Motivation

HI! My name is Laura and i am 5-5 and 235 lbs as of today. I did weigh 240 almot 2 weeks ago. I am counting calories cuz I do not know what ele to do. When i gave birth, I only weighed 201 lbs! My son is 5(his bday is halloween). I cant believe i have put on so much lately. I have high blood pressure so I am on Diovan. I am also on protonix( for heartburn). I took myself off depo provera lat Sept and currently have the IUD, Mirena. Birth control was part of it but that is why I switched to IUD. I am taking it slow, and watching what I eat. I guess I am supposed to stay under 1700 calories and I walked 20 minutes today. I hate exercise now but I have to do it to lose weight the old fashioned Way!
if you have any suggestions, please tell me....

Hi everyone,  still haven't caught up on all the posts.  Wish I had just one day off,  just one.....so I could just be on here all day and read and read and read.  You are all so motivating.  all of you are struggling and yet you're still here....that is awesome....you keep me going...my challenges don't seem half as bad when I see what some of you go through.

Today I work at 12 noon.  Really not up to it after doing walls for everyone yesterday all day!  But on a happy note....lost the 2 lbs.  Now at 216lbs.  The water drinking did the trick again.....yay water..

Hi I am new here too, so hope you don't mind me joining you all.  I am 5'4" and 255 pounds.  I have been over 200 for so long I can't remember what it is like to be in 100s!

I have struggled with my weight my entire life, and at 45 years old I believe I am finally ready to really face my demons and change my behavior.  I NEVER thought I would write to strangers on the internet for motivation to do this, but I have finally accepted that what I have done in the past has NOT worked, and I need to choose another path.  So I am willing to give it a try.  I am also joining weightwatchers with a friend from work, and talking to a counsellor.

I am happy I found this site, it really seems to have a lot of information to help people make good choices. 

Hi All.......I've been down on myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm eating well, exerising, staying below calorie's. But not losing the weight. So I feel so upset about it. I need to see some pounds coming off, so I can feel rewarded for my hard work. And I so want to be under the 200 mark. I know I'm not being patient, but please, I just want a bone........I'll keep coming in here for support. I know you all understand. But feeling so frustrated. 

Welcome to Robin and Abouttime!  Glad you guys are here.  Abouttime-stick around and we won't be strangers for long.  You'll see. 

Hmm, maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the pressure of a bathing suit.  A lot of us are finding it harder lately.  OK, I'll be the thread cheerleader...RA RA RA...WHO CAN DO IT, WE CAN DO IT, YES WE CAN!!!  :)

It does get hard but even if we stumble at least we are more knowledgable than we were when we first started.  How many of you go to eat and are very consious of the nutritional value of what you are about to eat?  I know I am.  That has never happened to me before.  I mean I've been on diets but they all seemed so restrictive and I'd fail and gain more back than I lost...now I know why.  I didn't know what the heck I was doing!    

I'm no expert now, but I'm smarter than before.  It's nice to see you guys talk about you're not drinking enough water...not because you're not, but because you are aware of it and know the good and bad effects.  That, to me, is half the battle.

Now c'mon, lets get psyched up for the weekend and enjoy this life we have been given!  :)  :)  :)

Good morning everyone!  It's a nice cloudy day out in the in west :).  Welcome Robin & Abouttime!! (new myself so we can meet everyone together) :)

VK - Love the pom-poms you have!  They are GREAT!!! I'll have to dig mine out to help you cheer!!

So tonight we are heading out to a baseball game - which is nice because we didn't get to make it to AZ for spring training this year :( 
However tomorrow if all goes well with the weather we're off on a nice long bike ride.

Bike riding and yard work seem to be my main exercise; I have been trying to put in 20-30 minute walks into my routine, but they are hard to do.  Not because I don't have time - but because I don't make the time.  Anyone else have the issue of 'fitting in exercise'?

Good for you being able to get outside. We are looking at a NorEaster heading for us this Sunday.  On the bright side, shoveling snow does burn a lot of calories!

Hello everyone!  Did you guys miss me??  I think I'm back.  I mean back to my old self.  You won't believe what it took to get me here.  ....baking....!  I'll tell you guys the story in a second.

As for all the newcomers, welcome, welcome, welcome!!  This is definitely a great site and forum to vent out your frustrations.  I am learning something new everyday.  One of the most important things that I learned is that noone really understands the daily struggles and anxieties someone of our size goes through.  Sure there are people who say, oh, I know how hard it is to lose the weight - those are people who would loose maybe 10 vanity pounds but, no where near what I am.  So, it's important to have the support group of people who understand where you're coming from because we've all been there.  Myself included - recently.  So, we are here to help!!  It helps me everyday.

Alright...now, that I'm back.  I've been kind of funky and blue lately.  So, yesterday, I went shopping and came across these cute little mini springform pans (4 1/2").  Oh cute, I thought.  Then, ****ding, ding, ding***, the lightbulb went off.  I could use these little pans to make mini cheesecakes.  You know, my little mini muffin trick.  So, I bought some and today as I'm baking and really getting into it.  I realized that I've already made the healthier lifestyle change.  I'm taking actions without even thinking about it.  I don't know why I was getting all caught up in my funk.  The old me would have said, oh just bake the big cheesecake!   The new me says, make the minis and trick yourself! 

Well, needless to say, I've found a recipe and cut it in half and made 5 little mini cheesecakes.  Each mini has about 640 calories.  However if you eat half (320 calories) or even a quarter (160 calories), it's not as much as a regular serving of 534 calories.  I know when I eat cheesecake, I can't stop at one but, if I were to end up eating a whole mini, it's not nearly as many calories as two regular servings.  Plus, the recipe has a lot of room for improvement to make it healthier.  I used all regular ingredients and still feel good about eating half a mini.  Now, how often can you say, I just ate half a cheesecake and still feel pretty okay about it?  The little mind trickery is working!  I get about a quarter of the cake and I'm satisfied and wrap the rest up for another time.  Yeah!

If you guys are interested in the cheesecake directions, let me know and I'll send it to you via the email program on here.

I'm back...I'm back!

welcome abouttime!!  glad you are here!!  it's funny, i can't remember how it feels to be in the 100's either, but I remember weighing in it.  Does that make sense?  I can remember being at 189 ...and glad to get there.   I don't remember the going up the scale though.  That happened overnight right???  lol

I never thought I would be this close with internet friends either, but they are no longer strangers.....you will see.  They will be the dearest friends!!!  You can count on them.  (you already see that vk is cheering you on) 

Accountability is huge!!  And although we don't see each other face to face, I feel VERY accountable here!!!  Plus, I made the HUGE step of weighing in front of my husband.  That was a big, big deal for me.  Hard to believe, b/c now it's no big deal.  It really helped  "free" me.  Plus, it helps with accountability b/c that scale has to go down for my weigh ins!!!  (he and I are in a competition with each other...and he is currently winning...)

and welcome back hye!!!!! 

thanks for the cheer vk! turtle-for me I actually have time and opportunity to exercise and I just don't. I did go for a walk yesterday, but I have trouble being anything like consistent. Hyechong-ooh cheesecake! I was thinking about that Philidelphia cheese commercial for the cheesecake filling that comes ready made in a tub and I was thinking it would be cool if they had that in lowfat version. I have to be careful though. Rockinmomma reminded me how eating a lot of sugar can make you more hungry. I get excited to find sweet treats I can add that don't have a lot of calories but then I start eating too many of them and it really derails me. Makes me want more junk and then I just want to quit. Not to say we can't have the treats. For me, anyway, I just can't get carried away.

Even with that late dinner and the bites of some yummy apple pie last night, my weight finally went down a little! We just have to hang in there guys. It does work!

Am I the only one that wonders why people would put the cheesecake filling from the tub into a pie crust filling?  Why not just eat it out of the tub?  Less calories w/o the pie crust right?!  LOL  I would LOVE to do that - but in order to not do it I just don't buy it!  Plus I would rather make it myself.  A little more gratifying I think.

Just remember Itsmy, you are both winning because the scale is going down :)  Keep up the good work!!

Everyone - keep up the good work!

• Start: 257; Current: 252.3; Goal: 135

I am in this with all of you. 

I have a great motivation because I am going home for Christmas this year and have not seen my Dad in over 2 years and I want to walk in there and shock him with my weightloss! 

I guess it's funny being 41 years old and still caring about what my Dad thinks about me huh? 

I've been battling this 'large' weight issue for over 8 years now and I am really ready to go back to feeling good about how I look and how I physically feel. 

I want to be able to cross my legs again when I sit down and I want to be able to go into any clothing store and know I can wear just about anything. 

I'm tired of going on diets and eating things I don't like.  I'd rather just count the calories and cut my portions and eat what I do like, and that is exactly what I am doing.  It's great.  I'm down almost 5 pounds in 5 days. 

Good luck to you all.  I hope to see you around this site with great success stories! 

tickerB

hi tinkerbell!  congrats on the 5 pounds!!!  this is a great way isn't it??  i never thought it would be so easy to keep up with calories!!  (gotta love the internet)

like today, I went for lunch with friends...have 1/2 broccoli salad, and 1/2 chicken salad with a lemon poppyseed muffin top.  Ok?

I thought...hmm...that's probably not tooooo bad!  WELL.....I just calculated it!  It will definitely be a smallll dinner tonight!  BUT that is okay b/c I was able to calculate it, and now I know and can prepare.  Whereas before, I would ASSUME it wasn't that high in cals..and then poof!!!!  I love this place!!

thanks turtlegirl for the confidence!  You are exactly right!  I AM winning!!!  Just learning to totally trust my husband by being able to weigh in front of him was a winning situation for me! 

that cheesecake filling commercial looks yummy!!!  I'm sure hey's recipe is wonderful...but I haven't made it that far yet!  I only trust myself with sugar free Jello chocolate pudding!!!  (60 cals..and chocolate!!)-

I really hope on Monday (official day) to be out of the 230's!  One step at a time..one pound at a time...

everyone have a great weekend!  Hope to see you all on here!

Hello It'sMytime,

I think you have got the right attitude!  I try to make my full week out in advance and print it out, that way I know right off the bat what I can have.  But you are right, I love that I can over do it a little on one meal, and know how to make it up on the next meal because of the calorie calculator. 

The best way to lose weight is lower the caloric intake.  All diets basically do just that, but they do it in different ways, like cutting out certain food groups, like carbs or something.  But just counting calories, we pretty much don't have to cut anything out. 

Oh by the way, it's tickerbell, not tinkerbell.  I'm named after my Ticker.....ticking away the pounds.

have a great one, TickerB

welcome tickerbell-yes, to cross my legs, wouldn't that be something! Congrats on the weight loss!

It is a lot easier to stay with a diet that isn't so restrictive.

That's good itsmy about the weighing in front of your husband. My husband knows how much I weigh but for some reason I still don't like him close by when I weigh myself.

talk to you all later.

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I posted but I have been reading. 

Welcome to all the new folks!  Every time someone new joins this thread it reminds me that I can start again - another fresh start - another new day.  So welcome and thank you!

I've been doing well overall - I'm down 9lbs since I started about 3 weeks ago (so 17lbs away from 199) - next weigh-in is on Monday and I'm hoping the scale keeps cooperating.   For everyone that is starting, try not to  get discouraged too quickly - my scale didn't move my first week (and I was really  good that  first week) - this past week was when I saw my first significant change. 

The water, the support and the counting calories have been really helpful for me.   I've also started exercising with a personal trainer (whom I'm convinced hates me because she makes me do very hard and somewhat unrealistic things) and that is also very motivating because I'm afraid of what she'll make me do if she doesn't  start seeing results.  *grin* 

I noticed that I like to eat when I'm happy.  I've been feeling good about my weight loss and so this week I've been eating more.  Why would I do that?  It's like I'm counter-acting my success.  I had this wonderful BIG chocolate chip cookie on Tuesday (you can all imagine what that did to my calories for the day) and I've been feeling guilty ever since.  Maybe I should try to get on this thread and read some of your posts next time I'm tempted. 

Have a good weekend everyone and for those of us that weigh-in on Mondays .... we got 3 days to make a difference.  MAKE THEM COUNT!!!!

-T

Oops - one more things ....

turtlegirl253 and blueotter ->  Weather permitting - I "walk and talk" some nights during the week for exercise.  Instead of sitting on the couch and calling a friend - I go outside and make the call on my cell.  Walk goes by really fast because you are enjoying the talk and you kill two birds with one stone. 

That is a GREAT point Serena!! I do usually have a conversation w/a friend at night at some point... so I just need to take a step outside and start walking the neighborhood during that call!!  RIGHT ON!!!  A new tactic!!  THANKS!

OMG - I'm never going to eat banana chips again!!  I splurged just a little bit when I went shopping today.  There is a health food store and in the bulk section, they had these chocolate covered banana chips.  Before I started calorie counting, I would buy like 100 grams and just munch on them on my way home.  Today, I got about the same amount and took 3 little pieces.  THANK GOODNESS.  I had no idea how high calorie banana chips were!!  I thought the milk chocolate was the splurge but, as it turns out the milk chocolate was a lot less calories than the banana chip!

Then I came home and had an entire mango as a snack!  Thank goodness I ate light for breakfast and lunch otherwise, I'd be starving for dinner!

Don't be fooled by dried fruit, they are really high in calories.  The other think is if I'd just eaten a ripe banana dipped in milk chocolate I could have a lot more for the same amount of calories!  EEEEEk!

So, ITSMY - I totally get what you're saying about the calories adding up quickly and not knowing!  I will be checking the site before I put anything I don't know the calorie count in my mouth!  DANG!  Oh have you tried the new sugar free FUDGE J-ello Pudding?  I think it tastes more like chocolate than the chocolate pudding.  If you haven't, I highly recommend it.  It's 20 calories more but, the flavor difference is so worth it.

TICKERBELL - I don't think I've ever been able to cross my legs even when I was thinner.  My legs are way to short for that kind of thing.  If you can picture capri jeans for petite women, they fit me like regular length jeans!  No joke!

Okay...everyone take a deep breath...the weekend is fast approaching! Good luck!

Aw Hye, I missed ya girl!  Glad you're back.  I will take you up on that cheesecake thing but not yet.   I'm not yet ready either.  I still haven't fully gotten past my chip thing.  Lol

That's a great walking idea serena.

TickerB, the name just makes me smile... :)  Welcome! 

Inhaling deeply:   I will be good this weekend for my weigh in on Monday...I will be good this weekend for my weigh in on Monday...  I want to see a little bit of movement.  I'll be fine if I don't but it would be nice.

wow this is a long day! 3 more hours of work :(

but i get to go to another hockey game tonight so i'm super excited! I'll most likely have a beer there and the chicken strips w/ fries again. I have the calories to spare today so I can manage that. Just gotta drink lots of water to counter act the sodium. I've been really proud of myself for cutting back on the alcohol. Since Sunday, I have only had a drink 2 nights this week and I kept it to one drink. Obviously today will make it 3 but that's okay. Tomorrow is also Picnic Day at my college which basically means drinking all day and wandering around campus lookin at all the stuff they have on exhibit. So I know I will get a few miles of walking in so that will be good. I'll just make sure to keep track of what I eat/drink and keep the drinks to light beers or somethin like that. It's a really fun day so i'm excited. Just hopign the weather holds out for us.

serena--that's a really good idea about the walking. I live in the downtown area though so I don't think I'd want to be distracted if I was walking around at night lol. Of course fighting off an attacker would probably burn some good calories! lol shame on me :)

hye- it's so sad to realize soem of the really yummy stuff is so high in calories isn't it! i've found it much easier to give things up though once I know how many cals are in them. I don't think I've had ice cream (my hugest downfall) for months and I wasn't even trying! Glad we can warn each other about the tricky foods!

Have an awesome weekend eveyrone! Let's hope we lose lots by Monday!!!!