Original Post by scarter1:

Trina - Good Luck with the MIL. I have a friend that is sort of like that to me. I like to go out with her for social time and then I find I eat crappy just because she is eating crappy. I have been trying to help educate her on health and wellness but she doesn't want to listen. So what I have started to do is make sure I order something overly healthy when we go out to eat to show her that I can do it and so can she. I am starting to think that she doesn't like me to succeed because when we do go out together and Iorder something really healthy (salad with grilled chicken and no dressing or a tiny amount of oil and vinegar) she tries to talk me into eating dessert with her. And the other day we went for a walk and while we were walking she offered me some left over easter candy, while we were walking! I took the candy, didn't say anything and when we got back to her house I put it back in the candy bowl when she wasn't looking. It is very challenging to go out to eat with people who don't care about eating healthy, but I have realized that you can get a salad with grilled chicken at pretty much every restaurant, so that is what I fall back on if I can't look up the menu and nutritional info before I go.

That is exactly what I did! I ordered their grilled chicken salad, which is only 300 calories, and then I put a serving of salsa (Mexican restaurant) which was 25 calories and a serving of their cilantro lime vinaigrette (which is 74 calories). I only ended up eating half of it, so I didn't do too bad! My MIL was actually really impressed with my effort, and the restaurant we went to is a family favorite so it is nice to know that I have a healthy meal I can order there when we go next time!

It is hard to go out to eat with people who aren't concerned with eating healthy. My MIL ordered a greasy meal AND a cheese crisp which is RIDICULOUSLY packed with fat and calories. When she ordered it I thought I was going to have a hard time turning it down, but once it got to the table it gave me even more willpower to eat a healthy meal instead. It was soooooo greasy and I knew how bad it was, so it just did NOT seem worth it at all.

I am proud of myself.

Hello everyone, and welcome to the new members!

So I am starting to get a little scared...I weighed myself today (and every other day this week, but Friday is my "official" weigh-in day) and I lost FIVE POUNDS this week. That makes a total of 12.5 pounds, in just over a month! Of course I am excited, but I am also freaked out--when I looked at my food log, I realized that I was averaging 1600 kcal per day this week (whereas CC says I should only be having 1450). Not to mention that I don't really "exercise" per say (my arm is feeling better, but I am so busy with my studies now--and I really need to graduate and move on with my life!). I do walk a lot--usually about an hour a day in total, and I climb a lot of stairs. But it still feels weird.

The sad part is that I am now so excited to see 222 on the scale, whereas I can distinctly remember that weight being my "scary weight" two years ago...you know, the one that if you somehow saw it on the scale you would diet for a week just to make sure it didn't reappear...I guess it did reappear, along with some friends...

A parting thought--when I looked at my daily averages, I realized that I was (unconsciously) "zig-zagging" my calorie intake. I read a lot about that on this site, but I am wondering if any of you practice that. I ate a high of over 2000 kcal twice, a "medium" of about 1500 3 times, and a low of 1100 twice. It seems to have produced good results, and I am going to give it another shot.

Have a wonderful weekend ladies! I'm going to see "Margot at the Wedding"--did anyone see it?

Congrats to everybody who have the motivation and help to lose the weight they want to. I would love to be a part of your "group" of people in their 20 that want to lose a significant amount of weight. I'm 25 years old, I started this thing at the end of January and so far have only seen minimal results. I'm tending to think it's my lack of motivation to lose the weight why I haven't lost a whole lot. I got up to 11lbs lost...and have started to gain some back. I really want to reach my goal of 140 lbs. I started this weighing 242, and currently weigh 231. I've gone down to 227 but gained a few pounds over Easter while my siblings were visiting me for a week. I wasn't eating as healthy as I should have been and I lost track of exercising regular. Now I just need the right motivation to get back on track. Lately I find myself binging on foods I know I shouldn't be eating...or just over eating my portions in general. I feel like I'm starving most of the time. I'm always tired to the point where I don't want to do anything. Any advice or motivation would be welcomed!!!

I won a week free membership to Lifestyles this week and I'm really starting to think about joining for the 2 years but don't exactly have enough money to do so. I really enjoy going, it's close to my work where I can go right after work before I go home and do my exercises before I go home and make dinner for myself and my boyfriend.  But I keep telling myself that summer is around the corner and our pool will be open soon and I'll be able to swim after work or ride my bike once spring really gets here and stops raining all the time. I NEED HELP TO GET BACK ON TRACK!!! Somebody please help....I think my boyfriend thinks that when he doesn't say anything to me about what I'm doing it's ok. But when he does say something and I get angry at him, he says that's the reason he doesn't say anything to me.

Hey guys so I am so glad it's finally Friday!!! I thought this week would never end!! 

 I can't wait to get home and finally get some sleep. I heard this new study that said not getting enough sleep could be making you fat , so since I have selective hearing I am like "oh oh better get 9 hours a sleep a day instead of 7 , don't need another reason to be fat."   Just joking, but seriously don't you go insane with all that info about how and what to do to loose weight?? 

So I did my monthly weigh in yesterday and I lost 3.5 more pounds!! I was kind of disappointed at first  but I just have to accept that I am never going to loose 3 pounds again in one week , like I did at the very beginning.  So now I am at 207  ,  god so so  close  to 200!! I can't wait to be under 200 again. So right after I weighed I went to update my ticker and I realized I still have my goal weight at 125 like CC said at first , so it's tracking like I have 77 to loose, I was going to change it to 150 which I think is a more realistic goal but then I was like what the hell 125 is a healthy BMI even if I think it's too skinny maybe seeing that bigger number will make me work harder.

Sorry I haven't had time to personally comment everyone but recently I have actually been looking at your profiles/pics (you know instead of just the thumbnail) and you guys are really some interesting ladies. I usually start out on here then go to some ones profile follow a thread .....then a link...  any way  thanks for all the great info / entertainment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh BTW  Suzanne you and your husband are so cute! ( I just saw your pics) when/if y'all decide to have kids they are going to be gorgeous.

Good morning everyone!  It's Friday!!!  I decided to take the day off to get some stuff done at home, and good thing I did because the weather is gorgeous!  I'm going to go workout and then spend the day outside.  I weighed myself this morning and I'm down 3.5 more pounds!!!  That's a total of 7 pounds for me since the end of January.  I got my hair cut last night and got A LOT cut off so that may have contributed to a bigger number, but I don't care!! 

Sweepie - welcome!  11 pounds down since the beginning of January - that's really good!  Congratulations.  I, like you, was going through a phase where I was totally losing my motivation and eating all the wrong foods, but after I found this group and I have been so inspired.  You have to really figure out why you want to lose the weight first of all.  You have to make sure you are doing it for you.  You can try setting smaller goals for your self and coming up with rewards for when you reach those goals (a few days ago we were discussing that on this forum).  Also, about your boyfriend, my husband and I have the same discussions.  I think I want him to say something to help keep me  on track but then when he does I get really defensive about it and then I end up eating poorly just to spite him (stupid I know, but its true).  You need to be the one holding yourself accountable.  I don't want to sound mean, but it isn't your boyfriends responsibility to make sure you are eating well.  If you soley rely on him to keep you on track, what are you going to do when he's not around (I'm guessing that you aren't together all day everyday and there are times that you will be eating when he's not around).  It will be better for your relationship with him to not ask him to keep you track.  I stopped asking my husband to do that and now it seems to mean more when he notices that I have been working hard and eating really good.  I think Easter threw everyone off, so just let it go and let that be all the more reason that you try harder now.  If that gym you are talking about it too expensive you should try to come up with other ways you can workout.  You can do workout videos at home, walk a lot, etc.  The Internet is a great place to get ideas of workouts you can do at home and its free.  I myself found a really cheap gym - Fitness 19 - they have memberships ranging from $9 to $20 a month depending on how much you put down up front and you aren't tied into a contract.  I hope some of this helps.  Everyone here totally understands what it feels like to need motivation.  You just have to decide that your workouts and good eating habits are a priority and that you are worth it!  You can do it!

have any of the girls closer to my size (260s) done spinning or kickboxing classes?  i'm considering joining the Y ($35/month) since they have spinning and kickboxing classes there for free.  I can take up to about 8 classes per week in the evenings and weekends so, even I just made it to about 12 classes a month, this would be a lot cheaper than the other classes I mentioned.  ($3/class compared to $12-$15/class).  they are also offering me 12 free hours of personal training as a part of their "commit to be fit" program. i'm thinking of doing this in lieu of dancing starting in may.

Thanks for the welcome Scarter1. I appreciate all the constructive critsism.  I do know that it isn't my boyfriend's responsibility to keep track of what I eat. I find myself "zoning" out sometimes from stress with family/work/every day bills that when I realize what I'm doing, I've found that I've started binging again...and I yell at myself inside my head and tell myself that I have to gain control of everything in my environment and to keep all the junk away...just throw it away.

Today is casual Friday at work, so I wore a pair of my "skinny" jeans, my first pair of jeans that I have bought for myself since my others don't fit right anymore, they're too baggy and way too loose around my waist/hips and just flat out fall right off if I'm not wearing a belt!!! I know it's pretty silly...but I came home from work one day, undid my belt and slipped off my khaki cords without even unbottoning them, showed my boyfriend and he was so proud of me. He tells me that he's proud of my hard work so far every so often, but a lot of times, I want to hear it more, I want to hear that positive motivation from him, not the "you're not supposed to be eating that much if you want to lose weight" type of motivation. You know what I mean??  I also wore a nice casual shirt that I had recently bought a week ago that was again a size smaller than what I used to wear. I've received many compliments this morning on how nice I looked.

I also called Lifestyles this morning to see if they had any other promotions going on and the lady I spoke with informed that they changed promotions on a monthly basis. I talked to a lady that I work with that also goes to Lifestyles and she said that $24 a month for a 2 yr contract is a pretty good deal. I have till the end of the month to think about it and see truly where my finances are at. I really want to join for many reasons, I'll have somebody to go to the gym with after work and on the weekends. I'll get off my butt and do something! I have a tendency to not want to do anything once I get home from work, except maybe laundry, cook dinner or play with the dogs...but that's about it.

As for why I want to lose the weight, it's not for my boyfriend, my family or anybody else. It's for me and my health. I've been over weight my whole life and I've just grown tired of it. Tired of shopping in the "plus" section at stores and having to pay more money for the clothing because it's a bigger size. I want to be able to get off my high blood pressure & sugar meds that my doctor has me on. I saw him in February and he was happy about the weight that I had lost when I saw him, and said that if I kept it up, he'd take me off my pills. I want to be happy with myself again...like the way I was before I met my boyfriend. When he and I met, I was 172...then I ballooned up to 256!!!! Yeah, talk about OUCH!!! About year before he and I met, I weighed 228 when my fiance and I broke up, I was depressed and told myself I was going to change my life for the better...I managed to lose 56 lbs in about 3 months. I gained it right back, but not overnight when I met my current boyfriend. I've slowly lost some weight over the last year...I started this year out at 246, and was 242 when I joined this site. Now I'm at 231. I felt so good about the weightloss and would love to get back into my good eating habits, just need the little nudges and pushes to get myself in the groove again...

Thanks for the encouragement, and keep it coming!!!

Hi Everyone and welcome newbies! I haven't checked in in a few days. Busy, busy, busy.

I went to Magic Mountain yesterday with my mom. We had a great time. It was a perfect day. Everyone thought it was going to rain and it was the middle of the week so there were no lines! None! We literally just walked up to each ride and got on. She noticed I  had lost a few pounds so that makes me feel good. She recently lost 80 lbs herself.

I also went to Dave and Busters with my friends last night. We had a  great time. They had a kareoke night so my friends and I watched. Next time we are going to sing. I have done it before, but they haven't.

I uploaded a couple of pics. Neither are very flattering, but oh well. One is last night w/ friends and the other is ith my Bulldog, Chopper.

I gotta get ready for work! Have a great day y'all and stay strong.

Happy Friday ladies!

Welcome Sweepie: It sounds like your heart and motivation is in the right place!  Congrats on the weight loss so far!

Hilwe:  Woohoo!!!!  Way to go on the big numbers last month!!  Don't be scared, the first months usually have bigger numbers and then it might slow down a little... but it sure is great to see big numbers for awhile!  I do zig zag my calories and until I hit my plateau it seemed to be a good thing.

Yessica: That's so awesome about your extra 3.5 pounds!!  You so close to 200, I bet you can taste it!  Congrats!

Bzb:  I'm in love with Chopper Bean!  What a cutie.  And I think you look wonderful, the wrap dress is definitely a good look for you!

Hope everyone has a great wkend!

Hey everyone! Happy Friday!!

I am actually having a hard time today. I am trying really hard to start eating in the morning and then eat smaller balanced meals all day to keep my metabolism going, but this eating in the morning thing is proving to be a challenge. I have been in the habit of not eating until early afternoon (have been doing it for years) so even remembering to eat in the morning is hard for me. Here is it noon already and I just realized I haven't eaten anything today, and I am REALLY not hungry. I am one of those people who eat when I am bored and have been trying to teach myself to only eat when I am hungry, so this eating in the morning when I am not hungry yet thing is throwing me off. I also have a tendency to think about food all day once I do eat something. Such a catch-22!

I am about to go into the kitchen and make myself some oatmeal and eat as much of it as I can and hope that it doesn't kick start a binge fest today. Wish me luck!

Original Post by m_c_85:

Hey Trina,

I love breakfast, so I can only sympathize. However, I have a friend who wouldn't eat in the morning as well. She had a tough go of it too because it really hindered her weight loss process. The problem was that she wouldn't eat all morning, which is the time of day that you're likely to burn a heck of a lot of calories, but she would chow down an hour or two before bed. (I don't know if you do this or not but she did)She would wake up feeling bloated and/or sick and/or just not hungry. What she did to alleviate the symptoms was A) She made sure that there was ALWAYS at LEAST 4 hours in between her last intake and bedtime, and B) She threw in a vitamin packed breakfast bar or meal replacement shake in front of her purse or on the hall table etc. Basically any place she was unlikely to miss it. It doesn't feel like you're eating very much, but you're still getting good nutrients. Anyway, after a couple of weeks of this, she found herself waking up a little hungry, started buying cereal, making toast in the morning, picking at fruit and now she's fully reformed!

Your friend actually sounds a lot like me! I am going to take your advice! I am going grocery shopping today, so my mission is now to find nutrient rich things for breakfast. Thanks for responding!

I am wandering around in a fog, heartbroken still about the boy and the lack of weight reduction in almost 3 weeks.  My friend told me the reason I probably am not losing lately is because I am not drinking water throughout the day.  Damn it.  I'm so bad about that.  It's funny.  Most people have a hard time controlling what they eat or doing enough exercise -- while that's a challenge, drinking water is even harder for me.  I guess I am weird like that.  And, a Diet Coke addict.  They should add Diet Coke support groups cuz I swear, I'm in withdrawal today from all the H2O I'm drinking now.

As to my previous post, I decided that joining the Y is no question.  12 hours of free personal training over the next few months + all those free classes for the measley $35/month rate?  NO QUESTION.

Oh, I feel you on the Diet Coke addiction watchme. I was drinking 3-6 cans a day a couple of months ago. When I didn't have one in the morning, I would get headaches and total withdrawal symptoms. As soon as I cracked the can and had my first sip... mmm... instant gratification.

I am happy to say that I have been Diet Coke free for almost 2 months now! Hurray! Honestly, it hasn't been hard at all. The first day was tough, but after that, honestly it's been a breeze. I haven't been craving it at all. Once in a while I will have one when I go out, but I would rather drink water now!

I really do think that it has helped with my weightloss, at least I keep telling myself that so that I don't go back to it.. lol

Original Post by watchmeshine82:

As to my previous post, I decided that joining the Y is no question.  12 hours of free personal training over the next few months + all those free classes for the measley $35/month rate?  NO QUESTION.

holy crap!  you gotta do it!!!!  I only got 1 hour of free personal training and I pay $44/mo.  I was going to have to pay $57 but then the lady entering it in let me go second tier instead of third... yay!  So, yeah, Watchme, you HAVE to join... no question! :D

And the water drinking gets easier.  At first you feel like you're going to drown or die from going to the bathroom so much, but then you get used to it.  I drink a gallon+ a day and I can tell when i drink less now.  Good luck!

pinkcobra, what are the tiers?  i thought it was odd that one YMCA in the area offered me a $35 rate (they have less equipment) but said i'm also welcome to use their sister location (that has the personal training program and more equipment) as much as i want -- they charge $48/month.  all the other places in the area charge $48/month as well.

Original Post by watchmeshine82:

pinkcobra,what are the tiers?  i thought it was odd that one YMCA in the area offered me a $35 rate (they have less equipment) but said i'm also welcome to use their sister location (that has the personal training program and more equipment) as much as i want -- they charge $48/month.  all the other places in the area charge $48/month as well.

 Watchme! I agree you should join! I currently do spin class at least 2 to 3 times a week and as a bigger girl I have no trouble doing it. It took me about 3 classes before I got used to my butt being sore and truly loving it but I do recommend it--it's a great way to burn a lot of calories! Let me know if you need anymore information

I forgot to add earlier that I am going to the gym after work and I am going to try the Couch to 5k workout. I was reading some posts and I was like,"What r they talking about?" so I Googled it(as I do with everything!) and I thought it was really cool. I am actually excited!

i am bored. i want to do something but all my buds know how to do is drink. and than they wonder why we are all at. haha too funny. i didnt feel like jogging today. i am WAY to sore.  anywho.  yea, so any ideas?

Fallon::: (hello) when do you start your new job? Maybe you can make some new friends at work who do other things...what else do you like to do? Maybe join some group at school or with an outside organization---like a book club or a walking club??Not sure just throwing ideas out there---keep up the good work everyone!