Ia anybody interested in weekly weigh ins or sharing menus etc? I would love to have at least one place to be honest and keep track of how things are going. And where so you get those cute weight charts at the bottom of your messages?

Molly I wish I knew a secret formula for motivation. I, personally, lost mine for a few years and allowed myself to slowly put on over 20 lbs that I had worked very hard to lose.

I recently found my FOCUS again by taking a trial membership at Ladies Workout Express (similar to Curves) and I started to feel so good about it that I am now back on Weight WAtchers progam too. I have about 7 weeks left until I go on vacation and I have set that as my date to be back under 130 lbs.

I guess I can't help with how to find FOCUS, but I do wish you luck in finding and keepin yours....without it we are lost!

Best Wishes and keep up the good work...you seem to be on your way

Hi everyone, I don't think there is any secret to be motivated! You just have to be honest with yourself about how badly you want this. And it does take some effort. So, if you're going into it thinking a light bulb will go off and suddenly you will find it easy, sorry to say, it aint going to happen. One thing that does work is planning. I make a menu for a week and go buy groceries. If I know what i'm going to eat in advance, and the food is in the house, I am more likely to eat well. If you're going to be on the road for awhile and know you're going to be hungry and tempted to hit McDonalds, make sure you take something in the car that you can eat intill you get home. An apple, a nutritional bar.....and water! Make it easy for yourself!!! If there is a party comming up, decide before hand what you're going to eat! If you have any controle, bring something low cal! If you're going to a restaurant, know before hand what you're going to order! Most of us know what's on the menu and don't need to be tempted by all the no-nos!

I would love to share some low-cal recipes! I think you have to keep it interesting and it has to taste good! If it's not, you're not going to stay on it for long! Freda

I found this site the other day and would love to have "buddies" to lose this weight with. I'm turning 40 this spring and want to be the best I can be and that means losing about 35 - 40 lbs. I started at the end of January eating better and excercising more and so far have lost 12 lbs. I look forward to chatting with everyone!

Carol

Freda you are absolutely right about planning...it's when I don't plan that I get into trouble. It is soooooo easy to grab something from the deli when you are tired and hungry and only have a few minutes to grab lunch. Most times the big hefty sandwich looks a lot better than a salad.

What I have always found helpful is to plan a loose menu in my head of healthy food and stock my fridge so that I can always come up with something that fits into a healthy lifestyle. I love to cook and concoct low fat meals...it's not hard to do, but it does require MOTIVATION.

One thing that I've been doing for the past couple of weeks is grilling my own boneless chicken breasts on Sunday. I wrap them and keep them in the fridge to be cut up into salads or used in a sandwich during the week. It's much cheaper and a lot healthier than those frozen pre-made things!

I would be happy to share some of my "inventions" and would love to check out your recipes. Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring.

Hello everybody,
Does anybody have diverticulitus? I am having a bout of it and have been told not to eat anything with seeds which is just about covers all my favorites including popcorn. I find that I think more about the snack I am going to eat than the meals but if I plan them out I seem to do better. The problem is that I am like a little kid and when they tell me that I can't have something it just drives me crazy and I am always looking for a way around it. I will try to do better and not be a big baby about it.
I would love to know how you get the little things that represent your weight loss on the bottom of your messages. Seems like a really good idea that shows your progress. If anybody has time, just let me know.
Does your families eat what you eat or do you cook different for them. Since it is only my husband and I now it seems like it would be easier but he is thin so I bake deserts for him and just stay out of them. Speaking of that, does anybody have a good apple pie recipe that is lo fat and lo cal? Teckla

Sorry to hear about the diverticulitis.... I can't think of any good substitutes to suggest for popcorn. I know how you feel, though, sometimes I obsess about eating a certain food and that makes me want it even more. The only thing I can say to help is that being thin and healthy "tastes" so much better than anything that you can put in your mouth, so hang in there

As far as a good apple pie recipe, give me a day or two and I should be able to get you something...in the meantime check out some of the recipe boards here. They are really informative. I, myself, am a recipe junkee and can spend hours just reading the boards.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for the ideas and encouragement daisimae! I am back on the good old antibiotics so hopefully they will do the trick!
I can't remember who said that they cook chicken breasts on Sunday and freeze them but it is a great idea. I make a salad sometimes for work that is made up of cooked, cubed chicken breasts, lettuce, tomatoes (drained canned tomatoes or raw) diced green peppers, drained black beans or kidney beans, sliced olives and grated lowfat cheddar cheese. I use salsa for the dressing and it is very good!
I also make chicken and dressing out of cubed chicken breasts in the bottom of a sprayed pan and then spread fatfree mushroom soup over the top of the chicken and then take a box of the chicken flavored dressing and use fatfree chicken broth for the moisture(no butter) and bake. I freeze the leftovers in small containers so I can take them for work meals.
Hope you all are doing well! Teckla

I am new to this and also would like a buddy to lose weight with. I do WW points. I am just getting back into it after quitting smoking a couple of years ago and having knee surgery a year ago. I am 66 years old. Married, have 2 daughters, 5 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. I am retired, but work as a Foster Grandparent in the school system, 4 hours a day. Pay isn't much, but the rewards are great. It keeps my mind young. I also joined the "Weigh In Pool that all of the staff does. Put in 5.00 a week and whoever loses the most weight, gets half the pot, and so on down to third place. Incentive. Probably after school is out I will head back to the WW meetings. I also would like to have some new recipies. Not real difficult, but tasty. Hope to hear from some one soon.

Welcome grandmaesther! That wiegh-in-pool sounds like such a good idea, have you won any thing yet? Those kids sound lucky to have you as a Foster Grandparent.

Hello everyone,
I am VERY new at this computer stuff. I am from Sydney, Australia. I am at present 193 pounds and would like to be about 150 pounds. I am 51 years old and as others have said the weight has just crept on.
I need support from others in the same position.
Hope to hear from you

Hello to everybody!!
I hope that you are all well and doing great in your weight loss endeavours! I am going to have to get with it--I will exercise but when it comes to the controlled eating I am out of order!!
Hey Deewhy--it is great to hear from someone so far away! I have always wanted to go to Australia. How is the weather there this time of year? I live in Nebraska and we had a snowstorm last weekend. Are you following any particular diet-or just counting calories, carbs ?
Carol-it sounds like you are doing great! What are you doing to lose the weight? Whatever it is you seem to be staying on track and that is just what I am having a hard time with. I do well for a week or so and then something happens...
Grandma Ester-I lost weight on the ww plan and I attended the meetings at the time too. I really like the program because it is flexible and there aren't forbidden foods. I have a real hard time sticking to just portion control, let alone not eating this or that. I have seen others that have a weekly weigh in and they post their menus also. What would you like to do?
Daisimae-I love the little weight chart you have posted. I have seen so many with them but don't know how you got them or how to do it. Please let me know. Hope you are doing well--I am trying to eat some pretzels in place of the popcorn. It's not quite the same but at least it is salty and crunchy!
Take care, Teckla

Hi Teckla (and everyone else too!)

The weight tracker is available on this site at http://www.3fatchicks.com/weight-tracker/ Just type in your info then copy the link and paste it into your post.

I would love to post my stats today, but I've come to the conclusion that my scale has gone to the great scale yard in the sky....this morning I got on it 6 times and got 6 different results (I was only happy with one of them lol) I will be stopping by walmart on my way home for a new scale with a body fat monitor...I think that is a cool feature!

Anyway...hope everyone is having a good week. I've been feeling a little down because I've been "naughty" the past few days. I haven't gone hog wild but I indulged a bit too much over the weekend. Hey...ya gotta have wine and pasta and cannolis when you're watching the season premiere of the Sopranos lol. I'm going to try to get to the gym tonight and hopefully that will get me back in the mood...at least until Friday when I MUST have Corned Beef and Cabbage. tee hee

BTW...count me in for weekly weigh ins if you guys are going to do it...I could use the accountability.

I was so glad to get a reply. I was not sure if I had done everything right.
Australia is hot at the moment. We have just had the hottest January on record. The humidity has been unbearable. Should start to cool down in the next couple of weeks.
Diet wise - I have not been very good. Trying to follow WW. But reading all your posts has spurred me on. Good luck everyone and I would love to join weekly weighs. I too can do with the accountability. Good luck to everyone