Hi Girls:

I'd love to join in, if you don't mind.

I don't really count calories or anything. I actually follow a paleo/primal diet, with some IF thrown into the mix (mostly just skipping breakfast, though I might try full 24 hour fasts sometime in the future if I ever get a handle on my hunger.

So far I've been able to stick pretty much on plan. My only deviations are some red wine indulgences, maybe 2-3 times per week. Other than that, I am powering through cravings and have been doing ok.

Day 3 = "Good" although it was verging on "average" foodwise, but sneaked in to the "good" category due to going for a run in the morning and 3.5hr standing up watching a couple of bands play last night, and a 20min walk afterwards.

Food was good generally, except i had a bit more than strictly required at lunchtime, and i stuck to my soda waters all night in the pub, and had soft-crab thai salad in the restauraunt which was about the healthiest choice i could see from the menu (and also the yummiest!!) although total calories would be more than i'd normally have at home.

So 3 days in to diet and all on plan so far so i'm really happy that i seem to be getting back in to it after my 4 week break.

And hopefully a night-in tonight! Yey!

Hi banananutmuffin! Your diet sounds like something i could go for too if i had to pick a diet-type. I reckon it works well for your body not to be able to predict what's coming with regard to both diet and exercise each day.

PP, thanks for your input and insight. I agree the longer I stay strong, the easier it gets.

Also, the idea of all of us staying strong together gives me more motivation to do so.

Great thread! :)

Yesterday I had a hard day emotionally (thanks to a toxic friend who I have decided to wipe out of my life). I have turned to food for comfort in the past, and considered doing it again, but decided it wasn't worth undoing all my hard work. (Though I did have a little dark chocolate after dinner... sensible indulgence! lol)

Tonight is dinner out with friends, and it'll be my first restaurant meal since going on plan. I have already perused the menu at the restaurant, which is fortunately german, so plenty of offerings that fit with my plan. As long as I stay away from the potato snow, I'm good to go! ;)

TGIF! I've been eating in range and exercising for a week or so now, and I'm happy to say I've lost a pound. I'm so happy I'm remotivated again. This thread is a blessing. Thank you, Lisa.

Banana, congrats on getting rid of your toxic friend. That's not always easy to do. And super congrats for not using food to calm you. I know too well how easy that is to do. By the way, I enjoyed your blog.

Banananutmuffin - welcome!! I also kinda of do IF, it works really well for me. Congrats on getting rid of the toxic friend, I understand how painful that can be.

Tyla- you're welcome! Congrats on being down a pound.

I am also down a pound for the first time in forever!! I'm at 134, which puts me 9 lbs away from goal. Then I'm going to up my calories and start lifting. I got New Weight Lifting Rules for Women in the mail today :)

I ate out last night and i'm going out tonight and tomorrow morning for brunch. I've been able to eat small portions though and that is working for me. I also only had 2 coors lights which I plan on doing again tonight.

Well done on losing that pound Lisa, sounds like you deserve it too!
And thanks for starting this thread, it was perfect for me to get me motivated again.

Good work from everyone else here too - some good sensible sustainable efforts going on. :cp:

Day 4 = "Good"

That's 4 days of "good" and i was rewarded with 118.4lb on the scales this morning :hat: which was 2lb down on the start of the week and would mean i'm at target, but it'll be a few weeks before i'm consistently there i reckon and before i start maintenance proper. And i'll wait to see it a few more times on the scale before i adjust my ticker! I'm enjoying getting back to the discipline though and eating healthily.

Yesterday was easy to stay on target - we didn't go out anywhere! I did a spin class at the gym, worked at home and made a stash of ratatouille for some future meals!

Congrats on your pound loss Lisa. Yesterday was dreadful, I had a chocolate bar, fries and cocktails (rest was healthy). Today, some chocolate and two smallish pieces of cake. I haven't had my supper yet but hopefully I will not succumb to any other junky foods.

I ended up with 1325 cals & 35 minutes of exercise today.

Sounds like everyone is doing a great job!

Went out to dinner with friends last night. Aside from some red wine (my one vice), I stayed on plan. Had a filet mignon (OMG! So tender and delish), saurkraut and a green salad. I avoided the bread basket (two types of herbed butter), the potato snow (mmmmm....) and the corn side dish. Also didn't indulge in dessert (although my friends did). Overall, a very successful night with no real splurge except the wine. I felt very in control and was only slightly tempted by the bread.

Sorry if i'm being boring and posting too much here, but i wanted to be accountable daily for the first 7 days of getting back into my diet and making sure that i got back into a routine. So here goes..

Day 5 = "averge/bad"
The problem here was i didn't do any exercise AND i had 1.5 glasses of wine!
Foodwise i was good, although certainly didn't starve myself, and the scales are back up to 119.1!

I tried to exercise! I took the car to where i wanted to start running from yesterday and sat in it for 30 minutes hoping that a thunderstorm would clear. It didnt'. It was also chucking it down with rain ALL DAY which i don't mind so much, but heading off into the wilderness in a thunderstorm probably wasn't a great idea!

Great discipline banananutmuffin - keep it up!

I'm proud to say that in spite of it being a Saturday, I only had 1375 cals. That's a big deal for me on a weekend. :) I also exercised! :woohoo:

Wow - congrats to all of you for doing so well!!
Me..not so much, I had 1600 calories yesterday!!
B= Banana bread and coffee
S= cookie
D= 2 light beers and a gin and tonic, 2 chicken wings and some fries, garden salad.

Terrible!!! One of my closest friends broke up with her boyfriend so we were 'consoling' her with food and alcohol. I did pretty well with portion control I think..but it was still crappy food.

You guys are inspiring me to get it together, I have an especially hard time on the weekend.

I have a hard time on the weekends, too. That's because whenever I go out with friends, we go to a restaurant. Seriously, I wish we'd take a walk or something...but it's winter and icy here. ;)

Overall, I don't think I did too badly, considering it was a weekend. But now it's TTOM and I've got that water weight thing going, so it's hard to tell.

It's a new week, everybody! Let's stay on plan together.

Days 6 and 7 = "Good" and completes the week i intended to report daily on, with a tally of 6 'good's and 1 'bad'.

I feel like i'm back into good habits after my 4 weeks off (or more like 6 actually!) and have seen 118.4lb on scales 4 days now so have changed my ticker. I've also changed my ticker bar to indicate a maintenance range instead of a weight history - big day!!!!

Now all i need to do is to stay on plan for the rest of my life........

Wow Ange, you must be so slim! We are the same height and I am already afraid 120 is gonna look thin. It's a pretty big range you have there. Do you feel you need it? I am imagining that 125 would be easiest to maintain for me and anything below might be a constant paying attention. How is that for you?

Tyla and Lisa: Nice job staying within calories over the weekend!

Pixie: I hear you about going out to restaurants. Most of my friends are guys, and all they ever want to do is eat!

Ange: Way to go on the ticker change!

The numbers on my scale have been steadily creeping up for the past few days. I am attributing it to too much red wine. ;) Also, I have had a massive headache for DAYS. I am thinking that I need to add some type of carb back into my diet, so I had a pear for breakfast. I think I'm going to try to just have something carby/starchy for breakfast every day, even if it's just some sweet potato or some berries.

Hi guys. I had a good day today (so far). Tea with soymilk and honey, a small handful of almonds and raisins, and a small banana for breakfast. Half of a Kashi roasted veggie pizza for lunch. You can eat an entire half a pizza for like 375 calories! The crust is thin, there isn't that much cheese and there's veggies. What a great way to sneak in some pizza. :)

I know. I don't know. I don't know how i'm going to go basically!!

I've set the high level at 126 because that is the highest weight i've been happy with historically, so i know i can be ok at that number without bemoaning how awful i feel.

And the low end is sort of where i am now and i don't want to put weight on really when i've only just got here and i'm loving being at this weight, but i'm concerned that i won't always be able to keep at this weight, so i don't want to set a range and fail, i want to set a range and be absolutely well within it.

If i can stick to this low end of the range easily then i'll adjust the upper range in a bit, hopefully.

What i want to avoid at all costs of course is going back up to the high 130's where i came from!! And in order to do that i have to pay attention. I have to pay attention whether i want to stick at this weight or if i gained and wanted to stick at something higher, so 'paying attention' is a given anyway! And in some ways it's easier to pay more attention to being a lower weight than it is to have more leeway and maintain at a higher weight. It all depends where my head is, and it's pretty good at the moment, but who knows how long it will last. And i don't know how to maintain anyway really, i'm just about to start learning!!!

Well, I blew it last night. Complete and total binge. Almost an entire box of Papa Johns breadsticks (my crack) and 2 pieces of pizza. Needless to say, I feel like crap today.

I was kind of hoping that the carbs would make my headache go away. No dice. Still got it.

I was up two pounds this morning (water weight, I hope) and overall feeling like crud.

Ah well, today is a new day, right?

Just checking in to say I've been eating in my calorie range and exercising. :)

Banana, what food plan are you on? Maybe it's not balanced enough for you. If you count cals, you can eat carbs, proteins and fats. Just a thought. By the way, I heard on Dr. Oz that Peppermint Oil helps with headaches. Massage your temples with it. We bought some at Whole Foods for my hubby, and he says it works!

Ahh, sorry you had a bad night banananutmuffin! You'll be back on track in no time though.
I pretty well yesterday, stayed at 1400 calories. I'm trying to make my eating window smaller so that maybe i'll have more control with my calories.

Good morning everyone!

Banana, don't feel like crap. :( We ALL blow it occasionally. It not normal to never blow it. It's expected every once in a while. You're still making forward progress! And, as Ange said to me, one day back on plan with no deviations will make you feel good about yourself again. I hope you have a good day today.

Thanks everyone!

Yeah, back on track today with no falls off the ol' wagon and no temptations at all. lol Sometimes I actually think I *need* the occasional cheat to keep my sanity, you know?

Tyla: I'm eating primal/paleo. Its an experiment for me, since I've never done low carb before.

Lisa: Yeah, I've been thinking about tinkering with my eating window, too. (Although lately, mine has been "whenever I'm awake" lol.) How short are you thinking about making yours?

Pixie: Thanks! Hope you have a good day, too!

i agree! i reckon an occasional cheat or even a couple of days of eating a fair bit more is natural and keeps your body guessing what's coming next. Keeps the metabolism ticking over.

I've managed to cut back a tad on my nonstop sweet eating at work. I'm pretty much back to my usual level - under 10 small pieces of candy/chocolate per day.

I know many of you like low carb diets. I just don't think I could do it. I eat a lot of fruit and whole grains and I couldn't imagine not doing so. On the other hand, when I made a lifestyle change and started incorporating whole grains instead of a ton of potatoes, white bread and pasta I trimmed down.

I believe that you do need to "cheat" to keep up your metabolism. It's not really a strategy on my part, I just want to enjoy myself but it always has to be really good food.About once per week I dine out and enjoy multiple courses and wine.

So today actually went really well calorie wise! I finished off the day at 1275!

Banananutmuffin - I'm not a very good IFer ;) I generally start eating between 12-1pm but then sometimes I eat up until 10pm! So it makes it like a 9 hour window. Id like to be able to make it 6-7 hours.

Today I had lunch at 12 and then dinner at 5pm and then slipped out with a light beer with my friend at 9pm..but overall it was pretty good and I was able to stay within my calorie limit.

As for the treat - I agree it's absolutely necessary!

couple more days on track for me, but it's my wedding anniversary today (15 years!) and we're about to head out to a little local Italian restauraunt tonight and i'm in the mood for a couple of glasses of wine and some nice food. Must be due for a treat!

Congrats, ange. That's a reason to celebrate!

Congrats on the anniversary!

Indulged in some red wine last night (my one real vice) and feel sluggish today. Got a bit of a cold, too. Ah well... this too shall pass.

I keep having problems at dinner time. I do great during the day, with breakfast and lunch. But then I go home and consistently eat too much. I can't even blame this on being married because I did it when I was single, only my metabolism was better then.

Do any of you struggle with this? What are your tricks to keep from overeating at night? Last night I had the munchies so bad, I started eating my step son's Honey Nut Cheerios. Oi vay!

Ange - Congrats on the anniversary! You deserve a nice meal :)

PixieChix - That also happens to me, I always overeat in the evenings, to balance it out I just try to eat extra low calories during the day.

Night time eating has always been hard for me. For the past year, my evening routine consisted of putting the kids to bed, drinking 3-5 glasses of wine with Hubby, and then eating a HUGE meal around midnight.

I still struggle with the urge to snack and eat at night.

I agree with Lisa: eating less during the day can help balance out those night time calories. For me, though, I have to make sure what I eat during the day is very satiating. If I just "graze" my way through, I'll end up overeating during the day and then overeating at night, too.

I used to simply try and choose lower calorie snacks for my night time eating, too. Like air popped popcorn, plain. That helped. Very few calories, but kept my mouth busy and allowed me to succumb to the urge to eat.

Hi, I recently joined! I just wanted to pop in to this part of the conversation. Do you guys find you still have success when eating more of your food at night? I barely have time in the day for meals, so I'll usually get about 1/3 or 1/2 of my calories in and then I'm free from about 8 until I go to sleep, which is around 2 or 3. I like to stop eating about 3 hours before bed, so that only makes my window about 4 hours long. Eating 2/3 of my calories in that small amount of time leaves me feeling pretty stuffed, even when I get to sleep, and I just feel like it's all sitting there in my stomach.

i can't help with this conversation, as normally i eat 3-4 small meals between 7am and 5pm and that's it for the day. I'm not hungry later on at all, so all i have if i'm home in the evening is a peppermint tea! Guess i'm just lucky in this one as this schedule really works for me and means that i don't get hungry.

The italian meal and a couple of glasses of a nice wine was great last night though!

PixieChix, I often eat supper quite late (9 or 10 pm) but I always have a snack as soon as I get home from work. A high fiber or high protein snack may help you control your intake at supper.

Happy Anniversary, Ange!

Had 1325 cals last night and had a dance class yesterday. :)

Can't wait till the weekend~~~

Personally, I think this is fine. It's like a mild form of Intermittant Fasting.

I think I've discovered a snack food I can live with for when I have evening snack attacks. I can have a handful of baby carrots for hardly any calories and they crunch and taste great. ;)

Happy Friday! :carrot:

Tracked and exercised daily, but no weight loss! :shrug:

Pixie, I also cut up celery for a snack. Raw mushrooms are good, too

Have a great weekend, everyone! :wave: