Mini success stories

Hey Everyone! As we all know we can't expect to see the # on the scale drop every day, but I love the feeling I get just from making a good decision.  Here are a few I have made this week, I'd love to hear others :)

1. choose fruits for snacks.  I used to get a huge urge for a sweet, and had one almost every day after lunch (usually a choc chip cookie).  Now I reach for an apple- Sweet!

2. getting in a few extra steps.  I take the subway to work, and I try to leave my house to catch the 7:50-7:55 trains so I have enough time to get off a stop ahead of my stop, which adds .8 of a mile of walking time EACH WAY!

3. (this one not everyone might think is good, but it works for me).  I am a HUGE breakfast person, and I used to eat at the house before work.  but then I'd be starved and end up eating a snack before lunch @ 12:00.  Now I eat AT work at 8:30, vs. around 7:00 at home.  I skip the AM snack, feel good hungry by lunch and figure I save about 500 cals a week! PS- here is my very filling breakfast- 1 hardboiled egg, fruit (pineapple or apple usually) and a fat free yogurt, either vanilla greek or a fiber one key lime.

Can't wait to hear everyone else's little tricks!

I have a weakness for Ghirardelli Milk Crisp bars (like Mr. Crunch/Krackle only with good chocolate!!!) and I used to indulge in several servings at night just before bed.  Now I treat myself once or twice throughout the day, just one square at a time.  I end up eating 1 ounce or less (in contrast to several ounces) and I don't snack at night at all.

Not a trick, but after 3 weeks of pushing myself on the treadmill with hills and speed, I discovered that several of the hills in my neighborhood that used to have me huffing and puffing are no problem -- I can power up them as fast as the kids now!

I can now run up 7 flights of stairs to my office each morning, I drink lots of rooibos chai tea when I feel like snacking, and have started eating more in the morning rather than eating the majority of my calories in the evening, and avoid a lot of junk food by resisting the temptation to buy it at the grocery store in the first place!

minuseighty- have you lost 80 lbs?!  Anyhow, I'm very impressed with your hills feat!

oseya--7 flights of steps- damn!!!  I've lived on the 5th floor of my apartment building for almost a year, and despite that I'm still a bit winded by the time I get to the top!  Good on you!  Also, I agree that eating more earlier helps prevent nightly mishaps!

Yesterday I stopped at the grocery store to buy basil to make a tomato, feta, basil salad, and OMG I was soo tempted by these store-made sugar cookies that were on sale, right in my face when I walked it.  I picked them up and walked around with them.  Then Mr. Willpower kicked in, I picked up a fat free vanilla greek yogurt and decided that would be my snack later.  VICTORY! (ps, I didn't even end up eating the snack, I brought it to work this morning for part  of my b-fast :p )

Another thing to keep me motivated- All week I've been planning to weigh-in today.  But I woke up and I am clearly bloated, so I decided I will now wait until Saturday so I don't get all upset over some water weight. 

Nope, not yet!   That's my weight-loss goal.  So far I've dropped 30 lbs from my heaviest, non-pregnancy weight, and I want to lose about 50 more.  I'm still ga-ga over those hills.  I used to walk up them nearly every day (I stop walking outside when it gets too cold or hot) and I never really progressed -- they always kicked my butt.   Good job on nixing the cookies -- I hate how my grocery store displays candy, cookies, and cakes so prominently.  I guess since sugar and hfcs are so cheap the sweets must have a high profit margin. 

30 lbs lost is still awesome!  How long has it taken you to do that?

Today I have not done anything very wonderful.  Actually, I've been bad.  I had a bacon,egg, and light veggie cream cheese sandwich for breakfast.  I did scoop out the inside of the bagel, which maybe mayyyybe counts for a little something? oh, and it was a whole wheat bagel.  ughh thats what I get for going out drinking last night, I always need crap the next day!

My mini success story:

Four weeks ago (just before I changed my eating habits) I bought a pair of size 16 jeans, which is my size.  To my horror, I had to lay down on the bed and struggle to zip them up.

This morning, I put them on and zipped them up without having to struggle!  I was soooo happy.  Next...I am buying a pair of size 14s so that I can try them on every other week.

We atarted the "Biggest Loser" here at work.  I wasn't going to sign up, but when I put on a size 3x shirt and it was snug, I decided I had to do something for me.  I have grandchildren, the youngest being 15 months old.  He is a handful, and he keeps me active, but not active enough.  The first week, I lost 5.2lbs. and was really excited and pleased with myself.  I am hoping for at least 1 lb loss this week.  It's hard.  I have started drinking V-8 juice everymorning, before I leave for my 45 min. drive to work.  I dont' eat until I get here.  When I pack my lunch it's filled with fruits, raw veggies, and good stuff.  I keep fiber one yogurt here with me for an afternoon snack, or a fiber bar.  If I am hungry before lunch, I'll eat veggies, maybe soem protein.  Lunch is a smart one or lean cuisine.  Dinner time, I use a small dessert plate and try to fill most of it with veggies. 
I have a skirt that is a size 18 that my darling husband bought me about 6 years ago.  I am aiming to get back into it.  I'm into a 22-24 pants/skirt now. 
I'm not a big exerciser, but have started walking appx 1-2 miles daily at lunch.  Plus my daughter has decided to walk with me from home.  We put the 15 month old into the stroller, the 5 year rides her bike and we take off.
Calorie count is my lifesaver.  When I feel myself slipping, I come here to get myself together.

Wow..I am so impressed by the choices and determination on everyones posts!!

My little tricks are sort of the same but sort of different....I never crave sweets but I love me some chips and popcorn...so my husband and I have figured out that if we pop one bag of light popcorn and split it..then I only have 100 calories in my snack and thanks to my son, I have rediscovered my love for pickles.  I have also gotten into the habit of walking everywhere, we live on a military base so I feel pretty safe walking at just about any time of the day or night and I have also basically ditched sodas for water/lemonade, which I love!!

I also only weigh myself 2 times a week..that way I dont get overly frustrated by the lack of movement on my scales.....

We have also been doing a "Biggest Loser" at our workplace.  I work prodominately with men, so it's been a challenge to keep up...but it's been helpful b/c at lunch everyone is eyeing each others plates and food choices which has helped me make good choices.  Using Calorie Count, I have found several food options at various restraunts that I can have for lunch and stay within my calorie limit.  Also having people around who are ready to rib you about snacking has helped me make wiser snack choices such as fruit or 90 calorie chocolate chunk granola bars instead of chips or regular chocolate bars.

It has been a real eye opener to see how many calories were in some of the foods I was eating, so my choices have adapted to more healthy and less calorie menu items!

To piggy back on what 'oseya' mentioned, drinking warm liquids (tea) I find helps me to get over cravings.  One tea in particular, a cinnamon tea made by Harney & Son's, is very satisfying.  The cinnamon & cloves make it very sweet.  It's (almost) like a dessert of it's own! 

I really like your tips, especially the one about eating breakfast at work.  I experience the same issue with eating at home, and then starving by 11:00 AM.

Thanks!

Mini Success Story:

I don't have money to buy clothes as quickly as I am "skinnying" out of them =)but the other day while shopping with my daughter I decided to TRY on some jeans. I haven't boughten jeans in a long time. I have two or three pair in two sizes and kinda have bounced between them up until now. I tried on the size down, a size 12 and to my suprise, they fit. Not tight-suck-it-in-to-zip kinda fit, but actually fit! I didn't buy them, but just trying them on felt like a million new pairs of jeans! Next month, I'll try, and BUY some new jeans.

Hi, montanagirl,

The changes you made are very positive.  Eating fruit instead of a chocolate chip cookie (those calories add up!) is a positive step in the right direction.  I am a big fruit lover also, so I find eating fruit easy to do.  I also eat Edy's sugar free fruit bars (25 per bar) and find those quite satisfying as well.  I would love to eat breakfast, but I find that once I stimulate my appetite by eating it, I end up overeating the rest of the day.  Not sure why this is.  I try to eat broiled or roasted chicken and a salad for dinner.  I made a veggie meal yesterday, eggplant pormodoro, a recipe I got from Calorie Count.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I've hit a plateau (huge plateau) and the only thing I've been able to do is resist the urge to give up and go on a crazy eating binge....  

I just keep telling myself that this too shall pass.....   won't it?

annschmech- This too shall pass.  Maybe try beefin up your work out to break through your weight loss plateau.  Good luck to you.

Thanks so much for the tips you guys.  I too have been trying all kinds of tricks to get myself through the day and to stay with in my calorie range.  Today is the start of week two and I lost 2.4 lbs.  Pretty good.  I am a slow loser so my goal is to lose 2-3 lbs a week.  Hopefully I can stick with it like the rest of you seem to be doing.

Good Luck Everone!

hey everyone- it sounds like everyone has little tips to share, I love it!  Another one I like is to have a mint when I am craving a little something to snack on at work.  We have those big lifesavers mints, and one lasts about 20 mins, so by the time its done I can usually avoid the food temptation!

This probably isn't new to anyone but just going to bed at night when I am hungry is a mini success! I love to eat at night in front of the TV. Lately, I have just been hitting the sheets a bit earlier rather than eating. Its been working and the extra sleep definitely helps!

When I was attending Weight Watchers and I would hit a plateau they always told us that at that time your body is set and needs a shock.  I actually would go eat fried seafood, just once, and went back on my diet and it moved me out of that plateau and I continued to loss weight.

I'm not a breakfast eater until about 9 or 10 in the morning, so at work I pop some low fast popcorn, which is only 50 calories for the whole bag, and I'm not really hungry for lunch until 1 - 1:30 and it helps my afternoon to pass and I don't get hungry and I usually don't get hungry during the afternoon.

This is also one that might not work for everyone, and you will have to have a place at work to do this, BUT - 

Everyday at work I make sure I am drinking at least 3 - 44 oz of water each day. This leads to frequent bathroom trips - about 1 per hour.  So each time i go in to use the bathroom - i do a quick set of 10-20 exercises like push-ups, calf raises, squats - something.  It helps burn calories, tone up a little, and it gives me a burst of energy - i have been able to give up my afternoon sup of coffee!

I have been working out 5 days a week, for last 12 weeks now. On my rest days I either swim or play beach volleyball. I havent really tried any drastic diet plans but all I have done is changed my lifestyle. I dont eat any fastfood, For breakfast (around 8.00) i have Oatmeal boiled with milk and one teaspoon of sugar, for lunch (12.00 pm) salad and boiled chicken 1/2 serving of slow absorbing Protein shake, since my eighth week into working out I have started taking pre workout igniter BSN NOX and In-workout BSN Volumize. I workout with weights for 1-1.30 hr and then hit cardio for 45mins to an hour. Post workout i consume 3 scoops of ON gold standard whey protein isolate. for dinner around 10.30 i usually have a grill fish (mahi mahi fillets) with salad. and drink around 20 glasses of water throughout the day.

The result is I have shed 29lbs of weightfrom 215 to 186, and am in process of getting a muscular look. by body fat has dropped from 30% to 23.5%  

Work out plan is :

1)Biceps and back      cardio: 45 mins swimming 

2)chest  and calves    cardio : 1hr , 40 mins elliptical, 20 mins treadmill  

3)circuit training , upper body,  cardio : 

Rest day: 2hrs of volleyball, tennis, or 1hr swimming

4)shoulders and legs cardio : 30 mins treadmill

5) circuit training , entire body    cardio: 45 mins swimming

Rest day: 2hrs of volleyball, tennis, or 1hr swimming