Here's the new thread for Boot Campers to post on for the next two weeks (2/12-26). No matter what phase you are currently in, everyone can post to this thread (starting Sat 2/12).

The thread for the last two weeks will be closed to new posts late on 2/11 but can still be read (and responded to in the new thread).

Goals for the phase you're entering can be posted in the applicable Goals thread (Phase 1...Goals, etc.)

Questions about boot camp can be posted on the Q&A thread.

I'm excited to see what the next two weeks have in store for all of us. Continued success to all of you! Sue

Sneaking in a little early here as I am headed off to la la land I-)

But first I want to wish each of you a wonderful 14 days !!!!!!!!

The FUTURE is YOURS ! :ribbon:

Beth :peace:

First of all, congratulations to Vickilyn! :cheer: It looks like you are the first one to enter phase 4. What a tremendous accomplishment!!! :cheers:

I am starting phase 3 day 13, just need to get through the weekend without abandoning my goals and I will join you. I am getting along good and managing to complete my exercise requirements in spite of a very painful knee. Hoping that gets better soon!

I am working on my goals for the next phase. I have steadily GAINED weight since starting boot camp. I am not sure what is going on, I did talk to my doctor's office yesterday and got the ok to space my premarin out another day between doses. I have not had a problem with the premarin the whole time I have been on it (as far as I know) but it seems since the dose was switched to every other day instead of daily my weight has been fluctuating wildly and rising. But that may be a co-incidence, there may have been some other factor within the same time frame that I am not connecting to this. I have learned from my veterinary clinic receptionist job that the symptoms and events clients tell me when they make an appointment may or may not be even remotely related to the problem -- which may or may not even be what they think the problem is in the first place. :eyes:

Happy weekend to all! I have to work until noon today (5 hours) and then I will have my life back for the next few days! :D

OH Nebraska! I had that problem when I first went on Premarin. I gained 12 pounds in ONE month. I stopped taking it and was a MONSTER! I acted so ugly at work it was a wonder I wasn't fired! Then someone told me don't ever just stop the stuff! Turned out I was taking too high a dose.
I didn't take 'em again until like 1999, when I was having 5 or more HOT flashes daily and going nuts......I use supplements now with soy and black cohash in 'em. Have been doing 'em 2 years now.
I hope you can get yours regulated. It adds insult to injury to gain with the stuff! I told my Doc I had nowhere to put those extra pounds...turns out I did! :o X-(

I'm off to post Phase my two goals....I'll be back! Congrats to all our campers pushing through!
Bren

Hi Vickie and Nebraska. You guys are such an inspiration. Talk about dedication, resolve, and determination! Vickie, I love that you've put stress-relief in your goals. I want that so much for you so you don't more problems with heart spasms (that must have been so scary for you).

I just came home quick to do something, but I hope to be able to get onto my client's computer today to catch up with you all. Sue

HI all ... survived my trip, although still trying to recover from the lack of sleep before it (stress/nerve related) and the jet lag. The interview went really well. Now its just a matter fo seeing how well I did in comparison with the other candidates. But I am confident ... even if I do not get the job, I don't feel like I blew it ... I can accept if someone was better than me, but I know I did the best I could, and feel really positive about the event. I have had some interviews in the past where I knew before I left that htere was no way I would be considered ... I did not get that feeling this time: I really feel I have a good shot ... should hopefully know in about 10 days.

I did okay on my trip, but am going to rephase anyway. I did walk a lot everday, and did make better than normal food choices, but still am not happy with the overall effects of my trip ... had lots of candy to nibble, late night eating, and drank a lot (not water! usually do not have alcohol, but gave in with my meals for wine, and also went to gala where I had 3 glasses of champagne) so will start fresh on this first day back .

Today, Feb 12, is Phase 2 Day 1. Will complete phase 2 on Feb 26.

Now to catch up with you all.

SweetJean ... have you tried sugar free hard candies to satisfy the urge, without the cals/fat? They work for me. Sweet fruits, like mango or berries also work for me.

jowc123 Glad to see you are still hanging in there.

Vickie and Nebraska Wow! getting ready for phase 4! Way to go. You're almost there! Wow you two are an inspiration ... no rephasing! That is so awesome.

Also Nebraska ... I am on Premarin as well. I take half a tablet, every day, but only as needed (kind of like you would a pain killer) My doc does not beleive in giving long term hormone therapy ... I take the premarin for aobut 5 days, if I cannot handle the hot flashes, etc. THen I can go off of it for a week or two, until I am bothered by it agian. It works for me, without having the weight bouncing ... I do see a bit, but because I am only on it for a few days a month, it is usually no more than 5 pounds, which comes off about 3 days after I stop the pills.

BrenGlad to see you are still here ... keep hanging in there.

And finally Sue and Beth ... I sure appreciate all you do to keep us going. Glad to see both of you still hanging in there as well.


And everyone else .... I was away most of the week. There are hardly any posts for me to catch up on ..... where is everyone?!

Vicky Lynn, kudo's for you. How very awesome to be heading into phase IV. And don't look a gift horse in the mouth, or discount your accomplishments. You did it! Take the credit for it.

Nebraska, I gained weight on the PremPro. One of the the interesting things about this weight loss journey is that when I started it (in 1999) I also (conincidently?) stopped taking the PremPro. That was when the first earliest information came out on the side effects. I did slowly wean myself off over a period of about a month. And the hot flashes did return, but they eventually mostly went away. Late in 2003 I went to a new GYN and started using Vagifen (a vaginal topical), It works great for what it is intended for and is not supposed to result in any systemic estrogen. Whatever, since I started on it I have been struggling more to maintain my weight loss. Coincidence? Not supposed to have that side effect but who knows. So you are dammed if you do and dammed if you don't.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Jo

I finished phase 3 yesterday with my water, being on Core and exercising 90 minutes at least 3 times a week.

For phase 4 I wish to move the exercise goal to 90 minutes a day.
I lost in the first 3 phases 18.2 lb as of my WI today.
I waited to post about phase 3 till my WI today.

I will keep the other goals of drinking at least 48 oz of water, being on Core and the additional 90 minutes of exercise a day.

Well-- my sickness is 80% gone, so I am getting back to business. I had to rephase, so I am starting at PHASE #3 again today.

Begin PHASE #3- Feb. 12th
End PHASE #3 - Feb. 25th

Congrats to everyone moving on to the next phase! :)

Hopefully I will be in PHASE #4 in 2 weeks!!

My goals will be the same as before...

1. Work out 6 out of 7 days
4 of those days must be cardio
Cardio must be 40 minutes or longer
3 of those days must be weight training
I will create a weight training plan (different body parts each day)

2. Continue drinking 8 glasses of water each day

3. No bingeing or heavy snacking

4. No fast food (besides salads)

5. I will walk/run at least 2 days of the week.

6. I will broaden my food choices by cooking real dinners and trying new things. (I am tired of the same ole' stuff)

amyrs! Congratulations to you also!!!! :ribbon: Good luck with phase 4!

I keep thinking I should feel really bad about having to rephase with that buffet experience at the beginning of phase 3, but I don't really. It was a learning experience and I did enjoy the meal and ... well, I will get to phase 4 soon.

Thanks for all the input on the premarin issue. Maybe I have had a weight problem with taking it all this time and didn't know it because I took it daily for a long time; now that I am weaning off of it I can see the difference and the fluctuations... Anyway, you are helping me feel like I am not really crazy after all! :)

Heather, hope the job interview results in whatever you desire. Proud of you for doing so well, both with the challenge of the interview and the challenge of the travel with bootcamp!! I don't know where everyone has been. Sometimes I feel like I keep posting the same things over and over and should just keep quiet unless I have something new to add, but maybe giving at least a hello every day would be a good idea.

Hello everyone ... wanted to stop in and post on this brand new thread!

We all sound ready for another two weeks ... welcome back Heather (hnyack) ... and congratulations on getting through your interview process. Those things are designed to squeeze the life out of you ... I think they're looking for anyone who can "survive." YOU survived! Good for you.

Congratulations to Amy (Amyrs) and Vickilyn for getting to the end of Phase 3 without any rephasing. I am so proud of you both. Stop and bask in your success. Are there any others who finished on time? Maybe Beth and Sue can tell us.

I weighed myself today and I am the same as two weeks ago ... 172. I didn't lose but I didn't gain ... even with my candy slipup! Heather, sugarfree candy doesn't do much for me ... I do chew sugarfree gum and that calms me down sometimes. But the SF candies are fake ... when I want candy, I want real candy! This last experience didn't feel good at all and I was nervous afterwards ... I think I may have said goodbye to it once and for all. I have ALWAYS liked candy ... I'd only eat candy and not food ... my mother would cry ... then I'd get stomach aches in the middle of the night. My mother used to say, "When will you learn to respect your stomach?" LOL ... I told her last week that I think I finally learned.

If anyone is looking for some inspiration, I read a website today written by a young woman who has had quite a weight loss adventure. You can read her story (and see her photos) on her website: www.msjayme.com (http://www.msjayme.com/). You'll be glad you did ... she describes her struggles with emotional eating and how she had to fight it.

I've been playing around on the computer all day and accomplishing nothing with my day. Beth mentioned having an "inner brat" who likes to be in charge of her behavior ... lol ... that describes my feelings so well. I love it. Today my inner brat is insisting that it is a day off and she refuses to do any work! Do any of us remember the psychologists who talked about our "inner child" and how we should nurture that child? I think "brat" is more accurate ... :laugh:

Off to do more goofing around ... whatever you're doing this weekend, take time out to have some fun. I love you all!

Hi everyone I lost 2 pounds so far this week with a total of 8 pounds in three weeks. I feel really proud of myself becaues I can't remember the las time I've lost this much weight. I am taking one day at a time and one accomplishment at a time but I do celebrate each Saturday talking about what I did for the week. You ladies are doing a great job and losing weight can be challenging at times,but I feel that we are learning a lot about ourselves in the process, and that is the best lesson of all. Every step that we take will bring us closer to our goals and this is a change we will keep for life. I believe when we all reach our goals we will not be the same person that we were and we can help others along this journey and maybe inspire others. Take care group you all are winners in my book. :D

Awwww.....thanks for all the kudos. It has been lots of hard work and many learning experiences for me so far. And believe me, no one is more amazed at my progress thus far than me. With my track record I expected to be pretty close to dead last by now. Or dropped out altogether.
The cohesiveness and supportiveness of this group keeps me going....keeps me motivated....
I may not post much but I read all the time. I need and appreciate all of you and your willingness to be supportive to perfect strangers.
Well, lets see if I can keep moving forward and get thru this phase unre-phased.

Blessings:spring:


Vickie:pass:

Good morning everyone.......
Yesterday went well........got 60 oz water/15 min. exercise/2600 steps in/food went well...I have my desk drawers at work cleaned for the first time in a year!....and then wouldn't ya know it....I had my last snack, didn't even think about the time and this morning realized it was 7:30 when I had it.
So I'll do Phase 2 Day 1 again today. I know getting done with eating before 7 PM will make a difference in how well I rest and will help in weight loss. I'll be more aware today! I'm waking up and smellin' the half-caf!

We're missing some campers.......these are deep woods ya'll! I hope some will check in soon. We're all hanging in and on and will be here. I can see this as a year long thing, as new ones come in and others come BACK.......

Amy...woohoo! over 18 pounds gone! I do envy you girl! Heather! Hey we can rephase together! Good report on your trip and knowing you did a good interview! Kudos to you!
Vickie...yikes! Your post scared ME......thinking about the pain and thoughts of a heart attack. I am glad to hear it was stress induced, tho that carries risks as well..I know you know all that........i'm just hoping for calm, peaceful days ahead for you!
Nebraska.....heading into phase 4 too! You've done very well with your challenge as well! You all are an inspiration to me!.....now to put that inspiration to work today!!
Beth......yippee yahooty to you too! Hey that's such GOOD news on daughter and grandbaby....continuing to keep all in prayer! Sue.....hope you've had a good weekend so far. Rebekah! I'm so glad you're feeling better and you'll be back up to snuff soon! Leslie YAY! 8 pounds gone Hooray!! Jo, sweetjean...and Pat....good to see you hanging out with us regularly! Congrats on your progress!! You all are doing a great job!
My morning came too early today, so think I'll snatch a nap before time for church. I'll run down otherwise.....I woke up at 2AM. EEEK!
Have a blessed day everyone.....
Bren

Hi Heather. Interview sounds like it went great and you're sounding strong. You're on the high tide now, girl, ride the wave.

Bren, I see you made it to Phase 2! Good for you for sticking in there!

"When will you learn to respect your stomach?" That's an interesting way of looking at it. The older I get the more I'm interested in taking better care of my body if I want my quality of life to be good for the next 40 years. Respect. I like that.

Leslie, I LOVE the way you think. Your message (#12) was thought-provoking and inspiring to me.

Re: posting, one of the guidelines is to post a minimum of 2x during a 2 wk period, but I find it very helpful to post every day, keeps me excited about the journey and you guys now have me intrigued so I come back to see how things are going in each of your lives. I NEED BC now, it keeps me on the straight and narrow and gives me a place to share my ups and downs with people who understand. Everyone is encouragd to contribute how you are able, whether that's posting 1x/wk or 5x/day, or just simply reading. Boot Camp is for you--make it yours!

Hi everyone. I went through a very bad week, but I'm back and starting phase 3 day 1 today.

Looking back on it, I wish I had not gotten so down on myself about 1 bad day, b/c if I stopped it at one bad day it probably would not have affected me that much. But it turned into 3 bad days, then 4, as I tried to rephase on day 4, but found I couldn't get off the sugar and caffine and make other changes at the same time. So on days 5-7 there was more overeating, but I did get off the sugar and caffine.

So today I am attempting to restart phase 3. It will be quite a challenge for me, as I had built up to doing severl new habits, and it is hard for me to change a bunch of things at once. But, so far so good, I've done my exercise and drank 1/2 my water for the day, and it is only around noon now, so I still have 1/2 the day to finish what I need to do.

I lost 7 pounds in Jan. I hope that if I meet my goals that during the month of February at least not to gain any of them back. I think this is the best I can hope for now - but I will hope for this. I don't know what my weight is right now.


Heather: congrats on the job interview!

My first day in phase 4 is going okay. I exercised for the 90 minutes and am following Core. But I feel kind of heavy wanting to loose more weight. I suppose I will if I stay with my plan.

I meant my second day in phase 4.

Well so far today isn't going as planned didn't get no exercise all weekend making it 2 days now. and the water is low. I'll see what the rest of the day brings . Food is good. But I will have to rephase anyhow to today at least.

You are all doing so good. Some losing some working supper hard. Someday will be ours. Take care all.

It is a blechy rainy day here in Central Indiana. I am kinda depressed but I know it will pass if I just hang on. Hubby and I had a little misunderstanding this morning and I am sure that contributed to my blues. But surprise......I knew how to handle it today and didn't go into a emotional eating tailspin like I have in the past.
Goals are almost met for the day.....I work tomorrow so we will see how I deal with the stress. I don't want to deal with a replay of Thursday. No more coronary artery spasms.....no more trips to the ER.
SPRING IS 34 DAYS AWAY :spring: The countdown has begun!!!!!!!!!


Blessings: :ghug:


Vickie:pass:

Phase I, day 8. Well I'm still on track to meet my goals but it still was a tough day. We go to a brunch on Sunday, every week. This week was Valentines and they had gifts of candy on the table for the regulars. I just finished meticulously putting my food in Fitday for brunch and I am discouraged with myself. This is the worst Sunday I have had calorie wise at the brunch since I started keeping track. In looking back over what I ate, the candy and some sweets were the bad things.

I usually shoot for a total of 2,000 calories for Sunday, with the plan of an average of under 1500 calories a day for the week. Didn't make it today. So I will have to make it up during the week. (For phase I that is not a formal goal, only that I TRACK every day what I ate.)

Brunch is and has been a major challenge for me while we are in Texas during the winter. It is truely a social event with free flowing champagne and music and friends. Three years ago, when I first found FitDay I was shocked to find out brunch was over 3,000 calories. I made some adjustments in what I typically eat, eliminating the eggs Benedict, bacon, and rolls with butter.... and the calories dropped significantly. Have never missed the eggs or the bacon.

By the way, does anyone else here use FitDay? Or the WW online tracking system? I hate to count calories and would never manage to do it for any length of time until I found FitDay. (Actually I started out with DietWatch.) But somehow, if it is on the computer I am more inclined to do it.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. And kudo's to those of you starting on phase IV!

Jo

Phase 3 Day 14!!! My completion of phase 3 is virtually a sure thing, unless I screw up and drink wine after 9 PM. I feel so good to have finished goals for another two week period. I feel relief and I feel pride. I may not be losing weight yet but I am changing my life and learning confidence in my own ability to do what I know I should do instead of feeling like a wishy washy victim all the time!

We can now count days until spring?? :D Oh, gosh, I am so tired of winter! I am not real fond of hot weather but I have never been a fan of cold weather, boots, slick roads, high heating bills, etc etc. Knowing there is an end in sight really helps.

Hang in there, fellow bootcampers. We are all making progress! :cheer: No matter what phase you are in, if you are showing up and if you keep on trying, you are moving forward!!!! :ghug:

I know I need to start phase 4 tomorrow, even if I don't complete the day's challenges totally. I am planning to go to my favorite Chinese buffet with a friend tomorrow. Ok, I know a buffet is what tripped me up last time and caused me to rephase at the beginning of phase 3, but I am going to try once more to eat like a human instead of a pig. :( I can't afford to take a day off between phases, I know myself well enough to know I would have a hard time starting again. So if I have to rephase, so be it, but I hope I will not need to.

Will be printing my certificate and posting my goals for the next phase soon.

Hi Everyone :wave:

Sorry I have not been around - seems I say that a lot to everyone in my life these days.........sigh

It may not seem like it but I really do my best to get here and offer support.

any ways I have some time this evening and want to spend some time posting tonight.

Vickilyn & Amy - how wonderful for you both reaching phase 4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so very happy for you !

Nebraska - keep the positive attitude

Bren - great seeing you ! sorry but I did laugh when you said I told my Doc I had nowhere to put those extra pounds...turns out I did! lol

Heather - great to hear your trip went well - good luck with getting the job ! Wonderful to hear how you assessed your week away.....you were very honest with yourself !

Jo - Sorry to hear today was rough for you. ! I like fitday as well - is a real help to me

FSU - happy to hear your feeling better and better !

Sweet Jean - yes my inner brat gets louder as I get older lol

Leslie - way to go on the weight loss !

Blanche - way to go with losing weight and hanging tough !

Boblin - hang tough !

Sue - hope to hear from you soon - I know how busy you are !

Wishing each of you a wonderful week ahead ! :D

Beth :peace:

PS: oh yeah - almost "forgot" I am rephrasing phase 2 for my 3rd time........sigh

going to post my goal now - I start phase 2 ( again ) tomorrow the 14th.

Beth :peace:

Completed day 1 of phase 3. It was really tough, and I feel bad physically from all that eating I did last week, but I am relived that I am back on the right track!

What is FitDay - how does it work?

YAY crew!! Even with re-phases and all do you see how many KEEP showing up instead of Giving up?? I am proud of each of you and am proud to be part of this group!

Hey Beth.....you're one of many with lots of irons in the fire and we know you're with us each day, whether you have time to post or not!

I had a good day yesterday, tho with my early start, my hiney was dragging by 5:00 PM when I got off work. My boss let's me go in at 1:00 now, since I'm going to Church.....as 12:00 cut too close and I'd be late. I caught Sunday school as well yesterday, for the first time in forever! They have coffee and muffins.....which I left alone.
I chose yesterday as a "no exercise" day.......but did get in 3600 steps (1.80 miles), got 70 (YAY) oz. water in,.....would've had a diet soda but couldn't open it..will try again today! and I was in bed for the night at 7:00 so no eating after.....will start this week on my off days to get my surroundings in order....home and truck. The office will be done in spurts!
I'll be working at another office today as both girls there have matters to take care of. It's been about 3 years since I was there.

Gonna throw myself together and boogy...have a wonderful, blessed and special day....HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY YA'LL! :x :ghug:

Well I rephrased yesterday Low and behold it was tough but I met all my goals including my exercise that I had to do on the darn threadmill. Not my exercise by choice but I had to do it. I was up peeing all night because I had to drink all my water late in the day. But it's done.

so today is day 2 phase 2.

the sugar intake is so much easier. Getting used to no white foods this is day 21 with only one slip and I picked right back up.

It's not the how many slips or falls you have. It's knowing you need to get back up right away. The longer down the more the harm. So lets get with this.

I always say someday will be ours and that someday is getting closer. Thanks to Beth and Sue who started this thread. It is great.

Completed day 2 of phase 3.

Boblin I'm with you on getting back up right away! I hope I learned my lesson and if/when I go off the next time I will get right back on the next day, and not go into a long slide. Though, I did manage to end my slide more quickly than usual, so in a way I am improving even though I had the bad week.

Work is soooo stressful now, it will be a real challenge to keep devoting the time and energy that boot camp requires, but I am going to try very hard to do this.

Blondee - Hi! Thnaks for alwys giving me words of encouragement when I need them - it has been a big help.

I did great today - met all goals :)

Have a terrible headache tonight so not staying online long tonight......

Beth :peace:

Nebraska, great for you to finish phase III. Onward to phase IV. And the pounds will start to come off, it just takes time.


Blanche, FitDay is an online "free" food diary with calories, protein, carbs... a weight and exerciser tracker, the whole bit. You sign up and it keeps your specific information for you from day to day. Much easier than a calorie book for sure. Plus you can make a report of your trends. It is a good way to find out what you are "really" eating. Even if you do not particularly do calorie counting, it is still helpful. A lot of people here at DT use it. I bought the home version and loaded it on my computer and laptop.

Phase I, day 9 I think. So far so good. Pretty much back on track food wise. My goal for this phase is not a particular amount of calories, my goal is to "track" how much I am eating, every day. I have found that the feedback helps me make changes the next day.

Jo

You know, it's amazing as I read through the posts how honest and open you all are, about where you're struggling, about where you're succeeding. I feel like we're a really tight bunch here, that we all really care about each other. So many of us have never had the kind of support and friendship and understanding that we get on here. We're all very blessed and I know if we all keep this up that we have good things in store for us. Heck, we're already enjoying the good things. Love you guys, Sue

Phase 2 Day 2
Hello group!! Yep Sue, I finally DID get to phase two! Woohoo! I am "getting" the not eating after 7:00 now! I am SO glad! I finally got a mostly solid nights sleep last night. I woke briefly about 5 times but didn't get up at 2 AM. Some changes make an immediate difference! Now if I could get me to wanna get that exercise in! That's the next step!
I did SO good with my water yesterday...90 oz! Yippee! That's more like it! I've gotta get some veggies in today as I pulled up short yesterday.
Thanks everyone for coming in regulary,.updating, giving support and eouragement..as you said Sue..we're a pretty tight group!

OH NO Beth.....we'd hoped you'd get through without a nasty headache at all this round. Huggs to you...... :hug: I pray you feel much better today.....

Have a blessed day all..I'd better boogy and get ready for work..will see you all here later!
Bren

Phase 4 Day 2

I met my goals yesterday although it wasn't very easy, especially the evening things. We each have our own difficulties and it is wonderful that we each get to challenge our own particular demons . I think that is part of what makes this boot camp work! that we are each in our own set of circumstances and challenges but still strong and cohesive as a group! Sue, you are right, this is a wonderful place to be!

My knee still hurts and I don't feel especially well today, but I have plans with a friend and I am going to enjoy the day anyway. :D

Hi all you determined Boot Campers

This is day 22 of this diet.
Day 3 of phase 2 and i'm doing it. Today is the end of day 3. I'll be coming on thursday to share a loss with you all i'm sure. But better not to count the chickens before they hatch. My scale is showing a loss but it's been known to lie. So I will only share tops weights with you all.

Today had to be the hardest day so far. I started my day off with cereal and didn't have no protein until supper. Bad another lesson learned. I did not turn to foods I fought with water and fruit.

So good luck to all if we fail we will start over. And that does not show we are weak but that we are strong enough to want this and start over and over until we get to where we want to be.

Hi everyone I am this is my last day with phase 2 and I am so excited :dn My two weeks with phase 2 went pretty good so far I have lost 5 more pounds with a total of 9 pounds lost. I am very proud of my success. Now it is time to start my next goals phase 3 tomorrow. :D I will take this one day at a time and concentrate on what I have to do next.

Leslie, cheers on finishing phase II. You have a lot to be proud of.

Taking it one day at a time, that is the way to go. And one habit at a time! One pound at a time! Some times I even took it one meal at a time. Step by step. Day by day.

Phase I, day 11, three more days to go. I'm thinking about my phase II goals. But plan to keep it simple.

Jo

Day 2 of Phase 2 and all goals are met :)

Beth :peace:

Hi everyone! :flower: Sorry I've been away so long... I've missed being here and chatting with all of you. I've had a nasty cold and haven't been following my goals these past few weeks. Not that I've been overeating, but I've been skipping meals for lack of appetite; which isn't good because it screws up my metabolism. I haven't been drinking my water or taking my vitamin like I should.

My teenager also just came home from youth detention boot camp. So we've been spending quality time together this past week getting reacquainted, getting a routine down and working things out. I'm proud of her and the changes she has made in her overall attitude. I pray peace remains in the "vegas" household. We're working hard to maintain positive, stress-free atmosphere.

I'm very happy to be back in action. Since joining Diettalk on 12-28-04, I've lost 15 pounds and I have no plans on stopping there or reverting back to my former self so... REPHASE ME!!!

Phase 2 (Feb. 17 - March 2)

Well I have alot to catch up on so I'll be here reading... congratulations to everyone on there progress. It's so awesome to read about! Hi Bren :wave: Do you remember me? Phase 2 day 2... That's great! All of you are beautiful! What an inspiration!

I have to rephase tomorrow. I was way off schedule today, helped a friend with a project that took up most of my day and I am way off track. There is no way I can eat the required amount of food tonight. But it was a good day, I feel good about the way I chose to spend my day, so it's ok.

Tomorrow, phase four day 1. It's all good.

been doing good ... hanging in there. weigh went up a bit over my trip ... have lost 1 pound since coming home, but still am up from where I was before. :c(

Good morning crew!!
Oh Vegas..I've been missing you! We were gathering a group to go into the deep woods for our campers who wandered off from the fire! I'm sorry you've been sick... :( but glad...very glad..you're back and your girl is home. Will keep the Vegas household in my prayers GF! Yippee! 15 pounds gone for good! Me sum too!

Nebraska...Yay for you.....taking that time for you and your friend....hope the knee fels much better and soon.
Hey Boblin..congrats on your progress!
Beth! Yippee! You're moving on!
Leslie! Down 5 pounds....... :c( ME sum too!
Heather..down one! See above!
Jo...wow...day 11 gone by already...yikes where is our time going? I need more!

Today is Day 4/Phase 2.....I lost a day somewhere...today is WEDNESDAY, I rephased SUNDAY.....so SMT.......yep today is day 4...is it groundhog day or am I in a time warp?

Have a blessed day...each of you! I'll be back......I need coffee or a nap!
Bren

Completed Day 3 of phase 3 yesterday. I was getting over hungry again, and I immediately ate up all the exercise points I have earned for the week so far. I think my last week long back slide in part was started by being over hungry. I told myself it would be better to eat those exercise points and wind up with a small loss than to get too hungry and wind up overeating and having a gain. In the past I never used to eat my exercise points, but I also never kept on my WW points for the entire week, or if I did not for more than one week in a row. I felt a little bad about eating them at the time, but now, the next morning I'm very glad I did. I was able to stay on track for the day and so far the week, and also it does not seem to have affected my weight much. So maybe I'm learning 8-|

Vegas - welcome back!

Boblin - I have that scale problem too. I used to be shcoked when I though I was down and then all of a suddne I wasn't. My scale can vary by about up to 5 pounds. So now I weight my self a few days in a row and go with the highest weight too.

Beth - Good job on a few good days!

Nebraska & Leslie - Congrats on finishing your phase!

Sue - I agree with you that this is a great group. It helps me so much to comehere and post - kind of like a wieght loss diary, except instead of just writing how I feel, you all then write back and offer support.

Jo - thanks for the informationabout fitday. It sounds good - can I find it on the web to try it out?

Well, tonight is boyfriends birthday dinner with his folks, and work is sure to be another day of stress, and I don't have any exercise points stored up, so it will be hard. BUt I will do my best to stay on track!

Oooops - I forgot - Heather - don't know if you've caught up on the posts - but I had a horrible slip up for an entire week - so I'm right there with you, feeling how hard it is to be up a bit and get back on track. But it is important to start over again as soon as you can - so I'm very proud of you that you are back here and tring to start again!!!!

Blanche, just go to fitday.com and sign up. It is no harder than signing up for DT! It will take a little effort to figure out the food diary. but really once you get the hang of it, it is really easy. Let me know what you think.

Vegas, 15 pounds and kept them off.... pretty good start. Hope every thing works out with your daughter. Years ago I went through some rough times with my son. But he managed to grow up, eventually.

Getting out of routine always presents a challenge. Today we went fishing and tonight we are going over to some people's house for dinner. 15 minutes ago I realized that I hadn't had my second 16 oz glass of water, which I ususally have at lunch. (Don't drink water while out in the boat.) Now I am drinking two glasses of wate so I will be sure that I get the required amount in. It probably will mean a couple of trips to the bathroom tonight, but I'm too close to phase II to take a chance that I will mess up due to water. No excuses, right.

Jo

Lucky for me I have that wood stove or i'd be stuck rephasing every day due to lack of exercise. Today I worked 9 hours. From not working at all. The girl I work for finally got sick she's been working almost 12 hours a day someday's more since taking over the restaurant the day after Christmas. Well it caught up with her.

i found it hard to work today I have somekind of boil or something imagine up between the leg. In that nice fatty part. Guess i should have it looked at but to see a doctor in this northern country is almost imposible. This is something that comes and goes and I have no idea what it is. It just won't come to a head. hey but that's not your problem. Enough.

You girls are all doing so very well. Keep up the good work.

hello :wave:
I am going to rephase tomorrow. I have had a few very stressful days and didn't have the time or the energy to keep my food journal. I think I have been eating ok...no time to overeat.....LOL!!!!! But I didn't write it down and I can't remember now everything that I have eaten the past 2 days.
I can go into my glucose monitors memory and pick out the blood sugars that I didn't write down. So I will start phase 4 again tomorrow and hope that I can keep it all straight again.
I am going to keep the very same goals of course. Keep it simple this phase..:rofl:


Blessings:spring:


Vickie:pass:

Hello everyone ...

Today is the start of Week #2 for me on Weight Watchers Online ... I'm doing the Core Program. I lost 1.5 lbs this past week even though I ate a lot of food. I like the Core "no counting" plan very much. :up:

I'm on Day 6 of Phase 1 and it's going well. The changes I made to my list of goals made a big difference ... I was trying to do too much too soon. Now I don't feel stressed and I'm relaxing and enjoying my weight loss adventure. I'm no longer gritting my teeth "until this is all over." Eating foods that are healthy and good for me will be a permanent way of life ... it has to feel good or I won't do it! :not:

This group is great and exactly what I needed. I thank all of you for sharing your stories and offering your support. It means everything to me.

Hello everyone today starts phase 3 for me and I am glad. It is hard to believe that I have completed two phases so far. I am going to take one day at a time. I have lost on phase 2 four more pounds. I now weigh 202 pounds.with a totla of 8 pounds lost in the two phases. I feel great about that. It has been a long time since I have felt such an accomplishment. I wish everyone the best and remember we can do this group. We are going to make it to our goal.:D Keep gooing and one day you will look back and be amazed at how far you have come. the only time we are losers is when we give up, believe in yourself and you will go far. It doesn't matter how many times you have to rephase just keep trying and you will know each time what you can do to keep from rephasing. Take care of yourselves everyone.

Day one of my rephase for phase four has gone well. I sometimes think I am still eating too much food, but it is mostly my fruit and vegetable servings, I am not sure how much that can truly hurt..........

Sweet Jean, I loved your phrase about not gritting your teeth until this is all over. We need to make permanent lifestyle changes, baby step by baby step so it doesn't seem so overwhelming. I am glad things are going more smoothly for you now!

Beth, hope the headache went away......

Hi everyone! Yesterday I complete Day 4 of Phase 3. I'm hanging on by a thread, but if I'm careful I can still make it through the rest of the first week of phase 3 sticking to my goals. (Most of my goals are to do things a certain number of times per week)

I was thinking about the baby step thing too Nebraska - I was thinking maybe I wasn't changing enough things quickly enough - but thanks for reminiding me what I decided at the beginning of the year - for me it is better to change habits just a couple at a time and really permanently (or as close to it as I can) change them than to try to change a bunch of things at once, get overwhelmed, and quit, only to restart weeks later worse off than I was before I started the last time. Have to keep this in mind!!! instead of getting upset that I still have lots of bad health habits - I hwave to think that I am a bit better health wise with just the few changes I have made.

Phase 2/Day5....yippee....
I am off the next two days, getting caught up here at home will take some time and I hope to get to it.....soon!
I had 7 days on at work and am ready for my off days....I am so tired!
We had a good day at work yesterday...it was sale day and we had a good turn out and good bids. We always dislike this procedure, as we understand how folks feel about their personal stuff.......but after 3 months of non-payment, we're left without options.

I made contact with some Alabama friends this past weekend..it was so good to talk to them. I miss 'em and would love to visit, but I'd need a month to make the rounds!
I need to get out and about here some, get involved in some social activity.....soon, I'm thinking..maybe by Summer?

Gonna run as I've been booted three times already. I may get another computer.if my friend gets the new one she wants, she's agreed to sell me hers. It's way newer than this one with much more memory etc. We'll see how that goes!
Have a blessed day and do somethin' special for YOU today!
Bren

Hi all, I scanned through all of your posts and it is so uplifting to read. I still have not completed Phase 1 and unlike you Vickilyn, I thought I'd have no problem finishing Phase 3 on time. I am slowly getting my head and heart into it. My exercise, which I was totally lacking is up to a min. of 30 min. cardio daily through the week and I started adding strength training just this morning and am feeling great. I drink my 64 oz. water daily. I have no problem with that. And now, I am cutting food after 7:30 which is where I junk out. I have not been keeping track of what I eat however and am way overboard. I am beginning Oprahs 12 week bootcamp Mon. Actually, I have already begun with everything exept getting the white carbs out of my diet. I will have grilled potato's tonight and I am planning on them Sunday too. They are my favorite food. I have given them up before for 3 weeks. I may have to adjust that part of my bootcamp so I don't set my self up to fail. Just wanted to touch base. I will rephase myself again Monday even though I have been following my goals set out here for a couple of days. I fine with doing both as day one together.

Everybody seems to be doing pretty good. And yes, baby steps first. Habits first.

One of the things I did, way back when, was emphasize good things to eat. I tried to have five servings of fruts/veggies a day. We started having fruit for dessert with dinner and have done so for over five years now, so I guess it is a habit. I started by limiting "starches" to three a day, and as part of that I stopped having bread (or rolls) with dinner. I finally found a little roll that comes in a bag that my husband likes and I don't particularly care for, so he has bread with dinner and I don't, without feeling deprived. I found a whole grain bread that has high fiber AND tastes great, which is what I use for my breakfast. One slice a day. Habits. One at a time.

It can be done.

Last night we went to some friends house for dinner. I carefully entered all the food in Fitday, and was pleased to see my total calories for the day (even with the wine and dessert) were under 1400. I felt so funny, sitting at the dinner table and thinking (to myself), "is this a half a cup or a third of cup?" I think I did a pretty good job of being careful about entering the food.

Jo

Hi all ... I am still hanging in ... on day 6 of phase 2. Weight is back down to 259 .... Yipee! Have lost what I put on during my trip. Now to just keep it off, and get rid of some of the rest!

My biggest struggle right now is my moods ... I hate sitting and waiting to find out if I got the job or not ... I try not to dwell on it, but it is there anyway. Mood fluctuates rapidly from confident to pessimistic to depressed to excited ... ect. It is wearing me out emotionally. I wish I knew how it was going. Will phone next week if I do not hear ... trying to keep myself distracted, but it is not working. :sigh:

Wow a lot of new habit forming here. I don't know if what i'm doing is called low carbing I don't think so. But so far it's the easiest diet i've ever tried No sugar, no white flour, no white rice or pasta. And it's working. I'll be back tonight to share with you how much but the first two weeks of doing it I lost 5 lbs. Not a lot but i'll take it.

You are all doing so great with changing Habits. Keep going someday will be ours.

I had to re-phase on Sunday. This week has been much better, I've actually gotten my exercise in every day this week!!! :D I haven't been around much this week, because I was busy all the time working on a website, which I finally got up and running today!!! :D :D :D Hopefully I'll be around more often now.

I feel like such a bad supporter since I am never around anymore!! I am working on it! I promise you all that. But I AM able to read your posts, its just hitting that reply button that gets me everytime.

Just a quick check-in.... PHASE #3/DAY 6...

Back to being sick, but I'm not letting that stop me this time!!

It's my throat... can't swallow... hard to talk and eat. :c(

I had some tests run, results come back tomorrow morning, so I'm hoping they will be able to diagnose me based on those results.

Medicine temporarily takes the pain away.. and then BAM, its back to hurting again! ARGH!

I hope you all are doing well. Bikni season is what keeps me going!!

Here it is only 9:30 p.m. and I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open but I didn't want to let another day go by without posting. I'll read and do a better post tomorrow. I'm doing just fine and hope all of you are too. :ghug: Sue

My daily goals were all accomplished so I am back on track. some days seem so smooth and easy -- today wasn't one of them! But in the end, it all worked out good.

Does anyone know where to find the updated Food Guide Pyramid recommendations? One of my goals for Phase 4 is to study the Pyramid again and I thought the new recommendations had been published but so far I haven't seen them.

Keep posting.............. hope everyone is getting along ok. Maybe more people will show up over the weekend.

Today I start day 6 of phase 3. Still have not lost back all that I gained during my bad week, very frustrating X-( So since I've been back on track for a few days now I guess I really did gain a couple pounds that I'll have to reloose urrrrrrrgh!!!

But I'm going to try not to think about all this and just focus on trying to finish this phase.

PHASE 2/DAY1 :c( February 18-March 4Yep I'm rephasing...

I had dinner after 7:00 PM. No excuses and I did it totally concious. I'd taken a late nap, got up late and STAYED up late and my 2 PM meal had gone bye-bye.
OH no Rebekah....there's strep going around with all the other nasties......I pray for speedy recovery for you. That's so miserable. Take really good care of you.

Hey Nebraska......I'm with you on the "new" pyramid......they should have told us when it was actually ready to view! LOL! I've been looking for it as well and only find articles alluding to it?
I liked the idea of building my own, after seeing the one in the artritis book Artmaker suggested........where are you Susan, BTW? Hope you're doing well! Anyway, at the bottom it has 8 glasses of water......I'd thought that was neat, then exercise, fruit/veggies/etc...if I based my meal plans on the lesser of evils, I'd be more balanced and get enough of the good stuff!
I grabbed some ghrapics off our computer at work as my Corel Suite 8 doesn't have much. When I have play time I'll do one up.

Gotta run and get ready for work. I was called to fill in at the other office today, so I'll grab my day off next week, in addition to the two I'll have....maybe then I can play?
Have a good day all....it's good to see you here! Take excellent care of you today and thru the weekend..whatever that entails for you......I'll do the same here.

Bren

Nebraska, I know I have seen the new pyramid on various TV shows and I think I saw it in Time magazine. Not sure why it is not easy to find. From what I hear it is a very healthy diet. So it is a good plan to learn more about it. Please share.

Phase I, day 14! I have my exercise in already and half my water so the rest of the day should be a piece of cake. Tomorrow I will figure out my average calories for the 14 days and incorporate a decrease in overall calories for Phase II. The other change in my goals for phase II will include exercise.

I haven't lost any weight this two weeks (so far) but my official weigh day is Sunday. The scales have been jumping around, up and down two pounds for the whole two weeks. Except for two days I'm pretty happy with my eating for phase I. The last ten pounds I lost took a whole year, so I'm not too discouraged about my weight. The big key is how am I doing on my eating plan and am I exercising. The weight will come off, eventually.

Jo

Hi all! I just posted in my journal how I’ve been doing (which is fine) and why I haven’t been posting (busy) but I know at least some of the other reasons why people oftentimes do not post.

Just plain busy-ness: we all need to remember that our journeys must take a high priority. Along with the other important things in our lives, our health (all facets of it) is extremely important too and deserves to get top billing. There are things that are written that might touch us personally and if we don’t at least read, we are missing out on possible blessings and breakthroughs. Besides, we might have just the words to post that could make a difference in someone else’s life. Although members may be posting in their own or others’ journals, we need you here too, at least for short weekly visits. We all need each other! Sometimes people don’t know what to post or feel they don’t have anything of interest or importance to post—if it’s important or interesting to you, it’s important and interesting to us. We care about you, even the seemingly mundane things. How about this biggie: You’ve rephased and rephased and rephased and have eventually given up. You know, even if you’re not on track right now, you still need support and encouragement, again even if it’s just to come here to read. Maybe something you read or post will be just the thing to get you back on track. Or, how ‘bout the fact that we’ve seriously fallen off the bandwagon and DT is the absolute LAST place we want to come (been there, done that). DT, at that point, is exactly where you need to be at that time, again, if only to read. The longer one stays away, the harder it is to get back in control. But, if you need to take a breather and go through whatever you’re going through on your own, remember, you are always welcome back and will be welcomed back with open arms.

For those of you who post regularly, you are the core, the backbone, a very important part of the body, a part that helps keep the rest of the body functioning properly. Thank you.

This journey of ours is not easy, at least not in the long haul; but we’re all in this together and together we can lift each other up when we’re down and keep each other up when we’re up.

Love you guys, Sue

HEY!!! I am BACK!!! After soooooooooooooo long!!! GUESS WHAT THOUGH? I MUST REPHASE. THis is REPHASE #3!!!!! BUt it will be worth it. and here is my new goals though for this first part of the phase:

1.) Excercise on trendmill at least 30 minutes.

2.) Drink ALOT of water!!!

3.) NO SODA!!!!!!! OR CHIPS!!! NO JUNK FOOD!!

4.) MORE Veggies.

5.) and misc. excercise routines.

Still weigh the same!!!

Nice bieng back!!

bye!!!!!!!

Completed day 6 of phase 3, still hanging on but just barely. Work is so stresfull right now, I never realized how much the stress gives me feelings of wanting to eat, eat sugar and eat lots. But so far I am holding this at bay. Thankfully I have a couple days off to calm down a bit and get more centered before I have to go back to the huge stress of work.

On another note, it is really helpful to me to read everyone's posts and see that other people are going through the same things as me. It makes me feel better and encouraged to keep trying. It also helps me to write the posts, like a prize - when I am struggling I think that if I go off I won't be able to come here and say I completed the day. And I like to look at the last post I wrote to see how I was feeling the last time I posted. Often just a day later I feel much better about things and am not struggling as much.

At first I didn't know what to post, but now I mostly write about whatever seems to affect my staying on track right now, things that happen or how I feel. So everyone, I know you are all busy and sometimes don't feel like posting, but if you can, please try to keep coming here more frequently and posting more often. I've noticed less and less posts lately, and it would be a shame if this great group dwindled away.

Welcome back, Slashor Kitty! Woo-hoo! So glad to see you, how could I not love somebody with a name like that!!!!!!!!!

I agree, the posts have been fewer, what happened? I depend on you guys to keep me going! Since there was a first place finisher for phases one through three do you all think this is over???? boot camp has been a huge blessing for me and I have made more lifestyle changes in the last few weeks than I have in the last year or two. It is NOT over!!!

Guess I have never visited the journals section of this site. Maybe one of these days..... I keep running out of time for everything I want to do.

In my searches for the "new" pyramid I saw a Canadian pyramid that included unlimited fruits and vegetables. It is amazing how my tastes and habits have changed since I started with stressing LOTS of vegetables. I thought I wanted to live on bread and crackers and granola bars..... now I add one or two servings to a day and am happy. I don't know if that is the answer, but I have definitely changed.

If anyone watched that class reunion weight loss challenge, the first place winner/loser was on a vegetarian plan and the second place one was on the pyramid. EVERYBODY exercised, but those were the two most productive food plans. I have long thought the secret to weight management was to eat a little bit of everything in moderation. That is how our bodies are designed. But I have never been able to follow what I preached, :laugh:

By the way, I weighed myself this morning and weighed three pounds less than just a few days ago -- I really think my medications have something to do with this although in this phase I have cut alcohol considerably and upped my dairy one serving while continuing high water fruit and vegetable consumption. Who knows? I just hope I stabilize soon and get busy dropping pounds consistently.

Hi everyone I am in phase 3 day 5 I have loss in phase three 2 pounds. My total loss is 10 pounds. I just want to say that I agree with you Sue 100% Please continue to post here because we all need each other. We need to all stick together.
Welcome back slashorkitty :D I am glad you came back. You can do this you really can. Try to post as much as possible. I have been there where I just gave up and stop posting and I gained weight :c( So now I try to post as much as possible. I know that we all have busy lives but try and post everyone when you can.
Congratulatins Nebraska on your three pound loss. :D
Remember we all need each other

Good morning fellow campers!!
Woohoo! Welcome back SlashorKitty! It's good to see you again! Can someone loan me the flame thrower? My fire is fizzling! Emotionally, I'm dry...but will refill today!

Yesterday was a rather disturbing day. I went in to fill in at the other office, for Jo....the manager....the other lady came in at her regular time, and the boss (daddy one) put her to laminating some OLD newspapers of his, rather than sending me home and letting her take over. It hurt her feelings badly, made her angry, she cried and it broke my heart. She felt she was being punished for taking Monday off..she'd had court issues and a Dr's appointment, and I filled in 'till Jo could get there at 1:30........I am praying for resolution and smoothing down of ruffled feathers. In Deb's position, I'd have felt exactly the same way....Daddy boss doesn't think things through much and they could lose Deb if not careful.
He just doesn't have much couthe.......she's very upset now and she's badly needed at that office. Jo is at the hospital in Lubbock, with her Dad dying and needs relief.

Ok....now on to a more personal note......I need to rephase again! I am determined to STOP eating after 7 PM........I did well for 5 days or so, then the past two have been out of balance. I feel it's the emotional thing kicking in, as my hunger level wasn't real high..maybe a 2-3 on a scale of 1-5. So I'll rephase again today Saturday Feb. 19th and end...I say END...March 5th. :o

I'll renew my commitment to myself and take care of business up in here. I'm off to look up some stuff and will be back tomorrow..have a blessed day everyone!
Bren

Sue, you said that that this journey is not easy, at least in the long haul.... Boy, how true. I think about what Dr. Phil says about self talk, and I sometimes wonder if I hurt myself and others by continuing to say that it never gets easy. But I like to think of myself as a realist. Prepare for the worst but expect the best... And I believe that in the long run most people do better if they know what to expect and can prepare for it. Certainly it has been my experience that more often than not successfully losing weight and KEEPING it off has been hard. Not every day. Not all the time. But still hard.

That said, it is worth it! :balloons: Oh my, how it is worth it. Every time I put on a pair of size 12 jeans I smile. The improvement in my health, my knees, and my long gone reflux, oh my it is worth it. Watching my brother struggle to control his diabetes and worry about paying for his insulin when he retires.. Oh my, it is worth it.

I guess my point is that living with obesity is hard too. So I would rather fight the fight so to speak, in a size 12, then in a size 20.

Blanche, I certainly remember how work stress made it difficult for me to stay on track. So hang in there. And awareness is the first step to finding ways to compensate for the obstacles to success.

Bren, not eating after 6 PM is one of those habits I changed six years ago. Part of the reason it worked for me is we retired and that made it easier to cook dinner earlier. You might consider changing your goal to something like 6 days out of 7. I don't know if it is dinner you are having late which causes you to rephase or "snacking". If it is snacking, then a hard fast rule is probably the way to go until it becomes a habit. I don't even think about food after dinner.

I can't believe how long this was. Hope you all don't mind how wordy I can be. BTW, I am starting Phase II today. I have posted my new goals and the emphasis will be increased exercise :ex: and more servings of fruits and veggies. My average calories per day for phase I was 1407, not too bad but I will try to get that number under 1400.

Jo

Hi guys. I am starting the Oprah bootcamp tomorrow and will start a rephase then. Back to the beginning. Even though I have been following my goals set forth hear for a while, I want the 2 to be in conjunction. Besides, it will just help keep me on the straight and narrow longer. I did a 55 min. cardio tape yesterday, 35 min. on the stationary bike today (10.1 miles) and both days also did 8 min. of strength training. I feel really good getting exercise back into my life. Keep it up everyone. So inspiring. :D

Phase 4 Day 4 almost completed. I took a nap this afternoon and will be going to sleep early tonight. It was an exhausting week at work and the weather today has been dreary and wet, good sleeping weather!

I am amazed when I look at my goals for phase 4 how much easier these changes are becoming. I still have to keep thinking about what I am doing and every so often I do have to tell that inner brat "no -- because I said so, that's why!" but when I look back to the beginning of phase 1 I am amazed. I never knew I could do this!

Hope all of you are having a good weekend and staying on track!

Hi Everyone – :wave:

I went back a few pages and will try to catch up with most of you – sorry if I miss anyone.

I know how much it means to me when someone supports me and I want to do my best to support all of you.

Jo – very good for realizing you were short on water and taking care of it and for doing so well with your food while at the friends house! Thank you for sharing this with us ! I guess my point is that living with obesity is hard too. So I would rather fight the fight so to speak, in a size 12, then in a size 20.

Boblin – I get boil type things all the time – there is a over the counter ointment that looks and smells like tar – really nasty but works within days for me all the time.

Vickilyn – sorry to hear how rough work is – hang tough your doing great!

Sweet Jean – happy to hear your enjoying this and its getting easier for you – great on the weight loss !

Leslie – way to go on your weight loss !

Nebraska – great about eating a lot of fruits and vegetables ! I too looked for hours online and the new food pyramid is like this big secret ! I can’t find it any where! You said you found the Canadian pyramid – would you please post the web site here for us?

Blanche – Hang tough ! You can do this and when you feel you can’t PM someone and get support. We are here for you…Hang Tough !

Bren – Happy your getting some days off work ! Your doing great! I am happy you did not quit when you realized you had to rephrase – Hang tough ! Please be sure to read Jo post to you – I was rephrasing like crazy until I made my goals like for 5 days a week – just a thought you may want to try.

Kris – your doing great ! GREAT on the exercise!

Heather – I feel bad for you – I have been there and it stinks. GREAT about the weight loss !

ArmyNavy – GREAT !!!!!!

FSU – this “thing” really has a grip on you poor girl – hope it lets go soon !

Sue – Great to hear from you ! What a wonderful post ! Thank you for sharing that with us ! So how are you doing?

Slash – great to see you back – you can do this !



Updates:

A few of you are expressing concerns of the lack of posts here - hence lack of support.

Sadly like a lot of plans people start them but then drop out, as well as some of them realize it just does not work for them.
Us who are still here need to support each other as much as we can. All any of us can give is our best - we will make it ! :)

One thing I do want to stress - is please do not take it personal if your post is not responded to quickly - sometimes all a poster has time to do it throw their own post in real quick or read a few posts and then they have to log off - if you need help right away - please PM someone or post in the SOS forum.

Personal Update:

I have had a lot going on since V Day and ate my way through it ! For a 10 lbs regain ! scales tonight say 246....( sorry not reposting it - its in my journal ) and need to rephase.......( again )..........sigh :c(

Phase 2 - Feb 20 - March 5th

PS: edited Sunday morning - scales this morning say 243 lbs

Beth :peace:

Good morning everyone!
Thanks Jo and Beth for input....I will go back and edit my goals so I don't have to do it again. My schedule is what tripped me up those two days and in order to give myself a tad more freedom and flexibility, it will help...I'll be at my Mom's on my off days this week and I need more flexibility there! If I remember right, you can edit your goals and it requires a rephase?
So today would be Day 1/Phase 2........ Feb 20-March 6.
I'll be back!
Bren

OK...Did my editing.....allowing two nights a week for dinner after 7 if NEEDED.....and decreased my exercise to the 10 minutes instead of 15. With the additional steps, I think it's a good start. If I can do more...that will be good..if not, that's ok too.
I'm striving for progress, not perfection and I will see some around here!
Have a good day everyone..I plan to as well.
Bren

Hey..I found a neat site for pyramid food plans... intelihealth.com
pyramids-a-plenty....the article title. And from Old ways......in search of the mediterrean diet plan, I found good pics there. I saved pictures of the mediterranean and vegetarian one to my files, enlarged 'em and printed 'em out.

Completed my first week of phase 3!!!!! Now on to the second week! Am quite happy because this is where I was before my bad week and now I feel I can move forward again instead of repeating the same thing over. Also, I think my wieght is about where it was before that week.

Great thought Jo - about fighting the battle at size 12 rather than size 20.

Bren - For myself, I find it much more doable to give myself a little leaway - like vitamins 6 times per week rather than every day. For me, it is just too hard to do things day after day, week after week, with no flexibility. I love reading your upbeat posts - thanks for being here and good luck with getting through your phase!

Beth - sounds like you've been dealing with a lot! Thanks for making time to keep coming here. And wow, to be going through all these things and still working on yourself through bootcamp, that is something to really be proud of!

Slash - welcome back!

Nebraska and Leslie - Way to go on having sucess!

Kris O - Congrats on getting in exercise! I've started exercising too. I can barely do anything compared to what I used to be able to do. But slowly I am improving and I feel much better physically than I did before I started!

sorry if I missed anyone!!

[QUOTE=Blondee49]PHASE 2/DAY1 :c( February 18-March 4

Hey Nebraska......I'm with you on the "new" pyramid......they should have told us when it was actually ready to view! LOL! I've been looking for it as well and only find articles alluding to it?
I liked the idea of building my own, after seeing the one in the artritis book Artmaker suggested........where are you Susan, BTW? Hope you're doing well! Anyway, at the bottom it has 8 glasses of water......I'd thought that was neat, then exercise, fruit/veggies/etc...if I based my meal plans on the lesser of evils, I'd be more balanced and get enough of the good stuff!
I grabbed some ghrapics off our computer at work as my Corel Suite 8 doesn't have much. When I have play time I'll do one up.

I found a wealth of information about the new dietary guidelines here:

http://www.nutrition.gov/

If you navigate around you can find the new guidelines and much more.. However, I still didn't see an actual pyramid diagram. Perhaps it is there and I just haven't seen it yet.

Okay, just a reminder that I am starting all over today. Same goals.
64 oz H20 daily
WW program
20 min. of cardio 5X's week
No eating after 7:30

Actually, as stated, I have been doing well on all of it but the food portion. I am off and running and have been for a few days.

Have a great Sunday all. Thanks for the support.

Beth, you asked about the Canadian pyramid I mentioned. I am still looking for the exact link, but here is one to the Mayo Clinic weight management pyramid that has unlimited fruits and vegetables at the bottom.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2000-av/pyramid1.jpg

Actually, if you just do a search for Food Guide Pyramid or USDA Food Guide Pyramid you can access an enormous amount of information!

Hello fellow bootcampers ...

I'm on Day 10 of Phase 1 ... never got this far before ... but will finish Phase 1 this time and move on to 2, then 3 and beyond. Before I could succeed at Boot Camp I needed to admit that I AM NOT WILLING TO SUFFER. I could be more strict with myself, I could make bigger goals, I guess I'd reach my goal weight more quickly that way ...

BUT ...

I would never stick it out for the rest of my life. I'd gain back all my weight ... without a doubt.

This time I want my extra weight to leave permanently ... so I might as well make this journey as comfortable as possible ... that way I'll keep my habits for the rest of my life. I have a few photos of myself hitting "goal" after some of my crazy strict diets ... I was at goal weight for what ... a day or two? I made the mistake of shopping for new clothes after one of my strict adventures ... I didn't fit into any of them a week later! Thank goodness my daughter wore most of them when she started working ... some still had their price tags attached!!!

So the changes I make now are meant to be lasting changes. I have 130 down as my goal this time, but WHEN I get to 140, if my body is happy at that point ... well, so be it. I'm number 2 in this journey ... my body is number 1 ... this time I'll do what my body tells me to do.

I know I'm rambling a bit today, but LOL what are Sundays for? Here's another rant of mine ... I bought a subscription to Self magazine for myself and my stepdaughter this Christmas ... and I am more than disappointed. THE MODELS LOOK ANOREXIC. There isn't one woman in the magazine who doesn't have the body of a 12-year-old. No breasts, no thighs, no calves, no SHAPE!!! OK, end of that rant ... before the year is out I will send a letter "to the editor" ....

I want to say something about the new pyramid thing that's being discussed on this thread ... Weight Watchers Core program is a lot like the pyramid that allows unlimited fruit and veggies ... read their Core program and you'll be surprised at how much you can eat. Did you know that a great big juicy California naval orange only has about 65 calories! And on Core if you want 5 of them, go ahead ... (trust me you won't even be able to eat even 3 ... they are that filling and satisfying).

Anyway, it's something to think about.

I'm doing Core and I love it ... I no longer FEAR hunger and that's a wonderful thing. When I eat sweet stuff ... even raisins! ... I usually start craving more and more sweet stuff ... but oranges, apples, and grapes don't seem to have that effect on me. On Core you are NOT allowed to have dried fruits (the raisins, for instance) but all other fresh fruits are yours to eat. (I am not being paid by WW to write all this ... believe me ... lol.) I am happy that I can now eat to my own level of satisfaction and I can do it with HEALTHY, FILLING, AND NATURALLY SWEET food.

OK ... no more ramblings from me ... lol ... for today at least. I just wanted to say hello to everyone and add my :2cents: !!

Whatever else you're doing today, stop and let yourself have a little bit of fun ... or a lot ... depending on the time you have.

I love you all.

Oh darn I came and left a post on Friday. I was so anxious to brag about my weigh in at tops. I lost another 3 lbs making my loss 8 lbs since I joined boot camp.

Like every one else I do agree that reading the posts helps sometimes you see yourself in someone else.

You girls rock your doing great.

I'll be rephasing in phase 11 tomorrow I haven't been getting my exercise in. I'll lower it some. Not that it is high i'm not doing it. And my water i'm having a hard time with it.

so just going to take it easier.

Take care all.

I must of forgot to send my post on Friday.

Lots of new posts from yesterday. Lots of good ideas.

Yes, I believe in setting reasonable goals with a little flexibility in them. On hospital based weight loss workshop said goals should be SMART. S- Simple; M - measurable; A - achievable; R - realistic; T- timed. So that is what we are doing with our phase goals. For me to set a goal that I exercise 60 minutes a day is not achievalbe or realistic. So I started out slow in phase I. And I increased it a little in phase II.

Some of you are doing the "core" WW program. How is that different than the one they had been using? I made several attempts at WW, including once during this journey. I never could adjust to the point system, and much preferred the old old WW food exchange. (Yes, I am that old.) So my diet to lose weight this time, (if you could call it a diet) was based more on food servings. At least five fruits/veggies, no more than 3 starches, 1 or 2 low fat dairy, 2 or 3 proteins, limit fat and concentrated sweets, and limit alcohol to three servings a week.

Good to see everyone doing so well. I'm so glad I found this thread and I appreciate the warm welcome you all have given me.

Jo

:c( BOO HOO.....Got boo-hooted right offline again.
Ok will try to be brief....Today is Day 2 Phase 2 in my place. Good morning all Campers....and thanks for tips picked up and used along the way!

Blanche, thanks for your kind words! It's always a pleasure to be here and "see" all of you hanging with me!
Nebraska....thanks for the link! I'll check it out. I don't know how to post links or mine would've shown up right! I am so glad to have a printer, as it gets a good workout! Now if "someone" would just come do my filing for me! It's on my to do list...
SweetJean....I know how to listen to my body, I just tune it out more often than not. Right now I may average 3-4 times a week. Thanks for your post on that topic and on Core. Gives me incentive to eat my fruit!! I've never gotten to goal weight, tho I was at a much healthier one...at 168.......many moons ago. I gained 30 pounds after my hysterial-ectomy at age 30, and have gained about 35 in the past two years. :c( X-( I will kick my butt and move on down the road. This is a DIFFICULT..not an impossible task. I am so glad to have such good company on the journey!
Boblin!...down 3 more pounds! Good going! Isn't this FUN?
Jo.... I wrote down the SMART thing. I think I'd seen that somewhere and forgot it! Imagine that!

I'd better go 'fore I'm spotted and booted off again! Have a wonderful weel everyone. I will as well....and a productive one!
Be blessed best best where you need it most....
Bren

Woohoo! I did go to the link and printed a copy of that one. Thanks so much!That's a neat one!......ooops..there are two links..ok I got the pyramid one..now I'll do the other one!

hello everyone I am in phase 3 7th day I have lost 2 1/2 pounds with a total loss of 10 1/2 pounds :) I had a pretty good week. I have exercised six days this week. I am taking it one day at a time and to truly learn my body. I want to stop eating when I am full. sometimes it can get a little frustrating. I have head hunger and I feel sometimes that I can't be full already. I have to tell myself out loud that I have had enough to eat and if I am hungry later that I could go back later and finish eating. Have a good day everyone :D

Hi all ... still hanging in there. Phase 2 Day 10. May get through this time!

Hi everybody and congrats on the weight losses. I am in day 2 of Phase 1 and I am kicking butt in the exercise area. I am feeling good.

We are 2 peas in a pod Bren, when it comes to big weight gain after our hysterical- ectomies. I put on well over 30 since mine in 2 years. I'm taking it off now though. :D

Sweet Jean, that's too bad about the Self magazine. I haven't read it in a couple of years but it used to be a good magazine.

So I read somewhere to go to the Mayo Clinic and get the pyramid there? I am still doing the old WW points but I am now on Oprahs bootcamp so I can really have all the veggies and fruits I want. Just stay away from the processed white carbs. I went all day yesterday without a potato and served my DH one. :) . I am just feeling good.

Have a great day all.

Hi all. Sorry I’ve been MIA, I think I needed to take a brief vacation of sorts. My sister and I went to that massage on Saturday and it really was terrific to be pampered for an hour plus it was physically good for me too. Me time is always important, good for our stress levels. My sister’s down to 145 and looks so good. She’s in a medium top now. Amazing. It helps to see success in others and know I can be there too.

I enjoyed reading everyone’s posts. We sure are all in this together and I love to hear the experiences of others, what works, where they need to change. They’re always so helpful and motivating.

Let’s make this a good week. Sue

PS: SJ, I forwarded your email to work so I could (finally) respond to it, but I couldn't get your email address to show up so now I'll have to wait for tonight...

Everyone here is doing so well no matter what phase your in or how often you have to rephase. You are learning by your mistakes but the most important lesson we are learning is not to stay down.

Jo- I liked that smart thing you had in a post. I wrote it out to base a meeting at tops on that. Once and awhile I offer the girl to take a meeting.

Blondee- Thank you It's a good road but man sometimes a tough one. But seeing progress is great.

Leslie- Wow 10 1/2 lbs your doing great.

Sue- With time you will be shopping with your sister for those smaller sizes.

I'm happy with today's scale readings no weekend weight to lose and in fast it's down how much will be reported on thursday. As I have one of those bouncy scales. LOL.
I did a little needless eating on the weekend but not bad. And no sugar or flour or white potatoes other than Sat. had about 1 cup of potatoes. And oops yesterday i had a few chips but didn't hurt the diet any. Guess I had watched everything else close enough.

Good luck to all.

ARGH! I did soooo good on Phase 1 for a whole week, then yesterday I blew it! I'm supposed to drink some water before having any snacks inbetween meals, and yesterday while spending the afternoon at my pastor's house with his girls, I had some chips and cake and no water!!! X-( So, I have to rephase, again. Hopefully I've learned my lesson and won't have to rephase on p1 anymore!

hi, all! Phase 4 Day 6 for me. I am going to be out of sync this week as my work schedule is switched around because of a co-worker's vacation. So I will need to do some real planning and stick to what I know I need to be doing.

Sweet Jean, that was a great post about making permanent comfortable changes! I am finding the small steps I have taken are now routine to me and I keep making more small changes as I go. This IS about living the rest of our lives, not, as someone said, gritting our teeth until the diet is over.

Congratulations, Boblin! And Leslie, WOW, great loss! Head hunger is a problem for me, too. This phase I am challenging myself to get truly physically hungry at least once a day.

Lots to do today, just wanted to check in and give you all a round of applause for being here!

Hi,
Phase 4 is not going well at all for me. I seem to have no motivation and no determination anymore. It just seems to be another source of stress and aggravation for me right now. I am barely hanging onto my goals by a thin sliver of a thread. I am afraid I am about to plunge off the edge and give up.
Tomorrow, hubby and I both have a rare free day so we have decided to have a nice breakfast together and go out for the day and have some fun. I am looking forward to that. Maybe I will de-stress a bit and get a grip. For now, I am going to go take a shower and maybe watch a movie.
Keep me in your thoughts if you would. I am struggling right now.


Blessings:spring:


Vickie:pass:

Oh Vickilyn, phase four IS hard! The first three phases had all that excitement of something fresh and new, there were so many of us here and everything had that "new project" enthusiasm and there was a prize promised at the end ............ :( now we are back to reality, the newness has worn off, the numbers are down, and we are faced with knowing this is really the same old thing...... only different.

I am trying to keep at this because it is the first method I have found for ages that is really making a difference for me. I have accomplished changes in my behavior/eating/drinking patterns that I would not have believed I could do before boot camp. You have had so much success, hang on to that, and know that this will work for you!!!! If you need to take a day off and then rephase, do it, but do not give up!!!!

What can we do to help????

Yeah, but Vickie, you're not the giving up type! For the last three phases, you know what kept coming through about you? That even with the struggles of your busy/stressful job and your health concerns that you just kept going forward. I mean, you just kept going strong even with that and I can tell you're not going to give up this time.

Sounds to me like a de-stressing day with your husband tomorrow is exactly what the doctor ordered. Come tell us all about it when you've caught your breath of fresh air.

Thank God for when it IS easy, it just not always that way. Now's when you're going to need the support the most. Why don't you take a moment and write down where you were physically and emotionally where you started and where you are now, how much better you feel, how successful you've been, how you've changed, and even what you hope to accomplish in the next month, where you want to be, what you have to do to get there.

You'll be okay. This is just part of the journey.

Hey Nebraska. Could you tell us what it is about boot camp that is different for you, what it is about it that does the trick? Why it's working for YOU? I'm interested. Sue

Naomi, that's a pretty darn good idea about drinking water before between-meal snacks. Good way to decide whether you're really truly hungry (or just want to do something with your mouth :-). Did you just forget yesterday or did you want the snack more than anything else? Sue

fast post - I am sick with some "bug" - woke up sick this morning and decided to go to curves and see if I could shake it off - no such luck..... :(

Other then work I have been in bed all day/evening and am headed back there real soon. I sure hope I shake this fast - in the next 2 days we have 11 cleaning jobs to get done!

BUT yesterday and today I met all my goals - not sure if this sickness hangs around if I can still keep meeting my goals - but I am sure going to try.

tomorrow is phase 2 day 3 for me :)

weigh in today said 241 - which is all my regain weight and an additional .5 gone in a week - I'll take it lol

Beth :peace:

Naomi, that's a pretty darn good idea about drinking water before between-meal snacks. Good way to decide whether you're really truly hungry (or just want to do something with your mouth :-). Did you just forget yesterday or did you want the snack more than anything else? Sue

Well, I sorta did forget, but I was also watching Gunsmoke at the time, and wasn't thinking straight. My mind was occupied elsewhere. 8-| I'm not about to try to ask about changing that goal since I really, really need my water and prolly don't drink enough as it is!

Vickilyn please check your private messages :hug:

Beth :peace:

Hey Nebraska. Could you tell us what it is about boot camp that is different for you, what it is about it that does the trick? Why it's working for YOU? I'm interested. Sue

I think first of all it is the accountability and support of the group. there is a different level of commitment and concern and strength here than I have found in other groups. I started with the Dr. Phil challenge in another section of diettalk.com and then moved here when Beth started the bootcamp idea. I have seen Yahoo groups and places like that where people give lip service to the idea of losing weight but never get off the mark. You guys are serious and most of all, you care! I am so very grateful to each and every person here because you are making it work for me, whether you post success or set backs or just pop in to say hello.

I also think the idea of setting goals for a two week period at a time is helping me. Two weeks is a manageable chunk of time, you can do just about anything for two weeks if you set your mind to it; but two weeks is also long enough to start a new habit. I know most literature says 21 to 28 days is the required time frame for establishing a new habit, but for me the two week increments have made enough difference that a new behavior pattern seems routine by the end of two weeks. Having to start the two weeks over is also helpful, if I screw up there is a price to pay, and I think twice before I just decide to set my goals aside for a temporary pleasure.

The whole structure of setting goals is different from what I have seen before as well. Writing a list, posting it formally in a specific place for the group to see, and then keeping a notebook with a check off sheet in it for my daily use....... that works for me, too. I would not keep as good a mental check list, I am afraid.

Maybe it is just "my time," but I do believe this structure and program have given me the tools to succeed, with the support of my fellow bootcampers.

Completed Day 9 of phase 3. I'm just barely hanging on by a thread, I hope to regroup tomorrow and finish out the week strong :peace:

It seems like it is getting harder to stick with this than it was in the beginning. Any ideas on how to jumpstart back into that new, gung ho-ness that was there in the beginning?

I do notice that some of the habints I'm trying to change are sticking, like exercise. But some of the others, like eating better, particularly staying away from bad stuff, are becoming a struggle.

I almost gave up today and almost went on an eating jaunt. But I stopped myself by remembering my last week long eating week and that it then took me a week to recover back to where I was, and that at the time I really wished I had stopped it quickly before it got too bad. So now, I have 5 more days of this phase, and if I'm good for those 5 days I can finish out the week, on average, ok. So I'll try for this.

I also realized that my TOM has much more effect on my eating thn I realized. I figured out that every time I went off, or nerly did, it was connected to this. The last few years, I get much more emotional and very easily upset about a week before. I have no idea how to control this - it is getting pretty bad.

Glad to see more people posting now!

You hit it, Linda! "The most important lesson we are learning is not to stay down." Wow, that was like a lightbulb moment for me. Yes, it's the staying down that will get us. It starts as a moment of weakness (whether food or emotions) and we give in to it.

But then we make a decision--Okay was that just a slip up and we're not going to give in to it and we'll just go back to how we were doing before the slip?

OR

are we going to succumb to it and stay eating after the moment we realize what we're doing? Are we going to make a conscious choice to continue after we get to that point where we know it's the "point of no return"?

Sometimes, we want soooo much just to continue eating, or to stop trying so hard, or to do whatever the inner brat tells us we want more of.

And what do we get when we stay down? Is it really better, at that moment, to choose to be down, than to do what we know is right and that we DO have the power to stop?

What do we REALLY want more?

To continue on a strong path of progress or to be sunk into as far deep of depths as we're willing to travel (sometimes not deep, sometimes deeper than we feared possible)?

And the longer we continue in that down stage, the worse it becomes, the easier it eventually gets to give up entirely.

I think, in part, it's a matter of determination on our part NOT to stay down. And the more we practice staying on track, I think the easier it is to stay on track for longer and longer periods of time. Best to do everything in our power not to derail in the first place, but if and when we do hop the tracks, we need to go fast and strong to hop right back on the tracks that will get us to our ultimate goal--getting and staying healthy. Whew, that was long.

Ahh, but it gets longer still... Let's make sure when we fall, that we don't stay down long. Babies don't stay down, they crawl, they walk, they run, they grow. Sometimes they plop down, take it all in stride, and get right back up. Sometimes they appear stunned when they fall, sometimes it hurts and they cry, sometimes someone has to pick them up, give them a hug, and stand them back on their feet. But always, always they get back up.

Forgive me for thinking out loud here and working this out in my own heart. I guess I'm making up for lost time! Sue

Oooh, Beth. You can't get sick now! Hurry, get some orange juice or vitamin, head to bed with the thought that when you wake up you will definitely be feeling better. Don't know if that actually works or not :) but it's worth a try. I'm rooting for you Beth and CONGRATULATIONS on losing that weight so fast AND for trying so hard! Sue

Leslie, you call it "head hunger", I call it "mouth hunger". It is that strong urge to stuff something in your mouth that has nothing to do with actually being hungry. I sure haven't figured out a good way to deal with that urge. Usually a diet pop (the zingy flavor seems to help) or sometimes diet gum. Obviously, drinking a glass of cold water helps. And I keep low fat cheese sticks in the fridge which help some times. For what it is worth, it happens less frequently now then it did six years ago.


Sue, smaller sizes are such a wonderful feeling. I am always amazed when I put on a large top and it is too big! I still buy mostly large cause I don't like thing tight, but sometimes they are just too big. The big emotional thing for me was getting out of the "womans" department and into the "misses" department for clothes.

Vickie, I'm sorry you are having such a rough time right now. I wasn't here then but I assume that you made it through the first three phases without having to rephase. So you have hit your first big bump. But you have support here. And people care. So please keep coming and posting. And enjoy your day.

Phase II, day 3. Sunday evening was tough. I did fair at brunch and my calories were under 2,000 when I put them in FitDay. Then the little girlscout came by with the cookies I had ordered three weeks ago. I ate about a fourth of a box. (360 calories when I figured it up.) Right now I have put the part eaten boxes up high in a cabinet where I can't see them. I may have to have Steve throw them away. If I could just eat two it would be OK. I'm going to have to work a little harder to meet my goal for calories for the week to make up for Sunday.

Jo

[QUOTE=Blanche]I almost gave up today and almost went on an eating jaunt. But I stopped myself by remembering my last week long eating week and that it then took me a week to recover back to where I was, and that at the time I really wished I had stopped it quickly before it got too bad. So now, I have 5 more days of this phase, and if I'm good for those 5 days I can finish out the week, on average, ok. So I'll try for this.
QUOTE]

Oh Blanche. I APPLAUD you for that one. I haven't been master over the idea of stopping because of what ramifications will occur if I don't. The pull always seems to be too strong for me. But you're doing it!!! But you gotta do it for five more days. I'm guessing if you keep strong that by the 5th day the feeling will have completely passed and you'll have forgotten all about it. Oohhh, I so want you to keep resisting. Let me know if it does indeed get easier the longer you resist when you're really in the throes of it. Here's wishing you lots of strength, especially during TOM.

Oh Jo. I so wish I had something to eat that would stop me from binging when I get that heart/head/mouth hunger. All I know is it is the strongest urge I have ever had to deal with. And once I start, I have not had much if any success in stopping it in the middle. Best thing for me is to stay super strong to begin with but, alas, that's not always possible. I'll try some experiments to see if something works for me, maybe eating (to satisfaction) of what I'm craving right off the bat will prevent me from eating everything else under the sun instead. Wish me luck. I simply must conquer this if I ever hope to have lasting success. Sue

You will get there Sue. Some of us will take longer than others we might have more to lose than others or others just lose faster whatever might be the reason. We will all meet at the finish line. It's not if you win the race that counts it's if you finished the race that's important. Finish what you started to accomplish right. We will all be winners in the end. Good luck all.

Good morning crew!!
It's so good to see so many of you at the fire today.....In a few weeks we'll be in the creek! Our temps here are VERY spring-like and I LONG to be outdoors but allergies kinda rule my schedule. I'll find out when pollen counts are highest and plan to be inside during those periods. I did sit outside this morning for a bit, with my coffee and did up my weekly menu. I usually cook just on my off days and have gotten out of the habit of late..just snagging some quick stuff. Sardines are GOOD.......I should have more of those!

I've taken breaks this morning and got my kitchen cleaned, frig organized as much as I could with a freezer overload. So my goal for this week is to downsize my veggie stock in the freezer! I'll stay out of the store until I can actually find stuff in there!
I have a bag of my turkey out to do up.....small pot of soup and stroganoff, and my beans I'd cooked several weeks ago. I'll do beans N' rice with pepper/onion and tomato..yum.... I keep a nice size basket in there I call my "scrap" basket. I put the things I need to eat first in it...baby carrots, celery, yogurt....a spare HB bun etc and my trail mix I use in my oatmeal. That's helped a lot and I waste less if it's easy to spot..tho I did find a yogurt that expired last September! I should have cleaned sooner! LOL!

Have a blessed day everyone! I'll be back..my to list SHALL be done today and tomorrow!
Bren....Phase 2 Day3

Ok...rephase me again. I am NOT a quitter and I will not give up now. Tomorrow will be Phase 4 Day 1 again. I am trying to let go of the stuff that overwhelms me and just be kind to myself for awhile.
I think part of my problem is that I am getting some sort of sickness again. I have a sore throat and both ears, kinda nauseous, lightheaded and I am FRRREEEEEZING. I cannot get warmed up for some reason. May have to call the doc in the morning. I need to have him look at some sort of "bump" on my back that is painful at times and my hubby told me last night that he thinks it is changing colors...getting darker. Another problem.....oh bother!!!!!!!!!

A fresh start tomorrow........fingers crossed for luck.


Blessings:spring:


Vickie:pass:

Well, it sure seemed to help me last night to write so much (I think I boosted our posts too :D , hey I do what I can!). I went to bed feeling good and woke up feeling strong. I have absolutely no intention of binging tonight and I'm leaving for my water aerobics class in less than a half hour. I know of one thing for absolutely certain, it does help to write and share and get things worked out in your heart, among friends. Thanks for listening and thanks for the replies. Love, Sue

PS: Vickie, I saw your post after I posted. Hope everything's ok w/your bump.

Hey everyone! Well-- sorry about my long absence. Ya know Beth, this THING is still holding on! This morning, I physically could NOT get outta bed, I felt so drained. But thankfully, I was able to get up and goin' and I am feelin' OKAY right now.

Good news, I am on DAY 12 of PHASE #3. So hopefully on Friday, I will be beginning PHASE #4... whew... sounds crazy.

Thank you Bren for the support :D

I must run a quick errand before all the good Tuesday TV shows come on!

Hang in there everyone... you can do this!

Phase II, day 4 - so far so good. My average calories are a little high still from the bad Sunday. I gave Steve the Girl Scout cookies without eating any more. Told him to put them away and we will take them Sunday to brunch and give them to someone. Not sure who, but will figure it out. I was having such a difficult day and the cookies were calling, calling. So now they are removed from temptation for a few days at least.

I'm somewhat discouraged with the scales, which seem to stubbornly want to go the other direction. I know intellectually that I did not eat enough extra calories to result in the bounce up. Intellectually. Emotionally it is a bummer. But I am one of those people who need the feedback of the scales. Too many times in the past I stopped weighing and when my clothes starting getting too tight got on the scales and had gained a whole lot more than I thought. Right now my clothes still fit fine. One pair of jeans that were snug after Christmas are fitting fine now. So I will just hang in there. Finish this phase. And if I have had no results I will have to re-evalute what I need to do to get back under my target, "no higher than" number.

This afternoon I had an attack of mouth hunger. I had couple of handfuls of pretzels and managed to stop. I'm fine now and the daily calories according to FitDay are around 1,000. (We had fish for dinner.)

Onward.

Jo

Phase 4 Day 7 almost completed. Half way through this phase.

It was a tough day because I had some intestinal upsets this afternoon and I worked the more physical job at the veterinary clinic because a coworker is on vacation. so I had a lot of physical pain from being on my feet long hours. BUT, I realized tonight, as I rode my stationary bike, that I am not nearly as tired as I usually am from work in the receptionist position, which is more sedentary and less physically demanding. What a revelation!!! I know my job is stressful, but I was sure hit between the eyes tonight with just how much stress I function under routinely. I may need to re-evaluate my situation. I have stayed at this job for several reasons, like its proximity to my home and the pay scale and having days off during the week. BUT, It would be wonderful to still feel human after a day at work instead of being exhausted, feeling all used up and wasted. Right now, days I have to go to work I feel like I have to just count as days I don't really live. Not good! :c(

Well, anyway, I met my goals for today and that makes me feel good because there were several points at which I was tempted to quit and I didn't.

Completedday 10 of phase 3 but just barely. This morning I started out strong - I got up and walked, and while I was walking though that I would look at this a a quarter year challenge - that maybe it would reviatlize me to think I got about half way doing well, struggled a bit in the middle, wut will finish up the quarter strong - I lost a nice amount in Jan, in Feb it will probably be a tiny drop- and I can still lose a nice amount in March and finish the quarter out well.

But . . . that was this morning. Now, by tonight, I have eaten up just about everything I can, and still hope to have a possiblity of finially finishing out phase 3. I even ate up exercise points I have not earned yet, but plan to earn during the rest of the week. Sue, your recent post about not staying down too long really hit me - I have so many of the feeligns you wrote about - I agree it is the strongest urge I have. It is not an addiction, I think - I do get addicted to caffine and when I go off it I have physical reactions. This is more of an emotional thing. But, boy, is it ever hard to resist. It is not pulling at me so strongly right not that I have completely gone off track, but it is pulling pretty strong.

I am going to try very hard to finish out this phase and then have two good phases after that, so I can look back on it and be happy with the first quarter of this year.

I am really scared about my health, I just have to find a way to do this!

nebraksa - just read you post - congrats on not quiting today!!!! know how hard that is!

Bad news! I have to rephase. I thought I had done everything yesterday, I really did..... but when I went to take my morning medications I realized my container for yesterday was still full :( ........ that means I didn't take my multivitamin yesterday, and if I didn't take that, I probably didn't take the morning joint supplement, either. :c( So I need to go back to day one of phase 4. Gosh, if I had know that last night I wouldn't have forced myself to exercise after that long hard day at work.............

Oh, well, today is a new day and I have to do the hard physical job at work again today, so as long as I am rephasing I may take it a little easier on myself and rephase again tomorrow........ we shall see how it all turns out.

Good morning all!......
Yep, Sue, you boosted our post count and it was SO good to see you! It seems many of us are facing changes in schedule, work issues, and health plans. I want to avoid certain problems down the line and need to find the energy and incentive to make mine NOW. My butt's dragging and my spirit sagging.
:c( I missed ALL the Tuesday shows! I fell asleep at 6 PM and didn't get up 'till 4 AM this morning.
Blanche....the "quarterly report".....a good way to look at this! Overall behavior and progress made, will give you a head start in the next one!
Wishing all of you a great day......and many blessings....
Me some too...
bren.....in... Phase 2 Day 4

I see several who are having a rough time right now - hang tough and know my thoughts are with you ! :hug:

I am going to post a PM I sent to someone recently in hopes that it helps someone else as well.....

Look at this as a enemy that you CAN beat - its a war - its a battle - get mean get mad get angry - he*l get nasty! but have the mind set YOU will be the winner and not the food/weight etc.....!

Our cravings are part of the battle try to figure out what way is best to kill them ! Same with the binges, lack of exercise,lack of desire, lack of discipline and other things that stop us from reaching our goals. - kill em dead ! Become a warrior !

It is our health and well being put at risk here and a high risk at that - these things want us to fail - lets knock em down lets stomp them - show them WE are the winners - we ARE stronger then they are !

PS: My scales this morning said 238.5 ! yippee!!!!! I guess all this extra work cleaning I am doing is paying off in more ways then one lol :D


Beth :peace:

Goodmorning,
This is Phase 4 Day 1 for me.....my second rephase. I am learning from my mistakes.
I have some sort of nasty bug today...no voice.....hubby is smiling at that one....hahahahaha but for some reason, even with the sneezing and sore throat and sore ears, and the temp, I truly feel better than I have in days. Its all mental!!!!!!!!!
I am trying to get up the nerve to call the doc and see if I can get a appointment to s