Hi all, or is it just happy, jolly and derry?!! Raven, what are you up to? happy, just wanted to say I saw the photo of your house on another thread. It's beautiful! Reminds me of the houses in the area I grew up in (though we didn't have one like that.) I hope you feel better in it soon. There are so many types of locks out there. Just get something you feel safer with.

derry and jolly both -- you're doing great with the exercise. and jolly you're right on with eating as well. Derry, I'm sure you'll handle the diet as well.

I'm in the pits here. Had an unbelievable weight gain of 3 lbs over a week I thought I did great in! I am so dejected but determined to keep on and I'm taking the cue from you Linda and am going to journal! No sense just thinking I've done well if I haven't. And I want to remember those saves and little victories I did have along the way. I mean, I got to the gym and actually went through the motions, which is a lot better than I've been doing in months. So what if I'm not flying. At least I went out and looked around the airfield!

Hello Ladies!

I'm looking for a support group to pop into for my journey and your thread caught my eye! My main purpose for weight loss is that I'm so unhealthy it scares me! My New Years Resolution was to change myself! Be a Better Wife (which means less time on the computer *sigh* ) Lose some weight and start taking care of myself so that I can be around for my (hopefully) children!

Welcome Jacque! :wave: Glad to have a new friend. Things have been very quiet around here. Best of luck and more power to you on your weight loss endeavor. Tell me how you plan on going about getting healthier. Eating plan? Exercise? What have been your biggest blocks to getting there up to now? I see you're in Colorado. Is there snow there now? Well, tell me more and I hope to hear lots from you! Take care! :sunny:

redballoon,
I am eating better (as of January 1 I gave up soda and have been watching my calories, although not really stopping myself.) And trying to exercise, but that's a tough one to get into ;)

great start!
 

Hi Jacque. I just got back home and saw your message. That sounds like a good start. Giving up soda is a big thing. Were you drinking nondiet soda as well? If you were that can really rack up the calories. And even if you were drinking diet, they can be full of caffeine. Were you a big soda drinker? That's one habit I am glad to say I never got into. I hated soda from the time I was a kid and never drank the stuff. Thank God, I hear it's a very tough habit to break. Good for you! :cp:

Counting calories is also where I'm starting (again!). It's so easy to "forget" about things you've eaten or make a very low "guesstimate" of calories. Without setting any limits on myself except no sugar, except once a week (max. 500 calories) I'm going to first record everything I eat and figure calories and then see where I can cut back. Just taking a look at the package label to read the calories is a big deterrent I find.

What kind of exercise are you thinking of doing? Home videos, a gym?

By the way, you have a German shepherd? I absolutely love shepherds! I have four cats and a horse but always had dogs too, just can't now where I live but I hang with out with six dogs at the riding club I'm at a lot. Anyhow, saw that in your profile. I've been figuring out how to get around this site recently, though I've been here a while. You could get great exercise walking your dog, right?

I drank a LOT of non diet soda every day (at LEAST 6 cans, usually more) so giving it up has been tough!

As for my German Shepherd, all my life I've wanted a white German Shepherd, but when we bought our house I went to the pound and found a beautiful pup, she's actually a mix of German Shepherd and Smooth Collie, but a good cute dog :D A Horse?! Now that's something I've always wanted! After high school I worked at a horse camp for 3 years, LOVED it! Maybe someday we'll buy one...

Good morning. Is it just Jacque and me around here? Where is everyone?

Jacque, well, looks like we'll have to just pick up the slack. Six cans, that's a lot. You will probably see a difference just from that. Good for you! Yes, it would be hard, I can imagine. But, a lot of that is habit. I used to drink tea all the time, always had to have some drink on my desk. Now, I don't at all, except water, I always have water on hand. Mineral water or sparkling mineral water. Maybe that's the difference. Are you drinking water? I can't stand water from the tap, though I use it for coffee and cooking. Mineral water is so much nicer.

Thank you for giving an animal from the pound a home! Animals need more people like you, Jacque.

So, what's your plan today? We're off kilter timewise so just change my todays to tomorrows usually and they'll make more sense. It's already Monday morning here. Today, like yesterday I will write down everything that goes in my mouth AND put a calorie count on it. And NO sugar today.

Heh Jacque! I just read that you're the winner of this week's book giveaway! Congratulations!! :sunny: That should help you along! :spin:

I actually just entered a "normal" day (before) into fit day and didn't even get everything snackwise, just meals...and 4000 calories! OMG! That's crazy!!

As for water, I never used to! But that's all I drink now :D Well that and tea with breakfast and dinner (no calorie tea though!)

All of our animals are from the pound! We have 2 cats and a dog right now...I'd eventually love another cat and another dog, but we'll see... my husbands not to thrilled about that!

I have the next 4 days off work, so hopefully exercise, and relaxation!! I just ran and bought a fitness ball, some 2 lbs weights and a pedometer...see if that helps kick my butt in gear ;)

Oh and Thanks :D Winning that definately gave me some encouragement :D I got a cookbook of healthy recipes :D (I already have Dr Phils books, all of them! and so I figured another cook book would be nice!)

Jacque, isn't it an eye-opener when you add up all the calories. This is why I'm forcing myself to do it. It is so easy to just go up, up and away! :lol: Don't get discouraged to find out how much you're eating. One good thing you should think of by adding all these calories is that you can see a definite reason for you having gained weight. It takes the emotion out of it and should give you a feeling of empowerment. You know that if you cut back on those calories you will see a drop in weight and that is thrilling. :dance: Good luck to you!

Oh, I just reread your post and realize you said the 4 grand was a "before" day. So, are you eating less calories now? You must be, without the soda for one.

The other thing I find I do all the time is I'll be "good" when I'm actually writing the food down in a diary and adding up the calories but, of course, when I'm not, I'll just close my eyes and . . . open my mouth! It's important to be consistent because a day of indulgence can cancel out all the good work and then you just feel oh so discouraged!

I actually write down what I'm going to eat before I eat it... I've been averaging 1500 Calories for the past 4 days! This is day 5 and still doing good :D Yesterday I even went to a buffett for dinner with my husband, and ate mostly good things, I did have some ice cream for dessert and a SMALL (talking maybe 2 inchs) slice of pizza!

Wow, Jacque. 1500 calories. That's impressive. That's the number I aim for. You are going to see results if you keep that up, which I see from your equally impressive dinner performance, that you are likely to!! :spin: Do you have a weigh-in day? I post over on the Battle of the Bulge thread too and we weigh in on Sundays. I am staying away from the scale otherwise. It's too fickle and too discouraging. I was majorily discouraged yesterday when it showed a 3-lb gain. It's like, where the heck did that come from?!?!? because I was "good" last week. But I'm not going to worry. It must be water gain, probably from me working out again after a long layoff. Looking forward to next Sunday's weigh-in because I am going to count those calories this week for sure. Keep going, Jacque. You've started this year out in an excellent way!

I was weighing on Tuesdays (or planning too!) But I maybe I'll join the Battle of the Bulge! (There's no such thing as too much support!)

As for water gain after working out for a day after a day off, I'm confused how that works!!