Mari, wow, you truly have had your hands full!!! I think sometimes we end up with sooooo many things that can get in the way of us putting ourselves in top priority that I don't know how we get all that done plus spend time exercising, counting cals, and all that! It's just incredible. And look, you've lost 2 lbs in the middle of it all! What a success!!!

I wanted to tell you also that it's so nice to see someone who has been as heavy as I was (and still am) and wants to only get to the 170s. I too have set my goal at 177. Partly because it's 100 lbs off me. But also bc I have only been as low as 179 as an adult and in a few months I was back up over 200. I'll worry about losing more once I get there and stay there a while. And that's if I even decide to lose any more.

I am currently learning new ways to deal with stress and I really hope that it helps me get this extra off me and keep it off. I want my kids to have healthy habits, and do you know now my 5 yr old son tells me every time he exercises at school or wherever? He said he wants to be healthy and strong. (He also told me when he noticed that I wasn't getting on my treadmill like I used to. LOL) That was a great thing for me. The Non-exerciser that I had been, he never saw. Once he turned one yr old I made the decision to be healthy. It's been a long road but he never really saw Ms. Couch Potato, so he thought that I just was an exerciser. When we started looking for a house, we had no time barely to wash clothes, much less stop and do anything for ourselves. It's good that things are back to normal now.

Also, he likes salad and fruit, and mostly what I make so I'm just really proud of him. Kids do as we do and I just couldn't live with myself if I set a bad example for them. So here's to the treadmill! I've been on it for 40 mins this morning. I think I'll hit my 10k goal!

Hope all of you have a great day!!! :carrot:

Hey Girls,
Susie and Mari those are some great losses. :cp:
Everyone is kicking butt...YOU GO GIRLS.

I go to ww tonight but I really don't expect a loss. :crossed:
I'm at work and everyone who goes by reads over my shoulder..drives me nuts.

Later

:dust:

Hi Debbie! I hate that too when someone is over my shoulder. Uggh. Just turn around and look at them like, "What are you looking at??" I bet they move on then. :devil: Wow, you have lost alot. I can't wait to be down that much. That's great. :)

Welcome Jennelle!!!! :welcome2:
So happy to have you here. The more the merrier!! :balloons: I just came back myself! Almost forgot my info also. But luckily I wasn't gone too long and did remember and it was still here. I'm just taking it one week at a time. I feel more confident at this point. I have bad days too but mostly I'm feeling good, Thank God. Feeling sad makes it so much harder to lose for me!

Anyhoo, welcome to the group. :grouphug: Bye for now!

Selina

Dear Selina,

Thanks so much for the welcome. :)

Your name sounds so familiar and I'm thinking that maybe when I was on these boards before that we were on the same thread posting.

Can't remember what the name of it was thought. *lol*

By the looks of your ticker - you've done great with losing. Keep up the good work! :)

Love,

Jennelle

Good Morning!!!
 

G'morning!!! :coffee:

Thanks Jennelle! We may have been. I was on alot in Spring 2005. Just glad to be back. Being able to post my good and bad days on here helps me so much. It gets alot easier after a week or so for me. I also handwrite everything I eat with cals and fat next to it, how much water I drink, my steps etc for every day. That way when I have a week or two where I don't lose, I know WHY! It's true too. My best losses come from weeks where I stay on track. (Of course, huh? LOL) Anyhoo, post as often as you need to to be able to keep yourself on track. I'm on here alot lately. But I need it. I will need to post several times a day for a few months. Then I will be in such good habits again that I will only need to post once or twice a day. :cp:

I have also come to realize that if I DON'T post every day for the rest of my life that one day I could revert back to old bad habits, probably during high stress times. :hungry:

So here I am! And here I plan to stay. :jig:

Take your time. Habits don't just form. Your body has to be eating those good foods for a few weeks to start really craving them. I learned to stop expecting myself to change overnight. I lead myself to each thing slowly. Like walking. I had almost stopped, when b4 I could walk several miles no problem, after starting at only 10 mins a day. :tread: I gradually added time. Then it seems like almost no difference. You trick yourself because the change is slow enough not to make you hate it. Knowing that has helped me when I fall. I just tell myself to go slower with it. :faint:

Like I didn't drop my calories so far at first. First, I just wrote down what I ate. I saw it was too much. :cbg: So I came down slowly. I was eating about 3000 cals a day. I went to 2600 I think. Then to 2000 after another week. Then I went to 1800, then 1600, etc. Now I eat about 1200-1375 usually a day. But I came to realize also that I can literally eat that in one small bowl, if it's junk food. But it now takes 3 meals and a snack to add up to that because I'm eating beans, lean meats, rice, less bread, little junk, more veggies, honey nut cheerios (the best snack ever)etc. So WHAT you eat matters more than ppl say. Yes, the cals need to be right but wouldn't it feel better to be full 3 times a day than to eat once and that be all your cals and then you are hungry the rest of the day? Not good for me. Hunger bothers me alot. :tantrum: So I eat 3-4 times a day, sometimes 5 or 6. :chef:

Ok, I will stop rambling. :soap: I hope some of that helps. I have read so many books, and I have just been losing ever since I can remember. (Oh and gaining back of course. LOL) I got heavy at 4 yrs old. So my whole life has been about how to find a way to lose and be normal. I doubt I'm ever gonna be what others want me to be, but I'm ok with that. If they aren't happy with me, that's their problem. But I will say that I'm much happier a bit thinner than I am now. So I proceed!!!! :carrot:

Thank you all for listening, esp. on my bad days. :grouphug: It helps me alot to have a place to vent and to also support others. That helps me stay on track too. :dance:

Have a great day everyone! :wave: I'm cheering for you, Jennelle! And everyone here! We can do this! :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

Hi Selina,

Thanks so much for posting on here and yes, you did encourage me alot and also gave me a great idea!

Though I've tried starting them before [weight loss journal] ... I just now remembered that I have a new [big] journal in which to write down everything I eat each day.

Also I can chart my steps each day once I get my pedometer.

I imagine that if I write "everything" down and then can look back to the prior week, it would help alot!

Oh good ... now I'm excited about this [keeping the journal thing] and hope that I can follow through with it this time and not just write things down for a few days and then quit.

The one thing that might help is this time it's a real journal and not a boring old notebook. *lol*

Have a good day!

Love,

Jennelle

Just stopping back by to say that I had a pretty good day and didn't eat anything that I shouldn't have. [Yea!!] :)

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good ...

I can't wait to get my pedometer 'cuz I think when I do, I'm gonna post on the exercise board a virtual trip that I am going to make.

I'm going to go and visit Dale Earnhardt Jr. [for those who aren't into NASCAR like I am, he's a race car driver. :)]

Anyways - it's something like 800 and some miles to get to from where I'm at, to where Dale Jr. lives so if 2,000 steps = 1 mile, atleast I have a goal and can keep track and it'll help to motivate me.

Should be fun or atleast it sounds like it anyways 'cuz I've read where others have taken a virtual trip [meaning that I'd do my walking here but would chart how far I've gone each day until I arrive at the full distance to get there.]

I'm sure you already knew that but for some reason ... well, as you can see, I'm long winded and feel as if I need to explain everything. *lol*

I haven't started my journal yet as I planned on doing today 'cuz I was too busy to do it. May try later this evening or if not, try again for tomorrow to get it started.

Love,

Jennelle

Hello Ladies. This is the thread I need.

I can't wait for the scale to read 199.
I am on WW and have been maintaining for a while now. I know it's because I stopped journaling. I add up the points in my head and then when I get close to my target i stop counting. I NEED to start journaling again too and keeping up with my excercise. On Jan 1 i made a goal to do my elliptical 3 to 5 days a week. This is the first week I did it 5 days. (my weeks start on friday) I would love to join this group and get the motivation I need to keep going.


Jennelle, I do know Dale Jr. I'm a huge NASCAR fan myself. Jimmy Johnson is my driver. :cheer2: :cheer2: Can't wait for Daytona 500.

Good Night

Sunshine: Welcome, when I read your post. It was exactly what I would write. I also go to WW. I've maintained for several months because I haven't been journaling or exercising. Maybe we can motivate each other.

Jenelle: I would crawl to get to Dale Jr...I'm a big Nascar fan.. WOO..HOO Can't wait. I hope I get to our race in April.
I walk a lot on my job but I bend a lot and The pedometer I used before wasn't accurate. The new one's might do better. I might try one again.

Selina: Great advise, We are glad to have you here.

Holly, Ellen, Susie: Good morning chicas. :grouphug:

Big day, I got to go

:dust:

Doing good on this front... but I am going out twice this weekend for my b-day. I will have to try to be good and make up for it during the day. I made it to the gym 4 times this week... that is three weeks in a row!!!! It really has made a difference, I can see little changes already!!! Will just have to have the will power to ear clean!!

HI to all Have a wonderful weekend!!!

I had my weigh in this morning and i'm up 1.8lbs :censored: I drank my water, did my elliptical, watched my portiions, and still gained. The only thing I didn't do was journal. I did start noticeing my clothes fitting better this week. That's a good sign ~ i'm happy with less inches.

Ellen~ Happy Birthday :hb:

Debbie~ When is your weigh in day? I'll take all the motivaion you got.

Have a nice evening everyone.

Hi Debbie! Thanks. I'm glad you are here. I love knowing others who have lost alot. You GET it when I talk about changing it all. You just about have to change everything, the way you see things even, to succeed. I am so happy to be here, to have others to talk with about it all. :carrot: People who aren't losing get tired of hearing how I passed up cake, and got my steps in, etc. So thanks! I'm sorry to ramble on sometimes. :soap:

Hi Ellen! Woohoo! Great job with your exercising. :cp: Happy Birthday! :balloons: Hope you have a great time out. :)


Welcome Sunshine! :welcome: Don't fret about the lbs. It's all a process and you never know what the dang scale is going to say. Remember you are going to gain muscle is you move more than usual and you can retain water at different times also. Just keep on and it'll show. I know, I've been there. :hug:

Jennelle!! You are doing great. :cp: I started journaling again and it's helped so much. I even jot down the time I'm eating etc. It helps me to see what times I'm hungry (so I can prepare like if I'm going to be gone then, bring something so I won't need to stop for bad food). I tied a pencil to my journal and leave it in the kitchen. I am back in the habit pretty easily I noticed. Guess because I did it every day for nearly two years. And I plan to continue forever, if that is what it will take. I have learned by watching myself through them that I don't really get hungry til noon, I eat lite then. Then I eat a huge meal about 5pm and I'm happy with a little snack an hour b4 bed, like grapefruit or hot tea. So knowing that makes me aware of myself and my habits and what might need tweaking in the schedule or whatever.

I tried to retrain myself. They say eat alot in the a.m., some in the afternoon, and less at nite. Nope. Not for me. And I lost 79 lbs. going by what was best for me. Yes, stress, a family illness, my husband was ill too, moving and my preemie newborn who also had been in the hospital twice made it very hard on me the last 18 months (my baby is a joy, she didn't make it hard, just all of it together at the same time, she is such a sweet and easy going baby girl) and with no time at all for me and I was so exhausted, I gained some back but I'm here again!!! I'm not giving up. No matter how hard it can be. I'm in for the long haul.

Where do you do your virtual tour thingy at?? Can you choose any location? I would love that. As a matter of fact, I did one but it wasn't mile for mile. It was odd.

Well, I am at 415 cals, 6 gms of fat for the day and 9727 steps so far. I will eat again. And finish my steps then I'm off to bed early. DS has basketball in the a.m. DH is coaching as usual. I'm sleepy already. Not good. LOL. We have been unpacking all day today too. I can't wait to get done.

Have a great nite!!! :wave:

LOL I forgot to tell you all. My daughter is 19 mos. And it was so cute today; I was jogging in place. And she always wants to hug my legs when I do that, for some reason. LOL. Today she did, so I hugged her. Then she stood by me and was marching in place. So cute!!!! I said, "Are you doing your exercise?" So later then my DH was in here and I said "Show Daddy your exercise", and she did it! I love it! And she shares my water with me too. I am glad that some of what I am doing is teaching them good habits too. Makes me happy. :D

Hey friends,
I'm HUNGRY!!! I've cooked some pork for green chilie stew
I just cooked the meat and will let it cool overnight and skim all the fat off. Then finish it up tomorrow. Smelling it made me hungry.
I need to do some catch up journaling...as usual.

Dh is sick again. week before last he had a bad headcold no biggie, then the doctor changed his bp meds and the new ones didn't work. We had several days of his bp being way up he said he felt bad, now he has either gotten a stomach virus or ate something bad...JEEZ. Poor dear.

Ellen: :woo: :hb:

Sunshine: My wi are on Wednesday. I need all the help I can get. Not only have I fallen off the wagon, but the wheels fell off the wagon right behind me. I've not giving up... I just keep plugging on. In hope that I find a new wagon...LOL

Selina: Good job setting healthy examples for your daughter.

Susie Holly and Annie: :hug: miss ya'll

Gotta go...:grouphug: