Posts by anijig

Hi everyone! I'll be joining you too. Looks like I'm due on May 18th.

This will be my 3rd child, and I am soooo excited!:)

I hope we can be a good support for each other in the weight department. I am currently eating around 1700 calories a day. I will increase it to 1900 soon. I'm taking it slowly because I have stopped all exercise due to the high-risk nature of my pregnancies, so I don't want to increase my calories too much yet.

Anyway, I wish you all a happy and healthy 9 months!!!:)

Never EVER give up!!! Keep going, especially when it gets tough. That's when you'll see results AND keep the weight from comming back.

I've lost 119 lbs (that's right, 119lbs!) as of today. Down from 294 to 175 lbs and I feel fantastic! It has taken me about 15 months to lose that weight. The last few months have been rather slow, losing just 3 lbs or so per month. BUT, that has not stopped me from perserving. I just say to myself that to keep the weight off forever I have to keep making good decisions. The number doesn't matter as long as I'm doing the right and healthy thing. 

I eat about 1750 calories a day and exercise 4-5 days a week. I have one "junk " meal a week. Usually planned around celebrations or events. At those times I don't count calories and I let myself enjoy foods I like. It's not about deprivation but rather healthy living. If you look at it that way, it will be easy to continue and you won't be frustrated. Best of all, you'll keep the weight off for good!

You can do it too! PP said it right. One day, one good decision at a time. That's all it takes. You'll get there in no time.

2 thoughts have helped me stay focused for the long haul.

#1: Whatever you are doing now, you have to keep doing even after you reach your goal. (ie, lifestyle change). If not, you will only put the weight back on. (Trust me, I know...)

#2: April 2011 will roll around whether you diet and exercise or not, so you might as well be at healthy weight when it does. It will pass by fast enough. When I first started losing weight I was discouraged by the amount of time it would take. But this thought kept me going. Time passes anyway. If you don't do anything now, you will only be having the same conversation with yourself about weight loss a year or two from now.

Hope that helps and GL!

Oh also...set yourself some mini goals along the way to help keep you motivated.

I love carbonated water as well. Sometimes I fill a glass with perrier and add just a splash of coke. It does the trick for me. Now I find that drinking coke straight is just too sweet.

Another thing you can do is add some sugar free or regular syrup (like the ones in cofee shops) and add a splash of that to make an Italian Soda. Delicious! The good thing is, when I have some, I can give some to my kids if they ask, since it's very low in calories and has no caffeine either. They love to have a fizzy pink drink too...:)

Do you eat in the evenings or at night? If I eat past 6-7pm, you can bet I don't feel very hungry for breakfast the next morning. Especially if those meals are the biggest of the day. I suggest trying to eat smaller meals in the evenings and nothing past 7pm, and you'll see you'll be ravenous by morning. It's a catch-22. When you don't eat breakfast, you're hungrier later in the day, you eat more later..so you're not hungry in the morning..and on it goes.

Try switching it up. eating breakfast is the only way to go!

PS: It doesn't have to be the second you wake up. If you have time, have a coffee or 2 and then have breakfast.

I am EXTREMELY proud of myself for exercising 5 days/week for a full year now! And not only that, but being at a place where I LOVE it and look forward to the exercise rush! It's no longer a chore and I no longer see it as a weight loss tool, rather an important element in healthy living.

But of course....I am most proud of my 112 pounds loss (still have about 35 to go!). :)

Congratulations on making the decision to lose weight and be healthy, And on your 13 lbs loss! That's a great start!

I know thinking about the next 90 lbs to lose can bring you down and seem like you'll never get there. But let me tell you what I have been telling myself since June '08 to help me with my weight loss. It is " A year or 2 will pass by whether you get the weight off or not. So no matter how long it takes, you might as well be thinner at the end of it." (I really hope that makes sense to you).

Anyway, that was a year ago for me, and I have since lost 110 lbs. (45 more to go). Trust me...if you do it right and make sound decisions, time will fly by! (and the pounds will melt off).

Remember...weight loss (and anything worthwhile in life) is like a marathon NOT a sprint. If you trip and fall during a marathon, you can dust yourself off, keep going, and still win the race. Unlike if you trip during a sprint, there is no hope.

All the best!

LOL!!

I do absolutely the same thing!!! Though I do think weighing the ice cream would be more accurate. But hey...worse comes to worse you'll get a few tablespoons more in, certainly not more than that. The damage can't amount to much.

First off, the "diet" is NEVER done. You have to continue making the same decisions about food and activity once you reach your goal. That being said, you need to make decisions that you CAN actually continue making for the rest of your life. Needless to say, living on a 400 calorie diet is not only incredibly unhealthy but is impossible to keep up...hence gaining back the weight.

Let me give you an example. My father weighs over 350 lbs and has, like you , been doing crazy, very restrictive diets ALL his life. He Always gains it back. In normal times, he only eats one meal a day and still gains weight. His metabolism is shot! Not only that, but now he complains he doesn't want to try and lose weight anymore because he's tired of all the restricting and he wants to enjoy food. It's not an all or nothing situation! The key is that weight loss and weight maintenance is a marathon NOT a Sprint. Keep going!

Make small healthy changes and stick with them. The weight will come off I promise you. I have lost 107 lbs to date. I now weigh 185 lbs and I'm still losing weight. All the while, I have either a cookie, chocolate, or ice cream everyday and enjoy delicious healthy meals.

I wish you lots of luck!

Jennifer I commend you on your decision. You CAN and WILL do it! I know 100 lbs might seem like a big number...but you will get there 1 lb at a time, one small good choice at a time.

I've lost 107 lbs so far (in 1 year). My few pieces of advice are:

1-whatever you decide to do, make sure you can sustain it. (ie, don't do anything drastic).

2-Don't deprive yourself. Make smart decision for health, but still enjoy things you like. (I fit in a cookie, or ice cream in my calorie allowance almost everyday) MOderation is key!

3-When it seems like it's taking a long time, just remember that years will pass anyway, you might as well be thinner at them end of them. This is what I told myself at the begining when 100lbs seemed like just too much. Now here I am a year later and 100lbs lighter.

I wish you all the best! If you need help or tips feel free to ask.

Keep up the good work! You only just started, so cut yourself some slack.

First. Your daily deficits are too high. Try to keep the deficits closer to the 700 mark rather than 1000. I didn't check your age, but you may not be eating enough on certain days. I went from 293 to 190 by eating about 1700 calories a day and exercising.

Second. A LOT of things can affect your weight. It can fluctuate as much as 8 pounds for me, depending on what I eat and when. For example, lets say you weigh yourself first thing in the morning. If you eat a heavy snack or even drink some water in the evening before your weigh-in, the scale will go up. But it certainly doesn't mean that you've gained fat.

This is why I like to weigh myself everyday, even after junk meals, so that I know how my weight fluctuates. This way I don't panic when the numbers go up.

Good luck!

Please please please do yourself a favour and DON'T QUIT!!!! It will not help your plateau and only bring you farther away from your goal.

Persist in what you have been doing since you know it works. Exercise is excellent for you, not only to lose weight but for your health. So you you should keep it up EVEN if you don't plan on losing weight.

I also hit a small plateau for 2 months after losing about 90 lbs. I noticed I had increased my exercise but not cals. Once I increased cals a bit, the scale started moving a bit more. Not as fast as before but it is moving. When I was on the plateau I just kept going. My philisophy is that the ONLY way I will be able to maintain my weight loss is IF I continue with my healthy habits. So this is my new way of living. If I keep losing weight, good! If not, I'll change it up a bit and keep going! Quiting is NOT an option.

You can do this!!!You are not trying to lose weight...you ARE losing weight. Keep going! :)

It Sounds so cliché, but I was watching Oprah one day where the guest was a woman who once having weighed 600 lbs or so, lost 400 lbs. At that time I weighed 293 lbs. While I watched that woman, I was thinking to myself "how did she ever let herself go that much! She must have been eating a ton!".  But what she said really affected me. She said she had gotten to 600 lbs just one hamburger at a time.

I realized, I might not be eating 3 or 4 bugers at a time, but a little bit of overeating here, a couple of extra cookies there would lead down the same path as this woman.

I that time (at the commercial break) I decided I would not wait until tomorrow to start. From that minute on I was consciously watching what I was eating. I have since lost 102 lbs. Whenever I feel like overindulging or justifying glutonous eating, I think about what she said. "Just one burger at a time".

Thanks for the advice!

I am 32 actually. But it made my day that you thought I was 25!!!:)LOL

And you're right I have lost 100 lbs so far, but to be within my healthy range, I know I still have at least 30 lbs to lose.

SO it seems going down in calories is definitely NOT the way to go. I have been eating slightly over 1600 though lately to make sure I don't have a huge deficit. So I'll try to get it up over 1700 and see what happens.

thanks again!

I agree with at_oneinthesun, Mujadara is a great meal, and I make it all the time.  You'll find many middle eastern/armenian recipes using lentils.  Anyway, here's my recipe (it's VERY simple).

1 cup dark lentils (you have to rinse it in cold water)

3 cups water

Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat, simmer for 25 minutes until almost all liquid is absorbed.  Add in 1 cup rice or bulgur (I prefer bulgur), 1 cup water, 1 tsp salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes, until all water is absorbed.  In the meantime, and this is optional but soooooo good, in seperate pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil, add 4-5 thinly sliced onions.  Cook until it is well caramelized.  It will take maybe 30 min.  Spread onions over top or lentil and rice.  serve with choped tomatoes tossed with lemon juice and plain yogurt.

With red lentils, you can make a delicious soup.

bring 8 cups broth (chicken or veggetable) to a boil, add 3 cups red lentils. simmer for 20 minutes. Add 3 chopped tomatoes and 1 finely chopped onion, continue to simmer for 20 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp hot red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. You can either puree the whole thing, but I like the texture as is.  (it will be mushy).  I like to serve this with pita bread cut in chip size wedges, covered with olive oil, salt and thyme, and baked until crispy. 

I also have a recipe for lentil koefte (a kind of a midddle eastern lentil meatball), but I don't know it by heart. I can send it to you, if you're interested, just send me a message.

these are the top 3 lentil recipes I make regularly (the kids love it too!)

Enjoy!