[Florida Gator 45]

[COLOR=Indigo]Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Joana from Gainesville, Florida, home the the mighty U of F florida Gator football team. Found out about this site from my sis in Tennessee. We both are doing the weight loss thing and looking for all the encouragement we can get, and we will do the same. We all can do this, I believe in us. So if anyone has some words of wisdom, or just a funny story, send it my way and I will do the same.

[fl_mom]

Welcome Joana! I am not to far from you in Jax.

Words of encouragement... Every pound counts! Don't be discouraged if your weight loss is slow, the end result is what counts. Also, you may want to measure yourself along with weighing, some people see results in measurements even when the scale hasn't moved in a while.

Angela

[neo98292]

Welcome to the site! I just recently joined myself and other than the group here, am a solo act. I am clear across the country in Washington State, home of the perpetual rain. I just lost my first ten pounds and Yes! every pound counts. I still have a long way to go but I am excited hitting my first goal. I have so much to lose that I am doing 10lb goals and that way I don't look at the big picture so needless to say I am thrilled and treated myself to a movie while the kids slept instead of doing housework jobs I can only do while they sleep. That alone keeps me motivated! LOL welcome and feel free to PM anytime.

[fl_mom]

neo- I used to live in Everett!! We moved to fl from there. I will let you in on one thing, it rains here more than it did there LOL It rains here just about everyday but maybe an hour or 2 at a time. It is sunny here though and it hardly ever was there.

Angela

[neo98292]

What a small world! We had two nice days in a row and are all doing the happy dance here. What weight management program are you using? I am doing the points for WW. My kids are going nuts with all the new recipes I am doing and can happily say I haven't found a stinker yet. The only night no one is very happy is fish night but I am hoping to stumble across one they will like.

[fl_mom]

I am following the south beach diet. Since I have a problem with my insulin levels, I have to limit the carbs and sugar. I did WW for a while tho and thought it was pretty eay to count points, I had a hard time using my minimum though. Unfortunately, due to my other problems I didn't lose more than 10lbs while on WW but I am doing great now.

I miss Everett only because of the mountains (and the people were nicer hehe). We were up in Arlington before we moved and it was a nice area to be in. My DH is in the Navy so he did have a drive to work though, hard with only the highway traffic and that one bridge that was closed or majorly backed up all the time. Oh yeah, Walmart was WAAAAY far away too, where I live now there is one about 2mins down the road LOL If we ever have to leave FL (dh doesn't want to), we have agreed to try and get back to Everett, neither of us wants to live in Cali, Va, or anywhere in the NE. I had my oldest at the Providence hospital on Colby, much nicer than where I had #2.

<--- me rambling LOL
Angela

[neo98292]

I like the points-very easy for me and I sometimes have a hard time "filling" them but I get close. There is a walmart in marysville now on 88th and they are FINALLY building one here in everett. All three of my grandchildren were born at Providence-they built a huge womens and childrens building. I am a young grandma-Odessa was born when I was 38 and Logan just arrived in May. There is also Amanda in the middle who will be 2 in sept. Two older kids live with me and have for over a year now so I had to get back into baby mode-part of the reason to get rid of all this poundage-I have to keep up with them all!

[Mrszebs]

I started the GI diet on 6/25/05 and have lost 11 lbs so far. I am having a problem with a plateau lately. The last few days i have not lost a thing i have been bouncing between 198-199 everyday. I am still to close to 200 to feel comfortable yet and i really want it to go down.
I am also looking for any buddies out there that would like to chat once in a while.
Any ideas on breaking the plateau. I did not measure myself before i started so i could be losing in inches or unknown spots. Thanks for the help

[fl_mom]

mrszebs - this may sound weird but try eating something you normally wouldn't. If you don't eat pasta, have a serving one night and see if that helps. You may get a short term weight gain but if you really only have a serving, probably not. Make sure you eat something that doesn't cause cravings though or you may be in trouble. This works for a lot of people on weight watchers also, when they hit a plateau, they go over their points by 5-10 one day ONLY and then see if that helps.

Also, make sure you are eating enough. If you don't eat enough, your body will hold onto fat.

Angela

[neo98292]

Yes Angela is absolutely correct- it is important to make sure you are eating enough-your body goes into starvation mode when you don't and holds onto anything and everything. Try drinking more water and maybe boost a bit in something physical too-nice long walk at a good pace to jolt the body into giving in a bit. I usually do something physical that isn't in my normal routine-like go out and work in the yard for couple hours or walk an extra 15 min at a brisk pace. Let us know if it helps.
melissa