Happy Mother's Day weekend, ladies! It's good to see everyone reporting in. I have exercised 3 of 5 days so I am proud of that. But I'm not keeping my calories below 1500 as I should, hitting more like 1800, and I lose SO SLOWLY when I eat that much. I must do better ...

Losing, so often, it's two steps forward, one step back, with our diets. We just have to keep plugging along!

I'm supposed to attend an outdoor concert tomorrow night but there's a 50% chance of showers/storms. Sure hope the weather stays decent for us. What's everyone else doing this weekend? I don't have a child living nearby to celebrate Mother's Day so I'll have to fend for myself ...

Have a good Saturday, all!

Olivia

Hey ladies. This looks like a determined group. I am new to this site, but I've been reading alot of good ideas and I've found it helpful with keeping positive. I've struggled with weight my entire life and I am motivated to get healthy along with the rest of you gals. And yes, it would be nice to lose the back fat as well!!

Today my struggle was an office party - I got asigned to cook the lemon bars (which I ate a good many). I also felt bad if I didn't try everyone else's dish. I guess I've been eating more healthy foods for the last few months - So my horrible eating cause me to have a really bad stomach ache all night. I spent an hour on the treadmill to try to balance it out. Anyway - It was just one day - I'll get back on track tomorrow. I'm also trying to keep the calories around 1300 a day (I read somewhere that people typically underestimate their calorie intake by 600 calories so I'm trying to write down everything in FitDay). Anyway, I'd love to check in to see everyones progress!

well. and in case i don't make it back on tomorrow, happy mother's day to those who are moms! i was worried about today being a bad eating day. weekends are hard, but today was ok. we were so busy all day (refinishing our kitchen floor, doing some spring cleaning, planting and mowing). with the floor being done, we can't cook in the kitchen so we are limited to what we can grill. the grill chose to wait till dh left for work to die, and I almost ordered pizza....but dh told me how to fix it and i didn't order pizza and i'm glad! i didn't get any real 'formal' exercise in, but i took a short walk to the store and back, and to get to the other parts of my house i have to walk outside and around all day today lol! (the kitchen is in the middle lol!)
I may still try to work a tape in, but i'm really wanting to color my hair, do my bible study, paint my nails and watch a movie...lol! maybe not!
well, better get going if i'm going to accomplish all that and get those kiddies to bed!
hope your weekend is great! hugs
tracyg

i was so hoping for 176 for tomorrow Am I eating too much? I haven't gone above 1400 for a week or two now and am exercising...? what do you all think? ok enough whining. I love that I am losing weight and doing fairly well, even though not fast enough for me but one thing I hate!!! is being in betweeny in sizes....ugh! my 18's are just loose enough to bag and fall down, but 16 is still a dream away.....sigh....

ok, enough! hope you all have a great mother's day! sending will power dust everyone's way, and hoping some rubs off on me.....
hugs
tracyg

Happy Mother's Day, ladies! Hope you will all have a spectacular day. I received beautiful flowers from my son, and my DH will make my favorite smoked fish on the grill so that will be yummy. This is usually the day I go shopping for geraniums and ferns for my front porch, as well.

I wish that I had not stepped on the scale today. Compared to what I was eating, I have cut my food intake in half over the last three weeks, and yet I'm only down 2 to 3 lbs. overall which makes no sense! I can't believe I'd need to cut out that many more calories or exercise that much more to lose. NEVER had this much problem when I lost about 50 lbs. a couple of years ago ... in fact, I thought people were kidding themselves when they'd tell me a similar story about their dieting efforts. It may be that I exercised much more then but ... YIKES! I'm not a person who can live on 1200 calories a day, so I don't know what my next plan is ...

Maeminglea, welcome to our group. We are so happy to have you! Your calorie count sounds good ... that should be a good place to start, and we all wish you the best!

Tracy, you must have burned about a zillion calories with all that floor re-finishing and work around the house and yard. Good for you ... Good luck on your weigh-in tomorrow.

Losing, way to go with getting that scale moving. I hope your weekend is going well without too many temptations!

Lisa, hope that you are doing well, and haven't had any more harrowing trips to that grocery store!

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY, ALL!

Maeminglea - Welcome. That office party sounds like a really rough test.
Lemon bars would have doomed me too. Congratulations on the hour of
treadmill work, and even bigger congratulations on the decision to log
your food. Every time I do it, I learn more about myself.

GotWork - How is your low-carb program going? If you're still in
induction, this could be a crappy-feeling time, so I hope you feeling
well. If you can spare time to post, would love to hear from you.

Lisa

on the scale tomorrow. I failed miserably today. sigh....You know, I've been eating in a fairly controlled manner now for almost 2 months. I've avoided binges for the most part, kept junk that is beyond my control out of the house and started exercising. Today is the first day that I truly went off the deep end with absolutely NO self control. Like i said in a previous post, when I blow it, I blow it big time, no pussyfooting around. I am really mad at myself. I had a plan, was totally in control, cruising along and then wham! it hit me. first my mother showed up. we are on the outs and she makes me really really tense. then, my dh and ds had a huge fight out in the yard. oh yay! Happy mother's day to me. Still, I did fine till we went to the inlaws....3 cookies, a handful of pretzels and a small scoop (maybe 1/4c or less) of pudding later and I was done for (or should have been) We had planned to go to this special dairy aisle, and I should have opted out..but did I? NOOOOO of course not, and to top it off, instead of the SMALL strawberry sundae I had planned for (hold the whip cream and nuts) I got a small turtle sundae (with the wc/nuts). I so disgust myself at times, will I never learn self control?
ok, enough with the pity party. Thanks for letting me rant. I WILL do better tomorrow and I will just have to fight that weight off this week.
, Here's hoping you all had a great weekend. I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for, so I am not going to let this derail me. I have to let it go and move on. So, till tomorrow then.
hugs
tracyg

Tracy, congratulations on shrinking out of your cargo pants. Maybe
that will be a more memorable milestone for you in the long term than
the 10 pound milestone. Congratulations on all the ways you've
found to squeeze a bit more exercise into your life, in addition to
your "official" workouts. All those muscles are burning fat in your sleep!

Losing - Congratulations on your scale weight. Are you going to join
a gym for the summer? What exercise do you think you're going to try
to do? I'm getting to know a gym right now and it's a bit intimidating,
but last week there was a very short, very thin elderly woman doing
all the weight machines, among the beefy men. It was great to watch her
because she adjusted the machines really slowly (so I can follow what
she's doing), she used all the easy settings, and I felt inspired to
try to do more of the weight machines.

There's a little exercise room in my condo complex, which isn't a big
deal, but once a week I go to the big gym. In the long run I think the
variety of exercises at the big gym will help me avoid/delay the plateau
or whatever is supposed to cause setbacks, but the big gym makes me
feel more self-conscious.

Olivia - I totally hear you about the situation of losing really slowly when
making a major effort. Totally unfair!! Before I started cutting
back my calories to 1200/day, I did 8 solid weeks of DAILY workouts at the
mini-gym in my condo, plus moderate reduced-calorie meals, and I lost zero
pounds (probably lost fat and added muscle). I was worried I couldn't
reach my goals unless I kept up that rate of progress for 1 and a half
years, and I just didn't think I could make myself show up at the gym every
day unless I was getting faster results. For the sake of faster progress, I'm
willing to endure 1200 calorie diets and hunger. Your advice to increase
my calories is totally logical, and it would probably help when it's time
for maintenance phase, but I'm going to keep up current approach until
it stops working for me. This is my first time trying an aggressive diet.
I've always been afraid a fast diet would doom me to regain, but this
time I'm willing to try it.

Lisa

'fall' it may not show up for a day or two...so, that said, I am down from my last weighin of 180 to 177.4. A loss, so I will take it. Shooting really hard for that 176 for next week and hoping that nothing will derail me!
oh well, such is life and these things happen and come up. I am choosing not to beat myself up or obsess about it, and to just and move on.
Lisa! thanks for the kind words! I actually wore those pants to church yesterday. The truth is they ARE too big lol I kept having to hitch them up and then when I got home I just pulled them off, buttoned and zippered and all....so I'm giving them the old heave ho. I think sometime this week I will go try on a pair or two of 16's and see how far till I can get in a pair. Maybe....I have to make sure I'm in the right frame of mind, If I go at the wrong time, I will get depressed instead of motivated...such a fine line.
I'm curious ladies: if you are counting calories, how many do you take in? I've moved down to 1200, in the first few weeks I was doing between 1400 and 1600 and that wasn't working for me, so I moved down again to 1550 and then 1500. I couldn't even imagine going as low as 1200, but I'm not finding it an issue being 'hungry' any more, for me it is the emotional eating. I'm afraid to drop lower, I keep thinking if I drop lower now, where will I be able to go when I hit a plateau? or when I'm trying to lose those last stubborn few if I'm already as low as 1200 now? Just wondering how you all are doing?
thinking of zig zagging my calories and trying to stick with healthier choices...ie. avoiding salt and sugar, and not over doing the diet-y goodies such as granola bars and sf/ff stuff, avoiding diet pepsi...I used to be a dp hound and would drink it all day long. It's been a good month since I've gone to 1, or occasionally 2 a day....
ok, this got long winded....so I'll go for now. need to get my kids ready for school. hope you all have a good day and weigh in for the week. it's a new week, lets get excited! let's get motivated! let's shake off the dust from last week and move on!!! (ok, totally talking to myself here lol!
tracyg

After being thoroughly down and overeating yesterday (not too badly), I am back up a pound on the scale ... I had gone from 223 to 219, and now back to 220. Oh, well, that's THREE LBS. less than when I started this whole thing so I will choose to look at it in a positive light overall, and try some adjustments.

Lisa, thanks for the empathy. I applaud your doing what you have to to keep the weight moving off. I know that I have to decide to accept discomfort (not eat out of habit and accept that hollow feeling), and get more exercise, to speed my program along. Will I do it? Time will tell ... but I definitely feel better than I did before I started this plan so I'll still hang in here but I'm not setting much of an example here!

Tracy, congrats on your scale being down this week! That is terrific, and keep going DOWN the road! Are you talking about 16W or regular size 16 pants? I ask because it's been a zillion years since I could get in a regular 16; of course, I carry much of my chub in my stomach and thighs, whereas my friend carries most of her's on top so we can never compare sizes! Whatever, I know it feels good for you to see your clothes getting baggy.

Hope we'll hear from some of our other ladies as well today. You all have a great day (and week!) for us all!

Olivia

16W is what I am talking about lol! I am not enough of an optomist to go try on 16 regulars lol! I am a true hour glass figure, big on top, big on bottom with well defined waist. I end up having to buy such large sizes to fit over my but and gut, but once I get them up over that, they are loose in the waist. oh well....
Sorry you had a hard week, seems like a bunch of us did. Sigh.....well, i must run and get my exercise in. I've got a bunch to do so better get off of here and get to it.
Hope everyone has a great day.

tracyg

This weekend wasn't pretty I didn't do good at all. Saturday I thought would be my cheat day going out to dinner ... Then back on track well ...Saturday spilled into Sunday and what was supposed to be a day I had planned to eat out with the family (the second try at eating out) ended up being a huge cookout that my husband planned then went to sleep. I was so mad .... I wanted to go OUT not entertain and clean up afterward. Cutting a long story of my husband making plans and not even telling me ....after that I pretty much ate all day and there was tons of food around to keep me busy doing so. I finished up the last of the chocolate cake for breakfast so even though I hate that I'm still stuffing my face the JUNK is out of the house. I stepped on the scale with a pound gain ...i'm sure there is more to come. I'm so mad at myself and still mad at my husband .

When you calm down, maybe you and dh need a chat about planning things without telling you. It sucks that you ended up cooking and cleaning when it was mother's day. A family barbque wouldn't have been so bad if dh had done the honors, but for him to go off and have himself a nap....arghhh
I would have been seriously peeved too! My dh was a bit of a butt head yesterday too...oh well, I'm not going to let it set me off any more than it did. What's that old cliche about getting a new chance every 24 hours? Take the sentiment to heart. You can do this. Forget about yesterday and don't let the 'mad' be an excuse to fall into negative old behaviour patterns! to you! Hope your day is better, good that you got all the junk gone! Have a great week.
will probably check back in later or tomorrow!
tracyg

Losing, so sorry you had a bad Sunday! It sounds as though you're picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and getting going again! Good for you ...

I have been having a tough time as well BUT today I've done much better, actually kept my calories below 1400, and took a long walk. Last week I only managed three long walks, and I intend to do better this week. We can do it, girls!

Okay, time to hit the bedroom so I don't go near the refrigerator again! You girls have a good night, hang tough and have a good day tomorrow.

Olivia

Hello friends,

I was in such a bad mood yesterday. First, I got nothing done at work. At home my 4 year
old kept asking why my face was angry. I was impatient with the kids when they
wanted to climb on me as a form of hugging and welcoming me home. I caused a fight
with my husband. There was nothing hormonal to cause this, and no bad events to
upset me. I think the dieting is really hard on me mentally. It's stressful to
be constantly fighting with myself, it's physically demanding, and who knows what
biochemical issues are going on at the same time. I'm just so irritable. But
I've stayed on plan, every single hour of every stinking day, so that's good.

I'm down to 155.8 lbs, so I made my goal. Next week's goal is 2 pounds lower,
153.8 lbs. I absolutely love catching my reflection everywhere, and I like how
it feels to stand up or sit down. Being irritable and vain is a bad combo!

Olivia -- I'm sure your commitment and motivation will make you succeed in whatever
approach you choose. Don't quit the conservative approach if it's right for you,
and I hope you continue being the same good example that you already are.
I'm not advocating hunger for anybody except myself. Hunger stinks.

Tracy -- you raised so many interesting questions about daily calories and diet and
everything. Getting less than 1200 calories/day seems like something serious
enough that you'd have to be careful. Lots of people suggest never going
below 1200/day, on average. For one thing, it's hard to get enough nutrition
with less food, and less nutrition can cause cravings. Also, many people find it
hard to exercise on ultra low calorie diets, and without exercise, your body has
no reason to avoid burning muscle, instead of just burning fat.

It seems to me that the difference between 1200/day and 1000/day is not
going to have such a huge impact on weight loss, because it takes so many
days to add up to 3500 calories. In contrast, one "out of control" day can have
thousands of calories and can have a really big impact. For many people, I
think improving their typical "good day" is not as significant as reducing
the number of "bad days." So if 1000/day causes somebody to have a binge,
it would be doing more harm than good in the long run, not to mention being
miserable. But some people, especially patients in hospital settings,
end up with good results on 800 calories/day.

Good luck with your decision! Of course I'll support whatever you choose!

Determined, and long-winded,
Lisa