Thank you for all of the warm welcomes...

I thought I would post a little bit about myself.

My name is Heidi. I am 34 yrs old. I am married and we have (2) beautiful girls. I NEED to loose 115 lbs. But, I don't know where to start.

I don't have the extra money to go to a gym or buy any workout equipment. So I thought for my 30 minute daily workout I would use the steps for 10 minutes at a time to start and then gradually increase my time.

I know that I should drink a LOT of water, but I HATE water. So what can I do to get water into my daily diet?

Right now I am a sahm, but this time next week I will be (hopefully) back in the work force. What is the best way to make sure that I maintain my diet?

I was reading information on the 3 hr diet. Has anyone tried it and do they like it? Also has anyone read Dr. Phil's weightloss book? I have it, but haven't started reading it?

Thank you all again... Have a wonderful night.

Heidi

Heidi, the best place to start is one small step at a time. And the biggest step you'll take is the step off of the wrong path into the right one, which also happens to be the scariest! I know for myself, when I first started it was a minute by minute victory. (I didn't realized how much I grazed - when I was bored, lonely, happy, etc.) So keeping my hands outta the pantry and fridge for the wrong reasons was tough!

As for exercise equipment, a lot of the ladies here do workout dvds. Such as walk away the pounds. I couldn't give you a review because I haven't used it myself, but I'm sure these ladies will chime in. I have a treadmill that I use 30 minutes in the morning and I use the Biggest Loser workout dvd in the evenings. You don't need a lot of money to exercise, you just need effort. And it sounds like you're full of effort, way to go tackling those steps. Steps are probably the hardest to do!

Water...hmmmm well there isn't a lot ways to make water better. I heard some ladies say they buy flavored water, or crystal light. I've also heard that you can count other beverages as your intake as long as water wins out in the end. I bought a container that holds the exact amount of water you need to drink in a day. I forced sips throughout my days, and now I seem to finish the jug before the day is out. It comes with time. We all know what a struggle it is to get that much water down when you're not used to it. My problem was that I didn't drink much of anything at all, let alone water! LOL

I am a stay at home mom myself, but I would imagine bringing your own lunch and water will help you stay on program better as you re-enter the work world.

I followed Dr. Phils plan for about 2 weeks. Honestly I couldn't handle the menu. I found that there was no advice to make what you had to eat taste good. It was a lot of steamed, bland vegetables. BUT as for his book, I love it! He has a lot of great get real advice! As for my own diet plan, I count calories and fat grams. Keeping around 1200-1500 cals/day and 20 grams of fat a day. I found a lot of great recipes on the net.

Good luck with your journey! And once again welcome, you'll fit right in here. We're all in the same boat, each day is a struggle as we try to better ourselves. You're going to do great!!

~Tina

:wave:

Just checking in,

Today I did not feel like doing much... AF is on her way... I wish she would just show up already... I hate this feeling of tiredness. :(

I keep saying I am going to get some vitamins,.. I probably need more iron in my blood. I just can never remember them when I'm out.

I did my workout and I will probably add another. Lately I have been doing the 2 mile WATP early in the day and doing the 1 mile in the evenings.

Paula, thanks for posting our loss... we are doing great! :carrot:
I will PM you my weekly weight on Sundays.

Tina, interesting info about AF... I guess I should add a little more intensity to the workouts toward the end of AF's visits, huh? :lol: That is so strange because right b4 the visit I feel so tired and not really wanting to do any workouts but since I started this journey I have pushed through it and now there is even more of a reason to continue... I'm going to pay close attention this month to see how my body / scale responds. Thanks again for sharing.

Heidi, I am one of those who do WATP. I started with the 1 mile video and on that first day I could barely make it through 10 minutes.... but after about a week I was able to get through the entire workout... now I'm up to 2 - 3 miles a day, 6 days a week. You can do this. Just start slowly and work your way up to a regular routine.

Hope everyone has had a good day!


:grouphug:

Heidi- I know someone who everytime she goes out to eat she ask for a glass of water and a bowl of lemons! She just squeezes half a lemon in her water! I myself would just as soon have the water! I wouldn't want the lemon without the sugar to go with it! LOL! I don't have alot of money either (I have 4 kids, they have all the money) Something I have started doing is once a day I will turn the radio up and JUST Dancing :dancer: around the livingroom! (glad noone can see that one) LOL!!! Anyway I think you have made a good start by committing yourself to doing it!

Tina- Since you brought up the lovely subject of that old bat (Aunt Flow) I have a question! She has been coming to my house more and more these days! Before I started losing weight, She came very regularly every 28 days! Now She has come the 1st of February and then again on the 14th of February! What would cause that? :cb: I checked my weight this morning and I am down another lb! THAT MAKES 20lbs!!!!!!:goodscale: That means I get another kiss!!!!:chockiss:

I have not been to the grocrey store yet to get the cake and stuff DH is still sick! :stress: So we have been staying at home.:stress: I am hopefully going this weekend! I am going to try to get in the bed early tonight so I will check in tomorrow! :grouphug:

Finally found out what has been wrong with me this week. I forgot to put my tranquilizer in my medicine box for AM and PM...no wonder I feel like I am going thru withdrawal. I thought it was just the phasing out of one med and starting on the new one...I did not realize I had completely skipped my anxiety med. No wonder I have been so unnerved lately.

I will be glad when the old med is out of my system and the new med is back in. I requested to be put back on Wellbutrin which I was on last year when I lost 30 pounds but then I was taken off of it and I gained it all back because I was having major depression and going thru Rx changes, I had to be hospitalized...any way. I am hoping being back on wellbutrin plus my current enthusiasm will aid in my objective....mission: weight loss! Permanent this time!!

It is so hard to stay enthusiastic though, I tend to lose focus easily. But I am doing it right now, that is what matters, right now. I did great today except for eating an orange. That is not on phase 1 of south beach. Other than that I was as good as it gets, well, not exactly, I did not exercise today.

hey, my cat Dusty is sick again. He just finished antibiotics and all for a urinary tract infection and now he is sick again or still, I dont know. But please send him some healing energy! Thanks!

And Heidi, I'm sure there are places that you can find exercise tapes for cheap. The older ones tend to go on sale more and you can get great workouts. I don't go to the gym or have any equipment just a few exercise DVDs that kick my butt.

Happy Wednesday!
 

Good morning!

I'm down another 1.5lbs! Holy cow I can't believe it! Especially during "her" visit. Maybe the info I found has some truth in it? *crossing fingers*
It's another cold, snowy, dreary day here. When will spring come?!! Then summer....hmmmm can you even imagine how great it will be this year? With the few extra pounds we have off we probably won't get so hot and sticky. We'll be feeling more light and airy. I know I'm looking forward to getting some more cuter summer clothes, even sun dresses. I wouldn't be caught dead in one before! You all were probably the same as me, it could be as hot as an oven outside and I was covered enough that I would gross anyone out. Capris came as close to shorts as I would get. Ahhhhh...I can almost feel the heat of sun shining down....MMmmmm I feel warm now. hahaha Am I desperate or what?!

Lois, isn't it funny how a lot of us have the same cycle? I've heard that when you're around other women for a time that you start adapting the same cycle as the other. But I never thought that it would have been a virtual thing! LOL You doing great with the videos. Have you tried the BL one again lately?

Paula, congrats on the loss! You're doing so well! You go girl. About the subject of the "ol' bat" showing up more often, there could be all sorts of reasons that I came accross. Weight loss could definitely be one of them, but it depends on how much you've lost, how fast you've lost it, and how drastic of a change you've put your body through. Because a significant amount of weight change can cause your hormones to go a little wacky. And then of course there were a bunch of medical reasons. Infections, endometriosis (sp?), can't remember the other. But if it is something that is totally not the norm for you and you're worried, I would put in a call to your gynecologist (sp?). PPsst...I hate those visits! I haven't had one since I was pregnant (early trimester), I didn't have the six week check up after cuz thankfully AF showed up, and I've never made an appt. since. I'm bad!

Garnet, I hope your new meds work in fast for you. Sounds like you have a lot more faith in them. I can feel your enthusiasm, you go girl! You're doing good, keep it up! One day at time, one moment at a time! Here's a bunch of good thoughts for your cat too!

Well, I'm off to the treadmill girlie girls! Here's to sweatin'!
Have a great day!
~Tina

Hi everyone!

Well that 2 lbs the scales jumped last Friday have almost gone, but they've been slow to go!!! It was 190.7 this morning. Ah well - so long as I keep doing the right things it'll go, but it's frustrating sometimes.

Is anyone giving anything up for Lent? Rather than give up MORE stuff, I decided to up my exercise instead. So I plan to do my DVD 30 times between now and Easter Sunday, which is 4-5 times a week, instead of the 2-3 I'm currently doing. Done one so far - 29 to go!!!

I solved the bouncing boobie problem! The leotard I was using was rather low cut so I bought another one that comes up much higher and is more supportive. They still bounce but they don't actually come OUT of the leotard any more. So I have no excuse now for not doing ALL the moves. I can actually do most of it now - just missing off some of the reps on the hard bits. Maybe by Easter I really WILL be able to do the entire thing.

Had a NSV today!! I had a skirt which was an 18 but it was a rather small 18 and at the beginning of January I couldn't even get into it. Well today I wore it for work and it was almost falling off my hips - yay!!!! I wore it a few weeks ago and it fitted in the waist but was tight across the belly so I'd put it aside for a bit. It's almost a shame - it's a really nice skirt.

Has anyone got anything in their wardrobe they will actually miss when they slim down? Most of mine I'll be glad to bin but I do have a lovely pair of raspberry trousers that are VERY flattering and look lovely on. I may alter those.

Hey everyone!!
Welcome to the newbies and congrats on all the successes!! You guys are all doing great!
I am hanging in there...had too much food over the weekend and it showed on the scale on Monday morning...but yesterday morning showed me 1 lb down for the week so that's what I'm going with- lol! I was down again this morning so I think I'm back on track.
I'm doing an exercise bootcamp this week with my sisters so I'm doing my t-tapp 5 days in a row, today was day 2. I think tomorrow will be HARD. But it will be worth it and then next week I'll be back to every other day- it's a great jumpstart to loosing inches though. I'm also trying to get on the treadmill too...on Monday I did my 2 miles in 27:30!! Running is getting easier :)
So I guess I'm officially down 14 lbs...*still* can't really tell a difference in my jeans and that's a bit frustrating, but I'm not going to give up! I know it will come with consistency.
TTYL! :wave:

howdy all!! hope I can join you wonderful people in my journey..I am a 42yo, wife and mother. I'm looking for some major support in losing this weight for 2006. I have read your posts and I feel inspired!!!!!!:carrot:

March seems to have arrived like the proverbial "lamb" here in Nova Scotia and that could mean that it will be a nasty month . . . just have to wait and see but at least today has been mostly sunny but pretty cold.

Just to add my two cents worth to the topic of the hour . . . one of the few really good things about getting to my age is that TOM is gone forever and he is definitely not missed.

You've already made the first and most important step, Heidi. Just try not to think of "being on a diet" because if any of us are to succeed at this job we have to realize that the changes we make will have to last forever. Sadly, there is no miracle or magic. Whatever plan you may choose to follow, the truth of it is very simple . . . calories in must be less than calories out. In other words . . . eat a little less and move a little more.

Hi, PurplePansy. :hug: Welcome to the group. We look forward to sharing your journey with you.

My new scale has lost almost all of its two pounds, so I'm almost back where I started from when the old scale went bonkers last week. Hopefully, there's no place to go but down, now.:D

Have a great evening, gang. See you all soon. Here's our dose of :dust: to help us through the night. Keep on moving downwards. :carrot:

Hi,

Just a quick check in since I'm still under the weather. Can't seem to shake this bug off. Today was my WW weigh in day, and I'm down 1.7 pounds! Not bad for being sick and no exercise. I'm counting it as 2 pounds.:carrot: :carrot:

Welcome purplepansy.:hug: Look forward to getting to know you.

Well ladies, I'll try to check back later and do some personal post.

Cheryl

hugs to u cheryl, hope u get rid of those germs soon.

welcome purplepansy

meowee congrats on ur scale losing!!

jelynn, im still not seeing any difference in my clothes, its frustrating aint it!

robsia, nope i will def not miss any of my fat clothes!! i so much want to be able to shop in normal shops again.

tina, another 1.5 wow!! congrats!

garnetfairy, luv ur new av! and an orange is better than a choc bar right!! hope ur feeling better.

goodnight gals :hug:

Hey Ladies...
 

:wave:

Paula... Congrats on the loss.... :dance: you are really doing great! If feels so good to see those numbers go down... :goodscale: keep going girl!

garnetfairy, so glad you found out what was going on with your meds. Awww, hope you cat feels better soon. :hug:

Tina, whoo hooo... you are coming down girl! If you keep getting light that airy air might just blow you away! ha ha! :lol: No... I have not done the BL workout again, but I might give it a try later tonight... if I do I'll let you know how long I last :workout: Ha Ha... yeah, AF could be a virtual thing! NOT! ! ! :lol:

Robsia, I know you are glad to get those numbers back down. Congrats on the NSV... wow, that just goes to show all that hard work is paying off. :carrot:

Emily, :wave: great job on the loss. You know those inches loss can be really motivating especially when the numbers on the scale start doing that fluctuation thing. Keep up the good work!

purplepansy, :welcome3: to the group. We are glad to have you join us, just jump right in. :hug:

Linda, It's cold here too, and I can not wait until the temps warm up! :sunny:

Cheryl, congrats on the 2lbs. :carrot: each lb lost gets us closer to goal. Hope you're feeling better!

I had a good day... had to run some errands... gosh I will be so glad when the weather breaks! Last week I had gone out and bought a couple of new bras... well guess what? ...they were I little too big... it seems I no longer need a "DD" cup... so today I went out and bought new underwear! :carrot:

It's the first of the month, so I did my measurements again. I also did some adjustments to last months in that now I am only measuring one side (arms, thighs, calves) instead of both.

So for Feburary:
inches loss = -5.5 total = -14.75
weight loss = -9.75 lb.

:carrot:

Hope everyone has had a good day!

:grouphug:

Just dropping in...
 

Hi ladies, just checking in.

Robsia, glad your coming back down. I know when you see a new low, you definitely don't want to go back at stare at the numbers you've just came from. Ok, when you say leotard, do you mean full body? I'm imagining a male figure skater outfit, I would fall down laughing and die at myself in that!! haha Congrats on your NSV, I don't think I would miss anything in my wardrobe now, I've been missing what I've grew out of too much! LOL

Emily, good luck with your boot camp idea. You'll have to tell us how it works for you. What a great idea. Congrats with getting back on board this week.

Purplepansy, welcome to our group! Thanks for saying you've been inspired by us, makes us feel like we're doing good..hehehe

Linda, march came like a lamb for you, but definitely a lion here! Good job fixing that scale!

Cheryl, just shake yourself a little harder! LOL Hope you and yours are feeling better in a jiff! Congrats on the 2lbs. No matter how comes off, the main thing is it's off! :)

Mum, thanks for the congrats. Hope you had a great day!

Lois, good luck with Bob! LOL I've gotta do the sculpting part tonight. But those jumping jacks and lunges are still hard to get through. Oh well, hopefully in time I'll be teaching Bob!! hahaha Your monthly measurements are awesome! Good job girl, keep doing what your doing!

I've been a good girl today, but still gotta get my evening exercise in.
Later all!
~Tina