Hello Ladies,

Another On Plan day for me. Total calories 1765. I did not go to the Y tonight but that is my usual Wednesday. I really wanted to eat another cookie tonight but I also did not want to post more than 1800 calories. Vanity won.

Marie-I am the same way about breakfast. I try to delay it as long as possible because once I eat breakfast-I just want more to eat. Unfortunately it is not always practical to take my breakfast to work. Lunch seems to last better thankfully. I always want to eat at supper time as well but I find if I am still hungry after dinner I can usually divert my attention with some other activity. Work on the other hand never takes my mind off of eating!

maryea-I have very similar back issues also. It is funny how it doesn't hurt while exercising but how the next day some slight movement can really cause problems. Crazy. I hope you feel better soon.

Rie-Thanks for the compliment although I am far from svelt. You know how different body weight distribution can be-I am rather shortchanged up on top so I am still packing quite a bit of fat in my middle and thighs. Still, I am glad I have managed to maintain between 145 and 150 in the past year. Now if I could just get to 135 to 140. That would be sweet! Anyway, I am sorry to read about your problems with the partial. Ouch! When do you get the real thing?

Another on plan day for me. Total calories were 1590 and I went to the step class at the Y. That makes three in a row. Now on to the weekend. I have a high fail rate on weekends but maybe I can do it this time.

Rie I wish I could keep my calories down like you and bobbi! I know right now you have teeth/mouth problems but even usually you seem to eat very little and almost always very healthy. The only time I was able to keep my calories that low was on MF but I just can't go back completely on that. I do wish I'd transitioned slowly per their instructions. Still could do that I suppose. I do use their products now and then still.

My weight dropped a little again last night per my scale. Little unsure about my scale these days though. I get different weights when I step on it. I keep stepping on it until I get two alike...sometimes this is six times, but this morning only three. I sure hope it's right but it seemed like I ate way over yesterday and I didn't expect to lose, more likely gain so I'm not sure.

Today's been a good eating day...do I see a pattern here...every other day?
At least so far and I haven't been terribly hungry. Went to Costco to use the coupons but got there a little early (good!) and only got three samples and then we shared a 1/2 pizza as usual.

Terapet...Glad you had a good day! A good eating day AND exercise is impressive to me.

What I keep telling myself is that of course I can do it if I really want to...it's just a mental decision not to eat or to eat healthy or to only eat a small portion etc. It's not easy but if I don't remind myself I get to thinking I can't control it, or blame it on my dh eating something in front of me, or offering me some goodie, you know? I have to get it firmly in my head that it is MY OWN decision whether I overeat or not! Doesn't always work but I keep trying...

Ended up doing pretty well today. 1557 calories ...that's a bit high but not too bad. And a little less than 12 carb servings so that's ok too.

maryea-I would be very frustrated also. I personally think it is very hard to stay in control when my husband (or friends or coworkers) wants me to eat out and keep difficult food around. You know I struggle with keeping my calorie total in line also. On the other hand, I know it can be done because I have done it in the past.(I am always trying these days but I screw up alot!) In the end, we have to share our kitchens, our workspace and go to restaurants with people. I do not find eating small portions particularly helpful. For me it is simply easier to avoid some food like the plague. You might want to consider giving up some food at least for awhile in order to take the extra pounds off. My list of "special occasion only" food includes pizza, fast food of any kind, most cookies, candy and baked goods, crackers and my most recent addition, white wine. Sometimes I say no to restaurant invitations, sometimes I don't eat but only go along. Sometimes I am willing to eat something low cal on the menu but I do not find that particularly satisfying. For me it is a choice between gaining weight or not gaining weight although I realize others do not see it that way. I find when I do allow myself these foods, I just want more and I put on pounds very fast. I can tell you giving up some of this, gaining a sense of control and taking off extra pounds is very satisfying in the long run. Just a thought. I hope I am not being a pain. Please forgive me if I am.

Hello ladies, hope you don't mind if I join you here. I've had some success in 2011 but now need to get serious about continuing in 2012. I'm a few pounds over my ticker now due to the holidays and my birthday treats from yesterday, but from now on I've got to get that self-discipline back that helped me before.

I'm so impressed with this group with the way you track everything and are able to stick to your plans. I do best with a very low carb/low sugar plan, which is very limiting but not impossible. The hardest part is to make sure I have the right foods in my house (lean meats, eggs, lots of veggies and salads) and that I get rid of the junk foods that my kids love when they're home from college like breads, chips, candy, cereal, etc.

The other thing that I'll need to do is start exercising again, even if it's just half an hour on a treadmill every day. Somehow I stopped doing that, and the weight loss stopped as well (hum, coincidence? I think not!)

My plan for today is a HB egg for breakfast, Tuna on crackers for lunch, and dinner out with my DBF. The restaurant I chose offers small portion entrees like salmon with broccoli and wild rice - Yum!

Have a good day!

Andi

Ter - I agree with you. I probably should give up my mochas. Since I went off MF I've even been making the full punch ones..with pb! I count every calorie and carb but I'm sure it would be better to just give them up as they tempt me so much and sometimes I'll have more than one in a day. I have to really watch that. If I'm going to drink mochas I should go back to the kind I made when on MF. My problem is if I give up too many things I really like I get rebellious and stop trying for a while, I'm such a child when it comes to food still...I am more likely to stick with it and eat what I want but smaller portions and count calories.

So far todays another good eating day...but then I've only had breakfast LOL! But if I can do as well as yesterday I'll be happy. I'm not feeling well as I have another UTI but I started the antibiotic today and it usually kicks in pretty fast. I stayed home from the gym again, so except for that one day I haven't had much exercise in a long time. I try to do a few stretches and other exercises here at home but I haven't done as much as usual due to how I'm feeling.

Will try to check back later with how I've done.

Today was very close to on plan. Total calories were 1890. Not bad for a Friday. I turned down an invitation for lunch out and skipped a party at the neighbors tonight. It was what i really wanted to do plus saved calories.

maryea-Sorry about the UTI. Hope you feel better soon. I wouldn't worry too much about the exercise if you are not feeling up to it. Exercise is great for taking care of yourself but not an absolute for weight loss. My 24 year old son has lost 90 pounds with no exercise at all! He even eats cookies and drinks beer. He is all about portion control like you.

WebWoman-Welcome to our challenge! Looks like you are doing great. Lets lose those last pounds together.

Mary, I have to say - get a new scale. Also if the batteries are low you can get erratic reading. And having the scale on carpet will do it. No way should you have to step on the evil box more than once a day. Six just makes you more obsessed with it. Mary, I hope the UTI goes away quickly. BTW, I have 2 mochas a day. They're 156 cals each and each has 8 grams protein. Since I get the majority of my protein from the mochas, I had 3 mochas today. Actually, if I’m good all week, I get a Starbucks mocha on Fridays. I have been an

Tera, I can't imagine being able to lose without portion control. I despise diet food (unless is is actually tasty). My calories tend to be horded more than my money in the bank. If I'm going to eat something, it better be darn tasty and worth the calories. I won't eat so-so food. Not worth it. But to have tasty food (aka regular food) I have to have portion control. Anyway... you have stayed on plan all week. WAY TO GO!

Welcome Andi!!!!! You've been doing great. Rie is a low carb, low sugar chick as well. I don't like much meat, not fond of eggs and am deathly allergic to soy and peanuts - hence yours and Rie's plans wouldn't work for me. I'd starve but would be thin. I'm a calorie counter and no food is off limits (except the deathly allergic - the so-so allergic I don't shy from). I'm glad you joined us!

Rie (and Mary), Portion controlled M&M gumball machine – I had/have been having a 115 cal portion of dark chocolate M&Ms since the day I started my weight loss (going on about 4 years now). I have this tiny Rubbermaid type container that a former co-worker called my petri dish. I weighed out exactly how many M&Ms I could have for it to be 100 cals. Once I knew how many in the petri dish, then I didn’t have to weigh it again. Then DH bought me an awesome gumball machine. It has settings for exactly how much candy/gum you want dispensed. I told him how many grams I eat. So he played with it and figured it was a little less on setting 6 and a little too much on setting 7. Of course, I wanted more, so I upped my M&M calories to 115 so I could have portion control. It also costs me $0.25 but DH gave me a roll of quarters. And I have they. So it’s funny but the absolute best present. He knows me well. It is so cute on my shelf. Sorry I didn’t post the last couple days. I’m having monthly girl problems I described on the GG thread. Today is better so I’m more interested in life other than sitting on the couch with a heating pad against my right ovary. But I can say that I have been an - oh that’s right, I already mentioned it.

I admire you ladies and your ability to portion control. I actually do use it for a very limited list of treats that I know won't cause problems-for example jello pudding. But for the goodies I really enjoy-like M&Ms, no way. I would be thinking about more M&Ms the minute I finished the first portion. Torture! I also have trouble hoarding calories since I do not like to be hungry. I eat a fair amount of calories each day as you can see. On special occasions I will try to use Intermittant Fasting to mitigate the impact of a heavy meal but I cannot do that on a regular basis. Fortunately there are many good tasting foods that are healthy and in my calorie range so I am not really deprived.

Today I am suppose to go hiking with my husband near the river. It is a beautiful day here and I cannot wait to get outdoors I have not planned my meals for the day so I am a bit nervous about that. I really need to be careful or I will simply eat back any progress I made this week. I am tired of these extra ten pounds though. They gotta go.

Marie-Congrats on the angelic behavior. Your M&M dispenser is genius.

I'm usually very good with portion control except for evening snacking and then I seem to think that there are no rules after 6 pm! I went over badly last night and my weight was up a teeny bit today again. Grrr...It really didn't taste that good even! Today so far I'm fine.

Marie - My regular mocha is about the same calories or even less than yours depending on whether I use milk or not. It's only 110 with out milk. prefer milk but if I keep the milk to 1/3 cup it's only 140 calories. My problem is I prefer to use 1/2 c milk and recently (since I dropped MF) i've been slipping in a tablespoon of PB! And I still add fiber. So that really ups the calories! Today I only used 1 t. PB ...not as good but ok. I've thought about getting that PB2 like Rie uses or I may just make it the regular way without PB. I can't give up my mocha!

Meals so far today:
Breakfast: 1 2/3 eggs scrambled (made 2 but couldn't eat it all), 1 very small pc of cinnamon bread with 1 t. butter (yes real whipped butter!)
Lunch: My mocha (with only 1 t PB and added fiber), and 1/2 lg banana. The mocha was supposed to be my am snack but realized how late it was and added the banana and called it lunch.
Dinner - Chili with crackers (too many!) and butter, plus while heating up the chili I ate 5 cashews. I didn't feel like cooking so just grabbed.
Eve snack - 1/2 cup peaches with 1 T Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds sprinkled over. Yummy!

Calories 1513 (plus whatever the 1 T of cereal is). 190 gms net carb, too much sodium and too much fat.

No I haven't replaced batteries...I think they are special kind...but it's been more stable the past two days. I can usually tell what my weight will be in the morning when I weigh at bedtime so I'm pretty sure when it's right. Occasionally I lose more overnight or I don't lose at all but not often. We just got this scale a few months ago, and up to now I've really liked it because it has large digits and the screen stays lit up a while after you step off.

Yes I've heard all those tips to help one not eat in the evening...so far none has helped me much, so think it really just has to come from me deciding to do the right thing. I hate to move the scale because that seems to throw it off for a while and I'm not sure if it would help, but it might. One thing that helps me a little is weighing before dinner. I sometimes eat less if see my weight is higher but then it really isn't usually dinner that's my problem..it's after dinner. Maybe I should weigh myself before I start snacking?

When I make sure I get a good amount of protein and fiber at all meals that helps some and I think that's why MF helped me, but getting it with regular food means more calories. Since going off MF I haven't eaten as many vegetables as I usually do, not sure why as I normally love veggies. I do go through "phases" with about everything so it may just be that, but eating lots of veggies helps to fill me up. It was a pretty good day today at least with calories and carbs at least.