Originally Posted by meredithann:
How about some turkey and maybe some lowfat cheese on a wrap, warm it in the microwave, and then put some lettuce and a little dressing on it? We have those here at school, and they are pretty good!

Hey thanks! I will definitely try that! My daughter was taking cooking classes and they did something similar to that by spreading laughing cow cheese onto those high fiber low carb sandwich wraps, topping it with turkey or chicken and baking it in the toaster oven, then topping it with baby spinach or salad greens, drizzling a little olive oil or dressing over it. It was pretty tasty! I had forgotten about that until now.

Yum! That sounds really good!

Hi buddies.
Bleahhhhh.....not sure what i got into yesterday, but after lunch i wound up curled in the recliner all day with an upset stomach, chills, joint and muscles aches and a temp of 100.2.
I almost passed out after feeding all the animals, so i climbed into bed @ 6pm and there I stayed until about 9am this morning, needless to say, i called in sick from work today, the first time in 8 years, i'm sure they'll cut me some slack. i actually was feeling alright when the alarm went off, but the idea of shoveling snow off my drive was enough to make me feel woozy all over again...

well, on the upside i reached my goal of drinking a glass of water and not overeating! I'm still afraid to eat just yet...

God morning Fellow Dieters... :dizzy:

Not going to the gym today, because I have a lot of errands to do. Did some already, but need to pick up the kids soon and finish them off with them.
Good news is I went grocery shopping and got lots of good stuff. I am making a turkey tortelini soup for dinner. I can't wait for dinner.


Hmmm, as for good simple hearty lunches other then a salad, what about a grilled ham and cheese sandwich on rye. Use low fat butter and lean ham. I also like salsa and chips. I make my own salsa, dump it on the chips, sprinkle on some cheese and warm it up a bit. Just a few ideas... will add more if I think of them later.

My goal today, since I am not going to the gym is to keep the water intake up to par, seeing as it is FFFFF-freezing :brr: cold out today, that would make it a lil hard, as I don't want to drink cold stuff, but hot warm and toasty drinks... MMMmMm Coffee.

Good luck ladies!! :dance:

New to 3FC
 

If it's alright, I'd also like to join the group.

I'm 30, from Michigan, and have been married for 3 years with no children yet (and have two cats). I went from my skinniest weight at my wedding to my heaviest in a few short years and need a major change in my life.

I'm so tired of people trying to figure out if I'm pregnant because I've gained so much weight. It's so embarassing. I find myself not wanting to do a lot of things because I don't think I'm in shape enough to keep up with the others or I have nothing to wear and am not about to go shopping for clothes - that's when I get depressed the most.

My relationship with my husband is good but he's almost too accepting and we constantly reward ourselves with food (of course, he's very athletic and in shape :P ). So I need to break that habit and also stop eating out as much as I can.

I gained weight as a result of laziness, stress from work, and lack of time to work out. The problem is that I feel if I am working out like I should, that I have no life and literally go from waking, work, drive home, eat, work out, sleep....repeat! (But it's a catch 22 because I have no life when I'm overweight and don't want to do fun things).

I'm looking to break this cycle and started this week (1/12/09 at 225 lbs) and eventually to get down to around 140 lbs again. I have been eating healthy everyday and working out every day I'm able to so far. It seems like the first 2 or 3 weeks are the hardest - because my stomach is so used to eating until it's full and wants more.

If I can get through the weekend and continue to eat good everyday and work out at least 5 days - I will have accomplished my mini goal for the week. I would like to keep this up for the next 3 weeks to get past that first initial hump for me. I'll keep you updated and be accountable for those goals.

healthierme--- If you feel 5 days of worikng out is to much to start with, why not do three and gradually up it over time? No one says that you have to work out 5 days a week. I would love to, but in all reality, I can't. I have a ton of other things to do, so I do 3 or 4 days a week.

Good luck!

You're right, Pearfreak. I'm hoping that if I say I want to work out 5 days, then I'll probably work out 3 or 4 ha ha. If I say I want to work out 3 or 4, I'll probably work out 2. I wonder why I do that? Anyone else have that problem? Thanks for the advice though. Gradual is probably better than shocking my body and I don't want to disappoint myself already by not setting achievable goals and then giving up entirely when I don't meet them the first week.

Hi amber,
hot hearty and filling, what about soups or stews? one of my fav dishes of all time is beef stew with vegitables--carrots, onions and potatoes.
just keep it brothy rather than add thickener, or just add as little thickener as you can get away with. i have in the past purreed some of the potatoes to thicken it, since i don't tolerate wheat or flour well.

another soup i love is chicken soup with carrots--toss all in a pot with sea salt, after an hour or two , remove chicken and strain broth, pull meat off chicken and puree the carrots in a food processor. one of my favorite soups! i made some today.


Also!!!! Avocados are in season, a half or whole avocado makes a good addition to lunch, and is filling and yummy. that's what's been my lunch the past few weeks, avocado mixed with parsely or greens or tomatoes. sort of salad- esque, but the avocado adds bit more fullfillment to it.

well, my stomach's still bugging me a little, but i'm gonna go shovel snow so i'm not homebound at least. we got 4-6 inches yesterday. which is a good amount for us...

my main goal today is again, to not over eat. :)
if i don't feel too woozy, i may go for a swim, but if not, the snow shoveling will double as a work out.

wish i had one of these! :
http://www.wovel.com/

First of all, thanks so much for everyone giving me lunch suggestions! I ate some hummus, salsa and veggies and a half portion of some home made chicken enchiladas. I also work out for 50 minutes doing step aerobics on my wii fit. Tomorrow will be more difficult as I have a brownie leader's meeting and there is no telling what time I will get home! Unfortunately on most Fridays I only eat one, maybe two meals at the most!
Welcome healthierme! I hope that you use this board to stay with it! Plus, since you are just starting out, keep it simple. For me, I am focusing on eating balanced, drinking lots of water and working out. So far so good!
Thanks so much for the suggestions, kaebea! I will definitely be using yours and the others on here to fill out my midday meals.

Me Too!
 

My Name is Angela,

I am 34 years old. I have been married for 11 years. We have 3 children together and I have a son from my previous marriage. I work full time and it is a night shift. I also go to school two days a week. We have 2 cats and a dog. My husband and I are taking an anniversary trip in May and my goal is to be 175 pounds by then so I can fit nicely into any of the roller coaster seats we come across. I would also like to be able to be off the medications I am currently on for Blood pressure and sugars.

There are many things I would like to change about my life but for some reason I never quite seem to get there. My biggest goal for right now is to start my journal again. For some reason that seems to help me but I am forever saying "I will start tomorrow".

If anyone wants to chat I am usually signed into MSN messenger when reading this forum.

Good Luck to all of us.

:)

Good morning everyone! This thread took off nicely!
I wanted to reply to healthierme about her husband being accepting....isnt it such a catch 22 when you husband loves you unconditionally, and doesnt even see the weight you have gained? It does not and I mean DOES NOT deter my husband at all that I have gained like 60 lbs since we first met, he still looks at me the same way, and while I know i am one of the luckiest women in the world to have found a man like that, its definately not a motivator to lose weight, and we also celebrate things with food!!!! LOL

As far as warm lunches for these cold cold days, I was wondering if anyone has tried the progresso soups that boast 1 point or no points, if they were any good and how expensive they may be? I remember when I was on weight watchers my saving grace was making the zero point soup when I had screwed up that day.....
Hope everyone stays warm and has a wonderful weekend! I have to work 12 hours tomorrow and I am not looking forward to it! I bought some slim fasts in case I get famished and cant grab something good!

Hi jenn,
no, have not tried the soups.
how about canned chilli? i know that trader joes has a couple good varieties to choose from. and add a bit of cheese if thats' in your diet plan.
i used to buy those all the time, Mmmmmmm :)

txnikita, i'm another 'I'll start tomorrow' sayer! Horrible affliction, isn't it?
I figured i was making my journal too complex, what with a bunch of suppliments that i take, and a couple herbs and a medication.
so i'm just going to simplify it to just food and calories.
and probably workouts too, since i like recording those if i have done them.
looks like you've done swell on your weight loss though, 175 is not that far off! yay :carrot:

I've heard good things about the wii fit, like, that it kicks your butt???! I don't get how it can work, but i know a few people that have one and they says it's a challenge.

so my goal for the day is just not to over eat. if i can do that 2 weeks, i'm sure i'll see some weight loss.
i think i'll hit the pool too, now that i'm feeling better.
:D

Today was my long day, as all Fridays tend to be. I don't drink enough and I usually don't even eat three full meals. I still have not worked out yet, although I plan to tonight. I am also working on getting my water in for the day too. I just feel off today, and a little achy. It's the coldest day of the year and I'm sure before the night is over with, we will be setting records. I hope you all stay warm and fuzzy!

Hey everyone! It's the weekend! :carrot: I hope you all have wonderful plans for the next couple of days. I wanted to share something with all of you that has helped me lose weight and stay on track. The more water I drink, the better I do. Drinking lots of water helps me feel awake in the morning and I used to drink 3 cups of coffee every day (have not had one drop since Dec 26). It also helps me when I exercise. I tend to have more stamina and can work out faster and harder at cardio and if I am strength training, I can handle longer reps and heavier weights. It also keeps my headaches under control. I have a long history dealing with migraines, and my gosh it helps so much. I drink a minimum of 80 ounces a day, which sounds like alot, but it really is not. I can buy a 44oz ice water from Sonic for fifty cents and fill it back up once and I have hit my daily water goal.
So, drinking lots of water has greatly helped me see the scale move in the right direction. What has helped you?

Hi all!!

My name is Merie and I'd love to join in!!! I'm 30. Married 6 years. No kids. 2 cats. Joined a gym with a friend last weekend, and really need to get it together this time.

Was at my lowest weight in college - 150 - but got there in very unhealthy ways. Met the boy, got happy, put on 20 happy lbs. And then had bad reactions to birth control, had a bout of depression, and now have been ~200 for the past 5 years. Feel like I'm always 'starting' to get serious about dropping the weight, but never really follow through. I'm the queen of excuses. Lately, my excuse has been work - since I work 50+ hours a week.

Joining the gym with a friend should make a huge difference, and I'm probably going to do some personal training to get started with the new lifestyle. This week has been really good. Joined the gym on Saturday. Sunday - 35 minutes elliptical. Tuesday - initial personal training assessment. Wednesday - 35 minutes elliptical. Friday - hour Zumba dance cardio class. Saturday - hour spinning class. I meet with my trainer on Wednesday, and will probably work something out. I'm hoping to be able to swing like, 6 weeks of training. Hopefully 2-30 minute sessions a week.

I'm so so so excited my gym has spinning classes. I used to go regularly before we moved to another state, I miss my old gym. Because of my work schedule, I most likely won't be able to make it to the 2 evening classes during the week, but the 9am Saturday class is awesome for me. I feel so good this morning after doing that. I definitely have to keep it up.

My goals right now are to get the cardio in, and then learn the best things to do for weight training with my trainer.

Amber, I'm totally with you on the water. I had heard a tip recently to drink 16 oz of water first thing in the morning, before doing anything. I started doing it and it made such an amazing difference. I wake up faster, get moving better and feel a whole lot better all morning. And I've also been trying to get 3-4 cups of green tea in as well as the water all day.

*m