Monday works for me, I weigh daily anyway - it works best for me.
I envisioned this as checking in daily with our food/exercise plan (not detailed, just brief sketch or as much as you want to write), whatever challenges we're facing, any NSV (Non-Scale Victories) in our lives. How you stayed motivated to work out last night -- stuff like that.
I was supposed to work out tonight, but I spent too much time at my son's day-care discussing potty training with his teachers and then I had promised DS he could help me cook dinner tonight (which makes it take at least twice as long). Now he's in bed and I'm wiped out. Tomorrow is a touchy-feely all day off-site meeting to introduce our "vision" and "culture drivers". Ugh. But I should be done early, so I should be able to work out Fri/Sat/Sun and get my 4x for the week.
Food was great up until dinner. I'm not so sure, but I think I went over my portions. I really must get the food scale out and measure.
AmberKay - I look forward to hearing more about this one friend Freshman year can be a lot of things - mostly what you put into the experience is what you'll "reap". We're here for ya!
Rolie - Looks like those cardio numbers are boosting up! Yay You!
LittleBee - Tell us a little more about yourself - if you'd like.
Noodlezs - Where'd you go?

QOTD (anybody can post one of these if you have a topic you'd like to hear about)- What's the earliest diet experience you remember?
I was 14 or 15, had just put on the first 30 lbs while my mom was in the hospital for 9 months gravely ill. On a holiday visit to my Aunt and Uncle's my aunt made me weigh in on her scale and offered me $1 a pound for every pound I lost by Easter. I remember feeling mortified and embarassed and actually read my Mom's Atkins book (he first published in the '70's) and decided I couldn't do it.

- 42 days away!

hahahaha! I did 30 minutes of cardio!

Hm...earliest diet experience I remember is when I was probably around 10 or so. I would only eat half of whatever was on my plate, if that. :| I wasn't actually overweight either, I probably weighed around 75-80 lbs at the time. I don't think I even hit 100 lbs until I was 13 or so. My mother was constantly dieting and has been obese as long as I can remember...I think that may have had something to do with it?

And yeah, I was thinking this could be a daily chat too. It'll be fun! I try to weigh myself once a week...it usually ends up being more.

Jeez, you work out 4x a week?! hehe, you shame me. That on top of having kids...wow.
I don't really have a food plan. At all. Actually, the medication I'm on for migraines completely kills my appetite...which you'd think would be good. But if I don't make myself eat I just won't eat. And when I do eat things just don't taste good. So lately it's been pretty low(around 1000 cals). I don't cook, and there's nobody to cook for, so I usually pop a healthy choice frozen meal in the microwave for dinner or something. I dunno, my food life is reeeeaaally boring.

And he's soooooo cute!!! And very sweet. He's in my art class. hehe.

Ooh, and I have an NSV that I posted in Mini-Goals already. Just that all of my skinny jeans fit up over my booty now. They range from snug 12's (which is the size I wear now) that are only a couple of lbs away from fitting, to 10's that are super tight to 9's that don't come close to buttoning....but I got them all up over my hips.

My cardio today was fun as usual on my days off of work(I go to the gym on the days I work). My 4 yr old son loves doing Sweatin to the Oldie with me. He is a blast to watch. Makes it go faster.

Tomorrow I'm going to stock up on chicken and veggies. I bought a Foodsaver and a food steamer so I can make me up some healthy meals and freeze them until I need them.


Ottoette: I have a trick that I do to prevent overeating at dinner. I use a salad plate (its about 8") as my dinner plate. I keep my food in the small circle in the middle. The only challenge is not going for 2nds. I think since I've been doing this I can stop when I'm full and not overeat.

AmberKay: Congrats on the skinny jeans. I don't have those, I have skinny shirts. Still have a bit to go..can still see the roll outline. But they look closer then 2 months ago.

Hey,I have skinny shirts too. I blew up about 20 lbs this past year, so most of my clothes are from when I was smaller.

Here's my plan. I've never been able to "count calaries". It's like college algebra to me. A foreign language, I've just never been able to master. My main approach to diet is Abstinence = no sugar or alcohol (Started over on this plan this past Monday, 10/09/06. I first tried abstenence last February. Succeeded at it for more than 40 days, but no weight loss = wasn't exercising!!!). Also I'm doing portion control. I eat 1 main dish (ie. 1 cup baked chicken) and 1/2 cup one or two veggetables. I eat 1-3 fruits a day and drink at lest if not more 64 oz of water. I am working out 3 days a week consisting of 40 min weight lifting and 30-45 min jogging/walking.

I think consistancy will be the key for me. I haven't stepped on the scale since before last Monday, although I'm temped to every day. I know that I'm compulsive about the scale and if it doesn't say I've lost anything, then I get depressed and want to binge. So once a week is all I'm allowing myself to weight in. Monday's will be perfect for me since that's the day I got my FRESH START.

I'm an unemployeed, full-time college student (back after 21 years!!!), so things have been pretty stressful over the last few months . . . life is settlling down now so I'm counting on have more control over my eating habits. You guy will certainly help me with being accountable!!!
Thanks for being here!!!

Welcome to the thread. I don't do calorie counting either. I just try to keep my meals at the right portions. My biggest problem lately is my husbands band travels alot and we tend to have to go to fast food restaurants. I eat as little as possible because even the salads are unhealthy there once you put the dressing on. But at least we have the next 2 weeks where the shows are close to home and we can eat here.

Ottoette I guess the biggest thing to know about me is that I have an eating disorder. I go from binge eating/bulemic that has lead me to being severe morbidly obese. I am taking it one day at a time to take back control of my life. I don't want to raise my kids to have a bad relationship with food like me. I want them to eat healthy and not let food control their lives as I have done all these years. I cook healthy meals for my family, but I overeat and even healthy foods can be a problem for me. But I am getting better one day at a time.

AmberkayCongratulations on those skinny jeans fitting. Awesome!

roliepolie I have Richard Simmons Sweatin to the oldies and I need to start using it to get in some more exercise.

noodleszYou are very organized with a really great eating and exercise plan.

QOTD :: What's the earliest diet experience you remember?

I was a little kid I don't even remember how old I was. I remember being teased about being fat. I wanted to lose weight but didn't know how really. The only way that I knew to lose weight was by not eating. That was the beginning of my binge eating. Because I could go for 2-3 days without eating anything. But than I would get so weak that I would eat everything I could find in the fridge and cupboard. I don't think I ever loss any weight but that became the eating habit of eating very little to binge eating. That way of eating is what pushed me into being labled severly morbidly obese by the medical profession. I have since tried numerous of diets and the only one that I have had any success with is weight watchers. I have started and stopped ww so many times. But this time I am going to stick with ww for the long haul. Counting points,and writing everything down helps me gain control. I have to eat small meals to keep me from getting to the starvation mode where I want to binge eat. WW also allows me to have a dessert to keep me from feeling denied and than feeling the need to binge. I have a long road ahead but I am sticking with ww for the long term.

Does anyone here have an on-line journal? I'm just wondering why people would want a journal that the whole world can read. It seems to me that if I know people might read what I write, I'll be cautious (not as honest) about what I put down on paper. I love journaling . . . been doing it since I was in 10th grade (thank you Mrs. Weber!!!) I want to start another one, but Not sure how or where. What is a blog, and why do they exist?

Anyway, in response to Littlebumblebee, thanks for the compliment, but in actuality I'm not as disciplined as I am organized. I binge like crazy. I have a PLAN and I know what I want to do/accomplish and then the insanity hits me like a ton of bricks and I eat a whole bag of chips. I've just realized today that I need to add CHIPS and FrenchFries to my list of Abstinence items . . . that's the only way for me to not binge. I can stay completely away from something - what I CAN'T do is "have just one".

Hey Amberkay I forgot to mention in my last post - I have a skinny dress!!! I love disco dancing and I could get into this dress 9-10 years ago, but now NO WAY . Thats my dream goal to go dancing in that dress again! At first I thought it was just a silly wish, it will never happen. But then I refound this site. Talk about inspiration . . . I LEARNED (at least I'm working on learning ) how to do "threads" and "posts" etc. and now I'm thinking, hay wait a minute. It's POSSIBLE. I was wearing that dress POST childbirth (23 yr old son and 14 yr old daughter). So YES WAY. And I'm gonna do it. Thank you gals for being here

of course you'll go dancing in that dress! I used to do pointe ballet...I'd love to take up some form of dance again, but not overweight like I am now. Oh, and I hear you on the abstinence thing....I can't just have one. nuh-uh. It's a slippery slippery slope.

I stepped on the scale today. Yes, I know...I'm naughty. But it did go down. I'll leave you hanging until monday. but I'm only 2 lbs, yes 2 lbs, away from being overweight instead of obese! That's huge for me. Ohh, and I have yet another NSV. I don't qualify for a weight loss program that my psychology professor is doing. You have to have a minimum bmi of 32, and I don't! I was never going to do it, I didn't want all 95 of my classmates to be studying my weight loss progress. But it's nice to know that I don't qualify anymore. Because I was one of the few in the class who actually did qualify at one point.



Hey, why don't we each set an NSV goal or two for ourselves to accomplish before the end of this thread? I want to fit into those dang jeans. (the 12s that are a bit too tight)...I'll think of something else later. Probably exercise related, ew.

It's not just the dressing. they spray the lettuce down with sugar water. You're better off getting a chicken sandwich and taking the bun off, honestly.

Could you bring a sack lunch, maybe? As silly as that sounds...

First of all those people on "The Biggest Loser" are exercising ALL DAY LONG. They have trainers and cooks and are completely isolated from REALITY. No work, no family no nothing. So let's not go by them too much. I also started seeing a nutritionist, my insurance pays for it but I have a copay. I started seeing her once a week and now I'm going every second Tuesday. I'll be there this coming Tuesday and I can't wait. I like going, I trust her scale and she's gives me a menu for the week and we discuss what I've been doing and what I could change. I can use all the help I could get.

I've packed food to go before. But sometimes it doesn't work out well with distance and we have a small car and barely fit everything in it.
I think next time we go I'm going to make sure no fast food is involved. If we can get to a nice restaurant I thnk I'll be able to make better choices. Last time we went to McD's and I got the Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich . That was a good selection. I removed bun and ate the rest. So it ended up being about 290 cals and 7.5 grams of fat. SO that is something I'll do if there is no other choice. 3 o'clock in the morning traveling doesn't leave alot of choices.

I like the show but its so unrealistic. So many pounds in a week is not a healthy way to lose. But that's how they get the ratings. I starting watching it the first season to get ideas for different exercises. But it doesn't seem like they are showing much this season.
I had thought about going to a nutritionist too. I wanna check with my ins. co. to see if its covered. The fitness club I belong to has one but I think its kinda pricey. Too bad it isnt' included with the membership.

roliepolie, call your insurance company - I did and I was shocked when they told me they will cover it indefinitely. It's good to have some one to bounce ideas off of and it's great to have someone who will weigh you every 2 weeks with an accurate scale - it gives me something to push for.