Hi all!
 

It's been a few days since I posted; it's been a madhouse here at work. Things are going well; I must try to figure out where I'm going wrong with my food. Been eating Lean Cuisine 2x/day (most days) with low cal snacks in between. Working out 4x/week. Still not losing weight like I want. Maybe I need to try that journal thing... Suggestions?

Don't really have time to say a personal hello to everyone, but your notes are encouraging! My goal is to stay on track with water and exercise. I'm too easily "unmotivated". I'll check back in when I have more time. Any suggestions you might have on tracking food would be great.

(Annie - Sent you a PM; ck it out...)

Hevron:
What are you doing 4x a week?
Could it be that you're making muscle and that's why the scale isn't moving?
The food sounds okay depending on the snacks you have and how often.

I'm trying to have three good meals a day and one small snack in between breakfast and lunch and one in between lunch and dinner. It's hard for me just to do that. I've cut down on intake so I'm still ending up with two small snacks in between meals, but making one a fruit and one something small and sweet to curb my craving. It's hard to cut down on intake when you're used to a bazillion calories a day lol. I don't want to know what I used to eat.

OK...just wanted to pop in.

Girlie

Just a thought
 

Heather- Are you drinking the water? The frozen dinners are LOADED with Sodium and if you aren't drinking tons of water you could be retaining.
Suzy

Evenin' All
 

Well, so far so good! I've had more than half my necessary water intake for the day and that's always a good thing here.

No munching today either--just been too darned busy to think about food with trying to get my son potty trained. It's funny, how something that has the potential to be exasperating like potty training can be such a great distraction from food for my diet.

Hope you are all on track as well and that our CW numbers start dropping like a rock! :D

Nan

What is the One Thing...?
 

Good Morning Ladies,
I am wondering what is the one thing that gets you all back on track when you feel yourself losing control? I am having the hardest time getting through a day of eating well. I had a few really great days last week and felt great too but it didn't hold and I am right back to the binges. I want to say that today is the day and I am ready for a brand new start. I want to say that I am motivated and pumped to lose this weight but it just isn't in me. I am trying. Everyday I try. Today I will stay busy. Today I will eat reasonable portions. Today I will try to free flow journal to see what comes out. I won't give up.

Nan- Distractions are great. I need to stay very busy. I can think of no better way to distract yourself from eating than with bodily functions. lol

Girlie- Ok, so what got you started again and what keeps you from eating the bazillion calories? How did you not have the cake at work? You sound like you have it all together. Great work!

Holly- And babysitting sure is great exercise! Glad to see you are feeling better.

Desiree- That's great that you have access to the yoga and gym through work. In my case, my little mantra is so true. I can barely move or keep my eyes open when I eat garbage but if I stick to healthier choices like fruits, veggies, high fibers I feel much better and the change is almost immediate. Maybe if I tatooed it on my head too it would stick.

Annie- Sorry you aren't feeling well. I admire your determination to stick to plan instead of baby yourself with bad foods. Holly too did that last week. Me, I am such a baby when sick and I use it as an excuse to eat the comfy food. If it is a stomach thing then I use it as an excuse after to "make up" for not being able to eat the comfy food. Gee whiz, I have an excuse for every circumstance or situation to ok the comfy food.

Jodi- Did you plan the weekly menu again this week? It really does seem to be working for you. Great job! Keeping goals as simple as possible works the best for me too.

Susie- I love the way you set goals for yourself and then make sure you achieve them. Perhaps if I just started with the smallest, easiest thing and accomplished then I would have the confidence to build up to some bigger goals.

Lanita- Great job last week and congrats on the loss. That is terrific. Sometimes just making some changes in daily routine makes all the difference.

I hope I haven't missed anyone. If I did, I hope all is going well.

Have a great day everyone.
Suzy

good morning everyone,
happy hump day to everyone!! i'm feeling good today. i was able to stay OP yesterday and have a similar plan today. it is fairly easy for me to do during the week since i work and if i pack i am not temted to stray away from the plan. the weekends are a different story tho. my DS's team won the football game last night. he really makes me proud to watch him out there on the field. got home late after that and had taco salad (little meat lots of veggies) with ff dressing and 1 shell crumbled over the top. it was good. since i ate so late there eas no temptation before bed which is always a good thing. same goal for today stick to the plan. i decided my goal for october is to just get into the 220's and stick there for the month. i am close at 231 now so loosing these few pounds and keeping them off will be a good boost for me.

suzy1965- yes i did plan the menu again this week. my one little thing that keeps me motivated is organization. when i make the meal plan i have to do it for the whole family dh and 3 kiddos too. so i plan healthy dinners and get them started on sunday so i can come home from work and "finish" them everyday. i.e. if there is already chicken cut up and sauteed i can throw it in a pan add veggies cook some rice and ta-da we have stir fry. the fact that every meal is started keeps me totally motivated not to waste it. so we eat like this sun - thurs and usually go out on friday and wing it on saturday. i have been faithfully doing this for a little over a month now and although it is time consuming on sunday it has totally kept me honest. the best thing you can do is hang in there and give it a shot everyday!! don't let yourself give up. check in here often both good days and bad. good luck you can get back on track!!!

labchick good luck with the potty training. oh how i don't miss those days!!! a good distraction tho like you said!

hevron sodium might be the problem. there are 2 really good food trackers that i know of fitday.com can be used for free to plug all your food into also i have recently started using dietpower.com they have a free 15day trial it seems like a really good program but after the 15days you have to pay for the program. good luck!! and don't get discouraged.

hollyhock thank you!! i'm feeling pretty darn good!! great job yesterday and good luck with the interviews!!!

girlie- how'd it go yesterday?? baby steps is the best way!!! you can't change everything overnight but little victories along the way all add up!! great job on refusing the cake. you are my hero for the day!!!

annie get well soon!!! and great job sticking to it when you aren't feeling so great!!!

desiree hi!! great job with the yoga. keep up the great work.

well if i missed anony i am sorry but i got to get to work! hope you all have a great day!! lets all keep eachother on track. we can do this!! we are doing this!!! the first step is over, now lets stick to our plan!!!

Ok, the visiluation goal was tuff! I tried to imagine myself at 180 lbs; that's my TOPS goal weight. When I met my husband, that's what I weighed and you know, I thought then I was fat!

I got out some pictures and I took a look at myself then. I really had a lot of defination in my body, I still had a little bit of a stomach (maybe I always will?), but what really stood out to me was how happy I looked. I remember that time in my life, I felt good! So that's how I did with my visualation.

I still have to work on it. I'll try it again sometime. I remember once that I did one of those virtual models and I made one the size I am now and then changed it to the size I want to be (12/14), so I might do that again.

Today's goal is to not overeat when I go out to lunch with a friend.
I feel really hungry today and knowing that I'm going out is not a good thing to know when I'm like this, so I'm telling myself that tomorrow is weigh-in day and I don't want to have to deal with a gain at the scales...so I will not undo all I have worked for this week with just one meal!

Nan: Good job on the water.

Hevron: It is very hard to stay motivated sometimes. But you have already won half the battle because you know that it's something you need to be aware of and continue working on it. Just coming to this board keeps me motivated.


Holly: Were you able to stick to your plan of having no little slips? I think you did really well even with those two things. Remember you don't have to be perfect.

Suzy: Sometimes it isn't one thing that gets me back on track, it a combination of a few. Usually getting back to journaling helps, setting a small daily goal, coming to the board and sometimes I find out that I'm tired and I need rest. When that happens I don't allow myself to just stop all I'm doing but I try to quiet myself from within. I read more posts and keep mine simple. I just go for a walk, no plan for time or distance, just walk...breathe....

Does any of that help?

Girlie: Sounds like you have things going in the right direction. Keep up the good work.

If I missed mentioning you, it's not that I didn't think of you, but I'm getting busy at work...people coming into the office and I better look like I work here!

I'll check in later.

Mornin',

I had a pretty good day again with a couple little slips. I am thinking those little slips are what keeps me from losing a bunch.I did fine all day. I was hungry around 5 so I had a bowl of spaghetti sauce made with ground turkey, no added fat.Normally at dinner I would eat a whole meal. I didn't. I had salad.In the evening i had another 1/2 cup of the sauce. Normally I would eat salty, fatty snacks or cheese or a sandwich.
I weigh in tonight at TOPS.
I got a horrible pic of myself back the other day. I tore it up but cant stop thinking aboout it. I am hoping it was just a bad pic. I was too embarrassed to ask hubby if this is what I really look like. My size wasn't the issue so much as how old,puffy and saggy my face looked. Freaked me out. I dont think losing weight can fix what i saw.

I picked up a pilates dvd. I am off to do it in a few minutes.

Suzy~I get discouraged so easily.I usually need a big shocker to get me going again. I have done so much better when I journal here.I am still not losing much but i am very aware and not gaining.
Jodi~ I love your goal. I cant seem to lose 1 lb a week.Maybe I should visualize 225 and aim for that. Instead of the overwhelming big picture.

Today I will do pilates and eat OP all day!!!!!

holly good luck at your meeting tonight!!! sometimes the little goals that you can completly get through in a short amout of time are the best. then you can pat yourself on the back and move on. lets slip into the 220's together. i love your commitment to exercise i wish i could get there. don't let the picture get you down, we had a family portrait taken last year and i ruined it for the whole family (IMHO) i was huge!!! and just plain ugly looking. you are beautiful inside let that shine through!!!

mychoice- have a good lunch with your buddy and do your best to stay on track!!! you can do this!!

Hello everyone. I didn't make it to the gym at 5am...this was because my husband fell very ill late last night. I guess it's the flu or something. It came on very quickly. I kept getting up with him and cleaning up his vomit and getting him more tissues, water, herb tea, etc...I was SO exhausted this morning. I have my heart class tonite but I plan on doing my WATH 45 minute 3 mile video tonite and stay home with DH. His temp was 100.2 very early this morning and when I temped again before I left for work it was back downt o 98.8 thank goodness!

I'm sorry I don't have time for personals, but I wanted to answer Suzi's question to us about what makes us get back up on the wagon again. I think we all have a lot of person reasons. One thing that helps is to get back on 3FC's and just keep reading and looking for inspiration. Over the summer I quit coming at all and I thought about it so many times but didn't want to face the facts.

The biggest factor is probably my 1st wedding anniversary coming up in one month. I was 240 there, and when I look at my wedding pictures, I think about how fat I am. I had lost down to 221 earlier in the year and I really wanted to be to Onederland at least by my 1st wedding anniversary. Well, it's coming up and I'll be nowhere near there by November 8th but at least want to be about 225, and away from 240!

I mean, it's so amazingly hard to start. Just one simple step is so hard. It's so hard to stop eating badly because it almost seems like a comfort of some sort, like you can hide behind fried chicken and ice cream. I started to become like a recluse, staying at home, eating icky foods and not wanting to really talk to anyone. That's my low point. It's like I'm eating just to eat and just to say "I can eat this because I can".

Then, if I make it to the gym one day, I feel better. I mean, I feel like crap going in and feeling ugly and fat...but each day it gets better. And like today, I may not have lost any weight, but I can feel my muscles working when I walk up the steps. I still get out of breath, but I can feel my muscles because I've been working them and I know it's burning calories. I don't always eat "good" foods. I am working on that, but my main focus is exercise and not snacking. I eat foods that are healthy, but that I like also. Last night I ordered Chinese. DH didn't have any because he was sick, but I had just a little steamed rice, veggies and chicken and stopped when I was full. I still probably overate, but a couple of weeks ago, I would have eaten the whole tray just because it's supposed to be one dinner. But I have to realize it's more like 3-4 servings! I put my portion in a small plate and ate with chopsticks, and didn't go back for seconds. It will be there if I want more the next day, you know.

It's just little things like that which will make us successful. So Suzi...just focus on doing something little today...the little things will add up. It really is a day by day journey. While visualizing your goal is great, you have to take it step by step. I'm so glad you are here, Suzi.

I am having two whole wheat tortillas for breakfast, rolled with about a tablespoon of hummus each. These wraps are amazing, each is 50 calories and a whopping 8 grams of fiber...2g fat and 3 net carbs for those who are carb counting. On Weight Watchers, I think that is 0 points for one. AND, they taste good.

For lunch I have a light bologna sandwich on whole grain Sunny Millet bread...also super high in fiber. I'll get some WOW Doritos from the vending machine to have with my sandwich, and I have some fruit cocktail for a snack later. Dinner will probably be some leftover Chinese, chicken with broccoli and a little rice...desert will be WATP!

Hope you all have a great day. If you have any LF recipes or products to share, let me know. This weekend, I'm going to get some of those 100 cal packs - Oreo. Over the summer, I sure ate a lot of regular Oreos. DH's idea of grocery shopping is milk, white bread and Oreo Cookies. I forbid him to bring any fatty chips, crackers, white bread or cookies in the house. Nothing that isn't whole grain. We did get some organic potato chips which were very good, but I made sure not to pig out on them. They were not so greasy as regular and were seasoned with fresh herbs. Yum.

Girlie

Good morning! Yesterday I felt so proud of myself for going out to lunch, and having a cup of soup and 1/2 sandwich and not giving in to buying dessert, that I ate a whole bunch of Halloween chocolate back at work. Why do we DO that? Anyway, when I know the day wasn't good, I usually don't journal but I made myself sit and put in every morsel that went down my throat and it was over 2,400 calories. Oy!!!

Payback: this morning I woke up about 2:30 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. At 3:30, I decided to get up and make use of the time. Did some Bible study and weightlifting (not at the same time). I have a yoga class today at lunchtime.

To the question, how do you get back on track, I'll mull that one over.

Desiree, Colorado

Susie~I didn't eat junk but had a small bowl of turkey spaghetti sauce before bed.
I have trouble visuaslizing myself the old way too. I was 190 before kids and same as you had a bit of a tummy but frankly I was smokin'! I was soooo confident.

I did ther pilates. Holy core strength training. I liked it. the breathing is quicker and opposite Yoga. Have to get my head around that.
Jodi~ I just started exercising 3 weeks ago. It took my 3 months to get food under control. I kept trying to get out and walk but the timing was hard.i am finding the dvd's good, noe that my kids are older and will leave me alone for 3 seconds. I think I will alternate the pilates and WATP.
Girlie~ hugs to hubby. Hope you dont catch it.
Later chicks!

Good Mornin' All
 

I just love fall weather! Not too cold, not too hot. It's my favorite season. I have a non scale victory today. I could finally get into one size smaller scrub tops for work WOO HOO! That's my motivation for the rest of the day. I know I can do this, I just have to stay the course.

Suzy - I'm not sure if this helps, but I have a picture of myself when I was at my all time lowest as a teenager taped to my desk with the title, "The New Nan". I know I'll never see 115 again, my word, that was 25 years ago, but I look at it and tell myself that if I could get there once, I can get close this time too. I also try to come up with one thing I missed the day before, like water intake or something like that and see how many days I can stay the course on that item. It's not easy, but I figure practice makes perfect.

Jodi - You'll be in the 220 range in no time with as much organization as you've got going!

Desiree - I do that too. Personally I think it's harder when you go to work. There are so many people there that mean well that unwittingly sabotage you. Hang in there, overall you're doing great and one day will not negate all the hard work you've done.

Oh shoot, I just heard something crash downstairs, be back later,

Nan

Hey Everyone! I just got back from my Kickboxing Class and I feel awesome .....I mean I feel awesome.....This Class is my External Motivator! I mean when I get out of Class I just want to eat healthy.The funny thing is event though I lack self convidence I am not scared to try new things I geuss it is my Internal Motivation the Hunger for being what I want to be...So there I am in that Gym at 320lb trying to keep up with the slim ones they just bounce around like feathers ...Sometimes I just wanna Cry when I cant keep up...but I always make it ...So I have learned to just focus on me ,me and that Mirror in front of me....So when I work out it is all about me ..I push myself and I can see my Body Shaping into what I want it to be ...thats why I go back...So yes it is a very hard Class but when I finish it ..It is prizeless how I feel afterwords. I took Step and it is challenging but nothing like this I mean sometimes I feel like I want to Vomitt and so do the other Girls....It is straight Boot Camp...When I tell my Boyfriend about the Class he always Brags on how Fit he is but I wish he could come to this Class....I give him about 20 minutes ....:lol: When I came on the Board today I wanted to tell everyone how terrible my Day was yesterday....But right now I do not wanna waist this positive Energy ....Because that was Yesterday and today is a new Day....... Suzy 1965- PLZ just keep trying! Belive me it takes along Time for your mind to register some positive self talk ...It is not in you ....YES IT IS ...you are thinking about it ,but you do no belive in what you are saying..Just take it one Day at a Time and focuson one or two things , like DRink lots of Water and have a Healthy Dinner and just keep plenting that into your mind and you will start believing that you can do it ...Forget Yesterday !!!Today!!!!!is the day you want to focus on had a Bed lunch so what have a healthy Dinner! justjodi- good job with does meal preps....Keep it up ...The weekends get me too espacially because my Boyfriend is Home all Day.. mychoice2bfit- You can do it! I know how hard that can be espacially when you go out with your friends..But If you are like me ..I aways feel guilty after I go of plane and I just focus on how feelworst after words and I just go with a healthy Lunch because I dont want the guilt after. hollyhock- Keep moving it will happen for you ,plus you dont want loose to fast so you can keep it of when you get there...Your Daily Goal Sounds good ..Enjoy your PIlates. labchick-that is awesome I can't wait until I can get back into my 2x scrubs and feel good when I waer them! You are doing it!! Girlie - I hope your husband is feeling better..It's ok to take a Day off espacially if someone has there mind still sat on excersise after a ruff night like that. Callachor -Have fun at Yoga ..I love Yoga ...Great that you still journaled because they say to put it all down good and bad. :flow1: :flow1: :flow1: :flow1: :grouphug: :flow1: :flow1: :flow1: :flow1: Alright I have to start getting ready for work now :coffee: Talk to everyone soon. Goal for the Month of October - 310lb!!

Hello Everyone....man there are so many positive people in our group now. Almost getting too tough to personalize anymore.

I am feeling better today, got rid of that nasty sore throat. Just have the stuffy head, sinuses, and fat body! Hope to get rid of all of them SOON.

Lanita - What a motivating post. You make me want to try kick boxing. I think maybe you have inspired me to do good the rest of the day.

Heather - Yes, those frozen dinners have LOTS of sodium. You might try cutting back to just one, and maybe packing yourself something else for lunch.

Holly - You are going to pass me on "our" challenge, if I don't get my b*tt in gear. I have lost some of my motivation, but plan on sticking to it. I got on the scales this morning and said, "no way", I am up a little more, jumped back off and cursed myself for letting it happen.

Nan - Your motivation is great, keep up the spirits!

Desiree - I don't know why we do the pigging out thing. The only way I can figure is we do so well, then we reward ourselves for being so good, with food. A regular pig out session. Food never seems to leave my mind.

Girlie - Hope your hubby gets to feeling better, so you can concentrate on you again.

Susie - Have fun at lunch. You have such great thoughts!

Hello to everyone I have missed, it is not intentional. Have a marvelous day, stay focused, and just say no.

I said it before, but I am going to repeat a posting I read elsewhere.

"Lord, put your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth"

Huggssssssss Annie