Thursday, February 26, 2009

Let's keep it goin' the way it's goin'!

New member Gwen led the chapter's loss with a staggering 7.25 pounds! She advised to journal and avoid overeating.

We celebrated some Best Losers of the Month:
November: Bonnie
December: Ann C.
January: Bonnie (again!)

Ann C. got her award for her first 10 pounds.

Barb motivated us to...
STOP THE POP
Soda (regular and diet) can do gallons of bad things to us:

• Puts on pounds
• Increases risk for diabetes
• Bad for the environment (not recycling)
• After drinking, you're still thirsty
• It contains no nutrients
• It's bad for your teeth and bones
• Raises your risk of cancer

Retreat Cruise 2009

Judy shares about her retreat cruise experience...

The TOPS retreat cruise, which originated in San Diego CA on Feb. 13, was a 10-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera with ports-of-call in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Topolobampo, Loreto, La Paz, and Cabo San Lucas. This was the 4th TOPS cruise, and, so far, one has been planned every two years.

On the cruise, each retreat director presented a two-hour program during the first four sessions, while we were at sea heading for Mexico:
Barb Cady..........."Eat Right"
Cynthia Mack......"The New Year is NOW"
Deanna Bies........"Emotional Eating" (which she called "the Beast") Deanna is a brand-new retreat director.
Terri Ord............."Attitude"

The fifth and final session, while at sea heading back to San Diego, was a tribute to KOPS and ended with a Circle of Light.

This fall there will be a 4-day retreat on Oct. 18-22 (Sun-Thurs) in Moravia NY (about 30 miles southwest of Syracuse) with director Terri Ord, who is top-notch. I have attended two of her retreats and highly recommend her. If anyone wants time to concentrate on him-/herself and needs some inspiration and new direction, this is the ideal place to be.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

We had an 8-3/4 lb. loss for the week.

Linda Lewis was our best loser of the week with a loss of 4 lbs.

Unwise - Junk food
Wise - Eat more salads

Mary won the dice game.
Ann has Wanda rose.

Chapter Trek Progress

OUR CHAPTER'S COMBINED "MILEAGE"

is 1942.4.

We have exceed our goal!

To qualify for entry into the raffle,

at least one chapter member has to individually complete the 1000 mile trek

from Chicago to Orlando.

Chicago, IL START

Indianapolis, IN 150 miles

Louisville, KY 300 miles

Nashville, TN 450 miles

Cattanooga, TN 600 miles

Atlanta, GA 750 miles

Valdosta, GA 900 miles

Orlando, FL DESTINATION

This is our progress to date:

Amanda: In the Chicago suburbs

Ann: Off to a good start

Barbara: Almost to Indianapolis

Bonnie: In the Chicago suburbs

Carol: Zipped right through Indianapolis

Cindy: Well on her way to Louisville

Dawn: In the Chicago suburbs

Denice: Just leaving Chicago

Gigi: In the Chicago suburbs

Joanna: Zipped right through Indianapolis

Kim: Almost to Indianapolis

Linda K.: Almost to Indianapolis

Linda L.: Visiting Indianapolis

Lorraine F.: In the Chicago suburbs

Lorraine P.: Past Louisville!

Mark: Almost to Indianapolis

Mary: In the Chicago suburbs

Nellie: In the Chicago suburbs

Sandy: In the Chicago suburbs

Theresa M.: Just leaving Chicago

Theresa R.: Almost to Indianapolis

TOPS Trek 2009

TOPS TREK 2009

Our TOPS President, Barbara Cady, has challenged each chapter to “walk” 1000 miles. This on-going challenge ends on May 31, 2009.

The rules are as follows:

Members earn 1 TOPS Mile

For each actual mile run or walked OR
For each ½ hour of other fitness activity

A bonus of 10 miles is awarded to members who “walk” 5 or more times that week.
A bonus of 5 miles is awarded to members for each day they “walk” 45 minutes or more

Click on the contest form for more information.

TOPS IRD 2009

International Recognition Days 2009

International Recognition Days (IRD) is hosted annually to honor TOPS members and celebrate their successes. The next event will take place in Orlando, Florida, July 16-18, 2009.

from the www.tops.org website

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Well! We are goin' in the right direction AGAIN! Linda K. showed us the way as our "Best Loser". She wants us to walk and avoid not drinking our water.

It was close to Valentine's Day so we played a quick Valentine's game and then some special guests arrived for Marcia. It seems someone sent her a Singing Valentine from the Racing City Chorus from Saratoga!





It was then on to a nice Rededication ceremony presented by Joanna



We all rededicated ourselves to our chapter and ourselves

Thursday, February 5, 2009

It seems we are back on track in the new year! This week the chapter had a great loss of 14.75 pounds!

Sister Mary led the way as our "Best Loser" and told us to exercise and watch out for those nasty carbs.

The annual Rededication will be held next week (Feb. 12th)

Our special guest speaker was Michelle Brennon from Lifeline Screening, a preventative stroke screening service.



She gave us some useful facts such as:

• 80% of all strokes can be prevented
• Stroke is the 3rd leading cause of death

She also gave us a useful tool to help us recognize the symptoms of a stroke F A S T

• Face (can the person smile?)
• Arm lift (will both arms lift equally high?)
• Speech (impairment)
• Time (the quicker response, the better)

Lifeline Screening will be at the Christ Community Church in Clifton Park on March 27
1-888-653-6412 for more info.

Thanks Michelle for your great program and helpful insight.

Upcoming Elections

It is that time of year when we refresh our TOPS leadership - elections.

Joanna, who has served us well as Leader, has decided that it is time for her to pass the torch. Kim will also be stepping down from her Treasurer duties. So, if anyone is interested in these posts, now is the time to take serving the chapter into serious consideration.

It is anticipated that Mary will continue as Asst. Weight Recorder. Ann will also be joining the weight room as Asst. Weight Recorder. Dawn has expressed an interest in continuing as Co-leader, and Linda would like to continue as Secretary.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The chapter registered a net loss of 4 pounds this week. Hooray!

Our best loser was Ann, who can be credited with 3.5 pounds down. This week she made an effort to get back on program and journal (wise). Her recommendation for behavior to avoid is eating too much at one sitting (unwise).

Contest Update: Ann pulled the black die and won the kitty.

Program: Due to low attendance, the Renewal Ceremony was again postponed. Instead, Joanna presented a survey, Are You Ready to Lose Weight?, which the group completed and discussed. (click image for larger version)