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. 2007 flew by so quickly that I am still dizzy and I want to hang onto this year as much as possible.

Today I did pretty good with food and exercise. 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

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

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 ).

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.

Jilly, good luck with South Beach! I can't wait to hear about your successes (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. 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

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

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 ), 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

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!!