Hi everyone,

I joined earlier this year, but I have just started posting a couple of weeks ago. I live in a Chicago suburb with my husband and twelve year old son. I am a full time mom. I decided to lose weight to become more healthy. In the past I have counted calories and fat grams as well as watched my portion control. There were times however that I felt deprived . I felt the knowledge I gained was valuable , but I was uncertain I could maintain this type of diet. I continue to try to eat healthy, but I found for me it was more important to understand why I ate. I was an emotional eater. I ate by the clock, when I was bored, depressed, or frustrated, etc. I often ate beyond full to satisfy my emotional needs. The only problem was I didn't satisfy my needs. When I overate, I felt lousy afterwards. My problems were still there and I felt guilty about how I was coping with them. I now try to eat only when I am physically hungry. I eat slowly to savor eat bite. I stop the moment I am full. I have lost close to 45 pounds following this plan. Now my goal is to maintain my weight and continue to be healthy. (It is still a struggle and I haven't given up all my bad habits.) I am determined to be successful. I only reached my goal on 8/15/02 so this is still very new to me and I feel I have alot to learn. I've never been able to keep the weight off before. I am hoping that with your support and feedback I will be able to do it this time. I welcome all feedback and any support that is out there! Good luck to all of you! CJL


__________________
**CJL**

:wave: CJL
I CANT GIVE YOU MUCH ADVISE ON HOW TO STAY AT GOAL BUT I CAN CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR LOSS....THAT IS WONDERFUL.. YOU SHOULD BE :D ALL THE TIME.
MY EATING IS TOO LIKE YOURS EAT FOR THE SAME REASONS AND I DON'T KNOW WHY.. WELL I AM TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO EAT RIGHT AND LOSE. I HAVE LOST 26 AND HAVE A VERY LONG WAY TO GO... SO MAYBE WHEN I GET THERE YOU CAN GIVE ME TIPS ON HOW TO STAY THERE..:)
YOU DID GREAT JUST KEEP IT UP .. YOU HAVE WORKED TO HARD TO LOSE IT ALL NOW!!


LAURA

:rose: Welcome back CJL , I first want to congratulate you on your accomplishment!!! Great Job. I'm not the best at advise on staying at a goal weight , but I know what does help me is staying on the exercise. Also the support of friends at this site that are always here for advise, encouragement , or just plain laughs and friendship. That kind of support system is something we can all benefit from. Don't you agree!!:x Stick with whatever you are doing it seems to be working great for you. CONGRATS AGAIN!!!!

Congrats on the goal. The weight loss hill is one of the hardest to climb, but the view from up there must be wonderful. I dont know what I can do to help, I'm having problems staying on track to begin with. But I do know that I am an emotional eater and I seem to have some of it on track, but its so hard somedays. I figured out why I eat, now the problem is acting on it. I've started, slowly, but that doesnt seem to be really helping ( I say this now because I pigged out today....we're talking french fries, cookies....the whole mess) But one bad (as in VERY bad) day does not mean the end of it. No not for MissRena. I'm trying to focus more on how I feel than what the scale says. I cant wait to get to the point where I look in the mirror and can say FINALLY!! Congrats to you, keep up the amazing work. You're doing something right. :)

Congrats on reaching your goal! And also on doing it in such a healthy way. I'm an emotional eater also, and am working towards getting to where you are...realizing that food won't solve any problems, and to only eat when I'm truely hungry.

Hi Laura,

Thank you so much for responding and for your support. 26 pounds is a great weight loss. At the grocery store I want you to pick up five (five pound) bags of sugar and see how heavy that seems. That is how much you are NOT carrying around anymore!You are well on your way! Each step will bring you closer to your goal. I will be with you every step of the way! I set a goal of losing one pound a week. There were weeks that I lost more than that, but on the other weeks I was thrilled to have lost that one pound. Each pound counts! I look forward to sharing with you. Have a great day. CJL

Hi Gal,

Just in May I weighed 158 so I was in your neighborhood. Now I want you to visit my neighborhood! (Now you are going to think of that Mr. Roger's song aren't you!- "Won't you be my neighbor!)My original goal was 130 and I made that in On August 15. Now I am 127 and trying to lose just alittle more. So see, we are on the same page. I walk 5-6 days a week with friends at the local mall indoors for 1 hour. Exercise is always more fun when you are with someone I think. I hope to add some exercising at the help club soon.What lifestyle changes have been helpful to you? I am still working on my lifestyle and I would love to hear about what you have done. I am still a work in progress! Look forward to hearing from you! Thanks again for your support! CJL

Hi Miss Rena,
Thanks for your support! I did make it up the hill. The view is nice, but I am afraid I will get dizzy if I look down. That is a long way to fall. Going uphill is slower than going downhill. Why is it when you start to go downhill you go faster! LOL! I hope with everyone's support I will be able to stay on top. I had that urge to start eating tonight so I went on Diettalk instead of eating. It is my hope that not only will I receive support, but that I also will be able to extend my support to you and others. I ate quite a bit last night but on one bright note I had gotten some lower calorie snacks with less fat so my pig out binge wasn't as bad as usual. I vowed I was going to eat sensible today and I have (so far.) Sometimes we eat what we shouldn't when we shouldn't but what is important is to realize the fact and try to move on from that point. It sounds like that is what you have done today and that is very important. With your attitude you ARE going to make it. I will be cheering for you! Have a great weekend. CJL

Hi Rosaleen,

Thanks for your support! It is easy for me to talk about how to eat in an healthy way, but boy it sure isn't easy. I am not there yet. Everyday I still seem to struggle. If I am busy and not at home I do quite well, but get me home in front of the food and....well it is not always a pretty picture! You have lost a tremendous amount of weight! You are amazing! I need to hear about your tips on how you have done it! There is one exercise that I would like to suggest to you. It is helpful for you to do it when you think of it and the results are improved if you do it several times a day. You need to hold your right hand up-with you palm facing you. Slowly take your hand past your shoulder blade until you touch your back. Then repeatedly pat your back.That's right give yourself a few pats on the back for your efforts! Do it several times a day. Recognize your worth and know your potential. I look forward to sharing your success! CJL

Hello CJL (and fellow Illinois neighbor). Where in Illinois do you live (I live in Bolingbrook). If we are close, we could get together and go walking and talking.
You have done a wonderful job of losing weight.
Great Job!
:rose:

Hey Neighbor!

I live in Orland Park which isn't too far from you! I look forward to getting to know you at Diettalk. It will be fun knowing you are so close. I see you are on the Slimfast Diet. I tried to drink that a couple of times and then I ate a whole dinner after drinking one!LOL! I've been fighting my bad habits all weekend. I got on the scale and it wasn't pretty. I gain every weekend and then I have to work to get it off for my Thursday TOPS weigh-in. I wish I could just eat sensible everyday. I wonder why I am hanging onto my old habits which I know do not help me any. We will work on this together. I am so glad you replied to me. It is good we don't have to do this alone! Look forward to hearing from you.! CJL

:) congratulations i am an emotional eater to.

Hi Buffgirl,

Welcome to Diettalk! I am new too! I think that there are alot of us (emotional eaters) out there. We eat out of boredom, depression, frustration, etc. I've said this before but....Where did we get the crazy idea that overeating would help us!!!.....Sure it feels like a temporary release when we are eating, but afterwards we are never glad we have done it ! Emotional eating does not help us, but rather it adds to our problems! It adds to our risk for having health problems. I think the first step we need to take as emotional eaters is to acknowledge that we do have self worth. We have to start believing in ourselves. We have the ability to be happy and successful. It is important to work towards being self confident and having self esteem. In order to do that we must acknowledge the strengths we already have. It will be with those strengths that we can build upon our weaknesses and make the changes we want to make. Well, this soapbox is getting alittle slippery so I will get down before I fall.LOL! CJL

hi cjl,

its nice to meet you , i am pretty new to the boards too.

i am also an emotional eater and have been haveing a very hard time trying to lose the weight.
i need to lose between 50 and 60 pounds
i joined TOPS and i am trying to exercise more so hopefully i can eat for the right reasons and lose some weight.


sherri

Hi Sherri,

Nice to meet you! When is your weigh-in day? I weigh in at 9am on Thursdays! Wish me luck! You know what helps me is not to buy those foods that get me in trouble-you know the ones we can't resist! If it isn't in the house I can' t eat it. I have been trying to keep myself more busy so that I do not have as much free time to eat. I've also noticed that when I plan what I am going to eat, I do alittle better than when I eat on the run. For me TOPS is very important. If I didn't have to weigh in each week I think I would probably put off eating healthy and I wouldn't limit the foods I eat or the amounts I eat. My weight loss and reaching my goal happened recently so I am still fighting the old habits. Gradually I hope I can replace my bad habits with good ones -(one at a time). If you have read my original post you know I am trying to only eat when I am truly hungry. I love food so much that I love eating it very slowly so that I can get every last bit of enjoyment. The longer the food takes to be eaten, the more satisfied I feel. (I snack on frozen fruit bars that only have 25 or 30 calories, for example and I make them last!). I cut my food up into little bites so that I have more bites to chew. Someday I hopefully will not have to rely on these little tricks. Hopefully I will just eat sensibly and feel satisfied. What is working for you so far! I could use your tips! CJL