Hello everyone - I hope you are all doing well. I loved being able to read all of the recent entries and catch up on everyone's progress.

I fell off the wagon for a few days. I was dreading coming back on here again feeling as though I failed but here I am. I'm at work today and I fixed my Induction Lunch and am feeling good. Luckily, I did not gain any weight and stayed at the same...but yesterday I saw a 1 pound increase and said ok that's it, I gotta get back on.

I was feeling a little depressed yesterday about it -- I feel like food and planning my food is running my life. Does anyone ever feel overwhelmed by having to think about what you can eat, what you can't? I think it's just me getting a little down. BUT - I promise I'm much better today. I'd like to get into the gym today too -- I think that will help my mood.

Buffy - Don't be down! You are not a failure - you came back didn't you? It's normal to feel depressed about a weight gain - but it seems like you know why it happened, and you have to tools to stop it in it's tracks.
I completely understand how you feel about being overwhelmed with food planning. Every minute of every day you are thinking about what you ate, what you're going to eat, doing all the mental calculations that go with it. I'm an organizer by nature - I like the planning and logistics of a diet, but yes, day in and day out planning adds to my stress level. I decided to plan 1 week at a time. I plan all my meals a week at a time. In case I change my mind one day, I have a back-up for each of the three meals and two snacks. I do all my calorie counting, carb and fat counting - FitDay really helps with this- on the one day, then I go shopping. I get all the food home and prepare all the fresh veggies into serving sized containers. Sometimes I prepare the meats ahead of time and portion them out - then, I don't have to think for the rest of the week. I colour code all my containers, so when I leave in the morning, I just grab one of each colour. No thinking, no obsessing. I just eat.
It's a little time consuming on the planning day, but for me, definitely worth it.
Maybe you could adapt a system to work for you.

Hi Laura -

Thanks so much for the support. It really helped and I totally appreciate you helping me by sharing your ways of doing the diet. I am actually a planner too. I like having things taken care of ahead of time too. I love how you do that though. I've started to do my shopping early on Sunday mornings. This way the stores are jammed with people so I can take my time - otherwise when the stores are packed, I get the urge to go fast and get out of there!

I like the colored container idea. That's a GREAT idea. It's nice to be able to control your portions that way too.

Can I ask what you eat for your snacks?

Thanks again for the support and your kind words. I hope you are having a great day today. I'm back on track and I'm feeling good...

Buffy - You are absolutely welcome! Any time I can help, you just go ahead and ask - PM me if you are more comfortable.

What do I eat for snacks? Well, I try mainly for vegetables - I love cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber and mushrooms. If i'm super hungry, I usually have 1 oz of sharp cheddar cheese available. I find that if I cut the cheese into VERY thin slices that I feel like I'm eating more than 1oz - great mind trick for me. Once in a while (very seldom) I'll bring along 1 oz of almonds - I buythe raw unprocessed kind - and I look for the biggest nuts I can get. For me, having a large nut means I can get two small bites, instead of small nuts which I pop 2 into my mouth for 1 bite. Again, I fool myself. Also for the summer, (not really a "snack") I freeze Crystal Light into ice cubes (make it slightly stronger than the directions), and then I'll crush about 6 cubes in my blender - a great Sno-Cone idea - or, if you prefer Slushies, put the crushed cubes into a glass of regular strength Crystal Light. My favorite is the Tangerine-Grapefruit.

Hope this helps. If you have any snack ideas, I'd love to hear them!

All the best in your success.

Laura, You are doing so well! Keep it up. Thank for sharing your snack ideas. I love the crushed ice idea, I will definately try that. I like to have a pickle and cheese, or a few olives, or macadamia nuts.

THANK YOU LAURA!

Wow -- I love your ideas. Very crafty and smart. I need to trick myself too. For some reason I'm always feeling like I have to keep busy so I don't keep stuffing my face.

You seem to be doing so great -- I'm so happy for you! That's really great! I'm doing ok...I'm trying to stick with it but it's been hard lately for me...not sticking to it so much but I've been on the road for work and the "right" foods aren't always available. Plus, I haven't worked out for weeks. Today I put it in my calendar to work out and I gave myself 1.5 hours to do it so I can take my time and look at it as a break in the day. I would love to make it part of my day.

Do any of you work out on a regular basis? If so, what do you do? I love Yoga and I love the eliptical trainer and bike. If only I could get in there every day.

I bought a Gazelle at a garage sale - I love it. It's very easy to use - except I'm not really coordinated enough to keep my hands on the mopving handles - I just hold onto the structure for balance. It's like walking, but it lets you vary your stride, and there is no impact. Because I have so much to lose, my hips and feet ache if I pound pavement. I also find the gazelle is super quiet, so it's not problem for me to jump on it when I watch TV. I also bought a walking DVD for in home - by Prevention Magazine - it's very fun and definietly a work-out. I'm not comfortable in gyms, everyone here seems to just be cruisin', looking for fresh, young skinny meat, if you know what I mean. I tried Curves - I participated in their 3 week fitness study. I followed exactly what they said to do, and even threw ina few extra workouts - and I still gained 1/4 lb. They told me it was muscle, but when they hooked me up to their BMI computer, it told them I gained 1/4 lb of fat. Were they embarrassed! So, of course, I must have "cheated". Whatever.
I exercise at home, and I'm very comfortable with it. Hope this helps.

Good luck, Laura! I'd love to try a Gazelle myself, but our apartment is so small I wouldn't have anywhere to put it.

I dont get much excersize at all. I go for a walk a few times a week. I know I should do more but I have a very hard time with it. I would like to start some kind of strength training but cant afford to join a gym, and dont know what to do on my own. I dont have any weights either except light ankle and wrist weights.

Laura - the Gazelle sounds like it really works for you. That's great. It's always good to find something that works for you. And when you do, it's so much easier to stick with it. I tried Curves once too -- I just did it for one day and talked with them on their membership. It's strange how it works. You work out like 3-4 times a week and if you want to work out more, they don't let you. That's what the lady told me. I like a high-impact work out that really makes me sweat. I didn't get that there.

Puncezilla: A few years ago before my son...and when I was in shape, I worked out on my own with no gym and I was in pretty good shape. You don't need a gym for strength training. If you can do three sets of sit-ups, push-ups, bear-crawls and back-bear-crawls, that's pretty good. These four in particular use yourself as your weights so it's strength training. Push-ups and sit-ups are hard so you might need to modify the push-ups to your knees. Do 3 sets of 10 each. You can do these anywhere. Bear-crawl around your house for about 10 minutes...it doesn't sound like much but it's pretty hard after a while!

Walking is better for you then you think. Start with a walk around the block. Just one block. Get into a habit of doing that then go from there.

I finally got back on the exercise wagon. I bought this fun hip-hop exercise video to do at home and at work we have a gym so I've been going there for the past 3 days.

Buffy, What is a bear crawl? I find it very hard not to strain my neck while doing situps, I used to like doing them at the gym because they have a bench with a neck support. I can't do even one pushup, so I need something to help me work up to one. any suggestions?

Puncezilla - do a wall push up. I know it sounds strange, but put your feet about 3ft from the wall, lean against the wall with your hands at shoulder height. Don't cheat and use your legs to stand upright, but instead use your arms to push out. If it's too hard, stand closer to the wall, - too easy, stand further back. When you can do these pretty easily, move to the floor, and start with "girlie" push ups - on your knees instead of your toes. You really do build up arm muscles very quickly.

As for sit ups, my lower back won't let me do them yet. Instead, I bought the exercise pulleys that Bally's sells - about $10. You hook them around a doorknob, and lift your legs. It works out your abs tremendously, and still lets you keep your head on the floor. I use a body pillow underneath me so my back doesn't get hurt, and the floor is much more comfortable.

Buffy - is your hiphop video the new hiphop ab routine? Has anyone tried it? It looks interesting.

All the best girls!

Hi everyone,
I hope you all are still keeping this buddy system going.
I've been doing Atkins since the end of March and I have lost 24lbs. At this point, I haven't lost anything else and I don't know why.
I'm eating everything I'm supposed to except every once in awhile I'll eat some sugar free ice cream with Splenda. I think that could be slowing me down. I don't eat all my carbs during the day so I've been treating myself to ice cream. I need to just make my own using the heavy cream.
Anyway, I haven't lost but at least I haven't gained. So I'm looking at this in a positive way.
My wedding anniversary is 7/5/07 and I'm not going to even stress out on what I'm going to eat or drink. I used to love going to Rock Bottom, their beer is so good.
My husband is so encouraging, he keeps telling me how good I look even though I need more to lose. He's awesome!
Well, I hope everyone stays encouraged and don't stress if you miss the mark, it happens, as long as we remember that we are not eating like we used to and so we still will lose weight, it may be slow but we're still losing!
Take Care!
P.S. the scale on the bottom is wrong, it should show 24 lbs lost. Sorry!

Fitin Time! Congrats on your anniversary!

Good for you on your weight loss! I can sympathise with your stall. I've beenon Atkins for almost a month. I did really well at the beginning - 16 lbs in 2 weeks, then I stalled, and slowly it's been coming back. Yesterday I deliberatley cheated, so here i am again, back up to the almost 300 mark. Ive been very discouraged withthe program, along with some other things in my life right now. I really need some help getting back in gear.

I hope all the other ladies haven't deserted this link. I wish everyone all the best in their success - hope y'all are staying positive and OP!

Hi, after eating poorly for most of the week, I'm back and ready to re-commit.
I feel so lousy when I don't eat right, Its not worth it. I have to stop letting little things derail me.

For those of you who have been on for about a month and are slowing down or stalling ,DONT GIVE UP, this happened to me also, but after a week or so of not losing I started to lose again, so just hang in there!

I hope you'r all having a great day!