Yee Haw! Today was my weigh-in and measure day, and I'm so pleased! In the five weeks I've been following my weight loss program, I've dropped 14 pounds. Also, I have lost 2-1/4 inches from my waist, 1-1/2 inches from thighs, and 1/2 inch from my upper arms! Whee! I just feel great! Also, my BMI dropped from 34 to 31.

Start Wt: 5/24/04, 196 pounds
Current Wt: 7/5/04, 182 pounds
Goal Wt: 145 pounds
Height: 5'4"

The way I have done this so far is by sticking to my "phase 1" program like glue! I did not deviate from it once in the past 5 weeks.

As you can see, I have a lot more to lose, but I'm determined to make it. I will go to any lengths!

Being able to visit 3fatchicks has really helped as well! Thanks, gals.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!




Keep up the good work till you reach


kisses
maat

Good for you!!! Congratulations!!! You said that you are sticking to phase I...which diet are you doing? South Beach?

Thanks, Maat and EBPlus3!

I'm not doing South Beach--I was doing a program I found on the Internet called SunSlim. It is a really basic low-fat diet without many choices, but that was what I needed to get started. I am thinking of switching to South Beach because the SunSlim program seems to only add carbohydrates and subtract proteins for the Phase 2, and some of the choices don't seem that healthy to me. For example, eat 5 Snackwells as a "snack" mid-morning. (Yikes! There goes the glycemic index!) But I'm going to try modifying the Phase 2 first.

I'm keeping going! JayEll

Hi Jayell,
I'm on my 1st day of the sunslim diet and I have to admit that it's not bad at all! I am 5"3 and weigh 145 lbs...trying to get down to about 120 or so, so hopefully I will get there in about 3 months. You inspired me so maybe we can both be each other's inspiration on this journey! I also exercise....1 hr of brisk walking and calisthenics. So I hope that we can support each other and anyone else who is trying this diet.
mariana1103.

Hey, Mariana! Great to see you! Thanks for posting. I am now down 18 pounds from where I started, but I'm on a plateau for the last couple of weeks, it seems. It didn't help that we had a hurricane down here (Fla.) and that threw everyone's plans off for days. I'm just about to leave on vacation, too--so trying to eat according to plan could be challenging. Wish me luck!

I hope you find SunSlim works as well for you! I have been following the Phase 2 part for awhile, and sometimes going back to the Phase 1 part to help things along. The hardest part for me was the egg whites. Can't stand them, so I used the Designer Whey powder instead. I do like the egg white omelet that allows one whole egg, along with a slice of turkey. It seemed like riches the first time I had one after so many days.

One of my "staples" is to add salsa to foods--e.g., Green Mountain Gringo. The flavor is exciting, helps keep things from getting too blah, and has no fats and very few calories. Not heavy on carbs, either.

I am 5'4" and I started at 196, as you know, in May. Now I'm at 178, and I'd really like to see some movement soon.

So, I expect you'll have good results getting to your goal. I got to 178 in early August, so that was 18 pounds in about 12-13 weeks.

Keep going!
Jay

Thanks so much for the support! I need it!! I come up with every excuse not to watch what I eat but my clothes are getting tighter so I need to shed these pounds! I have been hungry at times but opted for sugar free gum and water. I will definitely let you know how I'm doing. So you never ever cheated right?? Way to go! This will inspire me!! Keep up the good work, you'll get to your goal in time! Hopefully I'll get there too!
Mariana.

Hey Mariana,

Good for your for keeping on. No, I didn't cheat, not even once, in the first five weeks. Since then I have had some difficult times--went on vacation, and I live in Florida where we have been playing Dodge the Hurricane all month. And I "fell off" my program. So I have gained some weight back. But now I'm back on track again. I hope you do really well! Stay with it!

Jay

Hey,
How are you doing? It's been a while since I wrote because I started Atkins, lost 5lbs in the 1st week, then gained it all back in the 2nd even though I stuck to plan. SO I am pretty peeved right now...trying just a low fat, 1500 calorie diet plus exercise and weight training. I weighed yesterday and was at 155 lbs...SAD! I don't think I was 145 when I started Sunslim though! I am scared to try it again though....help...do you really think sunslim works??

Sad, upset and feeling very fat,
Mariana.

Hey Marianna,

You sound pretty discouraged. Well, my story goes like this so far: I lost 18 pounds using SunSlim. Then came a hurricane (I live in Fla.), a vacation for over two weeks during which there was another hurricane here, then back home in time for ANOTHER hurricane scare. My food plan went right out the window, which is probably the worst thing I could have done. Everything else but not the food plan would have been a better way to go.

When I got back from vacation I was up 13 pounds. Now that's enough to freak anyone out. I think there was a lot of water weight involved. I got right back onto my program, plus I added the FitDay daily calculator to watch calorie intake. You do not have to count calories on SunSlim, just follow the plan, but I was curious. Yesterday, after two weeks, I had lost 7 pounds. That's why I think a lot was water weight.

It sounds like you are going back and forth from one program to another. My suggestion would be that you choose one program and stick with it for longer than two weeks.

SunSlim does work, and what I like about it is that the foods are common ones you can find anywhere, there are no recipes with fancy, expensive foods, and it tells you what to eat and when to eat it.

It's important that you follow the instructions, even the one that says weigh yourself when you start and then do not weigh yourself for 5 weeks. If someone is used to jumping on the scale every morning to get the good or bad news, this will take some discipline, but it is really important not to weigh that often. You know what happens--you see no loss or a gain and decide it's not working. So hide that scale. I don't own one, so I have to go to the supermarket to weigh, and that helps.

Good luck! Hang in there! Don't give up!

Jay

SW: 196
CW: 184
GW: 145

Hey guys. I was reading over all the posts about this topic and it sounds like this is what I have been looking for. I did the Atkins thing about 6 months ago. I did manage to lose 30 pounds, but gained it all back and then some. My problem with Atkins was like you said the "fancy" receipes and hard to find food items. The low carb thing totally stinks, no bread, no pasta, and so on unless you make it from scratch using Atkins apporved ingredients. I don't have time for that. Anyways, I'm going to look up the "SunSlim" diet and see if it's right for me. I'm in need of some searious direction when it comes to a diet plan, so maybe this one will work. Any replies or suggestions are 100% welcome!!!

Cin

Welcome! SunSlim is very basic and doesn't allow a lot of variety, at least during Phase 1, but for me that was a good thing.

The important thing for me has been to realize that I have to change the way I eat all the time, every day. The tendency, especially in this culture, is to want to have treats all the time "just because I can."

If you watch TV you are constantly bombarded by pizza ads, ice cream ads, cola ads... and so on. But funny how the actors in the ads are all normal size people, isn't it? I guess they don't want to show what happens if you really do eat that much pizza all the time, eh?

Well, enough rambling! Good luck!

Jay

Hope all you FL ladies are staying safe. Congratulations on the first 5 wks.

Awesome progress!! Keep up the great work!