[Lovestocook9121]

Thank you all!

mamma- Thank you, I am so happy to read all your comments. Sorry for the late reply I didn't think anyone else would comment. I am going to be all over these boards getting advice and tips. I'm so glad this website exists!



Wannabe- We're neighbors...I live in Illinois as well. My first year I lost about 38 lbs. It was hard but every lb. I lost I felt better. My back pain went away (and I'm fairly young!) and I felt lighter in every way. I wish you the best! Just start by eating 10% less on your plate. Tiny little changes over time really build. What I do is I hate calorie counting but it helped in the beginning. I make sure every meal is balanced, not too fattening or starchy, and is an appropriate size! I never eat out of a bag or not know how much I ate. It all is accountable b/c I see it on my plate. I make every meal a reasonable size: breakfast, lunch, 3pm snack, dinner, and sometimes a nightly fruit/parfait snack: yogurt, granola, fresh berries, banana, raisin, in moderation. Definitely friends!

[Lola Dark]

Welcome welcome, I'm new too and have done it once before, I can do it again!!

[snowchick]

How awesome for you!
Best of luck I know you can do it.

I'm new here too, hoping to get more ideas for success.

[BusyB]

Fantastic job so far! Keep it up.

I'm new here too and wld love it if you would share how you've lost the weight so far. Sometimes hearing others efforts can inspire me to try new things.

[Lovestocook9121]

Thanks all - and Lola Dark -YOU CAN do it again, just never give up.

My tips, as BusyB asked:

-NEVER GIVE UP. Even if you've gone 3 weeks without loosing or 3 months, never ever ever give up. I just couldn't get under 222 no matter what I did. It really hurt me mentally & the big me wanted to give up, but I got over that hump, just waited and kept doing my thing, and now I'm far from that #.

-Drink more water, it helps your teeth and keeps you from wanting diet pops, reg. pops, and bad things. I used to drink 5-6 diets a day, now only 1 at lunch. It was a big weakness of mine. Now I supplement with coffee, Crystal light zero calorie, water and tea. It was hard to break, but I did it! Again- patience!

-Get enough sleep.

-Exercise. Make yourself do it and it gets easier every month. I pretty much go 2 days on, 1 day off, I use the treadmill but that's me. Park the car further, I do this now. Take the stairs once and see how it is. I take the stairs unless I'm sick or it's that time of the month. I still get winded but it's for the better.

-Just trying eating a little less, just 10% less of what's on your plate. Try eating more of the vegetable and a LITTLE less of the meat (I know it's hard). Distract yourself and push back lunch by 30 minutes or that "snack you must have".

-I eat in banks of time so I don't have to count, I make sure each plate (at each meal) is NORMAL. I hate counting.

Today's breakfast: coffee, low sugar oatmeal, and a 1/4 piece homemade pumpkin bread. Right now between breakfast and lunch I'm eating a small plate of watermelon.

Lunch will probably be some chicken pieces and leftover homemade chicken noodle soup.

3pm snack will probably be some fruit and some tiny thing like a popcorn rice cake or a handful of pretzels. Another time if I'm starving it'll be 1 piece of high fiber bread and a very tiny amount peanut butter and jelly.

(If I'm starving while preparing dinner, I whip out the baby carrots and low fat dressing or rare: regular dressing. It keeps me from downing bad things like too much chips, or a candy.)

Dinner is homemade 99.9% of the time. Grilled chicken, potato and an ear of corn. Tonight's rare: philly cheesesteak (homemade), barely any oil, with peppers, cheese, and some baked homemade fries, and a salad.

Rare: ice cream...cookies, Twizzler, etc. They may be in the house but they're once a week for the ice cream (if that), and a 1/2 cookie maybe after lunch - not every day. Thankfully I shrunk my stomach and sweets make me feel a little sick now, so I avoid them.

Then I may have a 8-9pm parfait: natural low fat yogurt, small amt. fruit/nut granola, some banana and strawberry slices, etc.

- I weigh every 2 days, max 3. It won't work for some but it keeps ME accountable. When I gained my most was when I pretended the scale didn't exist and I was "fine the way I was". Never again...

-Watch out for restaurants and giant portions. Personally, I don't love eating out. I want to know how my food's prepared (I.e. not a cup of oil per dish) and I don't want to take food home for the next 2 days. If it's the right place and they don't serve you 4 servings of food, then I will visit once or twice a month, but we're more Subway people, or a small portion at a Mexican place. I stay away from Chinese food, used to love it, but we always feel sick afterward and it's so oily and caloric. If I were to eat there, it'd be 1 soup, 1 egg roll, or 1 soup and a small portion (1 cup) of a meat like almond chicken or chicken chow mein, plus a little rice.

- Try switching to whole grain pasta or bread, just try new things. I would have never tried lentil soup before, I love it now! I would have never tried zucchini, now I really like it!

- Learn your body. I have like never before. I know which foods make me feel sicker (Chinese), and which foods help my body (fruits, vegs, whole grains). I now know when I'm truly hungry and I ALWAYS EAT WHEN I'M TRULY HUNGRY.

-Never deny yourself. You see that cake at a party? Have a taste, like 1/4-1/2" wide piece. I bought a bag of Valentine's candy for my son's class. I ate one piece and left it at that. Just have a little!