((((maddy)))) hope you feel better. The Lost boys have been passing around a flu too.

I'm holding ground now at 12 lbs lost...I had a very difficult and stressful week, and at this point I am happy just to survive. :(

Next week, I hope, will be better...if only because I am determined to improve my attitude and outlook...and spend less than 12 hours a day at work, every day.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Yay osuche ... holding your ground is a positive thing!

Lil ... great that the blood sugar level is moving downward ... that's always worth celebrating ... but sorry to hear about you not being able to get out of the hut .... NO FUN!! ...

maddy, hope you are feeling better, but glad that while not feeling great it has a positive side-effect with your weight!

Me, I'm a little confused at the moment ... not been making good food choices the last couple of days, pre-hut is going on a little too long ... and I'm wondering if I'm just using it as an excuse to indulge?!?! :) Yet, the clothes are still getting looser and I'm not having as much of the usual bloating ... I know, however, that won't continue, so I'm getting back on the wagon and will be much stricter with myself for the weekend and coming week.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

I have got to drink more water!!!!

I believe Special K Snack Bites are made from crack :D

Was down yesterday, I am up today. I HATE the yo-yo scale!

I may have to break down on Sunday and buy myself some newer, smaller pants...I'm starting to look like a clown.

Lil -- I personally think the same thing about Kashi Go Lean Crunch (the Crunch is importnant....the other stuff tastes like ass). I like it dry or with milk!

LOL* Aqua's new diet: liquid Geritol and Kashi Go Lean Crunch

ROFLM -- Ass -- O


BTW...I am having apersonal high on my willpower this afternoon...Mr Osuche wanted pizza for dinner -- I am watching him eat it and having *nothing*

Well, a journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step. :)

LOL at all of you!!!

Yay osuche ... way to have willpower ...

me, I'm struggling to get mine back ... am ending today inside my calorie range goal again (finally)... hope you all have a great Sunday!

I'm stressing about something I can do nothing about for a month and if I don't straighten my ass up I'll have gained 50 pounds by then.

((((Lil))))

I spent my day in class, having a GREAT gym workout, and then shopping for 2.5 hours. <sigh> I *hate* shopping. But I did get 3 new pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shoes, a bra, a pair of panties, and a dress shirt...all for about $175. I wasn't too unhappy with that -- especially since almost all the stuff is name brand. It seems like I have good luck at Nordstrom Rack when I go...despite the long lines and the haphazard arrangement, they have nice stuff.

So anyway...I dropped 2 pants sizes and 1 shirt size (although I didn't buy many shirts). The bad news is....I am down to a B cup again...I'd crept up to a C when I gained the weight. Why does it *always* come off my boobs first??? <sigh>

lol osuche ... always starts from my top and from my feet first as I lose ... I think the water comes from there first ... and of course the boobs are very high fat levels for women, so just think of it as burning fat ... :) Congrats on the moving into smaller sizes all around ... YAY!!!!

If I stick to my plan until bedtime, I will end my day just inside of my calorie range again ... 2 days in a row ... and weekend days at that ... how wonderful is that after being out of control for several days! ... keeping a close watch on myself to maintain through til bedtime!

sending hugs to Lil ... hope the stress lessens .. it can be so difficult to deal with sometimes!!!

And can you all stand it ... end of April and for many of us ... 4 months working at making healthier choices. YAY for all of us!!

I felt myself slipping in the past week, so I'm ready to get back on track starting today. I've had a lot of unusual opportunities as of late that were fun, but were hard to plan my eating around.

I saw people I have not seen in months this weekend and people were very generous with compliments. It was a great boost to my ego, but also a detriment at the same time. My mind works in mysterious ways - as people were telling me things like "you look great" my mind started to think, if I look great NOW then I can QUIT. I don't need to go any further. The reality is that I still have about 90 lbs to go.

The other unfortunate thing that happened (not sure if I mentioned this before today) was at the dr. I found out that I'm shorter than I wanted to believe. When factoring in the shortness, it meant that I had another 10 lbs to lose to be at the very top of my healthy weight range.

((((Maddy)))) ~~ the dr tells me I am shorter than I thought I was, too. Maybe it's a midlife crisis kinda thing. :p

I am yo-yod up again today those 2 lbs I thought I'd lost last week. But this week will be better!

(((((maddy))))) ... sorry about the height thing ... great that others are noticing and complimenting ... maybe remind yourself that you're not doing this just about how you look (or at least I assume you aren't) ... but about being healthier as well... hope you had a great day and that this week continues to go well for you!

osuche ... way to keep the positive attitude going ... you are doing wonderfully!!

me ... third day in a row of being inside my calorie range .... it's been a little challenging for me mentally ... want to be able to go back to that old style of thinking where I eat what I want, when I want ... in the quantities I want ... working to change that thought process ... suspect there will be times that I want to do that for the rest of my life ... that doesn't mean I have to give into it though ... so I'm working on figuring out alternatives to eating when I'm in this mode... I just keep reminding myself that if I don't keep moving forward the backward slide will be much faster than the time it has taken to move forward and then I'll have to start all over again .... don't want to waste any more time in that cycle!

I went on a sweets fest and so I am working to get back off the sugar.

fzzy you need to keep looking forward and not worry about back sliding. You have made remarkable progress. I am going to ask myself some serious questions each time I put something in my mouth. Is this food? Am I using it for nourishment or comfort?

You guys know I have breakfast issues, I just tried the "Oatmeal on the Go" bars and they feel like lead but taste pretty good. I had the banana bread. They are high calorie but for breakfast it's not so bad.

I read an article yesterday that suggested we should be eating within 45 minutes of waking each day. It also explain that breakfast received it's name because it is the meal that breaks the fast we go into each night as part of sleeping. The same article suggested during the waking hours we should be eating some meal or snack every 4-5 hours. This concept of fasting each night actually made sense to me given that we should have nourishment every 4-5 hours. I was most intrigued by the name breakfast and where it comes from.... so I thought I'd share.

Now speaking of fasting - do any of you know how long you are supposed to fast before bloodwork. I can't remember if my dr told me to not eat for 12 hours or 8 hours. Therefore I haven't gone in for my bloodwork yet, but need to do so this week.

maddy, I have no ides ont he bloodwork..I have some vague recollection that the dr told me not to eat breakfast, so I guess it's 8 -- but it might be best to check with your dr office.

I'm headed in for my annual this morning. I hate being poked at! But last year I had some "abnormal cells," so I have my fingers crossed that everything is fine.

Fzzy and Lil, I think you're both too hard on yourselves. Some days we need to go on sweetsfest...and I agree with Lil that fzzy is unlikely to backslide at this point. Simply too much positive feedback fromt he weight loss. :)

As for me...2 days back on track. Under 1800 calories, BIG workouts, and good food choices. This evening I am going to a sushi house with a friend, so we'll see how it goes. Of I follow the Wendee plan, perhaps I am due a night of high calories? :D

My Dr says 10 hours.

You are all the best!!! ... Lil .. thanks, I try not to be hard on myself, but also try to find that delicate balance of what you don't acknowledg .. you can't fix ... today I wasn't as good as I would have liked, but still basically on track ... tomorrows another day!

osuche, hope the physical went well!

maddy, my memory is that it's 12 hours, but I'd guess that Lil has a better knowledge directly from her dr. and hope the testing goes well.

Lil ... good luck on the getting off the sugar ... I think that's one of the toughest battles that I face as well ... I like my sweet treats! :)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I was bad, bad, bad yesterday...2300 calories an dmost of it was food. But I had a fun lunch AND dinner out with friends. So today I have vowed to be better. I am down those 2 lbs I gained.

I'm starting to loose momentum a bit, I think....I've gotten so many compliments it's easy to think I look fine. But then I look at myself in th emirror, and I know how far I have to go. I just have to keep those images top of mind, lest I lose my drive.

Hello everyone :)

I hope that everyone is doing well... and feeling better. Why is it that Fat goes on so quickly and without effort... but it takes so long to take it off? IF I had only not taken being skinny (and healthy) for granted... and I swear that when I get there again I won't make that same mistake again..

I haven't been around again much lately... been sooo busy staying active... I am now working out 3 times a day... 6 am Curves work out... a lunch time Leslie Sansone 15 minute Mile Walk DVD (lesliesansone.com).. and a mile (building up to 3) walk in the evening... I am still on Weight Watchers... will be 3 months coming up on the 8th... and so far I have now lost 29.2 pounds...

I finally broke down today and scheduled a doctors appointment... tho scheduled it far out (July 27 & 31st) to give me more time to get further down.. would like to hit 60 pounds by then... I figure if I have lost just about 30 pounds this past 3 months I stand a good chance of continuing..

My deepest hope is to hit my ultimate goal on February 8th 2007, just in time for Valentines Day..... and HOPEFULLY by then I will have a date in which to celebrate with.

Hugs all... sending each of you skinny thoughts... and I will check in with all of you soon. Keep up the inspiring work :)

Good Luck everyone.

I'm on the LAMS diet.

Less alcohol, More sex.

Some way to go to get back to my old fighting weight - but I am getting complete and eager support!

YAY Jenna... great job!!! always good to see you on the thread/boards!

osuche ... I know what you mean, struggling a bit myself as well with maintaining some momentum ... at least with sticking with my goals in eating and calories ... but tomorrow is another day ... and it will be better! :)

Vigil ... sounds like an interesting weight loss program! LOL (that could be Lots of Luck ... or the usual LOL) :)

Checking in after my regular Friday weigh-in. After a rough couple of weeks which saw an actual 3.5 lb. GAIN (Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr--I don't want to talk about it) I lost 3.0 of that off again this week. That still puts me at a net 29.0 lbs. lost.

I have tried not to overly obsess over what could be partially water retention and/or scale fluctuations, in addition to some sporadic poor choices. This week's results, though, will help me maintain my focus and determination.

You all are such a source of inspiration to me--I appreciate it greatly.

do NOT try the baked cheetos. They are just as addictive as the regular ones. *sigh*

I made rice tonight with cilantro, salt, and lime. It was delish and no added fat. Just passing along a tip :D

Sounds good...we ate out at a BBQ and it was all I could do to stay away from the chips and cake...but I did have both a hotdog and hamburger. I fogured these were at least filling choices, and not entirely empty calories.

Hope tomorrow will be a better day!

This may sound a little weird but - try eating only with chopsticks.

The problem for many of us in the West is that it is just too easy to shovel the calories down.

So never eat food that you pick up with your hands - think about these types of food - they are usually bursting with calories and junk. Oysters are my exception that proves this rule.

If you try the chopsticks you will see that you eat better food and smaller amounts in each mouthfull. This will help you digest properly and get rid of that bloated feeling.

Give it a go before you call the asylum.

I'm checking in from the tail-end of the weekend. I don't know what got into me this weekend, but on Saturday I could not stop eating. I tried to justify eating half a jar of peanut butter by slathering it on apples. Alas, it tasted most delightful but was not what I needed to be eating.

I'm feeling better about eating today and have done a lot better. I made kabobs for dinner and barely could finish one. I have the remainder of the cooked kabobs in a dish for dinners this week - quick, easy, healthy! I also stocked up on some fruits (strawberries are looking good again after a month or so of looking like crap!).

I've stayed relatively stable in my weight for about three weeks now, but I'm ready to move onward and downward again. I've not been exercising regularly - I need to get back on the treadmill again, starting tomorrow! I dug up two pines yesterday and pulled out a bunch of other crap that was growing outside - my legs ache! I'm also getting my bike later this week. It's been sitting in the basement of my parent's house for years, but it's being delivered to me this week and I look forward to getting my fat butt back on it.

My birthday is about 11 weeks away, and I have a goal in mind... it involves 29 lbs moving elsewhere and no longer having to shop in the "plus sized" section of the store. Oh how I long for sizes that exclude X and W.

Been doing horrible this week -- too much stress, not enough time at the gym, and it's getting close to my monthly d-day -- which means I am constantly hungry. I have been failing, and checking in at an average 2150 calories a day.

My one saving grace is that the weather is getting noce and Mr Osuche and I have been taking 30-90 minute walks every night.

Life will be *much* better this time next week, when I get a week off in between classes. :)

I've been struggling a bit over the last couple of weeks ... not been horrible, but not been particularly good either ... I don't think I've really lost any ground, but I haven't really made much progress either .... part of the problem is that when I get home from work I'm feeling hungry and yet it's not really time yet that I want to fix dinner for a couple of hours ... I've always been a later in the evening eater when it comes to dinner ... I'm not looking to change that either, because when I've done that in the past it's created more problems for me then it solved ... anyway, I get home and then eat the snack packs .... too many of them ... so beginning tonight, I'm making up a very large pot of veggie soup ... mainly cans of various items, ... mushrooms (of course), artichoke hearts, diced tomatoes w/ onions, chicken broth, 1 can of hearty chicken veggie soup and then a bunch of various frozen veggies (calif. blend and french cut green beans this time) ... that way when I come home at night I can throw some of the soup in the microwave and have it with maybe 1 of the snack packs (or not) and I'll be satisfied without eating a lot of stuff I should be limiting ... also it will get a bit more veggies into my routine .. something I always need to do! ...

I'll keep you up to date on how it is working for me .... I'm ready to get really serious about this again and make more progress again.

Great solution^^^

I've found myself to be a quantity eater lately (whole box of 100 calorie packs yesterday - first time I EVER did that!), and as such am going to pick up the 94% fat free packs of microwave popcorn. That's a lot more quantity for a lot less calories.

Excellent solution fzzy - if only I liked soup :)

Did I mention, I put lots of black pepper in my soup .. I love black pepper ... maddy ... I can take or leave soup for the most part, and veggies are never going to be my favorite thing on any menu, but I made the soup with the veggies I like best and just that little bit of chicken from the one can of chicken veggie soup ... it was quite tasty actually ... I didn't make a HUGE pot this time, wanted to kind of get the blend down first ... but there's probably enough for the rest of the work week ... then on Saturday I'll make about twice as much as I did tonight and freeze in single serving containers ... that should work nicely ... and it gets me eating a couple more servings worth of veggies ... which I really do need to be doing ... if it also gets me through this period of snacking too much on the high carb snacks, then it will be a wonderful solution .... Like all of the other stuff ... the changes seem to work best for me when I incorporate one or two at a time and then let them kind of become part of the routine ... so this is a new change ... have to keep moving forward! :)

All the same, I'm ending my day pretty much within my calorie range, so it's a successful day as far as that goes! :D

I some times puree a can of white beans in the food processor or blender to thicken soups. You may like that.

I finally got back on the treadmill. I only did about 25 minutes before American Idol came on... I know I need to get my priorities straight ;) I walked like a madwoman though for those 25 minutes.

I was home today, and I have sunk back into boredom eating while at home. I got all my fruits and veggies in today, which has been challenging as of late. I also drank all my water, which has been presenting a challenge to me as well.

My bike will be delivered tomorrow - I have absolutely no excuses not to exercise - treadmill, bike, beautiful weather...

I have got to seriously lose some weight for my health and I am the only one that is standing in my way.

good idea Lil .. thanks, may wait awhile to try it ... beans/legumes are high carb as well as protein ... and my carbs have been so out of control lately that I'm going to work at getting that under control for the moment.

When I got home this evening, I heated up some of the soup in the microwave, put in a little bit more black pepper (just in case i didn't get enough in it last night LOL) and enjoyed it emensely (sp?) and I've only had one of the snack packs ... I'll be fixing my dinner in about 30 minutes or so, so I think it has worked (at least today) ... I also got back to my regular "exercise" routine tonight (after about 2 weeks of being a slug) .... it feels good to have accomplished something again!

Yay maddy, so glad to hear you are doing well! :)

Exercise is essential as it helps to keep your metabolism ticking over. Minimum twenty minutes a day getting that heart pumping and that sweat running. Sorry I know that ladies glow rather than sweat.

ending the day in my calorie range ... that makes me very happy today!