Uh-huh *LOL* harder to keep your balance that way...

Honiangel - I saw a set like that at Walmart for about $16. Glad you were able to find some exercises to do on it!

Brandnewme - It's good to see you posting, but I'm sorry you are still feeling icky.

Crock - I'm not sure about the calories thing. Although a LOT of days I'll only be at like 600!

I was on the Alzheimer's side of the facility today, which I liked. Although, one of our residents, Esther is on Hospice, which means she's going to go soon. She has severe dementia, and can't speak. She just laughs...even when nothing's funny, or if you just look at her. It's so sad

Hi everybody!

I did good today, back on track, back on program and feeling much better!

Did the gym today and a 1 mile WATP tonight. I cut a flap into my left thumb just under the nailbed so I cant go swimming for a while. But other than that I am doing better than I have so far this year.

Kayley is this a new job or one that you have had? Congratulations on people starting to notice your weight loss by the way!!

Crock - I've found that it is easy to go below 1200 calories on SB phase 1, You kinda have to look up foods that have more calories and eat some of them every now and then, like a handful of nuts or something.

I only ate 310 calories according to nutridiary yesterday. But I had a huge salad with veggies in it and a grilled chicken breast for dinner and an egg for breakfast. I went to the gym and forgot to eat anything for lunch. I am not very good at eating 3 times a day. Bad habit, I know.

But, happily I am back on program and starting over with SB phase 1. I weighed at the gym today and it said I gained a pound, but it was not my official weigh in day *tuesday* so I have not changed my ticker.

honiangel - how much weight is that ball supposed to be able to hold? I have a ball but none of the extras you mentioned. I am thinking about buying the one with the extras and giving my friend the extra ball. Hers sprung a leak the other day.

Brandnewme - I hope you get to feeling better soon, I have been in the same place with this flu that is going around, knocked me down for about 6 weeks it seems.

Does anyone else have trouble holding in their abs? I have let them just lay there for so long I am having trouble getting into the habit of holding them in. I know Kayley said that she never stopped holding hers in, am I the only slacker?

Wyllen - do you do the multivitamins to be sure you get all your nutrients? I do because I dont trust a diet plan to give me everything I need. And because my calories sometimes fall so low since I forget to eat meals so often.

Chris - When you were having such a hard time getting calories to stay in, did you lose weight? I know you said your tissues began to break down but I expect that was from being immobile and having so little food intake. Are you still on IVs and stuff?? I hope you are well now!

Looks like I wont make my Valentines day goal - boo hoo

but I have already exceeded my exercise goal so woo hoo

Now to try for the 10 pounds in February goal, not sure I will make that one either. fingers crossed

The theory is this...if you weight more you need to eat more to lose more. Your body runs on energy..specifically food energy. Just as it takes more energy to run a largetr car or house efficiently and to not max out your available resources and potentially exhaut them too quickly...same with you and food.

On WW (which I have been doing for over a year) your daily "points" allowance is determined by your current weight. Many people are surprised at how much they are "required" to eat to stay on plan. At first it is often difficult for them, especially if they are used to skipping meals or traditional deprivation-style dieting. However...it clearly works. As you lose weight, your points allowance goes down...and when you get to goal weight and do your 6 weeks of maintenance, you actually get points back so that you won't lose.

The issue though isn't as much calorie intake as quality of calories. It's one thing to eat 1800 calories worth of candy, fries, white bread and soda in a day. However, if you are using a "quality" fuel...lean meat, protein, whole grains, fruits and veggies...you get more out of what you are eating and your body can process it more effectively and efficiently. When you are eating primarily simple foods that are not processed or refined and can be digested easily...you win. Complex refined foods do not get absorbed as quickly by the body's digestive processes and all the excess gets stored as fat.

Hope that helps...

Kayley--That's where I got this one, and it was 16 and some change.

Garnetfairy--The ball that came with this set is supposed to hold 300 lbs, but the good thing is it isn't attached to the base so you can use another ball, or use the ball seperate from the base or use the base for resistance without the ball. I thought about that in case my ball gets popped, between kids, dogs and my big ole butt it's bound to happen, but if it does I just go buy the 11$ ball at wally world and use it with the base.

Julee--Thank you for explaining that.

Just a quick drop in before continuing to get ready for my parent/teacher night tomorrow.

Started the day beautifully, with getting up early and going with hubby to a nice golf club to watch him do some practice hitting. We then went to the markets for our fruit and veg. I am really happy with what we got and the price we got it for. It is VERY expensive over here to eat a healthy diet. Fruit in particular is VERY expensive.

I was SO proud of myself again today too. Hubby and I decided to try an extra long walk after the markets, because I didn't have time to go on the treadmill this morning. We walked along the river, over one bridge that crosses the river, back along the river and across the other bridge that crosses over. The walk was just under 6 miles and took us under an hour and a half, and I wanted to add a little more, so we ended up walking for 103 minutes and going over 7 miles. This is a common walk for fundraisers I think, but I have never been able to do it before. I feel great at the moment, but not sure how I'll be tomorrow. Hubby said he is starting to feel it in his calves. Poor darling.

Another NSV today. I actually bought 2 wrap around skirts/sarongs at the markets (went back after our walk) that said "One Size Fits All" - which I always laugh about, because they DON'T! - and these fit perfectly. In fact I had to take the tie through the tightest hole, which was great. I would say though, that these items would be lucky to fit (and wrap around enough to cover) maybe half the Australian female adult population. So this "one size fits all" is a joke. I'm not sure if you have those labels in the rest of the world, but I know that they make me angry.

Still, I feel pretty good about today, so I won't whine on for too long. I think I am mostly ready for my meeting tomorrow night, after a little bit of fine tuning. Didn't get any housework done today, but I'm sure the house won't fall down around me without it.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Take care,

Zelma

Hey there everyone!

I had a pretty good day yesterday. Hubby and I went into the city to look for a new tent and to do some other shopping. There is a tent that we have wanted for 2 years now and I think we are finally going to get it. We are prepared to take a weekend trip to maine to get it. Unfortunately it is only sold in the US and they are going to try to get one shipped to Canada for us.

We do a lot of tenting in the summer. At least 6-7 three day trips a season. This year I am hoping to have a lot more energy and do more hiking and stuff. Hubby always went by himself and took the dog strolling. I would go about once a day but this year.... look out!

I can't wait for spring. It is getting so cold here and I am getting tired of it. There is a big ole winter storm brewing today and is supposed to start later this afternoon and last at least 2 days. EWwww. I will have to make sure that I cook some healthy stuff. I am going to try making a chocolate cake with black bean base. I can't imagine it being good but I am willing to try anything for this SB diet to work.

Speaking of which..... I am down 5 lbs this week!!!! Eating meat, cheese, veg and nuts! Something is working!!

I have had some weird NSV this week.... I got out of the shower on Friday and as I was moisturizing realized that my big ole belly has....indents? on the sides of it. WOW> have I EVER had those???? maybe 15 years ago!! Means that I am beating this thing... one indent at a time *L*

Another thing that I am considering a victory of sorts is the fact that my inlaws took us out for dinner last night and I was strong enough to stay on program. Now for those doing south beach or anyone that loves bread knows this is not easy when you are offered an all you can eat homemade bread bar!!! My meal also came with a choice of baked potato, fries, or pasta. I told them just to bring the chicken and no croutons in my salad. Yeah for me. Mind you it was pretty hard watching them share MY all you can eat bread! *L*

Crock ~ congrats on your 10lb loss!!!!! That is awesome! I will let you know about the cake. *L* the chocolate cheesecake contraption I threw together the other night was pretty good. If you want the recipe just ask.

Zelma ~ Great NSV!!!!! We have One Size labels here too.....now they say "one size fits most" LIARS!!!

Garnet ~ I hate holding in my abs!!!!! (saying this as I "suck" em in!) The pool instructors are always yelling at us for that *L* Congrats on getting yourself back on plan!!

Hi to Kayley, honiangel, christine, wyllenn, brandnewme, julee, and everyone else! Hope you are all having a losing week!!!

Brenda

Hey everyone...

I joined this site/group a few weeks back. I don't know if anyone would remember? lol I was really getting into this forum and then my computer decides its going to just break for two weeks. Well just to refresh you guys...I'm 24...attempting to start to lose weight. I recently moved to Alaska..and finally got all of our stuff shipped..which included the almighty scale. lol But to my disappointment I have not lost a pound! I really thought I had. It really got me down...because even my husband kept asking me if I have lost weight..and well I haven't. Also...i am not so sure my scale works right. IT really gives number all over the board. Does anyone recommend a decent scale? Well..I hope to be able to get on here more...I really think this group and whole site is awesome! Well hope you guys have a good day!

Michelle

I get really nervous when I hear people -- especially people who weigh well over 200 pounds -- say that they consistently eat less than 1000 cals/day. I understand that when we want to lose weight we want to lose quickly, but do you want to do that at the risk of your health? Can you get enough nutrients? Will you have enough energy? As Julee said, someone who weighs 150 needs fewer calories to survive, so if that person eats 1200 cals/day he or she may be able to get enough nutrients for their body. Of course, it would be great if our bodies would just tell us they don't get enough, but the signs are often hard to interpret and can be confused for other problems. YOU MAY NOT KNOW YOU AREN'T GETTING ENOUGH.

But many of us weigh twice 150! 1200 calories is much less likely to provide enough nutrients -- especially if we eat that on a regular basis. Garnet fairy asked if I take a multivitamin. I do, sometimes, but I track some nutrients and try to get them from my food. And there are some nutrients you can apparently get too much of (vitamin A, but I don't yet know all the details) and other antioxidants and such seem to be better when they come from real food (like berries and veggies).

So my plea is just to ask each of you to really think about your health. Is being thin, but having no muscle and no energy going to be worth it?

Of course, I should add that this is really my opinion, which is hopefully based on what seems to be "best practice" from all sorts of agencies and whatnot. But my opinion nonetheless.

Garnetfairy - I've been there for about two months. It's a nursing home, and one end is "assisted living", and the other end is Alzheimers and dementia.

Zelma - You go! That's a VERY long walk, and I'm SURE you're feeling it today! Hehe. The farthest I've gone at once was 5 miles, and that's when Mom and I went up to Mackinak City, Michigan over Labor Day, and walked the bridge (Labor Day is the only day they allow foot travel). It's a huge event, and it was a bunch of fun. It's the bridge that connects the upper peninsula and the lower peninsula.

Michelle - Good to see you back!

Was a fairly early bed for me last night...I was beat! I was going to take a rest day from exercising, as I've done it for 5 days straight now, but I just might go and do some...I work today 3-11 again.

HOPE THIS FINDS EVERYONE WELL.

BRENDA~ THERE IS ONE FOR EACH OF YOUR FIVE LBS,, WOO HOO WAY TO GO....Yes any recipes you have I would love to have them, thanks. pm me later and we can figure out what to swap...

MICHELLE~ For the scales, take a gallon of water and weigh it, a gallon of water is 8 1/2 lbs, and this will let you know if your scales are accurate., hang in there, you could be loosing inches...

WYLLENN~ I agree with the Caloric intake, Yesterday was only one day like that, NOT that I chose it, that is how it ended up , and I ate ALOT , so today I am focusing on some calorie items,, Thanks for you input, I love to hear what others think and have learned...

GARNETFAIRY~ GOOD TO GO ON GETTING BACK ON TRACK....

As for me, my day has been fine, GRANNY CAME HOME YESTERDAY! she is so funny, she rode in the ambulance and She told me that the Doctor drove her and it was the bumpiest ride she ever had,, she is something, very creative..But the doctor wouldnt talk to her cause he was concentrating on the bad roads,,, (lots of snow here),, She was totally convinced that her Doctor was drivin the Ambulance.. shes a hoot..
Take care all,,, and Honi,,,, be carefull on that ball lmao.......

Crockett:

Regarding weighing the water...what do you weigh it in to ensure that the weight is correct? Just the regular plastic bottle from the store? Otherwise if someone tried to put 1 gallon of water into a different type of container wouldn't you have to account for the weight of the container?

Back to the caloric intake issue...our WW leader keeps telling us to "Treat your body like a temple and not a bus." But to go back to my car/fuel analogy...treat your body like a Lexus and not a Yugo. A Lexus is a more expensive car, it needs super premium fuel....it also has way more gadgets and bells and whistles and was designed to take care of the driver (when taken care of properly) and will last a lot longer.

Just some food for thought. I have to run and get dressed...we're of for another day of errands and metings and whatnot.

1 gallon"jug" of water bought in a gallon jug not opened is what i use,, thought it was pretty self explanitory,,,,,,,oops