I just posted on the old thread, so I'll repost here:

SS: 136!! Holy cow--that's such a little number! You are doing great!
Jasmi: congratulations on your loss. That's no small thing. Isn't it good to see the scale go down?

Harold, you know you're doing good. Keep it up--you're getting really close to your goal.

I am officially changing my weigh-in day from Monday to Tuesday. I was 141.5 this morning after being 143.5 yesterday. I much prefer to be 141.5, so I saw it. I'm claiming it.

152/141.5/119

That's wonderful Ekle... over ten pounds lost so far!!!!!!! I don't blame you for claiming it a bit, you deserve it!

And Jasmi, I was reading an article today about how when people are exercising they lose a pound of fat, and gain a pound of muscle so the scale doesn't move. Keep doing what you're doing and you will see results, feeling firmer, clothes looser... etc... even if you are not seeing the results on the scale. 1.5 a week is great. I know how hard it is to only see the needle go down one little peg, but the way you're doing it you are much more likely to keep it off.. and that's the goal, right?

Harold, you bugger you. Disappearing numbers? Going right off the scale? There really is something to be said for seeing your numbers go from the left to the right, and then never to be seen again.

I got home and manaically stepped on the scale again. Still 136. Ate a salad, and got back on. Still 136. Did a little "happy dance".

Congratulations, Ladies, you're doing great.

Silver, thanks for thinking of me and my dial-up connection. I think from now on I'll just start a new thread every week.

Yeah, there's something to be said for my antique mechanical scale, LOL. When the digital watches came out, it took me a while to get used to it. I had to mentally convert the time displayed to the equivalent watch hand position before I really felt like I knew what time it was.
You kids probably don't even remember a time before digital watches.

I do so remember a time before digital watches!!! And I have a mechanical scale too :) I don't trust those digital ones.

OK, let me try again.

I posted on the first thread, so I will start again.

Can I please join y'all? I did the chart that you posted a link to Harold and I don't even want to talk about it. I will just go ahead and give y'all the bad news at where I'm starting.

Age-54 (55 July 6th)
Height 5'4"
Weight Somewhere around 190. I will try to go by the Dr's office this afternoon and weigh there and let y'all know exactly.

The chart said I should be 108-145. So I really need encouragement.
I started on South Beach diet Sunday. Did 20 mins on treadmill Monday. Walked a lot yesterday.
Going to go walk the treadmill now and try to do some weights.

I would really appreciate any help I can get.

BTW, I've never told anyone how much I weigh. EVER. Not even my husband. Too ashamed. So, this is a biggie for me.
Betty

Oops we wer posting at the same time. Welcome again.

Hi, Betty! Welcome! We'd love to have you join us.

South Beach is a good, balanced approach to kicking out the bad carbs and enjoying healthy, whole foods. I hope you have great success! I have a friend who is only about 4' 11" tall. She lost over 25 pounds doing S.B. and that was a LOT of weight for her height and small frame. I know you can do it too. Great job on already starting with the exercise.

I was still at 141.5 this morning, so I think it's here for real. It would be so-o-o-o-o good to stay down and then keep moving down, rather than go through all that down, up, down, up stuff for the next week before the weight becomes "official."

Silversword--are you feelin' great or what? I think I'll cry the first time I see a number in the 130s on the scale. Jasmi and I are going for it together, right J?

152/141.5/119
start date: 2/2/09

Hi Betty!!! Welcome!

Nothing to be ashamed of! You're in good company :) I never thought I could lose the weight and I didn't tell anyone how much I weighed either. I'm almost down 20lbs in four months - you can do it too. Following this thread has really helped me :)

Are you starting on nice, light weights? Don't overdo the weight because then it will potentially injure you and make it harder to continue. More reps with lighter weight is better than a few at 20lbs. I started with 3lb weights and am now up to 10lbs. But I still go back to my 5lbs if I am doing a lot of reps.

Remember that if you do high intensity exercise, like jumping rope or sprints it will boost your metabolism for doing other exercise. I've read that if you can maybe walk for 10 minutes, then do as much jump rope or sprinting as you can, then go back to walking, you will burn many more calories. The trick is getting your heart rate up. Then when you stop completely your body will still be burning more calories than when you started... even if you're just sitting on the couch :)

I don't know anything about the South Beach Diet but will look it up.

So glad to have you with us!

Oh, Betty, also....

I use a calorie counter My Calorie Counter to track every thing I eat and do for exercise. I know that Ekle uses a different one (Fit-a-day?) and that there are a lot out there, for no cost.

It has really helped me to track what I eat, and if I know how many calories are left after calculating my breakfast and lunch I can plan in little "treats"... today I had a rice krispie treat that was fabulous... and I don't feel guilty because it's accounted for. I feel entitled and justified, and that makes me feel more satisfied after eating it than if I were "sneaking"... which just makes me feel like, well, heck, if I'm gonna eat a half a cupcake, I might as well eat three, I've already blown it!

The site I use for tracking is fitday.com. I can log in the food I eat and it computes calories, fat, protein, and carb grams, percentage of calories from each, etc. I can log in my weight, weight goal and date, and body measurements. It computes body mass index and puts up graphs. There's a lot it can do if you're willing to take a few minutes each day to enter the information.

Betty: according to a typical "body mass index" calculator, a 5'4" tall woman can be healthy with a weight between 111 and 145 pounds. 111 would be for a woman with a very small bone frame and low muscle mass. 145 would be for a woman with a pretty large bone frame and greater than average muscle mass. The mean weight is 128, so that's pretty average frame/average muscle mass. BMI is an imperfect measure, but it helps with a guideline to start from. It's imperfect because beyond bone frame it doesn't take into account body TYPE at all: apple versus pear versus hourglass; bosom size (which won't change much no matter how skinny most people get), etc. So you can look at your frame and muscle mass, and then adjust your goal based on other factors about your body you might not be able to do anything about.
The only truly accurate measure of a healthy individualized weight is probably a hydrostatic body fat percentage measure. Some specialty medically monitored health centers will offer hydrostatic measuring, and some day spas do it too. I don't know that I'll ever pursue this to that degree, but a lot of athletes and fitness leaders recommend it. If knowing your actual body fat percentage is important to you as you determine your optimal weight range, that's the way to go.

That's probably way too much information. I've just learned a lot lately, so I tend to spew everything I'm reading, even though I'm just glad to be getting a little smaller every few days. I'm kind of going by the "I'll know my goal when I get there" approach, but I'm pretty sure it needs to be under 125 but over 112.

Thanks everyone. I walked 30 mins on the treadmill. Stopped to fold some clothes and go through some stuff for our church youth group yard sale. They cancelled track practice today, so I won't go by the Dr's. Hopefully tomorrow. I will buy my own scales May 1st when the retirement check gets deposited.
Silver, I won't overdo the weights. I have 5 lb I think. I just want to get started on something to help slow down the bone loss and strengthen overall. I have a total gym 1000, but it didn't have a book with it when I bought it used. I may play around a little on that.
At least I've started, and I got excited when I read y'all's original posts.
Ekle, A co-worker lost over 50 lbs on S.B. That's what got me started on it. I lost about 18 lbs on it once, but stopped. I didn't go strictly by it. I'm allergic to onions, garlic, and the mold that occurs naturally in some cheeses. I have to create my own seasonings because everything has either onions or garlic (except maybe ice cream and I'm not going there!)
S.B. was created by a cardiologist who was trying to find a diet that worked for his heart patients. It also helps people with diabeties issues. The first 2 weeks are the hardest for me because you can't have any fruit those 2 weeks and I love fruit. After that it gets easier. I started cooking with Extra Virgin Olive Oil on the original S.B. diet and we love it. My husband will eat veggies that he would never eat before if I grill it and brush it with EVOO. 15 year old son love them too. Of course he is 6'2" and skinny as a rail! Eats everything that isn't nailed down. I remember those days of yesteryear!
I like the info you shared with me. I once was 128 lbs in my 20s and it was too hard to stay there. If I can get there, 130-something sounds more manageable. Right now I just want to get my energy back.
Betty

Welcome Betty..We are happy to have another person joining the thread.You will get lot of information from the folks here on this thread. Even though I lost very few pounds so far, it is only because of the encouragement and inspiration I get from here that makes me stick to the calorie counting and my work out routine.

Silver , You are doing great workouts and also limiting your food calories to 1300. You should be reaching your goal very soon with this pace and motivation.

Ek, yes I am so waiting to get back to 130s. I should be following you in to 130s by the end of May. Wow,I will be celebrating that day. I am already getting so excited about it and checking my weight atleast 3 times in a day :-))

By the way guys, calorie counting is helping me a lotttttttt. I use a simple excel sheet with my own formulas.

One thing that has been bothering me is the weighing machine at my fitness center . It shows my weight at 149. I have a digital scale and a normal scale at home which shows my weight at 145. So everytime I weigh in at the fitness center scale, I get depressed. I wish I can stop weighing in myself on every scale I see anywhere:-((

Oh Betty! I know what you mean! My DH lost ten lbs... no exercise, no diet modifications especially, just I've been eating less fattening, so he does by proxy. It's just not fair.

Jasmi, glad the calorie counting is working for you. I step on a scale way too much too. It's disheartening. Today when I got home I weighed 140. Bummer!!!!!!! I must have the slowest metabolism in the world!

Silver,

Diet by Proxy. I like that. It could be the title of a best-selling diet book. Or, you could open a weight loss clinic. Slogan: "We go on the diet, you lose the weight."

Guys

I was feeling sick and depressed last night. That was my excuse not to work out. This morning I couldn't stop myself to get on the scale and I was weighing less than 145. I hope this is is not water loss but genuine fat loss. :-))

Harold I love that slogan!!!

Jasmi, I'm so sorry!!!! Remind yourself that you will feel better after working out!!!

I can relate. I've been feeling not so inspired to work out lately too. And... this morning was back up to 140. I'm hoping it's water retention (TOTM) and not GAIN!

I'm going hiking this afternoon. 4.5 miles is the goal. Not inspired, totally tired, have to take my dd to her afterschool activity and am not looking forward to that either. I'm forcing myself to do it anyway. You can do it. Just think of me dragging my sorry butt up the mountain!

My husband is another of those "by proxy" dieters, with one exception: he has a candy stash that he dips into almost daily. (Or maybe it is daily; he could easily sneak a bar while I'm back here talking to you guys and I'd never know.) But if he alters that pattern at all and just eats what I provide, then he loses weight immediately. He could so easily be thin, if he were not a total sugar addict. (I should say that he's not dangerously overweight or anything, but he could stand to permanently remove about 5-8 pounds from his waistline.)

I'm still at 141.5--three days in a row without a bounce back UP. That's almost as encouraging as seeing the scale drop, given my normal pattern.

I'm going to the treadmill now. Not a lot of time to walk/jog, but I hope to get at least enough exercise today to burn off the caloric value of my total carbohydrate intake for the day, at least. I was a little higher than my official stage of the diet today, so I need to be sure to get some activity in today.

SS--it's just a fluctuation. Or maybe an increase in muscle from all your exercising. Do you take measurements? Shake it off and keep going. You're still on a roll!

Jasmi--woo-hoo on getting under 145! See, it's working!

Betty, if you're anything like me (and I admit my metabolism isn't much like the average person's), then you'll definitely see your energy coming back with the limited carbs of South Beach. Just be careful about their line of prepackaged, convenience foods. All reduced-carb diets work much better if the focus is on whole foods--the less processing, the better. Once they franchise into a line of convenience foods, the nutrients get corrupted with preservatives and what not, and everyone who goes to those items (Atkins calls them "frankenfoods") sees a slow-down or stall in their loss. I just believe we're supposed to eat REAL foods that we prepare ourselves, minimally processed.

Guess what, Guys. I went by the store today and picked up a set of scales and weighed when I got home and I'm 180.
That's better than I thought. I probably had already lost some since I started dieting Sunday. WHOO-HOO!!!!

Didn't have time to exercise today. Been at the hospital all day with a friend whose husband had surgery. It went fine.

Thanks Jasmi, for the welcome.

Harold, I love that "We diet and you lose weight"!! I almost choked on my water!

Ek, thanks for the warning on the prepackaged foods. I usually have to make everything from scratch anyway. Everything has either onions, garlic, or cheese in it and I'm allergic. I have to even make my own ketsup because it has onion powder in it. I didn't realize it and I kept having allergic reactions until I narrowed it down. Got a headache, so I'm turning in.
Night,
Betty

Thanks Ek, I'm hoping it just a phase. I weighed this morning and it's 138... I'm hoping it's muscle. I'm not taking measurements... I should, but my dd got ahold of my soft measure tape so I don't have one. I need to pick one up. I'm so happy for you that you're down so low! That's great. Congratulations are in order :)

Betty, what a wonderful surprise to be less than you thought! That's a good motivator, isn't it?

141.0 this am! Waah-hoo! I didn't bounce up! I didn't bounce up! (That's never happened before!)

152/141/119

:D

Having you guys here REALLY helps me stay focused on my weight loss goal, and keeps me going moment by moment through the day.

I love you, man (s)!

Guys

My poor husband is also a "by proxy" dieter. Last year I declared before the entire family that I would cook and eat only low fat food at home. Eventually , it so happened I was not cooking at all . My husband was the first one to lose 20 pounds and I was not losing at all. Then he realized I was eating my lunches out and was happily binging on everything I loved. :-)))Poor husband was thinking to support me and ended up losing too much weight.

Anyway, I saw the lowest number on my scale this morning which I haven't seen in last 2 years. I was so carried over and ended up having nice chinese lunch today. To compensate that, I am going to walk more on saturday and sunday . ( I am declaring it before all you guys , so you can come back and ask me on next monday about my extra walking on the weekend).

I have also started targeting for a mini goal every week. For example, If I was 145 last monday , i will try my best to get back to 143.XX on next monday. A little over pound is really motivating ..

Harold, I remember your Indian joke about american eating looking at the time. I have started looking at my excel sheet to see how much I can eat:-)) Its been fun ...

ek, you are so close to 139. Keep up the good job. I am closely following you.

Betty, thats a positive note to start. You will be much more motivated once you start losing few pounds..

Silver ,I think I saw you on the mountain yesterday. Just kidding . I literally dragged my self to the fitness center yesterday which is 50 feet from my apartment door. I burned 370 calories watching the boring and repetitive CNN news.
You all have a great weekend.....

Jasmi,

It looks like you're doing great. The only thing I disagree about a little bit is making a 1-week weight goal. We all know how the scale can jump around from day to day. So don't get too hung up on what happens in 1 week. IMO, your weekly goal should be to keep the calories down and the exercise up. Have faith that the weight will follow.

I know what you are saying , Harold. I should better not be too hard on myself.:-))

"152/141/119"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EK... I am so super proud of you. SO so soso osososososooso proud.

Jasmi, treat yourself. Treat yourself good. :) You've been working hard and we all need a day to appreciate our hard work. (I'm having a piece of chocolate cake that my 7 year old made all by herself tonight, with some help getting it in and out of the oven... just Betty Crocker... but her first ever "all by myself" cake!!) I thought about you on the mountain yesterday... maybe you felt your ears burning? We did 4.8 miles. It felt GOOD! And, for the first time my walking partner and I were able to sprint-walk-sprint-walk-sprint that I heard was so good for burning calories... but we haven't been able to do for lack of energy :)

Betty, what Jasmi said was true. I hope you are motivated by your 10lb (out of the gate loss) and that helps jump-start your feeling accomplished. It really did for me. Just know that your hard work will pay off and we are here for you:)

And Harold, you are so RIGHT!!!!!!!!! Don't get caught up on the amount of weight because it is deceptive. I have a huge accomplishment to announce. For those who are getting caught up on weight loss rather than inches... ah hem...me! Don't do it!

GUESS WHAT???????? I tried on my skinny jeans today. You know the ones? That I fit into at 120-125???? Y'all remember those jeans, right? Well...

wait for it.....

I got them up over my hips, around the waist, zipped and buttoned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then I had to take them off because I didn't want to die of asphixiation or stretch them out ;) But it happened. For a brief, lovely moment... it happened. And I weighed 140 this morning and 137 this afternoon. Same clothes, etc. So don't get caught up on the weight, as I have obviously been. Thank you all so much for your support. This has been really good for me, and I appreciate your friendship.

Thats AWESOME , Silver.
I am very happy for you. Enjoy your double precious moments.(Ur DD's first cake and ur hardwork paying off)..

Have a wonderful weekend..

I don't remember those jeans. I think you need to post a pic to jog my memory. (Attempts to suppress inner male pig)

Thanks Jasmi :) Thankfully my DD didn't eat her whole slice so I took two bites and was satisfied... didn't even want a whole piece (unless I took that pint of vanilla haagen daaz out of the freezer, but that's a whole other story!)

It has a place of honor in my glass cake stand on the counter. She is so proud! Of course, it's covered in rainbow sprinkles...gross, but fun.

I jumped on the scale today, my 'compulsive scale hopping' (shall we just call it CSH?) and am 136. Had I not done the CSH I would have probably never known my weight jumped back up. Groan.

I'd take a pic Harold, but I don't have a wide lens!!!!!!!!