Hi all. Julie, so good to hear from you. Are you home with your dh or with your daughter these days. I'm so happy to hear the good news from the doc! That's fabulous. And down 5lbs too - awesome. Like you, I miss Roll too. I hope she comes back. I always looked forward to her thoughts and sense of humor.

Carol, glad to hear you made it to the gym. Any chance that you could do some water exercise - that might be good for your hip? Any good abs workouts. My stomach is a problem spot.

We're in the midst of the blizzard - about 2-3 ft of snow outside. Very, very beautiful and lots of time to enjoy it since everything is cancelled and it is Sunday. Have a good day.

breakfast - eggs, bacon, banana muffin, grapefruit, coffee (a feast) 530
lunch - big salad, lots of veggies and feta 280
snack - almonds (170)
total so far 980
plan for the rest of the day
smoothie - 400
dinner - chicken with greens, brown rice (400)
exercise - 1 hour of shoveling

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE , thanks for the input TIRED, your having a blizzard and we are in such high temps we,re in digrees here downunder and lets just say that 45 is a scorcher, you could put your bacon and eggs on the bonnet of your car and they would be cooked in minutes I can,t wait for winter being a scorpio and a water sign I love the colder months better than the heat, I love it when you and CAROL discribe the snow it sounds so beautiful, good to hear your getting some you time and getting in some exercise, I think adding a few more cals to your plan was a good idea , they say that adding snacks is important as it stops you from binging I know by adding two snakcs a day to my plan it has helped me curb the cravings, well I,m off to a good start this morning have had some cherries which I love and some dates and a cup of green tea, HEY CAROL how are you going on your tea these day trying all the lovely flavours in the herbal range I hope, TIRED at the moment I,m with my dh for a couple of days then back to my daughters I think this little bump in the road might actually be good for us he is learning not to take me so much for granted,

PLAN FOR TODAY
BREKKI/ CHERRIES, DATES, GREEN TEA
LUNCH/ SUBWAY TURKEY AND HAM WRAP LOW ON CARBS AND YUMMY
DINNER/ CHICKEN STIR FRY TERRIYAKI WITH LOTS OF VEGETABLES, GREEN TEA
SNACKS/ FRUIT, APPLE, NECTURINES, GRAPES
I,M GETTING MY 8 GLASSES OF WATER EACH DAY THE WEATHER IS SO HOT I,M ALWAYS SO THIRSTY SO ITS EASY TO DO
Well thats it for me take care everyone bye for now BLESSED BE, JULIE

Julie welcome back you were missed. I too hope Rollmdl comes back around she was also fun! I am glad to hear the doc had great news for you. Yah when you can't do something thats when you really want to I have been there before. I hope things are going better for you. You as always have a great sense of humor and spirit. We have missed you!
Well I am with you Tiredoffat I had about 14 inches of lovely white stuff here too! I am so grateful it came in on a weekend. Anyways it is kind of pretty but to cold to mess around in. I made homemade spaghetti sauce today with meatballs and pork. It came out really tasty. I ate only a cup of pasta but did have extra meatballs. No bread for dinner just a salad. Breakfast was whole grain toast , oatmeal. Lunch two meatballs. At any rate it hasn't been to bad of a day. Oh now I did have a 1/2 cup of dill chips with my grandson. They were good but I stayed a only the 1 serving. I'm going to bake chocolate chip cookies to mail off to my son for his birthday. Just a little treat unexpected from home. I love to do it makes me feel good. Well I am planning on going to the gym before work in the a.m. so I won't ck in until later in the day. But I will be doing my intake count down. Oh Tiredoffat we have an ab. machine at the gym I set it at 65lbs. for 2 reps then set it for 85lbs. 1 rep. You pull down the bars toward your belly and it raises the wts. i can feel it today. So that is good. I read about making sure you mix up your exercise then you get more out of it as you burn calories and fat differently. Who knows anything is worth a try. I drink more water this weekend thats a plus. Take care! Chocolate are you out there???????????????????? We are a good group even though its just a few of us. We support each other and share ideas oh well!
cc

Hello! I am a newbie here. I just completed my first week of Herbalife today. I need tons of support. I really never had to exercise until now and I turn 32 this year. I gained 30 pounds beginning 3 years ago (relationships do it) and have maintained the extra 30 lbs over the last year. I am honestly not good at exercising although I know its good for me.

Can I lose weight on herbalife on the product alone? I am taking the shakes morning and afternoon, eating lunch with the girls at work. I take the pills morning and afternoon with the shakes: Total control, vitamin, cell activator, and snacking control pills as directed. Am I doing it right? Does anyone know?

I have managed to lose the 5 lbs. I put on I was up to 165 but I weighed in this morning and I am at 160. Yesterday was my dad's birthday so I splurged eating barbeque, but I still took my pills at least to help me maintain the weightloss and it seems to have worked.

Has anyone lost weight doing this?--Taking the shapeworks pills on days they knew they weren't going to be able to maintain the shake regimen for the day?

What I have noticed is that I have a lot more energy since I started. I am not a morning person but I sure do feel better arriving to work than normally.

Sometimes I sneak in some unsweetened grape fruit juice as a snack.

GOOD EVENING s, HOPE YOUR ALL WELL, THANKS CAROL I MISSED YOU GUYS TOO, welcome OLGA and I hope you stay on board , I,ve tried herbalife before, I had good results but then things happened in my life and I found it hard to stick to but I think everyone is an individual and diets work differently for everyone it sounds like what your doing is working so stick with it , I lost on an average of 1 to 2 lb a week on Herbalife alone but when I did some exercise with the program I had even better results and lost more inches than weight as mussel weighs more than fat so yes you can lose weight with the product alone but for even better results include exercise as well , and it makes you feel good to, I can,t wait to get back to it , CAROL you sound like such a wonderful mum I hope your appreciated, you and TIRED make me envious at the moment with your talk of exercise now I,m staying with my daughter for awhile she can,t wait for me to get back to it either she wants me to join the local gym with her the DOC said I can start off with some light water aerobics and then in about 3 wks I can graduate to some light weights, I,m doing some short walks at the moment around 15mins a day I still get a bit and I walk like a but I,ll get there slow and steady anyway you all have a good night I,ll check in again soon REMEMBER, STAY FOCUSED, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, NO QUITTING, AND BE KIND TO YOURSELVES, BYE FOR NOW TO ALL STAY WE ARE DOING THIS AND WE WILL WIN THIS BATTLE OF THE BULGE BLESSED BE, JULIE

Olga welcome! The site is only a small amt. of folks but lots of individual support. I personally have never tried that diet. I did know a supervisor a year ago whom used it she said that it was easy for her to lose. I am not sure how she is doing now as she left our company but when she talked it was like 40lbs. but she was really over wt. by quite a bit. Exercise with any program amakes the difference. I was just doing some reading this week end abou corlislim. Basic pt. was take this eat healthy and exercise and you will lose. Well same kind of goes with any diet I think. Good luck to you and keep us updated. Do you eat regularr meals with that program?
Julie I am off to the gym before work just thought I'd ck in for a bit of support. Thanks!
Tiredoffat we will see if I can get moving a couple of times a week in the a.m. for workouts. I have a doctors appt. for me and one for the hubby so I am off on Thurs. so I will fit in a work out for myself. Talk to you all later and add in my intake for the day.
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Hi all. Welcome Olga. I've never tried that diet, but I wish you well with it. Dieting is a journey to discover what works for you and your health. I'm loosing weight by eating a well balanced diet with a calorie total of 1800. I try to eat 3-5 grains, 3-4 fruits, 3-5 veggies, 2-3 proteins, and 2-3 calcium products a day. I'm also trying to exercise every other day. So far so good - I'm hoping that this is a plan I can stick to for the rest of my life. I like it because there's a lot of variety and I know I'm eating healthy foods.

Today's Intake
breakfast - 1 1/2 Kashi bars (200) rushing!!!
lunch - salad with turkey and grated cheese 250
heavy afternoon snack - pb sandwich (360), smoothie (300), orange (100)
total so far: 1210
dinner???
evening plan - exercise 6-7, health meeting 7:45

Hello everyone! What a busy day I started off with exercising before work. It was a bit rushed only did the treadmill for 26 min. then the ab machine for 3 15 reps. Then I flew off to work after stopping to grab a bagel to eat on the way. At any rate some exercise was better than none. So I guess it was good. It was a stressful day at work lots of political office stuff going on. That makes for a long day. I guess I am just listening and trying to stay out of things but at any rate its stressed up!
My intake was okay. I am a bit sore must of worked a few muscles. I did the treadmill at a 3.5 incline, 4.0 speed burned about 200 calories. The incline really makes a differnce some day I will reach 5! SOMEDAY!
Breakfast: 1 bagel cranberry plain 200, coffee, fresh grapes green 15 large ones.
Lunch: Lean Cusine chicken marsala, w/ snap peas and carrots 140 calories, salad w/ blue cheese and raspberry dressing 150
Snack grapes
Dinner; a sm. left over pizza slice homemade, 3 meatballs and sauce w/ mozz ch. 1 small bowl of my homemade veg. soup no meat in it.
1 handfull of dk. choc. covered raisins?
1 fudgie bar 90
Going to bed soon I am beat tonight! Hope your all doing well. Tiredoffat your doing great with your intakes. I am proud of you! I will have to try the Kashi bars. Tonight I skipped the pasta and just had the meatballs. Less carbs.
I made my daughter some homemade veg. soup no meat products. It was a real good recipe first time I made this one. So simple and tasted good. I sent her 1/2 and kept the rest for my lunches. That will surely make her feel good. It makes me feel good that she enjoys my soups and puts in requests when she is sick. Take care!

Thank you all for the warm reception to this forum. I chose to post here becasue everyone seemed so positive and its not too large of a forum. I will be posting what I do and exploring other people's lunch menu as well.

I had my second weigh in last night and I went over my chart with my aunt.

Last Tuesday:165 Lbs

Sunday night: 161 Lbs after eating more BBQ, one pound weight gain
My chest size: 37
My waist size: 37
Hips: 42 1/2
Arm: 12 1/2
Thigh: 17
Stomach: 39 1/2

Today's menu:
Breakfast: Shapeworks shake with 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 banana & pills
Snack: Coffee & cookie
Lunch: Low fat Quesadilla with Low fat works, water & coffee
Dinner: Shapeworks shake with 1/2 cup milk & 1/2 banana & pills
Water Intake: 1/2 liter

The cookie was staring at me! No really someone brought in cookies and I had one. My water intake can definitely improve. The way I take the shakes works out for me because I can eat with the girls at lunch. I have bad weekday breakfast habits so the shake actually improves that for me. Dinner is a bit tough because I can potentially steer away from doing right by my shake but they usually fill me up.

We'll see how tonight goes, as I feel a bit hungry but I think I will make it. I still have a cup of coffee to go with my MTV/VH1 shows. I am taking it day by day and I hope to see changes week by week so I wil have weigh ins but measurements will be weekly checkins. I don't want to get too caught up and drive myself bananas.

UPDATE:





THE BIG PICTURE:




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Olga don't let 1 lb. worry you too much. It could be salt intake made you retain more water. You mentioned your aunt, is she doing the same program as you? One thing I have learned in trying to change my lifestyle with eating is that if you want it I should have it but fit it in to your daily intake. I have over the past few months noticed that I can enjoy some goodies by limiting them better. I try to bake as I enjoy doing that but then put the extras away or give them away. I never could do that in the past. I feel good about that accomplishment. Not saying I never go over because that wouldn't be true but I have more control lately. When your still hungry have a glass of water w/ lemon slices in it. Sometimes that helps! Good luck sounds like your doing okay don't let 1 lb. get to you. Keep up the good effort. Spring is coming new clothes. That is one thing Tired has been thinking about and its a good insight.
Julie hope your doing well. Hope your not to hot. It is snowing here. I just heard the plow go by. I have to take a guy on my caseload into the city for an appt. Hope the roads aren't too bad. I wish snow could be shipped to you! Oh I have to get back into my teas again. Today I will try that at break time.
Tiredoffat you mentioned water exercises the other day. My gym had lots of trouble with their pool and filled it in. They made an exercise room in that area. Too bad huh? Oh well I have a doctors appt. on thurs. I am going to mention my hips hurting. It might just be from the incline and building new muscle? Who knows? Anyways I am going to continue to take some motrin to help ease the discomfort. I even noticed it during the night. Maybe taking some med's before bed will help. I see you added grated cheese to your salad doesn't it seem like your having extra? Tricks that help aren't bad at all. Make sure you fill us in on your meeting it helps me learn some new ideas and I am always up for that. Take care.
Breakfast: oatmeal, almonds, raisins, cinn. little 1/2 tsp br. sugar 220, coffee
Lunch: veggies soup150, salad w/ whole grain croutons, almonds, raspberry dressing 200cal. guessing? Tangelo 100cal.
I will add this in later on. Checking in seems to help me stay focused.

Hi all. Really, really busy day. I've been trying to meet with all the students so I can send their portfolios home with the report cards. It's hard to have multiple individual meetings while everyone else is independently working (or supposed to be working). Anyways, the portfolios look great and the children have done a lot of reflection on their learning. I finished the report cards so the stress is abating.

Tough eating day though - I stayed at work from 7am to 8pm. I brought some healthy snacks, but it was a lot of eating on the run. The meeting went well last night. Interesting info. The leader suggested that I lower the cals in my smoothies because it's better to be chewing cals then drinking all of them - I'm not exactly sure about the difference but I've read that chewing can be more satisfying. You might know about that. She also wants me to trim my cals back down to about 1500-1600 so I'm going to try that. I had a great swim last night and hope to ex again tomorrow. I have two sick sons so I'll be home tomorrow taking care of them - I hate to see them sick.

Olga and Carol, I'm glad you're hear. I enjoy reading about your triumphs and challenges. I also like all the tips. Carol, I could feel your exercise energy in your note.

breakfast - grapefruit, oatmeal, milk (300)
am snack - kashi bar (130)
lunch - salad with turkey and grated cheese (300)
snack - almonds 2 packs (340)
snack - cliff bar (130)
lots of water and coffee
total so far: 1200. I'll have another 300 tonight to round off to the 1500 - something healthy.

Have a good night!

Hi all. I'm sure that most of you are knee deep in snow and cold. All is well here. Julie, I hope you'll send us some sunshine soon. Take care. I'll check back.

Well girls I felt a bit down today! I got on the scale before going to the doctors. Oh I almost canceled going but I went anyways. I was a bit depressed over my scale reading. But I guess my extras lately as intakes and not being able to exercise as much caught up with me. I think goals need to be set for me so here I go. I will try my best to exercise 3 times a week but 4 would be even better, no eating past 8p.m. and better food choices.Also to use the treamill for at least 30 min. and try to increase my speed to 4.1 and my incline to 5 by the endo of Feb. Today I did work out and at 4.0 for inlcine and speed for 30 min. then did ab's for 3 sets of 12 with an inc. wt.. I couldn't work out any longer my hubbie had an appt. I had to attend. In the past week I let a few things slip in which I know better than to do. Oh well it will be okay. The doctor also said it might be due to my menopause stage of life. Now isn't that wonderful! Well I do enjoy not having a visitor for the past few months but! Oh me oh my I guess the balls in my court. I'd better take it and run or be left behind I guess. At first I thought maybe I should go back to South Beach diet? But then I thought first lets give it an honest whirl and see where it goes. But I am back to the scales once a week. It helps me with ck and balancing I think. Today: coffee and a bagel w/ ff cream ch.
lunch: 1 cup of stuffed gr. pepper w/ br. rice in it and sauce
1 banana
Dinner: 1 Arbys regular roast beef w/ horsy sauce
almonds 20
Snack 100 cal.
It is now after 8 and I am only having some ice water.
I picked up some healthy foods to cook for the rest of the week. If you have any encouraging words I think I could use them or a kick in the seat! My friend said I am being to hard on myself and some of it might of been from water wt. , salt intake etc... But I am just upset for slipping backwards. It will be okay I will exercise and as far as the mp thing I don't like to use that for an excuse either. I can and will do this. Oh Tiredoffat the doc. said to me counting calories is kind of the good way to eat as it gives more variety. She also said try to lower the calories intake a bit to get results moving. I didn't count the calories today as I lost my little book gotta go look for it. I think my eating this week had to do with emotions and stress. Gotta get a grip!

Hi, all. Hi, cacmsc. Do not beat yourself up. I am in the same boat I haven't budged this week on the scale. It seems like you are doing the right things by exercising and eating. I think it may be a plateau. Calorie-counting is definitely the best way to go. What is your range for losing weight? I am doing the Herbalife but I do think there some truth to what tiredoffat stated about liquid calories versus solids. Although the shakes satisfy me, I have an urge to chew. I had one shake this morning and had two meals today versus my usual 2 shakes and 1 meal to satisfy that craving to chew.

I think maybe adding more water to your intake might help or green tea to help the metabolism. My mother is in the ending stages of menopause (I believe) and despite it upsetting her thyroid and cholestrol, she looks better than ever. She has found a way to control it and she lost weight by changing her diet without dieting. I am really proud of her and she looks more rested than as far back as I can remember. I think you are on the right track, just monitor yourself as you stated and see what you can cut back and/or incorporate.

My mother gave me the idea of choosing my meals from customized diebetic, cholestrol or other in-kind recipes. She has a point-they're portioned and healthy foods. I am going to give it a try.

Another thing I did was go to TJMAXX today and look for cookbooks with recipes that included the calorie count and fat information. They're not diet books, they're just books with recipes and run for about $2-7. You just have to find one that has enough recipes you'll want to make.

I didn't calorie count today but I tried keeping portions in mind:

Breakfast Shake with half banana
coffee
sushi rolls 6 at 70 calories= 420
2 pringle chips
sushi rolls 8 at 70 calories=560
1 cup of nonfat milk
water

Not good not bad, hence the plateau. I need more water, green tea and to shake up the food a bit.

Here's a to start: Parmesan herb spaghetti squash

We're all in it together!

Hi Carol and Olga, you two are just the medicine I need this morning. I've been on a guilt trip about taking time and energy to get healthy lately. It's good for us to get healthy and we can do it, but it is a process where there's lots to learn. Olga, I like your ideas about finding great recipes with cals and portions. The Moosewood cookbooks have lots and lots of veggie recipes with cals. I need to include more veggies in my overall diet. Carol, thank for the info from the doctor. I think I'll join you with making some rules for my diet. I like your rules. Here's the outline for me. Want to join me and we can check in on these rules too.

Rule one - 1500 cals a day (this seems to be good for me)
Rule two - no eating after 8 (I like this one - there's no reason for me to eat after this)
Rule three - try to fit in three meals and one-two snacks a day.
Rule four - fit the following foods each day 3-4 whole wheat grains (pot. count here), 2-3 fruits, 4-5 veggies, 2-3 calciums, 2-3 proteins a day - good variety. I made a chart on spreadsheet to monitor this.
Rule five - exercise at least three days a week, four when possible.
Rule five - weigh in once a week, same day each week (the health coach told me that this is imperative so that you can keep a steady weight. She said that even a three pound gain is worthy of some changes) My weigh in day will be Sat. mornings. That will get me to the gym and curb my Friday night eating.

Carol I'm not sure what your best calories are - you'll have to determine that. What do you think of the other rules? Should we call it something other than rules??? Olga, what do you think?

I'm so glad that you're both here to journey with me. It will be worth it to be as healthy as we can.