Getting Out of the 240s
 

I can't find the old thread so I am not sure what happened to it so I will start it again. I hope those who were posting in the old 240s thread will find this one.

For those who are new to the "10 lbs. at a time" Club, this is where you post while you are moving through this decade. My understanding is that the only "rule" is that there are no rules so post whatever you feel you wish to share regarding how things are going on your end.

Well, I have been OP (on plan) for four days in a row for starters. I also worked out every day since this past Monday.

This is the first Thanksgiving in any of my memories of not having several of the traditional sides as well as pumpkin pie. I did not buy them nor the ingredients to make any of them. I enjoyed the turkey, pre-measured mashed potatoes and gravy and lots and lots of vegetables. I did 30 minutes cardio while my DH was watching old Andy Griffith reruns. Later, I had popcorn while watching a couple of movies in the evening. I felt empowered the entire day and I did not feel deprived. :woohoo:

I hope everyone had a great day and, if you are shopping today, hope you find some great deals.

Take care, Pam :comp:

Hey pam! The other one is on page two, but it is close to the max anyways lol

I had a good thanksgiving, went over to my aunt's house and saw lots of extended family from her husbands side. lots of cousins I grew up with. I didn't do as well restricting myself as I had hoped to do but I still did a ton better than I usually do.

240s peeps! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?! lol

I'm still here. I just spent a leisurely morning with DH sipping coffee. I checked my page 2 and it was no where to be found on my end so I will post here. Eventually, others will show up.

Well, Thanksgiving is a hard day for a lot of people. I made up my mind that I would just simply not bring some of the stuff I have trouble with into the house at all and that seems to be the best plan for me. I have already been in this "10 lbs." decade longer than I had wanted to anyway. Oh well....I will be here as long as it takes, right? ;)

I have been OP with my food plan since Monday including Thanksgiving and I have also worked out every day as well as Thanksgiving. I worked out while DH watched reruns of Andy Griffith.

I may be alone in posting here but I am here.

Take care, everyone and anyone, Pam :comp:

6 consecutive days of being OP and working out!
 

Good morning all!:wave:

I have had 6 days of being on plan with my food plan including Thanksgiving and working out every day as well, alternating between my free weight strength exercises and my chair cardio workouts. Today, I want to end this week with either a yoga or Pilates dvd.

If you are in the 240s then I guess this is the only thread for that. I have checked a couple of times and the "old one" seems to have vanished. I wish the pounds would do the same. :lol:

Well, my challenges for the month of December is to not gain or regain and to lose "something".

Hope all is well on your end, please join if you wish.

Take care, Pam :comp:

Hey pam! I think the others abandoned us for the holiday weekend lol did ok yesterday, ate more calories than I would like, but I exercised which hopefully balanced some of it out and I was on track with my carbs which is really good

Morning ladies!

Sorry I was out of town. I posted a link in the previous thread so everyone can find this one.

Sounds like you both did pretty good. I did alright until I got home. I was too tired to cook and needed to do laundry, sweep, etc. and went out to taco bell. It was good, but of course the scale went up. But hopefully it will begin to move back down.

Mara, glad to see your familiar and friendly face again. I love the little kitty avatar. "I think I can" too. ;) I hope you had a great holiday with family and friends. I hear you about being so tired from the holidays. I got up early and had my usual java fix :coffee: but I went back to sleep. Even though it is supposed to rain once my DH gets back from a short work day we are going out to do some grocery shopping.

I managed to stay OP with my food plan for one week now. I rejoined another thread here, Beck Diet Solution. I had followed that about 18 months ago and after I had my meltdown awhile back I just knew I had to get back to what worked for me then. I had been stalled since June going up and down 3-5 lbs. I knew a lot of it was things out of my control but the one thing that I was struggling with in my control; how I ate and worked out, I wasn't in control of.

I now feel like after a week of sane eating and working out, my "fat head" is under my thumb.

Welcome to a new month all who wish to join us here in the 240s "decade". I guess, there are no rules except post when you can and share with us how you are doing on your end. If any one has any pointers that are working for them, we all would love to hear them.

Take care, Pam :comp:

Hey mara! I'm glad you had a good holiday! That water weight will fall off in no time I'm sure :)

Pam a week OP is awesome!!! keep up the good work :)

I'm doing well right now, I have 2 tests a week from tomorrow so I have a feeling that this weekend and monday is when I will really struggle since anxiety makes me want baked goods lol We are going out of town to do a zombie run on sat so I won't even get much studying in over the weekend. I'm not sure if that will make me more anxious or distract me enough to make me less anxious... i guess we will see lol

Hello all!... Well I felt like a liar posting here as I was back into the 250's... and went AWOL... well I have lost some of the water and am back down to 249.6... still have 2 more lbs of water to lose to get back to pre Turkey Day weight, but will do it! BACK on induction and feeling Gooooodddddd...

Mara... Yeppers.. that water weight will flush! It will! I believe in you! :)

Pam - Thank you for keeping the thread going (you too Pixikat) and glad that you too have gotten the mind strightened out for yourself.. But you have done so well staying OP for 6 + days! That is awesome!

Pixikat... Gosh that Zombie run looks like fun... Another poster did one of those last summer and posted pictures.. What a blast! :) It will definitely take your mind off the stress of studying!. But I bet you will do Great on those 2 tests! Just remember tho.. Those baked goods have no Power over you! :)

Have a terrific day all!

Pam awesome job staying on track!

Pixikat the zombie run sounds like lots of fun. Maybe the run will help lessen you aniexty and help you get the most out of your study time.

Sue you will have those 2lbs beat in no time. :)

I am the same as yesterday. Thought it would be less since I had a good day on food choices. Hoped it would flush some of the water. :( But it is now TOM so maybe that is it. Oh well onward we march!

Hi Mara, and pnkrckpixicat thank you both for the welcomes!! Great to be here!!

Hi pamatga!! Thank you so much for your words of encouragement! I’ve been thinking about how to minimize the damage with some home cooking and I can see that a lot of fat and calories could be saved with some substitutions that don’t compromise on taste. I’m having my first food ‘n friends gathering this coming Sunday so I’ll let you know how it goes!

I don’t hate my body or try to cover it exactly, and I know how to make the most of my assets but I’m no hourglass figure either. My friends aren’t skinny, and some are probably overweight if I think about it, but when they wear tight dresses they at least go in and out in the right places. I think when I have less ins and outs on my body I’ll be a lot more comfortable to show it off – that’s what I want more than to get down in pounds.

You’re right about the working out, I used to be a real sporty child and then just let it go as I got older and I guess I just kept on eating the same. I’ve found a nice gym in my area where they concentrate on classes as I know I need a more structured routine and a more social aspect so I just signed up to some aerobics and body pump classes and also Pilates so the new me starts tomorrow with all that! Phentermine is meant to give you more energy but I’m not sure it’s working for me that well, although I can tell I have less of an appetite so that’s the main thing. I sure ate a lot less during Thanksgiving and I made sure I was more mindful about my choices – I was able to take a step back when offered more food, think about if I really really wanted it and then I think I was able to make smarter choices.

So, the good news is, I weighed myself yesterday after a week on phentermine and I’m happy to report that I’m down 3 pounds to 241!! I guess it would have been more if not for the holidays but even with that I’m shocked! I really have cut down a lot though, all my family noticed how much less I was eating and they all said how proud they were of me. So I’m pretty much on cloud 9 today!!

Have a great week y’all!!

Keep On Keepin On!
 

Hello everyone, glad to see all of your "faces"! :grouphug:

Well, unfortunately, I went over on my calories yesterday.:club: We ate lunch out and completely out of character for me I decided to have Mexican. Sometimes, I just don't know what I want when I got out to eat. This was one of those times. It was good but when I went home to look up the amount of calories and sodium in the food, I was very disappointed. Then, without thinking (again) I had popcorn last night. To my credit, I did do my strength free weights workouts while watching "Santa Clause" (the first one of the three Tim Allen movies). I think it stands the test of time. It was cute and funny.

nikitanix: congrats on finding a gym that has what you need. I am not sure what the medicine that you are taking is for but I am assuming that it suppresses your appetite. Was this by prescription? I guess, when I feel hungry :hungry: I have something hot to drink like tea or coffee. Two big cups and that will hold me for several hours. I also fall back on popcorn at night because it is low cal (and low fat) and it takes a long time to eat.

I would mention your concerns to the gym personnel :kickbutt: and see if they can create a workout plan that will help your curves become more visible. I have an hourglass underneath my "apple" shape. I coaxed it out by really doing a lot of core exercises. Also, the right kind of clothing can give the appearance of a more hourglass figure. Good luck! I am sure you will find something so you can feel like you are one of your compadres.:belly:

mara I agree with sodium. It sucks. :frypan: Until I started logging my food and reading labels I never realized how much sodium is in so many "every day" foods like milk, bread, eggs and even margarines/butters. I don't even salt at the table and yet my sodium is a lot higher than I would like. I agree; we just have to keep marchin on.:tread:

sue(wannaskipnlaugh): well, glad to hear that you are back in the 240s. You mentioned Induction? Are you following Atkins or one of those low-carb food plans? How is that going for you?:eating2:

pixiekat: Hope the tests turned out okay for you. I am not familiar with what a zombie run is. Is that like a 5K or is it more like the t.v. programs that feature zombies? :eek:


Have a great day, all Pam :comp:

Hi all!!

After briefly (literally one day) joining you all, I am back again! The scale bounced back and forth a couple of weeks between 250-255. Now that Thanksgiving is over I am officially joining this thread. This morning I weighed in at 249.2. Hopefully all of our stay here is short!

I admit I have not been eating as well as I should be. There are so many goodies everywhere! But I need to get back on track.

sue welcome back!

Mara that is what I am hoping will happen! oh! TOM! boo :( but that means that that 2lbs and possibly more will flush off at the end :)

niki my friend is on them, she says she doesn't FEEL more energetic but she finds herself moving more in terms of fidgeting etc, kind of like being fidgety after drinking caffeine. But congrats with the classes, they sound fun!

Pam I will let you know next Wednesday how the tests went lol the zombie run is a 5k obstacle course where volunteers are dressed up as zombies and try to capture the flags on your belt that represent your life. so if you lose all 3 flags you were "killed" in the zombie apocalypse and if you keep at least one you "survived". I know I will die fairly quickly since I wasn't able to train for months and barely got the doctor to ok my heart and knee for running. I am looking forward to the run but I just found out a cold front is hitting texas so it is going to be a high of 39 degrees on sat :(

justaloozer ignore those treats, you can do it!!!

We got this ladies. I always find it hard to keep my cravings under control during my TOM, but trying to at least keep up moderation.

MARA,. you are so right... We all have the tools and know what we need to do. I hope you all have good numbers today! I have lost all the water weight.. but still have that 1 extra lb gained B-4 Thanksgiving that I need to lose to go forward... Down 2 lbs again last night to 247.6 .... ahhh my old scale is 233 and maybe a scooch lower (Yay!)

Thank you PixiKat for the welcome back :) and we will get a move on down the line!.. yes we will!

Pam.... Yep.. I have been living Atkins since 1/6/13 with a few off days... This way of eating really works for me as I am not a vegetable eater and I can live this way :)

Justa - Welcome Back to you! WooHoo!

Niti - Working out is a hard habit to get back into... eating the right food is almost easier than making your body do a "routine" and work out... Tho we feel sooooo good after we work out tho... good ole endorphins!

I know that I had made a pact with Mara to get to the 230's quickly and am going to do my best to do it! (even manuevering past this months landmines of holidays and parties)... January 1st goal??!!

Down to 246.0 today, but not feeling all that great. :( Trying to not to take too many pain killers or eat too many comfort foods.

Way to go Sue!

We Can Dot This!
 

:welcome3: justaloozer. Glad to have you back with us. :cheer: Great job in kicking those 250s to the curb. :woohoo:

pixiekat That zombie run sounds really fun. Although after seeing "Shaun of the Dead" during the Halloween season of "spooky movies" :eek:, I thought zombies sort of stagger :stars:and actually don't run so this is "ironic", right? Cute idea! Have fun!:kickbutt:

mara TOM --oh boy, don't we hate this.:hungry: I had the scare of my life last New Year's Eve when I bled so heavily I spent the majority of the time toasting in the New Year in the bathroom. I am sorry you need pain pills for it too. I used to. Now, I just bleed like a stuck hog.:ink: while I am having hot flashes. :hot:

sue(wannaskip): as a newly discovered pre-diabetic, I hear you on low carbs. I did South Beach back in 2008 and it really isn't as bad as everyone says. However, I got side tracked in 2010 and did a "general" low calorie food plan and now going lower carb seems to be harder this time around and now, I have to because of my blood glucose. So, there is my current struggle. It doesn't help either that our present finances are so tight. :stress:However, I just take it one grocery trip at a time. :carrot::broc:

Sue, I am with you. I thought I would be out of the 240s in October and then I said November and now I am hoping for mid-December. However, I have decided that I am here until I am not here. :lol: Let's make a pact for making the best choices we can each day and build on those daily successes? :kickbutt:;)

I am still at 244.6 after a couple of days of really high sodium and a few extra calories. I credit that to logging my food plan and working out two days in a row. I enjoy exercising, in spite of my RA, and that has really helped me "sweat off the salt". We have our annual Christmas party this coming Friday at church. A sit down dinner and live music. Again, I will try to make the best choices that I can and focus more on the conversation and less on the dessert table. :cofdate:

Hope everyone has a great day, Pam :comp:

Mara you can totally do this without comfort foods! I hope you feel better soon

sue my unofficial stretch goal for the month is to make it into the 230s, my goal is more like 5lbs so just shy lol

Pam it sounds super fun, I've never ran it but I have volunteered as a zombie before and that was fun. The weather forecast for austin is currently saying it is gonna be in the 30s and rainy so I'm starting to wonder if I should wimp out. catching the flu the week before finals doesnt sound like the best of ideas :s plus, i HATE the cold

Mara... is the pain and bloatiness going away? I hope so...and just think of how much better you are going to feel and how much lighter you will be too! (ohhhhh I remember Tom... somewhat fondly lol)

Pam - I love your posts! You are an inspiration and what you are working thru to accomplish what you need to do is a story of strength, a story to emulate!

Pixikat... I hope you stay warm today... bbbrrrr I saw the weather for the country and its cold out there (Florida is staying warm THANK GOD!) I grew up in the Chicago area and lived thru -30 degrees walking to school.. so I feel for you! and YEP we can get to the 230's or get so darn close that the New Year has that gift waiting for us! :)

NIKI and JUSTA... How are you 2 doing? :) Welll I am thinking! :)

I lost alittle more of the water 247.2 now... so .8 away from all time lowest on this journey... I ate badly at dinner - Coated Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill... oh well.. I had a GREAT time with my beading/jewelry class friends... we talked for 2+ hours and laughed! BACK on the train today! All back to Induction to see 246 or lower tomorrow!

I don't want to post my weight today. lol I hope it it water weight from bloat and the meds. Thanks for the positive vibes ladies. I am still in some pain, but hopefully it will subside by tomorrow. :)

It looks like you guys are doing great! :D

sue ugh the cold front!! I think it is here solely to make me miserable :p well shrimp isnt the worst thing you could have had so good job with moderation! lol

Mara unless you went nutso with calories all it COULD be is water weight, it'll flush right off after TOM is over.

I'm still doing well, my last week of classes for the semester so thats exciting. I'm ready to be done for awhile, the fact they make fall break over thanksgiving makes the semester seem never-ending.

Good day everyone! :coffee:

Well, I have been watching the weather closely. It looks to me that TX is getting more than just cold rain. Aren't you getting some cold air as well as ice and maybe snow too? I too grew up in the Upper Midwest and MN is the same as Chicago although I think Chicago has more of that wind. The news was saying that the orange crops in SO CA are in danger of freezing. Crazy weather for the entire country this past year. It seems the weather goes from one extreme to the next. I think we are going to get something out of all of this here in northern GA but I am just not sure what. We have plans for this coming weekend so I will have to see how I need to dress when we go out.

I would be more concerned for the slippery roads and sidewalks :tread:, pixie, more than anything. I fell on ice and had knee surgery about 10 days after that. That started arthritis in that knee and now I will need a knee replacement when I can afford it (which I may be waiting "forever" on that one). If you do decide to run, make sure you wear moisture wicking layers or layers period and make sure you dry off once you are indoors. I used to walk in all kinds of weather and you can really lose a lot of body heat quickly in the cold.

Pixie Good luck on finishing up your semester. What are you studying?
:book2:

mara we all in the same boat here so don't feel bad about TOM and how you get through it. :cbg: :chockiss: Do your best and let it go. I am really struggling to figure out why I seem to be choosing foods with so much sodium in them and then how to eliminate them as well. :jeno:It is such a source of frustration for me right now, I could scream. :devil: I think I have come to the "slow" realization that I am going to have to "give up" pizza, hot dogs, possibly tomato sauce as well as Chinese if I am going to see these numbers really take a nose dive. Only :broc: :carrot: for me I guess. ;)

Sue(wannaskip): So, what are you making or learning in your jewelry class? I always wanted to take one of those and possibly (if I ever got good enough at it) to make my own jewelry. I always like jewelry that is unique but sometimes it is both hard to find but also at a reasonable price. Are you making gifts to give away or something special for yourself?

All Thanks for the words of encouragement. I sure need them. I really do.:grouphug:

Sadly, we had to postpone moving because we simply don't have all the extra money to do that. I had to call the leasing agent to let her know of our changed plans and I have been in a bad mood ever since. :tantrum: I don't even feel like putting up a tree this year but that is just nonsense so I am just going to have to suck this one in. As one woman I used to know once said, "Now, it's time to pull up my big girl panties and get on with it." :lol:

There "may" be a silver lining though. Finally, after six months of really stretching that buffalo nickel, work for my DH might be picking up. Since I manage our family finances the pressure for me is to make sure that I make good and wise decisions. No pressure there, of course. It is an agreement DH and I made a few years back: he makes the money, I manage it. It works for us. He hates dealing with all of that, including sometimes making financial arrangements, if needed. However, it is times like this when it doesn't matter whether we have the money for some bills or not, we just have to "find the money". :dunno:

Thanks all for listening. The one thing that I don't want to do though is eat over my $$ woes. So, I give myself credit that I have stuck with working out 8x in the past 10 days and although I have gone over on my calories for the past three days (not to mention sodium), I am still logging every bite that I eat.

I still hope to hit high 230s by mid-December and maybe low 230s by the New Year.

We can do this! Pam :comp:

Hi y’all!!

Yes Pam it does suppress appetite – tbh I’m not sure about it either, it was my doc’s suggestion and I have to hand it to her it does really curb my hunger a lot but it’s not something I want to get too used to. I’m keeping in my head to just use it as a tool, maybe switch to something later that doesn’t have such a bad rep. My mom always says to have a hot drink if I’m feeling hungry but my trouble is I always always want cookies with a hot drink, so I’m having to stop hot drinks til I can stop these associations. Popcorn could be good though, that’s the air popped kind right?

LOL!! I have an image of you coaxing out your hourglass apple core from beneath your apple shape – this is what I need!! Would pilates be good for this?

Sorry to hear about your troubles and about you not being able to move, but you still seem to have such a positive attitude – keep it up and like you say, concentrate on making good daily decisions and the results will come – good luck!!

Pixikat – the energy thing isn’t something I’m feeling yet, it’s odd as I was told it would be like nervous energy at first but that doesn’t even sound all that appealing to me, maybe being more energetic myself will help top up my supplies?!

Hey Sue! It’s early days but I think the working out is working for me – lovin’ those endorphins alright! Also I had a super sweet instructor yesterday and I wasn’t even the biggest in the class which amazed me! I did body pump followed by pilates – man was body pump intense! Pilates was pretty hard on my middle too – I can feel that I’ve exercised everywhere today but the tops of my thighs are the worst! Back in the saddle tomorrow with step!!

Pam I live on campus so I don't drive much so I don't have to worry about the roads at the moment (but I'm kinda scared about driving to Austin after the sun goes down :s . And I can get around most of the school without going outside because we have skywalks connecting most of our buildings so between that and a good eye I hope I can avoid slipping! my DH lived up in wisconsin for a winter, he is from the gulf region of tx so he had never seen snow/ice before, well one day he saw a puddle and decided to jump in it... wasn't a puddle! fell on his backside, said it hurt for a week. I told him he was lucky he didnt break his tailbone lol.... anyways, I am a junior in they Psychology department. I hope to graduate next fall or perhaps spring '15, then I am planning on a masters in marketing.

Boo to not being able to move! but it is good you dh's work is picking up :)

niki i'm kinda jealous your doctor suggested it, I asked my doctor about it, not even asking for a prescription just for information so I could decide if i wanted to try it and she straight up gave me this snappy "I don't prescribe weight loss pills" in a sort of condescending voice. it kinda pissed me off because I had actually read about it and talked to people about it and she just shut me down without anything. then last time i was there she was trying to push WLS on me not 3 minutes after I told her I will never get WLS because I am not willing to live with the restrictions after. I lost from 320 to 202 without surgery, I can do it again and go further. Idk it just got to me lol anyways, congrats on the exercise!! sounds like you are doing great! just keep in mind when you start exercising the muscles will hold a ton of water so you may see some bouncing on the scale.

Pam... Oh the jewelry classes were good (Took them at the local adult education classes at high school 7 years ago and our group and our teacher became friends and meet and show each other how to do things) It is so fun. There are so many ways to make jewelry... if you have a local Bead/craft store.. they might have classes... You can bread (Kumihimo) threads, Wire Work, Just string beads on Elastic cording, tie and glue, Use fishing wire (Fireline) and string seed beads in a pattern, do a wrap loop on a stone/charm/bead etc and attach it to a chain type necklace/bracelet with a jump ring, and Chain Maille which is attaching numerous jump rings in a pattern... I am learning how to do the Soutche now.. which is sewing beads in between different colored cording to make shaps... It is an amazing craft! :) and I have too many finished projects ! lol someday (oh I hate that word) I will sell them on Etsy or something!

Pixikat.. What a great major! and good for you!.. You are going to be in a field to help people!.. but YEP be careful of the ice (Ouch for your DH!) I grew up in Northern Illinois and lived 28 years in the cold/snow and ice! I remember hitting the deck many times and of course the car sliding sideways... I hope you do not come across any surprise ice walking to classes! nor driving in the dark!

Oh I am happy - just .2 away from my all time low on this final journey! 246.8.... I so want the 230's and should be there January (my goal from last January 2013 was to be 201 at 1/1/14 not going to make it.. but I am SOOOOOO much closer than this time last year!)

Morning! Today was a much better weigh in than yesterday, 248.2 vs. 245.6. Not my lowest but better. :) I feel better too.

Pam I am glad your DH work is picking up. Relieve some stress off of you both.

Pixicat I would be mad if my doctor would not even dicuss options with me. I understand if she personally discourages it, but she should at least provide you with the reasons so you can evaluate them.

Sue the class sounds fun. And watch you move that scale. :)

Niki I have never done the bodypump class, but I have done the body flow and loved it! Some people said it took them 2 to 3 classes before they felt the same, but I enjoyed it from the start. Alas, I don't have access to the classes anymore, but maybe I will save up for a gym membership. :)

It's A New Day!
 

Good day everyone:coffee:

Niki I don't know much about prescription medication to lose weight since I don't have health insurance at the moment (although it may change in 2014). I do know that Dr. Oz did "approve" of one of those but I am not sure which brand it was. I guess, if you use it along with eating a sensible and well-balanced food plan as well as exercise then I too would consider it a WL "tool".

I am not an expert but my experience not only in losing the weight that I have as well as keeping that same weight off (give or take a couple of pounds) is that I have had to become a different person than I once was. This did not happen overnight but it has been happening.

Although I didn't meet my weight loss goals for this past year a lot of behind the scenes stuff has been happening that has really made a huge difference and which I do think will make 2014 a lot different as well. Although I "only" lost 20+ lbs since January of this year, I finally got a "handle" on a lot of other things that were contributing to staying at that previous weight of 266.6 lbs. I was that weight for about 18 months or longer. I have been at this present weight about 6 months so that in itself is progress for me.

The major change that happened over this past year is that I have more confidence in myself overall. I also worked on some of the underlying causes of my perpetual overeating. For example, I joined a "sleep challenge" on another site in the summer. I have been plagued with insomnia and take sleep meds for that for 13 years. Well, that sleep challenge taught me how to deal with some of the underlying causes of my insomnia and now I both sleep better and I awaken more rested. This also helped stop me having late night snacks (which became almost automatic) so that freed up about 400-500 calories every day.

Then, I realized that the best food plan for me is a "controlled" carbs (vs a low carb like Atkins or South Beach) food plan with a strong emphasis on both fats and proteins. When I eat around 200 grams of carbs (which might be a lot for some people but not me since I have a fast metabolism) I have almost no issues with that gnawing hunger that can really derail the best diet.

I actually even did an "experiment" to see if this was the reason why I wasn't hungry by having a day of higher carbs vs more "controlled" carbs and I was right every time. Protein is a great "natural" appetite suppressant and the only thing you have to be concerned with is drinking more non-caloric liquids because of the potential of kidney problems. No problem for me since I have a glass of something near me at all times.

I do have a bag of 94% fat free microwave popcorn almost every night when I sit down to watch t.v. A full bag has 54 grams of carbs and I can munch on that for 2 hours at least.

Good job on keeping up with your workouts. I do feel that exercise is a great way to both improve a person's mood as well as stoke those fires in burning up extra calories.

Pixiekat A Major High Five :bravo:for losing so much weight before. I haven't seen 202 since the summer of 1983 so I am :p green with envy on that one. I too have chosen to not have WLS. I am neither for nor against it. At the time that I did have health insurance I would not have been a good candidate psychologically because I had an eating disorder. I did work on that in the past so now all that remains is learning how to live and eat like a thin person. I credit the Beck Diet Solution (we have a thread here on 3FC) for helping teach me new life skills to do that.

This may be premature to say this but now that I am actively using my Beck Diet Skills I do think the last 100 lbs will be easier to take off than the previously 60 lbs.

Sue(wannaskip): Now, I really want to take some jewelry classes. That sounds like something I would really enjoy doing. I will definitely look into that and see what they have around here for classes.

I too did not meet my weight loss goals this past year but I too still feel like I came out a winner. I lost and kept off 20 lbs., I broke the cycle of late night noshing, I sleep more consistently, I have addressed my chronic pain from RA with better pain management (including some great physical therapy exercises for my joints which I have done faithfully since March) and I think I have finally gotten a more realistic view on both how long this will take and what I am willing to do to achieve it. So, great job on what you have done as well! :hat:

Mara: Glad you are feeling better and the scales is to your liking. Would someone clue me in on what the body pump and the body flow classes are like?

I have done Pilates for about 8 months and it does make a huge difference through your torso. "Apple be gone!" :belly: It is something that if you do one inch better than the last time, you are making progress. You do have to be patient to see results but I can now follow an instructor who is 35 years younger than me and keep up with her. :dancer: :lol:

Tonight my DH and I are going to our church's Christmas party. It is a buffet style dinner along with live music. My DH has sworn he is wearing ear plugs. "a sign of getting older I think" ;) I am wearing a black sequined tank top with black crepe pants (it is supposed to rain) along with a black crepe jacket. None of this fit me last year so I am very excited about wearing that. It made all of it worth it this past year.:exercise:

Well, take care all and stay warm Pam :comp:

Hi ladies! Thanks for the welcome back!! :)

Mara TOM just left for me too. I am hoping within the next few days some extra lbs will come off. I weighed in at 248.8.

I am having a difficult time managing to exercise. I just started working a retail job (after being a SAHM) and my hours are super early in the morning. By them time I get out (around noon) I am so beat. But I still have to take care of everything that I normally do (cooking, cleaning, caring for the kids).

I am going to set a goal of aiming for the 230s by Jan. Not sure if the 1st is doable, but I sure can try!

Hey everyone! I haven't posted on the 240's thread for a while because I actually stopped weighing myself daily. The scale was just way too unreliable for me as it was not always representative of all the hard work I have been doing!

But, cravings have been kicking in and I think I need to start posting again for the accountability. Last time I was at my doctor's office they weighed me and I came in right around 240 (and that was fully clothed with boots on) so I am thinking this thread is where I belong. The scale definitely hasn't been moving as fast as I would like it to, but you know what? I am staying on plan (low carb, less than 20g a day) and I feel really good about that.

Good luck everyone! Stay strong, even with the holidays coming up!

Hi Smiley!... Welcome back... but it sounds like you won't be in this thread long! :) We'll help you on your way with encouragement!

MARA I am so happy for you!.. You have lost that darn water and are so close to the lowest again! Hooray! Remember.. we are racing to the 230's! :)

Justa...You are doing great! and January for the 230's sounds just awesome! Saying it outloud - it sounds like a nice low number! :)

Pam.. Oh I am so glad your DH work has increased! Oh that is just wonderful and what a nice present for alittle less stress this Christmas time as it comes to money. I know how well you did budgeting... and look it has worked out! Making Jewelry is inexpensive too... Great presents!... Ask the local craft store. A friend of mine is buying just a few beads (big and small and maybe a charm) and chain and making cell phone and purse tags... (need lobster claw to hook onto the time) :)

Also I am so glad you found your perfect match (Beck) for your mind and soul! It is so wonderful to find something that we click with and can live with - without feeling that we are missing out on something and our soul stays happy! (me - atkins)

Pam I am also very glad that your RA pain has deminished! Oh so glad for you!. Just think if you had not lost those 20 lbs and how much more pain you would be feeling! Don't even want to think about it!

Pixikat - You are doing so well this restart!... Be careful in the cold and ice (and snow tho!) Winter injuries are not fun (especially falling on tail bones silly DH) I am so glad to be sharing this journey with you!

Niki... I am thrilled that you are doing well!. I would love to hear about those exercises as I have not heard of them. I am a walker and do the Strength elastic cords for the arms and back.

I had a marvelous start to my day.... I am at my lowest ever on this journey 245.6 this morning... (Old scale - 231.5 oh lovely) and want to skip (almost can without my arse hitting the ground) around the place! I am almost 1/2 almost!!! 5.6 lbs more.. I have a party to go to tonight and need to find some clothes that are not so baggy in my closet.. I hope I can find something from the early 90's that hasn't fallen apart... oh that would be a sight! LOL

Enjoy your day lovely ladies!

I am grinning... I am down to 245.2 and also saw 244.8.. but 245.2 came up 2 times! so Tomorrow should be good too!... I feel lighter.. and will be able to climb that ladder and not be out of breath (putting those gosh darn Icicle lights up )

I hope you all have a safe, warm and Happy Sunday!

Good day everyone :coffee:

Sue(wannaskip): thanks for the words of encouragement. I really appreciate them. DH and I went to our church's Christmas party Friday night. It turned out so well for me in so many different ways that I was almost floating on the way home. First of all, since I have been up and down the scale over the past 20 years I have hung onto many items of clothing with the hope that someday I would wear them not to mention at one time I spent quite a lot of money on clothes and I just can't bear the thought of getting rid of them because they were 1-2 sizes smaller than what I am. Also, I am a bargain hunter and quite often I have bought things 80-90% off with the idea that maybe some day I could wear them. All of that careful shopping paid off! I wore a black sequined tank top with black crepe dress pants and silver glitter low pumps. I had a semi sheer black shawl to cover my shoulders since it was 70s but lightly raining. The shoes were new but I had bought the top and pants really discounted and I was just waiting to get into them. In fact, I have found buying something one size smaller is a great incentive to keep working on losing weight. You know you are "just that close" so why not push just a little bit harder.

Then, I made sure that I followed my food plan while we ate. I got 1 TB of each food item. I had two bites of a chocolate cheesecake. I had 3 tall glasses of ice water. I actually came home feeling hungry but I was amazed that I handled the food situation so well. The live band was fantastic and everyone danced. Although I can't dance like I used to the highlight of the evening for me was slow dancing with my DH to a great cover of "Knocking on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan. I truly felt like Cinderella at the ball with her Prince Charming. A very memorable night for me. One that I haven't had in a very long time.

justaloozer First of all congratulations on losing the 65 lbs. thus far. I think we both were close in our top weight and if you are anything like me, you are so glad that you aren't back there. I like your goal of 230s by January 1st and I will join you in that "quest". We have 3 1/2 weeks left of December so I think that is actually doable for all of us here in this 240s thread so I am "challenging" anyone in the 240s to join us.

Having said that, do you have an idea of what you will do specifically to make that happen? I am going to start tomorrow really working harder on my sodium levels as well as keeping my carbs a lot lower since that seems to creep up for me. I have worked out steadily for the past two weeks so I will just continue to do that. Since I have already two holiday meals that I didn't go nuts over under my belt, I am going to aim for a "sane" Christmas and New Year's meal(s). I am not going to bake this year at all and I am not buying a lot of sweets to have around the house to munch on. As for sodium levels, I am taking a moratorium on eating pizza, hot dogs, Chinese and fast foods until I can see my sodium levels at a better rate. These foods have sort of crept back into my food plan and I honestly think they are stalling my weight loss. We'll see if I am right on that.

As for exercising, how much walking do you do with your retail job? Wearing a pedometer (you can get them as cheap as $5 at Wal-mart) can show you that you are actually moving more than you think. Also, if you are getting overly tired, maybe, stepping up on your vitamins will help boost your energy level. I swear by supplements including a protein smoothie or shake.

:welcome2: smileygirlmel Glad to see you back here again. I think weighing daily is an individual thing and like you have noticed so many things affect it from day to day so it is only one piece of information in our weight loss journeys.

Sue(wannaskip): I think many of us are at the half way point in the 240s. I too have two scales with one having a much lower reading. I just wish it were accurate. :lol: I don't know about you but I really want to give an extra push to bust out of the 240s. I am just plain ready to move on. Let's see if we all can have a "sane" Christmas this year so that we have the 230s to celebrate the New Year about. :hat:

Mara: just wanted to say Hi and hope all is well on your end.

Take care all, Pam :comp:

Hey everyone! sorry I haven't written for a few days, I was out of town for that run. It was 27 degrees and I still made myself do it, I am SUPER proud of myself! :carrot::carrot::carrot: I skipped some of the obstacles cause I was scared of hurting myself or couldn't jump high enough (hay bales) so I had to go around. I DID, however, do the huge rope V-wall. it was a rope net over a huge metal fram that you climb up, throw your leg over, and climb down. I was scared I would freeze up at the top but I made it. It was not a whole 5k though, once they removed the water obstacles because of the weather it was 2.35 miles. oh well!

Food wise, I did okayish. I tried to make low carb choices but I honestly have NO IDEA how I did because cooks are sneaky with sugar and whatnot! lol I did give in and have 6 bites of my friends pumpkin pancakes and 3 crab rangoons and a fortune cookie when we ordered chinese. But really, thats pretty freaking amazing considering the food I would have eaten in the past so I call it a win.

pam it sounds like you did AMAZING at the party!!! congrats!

sue sounds like you had a preview this morning of what is to come tomorrow or the next day

PAM what an NSV to have bought that outfit ahead of time and WAAA LAAAA it fits and you look GORGEOUS!... That dinner sounds like a magical evening.. the kind to remember for the perfect times in our lives :) Cool!

PixiKat.. It is sooooo good to see you. I have missed your posts these last few days!. I am glad you had fun!... I wish I could "run"... but never really could and my butt STILL drags on the ground when I even try a few steps. They are having a color run here in a few months and I would love to do it.. Maybe I could "walk fast" instead LOL

Happy Monday all!.. I am up BOO a tick 245.6.. but understandable as I ate salty salty food (bacon and Ham)... tho under 1200 calories.. and worked out with the ladder and walking.. so it will go away! Got lower numbers in my mind's eye for Christmas (2 weeks and 2 days til Christmas eve!) YIKES!

Morning guys! I am hanging in at 245.6 (Sue we are tied up. lol)

Pixicat I am in awe that you did the run in the cold and did the wall. I think I would have been too scared to try.

Pam I am doing much better. Your outfit sounded amazing. And great job handling the food. :)

Welcome back Smiley!

Good morning!!!

Sue I don't run much of the runs lol I can only run about a minute at a time before I can't breathe. You should totally sign up for the color run, the one I did was super fun and they don't time it so you can run it or walk it or do a mixture of both.

mara I am sure if you set your mind to it you could TOTALLY do it!

I had a nice surprise this morning, I expected to be up after my weekend trip, but I was actually .5 down :) woot!

Santa Clause Is Coming To Town......
 

:santa: Something tells me the next couple of weeks are just plain going to fly.....:angel:

In order to save some money, we are going to fall back on our old but reliable artificial tree. I actually prefer it because I am the one who vacuums and vacuuming pine needles in July or having the bigger ones plug up the hose is no picnic either. :nono: So, I spent this morning rearranging the furniture in the living room so it will accommodate the tree. :xcheer: I hope this "counts" as cardio because I sure was sweating.:coffee: Could be the coffee too? :D

:bravo: pixiekat on finishing your zombie:yikes: run in spite of :brr: the cold. I would definitely not be able to scale walls since my weakest part of my body has always been my upper body so a major High Five for accomplishing that! A Double Dip of WTG for making good food choices in one of the hardest places to do so: Chinese restaurants. I love :love:crab rangoons....

Sue(wannaskip): Well, I am up a tad myself and, yes, it is the sodium :devil:. I am chugging lots of H20 as well as decaf coffee today and I hope that will help move things along...;)

mara and sue: let's see what we can report by Thursday and see who is the first one to change their ticker, okay? :goodluck: I haven't changed mine since mid-last week and I would really like to see it go down 2 lbs.

pixiekat WTG on the .5 lbs down. Your "swollen" muscles might release some more water in the next couple of days....:crossed:

Well, I am going to spend this rainy and very cold dreary day putting up our Christmas tree. :tree: I just wanted to stop in and say "Hi". :coffee2:

Take care, Pam :comp:

Hey pixikat! Yeah, now I’m glad that my doctor prescribed it, I think a lot of people on it use it for the right reasons but then there are those who expect it to do the work for them – I’m on a phentermine forum and you can tell who’s who in that sense. So strange that she shot you down for that but is all for WLS – I’d be scared of all the possibilities of complications and like you say, if you can get down on your own you know it’s within you – well done for how far you’ve come!

Hey Smiley!! Welcome for your (I imagine) brief stay!

Well done to you Sue, glad to hear you’re smiling!

Hey Pam! That's great that you're measuring success by clothes you can get into now that you couldn't before, I love clothes and fashion so I can't wait to be able to enjoy it more and have more choice.

I like Pilates a lot, my instructor is a man - he’s super nice but he does everything with such ease, it’s like he’s teasing us!!

Body pump class was great, very energetic and the instructor for that was very motivating. She was tiny but had good muscles and again, made everything look real easy – grrrr!!!

I weighed today at 239 so that’s another 2 pounds down. I’m gonna stay in this thread a week more as I feel like I just got here and I don’t want to get ahead of myself but if I lose again then I’ll be on my way down I guess.