I like hearing about what everyone else is doing to reach their goals. These are some things that are helping motivate me to reach mine:

SHAPE magazine. Great articles, LOVE the Success Stories

Weight Watchers magazine. Even though I'm not following their program, I am still inspired by their success stories & they too have great articles.

My pedometer, when I remember to put it on!

Keeping shoes & socks in my car, so I'm always available for a walk.

Chewing sugarless gum to keep my mouth busy during danger times. (Grocery store right after work, parties w/lots of unhealthy snacks)

Eating before leaving for the grocery store!

Pre-measuring my food into single-serving sizes as I open it, so I don't have to think about portion sizes in the AM as I'm pouring cereal.

Incorporating milk back into my diet. What a nice healthy treat!

Drinking seltzer instead of soda.


What is helping you reach your goals?

Hey, SAPF, is you could only choose one, which magazine would you prefer--the Weight Watcher or Shape? Which one has the most success stories?

Well, I'd have to say:

water--lots and lots of water

0 Weight Watcher point snacks from Trader Joe's, and probably just Trader Joe's in general

my YMCA membership

my dogs who want to be walked daily

going to Weight Watcher meetings

the monthly and holiday challenges on this bulletin board

Cooking Light magazine for great low-point dinners

Definetly 3FC and all of you here!!!!!!

My dad who goes and gets me artesian water when I need it so I can drink as much as I want and not have to drink the yucky tap water!!

Trying to eat before I'm ravenous/not buying stuff I don't want in my body.

My dog, who also needs to be walked every day.

Definitely the 3FC site!! The people here are a huge part of my success so far. The accountability is great and the support and inspiration is Awesome! I've tried to lose weight many times but never had the success I've had since joining here.

Miki

3FC site is a big one for me.

I love shape as well.

I do better when I journal (back to doing it again)

My videos, I love to "Walk away the lbs."

Playing outside with my girls.

Bella23

I hope all had a very, very happy 4th of July.

I love this thread. Here's what keeps me going and why:

Sharing/caring/getting information from people in the same place: I think 3FC is great and although I don't always respond, I lurk a bit.

Exercising: I'm walking every day now for at least 40 minutes, and am prepping for a 3-day walk for a charity organization (I've found I have to have a reason to work out or I start slacking; since I lost my dog, this is a good focus and the training is good). This will mean 20 miles a day for 3 days in November, so I'm getting in shape!!

Results: I'm starting to see cheekbones again! They have a long way to go before they're defined, but still...

Other people's successes: via this forum, WW magazine, a great UK publication called Slimming with lots of success stories

Recipes for good, healthy food: We've just been eating lots better with better choices for entrees and sides, but watching for the health aspects: whole grain, fiber, vitamins, good P/C/F ratio, etc.

Lots and lots and lots of fresh lemons and water!

The signature is out of date; I'm on my laptop via dialup and don't want to change right now.

Best,

Ok, it may seem a bit blasphemous that I didn't include 3FC in my first post, but I really thought that it went w/o saying! I love it here! The accountability! The support! The understanding! *taps heels together 3 times* There's no place like 3FC! There's no place like 3FC! There's no place like 3FC! There's no place like 3FC!

Sheila, I prefer SHAPE, have been subscribing for years. I also like FITNESS. SHAPE used to have a dieting diary, they followed this woman Courtney Rubin for 2 years on her dieting journey & most recently a woman named Jill. Maybe they will pick me next? Weight Watchers has more Success Stories, though. The magazine I miss the most was called Successful Slimming, it was put out by the tabloid people down in FL. They stopped publishing a few years ago, but I treasure the 3 copies I have.

Having fresh fruit in the house helps me, too.

PLANNING AHEAD helps me the most. You never know if you're going to be able to eat healthy away from home, it always helps to eat OP @ home & sparingly @ parties.

I would like to take this special time to introduce you to my new favorite pizza.

http://www.HomeRunInn.com

I am allergic to hydrogenated oil, they don't use ANY!!! All their ingredients are natural & their Grilled Veggie pizza is out of this world! They are out of Chicago, I found them @ PickNSave around here.

Hi,

The support here, of course!

EXERCISE-I owe huge debt to Leslie Sansone (okay, I sound like an infommercial) Her tapes are the first ones an overweight klutz like me could actually do. I'd buy all these other tapes and get frustrated and disgusted cause I couldn't keep up. I've branched out to a few others, but hers will always be my favorites, cause I can do them half asleep at 5:45 am! I don't have to concentrate on hard choreography.

MAKING MY OWN EATING PLAN-I'm very independent-no offense to anyone here following a structured plan. I don't like being told what to eat, how much of it, what foods are worth how much. It doesn't work for me. I'm just eating mainly healthier foods, and eating less healthy ones in smaller portions.

READING-I'm a magazine junkie-Prevention (which has tons of health info and has real looking people in it, not models), Shape, (BTW, how did Courtney end up doing-I didn't get the last few articles on her) Fitness, Self and Weight Watchers. I'm not on WW, but also love their success stories.

Take care,
Sherry