Yes, I'm doing it too. Doctor said I needed to lose some weight and get back to the walking, so I'm working on it. I'm cutting back on quantity and no treats. Some goodies in the kitchen are calling to me, but I'm ignoring them.

Sounds like you are doing great. Keep it up. I know what you mean about keeping track. You are more likely to be successful, and that is very motivating. Good luck!

Still putting it off.... but soon. (Well, we always eat healthy and always try to watch portions; it is the exercise plan that keeps being put off....oh yeah...almost forgot, we still have treats lurking around in the cupboards and hidden in out of sight but the nose knows).

Yes, I'm on the "skinny pants" diet, meaning I pull my small sized pants out of the closet and try them on every morning until they fit well. Right now they are tight through the hips and I can't button them. That means I need to lose about 10 lbs. I'm tracking what I eat and working out more. I never do scales; this works just as well. Happens nearly every year!

Whic app are you using, gibby? We try to eat healthy as well, but we were out of control for the holidays! We have a few mini cupcakes to finish up and then that will end the goodies. Candy will go in the freezer downstairs with the huge Lemon Daisy Cake that one of my fellow employees sent me. We have a progressive dinner in in Feb or March, will hope we pull dessert! LOL!!

The treadmill needs to come back out.

Of course! It's the new year, it's required to start it out right. I'm watching my carbs (and intake in general) and changing up my workout routine. The cardio machines just aren't cutting it anymore. I took a 1.5 hour boot camp class on Saturday and it really showed me that I wasn't in very good shape despite using the cardio machines.

I started weight training again, using programs on the cardio machines to push me and I'm going to take classes at the gym whenever I can. I'm working on my flexibility too.

I belong to an online mom's group and we're all joining My Fitness Pal and jumping back on the bandwagon together.

Yup, me, too. My usual diet is more restricted than anyone else I know, but I got really lax over the holidays. My definition of "lax"--a half a cookie here, a sweet drink there, those damn popovers LOL--isn't like most people's, but if I'm not strict about carbs my triglycerides rise to dangerous levels (big heart risk for women). I usually don't lapse over the holidays, but I sure did this time.

So I'm back to low carb. Also, remember that video about the doctor with MS? I'm not even attempting to do what she did, and I hope there's no need to do so. But her story has inspired me to strive for nutrient density in my diet. I've started eating larger quantities of kale, carrots, cabbage, beets, broccoli, and deeply colored salad greens. It feels good.

lynn - I use one called Tap&Track. I actually bought this app - something I rarely do. I don't know if it's better or worse than the many others that are out there. I've used it for a couple years and it has gotten better over time.

No french fries, onion rings, chocolate, chips, cookies, bars, ice cream, pie, etc. have passed my lips for four days now. The withdrawal symptoms are dissipating. As far as exercise is concerned, I feel so great after I do it but I am certainly not gung ho to get started on it. I am not a morning person and there is no way I can get up and do it before I go to work so I must motivate myself to do it in the evening.

Should get more exercise.

And ... need to get more of that beauty sleep, as well.

Rumour has it that I'm some overweight, as well ... so guess I should cut down some on the food intake ...

... but I've still got some turkey to finish off. And gravy.

o j

I would love to eat "healthier" but that would mean eating what I never eat & at my age there is no hope that I will change. I don't drink milk, hate cheese, veggies, salads, fish & most things that are good for you. I love to cook but 99% of the time I don't eat what I am making. Have been like this since I was 20 years old.

I'm curious, Mary--what do you eat?

BTW, I wouldn't put most cheeses in the "good for you" category. Same for milk, although I'll probably get some flak for that. :-)

I started working out last summer. Was losing inches, but no weight for quite a while. I've finally started losing weight and have lost 7 pounds since Thanksgiving. What helped is that my dh finally got serious about losing weight and quit bringing junk food into the house. I put my kids in a healthy activity at the gym and work out while they are in class. We stayed home for the holidays and didn't do as many sweets this year. Santa brought very little candy. We cut back on carbs from pasta and bread. Since we were home, we also added a few extra activities like two more days of workouts per week and a couple of days of swimming and ice skating. I still can't skate, but my muscles were sore the next day just from trying to balance.

I've limited my food intake by just limiting the extra snacking. Dh has downloaded the free App "Lose It" to his phone and is counting calories. He has lost 14 lbs. I tried the app, but just don't have the patience to follow through with it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lose It

I joined a gym and got a personal trainer. It's less than 5 minutes from my house and I pass it on my way to the grocery store, the post office and church so I hope I keep going.

adellabedella - wow it sounds like your whole family has adopted a healthier lifestyle - that is great! I imagine when you were losing inches and not pounds you were building up more muscles from working out.

good luck fran - stick with it!! I've never had a personal trainer - would be interested to know more what that's like.

I'm on day 5 and have lost 3.4 lbs. I'm kind of surprised that I've dropped that much since I'm not overweight to start with. Must be fluid loss after discontinuing consumption of saltier junk. It is encouraging though and keeps me motivated to continue. Also helps that DH is really into exercise so he gets me going when I'd rather just lounge around.

I joined WW online in 2010 and lost 25 pounds. My mom was sick from April until she passed away in June so in a couple of months 20 pounds came back.
Decided to bite the bullet and go to meetings. Back down almost all that I gained back.
Held the holiday damage to 2 pounds and that is off now plus .2.
My exercise now is cleaning closets and sorting and purging.
My goal is another 40 pounds. Maybe it will be 2013 until I get there, but I'm not starving and I feel grrrreat!!!

Great job, everyone! I started the Atkin's lifestyle change last September and have seen very good results with it. I have to be careful eating very low carb because I have a fussy kidney - it is harder on the kidneys if you eat high protein/low carb. But with a few modifications I can eat the Atkins way forever and do just fine.
I did have a few treats at Christmas; I was given a beautiful Christmas cake which I absolutely love - the carbs in that are through the roof so I gave it to a friend who also loves it but isn't so worried about nutritional values of what is consumed, I hope he really enjoyed it. I was initially going to cut it up into tiny pieces and freeze them individually so occasionally I could have a piece, but knowing myself I decided it was better to not have the temptation in the house.
Last fall I was wearing a size 18 pant and a size XL or 1X top - today I am wearing a size 12 pant and a size M top - still want to drop another 15-20 pounds. Once that's done, I do intend to give myself some leeway on what I can eat, but I will monitor closely the way my clothes fit - any snugness and it's back to Atkin's boot camp for me.
Best of luck to everyone trying to lose or maintain the weight they have achieved!
Suzan J

I watch what I eat like a hawk already, although I have slipped up a bit the last month and should get back to normal.

When I was younger, I would attempt to exercise and it would never last longer than a few months before I would stop. I don't even bother now...I know myself too well. ;)

I used to drink pero with flavored coffee creamer in the morning...I've switched to green tea. I also used to put raw oatmeal on a cup of yogurt for breakfast, now it's flax seed. I'm just doing little things...

This is for alisande. I will eat pasta with a little sauce, cube steaks, chicken breast, turkey, hambergers but nothing that is mixed with something. I will not try new things. Most times it is just meat & potatoes.

Doctor told me to watch my weight, so I've got it right out there where I can see it. {{!gwi}}

Sue

Wow Suzan - that is an impressive accomplishment!

Very cute Sue!!

They had something on the news programs this morning about food addiction - someone promoting a book/diet I think. I wonder about food addiction - well sometimes addiction in general. I use no drugs or alcohol or smokes but I can go crazy over some sweet things - like eating a lot and being completely out of control. Unlike the person in the story, I'm not overweight - probably partly because I don't eat any regular food if I'm binging on sweets.

Anyway, it's Friday and I'm kind of tired of my extremely healthy diet. Thinking about driving to my lake cabin tomorrow for the weekend - might be a bad idea considering there are some big leftover chunks of one of those Costco half sheet cakes in the freezer. The freezer is not an obstacle for me - at all.