Fresh Start Week 4 (Group Closed)

Week 4...rounding out 1 month! 

Hello ladies!  Sorry but this post will be short...the day has gotten away from me and it is already a little past my bedtime (especially if I am going to keep up with my morning work-outs). 

I hope you are all ready to round out the first month of our new life style!  Kick it up this week and remember measurements will be posted in one week...

Review of past goals:

Food:

Week 1 – Tracking and recording all food – stay within your “eat meter” number.

Week 2 – WATER, WATER, WATER!

Week 3 - 5 Fruits/Veggies per day

Exercise:

Week 1 – Do something, anything at least 3 times this week

Week 2 – Add one more workout into your schedule (one more day or the equivalent in time)

Week 3 - Maintain

Mental:

Week 1 – List the top 5 reasons you really want to do this

Week 2 – List 3-5 reasons how you got here

Week 3 - Look back to your happy place and give yourself a visual (picture or clothing)

This week’s goals

Food:

Cut something that you KNOW you need to cut but have been allowing yourself because you make it fit into your daily calories...mine will be sodas! 

Exercise:

Really look at your work-out(s) routine and determine what you need to add - this will be very individual and will vary from simply getting in a work-out to adding in some strength training. 

Mental:

Revisit the past weeks' goals and make sure you are ADDing each week...after you have determined where you are, make a plan...use the SMART method discussed last week, or any other method that works for you but make a plan for how you will kick off month 2! 

Good luck to you all!  Looking forward to seeing those lower #s from you all!   

Down 1.5 pounds, so I now weigh 203.5. I am pretty happy about that because last month I gained 4 pounds while being very strict with my cals. Last week I made the fruit and veggies goal and really liked it. This surprised me because veggies have always been a problem for me. After my vacation I want to make this goal a priority for me. I drank all my water but only exercised one day. It was a big exercise though, so I gave myself extra points for that. I hiked up the mountain to the castle yesterday morning. It was pretty brutal and I  sweated  like a pig but I made it. It was a 2 hour round trip and the rest of the day I was exhausted. I think the 1.5 pounds loss might just be water weight lost from all that sweating.

Rach Have a great first day at your new job!

I now have to go do my job but will check in later to see how everyone did last week.

hello everyone. my weight today was 170.2, which is down 1.4 lbs since last week! I had a bad weekend tho, exercise and food-wise. I didn't go to the gym at all, but I did go shopping for a few hours yesterday so I guess I walked a lot there. My eating wasn't great either, I don't think I went too far over my calorie limit, but I definitely didn't make good food choices. Oh well, I'll do better this week! I've vowed to bring my lunch in at least 3 days this week instead of eating at the cafeteria downstairs. Today I brought a turkey sandwich, carrots, an apple, a banana, and some yogurt. That should keep me going all day!

Well, of course, I forgot AGAIN to weigh myself this morning (elaughter has promised to help remind me) but I'll try to weigh in and re-post tonight.  I didn't track at all this weekend because I was working hard on a paper for school but I am proud to say that I didn't do too bad at all with my eating.  I'm pretty sure I stayed under/in my calorie meter number.

Liz (elaughter), I accept the challenge to get rid of something that is bad, even if I can fit it into my daily calories.  And I think you know what it's going to be . . . sweet tea!

I'm not really doing too swell on the other challenges, but at least I'm trying!

Good luck to all and thanks to everyone that has given me specific comments and support!

Hello everyone!!  First day on the new job went fairly well.  I just got to sit down for four hours straight reading policies and procedures!!  Yuck!  Anyhoo...stepped on the scale and I'm down to 211.4.  So that means I'm down 3 lbs since the beginning of this forum and down almost 2 since last week.  I need to keep it up.

So far as what I'm cutting out of my diet...I'm guilty about the soda as well.  I've seriously cut back...but now it's my goal to not drink any more (everyone pray for me!).  I was going to go with chocolate...but I didn't want to go cold turkey on all my pleasures in one week!

So far as the exercises go...strength training is what I seriously need to work on.  Anyone have any suggestions on how to add it into my routine?  I don't have any access to any fancy equipment...so I've put off trying to add it to my routine.

I took a "before" picture of myself a couple days ago...and it really puts it even more in perspective of how much I need to lose this weight.  For such a long time I would tell myself that I was mostly muscle, so that's why I weighed more.  I may have quite a bit of muscle...but there's also a nice tire forming over that muscle!  I'm going to try to update my before picture once a month to show myself the progress.  I was also thinking about putting on the dress that I have as my goal and taking a picture to really show some progress (it's nice and stretchy).

Dutch- Great job on even more weight loss!  How amazing with you hiking up the mountain!  That has to feel like an amazing accomplishment!

eerominn- At least you're willing to admit that you made some poor choices last week.  It gives you great motivation to do better this week.  The lunch alone sounds like great selections!  (plus getting in those fruits and veggies!)

shannyshan- Good job with staying under the calorie meter number!  Maybe some of the green teas can be a replacement for your sweet teas?  I'm not sure...I've never really tried the sweet teas but love the green teas.  I've got some tropical fruit one...yum...  Good luck though!

Well, not so good this week.  I'm holding steady at 201.  Bloated, etc., feel like I have a brick sitting in my lower abdomen, but it looks more like a football.  Had it not been our weigh in day, I would not have braved the scales until the end of the week when everything, uh, has passed.  :)  I'm going to have to give some more thought to the goals.

Liz-thanks again for keeping us going!

Looks like everybody who has weighed and posted so far has lost around 1.5.  Yay! 

Laughs - busy, busy, busy!  Thanks for keeping this thread going!!!  Good luck with the morning workouts!

babe - nope - not everyone!  I wish I had lost about 1.5lb this week but this little plateau of mine is still going................  if it follows that pattern that I have noticed, this week will be the week where I will lose three or four pounds all at once before another plateau.......  It averages out to a pound a week over time!  Sorry to hear you have been feeling icky!  Well done for still facing the scales... maybe you'll enjoy a sudden drop like the ones I have!

rach - yahoo!  First day on the job!  The policies don't sound like fun reading, though!  Soda - so hard to say good bye to.  I buy plain sodawater and add juice to it.  It's yum! Good luck - we'll be cheering for you!  Now, I am absolutely no expert on exercise but I have added a few strength exercises to my walks.  I do standing pushups by leaning against a wall or table.  They are not as hard as conventional pushups.  I also have started doing some crunches (ouch - not many yet - do you know my whole body shakes when doing them???!!!).  Lunges and squats are easy.  There are some good no equipment exercise ideas on this site if you explore the exercise section.  Now I've gotta go check out your pic...

shanny - I admit that I don't always track either... but I am so much better now at making sensible choices and do check the nutritional value on packaged foods.  After a while, you create your own memory bank of what you should and shouldn't choose.... but I bet that tracking everyday would get me more consistent results!  It took me about a week to get used to drinking unsweetened tea, the first few cups were forced down!  I love making up teas at home and chilling them in bottles to take with me.  Adding a dash of juice or diet cordial is good too.   Keep trying!!!

erin - yeah for a loss! Good luck on bringing your own food.  I am only going to order in once a week (we have a shop locally that delivers us lunches as our school is too small for a tuckshop or caffeteria).  Today I had a big plate of baby spinich and rocket leaves, cherry tomatoes and smoked salmon.  yum!  Also had a bowl of my curried pumpkin and leek soup - spicy stuff!  Your lunch today sounded lovely!

dutch - well done to you too!  The 200 mark is getting closer!  A hike up to a castle ... how romantic sounding (if you ignore the sweat!!!)  Congrats on all the veges and fruit - it does make such a big difference!

Keep up the great work everyone!  My item to cut from the un-needed extras that I give myself is the sugar bowl...  I had really cut back but bad habits are sneaking back in.  I have found that I'm tending to enjoy more decaf coffees then I have been used to and have a spoon of sugar in each... the terrible confession I have to make is that the other day i had at least 5 of them within a few hours.  I had a real craving for sweets but had nothing in the house so I helped myself to some spoonfuls of sugar!!!  What was I thinking!  So, it's back to one decaf a day and unsweetened teas for me!!!  And the sugar bowl way up high... funny, refined white sugar doesn't call my name but the chunky, crunch of raw sugar sure does!!!

Original Post by jella:

 I also have started doing some crunches (ouch - not many yet - do you know my whole body shakes when doing them???!!!). 

 Hey here's an excellent ab exercise that busts my butt without the neck and back strain of crunches.  I lay on my back with my arms flat on the floor near my hips, then raise my feet until they are at about a 45-50 degree angle for a count of 5 seconds, then I tap my feet for a count of 1 then up 5 again, going in that pattern for a total of 2 minutes.  It kicks that lower ab region into shape and as I get into that 2nd minute I feel it in my upper and side abs too.  It's important that you concentrate on pushing your lower back into the ground as you have your feet raised to keep from injuring or straining that area.  Try it, it sounds deceptively simple but it works.

Well, I'm at 206.8...which I was pretty surprised to see.  I have felt heavy all week, and the onstart of my period probably helped with that feeling but I didn't eat fast food as much this week and really kept on myself about sodium and water intake.  I got a lot more fruits in this week as that's my trouble spot.  I am going to try to bring my lunch to work also like you, Erin to try and curb those impossibly bad choices they serve there. 

I'll try honestly to give up eating after 9pm.  Not even snacks.  I'm already working out 5 days a week but I think I'll add a little...ahem...strength training in there (in the form of SEX! lol) to try and burn a little more calories..hehe.  One thing mentally I'm going to work on is still negative self-talk.  When things don't go my way or I get stressed out, I am the first one I take it out on.  I say some of the meanest, most hateful things to myself that I'd never in a million years say to someone else.  I just need to work on that.

Also, I bought a pair of jeans in my 'new' transition size (since I plan to get smaller, I only bought 1) and a few new bras to 'shrink' into as my old ones are starting to look a little strange and loose.  Whew..I thought they'd never shrink! haha. 

I had a job interview today.  It was just one of those pre-screening 5 minute deals where they figure out if you even qualify to apply for that position in the first place so I hope I hear back about a 2nd 'real' interview sometime this week.  My job is just going so downhill and I am really unhappy there.  Thankfully, it's not something I internalize to the point of overeating about it but still, I don't like all the frown lines!

Well, you ladies have a good Tuesday and congrats to everyone for meeting their goals this week.  No one has failed each week to acquire something new in their journey and that means we are all growing in our own way towards becoming who we want to be.  That's important. 

Hi all!  I am planning on reading all the posts and responding tonight...but in the meantime I wanted to go ahead and post, since I am already a day late.  At yesterday's weigh-in I was down 1.3 pounds for a total loss of 2.5 since we started.  While, it is not the 2 pounds per week I would love to average, I know where I go wrong each time I do (and believe me I am thankful for ANY loss)...I think (for me) I have to stop allowing myself to be de-railed SO easily, with the promise that I will do better the next meal or next week...it is part of my cycle...basically I think I need to be harder on myself.  I know they say don't dwell in past mess-ups but maybe I have taken that forgiviness a little too far...I forgive myself a little too easily which makes the "mistakes" more often...becasue why not.  I will obviously not become a negiative person and beat myself up but I think I need to be a little harder on myself! 

Anyway, I will be back on later...time to work.

I came in yesterday but I must have gotten here too early to post:) but anyway, I am down to 220 now, which means I've lost 2 lbs this week and 5 total!!  Woohoo thats the good news!

Bad news is that I've not been entering all of my foods and exercises, mostly because I when I work, I'm busting my ass for part of the day ( I work at an RV manufacturer, and we have been laid off every other week)  So those days I don't worry about recording because I have been packing pretty healthy lunches and  I'm working my tail off... but during the time (like this week) I'm home, I need to stay on track because I find myself getting depressed and wanting to sit around.  Sitting+doing nothing= being bored and eating when I'm not hungry. 

So on to my goals...

Okay, here's the thing.  I'm a coffee drinker.  I love it.  I drink about the equivilant of 2-3 8oz cups a day.  I drink it with nonfat creamer.  I don't want to get rid of it.  I also eat a bowl of cereal at night.  I think that although my night munching has been good, it can always get better.  I'll give up my bowl of cereal!

I'm so glad to hear that everybody is doing great!  And I'm so sorry I haven't been posting... but this week I've got nothing better to do, so I'm going to be here A LOT!!

Take care all,

Lisa

So I don't really have anything new to report, but I'm bored at work and its only 4:15 and I know these last 45 mins are going to be killer today. Since I'm sitting around and reading calorie-count boards I really feel like snacking... so instead I'm now writing :P I can't have a snack today cuz I went crazy on breakfast. So I did the body pump class at the gym again this morning and didn't have time for breakfast at home so I figured I'd get a scrambled egg and yogurt at the cafeteria this morning... well hash browns ended up winning out over the yogurt so I ate more calories than usual for breakfast. I'm sure I burned off a bunch at the gym, but I don't want to give into mindless snacking cravings when I'm really not hungry. I think I'm going to bring a box of cereal into work and keep a half gallon or so of milk in the fridge so that I can eat breakfast here when I want to. ok done rambling :)

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Hi All, 

Lisa I look forward to reading more about you. Hope you don't give in to the sitting around and eating. Maybe you have a project you can do this week?

Nilly I hope you get the call back for the second interview. Also you would not  believe the horrible things I can tell myself. I am doing better but I really need to stop that all together as it does nothing but depress me.

Jella The castle is pretty but I have this strange hate for it because I make myself walk there. I hope you have your expected loss this week but even if you don't, you are doing great.

2babe Have you looked at your food analysis to see if you are eating enough fiber? Fiber is my best friend.

ShannyHave you tried the artificial sweeteners? I use those in my drinks and oatmeal. You have to get use to them but now I don't even miss the sugar.

Liz Thanks for keeping the group going. I know that you are busy and I appreciate the time you put into it. How is life without soda?

Erin I can not believe how well you are doing with all your workouts. Keep it up. Having a sensible breakfast ready at work sounds like a good plan. That way you can avoid the cafeteria with the evil hash browns.

Today was the first day of my vacation but I was at home. I did go out to dinner with friends and it was a little difficult. I made sure I had 700 cals. left over for dinner and I only had a thin crust Napoli pizza. That is just pizza with fresh tomato sauce and herbs so no cheese. It was difficult because all these delicious desserts were passing the table and I sooooo wanted one. I decided to have cold coffee for dessert but they made it with sugar. It tasted really good and I drank half of it. (half a wine glass) I disliked not knowing how many cals. I was eating. I guess I have gotten so used to knowing that I have become a little rigid. Well I am leaving tomorrow for Bologna and I will be eating all my meals out. So I am going to have to get used to not knowing for a few weeks and just guessing. I don't know when I'll be able to check in again as I am not taking my laptop with me. But I should check in at the end of the week. I hope that everyone has a successful week realising their goals.

Dutch Girl,

Yes, I have tried the artificial sweeteners and I loved them, and it truly helped me get all my waters in, but I started having bad headaches and nauseau and I went through several different things to see what it was and when I quit using the artificial sweeteners, it really helped my headaches stop.  So they aren't really an option for me, but thanks anyway! 

shanny - we have a sweetener called Splenda which is derived from sugar.  It is not a zero cal sweetener and is more natural.  It has about an eighth of the equivalent calories as a teaspoon of sugar.  I don't know if that brand is available in the U.S.  I don't mind the taste of it, but hate all other atrificial sweeteners.  I rarely use it though as i prefer to just use real sugar but limit the amount.  Try making up a jar of decaf tea, no milk, no sugar...once it's cooled add some apple juice (or mango, or blackcurrent....)

dutchgirl - fall in love with salads!!! and ask for the dressings on the side... ask your friends to share a dessert with you so you get a taste but can't hog the lot!  Enjoy your holiday!!!

erin - I keep heaps of food at work.  100 cal bars, cereal in a tupperware container, dried fruit, tinned tuna, fruit...it does really help me steer clear of the box of fundraising chocolates sitting on the staff room dining table!

lisa - You are doing awsome! If you are losing 2lb a week, your calorie intake and exercise is pretty well balanced.  Giving up a whole bowl of cereal might put this out of whack and make your metabolism slow down... Why not try decaf coffee instead (I used to drink more than 8 mugs of coffee a day - a habit I had to break!)

laughs - i am jealous of your 1.3lb loss!!!  A pound a week is quite healthy - it gives your body plenty of time to adjust (especially your skin)... I am so with you on the forgive and forget habit... I make so many excuses for my mistakes and forgive them far too easily!!!  I think i need to get back into the habit of awarding myself non-food mini goals that I cannot have unless i meet my goals... I used to do that all the time but have slacked off on the self-motivational tricks lately!

nilly - thanks for the exercise tip - i'll try it tonight (jelly belly already quivering in fright!)  At 206.8, how much did you lose this week?  My birth control (a hormone impregnated IUD) suppresses my periods so i don't find that I have those frustrating monthly fluctuations.  Good luck on giving up your late night snacks!  My husband had similar advice to me when I told him that I was struggling with being drawn to the fridge late at night - he made the simple suggestion fo just going to bed earlier and being drawn to him!!!  Hate to make you all blush, but it works!  I also brush my teeth after my dinner as I hate the taste of food after toothpaste.    It made me giggle to hear you celebrate the boob shrinkage - I've been celebrating that mine haven't lost too much!  Good luck with the job interview!

hmm well I don't have much of significance to say again today, but there is a half hour left of work and I'm starting to get bored again.

Last night I discovered Laughing Cow light cheese wedges and I love them! 35 cals for a little wedge of cheese that can totally take the place of cream cheese on bagels or cheddar cheese on crackers. I'm looking forward to trying it as a spread on a sandwich and some recipes I found using it as a pseudo-alfredo sauce or in a chicken dish.

Also last night I noticed the "side effect" of working out that always comes first and usually gets me discouraged and makes me quit, but I'm not gonna let that happen this time! What it is is - before anything on my body really gets smaller... my thighs get larger :( I guess they bulk up in muscle first when I start using them regularly but it sucks cuz they're big enough as it is! I asked the trainer at the gym one day about it and she said that using the highest incline on the treadmill will help to make the legs leaner... so that's what I've been doing (at least when I walk, when I try to run I can't run at that high of an incline or I'll fall off the thing!).

Hmm and speaking of the trainer, I have my last free appt with her at the gym tonight. Hopefully I've made some progress since when I started. She said that tonight is when I show her how to do all the machines/exercises I've been doing so she knows I have a proper grasp on it. I know she is going to tell me I should continue with (paid) personal training sessions... which I really can't afford so I'll just have to be on my own now! Going to the gym tonight makes me really happy about my decision to work out in the mornings cuz if I didn't have an appt I probably would duck out tonight.

Question for everyone: What do you do for a living and where do you live? I know it seems like we have a relatively international crowd which is so interesting to me! I work at a university evaluating transfer credit and live in the Baltimore/DC area in the good ol' USA :)

back from the gym... in three weeks I've lost about 3 lbs... but I'm really not crazy about my thighs getting bigger because the trainer measured them and I've gained 1 inch! She told me to not get frustrated and just stick with it and eat right and they'll get leaner.... but at least I know I'm not crazy thinking they got bigger!

I've just read everyone's posts and had so many thoughts I don't know where to begin!  I'll start with my food goal.  I've been thinking about what I could cut out and the truth is that I have pretty much cut out everything that I can.  So, I'm going to try to bring a lunch from home at least one day a week.  When I do that I get a very low cal lunch.

Because of where I am in my weight loss journey, so to speak, my first response was that i refuse to give up any particular item from my diet.  Following my dr.'s rules, all I drink is water, unsweetened tea and my morning coffee--with 1/2 and 1/2 which I'm not giving up.  It's a quality of life issue.  :)Against his rules are my 2-3 diet sprites/week which I'm also not giving up.  My dr. says I can eat whatever I want within my calories and to control my portions.  In general, I try to make my food calories count for something--nutrients, fiber, protein, a little good hunger satisfying fat.  I have low cal treats to satisfy my cravings, but within my calorie limits.  I have been doing this for over 2 months and am mostly satisfied with my rate of loss.  The end of last week, however, I started to feel a deprived for the first time and wanted real dessert, among other things.  If you read my post above, you may realize that it happened to coincide with PMS, but I think it was really more about the length of time I had gone without some things.  Anyway, it was my Mom's birthday this weekend and I indulged in a small serving of one of my very favorite real desserts.  I savored every bite!  I also had a friend in town and had one real vodka tonic.  On the same day.  With a light lunch and light dinner I did go over my daily limit, but probably still had a calorie deficit. 

Anyway, my point is, that I know for me this is going to be a long road to where I ultimately want to be.  If the estimates on here are correct, about a year.  So I simply can't say that I am going to cut out any one food for a year or the rest of my life or whatever.  If I try to, I'm just setting myself up for failure.  Knowing that I can have anything I want as long as I can fit it into my calories helps me get there mentally.  Now I am over the deprivation thing and have had a good week.

Dutch--yes, I have been watching my fiber intake and specifically concentrating on getting more in.  I don't know how much I should have exactly, do you know?  I'm trying for 25-30 grams and almost always have over 20.  Until this weekend.  :)  I do have a tendancy to reach for the more highly processed and refined sugars before and at the beginning of my period, but on days like that I try to remember to take a supplement.  I was doing better on water too.  I'm sure my continual weakness, lack of exercise, doesn't help!  Good luck to you on making good choices while eating out.

Jella-I'm hoping I bounce back next week, too!  I expected plateaus and fluctuations.  That's why I don't weigh even more often.  I'm going to trust the plan and assume that over time it will result in a loss.  I'll ditto what one of the other posters said about your tea-I was adding just a splash of cranberry juice to a large glass of unsweetened tea for awhile and it really took the edge off of it.  I also have mixed in flavored tea, including flavored decaf, in with the bags while I'm brewing it and that changes it a bit.  Mint is refreshing this time of year.  Oh, nevermind, it's winter for you!

Nilly-Good job on your careful intake last week!  Be nice to yourself, you are doing well!  And good luck with the job search!  I had to laugh about your bra comment.   My bigger boobs was the one up side of gaining so much weight!  And as everyone says, I am losing faster there than anywhere else.

Erin-I know what you mean about the bulking muscle.  I was swearing several years ago that biking was making my knees bigger!    I discovered laughing cow cheese when I did South Beach diet a few years ago.  I like it on those sweet grape tomatoes.

I am in a small city in the Deep South, USA.  My friends around the country tell me my accent gets thicker when I get tired.  I usually post here late at night and I've noticed that I type with a thicker accent, too.  I dropped some ya'lls one night.  :)  I settled back here after getting my education elsewhere, including VA, so I'm familiar with your area, Erin.  I continued to live out there for awhile after school and I still go back to VA/NC to see my friends and vacation every year.  I'm really glad that I happened into a group here that is so diverse geographically.  I don't get much of that in real life anymore!

It's waaaaay past my bedtime.  I'll finish later!  This post is long enough anyway!

I gave in to pizza last night.  My dh the night before had mentioned ordering it since we knew it was going to be hot... and hey, if I don't have to cook when it's 90 outside, I'm all for it.  I had 2 medium and 1 small piece... I'm not even going to say what KIND it was, just that it wasn't the low fat veggie kind at all!  The worst part about it is that I felt it in my gut all night!  I'm thinking of making a list of foods that make me feel crappy after I eat them, and then next to that put an explanation of how they make me feel, so that if I'm craving it again, I can look at the list and see what I'm going to feel like later... that might help me not to eat it at all... make sense?  So anyway, now I'm paying pennance and in addition to drinking a more water to account for all the sodium, going to have to stay active today.

That confession out of the way...

I live in Oregon, and like I said before, I work at an RV manufacturer.  We make 5th wheels, and I work in Dealer Prep, which gets them looking nice before they head out the door.  I caulk the ceiling trim, cut and tack trim in places where needed, ( I make it sound like a big deal but really it's not) and since sales have gotten slower these past couple months (gas prices, economy) I've been picking up sweeping and vacuuming the coaches out.  We vacuum them with a big shop vac and an attachment on the end of the hose, so that's where my cardio kicks in when I'm at work.  I get done with a coach and I'm dripping sweat.  I don't mind it, cause I know I'm burning calories... but anyway...

I need to get to the gym today.  I am kind of stuck because my mom who watches my kids during the week left and as much as I hate to admit it, I don't know if I trust my kids to be alone for an hour and a half!  

I think I've rambled enough!

Take care all,

Lisa

Erin-  I'm gonna have to give that laughing cow a try... sounds awesome...I love cream cheese!

2babe- I hear what you are saying about quality of life issues.  My nonfat creamer is one of those.  You say you were on South Beach for a while?  How did that go? I did Atkins a couple of years ago, lost a bunch, but when I stopped it came right back on!

Nilly-  Have you heard back from that job yet? I keep telling myself to get down on the floor and try those excercises.  I used to do crunches when I was younger, but I think my body is rejecting them now... LOL!

Shanny- The only thing I can think of when it comes to your sweet tea if you honesltly feel like it's a problem, is fool your body and tastebuds.  Add less sugar and more water.  After a week or so, your body will have had enough time to adapt to less, and your buds won't feel like they are missing out.  I think also if you try that, and then in a week or so go back to what you are drinking now, your tea might seem overly sweet!  But that's only if you feel its really a problem with your goals.  If it's not, then it might just be a quality of life issue you shouldn't have to get rid of! HA!

Hi all,

 just popping in real quick as I haven't been getting online...  this trip has been a NIGHTMARE!!!

 I just edited out everything because I had a whole long story typed out as at the time I was fuming furiously over the situation.  I think I posted too much info for most busy people to even want to read so sorry about that.

But to make it real short, we were told to "visit" our grandmother when in reality they wanted us to take full care of her until they got home from work since they also failed to tell us our aunt (who would stay home to care for her) was to be in the hospital for at least two weeks and noone would be home to care for my grandmother. 

 Of course I knew we would be busy with my grandmother but they didn't tell us just how much help she really needs. 

The house is so filthy my grandmother is better-off in a nursing home.  There is my 24-year old niece lives in the home and doesn't clean anything.  NOTHING. 

There is so much to the story but anyhoo, that is the super duper short version.

I am now in a hotel with my sister, mother, niece and nephew. I will try to keep updated here as best as I can.

TJ

TJ-that IS a nightmare!  There are so many layers of things that are wrong with that picture, you must be battling a lot of different emotions.  At least you got her into a place that is clean where she will be well cared for.  That should give you some peace of mind when you have to leave.

Lisa-I basically did South Beach.  I found that it matched my overall philosophy about the ideal way to eat.  I had some of my own variations--half and half wasn't exactly allowed there either!  :)  I lost 15 lbs in about 6 weeks.  That was April and I kept it off until the holidays when the overeating kicked in and I put about 5 back on.  Then about two years later the explosive weight gain began-- 60 lbs when it was all done.  But it wasn't the diet, it was my awful lifestyle and refusal to face what I was doing.

I had  very strange food day today, but I'm just 50 calories over so I'm going to bed before I eat more!!!!