Today is my check in day.

So Don, how are the workouts going? Walking is good for the Blues and the weight.

Weigh in was today and the scales are moving in the right direction. No exercise for me, but, I am generally just trying to move more.

Went to Costco this week and bought a bag of prepared boneless, skinless grilled chicken breast all cut up. Then I bought salad kits and I am actually bringing lunch to the office. I haven't done that in YEARS. I also brought a nice big salad bowl and some good silverware and a wine glass for my water. Bad news is doing dishes at work, but, I feel really good eating.

Kathy congratulations.

Well the workout is not going so good. Seems like there is always something getting in the way. LIKE SLEEP for example! LOL Tomorrow, I am off, so it is back to the gym for me. I also like to walk at night after dinner, but with weather in the 30's and it is just too cold to get out. I need to figure something out.

I also went to Cosco last night as well to stock up on the good stuff, so that I could stay on track. We keep water well stocked. Both regular spring water and con gas, as they say in Europe.

Today for lunch I brought a can of tuna and have salad mix, cucumber, tomato, and a mushroom to fix a salad.

I have been trying to limit my diet sodas, because I think the sodium may be partly to blame. I also need keep away from caffeine, so when I do have one, it has to be caffeine free.

So what do you call a soda that has no sodium, no sugar, no caffeine, and no artificial coloring?

WATER! LOL

Don...so that's the secret drink!

Kathy...I've been buying the boneless/skinless chicken tenderloins (frozen) - pop them on the grill for 15-20 minutes - they are really good!

I've again decided to take my weight situation seriously - started LA Weightloss last week - now let me save you all some money - it's journaling and weighing in (just like we all know we should).

Of course being accountable to a scale and a person who will read it with me is what I'm paying for and some supervision. One of my sisters raved about their program (and lost 35 lbs to boot) so I decided to give it a go.

And our local hospital is opening a "Healthplex" -their version of a health club with all the medical bells and wistles - testing and computerized programs etc.

Hope this combo platter will help me make a change that I've needed for several years now.

Margo

Margo,

Glad you are joining us.

That is what I am doing too. I am working with my friend, Carol, who does personalized diets. Weekly weigh in, accountability, and keeping my hand out of the bread basket! Exercise is the next component. I just have to get through January when my work is in overload.

I too am having a tough time with my workouts. When I got back on the elliptical about a week ago (since before Xmas), could only manage 10 minutes, at a fairly calm pace. But just doing the stuff is tough--in the morning I just feel like sitting and reading the newspaper of surfing the web.

I'm having a physical in February, so I'm trying to make an attempt to get some of my vitals in better shape--my blood pressure is marginal, and I'm hoping to get it back down before I have to go on meds.

Well, I made it back to the gym this morning. Did the bike for 30 minutes and got over six miles in. Tonight, I will go for that after dinner walk and tomorrow, I hit the weight machines.

:app: Hooray Don! :app: <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" />

I did my weigh in - 15 lbs total!

Wow....I'm impressed. I'm still fighting the last 3 lbs from our holiday cruise.

As I said to my nutitionist - I am my project of the moment.

WOW Kathy--that is so great!
Can I be your project of the moment?

Kathy, that's marvellous!

I have concentrated on cutting our alcohol completely for a while, and I admit it makes me feel leaner and more amenable to dieting. But I'll probably have a glass of wine tonight, we're going out. We'll see how that feels. I think I'm just going to limit myself to having a glass of wine or two when we go out, which is sometimes just once a week, sometimes twice. Friday and Saturdays only.

My goal is to eat one meal (lunch/dinner) each day as a salad with chicken, fish or other protein in it. That is working really well. No Avocado, crunchy things and dressing on the side. my favorite is the California Pizza Kitchen's Chopped BBQ Chicken salad - no chips and the santa fe ranch on the side. We have a few small places here that have similar salads. I rarely cook dinner during the week, so either we go out or I cook on the weekend and then Frank will finish it for us. This makes it easy.

Kathy, great job! 15 lbs. WOW! That is really good.

Did my weight workout this morning and the total lifted was over 21,000 lbs. Didn't get my walk in tonight, because we went out with friends for burgers. Mine was bunless with no dressing, no sides, and water to drink. Tomorrow I'm back on the bike.

Wendy, wine is a problem for me also. I usually allow for one treat per week. We did have a Grand Cru Bordeaux last night from Saint-Emilion.

OK, no more wine for me. This week I lost 1 lb. and am now 2 lbs off of goal. However, I am down 17 lbs since the cruise.

I wonder if the coffee is having an effect. I am doing decaf and using splenda, but wonder does coffee make you retain water? I have cut down my intake of diet sodas and the sodas that I do allow myself to have are low sodium. I have to be careful though, when I drink the water. I am an hour away from the house! :eek:

I will say that with the increased exercise however, I can already tell a difference in how I feel and also in how my clothes are fitting, so maybe this is just a temporary stall. I guess that feeling and looking better is really the goal, isn't it? So, I pulled out a measuring tape to measure inches now, and am going to chart that progress as well.

This week, I am going to try to just stick with water and drink plenty of it. Also, I am going try to cut my portions down by 1/3 and see if that helps. I also think I better journal everything that I put in my mouth. I wonder how many times I will have to write the word FOOT, this week! LOL

How is everybody else doing?

Don,

You are so funny. I have a diet diary I will email to you to see if you like it. How many calories in a foot?

I cheated and had an extra carb night this week. I am down about one pound so far. Official weigh is Wednesday for me.

Kathy, that would be great if you could email it to me. Thanks!

As far as the calories, I think it depends on whether you get the whole foot in or not and I think the heel probably has carbs in it! BTW, do they call it a heel, because sometimes it's a little crusty? :D

Mind if I "weigh" in with you guys? I have been doing the Lindora diet since just before Thanksgiving. I know, stupid to start at the holidays but I had been talking about going for so long that the day I actually got my feet in the place was a cause for celebration. How long did it take to take off those 15, Kathy? Lindora gives a B12 shot every time you come in (I go 3x a week) and so I have been feeling pretty good. I have also heard good things about LA Weight Loss. How does it differ from Weight Watchers?
That CPK salad sounds really good!I really need some encouragement at this point after 8 weeks of no fries!!
--------------------------
Helen

Hi Helen - yes, you are MORE than welcome to talk about being deprived of Fries and other good things and adding exercise and water to the mix.

I started up right after Christmas. I am working with a nutritionist. I've tried WW, Zone, Jenny Craig, but this is a custom for me plan and it works best. I fax my diary to my nutritionist every week and we have a phone appointment. I eat out a lot and we have a plan for that. I can have wine! and a few snacks that suit me to a t. It's a slow process. My goal is 10 lbs at a time. oh and when I get to 25lbs and I going to In-and-Out for a splurge!

Helen, welcome to our support group. Glad you are joining us. We need all the help we can get.

Kathy, you just had to say In-N-Out didn't you? Torture! I know I can do it animal style, but it just isn't the same without the bun, or the fries for that matter. Good thing I'm in Texas, or that would surely be my downfall. What could be better for Valentines day than a Double-Double and some fries with a fine bottle of Two Buck Chuck by candlelight? Ahhhhh! :D

Thanks Kathy. Wow you've lost 15 pounds since Christmas! I have lost 16 but it has taken me 8 weeks. But I see some people come into the clinic who have to use a walker due to their weight and I think NOT ME!!! Make sure your In N Out is protein style!

Hi Helen...what courage to start your diet before the holidays! I've not heard of the Lindora diet - how does it work?

LA Weightloss is very much like Weight Watchers - you journal your food - right now I'm allowed 2 proteins, 2 starches, 3 veggies, 3 fruit, 1 dairy, 1 fat, 2 LA Lites (their snack bar - many flavors), Lite salt and LOTS (64 oz) of water.
The portion sizes are spelled out - they are fairly small, i.e. 4 oz protein, and in the starch department must be high fiber/low fat/low sodium.

The real difference - you don't go to a weekly meeting, instead you show up when it's convenient for you (during office hours) and meet with a conselour to weigh in and review your journal. They ask you to show up every other day to keep on track, especially at the beginning. The office is near my home so it only takes a few minutes - I try to show up when I'm feeling lightest! :D

Basically you're paying for that time - being accountable to a scale and a human being who will encourage you.

The key is learning new habits and thinking about food choices. You are allowed to have wine but 3 oz. counts as 1 fruits - right now I'd rather have the fruit. I did have some wine a week ago on a special occasion - it was great...but none since then. As Tom says, on the bright side, at least now I know I'm not an alcoholic! LOL

I'm completing my second week today - 7 lbs lighter. I often feel like a rabbit - more salad listed on my journal than almost anything else but it's filling. Learning to keep the protein smaller is hard and finding variety is a challenge, but that keeps me involved, so I guess that's good.

I'm enjoying all of your comments, they sound so much like my thoughts. And heck, laughter must be good for burning calories so this is the place to come for that suppliment!

The one item I think is especially good and should be a life-long habit for everyone - drinking at least 64 oz of water each day.

All I can say is, thank God I don't live near an In N Out! ;)

Welcome Helen and Margo.

Well, after months of denial, I finally got on the scales this morning. I'm up 12 pounds since Pip. I gained 5 of that on that cruise itself, and sea-sawed some in between. So, my new long-term goal is to lose 20 (love to lose more, but at 58 I'm being realistic.)

Just did my Tai Chi, Pilates and weights. Now time for my yogurt and bran cereal.

Wendy....sounds like you're on the right track...Tai Chi, Pilates and weights, WOW!

Doesn't seem fair, the older we get, the harder it is to lose :(

I found a photo from 10 years ago - who was that woman? My goal - to look a little more like her (me) than I do now!

Margo

Margo, I know what you mean. I have photos of myself at points in the past when I thought I was "fat"--I wasn't, I know that now!

But I think we also need to ease up on ourselves a bit--obviously we all want to look good, but it's about our health. I would very much like to get my BP down, for one thing. For another, 10 pounds off my feet eases the pressure on my joints, and presumably my heart.

As fpr the exercise, it's consistency that's the problem. I find I often don't have time in the morning to do all of that, plus the exercise machine too. So I try to mix and match. I'm also trying to incorporate some into my evenings, but that's very tough.

10 years ago I weighed 125 - I was single and I was on Phen-Fen. It worked. Except when you went off of it! Aside from all the risks, which I am lucky not to have suffered side effects other than the weight gain one! I want that size 4 Kathy back but a size 8 will make me very happy. I also went every day to the gym then. I am working back to that good habit.

Margo,

7 lbs is great! LA Weight loss is near identical to what I am doing. But it's more custom to me. While I don't have to, I find that I do best when I eat at least one meal with Salad and protein and one with fish and veggies. No packaged foods. Although for one of my snacks, I have been having the FF/Sugar free Jello puddings and for a snack that doesn't count the FF/Sugar Free Jello is 10 calories. Biggest thing to watch is portion size and then the carb meal can be dangerous - I can have a pasta - rice or Potato meal weekly. No combining those with any protein.

Kathy....I think I weighed 125 lbs when I was 15 - onward and upward after that! :D

Wendy - you're so right about the consistency. I seem to have plenty of aerobic exercise but need more weight training - muscles burn more calories or so they tell me!

I've often read the support group conversation, I'm glad to have joined in. Thanks for your advice.

Margo

I was heavy as a child, then dropped weight in college. Packed it back on in perimenopause and then from having to take tamoxifen (those male doctors--they say there is no "statistical correlation" between that and weight gain. the nurses know, and tell you, the real truth). It has been an uphill battle (no pun intended) ever since.
I agree not to fret about getting back to those "good old days" of skinniness. I wouldn't want to be college-age again for anything. I like knowing what I know now. But if I had known then what I know now.....that would be the ticket.
Right now, it is in single digits here, and we are going to go below zero for a few days. That really cuts into my walks, which is what I use for exercise. I just can't get into indoor treadmills, etc. In an office all day. So I guess bundle up is the word. But that wind!

You guys are all doing GREAT!

Kathy-- I for one am glad you are off the phen-fen. It's no fun losing the weight if you are not here to enjoy it and entertain us all with your posts!

Oh gosh, my sister in law was on Phen Fen and died in her bed! She was 58. Her tissue samples were sent off to the Mayo Clinic and came back "inconclusive" whether the Phen Fen caused or contibuted to her death but of course her family is certain!Lindora has prescribed some appetite suppressants for me but I am very judicious in taking them.

Diane, do you still take the Tamoxifen? Most of the women in my family take it but I have been somehow overlooked by the cancer gods. Over 15 female relatives with documented breast cancer! Amazing the progress that has been made in the last 20 years. Thank you, Susan G. Komen.

Anyway Lindora is medically supervised and is similar to what all you guys have been doing. Write down every bite that goes in your mouth. No alchohol. I am allowed between 50-100 grams of carbs a day which consists of leafy vegetables mostly. Even fruit is severely limited until you reach your goal. 10,000 steps a day on a pedometer. I have a TV hanging on the wall in front of the treadmill and watch Law and Order reruns each night on the treadmill!! When the show is over, I am done. Like Kathy we have one protein day a week. For us it is always Monday. Eggs for breakfast, no toast, chicken for lunch and chicken for dinner (I am starting to cluck in my sleep)A plateau earns you a plateau diet for 3 days: spinach, lettuce, white fish and grapefruit. By Day 3 it is REALLY obnoxious but it has worked for my husband and I each time we have done it so .....

We have figured out that if we 'fess up to the weekend martini and/or glass of wine (usu "and")the consequence is an extra protein day and hot lemon water. Its a price we are willing to pay for the occasional indulgence!

It really does suck how hard it is after a "certain age". But while I accept that I must get old ,I do not accept that I can't look reasonably good. Goldie Hawn is my idol! Isn't she fabulous looking at somewhere north of 50?
Thanks for the ears!
------------------------
Helen

I took Phen Fen - lost 40 pounds and gained most of it back a few years later. I would never go back on it because I have a heart problem and found out later about the damage it had done to some people.

Just think if we all were slim and trim how boring the world would be! I turn the big 50 this year and just need to be more diligent about exercising every day and I'd be fine. I am not unhappy with my size - just need to tone it up some. :banana:

I know people happy with Lindora but the happiest people I know have done Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. Personally, I have done so many since I am 10 years old, that I just want something that sticks and keeps me motivated. I tend to forget that it's not a short term or temporary way to live. It's got to be doable life long.
So it's one pound at a time and food cannot be the reward for whatever in life.

Sorry, Helen to hear the results of your SIL's experience with Phen. We are all lucky not to have been harmed by it. We still have a chance.

Exercise, exercise, exercise.

Margo, great job on losing those 7 lbs. It is hard work, but it does pay off.

Helen, that is terrible about your sister-in-law. I too took Phen Fen for a short period of time, but it didn't seem to have an effect on me.

Wendy, I know what you mean about consistency. It is difficult. I have been alternating programs, doing weights one day and the bike the next, but sometimes things just get in the way, like the early morning meeting that I had this morning. Tonight I am taking Diana out for her birthday, so walking tonight may not happen either.

We had some friends over this week that had moved away five years ago and just moved back to town. I almost didn't recognize her. She had dropped over 50 lbs, but did gastric bypass to do it. I guess it is good for some people to do that if they can't lose weight any other way, but for me, I know I can lose it. It's a lot of work, but I can still do it.

Funny talking about exercise and walking in the cold weather. I usually don't get home until sometime after 7 in the evening and end up having dinner way to late around 8 or so, then I go out for a walk to burn off some of my dinner. Well last night it was a bit chilly here in Big D, so I put on my sweat pants(dark), sheatshirt with a hood (dark), put on gloves (also dark), and then put on a mask to cover my nose and mouth. I looked like a mugger. My circuit includes a part where I end up walking through the parking lot of the nearby Middle School back to the street that leads to our house. Well last night they had a function at the school and I ended up walking through there just as everybody was leaving. I'm sure that I must have scared a few of them and halfway expected the policeman that was there to stop me.

All that talk about In-N-Out made me hungry, so I went to Fuddrucker's today for lunch and had the 1/3 lb burger (no bun) with jalapeno's, onions, and tomatos, wrapped inside two leafs of iceberg lettuce, with a large glass of water.

Good job on the incognito walkabout, Don! In my neighborhood that get up would get me run over by 3 or 4 cars and what was left of me would surely be chased by a pack of coyotes! Oh I love Fuddruckers. Haven't seen one of those around here for a long time. Like you I get home late usually about 7:30. By the time I have dinner its 8:30. An hour on the treadmill is all I can manage. I wish I had the energy Wendy has. I took Pilates and lasted for 3 classes. That is hard!!! Enjoy the birthday dinner. Tomorow is another day.

Don, that's very funny.

We too are in a big freezer right now, I walk to the subway every day to go to work, but that's not very far.

Margo, I am not trying to lose weight doing the weight-training. It's very modest what I do, all very mild upper-body stuff. I'm doing it for my joints and bones (osteo runs in my family), and just to tone up, since I tend to carry weight in my back. I just have a pair of 3-pound dumbbells (started with soup cans), and do a little routine I found on the net.

Oh, and I'm not energetic, really. The pilates is also a very modest little routine that I learned from a tape, for my "core" as they euphemistically call it--I was born with no waist and weak abdominals, so I'm fighting a losing battle.

Anyone here try a Stability Ball? Believe or not, just sit on it and bounce like a kid and it's aerobic. Just sitting on them burns calories. Build your "core" too. There are so many exercises you can do with them. Really fun workouts. Not all easy, but not hard on joints either.

I had a trainer come to the house (I was her project and I won but she lost - her goal was to have me lose weight and be her featured client in her ads) Anyway, she came to the house a few times a week at 5:45 am (yuck!). I got a great deal and I really did build muscle and got toned -even though I did not lose the weight she wanted me to lose. And I learned to do a bunch of fun things on the Stability Ball.

Margo, she moved to your neighborhood. I've know her for years, if you know anyone near you who wants a really good trainer let me know.

I keep thinking that I am going to join Curves.

I joined curves about 18 months ago and it's great. Fun women at 7:30 AM when they open. We have all 13 machines so its twice around the circle and out the door in 30 minutes. I try to go 3 times a week but lately its only been twice. When I started I was there 4-5 times a week and about 6 months ago that one closed so now I have a much longer drive and in season I seem to only go Mondays and Wednesdays. It's a good work out for me.

Kathy...your trainer lives in Sarasota? I'd love her name - there's always someone who is looking for a trainer, maybe even me! LOL

Our hospital is opening a fitness center and I've joined because I like the tie-in with the healthcare aspect - I go for orientation today - they plan a program and give you all this computerized stuff - we'll see if it work. I like very organized things like that so perhaps it will be an option for me. Sure hope so!

Yes, Margo

She moved and left me high and dry! She's in Venice FL now. I sent you an email with her contact info. You will really like Michelle.

My problem with Curves where I live is that it is not open after work, so it does not work for me.
Don--here in Wisconsin, it has been in the single digits. Like you, I walk at night. The only thing not covered is my eyes. Makes for some strange comments from my son.