2006 is here. I'm not one for resolutions, but this year we made a family resolution to eat healthier. I'm a 33 year old single mom with two young daughters. I want to be a good role model for them. I want to be around long enough to see them grow up, get married and have children of their own.

I am 5'8 and as of January 1 2006, weighed 288 pounds, the heaviest I have ever been. This past year I started to get heart palpitations and have been having a lot of pain in my knees and feet. I also had a back injury. I feel just awful. All these sudden health issues have really scared me. I hope to get my weight down to 200 pounds by 2007, what I weighed before I had children 8 years ago. My overall goal is to get down to about 140 pounds, I'm guesstimating, because I haven't weighed that since I was twelve years old. My method (at least for the time being) is to simply eat smaller portions and cut out most of the junk. I don't have an exercise program as I have a connective tissue disorder and fibromyalgia. I do walk on almost a daily basis already, and will keep that up.

Anyway, I'm new here... so hello everyone. I welcome your comments :)

Hi, Sunshinedays: Welcome to Diettalk.You will find lots of friendly support and encouragement here as you work on making yourself a healthier you.

It sounds like the program you have planned is a very workable one. Exercise that portion control, eat a healthy mix of foods, and also drink enough water to keep yourself hydrated. Yes, keep walking, that is great exercise. And make little changes like park at the far end of the parking lot, etc. You get the picture.

We are all here to support you. So the best of luck to you.

Week #1

I lost 9 pounds. Yaaayyyy!! I know... I know... it's probably all water. I'm happy anyway. If only I could lose it all this fast.

I haven't counted calories, but I figure I'm probably eating about 1200-1600 a day (?) I've been serving my meals on smaller plates. I think I've done pretty well. The only time I felt very hungry was yesterday. And I haven't deprived myself of anything. I want to be realistic because I don't want to eat like a rabbit all my life. I'd rather be a bit overweight, relatively healthy and enjoy life, than be stick thin, always hungry and never enjoy a meal. So this past week, I've had regular coke, cheese and even chocolate, just in very small amounts.

My 7 year old, who willingly eats like a rabbit could care less what I buy at the grocery store. But my 4 year old doesn't like the switch to whole grains. I think I've done a pretty good job modelling good food choices overall. I've always liked healthy foods and vegetables, I just overeat, or snack when the kids are in bed. So I don't think it's going to be much of a change for them.

Good morning, Sunshine! (sorry, couldn't resist! :D ) Congratulations on a fantastic start!

I have FM, too. The best thing you can do for yourself is to get into a regular, gentle exercise routine. You are already walking, that's great! I know the exhaustion and pain is so hard to deal with, but gradually add in a little stretching, some toning, and maybe even some light weights eventually(be very careful there, FMers can experience increased pain with muscle exertion) until you are used to it all and you will feel much better. The hard part is to get going, and keep going until you feel the results, but it is worth it. I stretch and do back exercises EVERY day, it keeps me moving, and I am able to lift weights as long as I do it consistently. If I stop, it's pure hell to start again. You know your body and what you can do, and you might even surprise yourself!

Hi, welcome to DT! Great ideas for healthier living. Walking is always great exercise. Best wishes.

Week #2

I lost 4 pounds this week. I am down to 275. So far, so good. With the exception of Wednesday night's supper (I went waaaay overboard with the turkey, but who can resist a turkey dinner??) I've done pretty well sticking to my plan. I haven't really been that hungry. And the best thing of all, I feel great, I have more energy and I haven't had as many heart palpitations, and that's a big relief :)

Other things to note: The kids actually like brown rice. I've created some new yummy recipes. My face looks thinner already.

Shocking revelations: I went grocery shopping and really paid attention to the labels this time, even for stuff I normally get the kids but don't eat myself. The biggest shocker - CRACKERS! I can't believe as I'm reading the labels - 7 tiny crackers = 200 calories, etc. No wonder kids in North America are fat. Most parents I know give their kids a lot of "healthy" crackers for snacks, myself included. Well I won't be doing that anymore.

Something to ponder: Why is it, when clothing companies make plus sized pants, they assume that plus sized women must be giants as well. Why can't I find a pair of pants that aren't a foot too long?? What are these companies thinking? How many 7 foot tall women do you know?

WOW... I am jealous... You're already lost 13 pounds in 2 weeks... what a GREAT and MOTIVATED results! WTG! I am subscribed to this journal to see how great your weight loss journey... Wish you the best :)

Hi whooshwhoops. Thanks for visiting my journal. You're jealous of me?? No, I'm jealous of you... you already weigh less than my goal weight :D You're doing great yourself. The less you already weigh, the more difficult it is to lose.

Feeling tired the last couple of days *stifles a yawn* That time of the month. Ugh. Want to eat everything in sight. Cooking and cleaning became a pain in the butt today when my town was issued a boil water advisory. I hope it doesn't last long. Bought some bleach and bottled water. I'm never prepared for these things.

I lost another pound since Sunday. So I'm happy about that. I've been weighing myself every morning, naked of course and before I've put anything in my mouth, lol. Like I might be able to fool myself. Does anyone else do that?

Today my pants felt a bit looser. I may have to find a seamstress. I can't afford to buy new clothes. A lot of my "skinny clothes" look outdated. I've got a whole range of clothing, all the way from size 18 to 4X. I've even got "skinny underwear". Maybe I kind find some people around here to swap clothes with. I dream of the day when I can shop in regular stores again.

Hi Sunshinedays!

You know the thing about pant length goes the other way around too? I used to wear a size 20, and since I'm 5'11" I have to get long lengths. As I've gone down through the sizes (I'm working on getting 10's to be not so tight), it's gotten harder and harder to find longs. At least you can hem your pants right?

Anyway I just stopped by because I love it when people make such great progress as you are making. Keep on keepin on! I wish I had thought of keeping my old clothes to give to other people on DT--like you said, have a swap. But I didn't. I promptly got rid of all my old clothes because I don't want to have anything to fit into should I start gaining. I want that to be the most expensive process it could be.

Have a nice day, and I'll check back in on your journal from time to time just to see how you're doing.

Hi LindyGirl, thanks for stopping by. You're right, at least I can hem my pants. But seriously, I'm not short, I'm 5'8 and some pants I have tried on are darn near a foot too long. Congratulations on being so close to your goal weight. I can't wait til I hit the 100's.

Hi :welcome: , Sounds like you are on the right track! Congrats on the loss!
I wish you all the best on your weight loss journey.
I will chek back and see how you are doing.

Have a great day!

Week #3

I lost 5 pounds and am down to 270, for a grand total of 18 pounds lost. Nobody has noticed :( You know you're fat when....

I had a piece of cake last night and felt bad about it. But the more I think about it, the more I realize, that I have to be able to live with whatever diet changes I make, and I don't want to live the rest of my life without a treat once in a while. So I'm not going to feel bad about it anymore, that'll only make me want to eat more, anyway.

And speaking of eating more, my stomach is definitely shrinking. I'm feeling fuller now than 2 weeks ago fom eating the same amount of food. Yesterday I only had time to eat twice, so I packed a bit more in than if I had spread it throughout the day, and I definietly had that full feeling afterward, even though it's only half of what I would eat before changing my diet.

We still have that boil water advisory in effect. It's been 6 days now. They're hoping to have it fixed by Wednesday. The water coming out of the taps has lots of whitish sediment in it. Yuck. We take so many little things for granted...

It's probably not that nobody has noticed, it's just that weight is such a taboo subject to ask someone about. Sometimes people are scared to offend you, and they want to wait to be sure. I think usually it takes 20-25 pounds for people to start making comments. Personally I've lost 70 and I'm just starting to get them more. You know i got one or two at 50 pounds lost, but that was it.

You sound like you're doing really well, and that's awesome.

I dunno, Lindy, I think that I'm just so darn fat, 18 pounds is just not enough to put a noticeable dent in it, lol.

And speaking of losing 18 pounds. I have gained back 2!! How?!?! See, this just goes to prove that I CAN just look at food and gain weight!!

X-(

Sunshine, you're so funny!!! Hehehe... I love your sense of humour :D

Maybe that's just water retention, just keep on track, it will be gone... :hug:

So I gained 2 pounds, and lost them again. Then I wake up this morning and they're back!! Ugh!! And I had planned on going out for supper on Sunday and splurge in the calories department a little bit. Now I'm not so sure. The weight gain seems to coincide with me taking my medicine, but I don't think that anti-inflammatories are supposed to have that effect. Maybe I need to really count my calories, but I figure I should be losing weight anyway considering I'm eating so much less than I was before. I was hoping to keep up the momentum a little longer, the initial weight loss was really encouraging.

Hi, you are doing great on the weight loss. Are you weighing every day? If so try and do it just once or twice a week. Is it time for your friend? that can do it also. Also weighing the same time of day will help. Just hang in there you will get over this bump. I wishing you all the best and will check back with you.

Hi Millie, I am weighing everyday, but at the same time.... I just can't wait a week. Thanks for the encouragement :)

Week #4

It's been a frustrating, disappointing week. But I'm not going to get too worried over it. My weight this week is still 270. I'm going out to supper tonight anyway.

MONTH 1

A whole month gone by already! As of this morning I have lost 20 pounds. Yippee! I seem to be losing weight again this week. I hope to lose at least 10-12 pounds in February. I'm happy because my stomach doesn't seem to stick out as far as before, though I'm sure a lot of that is just having less food in there. I've got a pair of jeans that I think will be able to fit when I hit between 250 and 260. So I'll be trying them on at the end of this month.

My kids have been really great with most of the changes I've made. Although, I am still giving them things I won't eat myself because they're so darn skinny already. I wish I was like that... eat all day long and never gain an ounce. Then again, if I could run around like that, I'd be skinny too. I've been careful not to mention the word "diet" around them or "losing weight" around my kids. I want them to associate the changes with health, not vanity.

My kids caught me weighing myself the other day. And they wanted to be weighed too. My four year old weighs 34 pounds. I've lost 20 pounds now, so I've lost over half my daughter, lol. I will be 205 pounds by the time I lose the both of them, lol. It's a good visual.

Week #5

Another week gone by. I'm at 268. Down 2 pounds from last week. My weight loss seems to have slowed down a lot. I figured it would but I was hoping not so soon. I've been counting calories more carefully and I've been sticking to my limit of 1600.

I've got some new favorite foods:

salmon steak
dill pickles
green beans
lowfat sour cream

One thing I'm having trouble with is that I am drinking a lot of calories... mainly in the forms of coffee and coke. I refuse to drink anything with aspartame, so I don't drink the diet stuff, plus I'm a "coke" addict. I've been allowing myself one can a day. And I'm such a big coffee drinker, especially in the winter, and I like it with both milk & sugar... it's hard to quit. I don't want to. But I know they're empty calories. Grrrrr.....

My kids have been great. I caught my oldest lecturing her friends about their their food choices hehehe. My little tried to convince me that a McDonalds hamburger is good for you because it has lettuce. Little smart alecks :laugh:

Week #6

Down to 266. Lost 2 pounds. Tried on those jeans and they're still too snug, but found anothe pair of pants I forgot I even owned and they're fitting just right :)

My parents are coming over today, it's both their birthday. Must try to maintain self control when the cake and ice cream is brought out :o

Congrats on the loss:cheers: You are doing just great! keep up the great work and you will see that goal. As they say one day at a time.
I wish you all the best!

Hey thanks Millie :)

I didn't do so well with the cake and ice cream but I'm back on track! Not sure what it is but this past few days, wherever I go people seem to break out the sweets and stuff. Hard to say no sometimes.

Between birthdays, valentine chocolates, kids being sick, scheduling upsets and eating out, I have faced a lot of temptation this week... and haven't done as well as I should have. I'm worried what the scale will show by my weekly Sunday weigh-in. And I don't know if I will make my 10-12 pound loss goal this month.

:c(

But on the bright side, I had some dental work done yesterday and feel like smiling more. And this really cute guy checked me out at the grocery store.

:)

Week #7

Down two more pounds to 264 despite the post above and despite the power going out and having to cook on the woodstove.

Week #8

Down 2 pounds to 262. Jeans fit but they're tight. Have to retire current jeans as they're about to fall off :laugh:

MONTH #2

Only lost 6 pounds this month :( I didn't meet my goal at all. But February was a short month and I have upped my caloric intake a bit. I found that 1200 calories is too low for me to keep up long term, especially if I want to eat the same foods as the rest of my family and not make separate meals, or if I want to eat out sometimes. I'm eating about 1500-1800 per day now and I'm not as hungry or preoccupied with food now either, and this is much more do-able long term.

My goal for March: to lose 8 pounds

Week #9

Down 2 pounds to 260.

You are doing wonderfully on the weight-loss. Congratulations, and keep up the great work!!!

Look at you go! You've lost nearly 20 lbs! Just two more pound to go until that big milestone. Are you going to reward yourself?

Week #10

Lost only 1 pound this week. Down to 259.

To everyone who has commented - thank you for your support. I don't have any rewards planned, but I do look forward to shopping for new clothes in the future :)

Week #11

Lost only 1 pound again. Gonna blame it on Friday's trip to McDonalds. Down to 258. I've lost 30 pounds in total. This last ten has been really slow to come off.... a litle disappointing, but better late than never.

Week #12

Lost 3 pounds this week. Down to 255. Yaaaayyyy!! But I'll probably gain a good portion of that back at supper tonight, as it's my daughter's birthday and she got to pick the meal... the cake alone, when I worked out the calories is about 3000 - and it's not very big. I know I'll spend the rest of the week trying to work off those extra calories.

MONTH #3 and WEEK #13

Im down to 254, which is an 8 pound loss from last month. So I met my goal!! :D I have lost 34 pounds in total, which is exactly what my four year old weighs, so I can see and pick up just how much weight I have lost. The girls tell me my tummy is shrinking. They're my own little cheering squad. Those jeans I wanted to fit into, I am wearing and they're not so tight. I've had to retire some other pants. Also, with spring's arrival, I took out my plastic lawn chairs, and my butt fits into them a little better than before. The chairs don't come with me when I stand up :o I swear, skinny people have no idea what we go through.

WEEK #14

My scale broke earlier this week (Yikes! I broke the scale!) and I had to buy a new one. This new one puts me a pound or two higher than the old. So my weight today is 253.5, showing only a half pound loss from last week. Overall I did really well this week, though, and I'm happy about that.

Wow you are doing:super: :cheers: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good for you! I am so happy for you. I bet you are feeling better already.
It is soooo nice to buy new clothes. I love it when my jeans get so big then I can go buy smaller ones! What fun!! keep up the GREAT work my friend!
You will see that goal!

Thanks for stopping in at my journal. Its always nice to have cheer leaders.
Have a GREAT day!

I read somewhere once that it takes 3 weeks to develop a new habit. Apparently this doesn't apply to changing one's lifelong eating habits. But things have definitely gotten better. It's been more than three months for me and I'm just starting to notice, now, that it is getting easier, and that I'm not so obsessed with food all the time. And the hunger (because I'm still hungry a LOT) isn't bothering me so much anymore. But I can't help but wonder, how long will it take before my new eating habits become second nature? Will it ever happen?

Thanks for the encouragement Millie :) I do LOVE the idea of shopping for new clothes. If only I had more money... I have a lot more to lose and I don't want to be buying a new wardrobe every couple of months.

Hi, You are doing super:super: ! keep up the great work!

I think it will always be some what of a fight for me. I know at times it goes real good and not much thinking or hard work, but then other times I have to put a lot more into it. We just need to make it a daily habuit and it can get some easer for us.

Keep doing what works, you will get there

WEEK #15

For the last two days I've been stuffing my face with turkey and chocolate, and going way overboard with the calories. But it's Easter. I somehow, still managed to drop a pound this week. I am down to 252.5 pounds. My parents noticed my weight loss. My butt is smaller :D

Happy Easter everybody!

WEEK #16

Down one pound to 251.5 this week. I think it would have been more, but the meds I take occassionally slow my digestive system waaaay down, and for the past couple of days I've felt all dragged out from them. The amount of yardwork I did alone this past week should have registered as a couple of extra pounds. *sigh* Hopefully will do better next week.

Hello!
Just had to stop by and let you know I am still thinking of you!!! You are doing great! A smaller butt is a wonderful thing!!!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I also wonder if new eating habits will ever become just 2nd nature, I hope that happens, but I think in my case I will have to be conscious of what I put in my mouth for the rest of my life!:laugh: But I know it does at least get easier as every day goes by!
Keep up the Great Job!!!
lynn

WEEK #17

Whoohoo! I'm in the 240's... 248.5 to be exact. I somehow managed to drop 3 pounds this week :D

MONTH #4

248.5..... down 39.5 pounds. That's just over one quarter of the way to my goal weight :)

WEEK #18

Dropped one pound this week. Down to 247.5 pounds. I've lost 40 pounds now :)

40 BIG ONES!!!!!!
YOU GO GIRL!!!!!
GET UP AND DO THE "VICTORY DANCE"
:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
lynn:)

WEEK #19

Down to 246.5 pounds. I actually lost weight this week ( 1 pound ) which is so hard to believe because it was my birthday and I had friends take me out, family take me out, people bringing over birthday cake and early mothers day celebrations to boot. I ate french fries 3 times this week!!! After 4 months without having any. So I am happily stunned that I didn't gain five pounds :)

Thank you shy1 for the encouragement and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!!

WEEK #20

No change :( Still at 246.5.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!
:bdaybanne :bdaybanne :bdaybanne
Don't be worrying about staying the same this time around!
You are doing FANTASTIC!!!!!!!
NO GAIN NO PAIN!!!!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
lynn

WEEK #21

No change again! Still at 246.5 pounds. But I know it's my own fault this week. I had a REALLY rough, emotional week.. way too much stress... and stuff I just don't want to get into right now, but I might mention it later.

Thank you for the encouragement shy1 :)

Hey You!
I hope you are having a better week!
I know how hard it is when you are going through stressful times!
Hang in there! Things do manage to work out, even if it seems like they won't!
lynn:)

I'm Back.

I have taken the summer off to relax and enjoy and didn't worry about what I was eating, or counting calories. I did exercise more though. I gained a couple of pounds in the process, I'm hoping it's muscle :laugh:

At least I have proved to myself that I can go back to "normal" life and not go way overboard and gain it all back in a week. So... summer is over, guess it's back to business. I still have a ways to go.

Glad to see you back...:)
Here's to a New Start...:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
So glad you enjoyed your summer!
lynn:D

244.5

Look at you sneakin' in here without even a word..:D How are you????? :) :) :) :) :) :)
lynn