Sorry I haven't checked in, in awhile! I just got back from a business trip that really was hard. I had to eat out with my work colleagues and sometimes we'd end up at restaurants without a single vegetable on the menu! Thankfully, breakfasts and lunches were manageable and I could eat pretty on plan for those meals at least. For lunches I would eat a huge green salad+fish to try and compensate for the horrid dinners. The good news, though? After 3 days of this business trip AND a flight (that almost always makes me gain a few lbs due to water retention) I'm still 172lbs on the scale. I'm really, really hoping that will translate into a loss in a few days.

My waist has also been measuring a lot closer to 31.5 than 32" so I'll take that too.

Oh, and my parents are arriving tomorrow!!! We'll certainly be eating out more because of that but since they're visiting us we'll still be able to direct them towards healthy restaurants and we'll get extra child care=more swimming. I'd love to get out of the 170's by the end of this month, I have no clue if that's a realistic goal or not, but one can dream, right?

Jo - TOM always wears me out the first couple days

Sorry I haven't checked in recently. I actually saw scale movement down on Saturday, then again Sunday. However, now that I am back to work, that scale will go back to a stagnant hold I am trying to catch up on the posts, Jo's is the one that stood out cause I went "That's me!"... I will catch up on personals later though Been super busy with kids, specialists, doctors, medicines, work, home, errands, etc... so really trying to fit everything in. Hugs to all!!!

Alaskan!!!! I haven't seen you in a few months!!! I will have to read through your posts and see how you are doing Great to have you!!!!

Hello everyone,
Jo, you have come through much, congratulations.

It is December 1st and last time I checked, a couple of days ago, I was 3lbs off target. I don't want it to be 4lbs.

I have always exrcised, all my life I've been fairly active and outdoorsy, even when I was very ill, and with the exception of my big belly, I'm fairly muscular, so it's not for lack of exercise. I cannot do a lot of the things I used (far too may surgeries) to but I know I'm no sloth.

I hope when I weigh myself on Saturday, there will be movement of that needle in my favour. I have an electronic scale, but dislike it, mainly because of all the other non weight numbers. I've had my BMI professionally checked, and even at my highest wt, I was in the overweight not obese.

My first goal weight, even thought it is about 12 lbs off from the "insurance chart normal" is where I was at my happiest.

Reminding myself that I haven't been doing this for very long and to be patient with myself (and the scale )

I feel pretty good today, I had a good day on plan yesterday, and so far so good now.
Tried to sleep in this morning because last night was not as restful as I would have liked (not uncommom to have a couple of bad nights even on melatonin)

Breakfast: macchiato coffee,
Lunch: one eg cheese omlette (in the moode for ommlettes I suppose) toast,
cheesy pasta and green beans.
Dinner? Last night I substituted baked squash for the pasta, glad I did. Will do the same tonight, along with baked chicken breast .
Snack: greek strawberry yogurt or banana shake

Wishing everyone good results.

Okay, I think I need to join all of you. Weight loss for me is slow as molasses in winter (mmmmmmm, molasses!) I too have lived through the world's longest plateau. And right when I think I've figured it out (as evidenced by a brief but stellar drop in weight), my body puts the breaks on the whole thing and does it's very best to take it all back.

I AM SO FRUSTRATED!!!!

So, this is what I'm doing now, and why...

1. Paleolithic Diet - I try to avoid all grains, legumes, dairy, sugar and processed foods. I try not eat out too. When I stick to the Paleo Diet, I feel really good. I'm a type 2 diabetic, PCOS, 50 and menopausal and have food sensitivities, so taking on this diet has helped me feel a lot better. I sleep better (when I sleep), I have more energy, no more brain fog, and my cravings have greatly diminished. When I venture off this discipline, I fall right back to feeling like crap. And then everyone around me hates me! I had to get rid of everything in my house that doesn't support this way of eating, because I can't rely on my willpower to make it happen. But I can rely on my natural laziness to keep me from going to get burgers, potatoes, sweets and fried food.

2. I eat a minimum of 25 gm of fiber a day, drink lots of water and I take magnesium. Keeps things moving on through!

3. Intermittent Fasting - The Paleo Diet is about how I feel, but I didn't lose any weight doing it alone. With IF, I can stick to eating only when I'm hungry. I had a really good look at when I was actually hungry, and it's always between 1 pm and 9 pm. So I eat only during that eight-hour window. It helped me to cut calories at first, and I dropped around 15 lbs. fairly quickly. But when I'm not on top of this eating pattern, I tend to overeat more and the weight loss slows waaaaaayyyyy down. Or goes the other way.

4. I do Pilates, five days a week. I love it! It makes me feel really good. I don't lose weight with Pilates, but my joints are working better, I'm moving around better, and this keeps my mental state in a very positive place.

5. I participate in EBT (Emotional Brain Training) - This is a method of working through strong emotions to help me find joy and peace more easily. When I work the steps, I feel great! When I don't, I get caught up in the stress of daily life and I start eating to numb the hard stuff.

6. Good sleep hygiene - I have sleep apnea and have to use a CPAP to get a good night's sleep. When I don't sleep well, I am sluggish all day and I eat for energy in order to stay awake. Before I was tested for the apnea, I ate all the time! Very shortly after I started sleeping better with the CPAP, I stopped gaining weight because I just stopped eating so much. So I try to stay on top of adequate regular sleep. It's really my first defense in the weight loss gain.

7. I divorced myself from all the toxic people in my life and got new, supportive friends - Oh my lord! This was like the best thing I ever did for myself. The toxic people are really angry with me. I've even had to put blocks on phone numbers. But that's okay. I'm much happier now, less stressed, and overeating much less. MUCH less. 95% of the people I am in contact with on a regular basis are there to support my mental, emotional and physical health goals.

8. I am factoring my calorie intake according to my goal weight RMR - I'm a tall woman, 5'11". I currently weigh 296 lbs. According to an online calculator, my RMR for a sedentary activity level is 2449 calories. When I subtract 500 calories from that, 1949 calories, I still gain weight at that caloric intake. My goal weight is 173 lbs. The RMR for that is 1807 calories. That's about the caloric intake at which I maintain my current weight. So, I set a daily caloric range for myself. I keep calories below 1807 everyday, but actually shoot for 1307 calories a day. At that level, I actually do lose weight. There are still a few days I eat more than 1807 calories. But if I mostly stick to my plan, the weight comes off. Still very, very, VERY slowly, but I'm moving in the right direction.

So that's the plan for now. I have ADD too, so I am constantly tweaking and changing up things. Who knows what I'll do next week. When I lose focus, I take a day to do a water fast (helps me clean out the crap) and then go back to this plan. I seem to be able to stick to it for about four days before things start falling apart again. I get bored, I want to eat other stuff, my kids want burgers or spaghetti, I have cocktails with friends and fall into a platter of appetizers face first...I am my own worst enemy!

Good to find you all here. Looking forward to getting to know you.

Welcome geoblewis!

Me too, still working on that.

K9O, I started counting calories in early October and lost the first 10lbs before I came across 3FC when I did a search on calorie requirements. I lurked for nearly two weeks before posting.
Funny about sorting for Goodwill, I'm always weeding out things, whether clothing or other things for Hospice or other charity shops. I like to be organized even when other aspects of life are chaos!

Thurs Dec 1
B= 2 c milk, vits, toast/straw jam
L= Potluck luncheon, 2 sausage rolls. Itailan bread with pizza sauce/cheese dip, 2 crackers with chicken salad, strawberry cake
S= too many cookies {15?}
D= chili, cornbread
S= ice cream
S=cheese and craackers SIGH
E= none

Right= I had a good breakfast and sensible lunch for a potluck.

Wrong= Eating 'too many cookies' and not really fighting the urge

Regret= not fighting the urge, having ice cream later, then cheese/crackers

Geoblewis, welcome, glad to have you join us.

MyTurn, good job on the weightloss.

Running, have a nice visit with your parents.

PP: Sounds like a lot of overly processed simple carbs today for you. Strive to make better choices tomorrow!

I lost a pound!!! After over a month long stall!!

The best part? TOM isn't set to show up for a long time so here's hoping there are more to follow. I so want to be out of the 170's soon...

patchworkpenguin- Sounds like a rough day but the good thing? You can always get on right back track the next day. Hang in there, we've all had days like that.

K9Owner- I'm funny, I actually enjoy cooking quite a bit so I think business trips annoy me that much more because I really feel stuck in food choices that I don't want to make. I actually feel so relieved to be back home now and back in my own kitchen.

geoblewis- Welcome! Keep up the good work and I'm sure you'll see the results soon.

forloveofself- good luck on the scale tomorrow!

ItsMyTurn- Good luck with everything going on for you! Congrats on the drop even if you saw a stall afterwards.

Good Morning Everyone!
running Congratulations on weight loss, and thanks!
Todays plan:
Breakfast- macchiato coffee, a scrambled egg, 1 wheat cinnamon toast
Lunch- squash, cornbeef, green salad
Dinner- Not sure; maybe oatmeal and fruit or green salad & will try to add protien
Snacks- black cherry greek yogurt/banana shake
Have a great journey everyone!

GM All

Please join us on the new Take 2 thread!!