[Bigmid]

Week 2 begins. Hope you all enjoyed your first week.

What were your biggest struggls this week.

Mine was so busy at work so no exercise as I worked later than I should have and eating crap at night. This will be my focus to fix this week.

[shan84]

Last week my big struggle was exercise. With a change in schedule at work and doing research on choosing the right lifestyle change (diet) for myself, I have been seriously lacking in exercise. It's already so cold out here in China so walking outside is no longer an option. I have several dvds to do at home I have just lacked the motivation to actually do them. My goal this week is to get in at least three dvds during the week. Start small and work towards something bigger.

Have a good Monday everyone.

[Reesa Wisteria]

I had a really good week last week. Mostly the weight loss came because I figured out something that was wrong in how I was eating. With the correction I made to my meal plan, my weight really started dropping. Now it's a matter of making sure other factors won't negatively affect my weight loss.

*I know, what I wrote was pretty vague, but my way of eating is different than diet norms.

[Pipergirl]

Last week was great for me. I love walking and counting calories sure opened my eyes to how much I am truly eating. This week I want to try and add some different exercise instead of just walking.

Keep up the great work ladies

[Sum38]

Biggest struggle for me was my stubborn body -- I did everything right and I did not see any results. I think I am hanging onto some bloat, I am sure I have lost some weight. I kept my calories very low.

This week I am adding exercise back into my life. I lost the first 30 pounds by eating 1200-1300 calories and exercising average of 100 minutes per day.

So today I power walked through woods for 4.2 miles in 60 minutes, lifted weights for 40 minutes (I was sooo tired afterwards), and super power walked on treadmill (4.7mph) for another 20 minutes. Grand total of 120 minutes of movement; yay!

I am hoping that I will see a whoosh soon, it is so sad to step on that scale and see it either to stay the same or even creep up, when one counted every bite a day before.

Tomorrow I am volunteering all day, so I can not walk my doggie in the woods, but I will go and either swim for 45-60 minutes or take a step aerobic class. I will try to do something each day from now on.

I follow (loosely) 5:2 plan; tomorrow I will fast. Fasting is easy on my volunteer days, I am stuck in an office (I am a membership chair for a local organization) all day without any food, and I usually don't have time to leave the building to go and "hunt" for some

Good luck this week ladies! Let's kick some butt

[shan84]

The thread has been quiet all week. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I got my bloodwork done on Friday and the ok from my doctor to transition into the Atkins lifestyle change as of today. Ready to get on this journey again.

[Reesa Wisteria]

This week hasn't been very good for me, mostly because I got a stomach flu then caught the edge of a sinus infection. Thankfully my weight has been stable through this and I'm hoping it will still have a pretty good net loss for the week.

[Mossy]

My obstacle was over a foot of new snow and -20 below zero. Frostbite if you spend more than a few minutes outside. I can't go outside and walk. Sigh.

I'm using a small tramp but it seems like I spend all of my time trying not to fall off.

[Sum38]

I posted my Friday's weight (official weigh in day) as this weekend was filled my birthday celebrations, and I am sure I am carrying LOTS of water weight from all the partying. -- I did not even get on scale this morning

I am drinking tons of water today and doing 2 sweat sessions; weights and power walk on treadmill and then walking the pup for 4.2 miles out doors. I may even skip tomorrow what comes to the scale, and let everything settle.

I had a FAB birthday. I have such great friends and family, of course. Son came home from college and we went out to eat. I always love seeing him. This is his first year of college, and he has matured so much, it is just amazing. He had turned into a young man now. Not my little boy anymore.

What are your goals for next week?

Mine are to continue exercising; weights 3 x week, walk on the treadmill 3-4 x and walk outdoors 5 x. Also this week I will follow the 5:2 plan; fast days; Monday and Wednesday. Those days are the easiest for me as I volunteer all day and have no access to food. The rest of the days I will concentrate eating no more than 1300 cals with low carb food options. Lots of veggies and lean protein. -- I will also vow to drink my 80oz of water daily. When I do that, I feel so great and the weight just keeps melting off. Plus it does wonders for my face. I look plumber and tighter.

[Bigmid]

Hi I have been so bad for getting on here this week. Sorry about that.
Happy birthday Sum
Shannon glad you got the okay from the Dr.
I have just been holding steady. Had a couple nights now that I didn't eat so that's a win. Let's see if I can do it more times this week.
Been busy at work I'm in retail and the manager so who knows what my hours will be dog to day.

Sounds like you are all aware of your points that need to be worked on so here's to a great week 3.

[shan84]

Well week 3 is here and it appears our small group has some MIAs. I'll keep posting here even if its just to keep myself accountable. Diet is totally on plan. I'm now on day two of atkins. TMI alert: aside from some bowel issues last night, I'm feeling good. I anticipate seeing loss since I know this diet will put my body into ketosis. I don't plan on saying its water weight at all because I have been calorie counting for three months. I lost that water weight when I first started calorie counting. Time will tell what my body does this week. So aside from food being on plan, I'm still struggling with the exercise portion. It is so frickin cold here in Chongqing. When I get home from work I always just want to sit in front of the heater in the living room and usually have dinner by 5:30 and then watch some tv til I go to take a shower and sleep. Wish I had more motivation...i just need to find it. I have tons of DVDs I could be doing...but I don't like being cold. Do I have to turn off the heater if I exercise?? Listen I know it sounds crazy but remember I am in China and they don't have central heating. So its a big stand alone air conditioner/heater depending on the season. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks! Hope everyone is having a good week so far.

[Reesa Wisteria]

Until the next chat thread is up, I'll continue posting here as well. Last week for me was almost a complete bust. In looking back I realize that most of the problem was what I was eating for dinner. I've gotten so used to eating my heaviest meal at lunch and so my body wasn't able to handle a heavier meal at dinner last week.

This week I'm going to be eating simpler and lighter meals at dinner, started on Sunday. So far, I've had a weight loss 2 days in row hitting new lows each day. I'm hoping this keeps up throughout the week as it might give me the highest weight loss in a week I've experienced yet.

shan84, good luck on Atkins. I'm on a lower carb "diet" also. I keep my carbohydrates to around 100g per day. I hope the diet works for you.