You all are doing so well and I am happy this thread is going strong. I check daily on this thread just read motivational info and to see how everyone is doing.
For myself i am still stuck at 278 - 269 or so. I plan on purchasing items hopefully by the beginning of the month. Glad to see all the newbies and that everyone is still doing great.

I just received my Starter Pack yesterday and I am going to do the NL plan for the next 2 days, my fiancee is on board and wants to support me so yayy! There was something about receiving the products that feel REAL for me, like here it is, work it! I am thinking of bringing my entire protein shake stash home to my mother this weekend who needs them for her weight loss regimen so I can order WS/NL maybe on Monday because I want to do the plan as outlined, and not a home grown version of it. The lean and green still has me nervous but I am thinking of adopting Jen's doc's plan of 2 weeks on full supplements. The NL workbook mentions that is a good idea to do the first 2 weeks as well I am so excited ladies! Have a great on plan day - Love, Val

One more question, I drink coffee every morning, have been addicted to coffee for 14 years. I have only gone without coffee one day in 14 years and had a headache so bad I wanted to die. So needless to say, I cannot get off it (until I get pregnant one day, God bless my husband, he will need to run far away)...I drink mine with coffee cream, usually the sugar free. Right now I have a small bottle of Pumpkin Spice which has sugar but I would use such a tiny amount, maybe not even a serving...What kind of coffee cream do you think I can have on this plan? Fat free half & half, sugar free coffee-mate?

Mollymai: Hope we'll see more of you round these parts. Especially if you're struggling. I have a strong suspicion the gals here are really great at helping folks dig themselves out of the mental trench we sometimes find ourselves in!

Val: LOVE the enthusiasm, sister! Glad the products have arrived and that you've got the familial support you need to get started. I really do recommend the two week jump start and then looking at adding your L&G dinner in. That way you really give your body the opportunity it needs to adjust to your new way of eating and living. As always let us know if we can help!

Another great morning here. Super swamped at work again, so who knows how much I'll actually get done that I've planned to do. (I'm sure you all know that feeling!) Scale was holding pretty steady this morning at 159.3! Still hoping to be there or, dare I say it, a slight bit lower for my official weigh in on Saturday morning. I'm always anxious about getting into a new "decade" until I'm well and safely below the start of the old one. So I won't really feel comfortable that I'm done with the 160s until I get down to 158 or lower... *fingers crossed* that I'm on my way there!

Hope all of you lovely ladies have a great day!

Jen

Good morning girls!! Bbbbrrrrr it's chilly outside here in TN!!! It was 59 when I left the house but is suppose to warm up to the low 70's!

OMG is that REALLY MOLLY????? Girl...where have you been??? It's soooo good to see you again!!!

Val - can't help w/ coffee - I don't do coffee; but I do use a bit of instant decaf in my shakes - YUM-O!!! Makes them a frappe!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful day! I'm going to a Taste of Home Cooking show tonight! Can't wait...I know I'll be getting a bag full of samples, recipes and COUPONS!!! After the show they give away the stuff they've prepared AND the appliances too...I'd SO love a new stove or fridge!!! OR one of the many many bags of groceries they give away (even though I have NO idea where I'd put them - with all my couponing excursions lately!!)...

There can be absolutely no doubt that losing this weight, getting more protein (and vitamins too) has helped to motivate me. I just signed up for National Write a Novel in a Month!! Starting next month, the goal is to write 50,000 words to create a novel. I really only have 3 weeks rather than a month due to guests/conferences, etc.!!! So I will need to push that much harder!

And I'm getting into my genealogy again. I've joined a group at our church which meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays we usually have SS2, so I won't be going to that, but I'm game for Thursdays. And I will probably join Ancestry.com so I can research from the comfort of my own home!

Wow halfway through Day 1 of my Starter Pack from New Lifestyles and this may sound silly, but THIS IS A LOT OF FOOD lol I am like, wow I still have 3 supplements and a bar left PLUS 8 ounces of meat and 2 cups of vegetables! I am not hungry, in fact, working to get it all in. What makes this filling to me is leaving everything as a pudding. I have been eating it with a Gerber baby spoon and it makes the "meal" feel so long Before, I did everything as a watery shake and I think it moved right through me. One thing I have learned from the Starter Pack (it is entirely shakes and bars) is that I will need a lot of the SALTY/SAVORY flavors when I order the actual Kit on Monday. I am going to enjoy the pasta/soups/pretzels I think. And the shakes too of course but I will look forward to the variety of the other options. According to NL, I get 8 ounces of lean, so I just went to Wally and bought 2 lbs of extra lean ground turkey. I can eat 8 whole ounces of that, which is really like 2 turkey burgers! And I bought some zucchini which I adore. So I am not letting this lean and green scare me TOO bad !

You know, it's an amazing thing: suddenly you find you're not obsessing over what to eat next, or beating yourself up for having over-eaten, or recovering from a crappy night of sleep because you went to bed with your stomach too full (again). And suddenly you realize that your body feels good...it feels lighter...and you have more energy. And then suddenly, just suddenly, you realize there's a whole world out there that you're just itching to be a part of!

Good for you Meg, for following your passions! Life, after all, is meant to be lived to its fullest!

-Jen

Yes it's me rofl. I am still here and check the thread daily just don't post.

Day 1 on Wonderslim and really having to make myself eat. I did the omellette this morning at work, but realized I cooked it on high and so I over cooked it. I will try again tomorrow. But I did order 2 boxes of cereal today just in case I need to return the omellette. But the spicy cheesy mac was good for lunch and so far so great. I am not hungry at all.

The hard part will be resisting the urge to weigh myself everyday!

Jen your posts inspire me so much! I have 76 lbs to lose to make my goal. And walking through the mall and catching my reflection is what did it. I immediately decided to make a change. So I can't wait until that reflection makes me happy!

Hurray, Erin! So glad you found us!

I wouldn't discourage you from weighing yourself every day, unless you're the type who gets discouraged easily with the normal (though slight) ups and downs that occur in the course of a week. As I've mentioned here before, I'm a daily weigher and have been since starting my program a year ago. In the past, 'veI found that not weighing myself daily is part of what got me in trouble. (Too easy for things to get really out of control when you aren't faced with reality!) Plus, as long as you're honest and you stay on program, you'll find most days you're either down or the same...which I actually find to be pretty darned motivating! As in all cases, we have to figure out what works best for us, but if sneaking a peek at the scale each day helps you stay on track, then I say go for it!

So glad that I've been able to inspire you as you begin your journey. You CAN do this.

Try to break the 75 pounds or so you want to lose into manageable chunks (so that your goal doesn't seem so far away) and you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you progress. When I started, I had 101 pounds to lose, which just seemed unfathomable to me. So instead of focusing on that big number, I broke it into smaller, 10 pound goals, with milestones scattered throughout. For example, I started at 236. So every time I get to a XX6 number, another 10 pounds is gone and that's one reason for celebration. Then there were the other milestone numbers for me: Getting to 218 was the weight I was before I hurt my feet. Getting under 200 was great for obvious reasons. Getting to 193 was college graduation weight. 180 was wedding weight. 173 was the lowest weight I'd seen in my dieting efforts since college. 163 was the weight I was on my first day of college. 160 is the weight on my driver's license...and so and so on. THESE are the very milestones and goals that are going to keep you going. And, before you know it, that 76 pounds will be gone for good And you're not just going to like your reflection then, you're going to LOVE it...and, more importantly, your really going to love yourself.

So glad the first day of your new, healthier lifestyle is going well. I know I speak for everyone when I say we're looking forward to getting to know you and to supporting you on your journey.

-Jen

Meg I am doing NaNoWriMo too! This will be my 2nd year doing it. I have a short story that I am going to try to throw into a novel this go round. November is my busiest month with with school and work so NaNo tends to get pretty tricky for me.

Ok, ALL of my food is here. I have absolutely no place to put it in my kitchen, so I am just going to have to eat out of the boxes! Oh well. Whatever you got to do, right?

Normally I would not start a diet on a weekend, but I always like to weigh in on Saturdays, that way you had the whole week to "undo" the slips on the weekends. It worked for me with Weight Watchers. haha. I have decided go ahead and start tomorrow and just see how it goes. I don't want to wait any longer!

Totally hear you on the space issue! I have one shelf in our pantry that's completely full, another two that I've kinda taken over with a box here or there, and the rest is in four giant boxes in the basement. All those little packets take up a lot of room in their original packaging!

One thing I do which helps a bit is I create my own "variety" packs. Keeps me from eating the same flavors of things day after day, and one mixed box of shakes, for example, takes up a lot less space than five separate boxes.

Hopefully this time around your Saturday weigh-ins will encourage you to set the tone for the week by giving you an extra opportunity for activity with your family, time to plan your meals for the week, etc. Much better use of your time than using the week ahead to "undo" the damage caused by slips. Trust me, you'll get much better results if you abandon that mentality from the get-go!

-Jen

As far as the space issue goes, if you guys have a door near your kitchen you can get one of those shoe organizer things that hangs on the door. That's what I use and it works out pretty well.

Did another 90 minute work out today. Today's Zumba class was much harder than Tuesdays...different teacher. Once again, felt like an uncoordinated cow....lol Oh well...eventually I'll just feel uncoordinated...lol it was fun though, I'm going to make this my Tues/Thurs ritual!