losing it

i skipped a whole week of working out.  i can't believe i just told you that, but it's true: i went to the gym last monday, and today was the first time i've been since then.  exactly seven days of me doing nada, zip, zilch, in the way of working out. 

the gross part?  i totally missed it. 

Monday Weigh-Ins Suck the Big One

I knew it wasn't going to be pretty.  
Howdy, Kristin here.  I'm up a pound today from last Monday.  I gave up weighing myself every day, because it was kind of stupid.  Up, down.  Up, down.  I figured one humiliation per week was enough.
I'm coming off of four Large Eating Events that all occurred within the past week.  (CRIKEY!)  A jewelry party at my sister's house, a retirement party for the parents, my hubby's birthday party, and this past weekend we were in Bloomington Friday night and Saturday afternoon.  Lots of great food and drink, at all four events.  My problem is... it seems like there are Food Events ALL. THE. TIME. when I'm trying to lose weight.
I'm not the kind of person who can go to a party and chew on a celery stick while the person next to me inhales my Chex Mix.  Sorry, people.
Even when I try to reign it in at these frequent events, I don't do very well.  

I'm trying to remain positive, but it's really tough.  I don't FEEL positive.  I'm in need of some major "uplifting;" that's why I read this blog, because it really helps to know I'm not the only one doing this horrible crap every day.  So thanks, ladies, for the posts and the encouragement.  I still write on my other blog every Monday, but that one tends to end up sounding like me muttering to myself or to the wall; I get off on some pretty wild tangents sometimes.......

One tip that I've been trying again that seems to help over-all is sticking to the four "Golden Rules" of dieting, which have served me well in the past:

1.  Eat ONLY when hungry.
2.  Eat consciously.  (Savor every bite, don't eat while doing other activities or when distracted, etc.)
3.  Eat whatever you want.
4.  STOP eating when satisfied.

It sounds wacky, but it's logical when you think about it.  First of all, a lot of diets tell us that sometimes when we THINK we're hungry, we're actually thirsty or dehydrated.  So now, when I start to feel "hungry," I'm going to have a cup of tea and wait a half hour.  Often my "hunger" disappears.  

Second, I am SO guilty of speed-eating and eating while multi-tasking.  I have stripped all of the joy from my eating experiences.  I am determined to cook more, use my awesome cookbooks more, put more thought and preparation into meal planning, and stopping my cycle of random, unconscious, OBLIVIOUS eating for no reason.  


Eating whatever I want will be no problem; YAY.  I will probably have the toughest time with #4.  I have a LOT of trouble stopping myself from eating double or triple (OR MORE!) portions of foods that I love.  I have no problem eating an entire bag of microwave popcorn, for example.  (500+ calories!!!)  I know I need to weigh and measure and count my calories religiously if I'm ever going to lose and keep my weight off, and I need to learn how to be happy and satisfied in moderation.  I think this will be the biggest key to my success.


Onward, ladies...!

 

Guess how many sticks of butter I lost this week???  A big fat giant ZERO sticks of butter.  I don't understand this because I am following the stupid program pretty closely, not even coming close to eating the designated points I have according to my WW plan.  I've been pretty good about working out regularly.  I think I worked out six days this week.  So WTF????  I'm fighting off the pissiness that is threatening to descend on me and make me and everyone around me absolutely miserable, and try to buck up and get motivated to do another week of this bullshit.
Sarah

Question

Hey y'all!  It's Anne with a real good question...

Do you think that by being uncoordinated, a person would actually burn more calories? 

For example, when I do Zumba (in the privacy of my own home) I'm always way off the mark.  It's all I can do sometimes to just keep up to tempo.  They go right, I go left.... I just get the steps down with my feet and they say, "Now add the arms!" and I start gyrating all over the place.  I really think that I work harder than someone like Paula Abdul would have to. 

My husband is threatening to take us on a little vacay this spring, so I now have extra motivation for losing more poundage.  I don't want to be mistaken for Shamu.    "Look honey, I see a beached whale!"  "No Dear, that's that's just some tourist from Wisconsin." 

Thank you, good night!

Baby StepsThrough My Morning... Baby Steps Through My Afternoon.......

Howdy, Kristin here.
Yesterday, I was a hot, flaming red inferno.  Today, I'm more of a muted violet.  Today is better than yesterday was.  A few breakthroughs...

I've decided that guilt is one of the biggest factors that is preventing me from losing weight.  Not guilt itself, but the inevitable landslide that follows the guilt.  This guilt happens when I cheat on my diet.  The landslide is immediate, and devastating.  I'll explain:

I have this handy dandy little eating plan all worked out for myself.  It's foolproof.  It includes my favorite treats.  It includes indulgences.  It's at least 50% nutritious, which is adequate for a hungry dieter.  It has all the makings of an eating plan that can succeed.

It looks something like this:

Morning (between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m.)
Coffee/tea/Coke, fat-free dairy, whole grains, and fruit totaling 350 calories or less.

Afternoon (between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.)
Tea/diet pop, fruits & veggies, and protein totaling 350 calories or less.

Evening  (between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.)
Tea/Coke/Sangria, 2% milk, protein, veggies, whole grains totaling 500 calories or less.

Daily total = 1200 calories.  

I know I said I wanted to be LESS restrictive, but for me, less restrictive means not denying me my all-time favorite beverages, which are Coke Classic and Cruz Garcia Real Sangria.    LOL

So this is what I mean by my eating plan being "somewhat" nutritious.  At least my daily 8 ounces of sangria is packed with flavonoids, right?

So HOW am I ridding myself of cheating guilt, you may wonder?

Baby steps.

I've given up my goal of dropping 40 pounds by swimsuit season.  
(The relief I immediately felt was astronomical.)


Instead, I am severely narrowing my focus from the 4-month goal, not just down to a month or a week or a day-long goal, but to a very focused, hour-by-hour eating plan.  I'm sick of getting half-way through a day on track with my eating, and then mid-afternoon, have a 500-calorie Reeses Peanut Butter Cup binge, and after that the rest of the day is all shot to hell and turns into one giant calorie explosion.  Something wacky snaps in my brain.  Am I the only one this happens to???  I make one little slip-up... sometimes one that is small enough that a treadmill walk could fix it... but I get so down, so fast, that I just say "fu** it!!!," and I'll just sum it up by saying that it's pretty damn easy to consume over 3000 calories after 8:00 p.m. when you give it 110% effort.


So, baby steps from now on.  One meal at a time, one workout at a time, general goals in mind, but no diet disasters following a single slip-up.  I have to train myself, somehow, to recover from the guilt and disappointment that always follows an instance of cheating, and instead of blowing the whole day after I cheat, just shrug it off and say, "You're human!  Don't worry.  If you don't lose your resolve, you'll burn off the calories in that one slip-up in no time."


This is by far my biggest challenge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JPa2mvSQ4&feature=related 

I'm so hot

Okay, I hate working out.  I really really hate it.  I will use any excuse to not do it.  Last night I didn't do it but that wasn't my fault because Mitch and I were going to workout together (much easier to make yourself do it and not skip huge portions when somebody is next to you watching) but he is newly obsessed with Angry Birds and kept saying, "Just a minute..." until it was almost ten o'clock and I didn't want to work out that late.  I suppose I could have.  He did.  But he was also extremely tired this morning.  So ha, in your face, procrastinator. 

But I think as much as I hate it, it's working.  I feel stronger and I think I've kicked up my metabolism a bit because I'm running pretty hot.  Usually I'm freezing all the time, but I'm really HOT today.  I'm probably just going into early menopause (thanks, Mother Nature!) and having hot flashes, but I'm going to pretend it's because my body is running like an oven and burning calories even when I'm just sitting here.  I will work out tonite! I think I need a goal in mind for working out, but there is no way in HELL I'm running any races so I need some ideas for a fitness goal that I could reach that working out on a regular basis would facilitate.  Any ideas?

Join the club...



She called Jenny...867-5309

 "Jenny I got your number, you need to make me thin."

I had the TV on while I was preparing my lunch the other day and I heard someone say, "What happened to Carrie Fisher?".  I thought "Yeah, whatever happened to her?"  Then I looked at the screen and couldn't believe it.    She looks so ... well, not like Carrie Fisher.    She is apparently the next person to be PAID to lose weight spokesperson for Jenny Craig.

I have this DVD from the "Biggest Loser" show.  I hate the work out, but there are some interviews with past "Losers" that I like to watch for inspiration.  There's one gal that says "This is so much more than being thin.  It's about taking control of your life."   That has really stuck with me.  Being the control freak that I am, why do I let myself go uncontrolled?  Why don't I put as much effort into taking better care of myself as I do with my family, etc?

I want my daughter to grow up thinking "My mom always tried to eat healthy and took good care of herself." instead of remembering how mom was always obsessed with how she looked and what she would or wouldn't eat. 

On that note, it's Zumba time.

Anne 

On Like Donkey Kong, Ladies!!!

Howdy, Kristin here.    :o)

So I'm finally fed-up with the restrictiveness of dieting in general.  
This is why I'm failing at it.  This is why I can't stick to it.  
This is why I'm ready to chew my own arm off with hunger and only stop myself because I have no BBQ sauce handy.

I have realized a few things in the past week that I'd like to share with the "class."

First of all, dieting is NOT the same in our 40's as it was in our 30's - OR our 20's.  Plain and simple.  It's completely, totally, utterly different.  
I suspect that my older, soggy, decrepit metabolism is to blame, but what goes hand-in-hand with that is that the urgency and necessity to lose pounds I felt in my early 30's is gone.  I don't feel like my life will be worse if I don't lose 40 pounds; I feel like I'll just be fatter, but life would go on otherwise.

How do I find the motivation to lose the weight, then?  If my desire to lose the weight is wishy-washy at best, then I have to find something else; some other reason to do it.

Do I do it for my husband?  Do I tell myself that because I'm 40 pounds heavier than I was when he married me 3 1/2 years ago, I should want to lose the weight for him, so that he'll be attracted to me and proud to be seen in public with me?

Do I do it for my health?  Do I figure out a way to convince myself that if I don't lose these extra pounds, then I'm that much more unhealthy, and being unhealthy is BAD?

Do I do it for my kids?  Do I tell myself that because of my extra weight, I have less energy to spend doing things with my kids, and therefore, I'm a less-fun Mommy?

Do I do it for vanity?  Do I plaster my bathroom mirror and refrigerator with cutout magazine pictures of skinny people and Biggest Loser transformations, to try and inspire me to just get off my lazy ass and DO IT?

Do I do it for personal satisfaction?  Do I find some way, somehow, to convince myself that I would be personally happier and more satified with life in general if I weighed what I feel I should weigh?

Or do I take all of the above reasons and combine them into one giant reason?  Motivate myself by reminding myself that I'm doing it for ALL of these reasons, not just one of them, and that any of them alone should be reason enough to "just do it," but all of them lumped together add up to me having ZERO EXCUSE to not give it my very best, 110% effort, every day, every week?!

<sigh>

I'm just so tired of thinking about food all the time.  I had a little rant / meltdown last night spewing on and on about how tired I am of it.  (Here's the whole thing, at:  http://otherblatantlies.blogspot.com/)

I feel like I have too many factors that are beyond my control, all fighting to contribute to my ultimate dieting failure every week.  I start each week with the very best of intentions.  By mid-week, my intentions may still be there but my willpower and control are all shot to hell and I'm going through the McDonald's drive-thru in the morning for a bacon-egg & cheese biscuit.  (With a large Dr. Pepper, naturally.)

I am going to spend the next day or two tweaking and re-vamping my eating plan / dieting goals / lifestyle changes / or whatever the hell buzz-word you want to plug in there.  It's all the same thing.  It all adds up to "finding that magic formula that's going to WORK for ME." 

I have not found it yet, but as of 12:37 p.m. today... I still want to.

  

meatless mondays!

is anyone else doing meatless mondays?  i see mention of it on lots of other blogs, specifically on craft: zine.  meatless monday is an idea that's popular not just with people trying to lose a few pounds, but also people concerned with the environment, sustainable farming practices, and healthy living in general. my family started doing one meatless a meal a week a few months ago, which for us hasn't been too hard.  my (step)kids were raised vegetarian for a while, and their palates are pretty adventurous. they like beans, they like most (if not all) veggies, they haven't really noticed that this is a thing that we are doing.  every now and then one of them will grumble about "beans, again?" but the truth is there are as a ton of beans out there, and a million recipes for cooking with them, and i like them.  we do veggie based dinners, and a lot (a LOT) of beany-veggie stew things. 

the cool thing about doing it is that i get to try out new recipes, we save money on our grocery bill, and i feel good serving food that's healthy without having to try too hard.  a little prep, and you can ignore a bean dish for a long time while you do other stuff.  what we're eating tonight is included after the break! 

Howdy! It's Dana here...

Hi Ladies!

Wow, some of you are having great success! I'm thinking I might have to try that 17-day thing...I can do anything for 17 days right??

I've had a pretty crappy 2 weeks. Prior to that, I had a good 2 weeks, so I'm pretty bummed. First, my Zumba/swim partner went to the Caribbean, so I skipped all the workouts because I didn't want to go alone... LAME. Then, I have had 3 MAJOR events, all of which involved piles and piles of great food: a jewelry party at my house, a retirement party for my parents, and today a birthday party for my brother-in-law. Did I mention there were piles and piles of food? Not healthy food. So I honestly think I gained 10 pounds this week alone. I AM NOT even going to step on the scale. My pants are tight. I know what that means.

New goals: I'm going to workout 4 times this week whether or not the Friend goes too. I'm going to eat good food (oh crap, wait, there are some leftovers to finish), and I'll report back here in a week.

UGH

~Dana

Good times

Hi.  Sarah here.  I remember back a few years ago when I was not quite officially middle-aged, and if I wanted to lose weight, all I had to do was try just a little and it would be reflected in the scale at the end of the week.  If I was very diligent, I could lose three or four pounds in a week.  IN A WEEK!  That was enough to make my pants fit a bit better and give me some motivation to go on to do another week of diligent dieting.

No more, apparently!  I have officially hit middle age (forty) and now my bulk is stubbornly staying with me.  I weighed myself this morning and I lost half a pound.  (yeah, sure, it's two sticks of butter, which is nothing to sneeze at, but still, come on give me at least an entire pound!)  I have been following the Weight Watchers plan to the letter (except for drinking gallons of water) and I'm not making much progress.  They changed the plan from when I was on it a few years ago.  Back then you got a certain number of points every day and that was it.  Now there are these flex points you can use to splurge on when you need to, and most fruit is zero points.  Before fruit counted as points, but now it's free they say because nobody gets fat on fruit.  I think I could get fat on fruit.  Lately, whenever I feel hungry between meals I have an apple or a couple of those little cutie oranges.  I eat a LOT of cuties and apples.  Maybe that's what's keeping me from losing more weight.

I'm not doing so great on the exercising lately.  I have been doing it but I'm doing a half-assed job.  I think I have a touch of arthritis in my hips and they've been hurting like crazy lately so I've been taking it easy.

Okay, so this week I'm going to count my fruit as points like the old WW system and see if that makes any difference. And I'm going to lose 6 pounds.  Okay, I'd be happy with 1.5 pounds.  But no less than that!

it's too soon for a plateau!

this week i worked out more than ever, was good about eating more veggies and being reasonable, and found out i didn't lose any weight this week.  the good news, i guess, is that i also didn't gain any weight.  i'm having a pretty "cheaty" day today; went out with my boyfriend and stepdaughter and had some delicious french onion soup (with a salad!) and my mother brought over donuts this morning for my niece's birthday.  donuts!  delicious, sugary, fried donuts.  i might have eaten two.  oops!  they were seriously good, though, and it's not every day your niece turns five. 

i did work out a lot this week (three times is a lot for me), and my time on the treadmills and ellipticals is getting longer and longer every time.  i don't think i've ever gone to the gym so much.  i expect at some point it will feel like a normal part of my day, and not so noteworthy, but until then i'm going to enjoy feeling like a rockstar for going, especially when i don't really want to.  little things like that keep me going.  :-)     

Don't hate me...

...but I've lost 3.5 lbs this week! 

Hi!  Anne here, and I'm still in shock after this morning's weigh in.   I started out really good this week, but by Friday those monstrous cravings were kicking in, and I found myself eating every 25 minutes.   I get to the point of being so hungry that it just takes over.  It's better today, so maybe sabotaging my diet once and a while is an OK thing.  Confession:  I went to Culvers at 9:00 last night.  I don't even remember driving there.

I'm down to one Mtn. Dew a day, and I've been eating more veggies and fresh fruit, and smaller portions.  I think kicking the pop habit is the biggie.  And it is pure hell.

I also volunteered at school Tues - Fri so I wasn't at home alone with the refrigerator calling me.  Been doing my interval training on the treadmill (YAWN) and yesterday, I rec'd my box from Amazon!!  What did I order?   Check it out!

Yes!  Marissa Tomei was in the box!!  Well no, just her DVD and the most awesome hula hoop.  I like hula hooping and it's great exercise, but the kiddie hula hoops are too little and light weight for me to keep going long enough to be effective.   

I watched the DVD and so far I'm only able to keep the hoop going while standing in one position.  When I was a kid I could walk up and down the street with it - in fact I think I could run and hoop at the same time.  So, I just need to get back into form.  I like it because it doesn't hurt my knees.

The DVD's are sort of lame.  They're also hooping with their arms and unless you have 10 foot ceilings (or your only 4 feet tall) it's not very doable.  I can see myself just doing this to my own music.

You can get weighted hoops on line (I haven't found them in stores here) without having to buy the DVD.  That's probably what I would recommend.

Water? I'm THIRSTY, not DIRTY!

Hi, Sarah here.  On Weight Watchers they tell us to be sure to drink lots of water because it's important to keep hydrated blah blah blah... They even give us a healthy checks tab to mark off all the healthy things we do for ourselves every day.  I'm really good at everything except drinking the water.  I'm not thirsty for water because a) I drink about six gallons of diet coke every day and b) water is boring. 

I think I might have to start though, because I don't know why, but since I've started dieting I'm SUPER constipated.  Either I can't go at all, or when I do manage to push something out, they are the size of hummingbird eggs and the consistency of diamonds. (I imagine)

 Not pleasant!  And you know what?  When you can't poop, all you think about is pooping.  I'm at work right now and the kids are at Art, so for 35 precious minutes I don't have to be with kids and I desperately tried to push something out for some relief and all that got pushed out was my old friend Mr. Hemmorhoid and about six hummingbird egg/diamonds. 

I was chatting with a fellow dieter last night on Facebook and she told me she had to go because she has diarrhea.  Oh man, was I jealous.  She doesn't know how lucky she is!  Not only does she have a clean, non-impacted colon, but she's shitting out a lot of poundage! 

Sorry for the poop post, but it IS dieting related and it DOES suck, so there you have it.  I'm going to make bran muffins and drink water all day tomorrow, so I better clear my schedule through the weekend.  Wish me luck!

Ready for Cycle 2!!

Good morning everyone!!  So I have been doing the 17 day diet for 16 days now and lost a total of 14lbs!!!  I have to admit last week when I weighed myself I was up 1 lb and totally bumming about it but figured it was due to a lot of sodium intake.  I had a lot of canned veggies last week and didn't realize how much sodium is in the whole can!!  So trying to eat only fresh veggies or frozen.  The next step for this diet is entering lean meat and different kinds of veggies every other day.  So bring on cycle 2!!!  Good luck to everyone getting healthy in 2011!!

I agree with Anne....thanks Sarah for this awesome blog!!

Susie Frank

Sweet!

Hey everyone, Anne here.  One of the hardest things for me to overcome while watching what I eat is my insatiable sweet tooth.   In the evening it seems to be especially strong and that's my weakest time of the day...  not good.

So as I was shopping for more fresh fruits and veggies, I also picked up a tub of that yummy Yoplait creamy vanilla yogurt.  It has to be better for me than ice cream, and it does taste good!  On the side of the container, they had all sorts of suggestions for what to eat this lovely creamy vanilla yogurt with.  There was a recipe that caught my attention so I tried it and thought I'd share it with you all.

Combine the yummy Yoplait creamy vanilla yogurt with a pkg of vanilla pudding mix (dry).  Fold in some light or fat free cool whip, and add strawberries (or whatever fresh fruit appeals to you.)

I just made a half recipe, and there is plenty left for us tomorrow too.    It's really good!   Fresh fruit; good for you.  Yogurt; good for you.  A little extra fluff to make it tolerable...still has to be better for you than a visit to Culvers for frozen custard with all the fixins.

I rocked out 40 minutes of interval training on the treadmill today.  That was awesome.  How is everyone else doing?

I'm so glad that there is this community blog.  Thanks Sarah! 

the truth about endorphins

or, how it's not a lie thin people tell us to make us feel bad

i have never, ever, ever in my whole life bought into the idea that working out magically makes a person feel awesome.  partially because i despise working out so much, and have spent so much of my 33 years on earth feeling awkward and uncoordinated while working out in public.  

however, i'm old enough to now admit that i was maybe, kind of, a little bit wrong. 

Week Two Results

Hi!  Sarah here.  Today is weigh-day, week 2.  I lost weight!  I lost 1.5 pounds, which when I saw it was kind of a "big whoop" moment, but that's six sticks of butter!  I lost six sticks of butter! I went to Kira's hockey game this morning and there were BOXES of donuts.  It was hard to keep myself from going ballistic and either eating ten of them myself, or flipping the table over so nobody could have any.  

I just read Anne's last post about what actresses do to get ready for roles.  If being thin was my JOB, and there were other people invested in how well I do my job, I could do it.  You're right Anne, from now on when I hear Valerie Bertinelli say, "If I can do it, so can you!"  I'm going to mentally punch her in the stomach, and if I ever see her in real life I'm going to actually punch her in the stomach.

Yeah, you better run

Oprah can't even keep her weight off and there is nobody with more support than her.  One of my biggest problems with losing weight is figuring out what to cook for the family.  I suppose I could make what I usually make and just eat less of it myself, but come on, like that's really going to happen.

I've been working out pretty faithfully and it's getting easier, but I don't like it.  I moved up from the half-hour workout to the 45 minute work-out and it's not any harder, but that extra 15 minutes seems soooooooo looooooonnnnnggggggg.  The next step up is an hour-long workout.  I might split that into two and do half one day, and half the next.  I'm pretty solid for a half hour, but after that I get incredibly bored and sick of it and just want it to be over.

On to week three!  I want to lose 8 pounds this week.  Ha ha.  Just kidding.  But two isn't asking too much is it?  IS IT???

I think we are going about this all wrong.

Natalie Portman stars in "Waif in Tights"

In my latest issue of "InStyle" magazine, there is an interview with the great Natalie Portman.  They were discussing her role in the the critically acclaimed movie "Black Swan".    She explained how she prepared for the role with 8 hours of training everyday for a year PLUS she had a nutritionist and cook preparing healthy meals.  She cut out alcohol and ate small portions (of rice cakes and water) frequently. 

The thing that kills me is that she was paid to get rail thin.  She had a full year of doing nothing else but exercising and not eating.  PAID MILLIONS.  I think I could tell my appetite to get lost for that. 

I have often wondered what it would be like to have a private chef and personal trainer at my disposal everyday.  Would I still cheat?  Would I still go thru the drive thru at Taco Johns and eat my Nachos Navidad in the parking lot? 

Look at Valerie Bertinelli and Jennifer Hudson etc....  A.) They are PAID spokeswomen for diet programs.  They get a paycheck for using these systems.  What do we get??  We get two extra points because we ran 18 miles on the treadmill today.   B.) They also have nannies, personal assistants, personal trainers, chefs, etc.  We ARE the caretakers, we are everyone else's personal assistants, we have to kick our own asses to get in shape, and we are the short order cooks.  (I'm not bitter.)

So I say, lets leave our normal lives behind and move to Hollywood, get discovered, make millions and then we'll be the ones on the commercials saying "If I can do it, you can too!!" 

This is so crazy!

Hello everyone!  Anne here...I promised in my first post to be more positive this time and here goes.

I'm positive that I haven't lost any weight (ha cha cha)  but I'm also pretty sure that I haven't gained any either..  But really I have had a great reason for not really watching my diet and doing the 30 Minute Shred with Jillian for the last two weeks.   Let's just say that for "health reasons" I've been busy flipping my house upside down and cleaning everything like a mad woman.  I think that should kinda count as exercise.   If Sarah can count rock climbing...    My husband is so supportive.  He suggests that we have sex every night as that burns calories.  What a guy; always has MY best interest at heart. 

As I'm reading every one's posts, it just blows my mind how similar we all are.  We all have this 40 something fatty fat that is just refusing to budge.  Kristin, my horror hours are from 8:00 pm to whenever I pass out in bed, too .  Sometimes I lay there and the hunger pangs are so unbelievably strong that I cannot sleep.  Have you ever noticed that the commercials on TV at night are ALL food commercials?  And it's all the bad bad bad food.  Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Joe's Crab Shack, McD's..... sabotaging bastards.  I think that the FCC should ban all food commercials after 7:00 p.m.    

And we work and work and work, only to find that we GAINED a pound.  What??

We can't give up, though.  Keep fighting the good fight!  Now that things in our household appear to be under control, I'll be joining forces with you all! 

Peace out!

Ghost Points... WOOOOOO!

I've been feeling sorry for myself for not losing any weight on my super-hyper-vigilant! resolution diet.  I'm on Weight Watchers so I'm living and breathing PlusPoints and having dreams about pizza.  Specifically Pizza Hut deep dish pepperoni....

Anyway.  I was talking with a fellow WW dieter the other day and she said she isn't counting her sugar-free hard candy at all and she feels a little guilty about it.

Then I asked myself, "Do I just not count anything?"  The answer is yes.

Butter and mayonnaise.

That's kind of a big thing to just gloss over, isn't it?  Darn.  If I don't lose any poundage this week, I'll have to start counting it.
Sarah

How do I Learn to Love the Sensation of my Stomach Shrinking???

Hi, Kristin here.  I feel like such a big, fat whiner today.  Today is Day 5 of my Slim Fast Odyssey.  It's going swell.  I have actually written down every bite that has entered my mouth from the time I wake up until the time I sit down to eat supper.  Supper is still my biggest weakness.  I'm only allowed 500 calories on the Slim Fast plan.  Does anyone know how to eat only 500 calories at Guadalajara Restaurant in Superior?  (Wednesday night's supper.)  Or at the Lake Avenue Cafe?  (Thursday night's supper.)  

I don't eat out all the time.  But it seems that when I'm trying really REALLY hard to stick to a restrictive eating plan, or new lifestyle change, or whatever the hell you want to call it... then there are Forces of Evil EVERYWHERE around me, trying to upheave me.  

I want to lose these 40 pounds more than anyone knows.  Probably even more than I know.  I'm doing OK with the two Slim Fast shakes per day (one at 11:00, and one at 3:00...), and I've stuck to low-calorie snacks of tea and fruit in-between shakes, just like I'm supposed to.  What can I do to make the hours from about 5:00 p.m. (which is when I'm starving again) until around 11:00 p.m. (which is when I crawl into bed, weak from hunger)... SURVIVABLE???

I want to succeed.  I even WANT to fit exercise into my week somehow, and this is unheard of.  I'm going to make a schedule for myself this week-end.  I might even try to get my butt on the treadmill tonight.  But I'd be lying if I didn't admit that as soon as 5:00 p.m. rolls around every day, I'm like a ticking bomb waiting to explode all over the place, and that the tiniest craving or appearance of any kind of food that's bad for my diet has the potential to destroy my resolve.  My determination and willpower after 5:00 are so fragile that I feel literally out-of-control, every day.  My sense of smell increases.  I smell the chickens roasting inside Super One from the far end of the @#$*^ parking lot!  From 5:00 p.m. until suppertime at 7:00, my stomach is twisting and screaming and begging for food and the level of pain is annoying as hell.  Eating dinner at 7:00 squashes the hunger pangs for about an hour, and then BAM - 8:00 to 11:00, pure hell.  As in, pulling-my-hair-out-in-handfuls-hell.

Help?  Ideas?  FedExed gifts of tranquilizers?
I need something!

Hello. My name is...

Greetings, fellow dieters! My name is Dana and I am friend to a couple of people on this blog. Here's my story:

I really need to lose this baby weight. My body has never been the same. Oh, wait ...my baby is 17...

2010 was a milestone year for me, body-wise: my body turned 40 years old, and I now weigh more than I did when I was at my heaviest pregnant weight. At my doctor's appointment last March, she told me I should probably "start doing something" since I had gained more in the last 5 years than I had in the previous 10.

I am 6 feet tall. That means the number on my scale is always going to be a little higher than my friend's. It means whenever I tell people how much I weigh they say, "Yeah, but you're 6 feet tall!", like that's supposed to make me loathe myself less. It also means I'll never wear a size 10 in jeans. I am not a total cow. I weighed 150 when I got married 20 years ago, 205 at my heaviest point in pregnancy 17 years ago, and 209 last week. It's not like I need the seatbelt extenders on airplanes, but I am a little squidgy around the edges. I'm wearing a 14 in jeans and refuse to go to a 16. My next step is denim jumpers and lies (as in: "Yes, we're thrilled to be expecting at this late stage in life!").  The fact is, I hate to exercise, I hate Slimfast, I love sugar and I love salt. But, I also love a few healthy things, so I think I can do this. Because I really hate denim jumpers.

I have lost weight twice previously: 20 lbs when I had braces on 3 years ago (eating spagettiOs and water) and 25 lbs when I had neck surgery (eating Oxycontin and Vicodin). I wonder where spagettiOs and Vicodin would get me?! I have never done Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, or Dr. Oz. I can count on one hand how many times I've 'done' Jillian Michaels. I really don't think I'll ever be back at my 150 lb Wedding Weight. Two neck surgeries have severly limited my range of motion and activity level. But that doesn't mean I have to eat Sour Cream & Onion Pringles and A&W root beer for dinner, does it?

So... I joined ZUMBA on Tuesdays and Core Fitness on Thursdays. I have a friend who is willing to see me in a swimsuit and we're doing laps 2 nights a week. I also have a treadmill in the garage, Jillian Michaels in the DVD player, and hills and trails behind my house for those days when I just have to walk. My goal is to not look like a heinous pig in shorts this summer. Oh, and maybe buy some skinny jeans. I hope I'm not aiming too high...

~Dana

Great Site

Hi guys! How's everyone doing today? I found an excellent site for those of you on Weight Watchers. It's called Dottie's Weight Loss Zone. Check it out here. I love the restaurant guide.

Adios!
Sarah

Working Out

I've gotten over the initial hump of working out.  I'm not sore anymore and I don't feel like I'm going to die in the middle of a workout, and I feel better.  For instance, after 12 days of leg workouts, I no longer see stars when I have to squat for something.  Bonus!  I haven't weighed myself since Sunday, when I saw the big ZERO pounds lost, and I still don't think I'm losing any weight.  I put on some clean pants this morning and they are still sooooo tight!  I think I might get those pajama jeans.  Have you seen those?  I like the idea of elastic waist pants disguised as not elastic waist pants.  I tried on some yoga pants the other day because I like the cut of their jibe, but they weren't very flattering on me.  My legs are too short and lumpy to pull them off.  I'd have to hem them. Sad.

I've been thinking a lot about this diet thing and how to make it a lifestyle change instead of a diet. Oprah always says that if you are overweight, you must have emotional problems.  I don't think that's why I eat so much.  I think I eat so much because I really really like food a lot.  So I have decided to think of it as what I want to carry around with me every day of my life.  I remember when I didn't have to carry a diaper bag around with me everywhere I went and how free that made me feel.  A diaper bag weighs what, about ten pounds at the most?  I'm carrying an extra 30 pounds of flesh I don't need on my body.  I want to convince myself that life would be so much better if I was leaner and carried less around with me.  One of the things I love about being thin(ner) is that when I run up the steps my back fat doesn't jump up and down with every step.  I really hate that back fat.

Also, one time I was listening to Ralph Nader in an interview and someone asked him about his eating habits. I don't know why.  He's a lean man and he said when he was little and wanted goodies, his mom would tell him not to let his taste buds be in charge of what he put in his body because what your taste buds like isn't necessarily the best thing for you.  I never forgot that.  I have to remind myself of it now so I don't break down and make five loaves of banana bread (hey family, eat the bananas!) and eat three myself.

Another thing I've been thinking about to help keep me motivated is to think of every pound I lose (which is none yet GRRRR) as a pound of butter.  Think of five pounds of butter sitting on the counter in front of you, that's a lot of butter!  Five pounds is a big deal.  Even one pound is a big deal.  Where does the weight go?  I know it's burned off, but does the earth weigh slightly less when we lose weight?  I gotta stop thinking.

I went snowshoeing today in deep snow for 40 minutes and almost had five heart attacks, but didn't;  and I also did a video workout and they are getting easier every day.  It's so great to come here every day and see what you guys are up to.  It helps a lot!
Sarah

let's get physical!

i joined the gym at work today.  i really couldn't not do it; it's only $12.50 a month and the only people who use it are little old ladies and co-workers. not a lot of hardbodies in there to make me feel gross, and no one, but no one, is going that fast in there.  it's not a big gym, which is what you would expect from a small hospital, but it has three elliptical machines, a few rowers, bikes and treadmills.  they also have circuit training classes, lots and lots of weights, and way too much swing music, which evidently old ladies like to listen to when they work out.

i went down there today to just pay and check it out, and Mark, the guy who runs it, said, "well if you're done with work, why not do a quick workout now?"  um, because i'm in my scrubs?  oh wait, scrubs are like pjs and twenty minutes working out on a treadmill without my sports bra isn't going to turn me into pancake boobs.  those excuses went out the window, and i went ahead and familiarized myself with the equipment while getting sweaty in my work clothes.

i honestly hate going to the gym.  i feel self-conscious and weird, and not just about my body; i'm not terribly coordinated, and knowing people can see my flail and flop is unnerving.  needless to say, i'm proud of myself for going in. tonight i'm going to go pack a gym back to keep in my car so i can go right after work (or even on long lunch breaks) and i'm going to make myself a deal; for every 10 visits i make to the gym, i can treat myself to a little something (i'm thinking maybe downloads for my ipod, goofy shit like ke$ha that is fun to work out to).   i'm going to positively reward myself and see if that helps.  i'm also going to remind myself as often as i can that making a new habit takes a while and that not wanting to go to the gym this month isn't because i suck, i'm just not used to it.

cross your fingers...the last time i joined a gym, i went five times and paid hundred of dollars for the privilege.    

amanda

My Slim Fast & Curried Rice Odyssey

     Hi!  I'm Kristin.  I've been focused on "dieting" (I HATE THAT WORD) seriously since September 20th, 2010, which was the day I started my own diet blog (http://otherblatantlies.blogspot.com/).  The past 3 1/2 months of dieting have sucked the Big Suck since Day One.  I've not only had zero success, but I'm actually 5.5 pounds heavier today than I was on September 20th.  Needless to say, I'm a tad irate.

     So today I made the slightly faddish decision to go "old school" and do what has worked for me in the long past.  Back in 1998, I was carting around about 40 post-pregnancy pounds, and was working weird hours for the Postal Service (eek) and couldn't join a gym.  I had no time in my life to exercise or even a tiny desire to do it, so I decided to try Slim Fast.  In a nutshell... it worked.  I lost over 40 pounds in less than four months, and kept it off for over ten years - until I got pregnant for the second time, that is.

    Which brings me to the eerily-familiar present.  Here I am again, with a two-year-old and about 40 pounds to lose in order for my pre-pregnancy clothes to fit me again.  Today, I started back on Slim Fast.  I feel a strange sense of relief to know that I've eliminated so many food choices and decisions from the process.  There are countless dieters out there who would/could argue that Slim Fast isn't "real food;" that's it's "so much healthier to just count every calorie and eat nothing but organic fruits & veggies, lean meats, fat-free dairy, and such."  They'd be correct.  That would be healthier. 

     Sadly, I'm beyond worrying about that particular "detail."  Health is absolutely important.  Slim Fast shakes contain 25 grams of carbs (THE DEVIL) and they've even added "nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners" in the past 10 years that give it a very faint after-taste that I don't love (THE HORROR!).  I'm not thrilled about either of those things.

 But...

     The "Slim Fast Plan" DOES take off the pounds, and it works FAST.  The modern, 2011 formula contains an appetite suppressant (YIPPEE!) that somehow kills my hunger pangs dead for hours.  I have yet to find ANYTHING that achieves this with so little effort on my part.

     The bottom line is, I don't have time for anything else right now.  I don't have time to re-join a gym, because I'm too busy working and chasing a two-year-old and running a household and trying to avoid catching every winter sickness out there.  I am juggling several full-time jobs here, and lets face it:  Dieting is ALSO a FULL-TIME JOB.  It requires constant thought, constant planning, constant attention, and I figure if I don't have time to haul my butt into the shower at least once a week, then what right do I have spending so much valuable time working on a diet that isn't working for me AT ALL?!

     It made no sense to me.  So, I've handed the reigns to Slim Fast, and we'll see how it pans out.  The deal is the same as it has always been; you drink your two Slim Fast shakes, you eat three 100-calorie snacks of fruits or veggies, and then you eat your "sensible" 500-calorie dinner.  You think you'd be starving for lack of calories or variety, but I stuck to this today and I wasn't - not even a little bit.  I felt weirdly-full all day.  That was a welcome change from the way I've felt since last September 20th, which has basically felt like I've been starving myself to death.  Even on days when I consumed next to no carbs, I had a hunger response that was in over-drive.  It's simply not fair.  I must be abnormal.

     So I am encouraged by my new Day One, and I hope it continues.  I have no ridiculous expectations.  I know some days are going to be tough, and others will downright suck.  That's dieting for you, right?  But at the very least, I feel better knowing that it'll be harder for me to mess this up, with my little silver can accounting for nearly half of what passes my lips every day.  I figure it gives me at least a 50% better chance of succeeding at dropping my 40 pounds.

     On a final note, my 500-calorie dinners are going to be calorie-controlled as well.  I'm not willing to leave any more of my weight-loss journey up to chance.  I already tried the, "I can count every calorie and prepare healthy and exciting meals and still lose weight" bit.  I failed miserably.  Now, I simply want the pounds GONE FROM MY BODY.  So two Slim Fast shakes a day it is, maybe a banana or an apple, maybe a cup of herbal tea, maybe some raw carrots or cauliflower.  Yum.   For dinner, I'm going 100% Indian.  I have a freezer & cupboard stocked and ready.  All Indian meals, which are currently my favorite food OF ALL TIME.  I don't worry about boredom, at least not yet, because I have been addicted to this food and these flavors since 1996.  Tonight, it was one of these "Kohinoor"-brand meals, though something called "Kashmiri Rajma with Steamed Basmati Rice."  I found these on the shelf at Super One:

But my all-time favorite, found in the freezer section, is:

HAPPY DIETING, PEOPLE!  GOOD LUCK ALL!!!

New journey for 2011

Hello...Susie Frank here.  I have been on and off diets for the past 16 yrs.  I have tried Richard Simmons deal a meal....failed, Weight Watchers both meetings & online.....failed, no carb diet.....failed.  So for 2011 I'm trying the 17 day diet and basically for the 1st 17 days all you eat is poultry, fish, veggies, and fruit and exercise at least 17 minutes a day.  There is no weighing or measuring, you just eat until you are full.  Sounds easy enough....right!!  Well in one weeks time I have lost 10 lbs!!!  I feel better, I have more energy, I sleep better at night and I don't have that going to explode feeling!!

Good luck to all of us on our journey of weight loss!!

Getting in on it....

OK....so I'm a blogging idiot and accidentally created a separate blog before figuring out how to delete THAT blog and just add a post to THIS one.  Geez.  TECHNICAL!!  Amy here....Sarah's sister.  I too have joined Weight Watchers online along with my sis.  I had a little better luck this week and lost 4.5 lbs.  Sarah, I think we are all going to have 0 lb weight loss weeks....unfortunately yours came week one!!  You'll have a big week this coming week.  I also think I lost weight because ANYTHING would be better than the way I WAS eating....especially during the holidays.  I had so much chex mix, chips, Top the Tater, etc. that 4 of the 4.5 lbs was probably just water weight I lost from not eating the things the are absolutely the worst for me.  The other .5 lbs was definitely clothes because I did the same thing as Sarah and weighed myself JUST before midnight on New Year's Eve, all bundled up and this past Friday morning, I was buck neked.  I'll take it though!!  I like WW....it is easy to track the food and I'm a little bit OCD so I like ticking off the little blocks for drinking water, eating fruits and veggies and dairy and taking a vitamin.  So I'm now down to 186.5....hopefully headed for 145.  I would REALLY like to lose a good 20-25 lbs by the end of April because I stupidly signed up for the Country Music Marathon in Nashville on April 30th and think running 26 miles with 25 less lbs on this big bod would probably make it a tad easier.  So I gotta stay motivated!!  Keep the posts coming.....it's fun to read about everyone else's struggles....er....I mean PROGRESS!!  :)

Week One Results

Hi, Sarah here.  Okay, week one of the hyper-vigilint resolution diet and guess how much weight I lost?

ZERO POUNDS.  

I did not cheat one bit, I stuck to my points every day, I exercised 5 days last week and I didn't lose any weight.  When I weighed myself at the beginning of the week I purposely did it in the evening, when I was fully dressed so if I didn't lose any weight, I'd at least lose the clothes weight and could feel good about that, and when I weighed myself this morning I was wearing NOTHING.  So I probably actually gained about two pounds.  

That's the down side and it's a HUMONGOUS down side.  I better look at the up-side or I will end up having a bacon cheeseburger and a blueberry pie for lunch.  Up-side:  I feel better already.  Food tastes so much better when I'm actually hungry.  That's it.  That's not going to hold me for very long.  I better start dropping some weight.  

P.S.  Thank you guys so much for contributing to this blog!  

and the biggest loser is...

who knows.  i don't actually watch that show.  but, they're doing a "biggest loser" event at the hospital where i work, and i signed up.  not just for the 12 week challenge, but for the year long one as well.  it was one of my resolutions to get healthier and lose some weight this year, and then this came along, and i couldn't in good conscience not sign up.  

the last time i did one of these competitions at work, we all got a food diary and got points for filling it out.  i'd always thought of a food journal as being the dorkiest thing on earth.  it made me uncomfortable to think of writing every little thing down; it seemed weirdly compulsive, and i didn't want to get all bogged down in the "numbers" of losing weight.  at the same time, the first week i used it i lost 7 pounds.  writing everything down reminded me to eat more vegetables, showed me in detail how beverage calories add up (i'm talking about you, beer), and encouraged me to take an honest look at what i eat and when.  this doesn't mean i don't occasionally indulge, but it helps me keep track of when i do.   

so as much as i don't want to be a weird, dieting woman, constantly counting calories, i would like to be leaner, healthier, and not have to buy a fat girl wedding dress in a few months.  i'm glad sarah started this blog; saying this out loud does usually helps keep me honest.  hooray for the chunkersons!   

Resolution Revision

You know... I think I might have been a bit hasty when I made my snap resolution of working out 350 times this year.  That only leaves me with 14 days of not working out, and it's January 7th and I've already used two of my not-working-out days.  I made that resolution when I wasn't working out regularly and I forgot how hard it is.  And I also forgot how annoying Jillian Michaels is.  I did her "Shred" workout tonight and Sweet Jesus, she bugs me.  She's so strange.  I bet she is very driven and annoying and humorless in her real life and I bet she only has about 2 real friends because she's so weird.  And those people are only friends with her because they are her parents.

So anyway, I am revising my resolution.  I will work out 300 times this year.  Not 350.  300.

Is Rock Climbing a "Work Out?"

Hi!  Sarah here.  This is day one of my hyper-vigilant Weight-Watchers diet.  I'm doing okay so far, but I realized that I really cheated last time I dieted because I just guessed the points of some (most) of the foods I ate and I was usually underestimating.  But now with the Pointstracker program on the website I can't really cheat.  Thankfully I'm working every day this week so it will easier to stick to the diet than if I was at home constantly taking mental inventory of everything I could be eating.

I worked out again last night and I am really sore today.  Not the worst I've ever been, but when I was going around the room picking up pencils on the floor at the end of the day I would wince every time I bent over.  Oh, my poor hammies!  And quads, and triceps and biceps and whatever you call the muscle in your forearms.  My forearms are KILLING me from hanging on the rock walls while rock climbing with Kira yesterday.  I was debating whether I should count the rock climbing as a workout, but I don't think climbing half way up a wall every 15 minutes for an hour and a half counts as a workout.  I spent most of that time just clinging to the wall trying not to slip off, hence the sore forearms.  I have to admit, despite the annoying soreness, I feel better for exercising already.  It's so stupid that I ever stop exercising because it makes me feel so much better!

Whoa, mama...

I put my fattest pants on this morning and I had to wear a belt not because they are so loose, but because they are more tight in the thighs than they are in the waist (and they are also tight in the waist) and my big triangle-shaped thighs pull them down, so I have to wear a belt to keep them up.  Oh well.  I did it to myself.  I'll get it back under control, right?

Sarah

Hi, my name is Anne and I'm a chronic over-eater.

Thanks Sarah!  It takes a village, or something like that. 

I think I've been in total denial about my 30 pound weight gain.  Yes, in just about 2 years, I have managed to put on 30 frickin' pounds.  I'd like to blame my anti-anxiety meds, but I'm pretty sure it's the Nachos Navidad.  Even when it's not Christmas, I still pull into the drive thru at Taco Johns and order the Nachos Navidad.  Then I go home and drink 3 cans of Mountain Dew...the sweet, sweet nectar of the Gods. 

I was at the doctor's office last week and stepped on the dreaded scale.  I kinda chuckled to myself as I thought "Hmm, I didn't even weigh this much at 42 weeks prego."  But I thought that I was lookin' good as I can finally fill out a pair of jeans in the ass.  Never mind that they're size 16.  What?  I have long legs.  (You know, they make these jeans in one of those countries that Kady's been to in the last year, and their measurements are WAY off.)  AND Stacy and Clinton on What Not to Wear always preach to never get all hung up about the size on the label.

Then Brian set up his new trail cam in the house just to see how it all would work.  I had seen it on the counter, but didn't realize it was on.  So I'm walking around in front of it all afternoon not realizing that I was on candid camera.  He plays it back for me, and HOLY MOTHER OF MARY....OMG.   It was not good.

Time to get serious.  I've done the WW thing, and it did work the first time.  The 2nd and 3rd time, I just couldn't stay motivated and I failed miserably.  I need support group, or a drill Sergeant...  I'm not really in the mood to join a health club as I prefer to work out in the privacy (and cleanliness) of my own home (and shower).  I'm looking into getting a Bowflex Treadclimber maybe.  I just have to find $3000 somewhere.  In the mean time, my regular treadmill will have to do.  I also have Beto (Zumba!) and Jillian Michaels in my basement ready to go whenever I want them.  I just have to go DOWN there.  The weird thing is that I enjoy exercising.  I sort of dread it at first, but after I feel so good.  Those natural endorphins are awesome.  But I also feel like I have so many other things to do in my 6 hours of "free" time...I feel guilty if I don't attack that "to-do" list first everyday.  Does anyone else out there feel me on that??   

Somebody says "Hey, what'cha do all day?"
Me:  Well, I worked out.
Somebody:  "Fft, must be nice..."

It sounds so much better if I say "Well, after I dropped Corine off at school, I did the shopping, then I walked the dog and took him to the groomer, then I volunteered 2 hours of my time reading with k-garteners, came home and vacuumed, dusted, scrubbed the toilets, started the 4th load of laundry of the day, picked Corine up from school, gave her a snack that we both sort of agreed upon, helped her with her homework, played a game with her, started dinner...."

****************************************************************

I know what I have to do, I just don't really want to do it.  I hate meal planning.  Veggies and fruit are ok, but I'd much rather have chips and dip.  With a Snickers afterward.  Then a can of pop.   My hubby and daughter are seriously picky eaters, so I feel like I'm in charge 3 different meal plans.  Usually, just to make it easier on myself, I just make one thing that I know everyone else will eat even if I really don't like it.   Isn't that my duty as a wife/mom?  Make sure everyone else is taken care of and happy.  Don't worry about me, I take a pink pill every day for my happiness.

Wow, I think I sound a little bitter.  That's probably not inspiring anyone else out there looking for support.

I'm hoping that venting my frustration with all of this will have some sort of therapeutic affect on me.  It will also help when Corine and Brian return to school and work tomorrow. 

I will be checking back and posting better and more postive thoughts!

The Chunkersons!

Hi!  I wrote a post about my new year's resolutions on my personal blog (So...what else?) and one of my resolutions was to lose 26 pounds.  Another one was to exercise 350 times this year.  What was I thinking?  That only leaves me 14 days of not exercising!  So I need some support, and I asked if anyone wanted to be my diet partner.  My friend Anne told me she would, and my friend Kristin said she is getting back on the diet wagon herself (She has a great personal diet blog HERE), so I had the great idea to make a community blog where we and ANYONE ELSE can contribute!  It's a public blog!  To post something, (hopefully diet or exercise related) follow the directions at the top of the righthand column.  The idea of this is to make me accountable to the other authors and readers on this blog to hold up my end of the dieting/blogging bargain.  If there are no other authors/readers, I'm going to eat an entire chocolate cherry cheesecake out of depression, so if you are reading this and you care at all about my arteries, you'll contribute your dieting success, failure, tip, trick, anecdote to this, OUR blog.

Here's my story:  I have gained and lost the same 26 pounds about 5 times since college.  It's always the same.  I want to get down to 140 (or even, dare I wish it; 135) and I do well and get down to 150 and then I feel so good, and look so much better that I give up on the vigilance of dieting and vow to just "eat healthy" and I keep up with the exercise until I get a bad cold and then I tell myself I will take a few days off until I get better.  About two weeks after the cold I tell myself I better start exercising again, but then I don't because if I jump back into it, I'll get sore muscles and I hate sore muscles SO MUCH.  So I put it off and don't really think about dieting and exercising until a few years later, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I notice that my chin has disappeared into my fat neck. I generally gain weight in my upper back, neck, and stomach.  It doesn't look nice.  If I didn't gain weight in my face I'd probably never diet again.  A fat neck is unacceptable to my vanity.

It is strange that once I get to 176 I feel like I've hit the wall.  It's not like I'm weighing myself all the time and know that I'm getting close; I notice the neck fat, feel the tight pants, and think, "heeeeeyyyyyyy...... I'm FAT!"  and I weigh myself and it's always 176.  Weird huh?  So I'm at 176 right now and I want to get down to 150 and stay there!  It's the staying there that will be hard.  I can't seem to keep these 26 pounds off.

About half way through losing the 26 pounds, I will get frustrated because I will plateau on the weight loss, and my thighs will be all bumpy because (and I'm guessing here) the cellulite density is reduced so they aren't the solid fat they are now, but bumpy, giggly, ugly fat, but I will have invested about 2 months in exercise and diet and will think they should be WAY better looking.  Also my bras will be puckery because the very first place I lose weight is my boobs.  But I will eventually lose the 26 pounds.  I hope.  It might now be as easy now that I'm over 40.

I joined Weight Watchers online which kind of chaps my hide because I'm paying someone so I can work to reduce my own fat!  I feel like such a sucker!  But I was on WW once before and it worked for me, so I figure, anything that might help will be worth the money.  And I'm cheap so for the next three months I will feel obligated to take full advantage of the WW website or else it will be like flushing money down the toilet.  That should get me off to a good start.  I find the WW points system to be easier to follow than keeping track of calories.

For exercise my goal is to do at least a half hour of some kind of workout every day (350 days in 2011, anyway)  If I do more than 75 minutes of something kind of hard, I'll count it as two workouts.  I have the Slim in Six series of workouts which I really like and they are great for toning muscle, and endurance.

I'm starting the diet tomorrow, and I started the workouts yesterday, and yes, I'm sore and hating it.

That's my story! What's yours?

Sarah "Chunky" Chunkerson