I only lost a pound this week, bummer. I'm down 18 pounds in a month so that's good, but <sigh> ONE pound! I'm rationalizing - I had some sleeping issues and a kicking period - whew! Hopefully I'll lose a bit more next week. I WANT to lose 5 pounds a week. I'll settle for 3.

So what does a typical day look like for you? I'm on summer vacation right now, so I'm pretty lazy... Today I went to the gun range and then grocery shopping. I have to walk my dogs and then I GET to work out. Elliptical today...

Breakfast: Life cereal (did you know they made a maple flavored Life? Yeah me either. )

Lunch: The greatest turkey sub in the world - a Publix turkey sub! Yum!

Dinner: Not sure what I'll have... Probably some Greek yogurt and strawberries... I know this isn't enough calories... It's hard to eat a lot of clean food...

And you? Anyone?

One of the things they used to do in WW meetings many MANY years ago was give a talk on "just a pound". They'd have available a pound of fat from the butcher counter. It's pretty astounding when you look at it and think about it on your thighs or stomach.

Next time you shop, take a look at a 1 lb tub of butter. THAT is what you are no longer carrying around.

One lb may not seem like much now...but put it in it's perspective. You're one lb healthier than you were last week!

You're right of course! But to have to do this 122 more times? That's a LONG time!

Food today.
Life Cereal and milk
Dinner OUT! Going to Carabbas. One meal a week where I eat what I want. My plan is to get the tomato caprese salad, shrimp and scallops, and whatever veggie.

Yep, you might have to do it 122 more times. And to be completely honest, maybe even a few more. You've probably heard this a hundred times but think about where you'll be 122 weeks from now if you don't do it?

Carabbas sounds great! We don't have one near us and the food on the commercials always looks amazing. Caprese salads are SO good! Enjoy!

Oh Vickie! You sound like my husband!!

So you're down a good bit. How long and what do your menus look like? Do you work out?

I'm about to get on the elliptical for 30 minutes. I DESPISE working out. Uggh!

Truthfully, I could sit on the couch and eat hot fudge sundaes and be a big ole happy fat lady! But In about a month I have to haul my butt back to school and I need to fit in clothes. So I'll work out.

In reality, as you go along, there will be weeks you lose less and weeks you lose more. There may be weeks you gain or don't change. As your weight goes down, you will lose less rapidly since you will burn fewer calories.

I've always wanted to lose 1 pound a week. In reality, I've averaged half a pound a week. Still I'm only 2 pounds above my goal weight. It has taken me nearly 5 years. That would be because of that couple of years where I regained weight and had to lose it again.

Yes, I would like to lose faster. But, I've also come to realize that it really has probably been best for me that I didn't. When I started seriously working on this almost 5 years ago, I knew I had to eat less. But, really, I didn't want to eat different stuff. I wanted to keep eating the types of foods, just to eat less of them. And, I did that for a year and a half or so and lost about 45 pounds. But, then I stalled out. Life got stressful and busy and I regained.

Edit: If you despise working out, you won't stick with it. Try a lot of different workout options until you find one that you actually like.

Part of the reason I regained was that I had been eating mostly the same foods (I had made some changes, but not a lot). So when I starting eating out more and being stressed I overate those same foods.

When I finally started losing again, I really did it better. I took more time to learn how to change my taste preferences. Doing it the slow way I've had plenty of time to change my eating habits. Had I simply lost weight quickly I think it would have been way too easy for me to continue eating the foods that are not conducive to weight loss maintenance. YMMV, but that is how it worked for me.

I've changed everything. I don't drink anymore, no fast food, no soda, and I watch my sugar intake. I don't eat enough - that's the problem right now, but I get full...I'm not going to push food down my face for the sake of extra calories.

I only tend to see a down swing on the scale when I work out, so it doesn't matter if I like it...I have to do it.

You have an interesting story and you were amazingly patient! But I'd have to lose 74 pounds just to get where you started...so yeah after changing everything in my life and starting at 300 pounds, my expectation is more than a pound a week. And I lost 18 pounds in my first month just eating better and with very little exercise, so I'm not really upset. But at the same time, you're right. Any move southward is a reason to celebrate! I'm working on it.

I managed 120 minutes of exercise this week. My goal is 150-180 minutes... I've been doing 20 minutes on the death machine and 30 on the elliptical. Next week I add upper body strength training. I was going to do it this week, but meh. It didn't happen. I still hate working out.

Down 5 pounds! Yay me! Exercise definitely helps with the weight loss... Uggh. So that's 23 pounds in just over a month. Just 4 weeks till I go back to school - I'd like to be at 250, but that's a pipe dream. My goal is 4 pounds per week; we'll see.

1: (-9) 2: (-6) 3: (-2) 4: (-1) 5: (-5)

I'm down 4 more pounds. Yay me!

I'm beyond surprised that this is working... I've been eating whole foods and working on portion sizes. I only drink water and tea (and a little bit of coffee on occasion). For snacks, I eat berries - primarily strawberries. Each Friday evening I give myself permission to eat whatever for dinner. Tonight I'm having pizza... I've been craving it for SO LONG!

I really need to work on the exercise part. Uggh. So for the rest of this month I need to get 540 minutes out of the way. I won't lose any more without that part - I just know it. My original goal was 50 pounds over the summer. That's not gonna happen... So then my new goal is 40 pounds. I am 273 and my first day back to school is Aug 10th. That's 13 pounds in 30 days. Not sure I can make it, but it's something to work toward.

I've dropped about 6 pounds in two weeks, but I haven't been super super diligent. I've had my slips. My biggest change is probably giving up the daily glass (or two or three) of wine.

A typical day of low-cal meals looks like this for me:

I fast until about 11am or noon, depending on if I worked out in the morning.

Breakfast: 1 egg plus 3 T egg whites, mixed with some veggies, plus veggies on the side, a slice of toasted ezekiel bread, laughing cow wedge

Lunch: This can be anything but usually totals 300 calories. A typical lunch would be a chicken breast and salad, turkey chili, or a diet "charcuterie" plate (pickles, rye crisp crackers, babybel cheese, an ounce of salami, 2 oz deli turkey).

Dinner: This is the big wild card. If I want to stay within calories but feel like a "cheat," I will eat a frozen dinner. Otherwise, it is usually fish or beef of some kind plus steamed or roasted or grilled veggies. No carbs typically.

I keep my calories between 1,000-1,200 per day, but I am very short and only have about 15 pounds left to lose.

Hey Banana! 6 pounds in 2 weeks is AWESOME!!!!!

I'm doing about what you are... 1,000ish calories. I usually skip lunch because I sleep a good part of the day. I'm with you - I don't eat a ton of carbs... If I do, it's during the morning.

Nice job! And only 15 pounds? I'm so JEALOUS!!

I had the best week ever! I didn't fall off the wagon...I climbed down and had a fabulous time. So I'm up 5 pounds. I climbed back on the wagon and I pledge to be a good girl until my birthday.

I'm a little late logging in...it's been busy with hubby's birthday and getting ready to go back to school.

So 2 weeks ago I cheated for reasons that are a little blurry now, but it was planned and I have earned my consequences! Last week I felt a cold and TOM coming on. I was SO hungry and made some bad (unplanned choices).

I lost zero pounds last week. Meh, it could be worse!

I have to start thinking about next week when I go back to school. This summer has been the first that I had no classes to teach and no classes to take. It's been ALL that! I haven't done much and I sleep a LOT, so I kept my calories low - about 800 - 1,000. Now that I have to go back to world of the living, I have to increase my calories. According to one certain site I should be consuming about 1350 calories to lose 2 pounds a week. I can add exercise (boy do I hate that word) and lose more - up to 4 pounds in theory.

The great news? The cold is still in my head and TOM is stuck! Just awesome! Who doesn't love peri menopause?

No gain is still great! especially around the dreaded TOM. Back to school for everyone: my kids go back the end of this week the summer has gone by way too fast😞 Glad that u had time to yourself and was able to make a change great work!