Hi all

I was hanging out here in the spring/summer, then I kind of disappeared. I had lost 7 pounds, but had hit a plateau, then summer happened, etc., and I kind of stopped posting, though I did check in and read a bit.

The good news is that I kept those 7 pounds off during the summer, which is no small victory for me.

Also, since Sept, I have re-dedicated myself, and have lost 5 more pounds. I changed my tactics, I was always a "non-diet" person, and was loosely following Bob Greene's plan. But I have now started tracking calories, as it was obvious that I was simply consuming enough calories to maintain, but not to lose. So, it's still not really a "diet", but I aim for an average 500 calorie a day deficit.... If I'm active, I can eat a bit more, and vice versa. So, Jayell and fellow calorie counters, I hope there's a bit more room on that wagon....

I've had a couple of "naughty days", but am ready to get back on plan, and thought coming back here would help, as you guys are always so supportive.

We're glad you're back!!! Congrats on keeping off the weight AND losing the additional 5. Got any pointers for me???

Haha, looking at our respective tickers, I think I should be asking YOU for pointers! I think my only pointer is what so many people here were doing all along - I started "officially" doing the math. Before, I was eating healthy, exercising, really, doing all the right things, in theory. And that worked OK for the first several pounds. But without actually calculating the intake/output, I was leaving too much to chance, and clearly not creating a calorie deficit. Even some healthy foods' calories add up alarmingly fast - those "stop cooking with cheese" commercials hit the nail right on the head!

Thanks for the welcome back, I plan to be more active now, as I work on the last 10.

Yeah, don't pay too much attention to the ticker. I have the horrible habit of leaving it where it is regardless of where my weight is. I'm actually 4 above ticker and if you read this week's Featherweight's thread, I'm asking for advice! I added exercise thinking it would help in my quest to lose the last 10 and 8 or so weeks later, no loss!

Hi Janie,

Welcome back, and welcome to the calorie-counting wagon. As much as I had hoped that eating healthy foods and exercising would do the trick for me, I also find that I have to count calories.

It's a bit of a pain, but the good news is that after counting for a month or so, I began to have a very good sense of how many calories I had "left" in the day, whether I was likely to be over or under (and what foods/meals would get me there), etc., even if I didn't have my daily calorie-count spreadsheet open in front of me all the time. Now it's become a habit.

Kim