I had lost the will to be healthy, only half heartedly counting calories and hardly exercising like I used to (meaning once or twice a month). Well I decided to shake things up a bit, because in truth it's been nearly 8 months since I had been losing weight. So I did a little bit of an overhaul on my diet and I'm trying to eat 80-90% natural whole foods and cut out pretty much as much processed foods as possible. This means lots of meat, veggies, fruit, some dairy, very limited whole grains, and pretty much nothing wholly processed like prepared frozen meals, canned soups, most snacks. You know how people are always saying shop the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid the inside aisles? Well that's because the perimeter is where all the fresh whole foods are!

I've also restarted my walking (and a little jogging when I can muster it) regime and gawd am I ever sore! I took today off and decided I need to start a little slower.

So the good report is I've lost 4.5 lbs in 2 weeks!

Hopefully I can stick with this. I decided to go with the "whole foods" type diet because I don't want to just lose weight, I want to eat HEALTHIER and I'm becoming more and more conscious of crazy additives I can't even pronounce, ingredient lists that read like novels, added sugar/high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, insanely high sodium. It really is stunning how much crap is in all the food we eat!

Kudos on being so positive about starting again! Its good that you didn't let your little "break" get you down and its great that you're coming back with such a drive to eat healthier, not making it just about losing weight.

back!

Yay, Wisher! Glad to see you back and around...missed you! And I can guarantee that sticking with a more whole-foods plan will make you FEEL better, even without the weight loss you'll also get.

Hey there Wisher. Sounds like you're ready to kick things up a notch! Cool!

You're off to a roaring start with a great 2 weeks under your belt. You sound excited and that's a GREAT thing to be.

Good for you, you sound very enthusiastic and happy with the changes you've made! Congratulations on the weight loss! That's great!

Congratulations for getting past the hurdle of starting at it again. I like your food plan. It makes good sense. What is your walking program like?

There are 2 routes I take, one is 3.3 miles and the other is 3.1, both have a few mild hills. both take me 40 minutes. When I was exercising regularly and in better shape I would do walk/jog intervals and I could do it faster but I'll have to work up to that again slowly

Thanks all for the encouragement! I am definitely feeling positive about it and *GASP* even enthusiastic! I've also started with a group of people at work which is definitely motivating. It's me and 4 other people and we're all basically just going to see how fit we can get by the end of December! Tomorrow (and then every 2 weeks after that) one guy is going to bring in his body fat percent monitor (the kind that you hold in your hands) and we're going to track that and our weight. I'm really looking forward to it but I'm also a little nervous. I've only ever done this on my own and to have other people also tracking my progress really puts me on the spot! I think it's a good thing though We're going to help keep each other on track and keep each other going so I'm looking forward to it

So I have 4 solid months and my goal is lofty, I want to lose 30 lbs! WISH ME LUCK!!

I've too gone more whole foods these days, not pushing quick weight loss but nutrition and getting fit, plus cutting the eating out. If you are walking you might want to do some strength training as well, just dumbells at home perhaps. Nice that you have a support group like you do. You'll do it.