slimming
I have heard of a few others that use a program and count calories too. What ever works for a person is a good thing.

bargoo
I never thought I would bother to count calories until someone on this site told me about fit day. It is so darn easy and right at a glance I can see what I still need to eat for the day to get those required amounts of the four basic food groups in.

Grammy
It is amazing what putting good things into our body will do for us.

Irish
Congrats on the loss.

Mine's loose from losing weight and I'm glad! My fingers swell during the summer, so I don't think I'll be getting it resized. I guess it's a good thing it was tight when we got married. Lol. Otherwise it'd have fallen off by now. I can't wait to see a picture of your ring!

Irish~ CONGRATULATIONS on the loss!!! I'm glad your son is feeling better. It's always hard to watch the ones you love go through the discomfort of being sick.

GrammyL~ I hear ya on the vegetarian thing. Both DH and I were vegetarians for years, but it can be incredibly hard if you are really strict. It's amazing how many products have non-vegetarian items in them. Also, I love fish too much to give it up again. We rarely eat meat though. I don't think I'll ever be a full on vegetarian again, but I do think our national food system is broken and I doubt I'll ever eat much meat.

Shy Moment~ I started calorie counting after Weight Watchers ticked me off. I wanted to do the online program like my sister did, but their website was so poorly designed and it was so difficult to find the points for non-processed food that I gave up. And being the stubborn person I am, I decided I could do it by myself. I love the fact that no food is off plan and that you can "splurge" and still be within your calories.

Hi ladies -- hope you all had great weekends. As you know, weekends are the times when I tend to splurge, and I've been trying really hard to get better about that -- I've gained 4 out of the last 5 weekends, and spend the rest of the week just undoing it, which sucks. This weekend though? I actually LOST a little. YAY!! And that's including eating a big piece of baklava (SO GOOD) at a potluck and splitting a red rope with my mom at a baseball game. I guess I CAN have a treat without going crazy.

Irish -- so glad your son is feeling better!

Tinky -- CONGRATS!!

I think TOM is finally letting up on me. I feel so much better today and because I haven't been able to use my computer at home until this morning I didn't realize I have been a little high on calories. So I am backing off the next couple of days to make up for it. I was over 100 on Monday, and 200 on Tuesday. I also wasn't getting as much exercise because I was drained from TOM and have my GS until DD starts feeling better. Last night I got a good nights sleep, TOM is letting up and my energy is coming back so I am going to make sure I walk today.

Zenor ~ I didn't realize how hard it can be to be vegetarian and vegan almost seems impossible but people do it. The book I am reading the author was lacto ovo vegetarian and then went vegan and I think she is now lacto ovo again. She found the vegan lifestyle very difficult to follow because animal byproducts are everywhere including some soy cheeses. She said vegans have to read everything and get the facts on everything.

Coldbrightday ~ I feel your pain. I do the same thing but I seem to be getting better slowly than what I used to be. I think its part of my baby step process. Weekends are my last big hurtle. I can almost directly link it to eating out because DH loves to eat out on the weekends.

OK, I didn't have time to read last night when shopping and I bought FF cream cheese. It was so GROSS I had to throw it away. I read the package and it had sugar in it. I guess I will deal with the extra fat calories and just use it sparingly. I also bought the 1/3 less fat and its good but they don't add sugar to it.

GS likes Morning Star Chik Nuggets. Last night DD had made spaghetti with sauce for him and he was eating it when I picked him up. I went home and already planned on Chik nuggets and he actually at 1 1/2 of them which for him is excellent and he had some grapes, peanut butter on a spoon and a couple healthy cookies. The cookies I bought at Walgreens and everything is natural (I don't know if organic). It had flax seed, granola, dried fruit, molasses, and cane sugar I think but they are really good. Nothing artificial. GS really likes them. They look like little dog turds. LOL!

Well I better get going for now so I can read some more of my book while I eat my snack and then I am going for a short walk.

LARA: I am SOOO proud of your new lifestyly way to go girl!!!!!!

well....I am dying...not literally but I sure felt like it today. I am sicker then I have EVER been that I can remember. I can't keep anything down (sorry tmi) my son is going to my moms for the night so that he doesn't catch it which is good but its his first night away from mommy and daddy he has been at my inlaws since 10. I stepped on the scale this afternoon for the **** of it and .....I am 177!!! lol I know that isn't gonna stay there but WOW!!!! It almost made being this sick worth it :P now question I know I will gain back but do you think I will gain the full 6 back?? I really want to keep it off its a huge boost for my easter goal but I don't want to do it in an unhealthy way. wow I sound sick lol. but it sure feels good to be in the 170's..even if its only for 1 day

Hey everyone, I'm sorta new here. I started my diet on Saturday, sorta. I was doing 1500 cal/day, but was told I should probably do 1700 since I'm still nursing my daughter. I was having a hard time doing 1500, but now that I'm supposed doing 1700, I don't seem to go over 1500! It's weird...lol.

Tinky ~ The funny thing is that looking like a dog treat wouldn't faze my GS. I have to fight to keep him from eating our dog treats. He loves to give them to the dogs but always has to take a bite first. Pupperoni's are his favorite.

You know the good thing about starting them young and helping the find healthy things to eat is they don't care what it looks like at that age but how it taste. The odd thing is he doesn't like sunflower seeds.

I buy the Morning Star black bean burgers. We had a discussion a while ago and I don't know if its true for the black bean burgers or not but probably is, Morning Star is not organic. I just wanted to make you aware of that because I don't want to mislead anyone.

Irish ~ It might stay off you never know but I will pass on how you lost it. LOL! Being that sick is the pits and I would rather work out and eat less than be sick to lose it. Hope your feeling better and your little one will be fine but I know it has to be hard.

Well stress is getting the best of me plan wise. I haven't been horrible calorie wise to me but apparently my body thinks so. Last night I was doing great until I felt the stress of DH. I won't go into details but for some reason the binge eater that eats under stress awakened. So I ended up having a slice of DD's pizza I bought her after dinner and a LaraBar. That added about 500 calories on. Still ended up under 2000, just under but that was enough to make me gain, either that or its sodium. I sure hope sodium. ARG! What a week.

Is anyone here from Florida? If so I just have a couple quick questions for you about employment and housing. ODD is thinking about moving there but wants to go check things out first. I just want her to leave my GS Jose behind with me forever but I don't think it will happen. She can go and the new baby but not Jose. I am very close with Jose because I have practically raised him from birth.

Today is the first day in a week that I haven't had Jose so I am going to get my hair cut after work. My hair and nails are growing so fast now. I can't be a 100% sure but I have the feeling my body digest soy easier than animal protein and utilizes it better. I thought by now my nails would have started splitting, pealing or break off but they are still healthy and I am actually having to file them down to keep them the length I like. I don't go to long because I am not used to nails.

Well I am going to go and read my book some more.

Talk to you all later.

Tinky ~ Congrats on the fast! After my 18 days fast I became a vegetarian, completely stopped craving meat. It's amazing the changes that you will experience. Fasting is such a great experience. Are you into alternative medicine? You seem like you might be open to it. www.curezone.com is a great message board site for fasting, cleansing, etc..

I realized a minute ago I am almost half way to my goal!!!! thats such an awesome feeling!!!! I am hoping to be in the 160's but april 12th for my canadian idol audition!!! I think it will also make a good story (they ask you to tell them something interesting about yourself) what better thing to say then I lost 50lbs!! the other thing is I am only 3lbs away from easter goal!!!! yay!!!!

Guess what I'm wearing today? My skinny jeans! (Size 10) They're a little snug (which they must have been when I bought them, too, because I was at most 2 lbs lighter than I am now) but I wore them under a skirt on tuesday and they softened up a little and today they fit almost perfectly.

I'm glad I bought a few close fitting pairs of pants when I was at my lightest (153ish, sometime in 2006) because that means they'll continue to fit decently well as I go below that weight.

Irish -- that is so, so awesome. Congrats! I'm sorry you've been sick though. What a blessing to have your mom nearby to take care of your son!

Well I gained back 2 of my lost lbs :S it could be from high salt intake yesterday I did have to bowls of soup. Either way I knew it would probably come back. I am not feeling well again today very dizzy and weak

Irish ~ Sounds like you are feeling a little better and what a boost for your morale! I need one and hopefully TOM will leave soon and some weight with it.

Coldbrightday ~ WOW, that is fantastic. I haven't fit in a size 10 jean since high school and even most of the time then I wore a 12 Lee Jean. Of course that was just a little while ago. LOL!

Tinky ~ I bought some organic refried black beans. They are so yummy on a tortilla. I have always loved beans just never ate them because of the side effects but as long as I eat yogurt and eat them in moderation I seem to be fine now. To about a month of discomfort to get here but now my body is getting used to them.

I don't know why because to my knowledge I have never had this but I want some beans and rice. I have had them on a plate separate and in soups but never as a meal. I love the creaminess of beans and then the taste explosion that comes with them. I think I just like creamy foods period. Maybe I can go back to baby food. LOL!

I am going to try making hummus again. I think I know what I did wrong. I put in to many roasted red peppers because mine was actually orange instead of chickpea color. I noticed that when I opened the kind I buy their is water on top of the hummus. I have the feeling they add water to help make the hummus creamy instead of oils. I am going to give it a try again.

I want to get all your opinions on something. The book I am reading said that if you are going to have fruit with your meal you should eat that a half hour before you eat the rest of the meal, not after. She said that fruit is the bodies cleanser and if you eat that first it prepares the body for the main course. If you eat the fruit after it will actually cause you to be gassy because the fruit is fermenting (high sugar content) because it isn't being allowed to go through your system fast enough. The fruit is trying to push its way through but it can't because the other food is holding it back. It does make sense now that I think about it and I gave it a try yesterday but my insides have been quiet lately so I can't say as it worked or didn't work. I am going to continue doing because it does make sense but I just wanted to get your opinions on it.

Well I better get going and I will talk to you all later. OH, some of the bloat is gone today and I sure hope its all gone by Monday. Makes me want to be good this weekend.