That sounds really good Beila! I've been trying to think of other ways to eat my cottage cheese and I think you just gave me an idea with those cinnamon apples. Yum!! I'm going to try it today.

I agree it IS too long! I just actually caught the part where she was telling the new trainer lady how she felt while I was fast forwarding on my DVR. Then I watched the weigh in. I don't care about the challenges and all that other stuff either. I just want to see the most interesting part! lol

LT- I forgot to mention that my cousin is a boy

Hi Girlsrus! It's a challenge every morning for me to roll "my ownself" out of the bed. Believe me. But I only workout for 4 hours a week. 20 minute cardio days and 45 minute strength training so when I think about the miniscule amount of time that is compared to the rest of my day or even my week. That helps me push through. Also, I think about how toned I'd like to be at the end of all of this and that helps.

As I write this, I'm standing at the table, waking up. Sometimes I tell myself that I'm not going to go but that is not going to make the rest of my day "feel" good because I love the way I feel right after a workout. Though not necessarily during it when I'm really pushing myself. But now I'm pretty addicted. I feel "off" if I don't go. I've been going for 8 months now 6 days a week and now it's just easier. And I say that because it's not always easy still after all this time.

Congrats on eating healthier though! That's a challenge in itself! That is I think even harder than exercising. And don't get me started on quinoa....

Welcome Rose! It really depends on what you like and how often you plan on eating. I eat 200-300 calories pretty much every two hours. And I have fallen in love with blended cottage cheese (with a packet of splenda) and strawberries. I also make cottage cheese pancakes for breakfast most mornings. Those are pretty awesome too. Everyone thinks it sounds weird until they actually taste them. I don't eat syrup with them though because they are awesome without it. Kinda like McDonald's french fries. I don't use ketchup on them whenever I eat them. Which is quite rare.

For the cottage cheese pancakes I make enough batter to last for a week and make fresh ones every morning and it's a quick breakfast. I have a ton of empty cottage cheese containers that I store it in.

-12 egg whites or 2 cups of egg whites (I usually buy the carton of egg whites)
-2.5 cups of oatmeal
-1 cup of cottage cheese
-as much cinnamon as you like
-a dash or two of vanilla (optional)
-5 packets of splenda
-2T of ground flaxseed (optional)

This has a lot of protein and a good amount of fiber. The splenda that I use is the one with 1 gram of fiber per packet plus the flaxseed.

Kale is awesome too! As are couscous and quinoa. I could go on forever.
I make in a large pot and pour Low-fat Asian Sesame Ginger dressing over it. Add some water and turn it on! The dressing only has 35 calories for 2T spoons and I probably use about 4 Tablespoons on 3 cups of Kale. My kids even like it this way!

Good morning Ladies!! I am so excited to see so much chatter on this board. For a while I thought it was just me and Beila. lol

Welcome Rose. Post often.

Ann - welcome to the dark side. Low carb. At least that is what I like to call it. If you need some help with ideas let me know.

Suenos - Have you tried kale chips. Add some greek yogurt with ranch dip packet. Yum. Replaces chips and dip.

Beila - I know about how hard it is to stay on plan when following a specific diet. I decided to go off plan last night. .....but it is okay cause I made the choice to do it. Not exactly an unplanned binge. If I don't give myself a break every once in a while I would become a crazy b*tch that no one would enjoy being around. But back on track today. Gotta get ready for Monday's weigh in.

Girls - Congrats. Dieting is always the easiest for me to get a handle on. Working out is always a challenge for me. I need extra motivation in that department.

Me- I have worked out for 30 minutes everyday this week. That is all I can seem to do right now. It is better then nothing. I have been doing TBL xbox game. I really like it. I would love to start running outside, but of course the weather sucks. It snowed yesterday! Blah! I am so tired of winter. It is a big adjustment for me. We lived the last 2 years in Turkey where it hasn't snowed in 15 years. I have been eating well with the exception of last night. My plan is to stay on plan for 2 weeks this time. Need to go grocery shopping and plan for this week.

chat with you all soon.

Good Morning and HAPPY SATURDAY! So glad to see more posts on this!!! I'm super charged today reading all your replies!

I hope we can all stick to our plans and be ready for Monday's weigh-in. Let's do last chance workouts this weekend for results!

LT--Thanks for your motivation, by you staying on track, it motivates me too! Believe it or not...I really find inspiration on this website I know I get cranky without my carby snacks and binges, and then again I feel BAD after the fact too, so it's like a no-win situation for me. I know I need to go off track or become a b*tch, but when I go off track, I go WAY off. Physically, i feel sick, like chemically "off balance", like the sugar or salt makes me feel sick, and emotionally I feel upset and angry at myself. So for me, I'm just going to NOT go off track anymore. I actaully did go off track yesterday. Read below. Anyways, let's DO IT THIS WEEKEND and DROP SOME LB'S!!!


Rose--Welcome! Thanks for joining in our lil support group here. Let's lose weight together! Some menu ideas? I would suggest chicken and fish for every dinner meal with some vegetables. I like frozen vegetables cause it doesn't take long for it to cook on the stove (or you can microwave) and add spices to everything for flavor. For lunches, do salads, deli meats with wheat pita breads, canned soups with low sodium, and breakfasts do eggs, oatmeal, and lots of fruit. That's kinda what I do everyday! Also fruit smoothies are on my menus. Hope the above gives you some ideas to start with.

Suenos--Kale recipe sounds good! What Low-fat Asian Sesame Ginger dressing do you use? My brand is "follow your heart" and is found in the refrigerated section at the store. It's 64 cals for 2 T. But your's is lower in cals. What's the brand? I'll try the recipe sometime! I found that Kale is so good at keeping my metabolism going and making me regular! Oh gosh sorry for that, but it's awesome! And packed with so many good nutrients! I saw this recipe on Food Network, it's a massaged kale and mango salad:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html

I could eat the ENITRE bunch of kale if prepared like the above! I don't even use the mango, it's THAT GOOD!

---

Here's how my day #5 went on EFS: baaadd...cheated here and there, but always trying to get back on track. So I binged on a bag of honey wheat pretzels from trader joes. I thought i could control it if I just had a little bit. So wrong. And I'm paying for it now. The scale went UP 1.5 pounds BOOOO!

Day #6 today...almost at the end of cycle one on EFS! So i'm hoping to just lose another pound or 2 by monday. I'm gonna stick to the diet to a T. I want 140's already!

Talk soon!

BTW, our april fool's day mini goal is coming up! Next Friday!!! Whoa, the time flies!

LT--166.0
Me--147.5

Anyone else up for the challenge? With determination, anything is possible!

Let's DO IT!

Thanks Ladies! Flipping through Cooking Light right now!

Happy Sunday Everyone!
Last chance workouts!! Weigh-in tomorrow, hmmm I hope I lose or at least maintained!

Gonna hit the gym soon.

Talk soon!

Good morning Monday!! I know I shouldn't be so chipper but everyone is out of the house (except the 4yr old) and I can finally get some cleaning done. Maybe throw in a workout. lol.

I weighed in this morning at 172. Then I realized it's TOM. So not freaking out. Staying on plan and getting it together. I will be in the 160's by next Monday.

172lbs - I know that we have had a long relationship. It has been at least a month now. I'm sorry to tell you that it isn't working out for me. I have to move on to be happy. Thanks for helping me fit into my new 14's, but it is over. Goodbye....

hi,

i am 28 and got misscarraige twice, i have put on like 20 pounds after that, would like to lose it am pretty new here, and would love to be your weight loss buddy.


Itee

LT, I have had a long term relationship with 150's. I'm breaking up next week. It's been an awful relationship to say the least. I've had ups, 155, and downs, 150.5, but now I want OUT! LOL

The past few days have been at around 150.5 isshhh...but now I'm probably like 153-154 from binging since last night. I'm just upset cause I've been dieting and exercising really well and not seeing any big results. The 150's doesn't want me to go, but I WANT TO GO!

I'm taking today and maybe tomorrow off, just to get my binge eating and resting/laziness over with and of the way before I can rethink what to do about my weight. I'm just depressed at this point.

Itee--sorry to hear about your miscarrages. Have you checked with a doctor about what may be going wrong? Welcome, and let's be weight loss buddies!

Good morning ladies!

I am feeling just okay today. Cramps. Not at all feeling like working out. PMS sucks!! I am going to take some Midol and see if I feel better after that.

How's the weather where you are? It can't decide what it wants to do here. It snowed last night. High of 45 today and then high of 70 by Saturday. Just bring on the warm weather already.

I did get a lot of cleaning done yesterday. I don't think I sat down all day. I may not have gotten a "workout" in yesterday, but I definitely got a workout cleaning up the basement. (it is our playroom for the kids.) So I still feel accomplished.

Ann - how's the low carb going?

Welcome itee. Sorry to hear about the miscarriages. It can put a lot of stress on yourself and a relationship. Keep your head up. It will happen when it is supposed to happen.

Beila - I know how you feel. However if you let yourself get into a funk and go too long, you will gain and then feel even worse. I'm not saying don't take a break, just don't let it become a week long binge/lazy week. Maybe you are binging because you are restricting yourself too much. I have never tried the fat smash diet, so I don't know how restrictive it is. Just something to think about. Maybe re-evaluating your diet is in order. Make some room for the things you are craving so it doesn't become an all out binge. Hope you are feeling better soon and I'm sure 140's are coming soon.

Chins up girls! We are working on it and posting here! Gotta count for something right?

Hey everyone! I need a weight loss buddy, I am stalled! I have another 20ish pounds to lose and lately the only thing I've lost is my motivation! Help! I'm 34, married, have a 17 year old step d but no kids of my own. I sit at a desk all day and I'm NOT a morning person. Anyone actually get up to exercise in the mornings? How do you do it???

How does this thread work? Do you just chatter and try to keep everyone going or.... ?

Hi ladies,

All is well here. DH and I had a nice weekend away. Did lots of overeating and now it's back to reality. So, it's been like a month since we went to Disney and I've pretty much been off track since then. Weighed in yesterday and I'm up to 221 (which is 7 lbs more than what I was before Disney). 7 lb gain in a month...pretty bad, huh? Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

So I started low carb yesterday. 2 days down and I'm still alive. LOL. I have bad memories of low carbing in the past. The first 4 days or so are **** for me (can you say carb ADDICTION), but then I get over the withdrawal and I usually lose weight pretty well. Yesterday and today haven't been hard, but at least it's a bit easier than the last time. I'm not doing full out Atkins induction, but I am doing absolutely no sugar, no grains, and no starch. My food is protein (beef, chicken, seafood, pork, eggs), lots of veggies, a little bit of berries, seeds/nuts, and some high fat dairy (though I'm trying not to go too crazy here). I'm trying to avoid all hormones in the meats, trying to do grass fed beef, and trying to keep my milk/eggs/veggies/fruit organic and my cheese organic and from raw milk. Needless to say, it wasn't a cheap visit to the grocery store this week.

I think I'm feeling less deprived this time because I found some great websites that have awesome recipes for low carb goodies like muffins, rolls, and pancakes. They use flaxmeal, coconut or almond flour instead of wheat flour and use Truvia or other sugar substitutes in lieu of sugar (though I avoid saccharin, splenda, and aspartame). I was originally hoping to go full out Paleo/primal, but I think i just need some of those familiar goodies in my life. My goal is to eat like this for 30 days and then see if i want to go all out Paleo.

I can't even think about exercise this week. Need to get through this first week of eating and then I'll worry about exercising (though I'm still limited with my foot).

Not sure if I'll be weighing in weekly. I'd really like to wait out for the full 30 days to weigh. i want to take the emphasis off of the scale and onto healthier eating for my health.

OK, hope you're all well. I'll try to do some personals next...

How strange...I just typed out personals and sent them in and now they're not here. Ugh. Don't think I have the energy to do them again. I'll type them out again tomorrow. Sorry girls. Sending my best to you all.