week one - 2.5lbs down

this was my first full week back on the counting diet and working out and so far I'm liking the results! I lost 2.5lbs and if I keep it up I will reach my 50lb goal in 20 weeks or so. Too bad I have a wedding and vacation to fight in the next 2 months!

Good for you, Ellen!  I have also done well my first week and have alot of hope for going forward.  One word of caution - for me, at least, my rate of losing weight slows down as I go along.  It has never been a steady rate of progress.  So keep a positive attitude and good luck with the wedding and vacation!  I have a terrible time coping with "events". I just got home from a week of vacation and found I had gained 5 pounds.  I was so mad.  But it is coming off as quickly as it came on, thank goodness!

I was on vacation for two weeks and gained about 5 pounds but have now lost 4 pounds and I am wanting to get down to 120 pounds.  I weigh 156 right now and  am very short, 4 foot 11 inches.

rfowens1, I feel for you. I am also short (5'1") and weigh 150 right at the moment.  That is after a week of working very hard to get rid of the 5 pounds I gained on 1 week of vacation.  I think you did great to only gain 5 pounds after 2 weeks of vacation!  I would have been up a whole dress size.  What is the goal weight this site gave you?  Mine is very low, 116 lbs.  I haven't weighed that little since high school, so I think that is unrealistic.  I would be happy to weigh 130.  Keep in touch - I think we short people have a much harder time of it. 

kathiemfb,   I think the weight they suggested was like 108 which my doctor said that would be to low for me...When I was in high school which was many moons ago I weighed 89 pounds which I will never get down to.  A couple years ago I got down to 120 pounds and looked good.  So that is why I think that 120 or 125 would be a good weight to get to.  by the way my name is Martha

Thanks for your reply, Martha!  Yes, you are a tiny one! :)  I think I weighed 89 pounds at 8 years old! :) And it's been going up ever since!  I achieved lifetime membership at Weight Watchers several years ago and the top of their goal range for me was 136. So I chose that as my goal weight because I didn't want to pay them anymore! I got down to 133 and just couldn't stand it anymore and went buck wild.  I regained everything I had lost and then a few more pounds for good measure.  It just kills me that I have done this to myself. I feel very determined that this is the last time for me and I can manage this by myself rather than paying out good money every week and feeling guilty if I didn't do everything just right. ANd the stress of getting on the scale in front of someone!!! YUCK! So I have decided on my own that something in the 130's will be my goal instead of the impossible dream of 116.  I have a medium bone structure, also, not a small one, so I think that is something they should take into consideration when setting a weight goal. I think the support is very helpful.  I am new - have only done this for one week - and I already feel very empowered to achieve my goals! I do feel the need for support, though, as my husband is a BIG eater and he still wants treats in the house. It is hard for me to know there are chips and other goodies in the cabinet.  He could stand to lose weight himself but I know from experience that it has to be HIS decision, not mine! :) Good luck to you, MArtha, and stay in touch!  MAybe we should start a "SHorties" group!

Hi kathiemfb  thanks for your post I was having some problems getting back into the site.  I signed up July 23, 2009.  My grandson showed me the site and he as well as his sister is doing this calorie count.  My late husbnd had a problem with weight and was one of those meat and potatoe  man,   had to have them at every meal He thought...  I went out tonight to a resturant with my daughter-in law and I was good had a salad and grilled jumbo shrimp and no dessert  yea.  Today was my birthday so I was trying to eat better.  I did not eat all the calories I am to have and I brought home some for tomorrow. I have found out like a lot of people if I include fiber then I am not as hungry. Good luck on your weight loss.  I think a shortie group would be great.

Happy Birthday, Martha!  I am totally impressed with your dedication!  I have a hard time not throwing caution to the winds on special occasions.  My husband sounds much like your late husband. He is a big man and is a big eater. I have finally learned that I can fix something different for him than what I am eating, but I wish he would lighten up and try to eat less.  Now that we are empty nesters it makes things easier in the kitchen ( no more kids to cook for all the time!) but he still eats like the college football player he was so many years ago!I don't know how to start a new forum but I will figure out how.  Tomorrow we are going to the beach for the day and I am nervous I will blow it. So I will think of you and how good you were on your birthday for inspiration!

Kathiemfb,  Thank you for the Happy Birthday wish.  I have not been so dedicated in the past but just made up my mind that I am going to get down to 120 ,  a lot of my clothes do not fit any more.  and I do not like what I see in the mirror all the bumps in the wrong places.  Does your husband eat salads or fruits?  Hope you have a great day at the beach today and just think of it as a free day that you can have something good to eat.  I have to make a cake for Saturaday and I know I will have a very small small piece. I have found out some times a forbidden food once in a while will jump start my metabolism where I lose some weight.  So enjoy your  free day and then you can get back to basics again.  That is what is great about working the program we cannot beat ourself and feel guilty then we give up and want to gorge of over do a product..chips are what I can not leave alone. So I now count out how many I can have.  Let me know how your day was at the  beach.     Martha

I just wanted to let everyone know what an inspiration reading your posts are to me.  I am 5ft and 153lbs and want to lose at least 20 but trying for 30 as my goal.  It is hard to believe that the last time I weighed this much I have birth to my daughter (159 lbs and that was 15 years ago)

I dropped down to 125, 10 years ago so I know I can do it but it is getting harder and harder!

I look forward to reading posts about everyones progress and I hope to be joining in on the weight loss.

Great job to all the ladies! I wish you the best of luck!

I am 5'4" at 165 ( just lost 5 lbs in the past wk). Just gained about 20 lbs in the past 4 months since I moved in with my boyfriend and being in love really causes me to gain weight...haha!

My goal is about 25-30lbs. I want to stay curvy, but just lean out a little and drop about six sizes!

Once again, good luck!

Hi everyone - it is good to see how many of us are in the same boat, short and a bit heavier than we want to be.  I also am weighing at present what I weighed full-term pregnant with each of my 4 babies.  I was always able to eventually lose the weight after giving birth (it was a bit slower every time, it seemed) but I am blown away by the fact that my body has arrived at that same super-heavy, post-pregnancy weight all on its own - my habits have not really changed alot- as time has gone by!  My clothes do not fit and I hate the roll of blubber around my waist that never has been there before. And yes, Melissa, having a sweetheart does seem to bring out the cook in all of us... Martha, good luck with the cake!I love sweets and have to stay away from them alot of the time. I treid so hard at the beach yesterday to be a good girl.  I had only a cup of clam chowder (but that stuff is calorie heaven) and a salad, and I waited to get home to eat a low fat ice cream treat rather than have a cone at the beach. What was exciting was my husband followed my example and did not eat junk!! This was world class good behavior for us both .  Of course, I did not wear a bathing suit or even go near the water, but at least I wasn't having a double-dip ice cream cone and fudge! I was thrilled this morning to see that I had not gained any weight!!!  Usually the least variation in my diet sends the scale upwards.  My body just seems to want to hang on to every ounce it can, and seems to take any excuse to gain. It was really good for me to see that it IS just a fact of simple math - calories in and calories out, not some weird alchemy that I cannot seem to control. 

You ladies are so inspirational. I am also a shortie 5'4" at 175.  I got up to 235 in 2005 while pregnant with my daughter. I joined cc in April and did very well with it, at  first. Then, like every other diet prgram I have tried, I lost a few pounds and just fell off. I went back to drinking soda and eating sweets. I haven't lost a pound since 6-1-2009. I want to get down to 155 by Christmas. Right now life is very chaotic for me. We are doing a whole hosue remodel, so there is no kitchen to prepare any food in, so it all take out all the time. There is some tension at home with my husband wanting to completely change careers in this economy, plus I work 6 long days a week and have a four year old to raise. I am a total comfort eater and just have no motiviation to exercise lately. It seems as if there is not enough hours in the day.  I do not prioritize my time well. Instead of spending time with my family, or on exercising, I sit on facebook all night after work or veg out in front of the tv. 

This has to change starting today, I have decided. I am missing out on a huge part of my life and I am not going to do it any more!!!!! Life if too short to miss out on. Thanks for listening ladies.

anasmommy, just start by cutting out the pop and the sugar.  I was amazed at how much more control I seemed to have once I did that. THe urge to eat came under control and I wan't putting away so much food.  It is hard at first,but you can do it. You sure are dealing with alot of chaos in your life at the moment - I cannot imagine how I would cope with dieting without a kitchen!! Keep journaling your food and exercise and you will get through all this upheaval. I know what you mean about comfort eating. We went through a big business crisis that lasted over 2 years and I practically ate myslef into oblivion as a result.  It is like food is the only normal thing in our lives when we go through stress, and we just cling to it.  Just get back with the CC record-keeping and things will come  together for you.  Good luck to us all!!!  

Kathiemfb   I went to a dinner yesterday and did quite well even had a small piece of sugar cream pie.  Weighed today and lost 1/2 pound more.  They had seven layer salad there and I has a small portion.  Also had lots of veggies.  Today may not have done so well.  Have the dinner tonight and that is where the cake will be, hope everyone else eats most of it so I won't have to take it back home to be tempted by it.  Ladies we can do this I know we can so list your food you eat and don' t forget to list the exercise and weigh in each week. Washing dishes, walking to set table and clearing table after meals can count as excercise.  I try to walk my dog every day for a hour which helps...also washing clothes and careing loads of clothes can count for excercise.  Good for you Ellen with the 2.5 weight losss...anasmommy we can do this together so lets get started.  I find that if I eat a salad first before the meal that helps and I drink lots of water,  the water seems to fill you up so you don't want to eat as much,  never was one to drink a lot of soda pop.  I I have 29 1/2 pounds to go till I am at the weight I would like to be.  Good Luck all   

Martha, I am so proud of you. It is so hard to go to parties and eat sensibly! And you still lost weight!! Wow!  I am totally impressed.  Hope things went well with the cake, and everyone else ate most of it.  It is so hard having left-over goodies around the house!.  I made a "guilt-free chocolate cream pie" last night for my husband and myself and it was actually good.  I have never had much luck making Diet treats - they always taste yucky to me.  THis tasted good.  My husband actually ate two pieces and never seemed to suspect it was a diet dessert. Only problem with my weekend was I was just in the mood to cook.  I made homemade whole wheat pizza and used low fat mozzarella and veggies - which was good - but I ate way, way too much of it.  I am telling myself just get back to work on being a responsible eater and hope my husband will eat the couple pieces that are left over! :) My body is so unforgiving, I am scared to get on the scale today so I am just going to wait and get on tomorrow and be super good today.  I really want to break 150 this week!   I hope I have not tanked my efforts by having too good of a weekend.  I hate to see the numbers go back up after a nice downward trajectory!!

lathiemfb,  I gained 1 1/2 pounds which is not to bad I was at 155.5 and was weighed today when I had some tests done and am now at 157.  I will lose it. The cake I had made was sugar free, so was the vanilla pudding and the cool whip for the iceing was lite, I did not have to bring any back home. "hurrah".  I weigh on Wednesday usually once a week.  I was worried that I had gained 2 pounds but 1 1/2 was not so bad...I have 37 pounds to go till I get to the goal weight I would like to be..I would like to see 150 on the scales myself  I know I will some day hopefully soon. Will be going out with the girls to eat Thursday hope I do well..Good for you on the diet treats and the whole wheat pizza  sounds healthy to me rather then the regular chololate cream pie and regular white dough pizza.  We can have a good week I am sure so we need to work hard at it...Let me know how you did for this week.

I know what everyone means about being short and having a hard go of it. I'm around 5'4" and 143lbs today. After starting college, I gained about 10lbs a year. None of my clothes fit after having been under 115lbs all through highschool. I'm hoping to get back down to 115 or so. I unsuccessfully tried working out for the past 6 months (5 days a week, 1 hour each day) with little results. Now I'm starting to reduce my calories down to 1300 - 1350 a day... and so far, results! It's only my second week, but I am almost 2 and a half pounds lighter. Good luck to everyone!

Hi everyone - I was out of town on business this past week and did well for the first couple days and then fell off the wagon.  I had no time to get online and little by little I lost my focus.  I am mad at myself and determined to do well this week. I hope all is well with everyone!

Hi kathiemfb   I gained two pounds.  Went to Kentucky yesterday and ate at the Kingfish resturant with 4 other people.  So I have got to get back down to the weight I was.  skringer  I am doing 1200 or more caleries which is hard, I only walk and some streching exercises for right now.  Yea for you for losing the 2 1/2 pounds.  Keep up with the good work..  Good luck to you and kathiemfb.

Hi Martha it is good to hear from you again.  I'm sorry you gained 2 pounds - it is probably water weight because restaraunt food is always so salty.  I have not been able to face getting on the scale.  I know it is a silly resonse, but it just makes me feel so bad to see the numbers go up.  So I have been good today and will get on the scale tomorrow and face the facts - I hope I can do it.  I probably have to go on another business trip in a week or so and i am dreading it. On trips, I have no time to exercise and I have little to no control over the food I eat. I do the best I can to choose healthy food from the menu but I have no idea what the calorie count is. I just do so much better at home!  Does anyone else out there have to travel alot?  Are there any tricks to make it go better? Does anyone have my same hangup about facing the scale when you get home? I know I have to face it and get over it and keep trying but it is so hard for me to see that things are heading in the wrong direction and that I have backtracked! Thanks for listening and good luck to all!