Thanks for the welcome, Toy. I posted quite a long post yesterday and it didn't show up.
I did post the link for a mileage tracker for the transcontinental bike ride, so possibly that is the reason? If anyone wants it personal message me.
Hope everyone has a great week and is another step toward their goal!

REKP, glad you said that about a post not showing up! I have tried to post 2 totally different times to Shero about that study of the people regaining their weight and lost very lengthy posts. I decided I wasn't "meant" to post it...LOL...so I'm glad to hear it's messing up for you, too. I thought maybe it was me being too preachy or something. Sometimes I fall back into the schoolteacher mode without meaning to and I would never want to offend.

Shero, the gist of what I was sharing (that got lost a couple of times)is that (from what I have learned through reading and diet experiences) our bodies adjust to whatever calories we provide. Our bodies are these wonderful miracles that adapt to survive... even when we treat them badly they will find a way to survive for some time period.

If we are on a low calorie, "fixed" amount each day, our bodies will adjust to that and pretty much accept it as a means for survival. If the body needs more energy, it will burn fat, etc. When we suddenly quit dieting and consume even say 500 more calories per day than usual, it will store those for future use...resulting in a possible one pound gain per week. That's why any diet that's plausible includes a maintenance phase where you slowly reintroduce additional food/calories back in. Plus, they tell you to set a gain weight that you will not exceed such as 3 or 5 pounds so that you are consciously aware of how your body is reacting to the new additional food/calories.

In my opinion (garnered from study and experience) that's why plans such as Medifast and WonderSlim, etc. have the lean and green meal you add in yourself. It is expected that that meal will vary from day to day resulting in a variance in calories so that your body does not become dependent upon x number of calories to sustain itself. I have to consciously remind myself of this because I am the world's worst at getting stuck on a favorite meal, etc. and repeating it for a few days in a row.

I do try my best to alter my day's calories if by nothing else than eating an extra bag of the protein chips on some days or such. I'm trying to hit a range of 1200 to 1500 calories with a greater emphasis toward the lower end. However, some days, I purposely go above the 1500...not often because I am trying so hard to lose. However, I don't want my body to "learn" a set number of calories per day as the norm because I doubt if I can balance it with burning calories by exercise since I hate to exercise.

I don't know if any of that made any sense whatsoever but it does in my mind...LOL. There are many other reasons such as vital nutrients, etc. that your diet needs variety but that's a tale for another day. I'm already afraid that this won't post and I don't know if I can make myself type all this out yet again. (Actually, right now I'm avoiding housework that is screaming my name so yeah, I could probably laze around on the laptop the rest of the afternoon. It has become my Calgon...as in "take me away" ...LOL)

Hope all of you shakers are moving and shaking this Monday. As for me? I'm loving retirement today because I'm in a major lazy mood.

By the way, I just sent in a couple of months order for shakes...they're on sale this week. My favorites are cocomint and mocha. What are yours?

Monday
 

Hello all-

I have had a good day. I am hungry but that seems to be a continuous state for me.

Toy-there is no way that I was offended. Please advise me all you can. I want to lose this weight and keep it off this time. I have lost and gained so much in my life. It is very difficult when you have done this over and over.

The last gain and loss was 2 years ago at Christmas. This was a total stress loss-I went from Christmas to the next Thanksgiving and lost 60 lbs. I was hardly able to eat and had joined curves. Someday I will explain the stress but right now it is used as an example. I was not working and had time for Curves.

On thanksgiving the stress factor worked out and I got a job. Curves sold to someone else. I started eating, quit Curves cause I couldn't find time and began to join the office feed club. So within a year I gained 60 lbs back.

I gained it all back and here I am. I have had a good week.

I just read that article and it kinda bummed me out but I do know that I can never go back to "pigging out". That's just the plain and simple truth.

I have a treadmill and hope to add it to my schedule. There was one time I was really getting into it but once again. Quit. I had a spreadsheet going and graphs and everything.

Please keep updating and posting all-I look so forward to it. For those that are losing their post. Try putting it in a word or word pad document and save it first. Then cut and paste it here..........nothing like losing something you put so much into.

Toy:
Thanks for the info on the way our bodies get used to a set number of calories and will sustain on that amount. I vary my calories a day pretty much to around a thousand give or take 100-200. I may see how I can vary it a little more. Certainly don't want it to get used to living on that amount.
I worked with a girl that had been on Optifast for almost a year..got to her goal weight and "quit dieting" that day. She gained the weight back so quickly. I've had that mindset as well. Either I've been "on a diet" or "not dieting." Life changes caused me to put on a lot of weight too, Shero. This time I'm determined to keep the good habits I'm using and not fall back into the "not dieting" lifestyle. I lost over 100 pounds in 2006 by walking on the treadmill and portion control. Injured my knee, couldn't walk without pain, ate more due to boredom and gained 80 pounds back over the next 5 years. Found Wonderslim and that I enjoy my exercise bike...so I'm on my way to a healthy lifestyle again.
I was SO hungry all day yesterday. I don't know the reason, hungrier than I had been for the 9 weeks I've been on the program. Made decent choices, but the calorie count yesterday was anything but consistent with the 60 days before :-) The difference was that any lapse from the programs I've been on before resulted in a binge. Yesterday I had one apple off plan (I'm doing shakes and a lean and green meal) and 5 ounces of protein and double the veges I usually eat, but I'm so happy I didn't follow past patterns and eat that cake that was calling me from the refrigerator.
Shero...great tip on doing the word pad first, then pasting it over here! Thanks.
Hope everyone has a good choices day!
Rose

REKP, I totally agree with you about the derailing and have experienced the same thing. The other day when I was hungrier than usual, I ate a bit more but didn't follow my usual pattern of stuffing myself. Amazing, isn't it?

I have no idea whether I've suddenly matured in my thinking about food or what but I had no intention of doing the usual binge and I didn't. This has no basis except my intuition or my guess but I think I've finally begun to listen to my body's needs. Isn't that the craziest thing? Makes me wonder if "normal" people have been listening to their bodies all along and that's the piece I've been missing.

I almost "feel" crazy admitting this but I have caught myself a couple of times having an inner dialogue with myself about wanting something to eat. The "conversation" in my head has ended with a version of "and this will accomplish what"...LOL I guess as long as the conversation stays inside my head they won't come with the white coats to take me away.

All joking aside...I really do find myself thinking about food in a totally different way nowadays. It's a bit surreal at times because I think I'm finally realizing what an emotional eater I was...with emphasis on the WAS.

Whoever would have thought that I would pause before eating something only to reject it or replace it with a healthier option? I don't understand it but I'm thriving on it so I'm sticking to what I've been doing. There is something "magical" about not weighing but once a month for me. It is keeping me honest in a way that I've never experienced before on any diet. I used to con myself with "deals" like I can eat this because I don't weigh for 3 more days, etc. Now with the scale so far removed from my thoughts, I don't seem to be entertaining the thought of cheating. I think that's why I spun my wheels for so many years. No telling how many times I lost and regained the same pounds by playing the rationalization game!

Some people thrive on weekly weigh-ins but for me, it was just a trigger. Once I weighed, I gave myself free rein to splurge because it was a week until I had to step on those dreaded scales again. I can't even imagine myself weighing every day the way some do because my weight changes so quickly due to fluid retention. I would never succeed that way.

I think I've adopted Goldilocks mantra...and that this is "just right" for me. As long as I take it one-day-at-a-time and put one foot in front of the other, I can continue this journey. Who knows...maybe I'll even begin to look forward even more to the first of the month when I step on the scales. I do get a bit excited at the thought but not enough to step on them before time.

Have a good day, everyone, and Shero, thanks for the tip about saving the post in word processing first. Duh...never even thought of that...but I was getting major frustrated!

I love you guys. I feel like I belong. I want to thrive on this weight loss. I am not a half full or half empty kinda a person, Im a that glass is full but sometimes it is full of yuk. LOL. You know if I could have changed this decision to go on this weight loss journey the one thing I would-is the day I started. New years is everyone's change date so you are hearing all the negative that goes with people trying to change. Like-most people keep their New years resolution for two weeks. Then you mind starts to think of failing again. How can you make a life change forever. When food is something you really like.

I have been eating supper with my hubby-usually making a tweek to our meal so the preparation is different. I am looking at every label counting every calorie (except for one or two). LOL It has been 10 days since I have had any regular pop. That is a miracle.

I am thriving on this. That is what is most important. REKP and Toy thanks for your post-hope to read more.

Rose-what is a transcontinental EB ride? You really went from 258 to 218. Between Nov and Jan. Wow-how many calories a day where you taking in-guess Im asking for sample daily menu. That is great weight loss and very encouraging. What is a lean and green meal? Must be in something that comes with Wonderslim?

So I left work early today to go to FedEx and pick up my package from DD. :P I went through and sorted everything into Ziploc bags so I can just grab a bag and go in the morning. I also tried the free sample(chocomint bar or something) and it was pretty decent, much better than I expected. I'll be starting the WS on Saturday as I have something going on on Friday and I know I'll cheat otherwise, lol. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do for the lean and green meals yet while I'm at work.

I'll probably decide after my first week of eating the WS if I'm going to reorder(depends on how well it's working out for me). Can you pick and choose the things you get in the DD packages? I thought I saw someone saying something about it on one of the threads but I'm not sure. How does that work?

HelloDiet, I just knew you'd be on today because it's the day your food was coming in! Thought about you! I order all my WS as ala carte because there is so much in the packages that I don't like. However, I have never ordered by phone...I order online. I remember reading somewhere, too, that the reps will work with you and let you do some substituting when you order the package. I don't know that from personal experience though since I've never tried it. I keep reordering my stand-bys (cocomint and mocha shakes and the cereals) and once in awhile add in something that I haven't yet tried. I still haven't tried some of the stuff I got in that first order.

Shero, the lean and green meal is what WS calls (and I think MF may call it that, too) the meal you eat "on your own." It's where you eat "real" food (regular people food, if you will): 3 oz lean protein (4 oz if very lean),
2 veggies, 1 starch, 1 optional. The optional includes things like olive oil, etc. that you might use to prepare or season the food with. Veggies are generally green, hence the name green and the starch is generally a complex carb. If you need more specifics, just ask and I'll elaborate further.

Girl...10 days since no pop? (Must confess it was hard to type "pop"...everything here in the South is Coke even though it may be Pepsi or Dr. Pepper...LOL) That's wonderful! I am as proud of my not drinking my diet Cokes (prefer diet Pepsi actually) as I am anything I've changed. It's not forbidden at all but I have discovered that it triggers cravings for me. Of course, it could be because I've always used my diet drinks to chase a candy bar...LOL (It used to be a joke whenever I was out with friends that I might order a hot fudge cake with a diet drink. I just always preferred the diet drink to the regular.)

Some days I have more problem resisting the diet Coke in the frig than I do all the food stuff laying around. However, to date I am still resisting...41st day of my change. I thought all the intellectuals say that it takes 28 days to break a habit. I guess they don't understand a habit that's become an addiction. I still crave my diet drinks like an addict wants another hit but I am determined to withstand the temptation. Again, one-day-at-a-time seems to be working for me.

Aww thanks for thinking about me today TOY! :)

I really want to try the Marshmallow Chocolate Cookie gourmet bars. I keep going to DD just to look at the picture, haha!

LOL...I did the same thing and finally ordered them on Monday. Of course, they aren't here yet. I was excited to see the shakes on sale since I seem to favor two particular flavors. I stocked up on those and will keep pushing my least favorites to the side.

Good luck as you begin...

You are smart to wait until the day you know you can be successful. No sense in disappointing yourself by starting on a day when events will not be in your favor. However, that's not a pass to wait until next month...LOL.

Hello all!
I am new to this site...really any type of blogging site and hope this venue will serve as a support as I start WonderSlim tomorrow. Well, if it arrives today!
I am already inspired by everyone's success and the tales of their journey.:0)

Hi Shero
Still having problems getting my messages to post, but the transcontinental bike ride started in Virginia and ends in Oregon. 4065 miles) It's a website that has a photo of each mile (I think actually down to the .1 mile) that you can track your mileage, whether walking, running or biking. It's inspirational to me to see where I end up each day.
Apparently they will not let me post the link to it. Google virtual transcontinental bike ride. It is the exercise lbl gov site.
Great job on resisting the pop/coke to you and Toy! Keep up the good work!
HelloDiet: Loved your post about the marshmallow brownie bar on diet direct. It is one of my very favorite foods on this diet! I'm not even a big fan of chocolate and I LOVE these, as well as the butter pecan bars.

SUCCESS with the last post, going to try one more.
I have lost 40 pounds in 9 weeks. I started out on the New Lifestyle program, but changed to Wonderslim food to be able to save some money and have better customer service thru Diet Direct.
My lean and green meal is from New Lifestyle diet. It is 8 oz of lean protein, or 3 eggs, or 8 oz lowfat cottage cheese and two cups of green veges a day.

My usual day looks like this
7a) 1 packet of Wonderslim product
10A) Nutrition bar or salty snack. The BBQ Cheerio looking things from Diet direct are really good!
1p) 2 packets of product
4p) 2 packets of product
7p) Lean and green meal
10p) 1 packet of product.
I use all the food interchangeably.
Diet direct is great about letting you customize what you want. I ordered a 3 month supply at the end of 2011, called with my handy dandy catalog in front of me and ordered exactly what I wanted. The customer service rep said NO Problem when I told her I wanted to substitute other items for the items they had listed for the 3 month supply.
Welcome ExTex I've been delighted to find this site and the support of Toy and Shero. Look forward to your posts!

Yet one more :-) Found this on a friends Facebook post last night, it really spoke to my heart.

"If it is important to you, you will find a way.
If not, you'll find an excuse."

To all of us finding a way to be exactly what we want to be!