I am the Biggest Loser...Kinda.

[morningstar55]

Originally Posted by Corkey

About the salt, we use kosher salt, it has about a quarter of the sodium content of other salts. We grind it with our mortar and pestal.
When I cook I don't use salt at all, natural foods have their own salts. If a recipe calls for it I use only a smidgen of what is called for. I realize that baking is a totally different animal, and leave that happy culinary chore to the one who knows how to do so.
Then for x-mas we got some salts of the world, all sea salts and all with their own healthy properties, such as a Hawaiian sea salt that has charcoal as a binder. It's called Hiwa Kai from www.artisansalt.com

On a positive note, I've lost 6 lbs

taking notes here..
and umm i havnt weighed myself in sometime.......
wait....... had my DOT physical in Oct.. umm hmm i was 240 i think.. *sigh*

[morningstar55]

btw........
Lady Jewel...... i LOVE your siggy art..... its a awsome painting..

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by canmarielan

Thanks Y'all.

Today was MUCH better calorie wise.

I should go to the gym.

Totally should go.

Totally.

Someone wanna go FOR me??

lmao.

OH...thanks everyone for being so supportive. I mean, really, I couldn't have come this far without you all. Seriously.

Let's figure out a way to make working out fun, kay?

Because currently I'm ENTIRELY dreading this. I need to do it, seriously.

I don't want bad numbers this week, I don't want it at all.

I need good weeks.

I am 100% commited to making this work for me.

How is everyone??

Diva

Tonya

'Dusa

Gemme

Diavolo

Christie

*smiles*

I need y'all and y'all need me....come on!!!!

Divalicioius any more weight loss?? 20 lbs was sooooo awesome!!!

Okay, I get this. Getting there (gym) is the hardest thing. But once you are there, you don't have to kill yourself, okay? Take it easy. Or break things up. Dedicate at least half an hour to working out and make it ACTUAL work out time, not stretch time (you need that before and after) or change machines time. Working out time. If it makes the time fly to change machines, do it. But keep a record of what you've done.

Those machines are anywhere from 10-25% off of what we really burn. I ignore that part. I keep a record of my blood pressure and heart rate before I work out and after I'm totally done and have stretched and cooled down. I keep a record of what machine I used, how many calories it said I burned, the time it took me, and the distance. I keep all of this info in a small notebook that fits in my exercise pants pocket. I have a cute hot pink mini pen that I write the info down with. That notebook and pen are dedicated to my workout info ONLY. It's to the point where I panic if I think I've forgotten them. Now, that might be a bit much, but it shows me that I've done it enough to that it's an expectation on my part and that's a good thing. I got this way by not having any expectations for myself. What good has that done?

I bring my MP3 player also. It's been a Godsend, I tell you. I would get so bored, even with the machines with TVs on them, that I would never finish more than 15-20 minutes. Now, I go as long as the Y machines let me, which is 65 minutes each round. An hour for working out and 5 minutes for cool down.

I don't recommend going full blast or an hour every day. I work out hard half the time and give myself a break half the time. As long as I'm THERE, it's a victory to me.

Originally Posted by Diva

Several things......

* 21 now

* That being said......I went to brunch (ate things SOOOOO bad!) and NO ONE could tell that I had lost 21 lbs.

This was me ~ ~ ~>

Ok, not really...but WTF!?!?! So I just joked (as we all do, don't we?) that I had lost it all in my spleen. Bummer. It was disheartening, because *I* can feel it. My face is thinner and my pants fit better.

* This past weekend, I ran out of the last of my CoffeeMate creamers (yes...I had just about every flavor). Those of You who know me, KNOW how I adore my coffee! But starting on Saturday, I began drinking my coffee without that creamer. It hasn't been too awful.....and I think what I'll do is use it as a treat...like dessert. But I'm not having it in this house...unless I have company.

So...some good stuff....and a thin spleen to boot! Keep up the good work everybody!

Pretty, pretty shrinking princess....honey, not all of us are what you might call.......uhhh, observant? Besides it doesn't matter a hill of beans what WE think and feel about YOUR weight loss and body changes. It's all YOU.

And bring a before and after picture so we can see it too!

Originally Posted by amiyesiam

in January I lost 5 lb and excercised 577 minutes

Excellent!

[Gemme]

Every tv dinner has roughly 20-25% of your daily intake of sodium, whether it's Lean Cuisine or whatever. It's a preservative.

I appreciate the head's up on the different types of salt, Corkey. I can use that info. I've used sea salt before and like it. I've never used kosher before. I'll look into that.

What's frustrating to me is the sneakiness of processing companies. There's so much salt and sugar in almost everything that we're practically guaranteed to exceed our daily intake unless we grow and process our own food.

I'm very miffed to discover exactly WHAT is in my ketchup, spaghetti sauce and meat sauces. Very!

As my honey points out to me, there is sodium and sugar in natural foods too. For example, the banana I eat nearly every day has a ton of sugar and more sodium than I would have thought could fit into it, but as Ryan tells me, naturally occuring sugars and sodium is processed differently by our bodies. It's not 'as bad' as the overly processed stuff.

*sigh*

Some times, it all makes my head hurt.

[Just_G]

So today I got on the scale at work as I was getting ready to weigh some packages I wrapped for UPS. I am down 12 pounds from about two weeks ago. I am very happy with that because I have not done a lot of exercising, but have been eating better. (and not eating as often as I should because of stress) I have a lot of grilled chicken breasts and steamed veggies with salt and pepper only.

I went to pick up dog biscuits at Target and they had a Jillian DVD on sale so I bought it for $10. I start working out to it on Wednesday...trying to get a couple of friends to join me for motivation to do it.

So, slowly I am motivating to do more....it is exciting!

[canmarielan]

Originally Posted by christie0918

I had a not so great weekend. Snow and baking cookies for Jess... Lil bastards called my name... they finally had to go to the trash...

The weather makes it harder for me... I want warm, comfort food and well, no carbs is hard to manage.

I'm hanging in... I did ask Jess to toss the lil sugar bastards... LOL

Hey Christie....I had a quick question. Do you feel like the low carb works better for you than low calorie? things is....if you did low calorie you wouldn't have to completely cut out anything. Makes you not have to sit around thinking about carbs b/c you just had some wheat pasta for dinner, ya know?

Just my .02. Of course I think you should totally do what you think is best for you

Originally Posted by Diva

Several things......

* 21 now

* That being said......I went to brunch (ate things SOOOOO bad!) and NO ONE could tell that I had lost 21 lbs.

This was me ~ ~ ~>

Ok, not really...but WTF!?!?! So I just joked (as we all do, don't we?) that I had lost it all in my spleen. Bummer. It was disheartening, because *I* can feel it. My face is thinner and my pants fit better.

* This past weekend, I ran out of the last of my CoffeeMate creamers (yes...I had just about every flavor). Those of You who know me, KNOW how I adore my coffee! But starting on Saturday, I began drinking my coffee without that creamer. It hasn't been too awful.....and I think what I'll do is use it as a treat...like dessert. But I'm not having it in this house...unless I have company.

So...some good stuff....and a thin spleen to boot! Keep up the good work everybody!

OH LICIOUS!!!!!!!!!! I love you!!!!!!! Congrats on 21 lbs!!!!!!!!!!! whoooottt whooootttt!!!!!!

PLUS, I completely KNOW how hard the creamer cut out was for you! CONGRATS on that P.S.- they have low calorie/low fat flavored creamers out there my love

Originally Posted by amiyesiam

in January I lost 5 lb and excercised 577 minutes

Great job Darling

that's a lot of workout tons more than me that's for sure

I really should get a game on wii but they're max out weight is usually 350. I have a lil to go before then

Originally Posted by Lady Jewel

As a reminder...we decided in our last meeting to alternate the meeting days and times between Wed and Thur evenings. Soooooo...this weeks meeting is Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM PST/10:30 PM EST. Also, due to some issues we had to change the password so please PM me and I will give you the new one. Also, the topic for this weeks meeting is, "Strategies that work for weight loss". So please think about strategies that have worked for you, and that you wish to share with others.

Awesome...I'll be there

Warmly,
Jewel

Originally Posted by Gemme

Okay, I get this. Getting there (gym) is the hardest thing. But once you are there, you don't have to kill yourself, okay? Take it easy. Or break things up. Dedicate at least half an hour to working out and make it ACTUAL work out time, not stretch time (you need that before and after) or change machines time. Working out time. If it makes the time fly to change machines, do it. But keep a record of what you've done.

Those machines are anywhere from 10-25% off of what we really burn. I ignore that part. I keep a record of my blood pressure and heart rate before I work out and after I'm totally done and have stretched and cooled down. I keep a record of what machine I used, how many calories it said I burned, the time it took me, and the distance. I keep all of this info in a small notebook that fits in my exercise pants pocket. I have a cute hot pink mini pen that I write the info down with. That notebook and pen are dedicated to my workout info ONLY. It's to the point where I panic if I think I've forgotten them. Now, that might be a bit much, but it shows me that I've done it enough to that it's an expectation on my part and that's a good thing. I got this way by not having any expectations for myself. What good has that done?

I bring my MP3 player also. It's been a Godsend, I tell you. I would get so bored, even with the machines with TVs on them, that I would never finish more than 15-20 minutes. Now, I go as long as the Y machines let me, which is 65 minutes each round. An hour for working out and 5 minutes for cool down.

I don't recommend going full blast or an hour every day. I work out hard half the time and give myself a break half the time. As long as I'm THERE, it's a victory to me.

Nice hints, thanks.

I totally know I can get manage things once I get there. I just need to go.

I need to shut up and go

Originally Posted by Just_G

So today I got on the scale at work as I was getting ready to weigh some packages I wrapped for UPS. I am down 12 pounds from about two weeks ago. I am very happy with that because I have not done a lot of exercising, but have been eating better. (and not eating as often as I should because of stress) I have a lot of grilled chicken breasts and steamed veggies with salt and pepper only.

I went to pick up dog biscuits at Target and they had a Jillian DVD on sale so I bought it for $10. I start working out to it on Wednesday...trying to get a couple of friends to join me for motivation to do it.

So, slowly I am motivating to do more....it is exciting!

ooohhhh G-Furr!!! yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy


So, I weighed in today since I am off until Thursday.

Current weight=




That's 19.2 lbs down in 4 weeks y'all whooo hoooooo!!!!!!!

I am so thankful for the accountability and friendship I have here!

Even when I wanna so bad I feel

I love you guys

I think it's all about the small changes. One small change at a time. For me it was substituting healthy ingredients in my meals. Then shrinking the sizes of my meals. Next will be changing my activity levels.

I'm so proud of each of you for making the small changes.

Let's keep up this journey

[christie]

Originally Posted by canmarielan

Hey Christie....I had a quick question. Do you feel like the low carb works better for you than low calorie? things is....if you did low calorie you wouldn't have to completely cut out anything. Makes you not have to sit around thinking about carbs b/c you just had some wheat pasta for dinner, ya know?

Just my .02. Of course I think you should totally do what you think is best for you

For me, the no/low carb works best. I have a health condition and predisposition for Type II diabetes. I was diagnosed with PCOS many years ago and have the associated insulin resistance with it. IR seems to be the precursor for Type II and low carb diets usually work best.

Additionally, there seems to be a relationship between carbs and increased fibromyalgia symptoms. When I am having a "carb-fest", I know that the following couple of days are just gonna be HELL when it comes to my pain levels. Since I am on no prescription meds now, and want to stay that way, its just best for me to do the no/low carbs.

I usually don't feel "deprived" (depraved maybe - but that is another thread entirely!) but when its time for my cycle, well, I crave carbs. I am pretty good at keeping the demon at bay, but this weekend wasn't one of those times.

Many years ago, I did Weight Watchers and it worked really well for me. This was pre-PCOS/IR/Fibro. I really enjoyed the meetings - we did an "at work" group and it was awesome to be a part of a group who supported, encouraged and helped one another self monitor.

Yesterday was a better day

[Arwen]

This is hard to write.

I weigh exactly what I weighed at the start. EXACTLY.

I am told my diet sodas are bad. I just do not know if I can ever give them up. I'm only drinkiing 2-3 a day usually. I will try to bring that down. I do not want things with aspartame in them. That stuff makes me really yucky all over.

I know where my problem lies. It's in the portion control. And in the lack of exercise. I have taken to parking farther away from anything I am going into (including work) when I can and when the weather isn't hideous.

I'm thinking about buying a bike but I do not know the FIRST thing about that. I just want a bike I can ride around on. I don't need a fancy-schmancy thing. Just an old ladies bike with a basket. The grocery store is close enough. I could bike there. I could even bike to work by taking the back roads.

All three of my jobs keep me at my computer a LOT. I swear I can feel my butt spreading out as I sit here.

And for the record, Diva, I could tell you'd lost weight. I'm sorry for not saying anything. I've had it ingrained into me that it's "bad" to mention as if I'd noticed your weight in the first place. So I do apologize.