I'm about three months back into my routine of eating well and exercising, and I thought I would share two observations I've made.

First, it seems the three-month mark has been the amount of time it's taken for my body to finally understand that I'm not starving myself, and, rather, this is the caloric intake I intend to stick with. So, that being said, it has finally started to cooperate and let some pounds go. lol. I wish I'd known at the beginning to be more patient. I fell off track a year or so ago because I didn't look at things the same way. I was pretty impatient.

Secondly, it seems as though this amount of time has officially been long enough to 'shrink my stomach' a bit. It's the first time I can say I've made it to the next meal without feeling ravenous hunger beforehand.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is...at least for me, it's taken a solid THREE MONTHS of discipline and determination...but it's finally happening.

So to all of the new people (and others)...maybe this will give you some motivation to stick with it.

I was on a (or should I say 'another') plateau for probably over a month before things started moving again.

Good luck, everyone. Keep doin' it!!

Great to hear! Good for you for sticking with it...three months isn't that long but i don't think i've ever stuck to an eating plan that long!

I was wondering if i could "shrink my stomach" as well. Usually i eat whenever i feel like it...but now i eat on a schedule, hoping to train my stomach to only get hungry when it's mealtime. Also, i've always had this habit where once i start eating, i don't want to stop; a 200 calorie snack just makes me want more. But i think eating on a schedule has been helping with that. I may not be totally full at the end of a meal, but i know i'll survive for the next 3 hours until it's time to eat again.

I totally understand what you're saying! I've kind of been experimenting to see how little it takes to keep me feeling full. I have gone recently from eating a pretty large bowl of cereal to one that is probably the actual serving size, lol...and if I give it 30 minutes, I usually feel just as satisfied!

I have to do quite a bit of meal planning so I don't binge and go overboard with calories. I usually plan at least a day in advance.

I have no idea how people can eat small portions of certain things, so I basically just don't keep them around. (I could eat about 1,000 graham crackers with peanut butter, for example.) LOL!

Another huge thing that has helped me = buying a rice cooker. I use it at least five times a week to steam vegetables. They turn out perfectly. I use some Parkay fat-free butter spray and some salt and pepper, and it's usually a fantastic meal for probably under 150 calories total.

-- Oh, and by the way...I didn't lose all of my weight in the past three months! Since I started up again this time around, I've only lost about 13 lbs.

that's awesome! how many calories are you taking in?

Fresno26- thats a good idea- I think I might buy a rice cooker!!

Thanks for sharing, Fresno - it's really great to hear from someone who had a really slow start. All bodies and metabolisms are so different, that it can be really frustrating for people to watch others shed 30 pounds in 3 months when their scales don't move at all! Hopefully, your words of encouragement inspire others to stick with it!

Thanks fresno! That's very helpful to me! I've failed plenty of other diets due to absolutely no understanding of what my plateau was. I finally learned after joining WW. See positive results like yours is motivational and very encouraging! Way to stick with it! I'm happy for you!

I agree with the first thing you said before I would go for 2 weeks then not see a lb of difference on the scale and give up. Now I realize that my body takes longer than 2 weeks! lol Congrats!

Thanks ladies!! You're all so supportive!

Wendee, I'm glad you saw this post! I thought about re-posting it on our Introductions thread.

Partio - I usually try to take in around 1,300 calories a day when I'm doing moderate activity. Of course, if I do a hard workout and get hungry, I will add maybe a bowl of Kashi cereal/soymilk or some Triscuits and peanut butter. =)

I'm SO happy to hear that I've provided some inspiration on this site!
Believe me, it was taking FOR-ever! LOL But I decided this time to just pace myself and give it an entire year. Then if, at the end of the year, I didn't see huge results, I was going to give up and eat six full-size cakes. lol Luckily after 90 days, I'm finally seeing some progress. Whew!

Keep up the good work, ladies! We're all in this together!!

I have a rice cooker that I plug into the wall, is that what you cook your veggies in?

Anyway, my Mom bought me one of these veggie steamers a few years ago. I would probably never eat veggies if it wasn't for this. SO EASY!

http://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering...&outletSubCat=

Yes! Mine's a plug-in. It takes about 20 min and the veggies are steamed perfectly!

I am not super 'into' cooking very much, lol, but I DO have those Pampered Chef pots and they're awesome!

It takes less then 10 min the microwave thing, but they are not always perfect hahaha.

I love the Zip Lock steamer bags - pop in vegies, microwave a 2-3 minutes, done. No fat, water or clean up!

THANK YOU FRESNO!!! and the rest of you too.

This is exactly what I needed to hear today!! It is the "shot in the arm"
that my motivation needed.

You all rock......this site is super!