NEW for 2008 - 40 LBS to Lose Club - GROUP NOW CLOSED!!! (sorry)

All -- this is a continuation of the original 40 LBS to lose club started by JDBECKERS.  Due to the inactivity of the thread starter as well as the drop out of some of it's members, it was decided that we would begin a new thread. 

We are looking for people who are SERIOUS about coming to check in, taking the weekly challenges seriously, offering support and asking for it when needed.  Weigh-in's will be on Friday.  Some of us no longer have 40 LBS left to lose, but because that is where we started and how we initially bonded, we are continuing with that title. 

All those interested:  Please include the following information - we would like true starting points for everyone -- I will include my own information first.

Age:  32
Ht:  5' 5"
Current weight:  165
Goal weight:  135 - 140
Starting weight:  189
Weaknesses:  chocolate, sweets and bread.

I look forward to hearing from you all and being an encourager to help everyone (including myself) reach their goals!!!

I almost forgot!!! 
1/2/08 Challenge:  Stop beating yourself up over holiday indulgences.  Restart one healthy habit from pre holiday 2007 (or before that if necessary!)  :)
1/7/08 Challenge:  Get to the gym (or your workout equivalent at least 3 times this week.  Whatever your workout is - GIVE IT YOUR ALL! :)
1/14/08 Challenge:  Fit in an extra serving of fruit or veggies every day this week (which means you will ultimately have to eat the required daily allowance, THEN an extra serving daily)!
1/21/08 Challenge:  Log EVERYTHING that you eat on this week - from the biggest thing to the smallest - even bites of something count.  It is not necessary to use the log on CC, and estimates are fine.  Good luck!
2/4/08 Challenge:  Make ONE VERY AMBITIOUS goal for yourself and make small changes to reach it.  Let us know what the goal is - maybe others can offer advice/tips on how to help you reach it!
2/18/08 Challenge:  Do something good for your body today - it can be anything from making a doctors appointment to check on an ache or pain, to having a mani/pedi/or facial to give your winter skin some relief, or exercising a little longer/harder/faster to get it to fighting stage.  It is your call!
3/3/08 Challenge:  Try one new exercise on this week.  Feel free to alert the group to exercises you enjoyed, or really felt the burn... the goal being to shock your body into giving you a loss.  Good luck!

I have closed the group at 30 members who I have logged as follows:

Socioval
Pol_spock
Sharans
mlejoygrn
jeansmith
mahogany_horizons
brandy_m_gray
doost13
lakemom
jane3001
jjlewis305
hajduk
devbanana
tgegogeine
hitherm1
rdjustice
convertible_chic
infinityiz
kibabird
ktcort13
michelle_bachelor
kortam
malaun
candyluvr
jennip81
thewritesteph
no1ricanbeauty
darwin82much
crazineko *
Shanfood

The asterisk is for one of the original members who hasn't checked in yet...  An official welcome to you all.  As some of the original members can attest to - I have been known to pm  if I see that you haven't checked in for a while just to make sure all is well and to get you back on track.  No one has complained yet :)

ktcort & spock

Thanks. I usually eat Healthy Choice or similar brand for lunch. I try for the ones with low carbs. It's just easier for the menu planning although I am cooking this Sunday with an eye to lunches during the week.  I also try to SLOW down when eating at my desk to make the meal last longer. I'm also getting on the bike in the fitness room at work before lunch. It seems to help with the afternoon hungries.

After  a few weeks, I'll take a look at the analysis for salt intake.

My brother calls this the "ziploc" diet plan since all my veggies and many other things are in ziploc bags in the fridge. Pre-packaging my weekly menu really helps when I am rushed because the prep time is cut down. I just saute a baggie of carrots, celery & onion and then add veggie broth or chicken broth and some spices for a quick homemade soup. From this basic stock, I can make all sorts of other meals by adding broccoli/cheese, meat, kale, etc.

I haven't used healthy choice or lean cuisne meals as a tool this time, but in the past I have.  I'm just not using it right now because my schedule, and co-workers make it hard, so I go home & have a salad, or I pack a salad and bring it with me.

 

I think they are great tools during the week.  Certainly better than the cafeteria alternatives.

 

Is anyone having a problem with extreme exhaustion after very vigorious exercise.  I'm talking heart rate in 190's and leg pressing 45 lbs 4 sets of 10?

 I'm wondering if I should be eating more pushign myself so hard, or if something else is going on, like I'm catchign the flu.

 

M.

Happy Friday all!!!

 I am not sure if we are waiting till next week to weigh in, but I will share.  I have lost 1 lb since yesterday!  Like many of you, I have been eating the Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice meals for lunch, but only earning a C.  I figure, if I am not eating those, I would be eating McDonalds or chinese, so I will take a C.  I have been snacking on pineapple (A), and if I find that I am really hungry, I drink a Slimfast Optima (A). They are not very tasty, but they really do fill you up.  I would love some ideas for healthy dinners and lunches if anyone is willing to share.

 Have a great weekend!!!!

Good morning everyone!!! Imagine my surprise (and elation) at logging in and seeing you all so chatty! :)  I figured there was no time like the present for weigh in's so today would be good!  I will weigh in at the gym this evening and post. 

I know it is a little late but I have found that when I over do it during the day the healthy choice/lean quisine's are a lifesaver.  I try not to eat them too much though (not because of their nutrition, but they aren't very cost effective for me).  I have 3 kids and they all would think me crazy if I came in and popped one of those in the micro and they weren't served their 5 course meals!  So I tend to buy a couple when on sale, and use them when needed.

Mahogany, feel free to come over for dinner whenever!  Might be a long drive for you though! :)  But if you are going to try the pan fried chicken wings two tips - Use a non-stick skillet, and take them out immediately when done (cause otherwise they soak up the oil that you are trying to cook off them).  It does take them a while to cook that way so patience is a virtue but they are really YUMMY (seasoned with seasoned salt, fresh black pepper and garlic powder)!

Michelle - let me know what kind of meals you are interested in - I can give you some ideas!!!  I have pretty much healthified (i don't think that is a word but you know what I mean) most of my favorite foods.  I have even found that fresh cut french fries in the oven are good if seasoned well and cooked to crispy. 

Jane - did you forget that this weeks challenge was to not beat yourself up anymore over what may or may not have been done?!!!  You will do fine - you have fought this battle before so it's just time to focus and get 'er done! :)

Happy Friday Everyone!!! I will post a little later (gotta get some work done!)

Diva

LEt me know if an opening comes up. I just joined this site this week and would be interesting in a group like this.

Thanks,

Missbill

rhonda, down a pound is great! way to go with the water!!!, I look forward to hearing all about your gym visits next week!!!

convertible chic - love the idea of all the ziplock bags, also way to go on the exercising on the bike before lunch. It is a really good idea.

Thanks diva, I actually thought that was me being accepting and not beating myself up... LOL.

mahogany, I would listen to my body, if you are feeling (unusually) tired, then don't push it too hard. (if you slightly sick, or also at different times during your cycle, you may be more tired)

michelle, way to go on the pound down. It is so great once you start seeing some sucess. Don't get too disheartened if you bounce around though. It is amazing how much your weight can fluctuate from day to day, while still steadily trending in the right direction!

my take on the ready prepared meals is that if you are eating them instead of something worse, they are great, if you are eating them instead of something healthier, then not so great. I would probably eat more of them if I had a microwave!

okay, enough procrastination, it is already 5pm, still haven't achieved half of what I wanted to work wise, although at least I did go for my freezing walk. so that is a start. Hope your days are going well.

 

Diva, 

I would love some ideas for easy, family friendly meals. Chicken is a big hit in my house. Also, what are these chicken wings I keep hearing about?

 

Michelle - the pan fried wings were a little trick my granny taught me while making gumbo - AHHHHHHHH gumbo!!! :)  But anyway, she told me that chicken wings especially have a lot of oil with in them - and if you think about it it makes sense - the chicken wing is pretty much encased in skin (which is fatty) and has a small amount of meat attached.  So all that skin is more than enough oil to cook chicken wings.  So you take chicken wings, rinse them good, add them to a heated non stick skillet.  Season with fresh ground black pepper, season salt, and garlic powder.  You will need to turn them a lot to get them cooked through (my hubby was a little concerned cause they won't get the color on the inside that they normally do because they aren't deep fried, but you just need to make SURE they are cooked through).  It took about 45 minutes to cook up a pan of them - no oil, no flour, no egg (in my heyday my fried chicken could win awards, dipped in egg, then my flour mixture = a billion calories per wing!)

Also, try oven roasted potatoes.  Cube a potato per person, rinse and season with salt, pepper, and season salt.  Spray a baking sheet with pam, add the potatoes, then spray the tops of them with pam.  Cook until fork tender.  Yummy...

It's 186 for me today...up 1 lb which I know darn well is water, due to my dinner fiasco of last night. Ladies, if anyone tries to serve you tilapia, run hard the other direction. Flee...flee for your lives.

I cooked down some Crimini mushrooms in 1 T olive oil. Added some tomato sauce, garlic, basil...threw in some beet greens, and then put the tilapia (fish from So. America) in the pan. Covered and cooked it for about 30 minutes. When I opened the pan...oooo, heavenly smell. There was enough there for at least two meals...great, don't have to cook for a little bit. Dished it up, sat down for a nice meal, and BLECH! Tilapia tasted like dirt...that's the only way to describe it. And I had waaaay oversalted, so the dish was unbearably salty...the tomato sauce must have had a ton of sodium already in it. The whole thing wound up in the garbage bin...not even the dogs were used as disposal devices this time.

I got grumpy, had a Lean Cuisine meal, and went to bed. And then, to add insult to injury, the extra pound this morning.

*sigh*

Weekly Weigh in 150.2

Thanks for the tips diva, I may try them and let you know how I like them.....Thanks also for the invite :0

Well I was not going to post a weigh in today but.....It seems others have and I started out as 203.4, and this morning I was 202.7.  Yeay!  See you round!

Thanks Diva!!

Sounds yummy...I will let you know.

 Just wanted to share one of my fave's...Oven roasted veggies.  Parsnips, potatoes, asparagus, onions and carrots...Chop 'em up, toss them all together with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and throw them in the oven...To die for!!

Alrighty Michelle - I will try them - although I will admit I have no idea what a parsnip is!!!  And I am not a giant fan of asparagus, but maybe in combo with the other stuff - I will give it a shot.

Jean:  What happened to your tilapia?!!! I love tilapia!!! I typically use italian seasoned wheat bread crumbs to bread them, and pan fry them in a spray of olive oil.  It doesn't take much to coat the tilapia, maybe two tbsp's of bread crumbs, and the tilapia itself is pretty low cal... maybe give that a whirl before you give up on tilapia.

JJlewis - Congrats on the 1 pould loss!!!  I am just hoping that I don't faint after this weeks weigh in... the 165 was disheartening on last week, so I am hoping that the little changes throughout this week have made a difference.  I have to get a scale for at home, maybe I will pick one up this weekend.  I would probably do better with a digital scale as opposed to my $5 old fashioned one. 

? for the group - does anyone have one of the fancy scales that tells you how much water and how many calories you should have a day?  I saw one at Target, so I was just curious as to how it compares to what CC says.  Let me know what you think.

Hello everyone---my weight this morning was 309!!!1 I am now down 51 pounds!!! YAy for me! I also eat lean cusuine's, at work the are the best fo rme but I add a salad.

So I am thinking about joining the YMCA but I admit I am a little scared. I am a big girl and I don't know how to use all of the machines there--I do not like it when people stare at me when I know I am looking like a fool!

As anyone else joined a gym? If so what has your experises been?

Yeah, Diva, I'm usually up for any kind of fish...I love fish. Maybe it was the brand? It wasn't fresh and I've no idea if the brand is any good. I have two more packets in the freezer, so will try your idea. I just cannot do justice to the horrible mess I made last night...it's beyond description.

Now parsnips...mmmmmm! I love any root veggie, but parsnips have a wonderful nutty sweet taste when oven roasted.

TG:  Best piece of advice I ever got in a gym was from my trainer.  She had just started training me and I was concerned cause we were in the middle of the gym where everyone could see me.  She saw me looking around at people, and said people either look at you for one of two reasons:

1.  They see you have invested in a trainer and wish they could.
2.  They are motivated by your motivation to do something about your weight.

If you make that your mantra then you will have much success at the gym.  And if you don't know how to use a piece of equipment - ASK (I still don't know how to use some pieces and I have been gyming - i know - not a word - for a long time).  The Y's employees are trained on machines, and they can show you proper form and how to get the most out of any machine, which is extra important so you don't waste time, or worse hurt yourself.

Go for it! :)

Thank you Diva! I never thought of it that way before. I won't have a trainer but I can always go to the pool at first to build up my self esteem-----I rock in the pool!!! I am a swimming goddess! Then I will work my way up to the machines.

TG

 

I have been a member of my local YMCA before, and as a big girl, I know where you are coming from.  I admit, I did feel some eyes on me, and I was intimidated.  Ya know what?  The feeling of accomplishment I felt after every workout was so great that the "eyes" never bothered me after the first day.  Also, keep in mind that some of these people looking will see the before you and after you, so let them eat their hearts out!!

So this morning I weighed in at 158.8.  So I'm still hovering about 159.  Hopefully, I'll see it go down next week.

As far as going to the gym goes, trust me, no one really cares what you're doing as long as your not in their way, or doing something to disturb them.  And if you have questions, FIND A TRAINER!  Even if you're not paying for training, the trainers are more than willing to show you how to use an equipment.  Just make sure not to interrupt someone's training session.  Typically a good gym will have a "floor trainer" (someone who is designated to not be in a session to help out people with questions) on during most of the day...especially the busier times.  They don't want you to get hurt, and they want you to get the benefit of the machines so you'll stay a member.

I am really praying to break into the 150's by tonight!!! :D it could happen!  No seriously, I think that last Friday's 165 was definitely water weight, I wasn't drinking enough of anything let alone water.  I could tell cause my lips were  super chapped... Anyways, you guys are giving me hope that it is possible!  I am at a B+ today for nutrition, I was at an A before I had the baked doritos with my lean cuisine pizza *SIGH* :D

I really need to see 159.  That would be the happy new year gift I need!