Congrats on another 2 pound loss, Harold! Remind me again what your goal weight is? You're really trucking along nicely. Is the stiffness gone after slowing down some this week?

Thanks. My original goal was 200 but now I'm thinking I want to get to a normal weight for my height, which is 183. Short term goal ia 220, the dividing line between overweight and obese.

Yes, I had some stiffness in the legs, which went away. My back is still bothering me a little bit. I might need to do some stretching exercises or something.

Hi Everyone,
I've just returned to this forum after a winter's absence - I post on the SS Support thread but see Harold's. Congratulations to all of you for coming together and pulling each other along. I am enjoying your enthusiasm and can 'feel' the power over here too!

I'm on year three of a very slow goal plan - my problem has always been maintenance. I have mental health issues with depression - sometimes it affects my eating habits/weight - so maintenance is a huge thing for me.

Presently I am at 5'3" 145 pounds, long term goal is to maintain anything under 138.

My journey has been a crawl at times - half a pound here, plateaus, weight up, down, plateaus....our bodies are all different, stick with your game plan, forget the length of time and focus on a healthier lifestyle - you will get there in the end.

Harold, thank you for getting this thread going!

Cheers to everyone,
Peggy

Welcome, Peggy.

Hi Peggy, and welcome! :) I think you have the right idea, maintenance is key. If not we'd just be yo-yoing around which would make me give up. I do have my timeline goal because I have an event in June where I will be standing in front of 100 or so people in a very skinny dress that shows every line and I really want to feel good about being up there. Honestly though, 135 would be thin enough, but I'd like to tone up more and be "sleeker" if you know what I mean. But like you, maintaining is far more important than the deadline I have set.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did you weigh when you started? 5'3" and 145 is not bad at all, you'll be able to whittle that down with the consistency you are showing.

I'm with Ele... I think I'm changing weigh in day to Tuesday, which was my original weigh-in day. When I came home yesterday after my weekend away I was 136 even, at the end of the day and wearing jeans. I'm hoping I can say 135 tomorrow. That would be my 20lb weight loss mark!!

I honestly cannot believe I have that much to lose. How did it get this high?

Anyway, I'm really motivated. I have been getting excited about my salads: two kinds of lettuce, spinach, carrot, tomato, avocado, some kind of beans (black, garbanzo, pinto, mung, green), onions, feta cheese, balsalmic/red wine/apple cider vinegar and olive oil dressing with a clove of garlic squeezed in and whatever else happens to be in the fridge (chunks of chicken or fish, beets, etc). Sometimes I toast a piece of my low-carb bread and crumble it over the salad for "croutons". The feta/avocado gives me the craving I have for creamy fatty taste and the different textures and sizes and tastes really leaves me feeling like I have had a huge meal with variety. I can eat a huge salad, be really really full and not feel deprived at all. Plus, it's completely good for me.

I'm having whole wheat pasta for lunch today with big chunks of veggies and a little sauce. I figured I can have pasta as long as it's whole wheat and I have a lot of other stuff in there to stretch it out so I feel like I'm eating a big bowl. I really love a big bowl of pasta, lots of butter and sauce and cheese and a hunk of garlic bread... have to revise it so I can still have it but am not ingesting my calorie allotment for the day in one meal!!

Last night I was so "snacky"... it was awful. I got out two carrots and some balsalmic vinegar/olive oil that I have in my fridge, sliced the carrots up thin and sat down and ate them all. It was actually fantastic. I just let go of my dream of eating chips and cheese and hot sauce and enjoyed my carrots. It cured my horrible snack urges and was only around 50 calories. I think a really important thing for me is finding substitute snack foods that I really like and are easy to prepare and are good for me. 10 pretzels just won't do it for me. If I'm snacking, I need to have a lot, so it needs to be really low-cal!!

Good Morning,
Didn't have a good week. Busy enough that I didn't get on the treadmill once since I checked in last! And the scale hasn't moved. It is definately harder to lose since I've gotten older.
I have worked myself into total exaustion in the yard everyday, but it was hot and slow, so no weight loss. But, I am toning up my muscles. The part of my yard I'm working on is a VERY steep hillside. I have been taking wheelbarrows of mulch down and pushing that wheelbarrow back up and it feels like it weighs a ton!
The stupid bugs sucked so much blood I should have lost at least a pound!!!
I need to buy some more stuff for salads. And, definately get back on the treadmill. That was my main secret for success last time.
I had to go to a birthday party Sunday night at church after service and all I had was a cup of decaf coffee. I was proud of myself.

Welcome Peggy. Come see us often.

Great job, Harold.

Tuesday weigh in would be good for me too.
Silver, I have an avocado I'm going to start on this afternoon. Yummy! Salads are our friends!

The cravings for chocolate ice cream are starting to ease off a little. Thank God!
Betty

Betty,

I think your yard work is just as good as the treadmill, and probably a lot more interesting.

If you are toning up your muscles without gaining weight, you are probably losing fat and gaining muscle. So maybe you didn't have a bad week after all. That happened to me when I started exercising more. I didn't lose at all for a couple of weeks. So, hang in there.

Good morning everyone!

Betty, I agree with Harold. Actually, I think the yard work is probably better than the treadmill. Think about mixing it up a little... do a wheelbarrow full, then do ten jumping jacks or sprint 10 feet, or something like that. I've heard that really gets the calories falling off!

I didn't lose for two or three weeks either when I just started. Don't get discouraged. It will happen. :)

We went on a 2.6 mile hike last night, and I am going to do another hour today (around 2 miles). Will try sprint-walking as I heard it's really effective.

Being able to resist food in public is really hard for me too... good job on just drinking the coffee. :) I've been drinking a broth based soup before my meals lately and it's really been working on my hunger/need to eat a BIG bowl of whatever I've cooked. I use miso paste, and a tablespoon is 35 calories. I drink a big cup of that before I eat and then I eat less. I've heard it works well with chicken broth too, I just prefer the miso (and it's really good for me!).

I have the best news. I am officially weighing in...

Start Weight: 155 (January 2009)
Goal Weight: 125 (June 2009)
Weight Today: 135

TOTAL POUNDS LOST: 20

Yay!!

WTG! 20 pounds--and only 10 more to your goal! That's fantastic!

Betty, when I first started this, I had about 2-3 weeks with a noticeable loss on the scale, and then a 1 pound loss, and then almost 4 weeks with no loss at all. That was frustrating and hard, but eventually the plateau broke and I started down again at about 1-1.5 pounds per week.
Now I think I might be entering another stall. I was expecting to be down around 140 today. I held at 141-141.5 all week long. But naturally, on weigh-in day, it didn't show up on the scale. I was at 142 this morning--a gain of .5 pound from last week. RATS!
I don't believe I really gained anything. I think I didn't drink enough water yesterday and my evening meal was larger than lunch, so I think I just skewed things for this morning. I hope to see that gone by tomorrow and then I hope to have a great weigh-in again next week, but I'm preparing myself for the possibility of another stall kicking in. It happens to almost everyone. That's when it's time to take some measurements, because sometimes you can lose inches but not lose weight as fat dissolves and muscle builds.
I need to go write down those measurements I took this morning so that I can compare in a week or two and see if anything's changing there. I do take measurements from time to time, but not nearly as often as I look at the scale.

Good Morning guys

My last week weigh in was 145.
This week's weigh in (today ) is 146. :-(((

I was hoping to see 143.8 which I was all this week.The scale started showing up 145-146 from sunday . I dont understand this. I did not over eat this week. Eating chinese once would not increase my weight so much. So it must be water retention. Lets see how much I weigh in next tuesday ( I have also moved my weigh in day to tuesday ).I was also not working out a lot this week. I was either sick or depressed to hit the fitness center .

Hi Silver

Losing 20 pounds is wowwwww... keep up the great work.

Ek, I hope its just water retention. I think I am either having water retention or a hitting a plateau. I never thought i would hit a stall so soon. :-(((

Eklektos,

To be honest, I think your result last week was a bit of a fluke. For you to lose 3.5 of fat would be near impossible unless you starved yourself. By the same token, I think +.5 this week is a fluke too. If you average them together you get a very respectable 1.5 lb/week loss.

Jasmi,

Remember, we're not going to panic over one week's result. Now, if it continues for a couple or 3 weeks in a row, we might start to get concerned.

Hi Everyone!
Thank you for your welcome.
Silver - congratulations on your loss. As for your question, 3 years ago I was 162 pounds - upper end of 'overweight' on the BMI scale. I felt it too. Mentally and physically. I'm a serious gardener, like to be moving - in the garden I had back spasms which would bring me to my knees, my hip started grinding (new for me) and mentally I felt like a 'blob'. I've done WW for years on and off and use that for maintenance. This time round I focusing more on healthy eating, minimum junk, more veggies and fruit in my day and breaking my meals into snack portions during the day (keeps my metabolism high and I lose more). I don't strive for overnight fixes to fit into something slinky - I just got tired of heavy breathing going up a flight of stairs (again new for me) and having low esteem. I got angry at myself. It's been a very long 17 pounds for me but my lifelong goal is healthier eating habits - something I can live with and improved self esteem. I don't care how long it takes.

Great to meet everyone. I also post on the SS Weekly thread - it actually is ANY diet over there. We've gotten to know each other so well at one point everyone was having a rough time with things we were a winter of just moral support - which is part of a healthy lifestyle. Spring came and everyone is back on track again. I've made lifelong friends on these forums. I'm glad to see all of you here. Just remember when you hit your goal don't stop posting because maintenance can be hard and it's a lifelong journey.

Have a wonderful day,
Cheers,
Peggy

Hi!
Thank you everyone for your support. It means a lot to me. Of course, this morning I popped right back up to 136... but I'm hoping it's the usual up-swing... down-swing of things.

Peggy, I know what you mean about "feeling it" mentally and physically. That's the reason I started my caloric attitude shift (it's not a diet!!) and using this wedding as an incentive/goal date/excuse to actually follow through. Overnight fixes don't work in the long run and I would be a little afraid of how they would get done what they need to get done to make it work in the short run...

Yesterday I told myself that I could walk over to our health food store while DD is in her activity. I have two hours to kill three times a week, and I used to just sit and gab to the other parents, but lately I've been getting my butt off the couch and walking for that time. Well, I used the excuse of DD wanting popcorn, and I buy it in bulk there because it's cheaper and much fresher than at the grocery store. I had no idea how far it was miles-wise but figured I'd aim for the store, but check my watch and turn back at the one hour mark. I made it in 45 minutes, got my popcorn, stopped at an antique store that has an awkward parking lot so I never drive there and browsed for a few minutes... then walked back with my eight pounds of popcorn and flour and other bulk things in my backpack.

Then after picking DD up at the activity we drove what I walked so I could see how far it was. Can you believe 5 miles round trip!!?? I was tired last night!!! Ended up eating popcorn for dinner and going right to sleep :)

Today we're doing at least 2.5 miles. I have a ton of energy. The more I lose, the more I have :)

Also, another thing I really noticed this morning was when I got dressed my shirt was a lot looser. I've lost side/back/arm inches. And my suit pants will have to be taken in eventually because they're falling around my hips. A good indicator of inches instead of pounds. I really need to keep remembering that. Good thing I have such big hips, my pants will never fall down...!