[Natasha1534]

There ARE healthy options out there, like people said. Forego the cheesesticks and fries for a salad or grilled chicken breast. Trade the liquor and beer for wine and limit yourself to a couple of glasses (I absolutely HATE wine usually but I love Castello de Poggio Moscato Wine). I used to be a HEAVY social drinker. I'm talking anything the boys would drink I would to...if you put it in front of me, I'd drink it down...and I'd drink 3/4 of the boys under the table. A regular night was AT LEAST 7 or 8 shots of hard liquor (I'm talking Jim Beam, Crown, etc) and 5 or 6 beers...I don't even wanna get into the HEAVY drinking nights when I would START by downing 2 pitchers of beer. Now, b/c of how much I've limited my drinking on SB, I get fuzzyheaded after 1 large glass of wine. Long gone are the days when my male friends would spend $100 or more at a bar trying to make me puke...or the days of being the ONLY female called over to take a shot w/ the groomsmen at a wedding. But my health is more important...and the guys realize that.

[NattieJo]

Thank you all for your kind words!

Yes, it is a matter of changing my old ways and challenging myself to do better.

I am doing weight watchers and have found that successful in the past and successful since April (I've lost 14 pounds). It allows me to control portions but be real with the food choices I make.

Like I said earlier, it helps me plan out my breakfast, lunch, snacks and most dinners. It's just the few dinners/happy hours here and there (maybe 3-4 meals a week AT most). I think I just got down because I was doing so good, then I started studying for the GMAT and stopped working out and stopped eating regimentally (sp?).

When we do go out, I do choose wisely: sashimi instead of rolls; no chip basket; reducing carbs, 1 glass of wine or lite beer. But I am also true to myself, yes, I want to lose weight, but also, I know I can't cut out the "social" aspect from my life. If I do cut myself out from the world and limit myself, I'm sure I'd gain the weight back. So for me, making better choices and planning out as much as possible is working and will hopefully continue to work for me.

So now, back to the real world, here I am, with a schedule, that I seem to work best at: working out 3-5 times a week and eating within my points.

Like my mom said, I didn't gain it overnite so I can't expect for it to come off overnite.

I guess the idea of my post was to see how others have overcome this barrier, so thank you for those with ideas!

[QuilterInVA]

Natalie, you say you are doing WW but if you are, you know that isn't enough. You have to get in those 9 Healthy Guidelines every day to be successful. Just staying within your points doesn't do it.