well, here's the story...i was thin in high school, gained the freshman ten..err...twenty-five...and met my dream man...gained a whopping 40 pounds in two and a half years...that put me up to 185-ish. then I started the richard simmons food mover. i lost 50 pounds in six months, was in a size four (from a fourteen) and happily and fairly easily kept it off for a little over a year. then i found myself in the family way...and like the charmingly intelligent person i am, i reasoned that the baby needed the food, and gained sixty pounds. my son was born a year ago...and i'm this blob of a person with no tone, no shape, and huge cravings for chocolate. i weigh 165 right now, and i'm 5'4", and i know that's not huge, but it would seem that i am prone to gain weight easily, and i can just see myself doing just what i did before, and not getting disgusted with myself before 200, 300 pounds...it is discouraging to look at the size four pants that i used to fit loosely into and know that if i suck in i might get that cute little pair of jeans around one thigh. (and then eat a snickers while i contemplate the unfairness of it all)
so anyway, i guess i just really need some accountability so that i can get the kick in the rear i need to get going with this. i lost it once, i know i can lose it again..

Hey shrink,
You just told my life story only you would have to back up about ten years ago. Of course you see I did make it past 200. I decided about six weeks ago that I am damaging my health. I have been married for 19 yrs and have two boys 16 and 13.
When the 16 yr old was 2 I lost down to a size 6. I was so happy I just slowly went back to my old ways. I really believe the only way to lose and keep it off for good is to exercise 6 days a week and it has to be for the rest of our lives. It has to be as important as taking a shower.
I would love to buddy up and offer support. I am in this for the long hall.
Vicki

thanks vicki, it is good to see someone else who is determined to get rid of this flabbiness before it gets rid of us. i am also in the process of setting up a blog to maybe shame me into getting back into shape.
i am not really good at setting up a formal excercise routine - though i bought a gazelle right after the boy was born...i just can't seem to stick to that at all. however i do work with kids with developmental delays and i have my son who is very busy...so i think i probably get enough activity, i just need to lay off the chocolate.
so anyway, how did you lose 24 lbs in 6 weeks? (go you!!)

Hey shrink,
I have made a few rules to follow.
1. I drink only water
2. I eat three meals a day
3.I have 1- 4 o'clock snack
4. 2 snacks at night
5.no eating after 8:30
6. switched to low fat or FF
7.I eat on a small plate or bowl
8. No fastfood, I did have to get a grilled sandwhich once due to power outage
9. my hubby and I are cooking lowfat recipes for dinner for the whole family
10. I go to the gym 5-6 nights a week at 7pm, I walk on the tread mill for 30 min with a 5 min cool down.I ride the bike for 20 min
11. I count no calories and I eat carbs,I need this to be forever, I don't think it would work without the exercise.It really curbs your appetite.
My hubby has lost 16 pds,we weigh again tomorrow.
I have to go back to see my Doc Sept 7th ,I refused new meds and begged him to give me till then to get the numbers down.People are now starting to notice which feels great. I feel better than I have in a long time.

that's really awesome...and it's great that hubby can do it with you. my hubby is blessed with a very high metabolism, and can't keep weight on (don't you hate ppl lik that?)
i used the richard simmons food mover before. i really liked it because - as you said - this is for forever, and his is a food pyramid based on a calorie plan. i didn't precisely count calories, but i ate only a certain number of servings of each food group a day. it was calculated to get around 1400 cals a day. i liked it because it helped me budget my food. i am a carb lover...and won't go without them. i also like a big meal in the evening. this plan helped me see that if i was going to be able to make it through the day, i needed to plan ahead, and spread my carbs and proteins out instead of either eating too many too early and feeling cheated at dinner or eating too few and crashing way before dinner. something my dad always says applies here: "you can have anything you want, but you can't have everything you want".
so now, i'm having to get myself back trained to eating smaller and savoring the food instead of gleefully shovelling seven dinner rolls smothered with butter down my throat.
i did really good yesterday, stayed within my limits...today is so far so good...we ate out for lunch, and i had all the carbs i am allowed for the day, so if i can make it ten more hours on only proteins...*crosses fingers*
and, i'm going to try to motivate myself to get out that gazelle...if the pounds would just start coming off, it would motivate me. i can't seem to break that ten pound barrier. do you ever have that? the pounds just slide off until you hit that "0" and you can't get past it...that's how it is with 160lbs for me. i have gotten down to that since my son was born, but never get to the 159...it's coming close...i'm 162 today...

Shrink,
I love richard simmons. I watched my mother who has never had a weight problem,exercise with him when he used to be on tv. When I first got married I used to exercise to sweating to the oldies.
Today is my weigh in day and I am down three more.
I had a hard day yesterday. I knew if I could just get through the day then I would lose this week.
I hear ya' on the 159. I have been dying to get to 199. As you can see I am so close.
Vicki

200 is awesome, and a huge goal in itself! one more pound to go and you are past an enormous (no pun intended! ) milestone.

Hi Shrink

I share a very similar story to yours! I am 25, married for about 4 years and have a baby boy who's a year and a half. I am about 45 - 50 lbs overweight currently, but have lost 15 lbs within the last year from making small changes. But now I want to get serious about it! I have been watching my caloric intake and for exercise I either walk 3 miles or do Tae Bo cardio videos (I've lost about 5 lbs inthe last 2 weeks from doing this). I just want to feel good about myself and not even concern myself with how I look all the time, ya know? I feel like there are so many things I am holding myself back from just because of my weight and I am so tired of it even being an issue.

Good job on the weight you have already lost!! Keep up the good work. Let me know if you still need a buddy as well

Blessings,
Melanie

well, i have a couple of buddies now, mel, but the more the merrier! You are the first person I have met who has very much more in common than the way we gained the weight. So if you're looking for a buddy, I'd love to.

Hello Again Holly,

Thanks for the reply! How are you doing today? How's everything going?

I put the baby down for a nap about 45 minutes ago, so I have to go exercise now before he wakes up - I am just having a really hard time getting motivated today for some reason? When I feel this way I always try to tell myself that this one decision to work out or not is the decision that is going to make or break my progress, that way, I end up doing it and before I know it, each day I have exercised It's like I have to trick myself or something - ha ha!

Hope all is well,
Melanie

Hey shrink and Melanie,
My internet was down for a day and a half. I went to the gym last night which made me feel great. I had a hard day yesterday but I think I am getting close to my TOM. I'll just have to get through it.
I hope ya'll are having a good day, remember I am 13 hrs ahead of ya'll. It is already Wed morning. I got into a smaller size shorts yesterday and it felt great.
Vicki

Hi Vicki,

Keep up the great work! Excuse me for not knowing the abbreviation, but what is "TOM"? How exciting about fitting into a size smaller shorts - good for you!

I am surprised because usually I feel starving at night time and I get all snacky, but I am only at 1,600 calories and I feel fine - yeh! Maybe my stomach is shrinking? I pray it is!

Well, hope all is well
Melanie

Time Of the Month
I am learning from all these girls on here.
Vicki

hey guys

vicki -that's awesome!! you don't really need us, you're getting all the cheers you need from the scale and your closet!! lol seriously, that is wonderful

malanie - good on the working out...that is something i struggle with. when i lost weight before i ddn't really have to worry about it that much. i guess at the time i was doing enought physical activity to keep it off. but this time around, the pounds are coming off slower, so i guess you two have shamed me into starting to work out

i had a not so good day yesterday...i did really well until we went out to waffle house for dinner, and i got this huge plate of food...i went over on my fats and carbs...but a small victory...i put away all of the hashbrowns on my plate, and did not finish my eggs...a week ago, i would have plowed through the whole plate and been miserable with the fatness. so i should have had the salad...i didnt, but i did stop when i was full.
and this morning, the scale said 161.5...im going to wait until i'm sure it's not water weight before i change my weight counter, but that's another half a pound.
so...i pray i have a better day today...and that you guys do as well.

vicki...are you from japan?

Thanks for the encouragement Holly! The working out part is a bit challenging with the baby, but I have been sticking to doing it during his nap time and it's been working. I usually walk with my neighbor every weekday morning and we push the babies in the strollers, but she is out of town this week, so I have to stay on top of the Tae Bo!

I think you did good last night, I know you could have ordered something different, but you did good with what you chose to order! Plus you didn't even finish your plate which is also a huge accomplishment in itself! If you didn't feel good about your choice of food, it's just a lesson learned and you won't do it again which is another success Positive thinking makes all the difference in the world!