Fresh Start Week 9 (CLOSED AGAIN, SORRY)

Wow, ladies here we are starting week 9.  Which also means we have been at this for a little over 2 months.  Instead of setting anymore goals I am going to ask that each of you use our remaining 3 weeks to get the goals already set down pat so that when we start our next 12 week session we are all pretty much on the same page and we all have the basics down.  Let me know if you have problems finding the past posts and I can email them to you.  

I will still try to give you all a mental goal or at least something to think about but as for the food and exercise goals, please revisit the previous goals, revisit your posts about what you want to accomplish and as suggested last week set a time limit of oh let's say 3 more weeks to really perfect each area.

Recently I have been trying to do some spring cleaning (well end of summer/ fall cleaning) and I came across various tools I have used before in my weight loss ventures.  Weight watchers weight trackers, food journals, notebooks with my goals, exercise plans, etc.  What each of these items have in common, they were ALL incomplete.  You could see where I have abandoned the process somewhere along the way.  Something else that was unsettling about finding these things...until 9 weeks ago (when we started this group) my goals and my weight were all on repeat at best but most days it was just standing still.  I was not doing anything to truly reach my goals.  The entries that I found were the same in 8/07 as they were in 1/08 as they were in 5/08...what a waste of time, resources and energy.  If I had to bet, I think you each would find something similar to these things in your house...which is why we are the Fresh Start group...we are not first timers.  

So, first I want to thank you gals for sticking with me, being sounding boards for each other and the support you continue to dish out.  We have lost 5 memebers in 9 weeks...I wonder what the scale is saying for each of them...without this group my scale, if I was lucky and it had not gone up, would certainly have stayed in the same place! 

Now, I want to be slightly negative and look in the past (but it is for a positive cause).  I want you all to think (but don't linger on the thought too long) about where could you have been had you stuck with it the 101 time you tried before...using my start around 1/08 (New Year's, yeah that one was doomed for failure), I would be 8 months - starting 9 months in...even at 1 pound average per week I would have lost 32 pounds (and weigh 162) and I would be 12 pounds away from my personal weight of 150, which on that track I would reach by goal by the end of the year! (currently I am 37 pounds away from my personal goal of 150...see where I am going with this?) 

NOW, moving on from this thought (remember the point is not to dwell) this gives me the additional commitment to really stick with it this time and do better everyday.  Yes, we will all have bad meals or possibly bad days but get back on track each time (as you have all done so well over the last 8 weeks) and do NOT let this be another time you tried...this is the time you did it! 

Please start working on your success story.  I love reading those in magazines (it makes it seem obtainable).  In the 12th week we will post our success stories and then at the end of our 2nd 12 week session we will see who is ready to be their success story! 

Take care all and have a happy and healthy week...let's make this one count!   

Time to weigh in & I am happy to report I have lost 1 pound down to 187.4!  I am not sure how this happened (started my period Saturday and the week before it always insane!)...but I am taking it and running with it! 

More later tonight...I will come back and post my exercise...see I am putting it out there now so it has to happen tonight (I missed my morning session)! 

Hello everyone. I've been gone the past 3 days, visiting family at a remote farm house in PA with no cell phone service, no internet, no tv, no radio - they can't pick up any stations! Overall I had fun, but I haven't weighed myself yet... I wasn't as active as I thought I may be and I didn't eat horribly but I probably didn't eat well either. And this is probably TMI but I've been constipated as well... probably ate very little fiber and didn't drink much water this weekend :( So I may wait until tomorrow morning to weigh myself. I had a lot of fun tho, hiked a little bit, shot some of my grandfathers old guns, went fishing. My youngest sister is 17 and has never been fishing before (I had never gone either before I started college) but my husband taught her how and now she loves it... so now we know what shes getting for xmas :) My grandfathers wife likes to cook "fancier" food than I'm used to, so I probably didn't overeat too much because I kinda picked at what we were eating, but my family likes to drink so I probably had a bit too many cranberry vodkas. 

But now I'm back on track and ready to start a new week!

Liz- You didn't put a link up to get here... I had to go to your profile and hop the link from there... or was I just not looking hard enough?

Okay, so here I go confessing.  I've been feeling like crap lately because of my job.  We work one week and the next week everybody is off.  Blame the economy, gas prices, or whatever.  I hate job hunting, which is why I have been sticking it out for as long as I have, but it's time.  Last Friday, I went home knowing that I'm not working this week,  and I had a couple of beers.  I'm not a big drinker, so that's kind of a big deal for me, LOL.  Saturday, my dh asked me if I'd make some homemade bread (he passes by a bakery everyday on his way home from work, and the bread smells soooo good) so I make it.  I did pretty great with that, only had a slice and a half of one one later on, with NO butter.  He'd also mentioned sugar cookies, but I kind of shook it off and said, "we'll see".  So Sunday, I woke up and went to the kitchen and noticed the bananas were going bad.  What to do with brown bananas?  Anyone?  That's right!  Banana muffins!  So I cooked them up and then since I had the oven already on, I made the sugar cookies.  I think I've been doing pretty well with those, but if I haven't mentioned it before, weekends are the worst.  At least during the weeks that I work, I have structure, but on the weekends it seems, all bets are off. 

I didn't do that great foodwise, and I didn't exercise at all, but I did at least limit whatever crap foods I ate.  And I did make it to the gym this morning, so that was a bonus for me.

 I went material shopping last weekend, ( Labor Day Sale) and for me, baking and buying material are like crack.  I can't just do a little bit, it has to be a lot or nothing.  Anyway, I bought this material that I'm going to make a dress out of.  I on purposely bought a smaller pattern size, I think I'm going to make it a size 14, maybe a 12?  But anyway, I'm going to hang that up on my closet door so that I can see it all the time. 

As Liz said, we are all going to have bad times or days, but we get back on track.  I have my strong days, and my weak ones.  I do take with me a lot of the things that are said here, like everytime I go into my bathroom I see my smaller sized pants, and I just hung up this jammy outfit that the last time I got down to 180 I bought for motivation, and I think of how everybody is doing.  I also need to go back start some of my earlier goals over again.  Namely the water intake, commitment to exercise, and the number of fruits/vegs I eat every day.   But for now, I'm glad that I went to the gym this morning instead of sitting around my house all day eating sugar cookies!  (The bread and muffins are all gone, thank you husband and kids!)

Last weeks' weight: 213.2

This week: 213.4

Hope all is well with everybody!

Lisa

I just updated my profile and put my email address on there.  If somebody wants to talk, email me... or if I'm not here for a few days, it's okay to mail me real quick and tell me to get by butt in here.

Thanks,

Lisa

Hi everyone!

No, you don't know me yet.  I saw that you guys had a group and that you had lost some members, emailed Liz asking about joining in the next 12 week round who kindly suggested that I review the previous posts and if interested, join now.  I hope that everyone else is OK with this - of course I will bow out if not!!

I need to say - you guys are amazing!  I had a minisupport group going with a friend the last time I lost weight, but have been really struggling.  From what I read, you guys are wonderful supports for each other in the weight loss journey.

Anyway, me.  My name is Tanya and I'm currently 5"7 and 174.6 lb.  Like many of you, I come from a family in which, despite being far outside the healthy BMI range, I was (and still am) far and away the thinnest and healthiest.  I have always been active in sports and have been blessed with a body type that carried the weight very evenly (salespeople in clothing stores often judge me to be 2-4 sizes smaller than I really am), my thought that I was meant to be heavy...that was just the way I was.  Then, over Xmas in 2003 I had my heart broken and along with it suffered a huge crisis of self-confidence and body image, so dedicated myself to losing weight.  And I did - 75 lb over 6 1/2 months (from 230 to 155)!  At 155 I was just on the edge of healthy BMI (24.3), but from how my clothes fit (I went from a 16-18 to a 6 in skirts, 10 in shirts and an 8 in pants), I do not think that it would have been healthy to be much thinner.  (Should have measured my fat%, I know...)

I kept it off for a year, then found love - and a wonderful man who is a terrific cook, but loves sweets, potato chips, butter and has NO sense of portion control.  I used calorie count on and off from 2006 til this August, and would lose 10-15 lb, but always feel off the wagon, each time, ending up a couple of pounds heavier.  And, unlike when my weight was previously well-distributed, this time it has gone to my middle.  My trigger was a personal call from my doctor telling me my LDL cholesterol was too high, and that I had a year to do something about it before she was prescribing drugs (both of my parents have serious heart-health issues).  I have been doing reasonably well so far, but I know that without the accountability, I will have a lesser chance of succeeding.

I don't have measurements - I think they are probably about 38-34-38, but I'm not sure (I will check for next Monday).  I started at 180 lb, so my 10% goal was 18lb.  This is my third week at it, but doing the math, I think that to keep with you guys having three more weeks left I should aim to be at 169 by the end of this session.  I have a completely sedentary job, but I'm very active outside of work.

My motivating factors - reducing my LDL cholesterol level so that I don't have to take drugs, feeling content with my body again, having more energy, feeling comfortable in plane seats again (I laughed when I saw that one - can't remember who posted it, but that was one of the advantages I noticed and had posted on my bulletin board when I lost my weight the first time), and just maybe, getting fit enough for a triathlon next summer.

I look forward to working with you all to reach our goals!

Cheers,

Tanya (resipsa99@gmail.com)

I weighed in this morning and I'm at 235.  No further down, but at least no further up.  Got some major exercise in last night doing yard work so I was happy about that.  Off to a decent start with eating this week.

I'm glad those that are left have hung in there. 

Welcome to Tanya!

Hello, all!  I'll have to weigh in tomorrow...forgot again!  So.l..I did it!  I started the couch to 5K again this morning.  I was convinced that I wasn't going to get out of bed...but I made myself.  It actually felt great, too!

Tanya-  A big welcome to you!  You'll love this group!

Lisa- That's crappy about your job.  I hope things get better for you soon.

Erin- Sounds like you guys had a blast. I used to LOVE cranberry vodkas.

Liz-  Great job on losing another pound!

Kind of short and sweet...but I'm tired!

Hi everyone,

Let's start with the good news. I lost 2 pounds last week and now weigh 197 which put me at an overweight BMI. Yeah me! I so so so hated the obese BMI.

The bad news is that I have felt my motivation slipping the last few days. I am eating crap and not really counting. I want to thank Liz for reminding me that this time failure just isn't an option. Yes, I have done well the last few months losing 41 pounds but I have another 50 or so to go. I can not afford to give up now or even relax about counting. I guess I have just been lazy the last few days. I have noticed that the guilt is sucking the fun out of eating the crap. It makes me feel bad, problem is what do I do when I feel bad? Right EAT. Sometimes I wonder about myself...

So enough wining and back at it. I wussed out of exercising last night but I WILL go tonight. I will eat healthy and within my number the rest of the week. I don't think I have done too much damage the last few days but I really don't want to see a higher number next Monday.

TanyaWelcome to the group! I hope I can be of support to you and I look forward to getting to know you better. Feel free to share what ever you like with us. Some of us are already getting so comfortable with the group that they are willing to admit they like the Jonas Brothers. So I am sure anything you have to confess will seem relatively normal compared to that. LOL

Shanny No gain, that is good. Keep up the healthy eating, proper portions and lots of water. Perhaps you will feel lighter if you shared a secret?

Rach Wow, you started the couch to 5K. I am slightly tempted to join you but for some reason running has always "scared" me. I am proud of you for doing it!

Liz Great job on the 1 pound loss. I agree that it can be depressing to see past failures but you are right that we need to figure out why we failed before so we can avoid the same pitfalls. For me it was always lack of motivation. (I am just so lazy!) Hopefully with the help of this group I can keep motivated.

ErinIt sounds like you had a nice relaxing few days with your family. I think it is great that you got to spend some time together without all the modern technology. It makes you connect more with actual people. Not that I am not insanely happy to have modern technology because it gives me the opportunity to be on CC+ and part of this group.

Lisa I also love to bake so I know how you feel. You and I can both start fresh this week. You already did great by going to the gym. Not sure if you know this but you can freeze brown bananas, it makes them even sweeter, and use them as a sugar substitute in recipes.

Well ladies...how are we this week??

Welcome to Tanya! Kick off your shoes and get comfy. 

I have wonderful news to report! I lost weight this week! Yippee!!  I'm now 202.6 lbs.  In the words of London Tipton, Yay me!

Dutch, I can totally relate to your dip in motivation. I have felt like yeah great I've lost all this weight but blah. My personal nag to myself is that it's not coming off fast enough to keep me feeling that high I felt at first.  But great job on more weight loss and getting that BMI level down, so awesome! I'm still riding the 2-train but can't wait to stop off at ONE-derland!!!

Liz, I have those things around home.  Still use the 6 wk body makeover book to log my measurements and stuff but when I go over what I did in 2005, it's amazing how easily I gave up on myself when I thought it was a little bit hard.  Go figure it would be hard, right!?  I'm totally with you that this is the time I succeed even if it's hard, even if it takes a long time, even if I slip up and get back on, this is the last time I will ever be this heavy.  This is the last time in my life that I will ever see 2---anything on the scale.  I'm determined and as always, I thank you so much for your dedication to the group and setting us up every week.  I hope you know how important you are to our successes each week!

Rach...I'm glad I'm not the only one...I blame it on the New Kids on the Block.  They have spoiled me into thinking that boy band music is good! LOL

Shanny...stay with us! You are fabulous. 

Lisa, fabulous resolve with all those goodies in the house.  I was not so good with temptation and ate chips every day last week just cause they were in the house from Labor Day! Arrrgh!  I ran out of pickles too and those were my salty crunchy snack to replace chips.  Need to make a store run.

Erin, don't be so hard on yourself, you are still the smallest one here I think! You will get back on track, you have great motivation for yourself I've noticed.

All in all, I'm going to try desperately to lay off the salty snacks this week!  I exercised fabulously last week but didn't see the payoff I should have because of all the crappy chips and bacon and reeses pieces I ate!  I have only myself to blame but I'm sooo very determined to reach ONE-derland by the end of September and I always reach my goals when I want them this badly! You all wait and see!! :)  Fresh Start for me starts..NOW!

Dutch Girl -- share a secret like a weight loss secret?  Or a secret like an embarassing thing about myself secret? 

Okay!  Weighed myself this morning....207.2!  Lost a pound!  This morning will also make it (drumroll please....) my fourth day in a row of working out!!!  I feel great!  I've also got one of my Yoga Booty Ballet routines down now! lol  Looks like I might switch to my belly dancing!  Love it!  I'm little sore right now...busy at work again, so I was up and down the stairs.  Everyone is getting sick and all the asthmatics were coming in.  The emergency room was hopping!  I need new shoes..I'm determined that's why I'm sore.

Oh!  I reached my first weight loss goal of losing 10 pounds (since I started CC again in July)...so I need to schedule my pedicure!!!  I'm not sure how this is going to be.  Sounds like a great idea, but my feet are extremely ticklish!!

Nilly- Good job with losing some more weight!  I know you'll make your goal of see a "1" in the front by this month.  We'll help ya get there!  On a side note, did you hear New Kids on the Block are coming back?  lol

Dutch-  I never have been a big runner, but this program really does help.  I really encourage you to just try it for a week!  Congrats of making it the the overweight category!  The way this group is sounding this week...I think a few of us are going to join you soon!  That's great that you've lost 41 so far...but think of how much better you'll feel once you get that other 50 off.  You'll be a major hottie (and also feel great)!!

Welcome Tanya!

So I did good yesterday keeping track of my calories! Didn't do so good with exercising... I was so good at going in the mornings before work but now its pitch black out at 5:30am :( I brought my gym stuff with me to work so hopefully I'll go right after work... we'll see.

Rach, congrats on starting the couch to 5K! Unfortunately I did 2 days of it and stopped... but I was just looking around this morning online and the Komen Race for the Cure is happening in MD Oct 19th so I'm thinking maybe if I sign up for that and get some friends to do it with me that will motivate me to get running! Its only about 5 1/2 weeks away so I may not be able to run the whole thing by then but it will motivate me to get off my butt and start training!

I did weigh in this morning and I'm 168.4 so I'm going up... but hopefully if I'm really good this week I'll see 166 again :P I would really love to get down to 161 by the end of the month because then I'll be out of the obese range! I would think that being obese it wouldn't be so hard to lose these pounds! I didn't expect it to get hard until I was closer to "normal." Well hopefully once I get there it will be easier to stay there because I'll have eliminated my bad habits and learned lots of good ones!

Great job everybody... and Welcome Tanya! 

I need to stop weighing myself everyday.  I get frustrated when I weigh myself in the am and weigh 215, then I weigh myself again a bit later in the day and I'm 213... I think I'm getting scale obsessed.  I think it's time for me to only bring it out once a week.  I think it would make the weigh ins sweeter... if you know what I mean. 

Dutch- I did not know that about bananas...would you mash them down before you thaw them?  And then how would you measure them out when you are baking?  And yeah for the overweight BMI!

Rach- I have been sitting here and trying to think of excuse after excuse of why I haven't done the C25K yet, and since I can't think of any that actually sound reasonable, I'm keeping my mouth shut.

Liz- Have I thanked you this week for keeping the group going?  Congratulations on the loss!

Nilly- I never thought about pickles as a salty substitute.  Seeing as I'm the only one in the house that occasionally buys the vinegar and salt potato chips... duh! 

Erin-I agree with Nilly, you are the smallest one here... but aside from that you are doing great.  You always seem so active... I envy that!  Also cranberry and vodka... YUM!!

Shanny- It takes a lot to show up here every week even if you aren't reporting losses.  Just doing little bits of extra activity here and there will add up, and you will begin to see it.   Do you have a walking buddy?  Sometimes just taking a stroll in the morning or at night after dinner will get your body moving and before you know it, a mile will be a walk in the park... literally!!

Take care everybody and have a great day!

Lisa

I may be the smallest... but I'm probably also the shortest... I'm about 5'1" (well I used to say 5'2" but then my dr told me I'm barely 5'1.5") so while I may weigh less, if you guys are a few inches taller than me my BMI may be bigger.

OK, so you guys already made me laugh and it's only 8:01 my time - cool!  As for confessions...Billy Ray Cyrus??  LOL

Thanks for the wonderful welcome!!

Pickles are wonderful for a low cal salt craving, and you can also get other pickled veggies for a change (e.g. asparagus spears, beans) - olives are pretty good, too, but the calories can add up (good fats, tho).

Shanny - I always wished I was shorter, but I hear you on the shrinking...I tell everyone not to actually find out what their height is now at the doctor.  I also had shrunk (3/4") from what I was at 18, and found it totally depressing.  And on the way home from the doctor that day I saw an elderly woman with a hunched back, and was panicked that was what was happening so spent the rest of the day arching my back trying to correct my posture.  Found out later that it's apparently just our discs compressing as we get older...

I'm not totally clear on the C25K, but I'm doing a "learn to run" thing with a girlfriend 3 days a week (Tue/Thu/Sat or Sun mornings).  We started at run 1/2 minute, walk 4 1/2 minutes 6 times, now run 1 minute, walk 4 minutes 6 times (you get the pattern) - we're doing each step 3 weeks to try and avoid injuries, so maybe it is similar?  I think the Run for the Cure race is a great idea - don't worry about walking parts of it...there are some marathon runners I know that swear by the run 10 walk 1 system as it is easier on your body.  If you can't find a local running buddy, perhaps we can do it virtually?  (You'll know that at least a few of us will be getting up at 5:22 am...)

Have a fantastic day everyone!

Good grief I missed a lot of posts!!  I'm going to have to go back and catch up.  I have been without phone/dsl service for a week and finally got it back today. Apparently blown out during the storm last week.  I had no idea how much I used the internet until I was without it.  I didn't even get to log in my food!  I finally started writing it in a notebook this weekend.

Anyway, I did weigh yesterday morning and I was down to 194, don't remember how many pounds that is, 2 I think.  I'm really happy though because I feel like it's moving again after what seemed like a month of holding steady.  And, best of all I can tell when I look in the mirror, from the side, I have some serious as* missing!  I remember about six months ago, when I was still in denial, getting a glimpse of myself and going what is that back there following me around?  Oh no, it's me!!  The worst of it is gone!

Ok, I have a rough couple of days ahead schedule-wise, but I'll be back to catch up on ya'll's posts and I haven't even read the goals--I'm just happy to be back!

B

Original Post by rach9898:

 On a side note, did you hear New Kids on the Block are coming back?  lol

 Yes, in fact, I had all of their dolls still in packages up until around 4 years ago when I checked Ebay and all 5 dolls in their boxes was going for $8.  I opened them all up and gave them to my daughters for 'boy' Barbies! hahah.  Now they figure they can have a comeback...well good luck to them! I'm crushed that my previous favorite (Jonathan) is probably and was probably then too GAY! LOL  My heart is crushed.....*sniff*

Ok, wanna boast a bit! I'm so proud of myself and I rarely do things that make me feel proud in the arena of food and exercise!! I did so good on my eating yesterday! I had the correct amount of protein vs. carbs and low fat%...plus I got full serving of fruits and veggies from food! Not just my multi-vit! LOL  I also fit in a 45 minute walk (25 min there and 20 min back).  I am starting to take a notebook and my calorie book around with me.  This may make me look a little obsessed but I need the discipline.  I was going days without logging and not realizing if I went over until a few days later when I sat down and tried like hell to remember every bite I ate 4 days ago! It was hell on accuracy I'm sure.  So, I'm taking a notebook and writing everything down including food, weight of the day (I weigh every day to track how food affects me), exercise and sleep totals. It's tedious but it's what has worked for me in the past and I'm going with what works!  I saw more shrinkage on the scale already and yippee...it's going to be a good week.  I typically find the work week to be very tough to get proper balance between food/exercise/life/work and today is my 'monday' at work so wish me luck!  My food diary and calorie book are gonna be my constant companions to remind me of my goals! Hugs to everyone here and if I don't see ya for a day, have a fabulous Wednesday and Thursday! 

Misty (oh did I ever tell anyone my name is Misty??? LOL)

I first wanted to start off by thanking Liz yet again.  You have been amazing for this group and it's wonderful that you've managed to do all of this for us despite your busy schedule!  Thank you!  I also love the idea of the success stories...those are my favorite to read as well!

So far as looking back...if I would have kept on this diet when I started it last October (and didn't get pregnant!) I would be about 15 pounds away from my goal.  I'm not going to let that get me down though, because I know that I'm trying to better myself this time around.  Before it was always about losing the weight the fastest way possible and this is more of a lifestyle change (that might go in my success story...even though I'm sure it's been used many times before!!)

2babetterb-  It's great to see ya back!!  Was starting to get worried...  I shiver to think of the world with no internet!  It just shows ya how much we rely on it anymore!!  Wonderful weight loss, though!!

resipsa99-  It's okay to share secrets, but when it comes to Billy Ray...you've pushed it...lol  I used to love him as well!  I remember being in choir and we sang "Achy Breaky Heart" and even had some awful line dance to go to it that we made up ourselves.  Hopefully noone taped that because I would hate for that to resurface!  Anyway, with the C25K it's kinda of like what you're already doing.  For the first week it's walk for 5, run for 60 sec, walk for 90 sec, run for 60...and so on.  There are some great podcasts that tell you when to do each and comes with some jamming music.

Lisa- I think quite a few of us follow under the weighing themselves category.  I know when I'm doing this exercising at eating well...I want to see results!  I agree that weighing once a week would make the loss mean more...it's so hard though!

Erin-That's great that you're thinking of doing the Race for the Cure!  What better motivation do you need besides a charity cause!  I think that's wonderful.

Where's Jella??