TBDS sounds very interesting. I had not heard of it I am on JC but will have to get the book on the weekend to find out more. You all sound very passionate that's for sure!

Good morning, everyone!
I am happy to report I'm down 2 lbs since starting TBDS last week, and I haven't even started the actual "diet"! I am really trying hard, but I'm still eating too much at dinner, so I need to work on my portions. I was proud that I passed up some homemade cookies in the office yesterday! That was so hard, since they are my favorite dessert. I just had to leave the room.

Liannie, I don't have any real suggestions for handling cravings other than not having tempting food around. If you don't have it, you can't eat it. that's how I look at it, anyway. I also have found that I have to bring my lunch to work because I can't trust myself to get something healthy if I eat out. It's unfortunate, because I love eating, out! I also think that over time, if you don't give in to your cravings, they will go away (or change to craving something healthier?). For the 4 years before I gave birth, I did not eat at fast food restaurants at all. I honestly didn't even think of fast food as a possible food option when deciding where to eat. After the baby, my husband and I started going just occasionally when things were hectic, and you know, now I crave fast food!

Does anyone have a good strategy for focusing on small goals? I'm trying to focus on 5lb goals so I don't get overwhelmed, and I wonder if any of you do rewards or have motivations for reaching small goals?

Patty, you could definitely apply TBDS to your JC diet. I really can tell it's changing the way I think about food! Good luck!

Welcome Patty, and thanks Karina! I once gave up fast food too. In fact, after finishing school and needing to lose like 50 lbs. that was my first step in going from 230s to 160s over a 2 year period. Now I'm in this crazy job that requires a 3 hour daily commute and high stress busy environment (I work in a big public health clinic), and fast food has come back big time....and brought a big belly along with it. You did great to let the cookies pass you by yesterday!

I think the best way to focus on small goals is to plan to give yourself a present each time to reach one, like a CD or pair of earrings. Or to take a "before" picture and then one at each small goal so you can see how a bunch of little changes will add up to something beautiful at the end. My overall goal is to weigh 150 by my birthday, near Christmas, except I haven't gotten on the scale in a month so I'm not sure how far I am right now. I plan to weigh in the morning when I start my diet. I was 176 in April but I've been eating like a monster because of major life stress, so who knows where I am now!

I'll be working on 5 lb. goals too. What I'd like to do is buy a new article of clothing for each 5 lbs. I miss shopping! Its the first thing I give up when I start getting fat.

Have a great day, all! I'll report back tonight. I really need to stay close to a support group in order to get anywhere with this. thanks for being here!

Lianne, I love your idea about clothes for every 5 pound goal! I may borrow that if you don't mind

Karina, great job passing on the cookies. That's a huge step!

This morning I weighed myself and I'm down to 181! That means I've lost about 7 pounds in in a little over 2 weeks on TBDS! 3 pounds/week was what I was losing when I first started losing weight. When I stick to something the weight seems to come off pretty fast!

OMG, Stacy! You are such an inspiration! I'm so happy for you. I also lose weight pretty quickly for a week or two on a diet, and then it gets harder for me.

Liannie, those are good ideas for the rewards. I did weekly pics of my belly when I was pregnant, and I think I'll start doing that again now. It would be nice to shrink as quickly as I gained during pregnancy (65lbs gained during pg--yikes!). I don't know how you do a 3 hr commute everyday! That's one of the perks of living in a more rural area, I suppose. No good shopping, though.

I have a little over 4 months until my high school reunion, and I'd love to weigh in the 140s for it. I'm trying to focus on small 5 lb goals for now, but I do have that big one looming in the background!

So, I've been much hungrier today than any other day on my diet. I haven't really done anything differently, though. Any ideas of what's going on? Any suggestions for how to suffer through it? Also, we're meeting friends at an Austrian restaurant tonight, and I can't figure out what would be good to eat. Any suggestions there?
Thanks!

Stacy: 7 pounds! CONGRATULATIONS. I'd be dancing in the streets! I forgot what diet you're following. You must really be sticking with it. Good Going!

Karina: Austrian restaurant, huh? Sounds like a lot of dumplings and pork. I guess a salad and something with a bunch of sauerkraut would be good. I love the German red cabbage but I think it has sugar. You'll have to tell us what you chose. I like to go to a place called Chef Paul's Bavarian Lodge sometimes. They have a great black lager (something I won't be drinking for a while!) Extra hunger is a problem for me too on some days. I usually try to eat something with fiber + fat and then chase it with a big cup of herbal tea or something hot. HTH.

As for me, tomorrow is my South Beach start day. I bought a bunch of South Beach dinners, salad fixings, the food for the snacks they recommend and a pack of sugar free jello. Wish me luck on the carb cravings. I was trying to wean but one of the nurses brought Bakers Square pies today and I had a piece of pie. Those old weakness muscles again....

Oh well. Tomorrow is it. I get on the scale and face the truth. Then slay the fat-cell dragons.

Thanks both of you

I'm just calorie counting.

Good morning everyone!
I did okay at the restaurant last night...I had a salad (the dressing was nice and creamy--I'm sure not low fat!), potato salad, and a chicken thigh. The thigh was fried, but hey, at least it was just one. I'm more disappointed with last night; I worked late, until 11:30 or so (I'm turning my dissertation in today, so I've been pulling 12-15 hour days on the computer for 4 weeks now). I had a glass of wine AND a piece of this yummy cheesy bread.

But, the scale went down half a pound from 2 days ago (the lowest numbers I've seen since December when I quit nursing), so hopefully it's not that big of a deal. I plan to do really well today. When I turn in my dissertation, I'm going to pick out my recipes for the Volumetrics diet and start that tomorrow! I'm excited about it; the food looks great. I think I'm still going to do my smart ones meals for lunch--so easy and tasty!

Liannie, how did the scale turn out? Hope the numbers looked good!

Hello All,

I got on the scale today and weighed 180.2. It was about what I expected given my monstrous consumption since my wedding in March. That's okay. I'm ready to lose about a pound a week for the rest of the year, if possible, and I'll get to my goal. I haven't weighed 150 in about 20 years. The lowest I got was 155ish back about 4 years ago when I met my husband. But I'm ready to do this!

I'm in the middle of a 12 hour shift at work right now and I haven't even looked at the Beck book. I did read my cards though, I ate sitting down, I savored as much as possible, and ate slowly. I think I"m doing pretty good.

Hey Karina, do you do mostly fruits and veggies on Volumetrics? I thought about it but decided to do South Beach because I love MEAT. Today was day 1 and so far, so good.

I hope the rest of you are all well and kicking fat cells to the curb!

More tomorrow,
L

Holy smoke... I have a lot of catching up to do!!

We've got some new folks here - welcome! Glad you found this forum, and it is our mission here to help each other.

Liannie - you really have the right idea with the whole "pound a week" thing - I started eating better and exercising last September and have averaged about a pound a week... so I am confident that I will get to my goal of 140 by this September. In this world of wanting big results fast, it's nice to know that the only way to lose weight and do it right is to do it slow and steady!

Karina - how awesome for you to have lost pounds before even dieting! Amazing how just that little readjustment in thinking and action makes such a huge difference, isn't it? Same thing happened to me, so I know how amazed and awesome you must be feeling!

Stacy - WOO HOOOOO on your loss! I am a calorie-counter, too!

*~*~*~*~*

I'm happy to report that even though today's not my "official" weigh-in day (tomorrow is), the scale said 156! I haven't weighed that since my husband and I first started dating! This also means that I may have to readjust my short-term goal of 155 pounds by July 4. I wonder - can I make it to 150 by then? Have you girls gotten to the "short-term goal" part of TBDS yet? What are some of your short-term goals?

Back to the grind... work has been killer lately (hence my prolonged absence) and I've really only had time to post to my journal and not much else.

Hope you all have a fabulous day!

Hi everyone,
It sounds like we are all having a lot of success right now, which I think is wonderful! I started the Volumetrics diet yesterday, so we'll see how it works out. I actually was down another pound today, even though I did poorly on Wednesday and had McDonald's for dinner. *sigh* I decided that I just am not going to even walk in the door of a fast food restaurant for at least a month and make sure I always have sandwich stuff on hand. I did very well yesterday, though.

Suz, that is fantastic about your weight loss! You must be so thrilled and proud of yourself. I think you could get to 150 by July 4 if you've been averaging a pound a week. I haven't gotten to the part about small goals yet and am just trying to focus on every 5 lbs. My original plan was just to get below 170 this past Wednesday (which I did a week early), so now I'm working to get under 165, which I would love to happen by the end of next week, but we'll see. I'm moving back to my home state in 6 weeks, and I'd love to be 10lbs smaller then than I am now.

Liannie, It sounds like you're doing great with the plan! How often are you going to weigh in? Volumetrics actually reminds me a lot of South Beach (which I've had a lot of success on and is my back-up diet). The meals are very similar. A lot of veggies and lean protein. The approach in V is to eat a first course that is low in energy density (i.e. salad with lots of veggies or soup) followed by a main course that typically includes meat. There are definitely a lot more recipes with chicken than beef, though.

I'll check back in sometime this weekend. Weekends are harder for me, since we like to eat out. I'll try to come up with a plan in advance if we do, though.
Have a great weekend!

Hello All,

I'm glad to see we're all doing well right now. South Beach is going well. I can see where I'm probably going to be tired of the Phase I foods by the end of the second week, but I'm leary about adding in too much extra. I could probably eat just this stuff and still stay fat if I wasn't doing TBDS. Although it's hard to overeat chicken and broccoli, the old me would have found a way!

I'm officially weighing in every Wednesday (even though I sneaked a peek at the scale today and saw I'd lost a pound). My first mini-goal is 5 lbs lost, which I hope to see before June 30. I'm going to buy myself a present from a catalog I like called The Pyramid Collection. I can't wait to give myself a non-food reward for doing something good. The inspiration I'm getting from all of you is really helpful.

You all be careful over the weekend, and I'll see you here when you get back.

L

HI folks,

Congradualations for those who are sticking with their programs and being successful. That is great.

I still can really undermine myself. While I like Beck Diet and do the daily exercises, record and count my calories, after a couple of weeks, I feel like a kid having a tantrum . It is like I refuse to continue to be healthy. It is almost like i say- Good nutrition and healthy habits-you are not the boss and me and then I overeat. It is like I am being a bratty kid.

I can not believe that I can so responsible in so many ways, yet continue to undermine my own health. - almost in a defiant way-like I am 5 yrs old and cutting my nose to spite myself.

anyway thanks for letting me vent. I am back on target, but know another day this crazed kid will rise up be be oboxious and overeat some cruddy food and generally binge for a couple of days. While overall I am losing, this pattern really slows the amount down.

has any one else had this crazy response to changing their food habits? any suggestions?

best wishes to all
coastal sue

Hi everyone!
Sue, I know exactly what you are talking about. I think, for me, it's the "not fair" mentality. I think that no one else is denying themselves so why do I have to. The part of the book where she talks about how most thin women do restrict themselves helps me remind myself that I'm not alone.

Liannie, you are definitely on the way to meeting your goal well in advance of June 30! Good luck!

I went to a cookout party tonight, which is typically a situation that I way overeat in. I did okay...I decided not to have any meats (hamburger, ribs, etc), but I did have the side dishes (potato and cole slaw). Then for dinner I had a portobello mushroom sandwich. I am proud that I did a lot better than I normally would have, but not great for being on a diet. What do the rest of you do in situations like this with a lot of food around?

Also, this probably won't sound like a big deal, but I'm quite proud of myself for going to Sam's Club and resisting all the samples they had out! That's a huge improvement for me. I went in thinking I'd allow myself just one, but I was able to resist all of them. Yay!!

Talk to you soon!
K

coastalsue, I'm with you! I get that same feeling. I do so well and then I'm like forget that I want my chocolate covered peanuts and blizzard. For me it's definitely the not fair thing like karina said. I think we all get like that sometimes.

karina, my last trip to Costco was my first time resisting the samples and it's definitely a big deal! They always have the best stuff and the calories add up fast!

Things are going okay for me. I'm at 180 right now and the 170's are soooo close. I can't wait! The next couple weeks are going to be tough though because this week is our anniversary and next week is my birthday. For our anniversary we rented a cabin in the mountains which means cookout food. And birthday obviously means cake. Aah! Some careful planning is going to be much needed. Wish me luck!