point

1 T creamy peanut butter = 3 points

During run

3 Gus = 9 points

No Gatorade

Post run

Protein drink = 4 points

17 of those 34 points are already used and I might use 10 of the remaining 17 but not all of them

Best wishes on your first marathon!

Hi Zelanie

i saw your pics on Before and After. Wow!

i have lost 15 lbs so far but have yo yo'd with the same 1.5 in December. I wonder if maintaNing in Dec would have been a more realistic goal. Admittedly I have not tracked well

I envy that you live in OR. Running Mecca. I have a friend who is a RRCA coach in Portland. Pls let me know if you want her info

Hello and Happy (and Healthy) New Year 2013 to all WW members in this group and on this msg board!

My name is Patti. I reached Lifetime way back in 1982, thanks to WW, Jacki Sorensen's aerobic dancing and my "jog-walking" which I did on a daily basis. Got married in 2001  and then somehow my fitness workouts and weight management took a severe nose-dive. A nasty slip & fall on the ice on 01/22/2003 landed me on my butt and also from that point on made me a "non-smoker" (after 27 yrs, at 2 paks/day). Not "following WW program and good health guidelines" further led to my having a heart attack on 05/12/08 (100% blockage of my right coronary artery). I was lucky; I survived thanks to aspirin and a stent to open my artery in the local ER.

On January 1, 2012 (one year ago today!) my medical scale read my weight as 248.60. NOT good! DH said, "You ARE going back to WW" (even after his working 2 jobs to help ensure I'll have e-Tools each month until goal weight again). He's totally supportive! - I'm blessed!

I Weighed in on 01/05/12 at 243.60. Then, 2 weeks later, my Dr appeared to me in a dream, nicely shaking her finger at me, stating, "You have diabetes!" That woke me up at 3:30am that morning & DH told me it was a bad dream... but I could NOT get back to sleep!! Sad to say, this was a dream that DID come true, because my lab work results a month later showed my blood sugar to be 127, within the diabetic range. NOT good! In addition, BP NOT good: 142/98. OUTCH!

So my Dr said, the weight is coming down beautifully, KEEP up the good work, etc.

Now... the GOOD news!............

Thanks to WW, my weight now 164.40 (still aiming for goal weight!). Last month, BP was 108/70 (BP med for that). Triglyceries down to 86 (from 160). HDL now up to 66 from a 47. Total cholesterol 147 (taking statin for that). Yes, I was lucky... got a new lease on my life! Want more? My ejection fraction of my heart after my heart attack nearly 5 years ago was like only 45%/50%. And now? My echo test last April showed it was up to 66%. My cardiologist is thrilled (boy, I'd like to see the % now, with the added jogging I've been doing since then!! LOL! :O ). Of course, I have both Dr's blessing on my jogging and interval training efforts. Even though I'm like a "penguin" (maybe go only as fast as 4.5 mph on a treadmill, I have very short legs!!), I'm "out there", right?! And, I feel GREAT!! EVERYONE SHOULD FEEL THIS GOOD!

My 2 Drs are amazed. And the best is yet to come in 2013! This could be my "goal weight year"! After my 1st lab work, I kicked up my exercise from 30 to at least 60 (or up to 90) minutes 6 days a week. In the summer I started adding light jogging - and I love it! Who would believe I'd be feeling THIS great at 57, huh?! LOL! Now my last year's Lands' End size 3X winter down coat is like a tent on me!! LOL :O

Yes, I think we can ALL "EXPECT AMAZING" when we follow program, track, follow the good health guidelines, and (for us meeting members) attend meetings at least once each and every week.

Sorry for the long post... but I got a real "charge" out of jogging 72 laps around my Bally's gym track Sunday, with hardly any walking breaks... progress!!

More challenges to come: DH diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 just 3 weeks ago... so I got my work 'cut out for me,' as they say!

We both bought ourselves FitBit monitors, and I also got a Hoopnotica hoola-hoop under my tree!

Good running to all my WW friends in 2013!