Hi All:

thanks for the hearty welcome. I am in the first phases of my diet--actually today will be the fifth day. So I am losing pretty quickly--I was binging out before so I am sure a lot of what I am losing is water weight etc!

I am not following a diet. I realized after doing Atkins for almost a year last year that I just dont want to be so strict. I am working on behaviors--particularly eating less and slower. Here are my goals from my diary:

1. Eat as slowly and mindfully as I can--aim to chew 10-20 times at least for each mouthful. Make the mouthfuls small as possible. Make the portions as small as possible, take less, try to take half of what I would normally serve myself. Sip, dont gulp.

2. Eat healthily--make sure to get at least 5 servings of fruit and veggies per day--work up to 8.

3. Challenge myself with exercise at least 5x per week--ice 2x per day and stretch

4. Notice when I am thinking about food and substitute the feeling of how nice it is to fit in cool clothing and feel light and strong.

5. Make sure to do nice self-care things for myself--and not have to add overindulgence as part of it.

6. Write everyday to see how I am doing with each part of this!

As of today I have 88 lbs to go to achieve my goal--I hope this is the last time I am on this particular journey!

OK ladies I have promised a recipe from my new cookbook and here it is. You can make this recipe just like it is or you can lighten it up even more by using splenda and fat free cream cheese and sour cream and it does not hurt the tast any. I prefer to lighten it up. Calories and Fat grams per serving is at the bottom for this recipe but I do not know what it is if you choose to use the substitutes. Even my kids love this one.

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake (YUMMMMMMMMMMM)

CRUST:
8 graham cracker squares, ground (square = 2 1/2" x 2 1/2")
2 T. sugar

FILLING:
2 8 oz. packages or cartons lite cream cheese
1-cup lite sour cream
2 egg whites
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup + 2 T. sugar
1/4 t. salt
4 T. fat free chocolate ice cream topping (almost all chocolate ice cream topping is fat free)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees

In food processor grind graham crackers, add sugar and mix. Spray 9" Pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Press the graham cracker mixture into pie plate. Set aside while making filling.

In large bowl, whip egg whites with electric mixer until foamy. Add all remaining ingredients for filling and beat until smooth. Very gently pour filling mixture over graham cracker mixture. Drop 1 T. of chocolate topping in four separate places on top of cheesecake. Use a table knife and cut down into the center of each drop of chocolate and drag and swirl the chocolate around the top of the cheesecake. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake another 35-40 minutes. Chill thoroughly before serving.



Entire recipe makes 8 servings

GRAMS OF FAT PER SERVING 6
CALORIES PER SERVING 208

Wow girlies! Great to see so much action going on here today! I was going to make a quick check i have already been here about 40 min! Scale remains possessed but i am just kind of ignoring it until i go back to the doctor this friday, I will see what his scale has to say and then i will go from there. I am trying to get below 250 with clothes on before then. I would love to have to not make that slider thing on the bottom just go to 200 for a change!

Louie - Scale-a-cide is immenent (dont know if I spelled that right?) I am so fed up with it I think i am going to get something else and start over. even dug out my old dial scale to try but that was the one that lead me to get the digital anyway, cause i couldn't really see it without my contacts in and you know glasses must weigh at least 2 pounds, right! Hope things start settling down for you soon!

Robsia - Sorry to hear July has not been kind to you, but its over now right! Hopefully august will make up for it! I am chanting 150 for you! You will be there soon!

Ryanmi - congrats on the extra pound off in the middle of humidity! I know there is a lot of WWW that goes with HHH ( hazy hot humid) so that is a great accomplishment! Can't imagine trying to work with no power! What's the point! I would love the site for the scale if you can find it. I am about to go crazy with mine!

Robbin - don't beat yourself up too much, we have to stay focused on big picture not one day. YOU WILL SEE THE 20's soon, I know it! Just keep at it! The recipe looks awsome, i will have to try it soon. Just had a friend email a recipe for a bacom fajita salad in a parmasean bowl. I am gonna try the bowl for sure, if it turns out good I'll post the recipe.

Snow - sounds like you have a good plan going. I liked the goals you had and am going to try to incorporate some of the them myself. I noticed you had Ice 2x's per day, do you have an injury you are taking care of?

Well chicks I am going to need to run work to be done, kids to monitor! Hope ya'll have a wonderful evening and nobody melts in the meantime! I am afraid some of you further north are hotter than me!

Hola Chicks !!!

It is now 6:15 pm and I just rolled in from work.. doesn't sounds late but I have been there since 7:30 this morning <<<yawn>>>. I am so looking forward to the long weekend !!!!!

Snow ~ sounds like you have a great plan set out for yourself. We look forward to sharing the journey with you.

Erin ~ I am with you.. a quick check in on 3FCs and all of a sudden an hour is gone !! Robbin and yourself have shown great determination in working through your plateaus.. hang in there !!!

Robbin ~ thanks so much for the recipe. I will definately have to make sure I write these down and save them.

Ryanmi ~ congrats on the office challenge and glad to hear that your neck is better. I was without AC for 1 day at the office and it darn near killed me... hope it starts to cool off a bit for you soon.

Well dinner awaits so I should scoot. Have a good one and I TTYS

Morning Glories! Well I moved my Ticker. May be getting a little ahead of myself but this was the weight i had the most or lower so I am going to put it in writing and hopefully it will keep me from going back over it!

Louie sounds like you are still pretty crazy at work. Any break soon?

Well girlies i gotta go, have a great day and I will chat at ya later. Go to the doctor tomorrow and am hoping to have a weight below 250 on his scale. But that is with clothes on so we'll see.

Ya'll have a great day! Erin

Wow we are finally moving again with posts. I am excited to see everyone here.

Snow – Your plan sounds great. My favorite part is not following a diet. I don’t follow a diet at all. I use FitDay to track my calories and fat grams but that is it. I hate the, you can’t have and you have to have diet rules. If I want something I eat it but I record it and if I have to cut something else out for the day I do.

Erin – Congrats on moving the ticker. You are doing great. I know this plateau is really aggravating but we can work through this.

Actually I have good news; the scales were at my lowest yet this morning, 232.9. Now I know that is a point 9 on the end there but it is still down further than it has been in about 6 years. I can’t wait to see the 20’s. I am so close that it has given me an extra boost of will power. I WILL DO THIS.

Well better get to work. Check back later. Here is a dose of the good stuff for you all

Hey - I hit the 150s this morning - 159.6!!!!!

So, after my horrible July, I have lost 3.3 lbs so far since Tuesday and am 1.3 lbs below my previous lowest weight (160.9). Strangely enough - my new downward turn coincided with the cessation of the mega high temps we've been having. Wonder if that had something to do with it.

Whatever - I am happy!

Also had several NSVs. I have a size 12 suit (US size 10) in my wardrobe from when I was last slim, and I have been trying it on periodically. I tried it on yesterday and the jacket actually fastened! The skirt doesn't yet but the jacket does, although it gapes a bit between the buttons. But I may even be able to wear it back to school in September. I can also get into some size 12 jeans and can just about fasten a size 12 skirt, although it's mega tight and I would never be able to wear it. I also tried on a stretchy black velvet dress in a size 12 which looked good aside from the sticky out belly.

This is my daughter and I holding day-old chicks on a day out last Sunday.



Michelle - glad to hear your neck is better and congrats on the 1 lb loss. Looks like we were all in the same boat with the heat.

Robbin - I don't move the ticker back up again either - I leave it at whatever my last lowest was. Well, except when I went on holiday and gained 4 lbs. I consider that a break. Congrats on your new low!! 220s here you come!

Snow - good luck with your, I can't really say diet, your behaviour modification. I know it would never work for me - I need to write down everything I eat and control my calories, but everyone's different. But I don'tt follow a specific diet as such - I just calorie count, but it's still a diet.

Elem - hope your doctor's scales are kind to you today! I must admit, I have been having thoughts of getting a new battery for my scales, but now the heat wave has passed they seem to be behaving themselves again. Maybe yours is just water too! LOL - I take off my glasses to weigh too - AND my watch! Definitely at least two pounds!!

Louie - that sounds like a long day. How come do you get a long weekend? Is this Monday a special day in Canada?

TTFN chaps - catch you later.

Well ladies I am not sure if I should be excited or not. My digital scale has been nothing but pure insanity lately. This moring i was everything from 244.9 down to 239.7!!!! I could just scream!! I am going to move the ticker down to 245 and after i see the doctor today i will have a better idea. I really think i need to just invest in a new scale. Especially since hubby is doing things too and i don't want to discourage him by the scale never reading the right thing! I have been getting on my dial scale which always seemed to weigh me a little high, fully dressed it was 248 this morning and undressed was 246. It's weird though i still seem to be having a hard time realizing i am below 250. Maybe if the doctors scale gets me below 250 with clothes on today that will cement it in my mind. I guess i am still so focused on where i want to get that i am having a hard time recognizing where i am. Plus i feel like i am still such a huge fat cow that a 50 pound drop is a drop in the bucket! Okay enough negativity!!!!!! We are positive people here!

Robbin - WHOOO HOOO I know that had to be an amazing feeling to see the 232. anything!!! I am so excited for you! Keep at it girl i know you are going to do this too!

Robsia - Your daughter and you are beautiful! I never saw a pic of you at higher weights but you look great now for sure!!! A Huge WHOO HOOO for you too! The non scale victories and scale victories are awesome!!!!!!


Well gotta run, off to the doc, to see a couple of patients and then begin back to school weekend. Gotta get my daughters room assignment today and then we will do the shopping thing tomorrow, we have our first tax free holiday for school shopping this weekend and they are predicting it is going to be like day after thanksgiving as far as shopping goes! I dread it, hate crowds! Anyway, open house wednesday and classes start thursday!! Summer's over!

Thank you for the compliments, which I have the most awful trouble accepting. Anyone else feel that? Or is it just silly old me?

This was me at my starting weight of 213 last Christmas. This was the pic that made me think "Yikes, I need to do something about this!"



Maybe you should get yourself a new battery for your scales. That is one heck of a big range of weights. Mine usually only fluctuates 0.4 at the most.

GOOOOOOOOOD Morning ladies. As you can tell I am in a wonderful mood this morning. I have totally fallen back in love with my scales. First time I got on this morning it said 232.0 second time was the same and so was the third. Of course it looked too good to be true so I went and got a new battery out of the cabinet and put it in then got on and almost fell off it said 231.9 OMG. I weighed again and it was 232.0 again and was the next 3 times I got on. So I am there i my bathroom in nothing but my skin dancing around acting like a total crazy. But hey no one saw me. I am even gonna move my ticker this morning.

Robsia You look absolutuly BEAUTIFUL!!! Your legs are so thin. WEIGH TO GO. I can not wait to be in the 100's. How old is your little girl? She looks about 5.

Erin I have my fingers crossed big time for you, I hope the doctors scales are well below the 250 mark you deserve it. You have been right there with me on this plateau and I know it has aggrivated you as much as it has me.

Hello to everyone else hope everyone is having a good morning.

Last night was so much fun. My two youngest (Matt 6 and Mark 5) had their first football practice. It was so cute watching them try to do the jumping jacks and push ups then trying all the football moves for the first time. Then at the end of practice they got their gear and OMG to see them in those little bity helmets and pads I almost wanted to cry they are growing up so fast. Just watching them makes me such a poud mommy.

Well ladies I gotta run time for me to clock into work. I'll Check back later.

Hi all:

Thanks again for the wonderful welcome. I just want to grab onto all this positive, lightening energy and ride it all the way to onederland. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I lose almost 40 last year on Atkins and then gained it all back with stress problems. So part of this is just re-losing some of the weight I gained back fairly recently. That is disappointing. At least I did not gain all of it back--usually when I diet I gain it all back plus some.

Anyway, my new plan is working great so far--I am beginning my seventh day of eating mindfully and just loving it. It is hard in a way to do it because I am used to gulping everything down--achieving maximum carnage! But eating exactly what I want is really enchanting. Also really tasting it is a revelation. But anyway the rub is I am averaging around 1800 cals a day--keeping track on Fitday. I also have been exercising--at least 3 40 minute walks in the last 6 days. I have lost 7 lbs since last saturday so I know I am on the right track! I am impatient to fit in the clothes I have hanging in the closet. Soon I know! I know this is total vanity, but I am seeing my folks in a few weeks and I hate to have gained back all the weight I had lost the last time I saw them. So at least some of this will be off!

RVMM--hee hee--I love the image of you running around trying to make that scale weigh you higher. Great job! So is that 8 lbs? In how long? What plan are you following.

Robsia--great before and after pics--congrats on a wonderful job. that inspires me. So that is about 65 lbs in 8 months?

Elem:--just get a new scale--scales such anyway but it is worse when they are unreliable. I got a new scale about six months ago. It was a purple one that cost me about $20 and it is very accurate--never changes when I get on and off--best scale ever! And I have verified it with doctors scales. I can relate to feeling like a big fat cow--especially when I see photos of myself--like when I went on vacation a few weeks ago. My hubby insisted on taking my picture next to one of those huge cardboard images of Henry the 8th--I felt like I was as big as he was. I am trying to work on loving my sweet big body tho--she is doing the best she can! (I will try to find that photo and post it for you all!)

ryanmi: thanks for the welcome--I know about the heat--it was so hot here in california it felt like forever. we dont have aircon in our house because it usually is moderate temps here plus dry. With the humidity it became nearly unbearable. we finally got an aircon unit for the bedroom because we couldnt stand it, and then it cooled off again! Hard to do anything when it is hot.

I've lost 53.4 lbs so far in 7 months - started on 2nd Jan this year. I'm the lowest I've been weight wise since about 1999.

My initial goal is 140, which is what I managed to get down to last time I lost weight (haven't we all been there before) back in 1997. But once I hit it, I may try to go a little bit further, down to 133, which would be a really good weight for me - I'd be in about a size 10 (US size 8) if I got down that far.

You're doing great so far - 7 lbs in the first week is brilliant.

Hi Robsia--

great job--how did you do it? Any particular plan?

I was always trying to get to 140 or lower when in fact my weight is very good at 155-160. It was all the influence of the skinny seventies that made me diet eternally. If only I had just stayed at that weight I would not have the problems I do now--each diet I would lose and then gain back more.


PS--how do you post a picture on this forum?

Just calorie counting and exercise - doin' it the old fashioned way!

You are taller than I am, so you WOULD be skinny at 140. Whereas, I am at 159 now and still have saddlebags to get rid of and my horrible baby belly which just will NOT go away. It is shrinking though. If I get to 140 and it's still there I'll have to break out the ab crunchers.

How to post a pic:

First you have to have your picture hosted somewhere like image shack or on your own webspace. Then you type:

[ img ] http://www.link to your picture/picture.jpg [ /img ]

I have put spaces in the above so that the code will appear - just take out the spaces and replace the link with the actual link to your pic and it should appear.

Hey there snow my total loss is 44 pounds and I have been working on it since about January, I started full fledge Weight Loss mid-March. 7 pounds the first week is great. Keep at it.