I agree, Jennifer; soda = :devil: I've been drinking almost nothing but water since March 1. (I have allowed myself the occasional treat of Crystal Light, or a teensy, teensy bit of the juice from my frozen, unsweetened berries in some carbonated, low sodium water.) I can't imagine drinking soda now -- I see people drinking it and just wonder if they know what kind of crazy stuff they're consuming; I never had a full-on addiction to it, although I can recall on some isolated occasions jonesing for a little Orange Crush! ;) MY sodadrug of choice was Lemonade. (I wish I could surround that word with little stars and sparkly magical bits........ *sigh* ) I just love me some lemonade, I tell you. Limeade too!! But now what I do is to make my own healthy, sugar-free version, with fresh lemon or lime juice and either nice cold spring water or some of the aforementioned bubbly water (always low or no sodium.) I try to make it as festive as possible.......even if it's not always perfect, my conscience is clean, and I know that I'm doing the right thing for my body.

I do love that lemonade though. :^:

I have a low carb, sugar free lemonade, it was SO expensive, but totally worth it. And it's that tart stuff, not the overly sugary stuff. Its made by "Sipper Sweets", and it was the one thing that allowed me to do Atkins for that long of a time, which was 2 weeks btw, heh. I don't know if that helps, or hinders...

Gretchen-
You should look into quitting your job and becoming a professional motivational speaker. Really really. :D

Swimgirl: How do you know if you're allergic to asparatme?

Hmmmm....sounds intruiging!! Where is this stuff sold?

Just wanted to check in-- let ya all know how it's goin over here. I haven't been around too much.. busy, busy at work and after work as well. Man, I miss this place!

Sooo.. Goin well here. Totally OP and feeling GREAT! You know how sometimes, you feel like you lost weight without getting on the scale? For the first time in 5 weeks, I FEEL THAT WAY!

I feel pumped, re-energized and raren' to go! What an awesome feeling! I have been dealing with stress so much better these days, not turning to food for comfort. I HAVE WON! I am mighty proud of that too!

How's everyone doing??

Little energizer bunnies!
 

Congrats, Gretchen. I'm glad that kicking it up a notch really works!

It's been a VERY GOOD week for me, too. On plan every day, and I finally kicked that awful 235 plateau. I've lost 18 pounds total, now, which I know is nothing compared with people on here, but it feels INCREDIBLE. Yesterday I went to try on dresses for this work banquet I have to go to, and everything in even the smaller size I've been wearing was just hanging on me (a very good problem to have!).

Can't wait to go to the gym today. I'm gonna kick some major butt.

(Why is it so much easier to stay on plan when I'm seeing *results*????)

Sarah, I bought the lemonade from a little low-carb bakery. Try checking out low-carb places in your area, also Atkins is starting to put out sugar free, aspartame free drinks, I've only heard of iced tea, but it's worth checking out whatelse Atkins has come up with.

Apryl, I found out I was allergic to aspartame when I bought a diet drink by accident and my throat felt like it was swelling up, it was hard to breath, and I got a really bad headache. Also everytime I have Crystal Lite I get really bad heartburn.

Jennifer we all started somewhere and I think 18 lbs is awsome. Try carrying 3 five pound bags of sugar around with you for the day and you will see how awsome that 18 lbs is.

I am doing great this week. OP all week. I do a lot of guessing at how many calories are in things. I'm pretty good at it. I decided to check out my ability yesterday and I added up everything with checking all the calories. I ended up being a 100 off to the good. The good thing is I just went to bed without runing out to the kitchen to eat 100 calories.

I have also been using the scale more than I should. I am down 2 more lbs for the week. I hope to make it a total of 5 by next Monday at my official weigh in. That would put me back to losing after my 9 lb gain.

Thanks for this thread Gretchen. I am 100% back on board and I am feeling stronger than ever. This 9 lb gain has been my quiting point the last 3 years and I feel like I have beaten it.

Gretchen, I was wondering where you went ;) Glad to here that you're OP and have broken the evil plateau.

I myself have been doing great with food and water this week, however I've been on the late shift for several days so I haven't been able to get to the gym. But, I have done a little bit of walking instead, however it just doesn't feel the same. Oh well, I'm back to the early shift tomorrow and will be headed to the gym right after work! :crossed: Here's hoping for a loss, even though I haven't been on my workout plan since Saturday!

The 3 5lb bags of sugar is a good mental thought howie. Also think, it is fat gone gone and gone.

My "month of only water as my beverage" is going pretty well. The first few days were really hard, but now, I am really enjoying water. I also "splurged" and bought some bottled water to drink at home even though I have a Pur water filter. I mostly bought it to have cold water from the fridge. Lemonade is one of my all time drinks though but I'm feeling good about the water.

Hey guys - sounds like you're all doing great!!!!!!!!!! A big thanks to Gretchen for energizing us.

Howie - I'm so impressed that you've beaten that gain-gremlin. I really am. It gives me hope that I will be able to see this journey through to the end......

As for me, I am really happy that I have stayed on track, including going swimming 3 times this week before work, and eating out for lunch 3 times, during a very strange 1st week in my new job.....I am determined to keep focused and on track during this new phase in my life, and so far, so good!

Hey guys, I'm down another pound, and am completely motivated!! (See my Thursday Challenge post) I'm on a mission from Gaaad, as Mr. Ackroyd would say.... :smoking: Great job to everyone for keeping such great attitudes!!! :cb: :cb:

Sarah - You are on a mission! You're doing splendid my dear, just marvelous! :bravo:

You've broken the 50 lbs. mark... GOOD F:censored: JOB LADY! YOU ROCK!

:cb: :dance: :cb: :dancer: This is my dance of joy for the lovely Sarah!

Sarah, you are AWESOME girl!!! :)

Thank You!!
 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!! :cb: :cb: I love you guys and I just want you to know how much your support means to me. You can't lose 150 pounds alone -- you need to do it with a lot of support, and I get that in abundance from the 100. :love:

Thank you for helping me succeed. :thanks: