8-| Hello. I'm Ronnie from Upstate NY. I joined this website in hopes to find that moral support that I need to help me lose all my "junk" weight. My husband is supportive, but not very. My coworkers aren't interested in losing weight and seem to be perfectly content with how they are. OK.. but I'm not happy with myself (my weight that is). My doctor advised me to lose weight or eventually I'll be put on insulin. He doesn't expect a great weight loss, but hopes that I can try to lose a pound or two every week. In my mind, I'm thinking.. "HOW?".

I'm not sure if my diet plan is the right one for me to start, but it's a far better plan than what I had after my doctor's appt. which was nothing. I want to lose weight but then I make excuses to why I eat more than I should or things that I shouldn't. Such as stress, PMS.. all those nice excuses that gives me reasons to eat a candybar or icecream.

I'm not sure if that's how this whole thing works, or if I'll eventually have someone who will pair up with me to help me through my journey and I in turn help in theirs. So, for right now, I've started this journal to post my diet ventures.. ups and downs.. hopefully more positive than negative.

As for my dieting.. I did very good yesterday (not today :( ).. but all that protein eating made me very full.. fuller than how I'd rather feel. I think I overdid it.

Today, I started off good, but then someone came into work with donuts and cookies.. Boy, do I need to build up my willpower. On top of that, I've been trying to wean myself of caffeine and had a headache for 3 days straight.. Again, I gave into that.. I bought myself a starbucks icecoffee.. not soda, which is what I'm trying to stay away from, but I know that that starbucks didn't help my dieting at all either.

I ask myself countless of times, "why? why can't you just say NO to bad foods?"
I'm tired of failing.. I'm tired of disappointing myself..

I haven't received my South Beach Diet Book nor the cookbooks I ordered. Hopefully, I'll be much more motivated once I get started with the book. I dunno.. what I do know is that I need help.. two days in my diet..TWO DAYS and I failed already! :c( Hopefully I'll do better tomorrow.. Meanwhile, as my TITLE states, I'm praying for help, because right now, that's how helpless I feel about myself.. and I really hate that I am so vulnerable to food and failures. I know I should keep my motto in check each time I think of cheating on my diet.. but doggoneit, I love to eat.. 8-|

Hello Ronnie. South Beach is a good healthy diet, especially if you are carb sensitive. Are you a diabetic? Sounds like it from what your doctor said.

I know that donuts are very difficult to give up, they are one of my bad vices. But you can do it.

Don't tackle too many habits at one time. Do keep trying to cut down the caffiene, it will help. I started out limiting myself to one diet pop a day, plus my cup of tea in the morning. Re sweets, they will really knock you off your plan since the make you hungrier. When I lost the bulk of my weight, I just tried to limit myself to one "sweet treat" a week. That was so much easier than saying I couldn't have one. Fresh fruit can really help with the sweet need, we have some for dinner every night. I top fresh strawberries with a couple of dollops of light vanilla yogurt, don't even miss the sugar.... The yogurt works on fresh peaches too, and any kind of fresh berries.

Good luck with your journey.

Jo

Thank you Jo.. I will take your advice.. funny thing about this whole thing is, i feel that i'm at war with myself.. i guess i am, huh? hahah.. part of me says, "yes yes, eat.. yuuuumm!" the other part says, "no, stop.. what in the world are you doing?"
I like what you said about having at least one sweet a day.. i could probably do that and not be too miserable.. i'm not diabetic, but really am close, thus, i'm "suppose" to lose weight and watch what i eat.. *sigh* what a task.. but i have nobody else to blame but myself..

I would suggest that you post your food journal here. That is what I do with my journal. Because after I see I consumed 3200 calories on Monday. By Friday I am back down to 2100 just by seeing the number in black in white I want to adjust what is going on.

Ronnie, I too am on the Southbeach diet, or try to be on it. It is a very good diet. I lost 84 lbs a few years ago in about 4 months. Then I decided to quit smoking and gained nearly all back. That was my fault. When I quit smoking, I decided that was the most important thing and did not worry about what I put in my mouth, as long as it was not a cig. I keep trying to recapture what happened when I was on the southbeach before. I think it was just a state of mind really. I was just ready to be serious about my health and was just able to stick to the diet. I have been coming here for a couple of months for motivation and support. There is alot of that here. Just keep trying and don't give up. We are all in this battle with food together. Good luck.

Sheri

Hello Ronnie! The hardest thing for me is getting into the diet groove. Once im in it im good to go. However when i hit snags in the road i get frustrated and slip. I lost 50 pounds 5 yrs ago doing ww and put it all back on and then some. In January of this yr i decided it was enough and joined ww again and was losing but lost my groove when many things in my life threw me for a loop of major stress.( all in my journal) and slowly ive been trying to get back in my groove. I went on the Alli plan yesterday and so far so good. I too need support and help and would love to buddy up with you to help each other. There is so many wonderful people on this site that we are all friends and family here. Welcome to our family and much success to you on your journey. I do agree with Lisa that listing what u eat in your journal helps you keep accountable and any exercise you do also.

Thank you all for your great ideas and suggestions. I feel very welcomed and in the midst of others who are so understanding and supportive :)

I will start posting my what I eat.. but for right now, I've put my dieting on hold (again) very temporary.. because we're in a transition at work.. my schedule wasn't regular and by the time I could eat, I was famished.. thus, another failed day of my diet. I am still going to choose my meals carefully, but because for the next few days I will be on an awkward time slot, I don't know how to even fit my meals and snacks in.. but this temp time is just for a couple of days..

I will be on vacation starting Friday afternoon.. TWO wonderful weeks to care for myself.. get me jump started on dieting properly. I can hardly wait..

My South Beach Diet audio book came in today.. I haven't listened to it yet because my kids and I were busy rearranging our bedrooms.. uughh.. so many things to do here.. It's like spring cleaning in the summer.. but a well needed cleanup at that..
So, all that running around, moving, lifting, pushing, wasn't time wasted. I consider it part of exercise..it's more than just sitting in front of the tv or computer.. so I feel accomplished in my exercise area..
I bought some resistant bands today.. and also a walking your pounds away dvd.. I think that's what it's called.. I am so ready and excited

And very very happy to see the support I'm getting from you all. Thank You!

I will start posting my what I eat.. but for right now, I've put my dieting on hold (again) very temporary.. because we're in a transition at work.. my schedule wasn't regular and by the time I could eat, I was famished.. thus, another failed day of my diet. I am still going to choose my meals carefully, but because for the next few days I will be on an awkward time slot, I don't know how to even fit my meals and snacks in.. but this temp time is just for a couple of days..



Take it one meal at time instead of giving up on the whole day. Example yesterday. I had a large sweet tea, parfit, and double quater pounder for lunch. But I turned it around at dinner and ate Brocolli.

Also, water is the best thing you can do for a diet no matter what your circumstances.

Sounds like you have purchased some great things. I like the bands once I found the right kind for me. Walk Away the Pounds is great too. When she says I have gone 2 miles - I find it hard to believe. I have tried South Beach. I think his idea is very sound and really makes sense. Plus he does not take all the carbs away - which I like and feel is more healthy. I am diabetic and had to meet with a dietician. She basically told me to stay within 1400-1500 calories and eat between 10-12 carb servings a day. 15g of carbs = 1 serving. I use fitday.com to track my food/calorie and carb intake.

Good luck on your weight loss journey.

Ronnie, Your vacation would be a perfect time to start the southbeach diet. the first 2 weeks are very strict, but get you past the carb cravings and will make it easier once you go back to work. Also by the time you go back to work you will be in phase 2 and will basically be able to eat everything except white flour, sugar and corn. also in the first 2 weeks you will lose about 13lbs. It will be mostly water weight, but it will help to build confidence that you can do this. It sounds like you have a great plan to me.

Sheri

Hi Ronnie -

Looks like June is the month for new beginnings! I started a couple of weeks ago. Nice verse too.. one of my favs. Good luck with the new you!

- Carson

wow.. I'm happy to see all the support I'm getting.. this is why i continue to come back here.. it's like one big happy family :)
Although, I haven't started the SBD.. I'm still being choosy with the foods I'm eating.. I'm excited about starting the SBD this weekend.. I feel the pounds shed already.. heheh. that's my motivative talk I have to hype myself up with.. I'll keep you all informed, as I'll be visiting your pages, too.. I'd like to get to know you all as well, so I can be a DT supporter to you all, too :) thanks for all your tips and pep talks.. I'm liking it here on this website already.. it's the most support i've gotten since I've made this life altering decision. You all are great :ghug:

Today was my first day of "serious" dieting. I started off good. I cooked up some omelettes for breakfast and some canadian bacon. I also had a cup of v8 to go with that.
later, i had a handful of peanuts to snack on.
then for lunch/dinner, i had bunless burger(lean meat) w/yellow mustard with salad (lettuce tomatoe onion avocado)
then i had sugar-free jello (that i shared with my hubby)
I know.. I didn't have a late evening meal, but I'm not at all hungry. I'm very satisfied. I can't even begin to think about cooking again, plus my husband didn't want dinner either. I air popped him some popcorn and was very good not to even taste the popcorn (which is one of my favorite snacks).
I think I'll try that jello cheesecake recipe for phase 1 for tomorrow's dessert. I'm not fond of cottage cheese and if ricotta is the same, I might not like it very well, but my husband might. Heck, if I just try it, I might change my mind about liking ricotta. who knows.. Boy, I hope I didn't blow my diet by only have two meals. I had a late breakfast, if that's makes any difference. I woke up about 9:00am and ate breakfast about 10:15am. thus, my lack of appetite today. Well, what's done is done. I guess I can't be too bad off if I'm not even hungry and I ate something today anyhow. No sense in beating myself about it now. It's 9pm here and almost time to go to bed. I'll be back tomorrow evening with my journal update.

The only thing I like ricotta in is lasagna but good luck with that. YOu are doing good. Keep it up.

Thanks, Small. That's exactly what I think of when I hear "ricotta".. lol

Probably because really, I have never heard it used for anything else. lol.
What else would you do with it.

Ronnie, I am not a huge fan of Ricotta either, but it does have one pretty cool property. You can mix any extract and a small amount of sweatener with it, let it set, and it makes kind of a cheese cake consistency that taste like whatever extract you added. For example, add key lime extract and it will be similar to key lime pie filling. You can then spoon that on a wasa crisp bread and it makes a pretty good treat.

Sheri

I made an italian cheese cakewith low fat ricotta and splenda with sugar free orange marmalade on top. I also mix ricotta with my read sauce to make it pinkt at times.

OMGoooodness.. those recipes sound yummy!! Thanks Ladies!! I'll be stopping by the market today to buy some ricotta and try out a few of these yummy recipes.. I'm sooo excited today.. guess what.. guess what!!!

OH.. well, lemme tell ya..
I'm getting for church today and in the bathroom right before I shower. I look at that dreaded scale that I haven't been on in the past 2wks.. and decided.. "what the heck"..
I LOST THREE POUNDS!! I hadn't started my dieting as faithful as I wanted to, but I had cut back on carbs and the results proved that by cutting down, I can lose!
I'm still going to stick with my SBD because I want to lose so much weight, I need some kind of program to help me out. But WoW~oh~WoW.. I'm soo excited!!

**does the happy happy dance**

Thank you all for the support you all are giving me.. I know without this website, I'd be truly lost... this is the most support I've gotten in years and your support has proven successful to me.. I needed to associate with people who are in the same boat and dealing with the same challenges and I'm happy I found you!! :ghug:

Hurray ronnie. :dc: :dn:

Ronnie. 3 lbs is wonderful! you should be so proud! Just wait, after the first 2 weeks, that number will probably be around 13 lbs. :)

Sheri

Thats wonderful about the weight loss, and this site is truly amazing. everyone on here is so helpful, and encouraging. It does help to talk to people going through the same ups and downs. Id be lost without it. No one ever judges and its a safe place to talk and vent and just air out all your goodtimes and hardships. I have gotten great advice and ideas on here. Sometimes i will read in journals recipes and things i didnt think of and it turns out i will love the foods i try from reading others.
Glad to see you are doing so well. The scale will keep moving.

:cheer::cheer::cheer:

Three cheers for three pounds gone!!!

Great job keep at it!