Exercise

[Janet]

Not going to say I'm gonna do it...because when I say "I'm gonna" I fail...lol. So after I see the Dr. on Tuesday and make sure everything is okay, I am going to try and get back on the treadmill. I really felt better when I was walking on it everyday for 30 minutes.

I would like to go back to WW, but right now is not a good time. I still have all the information I rec'd so I may try it alone for awhile, I just don't know yet. I was even afraid to post this much for fear I'd jinx myself...ever feel that way?

[gja1000]

Yes, absolutely, I know what you mean about jinxing yourself. I'm doing well counting WW points right now, but sometimes I just can't do it and I don't know why.

I have cut out all wheat and gluten, focusing mostly on whole grains (just no wheat) chicken, fish, and vegetables. I was having HUGE cravings and was eating out of control, and the subtraction of wheat/gluten was supposed to help with cravings. I think it did because I now have control over my eating and have lost 7 pounds since Dec. 1 (I didn't follow WW over Christmas or while we were in OK - and my cravings came back). Anyway, I started back on it as soon as we got home from OK (last Wed) and I feel better and in control.

Like you Janet, I need to add exercise, but I haven't yet.

[Shada]

I have kinda in a way started it myself. Spent a few minutes yesterday and today on the pilates machine. Plus!!!!!!!! I am trying to quit smoking. Haven't had one since yesterday around 2:00pm. I really want to lose some weight and if I could quit smoking too.. that would be great. The smoking I decided to (not) do yesterday after hearing some bad news about my job. I have been laid off for two weeks, ok, no big deal, well found out not only will I be laid off for another 2 weeks. but my company took a dollar per hour away from us, the employee's. Along with eliminating our attendance bonus which has been in effect since company started 40 years ago.

So I need to make a few changes... Starting yesterday.. I quit smoking.

[DianaB]

Good Luck, Shada, with your goal!! Did you know that Janet quit smoking just a year or so ago? Just post on here and we can all cheer you on!!! Go, Shada!!!!

Janet, I understand completely what you're worried about. About the time I think that I'm doing great then everything backfires on me. I hope that everything goes right for you this time!!!

[judy]

Shada, that is wonderful! Keep us posted please.

I also quietly began eating WW and Lean Cuisine dinners for dinner. I also don't want to say anything (oops - I just did!) because I'm still having the chips at night, along with the M&M's.

Good luck to us all

[Janet]

Originally Posted by gja1000

Yes, absolutely, I know what you mean about jinxing yourself. I'm doing well counting WW points right now, but sometimes I just can't do it and I don't know why.

I have cut out all wheat and gluten, focusing mostly on whole grains (just no wheat) chicken, fish, and vegetables. I was having HUGE cravings and was eating out of control, and the subtraction of wheat/gluten was supposed to help with cravings. I think it did because I now have control over my eating and have lost 7 pounds since Dec. 1 (I didn't follow WW over Christmas or while we were in OK - and my cravings came back). Anyway, I started back on it as soon as we got home from OK (last Wed) and I feel better and in control.

Like you Janet, I need to add exercise, but I haven't yet.

Gayle, I've been eating 100%whole grain wheat bread...is that not good? I need to know more about the wheat/gluten you're writing about...I have cravings all the time...I'm always wanting something...especially chocolate. Could you tell me a bit more please.

[Janet]

Originally Posted by Shada

I have kinda in a way started it myself. Spent a few minutes yesterday and today on the pilates machine. Plus!!!!!!!! I am trying to quit smoking. Haven't had one since yesterday around 2:00pm. I really want to lose some weight and if I could quit smoking too.. that would be great. The smoking I decided to (not) do yesterday after hearing some bad news about my job. I have been laid off for two weeks, ok, no big deal, well found out not only will I be laid off for another 2 weeks. but my company took a dollar per hour away from us, the employee's. Along with eliminating our attendance bonus which has been in effect since company started 40 years ago.

So I need to make a few changes... Starting yesterday.. I quit smoking.

Congratulations Shada for trying to quit smoking!! I quit the August 30/31 of 2007 and haven't smoked since. I will tell you that once in awhile I still have that urge after all this time, I just go find something to do and it passes as quickly as it came on.

You won't regret it I promise. Just take one day at a time and you'll do it if you really want to bad enough. I did....I was so tired of smoking and being embarassed by it out in public. Good luck to you !!!!

[Janet]

Originally Posted by DianaB

Good Luck, Shada, with your goal!! Did you know that Janet quit smoking just a year or so ago? Just post on here and we can all cheer you on!!! Go, Shada!!!!

Janet, I understand completely what you're worried about. About the time I think that I'm doing great then everything backfires on me. I hope that everything goes right for you this time!!!

It's true Diana. I'll be on some diet...doesn't matter what kind....I've been on them all, but I do really well, I get so proud of myself, start seeing a thinner me, lose up to 50lbs and then it falls apart for some reason. Not sure what is going on. I want it so bad.....to lose weight, so maybe if I try really hard again...I'll succeed. Heck...I only need to lose 100 lbs...what's so hard about that.....

[2tiredmom]

Originally Posted by Janet

Congratulations Shada for trying to quit smoking!! I quit the August 30/31 of 2007 and haven't smoked since. I will tell you that once in awhile I still have that urge after all this time, I just go find something to do and it passes as quickly as it came on.

You won't regret it I promise. Just take one day at a time and you'll do it if you really want to bad enough. I did....I was so tired of smoking and being embarassed by it out in public. Good luck to you !!!!

Janet,
I didn't know you had quit. Congrats on that. How wonderful. Its' been 11 years since Gary stopped smoking and he doesn't miss it at and and neither do I.

[Tiramisu]

So, we post on here, but it seems we've all been keeping secrets from each. I, too, have started doing some things differently.

Shada, I'm so sorry about your job and it will be a hard time to stop smoking, but we're here to help you get through it. I quit May 28th, 2004, without even trying. I got pleurisy and one of my lungs collapsed. After being in ICU for 12 days and having lung surgery, I can't stand the thought of a cigarette.

Let's all make 2009 our healthy year!

[Janet]

Originally Posted by 2tiredmom

Janet,
I didn't know you had quit. Congrats on that. How wonderful. Its' been 11 years since Gary stopped smoking and he doesn't miss it at and and neither do I.

Rick quit in June of 2007 because the Dr wouldn't operate on his back unless the ciggies were gone...so we've been smoke free for over a year now.

Originally Posted by Tiramisu

So, we post on here, but it seems we've all been keeping secrets from each. I, too, have started doing some things differently.

Shada, I'm so sorry about your job and it will be a hard time to stop smoking, but we're here to help you get through it. I quit May 28th, 2004, without even trying. I got pleurisy and one of my lungs collapsed. After being in ICU for 12 days and having lung surgery, I can't stand the thought of a cigarette.

Let's all make 2009 our healthy year!

Okay Sandy...spill it...what are you doing differently????

[gja1000]

I followed Joshi's Holistic Detox. It is a liver detox program. I wasn't worried about my liver, but read that it helped with cravings. It is pretty restrictive for 3 weeks, but then after that you gradually add back in all foods. There is nothing scientific about the diet - so I'm not sure that it really works, but something helped me to stop eating wildly out of control. Here are the 21 days rules:

No red meat, no pork
No dairy (except plain yogurt with live cultures)
no fruit except bananas
no wheat, gluten, yeast so nothing with wheat flour
no alcohol
no sugar, except a little honey
no coffee, not even decaf (can have herbal tea)
no chocolate or sweets
no artificial sweeteners
no ketchup, vinegar, mustard

You can have chicken and fish and you can have the non-starchy vegetables. You can have all kinds of beans.

I ate lots of beans, fixed in different ways. I ate lots of grilled chicken and fish. You can use lemon for flavor and you can use olive oil. So I did salads with olive oil and lemon. I made a bean soup with carrots, onions, and beans in chicken broth with lemon - it was really good. I also ate a lot of hummas on corn tortillas. For some reason, corn is OK on the diet.

After the 3 weeks of eating this way, I was very much in control of my diet and was no longer having wild cravings, and out of control over eating. I stopped the day before Christmas because I wanted to enjoy Christmas dinner with everyone. I did fine with that dinnner, but then we went out of town and had to eat out mostly for 6 days. when I got home, I was not as bad as before, but I was over eating and craving things.

So, I went back on a modified version of the diet, not nearly so restrictive as above. I never eat dairy anyway and I can stay away from sugar. I'm focusing on no wheat/gluten and I really think that contributes to my cravings. Yesterday, I went out to breakfast with Gary. I had one scrambled egg, one slice of bacon and one dreaded piece of wheat toast with a little jelly. Later in the day, hubby wanted to stop at our fave Mexican restaurant for nachos. The kind we eat is just corn chips, beans, cheese, salsa, and jalapenos - all things (except cheese) that I can eat. They tasted great and I only ate 2 1/2 (each is the size of 1/2 of a corn tortilla) and I felt good. But only about an hour later, I was snacking on some black eyed pea salad and I could not stop eating it. I didn't overeat very much, but did eat way more than I had all week. I'm attributing it to the one piece of wheat toast and jelly. Maybe not, but I am going to keep avoiding wheat beccause it seems when I do, my eating is much more in control.

That's what I think is the key, finding out your triggers, and avoiding them. I have a freind who keeps foods she can't eat in her house and it helps her to avoid them. Not me, I will eat them all. I really have to be careful what I buy and keep in the house.

I think Amazon.com has Joshi's book for about $10. Again, it is not scientific and it is not for everyone, but it did help me, I think!

[Janet]

Oh Gayle....that IS restrictive...I don't think at my weight I could do that. My biggest fear is that I also would lose some and gain even more back like I've done in the past. Thanks so much for explaining it, but this is one I think I would have real problems with.

[gja1000]

I agree, it was restrictive, but I was able to manage it for 3 weeks. Now, I'm just avoiding wheat/gluten because I think it contributes to my cravings and out of control eating.

But I really think they key is just finding what works for you, what you can tolerate, and what you can stick with!

Good Luck!

So, I'm sort of in a similar boat...
None of the people here have seen a picture of me (avatar coming soon), so none of you really know that I'm overweight. I'm not as bad as they come, but I'm quite a bit bigger than I should be. I have always been overweight... I was never a kid that enjoyed getting out and playing. I enjoyed reading and watching TV. I played some soccer and basketball, but never worked hard enough to get into good shape, so all my life, this is all I have known. For a long time, I completely hated myself. I wore huge, baggy clothes to cover myself up and did anything I could to avoid too much attention... I was made fun of and put down on a daily basis for it, and it wore away my self-esteem almost entirely.
Fast forward to the present... I've been with my boyfriend Jesse for over 2 years and I'm finally starting to believe him when he tells me I'm beautiful. I'm finally starting to see that I'm not as repulsive as I thought and maybe it's okay to just be the way I am...
Last Thursday, while at lunch with my mom, we got into a conversation about eating healthy and weight. We were eating at the mall, and I was telling her about how I had planned to get a healthy sandwich from Subway, but when I got to the mall, Subway was closed. I was telling her (jokingly) that the gods of healthy food were against me. I told her about a conversation Jesse and I had had the night previous (not that important to the story) and told her that I was going to try to start eating healthier... I don't like telling people about this and I've never talked about it with anyone but my mom... I'm addicted to the foods I eat. I really can't help it. I've tried so many times in the past and it's always been too hard for me to keep up with. I either take it too far and start losing weight in an unhealthy way, or I fall off the wagon two days in because I just can't take the temptations. She let me vent and then told me she was proud of me for trying to lose the weight...
She said that she has been worried about my weight for when I decide to have kids (um, hello? I'm 18.), but she's said that before, so I just sort of brushed it off... but then she also said that she and my dad had been worrying about the fact that they think that if I don't lose weight, Jesse is going to leave me. I believe her exact words were that, "...if you don't lose weight, Jesse's not going to like you anymore."
Maybe it doesn't make sense, but I was devastated. Still get a little choked up thinking about it.
So, that night, I joined Weight Watchers online. I haven't been telling people about it... Jesse knows, my mom knows, and apparently my dad knows, but no one else. Not even Angie (until now). I've been keeping it a secret and will continue to do so because I'm a little hyper-sensitive about the whole "issue". I hate it when people look at me differently for what I'm choosing to eat, I don't want people trying to help me pick out "healthy foods"... I know they mean well, but it just manages to hurt my feelings or make me feel completely inadequate. So I save my points for when I know I'm going to be with friends and use them then... and I've been getting in bouts of exercise whenever I can fit them in.
I guess the point of this was to tell you guys that I'm in the same boat...
Good luck to you guys in your journey. May it be as successful as you wish.
I'll be on my own journey over here.