Posts by eileneg

I'd like to join you, if I can?

1. Calorie Count Name (user id): eileneg
2. Name you prefer to be called in discussions: Eilene
3. Age & Sex: 38 (soon to be 39), female
4. General Location: Illinois

5. Married? Single? Single

6. Kids? Furbabies? I kill plants, can't even imagine what I'd do to pets and children!

7. Favorite color? Yellow
8. Favorite movie? Too many
9. Hobbies? nothing at the moment
10. Favorite Snack? Right now, cottage cheese and blueberries
11. Favorite Beverage? Coke - I know it's totally bad for you!
12. Biggest Obstacle to Getting Healthy? "Getting motivated to exercise."
13. Weight/Fitness Goal? "I want to be healthier and drop the 15 lbs I can't seem to ditch"
14. Least Favorite Household Chore? All of them!
15. How did you find Calorie Count? Surfing the web
16. Anything Else You'd Like To Share? "I think this site is great. I really hope it works." I agree with Lia

Original Post by marmel13:

Greetings from Hawaii!

Okay, so between the back tweak and vacation, I'm not exercising as much as I like.. but there's a personal trainer waiting to kick my ass as of Wednesday, so I'll live.

Im still doing well with the diet - lots of fruit to eat here, fish and salads. I think I can keep it around 1700 and not screw myself with the crunchy and the fried...

Oooh...get some sun for me.  It's been raining ever since school let out, grr!!!

I'm sure you'll be fine, and also allow yourself to taste the local delicious food.

Lynn~

Love the new picture! and I love your advice to marmel ("next time just fall.")  I don't seem to have a problem with falling.  I have more of a problem with walking, lol.

Speaking of walking, (nice segue, huh?) I walked a mile today.  I have a 4 mile route that I started doing, but my knee spasmed on the last leg, so I got new shoes and took it easy this week.  So it's a light week for exercise, but I am watching very carefully what I eat.  I would love to get off this dang plateau, lol.

Marmel~

You need to take it easy there, as if you didn't know that.  And like someone else here asked, what do you think of the wii fit? I'm considering it as well.

I'm in, even though I haven't lost any either.  And I'm going to vegas in July for my b-day...either I'll gain from eating and drinking, or lose from sweating, lol.

I don't have facebook, but have yahoo and AIM.

WTG everybody!! Even our little slips are mini-victories in that we can figure out and learn from them (sorry, it's the teacher in me, lol)

I'm down to 123...but I have a feeling that I'm stabilized at the moment at 124.  My ultimate goal was to be 118 (no time limit, but by my birthday would've been fantabulous!)  I've found a new walking route, which I'll be able to do once school let's out, so maybe that little change in distance and pace (I got some music made for walking, bpm's for 3.0 - 3.5 miles per hour...and then some more for 4.0 mph)

So we'll see.  I've come a long way to get to 123, so I'm extremely happy!

Again, wtg everybody!

I'm still at 124...saw a glimmer of 122, but then it vanished in the train wreck, lol.

Believe me, I'm happy at 124, but it's been about 6 weeks, and I would love to ultimately get down to 118 again, but I'm thinking that might not be an option.

I guess I could go to a gym, but somehow I feel outraged that I should have to pay someone to get me back into shape lol.  (I have a lot of these mental blocks - don't even get me started on technology or cars, lmao)

As for jeans, I've been a 7 juniors down from a 10/12 petite woman.  I have a pair of 5s waiting for me...they zipper up, but I have muffin top, lol...so some work is definitely needed. 

I think I just need a kick in the butt to get myself in gear again.

elairda~

I hate weigh ins like that too...and I'm right there with you...up to 124. Poops! *heavy sigh* Seems like a lot of us struggled this week.  Things will get better next week!!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Weighed in today: 123 *sigh*  But it's still better than 124, lol

It's been Teacher Appreciation Week, and it seems like food is the way to show appreciation, lol.  Pizza, breakfast pizza, gourmet lunches, and the cinco de mayo luncheon.  I'm surprised I haven't gained more!

Great job everybody!

First, mortal, buy yourself your Italian suit.  It'll be a fine tailored suit, and when you get down to your ultimate goal, you can have it tailored again.  Go back to the same tailor, they'll understand the nuances of the material and the design of the line. 

I buy new jeans for ever five pounds lost and kept off.  It gives me bragging rights.  And I like it!  I also treat myself to a piece of jewelry every other month if I haven't reached five pounds, but have maintained or dropped.  I also get a massage every four months.  Not only is this a treat, but it's also healthy. 

I think of treats as a luxury, so I try not to be too health related.  It's a celebration of me, and all that is me.  And I'm more than diet and exercise. 

I agree with gi-jane.  Don't do everything all at once.  You're body is a system, whether it's well-functioning or not, it has learned to maintain its own idea of a status quo.  Any change to a system needs to be done gradually if the change is to be permanent.  Otherwise, the system (in this case the body) will do its hardest to force the change out, to quell the disruption so that it can return to its former state.

Let's be realistic here.  You won't be able to lose 30 pounds superfast if you want to keep it off for the rest of your life.  You may drop a large amount in the beginning if your body feels it can spare the weight.  But the closer you get to your target weight, the harder it becomes because your body does not want to lose it.  Your body will also require a different amount of calories to maintain the weight, and will also require a different amount of activity level.  Losing weight and becoming healthy is a dynamic process.

That being said, here's my advice.  Try not to eat anything with added sugar (in the first four ingredients) or High Fructose Corn Syrup, like in sodas.  Avoid those 100 calorie snack bags.  Shop the perimeter of your store.  And don't deprive yourself.  Replace bad food with good food.  Replace chips with veggies and hummus.  A chocolate bar with a small dark chocolate square (55 calories, and a glorious way to end a meal.) 

My plan works for me, it may not work for others, but I eat 5 times a day, and stay around 1500-1600 calories.  I could go down 2-300 more, but then my blood sugar level will be all crazy and I'll start to binge and crash.  In order to lose my last 4 pounds I have to add to my work out, which I will. 

Diet smart, not hard.

Good luck!

marmel~

I would like to say that vacation calories don't count, but we know they do.

Good luck!  But if you go up in spite of everything you do, no doubt it will be minimal, and you'll not get all guilt-trippy on us (lol) because you did the best you could!

Have a little faith, you might even come back slightly down!

Eilene

Down to 122, but it teetered again, so I wouldn't be surprised if I was up to 123 by thursday.

Great job everybody!

Here's my opinion on "free days." (and remember that it is just an opinion, lol.) In my experience, free days became loop holes. I used to have free days. And if I slipped on my diet during the week, I'd say I would make up for it on the free days. And I never did. I would feel totally defeated and like a failure.

What I recently learned which has helped me tremendously in eating and exercising is...learning to forgive myself. Before, if I ate a candy bar, I'd feel miserable, thinking things like, "no wonder I'm fat!" Now, I think..."I ate a candy bar. At the next eating opportunity, I'm just going to make a better choice." (Notice I didn't say, "right choice," because it's not about right and wrong, it's about accepting the slips and moving on at the very next opportunity.)

The same holds true with exercise. I'm not always going to be dedicated, and I've learned to live with that. I do the best I can most times, but I am human and I will slip.

I've also learned that I absolutely cannot end a meal unless I have chocolate, lol. So I've acquired the taste for Dark Chocolate. One 1" square from Ghiradelli's is 55 calories. But I have that after I have my humongous salad and an orange, or my small dinner. I build my treats in to my eating plan now.

Like mortalmonkey (who, I assume was a fan of the Man Show, lol,) like he said, it's not about deprivation.

Eating right is a lifestyle change, and sometimes Life requires a little chocolate every now and then.

Original Post by emschwab:

134 pounds. up a pound from thursday and i totally know why. i cant seem to keep it under 2000 calories. i dont know why really...i am eating fairly healthy, i love fruit. i think i just eat too much bready type things but thats what fills me up best. any suggestions on healthier filling alternatives?

 

Bready type things...I know exactly what you mean. I love a good hearty bread. I ended up just substituting pasta with brown rice. It's not the same, I know, but it does fill me up. 100% whole wheat English muffins - good for appropriate serving sizes to.o I sometimes have a veggie burger with some marinara sauce, lettuce, and onions on one. Not too bad and good calorie count.
100% whole wheat tortillas work too, but they can be dry. 100% whole wheat pancakes rolled around a half a banana. The banana keeps it moist.

Pitas work well too.

The trick is to get the 100% whole wheat, and those can be dry. So they need to be balanced out with something moist (mayo would be lovely, wouldn't it? lol,) like tomatoes or avocados or Dijon mustard, or organic marinara sauce.

Hope this helps!

Happy Monday, everybody!!!

I was a little nervous about the weigh in  because of my lazy day on saturday, but I weighed in today at 124 - stayed the same, but that means no gain either, so I'm happy.

I've been really sticking to my calorie range of 1500-1600 since thursday, so I'm hoping I'll see a pound drop either this week or next week.  I'll just have to persevere.  (I'm fighting those last 6 pounds, what a battle that is turning out to be!)

It sounds like everybody is working hard and staying dedicated.  Great work!!