Hi all, I too thought about surgery but when I thought about only eating a tablespoon of food at a meal I knew that would be too restrictive. I have a real problem with denial, if I am denied something I will crave it until I could go insane from wanting it.

So I did something a little different this time around, along with joining WW again I started doing some research into health. I have been reading everything I can get my hands on about how our bodies metabolize food and what exactly fat in our bodies does. I always thought it was inert and did nothing but it is a real living working organ in our bodies and it is amazing to discover how our bodies work.

I have chosen some information that I was able to verify through other sources from books like the Perricone Weight Loss program and Flush the Fat along with several other well known weight loss programs and I decided to try adding good fats back into my diet and have removed all refined sugars and flours. I also take the juice of 1/2 a lemon with 8 ounces of hot water before breakfast in the morning.

I have been amazed at the results from this, I have energy to spare, I am happy all the time, I feel so good and my skin is looking great, I have terrible excema and regardless of how much lotion I use my skin crackes and bleeds and looks like a dry lakebed. But since starting these supplements I have almost entirely regained my skin back, it is soft and supple and it doesn't crack.

Another benefit that has just blown me away is that I have been losing weight in my middle, the last time I lost 75 pounds ( and every other time before that) I never lost a pant size. I have lost 39 pounds and 3 pant sizes so far. This is what really proves to me that it is important to add good fats into our day.

I don't recommend anyones program and in fact I only follow WW as a program but after reading the information out there and taking from it the things that made sense to me and that I was able to verify through other sources online I would suggest that anyone who has a hard time with cravings and hunger and stalled weight loss might want to try it.

These are the books I got the most and for me the best information from:

Eat Fat, Lose Weight by Ann Louise Gittleman ( good info)
Fat Flush Plan by Ann Louise Gittleman ( a little much but some good ideas)
Fit or Fat by Covert Bailey (very sensible stuff here)
Eating for Life by Bill Phillips (some very good Recipes)
The Perricone Weight Loss Diet by Nicholas Perricone ( good info on supplements)

I incorporated allmost all of the supplements suggested by Perricone as well as the fats and lemon juice.

I don't know if any of you have tried any of these diets but it is worth reading about them to get the good information from them. Some of them have a few ideas that are a little out there for me but the information that is consistant and verifiable is what I have used and have benefited from. If I can continue to carry on like this with a 2.5-3 pound loss every week I will be happy.

If I can continue to carry on like this with a 2.5-3 pound loss every week I will be happy.

Sheri...your progress and your commitment and dilligence are amazing. I'm sure that you feel great about the research you have done and that you feel very empowered...unlike a lot of people who become slaves to a program with no flexibility. Just be aware that at a certain point, your weight loss will slow down and there will be plateaus. Be happy then too...not only in the weeks that you have losses. Even if you have a gain somewhere along the line...it's not permanent if you're sticking to your plan. I have been struggling with this the last few weeks but each week I have to remind myself that I'm way better off than I was and that now that I have the tools to make it happen that I can do it...even if it's not at the rate I had hoped all the time. Every loss, no matter how small adds up. It's hard for us who are starting from a much higher weight than other people to be content with a slower pace or less weight coming off...but we have to be content some days with our best efforts even if the scale doesn't agree. I have't lost a pound since before Thanksgiving, but I did get into 2 pairs of size XL pants at Lerner the other night...and they are actually a little big on me!

My WW leader keeps reminding us that even if we only lose .5 each week..that's still 26 lbs in a year...which again can make someone starting at 180 a happy girl, but to us doesn't seem like much.

Keep up your amazing progress and keep letting us know about what you are doing!

Wow! This conversation is just FLYING! I so appreciate hearing all these comments... one theme that keeps coming back, from Catherine, to Tashabella, Julee, to, elmay to dogpal.. wow, a lot probably more... is that we are working to be better off now than we were before. I had one of those "click" moments this summer before I started this, when I said to myself that basically I wanted to be healthier in 10 years than I am right now. I want to be healthier, to feel and move better. Implicit in that thought is that this is not just something for now. THIS IS FOR LIFE. The ups and the downs, the regular days and the holidays... we get to figure out how to live and be more healthy. But it will take baby steps (as Catherine says, I've lost 1 pound 50 times. I've walked 1 mile countless times, etc.)

And I really again just want to think everyone here for being MY inspiration. I only hope to return the favor!

Has anyone tried "The Biggest Loser" workout? I just got it in the mail today and will let you know.

wyllenn, you are such an inspiration! You all are! Thank you thank you. We ARE successful! Our baby goals are set everyday and we find time to share with each other and nudge each other along the path.

I feel so much better than I did last year and my resolution for next year is to reflect with the same positive thoughts (and to cut my hair).

I haven't heard of the Biggest Loser diet. Then again, I've never even seen the show...I don't watch much tv.

Hi girls!

You all have been chatty today! Thats wonderful! Reading them are so empowering!

I thought of WLS a few years ago. Even went to my doctor to talk to him about it. If your are within a certain range of obesity, medicare I believe will cover the expense in Canada. I wanted more information about it and I can remember what he said very clearly and have thought about it many times over the years. He turned to me, told me to ask myself one question and to take a few weeks to think about it. He asked me " Have you ~really~ tried?" Over the next few weeks, few months, and now years I remembered what he said and I couldn't answer yes. Even now, I think " No. Even with all that I am doing now, which has been the most serious attempt at weight loss, I know I could be doing more. I am not ready to go to that "last resort". I consider my doctor a very smart man. He knew that I was/am stronger willed than that. Since then I have soul-searched, grown as a woman, learned that I am not alone, and read more information that most. I thank him for that.

I was in the lunch room today when a collegue of mine came up to me to wish me a happy holidays before he left for vacation. Now, over the past few months I had told him of my weight loss journey and he himself has always battled as well. I have not seen him in over a month but he instantly told me how great I was looking and really asked how I was doing emotionally. I don't know if I looked that bad but he spoke of how he felt during his journey (he is now almost at his "ideal" weight after losing 85lbs) and how if the scale wasn't always in his favour, some days he would look in the mirror and tell himself how ugly and miserable he looked etc. That was really something for me to think about. Not that it happens often but I think we all feel that way some days when you get down but it was really something when this was a man (raising 3 children on his own) saying this to me. Sometimes we find inspiration and motivation in the strangest places. He may just be the person who gets me through the holidays

Is any one else feeling... deprived? Sometimes I want to throw a temper tantrum and stomp my feet because I feel like I am not "like everyone else". I see people at work in the cafeteria day after day eating the things that I want to be able to eat. I LIKE burgers. I LOVE french fries. I also know that I have to exercise my a** off for something like 12 hours to be able to stop and enjoy one. Anyone have any ideas???

Well I think I will go and change the laundry and scrub the toilet. That is where I would love to toss this diet of mine for the next few weeks. I know that I won't because I have worked too darn hard to get where I am. Almost 25% lost. 75% more weight to lose! That is an achievement worth keeping!

Night
Brenda

Rebecca -- Well, you are inspiring too! Over 100 pounds lost! There are days I think I will get there too.

Brenda -- Oh yes, there are lots of times lately when I have wanted to chuck it all and just eat whatever. Like today. And yesterday. And Monday... But I know a lot of it's coming from Stress, and frankly, I am sick and tired of Stress telling me when to eat!! Frankly, I'm thinking Stress doesn't have my best interests at heart. So, I tell Stress to go jump off a cliff.

Well, I wish I could, anyway.

I feel like I'm kind of flirting with a Binge. You know, it looks good from a distance. And so I move closer... rearrange my plan for the day to have something yummy I want... but then I realize as I get close that the Binge looks best from far away...

Okay, this must be my post workout endorphins acting up.

I tend to get VERY discouraged, and then I'll stop dieting for a while. It's getting me motivated to exercise that's the biggest challenge. And I know that I NEED to exercise if I'm going to be successful, it's just that's it's so dang dreary and cold out, that since I can't work out OUTSIDE, I simply don't want to do it.

kayley -- I am trying to retrain my thinking. It's not about what I want to do, but what I HAVE to do. Note I said I'm trying to do that-- it's HARD! And I'm not there yet...

If you don't want to exercise outside, what can you do inside? exercise videos? Or, drive to a mall and walk there... there are lots of options.

Hi everyone! This is my first post in the 3FC forums. I'm 37,5'6 and weigh my highest at 330 pounds. Luckily I have kept Diabetes (which is a family legacy) away but High Blood Pressure has caught up with me. I'm the Queen of Excuses and Procrastination. But now Im just plain scared. Many times I've visited the forums and looked around then left. I thought now would be a good time to start. Single and currently inactive with a gym only about 3 blocks away. Really need some support. I've really shut myself off from friends and family. Thanks.