General Diet Plans and Questions - Curious! Anyone doing their OWN plan??

I have flirted with a couple of groups, but I don't feel 100% comfortable there.

I have actually incorporated ideas from a couple of different plans and am seeing results now after a sluggish start.

I am still a fan of Susan Powter and her no nonsense approach. She is into low fat and her calorie and fat recommendations for my weight appealed to me.

I am 5'10 and weighed 265 when I started this almost 2 weeks ago. When I weighed yesterday, I weighed 255. I know that early weight loss is mostly water, but I was excited to see a loss.

My calories for the day are 1950 and my fat limit is 65 grams a day, which on most days I am at half that or below. I eat low fat now most of the time.

Susan's formula for figuring calories, is to pick the weight you want to be and multiply that times 13 and you will get the # of calories you need per day.

I also focus on the % of calories from fat in my food. Nothing above 30%.

Example....a footlong Turkey sub from Subway is 508 calories and 7 grams of fat. So 7 grams of fat times 9 (9 calories in a fat gram) = 63. Then you divide 63 by the total calories (508) and you come up with 0.12 which would be 12% of its calories coming from fat. SO I EAT IT!!!!!

I also loosely follow Body for Life's exercise program. They have a day of lower body exercise with weights, and then a day of 20 minutes cardio, then a day of upper body with weights and then a day of cardio. You alternate these until Sunday when you take a free day. A free day from exercise and from diet....and although yesterday was my free day...I had three pieces of Pizza Hut Super Supreme Hand Tossed...I was still under my calorie limit for the day and didn't feel deprived. And it's back to healthy eating today! (lots of whole wheat rice, whole wheat bagels, whole wheat pastas...skim milk, yogurt, fruits, veggies, chicken...you know the drill!

So anyway, this is what is working for me. I know everyone has to find something they enjoy and something that will produce results for them. This is something that I can live with, and I don't have to JUST eat meat, or cut out my bread, which I LOVE or limit my sugar (which I NEED once a month!)...whatever I want, I can have as long as I fit it in my day. Pretty much like Weight Watchers plan, except I just don't count the fiber and track my fat and calories instead in a little notebook. I then transfer my daily menu, fat and calorie totals to a spreadsheet and print it off and keep them in a binder for reference and also to show myself how great I am doing so far!!

Well, I was just curious to see if anyone else is following a plan that they have designed for themselves!

Best wishes to all and Happy Memorial Day,
Tiffany

Hi Tiffany,
I'm doing my own thing. I don't really want to follow a "diet" for the rest of my life. I'm trying to eliminate some of the over processed foods and get back to some basics. Whole grains, fruits and veggies.
I read Susan's book a long time ago (when I only thought I needed to loose weight!). I need to pick it up at the library and read it again. I remember it being motivating. Right now I'm reading Bob Greene's Get with the Program. I find that the reading helps motivate me.
I do videos for most of my exercise. Walk-a-way the pounds, tae-bo junior (my sons) and others I get from the library when I need a change.
I don't know yet if "this" is what is going to work for me since I've only been doing it a few weeks. I've gone from 201.5 to 196.5. But, sometimes I think my weight can bounce that much in one day. I'll know it's working when I can see it. I can't see any difference w/only 5lbs.
Sherri :D

Hi Sherri from Indiana! We are practically neighbors! (I'm in Illinois!)

Your plan sounds good! I don't want to get into the "diet mentality" either...I am tracking all of my food for now just to mainly get a feel for what "normal" should be. I have just eaten like a crazy person for so long that I almost can't remember what it's like to actually be hungry or full!

So...I am also trying to incorporate more whole grains in my diet. Whole grain bagels, pasta and rice, more veggies and since I have started this...I noticed that I have practically phased out red meat...which is a great thing...

I did just get Susan's other book "Food" and it is great, lots of recipes and she gets into the saturated fats a little more...interesting stuff. Also tells how to cook healthy for your family and things like that, which is helpful since I have 3 girls running around eating like boys!

Bob Greene, wasn't that Oprah's guy? He seems pretty inspirational! I have been walking and my thing is the step tapes, I LOVE step tapes! Makes me feel like I am melting my thighs right away!!!

Well, I'm off for a walk!
Good luck!
Tiff

Hi Tiffany,
What step tapes do you use? I saw The Firm tapes on TV last weekend, they come with that step thingy. Wondering if they are good.
How do you track your food intake? I've just started using fitday.com, but have been logging in a notebook for awhile. I think maybe I need to buy a food scale to help me get a grip on portions.
Are you trying to convert your family to a healthier way of eating? My family is fighting me. More so, the DH. He's always been thin, so thinks he can eat whatever he wants. I'm changing a few things at a time, easing them into it.
Better get the kids ready for school, they are like snails in the morning.
Sherri

Hey Sher...

I do use a food scale and I LOVE it. Like I said, I am still trying to get the hang of the portion thing. A portion of chips to me is about 1/2 the bag! LOL

So, the scale I use measures up to 3 pounds and does ounces and grams...so I can toss my chips in the basket and measure to the gram!!! It's great for measuring chicken when doing a recipe or exact pasta weights...etc. Definitly a great investment. I do strongly recommend the digital though. I have no patience to try to read the old fashioned ones.

As far as the tapes, I have heard a LOT of good things about the Firm, but I don't have any of those yet. I have several that I really like. I have one Cher step tape, one Jane Fonda that I love the music too, a Kathy Smith and another one whose name escapes me. She was the leader in Cher's tape...I think it's Kathy something too. She is Australian, I believe. But it gives me some variety which is good.

Right now, I am tracking my food on an excel spreadsheet that I have. I just haven't been out to find any good software lately. There used to be a great website that you could track on and it would do little graphs of your weight and calculate all of your fat and calories and whatever else you wanted...then they started to charge for it. Grrrrr....

So anyway, I write down everything I eat in a small notebook and the calories and fat and the % of fat calories and then at the end of the day, I log it into my spreadsheet and print it out and keep it in a 3 ring binder. Then I will bunch up all of May and paperclip them together and start on June! It's helpful to have them all there, so I can see when I am hungry (it's that time of the month thing) and it also helps to look at past menu ideas, when I am thinking that nothing sounds good!


Sherri, don't EVEN get me started on the family!!! I have a daughter that is 13, a step daughter that is 14 and an 8 year old stepdaughter that looks anorexic. She wants chocolate all day long and when I tried to give her a fruit cup...she was like, "WHAT??? Am I on a diet toooo????"

The older girls are getting pudgy around the middle, but they are SO lazy. They don't want to exercise at all, but they have started walking with me at night, so that is one small step. They have also noticed that I am losing weight and gaining energy, so they are interested. The only problem is, no one wants to be responsible for themselves. They all want me to come up with journals for them, exercise plans and caloric guides and then cook healthy for them. They don't want to do the work. HECK, I don't want to do the work either. I would LOVE to have someone sit a healthy meal in front of me 3x a day and never have to think about it..but hey, someone has to be the adult!!!

DH, bless his heart, wants back into his 32 jeans, he will eat anything I put in front of him, healthy or not. He just can't be trusted to make his own choices!!! He loves that fried food.

I have started small by using the fake crumbled ground beef, and making Boca Burgers instead of hamburgers. If you put a slice of fat free cheese on it and all the toppings, you can almost fool anyone. Some other little changes, we all went to skim milk, although gradually. 2%, then 1%, the 1/2 % and then skim. We went to fat free cheese, fat free hot dogs, fat free mayo...Things like that. They really DO make a difference. Light breads, lean lunchmeat...tuna in water...baked chips...and lots of granola type bars, jello cups, fat free puddings, fruits, etc. for snacks. Most of the stuff, they don't pay attention to, but they miss my homemade chocolate chip cookies...so I still let them have a free day on the weekend. (we all look forward to that free day!!)

Anyway, I had better go before I write a book!
Enjoy your day!
Tiffany

Hi Tiffany!
I am also doing it my own way. I started on January 1, 2001 and hit goal last week after losing 96 pounds! I had done the WW route and was very successful, but then stopped going to meetings and gained it all back.
THIS time, I decided to do what will work for ME and I have made many lifelong changes!
I eat three lowfat meals, an afternoon snack and dessert every day. I eat high fiber cereal for breakfast (I love Kashi mixed with bran flakes), a sandwich made with lite bread and ff cheese and an apple for lunch, a 200 or so calorie snack when I get home from school (I'm a teacher) and a sensible dinner. I have incorporated many of the things I learned at WW, but I have allowed myself more protein. I usually eat protein at both lunch and dinner. It has helped me not be so hungry.
I also walk 2 miles a day, every day. Everything I read about maintenance proves to me that you must have an exercise component in your program.
I have a very new view of myself, and not just physically. I see myself as a person who makes good food decisions (no junk going into this body!!) and I also like to exercise. I am 39 years old, and believe me, these are very new thoughts for me!
I wish you luck on your journey. It is a journey that is more important than any other you will embark.

Tryin,

You need to change your name, you are DONE tryin!!! GOOD FOR YOU!!!!

I have no problem with all of these other plans...but I knew that in order for this to work for me for the rest of my life, that I had to do something that I could live with and not feel cheated. I too did the Weight Watchers, as soon as I stopped going, I gained it back too. I just didn't want to have to figure points forever. But like all diets and diet plans, you do walk away with some knowledge that you can apply in your own life that will work for you!

I also don't want to be on a plan where I have to send my body into ketosis, or give up breads and pasta...there are so many whole grain alternatives out there, there is NO reason to give up ANYTHING!!!!

I just don't want to keep eating all of those foods that have so many chemicals in them. Yuck...I want to be healthy and eating chemicals is no way to be healthy. But, I am starting slowly and trying to relearn portion control and really get a handle on eating again. I will never again starve myself on a 1000 calorie a day diet when I know that my body needs so much more than that! I have dropped my daily fat to between 10 and 20% and so far, my energy is incredible, and I am FULL. Lots of High Volume, Low Fat foods! GRAIN IS MY FRIEND!!!!! :D

Thank you for writing, it's nice to know that there are people out there having success on their own modified plans and you are an inspiration to me!

I agree about the exercise also, I am doing a strength training on Monday, cardio on Tuesday...alternating and taking Sunday off. Makes me even more ready to hit the exercise on Monday!

Thanks again for writing!
And GREAT JOB!!!!!
Tiffany

hello all, glad to read such postitive posts. i guess i should post here too, i am kinda doing my own thing too, i am making small changing everyday, trying to stay in control, excercises drink my water, portion control, switching to whole grains. trying to make healthier choices, lower fat versions of my favortie foods . i too have been on alot of eating plans and i can take alot of information that i learned from them and apply it to my own plan. i am not labeling myself anymore, i am not gonna say, i am doing this plan or that plan, i am just gonna eat healthier. that is it.

Hi Will!

Good for you! I think that all of those changes you are making will pay off in a big way!

I guess my biggest problem is that I want results RIGHT NOW!!! :lol:

We all know we didn't put this weight on overnight, but jeez, I would love to see it gone by next week. So, right now, that is my biggest goal, to be patient and accept the changes that I am making as a new lifestyle...a better, healthier lifestyle and to just be patient and see what happens. Good things, I know!!!

I really don't feel like I am missing much. I had whole wheat pancakes for breakfast with some great 0 fat syrup that is 10 calories for a 1/4 cup, and a sliced up banana and a cup of skim milk. I satisfied my sweet tooth and feel full, and I feel great because I didn't skimp on the food and I ate healthy. Small victories!

I think I mentioned that I have a free day on Sunday, a day that is free from exercise and a day where I eat what I want. I thought in the beginning that would be a DISASTER, and I would go crazy the rest of the week after that, but that hasn't happened. I went to Pizza Hut last week and had 3 slices of hand tossed supreme pizza and MAN was that good. I had eaten a whole wheat bagel for breakfast and then we ate the Pizza (notice how I started it with a capital letter??) at around 2:00 and then I was pretty much full for the rest of the evening. I had some fruit with fat free cool whip in the evening, but I was so proud that I could eat that heavenly pizza and still stay within the calorie range I like to be in.

This free day will come in handy this weekend, because I have been having a craving for Chinese food in a big way. So, I will go there in the early afternoon and make it a big meal for the day. But even though I am having a free day, I am always amazed that I can still make healthy choices...lots of rice...steamed veggies....and just a few things that aren't so good for me, but TASTE SO GOOOOOOD!!!!

I believe that we have to indulge every once in a while or we will not be able to keep going! It just makes me even more happy to start the week of healthy food again! I know if I am a good little girl all week, then I get my free day on Sunday!!! :s:

Have a wonderful weekend. I weigh tomorrow...I try to weigh once a week on Saturday, just for my own benefit. I like to look at my graph and see the progress I am making. (or trying to make!!)

:devil:
Off to the rummage sales!!
Tiffany

Oh yeah, I guess I should have mentioned. I started this thead as Miss Tiffany, and then remembered my password for my original name!

So, I am one and the same!

:dizzy:

hi tiffany, you are doing great!! sounds like you may have found the answers to staying in control. and you are right about the patience, i forgot to mention that for me too. see i was on a no diet approach awhile back, and lost 9 lbs in 2 months, but of course that wasnt fast enough for me and i tried to go on many other plans after that, sure i lost weight fast and then just put it on again, guess i had to learn the hard way. so that is on my list too, patience. the awful part is ,if i would have stuck to the no diet approach, i bet i could have reached my goal by now and looking good in my shorts. well i cant think about that now. you live and learn , age is really nothing to me, but i am only 37 and i want to start enjoying the things i used to , and stop making food a priorety in my life.


i am doing well also, not thinking about food so often, just eating what i am in the mood for ,and eating less and making healthier choices, cause my motto is not food is forbidden, so i know i can have any food i want, so i dont crave it as much. oh, the mind games that go on in my head.

i am glad the free day is working for you and you are still choosing wisely, good for you. i did try that free day thing before and i just went over board and it made me feel out of control. so i just take one day at a time, and if it is a day, where i really really want junk food , i will eat it , but just less of it and make healthier choices the rest of the day. right now i feel good about this way of life i am choosing, i cant be on anymore diet plans, cause when i fail them, i feel ashamed,misereable and so out of control. well it is my turn to take control and i will do it. i really have just started this, ya know getting my mind clear of the diet mentality, so i am gonna try not to get on the scale for a while. have a great day .

I hear you on being patient. Lord, that was my goal when I was 27, 28 years old...I was determined to get to my goal weight before I hit 30. I started at about 250 and was down to 195 and starting to look MUCH better and I guess I thought I was "all that" because I started eating more junk and now, here I am...32 years old, and at a higher weight than I ever thought I could be.

If I don't do this now, I will be sitting here at 35 looking at almost 300 pounds.
:(

Now is the time, I feel good...I have to have control over this...it's controlled me for too long...

I have a good feeling about this. I have the motivation, and I have the time to devote to this...same amount of time it took for me to drive out to McDonalds and get a Big Mac...is the time it takes me to put together a healthy, filling lunch at home!

I think I have finally grasped the concept that there IS no quick fix. Slow and steady will get us there.

Girls (or guys) We WILL be successful and hopefully we will be the inspiration for new people coming to the boards...

I'm already inspiring myself! Wow!! :D

WooHoo!!! Feelin Good!
Tiffany

hello, just checking in, i am going to the shore, i did great yesterday, i will check in tomorrow, everyone have a great day.

I just noticed this thread and started reading. Ladies, you are an inspiration... ;)

I am sort of doing my own thing too, I saw a dietician as I'm a newly diagnosed diabetic but she cut out everything on the plan... :s: I'm convinced that she saw my fat butt come through the door and didn't think of anything else.. :lol:
I'm doing the whole grain, vegies etc like you, low fat versions of my favorite things. I look at my daily percentage of fat (try to stay at or below 20%) and with the diabetes have to count carb grams too (that's what causes the problem not sugar as thought so many years ago... )

Anyway, just wanted to say that I loved reading your messages and hope I'm not butting in here.

I'm 44 years old, lost 50 lbs doing this since January!

Peace!

Hello everyone, I saw this thread while I was just poking around and it seems that you are all just like me! I am 26 and I need to lose 60 pounds. The good news is that I am down about 4 or 5 pounds! It's been 3 weeks, well, I'm ON my 3rd week. This website has helped me tremendously. It's great to be able to develop a bond with other women struggling with weight. I am currently at 213, and that's alot of weight considering my height of 5 foot 3 inches. My overall goal is to be 160 pounds, I figure at that wieght I'll be able to trade in my size 16's of a loose pair of 9's. I have a mini-goal set and that is to be under the 200 mark! Boy I can't wait for that day to come. Since I think of my diet as a life time plan I haven't put any time restraints on my weightloss. If I do that it's getting myself into possible dissapointment when I don't make it. Even if it takes me more that a year, it's going to happen.

I have developed a plan that mostly follows Oprah's 10 steps. She wrote it along with Bob Greene, as a matter-of-fact I'm going to have to get my hands on that new book of his. I try to stay within 1500 calories a day, and 25 grams of fat. I have also been taking some herbal suppliments...I know, I know, their not good for me, but they really give me the extra energy I need to stay motivated. I checked with my doctor and he advised me to be sure only to take the minimum dosage. I also have a workout plan that involves walking on my treadmill, Denise Austin' s workouts and walking outdoors.

The first week of the new plan was pretty difficult. It took me awhile to get used to eating half of what I normally do, today, I feel full much faster and I don't get hungry anymore. My cravings have also declined, but when I find that I really want something I just go ahead and have it. It's not worth obsessing over it. As long as I am careful to moderate how much of that bad thing I'm eating.

So, that's my story. I'm looking forward to the discussions to come. Everyone have a fantastic and safe day! :)

Hi Will!!! Glad you had a good time at the beach, that sounds HEAVENLY!!! I was in and out all day. Our block had a rummage sale so there was traffic all day through here. I cleaned my house, and threw the windows open and enjoyed the nice day. I'll be complaining soon when my hair is all damp and frizzy and it's 100 degrees. (The good thing is...who feels like eating in that kind of heat?? AND!!! I will get my water in for sure. I HATE water!)

Anyway....Hi Judy!!! Welcome! I laughed when I though of your Doctor seeing you come through the door. She probably panicked. I think they automatically think the best thing to do is put you on a strict diet. HELLO??? If I could follow a strict diet, I wouldn't BE in this shape!!!! Did I mention, that the All-You-Can-Eat Restaurant here has a restraining order out against me?? :lol:

I agree with the grains and veggies. And I DO still have my sour cream and dressings and mayo...they are all just fat free now.

Well, I have a girlfriend coming in from out of town and staying with us unexpectantly this weekend. She will be here late tonight and then all day tomorrow and all day Monday. We have a surprise potluck dinner for an old family member tomorrow, which translates to DIET ****. So, I think I will toss some healthy snacks in my bag and a bottle of water, and I will graze on my own stuff. Then...she wants to cook out on Monday. We'll do hotdogs and hamburgers for the kids, maybe I can have my Boca Burger, but I was thinking about Ka-bobs for the adults with a nice bed of rice...I KNOW I can behave, but I can't wait to see their faces when I am buying baked chips and Wow chips and fat free dip and fat free hotdogs...LOL...they will all think they are in **** for sure. :devil:

Sunday is my free day, and I just refuse to spend it eating potluck made by 90 year old women who only know how to cook with lard. Ya know?

Anywho...
It's SATURDAY ladies...let's enjoy it! I will poke in and out of here and see how everyone is doing!

Oh..today was my weekly weigh-in here in my bathroom. (BIG production, lots of excitement!!)

Down 3 more pounds!
:love:
Tiffany
265/252/150
Hasn't even been a month yet...so I KNOW this is working! Good for us!!

Hi Just Me!! Sorry, we must have been posting at the same time! Didn't mean to ignore you!!!

WELCOME!!! I think it's great to get a little group of us "independants" going.

I think all of us here have adapted some plan or another. I use a combination of Susan Powter and Body for Life. I watch calories and fat and try to exercise...I also think ALL of us have tried one plan or another and didn't stick with it. I think it's great that we are all smart enough to say..."Well, THAT didn't work for me, but I think I could use THIS and maybe THIS and make a plan that WILL work for me".

I also think (doing a lot of thinking this morning) that every single one of us could write a book on diets and nutrition. We all KNOW it...now we will be able to DO it!!

I didn't get too specific about my stats...but here goes. I am 5'10" which is good, and started this new lifestyle at 265 pounds. I was wearing size 22 pants and 24 tops cause the boobs found the fat too. :ink:

But....those days are OVER. By this time next year...(or maybe by June...) I will have lost around a 100 pounds and by God, next summer will be the summer of my dreams. No more sitting in the house afraid to be seen in shorts. I WILL wear sleeveless shirts, and I WILL have a bathing suit without a freaking skirt on it!!

Stick with me people...let's do this.
The biggest thing I can say is...and everyone says it...if you have a bad day and you eat everything in the house...IT IS NOT OVER. Start again the next day. Big deal...EVERYONE has a bad day...just don't let it be a bad week, month, year, life....

Much love,
Tiffany (who is not as cranky these days)
;)

tiffany, you are doing great, and your posts are so uplifting.

i love all the tips and encouraging posts, i got back from the shore on sunday afternoon only to find out that my grahm was back in the hospital so i was there yesterday. and boy i hate missing reading everyones posts, now there are too many for me to respond to.

hello newbies, i am so happy more people are finding there way here, i loved reading your stories and ways you are changing your life and good to see some great sense of humor on here.

i did great friday and sat. and i didnt even get any french fries on the board walk that has to be a first for me, that is my food i am addicted to. and on the way home yesterday, my husband stopped an got one of those breakfast sanwhiches, ya know with egg, sausage and cheese. i wanted it so bad , it smelled so good, but i figured if i could just control myself for one hr and 20 min, that is how long it takes us to get home from the shore, i could make a lower fat version of it at home, and that is what i did. i was so proud of myself, that i controlled my appetite. now dinner was a different story, when i got home from visting my grahm, my mother in law was there with chinese food and cocktails. i wasnt so in control then.

so , it is monday, and i am ready to get in control again. have a great day to all. we can do this. oh and i love the comment about the boobs, mine are so big, i hate them, i want to lose weight, just in hopes that they will shrink, oh and then i guess i will complain about them sagging:lol: hope everyone has a great day.

Hello! I'm still hang'n in here doing my own thing. I had a pc problem, so haven't been around for a couple days.
Tiffany, it sounds like you have a great outlook and I hope it rubs off on me!
I guess since I'm going to play here, I should tell all....
I'm 5'10, currently 195. Down from 201.5 a few weeks ago when I bought a new scale. I always thought I was overweight, thanks to our wonderful media. And, probably because my mother and sister are so petite. I passed up my mother's size in the 6th grade...I'm 35yrs old now. Looking back, I realize that other than prenancy weight I've actually only been over weight the last few years. What I wouldn't give to go back to the days when I "thought" I was overweight!
I like the Bob Greene/Oprah books and I'm using Walk videos for my exercise right now. I really want to improve my entire families diet. More healthy whole foods. I eat very few fat free products. They fall in the "overly processed foods" I'm trying to eliminate. I buy natural sour cream, natural peanut butter....switching a few things at a time so my family doesn't protest too much.
I have 2 boys, 5 & 10. The 10yr old is husky and I hope the change in diet will help him too.
I better get going if I want to get my walk in today! Good wishes to everyone!
:D

OH, Willbethin I am so jealous that you got to go to the beach. I am addicted to the ocean. One day, I will live there! I'm determined. One summer I spent in DE it was the happiest time of my life. There's just something about the beach that just makes me feel good.
It sounds like everyone is doing well. That's great, I myself am struggling with the workout thing. While I am still losing, I know it's not going to last if I don't start walking or something. Anyone have and suggestions on how to motivate to do the workout? I've tried promising myself just 5 minutes but I always brush it off. I even thought of giving myself a treat (not food) for working out all week. That didn't work either.
I need help!

hi tiger, i know what you mean about the days when we "thought" we were fat. i look back at pictures and what i wouldnt give to be that "fat" again, boy what was i thinking , i really looked good, yet always remember wanting to always just lose a little more. now i have alot to lose.

hi just me, i also love the beach, so you can imagine, how i lucked out, when i found out the guy who i am married to now, had a cousin who owned a house in north wildwood. i couldnt believe it. i have been going down there steady since i met him in 1985. i must admit as much as i love it, i dont enjoy it as much as when i was thin and was going boogie boarding and not haveing to worry about the way i look. you would think that was motivation enough to get this weight off.

i did have a good day today, i excercised , drank my water and stayed in control of my eating. i am really trying to get the white carbs out of my eating plan and trying to eat more fruit, veggies and lean protiens. and eat less.

hope everyone had a great day.

Howdy chicks!!!

Ok, this has been a KILLER two days. I was way over on my fat yesterday, and ate fine today...(most of the day)...

But we still have company. So, we have 5 kids in the house and 4 adults...we just threw pizzas in the oven for lunch and I fixed a veggie burger and baked lays...and then everyone decided to have Chinese for dinner. HELLO...the worst place we could have went. I HAD to have an egg roll and a few pieces of Sweet and Sour Chicken and some pepper steak and rice...But I did drink a Diet Pepsi. :lol:

The good news is...they are going home tomorrow and then I can get back on my tight little schedule!

Will, you lucky girl! The SHORE...:dizzy: And by the way...congrats on the GREAT willpower on the boardwalk! Awesome!!

Tiger, glad to see you back! Keep up the great work! Those kids will get used to the healthy stuff before you know it and they will wonder how they EVER ate that old nasty stuff!

Justme...I wish I had the perfect words of encouragement to get you out there exercising....but this is what works for me...I have my husband walk in front of me with a sausage pizza on a stick, and I try to catch it. I could walk for hours. :D (Just kiddin, although that IS a great idea!)

I plan my walk in the evening. I am usually stressed from the day and that little walk feels GOOD. I can stomp around my block and just cuss the world in my head and burn off all that frustration. I am NOT a morning person and can't haul it out of bed for something so awful as EXERCISE...BARF!!!

Just Cuz...how are you hanging in there??

Well, I had two disappointing days and although I made some healthy choices today...that Chinese is weighing on my mind (and my butt) but like I said...on to better things, I will get my walk in tomorrow, and cut back a little more this week and work on getting in those veggies and fruits and life will be golden again!

Family and friends are often around and sometimes it just feels too good to go out together and EAT. I mean really STRAP on that feedbag and enjoy. Life is too short to punish ourselves...so with that in mind...I have enjoyed my friends and enjoyed my food...now I can concentrating on enjoying a better, healthier lifestyle.

I'm off to bed. Long day...(took all 5 kids to the public swimming pool. I had kids riding on my back all day. "Hey Tiffany, watch this!" "Hey Tiffany, catch me!" (followed by a leaping child, screaming and wet, flying onto my head) "Hey Tiffany, I have to pee!" "Hey Tiffany, I lost my bathing suit top!"

Anyway, you get the idea!
Much love to my new friends!
Tiffany :sheep:

Hi all.

I'm on my own "plan" too. It's very loose, but I might be able to do it long-term. I just watch portion control and be sure and walk every day. I lost 9 pounds last winter doing just that, but then I got busy and stressed at work, came home exhausted every day, no energy for a walk and hit the snack box at least twice a day while I was at work. Gained back 7 pounds.

I have a problem with the slow and steady too. The thing is, though, I've been heavy since I was a kid. I got to a normal weight and stayed semi-normal between 21 and 26. Now I'm 40 and I can't say how many "diets" I've been on. After each loss, I've ended up gaining back the weight and then some. I weigh 237 pounds now and I'm 5'6. What if it takes me years to get to a healthy weight? If I'd allowed myself years back in my 20's, I might be there now. Who knows.

I think this site is great. I know I've sat alone in my house thinking no one can understand what I'm thinking or feeling about myself and my weight. The weird diets, the binges, the compulsive weighing, etc. But we're all struggling together and with each other's support. We can lose weight. We can get healthy. Here's to us!

Jen

I'm doing good Tiffany thanks for asking... :) Busy week ahead at work and lots of weird things going on in my life right now but in due time it will all settle down... sigh soon I hope.

I saw your line about the pizza in front of you to get you walking.. lol I get myself out there and then pretend some 'scaggy guy' is following me and I walk faster... LOL
I was pretending that Toby Keith (country music singer in case anyone doesn't know who he is) was following me but heck I started stopping to look at things in hope's he'd catch me so that didn't work!!! :)

I made the most fantastic supper last night. Spaghetti and meatballs, now I know that doesn't sound so out of the ordinary but for my portion I took a small pan and sauteed some zuchinni strips, mushrooms, onions and fresh chopped basil with some Butter cooking spray and wow added to a 1/4 cup of sauce with a cup of pasta with some steamed broccoli and a salad wow I was in heaven and not 'hog' heaven either lol I'll be making it that way again... it tasted like it was from an expensive italian restaurant.. My 13 year old tasted mine and said "wow mom you did better than the Olive Garden this time, I must just start eating like you do just for the taste..." I glowed for the whole night... :) I love to cook and my new adventure is taking all my old recipes and making them lowfat. It's soo easy once you learn how. The new man in my life loves my cooking too and he can't tell what's lowfat and what's the old stuff anymore and I met him when I was cooking the old way ...

:cool:

Later ladies

I have been lurking here for a long time and rarely post but when I started reading your thread I just knew I had to reply.

I am also doing my own plan, mostly just cutting back on portions.

I have been heavy since I was a child and have been on every diet plan known to man and found that nothing was working. Jen I swear you and I could be twins. I am also 5'6" and for most of my life until I hit my late 30's was probably no more than 20-25 lbs overweight. I hit my highest weight about a 2 months ago at 225. I decided then that it was time to change my attitude and do something about it, besides spending any more of my time and hard earned money for someone else to tell me how to lose weight. I already knew all of that stuff anyway, the real problem for me has been to do it! I also have teenage children (I am now 43) and naturally we always have to have lots of junk in the house.

I agree with all of you about wishing I were "fat" like I was when I was younger. I have clothes in my closet ranging from a size 10 to 20. I can remember that as I gained weight I hated those size 14 and 16's and now when I look at them I think, WOW, if I could get back there again I would look and feel great!

I don't mean to make this post so long, I guess I just have so much 'stuff' in my head that needs to get out. My weight issues really and truly started when people started telling me at a young age things like " you would be so pretty if you'd just lose some weight". I know you've all heard it before, but I just want to know who gave them that right to say that to me. Makes me wonder if people would just love and accept us for who we are if I would be where I am now or still just 20 lbs heavy.

Anyway, I would love to be part of your group. It feels like I've found my niche here. I have lost 15 lbs since I started a month and a half ago and am hoping to get back to at least 150 where I know I will feel good again.

Have a great day everyone!

LJ

Justcuz, I loved your thing about Toby Keith. Maybe I'll try that one!

wow, this board is really hopping!!

welcome newbies:)
jen, you are right we all have so much in common, we just have to hang in there and be there for each other.

justcuz, your pasta meal sounds great, i dont like to cook, so i try to make things as simple as possible, that one doesnt sound to hard, good for you for making the meals you already like , healthier.

huntress, congrats on your weight loss, sounds like you are finding what will work for you, i have the same problem with slow and steady, i have no patients. we all have to give ourselves time to lose this weight, and change our bad eating habits.

tiffany, you were sure busy girl, bet it kept you from thinking about food though. i know about chinese food that is a killer, so many different things to try. and it does feel good , when you are with friends and family to just go out and enjoy without worrying so much about what we are eating all the time.

well, i am ready for a new day, to control myself , excercise, drink my water and make healthier choices, i did pretty good yesterday. i kept myself busy which is a big problem for me as i am unemployed and not getting many babysitting jobs, 2 of the kids i was watching, arent here anymore because of one parent got hurt and is not working and the other one, relatives wanted to watch their kids, so i am left with alot of time on my hands.

lets all have a great day.

Well, HELLOO! This thread has become quite popular. I had so much fun reading all of yesterday's posts. The pepperoni pizza, country wester singer (don't know him) for me I think I'd do best if there was a big rabid dog chasing me, or a bunch of roaches. :lol:

I am in a very happy state of mind, I have done the weigh in and I am down to 211. I feel so confident that I will be under 200 in a month or so! Man, can't wait for that day to come.

Here, Here on the gourmet cooking! I love to experiment with new recipes. It's so much fun, of course, I do have my disasters here and there. :lol: I love to put all kinds of stuff with pasta and veggies. My favorite creation is my homemade pizza. All it takes is some ready made pizza crust, roll it out to a 6 inch disc. Top it with fresh tomatos, garlic and parm cheese, you can even add some lowfat mozz cheese. It is so GOOD! And so easy. I love to experiment with all kinds of toppings, artichoke hearts, broccoli, cheddar cheese (lowfat), cottage cheese and pinapple....I could go on forever! Hey, it also makes a great breakfast pizza....

Let me tell ya, I wish I was as fat as I thought I was in college, to me an 11/12 was HUGE! And that was from the Juniors sections. I look back at pictures of myself and think I only wish I still looked that way. In fact, the only time I was ever happy with my weight was in high school, I had lost about 25 pounds and actually fit into a size 5!!!

Why do us as women define ourselves by what size we wear??

Hey Everyone!
Justcuz, I read a book recently called The Schwarzbein Principle. The authur specializes in diabetes. If you like to read, it has a lot of interesting info. The sub title 'the truth about losing weight, being healthy and feeling younger' is what caught my attention.
Tiffany, I saw a Susan Powter video at the library the other day. Have you tried it? I didn't get it 'cuz I don't have the equipment she suggests. I imagine it's hyper like her.
The days I 'thought I was fat'...I think if someone would have told me it was ok to wear a size 10 it would have made a world of difference. I'm tall and big boned, my bones wouldn't fit in anything smaller than a 10! I'm in a 18 now. Size twelve is my goal. I don't think I define myself by my size. I just feel out of shape and unhealthy where I'm at now. In '97, I had gotten up to running 3 miles. I'm so far from there now that I can't believe I ever did it. My knees can't believe it either!
Willbethin, I babysit too. But, this may be my last week. The scheduling is getting to conflicting with my kids swim lessons and baseball. I'll miss the extra $, but life will be much easier.
Hi huntress, dream'n about those 14's and 16's too!
Welcome Jen!

:)

JustCuz...I had to laugh when I read your post about the "scaggy" guy chasing you. LOL

By the way, your spaghetti sounded WONDERFUL...I think we will all be trying that!

Jen, WELCOME!!! And we ALL understand how you feel. It wasn't too long ago that I practically LIVED in the McDonald's drive through. I would order a ton of food and then get 2 small drinks so they wouldn't think it was all for me. I would eat all that food and then go home and have a big dinner in about another hour...I had no idea how to fill up the empty space inside of me. I guess I still struggle, but my self-confidence is really climbing and I like the feeling of being in control of my food and not the other way around. I may not be in control of a lot of things, but by God, my dinner will do what I say!!!

Tiger, I haven't done any of Susan's videos...I just REALLY like those step tapes. I like the rythmic stepping sounds...and if I am REALLY ticked off, I stomp a little, and that makes me feel good. I picture someone's face on my step and I stomp all over them! (I believe that is called HEALTHY anger!!)

Just me!!! That pizza sounded heavenly too. You are making some great choices! You know, there really isn't much out there that we like to eat that we can't substitute low-fat versions of. I do love the pizza too, but I will used some ground chicken or turkey and loads of veggies and low fat cheese...the Boboli crusts aren't too bad. (the thin ones) and with all those veggies piled on...you get full!

I also love salad with grilled chicken and fat free Italian Dressing. I am in LOVE with the Olive Garden's salad...so I try to make it as close as possible. Has anyone tried their low-fat version of their heavenly dressing??

Hi Huntress! Welcome! I hear you on the teenagers. I have a 13 and a 14 year old girl, and they eat like boys. Resisting the healthy food a little, so I let them have a free day on Sunday too as long as they still try to make good choices for at least one meal!

Will, I too am unemployed right now and that can be tough. BUT...working outside the home can be tough too when there are so many temptations. You are my inspiration right now! So positive! *You can be our official cheerleader!!*

Well, the company is gone!! We went out to eat for lunch today at Bob Evans. YUCK. I had dry wheat toast and 2 poached eggs and I left the yolks on my plate. I just wasn't hungry. (It's that dang chinese food. STILL plugging up my guts!!) I feel like I ate enough for 6 months, but I know I didn't do TOO bad considering)

HHHHEEEEYYYYYY!!!! I wasn't DONE yet...I think they must have me on a word limit, and then it just shuts me off. HAHAHA!

Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted...my daughters school is just about 6 blocks away...I think I may drive over there and then walk on their track. That would be an easy way to tell how many miles I am walking since each lap is a quarter mile.

I know, I could WALK over to the track, but let's start small, shall we?? :lol:

You girls keep on chugging along! This is a long term commitment and I am feeling monogamous lately, sooooo....I know I can DO it!! And I know all of you can do it too. We are STRONG, BEAUTIFUL, SEXY, NOT VERY HUNGRY, GODDESSES!!!

Do this tomorrow, it sounds lame, but it really makes you feel good. Get up, go to the bathroom and look in the mirror. Tell yourself how beautiful you are and what a great day you are going to have. REALLY heap on the praise...and you will be amazed at how great your day will be.

I also like to pretend that I am my own client. I am an expert on diet and exercise and nutrition and I hired myself to whip me into shape. If I were REALLY hired by someone to do that job, you could bet your boots I could be planning menus and implementing exercise programs and motivating them to no end~!!! So...I am my most important client and I won't let me down! (I don't offer a money back guarantee...so I HAVE to be successful!)

Feels good to be in charge. Grrrrrr...I am woman hear me roar!!

Hugs guys! Drink your water today!
Tiff ;)

Hey that's not a bad idea there Tiff about being your own best client.. I like it I like it...
I just got off the exercise bike and I'm sweating all over myself here.. :lol: I still can't believe I am motivated to do this everyday. Today's motivation was a woman at work that said to me "Judy, you are looking pretty damn good there girl" Whoa!!
She never compliments anyone... :D

Last weeks motivation went like this.. I was standing in a parking lot of a restaurant talking to my friend that I had just had lunch with when this truck comes roaring up and stops dead in front of me.. I thought the guy was going to run over my feet until I looked into the window and saw the biggest, handsomest smile I've seen in a long time... ;) It was a guy that I haven't seen in about a year and he saw me from a block away. He said he had to come and tell me how wonderful I looked.. whoa again! Now that 6'8" cowboy can put his boots under my bed anytime if ya know what I mean.. giggle Anyway, he's just a friend and has a GF but it sure was nice of him to come and scare the bejesus out of me and make my day!!!
Every week someone else at work or in a store or something comments on how I look and to be honest it's a little eerie feeling as I sometimes wonder if they are talking to me.. :lol:
Life is good! And my friend, turned romantic partner told me today I am the most fantastic woman he's ever met. Well my goodness someone hold me down here ok??? I've never had this many compliments in my whole life and I don't know how to act! Graciously and with a smile but shaking inside..:)
I'm feeling good and these kinds of things are incentive enough to keep me going. That was my point of my ever long winded message AGAIN!!!:dizzy:
Peace to everyone
*J

wow, just cuz, that was an awesome posts, and you deserve some reward for all your hard work, and getting compliments is the best reward i can think of and a great motivator to keep going. i cant wait till i get there.

tiffany you are doing so great, and your posts make me laugh. you go girl. i cant do that mirror thing yet, i really just started gettting serious on monday about this no diet approach of mine, so maybe by next monday i may be able to do that, cause i know the pounds are gonna start coming off.

just me the pizza does sound wonder ful, i am taking notes i am going food shopping tomorrow.

huntress and jen and tiger lily hope you all are doing well. forgive me if i dont mention everyones posts i cant remember that well all the names and sometimes i dont want to write along post.

but just know that i really enjoy reading everyones posts and progress, we are really gonna do this, cant wait till we all reach goal. lets keep up the postive attitudes and encouraging posts.

and congrats to those who lost weight this week, you are an inspiration to me.

oh, i did stay in control today, i could have had more veggies and i need to start eating my fruit, but there was no overeating and no binges. yea me and everyone else too. there are some good choices being made, so we will succeed.:strong:

Judy...Congrats on all the compliments! Feels GREAT I bet!!!

I can't wait until I get my first compliment. I need to stand in front of the mirror and practice looking modest. :s: "I look like I lost weight???" "REALLY???" LOL

My favorite "almost" compliment came the last time I lost weight...and I stopped along side a highway to pick some gorgeous flowers from beside the road and as I bent over, a trucker slowed down and honked at me. I turned around and he was waving his arms around and whistling at me. I couldn't believe ANYONE would ever honk at my butt. (of course, he was probably SKAGGY and would have honked at anything with a crack in it, but still!)

Will!! You CAN do the mirror thing, because you are ALREADY beautiful, you know? Your beauty shines from within and soon the outside will simply reflect the inside...I can tell you are special from your posts. (Not short-bus special, but truly special!)

I am back on track today, did an awesome job and just finished my third week of doing my own thing. Feels good. Still too soon to notice a big change, but my jeans don't feel as tight when I put them on fresh from the dryer. Small victories!

Nighty Night friends!
Tiff
:smug:

This is the most awsome site! You guys (sorry girls) are so motivated and upbeat just sitting here reading in the early morning starts my day off in a happy mood.

will, I agree with you, it is difficult at first for me to keep up with everyone even though I often read the posts more than once. So hello and good morning everyone! Most of the time I only get online in the early morning while I am drinking my coffee and have a few minutes of quiet time.

just, it sounds like you are being complimented left and right and that is so great, what more motivation could a woman want. I am single and can't wait until I start getting attention like that. You go girl!

tiff, you sound like a bundle of energy always so upbeat, could you send some of that my way....I could use some.

Well, so far the scale hasn't moved anymore since the 1st 15 that I dropped and I can live with that. I also have difficulty with the slow and steady even though I realize that it didn't get on over night and isn't going to come off overnight either. I always said that patience is not a virtue that I possess and I have it in my head that I would like to be back to 150 by the end of the year but I know that wherever I am on Jan 1, 2003 it will be better than 225. I haven't begun exercising yet even though I have a really nice treadmill in my room that my mom gave me. I am going to make a commitment to myself to get on it in the next few days, and once I do I know I'll continue. For me taking that first step is all it takes.

I hope you all have a great day!

LJ

morning all, are we ready for another day of staying in control??

no i didnt do the mirror thing. not yet. loved the story about the trucker tif. i agree with huntress, you sound like a bundle of energy with that great attitude, i wish i could be like that, i am just so irritable alot of the times because i am so uncomfortable with these extra 50 lbs on. and mad at myself for not accomplishing the goals i set for myself in january, i could have been at or near goal by now. but i am working on it. wow , three weeks of getting your act together, no wonder you feel good.

huntress you are doing good, just remember what you did to lose the first 15 and remember how good it feels when the scales move in the right direction, you will get there.

ok, today i got a baby sitting job, the kids are eating breakfast and i will have him till 4 or 4:30 today. then i have to go food shopping, any suggestions on what you keep in your house to stay in control? so i dont think i will get my excercise in and i didnt do it yesterday, but my goal is 4 times a week and i did it on monday , so i still have time left to get it in before the week is up. water hasnt been so hard for me, because i dont drink soda, unless it is diet 7up mixed with flavored vodka. LOL . or milk. i really dont like to waste my daily food choices on juices or any other drinks. so i just drink water all day.

i am looking forward to having a great day, hope you all do too.



:lol: :lol:

I'm up for a day of staying in control! I haven't been over eating, but haven't been making the best choices either.
Justcuz, what great motivation. I dread running into someone I haven't seen in awhile because most of my weight gain has been in the last 2 years. I hide if I see someone I know at a store. Look the other way and pretend I didn't see them. Hopefully this fall I wont be doing that anymore.
I want to reach goal by the end of October. It's my favorite time of year. All the fall colors, Indian Summer. It's also my bday, so figure that is a good goal. I have to loose almost 2lbs a week to hit goal by then. I will do it!!!
With the kids out of school, I'm a little off my routine. I was doing my workout videos in the morning after DH left for work and before the kids had to get up. I've been bad, going back to bed after DH leaves. :( I'm thinking maybe I just needed a couple days of vacation myself. Tomorrow, my vacation is over. No more sleeping in!
Willbe, I'm babysitting today too. I have my two, plus 2. Looking forward to their nap time!
Hope everyone has a wonderful day in control!!
:)

Good MORNING. Wow, I think I am ALWAYS here! :lol:

To address a couple of things, I am NOT always upbeat. Or at least I wasn't. Even just a couple of months ago, I didn't want to get out of bed, I would sleep all the time, wouldn't go out unless I had to, just a general all around awful person to be around.

I guess I feel good right now, because of all the positive changes. I know they will pay off and I know there is an outgoing, fun person inside of me. She is just getting impatient and starting to poke her nose out a little!

But I think we HAVE to stay positive. Even with no, or slow progress. ANYTHING is SOMETHING!!! When the scale won't move, I will sing HALLELUAH!!! Cause I didn't gain. And if I gain a pound, I will sing HALLELUAH!!! Cause I didn't gain TWO pounds! And when I lose....WATCH OUT!!!!

Wow, I can't remember how to spell Halleluah, but you get the idea!!

Well, I went to the Junior High and parked my car about 9:30 and put on those headphones and walked like Toby Keith was 2 feet in front of me, puckering up those lips! I only walked a mile, 4 times around the track, but tonight I will do 5 times around.

Back in the day....(few years ago) I was walking 5 miles a night with a friend. HOLY MOLY...and some of the time, we would jog a little. Heck, that 1 mile last night felt like 200, but I will survive and conquer!!!

Ok, on to what to keep in the house to stay in control.
We can all pitch in here and tell you what we personally like.

I like:

1. Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. WOO HOO!!! They are big and come in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla (at least where I live) and I usually get a mixed pack of choc and van. They are GOOD. They have 130 calories and 2 grams of fat. And when you need a little something...there they are.

2. I like the sugar free jello too. I will make a whole box and eat the whole dang thing if I want quantity. There is almost NOTHING calorie wise in it.

3. Orville Redinbacher (oh, you know who I mean) Smart Pop...98% fat free and tastes like butter. The whole bag is BEYOND filling and will satisfy you for a long time.

4. Baked Lays. I love the Cheddar and Sour Cream. Salty and satisfy that salt craving I get occasionally.

5. EGG BEATERS. I will use a cup of it, with fat free cheese and there is some ham out there that has virtually no fat in it and only 60 calories for 6 slices (I'll check on that brand for you) and I slice that up in my omelet and add onion, peppers, mushrooms...any veggies and that is the equivalent of a 4 egg omelet. And man, if I eat that about 10:30...I can't eat lunch. So I will have a snack in the afternoon and then just have dinner. Good idea for days when you know you may have more for dinner than you normally would.

6. Frozen Juice Bars. In the summer, those hit the spot. 60 calories, 0 fat.

7. Regular Orange jello cups with mandarin oranges in them. Good size serving and tastes kind of sweet. Good snack. 70 calories and 0 fat.

8. Smores Granola Bars. Tastes like candy to me. 110 calories and 2 grams of fat.

9. Salsa and Baked Tostitos. What more can I say. I like salty things.

10. Hard Candy. I like the Creme Savers. When I cook or something, it's nice to have something in my mouth to keep me from taste-testing everything. 3 of the Raspberry are 60 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. But they satisfy that candy craving.

Ok, that is 10 for today, I will check my cupboards and do more later.

Ok, I am out of here. (soon, anyway) I found NO PUDGE brownies in my supermarket. FINALLY!!! They have NO fat in them, cause they are made with no fat plain yogurt. I think each brownie has 100 calories in them, but hey, when you need your chocolate, how many things are completely fat free and tastes like a fudgy brownie.

If anyone of you are not able to get them where you live, let me know and I will pick up some for you and send them to you. They come in Mint, Raspberry, Mocha and Original.

Brownies for my girls!
Let's have another great day! We are DOING it!
Tiff

OH MY FREAKING LORD.

I just found out that you can make 1 brownie at a time with the No Pudge. There is a recipe on the side for single servings.

*dancing in circles, waving my arms around*


Holy Bat Droppings, Batman.
:devil:

getting a break, my daughter and the other girl i am watching are in the pool and oh, what a coincidence i can see them right out the window in my computer chair. it is great. the little boy i am baby sittting is already taking a nap. so i jumped on here rather than eat out of boredom in my spare time. tiger lily when was your break, i am glad i will get some extra money this week, i love to babysit but not everyday, so the little jobs are just fine right now, and i can help someone out without any notice, like i just got the one girl, this morning , the mother needed to do some running around and some of her realtives are sick, so she ask me last minute, it is nice to be able to help out a friend. and get extra money too.

tif , you crack me up:lol: :lol: :lol: you are to much girl. and now i see how you have been staying in control, you have lots of good foods to have ready when you need a snack. thanks for sharing.
i am not really a sweet eater, but every once in a while when i give my daughter dessert i feel like having something, those ideas are great.

hope everyone is having a great day.

Tiffany--great idea to tell what keeps us "on track".
I agree--the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches are what I can look forward to having at night after a day of making good choices. Here's my list:
1. diet rye bread--my store brand is the best. 100 cals for 2 slices and it's just like real bread.
2. mustard--a good mustard makes eating fat free cheese possible!
3. apples--a nice tart granny smith apple with my lunch gives me a crunchy, healthy treat
4. frozen dinner in the freezer--for "those' nights when you just don't have the energy to do it for yourself.
5. crystal lite lemonade--I love it.
6. Cafe twists--my grocery store sells these pastry twists that have only 40 calories. They're yummy!
7. carrots--for when dinner isn't quite ready yet. sometimes dipped in a little bit of hummus.
8. kashi cereal (kashi to good friends) lots of fiber, good once I got used to the taste, I really enjoy it for breakfast.

Well, there's my list. I think this is a great idea to give others some new thoughts.

Keep up the good work!

Well, there are some really great and motivational posts on here today, and I can really use it. Yesterday was the first weak day I had in three weeks. I managed to scarf down a total of 2200 calories, while that's not really a scale breaker, it still makes me feel a little self conscious today. After my little binge I marched right to the book store and picked up a copy of "Fit for Life" I started reading it and there really are alot of good ideas in the book. He talks about doing a cleansing of you system periodically and I think I just may try it. Maybe one day a week. I have to complete the reading though, only half through the book.
I've decided NOT to beat myself up about yesterday, it really wasn't too bad of a day. And I'm only human, I actually think it did me some good to have a mini day off. Today, I am back on track and still feeling good, thanks to all the wonderful information you have all shared with me. Thanks Ladies!

:)

Hello. Quiet time here. My two boys are watching a movie. They are 5 & 10. Past naps. The two I'm watching today are napping, they are 2yr & 4 months. I can't imagine having 4 kids all the time. I know people do it, but ek, it's hard. I think this may be my last week babysitting. My boys start swim lessons next week and it's just getting too hard with the extra little ones. I quit work to make life easier for the family....it's not easier w/4 kids. It was just the one extra, then she had the baby. Babies are a lot of work. Not like I didn't know that after having 2 of my own.

Lots of good food ideas girls! You all listed most of the things I try to have around. I'm ready for the summer time farmers market stands to open. Fresh fruits and veggies taste so much better from them. Do any of you do a garden? I usually plant tomatoes and cucumbers, but haven't this year.
Great walking Tiffany! I plan to get out for some good outdoor walks next week when I'm not babysitting.
Talk to u all later! :D

A garden??? BwaHaHaHa!!!

Me and veggies don't get along. I am a dieter's nightmare. I hate ALL cold veggies. All of them. No carrots, no broccoli, no cauliflower, every single bean known to man. Hate them all.

Now, I DO eat spinach, canned of course to lose all their nutrients, and corn and an occasional baked potato. I do like fruits though. But the garden would be a joke, I can't even keep my cactus alive. *sigh*

Hey another thing to add to my list, someone PM'd me to ask about it...I TOTALLY forgot about it, thanks Gardenia! The syrup for my pancakes. It is by Maple Grove Farms, called Cozy Cottage and it is sugar free and no fat. TEN calories for a 1/4 cup. Holy Mackeral, you could drink from the bottle! Great with those fat free waffles and/oatmeal!

I agree about the Kashi cereal. I think 90% of the girls on this board eat it. And it was all the rage while I was in WW. I eat the "Go Lean" it is really good. Kind of like Sugar Smacks.

Grapes are my "keep em close" snack. When I travel, and I have a few trips coming up this summer, I take them in a bowl in the ice chest, and if I get stressed going through Atlanta to see my Dad, I will start eating them like M&Ms. :^:

I also love the frozen dinners too. Summer is an awful time to be cooking.

Just me, good to see you chilling out about the 2200 calories. I found information in a book on fat and calories that says...to find out how many calories you need, you take your weight, (to maintain) or your desired weight (to lose) and take that times 13 if you are sendentary and get no exercise, 15 if you are moderately active, 17 if you are very active and 20 if you are a big fat liar and say that you are EXTREMELY active. :rolleyes:

Soooo.....my goal weight is 150 and I am MODERATELY active so 150 x 15 = 2250. So, I can eat 2250 a day and still lose. I don't some days, some days I have only had 1200 and other days 2400, but I average out.

They say that people often UNDERestimate the calories they need to lose weight and then we all go into that dreaded starvation mode where our stubborn bods hold onto all that fat and we lose muscle instead.

Oh, and an interesting side note. Not that I am watching my cholesterol, but some people do. If a package says Cholesterol Free, that simply means the product itself doesn't have any cholesterol in it, but look on the package for Saturated Fat. If it is Cholesterol free but has Saturated fat in it, your body turns Saturated fats into cholesterol, so you are technically still getting cholesterol in it. It can be misleading. Hope that made sense!

Ok, off to hunt some recipes.
Tiff

justme, who is the authur of 'fit for life'? are u like'n it? i find reading a health/diet book helps me keep on track even if i don't end up following that particular program. i even tried listening to andrew weil's 'eating well for optimum health' on tape in my car! trying to brainwash myself! maybe i should try a headset when i'm sleeping....

Hi there,

Thanks for all the great ideas! T.V. dinners are a god-send on some of these evenings. I grew up always having "dessert" after dinner, so I always expect something sweet after my evening meal. I get those fat-free pudding snacks. 1 satisfies my sweet-tooth and I don't have to figure out how much is a serving, since if I get ice-cream, I figure my typical serving is about a quart!

Justme, I'm so glad you're not beating yourself up for one weak day and just moving on. And how great that you were able to keep it to 2250! I don't count calories much anymore, but I know when I used to, I could go well-over 4000 on a bad binge day.

Well, back to work. Love this site!

Jen

Sounds like everyone is having an "up" day so far. I agree with everyone else Just, I am glad you are not beating yourself up over the extra calories. I am not counting anything for that exact reason. I getted stressed when I have to count anything and that is why I couldn't do weight watchers. I read an article in a magazine a few years ago and I also have a book that talks about learning to eat like a slim person. That is what ultimately will work for me I am sure of it. And that is what I am doing. I don't restrict any food and I swear I feel FREE. I don't sit around thinking about eating cheesecake and banana splits anymore and believe it or not I don't even crave them. I do agree with Tiff about keeping the healty choices in the house. It makes things a whole lot easier when you have them available.

Well, I just got home from work and I'm exhausted as usual, considering that I usually get up between 4 & 4:30 am I guess that is to be expected. At least I did manage to get on the treadmill this morning for 15 mins and I feel like I accomplished something for today. I guess saying it this morning made it so.

Have a great evening everyone..........

LJ

i just lost my whole post, i will check in tomorrow,:mad:

have a great night all.

I was doing some reading this morning and someone mentioned that because they weren't drinking enough water they were retaining. I know it is important to drink enough water, but if you aren't drinking anything but water, just not enough will your body retain what you are drinking?

Since my initial loss of 15 lbs the scale hasn't moved. I know that we all hit plateaus and I wonder in my case if it is because of not drinking enough. I'm probably only getting in 4-8 oz glasses a day and now that I think about it I do drink coffee in the morning.

Are there any water experts out there? ( I would put a smilie here if I knew how to do it!)

Have a great day everyone!

LJ

I'm no water expert, but from things I've read...coffee w/caffeine causes your body to rid itself of water, consuming too much caffeine can lead to dehydration. So, if you are only drinking a few cups of water...add to that some coffee...your body may not be getting enough water.
That said...I drink coffee. I cut back sometimes, even switch to green tea occasionally. DH drinks it, and I have a hard time staying away from it. :dizzy: But, I do get in a good 8 glasses of water a day.
Hope that was helpful info.

morning all:) i am having a great day so far, a lean protien healthy breakfast 3 cups of water done and excercise done, i dug out an old susan powter tape, boy i would have to be nuts to overeat after that workout.

as far as the water thing goes for me, i know it is healthy for our insides to work properly but honestly i dont notice a weight difference whether i drink alot or a little. i dont mind water, because there really isnt alot of other liquids i drink. i know i get in at least 7 or 8 cups in a day, if i am thirsty i will drink more. i drink it because it quenches my thirst but i am not a fanatic about it. if i get in 8 fine , if i dont i dont. i am really trying to get in more lean protiens as they do keep me satisfied and not wanting to eat more of them. like if i have white carbs. i have a lot of whole grain carbs in the house and i am hoping to choose to eat them instead of the white carbs that send me into an eating frenzy.

hope everyone has a good day.

Huntress, when you want a smilie....look to the left as you are typing and there is a rectangle with all the smilies in it...just click on the one you want and it will put it right into your post! Easy as pie. Let's see those smilies now!

Ok, well, this comes from a long-time water hater. I don't drink it. Almost ever. Ok, well sometimes. When it is SUPER hot, and I am SUPER thirsty I will drink it. With spicy food, I will drink it, because I have to wash down the fire and I don't care what I drink then. When I am working out, doing a step tape and my mouth feels like I'm sucking on a brick, I'll drink it then. But as for getting in 8 glasses....:^: Not gonna happen. When I was in WW, my leader said I could drink 4 of my 8 glasses as Crystal Light...which is wonderful! But I have never noticed whether the scale moved or did not move because of it. Although, there are some HEAVY DUTY water advocates out there, and they will GET IN YOUR FACE about it.

I do believe my skin looks better with more fluids. But then I pee all the time. So...what can ya do?

Will, you are the BOMB. I HATE mornings and just can't get motivated that early. I love my evenings. I know it IS better to exercise in the morning, but I am grateful to do anything at all, so I won't fuss. But you truly are an inspiration. :dizzy:

Grrrr :mad: I was mad last night, I went to the Junior High about 8:30 to walk on the track and the soccer team was there practicing on the grass in the middle of the track, so I went home and went back at 10:15 and there were 2 guys out there with flashlights doing something, and since I didn't feel like getting raped. (Oh YEAH, like THAT would happen :dz: ) I went ahead and went home. I didn't want to walk around our neighborhood, there is a busy road there, and I wanted the flat surface of the track...so I just didn't do it at all. BUT, I will get it tonight, and I may walk on Sunday now, even though it is my day off, just to make sure I get all my walking in.

Well ladies, I have a job interview today. Don't get me started on this. When I was thinner, even just 50 pounds thinner, I don't think there was job that I applied for that I was ever turned down for...but now, I am CONVINCED that my weight is an issue. I am/have been an office manager/secretary/receptionist/office assistant.....any and all of those things. I have incredible skills and experience and NO ONE will hire me. I think that when it comes down to picking the person that sits in the front position and represents your company, and they have to choose between me and Cindy Crawford who can't type..... :o
So, anyway, I have done this diet thing for 3 weeks now and my confidence is soaring, so I will go in there and WOW her, and if she hires me, fine...and if she doesn't....FINE, I have things to do this summer and work will only interfere anyway. :lol:

So, think good thoughts for me, I am putting on my finest and marching in there to kick butt and chew gum and I'm ALL out of gum.

Talk to you gals this afternoon some time!
Tiffany

hi tiffany, you go girl, i will be crossing my fingers for ya. you are oozing with confidence and it will come through, that is such a great asset. although although alot of people wont admit it, i totally agree with you on the , heavy person or cindy crawford thing, of course i dont speak from experience, i have worked with children most all my life and you just have to love them take care of them and keep them busy, doesnt matter the size , although i was young and thin when i started at the daycare center, i just never had to worry about the kind of job you have, i wont wish you luck, you wont need it.

boy you really did try to excercise huh?? good for you. at least you tried. most people wouldnt have even tried to go back. what determination. you will get far with that.

i had a great day, stayed in control.

hope everyone else had a great day.:)

Thanks for the info on water. I've always known how important it is to drink it, but like you Tiff I've always hated the stuff. I am a hard-core Coke addict (coca-cola that is) I would drink it from morning until bedtime if I could get away with it, but with these hot humid summers in Houston I guess the water is best. I also like crystal light especially if I add just a little more water to it than it calls for because I don't like the aftertaste.

Good luck on your job interview Tiff, you definately are more than qualified and I'm sure you will get something soon.

Willbe, you really are going to do it this time I can tell from your posts that you are really motivated and doing well. This time next year I bet you will be looking like a goddess. For that matter we all will! Right ladies!

I just got home from SuperWalmart and boy am I tired, I swear I got a workout just from pushing that cart all over the store. Then when I came out there was a thunder and lightning storm!

I gotta go take my daughters friend home and then it's off to bed, boy am I ready for the weekend. My kids and I are going to the beach Saturday and I'm looking forward to getting away.

Goodnight all!

LJ

Ok, my last thoughts on the water situation. Here is what this week's issue of Women's World has to say...

We've all heard how celery has so few calories that chewing it actually burns more calories than you take in. The jury is still out on that one, but experts say the effect DOES hold true for ice water. Scientists have now proven that when you drink it at 40 degrees or cooler, you actually burn calories digesting it.

"That's because your body has to raise the temperature of the water to 98.6 degrees, and in the process, it burns about one calorie per ounce of water," explains Selene Yeager, author of The Doctor's Book of Food Remedies.

So, if you gulp down eight glasses of icy water a day this summer, you'll burn about 430 extra calories a week!

Well, I don't know about you girls, but hating water or not...that is a good enough reason for me to guzzle some!!

:T
Off to walk, dang soccer kids better be gone, and no loonies lurking at the track either!
Tiff

morning ladies, yes huntress, i got a feeling this time too, we will all do this. the beach, great, i love to go . i have a chuck e cheese party and then we are going back to the house for a bar b que, i have to stay in control on sat. so i wont be going to the shore this weekend, have fun.

tif, hope you got your walk in, now i can drink the water but i cant drink it ice cold, so whatever it does for me it does for me, i cant make myself crazy over it. in my case the eating is more important to take control of anyway.

hello everyone else, i hope you all are doing well.

well, here is another positive post, i dont know if any of you got this from my posts or not, but i have been trying to incorporate somersizing, into my lifestyle plan. and yestereday i was in such control of my eating, just by eating more protiens, and eating different carbs. like whole wheat pasta and a fruit. i did so well, that i am gonna try it again today, i gonna take it one day at a time and see how long i can eat this way. sat will be a challenge but i know i can do it.

feeling great today and hope to stay in control again.

hope everyone else will have a great day too.:)

Hi Everyone,

I decided to post 1st thing in the morning today. Yesterday was not a good day for me, as far as food and excersize go. I just got myself into a funk and didn't go walking. Instead I stayed home and ate. I didn't go too crazy, so I don't think I did a lot of damage. One day is usually O.K. for me, unless I eat until I'm sick. I know, that sounds just gross, but it's the way I am. Anyway, back OP today and expect to hear from me at least once more today. I think I'll just "check in" right after work when I begin to think about eating dinner and supper and dessert and dessert and dinner and more dinner! Gen, I needed to hear what you had to say. Today, I'm just going to make different choices. Yeah, I wish I could magically snap my fingers and lose 100 pounds, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. I know, I think I've tried every stupid lose weight quick scheme I could afford!

Tiffany, I hope your interview went well. I've been at the same job for 16 years and it may well be time for a change, but I HATE the job-search process. It's too bad that our society does have prejudices about body-size, (among other things). You sound like you really have a handle on it, though. I love your attitude! Well, gotta head to work. TGIF!

til later,
Jen

Well, can you tell I've got two threads going! Gen is on the other one. Have a good day!

Jen

hi jen, i am learning to not let the bad days get me down, cause when they used to , it just sent me into an eating frezy. good attitude starting fresh today. hang in there. and no it doesnt sound gross overeating, i am sure we have all been there, i cant even begin to tell you what i eat on a binge day. i just dont stop, it is like i am a bottomless pit. it is scary to feel so out of control.

but i am working on that, and i believe the different food choices i am making will help me stay in control, they are just not foods i want to pig out on.

lets all hang in there, we can make it.:)

Hey Jen, good to hear from you! Glad you have a handle on yesterday. Not a big deal. Here is my thoughts on this...(like I don't ALWAYS have thoughts on SOMETHING!!) :s:

This whole "change in the way we eat" is like being a baby again. We are learning something new and it will take a while. When a baby learns to walk, he pulls himself up, falls down...crawls a little bit and then tries again. Pretty soon, he takes more steps and only falls once in a while and then before you know it...he is running and never looks back! I guess right now, we are still in the infancy of our new way of eating. Nothing wrong with that. We will all fall down, but we won't lay there and wait for someone to pick us back up...we will do it ourselves! No doubt about it.

I am so proud to be here in the presence of such strong, awesome women. We are finally getting smart about our own bodies and know that we know what we need to be able to stay in control...we will have no problem getting to goal. Yes, it may take a while...but patience is a virtue and good things come to those wait!

I love the way we are taking bits and pieces of this plan and that plan and making them work for us. Smart!!!! Before, I would try something and if it didn't work, I would just give up until the next thing came along. Now I have to realize that my life is not getting longer, it's getting shorter and I want to spend as much of it as I can being healthy and thinner of course! So, I am starting this and will continue to do it, mistakes and all, until I am where I want to be. I know I am looking at a good year to a year and a half to lose this weight and I am ready to commit that time to something so important. I know you guys are too and that's why I love logging in and seeing the good news and the not-so-good news, because it means we are REAL. Struggles and all. I love that.

Well, off my soapbox now...the interview went well, and I should know next week. I'm almost tempted to waitress again, so I will be on my feet running around instead of sitting at a desk for 8 hours, but I'm a sucker for the M-F with weekends and Holidays off, you know?

Hey, I DID get my walk in! I am going to have to write off the track, cause I went at 9:00 and the kids were STILL practicing. (They have lights there)! So, I went back home and walked my neighborhood, I walked 1.3 miles, and that takes me a half hour, so I am slower than snail snot, but I will get there! Rome wasn't built in a day!

Well, cruddy dud. I guess I should clean my house today. With three girls running around here, there is always something to do. Maybe I will sweep and mop the kitchen and then vacuum the house. That should burn off my Egg Beaters and toast!

Check with you all later,
Tiff

Tiff, you comment
'slower than snail snot' cracked me up.. Keep at it girl you are always one day closer to your goal and with every step you take you will get stronger and stronger. I'm proud of you for taking that first step! I'm proud of all of you, you are doing what I'm trying to do take control of your life, all of it.
I always say that my job is not my life, it is what I do so I can have one. My new saying (stolen from somewhere lol) is
'EAT TO LIVE, DON'T LIVE TO EAT'

I'm just full of em today aren't I? LOL Have a great weekend all and when you stumble on this rocky road, pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move on down the road.

Peace
*Judy

hello all, tif very well said, about the baby walking thing. probable applies to all of us.

i went to friendlys for dinner with my daughter i ordered a chicken ceasar salad, i took off the croutons. while my daughter was eating cheese quesadillas and a hot fudge sunday, my mouth was watering i wanted it so bad. now i am irritable . i am full and glad i stuck to my plan, which should make me feel better, but i just want to go eat some french fries. dont worry i wont. i know i will feel better tomorrow for staying in control. now i have to do it again tomorrow, got some challenges with birthday party.

hope everyone has a great night.

I am SOOOOOOO glad it is Friday and the weekend is here! YEA!

Willbe, don't you worry about those quesadillas and french fries, just remember a year from now when you have reached your goal you will look back and realize that all the struggle has been worth it. That is why I decided to make this year the one that counts, finally. Year after year I say to myself, you know if I'd just stuck to it I could be there now. You will be glad you did.

Tiff, I am glad that you were able to get your walk in. I hope that you are able to find a good place to go, one that is safe!

Jen, we all slip up sometime......just keep plugging along, you can do it!

Just, it is good to see you again. Hope that you are doing well.

I am amazed that I've been posting so much, the most I've ever done was once or twice and then went back to lurking. You guys are the best and I hope that we can keep it up for a long time to come.

I wanted to share a thought with all of you that might help in your struggle. A few years ago I was invited to go to Las Vegas by some friends and while I was there I started playing the slot machines in the casino we were staying in. I was having so much fun that I didn't realize until I was starving that I handn't eaten in like 5-6 hours. I hadn't even thought about food in that entire time! Now for me that was like unbelievable..........I thought about food and dieting ever single waking moment of the day for as long as I can remember and as time went by I realized that this also was happening whenever I did anything that I truly enjoyed. My New Years resolution this year instead of saying I am going to lose weight was just to become a happier person and then it began to click. It hit me like a brick! Whenever I am happy and my mind is occupied with other things that I wasn't thinking about food. That is when my lifestyle change started to work and the weight started coming off. Now I wonder if I was just making myself miserable worrying about what I could ear or what I couldn't, thinking about my weight constantly and maybe it should have been the other way around.

I'm sorry this has been so long, I guess all I'm trying to say is, shouldn't we all think more about just having happy lives, not to imply that you all don't, but if we are truly enjoying life, being active and loving our bodies, won't they follow along with us?

So if you think I'm nuts it OK............have a wonderful weekend!

LJ

LJ, I don't think you are nuts at all. I was sitting here thinking about a couple of trips that I have coming up. One is next week, I leave Friday morning and will be back Monday night, so you girls keep this thread going, cause Lord knows Monday night I will be writing a book! Anyway, I am going to Georgia to my father's. His birthday is on Father's Day, so I am killing two birds with one stone!

Problem is....they like to EAT. And they like to FEED people! Dad will throw some steaks on the grill, and Step-mom will be in the kitchen going crazy. They will take us out at least once, which will be good, cause I can try to make a healthy choice at the restaurant at least. I will ask him to throw a potato on the grill and I will eat that with some salt and pepper...and maybe a piece of chicken if I can convince him I am trying to give up red meat. He will think I have went insane.

Soooo...I will try to stay healthy and eat sensibly and bring my own snacks to snack on during the day.

The other one is to Branson in July, and that won't be a problem, cause we will be busy from sun-up to sun-down. White Water, and Silver Dollar City, etc...
So, I know what you are saying about doing something that you love and then food won't be the primary focus.

I guess I just need to be busy all day and night. For the rest of my life. LOL....

Well, I am off for my walk now, I will catch you gals later.
:cool:
Tiff

Okay. I'm new. Just read all 5 pages of this thread! You all are so inspirational! I can't do individual "shout outs" because I can't keep straight who's who right now. Y'all are all swarming around in my head! :lol:

So anyway, it's been 2 weeks since I started my own plan. A little about me, if you care. I am 31 and single. The whole thing about wishing I could be "that fat" again... in high school I was a 10 when all my friends were 6's and 8's or less. I had issues. But then my mother, I do love her dearly but she missed the boat on my weight and still misses it, DRUG me to WW when I was a 10. Okay, the issues began. I remember a high school friend's mom saying, in front of all my friends, "Elizabeth, there's a great Overeaters Anon meeting at church you should go to." IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS! :?: Issues continued... So as the weight came on, my parents tried harder and harder to get me to do something. The harder they tried the more I resisted. Geeze, who was I hurting but myself! 2 weeks ago, I was resting at my all time high, 190.

Now, 2 weeks ago yesterday... I had worn a particularly yucky looking outfit to work that day. Eaten my usual poptarts and diet coke for breakfast. Can't remember what, but some hideously fat laden take out lunch. On the way home from work I said to myself "You should go walk." (oh and I NEVER exercised... inactive!) I started listing off excuses in my head. Then the same self voice that said to myself that I should go walk said back "You will ALWAYS have excuses, every single day. You have to start some time. Why not now?" So I came home, changed and went walking. Something happened on that walk. My mindset changed. At work they are joking about the new me. But that day I decided I would take control of my life. And I have not waivered at all since then. I've been eating well. My mom has "trained" me all my life. I know what it takes but rebelled and never did it right. And I've exercised every day but 1 or 2 in these 2 weeks. Even did it twice this past Wednesday. I am loving working out! Been mostly doing a Susan Powter interval training step video I acquired some time in the past when I thought I'd do this. I thought she'd be irritating as heck... but I love her. I want her to come be my personal trainer!!!

I know this will work this time. I realized that something "clicked" during that walk 2 weeks ago. 7 months ago I quit smoking. I had started when I was 14!!! I had tried so many times over the years. Never did it. Well, one Monday morning I just said, "I quit!" I gave away the half a pack I had and never looked back. The biggest difference this time than any other was that I knew I was going to do it and I WANTED TO DO IT! I said from day 1, "I quit smoking!" In stead of "I am quitting smoking." The latter left room for failure. The former said "I have done it."

Sorry this is so rambling. I am just so glad to have folks who understand because they are there! I think I've lost about 5 lbs but what I really like is how I look, how I feel and what folks are saying. Had a client today ask how much I'd lost and when I told her she said "I would've thought a lot more!" I am carrying myself better. My skin is shining... unlike a lot of y'all, I LOVE WATER! Drinking much more and only 1 diet coke a day (okay 2 sometimes... but only rarely) has made a huge difference there! I love the new me. I love how I feel at work all day when I've gotten up early and worked out with Susan :) I love it all!

I am going to San Francisco to see my brother and his girlfriend for the 4th of July. I cannot wait to see them and for them to see how great I look.

Thanks for letting me join in... y'all are awesome!!! :D

You are more than welcome to join us! Congratulations on your new lifestyle change! You can do it.........you just have to let go of all the negative stuff from when you were young. I too was in that same situation having started WW when I was in sixth grade, taken there by my mother. I've heard all the same things.........you would be so pretty if you would just lose some weight. I finally had to let go and just decide to do it for me.

I look forward to hearing more from you

LJ

WOW!
What wonderful posts from all!
Welcome Lizzo. Congrats on quitting smoking. And the whole lifestyle change. I quit smoking 4 years ago and my body finally settled into the weight I am now, I decided it was time for that to change too. Haven't had my walk yet tonight, so I guess I'd better go before I can say, "Well, it's too late now."
Bye all

Jen

Hi Lizzo...

GREAT post!!! Your positive attitude and desire to win are very welcome here!!! Love what you had to say, and you really have a way with words. Your exuberance comes through in your writing!

I have a mom with issues too. She is ALWAYS commenting on my weight...but she is overweight too. Go figure. I had on sweats the other day, cause ALL us fat people wear sweats!!! (no constricting waist band when you eat!!:lol: ) Anyway, she looks at me and says, "When you're as fat as you are, you really shouldn't wear sweatpants." So my cattiness got the best of me and I said, "Well, Mom, when you have nothing pleasant to say, you shouldn't open your mouth." :devil:

She looked at me and I looked at her and we both started laughing...so I guess I am at the point now where I can take what she says with a grain of salt. I know why I was REALLY wearing those sweats. I like feeling them getting looser.

Lizzo, like you, I haven't been doing this too long...a little over 3 weeks for me and I am one year older than you, and I would kill to jump on the scale and have it say 190 tomorrow!!! BUT...I will get there in my own time. I did this to myself, now I can work hard to get it off. What is it they say? I did the crime, now I can do the time? LOL

Well, on a positive note, Michael Skakel was found guilty of the murder of Martha Moxley today. For those of you that aren't familiar with him. He is a scumbag who just happens to be related to the Kennedys. He also murdered Martha in 1975 when she was only 15 and they never convicted him. Now he is 41 and they actually found him guilty. I was thrilled to see his smug little face looking all surprised when they announced the verdict.

Ok, that is my dirty little secret. I LOVE court TV and Law and Order, and Forensic Files and all those true crime shows. :eek:

I just get all up in arms about those things.

Well, before my blood pressure shoots up, I had better hit the hay. I did get my walk in tonight and I feel it. Shins are hollering at me. (they are saying things that would make a sailor blush)

Nighty Night girls. Tomorrow morning is weigh in for me. I dread it since I had my Chinese and that family potluck thing this week.
I'll post the news in the morning, good or bad.
Tiff

Okay so it isn't even noon yet, not even 11 am... But so far I'm having a GREAT day! Woke up early today. Wasn't too long ago I would've thought that was awful on a Saturday. :o Practically across the street from my house is a local farmer's market that is only open during the summer. Today was the first day it was open. So I went there and got lots of goodies. Got some canteloupe and watermelon and peaches... love fresh fruit! Got some potatoes to do what with, I don't know yet. Got some fresh corn that I'll cook on the grill probably. And got some tomatos! Pretty excited. Came home, ate a healthy, protein filled breakfast and a banana. Then lounged a while (gotta do that some still!). Then got off my behind and did some workin' out with my new workout buddy, Susan Powter!!! :D On about my 4th glass of water already! Was hoping the local library would be open today so I can go see what books and/or videos they have, but so far no answer there. HATE living in a small town! I'm a city girl! (I'll explain later how I got here and how much longer I have if y'all want to know!)

Just got back for a 3 mile walk! It was nice to take a different route and look at everyone's flowers and landscaping. Before I knew it I had gone 3 miles... afterwards I clocked it with the car just to be sure how far it was for future reference.. lol Took me 50 minutes so tomorrow I'm gonna try for 45!!

Lizzo, and Just Cuz...you two are making me look like a slug.

Just Cuz, I am in AWE. I can hardly do a mile and a quarter without looking like a parched man crawling across the desert.

Lizzo...those veggies sound good. I think tonight, I am making a low fat pizza. Fat Free Mozzarella and marinara sauce. Ground turkey and turkey pepperoni and TONS of veggies: peppers, onions, mushrooms, etc...
If I make it right, one nice piece will fill me up!

Ok, this is hard for me......:( :( :( :( :( :cry:

I got on the scale today and it still said 252. That was what it said last week. I know I shouldn't be disappointed, especially after I had that Chinese food and the potluck that day, but I guess I was still a little sad. I mean, I DID eat healthy for the rest of the week AND exercised. I can't help but think about the way I USED to eat when I would eat a Whopper and large onion rings for lunch and then have tons of Mexican food for dinner and a bag of candy throughout the day. That was after having about 6 Twinkies for breakfast and tons of regular pop too.

So, I feel like overall, I did well, but still didn't lose. There can't be one single person alive that doesn't feel that little pang of sadness when the scale doesn't move....but.....

I know that I have to look at the bigger picture. This is my bodies way of holding on to the fat, (they have been friends for a LONG time!) AND I have been exercising and doing a little weight training, so I know I am building muscle. I can tell when I put on my clothes, that they are a little looser, so I guess I can't be upset because I didn't lose. THANK GOD, I didn't gain!

Anyway, I'll work hard this week and hopefully things will start moving again.

Keep on Keepin on!
Tiff

Good morning (for a few minutes longer, anyway!)
Tiffany, I'm sure we do all know what it's like to not lose a pound when you've been trying so hard and mostly doing all the right things. I'm glad you get to notice how your clothes are fitting. And remember, lean muscle weighs more than fat, so you're definitely doing some good. I'm almost afraid to do the weight-training because it could slow down the actual weight loss. But I really need to do it, because, as we all know since we've been learning and working at this for years, adding muscle also helps to burn more fat!

A couple of years back I watched Chuck Norris selling the Total Gym on TV. Finally I decided to go for it. Imagine my disappointment when the shipment arrived, I opened the box and Chuck Norris was nowhere to be found! I still have the excersize equipment, though, and used it for a short while. Then I lost my motivation. I WILL start again.

I stepped on the scale this A.M. and wasn't at my goal weight. What a drag. Of course, it's pretty hard to lose 97 pounds in a week! I was hoping, though. I did lose 3 pounds and need to acknowledge that as a success. So..to all of us.. losing, maintaining, or even gaining a bit, we are successfull if we just hang in and keep working at it.

Type at ya all later. Have a great day.

Jen
238/234/140

OMG Jen, thanks for the laugh! Yeah, Chuck Norris didn't come with my total gym either. What a rip off.

I also had to laugh about getting on the scale and not being at goal weight. I thought I was the only one who hopped on and said, "Ok, today I will weigh 160!"

Been busy today, so far at least. Took my daughter and step-daughter (ages 13 and 14) out looking for a new bathing suit. I figured there may be some good sales. Sears had some good sales, but then we went to Berners, and their tops alone had been marked down to $56 and that was originally $70 and that was just for the one piece. So, I marched them out of there and headed for Walmart.

For crying out loud, for over $100 for a complete bathing suit, it had better do more than just expose my rolls and make me feel gross. I can't WAIT until I reach goal weight. Maybe then, just maybe I will spend that much money on a fabulous suit. Next year, girls!!

Well, off to Subway. It's too dang hot to cook...
Tiff

Lizzo....I am so jealous! I love fresh fruit and veggies and would have to drive halfway across town to go to farmers market. I love summertime when there is an abundance of everthing that is good for us.

Tiff....don't be too discouraged, who knows maybe when you get on that iron monster next week it will show a HUGE loss.

Jen....I didn't get to my goal either this week, but I did get quite a surprise when I got on the scales. When I looked down my immediate reaction was "oh my gosh, how did I gain that much weight in 2 days!" then I realized that middle number one had been replaced by a 0 and boy was I excited. I must have been delirious from too much sun.

I have lost another 2 #'s this week and have gotten out of the teens. 208.5 to be exact.

We did go to the beach for a little while today but it was just too dang hot and decided to come home after a couple hours, but then my daughters car had a flat and we had to stand outside in that burning sun for another hour getting the flat fixed. Fortunately a nice kid helped us since it was all girls and we made it home ok. I am fair skinned and didn't intend to get any sun today, spent most of my time sitting in the back of the Explorer with sunglasses and my hat on but still ended up looking like a lobster. I am going to go take a nice cool bath now have some dinner and maybe watch a movie.

LJ

Hey everyone,
I got on the scale this morning for my weekly weighin and I lost another pound!! woohoo measured and lost another half inch in my hips! (I was up 4 lbs before I started my monthly thing on Monday so technically I lost 5 lbs this week, LOL but hey that doesn't count so I'm not counting it!!) I'm down 1 lb officially.

If I lose a lb a week, which my dietician says is acceptable (she had a stroke when I was losing 5-6 lbs a week in January lol)
I'll be to my goal before I know it.

Started at 278 in January, down to 228 now, and my ultimate goal is 160 so I have a way to go but I'll get there, slow but sure.
I'm told by the medical people in my life (see them all a lot due to the constant contact because of the diabetes) that people that lose slow keep it off!!
That's what I want to get to 160 and keep it off. I'm 5' 9" so 160 will actually look thin on me I think, I weighed 155 in 5th grade (age 11) so I won't know how to act... lol maybe my old catholic school uniform will fit me again huh? Oh some guy might have a sick fantasy about that though so never mind !!!
:lol:

Have a super Sunday.

Congrats to everyone on the losses! I weigh myself tomorrow. Tiff, if your clothes are fitting better then you did great! Don't let the number get you down. This time I am also doing measurements, and I think that will help me when the scale doesn't say much. I can tell already that I've lost some size in different areas! Haven't measured yet. Got a spreadsheet from somewhere linked on this site, can't remember where. It tracks it all for you. Tells me to weigh-in weekly and measure every other week, so I guess I'll do it that way.

Last night I had a Boca burger, got the roasted onion ones... yummy! And some fresh corn and tomatos. Should've let the tomato ripen a little more, but it was okay. This morning I made myself a fruit medley (watermelon, cantelope, banana and strawberries) and toasted an English Muffin. Tasty!

I am about to go change and do my video. I have always avoided exercise. Now, I am actually looking forward to it! I think aliens have invaded my body! lol... In reality, I just thought of something as I typed that. I don't think I had really tried to get on an exercise regimine since I quit smoking. I bet since it's easier to breath and such, the exercising isn't as bad and that's why I am not avoiding it as much. Things that make you go hmmmmm....

Forgot who said that about being jealous about my farmers market being so close, but ... One thing that kept me going last summer when I was adjusting to living here was all the wonderful stuff I could get over there, and so many co-workers brought me tomatos and squash and stuff they grew themselves. I loved that. But, that being said, I cannot wait until next year when I move to New Orleans.

I finished grad school in social work last spring. I had some financial help with school under a federal grant that obligates me to work for the State of Alabama for 2 years. Just past one year, so I am on the home stretch now! I had an interview in this county and really liked the folks in my interview and got an offer right then. I had several jobs before grad school where I hated who I worked for. I knew that working for people I get along with was priceless. So later that day I called and accepted. While I really don't like living here, I love my job so it is not unbearable. I tell them all the time, if I could move the job with me to a big city, then I would. I love it! But I am a city girl. And I've always wanted to live in New Orleans, so that's where I'm headed. Gotta be healthy before I move there though so when I fall to the temptation of all that great food in that city, I can handle it!

Okay, enough from me for now. On to join my "friend" Susan Powter for a workout! Have a great day everyone!

Just Cuz, CONGRATS!!!! Good for you hon. Makes you feel awesome and really reinforces that desire to lose weight doesn't it!!!

Lizzo, I admire all those veggies and fruits you are getting in. I tend to eat the canned stuff. I am a convenience freak. (I know...canned veggies are gross compared to the real thing, but... :) )

I saw you mention Alabama. My grandmother lives in Foley and we travel down to Gulf Shores every summer and then skip on into Biloxi to do some gambling!!! Whoo Hoo!!!!


Here is my big news for the day. I KNOW we are not supposed to be scale watchers, but hot dang, it takes a big person not to hop on it every now and then. Ok, every day. Actually, I have ONLY been weighing in on Saturday, but not having a loss ticked me off, and just for grins, I hopped on this morning and low and behold, I was 2 pounds lighter. Of course, IT DOESN'T COUNT. I have a chart that I made on the computer and I had to put a big 0 under the weight loss column for Saturday, but it makes me feel AWESOME to know that there will be a loss next week! I will actually be weighing on Friday, early...cause I am headed to Atlanta to visit my father, so I want to weigh and get that charted and be on track when I leave! So, before I hit the road that morning, I will log in and update and then you won't see my hiney until Monday night. Whatever shall I do without my friends?????

Well, Lizzo, you have made me almost want to go out and get Susan Powter's video. I saw a picture of her recently and she is GORGEOUS now. Hair is a little longer....hold on, I will link you all to her pic...

Oh, heck, I will just post it here. I am not a computer genius!
I attached it, let's see if this works!!!

Off for my walk gals. DH is playing golf today and I am home with my 13 year old slug. I will see if she wants to go with me. Can't wait to hear the excuses!!!

Ta ta!!
Tiff

Wow she looks good. But, I've kinda gotten used to the cropped do! :dizzy: I want to buy some of her other videos but am strapped for cash until after I go to San Francisco. Might ask my folks to do it. One advantage to their obsession with my weight, they'll likely get me almost anything I ask for since they are so excited I'm doing this!

The video is getting easier. Not easy, but easier. I'm used to the moves and changes and stuff. So today I turned down the sound on the TV and put in a cd I love and cranked that up. That was a big help! Might work on a mixed work out cd and burn that. The slow songs weren't helpful... lol

Tif! I am going to Atlanta this weekend too! My dad and I are meeting in Birmingham Friday afternoon. We'll go to the Braves game on Saturday night. They're playing the Red Sox. Should be fun. Not sure what else we'll do.

Okay. Time for lunch. Not sure what I'll have. Hmmm....

Lizzo

Hey Lizzo, guess what? I just bought Susan Powter's Lean and Strong (I think that was what it was called) video off Ebay for $2.25!!! So, when I get it, I will check it out and see if I like it!!!

Check Ebay out for her other videos. You may just get a deal!!!!

Whoo Hoo!!! I'm pumped. Another great day! I made a GREAT pizza tonight. A Boboli thin crust with fat free marinara on it, and fat free mozzarella and some turkey pepperoni...veggies...I was thinking about making it for days and finally did, and although it wasn't ALL THAT compared to Pizza Hut, it did satisfy my craving for Pizza and that is all that matters.

I had some fat free Mandarin Orange Sorbet before bed tonight and that was yummy. Cool and tart on a warm summer's evening. Makes me REALLY want a cold piece of watermelon...YUM.

Feeling strong. Got a mile in tonight and I am headed to my neighbors house to swim before bed. They are on vacation and asked us to watch their pool. Oh, I'll watch it alright! :s:

Later girls,
Tiff

i had such a busy weekend, i hate not coming on here, i just finished reading everyones posts, and i am not good at the individual shout outs either.

thanks for the susan pic. i had ordered her plan years ago, but havent heard anything new on her, just thought she faded out with alot of other eating plans.

congrats on those who lost and even those who didnt cause we are all trying so hard.

welcom lizzo. you sound so upbeat and very motivated, thats the attitude to have.

i have been doing great. although i slipped into temptation yesterday when my dd wanted to go to mcdonalds, i know there are stuff i could have orderded that would have fit right into my eating plan, but i just wanted the fries and chicken fingers more.

well today i am paying for it, my weigh in this morning was 187, that is a 3 lbs loss, i am happy , i will take it. but know i could have made it more, if i didnt slip yesterday. well at least i am out of the 190's and now it is moving ahead all the way. oh yea, i am still a scale hopper too, but only count the mon morn one, cause when i peeked yesterday it said 185, then i went and ate those darn fried things. dont know why i did that, you would think, i would be so happy to see 185, that i wouldnt sabatage myself, and think i could cheat, cause i had been doing so well. next time i will be stronger.

lets all have a great day.

Okay everyone! It's Monday... :( But, still, it WILL be a GREAT day! :D Right?!?! I'm about to get ready to go to work. Susan and I had a great workout today, but I had to leave her early and skip the abs portion. I kinda overslept. :dizzy:

So, here's to everyone staying on their program, whatever it is, today! :D And exercising at least a little. :o Y'all can do it! I know it!

(Geeze, this exercising in the morning is making me way to cheery so early :dizzy: )

Bye Y'all....

Lizzo

Hi girls, this is gonna be fast, I have alot of work to get done. I am doing fair, didn't have such a great weekend. Mcdonald's got the best of me on saturday for lunch. Although I did resist getting my usual ( I opted for the less fattening chicken fingers) and I never finished my fries, see I am changing!

Hooray.

On a darker note, got on the scale today and discovered I didn't lose this week. At least there was no gain, but it still stinks.

:(

Ahhhh, we ARE all scale watchers. Letting our moods be dictated by that nasty mechanical object. Phooey on that.

Will, THREE POUNDS!!!! That is an awesome loss, especially considering that the average loss is 1-2 pounds a week. That was incredible. Don't give the McD's another thought. We all have to do that once in a while, otherwise we get into that mentality of "Oh, I CAN'T have that" and then you really go off the wagon. So, I am a believer in eating what you want. If you have McD's for one meal out of an entire week. BIG DEAL!!!! You are proof that you can still have a significant loss. Good for you.

Just me!! Looks like McDonalds was calling to you too!! ;) You are in the same boat I was this week at weigh in. Nada, nothing, zero....BUT...thank God, we didn't gain!!!!! I'll take that, and I know I will show a loss this week, cause I am kicking butt and taking no prisoners!! (You will too!!!)

Nice to see everyone checking in, Monday's are crazy, but it's nice to get some reinforcement before diving into that day!

Hope everyone told themselves in the mirror this morning what a glorious day it was going to be!! (It's raining in Illinois, and that saved me from weeding the flower garden, but it is STILL a beautiful day!!!)

Hugs to my friends,
Tiffany

Hi everyone.
I didn't loose, but didnt' gain either. I knew I hadn't done as well as the previous week. It's hard not to fade back into those old habits.
I picked up another Bob Greene book. It's after the one he did with Oprah, but before the newest one. It has some great stuff about motivation. So many "one liners", for example...
"Passion and a positive attitude can take you anywhere."
"You create yourself through choice." I think I need to print some off to hang on my mirror! DH will think I'm nuts.
I too had fast food this weekend. Burger King fish. It was nasty, but somehow I still ate half of it. :?: Funny thing was I didn't order fish. I ordered a burger, got home and it was fish! I guess it was a positive thing since I probably would have ate the whole burger!
I've been doing good making friends with the scale, trying not to live on it. Sticking to Monday weigh-ins. Sad it didn't go down this week, but I know why. And, I WILL LOOSE NEXT WEEK! I will drink my water, exercise and make wise food choices! I have to loose 2lbs per wk to hit my goal!!!
Willbethin, 3lbs is great!:)

Hello everyone! :wave:

So, today I went to the local library after work, the one that is CLOSED on the weekends :mad: I checked out Susan Powter's book, Stop the Insanity. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Had a good day. Ate well. Was busy at work so up and down the stairs A LOT. They're getting easier by the day! :D

Talked to my dad a little bit ago. He's an amazing cook. Well, he wants to bring either some fish or, if he can get them, soft shell crabs, in a cooler to Atlanta and cook them Friday night for our dinner. The fish I can live with. He only uses a little oil. The crabs, I had a moment of turmoil. I LOVE the way he does them, but he lightly fries them. :eek: I decided I've been doing so well, that it won't kill me to enjoy that dinner to the max. I did request healthy side dishes though (he's been known to fry potatoes or sweet potatoes with them... what can I say :rolleyes: ... we're in the SOUTH!!) But, I might call him back and tell him to go with the fish. I don't know. I'm worried about what I'll have at the Braves game the next night. If we do the fish, I'll go on and have a hot dog. If the crab, then I have to find something better there. :?: Okay, I've got all week to figure this out. I'll do well all week no matter what the weekend brings. :cool:

Hope y'all all had good days! Have a good evening too!!!

Having fun with the smilies... can y'all tell? :spin:

Liz,

Don't worry about the dinner with your dad. We all deserve a treat every now and then. Even skinny people occasionally over eat unhealthy things. The key to it is that it's not consistent. One mean in excess is not going to tip the scale. You may feel a little lethargic after, but it's not a biggie. Just make sensible choices the rest of the week. Enjoy yourself. You're worth it!

morning girls, i did great yesterday, still stayin in control and learning different things everyday, like i can really go 3 hrs and not think about food, if i eat the right kinds of foods. i used to think about food all the time, i am slowly changing that. i excercised yesterday and had my water. i am doing good so far today. the theory that no food is forbidden or that i am not on a specific plan and of course coming here with the great support, i am doing so much better and learning to control my cravings. i am learning to like whole wheat pasta. and gettting more veggies in, oh and yesterday i even had 2 fruits, that is a record for me, i rarely eat fruit. so i am changing little by little day by day, my "OWN" way. this could work!!!!

lizzo, i hope you dont worry to much about what you are gonna eat, i used to obsess about it thinking all the time, just like you sound like in your posts, then when the time came and i didnt follow my plan, i was so upset , i just ate everything in sight. so just try to enjoy and take the days as they come, we have to start trusting ourselves to make the right decisions when the situation might be unpredictable. i am not saying you are like me, but your post just sounded so familier. i am slowly getting out of that mentality.

hi tif, oh about mcd's, it will always be there, me and my daughter will probably go once a week, so i wont sweat it, thanks. the fact is , is i know it is not good food for me, but i love it and if i dont allow myself to have french fries once a week from there, then this isnt going to work for me. maybe i can switch to a salad with my fries instead of chicken fingers or a cheeseburger, but if it happens it happens , i am not telling myself i have to have a salad instead, it will be a choice i make when the time comes and hopefully make healthier decisions next time.

lets all have a great day:)

hi just me, we must have been posting at the same time. great advice , very well said.

Hi Everyone!
I'm having a 'doing my own thing' crisis. I don't want to count calories or fat grams, don't want to do points. But, darn is it hard to teach yourself to eat right w/o using a plan. Especially when my version of a portion is more like 2 (or 3).
Have any of you used good diet software? I'm logging my food at fitday.com, but it isn't complete enough....or maybe I'm not doing it right. Maybe I'm just dense.
Today after breakfast, lunch & snack I had 432cal/6g fat. I still felt hungry, and think maybe that was low. ? Maybe I need to make up my own pyramid and mark off the servings as I eat them. ? I need to do something until I retrain myself to eat correctly. Any ideas out there? :dizzy:

Tigerlily I have an idea. If you're not into doing a specific plan then why don't you just let your body do all the work for you. Eat when you feel hungry, stop when you're satisfied. Try to avoid eating between meals unless your next meal or snack is more that 3 hours away. Just remember to listen to what your body tells you, I think that for the most part we've all gotten away from doing that. Alot of times I think I need a snack but when I wait it out, it ends up that I was really just thirsty. See, who knows.

I also think that 400 calories for both breakfast and lunch is VERY low. Your bulk of calories should be early in the day as that is when our metabolism is at it's slowest. You want to eat early to rev up your metabolism for the rest of the day. Also, it gives your body more time to burn what you've eaten. This way by the time dinner rolls around you're not storing extra calories as fat.

Hope you found some of this interesting, try it out, don't stress out!

justme, thanks for the advice. listening to my body would seem like the ultimate plan. i'm just not sure my body is sending the right signals yet. but, it is getting better!
i drew up a food pyramid with little boxes for each serving to check off as i eat them. dh will have to make a nice one on the pc for me. he's better at that stuff and likes to show off his talent. maybe seeing it, visually, will help me get it together. it's so nuts not knowing how to eat correctly. i feel like i'm trying to teach the old dog new tricks!
unfortunately, i do eat the biggest meal at supper time. it's when i cook for dh. i'm going to work on that, eat more calories early in the day and a smaller supper. that's something that i knew, but was failing to do.
tiff, do you use equipment with the susan video's?

tiger, i am often torn too, i think that is why most of us are here, i want to just listen to my body, which i am getting better at, i do alot of talking to myself, "am i really hungry"?? just try to eat half of that and see if you are full" just stop eating and go do something else" try to eat the lowerfat version of that food" dont take a bite of your daughter or husbands food when you are making it" one would think i was nuts if they heard me say these things out loud. but alot of the times it works.

i totally understand about wanting to somehow keep track of what you are eating, i was on ww before and know by heart pts for everything, for the most part. so even while i am not writing down stuff or counting pts, they are still in the back of my head and i know what a serving is. i make myself just have a reg . serving and say to myself if you truly still hungry get a second helping, but really one serving of pasta is enough, if you eat it with other stuff. like a big salad and a glass of orange juice or milk and some lowfat dessert. i used to just want pasta for dinner, so i just would pile it high on my plate and literally could not stop and later i would still want to eat.

i am learning to change all my bad habits, but it is gonna take time and there are gonna be slip ups, but no more binges or overeating till i am too stuffed to move. the pyramid sounds like a good idea, keep tweaking your eating plan till it is something you can live with. we are all still learning and changing our bad habits each day.

we all are so determined, i know we are gonna make it.

CONGRATS TO ALL OF US, WE ARE NOT QUITTERS!!!!!!:)

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well.

Tiger......listen to what Willbe has to say, that is very good advice. I too have simply started listening to my body and some days it is hard not to overeat but you will adjust in time. Are you an emotional eater like I am? Sometimes it is hard not to give in to the old triggers but time will change that.

I just got back from going for a walk and it sure does feel good. I still haven't gotten into the exercise like I know I should but I am hoping to get started soon as I am going to Las Vegas in August to see Michael Bolton in concert and I know from past experience that if I don't start walking many weeks before the trip that I end up exhausted once I get there. If there's one good thing about going to Vegas it is that I do a LOT of walking while I'm there. Now if I could just transform my track into the strip I'd be a walking fool!

Have a great evening everyone!

The sky is not the limit, nor are the stars.............

LJ

Hi all!!!

DietWatch used to be a GOOD tracking program, but then they made you have to PAY for it. Grrr...so I tried Fitday too, but I lost interest. For those of you who want to try it... the address is www.fitday.com

I haven't got my Susan exercise video yet, Tiger, so I guess the answer would be no, I don't use equipment!! (not yet anyway!!)

Tiger, I think the food pyramid would be a good way to start. I know that in the course of a day, I don't get all of my veggies and milk...but we all have to do what works for us. I know that I can NOT rely on my body to give me ANY signals other than, "LET'S EAT ALL DAY LONG AND MAKE OURSELVES SICK!!! :dizzy: "

Maybe after time, I can re-train it...but for now, I have placed myself on a caloric guideline. I aim for 1550-1800 which is the equivalent of the WW points 28-33 which is for my weight range. I didn't really want to track points, but for some reason, I don't mind jotting down what I eat in a notebook and writing down my calories and fat and at the end of the day, I total it up (actually total up as I go along) and see if I can get into that range. I keep a small notebook on the kitchen counter, so it is right there when I make a meal. I also keep notecards in my purse to jot things down while I am out. I am totally anal about keeping that food journal. But it is very good at letting me know what time of the month my eating gets out of control, so I can kind of prepare and increase the low fat snacks and fruits, etc.

I was cheering everyone up about McDonalds and tonight my daughter was REALLY wanting to go to Burger King. (heart attack city!!) So, I went and I had only had 813 calories when we went there, so I had the Chicken Whopper and then I splurged on the onion rings, (which after I ate them, I really wished I hadn't...first greasy food in a month) but after that, I fell at 1713 for the day and was still in my calorie range and felt good about that. Plus, walked a mile and a half after I got home! So, I don't agree with some people out there who tell you that you SHOULDN'T eat fast food. Phooey on them. I don't want it everyday, but I know I CAN fit it in my schedule once in a while!

Lizzo, I know what you mean about the seafood. My dad was raised in Alabama and they grew up on that seafood. When I come down, he makes a big ole batch of crab legs and shrimp, and all kinds of things that you have to pour butter on. :devil:

We will be fine, we will survive our weekend in Atlanta and be just fine. Raring to go on Monday!!!

Well, I just finished my official first month of my new healthier lifestyle! One whole month. I juggled my weigh in date to Tuesdays now, since that is the end of my week as far as my diet goes. I lost a grand total of 17 pounds this first month. I am beyond excited and even more motivated. I keep thinking how wonderful I can look this time next year if I stick with this. I will not sabotage myself!

I was in Kohls tonight looking for shorts for my daughter and thinking how damn happy I will be when I no longer have to shop in the fat section. I HATE that. I hate holding my pants out and thinking there is NO way my butt could possibly be that big, but knowing that it is. NO MORE, I say. I will not EVER feel that way again. Good things ahead for all of us. No more fat related sadness and pain.

Well, that was my book for the day!!!! Hadn't checked in for a little while and wanted to catch up!

Thanks for being here guys, it means the world to me!
Tiffany

265/248/150

Hey, Tiff I agree with you and all the other ladies about McDonalds and Burger King, I too had kids that wanted to go last night and after not eating the stuff for a long time it was really gross and that grease taste it leaves in your mouth is really horrible. I was just hoping that my stomach didn't give me fits afterwards. I also know what you're talking about going shopping for clothes. I almost refuse to buy anything at this point unless absolutely necessary. And we WILL be in the smaller sizes by next summer, ALL OF US! That is what is keeping me going. 17 #'s.......WAY TO GO GIRL! That is so great, I'll bet you're on cloud 9 right now!

I found a very informative post on the exercise thread that gives all the benefits of drinking water if any of you are interested look at page 4 of Get Strong, Motivated and Hydrated or something like that. I will check and get back to you. I was amazed at how many different body functions that require water but mostly what happens when the body doesn't have it. It inspired me to get drinking.

Well, I'm off to do some more reading then I have to get ready for work. Have a great day all!

LJ

Getting Motivated, Strong, Hydrated and Healthy is the name of the thread..............check it out.

Hello!
Tiff, 17 pounds is GREAT!
I know what u mean about the clothes shopping. I also have a hard time when I'm doing laundry and I see a pair of MY jeans spread out. SPREAD OUT. I want so much to be smaller than DH again, or even the same size would do. I used to be able to wear his pants...back when he wore a 30, now he wears a 33. He's grown too, but still looks good. Go figure. I heard somewhere that men have thicker skin, and that is why their "cottage cheese" doesn't show as much. How fair is that?!
DH doesn't care if I loose weight, so he says. This weight loss journey is all for ME.
Huntress, I'm gonna check out the water thread. Anything to keep me motivated!
willbe, I talk to myself all the time! Sometime outloud, sometimes to cat, dog and iquana...like they understand. :dizzy:
Have a geat day all!

Hi everyone, you all sound so happy. I am so jealous. I really feel crappy today. It's been a month, 4 weeks since I started my plan. While I have dropped 6 pounds I am just not feeling very motivated. I feel myself walking slowly down quitter's road. Am I being too hard on myself. Is 6 pounds in one month a good rate? I got on the scale this morning and it was back up 2 pounds. What is going on? Last week I didn't lose a thing....HELP!


:mad:

Just..........don't you dare give up! You are doing so well..........6 #'s in a month, that is great......it is 6 #s gone forever. Is it that time of the month, have you eaten a lot of salt and are just retaining water? I know that this is hard but just think where you will be a few months or a year from now if you stick to it. Changing a way of life is always difficult at first and we are all here for the long haul. There is lots of support from everyone.............and I know that you can DO IT!
Also, don't rely on the scale so much, they can be deceiving, think about how you feel and how your clothes fit. You will be glad that you stuck to it after you've lost all of your weight.

Take care,

LJ

Just...the average weight loss is 1-2 #s a week. So that would be between 4-8 pounds. You are right in there. The only reason I lost so much early on, is that I had SO much to lose, well over a 100 pounds (115 to be exact) and my first weeks loss was almost 10 pounds. And we all know that was water! So, not counting that one, I lost 7 genuine pounds of fat this month and I am right there with you.

I am all about being impatient, but I know that if I get discouraged, I will quit. The girls are right, you are DOWN weightwise, and you will continue to go down. Slow and steady. Think of this, 6 months from now, if you keep going at the rate you are, you will be down almost 40 pounds. WOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!! And you KNOW how fast time flies. Christmas will be here before we know it!!!!

PLEASE, for your sake, and OURS...we NEED you here, don't give up. You are fighting a war with your fat cells. You ARE the better person, you can BEAT this!!

Keep on keeping on, one day at a time. That's it. Or...one meal at a time. You can surely do that. If you slip, next meal will be better. If you mess up a whole day...who cares, tomorrow will be better still!!!

Just never give up. You are too valuable!!!
Tiff :^:

This has been the craziest day! :dizzy: I didn't get to eat ANYTHING until 1:30 because I'm not an early breakfast eater. I usually make smoothies about 9:30 and that hold me over until lunch which is usually around 1:00. I ate 5 Fig Newtons after my Lean Cuisine meal. :?: I think those things have like 100 calories each. I also had intended to really get busy on the water after reading about it earlier, but so far have only had 1 8 oz bottle. Oh well, I guess tommorow is another day.

LJ

Just in case any of you are interested this is my recipe. They are really good and an easy way to get in fruits for the day.

1 Ripe Banana 100
3/4 C Whole Frozen Blueberries 80
7 Whole Frozen Strawberries 50
1 C Orange Juice 110
1 Container Lite FF Yogurt 100
2 Packets Artificial Sweetener 6
2 Cups Crushed Ice Total Calories
446

This makes a blender FULL but I have a few coworkers who look forward to it every morning.
Enjoy, :smug:

LJ

Thanks for the support, I really did need it! After reading all your motivational words I do feel really better. I know deep down I will not give up. And yes, it is coming upon that time of month. That may be why I'm so emotional. Also, I did stop taking my depression meds, that may also be affecting my emotions. Well, I am marching myself right to the store after work tonight and picking up some St. Johns Wort. I said that I was going to stop taking all drugs, so maybe the herbal remedy will do some good. Man, I just can't wait until this week is over. Friday is my day off and I am really looking foward to going to my Flea Market and selling all the crafts I've been working so hard on. It's been an especially difficult week at work, once I get some time off, I'm sure I'll get back on track. Afterall, I am an emotional eater. It's hard to face up to these emotions without my old friend the "food".

Thanks again, you're all keeping me on my toes! :nono:

hey justme, what kind of crafts do you do? i love making things. lately i've been into paint techniques. i've done walls in my house, but think i'd like to move onto painting some furniture. just have to find the courage! i'd love to be going to a flea market. there is an indian festival in the fall that is my all time favorite....mabye i'll reach my goal by then and enjoy it all the more!
huntress, the smoothie sounds yummy. i think my boys could help me knock down a blender full!
i got a demo disk of dietpower in the mail today. wouldn't ya know it, it doesnt work?! my luck. still using fitday, but such a pain having to go online every time to enter food intake. slow dial up here in the boonies.
hope everyone is doing great!

Just - good for you, I am glad you are sticking with it. The reward will be well worth it. I am an emotional eater too, I understand where you are coming from. It's nice having a group like this for support. Hope everything goes well at the flea market.

Tiger - I hope you enjoy the smoothies, even my kids like them but they probably wouldn't touch it if they knew it was good for them. :lol:

Will, Lizzo - where are you......hope to hear from you soon.

Well as you can see I FINALLY figured out how to do the smilies, thanks again Tiff.

Well, I will be going walking soon, hope everyone has a nice evening. I may check back in again later......I really enjoy reading.

LJ

GUYS, MY COMPUTER CRASHED YESTERDAy!!!!!!!!!! my whole hard drive was burned out. luckily i have brother who knows what he is doing. i didnt realize how much i am addicted to talking to everyone. so guess what i did yesterday, well, i really come on here when i get the urge to over eat, and i couldnt get on here yesterday or till right now, (i think you know where i am going with this:( ) yup i turned to food out of frustration. i thought i was done with the exuses to overeat. well, i will get back on track, and just want to say how much this website keeps me on my toes and in control. the support is great!!! next time i will make better use of my time instead of eating and feeling like crap, but i hope this never happens again.

hope everyone is doing well, i will have some catching up to do with everyones posts, i just wanted to check in.:)

howdy!
huntress, i made the smoothies today for an afternoon snack. my kids loved them. they like helping in the kitchen, so making it was fun too. i used vanilla yogurt and left out the sweetner. i figure if i never had it with the sweetner, i wouldn't know what i was missing. very good treat! dh, who always wants me to buy icecream, might even like this. :D
willbe, i know what u mean...when my pc went down, i had to run myself to the library to log on! checking in here a few times a day really helps keep me on program!
justme, are u feeling better? did u get your st.john's? i tried taking it for awhile, but didn't notice any effects, good or bad. tried kava kava too, didnt do a thing. my favorite medication is tylenol pm! works wonders after a stressful day, just half a tablet puts a calm over my world. 2 knocks me out. :o
ONE DAY AT A TIME! WE CAN DO IT!:strong: :strong: :strong:

I'm here. I'm here. Been keeping on my program except that I didn't work out this morning before work. Figured I'd do it after forgetting that I am supposed to go to a foster home to license them tonight. Argh... Might do it when I get home. If not, I've done it every day since Saturday. Won't be the end of the world, I guess. :(

Been busy at work. Bleh... INSANE day yesterday!!! Have a lot to do to get ready for the trip to Atlanta tomorrow with my dad. So I'll keep this short.

Keep it up girls!!!

Hello girls. I am feeling a little better, I got another compliment that I looked thinner so I am feeling more motivated now. My eating for today has not been very good and as a result my tummy hurts and I am awfully sleepy. Tomorrow is my day off and I am sure looking foward to it. I think it's supposed to rain, but it doesn't matter. It's a day off and I am happy.

Work is still very stressful, I stumbled upon a possible route outa this place so keep your fingers crossed. I would be that happiest girl on the planet if I landed a new job. I've been here for over 3 years and it's just gotten worse and worse. Upper management (we call em "the boys club") is just unbearable. At this point I'd take a lower paying job just to get away from them.

I promise myself I will not give up on my new eating habits. I have to keep my goals in mind and realize that overall this is the much healther and happier way to live life.

Hi girls! I'm with Lizzo, I have a ton of stuff to do before my trip to Atlanta. *sigh* I did go to the store and get some more baked chips and I measured them out into baggies by serving size, so I know how much I am munching on the road! Same with my grapes! Threw some water in the ice chest and my Diet Pepsi and I am GOOD TO GO!!!

Of course, I still haven't packed yet. :p Food first!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, I CAN'T WAIT to get home and check out how great everyone has been doing.

Wish me and Lizzo luck, we are going down south with all that fried food and seafood and ballpark foods. Who can resist a hot dog from the ballpark??? Not me!

We will be strong, and all of you stay strong and jump back on track, or keep on keeping on track!!!

I have to weigh in on Tuesday when I get back from Atlanta. You may be hearing me scream from here!!!!

Talk with you all on Monday night!
Tiff

Lizzo, Tiffany - I hope you both have a wonderful time on your trip! Try not to worry too much about the food, you only live once you know.

Just - I am so happy for you, the compliments and getting motivated again is great! It's good to hear from you, let us know how things go on the job.

Tiger - I'm glad you enjoyed the smoothies.

Willbe - Sorry to hear about your computer, I would go stark raving nuts without mine as I also get on several times a day to check things out. Hopefully you will not have any more problems. It must be handy having a brother to fix it up for you.

Work has been horrible this week, not only busy but my boss can be a real jerk when he wants to be and he has given me a lot of crap this week. Fortunately he has gone out of town and tommorow should be a breeze. I haven't been overeating I don't think but I have eaten some things that I wish I hadn't. Not sure if I am going to walk tonight I am way too stressed out from this week and my buddy is gone tonight too. Think I'm just going to relax in a bath and go to bed early. Good evening all!

LJ

Uhhh... Tiff... I live here in the beautiful (but hot) South all the time! :D Those fried foods are around me all the time! And since I'm in a smaller town than I am used to, unfortunately, there are not THAT many healthy eating out choices around here. Bleh :eek: But I love it in the South (just not where I am right now) and will probably never leave.

So, I didn't do it until 8 PM, but I did my workout. Wasn't going to do it, but was talking to a friend of mine on the phone and she told me I should do it. She said, if I start making excuses now it will only get easier. I am glad I did it though. I like the feeling after. Just hope I'm ready to do it again in the morning. :sheep:

So, gotta get to packing and get to bed. Y'all have a great weekend. Might be able to pop online sometime, if not, I'll be back on Sunday!

Bye y'all... :wave:

not doing so well, today, here come the excuses, i am pmsing really bad, i lost a lot of info when my computer went down and i still cant get on some of my favorite sites, it is cold rainy, i have no kids to babysit, my appetite is outrageous, doesnt any pms pill control that?? i am tired, eating to much junk and i have to go to a childrens party with my daughter tonight and i am gonna see people there i know and i feel horrible, i just want to consume large amounts of food and have cocktails tonight.

but after catching up of some of your posts, i have gotten some inspiration, andi appreciate tif sharing with us what she does to keep her eating plan on track even when going on a trip. congrats on the weight loss tif and just me, you guys are dong awesome, and reading everyones posts, will hopefully get me out of this slump. as monday is weigh in day. and on sunday i have to go to my father in laws for father's day, and he is a great italian cook, complete with wine with dinner and after dinner cordials.

so tif and lizzo, good luck on your trips , and i will need good luck just to get back on track and not totally gain back the 3 lbs i lost last week. i am kinda of struggling right now and trying to hang in there.

so here is what i want to do today, after i pick my daughter from school i will excercise, drink lots of water, as i feel like i am retaining some,(some due to pms but also some due to the pistachios nuts i cant keep my hands off of. ) unitll i am more in control i have to keep those nuts out of the house. i will try to keep myself busy and out of the kitchen and try not to have cocktails before i go to the party, they are friends there i know will want to have one or two with me when i get there. i will try to be strong, as i know they will only add extra calories and to my mild depression while i am pmsing.


hope everyone else is have a great day.:)

Hi everyone.
I have a family gathering thing this Sunday. I'm dreading it. There is going to be family there from Texas that hasn't seen me since I've gained weight. DREADING IT! I'm not so much worried about the food. I'd be ashamed to have anyone see me eat too much. ARgh! I've already been trying to plan what to wear, what will make me look less fat. :( Buying someting new has crossed my mind, but I'd really like to wait until I can buy something in a smaller size. I could make up some excuse not to go, but then I'd be on the **** list.
I need an attitude adjustment!
DH wants me to pick up some beer for his father's day treat. His real treat would be if he could get a couple of them in me. :o I'm not much of a drinker, but it would take the edge off the stress.:^:
willbe, sounds like u have a good plan of action. good luck sticking to it!

Hi everyone.
I haven't posted in a while although I've logged on and read. HOW RUDE!! Anyway, Tigerlilly, I know exactly how you feel knowing you're going to see people who knew you thinner. If you don't get depressed when shopping for new clothes, (I know I do sometimes) it might be a treat for you to get something new now. I know that for a long while, I wouldn't buy myself anything because I didn't want to "waste the money" on clothes that I was going to grow out of (in of?) anyway. One day, though, I decided that I deserve good things now, no matter how much I weigh. I'm worth spending the money on NOW. And if it's possible to find just the right outfit, it could really boost your confidence. I'm so glad there are finally clothing stores that sell real clothes for larger women. It seems like when I was younger (I was heavy in high school then thinned down in my 20s), once you got above a size 16, you could only buy tent dresses made from fabrics with ugly loud prints or pukey colored polyester stretch pants. Now we have choices! Whatever you end up doing, good luck!
Hope everyone has a great weekend. I think I'm going to take my daughter and her friend to the beach tomorrow. They can play and I think I'll kick back and journal and/or read.

:) how is everyone doing?? i am having trouble gaining back control, i fear the scales will not be kind tomorrow. i have to go to my father in laws today, so i am not even worrying about it. i am just going to try to stay in control. cant believe it is the middle of june and i still havent gotten it all together yet, but the way i have been feeling is, i think i have finally hit rock bottom, i know what my trigger foods are and i am just about sick to death of letting them get the best of me. i have to be in control now , not those nasty carbs. i have to give my body a chance to get used to eating the way i would like to eat , i never stay on my program long enough for my body to start accepting the healthy foods. i always give in. and then i struggle to get back on track. sorry to be such a downer, but i cant post positivly when i dont feel that way right now.

hope everyone else is sticking to thier plans, and having a great weekend.

Sorry you are having so much trouble staying on track.. :(
You'll get there, one day at a time...

I'm doing good here, lost 2 lbs this week for a grand total of 52 lbs...!! I think I finally figured this out and it feels so good. Exercise is the key for me and portion control. Walking 3 miles at a time now, exercise bike 3-5 miles, and lifting weights to gain upper body strength (and lose the wings...lol) I alternate days on walking and riding and do weights every other day. I can tell the weights are working for strength because last year it took me forever to start the lawnmower and this year I can do it in one pull.. lol

Everyone have a good day where ever you are....

*Judy

Stats:
January 2002 278 lbs
June 2002 (today) 226 lbs
Goal (when?) 160 lbs

:) congratulations justcuz, 52 lbs, wow, you are doing awesome, good going.

lizzo and tif are away for the weekend.

hope i can get back on track soon, i feel disguted. i usually always feel more yucky on pms anyway, but not eating right makes me feel worse. i will get it together, i have to.

i am going to try to alternate days too, with weights and aerobics, i try to do everything in one day and i think i will do better if i alternate. i will try that starting tomorrow.

Good idea on alternating. It's a easing in game I think, start out small and build up. I started out walking a mile at a time, then a mile and a half and so on, now I'm up to 3 miles. Weights I started with 2 lb weights, then 3 lb now 6 lbs. I firmly believe that incorporating ANYTHING into your life needs to be done in stages. That goes for food and exercise. I believe in the 21 day rule. Once you've done something regularly for 21 days, it becomes a habit. 21 days is only 3 weeks so if you start small and increase over 3 weeks you will be there. :)

For food, maybe start out week one, drinking more water 8 glasses a day, week two drink the water and eat your 3-5 servings of fruit and veggies, week three water, fruit and vegies, and cut down on carbs to listed serving sizes... see what I mean? Gradually incorporating something into your life seems to work for most people.

I've tried to lose weight since I was 16 years old (I'm 44 now) and never was able to get there because I was an 'all or nothing' person. Now with the initial guidance of a medical team (I have diabetes) I am able to see the true picture.

It's not going to happen overnight, but if you keep trying everyday and allow yourself to be human (that's the big part lol) you will get there. I used to get discouraged if I didn't lose 3 lbs a week but now I just watch portion size, exercise regularly, and it's melting off of me. If you follow the 'food pyramid' you'll be fine. Like I said, I have diabetes but the meal plan that I'm on is not a diabetic diet, it's a diet that everyone in America should eat!! Actually, it's not a diet at all, it's the way I eat now and will eat for the rest of my life. I still have occasional treats but I have to plan them into my meals and snacks for the day. I'm a chocolate ice cream nut and it's bad for losing weight but I found chocolate fat free frozen yogurt that fills the void quite nicely... heehee. 1/2 cup doesn't sound like much but in comparison to NONE, it's a lot...!!!

Have a good day and don't be too hard on yourself, enjoy life!
You're determined to do it this time and I am sure you will. One day at a time!

*Judy

Hi ladies, just checking in. I've been sick the past few days. And I think it's actually been a good thing for me. Before I got sick my plan was really suffering. I guess this is what I needed to get me back on track. I am feeling much better and with that is a new motivation. I believe I wouldn't have ever started feeling bad if I were eating the proper foods. I am looking foward to getting off work today and taking a nice walk with my dog. That's all I have, have a great Sunday girls!

hello,

I am new to this board; I chose this thread because I am doing my own plan. After trying all kinds of plans, I've found that no one gives me what I need. So I had to make up my own!

I am 34. I've been sort of heavy most of my life but 1.5 years ago I went on a medication that made me gain weight like crazy. I got off that med in January. (I was gaining 4 pounds a month on that medication. It was horrible!) I stopped gaining when I switched meds, but it's taken me until now to start actually losing.

My husband and I are planning to try to have our first baby starting around November of this year, so I have until then to get as far with losing weight as I can.

My plan is basically counting calories (I try to stay over 1100 and under 1400 each day), fruit and vegetable servings (try to get at least 5 a day), and protein grams (at least 48 grams a day - I'm a semi-vegetarian and tend to not get quite enough protein in). I also take 500 mg of calcium twice a day and a multivitamin. I avoid saturated fats. I eat a lot of fish but keep varying the kind because of the mercury residue in them (a problem mostly in pregnancy but I am trying to learn to pay attention now.)

Here are the odd bits of wisdom that have worked for me:

1. COUNTING CALORIES BEGINNING WITH DINNER

This changed my life!!!! I have never before gotten through two weeks of a program without going over my allottment once. Now that I track each day beginning with dinner, I have! :) I begin my tracking days at 4 pm and they run until 4 pm the next day. This works so well, because my highest calorie meals are always dinner (cooking with my hubby, eating out, social events) and I can make up the difference with breakfast and lunch, where it's much easier to eat my own low-cal stuff. Plus I know that if I can just make it to 4 pm I get to start a new day!

2. IGNORING SOME DIETING CONCERNS

What I am ignoring right now: total fat, cholesterol, carbs, sodium. I don't count any of these things. I don't have high cholesterol, high triglycerides, or high blood pressure, so right now I am not worrying about that stuff. I have enough to keep track of! I'll add them in if they become a problem later.
(One big advantage of making up a plan yourself). I allow myself some olive oil, cheese, sugar, etc. when I want it, and it helps me stay in the calorie range with a lot less effort. And with less to track, I am less likely to give up tracking.

3. WRITING DOWN EVERYTHING I EAT

I track everythign in Excel. If I stop tracking, I gain, period. I think I will have to track everything I eat for the rest of my life, or I will gain back the weight. But I think I am finally OK with that concept. Excel makes tracking easy and it does not take too long now at all

4. A PERSONAL TRAINER

I can only afford to see him twice a month, or sometimes once a week. But he makes a huge difference. He is someone I feel bad for letting down, so it makes me work harder than I would on my own. Seeing him twice a month costs the EXACT SAME amount I spent belonging to Weight Watchers when I did that plan. My trainer is a much better value! He is cheering and encouraging; he makes me stick to my workout plan, and I feel kind of like when I was on sports teams as a kid. I have a coach again, and it is fun. I have to do many of my workouts without him, of course, but seeing him a few times a month is enough to keep me on track.

justme: I saw your post about sizes. You are so lucky! At my current weight (181.5) I wear a size 20 on top and a 22 on the bottom, and I am exactly your height, 5'3". I won't be able to fit into a 16 until I get down to 160. I couldn't wear a 9 unless I was about 130. It always amazes me how different people's bodies are even when they're kind of the same size.

tigerlily: you mentioned software for tracking. what worked best for me in the end was to make my very own excel spreadsheet with custom columns. It does not take knowing very much about excel to create one, or there are lots of examples on the web that you can download and adjust to fit your needs.

Sandset

Current goal (for Nov. 30): 155 Eventual goal: 125

Hi. It's great to hear from everyone. The one thing I wanted to reply to right off the bat was Willbethin. I don't think there's any need to apologize for being down. It seems this is a place to get inspiration AND support. Everyone is down sometimes and I find that it helps to say,"Wow. I feel really bad." and know it's heard. Often that's enough to turn me around.
Isn't it amazing how different things work for different people. We're all so unique, it's no wonder most of us have tried 100s of diet plans to no avail. I think that learning about our own bodies and our own personal pitfalls is the key. I personally am a breakfast and lunch skipper. The snack box at work doesn't count, for either, but naturally I get hungry throughout the day so end up filling up on junk food, candy, etc. Since my body craves real nutrition, I come home and eat 16 dinners! Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture. I HATE fixing myself breakfast and lunch in the morning before work. I know it's not a way I want to eat forever, but I've taken to having Carnation Instant Breakfast for those 2 meals. Then I take a couple of pieces of fruit to eat during the day. When I get home, I'm ready for a healthy dinner. The lunch and breakfast also satisfies my constant chocolate craving! I'm going to work on fixing myself a sandwich a couple of days a week for lunch for a start. With whole grain bread and LOTS of vegies! I know I'm doing it backwards. I would probably lose more if I could make my lunch or breakfast my largest meal, but it doesn't work for me right now. Anyway, as long as I walk several miles in the evenings after dinner, it seems to be working for now.
Hey, this is a really long post. I guess I'll give it up for a while. Happy Sunday to all!

Jen238/233/140

Good Morning All! I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I have been MIA for a few days and wanted to catch up. I will be going out of town Wednesday for some much needed R&R and was trying to get my house cleaned and everything ready to go. Unfortunately I didn't get everything finished because I was moving some furniture on Sunday and my knee went out. Hurt like a son of a gun too so I guess that means I will not be doing any walking for a few days. The scale is still not moving but right now I am not too concerned. I am just thankful for the 15 lbs I lost initially and when I get back from out of town I will reevalute my plan and see where I am going wrong.

Welcome Sandset - good to have you here.

Willbe - we all get down and you will get back up. This is a difficult journey and that's why we are all here....to support one another.

Justcuz - congrats on the 2 lbs! :D You are doing great!

Jen - whatever works for you is what is best. I think we have all come to the realization that what works for somebody else may not be what will work for us. My best friend and I joined WW at the beginning of the year (I joined at the request of my doctor) she lost 14-16 lbs and I just couldn't do it. Only stuck it out for a few weeks.

If I missed anyone, I am sorry. Have a great day all!

LJ

225/210.5/130

PS That 2 lbs I lost last week must have been a figment of my imagination since I got on the scale the following day and the scale showed the 210.5 again.....yes I am a scale hopper.:shrug:

good morning everyone, thanks for the encouraging words, it really does help to come on here and vent and get the support that is much needed to not give up.

welcome sandset, your plan sounds great and very realistic. hope you will stick around the support on here is terrific, through good days and bad.

huntress, sorry to hear about your knee. hope ya feel better soon, that stinks when you have so much to do. hang in there. great attitude for be satisfied with the 15 lb lost, that is a great loss and cant weight till i get there.

jen, thanks for the kind words, and you sound like you are breaking old habits, this is what we all have to do, little by little, as far as food choices for breakfast and lunch, it can be whatever, i eat out of the box all the time, i could eat anything for breakfast. as long as it is healthy , go for it.

lizzo and tif, hope you had a great weekend and all of us have been checking in and giving each other the support we need, but i think i can speak for all of us, we did miss you guys. oh and we got someone new(sandset) but you probably already read everyone's posts.

me?? i had a pretty rough couple of days, the scales say the same this morning, i am not surprised. although i know i didnt eat healthy all of the time, i also know i am retaining water from pms, that is not an excuse, unfortately it is a fact, i did take some pms pills hoping to get rid of the"bloat"

i woke up with a great attitude(alright, good) attitude this moring and looking forward to getting back on track and having a great week.

have a great day eveyrone.:)

Hi all!
Sandset--I LOVE your system of starting with dinner!! That makes SO much sense! I tend to eat lightly for breakfast and lunch, "banking" my calories, but it makes more mental sense to start the day's counting with dinner and make up the difference with breakfast and lunch. It's the same idea, but a new spin. Thanks!
Hope everyone is having a great day!

Good Morning! Monday again. It just keeps coming back!:dizzy:
Weekends go too fast.
I weighed in today. Down 2lbs to 193. That give me a total loss of 8.5. Chug'n along. I hope after what I ate yesterday, I don't see a gain in a couple of days.
For Father's Day, my mother bought Dairy Queen ice cream cakes and my grandmother made a fresh rubbarb pie. It was too much for me to resist.:s: I know it's what we eat CONSISTANLTY that matters. Icecream cake and rubbarb pie are not constants, so trying not to beat myself up.
Sandset, welcome! Great idea to start counting calories at supper time! I think I may give that a try. I also only track calories and fat grams for the time being.
Got up late today, so need to get a move on!
Hope everyone has a great day!
:D

congrats tigerlily, good for you, got a treat and still lost. you must be doing something right, keep up the good work and postitive attitude.

I'm ALIVVVVVVVE~!!!!!!

AND I survived the weekend. Whew!!!

First of all, welcome Sandset! Great to have you here...

Second, Lizzo, hope you had a wonderful weekend also, the weather was great, and I had a blast!!!

Short update...I did much better on the eating thing than I thought I would. My Dad likes to EAT! We went to a seafood place and I hate fish but his fried shrimp and fried okra sure looked good. (I ended up having a salad with grilled chicken on it and sampled one piece of okra)

I also went to the store and picked up a couple of lean cuisines and had them while everyone else was having ribs and fried potatoes, etc. The family knew I was dieting and they were very accomodating. I did eat fruit and veggies at my Dad's 50th party and did have a few chips and olives, etc...and had a turkey sub the next night for dinner (footlong and saved the other half for my ride home today!)

So, I weigh tomorrow and hope to see a loss. Discipline is a gift from God and I slipped a few times, but heck...I was on a mini-vacation!!!

I apologize for not acknowledging you all individually, you know I always try to, but I only have a minute. I haven't even unpacked yet!!! (priorities!!!)

We are also unplugging this computer and moving it upstairs tonight and the DSL guy is coming in the morning sometime to get us hooked up. So, I will check in tomorrow and go over your posts in more detail, there is so much praise for all of you and your hard work to be said and I don't want to let it slide.

Thanks for the kind words, I missed each and every one of you too, and thinking of having to log in here and be accountable for my actions made me really think this weekend about what I was eating. I didn't want to lie. To myself or you, that isn't what this board is about and I am so proud of all of you for having the courage to admit when you falter as well.

Oh heck, I am getting all misty-eyed and I am rambling as usual. I will be here tomorrow!

Take care all!
Tiffany

welcome back tif, so glad to hear you did so well, you are awsome, what control!!!!! i could take a lesson or 2, as a matter of fact i think i am .

i figured out the main reason i keep messing up, those protien plans keep jumping up and down in my head. i keep telling myself there are certain foods that i cant or shouldnt have, and i just keep setting myself up for failure, so today i let myself have some of the things i thought were triggering me to over eat, and i was in control i enjoyed it and i stopped at a reg serving. i have to learn to be in control. i cant tell myself i cant have a certain food, than you just think about that food all the time. i am learning, i may be a little slow, but i am learning. :dizzy: i will get there, with hopefully no more setbacks, i have to go forward, i wasted to much time already, i have to get more energy. i am teaching my daughter to ride her bike without training wheels and my back starting hurting and and i was starting to get out of breath, but i didnt let her know, i let her decide when she wanted to stop, this should be a happy experience for me, instead, i was very uncomfortable, that should be incentive enough to lose this weight. i am so glad i can come here and vent, this is a very big help. i did good today, with water, excercise and food.:) hope everyone had a great day.

Hello everyone. I got back yesterday but didn't post. Sorry. I did good on the eating, not perfect, but very well, so I am happy. Didn't work out at all Saturday or Sunday.... bleh! So I wasn't expecting good things when I weighed in and measured this AM. But, I must be doing okay overall!!! So far, I've lost a total of 8.5 lbs... who else had that total? Sorry I can't remember who said that. (I'm awful, I know!) And a grand total of 12 inches!!! I'm so excited.

Woke up early this morning to work out but had awful stomach cramps. I just knew that if I did my tape I'd be throwing up. So, I figured I had to go to work and all. So, I went back to bed for an hour. Felt better when I got up. But, when I got home I put dinner in the oven and got to working out. So it's done now. :)

Sorry I can't do shout outs to everyone. But.... Tiff... yeah! The weather was amazing. Love those weekends in the summer down here when we get a break from the humidity! Made the Braves game that much better! :D

Hi ladies, I am having some trouble. I don't think I am eating enough. I try to eat a little something for breakfast. But, I always end up skipping lunch. It always seems that around that time I am too busy or just not hungry. Or I wait too long and it's too close to dinner to make lunch. As a result, I think I am slowing down my metabolism throughout the day. Anyone have an suggestions on skipping meals? Does anyone else seem to have this dilemma??

hi!
justme, i sometimes skip breakfast, but not on purpose. i do think it slows down the metablolism. i'm planning on picking up some breakfast bars for those days. could you stash some bars somewhere for the days you don't have time to eat? or maybe keep some V8 or other drinkable on the shelf?
another idea. realizing that our bodies are our first priority. taking care of them (our bodies) will help us be that much better at the other things we do. So, feed that body healthy!
That said, I better go eat breakfast!:D

bleah, just got back from a sort of difficult gyn appointment. I just changed insurance, so this is a new doctor. I told her we were planning to try getting pregnant at the end of the year, and I got lectured on being fat and being old! (I'll be 35 in November.) She told me that I wasn't quite heavy enough that being pregnant would be dangerous for the baby, but that it would be bad for me, and that I should lose as much weight as possible. And then she said, "well, you should really start trying to get pregnant right NOW though because you are so old!" So which does she want me to do? I can't lose 50 pounds instantaneously!

And then she made it even more confusing: she told me that if we waited to try to conceive until November, when I turn 35, I would automatically be labeled a "high risk pregnancy" because of my age, and it might be better financially because my insurance would cover a lot more if I were technically "high risk". Yuck. I don't want to be "high risk". It sounds scary.

Also I have to give up my good antidepressant as soon as we stop birth control, because the one antidepressant I finally found that works and has no horrible side effects is not yet known to be safe for pregnancy or for nursing. So I'd have to go back on Prozac or Zoloft for that time, both of which make me gain weight like crazy, and are why I went from 130 pounds to almost 200 pounds within 1.5 years in the first place. Or I can go off my antidepressant entirely and hope that exercise and counseling will work well enough.

The situation is scary to me because it seems like no matter what I do it will be wrong and make me fatter, more depressed, or both! I know it is worth it to have children, but arrrggh.

otherwise though, I am having a good day, nice and sunny out. I did some weights at the gym and then went for a 1 hour walk. But I am behind on by to do lists. I have to do a ton of laundry tonight!

Thank you all for the welcomes. Everyrone is so kind and supportive, it's great.

tigerlily - congrats on your 2.5 lbs! Rhubarb pie sounds like it is so good it needs to be fit into your life one way or another!

huntress - owww, there is little worse than hurting yourself when you are on an exercise program. So frustrating. Hope it is better soon.

willbethin - glad to see you feeling a bit more up. Avoiding foods totally never really works for me (unless it's a food I don't like); i get resentful about not being able to have something. There is only one food that is such a trigger I can't have it in the house, and it is weird: not chocolate, not ice cream, but Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal. It's my downfall. I will eat the whole box!

tryinhard - seems like your name should be "DidIt" instead! How neat to see your success. Congrats! As to the counting with dinner thing, I really recommend it. One big advantage is that if you do go right to your maximum calories, you don't have to make it all the way through the evening and night to be allowed to eat again! I'd always be stuck with only 300 cal left for dinner, and if I did eat early, then I'd be at my max at 6 pm and have to stay away from even a snack all evening. I found that SO hard. My total calories are just the same this way, but I am having a much easier time.

Dinner is really important to me and my husband. It is our time together, and we cook and take some pains with it each night. Somewhere on the net I read an article about the fact that many docs no longer think that eating many of your calories late at night makes you fatter. That helped my late dinner guilt a lot. If I can find the link I'll post it.

Sandset

Grrr...Today was weigh in and last night (yes, I peeked) I was down 2 #s. This morning when I got on the stupid scale it said the same thing it did last week. Arrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That scale must be a male. It is making me mad on purpose. Just trying to make me run the the fridge. BUT IT AINT GONNA WORK. I kicked the scale into the corner and called it some good names and then went outside and cleaned the garage.

Damn scale shouldn't have this kind of power over me!!!:D

Will, I read through your posts, and I was sorry to see you struggling for those few days. But, your last post was very positive and it seems like you have a handle on things again. Good for you. I think we all have a few days where we go temporarily insane and feel like crap and look in the mirror and hate what we see and all of our clothes look terrible and we think about saying "The **** with it" and giving up. But coming here and talking to us is a great thing to do. You may notice that the date under my name is 2000, I came here then, tried to lose weight for about 2 weeks, didn't hook up with any groups, so I kind of felt like I was floating around in outer space with no support and I quit. Quit trying, quit coming here and now...I logged in here in 2002 at 265 pounds and decided I would find some support or die trying and it has made ALL the difference in the world! (As you already know!) This is a lifesaver and a wonderful tool and there is always support here for the asking. Good for you for getting things pulled together~!!

Tiger, how was your family thing emotionally? You said the eating thing wasn't too bad, but did things go well for you otherwise? Those things can be rough!

Just Cuz...52 pounds???? GIRL, you are my HERO!!!!!! You can be our model of perfection!!!! We will hold you up on a pedestal of what we would like to achieve!!!! GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!

Just me, are you feeling better now? I think I read that you were sick...the only good thing about being sick is not being hungry!! Woo Hoo!!!! As far as skipping meals, I agree with one of the girls, try sipping a slimfast at lunch if you aren't overly hungry or meal replacement bars...something small that packs some calories and other nutrients that will carry you through!

Sandset, I am so jealous...a personal trainer!!! If he looked like Brad Pitt, I might go dig under my couch cushions and try to russel up enough cash to get myself one. Yummy. I wouldn't get to agitated about the "high-risk" LOTS of women have babies over 35 and are healthier than a lot of women in their 20's.

***** Side Note ******
I was a surrogate mother last year. I carried a baby for a couple who were unable to carry one for themselves. They were in their 40's and we used his sperm and a donor egg and they transferred 5 embryos into my uterus and one decided to stick around and I gave birth to their beautiful baby in October 2001. At my heaviest during that pregnancy, I weighed in at around 280. And I was fine! I had a healthy baby (although he weighed 11 pounds!!!) The doctors watch you SO closely these days anyway, so not much will get by them!

Anyway, your depression may be fine using the Zoloft or Prozac during the pregnancy, and then after delivery you can go back on your regular med. Pregnancy can be so wonderful and exciting that you may not need the extra boost from your regular medicine. At any rate, the high risk label is to make them feel better and make you feel like crap. :lol:

Jen, it's good to see you posting again! Come around more often. I like to see everyone else talk besides me. Good Lord, I am long winded these days.

Huntress, hope your knee is feeling better and things are rolling along smoothly for you!

Tryinhard....I agree with whoever said that you should change your name to I DID IT!!!!!!!! By the way, you are up there with Just Cuz on that pedestal! I love happy endings. Makes me believe that I can get there too.

Well, there are my shout-outs to everyone that I missed so much while I was away and if I missed anyone, I didn't mean to and I missed you too. :s:

Well, off to exercise. I WILL make this scale move this week.

You know, I was being more careful about eating foods that were over 30% fat and I have been letting that slide and just watching calories and fat, but I think I need to get back to what worked for me, so I will be whipping out my calculator again and getting serious!

Talk with you all later,
Tiffany

Tiffany,
you are so funny! I don't want to be on a pedestal although I thank you for the compliment.. :) I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish for the very first time in my life and I know that with the support of this group I will get to my goal. I know all of you will too!!!

News Flash!!! Judy, yes that's me Just cuz... went shopping for a pair of white summer pants last night and for the very first time in her adult life, she tried on and purchased a pair of sleek white pants in the (drum roll please!!!) Misses dept!!!! Everything in the Women's dept was too BIG!!! I did cartwheels to the car!!!! (not really I think I'd hurt myself if I did that.. lol)

Tonight I was still so pumped looking at those nice pants (that I'm wearing to work tomorrow hehe) that I walked 3.5 miles just because I could. The new clothes sizes, the compliments from coworkers and friends and the new found energy I have are all so motivating I can't wait to get to the next level so I can bask in the glory some more. I wish I could bottle this feeling, I'd give you each a bottle to splash on yourself when you are feeling low. Sometimes I feel bad cuz I am so pumped and happy and I hear some are having a hard time.. I surely hope that you don't EVER think I'm bragging as I just want to share the good stuff with everyone in hopes that it will motivate someone to keep trying because the good stuff does come, you just have to be persistant.. :)

*Judy

howdy,
tiff, the family thing went ok. i was distracted thinking about my weight and wondering what others thought. but, it's not like anyone said anything (to my face). my family is pretty good, and if they did talk about it amongst themelves, it was probably out of concern. i'll see some of them again in august...maybe some results will be noticeable by then!
justcuz, that is so great! dont ever feel bad for being so pumped up. it's great motivation for everyone! it's great to know someone is reaching their goals! are u posting on the success thread? if not, you should. spread the joy!
sandset, i had my babies at 25 and 29. with the second, i wanted to loose weight before the pregnancy. it didn't happen. but, at the time i was going to the gym and one of the trainers told me i could loose weight during pregnancy. eating healthy and working out is good for the baby too! being pregnant could give you an extra boost to take care of your body.
did anyone watch dr.phil on oprah yesterday? the topic was weight loss.
off to do laundry. woo-hoo.

hello, i am gonna try to catch up on everyone's posts. first of to just cuz, congratulations !!!!!:) what an accomplishment, please do continue to post about how good you feel about the little things, well to us they are big things, and you deserve to brag away, we are all inspired by the goals that everyone makes that makes them feel good, we love to here them.

tif, thanks, i will be fine, but it is nice to get it all out once in while. that makes me feel better already, yesterday was pretty good, i will just keep on hanging in there and reading all the posts for support. glad you are not sweating the scales , you did the right thing. not going to the fridge. you are doing so well, those scales will start moving.

sandset, sorry to hear about the baby problem, kids are so great, i only have one 6 yr old, but i wanted more, guess we should have talked more about it berfore we got married, but ya know , the blinded my love thing, nothing else matters. anyway, so many women are have children older now, but i understand your concerns, i am 37 and had a little glimmer of hope, ya know maybe have and oops, but i am worried about my weight too, so nothing really is happening in that department. LOL. anyway, i hope everything works out and maybe you could get some different opinions, you gyn sounded a little bit of a downer. hang in there.

lizzo welcome back, glad you had a good time and congrats on the weight loss. good for you for going back to bed , hope you are feeling better.

well, i have a babysitting job today , a little boy, so cute, if i cant have any more of my own, i will watch and play with someone else's and get paid for it. so hopefully i will keep myself busy and out of the kitchen.

i am due for my monthly any day now, and the cravings are so bad, dont worry i will fight them!!!!!!! (i hope:s: )

have a great day everyone.

Hey Everybody-

Had a stressful day at work, but I survived and came home to and just worked out. That helped a lot! Eating hasn't been bad lately. Even had a potluck thing for a class/meeting at work last night. I came home and ate before hand so that I would not be hungry for all that high fat stuff. Then took some watermelon and ate that while everyone ate supper. :D

Sandset... your gyno sounds like a real pill! I hate how sometimes doctors lose sight of the whole picture and just throw all the advice at you. Does she see the conflicts in what she said to you?!?! :?:

Justcuz.... please keep sharing! You are inspirational! Congrats on the loss!

Will... I'm sending you some extra strength to deal with those cravings... YOU can do it!!! :cool:

Good luck to everyone...

thanks lizzo, wish i would have read this earlier:s: any way, i did get my period 2 days early so pms is over yeah. back to my normal body and eating healthy, hope i can still salvage the week.

hi everyone else, hope you all had a great day. i still have 4 days to be good and eat healthy and excercise before my weigh in on mon morn. think i will need some luck.:)

:) :) :) good morning, guess you can tell by the smilies, i woke up with a great attitude this morning. i have come to the conclusion that i am making this losing weight thing way to complicated, so here is my new approach, THE SIMPLE SOLUTION , eat less, move more. i know we have all heard it before, and if it was that simple we all would have done it by now. but i really want to believe i can. i have got to make this simple for me, i believe even if i want junk every once in a while, i can have it. just not to often and not alot of it.

so here's to my new approach, there is no other. (for me)

have a great day everyone.

Good morning everyone!

Well, since I have returned from my trip, I have been a slug as far as exercising. Well...something slower than a slug. I haven't done a dang thing. That changes today. Eating has been fine, although the other night I stayed up too late and ended up eating two Little Debbie Brownies and then realized that it was a total of 508 calories and 24 fat grams (12 weight watchers points for those of you that count those) and that was a shocker. BUT...I compensated the rest of the day and ate lighter and came out in my calorie range. Which was good, but you should have heard me ranting and raving ALL day about those brownies. My kids were like, "Jeez mom they can't even hear you, they are BROWNIES and they are GONE." "Get over it!"

So, I got over it. The end result was fine, I came out on top, although the list of foods I could have eaten for that same amount of calories/points is staggering. (and more filling)

Live and learn. :cool: Anyway, I think I will have Subway for lunch today. I would like to meet that Jared guy that lost weight eating every freaking day at Subway and ask him if he is insane. I can NOT eat that more than about 2x a week. It's just so cold and I like a hot, filling meal.

Heads up for those of you that are interested. There is a line of products called Walden Farms. I have found them at Schnuks in Illinois, but I imagine you can find a location on www.waldenfarms.com

They have fat-free, calorie-free, sugar-free, carbohydrate-free, cholesterol-free products. Yes, you read that right. There label reads, 0,0,0,0,0....nothing in there. Gotta love that.

They have:
16 varieties of salad dressings
6 varieties of dips
BBQ sauce
Ketchup
Coctail Sauce
Chocolate Syrup
and Pancake Syrup.

So...keep that in mind if you happen to stumble across them.

And with that, (my helpful tip of the day) I am outta here.

Stay focused and healthy and lets all meet back here tonight and brag on ourselves. (or at least get some support if we were less than perfect!)

Have a :) day!
Tiffany

I read an interview with Jared and it actually had some insightful comments about diet plans in general, there is really nothing in particular about subway that let him to lose weight, but he did do a lot of things right. As an aside coporate subway, i.e. Pepsico raised the price on the veggie 6 inch from 2.29 to 2.99 grrrrr. That is a pretty darn hefty percentage-rise increase.

Anyhow he was doing the super-sized fried fast food 'diet' and got huge, dah. Actually so was I. I have lost 140lbs and I am much more photogenic then Jared, they should get me...Anyhow so he started eating the veggie subs, and diet sodas. A subway meal can be healthy but, of course, so can a zillion other meals. For 'fast food' though it is a good choice. I don't eat red meat or chicken anymore so the veg price increase is a real bummer.

Another aside. I have eaten the BK veggie burger a handful of times and it is OK. But one of the strangest things is that unlike a beef burger it doesn't come with lettuce, pickels, onions, and tomatoes. Just lettice usually. So when I order one I always say and all the veggies or specifically lettuce, pickels, onion, and tomatoes. The person taking the order says fine, and then it comes to me with lettuce only and I have to send it back. I tried to email burger king but on their website it has no email and says they won't read any they get. Talk about freaking ridiclous corporate policy. My question is what genius said ok lets offer a veggie burger but not offer veggies with the patty. I hate to say it, but some freaking moron. Even when corporate America tries to do something right they end up stepping all overthemselves. BTW BK does 5 orders of maginitutde more advertising for every other new product then it did for the veggie burger. Oh well, the fast food people are in it to make money not make you healthy.

Yikes!!! :devil: I must have struck a nerve!!!!

You know, I do agree to a point about many of the things you have said. There are so many fast food places that aren't in it to make the customer happy. There is a thread around here somewhere about Arbys and how they got rid of their healthy selections and did the Market Fresh, which are simply AWFUL for you.

I do, however, like Burger King and I commend them for adding a Veggie Burger that is actually healthy, unlike TGI Fridays who has a Boca Burger that they put on a horrible bun and then it becomes worse than a regular Whopper. :mad:

I also like the Chicken Whopper too, and am glad that when my family starts hollering for Whoppers, I know I can go and make a wise choice.

Subway is good, don't get me wrong...and I will take your word for it that they should have hired you instead!!! lol....but I need variety and I guess fast food places aren't the best place to go when you are trying to eat healthy. Especially if you don't like salads. :(

If you are lucky enough to have a Chik-fil-a (or however they spell it) that isn't actually too bad for you. They have several options.

My weakness is Chinese food and I just don't like steamed veggies. I want the goopy stuff and the fried things...lol....so I save that for a special occasion.

Well, I could go on and on, but I am hungry and better feed myself before I trek off to the China Buffet.

Thanks for posting Diamond...it's nice to see a new face, so to speak!

Tiff

Hi everyone! I am back from out of town, missed you all. I am exhausted, had to drive home 175 miles last night and am going to work today. Does anyone else hate driving as much as I do? While I was gone my water heater went out and while the guy was replacing it he dropped the old one on my floor and busted one of the tiles and got water everywhere and left a big mess for me to clean up. You will have to forgive me I am tired and grouchy this morning.

I did OK on the eating while I was gone, as I said in an earlier post when I am at the casino I rarely eat much although I did have 2 strawberry daquiris. They have one of those freezing machines like margaritas are in and they are the best! I won $1000 while I was there but my daughter went with me and didn't take any money so I had to pay for her and I didn't come home with the winnings.

Forgive me if I don't mention you all by name, my brain is still numb from all the noise and I'm still hear bells. Have a wonderful day all.

LJ

good morning, tif i cant believe you ate the brownies and still stayed on track, as long as we dont do that too often, it will be alright.

huntress, sounds like you are really having a rough time, hope things will look up for you and congrats for staying in control while you were away, hang in there.

hi diamondog, congrats on all that weight loss, way to go. i do agree that they should automatically put the veggies on, doesnt make anysense. altough i am still not there yet(ya know to order a healthy burger ,over a reg one) but i totally agree with you. i only go once a week and it is usually mcdonalds with my daughter and i am just for now trying to order half of what i get, like instead of large fries , small fries, instead of 2 burgers without buns, just one. stuff like that. maybe one day even just a salad, i will get there.

hello everyone else. hope you all have a great day.

i had a great day yesterday, it was my 10 yr anniversary, even though i have been with him for 17 yrs, with the exception of one break up that didnt even last a yr. anyway, i did so good eating during the day, that allowed me to have a nice dinner out. i had a nice pasta dish with a salad and a little piece of roll with just a little butter on it. i only ate half the pasta dish too. it is a really big accomplishement, normally it would have been a great excuse to overeat and drink for that matter. i didnt even have a cocktail, i know, how boring. but, i tried to listen to my body and i just didnt have to have one. i will be going to the shore this weekend anyway, and i know that i usually when i want a cocktail so i will just have one and stay in control. i can do this.

oh by the way i felt like having a slimfast shake for breakfast yesterday at around 8:30 am and it kept me full till almost 12:30 so there goes my theory about eating carbs and sugar make me more hungry then if i had eaten a whole protien breakfast. i think i was just being brainwashed about the protein diets, ya know carbs bad, protein good, carbs bad , proteins good:lol: :lol:
not that anything is wrong with the protien diets, but maybe i am not as addicted to carbs as i thought, maybe i was just looking for another excuse to say why i am so heavy. well those days are gone, if i want protien, i will eat protein if i want carbs i will eat carbs. just staying in control and not binging , will get me to goal. wow, i am very talkative this morning. i will go now.


check ya all later.:)

Hello!
I went to Goodwill today (looking for short sleeve shirts that didnt make my arms look like sausage rolls) and I found two Susan Powter books for a buck! "Stop the Insanity" and "Food".
I just couldn't resist for a buck. I read the Insanity one nearly nearly ten years ago. I remember it being motivational. And I need all the motivation I can get. Tif, Did you get your Susan video? Tried it yet?
I tried doing Denise Austin this morning. I don't own a video, she was on tv. OMG! My leg muscles are already sore, and sore usually doesnt kick in until the day after I do something new! I may have to tune into her again!
Back on the subject of shopping....I did find a few shirts that will get me by. Not sure if they help disguise my sausage rolls. :^:
Didn't find any pants, I think I'm between sizes....yeah, that's it, between sizes. :lol:

willbe, happy anniversary! i just had my 12th wedding anniversary this past weekend too!:love: :love: :love:

Happy Anniversaries!!!!

No, still waiting on the video. I love the Stop the Insanity...Food was OK, but she really goes on and on and on in that one. There was useful information to weed out, but at that price, I'd say "heck yes!"

Struggling along today girls. I didn't want to walk last night, so I tried Cher's step tape and was throwing my arms around getting into it, and lasted about 15 minutes, before I had to take a nap. LOL....but my neck and shoulders are sore. So, later in the evening I went for my walk, but only did half.

I got my period today, so that may have been part of the craving of the brownies, and the no energy situation. I do feel a little better today and not quite so bloated.

Well, it's hot today and I am just sitting here thinking how nice it would be to just sit here all day in the air conditioning and eat juice bars...but I think I should do something constructive to pass the time.

Maybe I will clean the office downstairs, or the laundry room. Keep busy so I don't snack.

Anyway, I will catch up with you all tonight~

WHERE ARE OUR OTHER PEOPLE???????????????????
I hope everyone is well.

Tiffany
PMS Queen

Hi everyone,
I had a pretty good week this week, won't know the 'scale' results until Sunday morning but I feel pretty darn good. :)

*Judy

hey guys, i had another great day!! i will be going to the shore tomorrow, but will probably check in tomorrow before i leave.

congrat tigerlily. on the annivarsery. hope you had a good one.

tif, i know having our period sucks, but doesnt it feel good to not have pms anymore??

just cuz, glad you are having a great week.

i would really love to hear how anyone who has seen her recently, (susan powter) has seen her. i cant seem to find anything recent on her. i have 2 step tapes of hers. i never even heard of her having an abs tape or any other tapes.

anyway , i didnt eat really healthy today and i did have some, drinks but i was really in control with food and drinks, alot less then i usually would have consumed.

i will try to check in tomorrow before i go to the shore.

I think Susan is selling some kind of diet pill or something now. I will see if I can find a link for you.

Tiff

Hi.
I'm still here. Can't think of anything much to say except I need to stay OFF the scale. I'm eating right and walking. I walked 3 miles yesterday and then I stepped on the scale this morning and it showed a 2 pound gain from the day before. Stupid thing! Anyway, I'm drinking plenty of water, but it's pretty hot out and I know I tend to retain water when the temperature rises. Hope that's all it is. Hanging in there. Glad we all are.

Jen
238/232/140

hello, thanks tif.

hi jen. those scales are gonna be the death of us:lol: since i am a scale hopper, this is what i have learned to do. whether i am doing good or bad, whether there is a gain or loss, i only count the weigh in , every tues. morn. i dont let it get to me anymore, especially if i know i am doing good. it sounds to me like you are doing great!!! dont let is discourage you. keep on doing what you are doing, that scale will move in the right direction. i know sometimes when i am really hot, my hands and feet get swollen, so it could be that.

ok, i am headed to the shore. i will check in tomorrow. everyone have a great day, and lets stay in control!!!!:)

Hey, thanks Willbethin. I "officially" weigh on Saturdays and it appears I've dropped those 2 mystery pounds off. Still, it doesn't look as though I've lost anything this week. Oh well. I feel better. I've been putting on make-up every day and I pampered myself with a professional hair-coloring. I haven't been this blonde since my early twenties!
Also, instead of getting off to a slow start and being lazy Saturdays until noon and getting nothing done most of the day, I've mowed my front and side lawns, picked up in the living room, filled out my daughter's camp forms, washed dishes and started a load of laundry. It's starting to get warm, so I'm taking a break from mowing. I WILL finish the entire lawn today. I've finally started weeding my flowerbeds, but it's slow going. I'm going to finish one and plant some of my favorite annuals today. It's a bit later than I planned, but I want to add the color and like to feel proud when I drive up to my home instead of saying to myself "Well...at least it's not the worst yard on the street!"
Hope everyone else is having a great weekend too.

Jen
238/232/140

hi jen, sounds like you are keeping yourself busy, good for you, that will keep ya out of the kitchen, good job. and congrats on losing those 2 lbs again.

hello all, i am back from the shore. i had a great time. even won my daughter a sponge bob and patrick stuffed animals out of the crane machines, it only cost me 1.00 for sponge bob and 1.50 for patrick. she was so happy and so was my husband cause that is all she was wanting to win. sometimes i can be so lucky with those things, half of her stuffed animals came from those machines and the boardwalk, when i was addicted to those machies when i was single, dont know what i would have done with them, if i didnt have angelina:lol:

now, food choices?? werent always the healthiest ones, but i ate a whole lots less then i normally would, which is my main focus right now, to just eat less. my excercise has been good and i have been drinking my 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. so hopefully the scales will be kind on tues morn. my wiegh in day.

hope everyone had a great weekend!!!:)

Hi all!
Down a whopping .5 for my weigh-in this morning. I'll take it. With my lack of exercise this week, I'm lucky to have it.
Tiff, no way, susan is selling diet pills? That goes against what she said in fist book. How disappointing!
I have a terrible cold or sinus thing going on. Eyes hurt, nose stuffed up. Not a pretty picture. On top of that, it's soo hot and humid. Mind if I whine a little?
Hope eveyone is off to a great week of weight loss!!!:)

Hey hey, naughty kittens. WHERE IS EVERYONE?

Tiger, she says it is a "dietary supplement". Ok, whatever. I just hated seeing her advertising any kind of pill. You were absolutely right, that goes against what she preaches in her first book. But whatever brings in the money, I guess.

Things are ok here...still not getting as much exercise as I would like, but it IS that time of the month and I seem to be going rather heavily (I know, TOO much information) and I don't want to be out on the track, leaking body fluids. So, I have been taking it easy this week.

Had a bad epsiode last night. After my dh and I had a particularly intense argument about his ex, who is very much a nightmare, I went into the kitchen and ate a Ding Dong and the rest of the kids dinner (some pasta with hamburger and spaghetti sauce).

I WAS SO MAD AT MYSELF. I should have went out for a walk and cooled off. But it was those old habits. So, I am not beating myself up over it, I am MOVING on. Today is a great day and I am doing perfect today, and that is important to me. The past is the past.

Live and learn girls and thanks again for being here for me to talk to.

Tiffany
:dizzy:

hi tif, even on that time of the month, you still crack me up:lol: gotta love that sense of humor. sorry to hear about your fight. hope everything is alright.

i myself, just about an hour ago, got into one of my old bad habits. i am babysitting one child today, it was last minute and i wasnt expecting it. she is around my daughters age, so they have been playing pretty good, it is really hot out. so i am not going for a walk or anything, anyway, i got a little bored and headed straight for the carbs. i feel tired and yucky. as much as i hate to admit it, there are just some things i have to tell myself i cant have. i wasnt going to do that, but maybe just till i really start losing weight. i have to change some of my old eating habits that got me heavy in the first place, i have to remind myself that there are 4 food groups not just one(carbs) i will try to salvage the rest of the day and maybe have some grilled chicken , some veggies and a salad, as i seemed to exceed my carb limit for the day. so onward and upward.

Hi There.
Thought I'd stop in on my lunch break. Sorry you're not feeling well Tigerlily. .5 is better than a gain. I know that sometimes, if I don't lose much one week, the next is great. Hope that's it for you too.
Old habits sure do die hard. I know my FIRST inclination whenever I'm bored, tired, angry, etc. is to find a "comfort food". I think that's O.K. in extreme cases, but not as a daily thing. I know what you mean about certain foods, Willbethin. I hate depriving myself, but there are certain things I can only eat when I have a specific way of limiting myself. Like pizza. I used to buy pizza for my daughter and me once a week, but not now. I can't seem to stop until there's none left, so I save that for when there's another person around so I can't eat 2/3 of the thing!
Well, I'm off to another thread. Not a bad day for a Monday.

Jen
238/232/140

Hello to all -

This is the first thread I have actually read (not just browsed) on this board and I just wanted to say that I couldn't peel my eyes off, in spite of having plenty to do here at work. WTG everyone, I'm so impressed with all of you.

I'm 31, 5'2" on a good day-ok maybe 5'1"- :p and stepped on the scale Saturday afternoon (a total of 3 times, such was my shock) to see 215.4. I'd been doing my own thing for about a week before I got the guts to step on.

History - figured myself for a fatty in high school at a tricky size 14 (not everything that was a 14 fit but I figured the manufacturers were cheap with material, LOL). Got motivated and cut back when I was 19 and 165 and slimmed down to a 6-8p and 120-125. Ate whatever, whenever and fluctuated within 120-130 for 3 or 4 years. I thought I was cured, although I can't say I thought I had it made at the time (Grrrr! to think of all the time I spent worrying about hiding my big thighs and the mini-rolls on my tummy).

Then I got married. It's been 7 years and look at me now! I guess that's 10# a year with double the first year.

I've tried - oh, I've tried - but dammit this is NOT another one of those times. The first piece for me is exercise, that's where I'm starting. I got myself out of bed M,W,F last week and hauled my butt to the gym before work. Was so proud of myself I went on Saturday. Stuck to my guns and did it again this morning. So I have a little something to be proud of.

I'm not worrying about food yet but I want to add that before I lose enthusiasm! That is really the key - as so many of you have said - endurance and patience. Husband has even pointed out that I can do ANYTHING for 3 weeks - after that forget it. I would love to join your little network, and I will try to be a good and faithful poster.

One caveat: I'll be taking a little vacation time and I don't know how often I'll log in from home. But I need to make it important to me!

:wave:
Welcome Cafe! It sounds like you are off to a great start with the exercise. That's suppose to be the best way to start, getting that metabolism going before you cut back on food! Are you implementing any plans? I'm using Bob Greene and Susan Powter for motivation ( and 3FC! ) I'm also trying to eat more healthy, less processed foods. It is hard! Processed foods are evil. :devil:
Tiff, darn those Ding Dongs! I wont buy them anymore. I let the kids pick out a sugar cereal (Count Chocula) at the grocery the other day and they wolfed it down in 2 days! They are sick of hearing me say "go eat some fruit". :lol:
Off to hunt the cupboards, see what I can fix for supper.
;)

It is so kewl to come here and read people talking about being healthy!

I have been a heavy person most of my life and was on my first diet at 9 years old. I have had anorexia, bullemia and have been on antideppressants for anxiety that balooned me up to 200 lbs!

now after 2 years I am down to 160 (not great but a VERY good start) after breaking my ankle and dislocating my shoulder. (Hard to exercise when you only have one working leg and arm)

I have within the last year been walking 30 minutes 5 days a week. Recently I have started to eat less food, and add yoga, weights and pilates into my routine and I am proud to say I have lowered my body fat from 30% to 27% which is STILL not bad!

I stumbled upon this forum while trying to look up support for not wanting to exercise and how to get rid of cravings and I have come EVERYDAY since!

So after that LONG winded speech here is my problem.

I have a slimfast shake for breakfast (otherwise I would puke because of Yoga)
then 4 snackwell cookies at 10:00 AM
then another shake or a powerbar and a peice of friut for lunch.
Then I walk for 20 mintes
then I come home at 3:45 and have 2 cups of veggies, 1 small peice of protien (usually a boca burger or small peanut on Wasa bread sandwich)
and a small bowl of frozen yogurt, a snack size snickers peice, or a yogurt.

Here is the kicker. I have THE WORST cravings! All I want is a damn cookie. not a bag (although I fear if I had a bag I would eat a bag) but a dessert or something chocolate that ISN"T the size of a quarter. But I don't want to give in because I am afraid it will release the floodgates! Any advice?! can I eat one fattening sweet and still stick to my plan or is it just going to open the floodgates? Does anyone else have these stupid cravings?

Puma

:wave: Welcome Puma and Cafe. Good luck to you both. This is a great spot to come to vent and get support or to come and crow when you've done well. :D Hope you enjoy....

Have posted in a few days. Been in a weird mood. Been keeping up doing well though, so that's been good. Did go to lunch today at a favorite Mexican place and just didn't worry for 30 minutes about what I ate. Work has been very stressful lately and I needed to get out of there for lunch. I didn't over do it, but it sure was a nice break! :D

Today was weigh-in. First I stepped on the scale this morning and found it at 185 which is where I was 2 weeks ago at weigh in. I accepted it (sorta) and didn't get too bummed. Figure I know I'm doing well and was wearing jeans on Sunday that I have been able to wear in over a year, so I wasn't going to get too upset. But, then I had to question it and went back and tried again. This time it said 180!!! :D So, I step off and back on and this time it said about 183.5 :shrug: .... Decided to buy a new scale. Will weigh on it in the morning and it will be my official weight for this week. I swiped this scale from my parents house in my old bathroom about 3 years ago when I started grad school. I really think we got it when I was in high school or even junior high... I'm 31 now... I think it's time to retire that one! The new one is digital! Welcome me to the 21st century!!! :rolleyes:

Very tired so I will cut off now.... hope all is well with y'all.... for those of you that are praying types, can y'all say an extra prayer for me and my co-workers, please? Things have been very stressful and some of us are taking it out on others of us lately. Not good at all. I used to love going to work. These last few days, I am not loving it anymore.... bleh.... :( THANKS!!!

There once was a girl from Nantucket
Who went to KFC for a bucket,
Even though it was greasy
and it made her feel queasy,
Down her throat she did suck it.

HAHAHAHAHA....ok that was not a true story. Not today anyway. I just couldn't let Will go to bed without laughing one more time!!
:lol:

Cafe, WELCOME to our little group. We aren't perfect here, but if trying counts as perfection, then I guess maybe we are. Cause, we sure try. (and try and try)

You are already my hero. There is no way on God's green earth that I would haul my butt out of bed in the morning to exercise. Nope, no way, no how. I started with the food and then started a little exercise in the evenings and maybe after some weight comes off...I will feel more like exercising. I just still have this amazing aversion to sweating. I just don't like it. :D

Puma, Welcome! You can be my hero too. I would like to do yoga or pilates, but geez, there is that sweat thing again. As far as your question...I would think that you are pretty low, calorie-wise, so maybe...you could incorporate one of the Weight Watcher desserts, they have some yummy ones. No Pudge makes a great brownie that you can make one at a time with no-fat yogurt and I will tell YOU...that sucker is so rich, that even if you ate it and wanted another, for the calories, you could have another. Heck, have one every day. Yum. Chocolate power bars might help the craving too. I also like Fat-Free Chocolate pudding. I will make it with skim milk and eat the whole box. Whoo-hoo!!! Throw some Fat-Free Cool Whip on it...I really don't think that it will open the floodgates, I am a believer that if you DON'T have what you crave the most, THAT will send you over the edge, thinking about how you can't have it...till finally, we will stumble across you sitting in the cookie aisle at the Piggly Wiggly with about 20 open boxes of Oreos, covered in crumbs and crying.

Soooo...we can't have that. EAT that chocolate, baby and ENJOY.

Thanks to the new people for thinking that we are interesting enough to join. I can tell you...these people keep me on my toes and I love them for it. I only wish we lived in the same neighborhood, so we could all keep eachother on the straight and narrow at all times and exercise together. (I would sweat with these girls and that says a lot.)

Well, night all.
Tiffany

Lizzo, I posted and then saw your post, so I wanted to say a couple of things to you, before I went to bed.

First of all, I will say a prayer for you at work. I think these things kind of ebb and flow. It will pass, I am sure of that. Hang in there and know that if something is said, it isn't personal.

It's great that even though you are in a weird mood, you are still keeping up. I swear you are like my soul-sister. I went to my favorite Mexican place yesterday and had my favorite and didn't get all obsessed. But for 6 days out of 7, I pretty much eat at home and eat very healthy, so I was ready for it. But after my slip-up last night, I don't expect my weigh-in to be very succesful tomorrow...but if I just maintain, that will be ok. Although, with this damn period...I have probably lost 6 pounds of blood. (GROSS :rolleyes:)

I had to laugh about your scale. It's like a talking scale from ****:

"Yes!! You HAVE lost weight!"
"No, I don't think you have!"
"Well, MAYBE just a little"

Until you pick it up and launch it against the wall. A new scale sounds like a great investment. :lol:

Well, hang in there! You will be fine and this will pass.
Tiffany

Tiger, here is that link for Susan Powter and her new product...

URL deleted by moderator - please see the Forum rules

Good Morning all!

I got on to post yesterday morning but the board was closed for maintenance. Hope you're all doing well.

Welcome, Cafe and Puma!

As most of you already know I've had a rough week and a half and the scale has gone up a few pounds. I am also PMSing and have been eating chocolate cupcakes that I bought for my kids ad Sams Club like they are going out of business! Big mistake.........I should know better than to bring that kind of stuff in the house, my kids don't need it any more than I do. Hopefully they will all be gone soon and I won't have to hear them calling my name again.:lol:

I've gotten too far behind for the shout outs, so have a great day everyone.

LJ

225/212/150

Good Morning All!
You are right Huntress, kids don't need it either. I'm having problems in that department myself. Kids and DH are still craving all the junk that I used to buy. I allow very little of it in the houe now.
I bought a new scale about a month ago. Before that, I had the talking scale from **** too! I really like the new digital, even if I don't always like the number I see.
Hi Puma, welcome! Do you count your calories? If they are too low, you are going to have cravings for high calorie food. I'd suggest raising your intake of good healthy foods if your calories are low. At the same time, don't deprive yourself a treat now and then!
I'm still sport'n this lovely cold. So, not getting much exercise. Can't breath through my nose! And, ears are plugged, not much balance! But, still trying to keep my eat'n under control.
Good luck to everyone today!

Tig,

Thanks for posting that about Puma. I was thinking about that after I went to bed last night. I was wondering whether she was actually getting ENOUGH calories...I was trying to calculate in my head. (like THAT's gonna happen!)

So, anyway Puma, do you have a calorie range you try to stick to? Just checking...The suggestions for calorie ranges are all over the boards as far as how much, but here are two examples.

This is the general guideline...(taken from a book about fats in your diet and nutrition.

To find out how many calories you need, you take your weight, (to maintain) or your desired weight (to lose) and multiply that by 13 if you are sendentary and get no exercise, 15 if you are moderately active, 17 if you are very active and 20 if you are a big fat liar and say that you are EXTREMELY active.

The other, is from Weight Watchers. This is what they say:

350 and over = 1950-2200 calories
325 lbs - 349 lbs = 1850-2100 calories
300 lbs - 324 lbs = 1750-2000 calories
275 lbs - 299 lbs = 1650-1900 calories
250 lbs - 274 lbs = 1550-1800 calories
225 lbs - 249 lbs = 1450-1700 calories
200 lbs - 224 lbs = 1350-1600 calories
175 lbs - 199 lbs = 1250-1500 calories
150 lbs - 174 lbs = 1150-1400 calories
Under 150 lbs = 1050-1300 calories

Now, the first guideline says that for me, if I want to weigh 150, I take that times 15 (cause that is my activity level) and I come up with 2250 for a calorie guideline. That seems a little high to me. I did use this in the beginning, (last month) when I started and I think overall, that you may lose about a pound a week if you stay near that. After all, you need to eat fuel if you are burning it off and you don't want your body to think it's starving. Blah, blah, blah.

BUT....I found the WW guidelines on this board somewhere and I liked them better. I have a range to stay in between and that just works better for me.

The biggest thing I learned from a friend is: DON'T GO TOO LOW. She was eating about 900 calories a day and she was pretty heavy still and she wasn't losing weight after a certain point. I couldn't figure it out. Back then, I was like...LOSE WEIGHT=DON'T EAT. But now I know better.

Anyway, that is my 2 cents worth on that topic.

HEY GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had my weigh in, and I didn't have to throw my scale against that wall. (besides, I hate to do that...it sees me naked once a week, and that is more than I can say for my honey. :s:

Down another 2#s. (It's loss of blood, I am sure. LOL) But, I'll take it!

Tiffany
265/245/150
Chugging along :sheep:

hello, welcome newbies. i have gotten behind on everyone posts, to many to do shout outs for me, i am also on alot of websites and sometimes it is to much to type, and the newbies thanks for sharing your stories and hope we can all get through this journey together.

i am still at 187, that is the 3 lbs i keep gaining and losing. that was my weigh in this morning, not bad really concidering some ups and downs with pms last week. so onward and upward, no more sliding back, i am tired of seeing that stupid number on the scale. once i get under 187 than i really will know i am on my way. so i have got to have a good week and make those scales move next tues. so i am on a mission. i am also gonna try to cut out some of the carbs, since that seems to be the mainstay of my eating. i just eat too much of them. cant seem to control them once i start, so it is time to really balance out my foods. a little from all food groups. i have a busy week with babysitting, which i wasnt expecting, kinda good kinda bad, the one little girl is a neighbor and her grandmom is raising all three grand kids and doest have much money so as a favor i am babysitting her 3 times this week, and i know it will probably be only 10.00 a day, and she is here from 7:30 till 5:45, and i am feeding her all day long, really not worth my time i could be spending somewhere else with my daughter. i told her this will be the only week i can help her out. anyway, i am trying to hang in there and enjoy the summer , i hope all of you will do the same.

oh tif, i totally can relate what you were saying about the scale and hubby:lol: and whether its blood , water, or fat those 2 lbs look great coming off the scales, congrats.

Good morning and thanks to all for the welcome.

Waking up a little slow with my coffee in front of the screen, so a good time to post a little and try to respond to specific remarks.

Puma - we can be thread newbies together! :dizzy:

Tigerlily - I liked what you said about motivation. I've been the Greene and Powter names on this thread, but I guess I don't know anything about them. I think you're right - if I look for a book to be reading that will help fill up the well of incentive. I think I'll make a little time this weekend to browse the book store - then go to a used bookstore to buy. :devil: Recommendations are welcome!

Lizzo - Been there with the BAD job mojo. Keep remembering that you are seperate and if that place just crashes and burns tomorrow it's not reflective of the quality of your work. Chant my little mantra "Job - Life - Job - Life - seperate and different!" and especially when you're working out remember that this is something you're doing temporarily for money but who you are and what you make of yourself will last a lifetime.

Tiffany - Re: sweat. When I get into a sedentary pattern my body just hates to sweat too. I'll get uncomfortable, itchy, crabby and feel a headache coming on and when I think I'm going to have to EXPLODE I break into a sweat, LOL. It's physical! But after the first or second time it gets MUCH easier, almost effortless. Plus, the combustion of stored fat into energy releases heat and water - so if you're sweating, you're burning those little fat cells....

Personally, that's why I like the gym, even if I have to wake up at an unthinkable hour to do it before work. It is a place with it's own structure whose only purpose is for me to work out. It's okay to sweat there. When I am there that is my reason for existence. I have a couple of work-outfits that I only wear to the gym.

When I check in at the door, I make a mental effort to leave everything else outside. When I'm on the treadmill, me and the treadmill are the only things that exist. When I'm done - to **** with those people that whiz around the locker room in 5 minutes. I take a long shower, I scrub with my loofah, I shave my legs (if I want) - the self-care is my reward. (this is an adjustment too because I'm not usually long on self-care as a rule, but at the gym it's different, this is for me.) Then I'm done and I LEAVE. And I don't have to CLEAN their shower, LOL. Oh yeah, and I ALWAYS take 2 towels.

The hardest part is getting up - once I'm there I'm fine.

And as far as body anxiety - well **** yes, I'm fat - why else would I be AT the gym???!! I refuse to let it get to me. So that's my 2 cents about exercise.

Huntress - you will outlive those chocolate cupcakes, and you won't give up this time. You'll be back on the wagon, I know it.

:)

Hi Cafe,
I don't think I said hello to you yet and welcome.

Hey everyone else... I'm doing good here this week but hey it's only Tuesday!!! :)

Gotta go
*Judy

Good Morning all! I am in a much better frame of mind than yesterday.

Thanks Cafe - I remind myself each morning when I wake up that this is the beginning of a new day and I commit myself to making the best choices that I can. I am working on a lifestyle change and am doing well so far, sometimes life just throws me a curve ball.

Willbe - I know what you mean about the scales. After my initial loss the scale didn't move until it started going up. Fortunately it has only gone up a few lbs and I am recommited.

Tigerlilly - I agree that the kids don't need that junk and I bring home lots of healthy things for them but sometimes all they want is junk. My mother is undoubtedly the worst when it come to diet sabatoge. We work in the same office and she will bring all kinds of homemade goodies, ice cream, you name it even though she knows that we are all trying to lose weight. What's up with people like that? We also have factory people who like to bring in doughnuts and kolaches in the morning. Makes a person crazy

:dizzy:

Tiffany - your poem was cute. (and also a little bit true:o )

Sandset - where are you..........

Justcuz - I'm glad to hear that you're doing well this week, you're my inspiration.

To the rest of you, I'm still trying to get caught up I will catch you later.

Thanks to all of you for the support during my rough time lately, my knee is almost back to normal now and I'm looking forward to getting some exercise and getting back on the program. This group is the best!:cool:

LJ
225/212/150

PS I decided to reevalute my goal weight and shoot for something a little more realistic. 150 is a weight that I have maintained in the past for many years until I gained 3 years ago when my ex past away.

hello all, glad to see we are checking in with each other and hanging tough. that is what will get us to our goals. huntress glad you are recomitting.

i have a little mini goal myself and it is really a challenge to myself to be FULLY committed to my plan. i am going on my one week vacation on july 21, i believe that gives me 25 days. i want to lose 12 lbs by then that will put me at 175, stilll a ways to go but i will be out of the 180's and with the 3 lbs i just lost will put me at 15 lbs and i will start to feel better about my self.

so i am gonna pull the reins a little tighter, no slip ups, no overeating, and really try to choose healther foods. excercise 4 days a week for 30 mins(if i do more fine) but i am making that my excercise goal. of course drink my water, 6to8 glasses.

well, that is it. have a great day everyone:)

Thx for welcome, Judy.

Busy day ahead of me today so not much time.

I did go to the gym today so that means I've reached my first mini-goal of keeping a regular schedule until my vacation from work.

Next goal: work out on the same schedule while I'm *NOT* coming downtown to work (the gym is under 2 blocks away from work). This shouldn't be too hard because I can go for a walk virtually anytime, right?

Bad news is, I stepped on the big digital scale this morning thinking: I need a morning weigh-in not a 2pm Saturday afternoon weigh-in. Yow! It was up 2 lbs. But I'm NOT going to think about it.

It's all about the exercise, I just have to do the exercise. Anybody got a pair of blinders I can borrow?

So today is last day at work until Monday July 8. With 2 paid holidays in there I get 11 days straight off for the price of 5 vacation days... I'll be out of town over the weekend but I hope to log in from home next week and check up on you all. My houseguest who was supposed to arrive next Monday cancelled, so in one night I went from looking at a week of all-hostess-all-the-time to zero responsibility! I'm considering going on a brief cleanse during that time to jump-start me into a diet plan... I guess I'm on the cusp - not sure I'm willing to completely commit to ramping up yet. But close. The timing could NOT be better. Need to get psyched up.

Kisses to everyone and hooray for you!

Ok, so I was just poking around the 3FC forum and came across your thread. I started reading but knew I wouldn’t be able to read the whole thing without losing my place and getting interrupted. Darn boss wants me to WORK or something!! :mad: What’s up with that!?!? So I decided to copy and paste all 12 pages into a word document so I could just scroll on through ...

... So 3.85 megabytes later :o I found myself thinking this may have been a big mistake. Computer's still breathing heavy but man, I just love this thread!! I’m not new to 3FC but the thread I’d posted on for a long time (years!) started getting slower and slower with fewer and fewer people posting until it pretty much died. Can’t explain it. :cry: So anyway, I happened to find you guys, did the copy and paste thing and when I opened the Word document, I did a quick scroll and the first thing that caught my eye were the words “strong, beautiful, sexy, not very hungry goddesses”!!! :lol: Tiffany, I decided right then and there that I LIKE you!!!! I’ve been reading all the posts, had a couple laughs like Jen’s disappointment at not having Chuck Norris jump out of the box to demonstrate the equipment and am still wondering about, uh, “snail snot”. I’ve noticed that some of you live pretty close to me too! JustMe, you in Philly!?!? I’m about 20 miles north of you.

Anyway, I too am “doing my own thing”. I was in Weight Watchers for almost 2 years. During the first year, I lost 40 pounds. During the second year ... we’re talking about 50 weeks ... costing me over $500 ... a year of my life gone ... I lost ... oh this is embarrassing ... 2 pounds. :( Yikes!! I decided it just wasn’t working for me any more. Of course, in the two months since I quit, I’ve gained back almost 15 lbs.!!! Why does it come back so much quicker than it goes away!?!? But I’m getting back on track. Joined a gym and go 2-3 times a week to embarrass myself on scary machines and work up a sweat. And I hope that I can come in and play with you guys too?? I promise I’ll try not to be boring and I’ll try to contribute and behave myself. :s: My first contribution for example is Walden Farms. Tiffany, I saw you mention it a couple posts ago. The salad dressings are all very good. The dips are pretty good too. The chocolate syrup has a “funny” taste to it. It’s not bad but it’s not great. The barbeque sauces are pretty bad – funny taste and they burn too easily on the grill. My 2-cents for all it's worth.

A little about me if anyone’s interested. I’m 40, recently divorced, a cancer survivor and have been overweight my entire adult life. I’m tired of it!!! I currently weigh about 180 (I think – gotta get a new scale). I swore that this was going to be the summer that I was going to appear in public in a bathing suit or shorts but it just didn’t happen. Maybe next year? Meanwhile, I keep plugging along. I’ve tried just about every diet program and eating plan out there and have remembered a few things, gotten a few ideas and learned a few lessons. Mom always taught me to share so I’m here to offer suggestions and hope to learn a few more things.

So can I play too? :^:

Jello (my friends call me Jo)

Jo,

In case you haven't noticed, I have several heros on this thread, and now you are added to my list. First off, I applaud you. Being a cancer survivor is beyond words for me. (And you all know that I have NO shortage of words.) I CAN honestly say that I don't know anyone who has ever had cancer, but I can only imagine what you went through and to come out on top like you have is a testament to your courage and positive outlook. And, obviously God knew that we needed you here with us to motivate us and teach us a lesson, so...WELCOME.

Ok, YES...I just watched Pay it Forward again and I bawl like a baby every single time. EVERY TIME. Especially at the end where they play that song, "Calling All Angels" Ok, crying again.

DANG MOVIE.

Second, that must have been a heck of a word document. LOL...I have been debating starting a new thread, and I'm sure eventually I will, but as long as I can click on that little thing that says "Go to first Unread Post" I know I don't have to scroll through everything to read the new stuff. So, I won't start a new one yet.

I laughed when I read the part about you liking me. I feel like Sally Field. "You LIKE me!!! You REALLY like me!!!" Thank you for that. I think that being funny is part of my charm, but boy I can get UGLY when I am mad. So, if I haven't posted for a little while (more than 6 hours, lol) It's because I am tearing someone's head off. Or fantasizing about it, anyway.

Thanks for the info on the Walden Farms. I posted a seperate thread on it, asking for information earlier and NO ONE responded. I was shocked that no one had tried it or no one at least had an opinion about it...so it was great to hear your views on it. I want the 1000 Island dressing. I LOVE 1000 Island.

Good for you for doing your own thing. I think it is a sign of evolution in a woman's brain to be able to say, "Weight Watchers taught me a lot, but I need to add this, or not do this, or I don't like counting points, so I will do THIS instead.." Instead of going on to the next restrictive diet.

Well, WELCOME!!!! Hope to see you contributing frequently and keeping us honest here!!!

Cafe, good to see you again! Glad to see you getting to the gym!
Wow, enjoy that time off...that sounds like it will be just what you needed. Glad to see you not worrying about that gain. So many things can affect our weight gains. Hormones, water gain, muscle, etc. I'm glad to see that you are taking it in stride.

(By the way, I will throw those blinders in the mail for ya!)

Will, good to see you have a goal. I just know that would be a little too much for me. That works out to about 3 pounds a week for the next month...so we will be wishing you the best and really pulling for you. I know that I have to set small goals for myself, that I am 100% sure I can reach, or else the feeling of not attaining my goal makes me really bummed out. But Thank God we are all different. The challenge of knowing what you want to do and when you want to do it may be enough to really throw you into high gear. I guess I just worry too much about you. LOL...

I think that having a mini goal is a GREAT idea and I think we ALL should have one. Here is mine:

I am leaving in two weeks for a few days in Branson at a water park (OMG a bathing suit) and Silver Dollar City. So, I would like to lose a little more for that trip. I started this at 265 pounds and I weighed 245 on Tuesday. So, I am going to aim high and say, when I leave in 19 days, I would like to be in the 230's. Now, I KNOW I probably can't lose 6 pounds in 19 days, although that is about 3 weeks, so that would be 2#'s a week, but I am going to try to my hardest. So, thank you Will, for making me have a goal too.

That is my mini goal. :D and I have some work to do. Time to go work out. I have my Susan Powter video finally, it came in the mail, so I am going to have to give it a try.

Just Cuz, glad to see you popping in! Good for you, for doing so well!!!

Huntress:
Glad to see you are feeling better!!!

Take care everyone and I will chat later,
Tiffany
On a Mission!!

:wave:
Welcome Jello! Glad to have you play with us! How much are you trying to loose?
My first goal...10 pounds gone by July 1st...is right around the corner. I hope this darn cold and lack of exercise isn't gonna hold me back from loosing that last pound! My second goal...hope I'm not jump'n on that too soon...is gonna be another 10 gone by Sept. 1st! That gives me eight weeks to loose 10 pounds, totally doable!
Tiff, a bathing suit!!!! The thought mortifies me! I would really like to know what the designers that make bathing suits in larger sizes are thinking. For example, what is the point of putting a skirt thingy around the bottom if it barely covers your @$$? I finally settled for this suit last year...two pieces, skirt covered bottom (too short) and tankini top....with way to high of a neck line. What heavy girl needs to cover her collar bones! That's the one place I'm not fat! ARgh!
Cafe, a vacation sounds nice. DH is on vacation next week. One more boy at home to take care of. :lol:
Willbe, good luck on your mini goal...although it doesn't seen so "mini". You are really push'n yourself! But, if you are determined you can do it!
:strong: :strong: :strong:
EAT LESS, MOVE MORE!

hello, welcom, jello. yup we have a great bunch of people here , they all care and are all trying really hard to get to thier goals. you sound like you will fit right in.

tif, i can believe you said that about the movie, pay it forward, i go around singing that song all the time, so sad. what a tear jerker. oh and the quote, "you like me , you really like me" are you a sponge bob fan?? sorry if you mentioned it before and missed it.

jello, i also thought this was the year i was gonna look half way decent in a bathing suit, as a matter of fact i just said it to someone today, my next door neighbor has a built in pool, and cant let my daughter not have fun because i dont like the way i look in a bathing suit. i cant believe i am in the same exact weight i was last year. what a bad dream. well it is time to wake up.

thanks tiger, i will give it my all. going shopping tonight and loading up on fruits and veggies, which i still dont get enough of.

Tig, the bathing suits I have looked at have made me cringe. Big large orange flowers. Big skirts on them. Bras built in that look like they could hold a couple of war torpedos. UGLY, UGLY.

I look at the ones that look like they have shorts and the longer tank looking top, but I know I could never raise my arms without my rolls popping out of the middle of my suit. So, I will stick to my one piece, and probably will after I lose weight, cause I was blessed with some lovely stretch marks, and I am WAY past bikini time!! It just pisses me off (pardon me) the way they make the larger sized bathing suits look so freaking ugly. Why can't they use simple colors and styles and make something that won't draw attention to us. Like big skirts and orange and pink flowers will help me blend in with a crowd? For Pete's sake.

Oooohh..that subject just gets my panties in a wad. (And that is a lot of panties to get all bunched up :lol: )

Well, yesterday was a bust. I am such a backslider. LOL...I did perfect all day long and then DH called me and said there were two couples at work that wanted to know if we would meet them for dinner. So, that sounded like fun and we all met at Alexander's Steakhouse. (MY FAV) and everyone was drinking beer, but I had Diet Soda instead. I was looking at the steaks and pork chops and chicken and decided I wanted chicken, but EVERYONE was having steak and I hadn't eaten red meat for 2 months, so I found a lean steak...and took it to the grill. You can grill your own meat there. Pick it out of the case and then everyone stands around the grill and drinks and cooks their meat. It really is fun.

So, while you stand there, you can throw a piece of Texas Toast on the grill and they have a pan of melted butter on the grill to slather over your bread. So, I was going to skip the bread, but I was so dang hungry and I had a piece with lots of butter, then I decided it was so good, I had another one. (I figured since I skipped all the beer, I could. GREAT REASONING!!!!) That is that old diet mentality. Anyway, I grilled my steak and had a little salad while we were waiting. Just lettuce, tomato and onion with 1000 Island on the side with 6 crackers. I skipped the cheese and the bacon bits. (Every little bit helps) So, by the time my steak was ready, I was full of salad and bread. I think my steak was 16 oz, but I only ate half with some sauteed mushrooms, and brought the rest of my meat home to my daughter.

I tell you...I was SICK. SICK. I layed in bed almost in tears cause my belly hurt so bad. I don't know if it was the combination of the red meat and butter, or I just ate too much or what, but I was in the bathroom all night and most of this morning. So, hopefully most of what I ate is in the sewer system somewhere. I finally had to guzzle some Imodium before I died.

I had a nice time (at the restaurant, not in the bathroom) But I can say that I learned a valuable lesson. VALUABLE. I will eat the dang chicken next time I go, and skip the bread and eat a plain baked potato and be SATISFIED and full without the guilt or the poopy problems. :o

This is like the worst kind of peer pressure. And, I am mad at DH today, cause he knows how hard I am trying and he was like, "What the heck, you don't do this anymore, once won't hurt you." But once DID hurt me. It hurt my emotional well-being, not to mention my backside and stomach. And the thing that hurts the most, is that I KNOW BETTER than that. I DO. I just let everyone else influence me. Why the **** is it anyone's business if I want chicken at a steak restaurant? They all were just HOUNDING me to get a steak. "We're all getting a steak, you should too." Like if I didn't have a steak, I wasn't cool or something.

Anyway, I had to beat myself up a little over this. I know in the future, that it wasn't worth it to me to have a steak. It tasted ok, but I would have enjoyed it more, if I had had the chicken. I LOVE chicken.

Ok, I am DONE beating myself up, and I DID learn a lesson, so I guess all's well that ends well.

In the end, I only ate about 8 oz of lean steak, and a little salad with a little dressing, the two pieces of bread weren't so bad, but it was the melted butter over it that really made it bad. I think I read somewhere that one stick of melted butter is 813 calories and 92 grams of fat. I am thinking that one stick melted down wouldn't be that much and I used this basting brush thing and basted both sides of my bread (both pieces, both sides) and then basted my steak with it too, so it would be moist. LOL...


Anyway, exercise every day now for me and I will move on.
Thanks for letting me holler.
Tiff

Will, I AM a Spongebob fan. I have a Patrick air freshener in my car and I am love with Gary. *Meow*

LOL,
Tiff

Well, yeah, but why does he live in a pineapple?!!

Tiff, I know what you're saying about bathing suits. Thankfully, my sister got herself one last year that was really cute, but it was slightly too big (she ordered it from a catalog) and she decided she didn't want it, so it's mine now. That should hold me for this year anyway. Do you all remember when almost all clothes for large women were ugly? (Unless you could afford to pay a fortune) We've come a long way. When I was in high school and weighed 195 pounds, it was pretty hard to even find a pair of jeans that were made out of normal denim material. Oh, they had jeans, but they were some funky stuff with a full-elastic waste and they weren't remotely cool. Like I could have been "cool" at 195 pounds. I will be when I weigh that again this coming year!

It's great to see so many new posts. Sometimes I just read, but I'm trying to post more often. I sure do end up rambling, though. All the while I'm rambling, though, I'm not eating!

Oh, my mini-mini-mini goal is to get below 230 pounds. I haven't been under 230 for 3 years. I'm so close. But weighing every day doesn't show me the true picture. A couple of days back I was at 229, yesterday at 231. Whatever I end up at on Saturday is the one I'll hold onto. Wish me luck.

Jen
238/232/140

hi tif, take it easy on yourself. but i know exactly how you felt after you did that, cause that is the same feeling i get. only i dont ever get the poopies afterward, mine always stays in. i hear alot of people say that happens after they have eaten healthy , then eat something greasy. you will be alright and look , you said everything to yourself , that any of us could say to you. you are already doing better. you will come back from this. what you went through with the peer pressure is always what gets me. except i would have skipped the steak and went for the drinks. i alway let situations like that sabatoge my good intentions, because really, any where we go there has to be something healthy we can choose from the menu, but we just want to enjoy like everyone else. not worrying about if it is good for us or not.

so these things are a part of life and we do have to include them in and just get right back on the wagon the next day. by the way, that place you went to really sounds like a fun place, my hubby would love it. and you were making my mouth water with that melted butter. thanks for sharing, it only reminds us that you are human and everyone has slip ups, we just cant let them get to us. i know you will have a great day tomorrow.

Jen, that is a very realistic mini goal and you will be there in no time. I just love leaving one number and getting into the next. Leaving the 260's was great and leaving the 250's was even better. I will practically be over the moon when I leave 200. LOL...


Will, I was too afraid to hit the drinks, cause I was afraid I would get really drunk and eat even worse. LOL...you know, eating off peoples plates and having dessert and then going home and eating some ice cream...then waking up at 3 in the morning for a candy bar. LOL....

Anyway, I am out of here for a walk tonight. First night in a while...so I imagine I will be huffing and puffing. But that IS a good thing. Means I am working my body!

Take care,
Tiff

I had a pretty good day eating wise yesterday, still haven't been exercising though. Rain and thunderstorms this week and I've had too many things to do. I know that is nothing but an excuse because I can find time when I want to.

I understand what you all are talking about with the bathing suits, my parents have a pool in their back yard and I refuse to go out in public in a bathing suit. Clothes are also difficult for me to find especially dresses. I am smaller on top than bottom and dresses are usually too big in one place or too tight in the other so I just gave up and wear jeans all the time. I still have lots of nice clothes that I would love to wear in my closet.

I have also set myself a mini goal it is to be under 200 (even 1 lb) by the time I go to Las Vegas on August 15 and I have really got to get walking so I won't get pooped out while we are there. I think that is a realistic goal since we have 7 weeks before we go.

Have a great day everyone!

LJ
225/212/150

Thanks for the welcome! Boy, this is a busy place. Hope I can keep up with you guys! I can only post at work because my home computer is slow as ... what was that Tiffany ... snail snot?? :lol: I'll never forget that one!

Tiffany, OK so now I'm hungry and have got "Calling All Angels" going through my head. Thanks a lot, girlie! ;) I told a woman at work about how good that movie was so she rented it one evening. She refused to speak to me for days afterward for "subjecting" her to that. :cry: Well, I warned her!!

I'm no hero. When you wake up from what should have been minor routine surgery thinking you're in recovery and will be going home soon and there are nurses and your surgeon leaning over you telling you "there was a problem" and you've been admitted for "a few days", there's not much you can do. :( I was so groggy that when I woke up again later, I had to ask if it was real or did I dream it? Anyway, I've been going in for regular cat scans and ultrasounds (it was ovarian cancer) and if all goes well on all the tests through next January, I'll be officially cancer-free for 5 years!

Sorry to hear about your food incident. I don't think I'd be out of line to say that probably all of us here have gotten out of control at a social ocassion at least once? I know I have. And I don't eat fast food much any more but the last time I did, I really overdid it. No little burger and small fries for me, no sir. Give me two of the biggest thing you've got!!!! I was sick for days. And I know what you mean about DH and the "oh just this once won't hurt" attitude. My boyfriend is good at the well, since you're going to the gym after work, you need "a little extra" carbs or protein or whatever... :^: OK, sounds good to me.

Tigerlily, I'm not sure how much I want to lose. I figured 150 sounded like a good number but I've been fat for so long I have no idea what 150 would look like or feel like. I guess I'll just take it a couple pounds at a time.

Huntress, you're going to Vegas!!! Ooh, I'm jealous!! I love Vegas!! I've only been twice and certainly didn't make my fortune either time but I want to go again! We were supposed to go for my 40th birthday last year. We were supposed to leave on September 14. Needless to say, we cancelled the flight. So can I stow away in your suitcase? Hm, do they even make a suitcase big enough for me....??

OK you guys, all this talk of ugly bathing suits has only made me love you more! :love: I was hoping it wasn't just me. Really, what is it with all the fluorescent "look at me" flowers and frills. Actually, I did find a plain one in ... are you ready? ... gray. Tried it on and would have laughed if it wasn't so sad. No way I'd wear that to the beach. I'd be afraid of getting harpooned in the surf!

Guess I'd better go. I've rambled on long enough and the boss will be walking through the door at any moment. Gotta go earn my millions. Again, thanks for the welcome. Hope to post again soon ... and often ... there, you've been warned.

Take care!
Jo.

:jig:I'm a scale hopper, I'm a scale hoper :jig:
Usually once during the week, I have to sneak on there. Weigh-in for me is Monday mornings. Today was my sneak, and a good sneak it was. The iron monster read 190.5. That's 11 total down. I know it doesn't count, but it gives me hope for Monday! ;)
I couldn't sleep last night. Late night with baseball and all wound up. So, I'm lay'n there thinking...this weight loss thing isn't so hard. Once I got the junk food out of my system, the cravings got weaker. I've added exercise, but not an extreme amount. I'm sure I'll have to up the exercise to keep losing, but I'm building up to that. Wow, *toot, toot*. (that's my horn) :lol:
Huntress, I'm also smaller on top...back on the bathing suit topic, the industrial bra thing they put in them...ha, I have to watch to make sure it doesn't go concave on me! I'm like a 38B WITH the extra weight. :( I have a 38A (barely) to look forward to when the weight is gone. Talk about a hard to find size! Designers think if your a 38 ya gotta have some clevage....wrong!
Well, I'm off to clean house. I thought being a SAHM, it would be clean all the time. Fanasty Land!

morning girls, tiger, you are doing great, i am sure the scales will be kind.

i have never been to vegas, but sounds like a lot of fun.

guys, i dont know what is better small on top big on bottom or me. i am huge on top and no bathing suit has enough support for me, i am bouncing around all over the place, i usally dont take my cover up off, which is a tank top. and is very sad, concidering how much i love the water and used to be a faithful boogie boarder. you couldnt get me out of the water. i cant wait to lose this weight just so the twins could get smaller. at a 42 dd, i guarantee they each weigh as much as newborn twins, i hate them.

jello, i hope everything turns out all right, i am sorry to hear what you are going through. sounds like you have a good attitude about everything. good for you.

congrats to us all for our mini goals, lets go for it . we can make these goals a reality. lets all have a great day:)

I wonder? Does any woman actually like her body? Most of us who carry extra weight don't, but I've listened to plenty of average-sized,slender, and stick-thin women wishing they had bigger boobs, or a flatter stomach, or smaller hips, or no stretch marks or... Wouldn't it be a miracle if there were adequate clothes for all of us and we could just worry about being healthy. Like that will ever happen. I wonder if the models and actors that so many of us envy like their bodies? Listening (reading) what everyone had to say made me think about it. I'm built like a light-bulb myself. Only it's not so much large breasts on top, it's a fat back. Sounds lovely, huh?
I can't seem to stay off that stupid scale. I walked 2.5 miles yesterday, have been OP all week and the darn thing won't do what I want it to do. When I officially weigh-in on Saturday, I hope it does. O.K. Off to another thread, or back to work? Hmm...tough choice!


Jen
238/232/140

hi jen, good subject, i know a girl who is thin and just yesterday her hubby ordered a 4 ft pool and she got mad at him and said, now i have to go out and get a bathing suit. when was thin, i couldnt wait to get in my bathing suit, and lived in my shorts until october. i didnt flaunt my body and no it wastn perfect, but i felt good enough to not worry about it. the last time was around 27, that was 10 yrs ago. but all i know is if i looked like her i wouldnt complain, but just proves what you said, i dont think any of us are truly happy with the way we look. and if you are one of the lucky ones that do? good for you and wish i could be too.

hang in there, it sounds like you are doing everything right, those scales will move. i am the same way, i weigh in everyday, but dont let it get to me anymore, only my tues morn weigh in really counts.

Heck, I still look in the mirror and try to figure out when the "pod people" came and gave me this old saggy body.

But, you know...I can remember being thinner and still not being 100% happy. But hindsight is 20/20 and now I think I have learned a lesson. LOL, if I can get this weight off, I will be happy with myself, because I can always pull out my old size 22 pants and say, "QUIT COMPLAINING OR YOU WILL WAKE UP AND THESE WILL BE TOOOOO TIGHT AGAIN." I figure that should shut me right up. :D

Well, I walked a mile and a half last night. Not bad for not walking for a week. I had that stitch in my side, but no calf or shin pain. My calves and shins were probably still in shock from getting exercise, that they just didn't know what to do!!

Yesterday was a perfect day for me food and exercise-wise. I ate low fat and healthy all day and was actually just under the low end of my calorie range (1450-1700) This is actually working for me, and when I hit 225, I will drop to 1350-1600.

I found a GREAT NEW SWEET. Ok, every once in a while I have this sweet craving where I will open the cabinets and look for something chocolate/sugary/sweet. In the bakery department of my MEGA grocery store. (We have Schnucks, Meijer, etc) They are little meringues. They look like little clouds. The ones I picked out are white with LITTLE M&Ms in them. They were super sweet and tasted really good. 2 of them were 60 calories and 1 gram of fat. And I tell you what, if you eat those and still need something sweet, you are beyond hope. I felt like I was having a mouthful of pure sugar. They were kind of dry, but the M&Ms made up for it.

Look for those in your bakery section of your bigger supermarkets.

Oh, Jello. I was laughing so hard at you in your grey bathing suit. OMG, I thought I was going to wet my pants picturing you laying on the beach with one eye open trying to fend off the harpoons. LOL, that is something I would do. I had a red bathing suit last year until this little kid told my daughter that I reminded her of a tomato. Guess what? It's history now. I burned that sucker.

Will, I was laughing at your Twins. I THINK, and I may be wrong here, but I THINK they were actually Quads at birth and I have the other set of twins. :lol:

Tig, I hear you about the cravings. I just finished my 6th week of this new eating (I refuse to call it a diet) and I realized that I am not really craving some of my usual foods, like the greasy pizza and bags of chocolate. I make a healthy pizza, and if I ever really have to have pizza, I eat something healthy before I go to Pizza Hut and then have a couple of slices of Veggie Lovers, and I feel better.

I also eat before I go to the grocery store and that stops me from grabbing the King Size candy bars and eating them on the way home. I used to also go through the drive up and Mc'Donalds and get a quarter pounder (or two) and eat those on the way home and then go home and eat dinner. :^:

So, to know that I haven't binged like that in 6 weeks is a great feeling. I could get up on my soapbox here, but I believe that I truly suffer from food addiction, and I DO NOT believe that it is any different from drugs or alcohol. I, like a alcoholic, would sneak food, and hide it, and lie about it. I HAD to have it. I would have mood swings without it, and then after a binge, I was like a nasty drunk, because I was so angry with myself for not being able to control it.

People want to help you if you can't get off the drugs, but they laugh at you if you can't put down the Twinkies. It really is sad.

So, my name is Tiffany and I am a food addict. I have been clean for 6 weeks. (I don't count my little steakhouse episode as falling off the wagon, cause I only ate part of my meat...and I still did better than my old self would have!)

Well, girlies....I am off to clean out the blue fuzzy foods from my refrigerator.

Take care and spread some happiness today!
Tiffany

tif,:lol: :lol: :lol: nuff said.


i just love food, call it what you want. addict, out of control, no will power, i just love it, it is satisfying and i enjoy eating.

funny i never remember food having such a high prioriety in my life, i was having too much fun to worry about food. after i had my daughter, it just seems like someone flipped a switch. i though about it all the time. i still do. but now i have to change and decide that it cant be a prioreity in my life. i want to eat when i am hungry , stop when i am full and not think so much what i am gonna have for my next meal.

this can be done, and i will do it. ww pts says i am allowed to have about 1350 cal. although i am not saying i a following a strict plan, i can follow pts loosely and know how much i am getting. from being on ww so many times, i kinda got a part of the brain that has got pts stuck all in it. as soon as i eat something i will say in my head how many pts this food is. it can be annoying at times, i just cant get the pts out of my head, but i also believe it gives me an advantage to choose foods more wisely. hope everyone is having a great day.

the girls are playing outside(near a pool) it is so hot around here, i can see them right from the comp window, (too convenient) i can babysit and not have to get out of my chair. i did excercise already and drank 6 cups of water and the food is under control. guess i should start some laundry. oh the girls are 6 1/2 and 7 so they are alright. hang in there .

I tried explaining to DH that the food problem for me was like an alcohol problem! Just like an alcolholic shouldn't keep beer in the frig, I shouldn't keep rocky road icecream! He always complains when there isn't any good icecream in the house. Luckily, I'm getting stronger and it isn't bothering me as much. Give me strength!
Today is going pretty good. Eat'n ok and did 2miles on the walkaway video. Now, what to eat for supper? :T

Ok. Here is my gripe for the day, and then I am going to do something constructive. Like shop. :devil:

My Fat-Free Jello Pudding box says there are 4 servings in the box. Each serving of the dry mix is 25 calories. (100 calories in the whole box.)

You make it with 2 cups skim milk. There are 80 calories in each cup of skim milk, or 160 calories in two cups.

100 calories for the powder
160 calories for the milk.

That come out to 260. The box says that it is 280. Or 70 calories per serving with skim milk, and if there are 4 servings, that makes it 280. WHAT????

How is that????????????

Ok, I KNOW it is only a piddly 20 calories we are talking about and I probably burned twice that by hand mixing it, but those are MY 20 CALORIES.

Anyone know what is up with this????

Tiffany
Frantically pacing the kitchen trying to figure out where the extra calories came from!

Howdy folks! :wave:

Haven't posted in a few days. All in all, I'm doing fine. However, I did have something quite indulgent today! Have never had a klondike bar. Now I understand why they make such a big deal about what folks would do for one... yummy. But, I've been doing really well for over a month and I just refuse to feel guilty. So there! :devil:

Tiff, I think it was you talking about food addiction. I have thought that about myself for a long time. One thing that gets me is that an alcohlic can quit drinking. A drug addict can quit druggin. I was addicted to cigarettes and quit them. But, we can't just quit eating!!! Folks do not get why that is such a problem!

Okay, I need to go work out. 20 fat grams of klondike bar are insisting I do it. And, I have actually gotten to where I enjoy it anyway... so.. off i go! :strong:

Bye y'all....

Hello all! I just came in from mowing my lawn and thought I'd check in with ya'll.

Lizzo - sounds like the Klondike bar was worth it.....yum, I have been craving ice cream since it started getting really hot here.

Jello - you can stow away in my suitcase anytime, we are going to see Michael Bolton Saturday night.....I think I'm gonna faint:dizzy: By the way, I don't think I welcomed you yet.........WELCOME!

Tigerlilly - girl you are so funny, I'm a scale hopper too. Way to go on the 11 lbs, that is so fantastic!:D I know what you mean about the bra size and when I lose this weight I will be sorry to see mine go:eek:

Willbe and Jen - I agree, I don't think there is a woman on this planet that likes her body. We have been told for too many years by too many magazines and too many men that there is something wrong with us. This needs to change. Have you ever seen that old Special K commercial where the guy asks another guy if his butt is too big? Then a guy says "I am more than a dress size" We need to stop worrying and just enjoy life. Geez, I'm gonna get off my soap box now, I don't make any since anyway.

You guys will have to excuse me today I have been a *itch on wheels. But I love you all dearly. Have a wonderful evening!

LJ
225/212/150

Well it looks like I will be purchasing a new scale this weekend.:( I got on mine this morning for the first time in a few days and it had shown a big loss. I get on them more than once though because they are an old pair of digital scales and usually after getting on and off a few times I get one reading that is the same number. But this morning everytime I got on it kept going down .5 of a pound. This is so frustrating! I prefer to have 1 scale and not get on any others since scales can be so different. Guess I will be changing my numbers soon.

I have done pretty well with the eating the last few days and have managed to stop eating cupcakes and junk. Even though I have been doing this for a little over 2 months and haven't had a loss in the last few weeks I am happy. I figure if I can lose 10-12 lbs then remain steady for a few weeks then start losing again at least I will not be gaining like I have in the past. Eventually it will add all up to a nice weight loss. Heck, there have been times when I would go on a diet and lose 10 lbs, get bored or whatever and gain all of it back plus some. There must be something to this non-diet approach that I have been doing. I love it because I never feel deprived. That was my problem before it was feast or famine, everything or nothing. There was never any in-between.

Have a nice weekend everyone, I will check in with you later. I have to take my SUV in for warranty stuff Saturday which will probably take all day. My daughter and I are going to do some shopping and visit friends. Hopefully our weather will improve soon we have had rain and thunderstorms all week.

LJ
225/?/150

I read an article somewhere once that you should stand naked in front of a full length mirror and find the one thing you really like about your body. So I tried it. (Tidbit of advice. DO NOT do this on a public street in front of a big picture window. :lol: )

Anyway, I stood there and studied the bod' .... and could not find one single thing that I liked!!! :( Yikes. Will have to work on that self image thing. I'm one of you with the, um, large bustline. Thank God for sports bras, eh? Otherwise, exercising could be downright dangerous!

Tiffany, I've had those little meringue things. But never saw the M&M ones. :( I've had the lemon ones and chocolate ones. Very sweet. Had to laugh at the vision of you burning the "tomato" suit in some ritualistic ceremony. I've had a few outfits over the years that deserve nothing less.

Lizzo, you read my mind. A drug addict can stop taking drugs and never use them again. An alcoholic can give up the booze. A smoker can go cold turkey. Now, I'm not saying it's easy but it can be done. But how does a person completely give up food!?!? Can't be done. You can't even go to any store or any social event or ANYWHERE where there's no food to tempt you.

Oh great. Now I'm hungry for cold turkey. :lol: Perhaps instead I'll just try to think about Tiffany's blue fuzzy food and that will kill my appetite....

Nope, now I'm craving cotton candy.....

What's up with that!?!
Jo

Howdy!

Well, it's a miracle, it's 9:30 and I am awake. I went out last night and walked a mile. It was late and I was tired, so I at least wanted to do SOMETHING before I went to bed, so I settled for a mile.

Cleaned out the fridge. I was a little hungry when I started but that changed in a hurry. OMG, Gross. There were things back there that I had no idea what they EVER might have been. I swear to God, I opened one container and it winked at me. Like some weird rotten food conspiracy. I could hear little voices..."eat me NOW" "C'mon, once you go mold, you'll never go back"

Little perverts.

Anywho...feeling pretty good. I got a call today from the job I interviewed for a while back, they want me to come in for a second interview on Tuesday, so that is good.

I didn't sneak a peek at the scale today, cause I cooked a small head of cabbage yesterday and threw in some fat-free turkey sausage and some canned tomatoes and onions and I munched on that all day. So, I wake up this morning, and I feel like my stomach is secretly hiding a basketball. Big time gas retention. So, I am full of air today. Please say a prayer for those people that have to live close to me. *sigh* It could get ugly.

Two perfect days in a row. In my calorie range and did my exercise. I am determined to hit my mini-goal.

Big step for me last night. I confessed to DH my actual starting weight. It takes such a load off my shoulders to be able to tell him numbers now instead of being secretive about it.

I guess I am lucky. I am fat all over. It is spread out pretty well. Most people have no idea that I weigh what I do, and when they find out, they are surprised.

So now, my cat is out of the bag and I don't have to hide from my hunny anymore. I like that feeling of him knowing my dirtiest secret and still being ok with it.

Well, taking the girls to see Mr. Deeds today, so I guess I had better pack some snacks in my purse ahead of time so I don't give in and eat that yummy, I mean AWFUL, movie theater popcorn.

See ya all in a bit,
Tiffany

Hi all!
I am so glad it is finally Friday! DH is on vacation next week, so I probably wont be posting much. Between working on our downstairs remodel and DH hogging the pc.:dz: But, he's at work so much that he deserves to hog the pc when he's home.
Tiff, good job getting that walk in! And even better braving the back shelf of the frig! I need to do some of that myself. You'd swear my kids ate directly off the shelves! And then there's the animals....they have to stick their heads in everytime someone opens the frig door...cat and dog hair gets on the bottom! Make's ya want to come eat at my house, huh? :lol:
I took the kids to Dunkin Donuts this morning. :devil: I was good. Only had a small coffee with cream and sugar. My luck, it was probably worse than a donut! How else can that make it so tasty?
I'm at the library now. Need to round the kids up and head to Kroger. Shopping with two boys, some pity here please.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tiff, I forgot...
My DH doesn't know the "magic number". He does know I'm trying to loose weight and he does know I weigh more than him. He has dropped from 178 to 160! Drats! I imagine I'll tell him how much I actually weigh someday, and if he asked, I would tell him. But, meanwhile, I'll continue to weigh myself naked in the kitchen when no one else is around. He'd probably get a kick out of that. Bathroom has carpet, not good for weighing.
Your cabbage sounded tasty. It's been so hot here in wonderful Indiana that I've hardly been cooking. Poor family is living on cold sandwiches!
ttfn :)

Happy Saturday girls!

Well, the last three days have been perfect for me, and that is a load off my mind. I am determined to make my mini-goal.

Today, I have to go meet my mother in her town, which is 1.5 hours away and they don't have too many places to eat in her town, but they do have Pizza Hut, which as you know by now, sends my fat cells into a dance of delight.

So, I am planning my whole day in advance. I used to do that occasionally, but then felt like I was being forced to follow a plan. But today, I will do that. I am making sure that allow for 3 medium slices of hand tossed veggie delight. Yum.

So, right now I am having my Lean Cuisine. The Salsbury steak with the macaroni and cheese, and 2 slices of diet bread and an extra side of veggies. I woke up too late to have breakfast. :D So, this should hold me until 5:30 and then from experience, I know the pizza will make me full for the rest of the night.

NOT the most nutritious day, but it DOES fall in my calorie range and I am happy with that.

So, lalalallalalalalalalalala...I am doing a happy dance.

Well, since all you other chicks must have a life, and I won't hear from my new friend Jello until she goes to work on Monday, I guess I will get dressed and venture out into the yard. I feel like Dracula today, the sun may kill me.

So, picture me crawling from the house to the porch, squinting my eyes and holding out one arm as if to fend off the sunlight. Yep, that's me today.

Later Gators,
Tiffany

Hi.

Tiffany and Jello. You guys are so funny. I love the cracks about the food in the fridge. I was going to say I didn't know what I'd do today, but I guess I'd better do my fridge. I don't know what's in the back, either, but it's so full of fresh vegies I'm running out of room! That's a switch for me.

Well, now I know why the scale wouldn't move for me. TOM started on Thursday. I weighed this morning and I'm at somewhere between 228 and 229. I'm calling it 229, since that's my mini-goal. Now I'm aiming for below 220.

I feel really good about the way I've been eating the last few days. I haven't been dieting. Just making wiser choices. It feels great! I've had instant breakfast every morning, and then a good-full-of-vegies sandwich for lunches. Then something with normal portions for dinner. I did get to have some pizza Wednesday. I took my daughter to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. I ordered the endless salad bar and went for 2 trips. My daughter ordered an individual size cheese pizza. It's about 6" in diameter, cut into 6 small pieces. She didn't want it all and I had 2 pieces. Very small, very limited. The only way I believe I can eat pizza. And the other night, I actually had a strawberry shortcake ice-cream bar. 220 calories. I don't think ice-cream or pizza every night is a good thing (used to be my habit), but I can't feel deprived if I allow myself to eat my favorite foods every now and again.

Well, I guess I'd better start contemplating the fridge. Scary!

Jen
238/229/140

Ooooh. You said the dirty word. Scale. I didn't realize that I was as big a scale hopper as I was until this morning. I went in to the bathroom to just "see how things were progressing" and I tapped the scale, (it's a digital) and NOTHING happened. I tapped it again. (like 20 times) and NOTHING. So, I realized that I was sweating...(I HATE that)...so I flipped over the scale and there was a battery compartment. It took a 9 volt.

So, I ran to the kitchen and checked our battery stash. NO 9 VOLTS. Then I remembered. Last week our caller ID unit started acting funny, so I put a new 9 volt in it. It still didn't work, so I bought a new caller ID and threw away the old one. WITH A GOOD 9 VOLT IN IT.

So, it had to be out in the garbage somewhere. So, I throw on my bathrobe and run out to our trash dumpster thing. I have garbage all over the driveway and my *** sticking up in the air and I hear DH clearing his throat. I turned around and he was standing there sipping coffee calmly looking at me like I was insane.

I tried to explain, but he just kept shaking his head and went back into the house.

(10 minutes later, I pitched a fit and made him go buy a 9 volt.)
He doesn't understand. It is THAT important. I just FELT thin, you know? I wanted to see HOW thin. LOL....

So, that is my story of shame. :D

Hope you day is decidedly more sanitary than mine. :lol:
Tiff

hi guys, just checking in, i am hanging in there, i allow myself mcdonalds once a week, so i just took my daughter on the back of my bike and rode there and then we went to the park i took a bike ride through the park then home again, and i will do a 30 minute tape of susan powter or just some machines i have down the basement. it has been hot, so water has not been a problem.

sounds like everyone else is staying on track and planning ahead. i better get a move on , or i wont reach my mini goal. what will help me more is to move more, so i am going to shoot for that, and throw in something extra i thought might help me stay in control.

i am addicted to switching to every diet plan ever made ,cause i would get tired of doing the same plan everyday(guess that is why i am on this board) anyway, there are three plans which i find very healthy but just cant stick to them everyday, so my plan is to wake up each morning have everything ready in one drawer for all three plans and just pick one , maybe a differnt one everyday, then i feel like i am swithcing plans but staying in control. i will be doing ww pts, richard simmons or calorie counting. they are just about the same plans , but just a different way to keep track of what you are eating. one day count pts, one day close windows or just right down calories. so i am not stuck to one plan day in and day out. and hopefully it will make it more fun. and not such a chore. so i am in control i get to pick whatever i want each day. well, it is worth a shot. i am doing good today , and i will start my own way of controlling what i eat , tomorrow.

see, on sat if i want a drink, i will do wwpts, cause it is 4 pts for my drink, it is easier to calculate pts for drinks.

if i am home and have no plans to go out and eat, i will close windows. or count calories, i have done all three of these plans at least 3 times, so i know them by heart , so it wont be that hard to do. well, i will keep you posted.

tiff lol, that is something i definitly would have done, my hubby would have thrown a fit. we usually have every kind of battery in the house. so it probably wouldnt have come to that, but i would have done it, if i had to. too funny.

NEWSFLASH!!!! The Illinois Garbage Bandit has struck again!! Beware this strangely dressed criminal who attacks your garbage. Police sketch artists have released composit drawings of her rear end as this seems to be the only part of her anyone has ever seen. Citizens are advised to hide all their 9-volt batteries..... :o

Uh, Tiff, do you happen to own any fuzzy slippers? That would really make the picture complete.

BTW, batteries last longer if they're stored in the refrigerator. And since you have a nice clean one now, there's plenty of room for emergency back up batteries. I'd have to label them "DO NOT EAT". Just in case I get really really hungry. They are bite-size after all. Hm, who couldn't use instant energy?

OK, you guys. It's Monday and I'm suffering after another "lost weekend" where I get no exercise and eat entirely too much of ... well, everything. I did do some gardening on Saturday (darned weeds! :mad: ) but it was just too hot to be outside. Another fund raiser at the VFW on Sunday took most of the day and came complete with a food buffet for all us worker bees. Guess it's just fortunate :?: that I'm on medication right now that says I shouldn't drink or I'd have indulged in that fine mix of barley and hops as well.

Anyway, as I said, it's Monday morning and I'm once again "starting" to get back on track. I have a habit of starting my day OK but it goes downhill and by evening I'm a lost cause. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. I'm OK until I get home. What I really need is something to keep me busy in the evenings so that I can't park myself in front of the TV and eat eat eat eat eat... :(

Willbethin, what an interesting idea! :) I get bored too easily with one plan but "switching off" sounds like it might work. Might work with exercise too, I bet. Not just the same old treadmill or same old video tape or machine at the gym. Hm......

BTW, my b/f doesn't know my "magic number" either. Come to think of it, neither do I! That's saying a lot for someone who's as addicted to the scale as some of you guys. I used to weigh in the morning without clothes, in the morning with clothes, when I got home from work with and without clothes, before bed with and without.... When I found myself getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and stopping at the scale on the way to and from, I knew I had a problem. :rolleyes: I've "cut back".

Well, I have to get to work. Boss is in one of his moods. Boy, they say women are moody but we've got nothing on this guy! What's the male version of PMS?

Have a great day all!
Jo.

Ah Jo, I missed ya.

BTW, I DID have on my fuzzy slippers. Blue with little cows on them. :eek: All I needed was my hair in rollers and I would have made a heck of a show. (I'm pretending that I didn't ALREADY make a spectacle of myself)

Well, I will remember to keep my batteries in the fridge from now on. Although next time it's time to use one, I will have forgotten that I put them there and will be out in the trash again. *sigh*

I WAS thinking...if I get hungry and I am rooting in the fridge, I can take one of those batteries and stick my tongue on it. That should give me a nice little zap and possibly stave off any hunger pangs for a while.

Oooh, do I know about the lost weekends. Seems like a waste to WORK on our bodies after we have WORKED all week. (well, I use to work all week, now I am out job searching) I saw the word "weed" and almost had a fit. I HATE them. As soon as I finish weeding everything, the first one needs done again. I am going to level the whole yard and have nothing but gravel.

Buffet. My best friend. My problem is the Chinese buffet, but any buffet will lure me in. I know all the tips, *use a small plate, *fill half your plate with fruits and veggies, *eat until you are satisfied, not full. (like I KNOW what full feels like!!!!)
But, coming away from that buffet knowing that you made wise decisions, is a hard thing to do. I always do the, "Well, BEFORE I would have went back 4 times, and today I only went back 3.) :D

Hey Jo, about your evenings...that is a tough one. I usually fix a bag of the Orville's Smart Pop and eat the whole dang bag. It is basically fat-free and a whole bag will FILL YOU UP. Or keep cut up watermelon or grapes in the fridge. If I have to be sticking one after another of something in my mouth, grapes are great.

Sorry about your boss. I think they still have PMS, it's just "Pissy Male Syndrome"

Back later, I have a female problem. Grrr...As I mentioned, last October, I had a surrogate baby for an infertile couple. After I delivered, the doctor mentioned that I had fibroids and she would have to keep an eye on them. Well, my periods are getting heavy and more frequent and I only had about 4 days before I started again, so I did some research on the web and I think the fibroids may be the cause...so I may have to call the doc. Who wants to be on a period for 26 days out of the month? Like my life isn't already SOOO exciting....


:D
Talk to you later,
Tiff

hi jello, yes i am gonna try this for a while, i did ww pts today, got my water and excercise in. wasnt the healthiest of choices but statyed within the pts range.

tiff, sorry to hear about your woman problems, hang in there, and yes go see the doc, you dont want to mess with that stuff.

hope everyone else had a great day.

Hey Jello,
It sounds like we're peas in a pod. I have the exact same problem with my evenings. And the "lost weekends" as well. I wish there were an easy solution. I've heard people say, "find something else to do", but the only things I can think of to do are housework, laundry, yardwork, etc. Who wouldn't rather eat?!!
I've taken to posting on the internet and then holing up in my room with a book for an hour or two until it's time for my evening walk. I like Tiffany's idea of keeping some healthy foods handy for snacking. Unfortunately, 25 pounds of grapes or watermelon might cause some unpleasant side effects, ya think? I suppose you meant to eat them in moderation, right Tiffany? It's a concept I have trouble with.
Tonight I worked late and just finished dinner about half an hour ago. Now it's time for my walk. That makes it easy(er).

Jen
238/229/140

morning guys, just checking and weighing in , i lost 2 more lbs, yea!!!!!! new stats, 190/185/130. the only thing i can say is , i am just eating less then i was, i excercised 4 days last week and drank 6 to 8 glasses of water. my food choices werent always healthy but ,i guess i am doing something right. hope everyone has a great day. now i am back to the weight that i had gained, so now i really have to move forward and get out of the 180's

Oh sure, thanks a lot Jen. Now I'm hungry for peas! :lol:

Just kidding. ;) But have any of you noticed that sometimes when you're trying to lose weight, just about anything looks tasty. (No, Tiff, I'm not talking about 9-volt batteries. :rolleyes: ) I mean, things that you never wanted to eat before, wouldn't eat as a kid, never really cared for. When I was a kid, I HATED peanut butter. (Yes, I was a weird kid.) Now, I cannot have it in the house or I'd sit down with the jar and a spoon and devour the whole thing in one sitting.

OK, confession time. Any of you ever eat anything totally weird. Like one time, I sat down with a spoon and ate ... oh wait, I'm the new kid here. I can't tell you things like this!! :o You won't let me come here and play any more. Oh, heck, I'll take my chances. I sat down with a spoon and a box of brown sugar. Woo, what a sugar rush that was! P.S. Don't knock it till you've tried it. :s:

Well, if you're all through going "EWWWW!!!" I'll continue to ramble, as I do. Got on the elliptical machine at the gym yesterday and went crazy!! Well, they have these little TV's on them and I didn't want to miss the end of the Frasier rerun I was watching so I had to keep going. :strong: Boy are my legs sore today!!

So anyway, I had these bananas in the house and, with all this heat, they ripened way too fast so I'd taken them, peeled them, broken them up and put them in the freezer. Last night, I put a couple frozen pieces and some skim milk in the blender. Yum!! Banana milkshake. Think maybe I'll add some other fruits to this mix. OK, maybe not totally great for me but a better dessert than a hot fudge sundae or an entire pan of brownies or ....

Making myself hungry. Gotta stop now.

Tiffany, sorry to hear about your "female troubles" as my mother used to call them. :( Gyn. problems are nothing to mess around with. Trust me. I know of which I speak. Since my cancer go-round, I can't have children so I'm no longer on the Pill. While I was on it, my periods were light and short and I had no problems. Now, I'm back to how it was when I was in high school and college. Really heavy with lots of cramping and aches and nausea and they last 7 or 8 days. I'm considering asking my doc. if I can go back on the pills. Anyway, I feel for you girl! :(

Boss just walked in. Can't tell his mood just yet. We'll have to wait and see. ... Like we all really care.... Humph!

Hope you all have a good one!
Jo.

Hello everyone - I'm back at home. It was great to catch up and read about what each of you have been doing.

Since it's been almost a week I'll give you the rundown:

My new mini-goal was to keep my minimum M-W-F workout schedule through my vacation time. I'm proud to say that I actually sought out the exercise room in the hotel I stayed at over the weekend, got up at 6:00 a.m. Friday (when it opened) and did some sweating. Now the workout I did was not necessarily as hard or long as what I might do at my gym - but I kept my routine which was my goal. AND I went for a long sweaty walk in the evening with a friend. Believe me, if you want a good workout go for a walk with a fit friend who's 10 inches taller than you, LOL.

So I worked out on Friday AND I worked out yesterday (Monday) as well. We came back home Sunday night - I actually unpacked instead of waiting (!) and wouldn't you know my sister called before I was really awake the next morning and said she was picking me up to go to the gym in a half hour? So a quick cup of coffee later...

She also motivated me to begin adding weights. My big goal to make this a habit was just to GO consistently and do some cardio. Finito. I know the value of weight training, but didn't want to get to complicated too early. Well my wonderful sister has gotten herself excited about weights and photocopied some pages from a friend.... And we did all the leg & butt weights, the side-torso-rotation machine and even abs. Every step of the way I said, "I don't know if I'm ready for this... I don't know if I want to do this... Are you sure I should try that?" But she blew me over and I was so happy.

Heck, I didn't even think I *could* do abdominal crunches it had been so long.

SO, I'm still working out and I checked in to read your great stories. Can't do shout-outs as I've just consumed about 4 pages... :dizzy:

Also, I went to a used bookstore across the street from where I was staying over the weekend and picked up a copy of the Bob Green book "Make the Connection".

I know that this week (not going to work until next week and my company cancelled so I have few responsibilities) is the perfect opportunity to invest the time and planning in a diet plan, but so far nothing has really struck me. I guess I need to do some research today. I need to make my mind over to a plan....

Hanging in there....

Jo, in case you haven't noticed under my name, I am BANANA FRIENDLY. Look at my little groovin banana and tell me how in heaven's name you could THROW HIM IN THE BLENDER?????????

Killer.

Anyway, Jen!!!! Good to see you again! I had to laugh at the large quantities of watermelons and grapes. LOL...I still want to eat like that. Except my weaknesses are french fries and big ole burgers and fried chicken and all kinds of nasty foods. They just taste the BEST!!!!

So...I continue to fight the urge to whip into the McDonalds every single time I drive by there and get 4 hamburgers and some nuggets and some fries and eat myself into a coma.

GREAT NEWS on the 2#s Will. I am JEALOUS!!!!! I worked hard this week and got on the scale today and had lost 1 pound. ONE POUND. I was in my calorie range every day and exercised every day and this was what happened. ONE POUND. I will be honest, I expected at least 2.

This is happening SO slowly. I am thinking maybe I shouldn't have eaten a whole head of cabbage yesterday. Maybe I am bloated and retaining cabbage. :lol:

Jello, Jello, Jello. You are my twin....you crack me up and I look forward to logging on to get my daily laugh. Even if you are a banana killer.

I was laughing about eating a box of brown sugar. I have been reduced to that myself. Not brown sugar, but I ate a stick of butter rolled in sugar one time. That was all that I could find in the house. Was I sick later? Oh Baby....but hey...ya gotta do what you gotta do!

Great job at the gym!!!
We have a walking path near where I live. I walked that and thought I was going to die. I usually do one mile or 1 and a half miles, but last night I did three. I was REALLY wanting to see that scale move...Guess I should have walked 10 miles. *sigh*

Well, I had my second interview today with that company that I so desperately want to work for. Seemed like it went ok, they are down to me and one other girl and will decide by next Tuesday. So I will either be on top of the world, or I will be UNBEARABLE to live with! We shall see. I left the interview thinking of about 60 things that I SHOULD have said. Grrrr..Hindsight.

Well, I guess I should catch up on the laundry.
Take care my friends,
Tiffany

For Jo...

This could be your job. Be grateful! :D

the sense of humor on here is great, what a nice way to end the day. tif , keep on doing all those good things you are doing, that stupid scale will get moving. welcome back cafe, good for you for getting in that excercise. i will check in tomorrow.

That IS my job!!!! That's me! Second from the left!! How'd you get our company's photo!?!?

No, actually, sometimes I feel like I have to be a little lower down on some people's anatomies around here. And it's lips, not noses....

Oh never mind. This post is going downhill fast, isn't it! :rolleyes:

My new friends, I must confess. I'm addicted to the gym. I can't seem to stay away from the place. Yesterday, my b/f uttered those immortal words "You're going there AGAIN!?!" Now that used to refer to McD's or the local pub. But now it's *gasp* the gym!?!?!? Who? Me??

BTW, Tiff, I didn't just toss those bananas into the blender coldly. I gently coaxed them with promises that it would be fun, like an amusement park ride. I told them if they went, they'd have a good time and then I'd buy them a sno-cone and a park T-shirt. (Well, they were naked with no peels after all.) Anyway, I had them all convinced it'd be OK and they were happy and laughing....

...They died happy!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! :devil:

Hide your fruit products! Here comes Jo, the mad shake-maker!!!

As you can tell, I'm in a slightly strange (and somewhat frightening) mood today. Feels like a Friday around here. Usually, the company president comes around on the day before a holiday at around 2:30 or 3:00 (we're a very small company) and wishes us a happy holiday and tells us we can go home early. Hope he's feeling generous today too.

Then, I'm off to the gym!

... who said that?

If I don't get a chance, I want to wish you all a HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

hello, i guess we can all be happy this isnt our job, gross!! jello, i dont think your mood is strange, i welcome the humor on this board, it gives me a chuckle everyday. i look forward reading the posts. congrats for getting addicted to the gym, if you are gonna have an addiction, i guess that is the best one to have. good for you.

i am doing good so far today, i have to babysit all day, so i have to keep busy. and out of the kitchen. we will go swimming and play games, all that fun stuff, it is a good thing alot of the neighbors work during the day, seeing me in a bathing suit is not for the squeamish, lol. we only have a 3 ft pool, but it helps when it is hot.

lets all have a great day.

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday weekend!

Yesterday was a block party and everyone took food, so I made a big bowl of mandarin oranges, pineapple chunks, halved green grapes and strawberries covered with lemon lowfat yogurt. I mixed it all up and refrigerated it for an hour and Voila!!!

I had a chicken breast and baked potato before I went over there, and then I munched on fruit throughout the day and skipped the burgers, corndogs, hotdogs, chips, cakes, brownies and pasta salads, etc. I was super proud. BUT...even though for the last week and a half I have been doing nearly perfect...the scale was up a pound today. Maybe I should up my water intake and try to flush this out. Or maybe I have reached a plateau, although it seems a little early for that to happen.

So, I am stumped. And a little mad, I wanted to consistently lose about a pound to two pounds a week...and if this continues, I will be lucky to maintain.

Please, with all the knowledge here, check out my calorie range and tell me what you think.

I am currently at 244 pounds and I am eating between 1450 and 1700 calories a day. If I am not mistaken, this corrolates to the Weight Watcher range of 26-31 points a day and most days I eat at the low end of the calorie range. My fat intake is anywhere from 15-30 grams a day...

I don't want to go too low on calories and mess up my metabolism, but I am not sure what to do to jump start this again. Before, I lost consistently for a couple of months before I hit my first plateau.

Should I just trudge on and wait for the loss to start again? Or do I need to make some changes?

Any help would be appreciated.

Well, I have fireworks to clean up off my driveway...and a house full of mess that needs to be dealt with.

So, I will check in on all of you later!
Tiffany

Are you exercising? That will jump start it good. Walking a 20 minute mile is a good place to start and increase from there.

*Judy

Yeah, actually I HAVE been walking about 3 miles a night for almost a week now. (before that, I was walking about 1 to 1.5 miles)

That is why it makes it so much harder to see the scale sitting still. :mad:

Tiff

Hmmm don't know what to tell you then except be patient or walk faster... lol

*Judy

Ok, well...I have been doing some reading on this plateau crap and I think I know what I will do. I will vary my exercise.

One week, I will walk 3 miles (or more if I don't fall over on the sidewalk and die) every evening. (at least 5 days)

Then...the next week I will spend at home doing my step tapes and using my weights.

Well crap. Maybe I should do them all in the same week. Like:

Mon: Walk 3 miles
Tues: Weights
Wed: Step Tape
Thurs: Walk 3 miles
Fri: Weights
Sat: Step Tape
Sunday: Lay on the couch like a slug.

I don't think I will mess with my calorie range, because I am sure it is fine for the weight I am at right now. But I will add those 8 glasses of water a day, and more when I exercise. THANK GOD for Crystal Light, WW says you can use it for half your daily water intake.

Ok...I have a plan now!!!
Tiff
P.S. If you see any flaws in this plan, PLEASE let me know.

Hello, everyone!

Been enjoying my time off but I am proud to say that I did my workout on Wednesday and today (Friday). So I'm happy about that - I've achieved my mini-goal of staying true outside of my usual structure.

That being said, I've finished the book "Make the Connection" by Bob and Oprah. I looked over his ten steps and it seems like an awful lot. On the other hand, I've been exercising for 3+ weeks (this is about when I would usually quit, LOL) so maybe it's a good time to step it up a little.

I've decided that a goal I can handle is to exercise 4 times next week as well as the week after and after that I'm going to gun for 5 times the last week of the month. That dang bob wants me to work out 5-7 times a week... I'm not 100% convinced but I guess I can try it out.

As for the 10 steps, well I'll write them on a card and see how many/which ones I can do more or less easily... without setting myself up too much yet. Heck, maybe I can give myself a number between one and ten each day and just see how I measure up. But... I don't think I can pretend I'll do them all starting tomorrow.

Scale stuff - Hey, I found it WAY back under the bathroom sink and got it out. I guess I don't like it much, it's the spinning arrow kind and if I jump a couple of times and let it settle it doesn't always say the same thing it did before. But it's pretty consistent as long as I pay attention to whether the arrow is actually on zero before and after!! Now I have to pick a regular time to weigh in........maybe Monday morning.

Tiffany, don't you let it get you down! It's probably just a water thing - your body is getting ready to drop some fat off. Why don't I read to you what Bob says?

"you will lose weight - primarily fat. However, there are times on a daily, weekly and monthly basis that your body retains (and also releases) water. A considerable number of people have given up on their weight-loss regimen because of these nasty little jumps in water weight. The amount of these increases vary from person to person, and can account for up to seven or eight pounds. This extra weight does not change your appearance, and should be ignored. It is only temporary. In fact, a gain in water weight often precedes a drop in your actual weight. Again, continue to follow [your own plan] and ignore these minor fluctuations in your weight."

Okay, you can see by the brackets that I edited him a little bit. Here's a little more.

"In addition to natural fluctuations in water weight, when you first start to exercise regularly or increase the amount of exercise you are already doing, your body sends out a signal to retain more water. This is your body's attempt to "super hydrate" itself. Therefore, you my put on an additional two to five pounds of water weight. This may be especially bothersome in the initial weeks of your exercise program, and may fool you into thinking you have gained weight when you may have actually lost fat. Again, ignore it. Expect it to occur. But stay on your program!"

My goal for the weekend: Have some kind of food plan in place by Monday? I can always hone it as I go but I have to begin to be accountable as regards food now that I have made exercise a habit (I'm running with the 21 days rule).

(Note, Tiffany, you posted while my connection was hanging itself! Great coincidence. I'm going to have to read your post now but I hope bob's words still help.)

Hugs to all...

Thanks Cafe, that actually makes me feel a LOT better. I will ignore the scale for a while and just keep doing what I know is right.

My brain knows about the plateau stuff but my fat cells panicked for a minute.

;)
Tiff

I'm so glad I could help!

Was just doing a little extra online research and found out my BMI puts me in the MORBIDLY OBESE category. Now if that ain't a **** of a motivator....

(going away to lick my wounds now)

Cafe, thanks for sharing that. I didn't realize that it could be that much either.. :0) Tiff, you have a plan you are doing great, keep with it!! I'm proud of ya.

As for me, I don't know what's going on this week. I saw the doctor on Wednesday morning for my diabetes and weighed 222, (yeah a loss of 1 since Sunday) and this morning just because I'm a scale hopper lol I weighed myself again and it says 219... wow!
My scale said 222 on Wednesday just like the doc's (I checked because I wanted to make sure it was right) So that means since last Sunday I've lost 4 lbs... that hasn't happened since January when I was diagnosed with this crap. I'm not complaining though as I'm eating the same and exercising the same. We'll see what Sunday's official weigh in says.. :0)

*Judy

P.S. Cafe I just noticed your morbidly obese comment, ain't it a kick in the pants? I know mine now says obese at BMI of 33 and that still ticks me off, motivater? you betcha!!

Hi everyone.
That was great info Cafe. I'm dreading the time when I hit a plateau. It just doesn't seem fair to be doing everything right and not see any difference. I guess I should go get a tape measure just in case. I guess lots of times if you aren't actually losing weight, you might still be losing inches. I know I'll need something to show me that I'm not working for nothing. Hang in there Tiff.
I have one of those dial scales too, but I always get on and off and move around until I get it as high as it will go. That's the weight I go with. I think it's pretty consistent.
My holiday was O.K. I ate light for breakfast and lunch, then went to my sister's for dinner and fireworks. I had a burger with lots of veggies, and a small piece of cake and some ice-cream. (It's also a celebration of my brother-in-law's mother's b-day). I got into the chips one time and had a very small handful then walked away from the table.
It's weird, but I'm beginning to feel panicky. I wonder if it's some kind of self-sabotage, or what, but there's a voice inside that's saying,"You can't possibly keep this up. Pretty soon you'll go back to the same old ways of eating everything in sight for weeks on end." I'm not depriving myself, so that shouldn't happen, right? I still have to really fight, though, not to just eat and eat and eat... I got to have pizza the other night. I got a large for me, my daughter and her friend. They each had 3 pieces, and I got 2. I sure wanted more, though!
Well, I'm really babbling! I better cut myself off before I fill up a whole page.

Jen
238/229/140

Hi Jen,
I used to think that I'd revert back too but I haven't. I think though that the reason I haven't is the total lifestyle change. I don't eat many of the foods I used to eat. Actually I saw a commercial for McDonald's today and it looked gross.. lol I've had to do this for my health though so that could be why it's working so well for me. I wanna live!! I'm not on a diet, this is just the way I eat and live now, it really helps to have that mind set going into it, that it's not just for a while this time. You start to incorporate the changes easier that way I think. I know it's different for everyone, because most of you are doing this for your looks and so you feel better about yourself, I'm doing it to just feel better and the looks and feeling better about myself are a nice side effect. :0) Just my take on it all, what ever works for you personally is the way to go!!

Oh, I'm glad you all liked what Bob had to say. I have to say that I'm a little annoyed at Bob at the moment because he's going to make me work so hard - but the time I spent at Spotlight Health has sent me in a friendlier direction toward him, LOL.

So today I hopped on the scale (nekkid! as they say) first thing in the morning and got on and off a couple of times and bounced and let the needle settle... and it said 210.

Now I'm not counting this as a loss because I have not weighed myself on the same scale at the same time of day, etc. etc. yet. BUT, if I take today as my official weigh in (was considering doing it Mondays?) Then I'm no longer "MORBIDLY" obese but merely "Obese II - very high risk." Now that sounds like a truly bad movie, doesn't it?!!

I've copied the BMI information, in case you want to know (they have an online calculator at the site.)

Less than 18.5
Underweight

18.5 to 24.9
Considered healthy and low-risk

25 to 29.9
Overweight, considered moderate-risk

30 to 34.9
Obese I, considered high-risk

35 to 39.9
Obese II, very high-risk

40 and over
Morbidly Obese, extremely high-risk

Of course I'm only 5'1" and I shouldn't complain- but I'll have to be 130 pounds again to be in the "considered healthy and low risk" range again. I guess in the back of my mind I was thinking, "you know, I'd look great back in those 6's and 8's but I'd be content with a 10 or 12, after all I'm not 23 anymore, I'm 31..." But maybe I'll have to set my sights higher - er, lower - if I want to avoid weight-related health complications. That's what the numbers are telling me.

Justcuz, I think we ALL wanna look good but the fact is that we are fooling ourselves if we don't think we need to do it for our health. I was really thinking about this yesterday - this weight is going to KILL me if I don't get rid of it! Yow!

Gotta go - H is cleaning mold out of air conditioner and wants me to contribute a comparable nasty task to household maintenance. My joy!

Man, "obese" is such a horrible word to hear to begin with. Putting "morbidly" in front of it makes it sound so much worse. Cafe, good for you for making it a motivator instead of giving up!! :)

Tif, your exercise plan sounds good to me. Especially the lay like a slug part. If you need any help with that, I'm an expert!

Posting now from my slllooowww home 'puter. Hope this goes through. Rich (my "roomie") and I went to breakfast this morning but we WALKED to the local diner. I had an egg white omelet with onions and peppers and ate some of the potatoes and a little of the toast (no butter, just a little jelly). It's about a mile walk to the diner ... and about a 10 mile walk home!!!! :o Don't know why it just seems that way.

I ran over to the craft store for "one or two things" this morning and came home with about 30 bucks worth of stuff! I always do that. I'm not very good at "crafting" but the idea is to give me something to keep my hands busy so they're not reaching into the fridge. Not working so far..... :cry: . Haven't been to the gym since last Tuesday. Haven't gotten any exercise at all really. Uh, Tiffany, what's that exercise schedule again....?

Funny story (well, sorta funny :rolleyes: ). I wanted to mail Rich's sister a birthday card. Of course, he didn't know her address (men! :mad: ) so I emailed his mom. Yes, she's a modern lady. And to prove it, when I asked for Chris's address, mom sent her EMAIL address! Just thought that was kinda cute. Huh, mail? What's that?

Better go. Just heard the truck in the driveway. Another successful (??) trip to the Home Depot. Have I mentioned we're renovating the kitchen. Have been for a million years or so. Maybe it'll be done by the time I'm old ... and skinny ... and quite insane.

Take care all!
Jo.

I'm fortunate that I'm 5' 9", I can weigh more and I don't look 'obese' (damn I hate that word too!) My goal weight is 168 to get me under the 25 BMI mark and to make it an even 110 lb loss. I have a long way to go but I'm a little more than half way there at 59 gone! (yes the scale still says 219 so I'm assuming it will tomorrow.. lol
I got in the habit of weighing myself every morning because my Mom does due to heart disease, they make her do that to see if she's retaining fluid. Her instructions are if there is a 3 lb gain or loss in one day she is to call the doctor. I'm trying to get out of the habit now because my heart checked out just fine but it's a hard one to break...
Have a happy Saturday everyone!

I'm learning so much on this site! Places to find calories burned for different activities. BMI and BMR info. And what a way to set a mini-goal! I'm in the OBESE II category. I need to lose 11 more pounds to get to the OBESE I category. My mini-goal is now 215 pounds! Only 11 pounds to go. That I can imagine. My ultimate goal of 140 is quite a ways off. From 215 I'll be able to see 199 and so on. I like this part, though. Since I'm so heavy I burn a lot more calories so weight loss is easier. I really need to get more excersize in, though. I do feel absolutely wonderful about how many vegetable servings I'm getting in these days, though. I used to go days without putting a vegetable in my body, unless you count the tomatoes in tomato sauce! Now I'm up to 3 to 4 servings a day. I think it's supposed to be 5 servings, or something. Does someone know! Silly question. I'm sure someone here will know.

Jen
238/226/215(140)

Fruit and vegetable servings combined should be a minimum of 5 servings a day. I tend to go for 5 vegetable and 2 fruit though. I'd eat more fruit but my diabetes won't handle it.(sends my blood sugar soaring not all fruits and not everytime I eat it either, this is a weird disease... lol) Fruit is low calorie and zero fat so enjoy it!!

*Judy

Good Morning!

I hope that you are all doing well and have had a pleasant holiday weekend.

Tiffany - in response to your lack of movement on the scales, try taking your measurements and see if your body is shrinking. You are doing everything right, just keep on doing it and you will see the results. I was on a plateau for a month and in the last 2 weeks the scales have moved down rapidly. It will happen for you too, just give it time.

Willbe - I have missed you! How in the world are you?

After reading your posts I checked my BMI and was horrified to find that it was 34.11. I was mortified........but I still don't get what the difference is between a BMI and height/weight charts, it seems to me that it is basically the same thing, just a different way to put it.

I read somewhere a long time ago that 15 lbs = 1 clothing size and was wondering if anyone else had heard that. If that is the case I'm thinking that I am going to break down my weight loss into mini-goals of 15 lbs at a time. I think this would be easier for me to achieve in the long term. I find it disheartening sometimes when I think about the large amount of weight that I need to lose. Besides, I have plenty of clothes in all sizes to look forward to and as I shrink out of them I am going to throw them away. I am pretty sick of the ones I have been wearing and am looking forward to going down a size, I probably only have 5 lbs to go before my 18's will fit.

I'm sorry this has been so long, I have been too busy recently to post and quite honestly had lost my motivation for a while there.

LJ
225/205/150

Oh My God!!! I don't know what to think... giddy with delight.
I did my official weekly weighin today and I've lost 5 lbs since last Sunday!! 218 as of this morning... 60 lbs total. What a grand feeling. I haven't been doing anything different the last week so I don't know what to attribute it to but I'll take it.. 50 lbs to go!!

Huntress you are right, we all get along at a pound a week or so and then all of a sudden it goes off rapidly for no apparent reason.. :)

Good luck everyone!
*Judy
278/218/168

Congratulations Justcuz! 5 lbs is fantastic!:D 60 lbs is awsome, that is like 1/2 of a person! You go girl! You are an inspiration to us all. WOW, keep up the good work. It sounds to me like you need a great big reward, maybe a new outfit or a manicure/pedicure. Do you you give yourself rewards like that for your achievements?

I haven't been giving myself rewards, never thought of it.. hmmm maybe I should do that huh? I'll have to give it some thought. Just the pleasure I get from being in a smaller size than I was in high school has been reward enough so far! lol I don't want to buy too many new clothes because they keep getting too big and I can't wear them (who'd a ever thunk I'd say that... lol) but right now the size 18's are getting kinda big on me so I might have to 'shop' soon regardless. hehe I can't imagine what size I will need when I lose 50 more lbs. The day I can try on a size 10 and it fits I'll probably faint!!! lol
Thanks for the encouraging words and the 'inspiration' comment. Makes me feel good to know that you feel that way.

Hi everyone -

Way to go Justcuz and Huntress on your losses! And a Right On! to everyone for your admirable self-discipline. :)

Getting ready to go back to work tomorrow - and thinking about ways to add new discipline to my structured routine as I go back. I've been working my mind around to greater change and greater self-control with my "go to work" date in the back of my mind...

I feel ready and even eager for this weight loss and all the attention required to accomplish it. I've been thinking about the changes that I need to make and they no longer seem overwhelming.

I'm also moving cubicles this week and I will no longer be a mere 5 feet from the unmarked file drawer that is always stocked with big 2 or 3 pound bags of M&M's - peanut, crispy whatever you want. Can I just say how much it sucks when I'm trying to be good to continually hear any one of the 30+ people on the floor walk by, slip the drawer open and scoop up a handful? And when they have to break down and open a new bag, well they bring it right over to my desk to use my scissors and pour some into my hand. I kid you not. So I'm rejoicing that I'll have one day only and then I'll be FAR away. I'll be by the coffee maker instead, that will get me moving, LOL!

So I'll be checking in often for encouragement. I think I'm really ready to say that I'm on a diet - except that I don't plan to quit so I'm not going to limit it by saying that. A big part of this resolve has come from everyone here - reading and being accountable as a part of such a great group. Thanks, everyone!
__

Lastly, Huntress, you're totally right about the BMI being just another way to measure. I guess what really got to me about that one is that it's the yardstick used by the doctors to measure the health risk of being overweight. Morbid obesity qualifies you for weight loss surgery (if other factors line up) because it is a very serious health risk. (!)

So I'm thinking: at 31 (young still!), my pattern of intake and minimal exertion has ALREADY manifested itself in my body to an extent that should be setting alarm bells off. There's no need for me to start eating more - I've already got enough pounds on me to wreck my health - as sure as smoking! (but I don't smoke) Now that's scary.

I guess, you know, these past 7 years of slow gain (okay 4 years of fast gain and 3 years of 5 pounds a year) I've always thought of it as primarily an appearance issue. It's a paradigm shift. I feel like I woke up yesterday to discover I was a heroin addict and I'm thinking - what the heck happened? I guess that's why I was ranting. ;)

I am also taking my weight loss journey 1 small goal at a time. on monday I am kind of doing a 1 week challenge. I am going to try to lose 3 pounds in one week. easy to do i think since I never drink water and I am restricting myself to only that! I may lose more because of water weight!

let me introduce myself! My name is karen and I am 25 years old. My goal is to be 130 pounds. I am 5'3" I weigh 215-220. tomorrow I am going to have an official weigh in so I can start my 1 week blast off! lol.

I wear a size 20/22 but mainly a 22. depending on the brand of jeans! lol And I am just getting impatient. I want to fit into my size 18's but everytime I try I fail!

I have a big problem and its called PIZZA I eat it once and I all the sudden have to eat everything in site! I dont know if I am a binge eater or if pizza is a trigger food! How many pounds does it take to lose one dress size?
*karen*

hi guys, congrat on the weight loss just cuz, good for you!!

i had a last minute trip to the shore, didnt have time to write and tell you guys i was going. wow, glad everyone is still staying motivted.

i on the other hand didnt have such a good weekend, my husband invited his friend to the shore house, and i got stuck hanging around with the wife and kids. since i have been overweight, i dont like to socialize, especially with someone who has three kids and can still wear a bikini. then we had to go to the board walk, while the guys wounldnt go up, cause it was a holiday weekend and didnt feel like dealing with the crowds, but i like to let angelina have a good time up there, with the rides and games. man , what a mistake, her 2 little ones were cranky and whining, and the teenager had such a bad attitude, cussing and all. i was so pissed. at my husband and her. anyway, i ate and drank all the wrong things and feel disgusting. i dont even want to look at the scale on tues mon. and i only did 3 days of excercise last week. so much for my new plan.

anyway. i will get back in control and put that mess behind me. and try to stop making all the wrong choices for the wrong reasons. made me feel better coming back on here and reading all your posts, way to hang in there .

Oh my gosh!!! I was so excited to read this thread. I have over a 100 pounds to lose and just can't seem to stick to any diet plan. I am an extremely finicky eater and like very few foods. I cannot stay on a plan of eating foods I can't stand.
I made a commitment to myself that I would just eat healthy for breakfast & lunch and then I could have a regular dinner. Sometimes it is healthy as well, sometimes not.
I am also a major Pepsiholic. Usually drinking a 6pak along with a couple of large fountain drinks a day. This has been my biggest struggle and one of the reasons I can't stay on any plan. I've tried the diet route and just can't stand it. I decided I would limit myself to two cans per day and just have to deal with the extra calories/carbs. I am finding though that most days I only drink one or none. I am drinking tons of water so I'm just not thirsty for the soda. Whenever I go somewhere I take a huge cup of ice water in the car and sip on that. It keeps from getting thirsty and stopping for a fountain soda. I was starting to have massive headaches from the caffeine withdrawls but I started taking 1/2 a caffeine pill twice a day and that instantly got rid of them. I'm now down to 1/2 a pill once a day and maybe next week only every other day. I sure don't want to go through those headaches again.
I'm also walking my dogs every morning (well about 5 days a week). It's not too far and I have to make more stops than I would like but they so love their walks if keeps me motivated. Hopefully I'll start back to the gym when the kids are back in school.
As far as the type of food I'm eating; it's just the basics. I usually have a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a couple slices/wedges of orange for breakfast. Maybe some yogurt for a snack. A turkey (with real mayo unfortunately) on whole wheat toast and some broccoli for lunch. Fruit for a snack. When I eat a healthy dinner it is usually some chicken and salad or other veggie. Otherwise I just have whatever I make for the kids. Tonight it was sloppy joes with cheese on top. Then maybe a fruit for a snack if I'm still hungry. I'm drinking what I thought was a ton of water but I added it up and it is barely 60 oz. I'll have to work on that.
I think I'm going to try the healthy dinner at least every other night. Hopefully I'll work it up to 6 nights a week.
I think this might just be the motivation I need. Thanks

Willbe, honey, don't beat yourself up so bad like that. We all have to deal with difficult times like you had this weekend and food had become our comfort, a refuge if you will. Just let it go, a couple bad days isn't going to spoil all your hard work. You have the right attitude, just get in there and get moving again and maybe the next time you have to deal with a situation like that again you will stop and think about it. Maybe you will be more prepared and can find another way to vent your frustration. FYI....I hate those naturally skinny chics too:devil: :devil: It just makes me sick to think of how hard people like us have to work for it and it just comes naturally to them! My sister-in-law is one of them too, she is pregnant right now and probably will be just as svelte the day after she gives birth. Hey, but you know what, who cares, I am much prettier than she is.:s:
LOL, whew the little devilish part of me got out there for a minute! I am calm, I am sweet, I am a nice wonderful person. There that's better.

Well, I'd better get busy getting ready for work, it's Monday morning again and after being off for a week my desk will be stacked to the ceiling.

Have a wonderful and positive OP day all!

LJ
225/205/150

Welcome jujubee. Congratulations on making a commitment to better health and losing weight. This is a great thread and we are all here because we each need a plan that works for us individually. I began my plan similar to yours and in less than 3 months I have lost 20 lbs. I am also a soda-aholic and I figured it out at 140 calories each cutting one soda a day in a year that adds up to almost 15 lbs, not to mention how dehydrated you would be if all you drink is soda. Good luck, you can do it!

LJ
225/205/150

Welcome Jujube. glad you could join us. :)
One thing I've discovered is that a person has to eat in order to lose weight... yeah I know that sounds silly but it's true! If you eat too little your body senses 'starvation' and holds on to the weight (a primitive thing) I eat more now than I have in my whole life just different foods and that paired with the exercise is working! Exercise doesn't need to be strenuous or a killer, just a brisk walk everyday or even a few days a week to start will help. The point being to get moving and your dogs will love you <wink>

Hope everyone has a good week, I'm back to work today after being off for 5 days so it's a heavy sigh and away I go! lol

*Judy

OMG! I feel so out of it after being gone all week. :spin: Head spin'n catching up on all the posts.
I wasn't a very good girl while I was gone. :( I ate too many of the wrong things and not enough exercise. And by gone, I was only gone from 3fc. I was still home. :^: DH was dreading going back to work today, but my little 'ole exercise and diet routine needed him outta the house! Not to mention, I needed him off the pc! I missed my 3fc! This is like my daily therapy. :D
I usually weigh in on Monday, but I'm so off schedule that I forgot to do it first thing this morning. So, will hit the scale tomorrow. Literally, I may be hitting it!
I'm back on plan this week! Eat healthy, exercise and drink my water!!!!
201.5/191.5/160?

Sorry to be so scarce the last couple of days. Things are going ok with the food, but I am in the middle of a big fight with my fiance about his ex-wife. I guess, in a way, it is a good thing. First of all, we can hopefully clear the air, and second...the old me would have eaten my way through this tough time, but the new me is actually upset enough, that I have to force myself to eat something right now. Maybe this will make up for the last few days when I was out late shopping and stopped at Carlos O'Kellys and have chicken tenders and chips and salsa. :devil: So, maybe if I calculate my calories for the week, they will average out. LOL

Tig, I know what you mean!!! When my fiance is here, I can't even clean the house. Let alone exercise!!! I agree with you about the water thing. That is my goal this following week. I want to get that water in!!!

Judy, I hope your first day back at work went well!!! That is TOUGH to go back after those 5 days of leisure!!!

LJ, you need to let that little devil out more often, it feels SOOOO good! LOL....Hope your Monday went well also!

JuJu, it sounds like you have discovered what the rest of us have discovered, we have to do what is right for our bodies and it has to be something we can live with. The regular soda is a killer, and I NEVER thought I could go from regular to diet, but I have and I LOVE Diet Pepsi now. I had to drink it for about a week straight and now I can't tell the difference!!!
And I wouldn't worry about the mayo, it sounds like your diet is pretty well balanced and when that happens, a little mayo can be like a treat!!! Then maybe you can drop to low fat mayo a little bit later on. Nice to have you with us, and stay a while!!!!!

Will, sorry that your trip wasn't as great as it could have been. I am exactly the same way as far as socializing. I hate standing there in my cover-up while everyone else struts around in their bikini! You have the right attitude, let's move on. This is a new week, and this week will be great. We will not give up.....I need you here with me, so stick with me Will!

Hi Karen, I don't think I can answer the question about #'s to go down a dress size, cause we are all built so differently. Some of us carry weight in the belly and some carry it in the butt and some, like me carry it all over. LOL....

That pizza can be a killer. My fav is Pizza Hut, but I get a hand tossed veggie lovers and I LOVE it. It is 220 calories a slice, and if I eat light for breakfast I can manage having that once in a while.
Welcome to our little corner of the world, hope to see you around a lot!!!

Cafe, I'm so happy that you are leaving the cubicle of gluttony. LOL....YEAH!!! Cafe is M&M free!!!!!!

Well, I am out of here for a while to see if I can get my personal life ironed out.

JELLO...........WHERE ARE YOU GIRL????????????????

Tiffany
Weigh in tomorrow. *Sigh*

First day back to work wasn't so bad, but I was starving by 4:00pm Would have been real easy for me to raid the vending machine that stands 5 ft from my desk but I DIDN'T... lol I came home instead... had some water and a few crackers and now I'm fine.. Still hungry but don't feel like gorging myself.. lol

Ahhh home at last home at last..!

*Judy

Can you believe my PHONE LINE HAS BEEN DOWN! What a crock. First day DH goes back to work, first day I have control of the captains seat (computer chair), and the phone line is down. After a few hours, I figured I should drag myself down to the corner payphone....inside a glass box on black pavement in 95 degree weather...where Sprint (my local provider) puts me on HOLD. Elevator music, like that's gonna make me feel better. Kids and dog in the car, me sweat'n like a hog. Not my day.
In the end, I went downstairs and wiggled some wires. We must have bumped something during demolition. :shrug:
Time to fix supper. Making Cowboy Beans, a recipe I got from Hillshire Farms website. Good if ya like beans. I don't always use Hillshire though.
Hope everyone had a good day doing their own thing!:D

Hi everyone!
i was hoping you would let me join in on your thread.
I was on the doin it the old fashion way thread in december but after a friend of mine passed away i pretty much gave up on everything in life.......
I have managed to get everything else back on track but i havent gotten my diet there yet....i have joined a gym just for women and i have been watching what i eat and getting plenty of exercise....but i really found the threads supportive and yours was exactly what i was looking for!
I am 15 from alberta canada and i have battled with weight all my life... i also battled with bulimia...but never lossed enough weight. ... now i am never home and usually just dont have the time to eat right! but this summer i want to get it on track!
i really hope you dont mind me joining in and i hope to be able to learn from all of you!
thanks
Kayla :)