Support Groups - Desperately Need a Diet Buddy #20

Hi Ladies! Welcome back!

I think our other #20 thread got deleted b/c it was so new, so I thought I'd go ahead and start it up again.

It is a true testament to how much you ladies and this site keep me sane....yesterday I was so sad thinking they might shut down this site!

Come back, chickies!
-Mari

Hi! Thought I had lost you guys there. Do you guys want to set up a yahoo group in case of emergencies? We can just keep it open and post there should anything ever happen to this site (message board down for repairs or whatever). Nothing could replace 3fc.com but I'd like to have a backup just in case!

Hi!

So happy to see you here! I was thinking we'd lost our little group for good!

Where IS everyone?????

I think 3FC is having some technical problems because I checked my User Critical Profile and I was no longer subsribed to this thread and my recent PMS are not in my inbox.

Anyone else experiencing problems?

Right after I posted I saw this on at the top of the forum:

Due to a major server crash Monday, Jan 4, we lost our forum database and other parts of the 3FC website. The backups were also damaged and we could not restore to original. However, I happened to have a copy elsewhere of the database from November, and have used it to restore the forum. We have lost all posts and new memberships that were created since November 17. This situation was apparently unavoidable, and could have been much worse than it was. This doesn't lessen the impact on all of us, and we sincerely apologize for the loss this has caused you. We value your input in our community, and every single post benefits each of us. To experience even a partial loss is very disturbing. We are taking steps to be better prepared in the future, should disaster ever strike again.

Our email server is not functioning and there is no hope for repair. We are in the process of moving to a new server, which will take 2 to 3 days. At that point, we will have email again. In the meantime, you cannot receive email notifications upon new posts or PMs. If you need help with your password, send an email to threefatchicksonadiet@hotmail.com and include your username and we will reset your password from here. You must send the message from the email address on your account, so we can verify your identity.

We appreciate your patience and understanding, and hope we can all get back on track now and focus on realizing our goals for 2004.

Hi Girls!

Just checked-in to see if 3fc was up and running again ... it's now 11.15pm and time for bed but I couldn't rest until I checked it out!! ... Thank goodness we're back on-line, I've missed you guys!:D

Anyway, time to get some shut eye ... I'll 'speak' to you again tomorrow:gossip:

Nichola

Wooooooooohooooooooooooo we're back!!!:cb: :cb: :dancer: :dancer: :high: :grouphug: :hyper: :twirly: :yes: :balloons: :blah: hehehehe okay you girls get it huh.

sorry I just had lunch and am a bit hyper.:lol: I guess also excited cause we're back up.

Hey Mari- where have you been??? How was the trip?

Raff- you made me giigle with you first post followed by your second post...seemed you were a bit lost huh...I think we all were.:D

Nichola-yesss we're back up and running- thank goodness!:)

okay girls hope you're all doing great

ohhh and I think we lost the newbies this time....hope they find us:D

Hooray! The gang is slowly coming back together!

It's amazing how much this thread means to me. It is such a source of motivation and it always seems to keep me grounded. I often get into slumps when it seems like all I think about is food and watching the junk, and not over-doing the calories and working out enough, etc. etc. You ladies really bring a smile to my face and it just makes it seem more realistic a situation and more attainable a goal. Plus, you guys are just hilarious!

Enough of the mush! How was everyone's holidays? Mine were great and my parents actually did a lot better with me leaving on Christmas Eve than I thought they would. And waking up X-mas morning at home, with my man, was awesome.

Back on track!
-Mari

Mari, welcome back ... glad you had a great Christmas with your man!!:)

Unfortunately, regardless of all my words about being motivated and determined, I have not had a good week. Found it very difficult to get on track. It all started last Sunday with a big birthday dinner for Tom, my son ... he was 15 :yikes: ... His choice of restaurant ... Fat Angelo's ... Italian of course, with the most humungous portions you have ever seen!!:ink: :ink: :ink: And of course, there weren't many leftovers!!:o On Monday (his actual birthday) Sophie, my daughter, asked if we could bake him a cake that she could decorate ... soooooooo we baked a huge ... I mean HUGE, chocolate cake!!!!! ... which we are still eating!!!! Hopefully this coming week will be better:^:

Have a great weekend everyone ... and I hope you're all doing better than I am!!:rolleyes:

Nichola

Oh boy Nichola...I am sure you'll see a better week...I too have soo many b-days coming up it'll be hard to stay on track.

The sun is not shining, the birds are not singing, my tail is neither bright nor bushy but Happy Monday anyway!

Time for me to get back to the serious busines of WW. I have been sort of half-way doing it for a while now. In a way, I feel kinda good about it because I haven't gained and maintaining my weight is a new thing for me. But I also have a big wedding situation in May and another beach trip in September and I don't want to be hiding from the photog or missing out on the beach stuff! So, I will not be wasting any more weeks!

Nichola - I love knowing that somewhere out there, there is a place called Fat Angelo's! Hope the cake is gone by now and you can get back on track. It's so distracting when there is a big chunk of evil/delicious food sitting right there looking at you!

Mari - glad you had a great Christmas! So happy that it all worked out for you. Look - you're a grown up now - you have your very own traditions (the first time I decorated my own tree with my own ornaments, I felt SO like I was playing at being a grown up. I was like 27!).

Dot - should we send out a search party for the newbies? It's so disappointing when they post once or twice and then disappear!

Raff - how are things out your way?

Kelly, Danielle, Lorraine, and Ali - we miss you! And I'm sure I'm forgetting a few others!

Hi all!

Well, I started WW about 10 days ago, but have had a hectic week. I'm going to try and weigh in today, so I'll keep you posted. I had a great start to the week, but by Thursday, I had a load of challenges that I didn't really manage very well. I'd be fine if I WOULD manage the ones I COULD manage, but I seem to sabotage myself. I could have ordered a tea with no snack at Starbucks and enjoyed the reason I was there in the first place; company and chit-chat. Instead, I had a big drink and a snack (which I DID share...1 point in my favour... :lol: ) BUt, it's a new day...no guilt and move on as Dotti likes to say.

Hey, speaking of Dotti (www.dwlz.com), she's having her yearly conference in Edmonton (about 3 hours from here). If any of you are interested in coming, I'd love to meet you. I'll be there!

Ok, I did manage to weigh in, and I'm down 1.2 pounds. Not the stellar 8 pounds I usually expect for a first week wiegh in, but hey, I'll TAKE IT! And, it keeps me on target for my 20 pounds in 20 weeks goal. Go me!
Lorraine

Brandy- hmmm maybe we should send out a search party...lol

Hi All!

Glad to see that everyone seems to be doing well right now. Lorraine, good luck with WW ... I keep thinking about joining myself, but it's such a hassle to get there as there's no parking, so it would mean relying on public transport, then there's the cost of joining and the weekly fees which are quite outrageous here in HK. Perhaps I'll just plod on a bit longer and see how I go trying to do it alone ... not very successful to date I know but I'm not giving in!! One day something will click ... I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

I'm going through a phase right now of not knowing what kind of plan to follow :?: Sometimes I think calorie counting is the most suitable for me, then another time it's low carb, then another time it's pure healthy eating and no 'diet' words ... I'm just so confused ... Oh how I wish I could have someone to come and cook all my meals and put it in front of me ... then all I'd have to do is eat it ... no hassle counting out the cals, or the grams of fat, or the carbs etc! :rolleyes: Damn, why is it all so tedious?! :mad:

Two weeks into the New Year and I'm still nowhere near starting a diet properly ... I'm going into panic mode ... Looks like some friends of ours from the UK will be coming to stay with us during the summer hols :yikes: My friend will be 42 in July ... she has the body of any 18 year old ... slim, firm, fit and very sexy!! How the **** can I possibly look forward to them coming when I have THAT BODY to compare myself with?!! God, it makes me feel so miserable just thinking about it :( Now I know deep down that if I could finally make a start, I could realistically be at my final goal by the time they come ... so someone tell me what my problem is ... anyone????

Nichola

Nichola- hmmm, well the best i can say is take one day at a time and don't let one day affect the other. So what I am saying is just for today try to stay on program, then try 1 more day, and another and so on, but if you screw one day up don't beat yourself up, just plan the next one and stick to it. Well, I hope that helps. I know I have stopped beating myself up for bad days and its helped me stick to my program longer. Before I would always just quit if I had a bad day or two, now I just move on...that mentality has helped me not gain it back and if anything I pretty much maintained, except the 2.5 lbs I gained during the holidays, but even that if you think about its not too bad.

Hope everyone else is doing ok...take care

Nichola - we are having another trip to the beach in September - which is AGES away. My youngest brother's girlfriend is friggin BARBIE. Long legs, lond blond hair and all. BARBIE. And she's like 19. Oh kill me now. If she weren't so sweet I'd've bumped her off by now. The thought of having to drag my flabby 31 year old butt out on the beach with that CHILD, that Barbie CHILD, has very much kept me on track. I can be neither 19 again nor Barbie but I can certainly do better than my present situation. It's also really kept me working out. If I'm going to tan by Barbie, I need to work every option I have.

I guess my point is - do what you have to do. Count calories, read lots of diet books, pick any of dozens of easy peasy methods like never eating anything larger than your fist - do whatever works for you. If it works for you and it's not hurting you, then it's a good plan.

Dot - the "one day at a time" thing is very good advice. I never really understood what that meant - I mean, of COURSE you do things one day at a time. Duh. You can't do two. But now it makes more sense and I "get it" and it makes a huge difference!

Happy Tuesday, ladies!

Nichola - I know it's frustrating, but I think Dot is right....one day at a time. It took me many many years to really get on a steady workout program b/c I'd get all excited, push myself too hard, be so disappointed that I couldn't hang in there or was super-sore the next day that I would just up and quit altogether.

I think healthy eating is the best approach and what has worked for me, and it's a combination of many things: including lots of fruits and veggies into your day (as snacks or bad carb replacements), watching portions (by eating enough but not too much), by cutting out the junk food (with healthy "indulgences" like Snackwell cookies or Healthy Choice Ice cream), and by buying reduced-fat, non-fat whenever possible. By watching portion sizes and the TYPES of food you purchase, it really cuts out all the tedious hassle of counting calories. And drink lots of water!!!!!!

I hope I didn't go off rambling...it just has really helped me to have a better relationship with food when I think about it this way.

How are everyone else's methods for a healthy 2004 fairing?

-Mari

Nichola- I agree with Mari too. Whatever you can buy that's fat free, low cal, low carb, skim milk do so it helps. Also make sure you're putting in those fruits and veges, enough as to fill you, but also with other food so you're not hungry all day either. I find that veges and salads keep you from going for that second serving, but I also need the more solid/ heavy food to fill me up in the long run. Just combine them. Also as we all know water helps a lot too, if you don't like water try seltzer water( sodium free) I love that stuff! Hope this helps.

Brandy- Glad the one day at a time helped you. I was the same way...wanted to see results in a week, but never sticked to the plan for more than a month. Now I been on this for about four months. Hey I don't care if its 1 lb at a time, at least its 1 down and closer to my goal than gaining.

okie dokie take care chickies!

Hi Girls,

Thanks for all your help and possible solutions to my problems. I know what you all say is right ... now I just need to put it into practise!

Dot, I know I should be taking it one day at a time and not giving up when I have a bad day. Unfortunately, I've been having rather a lot of bad days lately :o On the positive side, every day starts off well ... I don't have time for brekkie at home before I go out to work, so I always take a low fat yogurt or fruit to eat as soon as I arrive. Then I have a piece of fruit at breaktime ... 10.15am. My problem time right now seems to be when I arrive home at around 1.30pm (and again before dinner!!) ... I'm absolutely ravenous and end up shovelling food into my mouth!! Maybe I should start taking something a bit more substantial to eat at breaktime.

Mari, I think I agree with you about the healthy eating approach rather than counting calories or points or fat grams or whatever ... I seem to become obsessed with them and my whole life ends up revolving around food ... I swear I end up eating more than I normally would!! :o Believe it or not, I do already have a fairly healthy approach to food ... I always buy lots of fruit, salad and veggies (which I need to eat more of), and I aways buy low cal options for butter, mayo, yogurt, skimmed milk etc. Part of my problem is over-eating ... I always have huge portions, so I really do need to work on my portion control. I liked your comment about having a better relationship with food ... that's something I need to look at too.

Brandy, what can I say ... BARBIE CHILD :rofl: :lol: Thanks a million for putting a smile on my face :D And I couldn't agree more with your quote ... "If I'm going to tan by Barbie, I need to work every option I have". I need to take a leaf out of your book and start working on all my options.

OK girls, I'm feeling much more positive now I've spoken with you chickies ... let's see what tomorrow brings ..... :)

Nichola

It's so funny that this lifestyle v. counting conversation has come up. I realized yesterday that I am sick unto death of counting and tracking and planning and the blah blah blah of it all. I tend to eat when I'm bored. Not from stress or emotions or whatever - sheer boredom. So all this food focusedness is NOT helping me. I KNOW WW works and it has worked for me, but I also believe I'm even more food focused than ever. I still have most of the great WD principles to lean on and I DO for the most part (I NEVER eat till I'm full, I take tiny portions, I only eat what I really like and leave the stuff I'm eh about) but I find myself doing the same thing every afternoon around 4 pm - cruising the cabinets. Not because I'm hungry, but because I'm bored. And with WW, I can always finagle a way to fit in a snack. I'm obsessed with points. I need a break. Not from trying to lose weight, but from counting. And even tho I like structure, I think it's because I like to work the system - instead of thinking for myself and making decisions, I can let someone else set the guidlines and I can just bounce all around in there ALL BUT breaking the "rules." The only time in my LIFE I've ever lost and maintained a loss was when I kept myself super busy (no boredome eating) and just made better choices about food in general.

SO most of this is just rambling for my benefit but I'm glad I have you guys to mull it over with.

Also, Nichola, if you tend to over eat when you're starving - you're right - take something more substantial when you DO eat so you're not starving for the next meal or break. It's HARD to make good choices when you're starving! Along with your fruit, try a few almonds. Or if you like fruit and cheese, try that. Sneak a little protein in there and see if it doesn't last longer.

Ok guys, I'm off to have a no counting day. I may be back and counting by the end of the week, but today I need a BREAK!

Brandy

Hi girls!

Brandy I hear ya girl. Do what's best for you.

Nichola- I agree with Brandy...eat a little more so you're not starving between meals...I know how hard it is when you starving...****, I just grab whatever is in front of me at that point, then I feel bad. Glad it hasn't happened in a while though, I just bring a lot of ziploc bags with me to work so i am nibbling throughout the day.

Mari, Lorraine, Raff where are you girls? Hope all is well.

Dot - I hear ya! I am the ziploc queen! You and I might be the ones keeping their stocks up! I'm trying to have timely snacks though. I was an all-day nibbler and I found that I packed myself more food so I could get through the whole day. So now I'm doing a time thing: have stuff at b-fast, then small snack at 10am, then lunch, then small snack at 2 or 3. It's working so far!

Brandy - Hope your day works out well! Let us know!

Nichola - You can do it girl!

How's everyone else? Where did ya'll go? I'm having a good day b/c I packed an uber-healthy lunch and am feeling good. I'm also averaging 5 miles per run, which is an up from the 3.5 that I was averaging about 2 months ago. Half marathon in July, here I come!

Happy Wednesday! :hat:
-Mari

Well, it was nice to have a non-counting day. I think I ate less than I have in weeks - maybe because I wasn't thinking and planning about food. Who knows. But for a while yet, I'm just going to try to eat better (not as vague as it sounds, I have a plan!) and count nothing.

And when that stops working, maybe I'll start counting again. OF course, counting what - dunno.

Mari, you running thing, that's amazing!

Dot, guess we'll have to keep up the convo till the other girls show up.

Brandy

Just pooping in after coming back from the Xray clinic. I've been having problems with my right leg (numbness in a few areas radiating from my hip, down my butt and back of thigh, over to the side of my kneew and sprialling to the front of my shin to my ankle) so the Dr. wants to rule out disc problems. Yay. Here's hoping it's just a pinched nerve.

I've been really thinking hard about this healthy me thing. Brandy, I hear you on the bored and obsessed front. WW worked for me, but I stopped working for it, so now I'm hooped. But, I've paid my cash and I'm determined to get my money's worth now, so here's to another pound loss next week. Won't be around much in the next week (like I am usually...:lol:) as DH is in Texas and I'll be up to my eyebrows in 2.8 year old. We're going on a little mini vacation to the mountains this weekend, so that should be really nice. I'll let you all know how it went!

TTFN!
Lorraine

Lorraine, hope the xray comes back with good news for you - and enjoy that vacation!

I bought the At Home kit which only comes with 12 weeks worth of weekly journals, then I switched to a notebook. I lost about - I don't know, between 17 and 20 pounds on it? So I feel like I got my money's worth. And I still have the materials if I decide to go back and try it again.

In the meantime, it's only been a few days but I've enjoyed not counting. I've promised myself that the trade off will be that I won't be mindless when I do eat, I will pay attention and make good choices. So far, so good. Here's hoping I keep it together.

Hope things are going well for the rest of you. Have a wonderful weekend!

Brandy

Mari- hahaha thats funny...the ziploc thingy...I do 3 meals a day pus 2-3 snacks....ah man I gotta go...work calls...lol


take care all ...oh yea and I am 156!!! Got out of that 159 plateau

Congratulations Dot for breaking through that plateau! :bravo: you're well on your way to success :cp:

Lorraine, hope everything's ok with the x-rays.

Brandy, glad the non-counting day went well.

I've take everyones advice on board and I'm trying not to obsess about the whole diet thingy. I'm going to give it a go with the healthy eating lifestyle instead of counting cals and see what happens for a couple of weeks. I'm going to choose healthy options for snacks etc, and reduce my portions which I know is one of my biggest problem areas. I'll also be taking something a bit more filling to work with me for breaktime so that I'm not so hungry when I get home for lunch.

Hope you're all having a great weekend :)

Nichola

Wow, where has everyone disappeared to?? I usually check-in every Monday to find that I have to catch up with about 20 posts!!!! ... Today I discover there have been no posts since my last one on Saturday ........ :dizzy:

Anyway, just want to let you all know that I'm raring to go on my new healthy eating plan. I haven't weighed in for 2 weeks as I've been such a bad girl and just couldn't stay on track ... truth is, I hopped on the scales this morning and not surprisingly, I'm back up to 174. However, I'm feeling very motivated right now ... partly due to all your helpful advice ... and partly due to the fact that I have my very own diet buddy ... my hubby :) Not that he has a major weight problem, although losing a few pounds wouldn't do him any harm. His reason for changing his diet is due to the fact that he was diagnosed with having high blood pressure a few months ago. He already has a fairly healthy diet, but he was recommended to try a diet called 'The DASH Eating Plan' (which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), which is a low fat/low sodium diet. We started reading into it and were shocked at the sodium levels in foods that we have always thought to be healthy. Anyway, the plan will benefit both hubby with his high blood pressure and myself as it's a healthy eating plan that all adults can follow. It's extremely simple to follow, based on so many servings of each food group daily. Obviously I'm going to be spending a lot of time checking out food labels when I go shopping, but hopefully it will help both of us to become more healthy.

Hope you all had a good weekend and good luck for the coming week. :)

Nichola

PS - I've added a little quote to the bottom of my posts ... I saw it in a magazine recently and thought it was rather appropriate.

Hey Everyone! I haven't been getting notifications of posts so I've missed a bit.

Hope everyone is OK. Its cold, snowy and wet in NYC now. Yuck. I'm getting tired of it.

Well got to go. Just got in from a long night at my friend's house.

Take care,
Raff

Hi guys!

Raff - it IS yucky here. I'm glad at least it's sunny today (for now) - even if it is a little (a LOT) slushy.

Nichola - best of luck to you and your hubby! It's great to have a buddy (now if only I could get mine interested again).

So far, so good for me. I still have about 7 pounds to go to meet my 10% goal and I was hoping to do it by the end of Jan. Who knows. I may yet make it!

Brandy

I HAVE GOT TO GET TO A WW MEETING THIS WEEK BEFORE I GO CRAZY!

That is all.

Lorraine

Raff, you're not the only ones freezing cold ... the temps in HK have plummeted over the past few days ... it's usually so mild, we're just not used to the cold ... I can't remember it ever being this cold in the past 3 years that we've been living here ... last weekend we were BBQing!!

Brandy, good luck with reaching your 10% target ... but if you don't do by the end of Jan, don't worry, because you're doing brilliantly and I'm sure you'll soon be there. :)


Lorraine, hope you manage to get to a meeting this week ... How's it going? How was your mimi vaccation?

Well, I know it's very early days (Day 2!) but I've managed to stay on plan without any slip-ups ... I really want to do this right ... probably because I'm determined not to let hubby do better than me!!

Nichola

GOOD FOR YOU NICHOLA! :cheer: One day at a time will add up to success.

Now if only I'd follow my own adages. Sheesh. I've decided that my success hinges specifically on going to a WW meeting. I haven't been in over a week...out of sight out of mind. I get so frustrated becasue I know I am capable. Dmmit, I'm more than capable. There is no sane reason that I am this way. I am physically able, intelligent and have a great support system. Everything is going for me....except ME. Arrrgh, so hard to explain. I know I feel better when I eat better. When I exercise. When I lose weight and look better. When my house is clean. When i can find my keys. When I'm busy and excited about life. Instead, I park my butt on the couch or in bed and just lay and think about all things I SHOULD be doing. WHY WHY WHY??? :?:

I need a constant reminder that I need to make myself happy. Something I look at that tells me "Do something, anything that will make me happy!" I think WW calls it an anchor. I got a charm bracelet for Christmas...maybe I can find a new charm for it that will remind me.

How is everyone else doing? Mari? Sounds like you're right on track! Welcome back Raff...glad you found us again. Brandy...that 10% will be yours in no time! Dot...what do you do for a living?

Lorraine

I have to say that I just love you Gals! I was reading through the posts and looking to see who lost what so I could give my congrats when I realized we all deserve congratulating. No matter what, whether we are up or down on the scale, and now matter how many times it may go up and down :lol: we are still here on this forum giving each other support. It shows that we won't give up even though we sometimes feel like we want to. (God I'm sounding sappy)

So I want to say kudos to EVERY one of my buddys on this thread.

Love,
Raff

My, I've missed quite a bit here! Had a lot of catching up to do!

Raff - I couldn't have put it better myself! No matter what our scales have said, I think that we are all on an ultimate motivation high and I think that is as important as everything else! So congrats and high-five to you too!

Nichola - You go girl! One day at a time is fabulous and I hope that you adopt this healthy lifestyle rather than a "diet fad". I am glad your hubby is right there with you! It totally makes a difference, at least for me. My parents both have high blood pressure and high cholesterol, so healthy eating is key. A lot of times it is genetically predisposed, so it's important for kids to follow and see the healthy patterns as well. I definitely think about it a lot with my parents and am more conscious. Keep it up! :strong:

Lorraine - I am the same way sometimes. I know that I would feel better if I got up, vacuumed, did some sit-ups or what not, and I just sit at the TV. Sometimes, when I think it in my head, I count and make myself do it. I'll think, "I would really feel better if I got up off the couch and did just 20 sit-ups. Okay, one, two, three!" and I MAKE myself get up. Seriously, once it's in your head, just make the task attainable (like if you think you should clean the whole house, minimize it to vacuuming or dusting only) and then count! It's a little cheezy but it definitely works for me.

Brandy - You are doing so well! Keep it up! Even if you don't do it by Jan., you can do it the first week of Feb. and still be my hero! :cp:

Dot - Congrats on beating your plateau! Good job showing who's the boss! :hat:

Alright, gotta get back to work. This is panning out to be a good week for me as I grocery shopped yesterday with only good choices, and I still managed to get in 7 more miles even though I was on vacation this weekend. Keep it up ladies! We rock! :dancer:

-Mari

Hi girls...sorry I been gone for a while just been going through some stuff, but all is good now. Gotta run but just wanted to pop in and say hi...hope you're all doing goood.

No, I'm not late with the New Year greeting ... it's Chinese New Year's Day today (Thursday), so "Kung Hei Fat Choi" to you all. :hat: Got a few days off work for the festivities so might not be around much until after the weekend. Will do my best to keep on track ... things still going well so far, but we're out to dinner tomorrow night for the big fireworks celebration that they have in HK, then on Saturday we have a day at the races, including lunch :^: so I'll do the best I can not to over indulge. Hope you all have a great weekend :)

Nichola

Ok. Still not getting notifications of postings. AAAAAAAAARGH! Very frustrating.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Nichola!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi all, remember me?????


Yes I know, its been months and months since I've been around. Fallen off the diet wagon more times than I care to remember, and made so many 'this is it' promises that never became anything.

Anyway, now I'm well and truly back and going to be losing for good too, although not entirely from choice. I think the last time around I was struggling with depression...well over the last few months my health began deteriorating. First off I was having really heavy constant periods (which the doc thinks is fibroids, so before Christmas she booked me in to have a scan)...the scan will be in March!!! (the joys of a National Health Service). Anyway I felt the depression wasn't improving on ADs.....I was constantly tired, no matter how much sleep I had. Then on top of that I started becoming constantly thirsty.

Went to the docs just over a week ago and she did one test and said 'I know what's wrong....you're diabetic'.

Came as a **** of a shock, I can tell you!

Anyway I have type II diabetes, which means I don't need insulin, but I have to maintain my glucose levels with pills and diet. No more chocolate, no more sweet stuff. I know there are plenty of diabetic foods, including chocolate, but I feel that my lousy eating habits are what got me here in the first place so I am going to avoid substituting the sweet stuff.

I've changed my diet, now it's healthy, with fruit and yogurt as my 'sweet' things. Even cut out the diet coke.

I've been feeling ill while my body adjusts to the changes, I can see the computer screen ok, but cannot read books. That's caused problems as I've had to miss three exams (I'm going to have to battle with the university once I'm feeling well enough to go back).

I've come off the ADs too, because I think what I mistook for depression was the start of diabetes, and to be honest I'm not depressed just tired.

Anyway, just thought I'd pop in and say hi. You won't believe the trouble I had trying to find you!!!!!

Hope you're all well.
Love
Jo

P.S. Anyone heard from Ali????

Jo! YAY!!!! And no, we haven't heard from Ali (does anyone have the addy for her site? Maybe we can ask the lady who shared the site with her? She might have an update?) in ages but it's GREAT to hear from you! So sorry to hear about the diabetes thing but it must be nice ti know what's going on. And good job on taking it seriously. So many people don't. Good for you!

As for me, still eeking off a little here and there - still might make my 10% by the end of Jan, girls! I'm getting closer! Will post my official # on the first day of Feb.

Also, fried my laptop and am sharing with Mark till his new one comes in so I may not be around as often for the next few days. Poor, poor laptop. She was a good old soul...but I guess being on 18 hours a day for three years straight finally got the best of her.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Brandy

Welcome back JO. Glad you are dieting it will help a lot with the d2. I have polycycstic ovarian syndrome and my periods are really wacky. I am on gluco XR and its helped a lot. As food plan I am doing WW at home and its worked fine for me.

Brandy- glad you getting there...can't wait for your stats- you go girl! Oh and sorry bout the laptop.

Everyone else take care

Welcome back JO!

Welcome back, Jo!
I concurr with everyone, good job getting serious with your eating. I hope you feel so much better!

Keep it up, Brandy! You can get there, girl!

Dot - What's up, girl!? Keep up the WW!

Lots of exclamation points in this post. Sorry. I'm just excited b/c my boy and I are having a cheezy Golden Globes party. We have seen every single movie nominated b/c we are losers like that! Have a wonderful weekend, all!

Love,
Mari

JO!!!!!!!! I swear, everytime I read one of your posts I feel like I've found my long lost sister. I'm so happy to hear that you're getting your health issues sorted for yourself. There is no greater gift. Now if only I'd pony up and give myself the gift of health too! I'll be back in a few hours to post some more, just going to get the munchkin in bed and DH settled. He just came back from a weeklong business trip to Texas and he's bagged.

Lorraine

Awwwww Lorraine, I've missed you loads too.

Mari, I love the sound of the Golden Globes party!!!

Well, I need to go get the kids breakfasts sorted.
Have a good weekend

Jo

Hey All! Pissed again this morn'. Last week I weighed in at 291 and this week I'm 294.5lbs. I must stop yo-yoing on the scale! :mad:

Regarding Ali: I emailed her quite a few times and also posted on her website with no response.

Jo - Glad to hear the Drs finally figured out there was a reason for the way you were feeling. It gives you some peace of mind. Are you following a specific foodplan?

Mari - I don't think your GGs party is cheesy. I think its a wonderful idea. They are on tonight, correct? I preset the DVR to tape it tonight so I can watch it during the week.

Dot - Keep up with the WW. How's it going? Do you have any good low point breakfast ideas?

Lorraine - Glad to see you are back as well. Missed you!

Brandy - Good luck with your 10% goal!

Hope I didn't miss anyone.

Take care,
Raff

Morning all~!

Well, I have yet managed to get to a WW meeting. I swear, they need meetings on Sundays...I could get to one on Sundays. But really, I can't blame my lack of motivation on just a meeting. I need to get my butt in gear. I did have a success last night however. I was getting all nibbly at about 10:30 last night. I was going to get a nice big ole bowl of ice cream, but I opted for a glass of water instead (as I figured I may have been thirsty, not hungry). I had the water, waited 10 minutes and was still nibbly, so I WENT TO BED! Amazing in my books I tell you. SO I killed two birds with one stone. Didn't eat, and went to bed relatively early! Yay!

Off to look at kitchen appliances for the new house today. Ugh. I didn't think it was going to be this hard, I just thought it would be fun.

Lorraine

Hi Girls,

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Jo, it's good to have you back :) Hope you get all of your health issues sorted and good luck with your new healthy eating lifestyle.

Brandy, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you to reach that 10% goal :crossed:

Lorraine, very well done on not giving into the nibbles ... now that's what I call willpower!!

I managed to stick to my new plan last week and dropped 2lbs when I weighed-in on Friday, which wasn't quite a full week (5days), but I prefer to weigh-in on Fridays. Fingers crossed that I can keep it up. Must admit that I haven't found it too difficult so far.

Hope everyone else is doing ok :)

Have a good week.

Nichola

Nichola - congrats on your loss! YAY! :bravo:

Lorraine - have fun preparing for the new place and good job on getting over those munchies. Good job!!! :cheer:

Raff - sorry about the bump up but it will be off again next week! You can do it! :cb: I've tried mailing Ali a few times, left messages at the site, and even tried ICQ but no response. This worries me. A lot. :(

Jo, it's SO great to have you back with us! :wave:


Mari and Dot - HI! Hope things are going well with you guys :D

I'm still trying to get there but I've had TOM which has ment - I'm struggling to stay in control (and making it, just) but the scale won't budge. I'm not giving up. If nothing else, I'll get as close as possible to that darn 10%!!! :crossed:

Happy Manic Monday!

Lorraine - Happy hunting for appliances! I love that kind of stuff.

Nichola - Good Job girl! Keep it up!!! :strong:

Brandy - Although the scale isn't budging, maintaining is a goal too! Especially during TOM, which is just awful. You're doing a good job hanging in there though!

Raff - It happens to the best of us. Just focus once again and you'll be right back on track!

Dot - How are you? Where have you been?

Golden Globe pajama party went well. I made New England Clam Chowder from scratch and it turned out really well. This is one of my favorite dishes and is usually made very fatty in restaurants. I basically took the Emeril recipe from the Food Network website and re-configured it in a low fat version. And it turned out really great!!!! So success on the experimenting, which I'm usually not great at.

Also, bought the Juiceman Juicer Pro on sale at Macy's and I'm addicted. I did this because on my big running days (when i crank out 5 or more miles at a time) I'm usually never in the mood for some big meal. It just feels too heavy in my stomach. So this is a great alternative and a good way to get in my veggies and fruit. And it works fabulously!

Have a wonderful Monday, ladies!
-Mari

Hi Girls,

Just read the "Weight Loss Headlines" on the front page of 3fc's regarding "Eat Carbs, Lose Weight?" Found the results very interesting ... and reassuring. What, with all the hype lately about the Atkins Diet and similar diets that cut out or restrict carbs, I've been totally confused about whether or not I should be eating carbs at all. Being someone who loves pasta, rice, etc., the thought of having to give it up in order to lose weight really concerned me, as I know I simply would never be able to stick to a diet without eating some of my favourite foods (within reason of course!). Obviously, I realise I can't eat unlimited amounts of carbs, but a reasonable portion, served with lower fat foods, will hopefully do the job :^: ... At least I now have some hope anyway!! :yes:

Nichola

Raff, I'm not following a specific foodplan. I expected to be given one, but was simply told to eat healthily...which wasn't totally what I wanted to hear. I'd have been happier being told EXACTLY what to eat.

Anyway, I eat healthy, low fat, I do have carbs, although some are better than others (ie, wholegrain bread rather than white). I have eliminated sugar from my diet. The only sweet things I have are diet yogurt and fruit. It's meant Alan doing a lot more cooking from scratch, processed food is off limits to a huge extent. They are going to arrange an appointment with the hospital dietician for me, just to make sure I'm on the right tracks.

Ooooh that's something I never got round to saying. About three months ago Alan started doing the cooking for us. I don't do any!!!! He wants to be a chef (not that it pays well enough for him to actually do), so he has taken over our kitchen to keep himself happy! I am a good cook, but there are always things I'd rather do, so this has worked out perfectly for me!!! ;)

Today has been a good day for me. First my Mom told me she could see I was losing weight. Then my neighbour asked Alan if I'd lost weight cos she thought I was thinner!!!! I've lost about 7lbs, maybe slightly more in the last two weeks, and don't look quite so jowly (is that a word???)

Mari your clam chowder sounds fabulous. What is the recipe for it???
I love clam chowder......mmmmmmmmmmmm :hungry:

Right, need to get the kids organised for bed.

Jo

:cheer:

Jo - I'm so happy for you!!!! It is always wonderful to get reinforcement from others and you got some fabulous compliments! Keep it up, you are doing fabulously! And I'm glad Alan doing the cooking is working out! You get more free time and he gets to work on his hobby! Have him try the New England clam chowder recipe....I wish I could say it was mine! It is from the Emeril show on the food network. The link is here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_23672,00.html

I substituted half-and-half for the heavy cream and then I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter instead of the unsalted regular butter. It cuts the fat to about 1/6 of the regular recipe!!!! And tastes fabulous! I also added 3 tsp. of all-purpose flour at the end (while simmering) for thickness. (I also took his suggestion on mashing up some potatoes.) I like my chowder thick

I'm getting pretty good at substituting the right things in recipes. I'm so addicted to the food network, but the recipes are always full fat. (which is why they taste amazing, but not good for you.) I think I do a pretty good job, always cutting the fat to atleast 1/4th of what it would have been.

If you guys like New England Clam Chowder, this is an amazing-tasting low fat version!! Don't cut out any of the seasonings, they are awesome.

Alright, done yapping!
-Mari

Hi all!

Mari - I have found you can cut the fat WAY down in just about any recipe - I don't think I ever use full fat anymore and honestly, Mark has no idea - so it must be ok! I thank Cooking Light for turning me on to that - I like knowing that we can pretty much come up with a less killer version of pretty much anything.

Jo - you lucky thing with a cooking husband. Mine offers to make dinner from time to time - this usually involves ordering take out or beans on toast. Lovely. Oh well, he tries. Sometimes ;) And isn't it great to get all that positive feedback!

Nichola - I haven't read the article on the first page - I think all the conflicting nutritional info is starting to rattle my brain. I just keep telling myself, "What works for you is what WORKS for YOU" otherwise I'd worry myself into a tail spin about it. :spin: That's the closest I could find to a spinning icon. Doesn't exactly capture the feeling I was going for. :crazy: That guy is slightly better - I'm going for me as a confused nutter, can you see it?

Making my 10% goal is seriously lookin doubtful (by the end of Jan, anyway, no doubt that I'll make it at some point!). I seem to be slowing down. Not worried. Still trying, will get there eventually. Mark has apparently gotten wind of the "Dr. Phil" challenge which has a lot of men doing well on it and doesn't involve counting (in the nutrition bits) so he wants to give it a go. I told him I'll be happy to read both books (the Seven Keys which I started and then LOST and have now found again so I can finish) and do all the food prep IF he promises to read both books himself. I can not do this for both of us and I refuse to drag him along and get fifty calls a day about what he can and can't eat. It pissed me off with Atkins and WW - he can read as well as I can, I am not his mother. I am happy to help and have a partner, but I will not be the brain while he just wanders about letting me do all the thinking for the both of us. Forget that! So now he's going to read the books. If only I could get him to exercise...oh well, one step at a time I guess.

Hello Lovelies!!!!

Okay my most sincere apologies for my absence. I have been wallowing in my latest round of self pity and total loss of appetite control. I managed to pack on 10 pounds from Thanksgiving to now and I have had enough.... time to pick myself up and start from scratch.

This is going to be a challenge because this semester of school looks to be the hardest yet, but I don't want to fail in my fitness goals!!!
So here I am, begging for mercy and hoping you will continue to give me support dispite my weakness.

Mari -- do you have good "recipies" for your juicer? I am always tempted to make myself some sort of veg/fruit drink with the blender, but am not a culinary genius that can mash foods together and it turns out heavenly, quite the opposite.

Work has gotten busier, and so I may have shorter conversations with you all, but the last time I was here I developed a good sense of well-being and I miss that happy feeling.

Happy Friday to Everyone! :D

Hi Volley,

Glad to have you back :) and I'm sure we'll all be happy to give you our support :D

Well, I didn't lose any weight this week ... hubby has now managed to lose 7lbs in 2 weeks and I've lost ... 2lbs!!grrrrrr!!!!! I think I'm going to have to reconsider the calorie counting again, as although I've been eating healthily, I've still got a huge problem with portion control! :o

Let's see what next week brings.

Nichola

Welcome Back Volley!

Had a WW meeting and sad to report that I'm up 1 pound. No worries, one day at a time, no guilt and move on (as DWLZ likes to say). Time to refocus and see what I can achieve.

Goal: 10 pounds in by Feb 29th. It's a bit of a big number, but I expect a nice loss next week as it's really my first week of being OP all week. So on the 29th of Feb. I will report in. In addition, I'm going to make a fitness goal and a Lifestyle Goal. My fitness goal is 3-45 minute workouts of my choice for this week. Lifestyle Goal will be 3 litres of water a day. I'll keep you all posted, and by all means, feel free to join in!

Lorraine

Hi guys.

First, let me just say - it's the end of Jan and I have not made it to my 10% goal. I sort of got to 247 and floundered. Still, my husband has now taken an interest so maybe with both of us working at weight loss, I'll be encouraged to give it that extra effort. I hope. So, re-setting my goal - 239 by the end of Feb. I think that's plenty of time.

Lorraine, we have a simlar goal! Good luck to the both of us!

Nichoal, men lose faster than women - way faster, it's just a fact. Don't let his progress make you feel badly about yours! You can still have portion control without calorie counting - keep up with your healthy eating, just make some "rules" for yourself to cover your weak spots (my first rule would have to be that I should go to bed at 9 pm before the 10 pm munchies set in!). You're doing great! Keep it up!

Volley, great to have you back!

We'll I'm off to do the shopping for this week. We are not football people and I just read that the Super Bowl is today. If I can find out when it is, THAT is when I'm going to do my shopping - the place should be empty!

Hi Guys! Just wanted to say that I'm here, reading your posts but haven't been posting because I've been in a funk.

I am thinking about you all and wish you well!

Take care,
Raff

Well snap out of it! That's my favorite line from Moonstruck - where Nick tells Cher he's in love with her so she slaps him. Love that!

I've been sort of funkish myself but I've got to shake it off before I start gaining. So nothing like a new Plan or Project to get me focused. Hence the Dr. Philishness. I know I keep flitting from thing to thing but I really am picking up good habits from all of them!

Hope you feel better. We miss you!

Brandy

It's Monday moring and I have packed healthy small portions of food for this bleek workday.... always starting out great, but at the end of the day I can clear the kitchen like one couldn't believe... give me strength to resist today! Maybe I should plan on staying in town to study for my exam rather than going home and making frequent trips to the cupboards for comfort.

**thinking happy thoughts** We Can Do This Ladies!!!

It's going to be a marvelous week - but only if we let it.

:)

Volley, as I packed my husband's lunch (if I pack a lunch, he'll eat what I send - left to his own it's McDonalds) this morning I was looking at allllll the stuff he has to choose from. In one (or both, I can't remember) of the Dr. P books there's a sort of template for a typical day - concentrating on the things we SHOULD have, there's certainly not enough room to think about the things we shouldn't. Very clever. He never comes out and says to think of it that way so I don't even know if it's intended but I noticed yesterday when we were doing the shopping that we spent so much time making sure we had enough veg to have 3 - 5 a day, enough fruit for 2 - 3, enough protein, etc - we never even made it to the junk aisles.

Anyway, good luck. Good Monday vibes! And good luck on your exam!

Brandy

Happy Monday, ladies!

I did a whole lotta nothing this weekend besides get my running in. I know that I shouldn't be complaining, because I'm not on the East Coast or anything, but it's coooollldddd over here! And it's POURING rain, so it's hard to drive and my pants are always soaked from the knee down. I know that cold to me is like, 30 degrees...but hey, I'm a California gal!

Raff and Brandy - I'm sorry about the funks....doesn't winter always make you feel like that??? I know I do...

Volley - Keep it up, girl! I'm like you, I've got my ziplocs and tupperware of small portions! In terms of juicer recipes, if you want sweet, I usually have 1 orange, 1 Fuji apple, about 6-10 strawberries and a handful of grapes.
If you want veggies, I had 2 largish tomatoes, about 4 stalks of celery, and 1 large carrot....it was very very good!

All you other ladies, hang in there! I'm feeling the winter sludginess too but we have to push through it! Let's think about the summer months when we will want to feel good in shorts and bathing suits!

Good Monday vibes and hugs for all! :goodvibes :grouphug: :goodvibes
-Mari

Hi girls just popping in to say hi and hope you're all doing good...ttfn!

Dot, you met your January goal! Go girl!

Congrats Dot! YAY! You met your GOAL!!!

And Happy Birthday!

:balloons: :bubbles: :hb: :dance: :dancer: :gift: :cheer: :cb:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOT!! :hb: Hope it's a good one! :)

Well, I'm very ashamed to say that I'm back up to 175!!!! Just couldn't keep control over the weekend ... we were out for hubby's secretary's leaving 'do' on Friday night (she's off to travel around Australia for 12 months), and at our friends for a BBQ on Saturday ... unfortunately, the willpower was non-existant!! :devil: I'm trying to pull myself back on track this week and I'm writing all my cals down again ... although I am finding it difficult. I was desperately trying to find something in my wardrobe to wear for both occasions ... something that I could actually fasten myself into!! But nothing in my wardrobe fits!! I'm even having problems finding clothes that fit to go to work in each day (seem to be rotating the same couple of pairs of trousers and sweaters ... wash 'n' wear, wash 'n' wear!!).

Looking back over the past 12months, I've probably gained around 10-14lbs!! ... No wonder nothing fits!! I was all set to go off to the Marks and Spencer sales to buy new clothes to fit me, then I thought ... What the **** am I doing?! ... if I do that, it's just another excuse for not bothering to lose weight!! I know it's possible ... I just don't know why I can't do it. I mean, it's not as though I'm not bothered about the way I look ... I HATE the way I look!! ... I could cry when I look at myself in the mirror ... How did this happen to me????? And it's not as though I haven't got any incentives ... Summer's just around the corner (believe it or not!!) and I so much DON'T want to spend another summer like the last X amount of years. I've got a skinny friend visiting in the summer hols and I will positively die of shame if she see's me this fat!! Nick is being supportive, he's also doing well at losing weight, so why can't I do the same?

It really struck home last night when my son, Tom, was talking to one of his friends on MSN ... they made some jokey comment about me being FAT!! ... Tom thought it was hilarious, but although I laughed about it at the time (and typed a sarcastic reply back to his friend!) it really got to me, as it's made me realize that's how others see me ... FAT! Sometimes, when I see a fat woman, I find myself thinking, "What a terrible state she looks!" or, "How could she let herself get like that!" It's so easy to kid yourself into thinking that you're not really as FAT as you are, but when you know how others see you it becomes reality. Perhaps Tom's friend has done me a favour ... I hope I can thank him in a few months time :thanks:

Well girls, sorry about all the moaning ... but thanks for listening! :)

Nichola

Congrats Dot on reaching your goal!!!!!!!!!

I went under the 18 stone barrier this weekend (I'm 251.5, if I've worked out the conversion right). I figure I've lost about 10lbs since I became ill, three weeks.

Awwww Nichola, I wish there was something I could say that would take you out of this self-destructive mode (I know how you feel I've been there plenty of times myself!). It really hurts when the kids refer to you as fat. I've been there so many times over the years, from my 6 year old niece, when I was in my early 20s commenting on how I had REALLY fat legs, to Dom the other week coming home upset because a kid in his class made up a song about me being fat.

I know it sounds silly but you need to stop looking back. Look forwards, and hopefully somewhere you'll find the strength to get where you want to be.

Hugs
Jo

Yay Jo on losing, but what a tough way for it to go. Hope you're feeling better.

And comiseration to both of you about rude kids. I'd hate to smack a kid, but that would tempt me. If I could get through my childhood without making fat jokes (and God knows of the big mouths of the world, I must be in the top ten) then I know it's possible for all the rug rats.

Hi guys! Where is everyone? How's the week going for you so far?

I've had a busy week. My grandma died on Saturday (a blessing as she's no longer in pain), and the funeral is tomorrow. I'll post properly on Friday

Hugs
Jo

Sorry for your loss, Jo. Sending good thoughts your way.

B

Jo, sorry to hear the sad news about your grandma, my thoughts are with you and your family.

Nichola :grouphug:

Jo, I have yet to get to know you yet, but I am sending you a hug regardless. I am sorry for your loss, but it is also good to hear she is no longer in pain.

:grouphug:

Jo - Hugs and prayers to you and your loved ones.

-Mari

Well, it's Friday and we've been at our new healthy eating thing (my husband and myself) for a week. I think we're doing ok, but I doubt this is going to be fast weight loss. Probably about the same as WW (but without all that pesky math ;) ).

Hope things are going well with everyone else. Jo, still thinking about you.

B

Hi Ladies!

Been MIA for a while, but have been on program, just busy.

Jo, so sorry to hear about your gran. ***Hugs***

Nichola...I say go ahead and buy yourself one outfit that fits nicely. I was doing the same thing "If I buy something that fits, then I'll quit trying to lose" but I found that when I bought something that I looked nice in, I felt much better about myself and was motivated to keep going.

I've had a pretty good week. I haven't journalled, but I've been very mindful of my choices, and I've managed to exercise three times so far. I've been having lots of trouble with my back. Had some Xrays done and there is some degeneration in one of my discs. I'm pretty sad about that as it is basically irreversable, but I'm determined to lose the weight now more than ever. It has to hurt less if I'm lighter right?

Have a Masked Ball to attend tonight. Doesn't that sound delish??? :lol I'm looking forward to avoiding the h'ors d'ouevres and the champagne (just a little) and really dancing up a storm. Still have to decide exactly what I'm going to wear, but regardless, should be grand.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Lorraine

Brandy, well done for staying on track all week with the healthy eating, keep up the good work :)

Lorraine, I took your advice and went to the M & S sale ... managed to find two pairs of trousers and a shirt in my size :) ... not exactly what I would have liked (nothing I really like suits my body shape!!) but at least they fit and I can now go to work wearing something that I feel comfortable in ... and your quite right, it does make you feel much better about yourself :) Hope you have a great time at the "Masked Ball" ... sounds very glamorous, have fun!

I weighed in yesterday and lost 2lbs ... that's the same 2lbs that I've been losing and regaining for the past few weeks so nothing to get too excited about!

Hope everone has a good weekend :)

Nichola

Hi guys,

The funeral was actually really lovely, and the sun shined all day, in a week where quite frankly we've had very little sun. I like to think it was a sign that she's finally at rest. Even the family problems we anticipated weren't quite as bad!!!

Well I weighed myself this morning and I'm another 4lbs down (247.5). I even allowed myself some birthday cake this week (my daughter was 10 on Friday.....I feel sooooooo old!!!!).

I'm finally back at uni this week, and have to confess to being a little apprehensive. I still get tired when I do things, and driving the 110 mile journey to uni and back plus hours of lectures scares me to death!!!

Congrats for all losses this week, and hugs for everyone.
Love
Jo

Jo, so pleased that your grans funeral went well and that the sun was shining down on her :grouphug: Well done on your 4lbs loss this week, that's fantastic. Good luck with getting back into the swing of things at uni :)

Lorraine, how was the masked ball and what did you end up wearing?

Hope everyone had a good weekend ... Let's hope it's a good week for us all! :)

Nichola

Jo, glad things went well and sending you good vibes for uni!

Lorraine, what Nichola said - details please!

Brandy

Hello Ladies! I haven't been getting notifications even though I'm subscribed to this thread. Grrrrrh! Because I read your posts even if I don't reply.

Congrats to Dot on reaching your goal!

Congrats to all you losers and maintainers! I'm STILL at the same weight although I have been walking the dog this week so I'm feeling a little better physically.

Nicole - I loved what you said, Well snap out of it. I'm going to use that one.

To everyone else, hope you are doing well.

Take care,
Raff

First off, Jo - I'm happy that your ceremony was so lovely, as it helps the family and is a good way to remember all of the happy memories shared. **hugs** :grouphug:

Brandy and Nichola - Congrats on your losses! You gals are doing superbly!

Hi and good vibes to every one else on keeping up the good work.

As for me, this has been a bad couple of weeks. I haven't really talked about it, but it's really the first time I've completely fallen off the wagon. I haven't gained anything, and I think it's because overall, I still seem to good foods and am still keeping my running up. But I just have not feel very sturdy....at all. I'll pack myself healthy lunches and snacks and then run across the street to the little mini mart and get something. The Valentine's day candy is out in my office, and no matter what I think to myself, by the end of the day I've eaten more pieces than I care to count. I just don't know what's going on. I know that I'm not hungry. I know that I really don't want the junk food overall......but I just eat it. Even as I reach for it, I think, "I don't want this...I know I don't...." and then I EAT IT!!!

I'm just really frustrated. Luckily my Shape magazine came in the mail yesterday, so I'm determined.....I'm just feeling discouraged.

Happy Tuesday,
-Mari

Brandy, well done for maintaining your weight and walking the dog ... doing some exercise and feeling physically better, but not losing, is still a great achievement ... keep up the good work :)

Mari, sorry to hear you've been a bit off track lately but the fact that you haven't gained shows that you've been doing something right! :)

Unfortunately, I've been having problems (again!) this week ... TOM arrived and the staff room has been full of goodies!! :mad: Every time it's someone's birthday they bring in lots of choccies, cakes, cookies, etc. Normally I'm pretty good at avoiding them, but this week I've had such huge cravings for all the sugary stuff :( I just know I've blown it again for yet another week :devil:

Nichola

If sneezing burned calories I would be at my goal weight by now :stars: The allergy thing is working me over.

Nichola, it's so hard to get out of that "one thing off plan = blown it" mentality but I think it's got to be a huge step towards permanent weight loss. I know I tend to be the same way but then I think - there are always going to be birthday parties, nights out, holiday weekends, etc and I've either got to learn to say no some of the time or think of them as just ONE tiny bit of much bigger picture - or I'll never get anywhere.


Mari, I've been riding the not losing/just barely not gaining line myself for a while. I'm trying to think of it as down time before the next big push. I haven't gained, maybe I just need a little while to "rest" before I get going again in a BIG way. I think today is the day. How about you?

Hi Raff, ya doggie walker you!

B

Thank you guys for your encouragement.

Brandy - maybe it's something in the air, but I totally think today is the day. I have felt much better about eating, I packed myself a reasonable and healthy lunch and I don't feel like stuffing my face. Progress! I'd been feeling like a bottomless pit lately! I would pack myself way more than my regular amount of food for lunch and I would just eat and eat and eat. All. Day. Long. Then I could not contain my willpower and I'd run across the street and get some pretzels or something. I mean I wasn't eating BAD food, I was just eating ALL THE TIME! But you're right, B, today is the day!

Happy Thursday and Happy Valentine's Day to all!
-Mari

Mari, we must've been on the same wavelength because I've been JUST the same. Not bad choices, just bottomless! And today it's like I've turned a corner. Yay for us!

Brandy

So great to see you two getting back on track again.

Like Raff I haven't been getting notifications. Grrrrrrrrr.

Anyway, I'm doing ok, TOM this week so my weight has gone up slightly/feel bloated. Oh well, nothing I can't handle. A friend sent me a bar of diabetic chocolate this week (great timing!!!). It was nice, just not 'as' nice. I'm actually missing hot chocolate more than chocolate itself...I never was much of a coffee drinker before. Still, not a lot I can do about it.

Take care
Jo

Jo, could you have diabetic hot chocolate or sugar free or something? If you can't find it, I probably can (the sugar and carb free craze is HUGE here) and I'd be more than happy to send you some!

Brandy

Hi Girls,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ... Anyone doing anything special with your loved one???? :)

Can't believe that the weekend is here again already! This past week has flown by for me ... it was a bad week so I'm grateful that it's over with!! Nothing much to report ... stayed the same this week weight-wise which was very surprising considering the kind of week that I've had ... TOM and all the bad choices to go with it!! :o I went to do my weekly shop yesterday and made sure that I only put healthy stuff in the trolley ... along with this months copy of a slimming magazine ... I need some motivation!!

Hope next week is better than last week!! Have a great weekend everyone :)

Nichola

Hi guys! Happy Valentine's Day. I just got a notification from 3FC re this forum. What's up with that?

I'm ok. I've been exercising every day. Walking, that is. The weather has been milder so I was able to peak my nose out the door and then get out.

Well got to run off! Hope everyone is well.

Take care and stay well,
Raff

Hi guys! Hope everyone had a great V-Day weekend!

Raff, you go on what walking thing! I need to get myself in gear! It's funny how sometimes, it seems like I can at least do WATP tapes five days a week for weeks on end, and other times I just can't get going. Guess which phase I'm in now?

Nichola, hope you're off to a great new start!

Brandy

Hi Girls,

Hope you all had a great weekend ... where is everyone???

Brandy, I'm inclined to agree with you ... I just can't seem to get myself going as far as exercise is concerned ... perhaps we both need to take lessons from Raff! If I could just motivate myself to take the dog for a 30mins walk each day ... but do I? ... No, it's just a quick whizz outside to do what she's gotta do and the longer walks are left up to hubby!! Problem is, I feel so tired when I get home from work and just want to collapse on the sofa with a coffee and a magazine!! Hubby keeps telling me I'd feel much better if I did more exercise (I now it's true!) ... but it's just getting the motivation to do it that's the problem!! :o

On a more positive note, I've managed to muster up some motivation as far as getting back on track is concerned. I spent the weekend browsing slimming magazines ... which all kept reminding me that summer is around the corner!! The weather has changed in HK over the past few days ... the sun is shining, the sky is blue and it's about 20'c ... beautiful! :cool: It certainly makes me feel happier and more determined to do something about my weight problem. I don't want to go through another hot, humid, sticky summer in Hong Kong feeling the way I've felt before. If I'm going to do something about it, I've got to make a start now, or it really will be too late, and I'll be feeling miserable and uncomfortable all summer ... yet again!!

If anyone can send any motivation my way regarding exercise, please do!! :D

Nichola

Summer...summer? I know I've heard of it, but I can't quite remember what it is...I'll have to Google it.

It's like 21F here today or something. It's cold INSIDE.

I know I should type something about dieting now, but it's just too cold. I can't think.

Brandy

Hi All! It snowed for about 60 seconds just now. The snowflakes were so tiny that they melted before hitting the ground. No one told me we were excepting snow so I checked weather.com and sure as s*hit we are getting snow tomorrow. Maybe what I saw today was a little preview of what is to come. :)

I exercised again today - thank God. Have to do it while I have the incentive. Nothing major, just put on some dance mixes and shook my groove thing for 25 minutes. :lol: Not a pretty sight!

Well hope everyone is doing well. Maybe we can set some short goals for the spring or summer? Anyone interested? Let me know.

Take care,
Raff

Hi all...

Well, what a crazy, oh, 10 days it has been. Shortly after I posted about the Masked Ball, my back went into spasm and I spent the evening flat on my back in bed. Went to the hospital then next day (had to CRAWL down the sidewalk and over the snowbank to get to the car..OMG) They gave me muscle relaxants and pain killers, plus a shot of Morphine and Valium and sent me home. The next day dh and I decided that I needed someone to help take care of DS as I wasn't able and dh had to work, so we made a speedy and painful trip 3hours to my mom's. I went to the Dr. again on Tuesday and she gave me some anti inflamitories and Tylenol 3s. That worked much better for me, and by thursday I could walk for short periods on my own. I had a massage to loosen the muscles and now I'm back at home and relatively upright. I have to work tonight, so I hope all will be well.

So I have no details on the ball as I didn't go. How much does that suck? I paid $100 bucks to go too, with, of course, no refund. Oh well.

Lorraine

Lorraine, so sorry to hear about your back problems, I thought it was strange that you hadn't replied to our questions re the masked ball ... take care at work and don't overdo it!

Raff & Brandy, I don't envy you both with the cold weather and snow ... now what's that? :lol: ... I'll try to send you a bit of Hong Kong weather in a day or two :cool: Wonder why it is that people never feel like 'dieting' when the weather's cold ... after all, we've got the SUMMER just around the corner!!!! :yikes:

Raff, well done on the dance exercise! :) I'm definitely up for setting some weight loss goals for spring/summer. How about losing so many pounds by Easter for starters, Good Friday 9th April. That's just 7 weeks away. We could each state how many pounds we would realistically like to lose by then and post our results each week. Then, when we reach that goal (which of course we will!), we can extend the date and so on. Anyone else interested? ... The more the merrier! :hat: :dance: :dancer:

Nichola

I see 7 pounds in 7 weeks for me.

Lorraine - Hope you are feeling better!

Since I am onto this maintaining kick (b/c I don't think I can lose without toning or upping the exercise at this point) can I join, but with an exercise (as opposed to lbs) goal?

I'm thinking 100 sit-ups 5 days a week....and I do weeks Mon through Sunday.

So that's my goal! And I'm gonna do week by week counts on my signature to keep it up....Let's all try and monitor this so we can get motivated with our progress! Good thinking, Nichola! I'm in!

-Mari

P.S. I needed a jump start, so this rocks!

This is so much fun! Almost as much as the Sex & The City wagers I've been placing. :lol: Ok, here's mine: by Sunday, March 27 I want to be 10lbs lighter.
I think that's a good goal.

Lorraine - hope you're feeling better.

Nichola - We didn't get any snow. It passed us by. It was sunny and mild today. Go figure.

Mari - Good to see you're on the exercise wagon also. I didn't exercise today because I had a long day sitting my friend's baby. Tomorrow morning I'll dancerise for 30 min and then maybe walk the dog later.

Brandy, Jo and everyone else - hope you are doing well.

Take care,
Raff

Ok girls, looks like we're going for it :cb: I'll be weighing-in tomorrow (Friday) and my goal is to lose 10lbs by 9th April (Good Friday) ... Let's call this our 'Easter Challenge' ... is that ok with everyone? Good luck to us all! :) ... We can do it!!

Mari, I think this is the jump start that I needed too. :)... at least I hope it is!!

Raff, glad you didn't get the snow ... didn't I tell you that I'd be sending some Hong Kong weather your way? :cool:

Nichola

Oh Nichola! You are so daring to put the weekly stats on your signature. I should be as good as you.

Sheesh.....I wondered why it'd gone quiet....no notifications...and here I am and there's loads of posts.

Lorraine, sorry to hear about your back, try and take it easy.

Nichola, sounds fab, count me in for the challenge, I'll weigh in the morning, although it'll not be good, my TOM never turned up, so I'm mega bloated, and I know I've gained. I shall aim for 10lbs in the 7 weeks too.

Oooooh snow......am I the only one who loves snow and wishes I lived somewhere where there was lots???? A friend sent me photos of the view outside his house in Nova Scotia...I wanted to move there and then! We had about an eighth of an inch one day this winter, and that's it!

I finally saw the doc yesterday. I had to see the diabetes nurse so many times before they would let me see the doc (plus they had to get the tests done...the joys of a national health service). Apparently I have high cholesterol as well now, although it's a side effect of the diabetes. My meds weren't working as well as they should, so I'm on a higher dose, and have to take meds to lower my cholesterol too. I'll be rattling at this rate!!!!!!!

I am feeling better though, although seem to be permanently tired, but I'm struggling to play catch-up at uni, which isn't easy when my eyes are still a bit iffy.

I found an Atkins website in the UK and ordered some of the sugar free hot chocolate. It's a very funny colour but drinkable, and I think I could get used to it!

Anyway, my bed is calling me, I'll post my weight tomorrow.

Night all
Jo

Right, my weight is 251.5. I'm in.

Hi Girls,

Well, today's the day ... the start of the 'Easter Challenge' :) I weighed-in at 174.5lbs, which is 1.5lbs up on last week!! I had a really bad week last week and managed to stay the same ... I should have know it would catch up with me eventually!!! :mad:

Jo, glad that you're joining us on the challenge :)

Good luck to everyone, let's hope we all have a brilliant week! :)

Hooray! I am so excited to be on this bandwagon with you gals! This is definitely so much motivation and we are going to be some hot chickies this summer!

I have also decided that b/c lent starts next Wednesday, I am giving up candy, chocolate and hydrogenated oils....which is basically all crackers, cookies (even the lowfat/nonfat stuff has it) and chips and stuff like that. This is going to be really hard, I think I'm in over my head, but I'm gonna try my best! I chose that b/c I read an article and they were discussing how terrible they are for your body b/c you don't have the enzymes to break it down, so it just absorbs into your body..... We'll see!

So there we go! I'll post my results on my signature!

Have a wonderful weekend, ladies. Thank you for being such a source of inspiration and motivation, I really appreciate it!
-Mari

Ok I'll move my goal date to Easter. And what day would that be?

Hi Guys!

I weigh in at WW tomorrow morning, so I'll post then.

Lorraine

Just thought I'd check to see how everyone's doing so far this week ... but no posts :( I'm struggling to stay completely on track, but each time I fall off, I pick myself up and start again, don't know if this will help :?:

Lorraine, how did the weigh-in go at WW?

Nichola

Hi y'all!

Sorry I haven't been keeping up! I don't know where my brain has been!

Ok, to make sure I have this challenge correctly - THIS week is the first week? I'm all in. I'm going to say two pounds a week (average) because first, it's my TOM so I'm up and will show a woosh next weigh in and second, I have a lot to lose. Two pounds a week should be realistic for me. YAY! I'm so excited!

I'm going to update my sig and my journal and my weigh in days will be Monday because that's just easiest for me.

I'm so glad you guys are up for this! I feel so motivated!

Hi Ladies!

So I had to change my foods that I'm giving up....I originally had no hydrogenated oils, but it's in everything, including super-healthy stuff. Also it is found in some things, but it is the last ingredient and the labels say that it is a "trivial amount." It turned out to be unrealistic, so instead I made it no chips, crackers, cookies, candy or chocolate......so just say NO to the 5 C's!

It's going well this week, I'm super excited although have not done one single sit-up, which means I have to do 100 every single day for the rest of the week to meet my goal.

Nichola - stay on track, girl! I'll be more consistent with the posts, I've just been super busy at work.

Brandy - awesome goal!

How's everyone else doing???

-Mari

P.S. I added my 3FC journal profile as my homepage....so if you want to read my journal comments on the Easter challenge, click my name and then click my homepage!

Hi All!

Checking in to say I lost zero (0) lbs this week. Zippo. Nada. Niente. My weigh-in on Sunday morning so I still have another week to try again.

Good luck to you all!

Love,
Raff

Mari, I try to avoid hydrogenated oils as well and they ARE in everything! Good luck with alll those sit ups!

Raff, sorry about the zero so far but you know the dull old advice - if you keep up your hard work, the weight will come off. Sunday is still several days away so you've lots of time!

As for me, I'm freezing and someone is coming up to fix my heater so I must go move furniture now. Lovely.

Brandy

Hi ladies!

Just wanted to see how you all were fairing on this first week of the challenge. Hope everyone is feeling motivated!

I've done pretty well, been doing my sit-ups and I am SO SORE!!!! It has been pouring rain and hailing this week, so I've been struggling with being inside the house and not snacking all damn day....but so far so good.

Also, people keep bringing cookies into all of our staff meetings....what are they trying to do to me!?!?!?

Hope everyone has a great weekend and keep it up!

-Mari

Hi Mari! And everyone else!

Mari, congrats on all those sit ups!

Jo, just realize we're at the same start weight - cool!

I think I've lost right at my two pounds for this week - and two days yet to go till it's "official" so maybe I'll be able to eek out a bonus half pound.

We finally made reservations for our vaca in September - it seems soooo far away, and yet so close in terms of how much time I have to lose weight. Nineteen year old Barbie is still planning to attend. ACK! Also, we have a trip in May involving weddings and a few dress-up things and all I can think is how I am sick unto death of trying to find attractive fat clothes.

And on that happy note, hope you all have a great weekend!

B

Hi Girls,

Well done to all of you who have managed to stay on track for the Easter Challenge :bravo:

Amazingly I have lost 2lbs this week ... expected a gain so I'm obviously very pleased indeed :) It's given me the incentive to try harder this week.

Keep up the good work everyone.

Nichola

Well I've just weighed in at 249, so a 2.5 drop for me....although given past history it'll go up again this week!!!!

Good luck everyone!
Jo

I weighed myself this morning and I gained 7lbs. :( What a setback! I changed my signature to reflect it.

Congrats to Nichola and Jo on your loss!

Everyone else keep up the good work with the food and exercising and someone needs to tell me when Easter is!

Take care,
Raff

Jo, well done on your loss :cp:

Raff, sorry to hear about your gain ... the best advice I can give is to try to work out why it happened and put it down to experience, then put it behind you and start afresh this week. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to let it get to you, brush it under the carpet and forget about it. BTW, Good Friday is on 9th April, and Easter Monday is 12th April ... Still 6 weeks to go, so time enough to get back on track and shift some pounds ... Good Luck! :)

Nichola

Thanks for the positive reinforcement Nichola! I needed it. :)

Raff, I would like to direct you to your stats - you are still down 36 pounds which is mighty impressive. And also, ditto everything Nichola said!

Congrats losers!

And I need to change my stats. I did lose my two.

Brandy

Heloooooo out there!

I could use some inspiration, guys! I need someone to pull me together and make me really fired up about weight loss! SOMEBODY GIVE ME A PEP TALK!

Brandy

Brandy, girl, you're doing great! You lost your 2 lbs for last week....now just this week to work on. Don't think about 6 weeks, think just one. All the focus is this week, you have plenty of time to concern yourself with the rest of 'em.

So this week, what are you going to do? You're going to eat enough food to feel satiated, but only GOOD FOOD. Remember your portions and remember your snacks. You're going to get some physical activity in there too, because you remember how much better you feel when you've moved off the couch.

Why are you going to eat well and exercise? Because you'll feel better! Because you are going to work it during your vacations! You're going to be a hottie! You're going to love shopping for outfits to wear because you met your Easter goal and lost that weight and you deserve it! You're going to get those compliments that always feel good! But most of all, you're going to compliment yourself, because you'll know how hard you worked!

Keep it up!
-Mari

P.S. That was as much a pep talk for me as for you! :p

Thanks Mari! Just reading your enthusiastic post has made me feel much better. And I think the GOOD FOOD hint was timely. We have been lazy with the shopping so I've been making do with what's here. I feel icky. I'm not a big believer in fasting or even in "cleansing" diets but sometimes ya just feel yucky on the inside - the idea of a water/fruit/veg fast sounds appealing to me! Just clean me out and start me over! Not that I will, but it does sound nice.

In the meantime, I'm going to have to get myself to the grocery and stock up on real food.

Thanks so much for the pep talk!!!

B

Okay, spreading the love around here :grouphug: sending my positive vibes to you all. And thanks a bunch for the encouraging words.

Love you all!
Raff

Hi Girls,

Hope you all had a good week :) I feel like I've had a pretty good week as far as my food intake is concerned, but unfortunately I'm up 1.5lbs :( ... However, TOM has arrived and I'm feeling a bit like a beached whale right now so I'm putting the gain down to fluid retention ... hope I'm right!! :o Either way I'm not letting it get to me and I'll continue doing what I'm doing and will hopefully see a loss next week.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nichola

I'm going to go out on a limb and post my weight early - I'm the same as last week. Not worried as we've done a lot of eating out this week (due to the fact that we are both too lazy to go shopping). Will NOT be making that mistake THIS week.

B

Whew. I've been MIA I tell ya. I had my weigh in and was down 2.4, so I'm at 247.8. But of course, that was the 21st of Feb. I have been so busy with work that I haven't had a chance to make it to a meeting. So I'll keep you all posted.

Looks like everyone is doing well. Keep it up guys!
Lorraine

Oh Lorraine, that's wonderful! Go you!

B

I posted this morning, but it's disappeared :?:

I weighed myself this morning, and I have lost 1lb. That means I am down to 248.

Right, back to my very boring essay on constitutional reform :yikes: :write:

later,
Jo :encore:

Congrats to everyone who made their losses and are keeping up the challenge! Even if this week was not the best (as it wasn't for me) let's keep up the good spirits!

I had a so-so week....I didn't eat any junk, but I only managed 3 sets of sit-ups instead of 5. I just had so much stuff to do most weeknights....and frankly, the weather was just too pretty this weekend to be indoors! Does playing frisbee for about 2 hours this weekend count????? Please?????

Have wonderful week 3, ladies!
-Mari

Jo, congratulations!

Mari, why shouldn't frisbee count?!?! OF COURSE it counts!

I'm in great diet-related spirits. I just spent huge amounts of time "perfecting" my own little WW daily journal thingie in Word so I can print them out as I go - and it's very personalized to me and has all kinds of extraneous info. AND I've WATPed.

Have a great week everyone!!!

B

Hi All! I weighed myself on Sunday and am still at 300. :( What an ugly number - 160 sounds so much better.

Congrats to Jo and Lorraine! And hopefully maintainers will see results next week.

Overall I think we're doing great. We're all in the right place with our foodplans and exercising, now if we could just shut our pie-holes for a bit.... :lol:

Well good luck during the week. I'll be thinking of you all.

Take care,
Raff

Hi Raff! I know what you mean about ugly numbers. I think 147 just looks so much nicer than 247. Gee. Only 100 pounds to go. Is that all :faint:

Brandy

Does anyone have a link to Ali's site? I'm just wondering if she's updated or if her site partner has heard from her. I've changed computers since the last time she posted so I don't have it marked in my favorites anymore.

Also - Kelly and Danielle? Where are you guys?

Brandy

I have it somewhere, and I did check, but she's not added anything since May last year, or whenever it was she reached goal.

I even did a search for her user name on other sites, and came up blank.

Very worrying.

hello ladies!

Let's keep up the good work! I'm having problems doing my sit-ups in an orderly fashion, mostly because I'm tired after my evening runs. I really should just get up 5 min. earlier and do them in the mornings...I'll try it tomorrow.

I hear you about ugly numbers....but just focus and you gals will be there before you know it....just don't lose faith! It's so easy to feel down on numbers....but remember that numbers are numbers, and just think of all the effort you've put in!

I wanted to also let you guys know that I am running my first organized event on Sunday the 28th of this month. It's a 12K with a beautiful course that goes across the Golden Gate Bridge...I'm very excited! (and nervous! I hope I can hang!)

Have a wonderful weekend! I'm keeping my fingers crossed I don't encounter any junk food on my mini-trip this weekend!

Thank you always for your wonderful motivation and good vibes! They mean a lot to me.

-Mari

Mari, your running event - that's so exciting! You should post pics for us!

Jo, it worries me that Ali just disappeared. Hope everything is ok.

How are we all doing on our challenge?

B

Hi Girls,

How's everyone doing on the challenge? I'm pleased to say that I'm back down to 172.5lbs ... but seem to moving nowhere fast!!! :o Hoping to have a better week this week ... somehow don't think I'm going to reach my goal of 10lbs by Easter ... but I guess anythings better than nothing, right? Still, who knows, there's still 4 weeks to go so I suppose it's still possible if I set my mind to it!! :)

I've also been searching for Ali's site, but can't find it ... it really is weird that she just stopped posting, especially after she said she would still be around to help her maintain after reaching her goal ... I can't believe she just disappeard, hope everything's ok. :?:

I'm feeling excited today ... going to see David Bowie in concert tonight ... it's his last gig of his world tour so should be pretty good! :cb: :dance: :dancer: :cp:

Nichola

It is such a worry that she'd just disappear like that.

This is the website: http://www.angelfire.com/al3/hillaryandali/

I just don't know what to think.


I weighed myself this morning, with a loss of a big fat ZERO. Having said that, I'm not in the slightest bit surprised as I wasn't restrained this week.

Have a great time Nichola at the concert, I'm not a Bowie fan but I should imagine he's a top class performer.

Good luck to everyone this week.
Love
Jo

Jo, the concert was great. I'm not a big Bowie fan but Nick was into him in a big way years ago and really wanted to go and see him. I'm glad I went along too ... it was a first class act.

I checked out Ali's website and noticed that her email addy is on there ... has anyone tried to email her lately?

Hope everyone has a good week. :)

Nichola

I e-mailed her hotmail addy yesterday, from her artwork website (it doesn't look like anything has been done with that site either). Will have to wait and see if I get a reply. :(

So the search for Ali is still on. Hope we get (good) news of her soon!

I weighed in this morning - lost the two pounds I should have lost the week before and the one from last week so I'm only one pound behind where I should be - I should be able to catch up by the end!

Brandy

Brandy, well done on the loss ... you're 1 pound behind, but still ahead of me!!! :o :lol: ... let's hope we can both do some catching up :)

Nichola

Hi Guys! Just a short drop in. I'm dead tired and it's going to be a long week. DH is swamped at work, and is grumpy as all get out. Now I know how he must feel most of the time, as usually the tables are turned and I'm the grumpy one! Not much to report on the weight loss front except that I'm trying hard this week to stay OP. In fact, I'm going to bake my breakfast cookies for tomorrow morning right now. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Good for you Mari on the run! I need an "official" event like that to help me out. Need to get my back sorted out first.

Hi everyone else! Hope all is well!
Lorraine

Lorraine, will need more details on this b'fast cookie!

Nichola, I'm sure we'll both catch up by the end.

And did you notice our smiley guys are wearing hats???

Recipe is at: http://www.pcgirl.net/recipes/archives/000729.html

I didn't use the vanilla, or the butter imitation stuff, and all turned out fine. Will try the banana nut next I think.

Lorraine (Happy St. Patrick's Day! :) )

Those sound great - thanks for the link.

Right now I have these friggin apple bananas (harry and david, some kind of hybrid - they look like bananas but are supposed to have an appley/spicy taste?) that just WILL NOT TURN YELLOW. I've had them for a week and they are as green as the day is long. The info that came with them says they should take "a few days" to turn. A few days, a few weeks. I guess it's all the same. Anyway, the point is, they sent a LOT of them and that site has a lot of good looking banana recipies!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've kind of been stressing to keep up with healthy eating and exercising for the last two weeks b/c there's been a lot of stuff going on that had kept me out of the house.

I had a big 3-day weekend in LA when I visited my parents and they I've had 2 birthday outings for friends, a St. Pat's Day outing, and I have another b-day outing this weekend plus a day out with my Boy's co-workers. And I have to run the 12K on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aughhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

This is just been a crazy 2 weeks trying to make room for everything and not eat everything present at the event! I've been doing very well though, just a lot of focusing. Yesterday we went to Pasta Pomodoro (which is a chain, so you might have heard of it) and I didn't eat any of the greasy garlic bread or the pesto/oil dip and I ordered the Healthy Fish dish, which has light oils, no cheese and is grilled salmon on light pasta with tomatoes. It was very good and I stopped when I was full! Gosh, it feels so good to exude the self-control I know is in me somewhere but often lost!

Anyway, good luck to everyone on keeping up their goals this week! The cookies sound good, I will for sure try them soon! And here's to bananas turning yellow!!!!! :cb: :cb:

-Mari

Mari, congratulations on keeping up with your healthy habits in the midst of all that's going on. It's hard, isn't it? I think you're doing great! It's real life and there's ALWAYS going to be real life - we just have to learn to "diet" through it. I'm working on that myself.

And best of luck with your 12K!!!

So far I have lost diddly this week. Diddly squat. Harumph. Maybe I'll have a big woosh over the weekend :crossed:

Hi Girls,

Well done to those of you who have lost this week. Unfortunately, I've lost zilch, zero, nowt!! :( ... Not making any excuses ... just haven't been in the right frame of mind to stay on plan. I've had such a terrible week and have consoled myself with you know what! :eating2: :mcd: :corn: :burger: :jeno: :cheese: :cookie: :ink: Nick's having a really tough time at work right now and has been very stressed and depressed ... which has made me very stressed and depressed!! And on top of that, my best friend since we both arrived in Hong Kong three years ago, left yesterday to relocate in New Zealand ... I spent last night in tears :cry: ... Evertime Nick asked me if I was ok, I started to blubber again!! Her daughter was also my daughter's best friend which means Sophie's feeling pretty sad right now too. Living overseas and having no family around means you get very close and attached to some people ... she was one of the best friends I've ever had and I'm missing her already ... I feel like I've had my right arm cut off ... now that should count for a few pounds right?? :lol3:

Sorry for such a depressing post ... I'm going to pull myself together now and look on the bright side ... life ain't so bad ... I get to go to New Zealand one day for hols ... and they left us a little something behind to remember them ... a hamster!!!! Today is going to be spent scouring Hong Kong for a pet shop that sells hamster supplies ... not an easy task!! :rolleyes:

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Nichola

Oh Nichola, I feel for ya! I swear every time I've made a friend here, she's moved back to wherever she's come from and I'm on my own again :( It sucks! So I'm sending you lots of feel better vibes :flow1: That's what a feel better vibe would look like, right?

As for me, I've been OP all week but I've lost not a bit :rolleyes: So next week (starting Monday) I'm going to try the Wendie variation of WW. I have noticed myself that when I vary how much I eat over the week I always lose, with this I would plan in advance which days to eat more. And I'm willing to tweak it a bit. I'm also going to finally start exercising again :strong: Maybe a little more of that and this :tread: and I'll have myself one of these :goodscale again.

I'm not terribly discouraged. I mean, at least I'm trying and I'm not miserable so the results will come eventually, right? RIGHT?

Nichola, feel better :grouphug:

Brandy, thanks for sending the good vibes ... I'm feeling much better today ... just needed to vent and get it all out of my system :)

I feel ready to take the bull by the horns, as the saying goes, and get back on track, so hopefully I might have a loss to report next weigh-in :^: :crossed:

Good luck to everyone for a good week :)

Nichola

Hey ladies!

Wow! Been a while since I posted. Sorry about that!

Weighed in on Saturday and was down one more pound. Slowly but surely I guess. At this rate, I should be at goal in about 9 years. Fantastic. :lol I'm going to do my best to speed up the rate of loss to 1 lb/week versus 1 lb. /month.

Started taking a vitamin supplement and some greens powder everyday along with a shot of Udo's oil and I'm feeling a lot more energetic and alert. Here's to that keeping up!

Nichola...so hard to "lose" friends. You know they're still friends, but when they are so far away, it's really hard to keep in touch, isn' it? ****hug****

Well...I need to dash to bed or I'll start to eat. I'll say hi to the rest of you with a ****hug**** and a ****wave****.

Lorraine

Hi Girls,

Well, I've had a pretty traumatic weekend ... apart from my friend leaving HK on Friday which was very emotional, I had a bit of a disaster yesterday!! ... Remember I said my friends daughter had given her hamster to Sophie when she left? ... Can you believe it died on Sunday morning?!!!! :eek: Needless to say, Sophie was absolutely devastated ... not only has she lost her best friend, she's now lost the hamster. I couldn't believe it. The hammy was already about 2 years old though and I said to my friend that we probably would'nt have it for long ... but I didn't expect it to be only 5 days!!! I looked in the cage yesterday morning and she was outside her little house shaking and cold ... I'd seen the signs before as I'd had several hammy's myself when I was younger. Anyway, took her off to the vet and the poor little thing died just as we arrived. Vet confirmed it was natural causes thank goodness, as I was thinking it was something we'd done ... bit of a coincidence that we'd only had her for 5 days then she died! Sophie was inconsolable :cry: and I was in quite a state myself.

Anyway, it just so happens that someone I know at school it trying to find new homes for two hamsters. I'll give you one guess who's going to have them ... Sophie & Tom can both have one each now :) Sophie's cheered up a bit thank goodness, but I'm left wondering why the **** I let myself in for this in the first place?! :dunno: Guess I'm a bit of a sucker! :rolleyes: :)

Good news is I'm back on track as of today ... just been a bought yet another slimming magazine to get some inspiration, so I'm off to get a coffee and to put my feet up for half an hour to read the success stories ... if they can do it so can we!! :)

Nichola

Happy Monday! Look at all the cute smilies you guys are using! I'll have to make sure and do a good job to make my post equally cheery! :D

Nichola - I'm so sorry that you had a traumatic week. I also moved up on my own with no friends or family nearby, so I feel you. And so sorry about the hamster! But am glad that it's getting resolved and Sophie is doing better. Just hang in there and I'm sure you'll make more friends to be close to....not to mention now you'll get to visit New Zealand! :flow1: Just trying to see the brighter side of it all!

Lorraine - A pound is a pound is a pound! Good job, that's one less to worry about, so don't gloss it over! It's an accomplishment! :bravo:

Brandy - Good job on staying OP! That's the hardest to do when you don't see immediate results, so I think you should be proud! It'll pay off in the long run! :yes:

Well I had my 12K yesterday and my goal was to simply run the whole time, no matter how slow. I was really nervous about it, especially because I don't run outside very much. It was so funny b/c I had the most horrible nightmares the whole night before! :dizzy: The funniest one was where I dreamt I was running in these big floppy clown shoes! The mind is a funny thing!

Anyway, I did better than that! I ran the whole thing (quite hilly and difficult at times, actually) at just under a 9-minute mile pace...so I finished the 12K in 67 min! I was very excited! My legs are extremely sore today, but it's such a feeling of satisfaction that I don't even care! :sunny: Oh and the course was absolutely breathtaking!

Have a wonderful day, ladies!
-Mari

Ok, my o-fficial weigh in: exactly the same. So it looks like I'm on some kind of every-other-week pattern. No fear! That's better than nothing!

Mari, you running girl you :tread: (closest I could find to a running smiley)! We are so proud! YAY!!! I'm so impressed!

Nichola, poor hammy - and poor Sophie and Nichola! That is a traumatic weekend :sorry: but how lucky you've found two more that need homes.

Lorraine, congrats on the :goodscale - but I'm right there with you. Slooooow. Which, as always, is better than gaining!

Let's hope this is a losing week :balloons:

Mari, well done on the run ... I'm very, VERY impressed!! :bravo: :cp: You are a fine example for us all to look up to :)

Brandy, well done for staying on track ... we all know how difficult it is (me included!!) but I'm sure if we persevere we'll get there in the end :)

Took possession of the two hammy's this afternoon ... the dog's gone crazy! :crazy: ... I'm going to have to keep a close eye on that one!! One normal hamster, one tiddly little Russian hamster ... now I can see we're gonna have arguments over who gets which one!! :rolleyes: Think we'll be changing their names though ... one's called Bart and the others called Fluff- Bucket!! Their a bit smelly so I'm off to give their cages a good scrub for the first time ... then it's over to the kids!! ... Yeah, right!!

Nichola

Yay for new hammies! Good luck! I wonder if our dog would even notice them?

I just weighed myself this morning and I'm down so I'm going to update my WI for this week. I know, it's cheating, but I don't care. It's only two days late. I think it's the weight I SHOULD have lost last week anyway ;)

Brandy

Hey All! I haven't been getting notifications so I thought the posts may have died down a bit, but as I now see they haven't which I'm happy to see. :)

I wan't to congratulate all the losers and maintainers, including myself. I haven't the courage to get on the scale since my last big gain so I'm going to wait until Sunday to weigh-in. There is still some time before the Easter challenge ends for me to lose a couple of lbs - at least the seven that I've gained.

Things are basically ok with me. I'm trying to place Lillo in a foster home in upstate New York. Long story - don't want to get into it otherwise I'll start bawling.

I've been babysitting from time to time for my friend so that and OA has been keeping me busy.

Well good luck to everyone this week. Maybe we all be a lb lighter! :hat:

Take care,
Raff

Good luck with your weigh in on Sunday, Raff! How are things going with OA? There's a book out now about a woman who lost a large amount of weight with OA - it's not just about OA but the whole weight loss thing and the before v after conflicts. If I can ever remember the friggin title, I'm going to grab a copy. I read a small bit in a magazine, now ask me if I can remember which one...

And good luck with Lilo. If it's just not working, finding a foster home/breed rescue is best for everyone. It hurts to try so hard and not be the perfect fit (we went through this with a shih tzu female a year ago and it was so hard because she was such a doll but she and our other dog just didn't fit. She now is the world's second most spoiled shih tzu - to a family 1200 miles away from where she started out! I really think she was placed with us so that we could get her with these people because they are just perfect for each other) but breed rescues are so very very careful when screening new families, they will find the perfect fit. Big hugs to you.

Hi Girls,

How are you all doing? Well, I'm afraid that I've not weighed in this week ... had an extremely busy weekend ... It was the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens which runs from Friday-Sunday, all day every day. It's a really big event here with teams competing from all around the world. It's a fantastic weekend ... even if you're not into rugby! Therefore, my whole weekend has consisted of more unhealthy fast food than you could ever possibly imagine ... and way too much beer!! :o And what made the event even more special was that England won the cup for the third year running! :cp: :bravo: :cb: :hat: :dancer: :cheer: :cheers:

I'll try to be good for the rest of the week and weigh-in on Friday as usual.

Nichola

Nichola, sounds like you had a great weekend, weigh in or not!

I did weigh in and I'm the same as last week - 244 (my cheating mid-week weigh in last week was 244 so I counted it) but as I'm feeling puffy and it's getting near TOM, I'm happy not to have gained. Plus, I am - believe it or not - kinda buzzed to actually be in the lower 240s! I am totally focused on 239!

Hey guys!

Down another pound! Yay!.. Next week, it's my Five pound star...only .4 away...go me.!

I'm getting all excited over the Dottie's Weight Loss Zone Conference in May. It's in a city really near me, so I'm going and I think it's going to be a BLAST! Now all I need to do is lose another 10 pounds before then. That's my next big challenge. I have 8 weeks to do it in, so totally doable I think!

Raff...sorry to hear about your pup problems, but so happy you'll be solving them. It's a hard thing to do, but I'm srue the results will be better for everyone. ****hugs****

Well, off to shop! Yehaw!

Lorraine

Lorraine - congratulations! YAY! Good job!

I had forgotten that dwlz has forums. I should go poke around. Thanks for the reminder.

I'm still the same - maybe I'll get a big woosh next week. Hope so, I could use it! I am five pounds away from my 10%!

B

Hi All! Things are going good. The agency found a foster home for Lillo so he may be leaving Sunday. I thought I had it under control but I lost it after the agency called :( This is for the best and I just need to remind myself that the way I'll feel when he's gone is the way he feels everyday when I leave the house.

I weighed myself Sunday I was up 2.5lbs. Yikes. I think I'm going to do as some OAs do, they weigh themselves once a month because of the fluctuations, then stop once they reach goal. I think the best thing for me to do is drop out of the Easter Challenge and weigh myself the 1st of every month. What do you think?

Good luck to everyone.

Love,
Raff

Hi Girls,

Raff, I'm sure you're doing the right thing with regards to Lillo ... I know it's upsetting for you, but I guess his new foster family will make a huge fuss of him and he'll be very happy, so don't feel guilty about it :grouphug:

I seem to be going backwards right now as far as this challenge is concerned :mad: Not only did I have a binge weekend, but TOM has also arrived and I've had a lot of issues at home (that I won't bore you all with!) over the past couple of weeks that have really got me down. Needless to say, I have sought comfort in food!! I feel like a complete failure ... but I'm not going to give up completely ... I've decided I'm going to join WW after the Easter hols and hopefully the support of a club will help keep me on track ... not to mention the fact that as it's so damned expensive here, Nick will literally kill me if I waste the money and don't stick to it!!!

So girls, I've decided to pull out of the challenge ... just can't get my head around it at the moment, and the more I think about it, the more depressed it makes me feel. I'm going to have a clean break from thinking about the 'D' word for a week or two, then start afresh at WW straight after Easter. Yes, I know this gives me an excuse to gain even more weight, but I'm simply not in the right frame of mind right now. Hopefully a new plan (I haven't been to WW for many years, so it'll all be pretty new to me) will give me something to focus on. And I think it'll do me good to go along each week to be weighed and to get support from other club members. I've always found it much easier in the past to stick to a diet when I've been going to a club. Hopefully it'll help me again. :crossed:

Good luck to the rest of you who are continuing with the challenge ... I hope you all reach your goals. :)

Nichola

Thanks Jo.

Hellooooooo ... is anybody there???????? What's happened ... everyone seems to have disappeared?

Nichola

I was thinking the same thing. Hope everyone is well.

Hi guys!

Raff, sorry it hasn't worked with your pup :(

This is a really quick one - parents (yes, both of them, how weird) are visiting - will be here tomorrow - have one million things to do.

As to the challenge - I feel I've done really well, even tho I've averaged 2 lbs a week, not the 3 I had hoped for. It's TOM right now so I should know in a few days exactly how I've done.

Hope things are great with all of you. Will catch up as soon as possible!

B

Brandy, glad to hear that the challenge has gone well for you :) ... Well done!! :bravo: ... I only wish that I could say the same about myself! :o Anyway, I'm looking forward to starting WW next Tuesday ... hope the fresh start will do me good :)

Good luck with your parents visiting!!

Nichola

Ok girls, are you ready for a laugh?? I was just doing a search on the web, looking for Weight Watchers recipes, when I came across a site dedictated to a set of WW recipe cards from 1974 ... absolutely hilarious!!! :lol: And the captions that go with each recipe card are even funnier!! :rofl: You've just got to take a look ... my personal favourites are the Fish "Tacos" and the Frankfurter Spectacular ... What's yours??

The website is www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

Nichola

Nichola - I just checked the site. Very funny! Guess Mackerel was big in the seventies. :D Weigh Watchers has come a long way from jellied cabbage - thank God.

Ok, so I seriously went wrong somewhere in the last week of the challenge. I did gain 4 lbs with my TOM that have not gone and I did NOT eat any differently so I'm assuming that's what's up? I KNOW I didn't GAIN four real pounds. It's just not possible. I guess I'll miraculously wake up four pounds thinner one day this week. I BETTER :mad: anyway.

I am starting a new challenge for myself - we are making a trip home for a wedding in about a month so this will just be four weeks. Anyone interested? I plan to do MUCH better this time.

Four Week Challenge: St 4/12 - 248, GOAL 2.25 lb/wk, End - 239 (my 10%)
START - 4/12 - 248
W/I 1 - 4/19 -
W/I 2 - 4/26 -
W/I 3 - 5/03 -
END - 5/10 -

I'm going to change my sig later today to the above.

Hope everything is well with all of you!

I LOVE the old WW cards. Everytime I see them I laugh till I just about cry!

Brandy

Brandy, you weren't alone going wrong during the challenge ... but at least you only went wrong during the last week (and TOM was probably to blame for that!!) ... I messed up all the way through, apart from the first week!! :o Good luck with your new 4 week challenge ... I'm sure you'll make your 10% in time for the wedding :)

Well, the day has finally come ... I'm off to Weight Watchers this evening ... Nick has said I can pay for a 20 week package, which makes it a bit cheaper, so once paid for I'll have to go. I feel rather excited about joining, it's been so long since I went to a club and I always managed to lose weight much more easily ... although never reached my final ... gave up when I was a few pounds off it, and thought I could do it by myself ... look where it got me!! :mad: This time it's going to be different ... wish me luck! :) I'll post again tomorrow and let you all know how I got on.

Hope everyone had a good Easter ... I ate plenty and drank plenty ... made a real pig of myself ... went to a Champagne Sunday Brunch on Easter Sunday with 16 friends. You can imagine what delicacies where on offer ... and of course I had to try them all!! That's all over now and it's back to being Mrs. Sensible!!

Hope everone else is doing ok ... Where are you all????

Oh, and who else is doing the WW plan? ... I'll probably be wanting info and a few ideas now and again!!

Nichola

I'm doing WW. My very best advice is - avoid all the "more food for less points" munchies and try to eat real food. It seems that the people who are eating like 48 crackers a day *just becuse they can* lose the slowest and have a hard time keeping it off. Give yourself a break if it takes you a week or two to really get going, in the beginning it's not easy to judge and sometimes people run out of points early in the day - that's what Flex are for. And earn those Activity Points - they are nice to have if you get hungry right before bedtime. Also, it seems to me that people who use the APs and FPs *as they are hungry for them* have the most consistant loss. So if you are hungry, EAT! Your Target Points are the bare minimum - you're SUPPOSED to use the Flex as you need them. I'm sure some other WWers will have plenty to add!

B

Brandy, thanks for the tips ... I'm sure they'll be most helpful :)

My meeting at WW last night went well ... I feel like I've had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders ... I've got a good feeling about this :D I weighed-in at 179lbs (which was exactly the same as my scales), so my 10% goal weight is 161lbs. Not quite sure what I want my final goal to be at the moment ... I think I'll stick with 135lbs and see how I get on (don't want to bite off more than I can chew at this stage!!). Although ideally I'd love to get down to 126lbs.

The only thing that I found a bit confusing was the fact that the club uses all the Australian WW info (Hong Kong WW is a franchise), so most of the food stuffs in the points guides etc. are Australian brands rather than UK brands, which is what I've always been used to. Also, we had the choice of being weighed in either pounds or kilos ... I chose pounds because it's what I know, but again all the info in the books refers to kilos, so I've had to convert everything back into pounds :dizzy: And the other thing I'm going to have to be careful with is that the little points finder calculator thingy uses kilojoules to convert to points ... and I keep forgetting and using calories :rollpin: ... Couldn't understand this morning why I calculated my breakfast cereal plus skim milk as 1.5pts and the ww guide said it was 2.5pts!! ... I'm going to have to watch out for that!!

Anyway, I've already spent about 4 hours this morning going through all my info (and checking out the WW websites ... UK and OZ!!), so it's about time I started to do some jobs around here!!

Hope everyone has a great week! :)

Nichola

I'm going to be out of pocket for a bit. My sixteen year old cousin was killed in a car accident last night. I don't know anything else, I'm trying to get a flight home ASAP. Please pray for our family.

Brandy, I am so very sorry to hear about your cousin, my deepest sympathy to you and your family ... Thinking of you all :grouphug:

Nichola

Brandy so sorry to hear about your cousin. All my thoughts and prayers go to you and your family.




I fell off the diet wagon yet again. Not gained any, but sure as **** not lost any. Feeling disheartened, but I'll get back on it soon, I'm sure.

Thanks guys. It was a very freaky few days. It still seems very unreal.




As to diet - I have no idea. I didn't have time to eat, that has to count for something, and I'm back on WW as of today. Jo, I guess you and I can press the restart button together.

Brandy, hope you and your family are all ok, my thoughts are with you.

Good luck with restarting your WW plan.

I went to my first weigh-in last night ... lost 2lbs ... I was hoping for more as it was my first week, but a loss is a loss, and I'm now 2lbs closer to my goal :) Managed well during the week keeping within my points, but as usual I struggled when the weekend arrived! :mad: Tried to claw back a few points over the last couple of days. This week I'll be better prepared and make sure that I plan ahead and save points throughout the week so that I can have some extras at the weekend ... but not too many!

Still wondering what has happened to everyone else????? Helllllooooooo .... is anybody out there?????? I never know it to be so quiet. Hope everyone is doing well anyway and hope to hear from you soon.

Nichola

Nichola, thanks again. And congrats on your two pounds! That's wonderful!

I am, of course, still the same. So my "challenge" is not going so well as I had hoped. But I'm back on track.

Ok, so I've now down the WATP 2 mi DVD two whole days in a row. I feel like this :strong: As soon as I finish typing this, I'm going for day three :encore:

I need to do SOMETHING to make this weight come off faster!!!

B

Brandy, good girl, I'm impressed! :) ... I should follow your example ... All week I've been telling myself that I should go walking every day ... Have I done it yet? ... NO, I'm ashamed to say! I really will have to get myself into shape. The pool at the apartments where we live has just re-opened, so I really don't have an excuse for not going swimming either! ... Except that the water's probably a wee bit too cold for me at the moment ... could do with a couple of weeks for the sun to warm it up a bit more ... excuses, excuses! I'm going to set myself a mini challenge for next week, which is to do some form of exercise, either walking or swimming, or WATP, or even just some floor exercises, for at least 3 days. Now, you've heard me say it ... so make me feel ashamed if I don't do it! :o

Have a good weekend.

Nichola

Nichola, you MUST WATP - that is an order. Ok, request? Suggestion? Someone else should be sweating it out with me!

I'm afraid my WI is going to read 248 again this week. SO DEPRESSING! I was at 242 before the whole visiting parents/Easter/crazy trip home thing happened and I'm just clawing my way back and nothing's budging! AAAAACCCCKKKKK!

Brandy, hang in there ... you've been through a traumatic time, so if you've had no loss this week it's not surprising so don't worry about it ... just put it behind you and start afresh.

I, on the other hand, have no such excuse, and I'm absolutely dreading my WI tomorrow night :o ... I'm so annoyed with myself as I've been really good all week, saved points for the weekend, went out for a meal with hubby to a Spanish restaurant on Saturday night ... tried to choose wisely :^: But then went shopping with Sophie yesterday, and she pleaded with me to take her to McD's!!! ... OMG!!! ... I was starving and my willpower was non existant ... I also had no points saved for this and have gone way over the top!! Trying to claw a few back today and tomorrow, but it's probably too late to do any good! Why, oh why, did I let this happen? ... I knew I shouldn't have it, but there was this evil little voice in my head telling me too!! :devil: Serves me right for listening to it! Wish me luck for tomorrow> :(

Nichola

Ok, I'm going to try one more time to get this to post!

Nichola, for those McD's points - you can do a couple of things which may or may not help your weigh in, but they can get you over the mental hump of "oh just screw it!" You can either pull a few points from each day left in this week, "borrow" points from next week's Flex, or get some APs. I would do a combo of all three - say, shave one point off each day remaining in the week, get three APs per day, and take the rest from next week's Flex. For me, it's not the weigh in I would worry about so much as trying to keep myself mentally on plan. Good luck! It was JUST ONE MEAL so don't let it throw you!

As for me, I am down one pound. What really buggs is that before my parents came I was at 242 which is just so darn close to the 230s! ACK!

B

(hope this posts this time!)

Hey Ladies, greetings from no-man's-land. I get so busy, I forget to check this board! Brandy and Nichola, sounds like you girls are doing your darndest to stay on track. GOOD FOR YOU! I'm waaaayyy off track and full of excuses. No time, the lady downstairs doesn't like it when I exercise, have to work so can't make it to meetings...blah blah blah. I KNOW if I sat down and organized my week, I'd be able to fit these things in. It's just doing it.

Keep up the good work guys!
Lorraine

Lorraine, good to hear from you :wave: Sorry to hear things aren't going great 'diet-wise' ... I know what you mean about trying to find the time to fit it all in! I just don't know where the hours in the day disappear to :dizzy:

Well Brandy, I still haven't got around to doing my 3 days of exercise yet, although I have been running up and down the steps at work for what seems like a hundred times a day ... does that count??? :^:

Good news is, I went to my WI last night, and guess what? ... I lost another 2lbs ... Whoopee!! :cb: I'm really pleased with that result because as I said yesterday, I was worried about what I'd eaten over the weekend ... must have done something right! :D

I wonder what's happened to everyone else?

Nichola

Nichola, congrats on your 2 pounds (I'm so jealous!)!!!

Lorraine, I sometimes feel totally overwhelmed myself and I have nothing going on - I can only imagine if I were busy!

I just read a post from someone at the WW.com forums - she started two months after I did and she's lost 60 pounds to my 20. OUCH! So I had the little "if you had only put forth a little more effort you would be under 200 by now" conversation with myself and we - I mean *I* - feel like a light has gone on!

http://www.freewebs.com/ladawnthenandnow/index.htm

GREAT weight loss success story!

B

Brandy, keep that light shining brightly!! ... You can do it!! :) I checked out the website ... WOW, what a difference ... you can't imagine what a difference losing weight can make, can you, until you see photo's like that ... amazing! What an incentive.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Nichola

Thanks for the encouragment! I am still hanging in and hoping the results will catch up with me soon! I just feel so inspired after checking into some success stories.

B

Good morning and happy Monday to you all!

I have happy news on the weight loss front - I actually lost some this week - three pounds! Am VERY happy with that. Off to change my stats...

B

Morning Ladies...

What I can NOT figure out, is how I can continue to sit on my a$$ and do nothing and eat EVERYTHING after seeing your successes, Ali's uccess, LaDawn's success...I know I am as strong and yet, I do nothing. ENOUGH.

Lorraine

Lorraine - who on earth knows what kicks us into gear and what keeps us where we are? I certainly haven't figured it out. It seems I will only have "success" in fits and starts, while other people get going and just go all out till they reach their goals. And you know, at one point I really was just ten pounds over weight - what made me let things get to like 140 pounds over weight? Who knows what makes us tick. But if you figure it out, girl there is a book and a goldmine in it for ya!

And I think your sig quote might have something to do with it...PS, anyone who as lost as much as you - girl, you're doing it!

Brandy...thanks for your support! I'm the same when it comes to Fits and Starts, I just wish I'd start and keep going!

When I lost my weight the first time, I was nursing, so it was a bit easier, but you'd think my appetitie would slow down now that I am very much NOT nursing. I can't figure it out.

Lorraine

Brandy, EXCELLENT LOSS this week, congratulations! :bravo: Keep going girl, you can do ... I KNOW you can!! :)

Lorraine, you've done brilliantly to get to where you are ... 30lbs gone already!! :cp: Ok, so you say it's been in fits and starts ... so what!! ... You've lost it, it's GONE. You should be proud of what you've already achieved ... Would you rather have the 30lbs back? ... I think not. So, forget about how long it's taken and think about how well you've done.

Losing weight is hard, I'm afraid I don't believe anyone who says it's easy ... perhaps they just don't have a life! Ok, maybe I'm being a little unfair to some of the people out there who find dieting a breeze, but for the majority of us it's a struggle. All we can do when we've had a bad day, or a bad week, or even a bad month or two :^: is to start over and don't give up on our dream. ANYONE can lose weight if they really try ... this is what I keep telling myself. The only thing that stops us, is US! So come on girls, let's just do it ... if we follow the plan we can do it ... can't we?

Ok, now I'm scared ... weigh-in tonight! I feel like I've been pretty good all week, but for some reason, whenever I feel like I've had a good week, I don't lose anything (or I even gain!), and when I feel like I've had a bad week, I lose! :dizzy: So, not looking forward to going tonight, but whatever the outcome, I'll keep going until I get to goal. There's no way that I'm giving up this time ... especially after pre-paying for 20 weeks ... Nick would throw me off the balcony if I did!! :lol: I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow.

Nichola

Weigh-in went well last night ... another 1.5lbs gone :) ... phew!! So I'm feeling very motivated and determined to have another good week. :)

Hope things are going well for everyone else?????????

Nichola

Yeah Nichola! GO YOU! That's soooo great! I'm like hopping up and down for ya!

And thanks for the pep talk!

Lorraine - Nichola is right, fits and starts are better than nothing. I will take losing in fits and starts over gaining (and gaining and gaining - as is my habit) any day!

If I don't check in for a while, it's because we're out of town. Send me good staying-on-my-diet vibes please!

B

Brandy, you're welcome :) Have a good trip ... the vibes are coming your way ...... :goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes

Nichola

Hi Girls ... is there anyone out there?????? :?:

Brandy, are you back from your trip yet? ... Hope it went well and you managed to stay OP :)

I've not been posting for a while as hubby was taken to hospital last week and had to have an operation to repair a ruptured achilles tendon. He now has his leg in plaster for 4 weeks!! He's hoping to go back to work tomorrow because it's driving him crazy being at home all day ... Me too!!!! :crazy: I've spent the last few days playing nurse maid ... can't wait for him to go back to work so that I can have a rest!! Do I sound wicked?? :lol:

Anyway, just to let you know that I managed to slip out last night to go for my weigh-in ... lost another 2.5lbs which I'm really happy about :D

Speak soon,
Nichola

Nichola - thanks for the vibes! They worked. I didn't track, I just used my common sense and kept busy. I don't know that I lost but I certainly didn't gain which on vacation is GREAT as far as I can see. Esp as we had Mother's Day, a wedding, and a whole bunch of other stuff in there!

So sorry about your hubby - they are just helpless when sick or injured, aren't they? Good healing vibes to him! AND CONGRATS ON YOUR 2.5!!!!!! That's SO exciting! Happy dance in your honor!!!

B

Hello?

Hi Brandy,

I'm here :wave: ... can't imagine what's happened to everyone else though :?:

We're having problems with our computer at the moment so it's hit and miss as to whether or not it's working!! So apologies if I fail to reply to your posts straight away.

Glad to hear that you managed to stay on track whilst you were away ... especailly with all the temptations there must have been ... good girl :)

Unfortunately, I had my first bad week this week ... WI last night and I gained 1lb. I know the reason why though, so I'm not going to beat myself up about it ... my little diet scales broke last week and I haven't been able to weigh my food, and also I stupidly didn't bother to write anything down, which I have been doing religiously ever since I started WW. It's taught me a lesson!! I'm now back to writing everything down and I'm going shopping tomorrow in search of diet scales ... this might present me with a bit of a problem in 'skinny' Hong Kong ... can't imagine that there's much call for diet scales in the shops here. WW were out of stock and don't expect them in for 2-3 weeks, and I definitely can't trust myself to 'guesstimate' for that long!! ... Not with my track record on portion control anyway!! :o

Have a good week! :D

Nichola

Hi Nichola! We keep having computer issues too (I have managed to pick up the same worm like four times!) so I TOTALLY understand.

Sorry about the WI but hey, you LEARNED from it and that's what counts. Journaling helps SO much!

I've never really weighed food, but I do measure a lot of things - my mental image of what "one cup" looks like is - well, let's just say it's slightly inflated!

I need to change my sig since that little challenge has passed.

Hope everyone else drops in SOON!

Brandy

ETA: C'mon guys, I'm still trying to reach that darn 10% goal! PRESSURE ME! It's sooooo close!

Hey! We're on the second page! Where is everyone?

Hi Brandy,

I'm still here :wave: Looks like it's just the two of us these days ... can't imagine where the others are, it's been such a long time since anyone else posted ... funny how they all disappeared together ... is it something we said :lol: I'm sure they'll drift back sooner or later.

How are you doing? I was going to be good this week, but still haven't managed to get any scales, and I haven't been keeping track properley :mad: Went out for a meal last night for Nick's birthday with a group of friends, and had way too much to eat (and drink :o ) so not doing too well so far!! Also, TOM has arrived and I've had a chocolate craving ... the first for a long time, so I guess it's going to be another bad week!

Hope you have a good weekend.

Nichola

We must offend! If we apologize and beg, maybe they will all come back?

Sorry about the TOM thing. That can really put a bump in your diet plans! Do as well as you can - even a few bad days don't have to mean a bad week. Just maybe a so-so week!

Things are going ok for me. I'm journaling and staying within my points + flex (I use the flex, I lose. I don't lose the flex, I don't lose - so I use the flex!) so I'm hoping hoping HOPING to be at my blasted 10% soon!

B

Just wanted to post my w/i. I'm 242 this am. I need to update my sig. Oh hey, that means I lost like four pounds. Not too shabby!

B

Brandy, 4 pounds ... what a brilliant loss!! :bravo: Well done to you!! Keep it up :)

I'm off work today with earache ... and I've gone deaf in my right ear which is driving me insane!!!! :crazy: I feel like pulling my ear off!! It's like being underwater all the time, and I'm feeling all unbalanced! :( Off to the docs later to try and get it sorted. Supposed to go to my WI tonight, but docs appointment isn't until 4pm and WI is at 6pm, so depends on what time I get home ... don't really feel up to going tonight anyway, so perhaps I won't.

Good luck for the rest of the week.

Nichola

Nichola, poor you! I have had that stopped up underwater ear feeling and it's so weird - and just miserable! Feel better!

B

Hi Brandy,

Didn't get to my WI on Tuesday ... too late by the time I got home from the docs ... and didn't feel like rushing to get there :( Doc gave me some ear drops ... worked quite well on Wednesday ... was able to manipulate my ear so that I could hear better. However, by Wednesday night I was totally deaf in both ears!! Got up this morning to go to work, but ended up crying in frustration as I can't hear a darn thing!! Back to the docs today to get them syringed ... he wouldn't do it on Tuesday as I'd got earache. This is one of the most awful sensations that I've ever had in my life. It will be such a relief to get them done!

Nichola

Hello Ladies!

Sorry I've dropped off the face of the planet...I went to a Weight Loss Conference on the weekend and had a fantastic time. It was through DWLZ.com and I had nothing but fun. To make matters even better, I'm re-motivated and ready to lose. Today is day 2 OP and I'm heading for day 3. One day at a time right? It sounds like you gals are on the right track! Nichola...only 3 more pounds to get into the 160s! Go girl! Brandy...3 for you to get to 230 too! Go us! I'm going to be weighing in as soon as I find a meeting that will work for me. I'll keep you posted!

Lots of hugs,
Lorraine

Lorraine,

Great to have you back on board again ... we've missed you! ... In fact, Brandy & I seem to be missing everyone! ... Can't imagine what we've done wrong ... they just seemed to disappear :?:

Nichola

I'm back! I thought you all were gone because I wasn't getting notification of posts.

I'm back on the wagon and have changed my signature to reflect me start weight and loss. Still doing weight watchers and going to OA.

How's everyone else doing?

Yay! :cb: PEOPLE! While I was certainly enjoying Nichola's company I did have to wonder what we'd done to run you all off :p oh well, long as you're all trickling back!

Nichola - I had the same ear business a few years ago for my class reunion so I spent the whole time not hearing a thing. I'm sure my former classmates wonder when I got so quiet. Hope you're better soon! It's SOOOO frustrating! :bomb: Always makes me want to scream!!!

Lorraine, the confrence sounds like so much fun :flow1: I've used dwlz so much since starting WW...that place seems loaded with success stories! Glad you're feeling re-motivated and ready to go :dance: YAY!

Raff, still WWing myself. Had a great week last week, this week the scale seems to be at a stand still. Oh well, can't have a big woosh every week! Welcome back :hat:

B

Hey Raff ... Welcome back!! Glad to hear you're on track :) I've let things slip a little over the past week or two after having a good start at WW, but I will persevere and get back on track asap! :)

Brandy, the ears are sorted ... got them syringed yesterday ... now everything is SOOOOOOO LOUD!! :lol: ... It's such a relief!!

Hope you all have a great weekend :)

Nichola

Yay! You can hear again!

As for me, I have made no progress on the weight front this week - I am the same this week as last, which is better than gaining, I guess.

I think I need to take pics of thin people in swimsuits and paste them to the fridge and computer so I can remember that I have to get into one of those in a few months. Nothing like fear and humiliation to motivate a girl!

B

Help Girls ... I desperately need some motivation! Don't know what's been the matter with me, but I've had a terrible couple of weeks. The week before last I gained a pound (excuse was the broken scales and not writing anything down!), and last week I didn't go to my WI because I wasn't well ... which of course gave me the excuse to overeat ... which I've done big time for the past week :mad: I'm so angry with myself ... why do I do this?

I had a really good start at WW for the first 3 or 4 weeks, and felt very confident that I'd finally got myself under control ... I felt really good about myself ... now I'm feeling like crap!! I know I've gained several pounds since my last WI ... I can tell by my clothes. I hate the thought of having to go there tomorrow, but I know I have to otherwise I'd probably never go again.

How do some people keep themselves motivated for months on end? I seem to do well for a few weeks, then get really fed-up with having to weigh and calculate everything that goes into my mouth, it becomes such a chore! It's not that I don't want to do this ... I want to lose weight more than anything in the world ... so why the **** can't I stick to the plan?!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Ok, I know that no one else can give me all the answers ... it's up to me to do it for myself ... I just wish that I could find the motivation and willpower to do it!!

Thanks for listening. WI is tomorrow night, and the beginning of a whole new week.

Nichola

Nichola...you must go to your meeting! Staying on track even when you don't want to is the key to losing I think. Can you mix up your routine a bit, or maybe pre-weigh a bunch of things so that you aren't always measuring etc? I think you have done SPLENDIDLY so far. Remember that this is a journey...there will be gains and losses along the way, and there will also be LIFE. Being able to find a balance of all those things will help you CONTINUE to succeed.

Hugs,
Lorraine

Hiya!

It's a restart week for me (last week I slacked so this week I weigh the same) so we can restart together.

One thing that helps me - make it as easy on yourself as possible. It may mean sitting down for a half hour once a week to plan, but at least you don't have to go through the whole process three or four times a day. Have you ever visited www.dwlz.com for suggestions? One of the tips there - after you do your shopping, write the point values on everything as you're putting stuff away. This has helped me SO much. I keep a sharpie in the kitchen so every time I figure the points for something, I write it on the container - so I don't have to do it over and over. For things that don't have containers or for recipes, I have a list that I'm always updating and I keep it on the fridge. I'd rather just figure this stuff out ONE time, than have to do it over and over. She even suggests that for snacky things (pretzles or whatever) divide them into serving sizes so you can just take a baggie and go instead of counting it out. I don't do that, but I do measure out my serving and then put everything away. It also helps me to just shut off the light and stay out of the kitchen after I'm done with my last planned food for the day. I put my journal away (so I'd have to dig it out if I ate anything else), shut off the light, and get involved in something else.

Hope any of that helps.

Brandy

Thanks so much for the encouragement girls :) I went to my WI tonight, and you're never going to believe this, but I lost!!!! :D ... Only half a pound, but when I was seriously expecting a gain of at least 3lbs, it sure felt good to be told I'd lost!! Can't imagine how that's happened but I'm not complaining. I even asked if they wanted to re-weigh me just to double check, but they didn't, and when I got home I checked on my own scales and they showed the same half pound loss ... I've checked each week on my own scales and they've always been exactly the same as the WW scales, so I know it's not a mistake. Needless to say, this has given me a bit of a boost, and I'm feeling happy and positive about the whole 'diet' thing once again :D

It was such a different story earlier today ... I'm going out tomorrow night for a friends birthday (Oh no, not another meal!!! :rolleyes: ) and went shopping today to try to find something to wear ... I know I've told you all this before ... that Marks and Spencer is the only place that has clothes to fit ... Well, I must have tried on just about every outfit in the store and couldn't find anything suitable that fit me properly!! ... I was so depressed :( On top of that, I had an argument with Nick this morning, all about my weight, because I told him I thought I'd gained, and he's basically getting p****d o** with me for not having any willpower ... I ended up in tears, not because of what he said to me, but because I'm angry with myself, and I'm the only one to blame. Anyway, decided I had to buy something to make me feel better, so bought loads of expensive sexy undies to cheer me up ... not that I LOOK particularly sexy in them, in fact I'd prefer not to LOOK at all ... but it made me feel better! :D ... Now I have two surprises for Nick ... a weight loss ... and the undies!! :smug:

So glad I went to my meeting ... I hope I've learned my lesson!!

Have a great week everyone! :)

Nichola

First, congrats on your loss! FAB!

Also, I understand so much about the clothes thing - I have just broken down and wailed in more dressing rooms than I care to admit. Ironic that tho there are few plus sized clothes we'd want to wear, there are absolute heaps of frilly undies? Oh well, at least the bottom layer is pretty!

Last - why on earth is your husband making you feel bad about your weight?

Hi guys!

I totally hear you on the clothes thing. Nichola, I'd be more than happy to send you some stuff from here if you'd like. Or you could order from some online catalogues, have them sent here, then I could send them on to you if you'd like. Nothing picks you up like something new to wear. I always say "I'm not buying anything new until I lose 25 pounds, but then I feel like crap about the way I look and get all depressed and in the dumps and then eat eat eat." So I've bought some new things lately, am feeling pretty good about myself, and am starting to get back on track. We can do this!

Lots of hugs,
Lorraine

Hi Girls,

Glad to say I'm feeling really good today.

Brandy, that's a good point about the undies ... if they make undies for the 'larger lady', why aren't there more clothes to fit us ... perhaps they expect us to walk around in our bra and knickers ... now that would be a sight for sore eyes!! :lol: In answer to your question about why Nick is making me feel bad about my weight ... Well, quite frankly, he's heard it all so many times over the past ... OMG ... about 15 years!! :o He's heard all the excuses, the sob stories, put up with all the tears and frustration, tried to support and encourage me when I've lost motivation ... all to no avail. I think he's just about sick and tired of listening to it all ... and who could blame him?! ... I'm sick and tired of listening to myself!! It must be difficult, for people who have never really had a weight problem, to understand why we can't just 'go on a diet' and lose the weight. He did actually say that to me, and said he thought it should be easy ... they just simply don't understand what it's like to watch everything that you eat and never be able to overindulge on a night out. He's just as guilty as anyone else for sabotaging my efforts ... he's always coming home from work and opening a bottle of wine with dinner ... several points that I usually haven't calculated on having ... and can't say no! Anyway, we've had a good talk about it and he's apologised for upsetting me ... but quite honestly, I can't say I blame him ... I think I'd probably do the same. I can only say that I hope I've learned something from this ... I've wasted so many years already and don't want to waste any more time looking like I do.

Lorraine, thanks very much for the kind offer. I've considered doing this before, but I figure that if I can't find anything to fit properly when I can actually try it on, then it's highly unlikely that I'll get anything to fit properly without being able to try it ... you just never know what size to order. I used to order a lot of my clothes through Freemans of London, who will deliver to HK, but I've had to send so much stuff back ... which costs a fortune!! But one day, in the not too distant future, when I'm slim :D ... I may take you up on that offer.

Thanks again to both of you for helping to pull me through this ... I'm now well and truly back on track ... I even bought some of the points scales from WW last night, so no excuses!!

Nichola

Lorraine, you're such a sweetie :flow1:

About the not buing new stuff till you lose - I have so done that. It never works. Five years ago I said I wouldn't get my roots done till I hit 230. Clearly that didn't work out. It's just easier to diet and feel like I can be successful when I feel good about myself - and it's hard to feel good about yourself in ill-fitting clothes, roots showing (or in my case, four gray hairs standing straight up and waving at all who pass by), nails all ragged, etc. I can not threaten or punish myself into losing weight. Much like puppies everywhere, the reward system works better for me :gift:

Nichola, I used to talk to Mark about my weight misery, plans, and schemes but then he would like...comment. I was so friggin indignant. Of course, his comments were just suggestions on how I might make things easier on myself. Still, it used to make me INSANE :rollpin: He was never insulting and prefaced every comment with, "I don't think you need to lose weight at all BUT..." and then he'd tell me about some article he read or whatever. Puh-leeze. I have been dieting since I was six. I am an expert on all the reasonable and not so reasonable ways to lose weight. Now he knows that if I am talking, it is possible that it's all talk and all he needs to say is, "I don't think you need to lose weight at all." Period. And even then I have been known to get PO'd :bomb: I am not an easy woman to live with. Poor husbands :devil:

Speaking of husbands, mine has spent about 9,034 hours at work this week so it's possible he'll be coming home early today. We are thinking of going to the movies. I LOVE going to see a movie in the middle of the day. Yay :dance:

B :balloons:

Brandy ... only 4 grey hairs? ... Lucky you!! ... I must have 4004!! :o

I do agree with you about treating yourself to make you feel good ... if I don't feel good, I get depressed, and we all know what happens when I feel depressed!! :ink: ... That's why I bought the underwear ... and I'm treating myself to a hairdo next week ... If I can't find clothes to fit then I guess I will have to treat myself some other way :)

As for 'poor husbands' ... I really do sympathise with mine. Whatever he says to me is the wrong thing ... When he keeps quiet, it's the wrong thing to do ... it means he's not being supportive! When he makes any comments or suggestions, it's the wrong thing to do ... he's critisising me! He can't do right for doing wrong as far as my weight loss is concerned.

So far so good this week ... although I don't hold out much hope for a loss at my next WI ... the past 2 weeks has got to catch up with me sooner or later ... guess I'll just have to try a little harder.

Have a great weekend!

Nichola

Enough about poor husbands, more poor us!

Ok, just kidding :p I'm glad I'm not married to me.

I have made a little decisions for this week - I'm not weighing myself. I am sooooo close to my 10% I don't even want to see the scale again till I'm pretty sure I'm there. Does that make sense to anyone? I'm tired of ooching closer, I'm going to wait till next Monday before I weigh myself - I am BOUND to be there by then.

Normally not weighing everyday lets me sort of kid myself, but I am VERY focused on FINALLY getting there. I just can not stand to see a single half pound over 239 at this point.

Anyway, hope things are going well for all of you guys. I'm still journaling and moving along pretty well. Sooner or later I'm going to have to exercise ;)

Take care,
B

Hi everyone!

Brandy...that makes total sense to me! Nothing would frustrate me more than being 0.2 away from my 10% and having to wait another week.

I had my first weigh in since the rededication and I'm down 1.6! I'm thrilled as I've decided that each week my only goal is to be down 1 pound. At DWLZ there was a great thread about "If I ONLY lost one pound a week where would I be?". Breaking things down into that little increment really helped me. 29 pounds lost by Christmas, 54 by my 5th Wedding Anniversary, that kind of thing.

Well, I'll be away for a few days. We're going to Vancouver this weekend, so I'll be back on Monday. I'm going to fight really hard to stay on program.

Lorraine

Congrats on your 1.6!!! That's GREAT!

Hope you had a great trip!

I'm still holding out on weighing in and now I've been hit by PMS. I've been really faithful to the plan but I feel kinda puffy. I may skip weighing in (but I'll stay OP!) just so I don't have a disappointment. Even tho I KNOW any gain would be water (it would HAVE to be) I just don't want to deal. But we will see. Curiosity might get the best of me.

B

Lorraine, well done on your 1.6lbs loss, that's great ... keep it up! :) Have a great trip :wave:

Brandy, I'm keeping my :crossed: for you to reach that 10%!!

I went to my WI on Tuesday and stayed the same. I didn't expect to lose anything due the past 2 weeks, so wasn't disappointed. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to make next weeks WI as there is staff cocktail party, which has been arranged by the class parents, so I have to attend. I'm going to have to try extra hard to stay on track for 2 weeks without a WI!! I think I will weigh myself at home to make sure that I don't become complacent, and think that I'm being good if I'm not!!

We have just provisionally booked flights for 14 July to either Thailand or Bali ... at last hubby is able to take a holiday!! It's been so long since he had a proper break, I'm really looking forward to it. However, now it's become a reality that we're actually going on holiday, I'm wishing that I'd stuck to my plan properly as I would have been well on my way to goal by now. Instead, I've only lost 7.5lbs and still look like a beached whale in a swimsuit!! :mad: ... I get the feeling of deja vu ... I've got about 4 weeks left to make a difference!! :eek:

Nichola

Fingers crossed on your next WI, Nichola - even if you have to do it at home. You are doing SO WELL! And the vacation sounds great! That's a month away - a LOT can happen in a month if you stay OP! Start working out! Even if the loss isn't huge, working out will make a difference in how you look.

We are going on vacation in September (you all remember - with not one but TWO 19 year old Barbies, right? Yeah) and I've just finally faced it - weight loss is great but I'm going to have to start working out if I want to seriously cut down on any embarassing jiggle factor.

I can not face weighing in on Monday. I have been really, really OP this week. I've done well, I KNOW I have but I have all the signs of PMS, including sausage fingers which means I'm retaining. The next number I see on that scale WILL be in the 230s, so I'm willing to wait another week. I know that any bump or non-loss tomorrow would HAVE to be from PMS-related stuff but ugh. I just don't want to know. Ya know?

B

Hi guys!

Seems to be quiet here...Hope everyone is well. I've had an up and down week, so I am hoping for a decent showing at the scales, but we'll have to see I guess.

Lorraine

Hello Ladies! Feels like ages since I posted. Probably is. Glad to hear everyone is doing great. Between weight loss and holidays, you all are on track.

I've started doing WW again, since I gained back some of the weight I lost. Yuck! I have to stop being a baby :bb: and take my program seriously. I'm just so sick of being FAT. I know I've said this a gazillion times, and this will make gazillion and one.

Wish me luck!
Love,
Raff

P.S. I changed my start weight to reflect my new starting point, so as not to confuse my self and to be honest.

Hiya girls! :coffee2:

Good luck with the scales Lorraine :cheer:

Raff, much luck to you as well! and congrats on starting over :flow1:

I have had a rough 10 days diet-wise. I have just been all over the place - not binging or anything, just not as careful as I could have been. PMS and TOM are evil, evil, evil :devil:

Still haven't weighed myself. I keep putting it off. The good thing would be to finally weigh and see that all my hard work has paid off and I'm down a few. The bad thing would be - well, if that didn't happen :p

I need to change my stats in my sig - or at least order them somehow. I have had this vacation coming up for ages, it's now three months away (yes, we have to plan very far in advance) and as there is beachiness involved I want to lose as much as possible!!! So I may be up for a week to week challenge or count down or some such.

Glad to see a little activity around here again :hat:

B :goodluck:

AAAAAAAAACK! (as Bill the Cat would say) PMS is a *****. Two weeks before my period comes I become bloated, *****y, and hungry. Not cravings but hunger, as if I'm ready to rassle a bull with my bare hands for dinner.
Which is why I was thinking of going on the seasonal pill. Gives you a period only four times a year. But, I'm a little paranoid that my PMS will be triple or quadruply worse. Go figure.

I'm the same way - not munchy but I could eat small pieces of furniture if I had too. Ugh. It's a joy, this being a girl business, isn't it?

Hey guys! Just a quick post to give you all some motivation....

I've been using this list for the past two weeks and it has really helped. I've been looking at losing ONLY one pound a week. That is my expectation and I look ahead to see where I'll be. For example:

1 pound down by my Wedding Anniversary
4 pounds down by my camping trip
11 pounds down by Erik's first day of preschool
19 pounds down byt my 31st Birthday
26 pounds down by Christmas
32 pounds down by Valentine's Day 2005
42 pounds down by Erik's 4th Birthday
54 pounds down by our 5th Wedding Anniversary Dive Trip and in ONEderland!
72 pounds lost by my 32nd Birthday
80 pounds lost and at GOAL by January 1st, 2006

Taking things one pound at a time really helped me see how easy it could be, and how silly it is for me to get disappointed if I ONLY lose one pound. Now I get excited! And if it's MORE than one pound, then I am delighted! And if it's ONE pound, I'm thrilled.

Lorraine

Lorraine - That is excellent! What a wonderful idea.

Super!

And Happy Anniv!

B

Okay. It's been decided. I am no longer going to put my losses on my signature because I lose 5 and gain 3 then lose another 2, and it's driving me nuts. So I've decided to put my start weight (and I hope to keep that the same), my goal weight, and when I reach my goal.

I totally get that. I have bobbled up and down around the same 1.5 pounds for weeks now. Just changing the numbers makes me feel like an ***. Ugh. I've got to sort out my sig.

IMMEDIATE RESPONSE REQUIRED! HELP!

I'm considering going on the South Beach Diet and I'm probably going to "dive" into it tomorrow. What do you all think about it for long term maintenance?

I'm concerned because I don't want to do a week or so and then give up and gain double weight back.

Let me know how you feel about this ASAP because I have been known to make rash decisions. :lol:

Love,
Raff

It seems relatively sound to me Raff. I haven't seen all the details on the maintenance phase, but I think it would work for someone that needs no temptation at first, and the slowly ads back in things that work for her.

My $0.02.

Lorraine

I've just finished my second day of South Beach and can't wait for these 2 weeks to go by so I can have a cup of cereal. I need something that sticks to my ribs! :lol:

Whoever said protein fills you up was full of it because I am staaaaaaaaaaaaaarving.