Hello Healthy Friends!

Way to go keeping up with the exercise, all your energy is so motivating! I had plans to do the treadmill, but decided to walk outside today because the weather was fantastic, and need to take advantage of it before it turns ugly again. Had a good, well balanced day foodwise too. :D I'm gonna say Monday was a success!

Hi Cher Ben, Thanks for posting about the 'sleep' time. I had just manually lowered my base metabolism because I suspected it seemed too high. After re-calculating it now (with 8 hrs sleep added), it comes to about the same number. Just by luck I guessed close!

Kathie, I think we are living in parallel universes!! lol ;) I also had a bowl of granola cereal late last night. Yes, I am a carboholic, really tough to keep my carbs where I want them at. Perhaps it is the winter weather..? I don't know. I also still need to boost my protein, I think once I get my protein up it will crub these cravings. Anyways, back on track today. (No cereal tonight!)

Take good care of yourselves everyone! :)

Well I took the time to write out this long post, and it up and disappeared when I hit the Post button, and I am too tired to write it all again....so....

Have a wonderful Tuesday and EAT HEALTHY!!! Remember you ARE what you EAT!!

Please get me through today!
 

Hi, my name is Cassie and I am also a carb-aholic ;)

So yesterday I decided to start zig zagging calories, averaging out over the week instead of the same amount daily. It's supposed to keep your body from adjusting to a certain level and prevent plateaus. All was well and good yesterday when my allotment was 1349. Tomorrow will be excellent...I get 1645! However, I need to get through today on 1079, about 200-300 lower than I usually go. To make matters worse, I am working at home today so I need to ignore my fridge and my pantry which are too conveniently right downstairs.

I am making soup for dinner and did 200 cals for breakfast. I made an appt. to get my hair done at 4 so that will get me out of the house for a while during the dangerous snacking time zone. I have herbal tea; I have gum. I have celery and carrots. I can do this!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

cjohnson it sounds like you have things well in hand for your low calorie day! I think I responded to another thread of yours how I have inadvertently been doing the calorie cycling as well. With my daily caloric intake ranging from 900 to 1600 but averaging 1200 overall. I think I will keep doing it this way, partly because it seems to fit my lifestyle better than a rigid schedule, and I like the idea of keeping the body confused. I also stole your carboholic line, and started a new thread for those of us who struggle with the carbs. Thanks for the idea!!

shell it sounds like you are doing really well!

daisy, don't give up!! Log in your food, even when you overeat. I have been tempted to skip those days myself, then realize I am fooling nobody but myself!! I know I will never win the battle of the bulge if I don't stay 100% accountable to myself! I mean nobody else is going to really care....but I MUST!

Everybody else keep up the good work. One day at a time, plan to do well TODAY and worry about tomorrow tomorrow!!

Yesterday was not a good day for me food wise. I notice that when I have a few days off of work I don't eat well. Don't know why. I really wanna know what my weight is... so I might get on the scale.

I am so thankful that my boyfriend is here helping me with everything. In the moments where I get discouraged he is right there encouraging me to "keep going". It helps a lot!

Does anyone else ever feel like food controls them in a sense?

I don't know if food controls me, but I do have this "I don't care switch" that just flips on randomly. Like the past couple days. I don't know what's going on, but its been a struggle lately. I feel absolutely zero motivation. I don't kow if it my lack of options since we didn't go to the grocery store this weekend, too many cloudy days back to back, I'm feeling really stressed about finding a new job and not having any money, or really, its probably all of that together. I suppose the good news is, we don't have any junk food in the house, so even if I do go over calories, there's very few bad things here. I know going over in calories is still going over, but in regards to fatty or cholestrol and salt laden things that's and advantage.

Hopefully I'll get out of this funk soon. My W2 showed up at my mom's house, so that means I can do my taxes and that will take some of the burden of not having money for at least a second. I think I will do a little bit of shopping if there's enough. My mom and best friend remind me constantly that I'm about to hit that age 30 mark and I need to find a good moisturizer, and I've been jonesing for a good make-up store spree. I'm not very good at art, but for some reason I'm decent with make-up. Its fun to me, like clothes, its a way to express my personality, and where some things aren't necessarily appropriate styles for offices, you can get away with a bit more color on the eyes. There's something cathartic about it for me. Maybe I'll go put some on when I get finished here to help boost my mood some!

I need to get out of the house more, I know that much. Its kind of a catch, though, because I'm also trying to conserve gas.

I didn't mean to unload quite that much on here. It seems like none of my friends who are normally online during the day are on lately so I guess I just needed to get some talking out of my system. I'm glad to see so many of you having so much success, though. It makes me happy!! You guys have so much strength, it helps a lot just reading your posts!!! Keep having a good day, everyone!!

Carbaholics Anonymous..! lol I will join that thread too. What do you think...Do you think that maintaining a higher protein will aid in curbing carb cravings?

Jennifer, I do feel food controls me. I become obsessive about food, and sometimes just want to eat eat eat and eat anything I can get my hands on! I have struggled with food issues since I was a kid; although it has never gotten to the point of a full blown eating disorder. I feel I am doing well with curbing this now. FitDay has been helpful, compared to other programs I have tried like Weight Watchers. I am looking at food like 'fuel' to keep my body running properly. Watching nutrition, rather than just slashing calories as I have in the past.

Have a great day!!

I did 30 minutes on the treadmill today!! Woohoo!!! My dietician suggested that I take my blood sugar before I exercise and again after. So this morning, after my coffee with cream and sugar (my one indulgence I WILL NOT give up) I took my blood sugar and it was a staggering 7.7! YIKES!! That is really HIGH for me!! So I got on on the treadmill with the hand weights and did my thang for 30 minutes. I took my blood sugar again afterwards and it was 5.1! Totally normal! YAY!!! So that is kind of motivating.

Food controls all of us to a point, as without food we would DIE! That is why it is so hard to diet, we MUST eat but we have to change a lifetime of poor eating habits. That is a pretty monumental task!!

Shell is doing it the right way, looking at food as fuel for our bodies and trying to feed these precious bodies of ours the best possible fuel we can find!

I had another discouraging day today (Day three in a row) and it makes me sad. I got on the scale I normally get on and I am back to 211. I don't get why this is THIS hard for me. I mean, I am struggling to even work out right now. It makes me angry! :mad: And it makes me want to give up. I'm gonna try to not give up but I just wanna throw in the towel and be done. Why can't I do this right? :(

P.S. I'm NOT actually gonna give up. I'm just mad and ranting.

Hey Jennifer...probably because there is no "right"! I think there is a definite "wrong," but everyone has to figure out what is right for them and you will too! Just be patient with yourself and hang in there. You WILL find out what works and what doesn't. Go try a little workout and then once you're there you will probably find the motivation to keep going. Get mad at your weight, not the losing process, and harness that energy! You CAN do this!

Kathie...way to go on that treadmill! I still can't imagine using weights but I did try the incline idea the other day (*checks butt to see if it has disappeared yet* Hmm...not exactly). It is awesome that you now have concrete evidence that exercise is good for you!

I'm still hanging with the low-cal day. I have done okay so far (if you don't count the cranky-pants attitude). I still have to eat dinner (soup) and a nectarine and some Goldfish. (Yes, Goldfish are carbs, salt, and processed out the ying yang...but there are 60 of those suckers in an ounce so I can really make 'em last!).

I am relating to all of you...thanks for your posts!

Cassie

Hello again,

It can be frustrating, and is easy to slip back into old, comfortable habits. I think it takes alot of time and practice to make the new habits feel natural. Believe me, I want to see weight loss right now-all of it, gone today! I get so impatient. But I think the goal has to be slow and steady, for permanent weight loss and to see a permanent change in eating habits.

Food is an emotional crutch for me. Yes, a difficult (but not impossible!) habit to break. Food represents celebration for me, socializing, happy times - but I also lean on it when I am bored, sad or tired. So am I attempting to fill whatever 'void' there is inside me with food? What is it that I am missing? I keep asking myself this question, and coming up with ideas to nourish myself (but not via the stomach!). Trying to sort through some thoughts.

Like Cassie said, getting mad at the weight does help. I believe I hit rock bottom, and am just so sick and tired of this excess weight and my lazy crappy eating habits! Someone wrote in the `Success`section - you have to want this more than anything. I do.

Hang in there Jennifer, we CAN do this!! There will be bumps in the road, but nothing that we cannot get past. :)

My Favorite Motivational Quote
 

I don't recall where I read this...it may have been on this site. Anyway, my apologies for not being able to credit it and kudos to whoever came up with it because it is excellent advice in managing weight as well as in all other areas of life:

"If you drop one egg, you don't say, "Oh shoot" and drop the other eleven do you?"

Good stuff!

Cassie, that analogy made me laugh out loud!! Good one!! I think I did awesome today. Carbs at 44%, so for me that is really good, yesterday it was 67%.

I don't think I ever used food as an emotional crutch, cuz anytime I have had emotional stress I generally drop weight like crazy...I am an emotional starver. But I am definitely a bored eater, a social eater and I also just plain like food. I am trying hard to look at food as a way to health. I need to prevent diabetes and get my cholesterol down. It does help to remind myself that bad eating is seriously affecting my health negatively RIGHT NOW....not years from now!!

Don't wait until you are in my position people!! It is no fun to have no choice! Take control of your health!

Hi all. well I've been here a week so I just wanted to introduce myself. I am 35. Like many of us, I have battled with my weight 'demons' my entire life. I weighed well over 400 pounds by the age of 15, before losing 220 pounds in just over a year and a half. Even though it was a struggle, I managed to maintain a pretty healthy weight of 180-190 pounds for nearly seven years. Unfortunately, I started gaining again by the time I reached my mid 20's.

Two weeks ago I ended up in the hospital a couple nights after suffering from all the classic heart attack symptoms. Luckily my test came back ok, but needless to say it was a big time wake up call. Most of my doctors have been pushing me towards some sort of weight loss surgery, like gastric bypass. but that is something I would like to avoid if possible. So I have decided to try one last time on my own to lose the weight.

Again, it's only two weeks, but so far I'm off to a good start. My calorie intake is around 1000-1200 a day and have been exercising regularly. I'm 6 foot tall and weigh 525 pounds (as of last Wednesday). My initial goal is to lose 50 lbs by the end of June. I know it will not be easy, but as my doctor so bluntly put it, if I don't make the commitment now, there's a good chance I wont be around to see 40. And besides all the health issues, I am just tired of feeling like crap all the time.

Anyway, I didn't mean to ramble on so long :) Love reading everyone's progress (the ups and downs) and all the success stories. I am truly pulling for everyone here. To echo what the last few posters said, do not let any one slip up get you down!

Wow Edward, thank you so much for sharing your story! You sound like you are in a similar circumstance as I am, insofar as you are having to do this to potentially save your life. I think our lives are worth saving!!! I realize my journey is a lot shorter than yours, but that doesn't make it any less important. We can hold each others hands thru this!! Anytime you are having a tough time, or you need a shoulder to cry on, or an audience to vent to, or even someone to share your success with...I will be here for you!! And I am sure our other thread members will be also!!

Good Luck Kathie and Edward on your weight loss. Cassie - that is the best analogy! Funny how we are so hard on ourselves over weight and this put it in perspective.

Hey All! Today is gonna be a wonderful day! Why? It's a new day! Haha

I got on the scale this morning and I am now 208.5 which is a relief because yesterday I was back up to 211! But yeah, I need to get of fitday and get on the treadmill before work. :D

Great quote Cassie, isn't that the truth! Small slip ups do get to me, and I let them get me down more than I should. :rolleyes: Gotta keep moving forward and never give up.

Welcome Edward! :) Thanks for sharing your story. I like reading through the success stories too, it is very motivating. And if they can do it, so can we! Why not? Tracking my food has been a big wake up call for me, just seeing what I eat when I slip up - which is how I used to eat all the time. From what I have read on the success stories section it is crucial to track everything, even slip ups. Don't worry about rambling on, just keep posting! I tend to ramble myself, but do find that typing and sharing really helps me to sort through my thoughts and struggles. My goal is to be down by +/-50 lb by the end of June too. My goal rate is approx 2 lb/week.

OK, so today I am putting forth the effort to do the best I can do TODAY! And positive results will folllow.

Wishing everyone an active and healthy Wednesday! :D

Way to go Jennifer! I find it amazing how weight can fluctuate from day to day - water retention maybe? Anyways, nice to see the numbers you want to see! :)

Thanks for the Inspiration
 

Hi,
My name is Mary. I'm so inspired by reading this blog. I've been struggling with my weight for years but I decided this year I really am going to "just do it!" I have set a goal of losing 35 -50 lbs. So far I have been trying to track my food intake and exercise for the last week. Wow, I'm surprised by how quickly the calories add up. One of you mentioned eating at 1500 per day. So far no matter how hard I try I end up at around 2000. Keep up the good work.

Hey Mary! Welcome to the thread! I eat about 1,500 a day now (give or take) and it took me a while to get here. At first I couldn't keep it below 1,800 and then I got it down to 1,700 and now I have a hard time staying at 1,500! I promise if you give it some time it will happen. And once it happens a few times it becomes natural!

Welcome Mary - I exercise quite a bit (2 - 4 hours) so don't have trouble with my calorie limit but it is usually under 1300. I tried to get in at least 5 servings of vegetables as they are filling and fruit for my snacks. I try to keep my meat portions under 3 oz and beef only once a week - sometimes two but usually chicken, turkey or fish. I have found that a perfect dip for veggies etc is Greek Tzatziki. Because it is Greek yogurt based, two tablespoons is only 90 calories. Try to be sure to get in your water. I have found that often I am not hungry but thirsty. Also my cheat when I have to have a snack is Smart Pop popcorn and on the nights I have to have something it satisfies that craving. I also keep nuts in my gym bag and grab a small handful after a workout. A few fills you up.
Having said all this, I still have the same problem losing that everyone else seems to. The scale just keeps fluctuating between the same two pounds :mad: up and down, up and down. I have about 10 lbs to lose but it is a very slow process for me

Hey Y'all!! Hope you Wednesday is going fine.

I decided to stay off the scale this week, until Friday! All those daily fluctuations were driving me crazy!! But at the same time, I kinda wish I could see how I am doing!!

So today I was running a little late and forgot to bring my water with me when I left the house, and then one thing after another and I didn't get breakfast! By 10am I was STARVING, borerline in pain from hunger! A co-worker gave me one of her meal replacement shakes to drink, which helped a LOT!

When I got home my husband was eating hashbrowns, fried eggs, farmer sausage and a bagel!! OMG it smelled so good, and looked so good!! I was so hungry!! So I had one bite of the hashbrown, the egg and the sausage!! Three bites of "cheat" food!! I wonder how I count that in the food journal???!! LOL!! It was absolutely heavenly!! I am impressed that I was satisfied with just those 3 bites, and they were not huge bites either. That is willpower!! Especially when he said, "do you want me to make you some?" I was strong and said "no, thanks."

Now I am going to make myself a vegetable omlette with one egg, a couple egg whites and an ounce of low fat cheese, I bet it will be spectacular!!

Jen, good for YOU regarding the 3 pound loss!!! Woohoo!! You GO girl!!

Back & outta my 'slump'!
 

Feelin much better after the past few days. Did almost 10 min on the treadmill today! And got my food intake back to where it needs to be! :D Been wantin to weigh, havent since i started on here last thursday. Gonna try & wait til Friday!

Feelin more motivated, my husband & i had the 'baby' talk again, so theres my motivation there. Gotta get in shape... lol to get fat again! Glad to hear how everyone is doin, keep up the good work!! :cool:

Hello All;
Has anyone else had trouble getting to the forums. Saturday was the last time I was able to "visit" with you. I missed everyone. I was a bit surprised just how much,& what a motivation everyone is. Thankfully I was able to access the logs, but it just wasn't the same without you.
With that said I've done the treadmill 3 x this week. It's not looking like I'll get it done tonight tho, it's a bit late. The last time I finished the treadmill work out at 11:45 PM. I was so pumped that I couldn't close my eyes till after 4 AM. no fun. So today will be my rest day, back on treadmill thursday.
Stay strong. We CAN do this!!

awesome job daisy, and also everyone else, keep it up. 10 minutes on the treadmill is great. I'm still working my way up to 5 minutes on the stationary bike lol.

Today was a pretty good day. Not easy, but good ;p I kept my calorie intake on track, but didn't get a chance to exercise. However, I did my food shopping, so I am counting that as my exercise for the day. And ever better, I skipped the cookie isle, candy isle, and snack food isle. Bought a lot of fruits and vegetables. The only think I did get myself was a small bag of pretzels and salsa to snack on during the big game this weekend :)

Hi everyone, thanks for the encouragement. Jan- thanks for your tips on good food choices. I've been trying to get exercise in before I go to work. I commute an hour each way so rarely have the motivation after work to workout then. I'm rotating one day on exercise bike (about 15-20 minutes) and next day hand held weights (3 lbs) for 15 minutes. What has helped with the bike riding - I have a DVR and record the Daily show and watch that while I'm riding. The laughs help keep me going. Today is weigh in day. I'm trying to keep the weigh in to once a week.

Hi,

Welcome Mary! FitDay sure is good to see how fast the calories add up. It has helped me make smarter choices when I cook, because I know I will be logging it later on!! Cutting back on certain high cal items can make a big difference in your daily calorie count. I am drinking my calories less - and cut way back on the fruit juices. Also measuring more so I can track accurately, and realized how skewed my sense of serving sizes were.

Kathie, Way to go resisting the scrumptious meal your hubby was preparing...and settling for just a taste! Wow, that is willpower! :)

I started a pottery class (the kind with a wheel) last night, lots of fun! Trying to keep as busy as possible in the evenings, and away from the TV, which helps to curb the snacking habit. A person definitely can't snack while working with clay..lol

Have a great, and on track, day everyone!

Tomorrow is weigh in day!! Everyone make sure you drink lots of water today!! Get rid of any excess you might be hanging onto so you don't end up weighing heavy tomorrow! I have to admit I am nervous about the weigh in. If I haven't lost a couple of pounds this week, I don't know what I am going to do!!

I don't know how I did it! I lost ANOTHER pound between yesterday and today, which brings my total down to 207.5. I don't actually expect to lose any between today and tomorrow.... and I will still be happy, as long as I don't gain. I have two weeks to lose 7.5 pounds... which all of a sudden doesn't seem like an irrational goal. It's under 4 lbs a week now.

Yesterday work asked me to stay until close (again!). I was so hungry afterwords and it was Johnnies and my cheat meal and so we had pizza. It didn't set well in my stomach and I didn't keep it down. :-(

Okay.. Something that I find helps me that I can offer to ya'll is this- IF you can try to exercise in the morning... to jump start your day. Even if it's just five minutes on the treadmill it will help lots! I promise! I find I have more energy during the day and my motabilism is up and running!

Have a GREAT thursday!

So i started this last thursday & will weigh for first time since then tomorrow.... 'last chance workout' today!! I had a rollercoaster week :( , so im alittle nervous on how i did. Only gonna weigh once a week rather than everyday. SOOOO off to the treadmill to burn those calories!!!!!! :D

I had to go to a funeral today, and of course afterwards there was a little gathering with a luncheon served. There were no veggies served, or fruit....and I was pretty hungry by this time (I seem to always be hungry these days!! LOL!) So I settled for 2 half whole wheat buns, one with egg salad and one with tuna salad, a few small pieces of cheese and **GASP** one teeny tiny brownie topped with melted chocolate and marshmellows!!! Oh and a small glass of juice, no doubt full of sugar!! Darn it!! I have yet to enter it into my food log to see how much damage I may have done. Looks like its a vat of steamed veggies for dinner tonight! 8( And lots of water. I sure hope I didn't blow it for the weigh in!!

Hey, its me again!! LOL!! Just wanted to report I did 30 minutes on the treadmill! I always feel so proud of myself when I accomplish that, I know, I am kind of an idiot...but it is still good to feel you have accomplished something positive!

I am already sitting at 1000 calories today, dinner really IS going to be veggies!

Good for you, Kathie!

You show 'em, girl! I can hear all the little funeral food crying in desperation that it won't be stickin' to your thighs tonight :D

Way to go Kathie! Hey all victories, no matter how small, are very exciting! :D

I walked today for 1/2 hour. Having a heck of a time getting my exercise ramped up. Need to get on that treadmill and power walk. Kicking myself in the butt (again).

Thanks for the reminder with getting the water in. I have not been drinking enough water this week. Really notice it with the condition of my skin (!) Anyways, more water is going to be a priority to flush all those nasties out!

I've been keeping off the scale this week, so not sure where I am at. Tomorrow will be a surprise! I am very much looking forward to crossing down into some new numbers - the 230's! Soon soon soon...

Had my weigh in yesterday lost 2lbs!! I'm very excited. I know I can do this. I can really relate to the funeral event Kathie, and proud of you for making the best choices you could. I bought myself a digital food scale from Good Grips - very cool you can zero out the container and only weigh the food item. I've dragged out the measuring cups and spoons. Portion control is a big issue for me. Still trying to get my calorie count lower. Yesterday was 1700, so still a long way to go to get to 1200.

Hey guys! Starting a new Thread... "The Healthy Community 2" So that it's not as long... AND not as intimidating for new people... haha. :-)

Weighed in today, lost 4 lbs!! yay me! Im happy with that :D

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