Good afternoon Ladies. Hope everyone is having a good day.
Cyan, believe me my body is not changing before my eyes. Every morning when I get up the first thing I do is look and see if by chance during the night my roly poly tummy has disappeared
I'm losing in the waist department but I've still got lots of work to do on that tummy roll going on below the navel. I'm going to try and lose atleast another 10 pounds or so before I get down and dirty with the tummy exercises.
Miki, you and I have been the ones all along alittle shy about posting measurements, etc. So together we will do this. Only way to reach our goals is to be honest with ourselves. I know what you mean about pictures. I started back on Sept. 15th, thought I was doing great. Clothes started fitting a lot better by mid Oct. So by mid Oct. we had a dinner and party here celebrating a birthday in the family. I got the pictures developed a couple of weeks ago. Ugh! I remember that night well, everyone was saying how good I looked. Well if I looked good that night I would hate to see what I looked like before that. I told my husband why was everyone saying I looked good, look at my stomach in these pictures. So this weekend I'm going to put those same clothes on and have my son take a new picture so I can see if there is a difference now. Lord I hope so. It's been a month since those pictures were taken so I'll see if there's any changes now. Stay strong Miki, it takes time to see changes in our body. I feel that all of us here are very understanding of each other. If we didn't have problems with our bodies we wouldn't be here. That's the bottom line. If we had perfect bodies, perfect weight, etc. we wouldn't be here. And I don't know about the rest of you but I think the majority of us are emotional eaters. When we reach our goals, we will need to be strong, motivated and try to maintain our desired weight. This isn't an easy process.
I knew it wouldn't be when I started out. I knew I loved food too much to think that this would be easy. All of you have helped me in so many ways.
Cjunk, I have already set in motion my plans for the holidays. Hopefully I can stick with it. The two big dinners, (Thanksgiving and Christmas) will be taking place at my home. In that respect I will have an easier time of it. But there are a lot of parties that we will be attending. I love those buffets that are set up. That's when my plans will come into play. I plan on eating during the day as I usually do, I'm not cutting back on any meals to contemplate what I might be eating that night for dinner. I feel if I do that I will be starving when I arrive for the festivities. So far during my new eating habits I haven't allowed myself to become hungry. I have lots of small meals plus some healthy snacks in between. My downfall would be if I'm hungry, I know I would eat everything in sight. I plan on eating a small meal before I leave for the parties. Once I'm there I will search out the veggie trays, fruit trays, etc. I've also been asked to bring a few appetizers to some of the parties. So I know already what I will be taking, healthy ones that I can enjoy. I know of a real good shrimp dip, very low in calories that I will be able to take and enjoy that night. I have been working on appetizers for the last month in preparation for the holidays this year. I have always offered lots of appetizers and desserts at the events held at my home. This year I'll do the same, but have learned ways to fix them that is healthy and tasty to everyone. Learning healthier eating habits doesn't mean that we have to give up a lot of the foods we love. But learning to prepare them healthier is the key. I know there are going to be times that I will want to induldge in some of the foods I know that I shouldn't. I'm keeping an open mind about this, if that does occur I will keep it in moderation. A taste of this, a taste of that won't kill me or sabotage my diet. But sitting down and eating a whole cheesecake is not something I should do. I baked some loaf cakes the other day. I bake a lot of things and freeze them for the holidays. I did really good in not eating anything. My husband and my son had several pieces of an apple crumb loaf cake I made. I took a bite, didn't seem to care to sit down and pig out. That's the hard part to me, is baking and cooking and smelling the foods. I've learned a little secret that tends to help me. I make sure I sit down and eat a bowl of cereal when I'm baking. It fills me up and I don't seem to want to eat the baked goods when they come out of the oven. I know you all are probably thinking well why doesn't she just have a piece of whatever she's baking. It's not that simple, I would have to have a piece of everything. So far I'm doing good, haven't binged on anything I've baked so far. But when Thanksgiving Day comes, and especially Christmas Eve I'll see how I do. Part of my plans is to have alternatives for me to eat. When everyone else is sitting there eating dessert I don't want to be sitting there eating on carrot sticks. I would start screaming or something, I know I would. So I've made desserts that I can also enjoy. The holidays are coming, it's a time for family and friends. My goal is to stay relaxed, if I should happen to grab a piece of cheesecake and crawl under the table with it, I will deal with that later. I'm afraid that I will get so bent out of shape with trying to stay with my healthy diet through the holidays that I will ruin the holidays. I don't want to feel guilty about anything I eat during that time. But at the same time I want to stay on track. So hopefully I can keep in mind the key word, Moderation.
Cjunk, I don't know what type of potluck events you are attending. If you are to take a main dish I have some suggestions for that. Vegetables or side dishes I also have some ideas for you on that. Just do like me, think Moderation whatever is served there.
Lisa, I see the dilema you're in. I used to do the same thing, grab for the fastest things. And in every case it will always be those foods served that contain high fat and high calories. You might try eating a small meal before you leave. And then that night when you come in have a salad that you prepared earlier that day. You can also take numerous things along with you. Ex: turkey on low calorie wheat bread, friut cups, veggies cut up and packed in ziplock bags, a couple of pieces of fruit, anything with fiber, fills you up. Takes longer for the stomach to digest those things, therefore you don't get hungry as fast. That's why I eat cereals, oatmeal. If there is a microwave where you are you could always take a prepared frozen dinner with you. Also a meal you have prepared the night before or during the day taken on a disposable plate or one that you take back home. Also a big piece of advice offered in the kindest way, if at all possible try to get the pop or soft drinks out of your daily eating habits. WATER is the way to go. I think everyone here will vouch for that. The first thing I did was give up soft drinks. Most of us here take water with us everywhere we go. I've even learned to drink it room temperature. Didn't think I would ever be able to, but I'm doing it and don't mind a bit.
I've heard about that also, I'm going to give it a try this year. Hope people won't mind too much if I munch on a carrot while I talk with them
Thanks for the info about the software. It sounds like you're on the right track. You're already into the exercising, that's a big step and it sounds like you're doing great with that.
Others here will have some great tips for you about you're not being able to eat dinner at home. Wish I could help you more with that. Keep up the good work, glad you joined us.
reina_mia, thanks for the tips on the fruit. I hadn't thought about doing that. I usually only have thoughts of the creme cheese
You did great on passing up McDonalds. But you know if that craving gets really, really bad might not be too bad if you went and had a small cheeseburger. Sometimes we can push ourselves to the limit and then we usually end up binging on something else. I think that's why my son brought me the potatoe chips that night. I think he knew I was about to blow a fuse. Alittle moderation goes a long way. You might be surprised at how having that small cheeseburger changes your outlook about your diet. That handful of chips helped me greatly. I haven't had a craving for them since. I think it's the old scenario of wanting what you think you can't have. You hang in there, you're doing great. And you know what, you handled those cravings in a good way. I've always heard that you should wait a few minutes to really see if you want the food you're craving. So far after waiting for a few minutes my cravings usually go away. A bowl of cereal works wonders.
Cyan, the picture idea is a good one. Me and my roly poly tummy all decked out for the holidays. I'm up for it if everyone else is. Would you like us to hold up a sign with the year on it in the picture? I'll go for that, I can hold the sign in front of my tummy!
Stay Confident Ladies, Stay Motivated!
BUT I'm working on it, and as big as I am I'm still 5 lbs smaller than I was last week
Maybe the horror of doing this will MAKE me keep up so in January I can be proud of posting a lot less 
Great having you join us!!!
I yelled at myself the whole way home, people looking in my car, must have thougth I was nuts. Well, I didn't stop at McDonalds, I went straight home and had my healthy dinner. Around 8pm, I just got some horrible cravings for cake, I don't know why, but it was killing me..
I don't want to go into the New Year thinking that I wasted 2 months working my butt off to lose weight, to gain the weight after the holidays. I would like to maintain where I am at starting weight - 2 days before Thanksgiving. If I lose, Haleluya. If I don't and stay the same, I reached another goal. Good Idea!
. That is a great accomplishment....I couldn't even think about writing my measurements down before I met this group. So I am going to take the leap! 
, I just feel that I constantly have to get up and do something. I just can't seem to stay awake. We have been on the go, and I guess that is what contributes to me not really sticking to my weekends... How do you all get past that? My husband and I are always out, and I get tired of having to eat out on the weekends, I would like to make a nice meal at home.
