rosiequilts, I lost 50 pounds last year by calorie counting, which is just another way of saying "eating-loads-of-fruits-&-veggies-so-you-can-eat-the-most-food-with-the-fewest-calories". I learned to love vegetables! A pile of eggplant, onions, mushrooms & peppers with a little spaghetti sauce on just 2 oz. of pasta & 1/4 cup grated mozzarella is delicious & filling. Spaghetti squash can be substituted for the pasta (just put the spaghetti squash whole in a crock pot & it's done in 4-6 hours). For salads, I love to mix spinach, lettuce, diced raw green beans, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes and use 1/3 cup dried cranberries for dressing, or sometimes green olives and a little of the olive juice in the jar. If fresh produce isn't on hand, then combining frozen veggies & cooking in the microwave is tasty: kale, lima beans & cauliflower, for example. Veggies in combination taste much better than just plain. In winter I enjoy turnip greens & squashes. Cabbage is a versatile veggie, good for filler in soups & stews, sauteed, microwaved, or sliced for low-fat cole slaw made with Splenda. For munchies, I love to microwave a tub of Brussels sprouts or cauliflower & keep it in the fridge for mindless snacking (you know, when you get those urges to eat but you're not really hungry). A little butter or oil won't hurt you and, in fact, makes the vegetables more nutritious. Your body absorbs the nutrients better when a little fat is present with the veggies. Sometimes I like to make a green sauce of chopped fresh spinach & French parsley in a little cream & parmesan cheese, heated in a sauce pot. I serve this over a big plate of broccoli & cauliflower, and it's delicious. There are so few calories in the veggies that you can afford to indulge in the cream sauce. But then, that's dinner -- no bread, no side dishes, no heavy meats. Anyway, didn't mean to hijack this thread. Just wanted to pass on some good veggie food ideas. When you walk through the cookie/cracker aisle with indifference, but your mouth starts watering when you get to the produce section, you know you've made a good change!

Wodka, I lost my husband in May - he died in his sleep. He wasnâÂÂt sick, but he wasnâÂÂt too healthy, either. It was a total shock and I still donâÂÂt quite believe it. I also have a big support system of people taking me to dinner and making sure that I'm busy. I haven't been working out as much as I used to, but all summer I was like a crazy woman in the garden doing all the heavy digging and lifting that my husband used to do for me (I've been re-arranging). I'm just a few years younger than you, and I thank God that my body is strong enough to do that work - there are many people our age that have physical problems. I've lost close to 10 pounds, mostly from my middle and I'll share the way I've been feeding myself - maybe it can help you. I buy chicken breasts or pork chops or small steaks when they're on special and I freeze them separately in zipper bags so it's easy to pull out just one piece and defrost it in a pot of hot water in the sink. I usually grill that meat (or fish or veggie burger) and also have a salad or sauteed spinach. I now rarely make rice or potatoes (something my husband insisted on having), so I'm eating just protein and vegetables, and there's fewer pots to clean up, too. When I don't pack my lunch I go to a local soup/salad bar, except for those very stressful days when I can't resist a ruben and French fries, but I try to keep that to a minimum. I'll get Chinese or other take out for dinner maybe once a week. And I still drink wine! But with winter coming and the long dark nights to get through, I'm looking for an affordable gym to go to after work to have a place to go and to keep moving. And I'm going to look into massage - what flyleft said makes sense. I'm sure toxins can build up from grief. Since my husband didn't take care of his health, I'm determined that I will. I also turned down the anti-depressants my doctor offered. I told her I cry every day, many times, but not all day. But like others have said, give yourself a break - this is a very big thing, especially after 40 years together. You will find your way.

Me too. This is my 40th year (Will turn 40 in Nov 2007) and I really want to get back in shape. DS#2 is almost 3 years old and I still haven't lost weight after the pregnancy. It's been much harder this time compared to my first pregnancy 11 years ago. I am short (5'2") and small built and I really look like a ball right now :-(. I'm not officially overweight according to the doctor's chart but I know I am because I just don't feel good at all. My goal is to lose 15 lbs before Nov. I've had a hard time losing any weight at all for the last 2 years. Here is what I've started since new year: Watch everything I eat. NO JUNK FOOD. Cut carbs and increase protien(very hard since I'm vegeterian). I'm also exercising atleast 4 days a week - weights, toning, aerobics. I got my whole family to help me this time. DS#1 does toning exercise with me. DS#2 likes to dance with the aerobics (very funny!). DH "reminds" me to exercise if I'm too lazy or if I open the bag of chips to snack :) He is also trying some creative recipes to work in more protiens in a veggie diet. So far in 10 days I've lost just over a pound. Will keep you updated. I feel good reading about your success stories. Vasu

You all bring up great points. This is a totally voluntary weight loss challenge – informal invitations are emailed out to 3 departments comprised of about 80 people. It is not officially sanctioned by the company, but not discouraged. We have had various versions of the challenge the last 4 years, and we have found out some things that work, and some that definitely do not – regarding participation. 1st, we needed a $20.00 motivation fee and prizes. Most will not stay involved if they have nothing monetary to lose or gain. Giving it to charity did not work - got the same participation drop out rate as not having a motivation fee. Winner-take-all caused some to drop out if they knew one person was really successful – so then we had 1st, 2nd, & 3rd prizes at the end (splitting the motivation fee proportionally 1/2, 1/3, 1/6.) Furthermore, to sweeten the pot, we had an anonymous donor grant a $5 weekly bonus to the person who lost the best percentage each week. That way, you may not win one of the top three, but you could win a couple of weekly bonuses. Surprisingly, the finalist winners rarely won most of the weekly bonuses, because they were the slow and steady losers, not the quick up and down ones. 2nd, having journals, counting steps, recording exercise minutes or any other form of “measurements” did not work. There were lots of hard feelings about them – some accusations of “fudging” or being too personal. Some people were WAY too competitive – and that also caused hard feelings. We had people chose to lose the way they wished by reducing calories, increasing exercise, or both. We have only one person officially record weights, so no else would know anybody else’s actual weight. We just announce the top finalist’s losses – not current weight. 3rd, we found 4-6 weeks to be too short of a time, and some ladies did silly things to win. 12 weeks was too long and we had a lot of dropouts. 8-10 weeks seems to be the sweet spot time wise – too long for “crash dieters” and short enough not to “burn out”. Now we try to have a 10 week diet challenge, then a 6 week maintenance challenge before another 10 week weight loss challenge. (The maintenance challenge is to kick in $20 and you get double back if you do not gain anything in 6 weeks – normally held over a holiday season.) 4th, we haven’t had many men compete, so that has not been a big problem (of them losing faster). Since we have a wide range of weights (135 – 340), we have tried various versions of % loss or total loss. Last time it was the weekly % bonuses coupled with prizes for the top three total weight lost. This time the main organizers wanted it to be total percentage for the final three prizes. I think this does favor the thinner ones, but I was just asking all your opinions in the hopes to fine tune this continuing completion in the future. Personally, I have lost 35 pounds last year in several of the competitions -- and I hope to do more in the next one. They do keep me motivated. Thanks for your thoughts.