Lisa, let's just call you WONDER WOMAN, girl! for you for getting to your goal this week. Way to go, so proud of you. You feel the wind, but you don't bend! You're so right about the mood that dieting can put you in ... you feel like going off on everybody like one of those cartoon alarm clocks, jangling in all directions ... but you CAN'T! You're inspiring me, lady.

Good news for me today from the scale. It had dropped over a pound so now I am at 218 (.8 ), and hope not to see an increase again. I walked for the second day in a row today. So things are looking brighter!

Trace, hope you are having a good day, and that yesterday went well for you. Calories ... for me it's an ongoing battle to stay at a certain level. I believe 1300 is about right for a tall girl like me to see 1 to 2 lbs. off every week, but I'm always bumping 1800 - 1900 so that's why I lose so slowly! I WILL LOSE THE WEIGHT EVENTUALLY BUT IT WILL TAKE FOREVER!

Losing, hope you are having a great day and getting back on track! We can never give up; one day something clicks and we start to make progress again ...

Gotta go shop, girls! You know, attend to the important stuff ...

Olivia

day! just checking in. My stupid scale is still not moving ...arrrghh!
however I did go to walmart and try on those 16's I was talking about and they fit and umm, those were 16 regulars, not 16w's, tee hee. Pretty excited about that. I tried on a couple different pairs in different styles just to be sure I didn't find that one pair that were funky and looser fitting lol! And they fit... Can you tell I am pretty excited about that?! I can't believe I am saying 'down' to 16 and excited all in the same sentence.
I guess for now, I am sticking to the 12-1400 calories. I am too nervous to think about going down this early in the game.
well, I must go vote now. hope you all have a great day. will check in later.
hugs
tracyg

Just checking in to say that I'm on my way to bed, and have held my calories to about 1360, wonderful for me! I will walk again tomorrow. I'm going away for a long weekend, on Thursday, with many temptations so I will just try not to gain any ... don't know if I'll be losing or not. But I must learn to *watch it* when I travel as well as when I'm home. I will be checking in with you ladies though ... Have a good night, all! (P.S.: Tracy, that scale will move SOON! )

Olivia

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

First five pounds off! The scale dropped that other .8 pound, so now it's solidly five. YESSSSSSSSSSSS! Happy person residing here today ...

Hope we will see Hotbikini, SockMoney, Losing, SugarBaby, GotWork (where are you? ), Maeminglea, etc. again. Girls, if you're around, please drop in and say hi, no matter if you're on program or not! We miss you! Please, anyone reading this thread who'd like to join us, do hop right in. We'd love to have you!

for us all!

Olivia

feel so awesome!
Just checking in on this wednesday. Hope everyone has a really great day!
As for me, I am getting so frustrated, the scale finally moved today...UP! a pound...wth?????? I swear I am being sooooo good. I have not binged, I have stayed at or below 1300 max...usually 1200 or below. I have exercised 5/7 days. What gives????????

yesterday looked like this I got up, puttered around for a few minutes, then did my watp dvd, did lower body weights, did some shopping and some yard work, then walked about 25 min on the track while waiting on dd to finish at gymnastics.

Food:
bkfast: missed it because I was busy, dh was home from work which threw me off too. I NEVER miss bkfast lol. That was a first for me.

Lunch: tuna wrap (flat out:90c Tuna: 150, mayo:45, vegies(LTO) 25)
tangelo:100
___________________________
total: 410


Dinner: salad 35c
chicken breast 4oz 200c.
dressing 60.
sm potatoe 100
butter 110
________________________________
total: 505

snack: sm cone from mcd's 150
5 strawberries? 100?
_________________________________
total: 250

Day's total: 1165........where am I going wrong? lunch and dinner are generally chicken or fish and some salad, with the occasional rice or baked potatoe. sometimes soup or wrap for a lunch.....
I don't always have the ice cream treat, and I usually have oatmeal for breakfast at 150c.......

what do you all think?????? I honestly am looking at it and going that really isn't too bad, what the heck is the deal with the scale for pete's sake?
ARRGGGGGG!
Ok, enough whining. I'm not going to binge or go off the deep end. I'm just gonna keep at it and hope for better results.....

Thanks for any input
Tracyg

Tracy, you're doing NOTHING wrong! Don't go any lower ... your body will backfire, and hang on harder to the fat. The same thing is happening with both of us, in our individual ways. Your body will eventually release the weight but not on our desired schedule. We KNOW that we are eating half (probably much less) of what we were before ... so we know our body is changing. This is the point where we need to leave that scale in the closet and go a few days without weighing. It's happening, girlfriend ... you just don't see it on the scale yet!

Hi ladies,
I'm on program I didn't give up. I can't give up this time I have to much riding on this to give up completely. Monday after stuffing my face with the left overs I woke up Tuesday starving and as hard as it was got myself back on track. I was up to 245 again tuesday but this morning dropped another half an pound that gave me the boost to keep on keeping on.....No more junk what so ever in this house and I'm going to keep it that way until I gain more control. I need to go food shopping as well but I'm not sure I have that kind of control yet ....I'm going to hold off a couple a days. My husband and daughter may not be happy about it but they will live

Tracy- Thanks for the the advice. I did talk to my husband about how mad he made me leaving me with everything and even if I don't think he understood why I was so mad we are over it. I'm sure he will think twice before planning any BBQ's anytime soon.
You may not be getting enough calories. If you can find the will to do so try adding more calories and see what happens. You never know though you could lose two pounds within and day or two staying in the 1200-1400 calories range. Are you getting enough water? What about your period is she close to being due?

Olivia~ have fun this weekend. I know how hard it is to get over those long weekends. Try and have fun though if this isn't something you do all the time... enjoy yourself. You can always bust your butt when you get back home. I bet you will do great though. I wish I had your will power

Lisa- How are you doing? We all have days like that....add myself X2. I love everything at the gym. Thats why I like it so much I can change around and I'm not stuck at one thing everyday. I'm not sure when i can get to the gym though. I think my stupid self got into a babysitting job for the summmer. I haven't signed any contracts though so maybe she will find someone else to watch the kids. Don't know why I always put my foot in my mouth with those kind of things. I feel bad say yes then think about it later.

Did anyone watch Oprah last night? Dr oz was on....thought I would share if you all didn't watch it. We all need 25 grams of fiber to keep things running smoothly. Highest natural fiber foods are beans, peas, walnuts and pears. Just a serving of 3 of those a day will get your fiber in. Not everyone has to drink the 6-8 glasses or water...when your pee is clear your body is getting enough..... no matter how many glasses you drank. Keep your bloodpressure in check when thats healthy your body is on track. Exercise does a body good. Get as much of it as you can. That show has me back into the healthy kick and most healthy foods are low in fat.... all great diet foods.
We are about to get a rain storm. We need it so bad fires are everywhere down here. Will check back in with you all tomorrow ..have a great evening ladies.

doing. My scale still isn't moving down, but I am feeling more positive today.
My mom gave me some cash for mother's day and the kids needed some stuff, so got that, but also got me a new pair of sneakers. My old ones were in sad shape and were a few years old I bought myself a skirt (size 16 ) and a new shirt. My dd has a gymnastics banquet on Sunday so needed something 'spiffy casual' to wear as it's not a real formal deal. Well, I suppose I should go and get my exercise in, it's arm day and cardio today....yippee..
Hope everyone has a good day! Stay strong!
Huggies
tracyg

Olivia, Thanks! What you said made my morning.
I won't tell my kids somebody gave me balloons
or they'll get really jealous.

Tracy, Let's hear it for the difference between
16W and 16, and for the difference in your figure
as you shrink!

Losing, I had a good day, Thanks! I wonder if my ultra irritable
day was partly from not enough water? (!!) I had some
soup with salt for brunch/snack this morning, and that
made me thirsty, but somehow the thirst never went
away and I was drinking like crazy all day long. Was I
out of touch with my thirst before? And today
I felt the best I've felt in many days. The hunger
and "need" wasn't very bad at all. Or maybe i felt good
because I did my exercise morning instead of evening.
Whatever the reason, I like it. May I please have
another of those days tomorrow?

I need to rant about scales. Bear with me here.

Not only is the scale totally one-dimensional, but
everything it measures is totally haywire when a
diet/exercise program is getting established. I'm
always hearing warnings about how it's misleading
if you lose water weight during the initiation of a
diet. But I rarely hear how the scale is misleading
when you take up a new exercise program and build muscle.
Especially when I'm heavy, I can build a serious number
of pounds of muscle with just the most basic exercises
involving strength. I'm honestly convinced I can build
4-5 pounds a month of muscle, if I'm heavy and if
I'm starting from sedentary. If I lift weights, I can
do the same rate for 2 months, or that's what I believe.
Maybe other women don't get that as much, but my body
gains strength easily. Endurance seems impossible but
strength I can do.

Anyway, I think we owe it to ourselves to veto the
scale if it's not contributing to the goal. If it
doesn't acknowledge our reduced-intake eating (which we
know is important and effective and the right thing to
do) and if it doesn't encourage us when we exercise
more, then it deserves to go to jail for 30 days.
For a household appliance to undermine a person's weight
loss with misleading pseudo-information, I think 30
days is very lenient.

As a statistical average, people who weigh themselves weekly
*OR LESS OFTEN* have better weight loss outcomes than
people who weigh more than weekly.
My problem is I mis-use this advice and avoid the scale when my
behavior is bad and my weight is increasing for a reason.
But now that it's improving, I'm extremely naughty. I adore my scale and
I stare longingly at its numbers twice a day. Somebody call a
doctor if I start caressing it.

Lisa

Lisa~ We may need to see the same doctor. If the scale says I lost even half a pound my day goes wonderful. If it shows a gain I'm on the edge ready to break. If it stays the same watch out I could go either way. This morning it showed a gain so I was pretty bummed but I drank tons of water last night... mostly because thats all we have in the house. I took a short nap woke up and what is the first thought? Weight myself I did and it was the same as yesterdays. So it was probably the water making it's way out of my body. Today has been crazy so I really haven't had the time to think about it...not sure what tomorrow will bring though

Tracy~ New clothes and in a smaller size... what could make a better shopping day I long to be in a size 16 anything. I'm in a huge 26 YES THATS RIGHT 26. Last year at this time I was in a 22. Two sizes in one year. I can still fit in some of my 24's....Until I'm under 22 I will not have to do any shopping at all. I was going thru some clothes yesterday and found one I hadn't seen in ages I thought WOW that looks small what size is that? It was an XL I thought an XL was small.

Losing - You said you're trying to get out of a babysitting job
for the summer, and that the babysitting job would keep you from
getting to the gym regularly? Oh, I really hope you find a way to
do whatever it takes, remove obstacles, say no to people, whatever,
to get to the gym, because then those muscles will be burning calories
day and night for you, all through the summer and into the next season.
If you actually enjoy your workouts, in ANY way,
that's a really precious rare gift for your program and your future,
a habit you can nurture, and it'll give you so many more options for
choosing your foods. Plus it'll keep your blood sugar steady, prevent
depression, reduce the discomfort of hunger, as well as making you
healthier and leaner. Don't let exercise slip out of your schedule
accidentally. Consider it a prior obligation that all future commitments
will have to work around. Don't give it up!!!!

Lisa, calm down, take a deep breath. But exercise is so easy to hate,
and I put so much effort into avoiding it. It seems a horrible crime to
let a fun type of exercise get sidetracked, especially if you could afford
for it to become a habit. --- I say "afford" because most fun forms
of exercise for me would involve downhill skiing or snorkeling in Hawaii.

Lisa

Hey Ladies - I wrote a few weeks ago and found it hard to find y'all again. I've been trying to catch up by reading your posts and y'all support each other so much!! Weight loss sucks - but it is so good to read about your progress. I had a tough week - It sounds like an excuse even as I'm writing - But I was out of town on business and all the coworkers were eating really horrible and I just gave in. I was absolutely shocked when my scale didn't go up this week. Which baffles me because sometimes I think I do really good with my calorie intake and exercise and my scale may go up a pound or two. But Hey, I'm just thankful I've maintained and now I got to get back on track.

Losing - It sounds like you might be busy this summer with the kids. I like the option on My Fit Day because it counts all activity for calories burned. So if you take the kids on a long walk in the stroller - You can track calories burned that way. Or if the kids older you can run around the playground with them. I like to see how much vacuuming or yard work burns - I find it encouraging - However I'm still lazy when it comes to house work, but it gives me a little more incentive/ positive reinforcement.

I hope y'all have a great weekend!!!

Hey ladies!

I'm *on the road* on a long weekend trip, have been to the Carolina coast, and am now in the mountains. Unfortunately, I have not stayed with my diet but at the same time, I have not *pigged out* as I usually do on a trip. Must really get with it on Monday when I'm back in my kitchen. I just wanted to say hi, that I'm pulling for everybody to have more willpower than me ... I've been doing "touristy walking" so maybe I've burned up some of my excess eating.

Maeminglea, so glad to see you back with us. Was hoping you'd pop back in. Don't beat yourself up over your time away; it's so hard to diet when traveling.

Lisa, Trace, Losing ... you girls hang in there! We can all do this ...

Olivia

We're probably going on a 3-week vacation in August. It'll be our first trip
to the USA since 2005, and my big goal for those weeks is to HOLD STEADY.
I won't be able to exercise regularly, on average my only freedom at meals
will be to accept or refuse what's served, and it'll be a big challenge.
But hey, I've recently done several things I never thought I would ever
be able to do in my life, in terms of diet and exercise. I think I can
avoid gaining so soon after all the loss. But whatever happens, I know how
to eat really strictly once I'm back to normal life.

Thumbs up to everybody out there who's away from home and managing
any degree whatsoever of control over their eating. I mean, if you have
no information about what's in each dish, no control over preparation,
or the timing of meals, portions on the plate, or anything else.... Well,
in that kind of environment, if you can generate control from inside
yourself and hang onto it, I consider that a major accomplishment.

My weigh-in this morning was 151.2! That's fabulous but it must be partly
water, hormones, or something superficial. I'll claim 153 (which is enough
for my 2lb goal), and the main thing I'll celebrate is sticking 100% to my
diet plan and keeping to most of my exercise goals.

Next week's weigh-in will be during my TOM, so I'm not having any scale
goal for the coming week either, just the usual diet & exercise goals.
After that, I'll aim for 149.0 lbs on June 4th.

Determined,
Lisa

It is seriously hard not to feel bummed out and cheated. I can't help feeling doomed and why the freak should I bother at this point. The stupid scale is still not moving down. It is has been up as much as 180, then back down to 177 today. I cannot seem to break past that barrier for whatever reason. I am still exercising, still sticking to 1200c. Someone suggested it wasn't enough, so I went back up to 1400 for 3 days last week and subsequently went up to 180...so then I went back to 1200 and am back 'down' to 177...ugh. This so totally sucks. Yesterday my dd had a banquet and I was really good. I cheated by sharing a piece of peanut butter pie with dh and a small square of pretzel salad (which i could taste that they used sf/ff jello and cream cheese...) that's it....
Really, I don't blame you guys if you don't believe me. I would be like really, how can you not be cheating, doing your exercise and not losing all this time?
I've never had this happen before. I understand plateaus but not before I've lost my first 10lbs even....ugh....
ok, I need to go. I've got to get my exercise in. sigh...
hugs
tracyg