Losing Weight in 2008! Thread #2
 

Hi guys,
I took the liberty of starting a new thread since the last one was getting long and no one had posted since yesterday. I hope no one minds too much!

This week will mark the halfway point for January! Or 1/24th of the way through 2008. :dizzy: 2007 flew by so quickly that I am still dizzy :dizzy: and I want to hang onto this year as much as possible.

Today I did pretty good with food and exercise. :carrot: I had fish and it was so easy and so good, why don't I eat it more often? And so good in calories I can eat plenty (and I did, but stayed within reasonable calories).

For the first time since we have owned it (4 years?), I used our bowflex this am. Legs only. Tomorrow I will do arms and alternate. I also ran 3 miles. My legs are TIRED!

Let's kick off a great week!

Thanks, midwife--I was about to start a new thread this morning, so I'm glad I saw yours! I'm going to go post a message at the end of the old one to let people know to come here :)

Well, looks like my voyage on the South Beach Diet has been delayed a bit--we're visiting with Jeff's dad and his family again tonight AND tomorrow night (read: going out to dinner both nights). SBD will have to wait till Wednesday, as I don't trust myself to eat out two nights in a row and only order grilled chicken :devil:

Good morning everyone.

I had a great weekend. I weighed in this am And I am the same weight. But I did go on the treadmill for half hour before I weighed myself. Usually I weigh myself first thing in the morning before anyelse, so I don't know if that will make a difference. I get all my measurments done on Friday a curves so I'll see then how things look.

Midwife: Good for you for getting going on the bowflex, we have one too, but my husband uses it more than me. I enjoy curves instead.

Jill: Enjoy your dinners out. I'm sure you'll have more control than you think.

Have a great day!!

Hey y'all!

It was a pretty productive weekend for me. I was able to get all my laundry done AND PUT AWAY! Plus I did some sorting on my desk, paid some bills, and did some experimenting with my new convection oven!

Although my eating wasn't insanely out of control, I didn't always make good choices. One thing I definitely could have done without was a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips--water retention, anyone? So I am drinking water and green tea like crazy to flush it out.

Anyone watching their carbs? I'm thinking that would probably help me with sugar cravings if I kept my carbs to the good ones like in fruit and whole grains.

Jilly, eating out is soooo hard. Even the best choices really don't turn out to be that great, ya know? Good luck with starting South Beach. Sounds like a good plan.

Jen, I LOL'd cause I can always wash, dry and fold the clothes. Putting them away is another deal altogether!

Soontobe, I am surprised at how sore my quads are today. :-) I'll do upper body today. It really wasn't that time consuming. I wonder what has stopped me all these years? Good for you for going to Curves. I've heard that a lot of people really like it.

Hi guys,

I had my measurments done a few days early at curves last night. I needed a little boost! I am down 3/4 of an inch. Not much, but enough to see there is still something happening after all the hard work I'm doing. I will keep poking along, In the end it will all pay off!

Have a great day!!!

Thanks for the new thread midwife.

I thought it was time to get back on here hopefully to keep me in check. I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and I was up 5lbs. Probably water retention added with not making the best choices last week. Time to start again. I am sensing that I am getting discouraged very easy and need something to kick my butt into gear. I desperately need to find an exercise that I like doing so it will be easier to stick to, but I am in a small town and I am not kidding when I say my options are limited.

Sounds like everyone is doing well, kudos to the weight loss.

Ugh!!!!! Today has been a bad day!!! I did well until lunch and then I lost all control of myself. I was making Mac and Cheese for the kids and Instead of making my own healthy lunch I figured I would have a little serving of the Mac. Big mistake!!!! It ended up being a large bowl, 4 cookies, and some cheese!!!!! What am I doing!!!! I have done well for 3 months now and even did good through the holidays. I never eat what I'm making for the kids, I always make something else for myself. I think I need to avoid the Kitchen for the rest of today, hopefully I can regain control of myself!!!!!

midwife, I ask myself the same thing all the time (I wonder what has stopped me all these years?). When I get ona roll with the healthy eating and/or exercise, it doesn't seem all that difficult. And yet, time and time again, I fall out of the habits and feel like it's impossible to get back into them :dizzy:

soon2beslim, congrats on the lower measurements!! I'm sure you'll regain control after your mac n cheese stray. You sound like you're in a good place--not obsessing over it or freaking out, but rather knowing you need to just get back up and move on.

newstart33, I hear ya on the dificulties of fun activities in a small town. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, and people would suggest I join a gym or a sports league I liked or something. Problem was, none of those things existed in my area! I eventually grew to love Tae Bo and Walk Away the Pounds workout videos--I could do those in any town ;)

As for me, I'm starting Phase 1 of South Beach today. I weighed in this morning to get my official pre-SBD weight, but it said 322, which I think includes a bit of water retention from the past few nights of eating big meals out. I'm going to put 320 as my starting weight and see where Phase 1 brings me (it's a 2-week phase, and "typical" losses are something like 8-14 pounds--I'm sure the higher end applies more to men, those jerks :p).

Hey girls!

Jill: Good luck with South Beach! If it were me, I'd take the 322 and celebrate even the water weight pounds! :)

I have been feeling pretty crappy the last couple of days--so has Alan. I haven't tossed my cookies yet, but I feel like I might! UGH. Definitely not too hungry because of it!

Hi all!

Jen, sorry you're not feeling well. Hopefully it will pass soon and not be too messy as it goes. :hug:

Jilly, good luck with South Beach! I can't wait to hear about your successes :carrot:(and I'll lend an ear for the struggles too---why do they always come up now and again?)

Soontobe, I have blips like that more often than I care to think about. :o Stepping away from the situation and chugging some water can help. Looking at the scale. Visualizing myself at my goal weight.....it's hard!!

NewStart, sorry to hear about the 5 pounds. Maybe they will go away as fast as they came. It does sound like water retention. Have you tried Walking Away the Pounds?

As for me, I had an NSV at the hospital cafeteria today. I stuck to my plan of half a turkey sandwich and a chef salad despite the temptation of something far more caloric (and, sadly, very delicious....but I did NOT plan for it, so I did NOT eat it.)

It's amazing how sometimes this is easy and sometimes it is hard and how somedays I can be so patient and philosophical about lifestyle changes and how some days I feel like a 2 year old. I am ready to see the $*%&#$ scale go down, but I guess it is not ready yet. I shall stay the course, anyhow.

Hi, Ladies :wave:

It seems that I am having a hard time getting here during the week to check-in. I am quietly supporting all of you in the background and will definately find some time on the weekend to catch up !

To all of you that have lost.. congrats !! To all of you that have weigh-ins coming up.. good luck !! And to those of you practicing maintenance.. well done !! Keep on keeping on :D

Louie, we enjoy hearing from you if it's once a day, once a week, or once a month--whenever you get a chance!

midwife, we all hear ya! I have days where I am SO strong (like yesterday--I SO wanted a cheeseburger, but I made sure to take a route that wouldn't make me drive past McD's :devil:), and then days where it's like, forget it, I don't care, I'm having what I want, dammit! Which is very reminiscent of my niece's attitude--she will be 1 later this month :p

Jen, I hope you're feeling better!

As for me, I'm sitting here sipping a glass of V8. Part of South Beach is that you're supposed to eat 4.5 cups of veggies each day. HA! I don't think I normally eat that many veggies in a WEEK! I just don't like 'em. So a glass of V8 gives me 2 servings of veggies, which makes me feel a bit better. I'm also eating salsa on a LOT of things and having broccoli with dinner, so it's a step in the right direction, at least.

I peeked at the scale this morning: 319.5, so at least I've gotten rid of some of that water. We'll see what Day 2 brings...

Hey y'all....

Well I didn't lose my lunch...instead I ended up with diarrhea all day! The only good side of it--I dropped 4 lbs overnight! So I'm at 319 this morning--I'm beatin' you Jilly! :)

Jill: I have to do the V-8 route too...I really don't care for veggies either--I eat them because I have to :(

Midwife: Staying the course is crucial. How often do I give up because the scale isn't giving me approval? That is why I am still over 300 lbs...I must constantly remind myself the scale is JUST A TOOL, not the be-all-end-all of a healthy lifestyle!!

Louie: Keep checking in and telling us how you are!!

So I have a question: what's everyone doing for their exercise? I have DVDs and equipment just begging to be used, but can't get my lazy self off the couch to do it!!

Hi Louie! I hope you're having a good week!

Jilly, good for you for incorporating more veggies. :carrot: It's been a long time since I have had a V-8. Maybe I need to try one again.

Jen, you're right. The scale is a tool. But why do I let it influence my emotions sometimes? :( It's that irrational side of me. Today I was down half a pound from yesterday. Is it a fluctuation? Does it matter? I have been a big fan of daily weighing because I know that ignorance is one way I gained weight. And sometimes I make certain choices because I visualize a lower number on the scale. Maybe I need to move away from numbers and consider another strategy.

As for exercise I run or elliptical most days. And lately I have been doing strength training (it is my first week, but I am surviving!). I'm considering a marathon in October. It will be a lot of work, but I do better when I have a goal in mind.

Exercise? haha, I barely know the meaning of the word. Does picking up the remote to change the channel count? or typing on a computer? :dizzy: I know I'll need to work on that eventually, but right now, I'm just focusing on the food.

Speaking of the food, Day 2 on South Beach Phase 1 has gone pretty well. I had more nuts (pistachios) than I should have had for my afternoon snack, but I didn't throw the whole day away because of it. Jen, I think you were the one who'd asked about calories while on this plan--both yesterday and today, I have stayed below 2000 calories, and that's with eating 6 times a day. My sodium has been very high, though, but I'm hoping that will only be for these 2 weeks on Phase 1 until I can start adding things like fruit back into my plan in Phase 2.

2000 cals is not too bad for your size....I bet you will probably lose big on this!

I've been leaning toward low carbing again.....tonight I had a low carb dinner of salad with ranch dressing, parmesan crusted chicken and broccoli w/hollandaise...yum!!

Hi, Gals :wave:

Managed to get home from work at a reasonable hour tonight. I have had my dinner and am settled in for the night.

Last week I started going to the gym before work, so I have been going to bed early every night. Last night was especially early but I felt revived today, so I must have needed it.

Jill - sounds like SB is going well for you. I have been taking snacks to work and feel like all I do is eat all day long. I should actually figure out what the calories are to know if I am over-doing or not. I just figure ya can't get fat on carrots, so better to have those then the alternative !

Jen - your dinner does sound yummy. I definately eat too many carbs and know when I cut back I actually do feel more clear headed.

Midwife - I am with you on the "scale control". I have told myself numerous times that this time around I am not going to focus on the scale, but everyday there I am starring at the numbers cursing them :devil:

Have a great friday everyone :P

Scales can be soooooooooooooo contrary! :)

Casino night sounds fun! I can't help but laugh though, because it reminds me of that episode of The Office where they had a Casino Night for charity. What a great show!

Louie!! So awesome you have been going to the gym every day this week! Here's to some of your exercise enthusiasm rubbing off on me too!

Midwife: Numbers on the scale get us to do things we would not normally do....like for instance, seeing a loss makes me want to celebrate...with FOOD! Now how weird is that?!?!?

I am back in action. I had a bad day on monday (more like a pity party:() I had to tell myself that even with the 5lb gain I was still down 3lbs so not everything was a total loss. I am down another two so a total of 5 from the beginning.

Jen, I have the same thing, a treadmill and exercise videos stariing at me and every morning I tell myself that I am going to do one and here we are 3 days in and still nothing. This may sound obsurd, but I have been thinking of waiting to exercise until my first plateau. I need to concentrate on the getting the eating habits under check, by the time that is in control I should be at my first plateau. Introducing exercise to my daily routine will kickstart my weight loss again.

Jilly, good for you for mastering day 3. Good luck with casino night.

I am drawing a blank here so I better go eat breakfast. Happy weight loss everyone.

Well, the scale moved!! And the very next thing I did was consider eating my kid's leftover bagel and cream cheese--which was not in my daily plan. :dizzy: I didn't, but yes, the scale can prompt odd behavior! If this new low sticks for awhile I'll change my ticker.

Newstart, that is so interesting what you are considering about the exercise and the plateau. I've been waiting on the scale to move and finally this week, the week I started strength training, it finally did. Who knows? Although what I would really encourage you to do is put in that DVD or get on that treadmill tonight and do 5 minutes. Once you are in the groove you might go longer. :hug:

Jen, I love The Office! DH has watched it for a long time but I just started last month. We have the first 2 seasons on DVD and I watch one or two episodes each week.

Jilly, congrats on day 3! Good luck with the casino night. It sounds fun!

Hellllooo :wave:

Saturday morning and I am up much too early ! Oh well, a good opportunity to do some reading that I don't seem to have much time for during the week. Think I will get to the gym as well when it opens and get my final workout of the week done !!

Jill - sounds like you did great at dinner.. kudos to you :)

Midwife - congrats on the loss - you will be in the 170s in no time !

Newstart - great attitude - appreciate the work that you have put into this journey and the 3 lbs that you have lost and keep moving ahead :)

Jen - hope you are doing well - I'm sending exercise vibes your way :D

Hi everyone! I'm back from Denver now. It sounds like you all are doing so well! Good job!
I hope to catch up to you very soon. I think things will finally settle down for a little bit now! I have a head cold, but I'm hoping it goes away soon. It can't be another reason to not stay on plan!!!

Have a good weekend all!

Jilly, I swear by string cheese as a snack too. When I have one in the afternoon, I don't binge at dinner. Dinner sounded yummo!! Good job staying OP at a restaurant. :carrot::carrot:

Louie! Your comment about the 170s made me a bit emotional. I have been stuck in the 180s since about November. But you are right! The 170s are right around the corner. I will stay on my course. It is slow, but it is WORKING! The other thing that is interesting about me and the 170s is that....I have been there/here before, and then gained it all back. I have gotten down to 174 twice in the past four years, and then....I just stop. Don't have a clue why. Laziness? Some deep desire to sabotage myself? Boredom? :( I wish I could pin down the answer. All I know is that this time I will NOT stop. Stopping is not an option. I am tired of losing this weight over and over and over..... Good job going to the gym!

Hi Diane! Good to see you!

Have a good Sunday, all. :cool:

Hi all,

Sounds like everyone is doing good!! I had a very busy but great weekend with the kids. We stayed in a hotel and did some swimming and played in the activity center. We also saw a movie together. It was nice.
Food and exersice was good too!!

I did it! I went to my casino night work party and stayed 100% on plan! Ignored the 2 open bars (except for some diet soda), ignored the hors douvres, ignored the desserts, and just had good stuff from the buffet (roasted veggies, skinless unbreaded chicken, and a little beef tenderloin).

My scale said 316 consistently this morning :o That seems pretty low, so I'm thinking it's just a down fluctuation, so we'll see what it says tomorrow.

Sounds like everyone else is still hanging in there--gotta keep the 2008 drive to lose weight up! I think I'm going to go plan my menu for tomorrow, and maybe plan my dinners for the rest of the week. Next weekend, we're going to my sister's in Virginia Beach for my niece's 1st birthday. I'll still be in Phase 1, so definitely a challenge, but I am confident I will stick to my guns!

Hi y'all--Happy Monday!! :):)

Well, I finally decided to go the low-carb route again. It worked so well for me in the past. My biggest issue will be getting beyond the sugar withdrawl. I swear that stuff is a DRUG for me. The more, the better.....when I eat cake, I want the piece with the most icing to get the most sugar.

So...today is Day 1 of being sugar free. I won't go overboard on SF jello or articifial sweetners, because that can stall weight loss.

And----I am committed to doing 30 minutes of exercise 5 days a week. Today I will either walk at lunch or walk on the treadmill at home.

Today the scale said 323.2, which is 2 lbs down from last night. Yay!

Jill: great job sticking to it!

Slim: Glad you and the kids enjoyed your getaway!

Midwife: I LOVE your determination!

Diane: Hope your head cold gets better! I have had a very healthy year in the cold and flu department!

Oh, Jen, you cited my biggest weakness: the icing on the cake! Always corner pieces for me, please! I grew up in a small town, and my aunt happened to be "the cake lady." She made cakes for a living out of her home. When she used to babysit me and my other little cousins, she would tape a piece of wax paper to a piece of cardboard and give use frosting tubes with all different tips and colors of frosting, and we would make pictures on the wax paper, let them dry, and eat them later. No wonder I'm so big on sweets, eh? :dizzy: And what's worse, my favorite sweets are the FATTY ones, not just sugary. I go for the cheesecake, sticky buns, pecan pie, etc., as opposed to things like candy. Hopefully, I'll be able to avoid the cake and ice cream next weekend. That stuff is like crack for me :devil:

So yay, we can low carb together! I am still on SB Phase 1, so not adding back any fruit or anything yet. What sort of guidelines do you try to follow? Do you limit all carbs, or just try to stick to good carbs?

Right now I am limiting all carbs...kind of like Atkins induction...until I can get this sugar thing kicked. I'll do that for a couple of weeks or so, then add a few more carbs in down the road. Today I have had the innerds (that's southern for insides! LOL) of an egg mc muffin and the insides of a bacon egg and cheese biscuit, a salad with ranch dressing and a burger minus the bun, and a few pork rinds for a snack. Tonight I am cooking (yes you read it right!) parmesan crusted chicken breasts, faux mashed potatoes with cauliflower, and broccoli. YUM!

I can already tell it is NOT going to be easy to kick the sugar. But I know for sure it will be worth it.

Helllooo :wave:

Successfully managed my way through Monday.. bring on Tuesday !!

Had to laugh about the icing comments. I actually don't like icing... or cake for that matter. Show me a cookie though and I am in trouble.

Throughout elementary school my family lived in a house right next door to my grandparents' bakery - can you say weight issues :D Pretty bad when your fondest memories of being a kid are the things you ate at the bakery :devil:

Louie, that is kinda bad...but so common! BUT, the past is the past! It's onward and DOWNWARD!! :)

So far low carb is doing well....I made a fantastic dinner of parmesan crusted chicken and faux mashed potatoes using cauliflower. And I had a cup of SF jello for my sweet tooth. Yummmm

Jen - your dinner sounds yummy ! I have never had the faux potatoes - what did you think of them ?

Had a pretty good day today. Got to the gym first thing and I am starting to see a bit of a difference in the way my clothes are fitting.. YEAH !!

Hope everyone is doing well.. chat soon :D

Hi guys!

I had one of those days yesterday, too, Jilly. Crazy number of patients and NOTHING was simple or straightforward. I wound up with about 20 minutes for lunch and there was a line for the microwave so I had 2 hardboiled eggs and a string cheese for lunch. Not what I had planned. So then I was hungry at dinnertime and can we say bacon? But my overall calories were in range for yesterday but I had no time for exercise, but it was ok to take a rest day. Sigh. I like simple straightforward days. Today is a new day. And that was a good choice from Wendy's. I'm not sure I could have made the same choice! So congrats!

Go Louie! You have been really consistent with the gym and you should be proud of yourself. I'll bet you are looking great!

Jen, I like the idea of the faux mashed potatoes. How do they taste? Do you make them with chicken stock?

Someone noticed my weight loss at a meeting last night. He is a very nice older gentleman and it made my day that I am making enough progress that it shows. :carrot: Have a great on plan day all!

Hey all...

Midwife and Louie: The faux spuds were pretty tasty! Because I am on low carb, I used heavy cream and real butter. One thing for sure--it definitely needs to be seasoned with salt and/or pepper! Maybe if I add sour cream next time.....

The way I do it is.....boil cauli until good and mushy; drain; then add the cream (you can use milk if you are watching calories), butter or margarine. Then use a hand mixer to really blend it well....I made these for Alan and he didn't know they werent real potatoes!

Jill: Don't fret--you can still make good choices eating out. You can't go wrong with a chicken ceaser salad!

Hi :wave:

Jill - sounds like you had quite the day - good for you for getting through it and letting it derail you !!!

Jen - hmm... I'll have to give those a try one of these days.

Midwife - does it feel great when people acknowledge all of the hard work and dedication you have put into getting healthy - yeah for you :D

Dinner is just about ready so I should scoot. Talk soon and take care :hug: