bragstarr

Curious question....and this coming from a native New Yorker...how many ships can actually port at one time in NY? I know there are three piers for cruise ships--88, 90 and 92, but do any of them hold more than one ship, one on either side? Most I've ever see in port is three.

I am a brand spanking new member of the NUTZ but just from our roll call, I'm beginning to see how insane this is going to be. Thanks for the info. Carry on with the review!!!

I need some new ideas too. Doing the M & G on BA on January 12 day to Southern Caribbean. Any suggestions would be appreciated.......

Excellent review covering all bases. I'm going to look at your pics now!

So thank you Kyle and Ben the Bendy Man (I feel as if I am following Flat Stanley here) for starting this all up. Going in January for 12 night Southern Caribbean and cannot wait! Am curious to hear your report about your Meet & Greet. Did you say 140 people? Is that La Cucina I am seeing? We are scheduled to meet in there too, our list is getting longer and wondering if it will be able to accommodate our crew of NUTZ. And please dish on what door prizes NCL gave to you for the meet and greet....are you talking for everybody, or a couple of prizes for game winners? I need some new Meet & Greet ideas since I am in charge. And WHERE did you get that boatload (haha) of Mardi Gras beads??? Can't wait for more!

I would imagine there will be an electric menorah someplace as a nod to our holiday, but that would be it. As for a minion, I'd doubt it, unless there is a group of observant Jews on the ship that week. Most I've ever seen is a ship leave a challah in the chapel on Friday night for anyone who wants to celebrate and do the blessing. Why don't you email NCL Customer service?

Can't wait....going on the 12 day in January and eating up all the information I can!

Hi Robin,

 

You sound just like me! Here I am trying to figure out what are my lightest-weighing fall clothes for my weigh-in. No more capris and lightweight T's anymore. Sigh...

Glad to see you survived the holidays. You're doing great!! Cheers,

Dale

You know what? I did think about wearing lightweight capris to weigh in, but it was 54 degrees here on LI this AM....figured it was just one week that I had to bite the bullet and get it over with, and then wear the same black pants to work every Thursday. Are we WW people crazy or what??????

The above is excellent advice. Just because you have a bad day or two, don't let that get you down....just start each day anew with a clean slate. We had the breaking of the fast for Yom Kippur (Jewish Holiday, Day of Atonement) this week at my home. Not only did I eat a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have (a carb bagel festival), but did the next day too....this was Saturday and Sunday. Monday it was either all in the garbage and I brought the leftover cake to the faculty room at work. Weigh in was today....I lost .2, which is nothing, but I didn't gain, I had tried to exercise some more....and was my first weigh in with long heavy pants rather than shorts or lightweight capris.....of course, I took off my sweater....and my jewelry was in my pocketbook....and my glasses were on the counter....

Hi everyone,

Haven't posted in a while since I've been so busy, which in and of itself accounts for some WW issues! In reading this I realize we all have our ups and downs, and this week's meeting about using the group for support was an excellent one. I go to an 8:30 meeting before I go to work at 10:30. We were talking about how the group is supportive and I mentioned that we always laugh in there, which puts me in a good mood, and more cheery and liable to follow the plan since I am feeling better about myself and things.

Have had a rough couple of weeks in terms of food. The week prior to this I was on a combination girls/trip and work event and there were a lot of buffets, breakfasts and one infamous visit to Cracker Barrel....there is not one near my home so when I pass one....well let's say the biscuits and apple butter were calling me. I tried my best beside that to behave but there were a lot of rich foods, I did eat a lot of salads, and walked the one night we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast two miles to the nearby beach and back before the blueberry pancakes for breakfast, and then just walked tons back and forth at the trade show I was at. I was amazed to get to WW this week and be down .4....I was amazed to be down anything! It was also the Jewish New Year and I had a big dinner, and this week was Yom Kippur, we broke fast for a large family group at my house and needless to say there is a lot of good stuff leftover. I promised myself I'd eat some today and then the rest either gets trashed or brought to work tomorrow. Monday to Friday at the very least I need to stay on those points!

Before I eat something else....I'm watching my son's dog since he is on a business trip so we are now taking him for a long walk! Hang tough, everyone.....remember some weeks we lose very little and then all of a sudden we have a big jump down sometimes!

Oooh, I have some suggestions. I send my DH to the buffet first and see what he brings back, then if I want some of that, I can just have a bite of his. Then I circle the entire buffet and look at everything before I make my choices. Then I only take 1 scoop of whatever it is and I don't take so much that it touches other items on the plate. Also, the salads are wonderful. It is so nice to have everything chopped up for you. And they have ham and turkey right there, so you can use that instead of salad dressing. Do not use the salad dressing or croutons. Tons of calories. Share desserts. Don't eat anything that doesn't taste good after the first bite. Remember, you just took a small portion anyway, so you aren't wasting very much. I order the extra veggies at dinner and it is impossible to get them dry, but at least I get the veggies instead of another entree.

Great suggestions in general ANYWHERE there is a lot of buffet food....a party, special event, wedding, corporate conference, etc!

Crazy, crazy week, including a few situations where I was BAD. Went to the season premiere taping of the View Monday......after to lunch with three friends, wasn't bad there but the LARGE pictcher of Sangria we shared was.....then worked at a charity event Wednesday night, Taste and Toast of the Town for United Cerebral Palsy....I avoided the liquor but went a little dessert crazy.

With everything going on I didn't make a meeting until Friday. I actually went at 8AM before work to weigh in because I've always weighed in the AM and to my surprise I actually lost .8. I was thrilled because I figured it was a bad week. I thought about it....the difference was in the exercise....walked all over Manhattan Monday, did some local walking, and two classes in the Fitness Center my niece opened.....Zumba and the aforementioned Drums Alive class (google it...videos on You Tube...)

I walked a 5K for ALS yesterday....and found out a couple of hours ago the lady in whose honor I walked for....died last night. I need chocolate....just one little square!

Into our second week with our trainer & I'm down 2.8 pounds! Still have a long way to go, but I will get there! Love our trainer because he listens to us and most importantly encourages me in all that I do!

That's the key,I think....the exercise. That is great!

Hit 10 lbs today. Slow but sure.

I'm ALMOST at 10 and I better get that star at my next meeting!

I have never heard of that before either. Sounds fun (in a work your butt off kind of way). So you said you have the WW scale? My scale is giving me problems lately so I may need to buy a new one. Do you like yours?

I do find it very accurate....when I use it

One battle that I have finally won is not to allow myself to go crazy overboard just because of one bad meal. So many times, I have thrown in the towel and ruined a whole day because of overeating in one meal. Finally convinced myself not to do that, so that's progress. As they say "it's the tiniest steps that lead to a big victory." Must go and get ready for tomorrow. No major hurdles tomorrow so I'll probably be really focused on a good day, food-wise

This is my motto this time around. So.....if I have a bad day, correct it the next one. I woke up 4AM today.....couldn't sleep. All I've had so far is cottage cheese and a banana. I think it's time for lunch!

Tough week ahead too....Rosh Hashona (Jewish New Year)--big meals Wednesday and Thursday night...then a girls weekend away. I need to be strong...think salad and fruit....

Have a good week all.

OMG...I went to my niece's new Exercise place and they had some of the instructors giving classes for free....I did half an hour of Drums Alive, something I had NEVER done or even heard of before! I think it's an offshoot of Pound Classes......was I sweating....and I ignored the cookies and mini bagels she had there for the Grand Opening and just ate fruit!!!!

It's been a few days since I've been on here, and trying to catch up with everyone's posts! Sounds like we've had some degrees of luck whether it be with exercising or weight loss. For those who don't this week's meeting was about setting the reset button....which I need to do daily! For me it's exercise I need to beef up, although I have been walking a lot. Today my niece and a friend are opening a new local exercise class storefront so I'm going to go over in a bit and visit, see the class schedule, and sign up for something! She has some classes scheduled for us over 50 crowd...don't want to stress my decrepit body too much (seriously, do have back issues I need to watch out for...). Laurie, how was the personal trainer?

I like the idea of the Wii but my boys are grown and out of here, not buying a video game system for me after they were through about 5 different systems!

Sooooo true about the complaints people make on CC about their cruises. I remember when I almost got my head removed back in 2005 because I asked if I could wear a nice designer knee length blinged denim skirt to the MDR. At that time Jeans were a no no. Now, it;s that the iced tea is too thick, or the steward left a mote of dust in the corner....or a sliver of soap in the bathroom, that was funny!

Anyone here have floaters in their eyes? Just got them in my left eye. More aging fun and games.

Left the good news for last...after three weeks of .6 loss, then .2 and .6 again, I lost 2.8 this week. I have NO idea how that happened, but I'm happy. Really been trying to use very little of my 49 extra for the week and just stick to mostly my 26. I've also been weighing and measuring more, especially using the grams setting on the WW scale which I bought for certain things, I think it's a lot more accurate.

BTW, if anyone is watching the season premiere of The View Monday I have tickets....how I managed to score them for day 1 is beyond me, just hit the website at just the release time. Look for the lady in the purple blouse!

I don't know what's with me tonight. Usually I have my points pretty well figured out and I've been doing OK but I'm done with today's and I'm trying really hard not to dip into those 49 extras too much, because I've got to cut something someplace! But all I want to do right now is rip into a bag of crunchy something and I'm not talking carrots! I was in NYC yesterday and walked back and forth all over the giant Macy's, and then walked quite a bit to a restaurant to meet my cousins for dinner (where I behaved reasonably well food wise), we went to see Wicked on Broadway and then walked back to Penn Station to the train, so I did get some good walking in. I need to do more of this walking......and more exercise....and right now wire my mouth shut!

Just venting here......weigh in is Thursday morning so I better get past this urge to eat right now!

Welcome to any newbies I didn't welcome.....I'm losing track....was just diagnosed with floaters in my left eye (another older age malady) and staring at this white computer screen too much is not so great!

Today was weigh in and I lost a giant .6. I've been very good with my points and measuring and don't even use up the extra 49 per week. I also find the older I get...the harder to lose...my post menopausal body doesn't like getting go of its fat cells! I know my problem is I need to exercise more....and yet I find every reason in the world to procrastinate. Work has started up again....I work for a school district, fill in at different jobs and am currently in the nurse's office as her assistant is out ill. By the time I get home who wants to cook.....but I've been a good girl with food It's the walks I should be taking, at the very least, either early in the am or after dinner. It's been hotter around here this week than the entire summer was!

I need to do like you Laurie and join a gym. I did register today for the weekly yoga class I do at my library except in the summers, and I start adult ed Zumba Tone at the beginning of October.

I know I shouldn't complain, I'm losing not gaining, the leader today again repeated we should NOT beat ourselves up! But,......aaarrrggghhhh!!!!!

Thanks to those who answered. As it turns out I am not using Spencer but am going with a group from our roll call (Serenity Tours) that is being put together. On this one we have an option of the mud bath, volcano tour or doing the Tet Paul Climb, and I'm going to to the mud bath!

Arzeena, I can't answer to what his beach tour is like but I do hear he is good. However, join our group.....you can do the volcano or Tet Paul instead of the mud bath!:D

Good to see everyone checking in and finding us and welcome to Dale...and I hear ya, I also walked out lifetime member and swore I'd never go back. Yeah, right.

Was doing really well this week until we just went to this big Indian Powwow on the Shinnecock Reservation in Southampton.....booths and booths of crafts and Native American dancers from many tribes who come from all over the country. And FOOD. All over the place. And of course I had to try some authentic food so I shared a plate of clam fritters with DH and then had a couple of bites of his fry bread topped with taco fixings. I felt SOOO guilty afterward, and I have not used one of my 49 extra points since my Tuesday weigh in. I know it certainly wasn't 49 points worth of food. You'll all be glad to know though I did pass up dessert....and there were tons of them there!

Back to plan tomorrow.....like my leader says, if you mess up, be done with it, put it away and go to bed and just start fresh the next morning!

Laurie, I always say it's the Y chromosome that makes them say dumb things without listening. That's a great price on the gym. Nothing is cheap around here except Planet Fitness and that's a 15 minute ride. I need something right here, although it's 4PM and I still haven't been able to motivate myself to walk into town to CVS (half mile each way) to pick up a couple of prescriptions and some other stuff.

I'd find doing WW solely on line tough so I give you a lot of credit. The meetings keep me somewhat motivated, and feeling responsible because I know I have to weigh in!

I wish my DH had to do WW with me, even for a few pounds. He's 62, retired, still gets up at 4 AM every weekday to be at the gym when it opens at 5AM. Same thing on weekends except the gym opens at 7. Those he said are his days to relax LOL. Rarely ever misses a day, even when we cruise and are up late he gets to that ship gym at 6 or 7 am and works out. His body looks really good for a man of his age (or for that matter, probably a man of 35). All I hear about is how I need to exercise more (which is very true). He is quite supportive in eating what I eat, he always says we need to eat healthier. Still, it would be less pressure on ME if he had a few pounds to lose too and didn't look so good!

Hi everyone,

Well, I ended up with another Tuesday weigh in because the Wednesday meetings were too tough to make although I liked the leader. Since I start work again next week (which is from 10:45 to 3:45, I work in a school, next week I'm going to switch to another center which has an 8:30 am meeting. Only way I can do it, and I'm not switching to an evening weigh in, that will for sure bring me UP and you know the drill....as it is in the morning weigh ins everyone is taking off their belts and watches and earrings...I dread the cold weather wearing JEANS! Someone actually told a story last week about a meeting she went to where a woman took off her pants and stood in her underwear to weigh in!

So, ready for this week? I lost a giant .2. Yes, I know, rah rah, it's not a gain,;) but I was a bit bummed....the first couple of weeks it came off fast and the last two it's been bits and pieces. It's been 5 pounds in a month and I know that's good, but I hope to see a bit more of a loss next week!

So hard staying on track, my DH came home from the diner and both he and his friend didn't want their desserts then so it sat in the fridge here...chocolate covered cheesecake. It taunted me but I didn't break. He told me after he ate it it looked better than it tasted so I feel a bit better. Must have been about 5 points a BITE, at least!

Just a note...my profile pic really is OLD and quite a few less pounds ago!

Have a good week all and I agree being able to vent here is very helpful!

I did weight in today a day early, but I had a commitment for tomorrow that precluded going to my regular meeting, and I didn't want to do an evening weigh in as I've been doing a morning one. Lost .6, which doesn't thrill me, but it's a heck of a lot better than a gain. It just motivated me to do a fast paced half an noir walk around my neighborhood, I'm sitting here cooling down. I agree the tracking is important but sometimes so confusing. I had an entree at Hoolihans before that the menu says is 450 calories, but the WW app and the Hoolihans on line nutriitionals show and point out for out for 565 calories. Was on the early bird menu so maybe a smaller portion. I may just call them tomorrow to ask! Stay strong everyone!

Another shorty and new to WW here. I'm 4"11ish and have been doing WW (again) for just barely over 1 week. Lost 3.8 doing Simple Start (that's it right?) I too feel the SS program is restrictive as I'm married to a foodie and though he is extremely supportive and cooks to help me, it is more difficult. I don't use the extra pts yet except for today 2pts and yesterday 2pts. I try to stay at the 26 pts as best I can.

 

I had success with the Points program years ago and Points plus threw me off so I left WW. I'm going to try SS until next weigh-in on Mon and see how it works for me. When I followed the old Points program I almost always stayed within my range and not use the extra. I rarely used the activity points I earned. Figured it would help speed up my loss. If SS doesn't work, I'll switch to PPlus.

 

I love the advise of eating the salad first and then the entree (duh) but either it was mentioned here or I just thought of it--get my salad first, eat it and then go back for entree. I typically grab it all, then often eat the hot entree first. Fill up on salad first. What a concept!! Silly me.

 

Sorry for the long post. Great work on the losses and sticking with the program. Good for us!

__________________

I always feel like being short just makes me look more rotund, and with the back issues I had, shoes more than an inch in height are reserved for special occasions! Funny....in my family we've always had the salad first, both when I was growing up and with my family now.

I'm actually sticking with the Simple Start for the most part.....it worked the first too weeks and I don't really feel at all deprived, although chocolate does have a way of calling my name. I'm lucky that DH likes to eat healthy and my kids are grown up and out of the house, so I pretty much shop to the plan....thank goodness though for those 49 extra points a week!

Hi, well I must admit, i fell off the wagon Shortly after joining my mom was hospitalized and with all the time spent at the hospitals with thier yummy food. Not getting home till late, i gave up trying to follow the plan. She is now home from the hospital and I can finally start preparing for my cruise in a few days Once I am back from the cruise i will be back following the plan and even making my hubby follow it!! I dont know what his points allowance will be though.

I agree, so close pre cruise not the time to start following plan, just try to take little measures rather than eating everything in sight, thinking you are on vacation....we actually discussed cruising and WW this week at meeting, and our leader told us it's not an "all-aboard" pass to eat everything in sight, but don't deprive yourself completely, and walk stairs and all over the ship! Lots of fresh fruit around.....but a dessert at dinner isn't out of the question! My biggest issue is always those little breakfast pastries and the soft serve ice cream machines calling my name repeatedly!

Glad your mom is home!

We ate in tonight....grilled bluefish, a quinoa/brown rice mix and grilled zucchini....tomorrow is the BD meal....

This is a wonderful thread. We were just talking about this at my WW meeting today. A couple at the meeting had just come back from Alaska land tour and cruise and he had gained eight pounds. We were laughing at how you used to be able to walk stairs between everyplace but now the ships are so big, it's pretty impossible! Going 12 days on NCL Breakaway in January. I've never done more than 7 days before, so I'm a bit nervous about that. Breakaway doesn't even have a wraparound promenade to walk, a lot of newer ships seem to do that to preserve space and let me tell you 10 laps for a mile around a running track is BORING!!!! I'm just hoping I make it to the cruise still on WW...just started for like the 5th time, I have at least a good 20 pounds to lose. So far 4.2 in two weeks...I'm happy with that, any encouragement is great!