well here we are at the end of week 2.....how did everyone do????....i managed to squeeze a pound off..i was hit by the chocolate craving this week and indulged in some frozen chocolate yogurt........drunksunflower has made an excellent post under "chocolate soy milk" that i'd like you all to read.....by the way.the chocolate soy milk is pretty yummy.......is everyone managing to get some exercise in?????.i got a couple of walks in.hope to do better this week......remember folks..everyone's input is important!!! let's have a great week!.julia

my knee peaked in pain this last week. no walking...didn't lose anything..but the knee is much better now that i stayed off of it......

ouch! sorry to hear about your knee......hey....you didn't gain! that's a good thing!

[(JD)]

Have no clue how I'm doing yet.... btw putting the thread number at the end doesn't work well... why not put it at the beginning of the subject line so we know which number thread?

[Nerak]

I lost 3 lbs this week bringing my total (remember I started in the middle of March) to 16lbs - woohoo.

[wi_fighter]

What do I need to do to get started in here? Do I have to go weigh in and give my measurements? My scale isn't too accurate. I swear it stops at 120 even if I gain weight, because nothing fits the same and I'm all squishy everywhere. I need to increase my muscle mass. I have a ton of exercise tapes and DVDs, Leslie Sansone and The Bar Method being my favorites, but the motivation to keep going never lasts longer than a week. When my kids are here, I find excuses not to exercise - usually that I don't want to "deprive" them of TV for 30 minutes while I pop in a DVD.

[wi_fighter]

My second favorite excuse is that I can't take that much time away from work or I'll get more behind.

Yes, I KNOW that exercise will give me more energy so I'll sleep better and probably perform better on the job.

I'm not here to get cyber berated on what I'm doing wrong. I'm here to get some motivation and support.

how about involving your daughter.....go for a 30 minute walk while your son watches the tv. xox

[wi_fighter]

My son likes to go for walks when the weather's nice. He actually forces me to go with him in the evenings.

My daughter, as skinny as she is, does need to get out and exercise. She doesn't even like to walk the couple of blocks to school in the morning because "it's too cold" or "my backpack's too heavy" or "I'm going to be late." Can you tell she's my daughter? LOL

well, that's way cool if your son likes to get out.......and i bet your daughter will do it..you know how kids don't like to be left out...........good deal!!!

[drunksunflower]

I have another couple of tips (or things to debate, if you like!) that I will put in this post just in *case* anyone is interested... I'm sure you all know this stuff but I'll write it anyway!

Firstly, saying that you are on a 'diet' is not always the best way to perceive your new eating plan. The word 'diet' suggests that you are on this eating plan to lose weight, and when you have lost enough weight you won't be on the 'diet' anymore - so you may well indulge a bit more than you mean to, and put some of the weight back on quite quickly. I've done this in the past - sooo frustrating!

So ... you’re not “on a diet”, don’t ever use that phrase, you are now going to be “eating healthily”. It has to become a permanent part of what you do, and eating crap food has to feel a bit out of character. Losing weight and keeping it off is in your mind, not in the foods you eat. If you eat something that’s full of fat, it’s not “going off the rails” it’s “a major exception to what I usually do”. So you don't need to worry about it, just go back to your healthy eating plan and try not to do it again.

Having said that, what you guys are saying about a 'chocolate treat' with soy milk or whatever is GREAT, because you are allowing youself something that otherwise you'll probably end up craving and maybe bingeing on if you don't.

In terms of treats, it's NOT bad to have a few squares of a good quality dark chocolate - this is actually quite good for you as it has happy stuff and i think antioxidants in it. Less fat than milk chocolate too I believe. Also, a glass of red wine isn't going to add too many pounds to your waistline if you have one every now and again.

I recently read a really interesting article about why French women have such sleek figures, despite being surrounded by pastries, cheeses, and lots of red wine!!

The main things that I can remember from it is

*Portion size - don't eat lots of something, just have a small portion of it and let it digest before you decide if you are still hungry. It takes a little while to feel full after you eat.

*Lots of fresh vegetables and cooking at home is a good way to monitor what you are eating and what exactly is in it! The French are very big on cooking at home and enjoying their food. Even looking at the ingredients of something like Subway is scary! Although it might be low FAT, have you seen what they add to their 'chicken'?! Sooo many preservatives and other gunk, including 'chicken flavouring' ... yuck!

*Measure your weightloss as much by how your clothes fit as the scales. Sometimes you lose weight and the scales might not show it up, for various reasons including water retention, etc. Or you might be building up some muscle where you used to have fat through your exercising. Muscle is heavier than fat! For me personaly, it's much more rewarding/encouraging to find my jeans are a bit looser than it is to find i've lost a pound.

*Treats - back to this! The French will treat themselves but not pig out. Perhaps have a small pastry for morning tea, or some cheese and bread before dinner.

That's about all I can remember from it, but funnily enough a friend of mine lived in France for a year and agrees with this theory - she said she was the slimmest she's ever been while she lived there, yet ate delicious food and wasn't really conscious of watching what she ate. She's a curvy wee girl too, has a lovely figure but isn't exactly skinny.

Something else that's really obvious but I thought I might point it out ... fizzy drink! Or pop or whatever you call coke etc. If you must have it have the diet version, cos the normal version has about 8 teaspoons of sugar in it. I don't like diet stuff because it has so much fake sweetener in it (the nutrasweet stuff) which can actually have some really bad health effects (on your stomach, memory, energy levels, etc). The name eludes me for now, but when I remember it i'll post it unless someone else knows ... Drink water, maybe with some lemon in it (lemon is excellent for cleansing your digestive system, a good way to start the day is having a glass of water, either hot or cold, with a lemon squeezed into it). Other people flavour their water that they drink throughout the day with lime, cucumber, or even slice some strawberry into it to make it more exciting.

A good thing to do if you can afford it is to get some vitamin supplements - just in case you are missing anything out of your diet. Although, if you're eating well in your new eating plan, you should be fine! I don't believe in loading up on heaps of supplements, but I do take a multivitamin and an antioxidant and I find my energy is increased quite a bit with these. The ones I use are called Usana, but there are heaps of other good ones out there as well. Be aware that some multis are pretty much USELESS - their potency is actually very low. One example is Centrum (I know this is sold in a lot of countries) - I read some research on this in a comparison with other multis and it didn't come out well at all. So good to talk to someone in a health food shop or pharmacy rather than grabbing whatever is on sale in the supermarket - you might be wasting your money.

Ok ... that's all I can think of ... I am not a nutritionist or anything but I do live with people who are very clued up on dieting etc (fitness freaks, the guys are actually doing a body-building competition at the moment, and one of them runs a gym too) so I am taking advantage of their knowledge

nerak! that is awesome! keep upi the good work!!!!!.and tell us some of your secrets!!!! lol

[Nerak]

Hmmm let's see. I am not doing this weight loss alone - hubby is doing it with me and he has lost 11 lbs. We do not eat after 8:00pm. We eat breakfast, lunch & dinner, fruit as a snack mid morning and mid afternoon. Drink lots and lots of water. Now we are starting to exercise as well. Went for a 60 min walk today. Starting tomorrow - I will be swimming 4 x's a week and also doing some form of exercise in the evening.

you've already done all you need to get started here!!...you're in and we're happy to have you!...you can share as much or as little about yourself as you are comfortable with....our "official" weigh in day is sunday...just to see how everyone is doing.....and taking your measurements is a good way to see some progress if wt loss is slow...if you're eating right..the inches will still come off....our mission here is support....our goal is to share info...make suggestions, offer encouragement and yes. there is even room for whining here if needed! this ain't easy!!!!!!!! lol.....so welcome aboard and good luck to ya!

drunksunflower...thank you for the awesome post....you are joining us a little late but want you to know that we have already discussed the use of the word "diet".and fully realize that we are looking towards a healthy eating pattern for life....the word "diet" is only a term of convenience....your suggestions are all terrific and i hope that you will continue to share your knowledge with us

[drunksunflower]

thanks butterfly

been interesting to read what you have been doing, i've been doing it for a wee while (but have my lapses!) so great to find some other people who are trying to do a similar thing

[(JD)]

Well I weighed Monday just for y'all... I lost 5 lbs last week... but then, the last meal I had was Friday mid afternoon (until tonight - Tuesday... and it isn't sitting well anyway.) My T wanted me to eat duh. I have major dental Wednesday (tomorrow) and had hopes to not eat till then, and knowing I wouldn't want to afterwards... but the thought of the meds tmw... and not having anyone to drive me sigh. big deal I ate.

Too depressed to enjoy anything, especially food I can't taste, smell or chew. Maybe after tomorrow I will be able to chew (sooner or later?)

hi sky...thanks for checking in with us.....hope you're feeling better soon

[Raynaadi]

Hey all and congrats in the weight loss efforts!

I didn't weigh in or take measurements on Sunday. I don't know if you all saw my post in general, but I quit drinking Saturday night and went to 3 AA meetings Sunday. So...I had switched to "lite beer" when we all started talking about starting a weight loss support group, but now I've quit altogether. Noticing quit a difference already. Haven't had time to work out because I'm hitting meetings every night, but I'll weigh in Sunday and see what I've accomplished by just NOT DRINKING!

Keep up the good work everyone.

Rayna

rayna.....thanks for checking in with us! i've been reading your posts in general and am so proud of your steps to stop drinking.....this of course should be your first priority but i think that not drinking will also help with your weight loss so you are really accomplishing 2 things at once!....i'll look forward to seeing how you did on sunday.........keep up the good work!

[(JD)]

good efforts ray!

Um no, my non eating was as much from depression and not being able to figure everything out... but now since the dental work began... ugh. I did try and eat something Tues before the teeth shaving wednesday but it didn't sit well, of course. I have only had 2 bowls of oatmeal now since Tues... I can only imagine I have lost more weight this week. sigh. That's the least that I deserve for all this! ; }

I didn't have the stamina for the temporaries so I have half teeth and "bare" till early next week when the permanent veneers are to be ready... then I have to have the upper jaw/teeth done... I don't see myself eating much for another 3 weeks.

The dietician called... a new one.. might be why no approval yet... worker comp uses anything to delay.. name change is one of them dummy ppl... they are authorizing the Center not the person! It won't do much good anyway until I'm at least back to the old nominal way of eating.

I'm too fatigued.... and have too much "on my plate" as it is HA! not my term.. my T's... I'm gonna have to get after him for that subconscious note he gave me (it's his doing!) heheheh In my life I've tried to not use language like that, as my brain seems to take things literally first.

I've rambled enough. GOD save the queen (and everyone else.)