I bought several of the walking CD's a while back to share with my quilting group. We have all be weighing in and exercising together. I have a couple left if anyone wants them. I'll take 5.00 plus a dollar for postage. Just PM me if interested. They are Lesllie Sansone's "Walk the pounds Away."

You're right Charlee. If I need a little extra..... Veggies are the way to go. There are a few of them like corn and carrots that you've gotta watch but you know that already. I like pickles too. Since my DH was doing the thing too it made it a lot easier. If my helpings began to grow, he would point it out and vice versa. We had fun. Looks like we are headed for more fun too cause he's gotta get back in tune too. Also EXERCISE and I agree, the green tea seems to help. I use decaf hot green tea with Truvia.

Well, I heard a lot of good things about this walking video; in fact my Mom started doing them. I figure if a 61 yr old can handle it, then a 43 year old can handle it too. So, I went out and bought one last night. (Walk Away the Pounds for your Week) Thankfully I will be able to start slowly. :-)

I drink tea, any and all kinds, mostly hot. What does the green tea do?

The green tea is supposed to help burn off the belly fat. I think it helped too because my stomach was a little flatter then. Or cold have been cause it was a lot emptier. :lol:

How much green tea do I need to drink to flatten the tummy? Right now that's where my extra weight wants to hang out.

Green tea is supposed to boost metabolism. A cup or two a day should do it. :) The belly fat that it's supposed to reduce is the deep fat that lays along your spinal cord, not the stuff that stick out front...darnit! :lol: I could sure use that!
Other metabolism boosters are hot peppers!

They actually are neat dvds! Of course, when I first started, like I said, I was convinced that they were a conspiracy to kill fat people...the first day, after ONE mile, I was sweating, I was panting, and I crawled to the shower with a few rest stops! Remember tho, that I weighed 300 lbs! It got easier...and Leslie, altho in the first weeks I wanted to kill her, perky lil darling that she is, is actually a great coach... ;)
So...at 53, and 300lbs, complete with arthritis, if I can get thru them, you betcha you can too! :)

Thanks Charlee. I am challenged by your success story. Would love to see a before and after pic. :-D

You are to be commended Charlee. Sticking to the program is THE secret to any diet or lifestyle change. It takes a lot of determination and will power. Let's face it, it is hard. But, obviously you have the Power! Hang in there girl and good luck to the rest of us who are getting on the bandwagon. Oh yea, one or two cups of the green tea a day is enough. I need my metabolism jumpstarted. I need to get off my rear. All you gals keep us posted with how you are doing. Also, what do you girls put in your cabbage soup?

This is such a great thread!!!! I also lost 75 pounds of post baby weight, (first 40 on my own with portioning, last 35 with Nutra System)....kept it off for 6 yrs until I was in a fairly major car accident. I was no longer able to go to the gym...had been going 3 times a week. I gained back about 35. :( All the gals where I now work want to lose varying amts, so we are keeping each other honest. ;) No one has to give numbers if they don't want to, but it is nice to have the support. Our check-in day is Monday, so that helps to keep us honest over the weekend. hehehe I am down 15, still want/need to lose another 15-20.

Before I went back to work full time, I was going to excersise classes at the pool 4 days a week. Wrong time of day to allow me to do that now...with my arthrits, I found it to be the best place for me. Before C'mas, I got cortizone shots in both hips. Before that, the hallway from the the boardroom to the front office at work seemed like AT LEAST a mile long. Now that the shots have kicked in, I make that my daily excersize...as many times as I can during the day up and down that hallway!!!

Another freebie...many shopping malls offer mall walking...before the stores open, so only the walkers inside...and because it is inside, it doesn't matter what the weather is doing.

DH made an observation last evening at dinner....25-30 yrs ago, dinner plates were 10"...now they are 12". So...find a smaller plate and as someone said here, you will trick your eyes into thinking you have much more food. :)

Sending support hugs to everyone on here that is struggling with either trying to lose, or on the flip side, those that find it difficult to keep the weight on!!!!

Patti

I also need to loss weight!! Reading everyone's post is great motivation.

Okay I'm starting today!!!

Well, I threw out the cabbage soup diet! My daughter and I started together on a sensible weight loss program. We are counting calories, exercising, and keeping a journal of both. It's feeling good to eat right and get in shape. Thanks for all the helpful info and inspiration!! You girls can be counted on again.

Lneal, what happened to the carrots?

Did you like them better? I guess I'm partial to sweets so I found angel food cake with fruit. Keeps it legal while I'm watching my calories!! LOL!! Those carrots looked tasteless to me.

Your angel food is making me hungry for something sweet!!!

I am going to a "First Place for Health" meeting tonight. It incorporates faith, with a Bible study and nutrition. I attended this fall was not real good at getting my homework done or memorizing the weekly Bible verses. I hope to do better this spring!!

Had 2 cups of Hot green tea this afternoon. Still don't like the stuff. This was even really good loose leaf tea my DD and I picked up at a specialty Tea shop. Maybe I will get used to it. If it will help speed my metabolism up, I supposed I could maybe learn to at least tolerate it!

Ok Ladies...remember when you have to wear sunglasses and put drops into your aching eyes, that you asked for these! ;)

Lneal...that fruit and cake looks WONDERFUL!!

Might have to make some for desert tomorrow!

Charlee you look absolutely stunning!!!! Now we all are inspired by your success!! Pictures and stories like yours and others continue to motivate the rest of us to reach our goals, and have faith in our own abilities. Thanks for sharing. Anyone else?

Wowzers!!!! You DO look fantastic Charlee! I bet clothes shopping isn't the pain it used to be.

I am really loving the walk at home video; I have been doing a one mile walk in the morning and evening. Too early to see any change yet; but I am hopeful.

Thanks for uploading the pics. It really does encourage.

Hey, guys, that avatar is actually a single slice of angel-food cake with berries. Diet-wise, that's about the best dessert you can choose!! Lneal, leave it up!! :-P :-P

wow you really did good....not easy

Thank you, Charlee and everyone else for all the helpful suggestions. It's nice to see there are "sane" and healthy ways to lose weight. I'm so impatient I want to try all fads and "quickies" out there. You are all so encouraging.

Can we keep encouraging one another, please? My friends and DH are skinny and it's hard to stick to a plan around them. I appreciate all your comments and help.

Wow to you, thanks for posting your pic. You are an inspiration to all of us.

Charlee ~ {{{{{{{{{{{{{{applause}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
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I use portion control but I need to get back on track. My weight has gone up because I'm looking for a job or trying to make a home business work. I just need to kick myself in the butt and just do portion control and really work at this home business thing. The reason we gain weight is usually there is a problem we need to work on. Find the problem and start working on it.

Charlee, you look awesome. Way to go. Thank you for the website. I have lost 6 lbs since the 15th. You ROCK!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Thanks Ladies! It really DOES feel good when I see those pictures together! What's weird is that I never saw myself as being that heavy! Looked in the mirror and KNEW I was heavy, but not THAT heavy! Those jeans in the Christmas and bike pictures are size 28W. I was laying on the bed to zip them up!

The jeans in the pictures taken yesterday are a size 14, and they're not only comfortable, if I pull on them, they'll come off without unsnapping or zipping!

I can shop now at regular stores. I don't have to go to Lane Bryant's or Catherine's....it still amazes me!

The thing is....it's taken me less than a year. I am 5'9" tall, started at 290, and now as of yesterday, weigh 188. I still want to lose another 10-15 pounds. Am still losing, but it's much slower now.

I have faith that anyone who wants to do it, can, and I'll be your biggest cheerleader! When that picture from Christmas of 2008 was taken, I couldn't walk a city block without huffing and puffing, and it was painful. I started this in March...qubby bought me the bike in April after I asked for it, thinking it would be so much easier than walking. Uhmmmm....not so much as I thought, but still fun!

I guess where I'm going with this is that while it's taken me 10 and a half months to get to where I am now...(remember that in the beginning, there was a LOT of edema (water weight)) your weight loss journey might be faster or slower than mine. Doesn't matter. What matters is that you get healthier for both you and your families! One of my incentives was the fact that I have a younger husband that is handsome...that man loves me unconditionally, a good thing, but I was thinking one day that with my weight the way it was, and the history of heart problems in my family (and I have a murmer myself) that I might not be able to be with him as long as I liked. I tried to imagine his life without me...did NOT like that picture, "she" was gorgeous!! :lol: :lol: :lol: Decided at that point that Yep! I'm a bit of a jealous type, and "she" whoever "she" was, is going to have to wait a LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG time before I'm gone so "she" can have him!! ~grin~ (of course there is no real life "she"...)

There is no quick fix. This last 10 or 15 pounds is going to take me much longer to lose. For one reason, 1% of total body weight only lets me lose a pound and a half a week safely. My allowed calories won't let me lose it that fast. (Remember not to go below 1200!) I won't do anything to lose it that I'm not willing to do the rest of my life. But I figure that in six months time, I can still weigh what I do now, and be unhappy and still want to lose it...or I can keep at the slow but sure way and weigh what I want to weigh.

Oh! And one of the best calorie burners? (I hope your husbands don't hate me for this) SHOPPING! You're on your feet and walking! You're reaching and bending! Probably my favorite form of exersize!! :lol:

I have a rule' No Diets'! I HAVE been on Weight Watchers since 2002, lost 80 lbs, could've been at my goal weight before this if I really 'worked' it. Most weeks I do it in 'theory', and go to visit with my friends.
In that time I have become healthier than I EVER was at 120lbs.
I eat better, healthier tastier food, whatever I want, plus in reality, I maintained my weight, within 5 lbs, for the last 3 years; I'm not at goal, I still have, as of this week 22 lbs to go, maybe one day I'll get serious and decide I need to be there, but, untill then , I'm pretty happy.
The main thing about losing weight, and keeping it off is you have to eat realistic portions, food that's 'processed ' less, and move more. that's the whole secret. Good luck

Goal weight is a questionable term. Is it what some chart says? Is it some idea of where you want to be realistic or not? Is it what your doctor thinks you should weight? After being overweight all my life, I do not expect to at the low end of the charts. I do know that each pound I lose make me healhier. My doctor has given me a number (above the weight chart numbers) that I am shooting for. But I know I am a sucess with each pound I loose.
Carol

(IMO) You set your own goal weight Carol...your ideal weight would be your doctor's idea of things...and if your doctor is realistic, that ideal weight will increase with age. Not a lot, but it will be higher than your ideal weight at say, 25 years old!

Charlee,
You look amazing! You've truely inspire me!

Charlee, you look terrific!!! I'm at about where you were, only I wear a 22 pant size.
I dream of the day when I can wear "normal" sizes. I would love to lose at least 110 to 140 lbs.
The moving around is tough right now. My knees hurt. I know I have to.
I'm praying that being involved in the "First Place" group will help me to focus on eating better.

Yes, a 'goal weight' is subjective; my goal is a weight I feel great at , and is attainable, AND maintainable. It certainly isn't the number Weight Watchers indescriminately decided I should be at... (120) REALLY?!... the last time I was there, I was there I lived on a diet of alcohol and cigarettes! For me, Lean body Mass , cholesterol levels, and what I'm able to accomplish physically are true indicators of my health. I wish everyone Great fortitude, that's begining a lifestyle change, because it is difficult to change the way we take care of ourselves, but it's not impossible, don't give up, set small attainable goals , and keep going forward!

Use a food journal write down what you eat even if it is a piece of gum. put the times in. Do not consume more that 1800 calories and each week cut 100 calories until you can go down to 1400 or 1500 calories per day. divide your eatting into 3 meals and 2 snack. Snacks no more than 100 calories in total. Eat a snack 2 hours after your breakfast and 2 hours after lunch.
If you like dessert w/ dinner eat a jello w a tsp of cool whip, ricotta cheese (1/2 cuo with vanillla, almond extract or choclate chips 2 tsp w/ splenda 2 sweeten. A plum has 30 calories, kiwi and so on.

Snacks I eat are mozz. cheese sticks,laughing cow cheese w/ celery, med. apple w/ 8 almonds, tangerine w/ almonds, pear w/ laughing cow cheese, a smoothie watch calories, apple w/ natural peanut butter 1 tbsp and so on.

Journal your food intake thoughts and so on. Even if you overeat that day still right it down. you learn things about yourself and what causes you to eat.

If you plan to eat out make breakfast and snacks smaller but do not skip the meal. Do not consume more than 700 calories on an eat out meal. Remember you are trying to stay w/in 1500 for the day. Each meal Breakfast , lunch and dinner should be as clase as possible to 400 calories each leaving 300 calories for snack. So cut your intake at each meal and snacks and save your calories. the key to lossing weight is eat and keep hydrated.
Drink water amount 1/2 of your total weight now, so if you weigh 200 pounds right now you need to consume at the least 100 ounces of water (not soda, tea or any other drink) flavored drinks not included. Drink ice water helps helps rev up metabolism. Hot green tea also revs up your metabolism.

Just a few tricks I am using to loose weight :-D

You're so right on the water intake Bebe! Often, thirst is mistaken for hunger. If your belly is grumbling, try a drink of water first. I don't drink 100 ounces per day...I do drink at least 64 tho!

Charlee, you look great! Keep up the good work. You all are so motivating. I will publicly announce my goal now and hopefully you can all keep me on track. I want to be size 8 by July. I'm a 14 now so I think it is do-able.

Well I will give my report now. I've lost 2lbs this week!! Doesn't sound like much, but I've been eating healthy and exercising!! Anyway I am on my road to Success!!

YEA Lneal!!!!!!!!!! ~shaking pompoms~ That's the way to do it...

What did you do this week to lose the 2 lbs? (and that's more than enough to lose for one week!) What kind of exercise? Lots of vegies?

I know someone else told me that she's lost some this week too! :D

I exercised on a mini trampoline, and counted my calories daily. I kept track of everything on the caloriecount.com you suggested. I love that site because I can keep track of my calories easier and see my burn meter ticking away. I know how I'm doing and then I can look up my foods. Many other features I love about that site!!