Thanks ladies, guess I should introduce myself.
I just turned 42 in March. I'm a Wife and Mom of 5 plus 3 step children. Only 3 kiddos living at home 9,14,19. The rest are Adults living on their own😊
According to BMI - I'm obese. Was 335.4 lbs on April first, but lost 7 lbs this week per the scale this morning 328.2. Took my weight multi times since I was in such disbelief. I have been pretty ill and down with severe Allergies this week. Glad it was Spring Break so I could rest and take my allergy drugs. They are finally working but I have no appetite and all food taste bland while on them(must be a side effect) , but without them I could barley breath much less see. So taking them is a must with the Early Spring Washington is having this year. The pollen is everywhere you look. I'm not complaining, since it's a nice jump start on my weightloss. I'm an emotional and binge eater so starting when I did workout just fine. I wish I could have spent the week exercising but that is really hard to do when your eyes& nose are running, itchy, sneezing. But hoping to start exercising next week. Haven't had much time today to read any of your post ladies, but I will try to catch up what's been going on and be an active member in this group. Hope everyone has a wonderful evening or day depending where you live.

Chrislynn: I hope that you feel better soon. Wow! 5 kids and 3 step kids?! You have 3 at home... I have 3. They can be a hand full at times.

Hi everyone.

Tootsie, I am glad you're feeling better eating more calories. I think 800 would be too low also. When I count calories I usually eat between 1200 and 1500 and seem to be able to lose weight doing that, as long as only a very small portion of those calories are carbs.

Teena, I hope you got to go to the lake yesterday and enjoyed the sun. We had one 70 degree day a couple weeks ago here and it was beautiful. I'm looking forward to more.

Betsy , I definitely hear you about possibly only accomplishing one big thing a day. Since being home I feel like I accomplish less than I did when I was working and had less time to do it all. I do admire you for getting yourself to the gym almost every day.

Chrislynn, welcome. So glad that you joined us. I hope your allergies improve. It is a rough time of year for a lot of people. Congratulations on the first week's weight loss. It's always a boost to see the scale move down.

Yesterday DH and I went out for breakfast, well more like brunch by the time I got him moving, then grocery shopping, and then we stopped to get brake pads for the car. DH's nephew is going to replace them for us. Not quite sure when though. It really isn't warm enough here to work outside yet.

My knee gave out in the supermarket. I managed to get through the rest of the shopping but it was painful. Some of you may remember the problems I had last year with my knee giving out on me. It turned out that I have arthritis in both knees and I ended up having to use a cane for a while. I can live with the pain which is more of a nuisance than anything, but I just really hate when it gives out on me without warning. Fortunately it is better today.

I will be alone for dinner tonight, but not sure what to have. The possibilities are endless. I probably will have some leftover vegetable soup I made this week, because it's easy and I really don't like cooking just for myself anymore.

Not much going on this weekend, just waiting for some warmer weather to arrive.

I hope you all have a great day!

It's another gorgeous day here -- spring has arrived so early. I'm going to get a bunch of little chores done outside today while the weather is good and so I can have a feeling of accomplishing something.

Chrislyn -- Welcome to the group. I'm from WA as well. I live down by Mt. Rainier. My BIL has had a horrible time with his allergies this year, so I can sympathize. Congrats on the weight loss -- for once a side effect that has some benefit!

Teena -- Hope you were able to get to the lake. I have the same issue with sometimes needing to use my walker, but don't like doing it in public. For me, it's more of a convenience factor -- getting it in and out of car, trying to find a place for it when I've gotten groceries, etc.

Cindy -- Hope your knee is more stable today. I've had that happen, too. Sometimes it just buckles, but I've had a couple of times where I've ended up on the floor -- and me getting up off the floor is not a pretty sight! Soup sounds so good for dinner, and it always tastes better the second day when the flavors have melded.

Still struggling with consistency in the eating approach. I need to find where it went or else I'm going to lose this challenge. NBC evening news had a feature about the 5:2 eating plan. As with so many things, now the medical world has decided that "fasting" is actually good for you.

Time to get it in gear. I have to repot the 40 tomato plants today, move the pepper and eggplant seedlings into 2 inch pots, and get the peas and onions in the ground. Also need to put the tags on the RV, put the new extender on the pond pump, and maybe cut the grass. We'll see.

Hope everyone has a good day.

I don't understand the fasting fad either. We have always been told it slows down your metabolism because your body thinks it is starving. At one time they said don't eat eggs very often... now they are ok. I do know that I have tried many different diets and gimmics. The only one that worked for me was SB because encourages healthy eating. I do admit that I was disappointed when they jumped on the bandwagon and started producing snack bars and frozen meals. It really took away from the healthy fresh foods it promoted.

Today has been productive. I had my brother pull out the fridge and I cleaned under, around and in it. Cleaned under the stove and got some mopping done. I have been doing well on eating choices. People keep telling me I am entitled to a cheat day every week. That doesn't work for me. One leads to two and so forth. At least right now for me, I don't think that it is right for me.

B: cottage cheese, tomatoes,
L: tbs PB with a small apple
D: grilled chicken breast, sweet potatoes fried in a bit olive oil w/garlic and brussel sprouts

So much for the string of gorgeous days! Back to more normal weather although it's not forecast to rain. Weather here is definitely changeable with living so close to the Sound and the ocean. Yesterday it went from not a cloud in the sky, to very cloudy, and then back to completely clear in the span of 20 minutes.

Teena -- Supposedly the current theory behind fasting being good for you is that in ancient times human bodies evolved and adapted to periods of basically boom or bust in terms of eating. We became proficient at being able to go without eating assuming that more food would be available soon. Thus, diets like 5:2 which allow for 2 days of "fasting" while eating "normally" the other five is supposed to help with the weight loss, and actually produce other medical benefits. The eating normally part doesn't mean eating whatever you want, but eating a diet that has protein, veggies, fruits, nuts., etc. I'm with you in not being able to handle a cheat day. One cheat day always leads me off to the races in terms of eating all the wrong foods. At the end of the day, I think that everyone has to find whatever diet approach works for them. As long as it results in a deficit of calories needed versus caloric intake, there will be weight loss. And for me, the most difficult part is always the maintenance. I was glad to see that maintenance on 5:2 is 6:1. But again, the hard part will be figuring out the calories needed to stay at the same weight as opposed to having binge attacks. Sorry for this long winded essay on weight loss! It's taken me most of my life to figure this out, and I've still got a long way to go on the mental side of accepting this before I will consider any weight loss as a successful effort.

I got all the tomatoes transplanted yesterday and the peppers. Today I'm going to get the raised beds cleaned out and hand tilled and get the peas and onions in. It's also laundry day and I should probably bring my check book up to date. I always enter all of my credit charges to my check register so that when the bills come, the money has been set aside.

Time to go get some caffeine in my system and read the Sunday paper. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Hi everyone.

Betsy, falling is a fear of mine because getting up is so difficult. Thankfully that didn't happen this time and knee is feeling fine today. The mental part of weight loss is the hardest part and I'm not sure I will ever have the mindset needed to be successful. I keep trying though.

Teena, SB is the diet that seems to work best for me as well, and the one I have had the most success with. When I've gotten off track and say I'm cutting out carbs for a few days what I actually mean is a few days of SB Phase 1. I don't bother with the pre-packaged foods. My supermarket doesn't carry their brand anyway so not really an issue for me. I admit to having a few Lean Cuisines in the freezer for especially busy days, but that's only on rare occasions. I do plan cheat days sometimes, usually for a special occasion, or favorite restaurant or holiday. Other times they just happen.

Well, last night's dinner choice was less than healthy and neither was today's breakfast. It's vegetable soup for dinner so i can't go too wrong there. What I really need to do is a full two weeks of SB Phase 1 to get rid of the cravings and stop this cycle of a few good days followed by some very bad cheats. I was thinking of starting that tomorrow but today DH decided that we are taking his sister out to dinner for her birthday tomorrow. I know we're going to one of two restaurants, neither of which will be SB-friendly, so I'm going to try to eat lighter early in the day and then start Tuesday. I really need to commit to getting this weight off once and for all.

I hope you're all having a great weekend.

I am new to this forum and I am looking for support. I started my weight loss journey in September 2015 after finding out I weighed 413 lbs. I was devastated. I worked very hard to eat right and work out and am now down to 334 lbs. I feel like I am stuck here, unfortunately. My main goal is to be healthy, which I am getting better at. My very close 2nd goal is to be healthy enough to have a healthy baby. I really want to be a mom and knew I would be putting my baby and myself at risk if I try to have a baby at 413 lbs or even now.

I am proud of how far I have come, but the process is very slow lately. I get discouraged and, of course, want to comfort myself with food. I do find some solace in the fact that I eat much better, so when I do "binge", it is not cheeseburgers, but more triscuits and cheese, peanut butter and apples, etc. Cheese and peanut butter are my weakness.

I am just overwhelmed right now and looking longingly at the future. I am anxious, but still trying my best. I am hoping this will help and I look forward to sharing stories and getting to know you!

Hello Ladies,

Welcome Keggy! You have come to the right place. Tons of support and encouragement. It also helps me to stay focused giving support and encouragement to others. You've got this.

Cindy: You can definitely do it. It is good you are waiting until after the dinner. It will be less stress and you can start fresh the morning after. We're here for you!!

Betsy: You are one busy lady. You are going to have so much fresh and tasty produce to enjoy. I am envious. Thanks for explaining the fasting theory. I don't know if I could do it unless I slept through it. I get so grouchy and shaky. I also agree with you that the maintenance part of this is actually going to be the hardest. For so long out focus will have been on loosing. It will be hard eating just enough to maintain a certain weight and not gain. I think about that a lot.

Well I did it. I got the walker out and my DD and I walked the bike/walking path along the lake. Probably not even the length of a small residential block. We enjoyed the sun and had a little picnic of baked chicken breast, sliced cucumbers, snap peas and a cutie orange. Then we walked back. The hardest part was my arms got so tired. I lean on them quite a bit to take the pressure off me knee especially when my knee starts to hurt. It was so nice to get out and enjoy the sun instead of driving by and watching others out enjoying it.

I hope everyone's weekend went well.

keqqy!

Good morning everyone. I woke up before 6 this morning so the sun is slow in making an appearance. But no rain, so maybe today I will get the peas and onions planted!

Cindy -- Is SB Sugar Busters? My doctor actually recommends that as a diet plan for her patients who need to lose. I lost about 50 pounds on SB one time and realized that reducing carb intake is a necessity for me as well. My problem -- and it sounds like this happens to you as well -- is that I immediately gain between 2-5 pounds if I have even one day with a high carb count. Now I try to keep the carbs in the 50-75 g range, but never over 100. Meals out are so hard. King County out here requires that restaurants include the calorie count on all menus, and it is nice to have the info when ordering. If all else fails, order a salad with no dressing. Have you ever tried the Walden Farms dressings? They're 0 on everything. They sell their dressings in packages that can go in a purse for use in a restaurant. I order their stuff off netrition.com as it's a lot cheaper than in the grocery store. Anyway, good luck with going on SB and have fun at the birthday celebration.

Keggy -- Welcome! You've come to the right group for support and info. WOW! You've done amazingly well in a very short period of time. You're losing at a rate of about 10 pounds a month. That may seem slow, but that's a great pace. Cheese and peanut butter (in moderation, of course) are great snack foods. I routinely eat some combination of 2 TBL of PB, 1 oz of cheese, 1 oz of pepperoni or jerky and half an apple as an afternoon snack. Just depends on what my calorie count for the day is. I remember seeing a quote on here that dieting isn't a race, it's a marathon. It's taken awhile for me to accept that this isn't about losing the weight and then going back to "normal" eating. It's about losing the weight, and then continuing the healthy eating. Normal eating is why I had a 40 pound regain that I'm still trying to get off! We've had some great success stories with this group, and a lot of people attribute at least part of their success to coming here every day. Hope that we can help provide the support.

Teena -- Good for you for getting out the walker and getting out in the sunshine. Your picnic sounds great -- delicious and healthy. I know it hurts to walk, but don't you find that the more you move, the better your knee actually feels?

Tootsie -- Hi there. What's new with you these days?

Hope everyone else is doing well -- it's been kind of quiet on here lately. I'm in a I-will-get-to-a-better-weight-for-the-big-trip mindset. Once again, I let myself get wrapped up in going overboard at Easter. At some point, I'm going to have to accept that I can put on 10-15 pounds in a week and then take a month to relose them. Dumb, dumb, dumb. So, between the challenge and wanting to be able to walk more easily when I head up to Alaska, I'm in serious weight loss mode right now. Hopefully, this will last for more than the normal 3 days.

Time for coffee, the crossword, and then the gym. Hope everyone has a great day.

Hi tootsieroll81, It sounds like you are doing so much good work on your diet! I can relate to setting strict limits on what you eat when you are trying to lose weight. I find that when I am hungry, I am bound to eat something sooner or later, so it is good to have extra low calorie, high-volume foods around. Extra fruits and veggies are my secret weapon - lots of bananas, sweet potatoes, grapes, cut-up peppers and carrots are my lifeline! I find that the I am full before the calories really add up. I hope this helps!

Thanks healthylivingalways. I appreciate the advice.

Betsy: Not much. A bit nervous. I have another trip coming up soon. I'll have one heck of a week in a hard working sort of way. Volunteering my time might help me to get a job that I want. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't make a fool of myself.

Hi all checking in....still feeling like crap. I stayed in bed all weekend and only got up if I had to use the bathroom. I did have to run to the store for DH on Sunday but other than that I was in the bed the whole time. I got some medicine from my mom to help me with the pain as ibuprofen did not do anything. I also used a heating pad off and on to help too. I started getting bad pain in my lower back on Saturday...I couldn't even bend over. Still no exercising and trying to do my best with eating. I know I've gained, I can feel it but not much I can do about it except watch what I eat.

As far as my job goes my boss is very bipolar. I saw that you had mentioned Betsy that my boss will understand why I don't want to sit on that stupid ball. I've been reading and people with back issues it can make things worse for them, and actually does not help with back issues. I also read that it does help with core training and balance but it doesn't do much extra to what people seem to think and it should not be used in long periods of time. I am not planning on using that ball again. I really think she is upset by it because she is always saying something about it very passive aggressively. I haven't even told her I wasn't going to use it anymore, so that should be fun when I finally have to tell her. When she came in to work today she asked if I went to the doctor over the weekend....I couldn't even believe it...Don't know what made her think I could see my doctor on a weekend...Maybe she expected me to go see the doctor in a box. I told her know and she got snide with me and said well I thought you had insurance? My reply was simply that I still have to pay a co-pay when I go and I do not have that money until I get paid on Wednesday. I was going to try and let this thing take its course but I ended up making a doctors appointment and go on Thursday. I'm going to ask my doctor what she thinks about those stupid balance ball chairs and if she thinks its a bad idea I am going to have her write me a doctor's note of what I can and cannot do. It's ridiculous and petty if you ask me that I have to go through these lengths just to satisfy this woman.

Hoping to be on the mend soon, or at least feel good enough to get some walks in. This fire feeling needs to stop. Really hope the doctor has some answers for me on Thursday and doesn't prescribe me a high dosage ibuprofen. I don't want oxycodon or anything but something that will help me more than ibuprofen. I've been taking them 4 at a time during the day. Not good.

Thanks for being here.

I woke up late and forgot to weigh. I imagine the horror! I will do it tomorrow. I got to work and realized, I left my glasses at home that I use for computer work... had to go back and get them. By the time I go back, I felt out of sync. I felt anxious all day. I am just going to chill the rest of the evening.

I had bought a big turkey when I started this adventure. It was so nice to have it on hand for salads, soups, snake, etc. It is gone now, I think I will get another one. It was nice to have to grab and go. This morning I had to grab and go with whatever was easiest.

B: snap peas, yogurt
S: carrots
L: 1/2 PB sandwich, celery and carrot sticks.
D: pork chop, fried peppers, maybe a salad.

Besty: I have had arthritis in my knee since I was 30 and with my weight, it is now pretty much bone on bone. Last night it really ached, I had to get up and get more IB profin so I could sleep. As I lose more weight, I am hoping that the pain will ease up too. It is kind of... damned if you do and damned if you don't as far as the walking goes. I am willing to push it if it helps though. You can do this challenge. I have faith in you.

Sam: I sure you feel better soon. You are in my thoughts and prayers.