I'm taking the plunge, LOL.
Nancy, I wish I'd seen that Oprah now. Beans are very good for us. I just won't do all my fiber through them anymore, LOL. Had 1/2 cup with lunch today. My mother died at age 44 and my grandmother at age 45, both of heart things (mom of cardiomyopthia and grandma of hear aneurism). Everyone on my mom's side has something wrong with their hearts, even if it is something very small. My sister has a slight murmur. I seem to be taking after my dad's side so far and they are relatively healthy. If I can just continue to eat right and excercise, that should help.
I have been checked out and everything looked good.

I was going to do no sweets today, but uh that's out the window already, LOL. I ate 2 servings of Peeps (marshmallow rabbits) and had 1/2 a Girl Scout cookie in the car. Whoops. That's it for the day though, LOL. I had a whole wheat, 1 slice roast beef, small slice of cheese sandwich for lunch with some beans and I just ate 1.5 - 2 green pepper slices and some carrot slices. Feeling full now.

In Christ,
Pamela

Okay, I'm posting here to get on email notification!
Not much new to post, cept I'm back at 149 again!! Now to break through and get to 148!! Onward and DOWNward!!

Also, thought I'd stick some intro to this thread in here incase anyone new stops by . . .

This thread was originally started by Aphil to motivate and join forces with women who are losing their excess weight by limiting their calorie intake and exercising. You can use a calorie book, Weight Watchers point system, or a Richard Simmons food mover guide-it is all just different ways of keeping track of the same thing.
In Aphil's words, we share a lot of information here, and tons of support-we urge you to post here, or if you feel more comfortable you can just lurk!



One last thing, Pamela, what type of beans to you eat? And do you eat them plain alone or mixed with something?

Does anyone have any good recipes with beans? I enjoy them but I'm not so sure about eating them plain!

Christine
195/149/130

Thanks for starting the new thread Pamela,

So sad that your Mom and Grandmother passed away so young. You sure are on the right track for staying healthly..keep up the good work.

Christine,,, only 19 pounds till you reach your goal. That is so close !!!


Hey I bought a can of black beans yesterday and havent got a clue what to do with them....will look on some website and try to find a recipe.....they seem a little scary to me....hahahah..


Se ya later....

Nancy

Well, its confession time.. I went over on calories today. But, I'm not upset about it for some unknown reason. I'll be good now.. I promise!

19 til my goal sounds great, until I consider the fact that I've lost the last 4-5 pounds about 5 times each now! At that rate, it'll be well over a year before I get near that goal! I think that if I can just break through this 149-150 thing, I'll see a decent drop though. I'll keep plodding along until I get there reguardless!

But . . . I would like to at least be close in 6 months when I visit my family in Arizona!! I love reactions from those who haven't seen me in forever! Last time my sister saw me (in January) she was impressed with how thin I'd become but I could probably drop some jaws at 130!!

I bought a couple cans of beans a couple months ago! And they're sitting in my pantry still cuz I have no clue what to do with them to make them tempting to eat I think you have the right idea, Nancy.. I should go searchin the internet for some recipes! There has to be tons out there just waiting for me to find them.

Okay, enough babbling. I hope everyone else joins us on this thread soon.. lets see how long it takes to fill this one up!! :-)

Christine
195/149/130

PS How can I put an image on the left under my name? I just cannot seem to figure that out!!

Hi guys,
I made my way to the new thread. What's up with all the beans? I must have missed something. lol. Are they magic beans that will help me lose this weight? Sorry, I'm just being a little silly.
I did good today, mostly because I slept all day. I was extremely tired. I think my lack of sleep catches up to me sometimes and I just crash. Both of my kids haven't been feeling well either, but I have none of their symptoms. I did go to the Y and do my aerobics and I am glad. I always feel better after I exercise. I thought I was ready to advance to a higher step. I'm glad I waited. My heart rate was way up there. I would have passed out if I went to the higher step.
I have to go for blood work tomorrow so I'm fasting for the rest of the night. My doctor wants to see if my diet is ok. She hasn't seen me in a yr and was very happy with my weight loss. She just wants to make sure I'm doing it the right way.

WTG Christine with the loss. You CAN lose that one pound that's holding you back. You've already lost 46. Dig Deep. It's just one pound that's stopping you. One stinking pound. You can do it.

To all, Have a great day. Keep up the good work. Share those Girl Scout cookies with friends and family.
Melisa[

I just got this in an email and thought it was cute and fitting. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Now I lay me down to sleep.

I pray the Lord My shape to keep.

Please, no wrinkles;

Please, no bags.

Lift my butt -- Before it sags.

Please no age spots;

Please no gray.

As for my belly, Take it away.

Keep me healthy. Keep me young.

And thank you Lord For all you've done.

AMEN

Hi everyone!

Just found the new thread. I can't believe how much it has filled up already in one day. That is great! Lots of support here.

I have done pretty good again today. Stayed with in my calorie range but could have made better choices. However I still got the sticker on my calendar. I am quite competitive and think this is why the sticker thing works for me. It is like a game against my fat and I just have to win. I know each sticker will represent a bigger loss at the end of the week.

Christine glad to hear you are back at 149. Can't wait 'til I'm there!

Pamela, glad to here you follow on your father's side re: the heart. It is good you are taking care of yourself.

Hey Snowey what's the weather like out there? What city do you live in?

Melissa I liked your poem it made me laugh.

Take care all!

Hello all,,,,

Do you believe its snowing here....ugh...will it ever stop..?

Sprite, I live in Kitimat...its about 1000 miles north of Vancouver..You live around Vancouver dont you?

I feel like its in the middle of nowhere.. Especially after being born and raised in Chicago..what a shock to come here. But my hubby and I are talking about moving soon.. more towards the end of the province or Alberta. I dont think I can take this snow for the rest of my life. It so pretty here when its not raining or snowing.

Melisa, loved your poem !

Well I guess I am going to get to bed...feeling tired...but had a good day...

See everyone tomorrow....sweet dreams...

nancy

Hello everyone!

Thanks for starting the new thread, Pamela! That is so sad that yur mom and greandma passed away at so young an age. It's so good that you are taking care of yourself for a long, happy, healthy life.

Sprite, way to go on refusing the sweet goodies, even being with others who are eating them!

YAY, Christine, into the 140's!! that is awesome!

Melisa, you seem to be doing okay with eating out. It shows alot of self-control to not eat the whole portion - you were strong to save the other half for dinner. We shouldn't have to give up going out with friends and family. I've been reading in the news alot lately about the huge portions that restaurants regularly serve, which is contributing to America's overweight problem. I guess we can ask to have a specific portion amount, like 1 cup of pasta instead of the 3 that is served; and to take away the bread basket and butter (mmm, bread and butter...) I'm sure your doctor will applaud you for doing so well.

Nancy, you made me laugh out loud twice - first, with the thought of one's head sewn to the floor (ow!) and then about the SCARY black beans!

I'm VERY lucky that my husband is a great cook, and pretty often he makes burritos. He browns a small amount of lean ground beef (like 1/2 pound), drains any fat, then mixes a can of refried beans and some chunky salsa, and some chili powder. If we have any leftowver rice, that is fine mixed in, too. Then you put some on your soft taco shell, add alot of lettuce, a little non-fat sour cream, maybe some more salsa, roll up and scarf down.

You have to check the labels of the refried beans, though, and find the low or no-fat added variety. They are high in sodium, but hopefully you won't have too much sodium from anything else that day.

I find if I have one of these, surrounded by a huge amount of green salad, that pretty much satisfies me - but having one more makes me feel very satisfied

For the ladies who have already done so well and lost weight - at what point did your family/friends/co-workers notice the difference? (we will all be inspired by Melisa's case of not even being recognized! )

I am now liking my bowl of oatmeal/apples in the morning, though I have a gift certificate for a local restaurant that has awesome breakfast food - soon we have to redeem it; I'll just be sure to try to even out the calories the rest of the day.

Hope everyone's having a great day!!!

Sincerely, Holly
176/168/160 1st goal

Good morning Everyone!

I tried to post earlier and my reply got lost in cyberspace so I am trying again.

Holly YUM! That burrito recipe sounds awesome! I am going to go grocery shopping today and will buy the ingredients for that. A little know fact is that flour tortillas are fairly high in calories which you wouldn't know since they are so thin. So one is definitely enough, unfortunately.

Nancy, I know where Kitimat is. Did you and your husband move there on business? What culture shock you must have had moving from Chicago! How long have you lived there? One summer there and the snow will be just a distant memory. Are the people friendly there?

I hope I have good news to post after my weigh in tomorrow.

Christine, Melissa, and Pamela hope you are having a good day.

Good Morning all........


Holly.... I havent had breakfast yet, but your burrito is reminding me...that sounds so yummy !! Ill imagine my cream of wheat and banana tastes like that..hahah

Sprite,, I have only lived in Kitimat since July, Bruce and I were married on May 26th last year and I quit my job at the end of June and moved here. Bruce is born and raised here. He worked at Alcan for 28 years and is now retired ( an early retirement pkg that he could not resist). We had talked about him moving to the states but with the exchange rate from Canadian to US dollars it sure would have made his retirement seem like nothing. SO I took the plunge and moved here (with blessings from my family of course). Even though both my kids are grown and on their own it was hard to leave them. (Bruce also has 3 grown children who live down in Vancouver).

Oh I bet you are wondering how I married a man so far from home? Well I met him almost 5 years ago through a friend of mine who lives in Canada. We dated long distance and did lots of traveling...(and to think I am scared to death to get on a plane now)

The people that I have met are friendly, and when they find out where I am from they wonder how I got all the way up here.. haha
Well any way... I hope I did not put anyone to sleep with my long story

Im off to make my cream of wheat.....

Christine, Pamela and Melisa, how are you today?

talk to everyone later.... have a great day all !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nancy
207/197/150 1st goal

Doing okay with food today so far.. cereal for breakfast.. low-fat bologna sandwich on light wheat bread & salad for lunch . and one small chocolate just cuz...

Anyways, I wont be posting much for the next few days cuz we ordered DSL and my ISP was kind enough to change us to the DSL account even tho its not hooked up yet so we get only 20 hours dialup for the month and we're already up to 16!! Hopefully the DSL is working early next week or i'll go crazy ;-)

I'd say folx starting noticing my weight-loss when I'd dropped about 20 pounds but I cannot really remember. They started REALLY reacting when I'd lost about 40.. I can't wait to see how they react when I've lost 65!! ;-)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Christine
195/149/130

Hi all!
I've been reading this thread for several days now and decided it's time to introduce myself.
I'm Kelly-Anne (not Kelly) 45, married to Barry (AKA Lovey) and mom to 2 wonderful girls (Emily and Melina).
I started on my weight loss journeyabout 15 months ago after my checkup showed elevated cholesterol and evidence of a small heart attack. I lost 15 pounds over the following 10 months with just dropping my fat and sugar intake. Then I went on Prism (a faith based calorie counting plan) and lost another 25 over about 3 months. My loss stalled and I gradually became careless about weighing and measuring.
I decided recently to get at it on my own, did some reading and decided to download Calorie Companion (actually bought it - I must be serious!) I've been using it for 2 weeks and am really pleased with it. It offers different calorie levels dependent on weight, how fast you want to lose and activitity level. After messing a bit, I decided it's well worth suffering through exercising to get to eat more, so you'll find me on the treadmill every day now - reading or wathing TV and earning myself some yummies.
I'm finding myself a lot more active these days anyway - losing even part of my excess has given me SO much more energy!

Kelly-Anne
(290, 255, 125)

Good morning all!

WOOOOHOOOO! I was down 2 pounds this week! Thanks to all of you for all of your encouragement it's helped me get back on track!

Welcome Kelly-Anne. Congratulations on the weight you've lost so far. I'm sure you'll find this thread very supportive.

I started getting reactions and comments from people after I had lost about 25-30 lbs. It felt really good. I would like to really WOW them when I get to goal.

Nancy I love to hear stories of how couples met. It certainly must be fate how you two met. A woman from Chicago meeting and marrying a man from Kitimat!

Well I better shower and get ready for work!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Good Morning Eveyone......


Way to go Sprite!!!!!!!!......2 pounds...that is wonderful!!! Keep up the good work you will be at your goal in no time.... Are you pumped????

I cant wait till folks start noticing that I am losing.. it gives you such a good feeling and keeps you motivated. But right now with only losing 10 pounds so far...it like taking a cup of sand out of the Sahara Desert...not real noticeable but I know and I feel it!!

Welcome Kelly-Anne. glad you could join us. We have a great group here and we all help each other. Sounds like you have done a great job on losing weight already..

Hey Holly,, I tried a new hot cereal today. Its called Red River,,, it is cracked wheat, cracked rye and flax...Its sure has a crunchy texture but I like it..It is 154 calories a serving, 2.5 grams of fat and 5.1 grams of fiber.. You have to cook it a little longer then oatmeal or cream of wheat. Now I have 3 hot cereals to choose from. Variety is good..haha....anyway, the hot stuff last with you so long. I always add Splenda and cinnamon to my hot cereal.

Pamela, I also found a recipe for black beans and brown rice...I am going to make it and see what it looks and tastes like....I hope it will look appealing...hahah .....I guess I am in " the time to eat more fiber" mood.......whoa,,,should I be afraid??????????

Christine,,,, I hope DSL gets hooked up right away, we need you here...


Melisa,, how are your kids feeling? You havent caught it have you??

Well ladies ,, Have a great day.....will see everyone later.....

Keep smiling....
Nancy

207/197/150 1st goal