Hey guys,
I am new to this website and posting messages. I am 41 yrs old and trying to lose the weight. I swore by 40 I would have it off, that has not happened and now 42 is right around the corner. I love to cook, eat and drink red wine. I am married and have 2 children of my own and raising a 4 yr old granddaughter from my husbands previous marriage. My husband works a day shift and I work an afternoon shift, that way someone is always home with the kids. I have joined ww several times, only to lose the same 10lbs and then gain 20. Now, I have resorted to run/walking and have put 7lbs on since that started. I feel famished after I exercise Does anyone else feel this way? Have any of you gained weight..Just looking for support and good for you food ideas Hope to make some good friends..by the way I am computer illiterate. Have a wonderful day!
Jodie

Hello Jodie, I have worked my butt off and gained 5 pounds this week and not a day did i go over 1500 cals. So what gives? Maybe water weight, i dont know. All i know is that i have to stick to it or i end up worse than before. So i am trucking along. I have lost 24, only to gain back 5 of it this week. Big bummer.

I used to get REALLY hungry after workouts but i dont anymore. I dont know what the difference is. ALthough i used to exercise in the morning but now i exercise at night, so maybe that makes a difference. I exercise after i eat dinner, where as i used to exercise before lunch, so by lunch i was STARVED.

My good food tip for you is speghetti squash...double yum.

Hi,

When I started to work out two months ago I felt the effects very fast. I was specially proud of my tights. I thought "Wow, this is working. Look at these tights the muscle is growing an growing" and then I proceeded to eat my next big plate of pasta . The truth is I was overeating while being absolutely sure I was doing all perfectly . My tights were wider but not because of the muscle... I was gaining fat... and weight!. Doing exercise is a must to lose weight but at the beggining we normally eat more because we think we have won it!. Now I'm using fitday and I know when I'm overeating. It has been of great help for me. Good luck! You're doing a great job and you're going to see the effects soon if you control your intake .

For me, I know that I have to be careful on the days I exercise because for some reason it some how triggers this "Hey, I exercised so I can eat basically what I want today" mentallity.

I read somewhere that when you exercise you are actually damaging muscles on the celluar leval and that the rest period between sessions allows the muscles to repair themselves and become stronger. That in the beginning, your muscles will retain water because of the damage. But after awhile it gets to feeling better and isn't so piggish about the water (Oh, that last part was my version of how it goes-there's probably a more scientific defination somewhere.)

Scales lie, go by how you feel and how your clothes fit. Take your measurements now and again on a monthly basis. It will track your weight loss journey much better then the scale.

Good luck
Sarah

Oh guys, this is awsome..people who are just like me. Thank you all for replying I did not know if it worked or not. Get n Healthy..how do you cook spaghetti squash? Mokenju..Sounds like I am not alone..hopefully I will find the balance..and I nn to stop making the fat stuff for me and my family.

Yeah, I do nn to ditch the scale for a while..I weigh every single day..sometimes 2 or 3 times.

When you do weigh yourself, you should always weigh yourself in the morning right after you wake up, at the same time and preferably after using the restroom. This way you get a consistent reading and your body is totally empty from sleeping and no food intake.

Although I'm not on WW I can feel your pain. Wanting to see immediate results is normal and I too tend to hop on the scales everyday. I'm currently using South Beach and in Phase 1 and I'm pretty sure I'll see a weight difference day to day. Now when I go into Phase 2 thats a different story.

If your constant weight checking is putting you into a moody slump (depression is a little harsh for what I think you may be going through), hide your scale for 6 out of 7 days a week and make a note to yourself to always weigh yourself on one day a week.

Are you currently attending the WW meetings? If so, from what I understand they weight you at each meeting. Consider that day your "Official Weigh In."

Do not be afraid to visit the WW forums. There's tons of information and women that are dieting & exercising just like you that are there.

I'm not sure what your eating schedule is like, but I have found that eating snacks that are high in protien and fiber plus drinking water helps cut cravings and keep me energized. For protien try fat free turkey with vegtables and for fiber try almonds. Almonds with glasses of water is an excellent "filler" because the fiber expands when you drink water after consuming them thus making you feel fuller longer. Fiber also helps you stay regular.

I'm also not sure if you are on the points plan or not. If so, try to spread out your points evenly throughout the day and if you feel a craving, reach for anything that's on your "freebie" list. This will curb your craving without doing major damage to your meals later in the day that you'll need those points for.

I hope this helped. My future mother in law has done a really great job with WW and I'm basing a lot of my knowledge from success that she has had. Don't be afraid to send me a message if you need a picker upper!

Hello 50down!

I'm 42, married with two kids and thought I would have all this behind me at 40.
This year I was determined to succeed. I have been walking and watching my portions since January and have lost 16 pounds. I did not have a loss during the month of August. When I first started exercising I gained 5 pounds! I kept telling myself that I was doing this to get healthy no matter what. Slowly I decreased my food intake and also increased my water consumption.........but it took a long time (months) to get this weight loss going. One month I lost 5 pounds and some only 1 or 2. The great thing is....I'm still smaller than in January and feel great!

Keep going, girl. You can do it. Do it for YOU! You deserve to feel and look great. This is the best time of our lives.

I highly second that protien and fiber are extremily important to feeling full and losing cravings.

To cook speghetti squash, just peirce the skin with a fork a few times. Cut it in half length wise, turn it cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes then shred it out. Put the shredded stuff in a collander to prevent it from being mushy, then pour your best chunky marinara on top and enjoy. Yum considering it is only about 35 cals a cup. I might make that tonight actually.

Could you post a day's menu so we could see what you eat? You should not be hungry on WW if you are following the guidelines and not using points for a lot of snack-type foods, desserts and wine.

I found that exercising strenuously in the early evening (my witching hour for food) so that I'm really hot, sweaty and thirsty is the best way to exercise. I know they say to do it first thing in the morning, but I get better results in the evening, eat better (because I'm not into food when I'm so hot, tired, and sloshing from guzzling water) and sleep a lot better, too.

I limit myself to only 1400 calories per day (which is up from 1200 when I first started), so I have to time my exercise very carefully to ensure that I have enough fuel to complete my workout without being famished. This means I generally try to exercise no more than 1 to 2 hours after I last ate. If I know I'm going to go to the gym at 4:00 PM and I ate lunch at noon, I'll eat a low calorie energy bar or another low calorie snack at around 2:00 PM (making sure to count the snack towards my calories for the day). When I was running outside (as it sounds like you might be), this was particularly important because otherwise I would get halfway through the run and be famished (making it a real struggle to finish the run).

I also plan to have a small snack immediately after exercising (usually 1/2 cup plain NF yogurt and fresh fruit), unless it's meal-time and then I just eat whateven meal I have planned (for example, if I exercise in the early AM, I just eat my regular breakfast when I am done) . This snack is carefully measured and counted towards my calories for the day, so that I don't go over my calorie limit. I have read that it's good to eat something immediately after working out because your metabolism is more efficient at that time. But you have to make sure that you aren't overeating.

When I started working out, about a year ago, I had this fantasy that I would lose weight through exercise alone. It just doesn't work that way. To lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than you burn. There are lots of different ways to do this (WW, counting calories, south beach, etc.) but if you aren't restricting your diet at all, chances are weight loss is going to be a long, slow journey, if you get there at all.

Here are the types of snacks I eat on a regular basis:
- Fresh fruit (try your local farmers market)
- Low cal popcorn
- nuts (in moderation)
- fat free, plain yogurt
- laughing cow cheeses
- Low cal energy bars. Balance makes 100 and 200 calorie bars that are great, Pria makes 110 and 170 calories bars that are great, Be Powered makes a 150 calorie bar that is so-so on taste but has a lot of protein for the calories/carbs in it, Zone Perfect makes 80 and 200 calories bars that are great.

Fresh veggies, plain or dipped in hummus or salsa, also make great snacks although I usually eat them as a supplement to my meals rather than a snack.

- Barbara

That would be a good idea. Isn't it better on WW to have freebie foods for snacks?

BTW glad to see I'm not the only one from Yorktown thats here!

Thanks to everyone for responding. I believe I will try Barbara's idea to time when I eat and definitely have a snack planned out. Thanks again to everyone and have a wonderful weekend.
Jodie

Couple of things,
after working out gift yourself a lo cal/no cal treat. Sugar free italian ice for example.
Drink lots of H2O. A favorite thing of mine, when I want to eat an entire cheese cake is to have a tall frosty iced decaf coffee with skim and fake sweetener.
Benifiber is swell, adds fiber without the nastry grit, points, calories....
My work out buddy is a powerhouse but she can't seem to get into "shape", she confessed to eating whatever, whenever.......... I started WW and when the 1st week is up and I have lost weight, I bet she'll join too!
It's all about support!
PS, I'm 41, three kids, boys, I have been a wedding cake designer with a business for the past 4 years and a pastry chef for the past 20 yrs.
I can count the 40 lbs for the last 4 years of stress, cake, icing, stress, chocolate.....It isn't pretty.......let's not even get into the cholestereal issue.

50 down, you are gonna do great because you have the support and the passsion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!