Hi all, (now that I am pretty sure I know exactly HOW to get back to this thread... :beam: )

I thought that I should pop in here and tell ya a little about myself and where I am right now. About 2 years ago, I hit my high weight of 209 pounds and vowed to get back into shape and gain control of my flubbery areas. Before I started to diet, I wanted to make sure that taking this step was for me. I had low self-esteem and my once buoyant energy level had sunken. It even effected my personality. I wasn’t as fun loving as I once was. I thought “enough of this”. It was time to bring myself back into reality. And so started the quest to lose 45 pounds.

Here’s my story.
So, I began an on-line journal quiet a while back and did very successfully… until the community decided that they were going to charge a subscription fee and at that sadly unemployed time in my life, I was lucky I could afford the internet fee… so there was no subscribing. L I had lost about 25 pounds or so and felt a little like I had lost my best-friend since my journal was locked away under the new subscription site. Then I joined the on-line weight watchers. And I thought it was a really cute site, but it really didn’t offer much in the line of journaling the way I had experienced before. And if it really doesn’t entice me, I’m not really going to follow it–so I didn’t.

I had gotten myself all the way down to 168lbs in June… then my husband and I moved to a new apartment (the apartment from HELL). We hated everything about this place. It was really awful. Exercise ceased because I had also gotten a new job that demanded a lot of hours from me. Then I took a little break from the diet because my heart wasn’t in it as much. And then… holidays. I knew they were coming. I increased in weight a little bit in November. I went up to 173. Then around Christmas we broke our lease and moved again (to a fabulous NEW apartment in a more familiar area). And then Christmas… I gained a little again. This time I went up to 178. And so I figured, not bad… pretty standard when you hang around the holidays without monitoring what you ate. But then January… I kept gaining! UGH! Now I am up to 182. And I am irked because when I started my first online journal I was at 189… and now, it seems like all of my progress last year has just be WIPED off the map. So that has gotten me a little down again.

BUT! Then I found this place yesterday! YAY! And I am excited about doing my journaling and sharing my ups and downs, my routines and my temptations. And having a community of support again which I am sure, will lead me to success.

It’s a pretty basic plan for the moment. I have tried counting calories at Fitday.com and that worked out for a while. I have been on weight watchers, twice. So, at this point I am pretty knowledgeable about my habits and what I should be doing to get my booty in gear.

Right now I am all about the baby steps. I am going to start out by taking a little of the not-so-good-for-you food away and replacing it with fruits and better food choices. I have to increase my water intake. Not only does it fill you up and regulate things in your body… but man, it really helps the complexion!

My weaknesses are chocolate and cookie dough. Cookie dough is the big one and unfortunately I love to bake. So, cookie dough is very easy access. But. There are things that I know that I won’t stay away from, and cookie dough is one of them. And there are things that I am more than willing to change for good, like eliminating fast food.

I also know that I MUST exercise at least 3 times a week to see good results. This is just the way I have found my body works. I have started a new workout that is really kicking my butt. I am following the Escape Your Shape workout and the exercises are really good, especially the jump roping. I would by lying if I didn’t say that working out is not my favorite thing to do. It takes a lot of my energy to just get up and do it. But when I do, I know that the reward is feeling like 168lbs again!

I weigh in every Saturday morning, and I have to get a new scale, with mine the weight fluctuates if you lean on one leg more than the other and it’s just not a truly reliable scale. And I take monthly measurements the 19th of every month.

So, I guess that’s about it for now.

WELCOME to DT and WELCOME TO JOURNALING.

I think you will find great support here. I to have fluctated from 180 to 190, then blew up and past 200, Which I was in denial of. But none the less I am on my way back down, and you will be too. Good luck to the soon to be new you. We can do this.

Hi Max! Thanks for stopping by.

I found that through the last 1.5 years of my quest, I found that my weight came off and stayed off when I had a supportive community. I just couldn't believe that when my journalling went away, so did my motivation for the most part.

Hopefully, that won't be the case this time!

For day one I have clocked in with my food being:
2 chocolate chip cookies (ok, it was leftover dough from last night, really... but I did bring the cookies in for the gang at work!)
2 twizzlers
1 ham sandwich
1/3 c guacamole
1/2c blue chips
1 medium banana

Dinner is going to be breaded flounder with lemon sauce, rice pilaf and broccoli.

Dessert will be another banana with chocolate syrup (my favorite LF, LC snack!)

That should put me around 1400 calories (ok ok... I think I might start using fitday.com again...) if I stick to plan, which I should because my husband is of the very supportive type!

And, I just got the word that I can go home for the night, yay! (I had to cover for the nightshift at work... blah...)

Hope to see you tomorrow!
Cindy

Ok... so far so good! Day 1 went better than I thought. I banked in at 1398 calories for the day! YAY! (ok... so it was only 2 calories better than I had written out yesterday, but those are 2 calories that aren't going to make it on my butt!)

Last night's dinner (revised):
breaded flounder with lemon sauce, rice pilaf and broccoli AND a salad...

dessert was still the chocolate syrup covered banana... chocolate syrup... naturally fat free and only 43 calories per tablespoon... can't beat it!

Today is going pretty well...
Breakfast was a cherry covered chocolate luna bar (delich!)

Lunch is going to be Seed's of Change 2 bean chili with cheese (unbelievably good)

Snack is a tangerine and 3/4 of a WW pita with garlic hummus

And to be honest... I have no idea what dinner is going to be. Probably some sort of pasta with bread and a salad.

Oh yeah... and I did some jump roping and situps last night... YAY!

See looky you, on your way.... Food sounds great. My favortie snack at night is a banana split down the middle with 2 t. peanut butter and a drizzle of honey.

BUt the CHOCOLATE SYRUP SOUNDS BETTER.........

Oooo... i've never TRIED it with peanut butter and honey! That sounds GOOD!

How are you holding up Max?

OH MY GOODNESS. The banana desserts sound so good. I am drewling a little bit. :D

Hi there!

Looks like you are off to a great start. Before you know it, this journal will be flooded with good vibes from friendly diettalkers.

And I will be one of them. :)

The community is great and very caring. You came to the right place.

Have a wonderful day,

Kim:D

Way to go girl
Spring will see you back to 168 you just wait and see. Fat free chocolate syrup yea i'm on low fat. I have to find me some of that to eat with my fruit. Next shopping trip i'll be looking for it. You came to the right place for motivation, friendship and so much more. Welcome aboard the diet ship.

see you lighter
Linda

Hello and welcome to DT,

this is a great site too.

i too was doing so good and then came the dreaded holidays and i gained and then after new years i got back in mode and started to exercise and diet and was losing then lost motivation again.

am trying to get back in mode.

i have also fluctuated from over 200 down to 176 before holidays and am now bordering 190.
but gotta get my butt in gear now.

take care and talk to you soon.

Hi Cindy, :wave:

I too want to add my WELCOME TO DIETTALK and to achieving your weight loss goals.

I have been a member of Diettalk since October 2001 ..... it is a terrific site and I am sure you WILL ACHIEVE YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOALS.

If I can ever be of any help, please let me know. Losing weight, in my opinion, is only as DIFFICULT AS WE MAKE IT ON OURSELVES. I will be 60 years old ..... and had I been a little smarter I would have taken better care of myself. One thing I learned NEVER TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED. Losing weight is something YOU CAN AND WILL ACHIEVE ... BY BEING PATIENT WITH YOURSELF. You didn't gain the weight over night (day, week, month or year) .... so take it one day at a time .... one meal at a time AND YOU WILL SEE THE RESULTS ... BECAUSE YOU WILL MAKE THOSE RESULTS HAPPEN.

Again a very warm welcome ... glad to have you with us on our Journey to Success. Always, Monica

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I had written a HUGE post... and now I lost it... grrr...well, that 'ill teach me to view my post before actually posting it...

Live and learn...

Basically... it said: THANK YOU all of you for making me feel so welcome. As I am sure you all know the warmth and friendliness really helps out quite a bit.

Kim: the banana and chocolate dessert is awesome... it's highly recommended by me to curb chocolate cravings of any porportion.

Linda: thanks for your words of encouragement... I know that I will get back there (hopefully in the spring!) I like your sign off! That's great! I just noticed it! hehehe

Minnie: as much as I love the holidays... I think I loved them a little TOO much this year... :o We can both get back in gear! It's going to be great to get back down to our lowest weight again and then some!

Monica: You're words and actions are so inspiring. You have a great point about making life difficult on ourselves. You go girl! You are now amongst my personal heros with what you have achieved!

Ok... so I will post about food last night and this morning in a bit... I am a little irked that I lost all of it... and it was LONG! Basically, my caloric intake yesterday was 1444 and my carbs were 207

I promise I will get back to you later with details, but I have to do a little work right now!

-Cin

Ok, sorry that I never made it back yesterday… Work was just killer.

The low down about the day before pretty much consisted of my snacking craziness and determining that I had just entered PMS and no wonder why it seemed out of control. I blew off my healthy snacks and went for 2 Hershey miniatures and 1 mini cupcake with chocolate icing. Dinner was the fish and late night snack was my chocolaty banana.
But I still squeaked under 1500 calories (1444 and 207 carbs –if I recall correctly)

And today, I am writing my post in MS Word before pasting it into the forum!! I will not lose my post again… hopefully. :D

Yesterday’s food
Breakfast consisted of lots of odds and ends before jetting off to work. A little of this and a little of that. I think I posted that already though. Then for lunch I ate ½ a pulled pork sandwich and a serving of apple cobbler for my late afternoon snack. Dinner was pizza! YAY! Every Wednesday is pizza night. Last night I ate 3 slices (oh dear…) but it wasn’t too bad on the ol’ calorie count. Caloric intake was 1376 and my carbs were 117 (much lower than I had thought). BUT what I really should have done was has 2 slices of pizza and supplemented with a salad…

Exercise: one full workout of escape your shape! YAY!

Today’s food
Breakfast was a half of a ham sandwich (which I had brought for lunch yesterday and abandoned for the pulled pork) Lunch will be the other half of the pulled pork sandwich. Dinner will be a double-cheese penne. Snack will be… well, I don’t know. I didn’t bring anything to work with me so I guess I will pick something up at the store around lunchtime…

Ok, gotta run, I am hoping that I will get to your journals soon!

-Cin

Doing great with calories. Escape your shape is an interesting concept. have you seen results from it yet?

Have a good day?

Kim

To be honest, I really just started with the program, I can tell you more on the 19th when I do my measurements.

I can tell you that I do feel really energized after working out with that program.

Cindy,
Hey, I see you're new. Welcome to DT. I love it here. I've made so many friends. Thanks for dropping by my place. Don't know why the apple cider vinegar works but have read a lot of reports that says it does. Have just been taking it for a week and have lost 3 lbs. will let you know how it goes.

Talk to ya later,
Rivergal

Hi Rivergal! Thanks for stopping by. I think I am going to do a little research myself on the AC vinegar thing... and I just picked up a fresh bottle of it this morning because I think it's worth a shot. My dad has been trying to get me to take it for over a year now, only he mixes it in water and a drip of honey. YAK! I like your idea of putting it into a cup of juice. Does it make you feel odd after taking it?

Well, today is weigh in day and.... (drum roll please...) I have lost 1 pound! :applaud: I was HOPING for more of a loss... but you know what... I'll take it. --plus I am pmsing so I think that the week in general was an accomplishment. You know... I don't know WHAT it is, but I always seem to begin a new program the week before AF... every time.

I also have to get a new scale soon... I have one from THINNER and it should be named LIAR.... if you stand on it slightly off of where you stood the last time... your weight is different. This morning it was telling me that I weighed in at 170... which, hey, would have been nice... but I know I didn't drop 13 pounds in one week (too bad! :D ) Exercise did not happen on Friday but it did on Thursday. Because of my late nights at work I haven't had enough energy to come home and do a full workout so I have been concentrating on getting my crunches and jump roping in. Today I will be getting to a full workout and Sunday I am supposed to go skiing.

Food on friday was horrible. Not so much that I ate like a fiend, but I totally underate. (and what I ate wasn't the most healthy...) Friday we had a bit of a snowstorm (if you can call it that... but 4" is a snow storm in Jersey) and I was running late getting to work. So... the only thing I had at work were the mini peppermint patties that I bought the day before... 4 of them became my breakfast. Lunch was one slice of thin crust pizza with regular cheese and mushrooms. Dinner was a tuna fish sandwich. And dessert was 1/3 piece of cheesecake with strawberries. My calories didn't even add up to 900 for yesterday. No good...

Today brunch was.... a tuna fish sandwich. And I don't know what dinner is going to be because we are out with the in-laws tonight. I will promise to at least have a salad tonight!

I also went grocery shopping this morning and picked up a whole bunch of fruit and veggies for this upcoming week's dinners.

Ok gals... I am going to run... lots to do today!!

I hope you all have a great weekend!
-cindy

Hello cindy,

congrats on the 1 pound loss. :cheers:

someone on here once told me when i lost a pound and didnt think it to be much said to think of it as a pound of butter. and then it seemed alot. every pound adds up and normal healthy wieght loss that will stay off averages 1-3 pounds a week.

your doing great.
PMS is a killer with the sweets but just do your best.
we all go through it. take care and have a good weekend.

You are totally right minnie... I shouldn't minimize that accomplishment... I guess I am having a little difficulty seeing it as progress as I pasted 13 pounds of that butter BACK onto my body since August... But, you are totally right and I have to get out of that little funk of mine...

Well... the weekend was lovely for the most part. Saturday was a bust, we did NOT do any exercise. I can't even remember why we didn't. But the point is... it did not happen. We went out to dinner. I had this lovely chicken with portobello mushrooms (which I will have left over for tonight's dinner) with a marsala sauce and some mashed potatoes. I did keep my word and had a salad at least.

Sunday, bad food day. Cheese danish for breakfast before skiing. Then we skiied for about 4 hours. Then... I totally wiped out and wrecked my knee... oh it hurt so much! I had a SECOND cheese danish :o and then had tuna on toast for lunch with a handful of blue tortilla chips. Dinner was about 2 oz of roasted chicken, 1/4c of mashed taters, 1/2c of stuffing, green beans and chicken gravy... dessert was 1.5 mini chocolate covered dounuts. I have not figured my calories for Saturday or Sunday.

This morning I had 2 chocolate cookies, a bowl of rasin bran, a slice of toast with butter... lunch was chili and a slice of sour dough. Snack was a banana and chocolate.

Then I had a trip to the Orthopaedic office because of my knee and it turns out that I have a torn MCL. (I tore the ligament of the inside of my knee on my left leg) and I am now in a leg brace and on pain killers and anti -inflamatories... and no exercise for my lower body for about 4 weeks. I do have to go to physical therapy 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Then I have to go back and the doctor will verify if I have healed properly, if so... fine and dandy, if not, I have to go in for an MRI. But, I have always seemed to be a quick healer and I just hope that I don't have to wait out the whole 4 weeks. But if I do have to, I will comply. There's nothing like re-injuring an injury.

So, that is it my friends... I hope your weekend was better than mine!

:cheers: Congrats on the 1 pound gone forever.:)
Sorry to hear about your knee. That can be extrememly sore. You take care of it and don't overdo it until it's better.
Hope you have a wonderfull day.

Judy2:dn