Welcome to everyone new!
We're glad to have you on board. We're all going to make it through this, one day at a time.
Satine, congrats on the 199, even if it is only one day a week! (That's one more day than I'm there!)
You're only supposed to weigh yourself once a week for that very reason. But, who am I to talk, I weigh myself many times a day! But I only count one per week as "official." Right now it's Friday mornings, but that is subject to change without notice.
Everyone remember that your weight can vary by something like 6-8 pounds in a 24-hour period. Weigh-in at the same time of day, and at the same point in your routine. Hint: your lowest weight is first thing in the morning, after your trip to the bathroom and before your shower or cup of coffee.
Speaking of coffee.... I'm on about my third cup today.
Don't worry, it's decaf. I started putting in my creamer and syrup and then I looked at the calorie content--it's ridiculous! I mean, I knew it's mostly sugar, but geez! So this cup is black.
Oh, and I discovered cheddar cheese mini rice cakes. 9 of them only have 70 calories. They were on sale so I grabbed some, figuring they would be ok but nothing really to shout about, but man! was I wrong! When did rice cakes start being tasty? They taste like cheesy popcorn. I love it when I find low-calorie stuff that tastes yummy!
So here's my poll for the day: what's your favorite low-cal/low-fat/low-carb (according to which diet you're on) treat? I'd love to hear as many suggestions as you've got.
Some other favorites of mine: low-fat string cheese, as many cucumbers as I can eat, popsicles (especially the 100% fruit variety), FF or SF fudgesicles... mmmm, low-fat pudding or yogurt, SF jello, roasted soybeans (I really like the wasabi ones, but the plain ones are good too), a few nuts (not too many though, because they're high in fat--but it's the Good fat!), raw cauliflower, snap peas, sushi (depending on what kind), bananas, dried cranberries and/or raisins, popcorn, a slice of lunchmeat, hard-boiled eggs, 2 or 3 Hershey Kisses (when only chocolate will do), English muffins.... the list goes on and on, doesn't it? What can I say? I like food!
Oh, and I figured out something else last night... how long it's going to take me to get to my goal. Right now I'm aiming for less than 1800 calories a day, plus burning 200 calories in exercise 5 days per week. I'm usually coming in under that on the calorie count. I know 1800 sounds like a lot, but the 3FC calculator says that if I want to weigh 150 I need 2027 per day, so anything less than that is good enough for me. My caloric needs at my current weight are 2462 per day, so knocking it down to 1800 would save 662 calories daily, times 7 = 4634 calories saved per week. Add 1000 for exercise = 5634. Divide by 3500 calories per pound = 1.6 pounds lost per week. If I want to lose 75 pounds, divide 75 by 1.6 and that's 46.9 weeks to my goal. I figured it out at different calorie intake levels, the lowest being 1500 cals/day giving me about 34 weeks. Cutting that additional 300 calories a day would get me to my goal 3 months earlier. I could be there by the end of the year.
I know that formula doesn't incorporate how my body uses calories differently as I lose weight, or as I gain muscles, so I'll have to recalculate occasionally. But the point is that it seems a lot closer when I can break it down into weeks like that. 47 weeks seems a lot shorter than a whole year, you know? Weeks are easy, I handle weeks all the time, weeks are short. Years, however, seem to take.... well, years, getting here. But just one more week I can do. I like to break it down into little tiny things because I know I can do little tiny things. I can meet my goals this week. That's all I have to do, just manage this week. I'll do it again next week, but I'm not going to worry about it until then. Right now is the only moment that matters, the choices I make right now.
Okay, sorry for that really long ramble. I'm taking a break from a project and my brain needed something to think about besides being grammatically correct (I'm a tech writer, btw. Or at least I'm hoping to be a tech writer as soon as I get a real job. Right now I'm just freelancing, i.e. working retail), so I give it a break and then it won't shut up. Okay, back to editing. Whee.
~Miss E
Hope you are all doing well...I am good, been staying OP, just need to get the exercise thing down...I have been doing the Walk Away the Pounds dvd about once a week but have slacked off some and my body is paying the price 
Enough tooting of my own horn... I'm 42 pounds away from 199... HELP! I know ya'll can help me get there! 
jodileaman , 04-22-2004 12:00 PM
miss_elisha , 04-22-2004 03:42 PM
Eager2Lose , 04-22-2004 04:24 PM
I started gaining weight when I was in the first grade and I guess I never stopped. I always wanted to be normal and healthy like everyone else but just couldn't seem to get there. After having my second daughter in 2000 my weight ballooned to 289.5 lbs. and I was miserable. I started to try to lose weight in 2001 and was more determined than ever before. A year later I had made it to 199 lbs.! I was SO happy. In the process of losing the weight I met my fiance and I got off track big time! I slipped right into my old ways and gained almost all of it back. Now, at 257 lbs., I find myself once again faced with the weight battle and am slowly starting the process of getting back on track. Strangly my upcoming wedding is not the main focus for my weight loss but rather to just lose the weight and be happy with myself. Wish me luck! 
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brookypooh , 04-23-2004 11:46 PM
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