Healthyangle: i hope you are ok in that storm. The poor east coast people. That storm is awful. I hope your mood swings settle down..but I imagine that the storm is not helping.

John: I thought your breakfast looked great and within the guidelines. You left a blank on the fat. Are you having any PB? I really enjoy my phase 3 breakfasts. Welcome to maintenance.

Off to wild kids on Halloween day!

Good luck up in the North East! Living in South Louisiana, I know all about hurricanes. This Sandy sure was a B!TCH

I'm still trying to get used to the breakfast. I am SOOOOOOO not a morning person. It seems that breakfast will take time the day before and also in the morning to actually put it together. I am planning to cook a whole pack of bacon and have in the fridge so I can just pop a couple of pieces in the microwave for a couple of seconds. Every second counts for me in the morning.

Good morning all!

The east coast is moving along nicely, if not too slow for most of us. Halloween is being postponed in many areas which is great that the kids actually get to do it!


Today is my sons Birthday! My "little pumpkin" was born 12 years ago at 3:21 PM. My goodness how time flies!!!!!!! I'd love to just get to hold him in my arms one last time as a little munchkin looking up at me and not me looking up at him He is now officially taller than Mom!

Hope everyone has a great Halloween! For those struggling with Sandy cleanup, stay positive and know help is there when you ask for it.

angie LOL as to holding your pumpkin...my almost 15 year old nephew sits in my lap sometimes and lets me hold him...he thinks it's funny and I think it's adorable that he'll let me do that.

John Just having input from the other gender is always nice, we need some guys in here Besides the fat free...looks great to me! I'm still eating my original Phase 3 breakfast, I'm a creature of habit...so knowing exactly how long it will take me to prepare and that it keeps me 'satisfied' until about 1130...works for me!

maile I'm remembering what it was like for me in elementary/junior high when we all dressed up...definately didn't concentrate that day! lol

pat/jenny I like to think some of the ones that have phased off and in maintenance are just lurking...sometimes I don't have much to say even though I'm here almost everyday. to everyone lurking with not much to say!

Hope everyone has a great day!

What's that breakfast?

That's the breakfast you're on...still eating mine everyday in Phase 4...

If you were asking which breakfast choice she was concerned about, it's the fat free cream cheese option. I highly recommend going to maybe "light" but definitely full fat is a better option. Believe it or not, there are less carbs in the full fat than in the fat free. That's what you really need to be looking at.

Do the same when shopping for yogurt. It's hard to get your brain around the idea that fat is actually good, but it is. Remember to compair the full carb count in lower fat items to full fat items. You'll be very surprised!!!

I think he wants to know exactly what you are eating!

OH! ok then!

...2 slices of silver hills little big bread (sprouted grain), 1 tbsp of natural PB, 1 tbsp of no sugar added jam, one egg poached, one cup of strawberries (or other berries) and one cup of unsweetened original almond milk...

John: You sound like my son. He is not a morning person either. Good idea on cooking the bacon ahead so you can zap it and save time. It always is a rush.

Ishbel: I had 6 Halloween parties throughout the day..and was tired. Our kids are not allowed to dress up but the the staff does. It was fun being a witch for a day.

So today is a blah day. I woke up early and see that I will have a Phase 1 breakfast. I found this blog inspirational.



So, these are the things that most “biggest losers” have in common:

- They realized they had to make permanent changes.

Most of them had been tortured by diets many times in the past. Some of them hadn’t. But they all knew that a small period of eating differently and a month of exercise in a year of complete absence of activity would bring changes that wouldn’t last. Sooner or later they would go back to their old habits. It would be like a drop in the ocean. It would only affect the surface of the problem. Only if they changed their habits permanently could they hope for long-lasting results. And this realization was critical to their success.


- They moved on by trial and error.

What worked for me won’t necessarily work for you. People who successfully lost weight were ready to accept failure. They tried many things that proved to be wrong and many times they would bring them back to square one. They just researched and find another way. A new way of exercise, a new trick to deal with cravings, new menus, new breakfast ideas, anything they had a hard time with, they would just replace it with something new. Eventually they found what worked for them.


- They created a support network.

Struggling is part of everything in our lives. Sometimes we struggle with our jobs, with our studies, with our relationships. A weight loss attempt couldn’t be an exception to the rule. There will be difficult days. Days that nothing will seem to work. Days that all our will-power and motivation will have vanished somehow. And when we struggle, we need someone who can relate. A friend or many friends who can put themselves in our shoes, give us a pat on the back and help us move on. Most of the people who managed to lose weight had their own support system. One or more Sparkfriends, a gym buddy, a family member on the same weight loss journey, they all played their own role in someone’s success story.


- They constantly motivated themselves.

What did you think? That all these people lived in gyms and never missed a workout? Or they had hired a 24-hour nutrition expert who cooked all their meals for them? No, they lived in the same world we all do. Where everyday life issues continue and smaller or bigger problems come up and draw our attention away from our personal goals. And, of course, motivation is diminished. But those people didn’t let their motivation meter reach zero. They would motivate themselves weekly, daily or whenever they felt it was needed. They would make visuals, read success stories, browse through motivational pictures, reflect on inspirational quotes, blog, do anything they could to keep the spark alive. And their constant vigilance rewarded them with success.


- They put “health” in the equation.

Vanity reasons are good. Who doesn’t want to look good in skinny jeans or swimsuits? We all do. But there’s a problem with vanity motives. They can easily be postponed for …later. This way: “Well, I still have my baggy T-shirt to hide in. I’ll try for the tank top tomorrow. Now bring me those donuts!”
But when the factor “health” appears, things change. When you know that your unhealthy way of eating and your non-existent activity levels are kindly inviting Mr. Diabetes in, you don’t get lots of time to postpone your decisions. When cholesterol and blood pressure have started using the elevator and are flirting with “the upper floors” of their values, you have to act. All those people who managed to lose weight didn’t necessarily have a health problem. But they educated themselves on health statistics and they measured the odds. And they decided that to the extent they could, they would get in control of their health.


- They wanted it badly.

Probably the most important ingredient in the “weight loss success recipe”. The key attitude. A strong desire. The starting point of all achievement. They wanted to reach their goals and they wanted it badly. So badly that they refused to quit no matter the obstacles. They would always get up no matter how many times they fell. They had the visual of their goal in mind and they never let go of it. And, in the end, they made it happen.

Maile, I love your list of what the biggest losers have in common. This would be great for anyone starting the diet too. Thank you so much for that!

I found fully cooked bacon at Sams for about $9 a pack (72 slices) That should last you a lot and I think it is pretty cheap in comparison to the actual bacon you have to cook. The serving size is 4 strips and w/in guidelines.

Enjoy your Phase 3 breakfast I look forward to breakfast every morning and am also swamped with time. I created a couple of menus and alternate with them.

Ladies after losing focus between months 8 and 13 of maintenance and then maintaining until month 19 of maintenance....I am almost back....

In three weeks I have dumped 14.4 pounds of the 19 I was up!

4.6 and I am back to my goal weight!
I am so excited and impowered that this far along I still feel in control!

Good for you, that is inspiring! Thanks for sharing all the steps of this latest part of your ongoing journey.
Pat

Hey everyone. I created another Breakfast worksheet. WARNING - I had to change the extension of the file from .xls to .doc in order to be able to attach it here. If you want to use it, you need to download it to your computer, change the extension back to .xls.

Let me know what you all think. If anything needs to be changed, please let me know. I really hope you can use it even though we have to change the extension.

John