Hello everyone!:wave:

Welcome, Kelly-Anne! You are sure to find friends and support here. Everyone is great. This is what is helping me do it!

Wooo-hooo Sprite! You must be so jazzed. Good for you! And remember to change your posted weight! (You've worked too hard to let that not get noticed!)

That hot cereal sounds yummy, Nancy. Yes, having a variety is what makes it workable. And the warm stuff does seem to stick in the tummy for a longer time. Don't belittle your "only ten pounds" loss - that is tremendous for just what - ? five weeks? That is marvelous! And each week will be down more, and towards healthy habits that will enable us to maintain our new, fit, energetic and attractive bods!!!:strong: Boy, am I pumped for us all!:lol:

I think the exercise has even helped me with time of month - I've had no usual lower-backache, which is great - and no uncomfortable cramps. Yahoo!

Has anyone else had a little trouble with this site? I don't know if it's that, or my 'puter. Eventually I get to where I want, but it's taking longer than I expect. Oh well. I'm grateful to wait, if I have to!

Have a great evening, y'all!

Holly
176/168/160 1st goal

Thanks for the welcome!
 

Thanks so much to all of you for the warm welcome!
I may be able to help with the bean thing. We were vegetarians for 14 years and still eat beans a lot. If all you're wanting to do is add a few beans a day to your diet - add them to soups, mash and add to meatloaf or burgers, eat bean burritos, quesadillas, tacos, check out Middle Eastern food, (hummus - mmmmmm)
Beans - not just for weinie beanies anymore. :lol:
I've just come up from my walk in the basement :strong: - I can smell the motor after 1/2 hour - time to buy lubricant, I think. I sure do enjoy walking and watching or reading, though - especially since it meant I could have some of the trifle my daughter made for dessert tonight! :T
I have a question - when I see people's post, there's a little place that says if they are online or not - does that mean signed in to this forum or online, period?
Also, do any of you go to the chat room here?

Kelly-Anne
(290, 255, 125) weigh-in tomorrow :eek:

Thank you all for your kind words. It sure feels good to lose after gaining or maintaining for so long.

I really couldn't have done it without this site. I had almost given up. Thank you all again. I really feel we have a special group of people here.

Nancy how did your black bean/brown rice dish turn out?
Black beans are also very good in chili.

Holly thanks for reminding me to change my posted weight. That's part of the reward of losing, I wouldn't want to miss out on that!

Kelly Anne do you have a treadmill?I don't know the answer to your question about the online thing. Hopefully someone else will.

Melissa how are you doing?

Christine hopefully you'll be back with us soon.

Hi Sprite,
Yes, I have a treadmill and I LOVE it! We set it up in the basement so it'd be a bit quieter and Lovey set up a TV in front of it for me so I can rot my brains while walking. It's great!
We have long, cold winters and I'm scared of slipping on the sidewalks, so the treadmill is perfect for me.

Kelly-Anne
(290,255,125)

I'm back. No DSL yet but my ISP says they won't charge me for the extra hours this month. Hopefully the DSL is ready on Tuesday. We'll see... I used to have DSL but moved last November and we're just getting back to it.. I missed it!!

Kelly-anne... Welcome! Sounds like you're well on your way to your goals!

Sprite, congrats on the 2 pounds.. guess I'd better get my butt moving .. or I'll be left in your dust soon ;)

I think I've convinced the hubby to do the Body for Life challenge with me. We may start that the beginning of next month if we can get a weight bench by then. :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend...
I'm off to do something productive with my time... taxes? eeek! LOL

Christine
195/149/130

Hi everyone, I admit that I have been lurking on this site for quite some time. I figured it is time to take the plunge and join in!

A little background on myself. I am 29 years old, married with no kids (unless you count the little furry ones!). Several years ago I reached my highest weight of 183. After lots of exercise and healthy eating, I managed to get down to 135. Unfortunately I got off track and managed to gain some weight back. I think at one time I was up to 162. For the past couple of years my weight has fluctuated. I am currently at 149. I am proud that I have maintained a loss (for about 7 years) but I'm now ready to take the next step to reach my goal....and keep it off.

I have struggled with the word "diet" for several years. It has taken a long time to realize that this needs to be a lifestyle change..rather than a diet.

I'm really motivated and I look forward to encouraging others the way you guys have encouraged me (although I never posted).

I haven't really decided on a final goal yet. I mean I would love to weigh 115, but if all I can eat is a couple of carrots a day to maintain it....well that's not happening! :dizzy: Anyway, like I said..this needs to be a lifestyle change for me, not drastic measures to reach a "number". So for my first goal I would like to weigh 135 and we'll go from there. Ultimately I think anywhere from 120-125 would be good, but we'll see.

I look forward to us losing together!

183/149/135 first goal

Welcome Jacklyn.. congrats on your past loss and keeping a good deal of it off! I am also sitting at 149 now and having the hardest time breaking through to a lower number! I totally agree with the wishing i could weigh 115 but not if i have to live on rabbit feed! That's why my initial goal is 130... if I can keep going, I will but I know I'll be 10x happier at 130 than I was at my top weight so thats my goal! I think the real key for me will be getting back into more serious exercise!

I finally figured out how to add a picture over thar to the left. Picked a kitty for now cuz he looks a little like my kitties ( I have 3 .. all grey tabby ). I am going to try to make my own cute pic for there asap though... I love messin around with graphics! (as everyone saw with my altered picture of myself LOL)...

Catch you all later.. Keep it up everyone! :)

Christine
195/149/130

Top O' the Morning all.....(Thats as Irish as I get) :lol:

Welcome Jacklyn and congrats on the weight you have lost already!!!

Christine,,,so happy that you can be here and that your IP wont charge you!

Boy oh Boy did I have a lazy day yesterday.. Its that TOM and I feel like a slug.... I dont even know if Ill do the weigh in on Tuesday because I feel as if I have taken on more water then the Titanic :eek: Its always discouraging to me to weigh when its that TOM. But Ill see how I feel come Tuesday morning..

I did not make the Black Bean and Brown rice recipe yet. I will try it this week. Ill let everyone know if its worth trying.

Sprite, Pamela, Holly , Melisa and KellyAnne , how are you guys today?

Ok got to go find something productive to do, talk to you all later..

Have a good day !

Nancy :wave:

207/197/150 1st goal

:) Happy St. P.'s Day, everyone!

My husband's making the traditional meal for today - I hope to keep my serving portions in line.

Welcome, Jacklyn! Congrats on your great weight loss so far. You are sure to be kept motivated by the great ladies here.

Hi Nancy, Christine, KellyAnne, Melisa, Pamela, and Sprite! Hope everyone's doing great.

TOM for me also, Nancy. Though it will be over by my weigh-in day on Wednesday, so hopefully it won't affect the scale too much.

Hmmm, piece of advice - no matter how strong your resolve is, it's a bad idea to buy a chocolate rabbit for your kid for Easter two weeks before Easter!:s: Yup, the deed's been done and the little bunny is in my cavernous stomach. Oh well, it was a little one, and he sure was good. :D I get to blame it on hormonal cravings, right?!?:dizzy:

I didn't exercise today, but it will be my one day off this week, so I guess that's okay. Back on track tomorrow.

Take care, everyone!

Sincerely, Holly
176/168/160 1st goal

Hi Everyone!

Welcome Jacklyn!

Well it's TOM for me as well and I am soooo tired. Usually I would just eat away to try and get back some energy but I have remained strong today. But boy am I a bear!

Went out to the lake today and it was so cold we didn't stay out too long.

I will not buy my son any Easter candy this year. Maybe a toy or some clothes. I know his grandparents will buy him candy and that will be hard enough for me to stay away from.

Hi everyone and welcome to Kelly-Ann and Jackyln,
I hope you all had a good weekend. Congrats on the 2 lb loss Sprite! I wish I could say I had a loss, but I didn't. I don't know why I didn't, but I'm ok with it. I had an ok weekend. I could have made some better choices. I didn't go over my calorie limit, just ate junk with not much nutritional value. So you guys eat lots of fiber? How many grams a day is your goal? My fiber intake is always low. I finally got my calcium up to where it should be with the help of Viactive. Does a fiber supplement give the same benefits of fiber rich foods?
The kids are feeling better. My husband and I somehow avoided getting it. :)
This is kinda cool. My husband's job is offering an incentive program for reaching a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day for a 12 week period. He has to pay $5 for the pedometer and if he reaches the goal he is eligible for all kinds of prizes. Me and my kids decided to do it with him. I just have to buy our pedometers as his company won't let us in on their program. I think it's a neat challenge and I'm excited that the kids want to get in on it too. My daughter wants to lose 10 lbs and my son doesn't want to be left out. Whatever the reasons, I'm glad that we can do it as a family.:)
Later,
Melisa

Hi all!
Twas a happy me on the scale this am! 3 pounds off and a new week starting. :smug:
We bought treadmill lubricant this afternoon - I get to figure out how to apply it in the morning. We also found a pedometer that counts steps - Lovey gets first crack at it, since he says he gets *plenty* of exercise just walking to and from the lunchroom at work each day for his breaks. :lol:
Melisa - I think your DH's company is flat out SMART, since healthy, fit employees are more productive and hang around longer - wish more companies would do something like that!

Off to bed now - it's much easier to stay OP when well rested.

Kelly-Anne
(290, 252, 125)

Good morning everyone! I had a pretty good weekend. No loss but I ate pretty well. My focus now is that I need to increase my exercise. Good thing is that its starting to get dark later here so I will be able to walk outside when I get home from work. Our neighborhood is full of hills so its a great workout!

Hope everyone is doing well :) From reading the recent posts sounds like everyone is on track! Have a great day! :D

An idea from the turnip patch!
 

I have a (vague) recipe for using beans. Cook one cup of macaroi or other small pasta shapes. Whilst they're cooking, heat up 1 average sized can of diced or plum tomatoes, a couple of diced green onions, and a good sized handful of carrots. Add in an average sized can of black beans, chick peas, or mixed beans. Stir this all together, and season with lots of garlic and chili powder - or anything at all you desire. Mix in the pasta when it's done and you have a really healthy, virtually fat free meal with tons of vitamins and fiber. I know one cup of pasta doesn't sound like much, but the recipe should easily feed 4-5 people.

I'm trying to do things the old fashioned way too - cutting out fat, adding in nutrition, watching what I eat, and exercising. I've been having a good start to the week. Last week was a bit much, so I only lost about half a pound. But I'm determined to make this week a winner/loser!

Hope everyone's having a great monday!

The scale showed a gain of 4 pounds on Friday...but I think it is muscle from all the shoveling I did! Did some Thursday night then got up on Friday morning at 5:30 and did it for almost an hour. Flew to PA that night, got a lot of walking in at the O'Hare airport in Chicago. I had a really good weekend with my best friend and her family. Didn't eat that great (the most amazing Chinese restaurant is there so I got my fave: chicken fried rice!) but didn't eat all that much of what I did eat. Walked O'Hare a lot on the way back too. I'm part Irish, so had to get a Shamrock shake from Mc Donald's last night, LOL. I've come down with a cold and it helped my throat.

Beans: I soak dried pinto beans overnight then cook them for about 2 hours. I eat them with a little bit of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray and Parmesan cheese (I'm a Parmesan cheese addict). I also have kidney beans that I'm assuming are made a similar way. It's really cheap to buy them dried in the bags and you get a lot.

Welcome Kelly-Anne and Jacklyn!!
In Christ,
Pamela