[yogagirl]

I am 48 years old and have been fighting the weight battle all my life. There were two points in my life when I lost weight and was what I think was a good weight for me. My problem is I have absoultely no will power ...I am find my hand filled with food constanly going to my mouth! I am once agian trying a low carb good fat like South Beach diet, allowing myself some of the things I love, CHOCOLATE, so I don't binge...and I can binge.
I have read some of the posts here, and see so many that have lost weight, so I know it is possible..my head knows but my emotions and my stomach seem to be the devil!!! I need help and support and this seems to be the place to be!

My highest weight: 240, right now around 218 and I want to get to 170! It seems so far away!

[headdoc]

hi yogagirl.welcome. i am fairly new as well. i also have been battling this weight thing all my life. i have lost 37 since jan but stuck for last 7 weeks. i am trying to get a new attitude and realize that this is about feeling good and healthy not only numbers. but boy do those numbers going down keep my motivation going. i am limiting calories(1500) and exercising regularly. i limit refined sugars but balance protein and carbs. i should say i am 39 and really notice how much harder this is as i get older. i used to be able to lose 10 lbs a week if i set my mind to it, now 1 lb a week at the most. willpower is easy for me IF i see results. i am going to keep trying hope you do too!

[frs1028]

I am new to 3fc too - just joined yesterday - but have read some of the things on here before. I really need some support to stick with a program. I feel like I don't have much will power either. When I feel a little too much stress I eat anything that is around. I am 44 and just started back on a low carb plan. I need to lose at least 25 pounds, but would be happier with about 40.

Yogagirl, I have heard that South Beach is better - but I am not too sure about all the fancy cooking. Have you tried it before & do you find it easy to stick too? Thanks for any advice or hints I would appreciate it.

HW 197/ CW 192/ GW 165 (?)

[Rysa]

Good luck to all of you! I am also new, but encouraged by the success so many posters here seem to acheive. Hopefully we'll all be success stories soon!

[yogagirl]

Hi! Thank you everyone for responding, my mood is elevated from reading your words! I am really not very good at following a diet plan. That has been proven in the past! I have the SBD book and I do believe it is good...I have a problem with making the committment and staying with it! Why, I wish I knew, everything else in life I have set my mind to do I have done..but I slide when it comes to the weight issue...and boy is it harder now! I had a hysterectomy in 1998 and the fat literally seems to be adhered to me since then! I do try and limit the refined foods, and pretty mcuh do not do any meals that come out of a box...One of my favoite things to make and eat is some cooked chicken, turkey or hamburger with a can of low sodium tomoatoes and some low sodium tomatoe sauce (or this time of year, use fresh), Italian spices and some frozen of fresh squash, bake or heat on stove, sprinkle with cheese of your choice..easy and good..also I do like the mashed califlower that the SBD uses in place of mashed potatoes..however I must use Bean-o if I plan on being a lady after eating!!!! I am also walking on my treadmill at leat 2.5 miles a day, and up until a few weeks ago I practiced yoga at least 2 times a week...I find it eaiser to go to a class for yoga than trying to do it at home, we have several businesses and the phones ring non stop some days....plus I work PT for my pocket money! And I work weird hours..like tommorrow it will be 10pm to 6 am...I eat like crazy when I am tired. Does any one else find that is true with them? I am so happy to be here with all of you! Together we shall overcome! Good bye Fat pants!

[MikeH]

Hi, yogagirl, and welcome! Yeah, you can do it. I know many who have lost much more than you (including my 50-yo wife, who also followed a low-carb plan). Of course, exercise is vital to any weight loss program.

I had pretty good success just cutting back on calories and simple carbs. No, I do not have any great amount of "will power," and I love chocolate! But I found that if I stayed away from the great confection for awhile, I did not crave it. (Okay, I craved it a lot less.)

Anyway, at the risk of boring those here who have here me rant about it before, here is my cut-and-paste version of the personal plan I follow. Of course, everyone is different and has to find out what works for them, but this did the job for me=

I'm a 53-yo male and have lost forty pounds over the last two years following my own eating plan. I am currently at 195 pounds and 16% body fat. I call it the "don't eat so freakin' much" diet! During the week I limit myself to about 1500 calories per day, eating very low fat and no simple carbohydrates. I eat small "micro-meals" of about 50 to 100 calories (a pickle, some nuts, etc) roughly every two hours, keeping my blood sugar even so I never get very hungry. On the weekends I don't much worry about what I eat, but usually opt for reasonably low calories and fairly low carbs.

I also work out nearly every day for at least an hour, with a cardio workout every other day. While working out I listen to books on tape on a walkman. I consider the walkman the most important piece of exercise equipment!

I didn't get serious about losing weight until a couple of years ago, when I turned fifty and decided I didn't want to enter my 'fifties belly first. I was pushing 235, and decided I had to do something! I followed the Atkins plan for several years with pretty good success. However, I seemed to get stuck at about 210. Atkins is pretty effective if you have a lot of weight to lose and if followed closely, but becomes less so as you home in on your goal weight. It was at this point that I decided to cut back on calories rather than just watching carbs. I simply made sure I took in less energy than I burned up. Once I did that the weight came off quickly, usually three pounds or so per week.

I don't have much trouble maintaining. I eat pretty much what I want on weekends (within reason), and by Monday am up a couple pounds. But during the week I am very strict with myself, and what I picked up goes away.

For breakfast I eat three eggs cooked in 1 tbs of olive oil an hour prior to my workout. After my workout I usually have a protein drink (I like Edge) or 1/3 cup of low fat cottage cheese, or a small container of low carb yogurt. For lunch a spinach salad with 6 oz of tuna, a couple precooked chicken breasts, or eight ounces of turkey or ham. I usually throw in some zucchini , a tomato, mushrooms, or other low calorie/carb veggie. Dressing is usually 2 tbs of olive oil and an equal amount of balsamic vinegar with a little garlic powder thrown in. Olive oil is the only fat I allow during the week. Dinner might be roast chicken, turkey breast, or a cup of bean soup (and I make some pretty wild soups) or perhaps two burgers without a bun. Sometimes I'll make a wrap using low carb tortillas and some kind of lean meat. If I get hungry later I'll have 1/3 cup of nuts or a piece of fruit. I love cheese, but never touch the stuff during the week.

I eat a lot of protein because I do a fairly heavy workout and don't want to lose muscle. Of course, I down a great amount of water, usually well over a gallon per day on week days, and a bit less on the weekends. I drink a couple cups of coffee during the day, with artificial sweetener. On weekends I’ve developed a bad Starbuck’s habit, although I almost always stick to their regular coffee and rarely opt for the specialty drinks. I never drink soft drinks, and have a glass of red wine most evenings. (Hint: throw a few shakes of chocolate and a packet of sweetener into Starbucks coffee and add a little milk and it much mimics a mocha.)

Here is a typical daily menu:

Breakfast (for me, 4:30 AM):
Eggs, 3: 80 calories

Snack (8:00 AM): (Choice of) Edge (Berry, 30 calories, Chocolate, 80 calories)
Cottage cheese, ½ cup: 80 calories
Yogurt, (low carb) 60 calories

Second Snack (9:30 AM): Fruit (apple, orange, banana): about 100 calories.

Lunch (11:30): Spinach salad (Spinach, assorted low-calorie vegetables, 6-ounces of chicken breast, tuna, or turkey): about 400 calories total.

Snack (2:30): Dried fruit, such as 7 prunes: 100 calories

Dinner (4:30 PM): 1-cup of bean soup, about 300 calories.

Snack (6 PM): Nuts or fruit, about 100 calories. (Often, I will split my dinner soup, eating half at 4:30 and half when I arrive home from work.)

This comes in at about 1200 calories, but I just assume I’ll go a bit higher. It sure doesn’t hurt to have a bumper zone! Usually, I have a six-ounce glass of wine in the evening, at about 21 cals per ounce this adds another 126.

Here are a few ideas for snacks. Each is 100 calories or lower.

Apple, small: 80
Banana, small: 80
Nuts, 1 ounce: 100
Orange, small: 85
Pickles, small: 15 each
Peaches, ½ cup: 80
Pumpkorn, 1 ounce: 100 (Don't know if you can find this)
Prunes, seven: 100
Soy beans, ¾ ounce: 100

And I suppose the list can go on and on and on. I try to stay away from "trigger" foods, like my beloved chocolate. But as they say, STUFF happens. When it does, you shrug and go on.

In any case, my wife belongs to a fitness club that specializes in the overweight. Over the time she has belonged, I've seen many people come in with a lot of weight and change their lives around completely, so I know for a fact it can be done. You can do it too!

I wish you the best you can be.

[BayBeeDahl]

hi all! i'm new here too, and need support to stick with it.
i have good luck with weight loss; i seem to lose about 35 pounds at a time, which stays off, but i plateau for weeks and weeks and the plateau lasts longer than my motivation. **sigh**
so i'm going to try this site, and read the posts, and post myself. i'm hoping this will help keep me focused on my goals, and keep my eyes on the prize!
i have a gazelle that i do for 30 or 40 minutes a day, and a ballet tape that i do once or twice a week. the gazelle helps quite a bit (it doesn't hurt and i don't feel too silly), and the ballet tape helps me with my balance, coordination, and agility. i notice the difference in little ways as i move through my day.
i drink lots of water and iced tea (i love soda pop, but there's too much salt for me, and it seems to make a big difference). i love salad with cottage cheese and croutons, and one of my favorites is vanilla yogurt with granola--seems to give me lots to chew, which is satisfying.
i hope we all have great luck and great success in the weeks and months to come!

[bodyshakers]

Originally Posted by yogagirl

I am 48 years old and have been fighting the weight battle all my life. There were two points in my life when I lost weight and was what I think was a good weight for me. My problem is I have absoultely no will power

Oh, I don't know about that yogagirl. If you were able to lose weight previously I would say there must be will power there somewhere. There is no trick to losing weight other than the age old adage of eat less and move more. Given that [a] you're here and [b] you have success in the past - if even temporary is a very good start.

Welcome! I look forward to getting to know you and good luck with losing.

[Ptboxer]

I only joined a few weeks ago, but have only become active the past few days. I need to find what works for me. I have worked out for quite a while as I am a Personal Trainer. However, my knees, back, and hips are so bad now that I can't do any impact work. My highest level of cardio is walking my dog 3 times a day, and that is when my back is not hurting so bad. Then my SO will walk him for me. I teach resist-a-ball class, Pilates, yoga and Water Aerobics. You would think that with all this acticity, plus walking that I could drop some weight, but then comes my problem. I eat. And eat. And eat. I defeat my own purpose. I sometimes wonder if I pay too much attention to the scale and should just focus on body fat. I feel ALWAYS that I am in this tug of war between the scale and body fat. At one time I had been on the Body for Life program and got my body fat down to 19.6%! That was down from 22.3%. However I only lost 3 pounds. I felt so defeated about the minimal weight loss that the body fat didn't matter when it should have. Intellectually I know what I need to do it is just finding the will power to do it and maintain it. I feel like I am on a rapid slide down the slippery sloap.

[sillymonkey]

Hi there - I'm not really very new, but I haven't been active on this board for a long time, so I still feel pretty new. And yeah, I could use some support (sigh). I decided in January that I was going to get control of my weight this year. 7 months later, and not much has changed on the scale. But there are a bunch of positives - I've been working out very regularly (usually 45 min on the eliptical, ~4 times per week), I think I've dropped a dress size from 20 to 18 (yay!!), I don't get winded anywhere near as easily as I used to (really love that one), and while I tend to sweat easily and profusely when I exercise in the heat, I'm noticing that I cool down much faster than I used to. So, these are all great things, but that darn scale is just laughing at me. Gah!!! And while I'm pretty good with the exercise, it tends to fall off when life gets busy, and I'm having a lot of trouble saying no or making good choices when it comes to eating (especially eating out, which I've been doing a lot of this summer). I mean, I love my friends and I love hanging out with them, but EVERYTHING they want to do seems to revolve around food! And it's not like they're forcing me to eat badly, but I find just going to the BBQs and the restaurants is too tempting. Any suggestions on how to quiet the little devil on my shoulder?

[scsbxrmom]

Hi i'm new here as well i'm 47 married in an empty nest sw219/cw216/gw140 i just started 7/19 i started the atkins but i'm not sure it's the one i want to stay on i don't know how much help i can be but if you want to im me feel free maybe we can help keep each other on track.

[Heavenlie]

Hi everyone. I just started the South Beach diet and am wondering if there is any helpful tips to resist the sweets. It's only day one and right now I am craving chocolate. HELP! By the way, how do you get those cute picutes to show up? Sorry, trying to keep my mind off the vending machine calling my name right now....lol

[grandma57]

Hello MikeH well I read your message the best I have read on here I think leave it to a man to make it simple and ture you sound like you are in control Jean

[mompen]

Just wanted to WELCOME all you lovely ladies!

It is great to have you all here!