LESSON 1: STATE YOUR REASONS FOR WANTING TO LOSE THE WEIGHT.
Here are mine for the moment (recopied from another thread). They have changed since starting TBDS on May 20.

To travel back in time to the summer of 2003 when I looked and felt sexy!
A spaghetti-strap tank top and split-side skirt.
My black satin cargo pants, size 12, gathering dust in the closet.
Pecs, delts and biceps currently hiding under layers of fat.
That look, the one men give you, when they like what they see.
Going dancing again!
Stamina, strength, energy, joie de vivre.
Sex--wild, unashamed, naked sex with the lights on!
(Yes, I'm a bit shallow at the moment. I do want to be healthy(er). But right now it's all about looking good).
L

Hey everybody,

Liannie, I love your reasons...very earthy and sensual. And I can feel your steely determination. You ARE going to do it.

Tracy and Amarantha...welcome! A shout out to Stacy.

Sue...you said "I gone to counting cals because of the flexiilty. It is hard trade off-cals more types of food and usually smaller amounts. VLC more food but limited selection." and I say, "EXACTLY!!" I prefer being able to eat a little more and having a reduced # of choices. But hey, it looks like I have to do both now.

I'm so glad you got the computer thing worked out.

Karina, I'm glad it's all working out in Philly. It sounds like you are doing great. I hope you aren't getting too much ribbing about your food plan d'jour.

I did not start on Monday....I ate LC bk and lunch, and ate MEXICAN food in the eve. I was in that what the F&*! mood since I had gained for no reason. Today I ate nothing until 1:00, then 2 bites of soup and a bag of chips before I played tennis at 3:30. Why? I wasn't prepared. So the new one tomorrow.

I did settle in to a loss of 2 pounds over the 11 days I did induction, extremely faithful except for one night when I had more carbs. That's really pathetic! I'm looking at it as at least I went down. I would prob have gone up had I not been at least doing somethng.

Off to eat some dinner and rate my hunger levels.

girly

HI everyone,

The power of food is so intertwined in our lives. There isn’t just one response to food , but often each situation has a number overeating responses to work on.

You folks are way ahead of the successful weight loss game than me. You all are great role models for me.

I have carried about 200 extra lbs for over 20 yrs. Are my joints angry!!!-My mobility is slow and awkward. I really want to move, walk and not have a stroke is 5 years.

Understood your posting about emotional eating A. -, Emotional eating is so tough-I have a difficult time giving myself full acceptance when dealing with negative emotions-sadness, anger. criticism- I have used treats to self nurture myself all my life. My favorite time for such treats was late evening after everyone one else went to bed. This pattern has “help?” me put 180 extra lbs. I feel that having an internal ability to cope with stress is so critical to remain healthy. I am working on that Oh Well attitude to let go- and Not focusing on the “but is not fair” protest- it can allows to me justify overeating. Having none of favored self nurturing food in the house in critical for me.
Of course when I feel great and having fun, let’s celebrate the occasion with food.. Also If I am exhausted and pushing me self to get stuff done, I deserve to what ever is available to eat-working soo hard.. The reason to overeat treats can go on and on.

L you have such a fun and high spirited list- I have carried to much fat for so long , I have forgotten about glamorous-glad you reminded of the fun stuff. -Your wants sound great. L-Lets work on some type of approaches for feeding frenzy when with friends. In a week more guests are coming for a couple of days. I don’t want to overindulge, yet don’t know how to be around all the treats and remained relaxedand on my preplanned menu. When my brother did a strict diet, he moralized about each food that was served. Blew up because we served a dessert-not a fun time. There has be a point between rigid moralizing and food amnesia .

Right now my big goals are improved health and mobility and an internal sense of control -I know that more cals will not solve one emotional problem yet I want to use that solution.

Girlythin- much luck on a good food plan.

Big HI to everyone-
sue

amarantha, it sounds like we're in a similar situation! I lost 50-some pounds before I bought the Beck solution. I had stalled out for a year or two and kept falling into the same destructive patterns. I got tired of the whole thing and really wanted something permanent. Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us!

liannie, no I didn't do the c25k program. I had never run before but my husband started and on April 1 ran his first 5K. Well I decided I wanted to start to so I signed up for a 5k in May before having run a single time. That really put a fire under me! I started following this plan from Shape. But let me tell you, NO run was easy! After a couple weeks I veered off the plan and started training more with my husband. It was just about figuring out how to push myself without overdoing it and not getting discouraged. There were some days where I had to take breaks or got a side cramp or whatever and I just had to not worry about it and get back out there next time. Now I'm addicted and I'm so happy I've found a form of exercise that I really love. I love your reasons too! Very fun, it's ok to be shallow once in awhile

girlythin, oooh, mexican food is evil I say! I'm so addicted living here in San Diego. On Sunday I had a carne asade burrito for lunch and a breakfast burrito for a late dinner. And 2 pounds is something to celebrate, any loss is still a loss!

coastalsue, have you started any exercise yet? Just getting moving might help with some of your mobility problems. The elliptical would be a great piece of equipment to start with since it's no impact.

Not much new here. I did go on a great run tonight despite TOM. I was really on the fence today about whether or not I'd go but I'm so happy I did. A nice trip to the jacuzzi afterwards was a nice little reward too

Hi Stacy, I looked at the program you did. No way would any of that be easy for me! I did a max of 90 seconds at 5.0 mph on the treadmill as part of a HIIT thing I was doing the other day and thought I was going to DIE. I'm glad I did it though, and I'll do it again. Probably twice a week. But easy? No freakin way! Good for you though. I used to like to run a bit when I had 21 year old knees. Keep up the good work. All that exercise will allow you to eat more of "what you like" along with "what you should".

Hi Girly! Good job on the weight loss. Keep hanging tough. Mexican food is so good! I've been making stack enchiladas with really lean homemade chili and cheese as my Mexican food fix. Thank God salsa has so few calories. We can really pile it on to enjoy the flavor.

Hey Sue! I like the idea of the Friends Feeding Frenzy work! In fact, I read through a couple sections of the book this morning to try and figure out where to start. What do you think of Day 30: In Control when Eating Out, Day 29: Resisting Food Pushers, and Day 13: Overcoming Cravings? These three things taken together seem to set me off the most in a crowd. How about you? Want to pick a few, rank them and then work on them one at a time? I'm game. I need all the help I can get.

And as for what Stacy just asked you about your exercise? I was 30 when I lost the 85lbs. (for the first time) and I couldn't get through all of Sweatin to the Oldies without having to stop and rest. Gradually I built up to doing more and more, and the pounds really fell off. Yes, youth had a lot to do with it. But it sure did make the body feel better too. If you're not exercising yet, something fun and short would be a good start.

Hello out there, Everybody Else!

Today I am re-practicing hunger tolerance, no unplanned eating and I'm adding another: changing my definition of full. I ate beyond fullness yesterday after I tolerated the hunger. Today I'm stopping before I feel my belly all stretched out with food.

Happy Wednesday all!

L

Hi folks,

This is a thank goodness i made it day-Got very crabby and iritated with the world. Had 2 minor slips But I would not go to the grocery store as I knew I would buy some sweet treats.
good new I lost all of the 5 lb regain even 1/2 lb more,
dear friends pick up some items for me at the grocery store when they went.
total cals were 1749-would prefer to be under 1700 but not that bad.

Sometimes I wonder if some of crabbiness is due to not just dieting, but the changes that diet create. Or if I am used to soothing myself with food-I may be more frustrated and annoyed with stuff than I realize, but would overeat than rather than confront.

L. would love to check out how to cope with eating buddies. I will recheck those chapters. I am so much better with self talk when alone-listen to and changing those sabotaging statements. With friends I go straight to yippee. I know that alcohol plays a part in "forgetting'" moderation. Yet also just being with folks I forget about my food plan. Today a friend pulled out one piece of hard candy from her purse and said "Here Sue enjoy this"-and I did without a thought. I swear if it was just between me and the candy bowl I would have said no.

Thanks for checking on my exercise-I love swimming-somedays can't go due to my schedule-may have to give it up as fees are so expense. Just got a great used recumbent exercise bike-I am increasing time in 5 minute allotments. Really have a tough time walking-I use a walker when going over a block or on dirt trails. Both of my bros. use electric carts and can't understand why I don't. If still in so much pain and arthritis after over 150lb weight loss may get one then. I am hopful tho.

to more thin minds
sue

Hey Sue!

I guess we're both night owls tonight. I worked a 13 hour shift and am trying to make the brain shut-up and go to sleep.

Your story with the candy sounds a lot like an impulse control issue. That's EXACTLY how I am when confronted with unexpected delightful food. I just reach and it goes in my mouth before I think about it. And alcohol is a huge culprit. I've stopped sampling the wine-of-the-month from the club when it comes because I know what will happen. I lose all resolve and eat like a trucker once I've had a few (because it's never "just one"). It sounds like a good subject for us. I'll do some more reading too.

Well, I'd better get to bed. I have to be back at work at noon and would still like enough time to work out for an hour before I have to jet out the door in the morning.

More tomorrow!

L

Wow, quiet day today!

I'm in week 5 of the book and I gotta say I think I liked the earlier chapters better. Like the eating out day was just some very obvious tips that I'm sure are on 3fc a dozen times over (take some home, ask for special prep, etc). I guess it's good to have all this stuff in one place but I really expected the whole book to be as powerful as the first few major changes. Trust me, I'm not trying to complain though. TBDS has been a life saver. I was at the same weight for TWO YEARS before it!

sue, I totally agree with you about the crabbiness. Before if something little bugged me I'd eat a double cheeseburger or some ice and everything was better. Now I feel like I carry little things around with me. I guess we have to find other ways to deal with these emotions.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Hi everyone,
I'm just checking in, not much time to do personals. Being away for a few days makes me really appreciate this group. I had a similar group for infertility problems, and over the year I was trying, I found it made all the difference. I hope we are all around a year from now with some huge successes for all of us!

Well, I'm about to have dinner. Things are going pretty well--keeping my cals around 1800, which isn't too bad for traveling. I'm interested to see what happens with my weight when I get home in a few days.

Hope the rest of the week goes well for everyone! Take care!

hi comrades,
Just saying hello.

My body and mind has been fighting me all week, response cards be damned, about going on the super strict low carb/low cal fat flush plan.

I have such resistance, and despite great intentions, it's Thurs and I haven't made it thru one full day yet b/c it's so much prep. I'm thinking I need to give just pure counting calories a try, and then eat pretty much low carb, but not restrict myself. My inner being is kicking and screaming about all the restriction.

If I do that, then I can just grab like a frozen dinner for lunch if I have to, and the prepping won't be so darn hard.

For those of you in the know for low cal diets, for someone very metabolically resistant (hypothyroid, don't lose weight quickly), what would seem a reasonable amount of calories? I haven't thought about calories ever, altho when I did weight watchers, I think I was eating about 1200.

I'm thinking 1200-1500. As you know, I'm about 180. I would say I'm very active, since i'm on my feet all day in class, +walking around a big campus a lot, plus I've upped my exercise. This week I've exercised every day.
************************************************** *

Do you wanna play? Here's my question, if you want to come in the sandbox...

If my inner being had a voice in regards to dieting and food, today it would be telling me _____________________________________________ .......

girly, I have hypothyroidism as well. Mine's hashimoto's and I'm currently taking levoxyl. It doesn't seem to have helped any of the symptoms, even though my levels read "normal." Because of that it seems I have to eat less calories than I should according to all the calculators out there. When I try for 1800ish I just don't seem to lose even with running, lifting, and campus walking. I've cut back to 1200-1400 and it seems to be making a difference. If I were you I would start out higher, maybe try 1600-1800, and decrease as needed.

Stick it out and ignore those belly rumblings because the result is going to be SO worth it. But you're going to have to stop hanging around with those bad brain cells...they're going to get you in trouble!

********

Hey Stacy and Girly, I'm hypothyroid too (since 1992) and I'm on Levothyroxine 175 mcg daily. I've always said that you're never quite the same as when you were "normal". I mean, your thyroid puts out thyroxine on an "as-needed" basis with a feedback loop from other body systems--not as one big whopping dose every 24 hours like we take the pill. It just can't be the same. I keep waiting for a transdermal patch but nobody will make one!

Anyway, caloriewise I need to drop down to about 1200 painfully-low calories to get sustained results when I get down to the 180s-170s if I want to lose. I went easily from 230s to 190s on 1500 calories with no exercise then down to 170s with exercise added in but that seems to be my current setpoint. So I've gone back to a regular cardio/weights routine over the past month and dropped the calories down to about 1200 over the past week in hopes of losing again. It makes me wonder how restrictive maintenance will really have to be!

I seemed to do fine 4 years ago when I was in the 155-160 range if I worked out 6 hours a week, watched my intake Mon-Fri, and then pretty much ate what I wanted on the weekends. If I could get back to that, I could live with it.

Diet choice for me has been hard too, Girly. All that eating and snacking recommended on South Beach just had me wanting to eat, eat, eat. After hearing about The Carb Addicts diet, I'm actually doing better eating just meals with no snacks. I find it easier to tolerate hunger if I can have one meal of whatever I want, 2Crave Reducing foods meals and a snack if needed (lately a cup of SF cocoa with skim milk). Whether or not I can adjust to the hunger pangs that I'm feeling on 1200 calories a day will be the big test of its long term effectiveness.

Well, better get to bed now. I'm switching from nights to days at work, and have to be in at 8:30 am.

Hi Karina! Where is everybody else?

L

HI guys,

Not such a crabby day-but then I spent all day in a buddhist study group and doing a number of meditations. Much of the work is to learn to appreciate you mind being quiet and not grasping at all your ego wants.-kind of like OhWell section of TBS when you can't get what you want.

Girlythin-good question about how many cals to have. I can really hear your battle between feeling hungry and wanting to lose weight. I went through feeling like a rebellious toddler about following the TBS for a couple of binges. It did pass-however there is always a new way that old bad habits crop up to be dealt with. One of the benefits for going with the higher end of your cal range is that you learning new habits, changing types of foods, and other new food restrictions. -maybe less hunger might help during this time, then cut back later to fewer calories.

I use the free version of FitDay. I think they may be a bit high about how many daily cals I need to maintain my weight-basically 3000 a day for being 335lbs about the only good about my weight is that it is easier to lose on a larger amount of cals. So I shoot to eat about 1700 cals giving me about an 1000 daily cal loss. I feel the least hunger with low cal protein, low carb veggies and fruit.-absolutley no addicting treats. (I can not resist.)

What formula do you folks like for figuring out how many cals it takes to maintain your weight and activity level? I also am missing half of my thyroid-on no meds-Doc said your weight gain isn't do to that -one test shows it is ok-hummmmm
I love swimming because I can burn over 400 cals for my weight in less than an hours. Water is great resistance.

L still need to check out the chapters more(gone all day)-I think impluse overeating is the hard one for me. When alone, I have control in my own environment,(This has been a hugh improvement for me) but with good, easy going, non judgmental friends I relax and over eat. -. I have some thin buddies who I would never overeat in front of. When alone I can really hear the sabotaging thoughts and work them through, When socially eating, I do not hear ( or consciously process any dialogue while over eating.) Any suggestions about clues to make me stop and at least be more aware then.

Stacy Love your pic-beautful face.

Karina-Wow you are so careful on your trip-what is has been your tricks not to over eat? What are telling yourself? Vacation+friends=(to me =overindulgence)

take care
sue

Hi again,

I am looking for fast low cal meals.
I don't know if you folks have Trader Joes in your area? It is kind of low cost fancy food chain. lots of organic foods, frozen fancy dishes ect.
Here are some of my favorites for I hate to cook days
frozen cooked jumbo shrimp -defrosts in 5 minutes, cocktail sauce is only 35 cals for 2 tbls often bring them to parties for me to snack on.
marinated Ahi Tuna-defrost and 15 minutes in oven
Not so low carb and in most groceries here -Calif Pizza kitchen frozen pizza-thin crust the bar-b-que chicken and sicillian(SP?) are about 340-365 cal or so for half a pizza.
would love additions to this list-
sue

Hey Sue,

Fast low cal meals for me are usually frozen entrees with a salad, or a roast chicken from the deli with a bag of steamed veggies alongside. I'm afraid I live in a rather backward area that does not have a Trader Joes. I can get CPK pizzas though, and they are great! I love the BBQ chicken ones too.

How "low cal" are you looking to go? I figure 500 calories a serving for lunch or dinner is okay on most plans, and you can really pack quite a bit of food in for that amount of calories.

Does Trader Joe's have Laura's Organic Ground Beef? It's like 160 calories for 4 oz. If you pair that with a "light" bun (80 calories), some lettuce, tomato, mustard etc., you can have a burger for like 300 calories or less. Put a salad with light dressing and piece of fruit alongside and you have a nice meal.

I've been making cole slaw lately from those bags of shredded cabbage. I mix one tablespoon of real mayo with one teaspoon each of mustard and vinegar, then toss in 1 and 1/2 cups of cabbage. It's not sweet but it tastes really good (I tried it with Splenda but it tasted weird). You get a cup and a half of really filling fiber for like 125 calories. I had some yesterday with a BLT (Oscar Meyer Center Cut Bacon...25 calories a strip) on Ezekiel bread. What a great lunch!

When I did my last low calorie diet, I subscribed to Cooking Light magazine. THat was in the days that it was just a recipe mag; now it has a lot of lifestyle stuff but still has good recipes. You can try their website for some nice recipes too.

I usually do a bunch of cooking on Sunday and then freeze ready-made portions for the week. Those "hate to cook days" can really derail me if I dont' have a back-up plan.

If I think of something else, I'll send it along.

L