Hey Kim. No problem on the crystal light. I have a full quart in my refrig. And keep it there. I try to drink the whole thing. I will say I like it watered down better. They also make one that fit right in a 16oz water bottle. I keep them in my car, cause I absolutely hate my moms water and I visit her once a week right now. Don ‘t be so mad at your friend. Some diets take a lot of will power. . It doesn’t mean it’s a bad diet or it doesn’t work it just means it wasn’t for her. She should not have badmouthed the diet especially cause your having so much success with it. Andreas right she’s not ready, but maybe this diet isn’t for her and the one that’s right for her isn’t right for someone else. I think that’s why there are so many out there. As long as you’re eating healthy what does it matter? Anyway let it roll off your back and move on to you. Don’t let this sabotage your efforts.

Andy, why don’t you try to be really good during the day and try to stay on the low end? Then when you eat what your husband makes have a smaller proportion and have a salad with it with a fat free dressing. Balsamic is awesome no points leave off the oil. I use to do it all the time. Actually I still do it. It’s harder for you cause your not preparing the food but you do have say in what you bring to work. I used to pack my breakfast (hot oatmeal (I think 2 points), turkey sandwich for lunch or larger salad, and about 3 fruit or some veggies. It worked well for me. I made goal doing it that way. I gained it back when I stopped working and got pregnant…just some suggestions.

Andrea thas great that she noticed. Most of the time women notice and men do not. I think men are afraid to comment sometimes, they don't know how we will react to certain things. That sounded like a busy day. Congrats on the great day. I am glad that you had a good time. Its good to let loose once in a while. Clam digging sound like tons of fun. I wish I could let my dog off the leash and throw the ball at the beach with him, but he would take off. He is a siberian and is always tied up or in the house or cage. He is a hand ful. I should get one of those fenceslless gates but they are ton of money but we do not have good fencing here and hubby wants that synthethic gate that you don't have to repair ever but i want us to pay the bills first. we did refacing on cabinets in december and its still on my credit card..ugg.. thast why i have to get a job..


Talk to you ladies later.. Have a good day. Its suppose to be a nice week on the East Coast. I am hoping to get some walking in again.

Karyn

Good Morning! Just wanted to report that I've lost 2 more pounds since Friday!

I'm down to 185 lbs! I started this endeavor on March 15, and at that time, I weighed 200 lbs and I set a goal of losing 15 lbs by May 1st. Well I did it, and I'm quite early! Whoo Hoo!!!!! Now I have to lose 2 more pounds by May 1st, since I have an April mini goal to lose 10 lbs and I'm down 7.

I'm off to do yoga now--Taa Taa!

Hi all. I just finished doing my yoga and having breakfast--my favorite: poached egg on whole wheat toast with some apple wedges. Yum!

It felt great to do yoga this morning, especially since I was feeling really tight and sore in my hands and shoulder from digging clams. Felt good to tone and stretch...and warm up a little, too. It's chilly here this morning, to me anyway.

Karyn--Yes, I had a busy weekend. I like those kind. Then I like the quiet after everyone leaves! haha

It is fun to play with my lab, but she's a handful, too. Full of mega-energy, like all labs until about 3 years of age. Sometimes she is really annoying, like when she suddenly decides to chase a pick-up truck down the beach, barking like crazy and won't come back when I call her. Grrrr. Still, she is a nice dog for the most part and forces me to get out and walk or throw her ball for her even on the ickiest days weather-wise.

Siberians are definitely prone to wander. I used to volunteer at an animal shelter when I lived up in Homer, Alaska, and most of the dogs in that shelter were Siberian Huskies. They were in for various reasons, like eating the neighbors chickens, or whatever, but mostly they were just prone to stray. They are still pretty close relations to the wolf for a domestic dog, so they are a bit wild and independent, but they are so beautiful and friendly. I LOVE their big smiley faces! What's your dog's name?

Well, I just wanted to respond to your post. I should actually fold the rest of my mountain of clean laundry. I'm bad about putting clean laundry away, especially if I let it pile up at all.

Looking forward to hearing from everyone!

My siberian is a 19 month old Siberian Male. He has the mask eyes, one blue and one brown. He is a big pain in the but. He used to take off on us but now we lead him in the yard (had to shorten the lead cause he chewed my sons playset), he likes wood and plastic (my deska and railing is wood). Anyway, he is very loveable, but still jumps and chews some. He loves to run but doesn't get much of that on the lead so its important for me to start walking him. it will be good for all of us. Anyway I love him but hate him..if you know what I mean. His name is Bailey. Siberians too are pups until 3 or 4. Can't wait!!!!!! I feel like I have 2 toddlers int he house.. oh yea I do..

I am a little bummed today. I weighed on my scale and I am up. I am sure its cause I am not very good at drinking water on the weekends, no to mention I am not that great on the weekends. Andrea what website do you get your calories from? I think I might start tracking calories... I am not sure what plan to do.. I was good this morninging.. so far I had coffee, peanutbutter sandwhich (only 1 tsp of peanutbutter and 1 tsp of jelly) and just had a rice cake. I am going to go have salad or fruit now.

Karyn

Andrea I got my answer fitday.com. I looked back at your old post and found it.. I signed up for the site.. it loooks pretty cool. Which do you use? what plan doyou use?

Hi all! Well I missed out yesterday on getting a post in so this one will probably be pretty long I didn't do anything really exercise wise yesterday, just housework and took the kids to the circus. It was a nice weekend with beautiful weather it started raining last night and did most of the night but it was nice enough to go for my daily walk at lunch. I weighed in this morning and lost a couple more lbs. down to 191 maybe 190 my scale is kinda funky and hard to read exactly but I'll take the 191. It looks like I am going to make my April goal and then some!!!

I also checked out fitday.com and love it, it takes a little time to enter everything but I'm guessing that once you have your recent list built up it will go faster.

Hearing (or rather reading) about you guys and your dogs makes me want a new puppy (I look on the internet for a dog all the time) I used to have a Bassett Hound named Rufus who I still miss very, very much, but the ex from **** ( I think I will just use this icon from now on when speaking of him ) took him in the divorce and then put him in the animal shelter.

I am the same way about laundry, I don't mind sorting it, washing, drying, folding, but I will stack it up and wait forever to put it away if I don't make myself do it right away Congrats on the 2 lb loss Andrea, you are doing so great I am a little sore from the Yoga workout saturday but not too bad. I need to try doing it again, but all the way through this time.

I actually like water but will always choose to drink something else instead (don't know or understand why that is) so I make a deal with myself that for every glass of something else that I drink I must drink a glass of water!! I don't know but it works for me.

Kim, sorry to hear about your negative experience with your friend, but just think how embarrassed she will be when YOU prove her wrong!! I am now on my 8th week of the SBD and lovin' it not everything works for everyone. Keep strong and you can do it. I believe in you!!!

I am sure that I'm not responding to everything I wanted to but having trouble remembering it all so I'll just say goodluck to everyone this week Can't wait to read more posts!!

Hey, I just noticed that today is Marina's (Partyof5) birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINA

You haven't posted in a few days so I hope you are still with us and hanging in there!!

Karyn--When I first started trying to lose weight, I didn't follow any commerical plan, if that's what you're asking me. I just started watching my portion sizes and not eating seconds. I also stopped eating after 7:00, which had become a problem for me. I now eat when I want, but if it's later than 8:00 I make it fruit or something really light. I usually just drink herbal tea. I think I've broken the habit of gorging on all sorts of stuff after I get the kids in bed. I just don't feel that urge anymore. I also choose to eat between 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies each day. This wasn't easy at first, but it didn't take long to get the hang of it...and it forced me to start making different and yummier meals than I had in awhile, just to keep it interesting! Part of what was hard for me was being out of the habit of planning meals. It only took me a couple of weeks to get into the swing of doing that again. And eating healthy like this really helps me to avoid being hungry and to avoid persistent cravings for junky sweet stuff.

Journaling my food and exercise was another big and positive change I made--when you write it down, you really do see what you are doing--plus, you think twice before you indulge--you make sure it's something you really want. Another way to put it that you consider whether it's really worth having. I highly reccomend it. It keeps you thinking about your long term goals. Helps you hold yourself accountable. That's basically what I started doing.

At first I had a friend journaling with me--our journals are at www.livejournal.com My user name there is Serafyn, just like here, so you can read my journal anytime, to get an idea how I eat and what I do towards getting in shape and being healthier. It's a public journal. Anyway, my friend stopped journaling about a week after we started, and keeps promising to come back to it, but hasn't, so I started coming to 3fatchicks for some support and people to share this journey. Since I started coming to 3fatchicks.com I noticed lots of people mentioning www.fitday.com, so I went there and now it's become a daily stop for me as I log in my foods and figure out how many calories I'm getting. I would have to say that now I'm a calorie counter! But I aim only to stay within a range (1200-1500) and am not obsessive about it at all. (Yesterday I was at 1600 for the day and felt not a twinge of guilt. I know that I'm in this for life now, and one day over here or there is not going to break me--besides 1,600 is not that much! hahaha) I still eat the way I like and nothing is completely off limits, but I don't eat near the chocolate or fat that I was eating, because I now KNOW how fast the calories rack up when I do that! It's been surprisingly easy to dramatically lower my calories. I eat good, nutritious meals and fun, yummy healthy snacks and I just don't feel deprived.

I do thinkthat after some recent soul-searching, I've adopted a different attitude about my life, and that has been instrumental in my success so far. Before I was eating for emotional reasons and sometimes I'd eat 2 burritos with a ton of cheese for lunch...and then I'd eat all of what the kids left on their plates, too! I was mindlessly eating 2-3 times as many calories in a day than I am now, just trying to fill a void I felt in my life. One day, I decided to start becoming the person I want to be and quit letting external circumstances control my behavior. I wanted to quite sabotaging myself and making my situation worse. I know that I've come to the right place in my life and that I'm just READY. I don't have a magic formula to pass out to anyone, but I have faith that anyone can achieve a similar space if you keep your goals in mind--and not just your weightloss goals. Consider all your lifegoals and consider this a wholistic change for life. What do you want to achieve? What's stopping you? How can you fix it? Just do it, as that famous shoe company says. If you keep after it, it will get easier! Good luck Karyn on finding your personal motivation and what works for you. Big hugs to you!

Great job on the weight loss! I try not to be too attached to the number on the scale, but when it goes down, it sure feels good, doesn't it? Like some kind of proof you're on the right track. Good for you!

I'm glad you like fitday.com. I think it's cool...and very motivating. By the way, the recent foods list has a limit and eventually things you put on it will not be there as you add other foods. The custom foods you put in stay the same, though.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I also bought a kitchen scale when I bought my bathroom scale, and it has really helped me keep track of how many calories I'm getting. Mainly, I like that I can measure out an amount instead of "guesstimating". I particularly like this ability when it comes to cheese and meat and other potentially high fat food.

Val, I'd think long and hard about getting a puppy. There are several times each week when I think to myself, "What WAS I thinking!?" Sometimes I wish I had just kept things simple. (As simple as it can get when you have 3 children ages 5 and under! haha. Though they are being sweethearts today!)

I get sore from my yoga sometimes, as I work on perfecting a pose or stretching a little more. But it's a good sore, no?! Try to do your tape again. The kinks work out pretty quickly once you do it a few times. For me 3 was the magic number. And then later when there is soreness from working harder at it, it takes even less time to heal up. If I'm really sore, I just do gentle stretches one day and not the whole dvd. I have some yoga books that I look at and try to learn from too.

Ugh...wanted to walk to the beach, since the weather warmed up and the sun came out after raining buckets of rain last night and this morning...but the weather has changed again, and it's pouring down. Darn. Maybe I'll put on some music and get the kiddies to dance with me!

Later!

Val I agree with Andrea, think twice before getting a puppy. Sometimes I wish I would have gotten a german shepard. they are much more obidient. But having a 3 year old and this dog I question what i was thinking every day... As Dr. Phil says, What are you think????? haha...

Karyn

Andrea, I checked out fitday and like it but finding the foods are a bit confusing. I guess cause I did points before with a book. I do relize that even though I did about 1322 today I am not getting my nutrients that I should be getting and I am hungry now. I think I will go get some carrots and crystal light.

Let me tell you ladies, today I did well on my plan and even walked. I went for 2 walks with my son. He didn't want to go for a walk just the park. No one was around so I circled the area with the slides (its pretty big) with the dog until my legs felt tired. I could still see my son and be close with him and yet got some walking in. It felt good.

Later on we took another walk and my son rode his bike, except for my brief accident... i gotta share .. its pretty funny. I was trying to keep up with my son and I tripped on some gravel or a hole (not sure) and down I went.. scrapped my knee up pretty bad and my hand and I have a hole in my pants. We continued to walk until I realized I was bleeding we came home.. I am sure the kids were laughing at me.. But I have to say at least I exercised so its worth it.. And found out that my cardio crusier is on its way.. should be here anywhere from wednesday - monday..yaya...

Karyn

ps happy birthday marina <-- its okay its fatfree..ahah..

Hi everyone,
Val-Thank you so much for the birthday wish.

Welcome to the group Sabrina and Andy.

I know I havn't posted much lately but like Andrea said I too am doing some soul-searching and it's not easy. I come here daily and catch up with everyone but obviously don't post. I don't know why. Maybe i'm worried that my husband might read it. I'm taking the title "moms taking care of moms" very serious and realizing that I am my husbands wife not his mom too! I have a 13 yr old and 12 yr old that i'm still taking care of as if they were babies and my 9 yr old is so independent. I'm also realizing that my husband shows no concern for what's going on in my world. Is it to much to ask for "How was your day?, what did you do?, who did you go with?"

Anyway i'm still with you all and hope you understand. I'm on a mission. I'm still going to the gym and busting my butt. I weighed in this morning and lost another 3lbs. That's a total of 6lbs and physically I feel good. I need to update my tracker.

Karyn~It felt like you were talking to me when you mentioned that article about taking a day off. Saturday my girlfriend took me out for my birhtday and I did order a salad but ended up eating m&m's during the movie and afterwards we went and had an ice cream then back to her house for some drinks (a little too much to drink). So I was feeling guilty the next morning until I read your post and felt that I just mixed it up a bit. Thanx!

Hey about the puppy thing. We were thinking about getting one too. My family wants a Boxer but I know that no one is going to clean up after it. In the beginning everything will be great and then after a while it will become a major chore. I think we'll stick with the cat we have.(his b-day is today too)

My daughters beggin to play cards so i'll check back in later. Have a good evening.
Marina

Karyn-Thanks for the birthday wish and the fat free cake.

Hi all--I'm on my way out the door to go to the library, so I can't post much, but I was wondering how you all knew about Marina's birthday. ??

And, since you mentioned it, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Marina!

Thanks everyone for your kind words about my negative friend. I am going to do my best not to bring 'the diet' up again. She will see, and I won't have to say a thing. I have not been drinking my water. I just forget and then by the time I think about it, I don't want to drink it, cause I will be going to the bathroom all night. Anyway, I don't know what I did wrong, but I had a pound gain this week. I am probably going to do Phase 1 another week. I didn't get to walk today because it was raining like crazy here. It was nasty all day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Anyway, I am not giving up I am sooooo not giving up!!!!!

Andrea, congratulations on your loss! I am jealous. Way to go!

Karyn, it sounds like you exercised 'till it hurt'......literally. That sounds like something I would do (falling). Good going though. Great idea to walk while he played. You could have just sat there, but you didn't! Good for you!

Oh, I have a dog too. Her name is Dixie. Get this........she is part miniature dachshund and part Australian Shepherd. The dad was the miniature dachshund, now that is a visual isn't it? We joke that he had to get a step stool! She is now 18 months old and 33 pounds. And very long. She is the most loving thing though. She is a lap dog. What will fit in a lap anyway.

I have bunko tomorrow at my house. I am doing tacos for everyone, but skipping the shells for myself. I will just make a salad. And I will skip desert. Gotta clean house! UGH!

You ladies have a great day if I don't have time to post, I will catch up on Wednesday.

YOU ARE ALL SO WORTH IT! AND DANG IT, SO AM I! Isn't it nice not to be alone????