Hi there - I didn't want to lose any weight before today. Seriously! The 40+ lbs I've gained since my first baby haven't really been a problem. I don't like working out - I would rather watch a movie with my husband or read books with my kids. Our family is really happy and my parents love me and they don't care how much I weigh. I really like food (cooking and take-out) and I don't like counting calories or passing up dessert or ordering diet coke instead of regular coke.

But now my friend from high-school is getting married and I'm going to see all my girlfriends from my thin days and I would hate for them to see how I've let myself go. I told my husband it's finally time to lose the baby weight (and all the extra I've added along the way), so here we go! I'm going to lose 42 lbs by the end of April '06 and I would especially like to hear from anyone who's in the same boat as I am: a parent who's recently started dieting and has similar goals.

By the way, I was wondering how to use those tickers. Do I have to program a whole new ticker every time I post?

Also, how often do you folks post your weight? Daily or weekly?

I just added my ticker as my Signature and ticked to add in show your Signature just below were you put your message in and most of us weigh -in once a week
welcome to this great forum

Hey LovingMomma!

I happen to want to loose 40 pounds by April was well!!! April 23 to be precise my husbands birthday If your looking for a buddy let me know!

Angela

hey, you can do it, it just takes motivation (which im trying to get), but ive seen it work by witnessing my former boss, who is a doctor

Basically she cut down on her meats, excessive amounts of breads, rice, pastas, NO chips, NO sweets, NO fast foods (except salads), and increased her intake of raw vegetables, fish and whole grains. She told me foods in grocery stores, such as meats, tomatoes and fruits have a lot of growth hormones, so to purchase your fruits and veggies from a health food store or make sure they say "Organic" on the label.

She also said the key is to NOT starve yourself, you have to eat to lose weight because not eating slows your metabolism, in addition to drinking lots of water and exercising.

She didn't do anything extreme, she just used her stair master, about 30 minutes a day. She also did things that would keep her moving more, like if she had to go to the mall, she parked further away so she had a longer distance to walk.

When she would eat at work this is some of the foods she would eat. She ate her carbs (good carbs) in the morning.

Morning

Cherrios w/ skim milk
bowl of fruit with pears, watermelon, grapes and bananas

Morning snack (if she got hungry)

whole grain bran muffin (low in sugar and saturated fat)

Lunch

cabbage w/ tiny small amount of cut up beef or chicken

diet coke/pepsi

Afternoon snack

chickpeas (she loved this stuff! LOL)
carrot sticks
half an apple

Dinner

Salmon
Collards/Kale/or Spinach
Tiny bit of brown rice (no butter, and sea salt for flavoring)

beverage: water


this is just an example, but she guzzled on water all day, would drink almost a gallon a day.

She lost 36lbs in six months. She chose to do it slower so she didn't feel like she was starving herself.

hope that helps