new here
 

hello,

I am new to this board; I chose this thread because I am doing my own plan. After trying all kinds of plans, I've found that no one gives me what I need. So I had to make up my own!

I am 34. I've been sort of heavy most of my life but 1.5 years ago I went on a medication that made me gain weight like crazy. I got off that med in January. (I was gaining 4 pounds a month on that medication. It was horrible!) I stopped gaining when I switched meds, but it's taken me until now to start actually losing.

My husband and I are planning to try to have our first baby starting around November of this year, so I have until then to get as far with losing weight as I can.

My plan is basically counting calories (I try to stay over 1100 and under 1400 each day), fruit and vegetable servings (try to get at least 5 a day), and protein grams (at least 48 grams a day - I'm a semi-vegetarian and tend to not get quite enough protein in). I also take 500 mg of calcium twice a day and a multivitamin. I avoid saturated fats. I eat a lot of fish but keep varying the kind because of the mercury residue in them (a problem mostly in pregnancy but I am trying to learn to pay attention now.)

Here are the odd bits of wisdom that have worked for me:

1. COUNTING CALORIES BEGINNING WITH DINNER

This changed my life!!!! I have never before gotten through two weeks of a program without going over my allottment once. Now that I track each day beginning with dinner, I have! :) I begin my tracking days at 4 pm and they run until 4 pm the next day. This works so well, because my highest calorie meals are always dinner (cooking with my hubby, eating out, social events) and I can make up the difference with breakfast and lunch, where it's much easier to eat my own low-cal stuff. Plus I know that if I can just make it to 4 pm I get to start a new day!

2. IGNORING SOME DIETING CONCERNS

What I am ignoring right now: total fat, cholesterol, carbs, sodium. I don't count any of these things. I don't have high cholesterol, high triglycerides, or high blood pressure, so right now I am not worrying about that stuff. I have enough to keep track of! I'll add them in if they become a problem later.
(One big advantage of making up a plan yourself). I allow myself some olive oil, cheese, sugar, etc. when I want it, and it helps me stay in the calorie range with a lot less effort. And with less to track, I am less likely to give up tracking.

3. WRITING DOWN EVERYTHING I EAT

I track everythign in Excel. If I stop tracking, I gain, period. I think I will have to track everything I eat for the rest of my life, or I will gain back the weight. But I think I am finally OK with that concept. Excel makes tracking easy and it does not take too long now at all

4. A PERSONAL TRAINER

I can only afford to see him twice a month, or sometimes once a week. But he makes a huge difference. He is someone I feel bad for letting down, so it makes me work harder than I would on my own. Seeing him twice a month costs the EXACT SAME amount I spent belonging to Weight Watchers when I did that plan. My trainer is a much better value! He is cheering and encouraging; he makes me stick to my workout plan, and I feel kind of like when I was on sports teams as a kid. I have a coach again, and it is fun. I have to do many of my workouts without him, of course, but seeing him a few times a month is enough to keep me on track.

justme: I saw your post about sizes. You are so lucky! At my current weight (181.5) I wear a size 20 on top and a 22 on the bottom, and I am exactly your height, 5'3". I won't be able to fit into a 16 until I get down to 160. I couldn't wear a 9 unless I was about 130. It always amazes me how different people's bodies are even when they're kind of the same size.

tigerlily: you mentioned software for tracking. what worked best for me in the end was to make my very own excel spreadsheet with custom columns. It does not take knowing very much about excel to create one, or there are lots of examples on the web that you can download and adjust to fit your needs.

Sandset

Current goal (for Nov. 30): 155 Eventual goal: 125

Hi. It's great to hear from everyone. The one thing I wanted to reply to right off the bat was Willbethin. I don't think there's any need to apologize for being down. It seems this is a place to get inspiration AND support. Everyone is down sometimes and I find that it helps to say,"Wow. I feel really bad." and know it's heard. Often that's enough to turn me around.
Isn't it amazing how different things work for different people. We're all so unique, it's no wonder most of us have tried 100s of diet plans to no avail. I think that learning about our own bodies and our own personal pitfalls is the key. I personally am a breakfast and lunch skipper. The snack box at work doesn't count, for either, but naturally I get hungry throughout the day so end up filling up on junk food, candy, etc. Since my body craves real nutrition, I come home and eat 16 dinners! Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture. I HATE fixing myself breakfast and lunch in the morning before work. I know it's not a way I want to eat forever, but I've taken to having Carnation Instant Breakfast for those 2 meals. Then I take a couple of pieces of fruit to eat during the day. When I get home, I'm ready for a healthy dinner. The lunch and breakfast also satisfies my constant chocolate craving! I'm going to work on fixing myself a sandwich a couple of days a week for lunch for a start. With whole grain bread and LOTS of vegies! I know I'm doing it backwards. I would probably lose more if I could make my lunch or breakfast my largest meal, but it doesn't work for me right now. Anyway, as long as I walk several miles in the evenings after dinner, it seems to be working for now.
Hey, this is a really long post. I guess I'll give it up for a while. Happy Sunday to all!

Jen238/233/140

Good Morning All! I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I have been MIA for a few days and wanted to catch up. I will be going out of town Wednesday for some much needed R&R and was trying to get my house cleaned and everything ready to go. Unfortunately I didn't get everything finished because I was moving some furniture on Sunday and my knee went out. Hurt like a son of a gun too so I guess that means I will not be doing any walking for a few days. The scale is still not moving but right now I am not too concerned. I am just thankful for the 15 lbs I lost initially and when I get back from out of town I will reevalute my plan and see where I am going wrong.

Welcome Sandset - good to have you here.

Willbe - we all get down and you will get back up. This is a difficult journey and that's why we are all here....to support one another.

Justcuz - congrats on the 2 lbs! :D You are doing great!

Jen - whatever works for you is what is best. I think we have all come to the realization that what works for somebody else may not be what will work for us. My best friend and I joined WW at the beginning of the year (I joined at the request of my doctor) she lost 14-16 lbs and I just couldn't do it. Only stuck it out for a few weeks.

If I missed anyone, I am sorry. Have a great day all!

LJ

225/210.5/130

PS That 2 lbs I lost last week must have been a figment of my imagination since I got on the scale the following day and the scale showed the 210.5 again.....yes I am a scale hopper.:shrug:

good morning everyone, thanks for the encouraging words, it really does help to come on here and vent and get the support that is much needed to not give up.

welcome sandset, your plan sounds great and very realistic. hope you will stick around the support on here is terrific, through good days and bad.

huntress, sorry to hear about your knee. hope ya feel better soon, that stinks when you have so much to do. hang in there. great attitude for be satisfied with the 15 lb lost, that is a great loss and cant weight till i get there.

jen, thanks for the kind words, and you sound like you are breaking old habits, this is what we all have to do, little by little, as far as food choices for breakfast and lunch, it can be whatever, i eat out of the box all the time, i could eat anything for breakfast. as long as it is healthy , go for it.

lizzo and tif, hope you had a great weekend and all of us have been checking in and giving each other the support we need, but i think i can speak for all of us, we did miss you guys. oh and we got someone new(sandset) but you probably already read everyone's posts.

me?? i had a pretty rough couple of days, the scales say the same this morning, i am not surprised. although i know i didnt eat healthy all of the time, i also know i am retaining water from pms, that is not an excuse, unfortately it is a fact, i did take some pms pills hoping to get rid of the"bloat"

i woke up with a great attitude(alright, good) attitude this moring and looking forward to getting back on track and having a great week.

have a great day eveyrone.:)

Hi all!
Sandset--I LOVE your system of starting with dinner!! That makes SO much sense! I tend to eat lightly for breakfast and lunch, "banking" my calories, but it makes more mental sense to start the day's counting with dinner and make up the difference with breakfast and lunch. It's the same idea, but a new spin. Thanks!
Hope everyone is having a great day!

Good Morning! Monday again. It just keeps coming back!:dizzy:
Weekends go too fast.
I weighed in today. Down 2lbs to 193. That give me a total loss of 8.5. Chug'n along. I hope after what I ate yesterday, I don't see a gain in a couple of days.
For Father's Day, my mother bought Dairy Queen ice cream cakes and my grandmother made a fresh rubbarb pie. It was too much for me to resist.:s: I know it's what we eat CONSISTANLTY that matters. Icecream cake and rubbarb pie are not constants, so trying not to beat myself up.
Sandset, welcome! Great idea to start counting calories at supper time! I think I may give that a try. I also only track calories and fat grams for the time being.
Got up late today, so need to get a move on!
Hope everyone has a great day!
:D

congrats tigerlily, good for you, got a treat and still lost. you must be doing something right, keep up the good work and postitive attitude.

I'm ALIVVVVVVVE~!!!!!!

AND I survived the weekend. Whew!!!

First of all, welcome Sandset! Great to have you here...

Second, Lizzo, hope you had a wonderful weekend also, the weather was great, and I had a blast!!!

Short update...I did much better on the eating thing than I thought I would. My Dad likes to EAT! We went to a seafood place and I hate fish but his fried shrimp and fried okra sure looked good. (I ended up having a salad with grilled chicken on it and sampled one piece of okra)

I also went to the store and picked up a couple of lean cuisines and had them while everyone else was having ribs and fried potatoes, etc. The family knew I was dieting and they were very accomodating. I did eat fruit and veggies at my Dad's 50th party and did have a few chips and olives, etc...and had a turkey sub the next night for dinner (footlong and saved the other half for my ride home today!)

So, I weigh tomorrow and hope to see a loss. Discipline is a gift from God and I slipped a few times, but heck...I was on a mini-vacation!!!

I apologize for not acknowledging you all individually, you know I always try to, but I only have a minute. I haven't even unpacked yet!!! (priorities!!!)

We are also unplugging this computer and moving it upstairs tonight and the DSL guy is coming in the morning sometime to get us hooked up. So, I will check in tomorrow and go over your posts in more detail, there is so much praise for all of you and your hard work to be said and I don't want to let it slide.

Thanks for the kind words, I missed each and every one of you too, and thinking of having to log in here and be accountable for my actions made me really think this weekend about what I was eating. I didn't want to lie. To myself or you, that isn't what this board is about and I am so proud of all of you for having the courage to admit when you falter as well.

Oh heck, I am getting all misty-eyed and I am rambling as usual. I will be here tomorrow!

Take care all!
Tiffany

welcome back tif, so glad to hear you did so well, you are awsome, what control!!!!! i could take a lesson or 2, as a matter of fact i think i am .

i figured out the main reason i keep messing up, those protien plans keep jumping up and down in my head. i keep telling myself there are certain foods that i cant or shouldnt have, and i just keep setting myself up for failure, so today i let myself have some of the things i thought were triggering me to over eat, and i was in control i enjoyed it and i stopped at a reg serving. i have to learn to be in control. i cant tell myself i cant have a certain food, than you just think about that food all the time. i am learning, i may be a little slow, but i am learning. :dizzy: i will get there, with hopefully no more setbacks, i have to go forward, i wasted to much time already, i have to get more energy. i am teaching my daughter to ride her bike without training wheels and my back starting hurting and and i was starting to get out of breath, but i didnt let her know, i let her decide when she wanted to stop, this should be a happy experience for me, instead, i was very uncomfortable, that should be incentive enough to lose this weight. i am so glad i can come here and vent, this is a very big help. i did good today, with water, excercise and food.:) hope everyone had a great day.

Hello everyone. I got back yesterday but didn't post. Sorry. I did good on the eating, not perfect, but very well, so I am happy. Didn't work out at all Saturday or Sunday.... bleh! So I wasn't expecting good things when I weighed in and measured this AM. But, I must be doing okay overall!!! So far, I've lost a total of 8.5 lbs... who else had that total? Sorry I can't remember who said that. (I'm awful, I know!) And a grand total of 12 inches!!! I'm so excited.

Woke up early this morning to work out but had awful stomach cramps. I just knew that if I did my tape I'd be throwing up. So, I figured I had to go to work and all. So, I went back to bed for an hour. Felt better when I got up. But, when I got home I put dinner in the oven and got to working out. So it's done now. :)

Sorry I can't do shout outs to everyone. But.... Tiff... yeah! The weather was amazing. Love those weekends in the summer down here when we get a break from the humidity! Made the Braves game that much better! :D

Hi ladies, I am having some trouble. I don't think I am eating enough. I try to eat a little something for breakfast. But, I always end up skipping lunch. It always seems that around that time I am too busy or just not hungry. Or I wait too long and it's too close to dinner to make lunch. As a result, I think I am slowing down my metabolism throughout the day. Anyone have an suggestions on skipping meals? Does anyone else seem to have this dilemma??

hi!
justme, i sometimes skip breakfast, but not on purpose. i do think it slows down the metablolism. i'm planning on picking up some breakfast bars for those days. could you stash some bars somewhere for the days you don't have time to eat? or maybe keep some V8 or other drinkable on the shelf?
another idea. realizing that our bodies are our first priority. taking care of them (our bodies) will help us be that much better at the other things we do. So, feed that body healthy!
That said, I better go eat breakfast!:D

bleah, just got back from a sort of difficult gyn appointment. I just changed insurance, so this is a new doctor. I told her we were planning to try getting pregnant at the end of the year, and I got lectured on being fat and being old! (I'll be 35 in November.) She told me that I wasn't quite heavy enough that being pregnant would be dangerous for the baby, but that it would be bad for me, and that I should lose as much weight as possible. And then she said, "well, you should really start trying to get pregnant right NOW though because you are so old!" So which does she want me to do? I can't lose 50 pounds instantaneously!

And then she made it even more confusing: she told me that if we waited to try to conceive until November, when I turn 35, I would automatically be labeled a "high risk pregnancy" because of my age, and it might be better financially because my insurance would cover a lot more if I were technically "high risk". Yuck. I don't want to be "high risk". It sounds scary.

Also I have to give up my good antidepressant as soon as we stop birth control, because the one antidepressant I finally found that works and has no horrible side effects is not yet known to be safe for pregnancy or for nursing. So I'd have to go back on Prozac or Zoloft for that time, both of which make me gain weight like crazy, and are why I went from 130 pounds to almost 200 pounds within 1.5 years in the first place. Or I can go off my antidepressant entirely and hope that exercise and counseling will work well enough.

The situation is scary to me because it seems like no matter what I do it will be wrong and make me fatter, more depressed, or both! I know it is worth it to have children, but arrrggh.

otherwise though, I am having a good day, nice and sunny out. I did some weights at the gym and then went for a 1 hour walk. But I am behind on by to do lists. I have to do a ton of laundry tonight!

Thank you all for the welcomes. Everyrone is so kind and supportive, it's great.

tigerlily - congrats on your 2.5 lbs! Rhubarb pie sounds like it is so good it needs to be fit into your life one way or another!

huntress - owww, there is little worse than hurting yourself when you are on an exercise program. So frustrating. Hope it is better soon.

willbethin - glad to see you feeling a bit more up. Avoiding foods totally never really works for me (unless it's a food I don't like); i get resentful about not being able to have something. There is only one food that is such a trigger I can't have it in the house, and it is weird: not chocolate, not ice cream, but Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal. It's my downfall. I will eat the whole box!

tryinhard - seems like your name should be "DidIt" instead! How neat to see your success. Congrats! As to the counting with dinner thing, I really recommend it. One big advantage is that if you do go right to your maximum calories, you don't have to make it all the way through the evening and night to be allowed to eat again! I'd always be stuck with only 300 cal left for dinner, and if I did eat early, then I'd be at my max at 6 pm and have to stay away from even a snack all evening. I found that SO hard. My total calories are just the same this way, but I am having a much easier time.

Dinner is really important to me and my husband. It is our time together, and we cook and take some pains with it each night. Somewhere on the net I read an article about the fact that many docs no longer think that eating many of your calories late at night makes you fatter. That helped my late dinner guilt a lot. If I can find the link I'll post it.

Sandset

Ok...
 

Grrr...Today was weigh in and last night (yes, I peeked) I was down 2 #s. This morning when I got on the stupid scale it said the same thing it did last week. Arrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That scale must be a male. It is making me mad on purpose. Just trying to make me run the the fridge. BUT IT AINT GONNA WORK. I kicked the scale into the corner and called it some good names and then went outside and cleaned the garage.

Damn scale shouldn't have this kind of power over me!!!:D

Will, I read through your posts, and I was sorry to see you struggling for those few days. But, your last post was very positive and it seems like you have a handle on things again. Good for you. I think we all have a few days where we go temporarily insane and feel like crap and look in the mirror and hate what we see and all of our clothes look terrible and we think about saying "The **** with it" and giving up. But coming here and talking to us is a great thing to do. You may notice that the date under my name is 2000, I came here then, tried to lose weight for about 2 weeks, didn't hook up with any groups, so I kind of felt like I was floating around in outer space with no support and I quit. Quit trying, quit coming here and now...I logged in here in 2002 at 265 pounds and decided I would find some support or die trying and it has made ALL the difference in the world! (As you already know!) This is a lifesaver and a wonderful tool and there is always support here for the asking. Good for you for getting things pulled together~!!

Tiger, how was your family thing emotionally? You said the eating thing wasn't too bad, but did things go well for you otherwise? Those things can be rough!

Just Cuz...52 pounds???? GIRL, you are my HERO!!!!!! You can be our model of perfection!!!! We will hold you up on a pedestal of what we would like to achieve!!!! GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!

Just me, are you feeling better now? I think I read that you were sick...the only good thing about being sick is not being hungry!! Woo Hoo!!!! As far as skipping meals, I agree with one of the girls, try sipping a slimfast at lunch if you aren't overly hungry or meal replacement bars...something small that packs some calories and other nutrients that will carry you through!

Sandset, I am so jealous...a personal trainer!!! If he looked like Brad Pitt, I might go dig under my couch cushions and try to russel up enough cash to get myself one. Yummy. I wouldn't get to agitated about the "high-risk" LOTS of women have babies over 35 and are healthier than a lot of women in their 20's.

***** Side Note ******
I was a surrogate mother last year. I carried a baby for a couple who were unable to carry one for themselves. They were in their 40's and we used his sperm and a donor egg and they transferred 5 embryos into my uterus and one decided to stick around and I gave birth to their beautiful baby in October 2001. At my heaviest during that pregnancy, I weighed in at around 280. And I was fine! I had a healthy baby (although he weighed 11 pounds!!!) The doctors watch you SO closely these days anyway, so not much will get by them!

Anyway, your depression may be fine using the Zoloft or Prozac during the pregnancy, and then after delivery you can go back on your regular med. Pregnancy can be so wonderful and exciting that you may not need the extra boost from your regular medicine. At any rate, the high risk label is to make them feel better and make you feel like crap. :lol:

Jen, it's good to see you posting again! Come around more often. I like to see everyone else talk besides me. Good Lord, I am long winded these days.

Huntress, hope your knee is feeling better and things are rolling along smoothly for you!

Tryinhard....I agree with whoever said that you should change your name to I DID IT!!!!!!!! By the way, you are up there with Just Cuz on that pedestal! I love happy endings. Makes me believe that I can get there too.

Well, there are my shout-outs to everyone that I missed so much while I was away and if I missed anyone, I didn't mean to and I missed you too. :s:

Well, off to exercise. I WILL make this scale move this week.

You know, I was being more careful about eating foods that were over 30% fat and I have been letting that slide and just watching calories and fat, but I think I need to get back to what worked for me, so I will be whipping out my calculator again and getting serious!

Talk with you all later,
Tiffany

thanks
 

Tiffany,
you are so funny! I don't want to be on a pedestal although I thank you for the compliment.. :) I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish for the very first time in my life and I know that with the support of this group I will get to my goal. I know all of you will too!!!

News Flash!!! Judy, yes that's me Just cuz... went shopping for a pair of white summer pants last night and for the very first time in her adult life, she tried on and purchased a pair of sleek white pants in the (drum roll please!!!) Misses dept!!!! Everything in the Women's dept was too BIG!!! I did cartwheels to the car!!!! (not really I think I'd hurt myself if I did that.. lol)

Tonight I was still so pumped looking at those nice pants (that I'm wearing to work tomorrow hehe) that I walked 3.5 miles just because I could. The new clothes sizes, the compliments from coworkers and friends and the new found energy I have are all so motivating I can't wait to get to the next level so I can bask in the glory some more. I wish I could bottle this feeling, I'd give you each a bottle to splash on yourself when you are feeling low. Sometimes I feel bad cuz I am so pumped and happy and I hear some are having a hard time.. I surely hope that you don't EVER think I'm bragging as I just want to share the good stuff with everyone in hopes that it will motivate someone to keep trying because the good stuff does come, you just have to be persistant.. :)

*Judy

howdy,
tiff, the family thing went ok. i was distracted thinking about my weight and wondering what others thought. but, it's not like anyone said anything (to my face). my family is pretty good, and if they did talk about it amongst themelves, it was probably out of concern. i'll see some of them again in august...maybe some results will be noticeable by then!
justcuz, that is so great! dont ever feel bad for being so pumped up. it's great motivation for everyone! it's great to know someone is reaching their goals! are u posting on the success thread? if not, you should. spread the joy!
sandset, i had my babies at 25 and 29. with the second, i wanted to lose weight before the pregnancy. it didn't happen. but, at the time i was going to the gym and one of the trainers told me i could lose weight during pregnancy. eating healthy and working out is good for the baby too! being pregnant could give you an extra boost to take care of your body.
did anyone watch dr.phil on oprah yesterday? the topic was weight loss.
off to do laundry. woo-hoo.

hello, i am gonna try to catch up on everyone's posts. first of to just cuz, congratulations !!!!!:) what an accomplishment, please do continue to post about how good you feel about the little things, well to us they are big things, and you deserve to brag away, we are all inspired by the goals that everyone makes that makes them feel good, we love to here them.

tif, thanks, i will be fine, but it is nice to get it all out once in while. that makes me feel better already, yesterday was pretty good, i will just keep on hanging in there and reading all the posts for support. glad you are not sweating the scales , you did the right thing. not going to the fridge. you are doing so well, those scales will start moving.

sandset, sorry to hear about the baby problem, kids are so great, i only have one 6 yr old, but i wanted more, guess we should have talked more about it berfore we got married, but ya know , the blinded my love thing, nothing else matters. anyway, so many women are have children older now, but i understand your concerns, i am 37 and had a little glimmer of hope, ya know maybe have and oops, but i am worried about my weight too, so nothing really is happening in that department. LOL. anyway, i hope everything works out and maybe you could get some different opinions, you gyn sounded a little bit of a downer. hang in there.

lizzo welcome back, glad you had a good time and congrats on the weight loss. good for you for going back to bed , hope you are feeling better.

well, i have a babysitting job today , a little boy, so cute, if i cant have any more of my own, i will watch and play with someone else's and get paid for it. so hopefully i will keep myself busy and out of the kitchen.

i am due for my monthly any day now, and the cravings are so bad, dont worry i will fight them!!!!!!! (i hope:s: )

have a great day everyone.

Hey Everybody-

Had a stressful day at work, but I survived and came home to and just worked out. That helped a lot! Eating hasn't been bad lately. Even had a potluck thing for a class/meeting at work last night. I came home and ate before hand so that I would not be hungry for all that high fat stuff. Then took some watermelon and ate that while everyone ate supper. :D

Sandset... your gyno sounds like a real pill! I hate how sometimes doctors lose sight of the whole picture and just throw all the advice at you. Does she see the conflicts in what she said to you?!?! :?:

Justcuz.... please keep sharing! You are inspirational! Congrats on the loss!

Will... I'm sending you some extra strength to deal with those cravings... YOU can do it!!! :cool:

Good luck to everyone...

thanks lizzo, wish i would have read this earlier:s: any way, i did get my period 2 days early so pms is over yeah. back to my normal body and eating healthy, hope i can still salvage the week.

hi everyone else, hope you all had a great day. i still have 4 days to be good and eat healthy and excercise before my weigh in on mon morn. think i will need some luck.:)

:) :) :) good morning, guess you can tell by the smilies, i woke up with a great attitude this morning. i have come to the conclusion that i am making this losing weight thing way to complicated, so here is my new approach, THE SIMPLE SOLUTION , eat less, move more. i know we have all heard it before, and if it was that simple we all would have done it by now. but i really want to believe i can. i have got to make this simple for me, i believe even if i want junk every once in a while, i can have it. just not to often and not alot of it.

so here's to my new approach, there is no other. (for me)

have a great day everyone.

Good morning everyone!

Well, since I have returned from my trip, I have been a slug as far as exercising. Well...something slower than a slug. I haven't done a dang thing. That changes today. Eating has been fine, although the other night I stayed up too late and ended up eating two Little Debbie Brownies and then realized that it was a total of 508 calories and 24 fat grams (12 weight watchers points for those of you that count those) and that was a shocker. BUT...I compensated the rest of the day and ate lighter and came out in my calorie range. Which was good, but you should have heard me ranting and raving ALL day about those brownies. My kids were like, "Jeez mom they can't even hear you, they are BROWNIES and they are GONE." "Get over it!"

So, I got over it. The end result was fine, I came out on top, although the list of foods I could have eaten for that same amount of calories/points is staggering. (and more filling)

Live and learn. :cool: Anyway, I think I will have Subway for lunch today. I would like to meet that Jared guy that lost weight eating every freaking day at Subway and ask him if he is insane. I can NOT eat that more than about 2x a week. It's just so cold and I like a hot, filling meal.

Heads up for those of you that are interested. There is a line of products called Walden Farms. I have found them at Schnuks in Illinois, but I imagine you can find a location on www.waldenfarms.com

They have fat-free, calorie-free, sugar-free, carbohydrate-free, cholesterol-free products. Yes, you read that right. There label reads, 0,0,0,0,0....nothing in there. Gotta love that.

They have:
16 varieties of salad dressings
6 varieties of dips
BBQ sauce
Ketchup
Coctail Sauce
Chocolate Syrup
and Pancake Syrup.

So...keep that in mind if you happen to stumble across them.

And with that, (my helpful tip of the day) I am outta here.

Stay focused and healthy and lets all meet back here tonight and brag on ourselves. (or at least get some support if we were less than perfect!)

Have a :) day!
Tiffany

Talking about subway
 

I read an interview with Jared and it actually had some insightful comments about diet plans in general, there is really nothing in particular about subway that let him to lose weight, but he did do a lot of things right. As an aside coporate subway, i.e. Pepsico raised the price on the veggie 6 inch from 2.29 to 2.99 grrrrr. That is a pretty darn hefty percentage-rise increase.

Anyhow he was doing the super-sized fried fast food 'diet' and got huge, dah. Actually so was I. I have lost 140lbs and I am much more photogenic then Jared, they should get me...Anyhow so he started eating the veggie subs, and diet sodas. A subway meal can be healthy but, of course, so can a zillion other meals. For 'fast food' though it is a good choice. I don't eat red meat or chicken anymore so the veg price increase is a real bummer.

Another aside. I have eaten the BK veggie burger a handful of times and it is OK. But one of the strangest things is that unlike a beef burger it doesn't come with lettuce, pickels, onions, and tomatoes. Just lettice usually. So when I order one I always say and all the veggies or specifically lettuce, pickels, onion, and tomatoes. The person taking the order says fine, and then it comes to me with lettuce only and I have to send it back. I tried to email burger king but on their website it has no email and says they won't read any they get. Talk about freaking ridiclous corporate policy. My question is what genius said ok lets offer a veggie burger but not offer veggies with the patty. I hate to say it, but some freaking moron. Even when corporate America tries to do something right they end up stepping all overthemselves. BTW BK does 5 orders of maginitutde more advertising for every other new product then it did for the veggie burger. Oh well, the fast food people are in it to make money not make you healthy.

Yikes!!! :devil: I must have struck a nerve!!!!

You know, I do agree to a point about many of the things you have said. There are so many fast food places that aren't in it to make the customer happy. There is a thread around here somewhere about Arbys and how they got rid of their healthy selections and did the Market Fresh, which are simply AWFUL for you.

I do, however, like Burger King and I commend them for adding a Veggie Burger that is actually healthy, unlike TGI Fridays who has a Boca Burger that they put on a horrible bun and then it becomes worse than a regular Whopper. :mad:

I also like the Chicken Whopper too, and am glad that when my family starts hollering for Whoppers, I know I can go and make a wise choice.

Subway is good, don't get me wrong...and I will take your word for it that they should have hired you instead!!! lol....but I need variety and I guess fast food places aren't the best place to go when you are trying to eat healthy. Especially if you don't like salads. :(

If you are lucky enough to have a Chik-fil-a (or however they spell it) that isn't actually too bad for you. They have several options.

My weakness is Chinese food and I just don't like steamed veggies. I want the goopy stuff and the fried things...lol....so I save that for a special occasion.

Well, I could go on and on, but I am hungry and better feed myself before I trek off to the China Buffet.

Thanks for posting Diamond...it's nice to see a new face, so to speak!

Tiff

Hi everyone! I am back from out of town, missed you all. I am exhausted, had to drive home 175 miles last night and am going to work today. Does anyone else hate driving as much as I do? While I was gone my water heater went out and while the guy was replacing it he dropped the old one on my floor and busted one of the tiles and got water everywhere and left a big mess for me to clean up. You will have to forgive me I am tired and grouchy this morning.

I did OK on the eating while I was gone, as I said in an earlier post when I am at the casino I rarely eat much although I did have 2 strawberry daquiris. They have one of those freezing machines like margaritas are in and they are the best! I won $1000 while I was there but my daughter went with me and didn't take any money so I had to pay for her and I didn't come home with the winnings.

Forgive me if I don't mention you all by name, my brain is still numb from all the noise and I'm still hear bells. Have a wonderful day all.

LJ

good morning, tif i cant believe you ate the brownies and still stayed on track, as long as we dont do that too often, it will be alright.

huntress, sounds like you are really having a rough time, hope things will look up for you and congrats for staying in control while you were away, hang in there.

hi diamondog, congrats on all that weight loss, way to go. i do agree that they should automatically put the veggies on, doesnt make anysense. altough i am still not there yet(ya know to order a healthy burger ,over a reg one) but i totally agree with you. i only go once a week and it is usually mcdonalds with my daughter and i am just for now trying to order half of what i get, like instead of large fries , small fries, instead of 2 burgers without buns, just one. stuff like that. maybe one day even just a salad, i will get there.

hello everyone else. hope you all have a great day.

i had a great day yesterday, it was my 10 yr anniversary, even though i have been with him for 17 yrs, with the exception of one break up that didnt even last a yr. anyway, i did so good eating during the day, that allowed me to have a nice dinner out. i had a nice pasta dish with a salad and a little piece of roll with just a little butter on it. i only ate half the pasta dish too. it is a really big accomplishement, normally it would have been a great excuse to overeat and drink for that matter. i didnt even have a cocktail, i know, how boring. but, i tried to listen to my body and i just didnt have to have one. i will be going to the shore this weekend anyway, and i know that i usually when i want a cocktail so i will just have one and stay in control. i can do this.

oh by the way i felt like having a slimfast shake for breakfast yesterday at around 8:30 am and it kept me full till almost 12:30 so there goes my theory about eating carbs and sugar make me more hungry then if i had eaten a whole protien breakfast. i think i was just being brainwashed about the protein diets, ya know carbs bad, protein good, carbs bad , proteins good:lol: :lol:
not that anything is wrong with the protien diets, but maybe i am not as addicted to carbs as i thought, maybe i was just looking for another excuse to say why i am so heavy. well those days are gone, if i want protien, i will eat protein if i want carbs i will eat carbs. just staying in control and not binging , will get me to goal. wow, i am very talkative this morning. i will go now.


check ya all later.:)

Hello!
I went to Goodwill today (looking for short sleeve shirts that didnt make my arms look like sausage rolls) and I found two Susan Powter books for a buck! "Stop the Insanity" and "Food".
I just couldn't resist for a buck. I read the Insanity one nearly nearly ten years ago. I remember it being motivational. And I need all the motivation I can get. Tif, Did you get your Susan video? Tried it yet?
I tried doing Denise Austin this morning. I don't own a video, she was on tv. OMG! My leg muscles are already sore, and sore usually doesnt kick in until the day after I do something new! I may have to tune into her again!
Back on the subject of shopping....I did find a few shirts that will get me by. Not sure if they help disguise my sausage rolls. :^:
Didn't find any pants, I think I'm between sizes....yeah, that's it, between sizes. :lol:

willbe, happy anniversary! i just had my 12th wedding anniversary this past weekend too!:love: :love: :love:

Happy Anniversaries!!!!

No, still waiting on the video. I love the Stop the Insanity...Food was OK, but she really goes on and on and on in that one. There was useful information to weed out, but at that price, I'd say "heck yes!"

Struggling along today girls. I didn't want to walk last night, so I tried Cher's step tape and was throwing my arms around getting into it, and lasted about 15 minutes, before I had to take a nap. LOL....but my neck and shoulders are sore. So, later in the evening I went for my walk, but only did half.

I got my period today, so that may have been part of the craving of the brownies, and the no energy situation. I do feel a little better today and not quite so bloated.

Well, it's hot today and I am just sitting here thinking how nice it would be to just sit here all day in the air conditioning and eat juice bars...but I think I should do something constructive to pass the time.

Maybe I will clean the office downstairs, or the laundry room. Keep busy so I don't snack.

Anyway, I will catch up with you all tonight~

WHERE ARE OUR OTHER PEOPLE???????????????????
I hope everyone is well.

Tiffany
PMS Queen

I'm here!
 

Hi everyone,
I had a pretty good week this week, won't know the 'scale' results until Sunday morning but I feel pretty darn good. :)

*Judy

hey guys, i had another great day!! i will be going to the shore tomorrow, but will probably check in tomorrow before i leave.

congrat tigerlily. on the annivarsery. hope you had a good one.

tif, i know having our period sucks, but doesnt it feel good to not have pms anymore??

just cuz, glad you are having a great week.

i would really love to hear how anyone who has seen her recently, (susan powter) has seen her. i cant seem to find anything recent on her. i have 2 step tapes of hers. i never even heard of her having an abs tape or any other tapes.

anyway , i didnt eat really healthy today and i did have some, drinks but i was really in control with food and drinks, alot less then i usually would have consumed.

i will try to check in tomorrow before i go to the shore.

I think Susan is selling some kind of diet pill or something now. I will see if I can find a link for you.

Tiff

Hi.
I'm still here. Can't think of anything much to say except I need to stay OFF the scale. I'm eating right and walking. I walked 3 miles yesterday and then I stepped on the scale this morning and it showed a 2 pound gain from the day before. Stupid thing! Anyway, I'm drinking plenty of water, but it's pretty hot out and I know I tend to retain water when the temperature rises. Hope that's all it is. Hanging in there. Glad we all are.

Jen
238/232/140

hello, thanks tif.

hi jen. those scales are gonna be the death of us:lol: since i am a scale hopper, this is what i have learned to do. whether i am doing good or bad, whether there is a gain or loss, i only count the weigh in , every tues. morn. i dont let it get to me anymore, especially if i know i am doing good. it sounds to me like you are doing great!!! dont let is discourage you. keep on doing what you are doing, that scale will move in the right direction. i know sometimes when i am really hot, my hands and feet get swollen, so it could be that.

ok, i am headed to the shore. i will check in tomorrow. everyone have a great day, and lets stay in control!!!!:)

Hey, thanks Willbethin. I "officially" weigh on Saturdays and it appears I've dropped those 2 mystery pounds off. Still, it doesn't look as though I've lost anything this week. Oh well. I feel better. I've been putting on make-up every day and I pampered myself with a professional hair-coloring. I haven't been this blonde since my early twenties!
Also, instead of getting off to a slow start and being lazy Saturdays until noon and getting nothing done most of the day, I've mowed my front and side lawns, picked up in the living room, filled out my daughter's camp forms, washed dishes and started a load of laundry. It's starting to get warm, so I'm taking a break from mowing. I WILL finish the entire lawn today. I've finally started weeding my flowerbeds, but it's slow going. I'm going to finish one and plant some of my favorite annuals today. It's a bit later than I planned, but I want to add the color and like to feel proud when I drive up to my home instead of saying to myself "Well...at least it's not the worst yard on the street!"
Hope everyone else is having a great weekend too.

Jen
238/232/140

hi jen, sounds like you are keeping yourself busy, good for you, that will keep ya out of the kitchen, good job. and congrats on losing those 2 lbs again.

hello all, i am back from the shore. i had a great time. even won my daughter a sponge bob and patrick stuffed animals out of the crane machines, it only cost me 1.00 for sponge bob and 1.50 for patrick. she was so happy and so was my husband cause that is all she was wanting to win. sometimes i can be so lucky with those things, half of her stuffed animals came from those machines and the boardwalk, when i was addicted to those machies when i was single, dont know what i would have done with them, if i didnt have angelina:lol:

now, food choices?? werent always the healthiest ones, but i ate a whole lots less then i normally would, which is my main focus right now, to just eat less. my excercise has been good and i have been drinking my 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. so hopefully the scales will be kind on tues morn. my wiegh in day.

hope everyone had a great weekend!!!:)

Hi all!
Down a whopping .5 for my weigh-in this morning. I'll take it. With my lack of exercise this week, I'm lucky to have it.
Tiff, no way, susan is selling diet pills? That goes against what she said in fist book. How disappointing!
I have a terrible cold or sinus thing going on. Eyes hurt, nose stuffed up. Not a pretty picture. On top of that, it's soo hot and humid. Mind if I whine a little?
Hope eveyone is off to a great week of weight loss!!!:)

Hey hey, naughty kittens. WHERE IS EVERYONE?

Tiger, she says it is a "dietary supplement". Ok, whatever. I just hated seeing her advertising any kind of pill. You were absolutely right, that goes against what she preaches in her first book. But whatever brings in the money, I guess.

Things are ok here...still not getting as much exercise as I would like, but it IS that time of the month and I seem to be going rather heavily (I know, TOO much information) and I don't want to be out on the track, leaking body fluids. So, I have been taking it easy this week.

Had a bad epsiode last night. After my dh and I had a particularly intense argument about his ex, who is very much a nightmare, I went into the kitchen and ate a Ding Dong and the rest of the kids dinner (some pasta with hamburger and spaghetti sauce).

I WAS SO MAD AT MYSELF. I should have went out for a walk and cooled off. But it was those old habits. So, I am not beating myself up over it, I am MOVING on. Today is a great day and I am doing perfect today, and that is important to me. The past is the past.

Live and learn girls and thanks again for being here for me to talk to.

Tiffany
:dizzy:

hi tif, even on that time of the month, you still crack me up:lol: gotta love that sense of humor. sorry to hear about your fight. hope everything is alright.

i myself, just about an hour ago, got into one of my old bad habits. i am babysitting one child today, it was last minute and i wasnt expecting it. she is around my daughters age, so they have been playing pretty good, it is really hot out. so i am not going for a walk or anything, anyway, i got a little bored and headed straight for the carbs. i feel tired and yucky. as much as i hate to admit it, there are just some things i have to tell myself i cant have. i wasnt going to do that, but maybe just till i really start losing weight. i have to change some of my old eating habits that got me heavy in the first place, i have to remind myself that there are 4 food groups not just one(carbs) i will try to salvage the rest of the day and maybe have some grilled chicken , some veggies and a salad, as i seemed to exceed my carb limit for the day. so onward and upward.

Hi There.
Thought I'd stop in on my lunch break. Sorry you're not feeling well Tigerlily. .5 is better than a gain. I know that sometimes, if I don't lose much one week, the next is great. Hope that's it for you too.
Old habits sure do die hard. I know my FIRST inclination whenever I'm bored, tired, angry, etc. is to find a "comfort food". I think that's O.K. in extreme cases, but not as a daily thing. I know what you mean about certain foods, Willbethin. I hate depriving myself, but there are certain things I can only eat when I have a specific way of limiting myself. Like pizza. I used to buy pizza for my daughter and me once a week, but not now. I can't seem to stop until there's none left, so I save that for when there's another person around so I can't eat 2/3 of the thing!
Well, I'm off to another thread. Not a bad day for a Monday.

Jen
238/232/140

New
 

Hello to all -

This is the first thread I have actually read (not just browsed) on this board and I just wanted to say that I couldn't peel my eyes off, in spite of having plenty to do here at work. WTG everyone, I'm so impressed with all of you.

I'm 31, 5'2" on a good day-ok maybe 5'1"- :p and stepped on the scale Saturday afternoon (a total of 3 times, such was my shock) to see 215.4. I'd been doing my own thing for about a week before I got the guts to step on.

History - figured myself for a fatty in high school at a tricky size 14 (not everything that was a 14 fit but I figured the manufacturers were cheap with material, LOL). Got motivated and cut back when I was 19 and 165 and slimmed down to a 6-8p and 120-125. Ate whatever, whenever and fluctuated within 120-130 for 3 or 4 years. I thought I was cured, although I can't say I thought I had it made at the time (Grrrr! to think of all the time I spent worrying about hiding my big thighs and the mini-rolls on my tummy).

Then I got married. It's been 7 years and look at me now! I guess that's 10# a year with double the first year.

I've tried - oh, I've tried - but dammit this is NOT another one of those times. The first piece for me is exercise, that's where I'm starting. I got myself out of bed M,W,F last week and hauled my butt to the gym before work. Was so proud of myself I went on Saturday. Stuck to my guns and did it again this morning. So I have a little something to be proud of.

I'm not worrying about food yet but I want to add that before I lose enthusiasm! That is really the key - as so many of you have said - endurance and patience. Husband has even pointed out that I can do ANYTHING for 3 weeks - after that forget it. I would love to join your little network, and I will try to be a good and faithful poster.

One caveat: I'll be taking a little vacation time and I don't know how often I'll log in from home. But I need to make it important to me!