I'll be 43 this June anyone around the same age want to join my weight loss quest?

Greetings!

I am hoping that this site I stumbled on will help me out. I have been on a diet or fighting with food my entire life. About 8 years ago I lost about 100 pounds, my lowest weight was 204 then I had my first child at 40. Now I am 220 and he'll be three this June. The only good news is that I do not weight 300 + pounds anymore having said that - No excuses, my food addiction problem has been out of control now since his birth. I try - and try - and try - and still nothing seems to be working. Maybe I can find a friend here who will help give me the strength I need to be healthy. I need to stay alive for my family.

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!)

Cbear ~Claire 262 ~no change

tsjej - Terry 236 (4 down) 1lb to half way!

mcs1229 - Marie 214 -1lb (that's a total of -40 loss)

cynthb - Cynthia 176.8 (up 0.8) Someday this'll pay off *grin*

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!)

Cbear ~Claire 262 ~no change

tsjej - Terry 236 (4 down) 1lb to half way!

mcs1229 - Marie 214 -1lb (that's a total of -40 loss)

cynthb - Cynthia 176.8 (up 0.8) Someday this'll pay off *grin*

abwy - Hope 152 (maintaining-no change)

Thanks for the tips on my cardio.  What I have been doing is usually 45 minutes of a moderate workout 2-3 times per week and than at least 1-2 times each week I do a high cardio workout for about 25 minutes.  I read somewhere that it keeps your body guessing and you get different things from each.  I have been told to vary my calories too...eat about 500 calories more than usual every 4-5 days (this happens naturally for me).  I guess we don't want our bodies to get used to anything in particular or we will stall?  Not sure if it is true, but I am trying it for now.  I will try to start working in some elliptical and treadmill, but will just start slow...I have to.

Good news on my weigh in, I am back down to the weight I was when I started going off track....so, I really have maintained for the last month.  Much better than a gain.

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!)

Cbear ~Claire 262 ~no change

tsjej - Terry 236 (4 down) 1lb to half way!

mcs1229 - Marie 214 -1lb (that's a total of -40 loss)

cynthb - Cynthia 176.8 (up 0.8) Someday this'll pay off *grin*

tamcc72768 - Tammie 180.4 (total lost is 19 pounds)

Yes, Tammie, zigzag your calories. I find this works for me. I use a weekly total as opposed to a daily total.

Good job, everyone, on the weigh-in. 

I had a 2 month plateau Nov/Dec. And I guess just being true to myself, knowing I was doing everything right, got me through it. Discouraging? Oh yeah, big time. But then one day the scale moved! In Jan I dropped 9 lbs over 5 days.  Who knows why and how your body holds onto fat. There are too many variables.

Wow Marie, 40 lbs. That is impressive. Everyone seemed to have a pretty good week, as long as we are still working at it it was a good week. I don't always lose but the additional exercise does make me feel better so that makes it a good week regardless!

I have heard that when you drop you calories too many days in a row you risk the body changing to compensate. It is that survival thing, the body (especially a woman's) is set to store when it senses that the food supply is lean. Heck that is why any of the settlers lived through the winters here. I think some bodies trip into that more easily than others (genetic I suppose). But it is probably a good idea to change up the calorie count like we change up the calorie burning rate.

Weather got good enough to get out and clean up the tree debri this weekend so the yard looks better (till the spring storms knock the last of the dead branches down). I am really enjoying the sunshine!

Well, today is two months and as of this morning, I am down 35 to the half way point. Over the last couple of months, I have noticed that I seem to lose weight on Wed-Fri. I weigh in on Friday and I usually weigh the same or gain a pound until the following Wednesday and then I drop a pound or two each morning. Very strange….

First month I lost 19lbs and the second month, I lost 16lbs.

The next goal weight is 220lbs, which will be 50 total pounds lost. My target date is 5/7, which is the day I leave for my trip out west. 15lbs for this month is probably too aggressive as I have a lot of stressful stuff coming up in the next few weeks, but it will give me motivation to keep trying.

I went to a monthly meeting the other night and I bet I had 20 people ask me about my weight and how I was doing it. Interesting that the people we see everyday do not notice as much as those we only see on occassion.

Omagraf - Sandy 157 (3 lbs down!)

Cbear ~Claire 262 ~no change

tsjej - Terry 236 (4 down) 1lb to half way!

mcs1229 - Marie 214 -1lb (that's a total of -40 loss)

cynthb - Cynthia 176.8 (up 0.8) Someday this'll pay off *grin*

tamcc72768 - Tammie 180.4 (total lost is 19 pounds)

momof2funykds - Tammy 192 (no change from last week!)

I only weigh in on Mondays now so that's when I'll post my weight. Doing all these WI's is just too much hopping on and off the scale!

Hi all!

Last night I went up a resistance level on the elliptical, and I still met my goal for number of steps (4000+ steps in 33 min).  My legs are a little tired, but not too bad.  I've also ordered a folding weights bench so I'm not lying on the floor trying to do bench presses with my elbows hitting the ground :)  We had some lovely walks over the weekend.  Tomorrow it's supposed to rain, so hopefully that'll wash away much of the remaining snow, and the grunge that always appears where the snow was.

cynthia - WOW! That's great!  You should be proud! :) 

Yesterday and today have been so nice outside. We haven't had much snow in SW Pa this yr so we don't have the usual mess from the snow melting. That's nice!  I've been taking my little walks now to get more exercise. Trying not to overdo it so I don't end up in bed again. ;)  I tend to overdo things when my legs and back aren't hurting too bad.

I sat outside yesterday and watched my son skateboard in the driveway after trying to find my sunglasses! Finally found them after searching for 1/2 hour! You know, you put things away for the winter and forget where you put them! lol

well...BBL!

Hi all,

May i join your group? Turned 40 this year and and i'm roughly 35lbs overweight. Since i'm only 5.1 it really doesn't feel good - it mostly shows in my stomach - and you know that's where your risk for heart attack increases - so i want to get healthy before it's toooooo hard to get it off. I see you all started way back in February, but if you have room for one more, i'd be so thankful...........have a great day! I will now go and see if my profile is listed.

Hello gliz23, great to have you! I think the whole group loves a fresh face!! I hope you don't try reading back through all this chatting, you'll be here awhile!!

Cynthia -  I cannot believe you lift while laying on the floor, I don't think I could do that (heck my back would never forgive me).

Terry - man, what can I say...you'll be on maintenance way before me, you have had some big success with this.

Tammy - take care and don't hurt yourself! Slow and easy and you can weigh in whatever day you like.

tx omagraf!

can anyone tell me what the day of weigh in is? i've had two good days, i'm so excited!

 - Do any of you feel that you spend an inordinate (sp?) amount of time logging in food, finding the right one, etc?????that's the only part that has me blah - however, since i'm on vacation this week it's not that difficult, but has anyone found an easier way of keeping track of CC?

OK...maybe I am crazy, but I love logging my food.  I keep a little notepad in my purse to write things down if I won't be by the computer for awhile.  If I log my food, I lose weight.  If I don't, I don't....so it is a good thing for me.

WARNING:  THIS WARNING IS FOR ALL OF MY FORUM FRIENDS...DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT ORDER CHILI CHEESE FRIES FROM CARL'S JR.  I HAD NOT CONSUMED VERY MANY CALORIES FOR THE DAY, SO I GOT SOME CHILI CHEESE FRIES ON A CRAVING...BIG MISTAKE.  920 CALORIES!!!  YIKES...AND THEY WEREN'T EVEN GOOD. 

Tammie

So I am sitting at Applebee's last night with my wife and order the garlic chicken from the Weight Watchers menu and it is less than 375 cals. Very cool! So, this morning I get up and grab a Healthy Choice for lunch and look at it...it is 380 cals! Look, I am not bashing a product here, but those things aren't even that good. 380 cals is a lot! I stopped by the grocery this morning and started checking out cals on foods and decided that I can put together meals that are much better in quality, more food and less sodium and save calories. I found bread with only 35 per slice, sugar free pudding for 40, pineapple cups for 70 and I can make whole wheat pita pizza with turkey pepperoni for like 175...plus fresh fruit and veggies. I think I am going to save the frozen dinner things for emergencies when I don't have the time.

Tammie...I used to always log my food. I even carried notes around to write them down. I stopped doing it a couple of weeks ago. Now I just plan my meals before I eat. Even when I go out, I check the menu/nutritional info online and know what I am eating before I get there. I never eat anything that I haven't checked out beforehand.

Hi gliz23!  Most of us weigh in on Fridays although a couple of us weigh in on other days.  I find that tagging the foods that I eat most often really speeds up the logging process.

Tammie that sounds like sort of like poutine, which is a French Canadian concoction where you take fries, and add beef gravy and cheese curds.  The cheese curds melt and go all gooey, and it has a billion calories and about as much sodium.  I only have it once a year or so; I can't eat it any more the way I used to.

Terry my lunches come out to around 400 for a sandwich and a glass of 1% milk, but I use whole grain bread that has sunflower seeds baked in so I get my healthy fats.

I've got approximations of the food at my local pub / restaurant, where they serve really good, fresh food.  I really like the buffalo burger on a whole wheat bun; buffalo is lower fat than beef, so it's great for a treat or a craving, and it's listed in CC.

I used to enter all my foods, but it was taking too much of my spare time which lost me exercise time (or sleep). I tagged most of my "typical" foods and that makes it easier. I check the nutrition online at a restaurant I want to eat at to find the best options. I prefer to fix my own foods like Terry found out that most anything prepackaged is not worth it. I keep a couple cans of healthy choice soups in my desk for emergency lunches.

I talked to one of my Dr's once (a very fit man) and asked how he managed to stay so healthy with his schedule. He told me that he eats mostly home fixed food and tries to eat the same menus most days (no extra time planning or fixing things and he knows the calorie & nutritional values). He said he tries to really plan what he will eat before he goes somewhere and allows himself to eat as he pleases when he really feels a craving. He told me how he changed his focus to giving his body the proper fuel ("eat to live not live to eat"). He said some of his coworkers joke about his "boring" diet but that it is not a diet and he says he doesn't find it boring to not eat junk all the time, he feels alot better than he used to (he lost alot of weight as well). So I have been trying to eat a little more predictably (his term for the boring reference) myself and then I don't have to spend as much time thinking about what I am eating and the calorie values.

Great posts. Good info. I agree with all of you.

Sandy, that doctor is a very wise man! What perfect, sensible way to look at what we eat.

I have to log my foods so I feel some sort of accountability. However, I can do it in my head now because I tend to eat the same foods over and over. But just taking that minute and doing a quick mental total just confirms that I'm on track. If I'm away I will write it down (even on a napkin), those beers and 'extras' add up pretty fast! A couple of times a week I will log on CC just to be sure I'm doing OK.

I tend to eat the same foods all the time. My breakfast is the same evey morning. Lunches are the most varied. Dinners are from about 10 or 12 favorite recipes. So, just knowing what I'm going to have for supper, which is always the biggest chunck of my calories, gives me the leeway at lunch.

Terry, I agree with you about home cooking. It may take longer to prepare but so worth it. The frozen meals are great for back emergencies but I personally can't do them very often, sodium is a problem for me.

OK, I'll see everyone in the morning for our weigh-in! Good luck to everyone! And kudos to all who log on!

Marie

It is Friday morning already again...

Omagraf - Sandy 157, no change

Can't believe it is Friday again....

Omagraf - Sandy 157, no change
tsjej - Terry 232 - down 4lbs.

Omagraf - Sandy 157, no change
tsjej - Terry 232 - down 4lbs.

Cbear~Claire~ 259~down 3 lbs.