Great News

This morning I was 167.2! That is the lowest I've been since having Baby E. Five pounds to go until my pre-pregnancy weight and 12 to goal! I'm 5'10, so 150 for me is perfect...if I could get to my dream weight of 145, I would buy every pair of skinny jeans known to man.

Have a great weekend, fellow slimdown friends.

The story of the vacation dieter

In a mad dash, she ran out the door to catch her plane to New Jersey.

Baby in the car seat. Check.
Husband loading the bags. Check.
Triple checking that all baby items were packed. Check.

But something is missing and she can't put her finger on it. Due to the obsessive honking from her husband that they are going to miss the plane, she grabs her purse, the baby, and heads to the car. As they are pulling out of the driveway, it hits her like a ton of bricks. SHE FORGOT TO WEIGH IN!!

But, alas, she remembers that her mother in law has a scale in their bathroom, so all is fine. After a long, long day of travel, she steps on the scale and weighs in at 167. About a 1 lb loss. Our leading lady, takes this information with her as she faces the morning bagels, the evening cocktails and the Italian pastries - all of the foods that she normally crash diets before arriving in NJ just so she can indulge.

Unfortunately, our poor heroine is having a rough time on this trip. Not only is her mother in law (who weighs 80 lbs) cooking in pure butter, but her adoring husband keeps telling her that she looks great and doesn't need to worry about what she eats on vacation. But she perseveres and when faced with an extra unhealthy meal, she tries to eat only half the portion. In the end, there was more than one blunder, though she vowed to only have one. The gain was minimal but the guilt was large.

A two pound gain for this trip. She vows to be 168 by Friday, so is getting all salt removed from the cabinet and hoping at least some water weight will take her down to 168. But perhaps if she could drop the weight of guilt, she might be 10 lbs lighter because that's how heavy it feels - an albatross around her neck. She is trying to forgive herself, but having a rough go at it.

Stay tuned...

EDITOR'S NOTE: I had to write this as if it were not me because I'm feeling soooooooooooo guilty that I gained two pounds. I can not even begin to tell you how angry I am with myself. I was only 5 lbs away from my pre-preg weight on Friday and now I'm 7. In my world, 2 lbs is a big deal because it takes me forever to lose 2 lbs.

Oh well, stay tuned for Friday's weigh in. Hopefully more vacation weight will not have piled on...

Better Late then Never

OK, I know this is really late, but I guess it's better than never! Please know, I did weigh-in last Wednesday! And...drum roll please! I lost 1.2 lbs (last week) and today I weighed-in and I maintained. This month is a little rough between 4th of July and birthdays, I seem to have a little problem letting my hair down and becoming relaxed during these little celebrations. That's a matter of discipline, which will come in time. We'll see how things go this week...another birthday...so there will be cake and I have a feeling lots of goodies! I am not going to lie and say I won't have any of it, I am going to indulge and enjoy every last bite. However, I will be working off every bit of enjoyment I had.

Have a good week!

Diminishing Dahlia (aka DD)

Hello, my name is Nelly Leener and I am a Yo-Yo Dieter

Hey girls...sorry its been so long since I posted. I spent a week in Pittsburgh visitting Jason's family and let's just say everytime I go to Pittsburgh I eat like it's my last meal. This has been going on for years...its such a hard habit to break!!! When I'm on vacation I feel like it's all about relaxing and not worrying about points. So are you ready for the ugly truth? I gained 6 lbs. :( I was so mad at myself. The good news is we got back on Tuesday and by Saturday I had lost 6.2 lbs! So I don't know if I should try and hold back next time or just enjoy the break because I know I can lose it fairly quickly. Regardless I have not made much progress at all the last few weeks! We have been sooooo ridiculously busy that I haven't exercised at all. So I still have 8 lbs to lose. I can't tell you how many times I have set out to lose weight, been successful, but then always stopped right around now...when I have only a few more lbs to lose to reach my goal...it's like I subconsciously tell myself, "you've done enough" and I lose motivation which is so silly because the goal is very reachable at this point. I must re-focus...I REALLY want to reach my goal this time and maintain it!!!

Mamacita Weighs In

OK, so on weigh-in morning I had some engorgement going on & didn't feel like touching my pump. I'd rather just nurse my baby, but he was sleeping & Mama really wanted coffee. Plus I felt like my plumbing had been stopped up & I felt like a weigh-in would only crush my self esteem.

Saturday I weighed-in & I was 119.9, so I was actually up from last week. Again, I tried not to take it personally & blamed it on the plumbing.

Today--Sunday--I was 119.1, so technically that is a loss from the previous weigh-in of 119.5. I am fine with that as a weigh-in b/c I'm sure if I persevere I will see a loss again eventually. I've had occasions of dieting where for two weeks I'd show no loss or even a minor gain, and then poof! Two pounds would disappear.

I would love to be 115 by the wedding. If not, I guess I get to go dress shopping!

Please don't be embarrassed to post, even if it's a few days late. We can be encouraged by your successes & we can all relate to the disappointments as well. It's nice to know we're not alone!

Have a great week everyone & let us know how you're doing soon!

My scale laughed at me!

Good afternoon ladies,

I do have good news..I did lose weight. I was 130.4 last week and 130.1 today. However I have to say my scale did mock me. I got up this morning and held on to hope that I could be 129.9. Then the scale responded with a 129.9 and then it changed its mind. 130.1...... I will take it because I pretty much maintained when I wasn't sure I would. But come on..... So just for the record I was 129.9 for a second today! Not that it matters, but when you get so close to a goal it is exciting. I would love to get in the 120's, but not sure that will ever happen unless I get to breastfeed again.

How did you do this week??

-Scale Dodger-

It's almost party time!

Girls! Girls! Girls!!!!

Saturday, July 25th is our next girls celebration. We were thinking a nice casual dinner somewhere and maybe some shopping or a movie. If you are available that evening let us know. Mamacita and Scale Dodger will be there!!!!

We need dinner suggestions.

Here are some places that sound good to me:
Japanese Steak House
Ploy Thai
Olive Garden

Don't forget you are supposed to treat yourself to something as a reward for all your hard work this month. Even if you can't come to our celebration reward yourself.

Better Late Than Never!

Well, well, well.......here I am a week late in posting my weight loss for last week. Funny thing is that I did great. I just kept forgetting to post it here. Two weeks ago I was 132.2 and last Friday I was 130.4!!!!! I have been in a maintenance mode for about 2 weeks now. I've totally slacked on the exercise part and haven't counted points in two weeks. What I have done is cut down portion sizes and eat when I am hungry. I try to be good during the week and enjoy the weekends. This is a great way to maintain what I have accomplished this year. I started losing in January. I weighed in at 142.6. As of last Friday I have lost just over 12 pounds this year! That is pretty exciting! I have no idea what the scale will tell me in the morning. I would love to be 129.9 for the day, but I am not holding my breath. If I stay in the 130 range I will be happy with my week. Hope everyone had a good week! Post your weigh-in tomorrow as soon as you can!



This week: ???

Last week: 130.4

2 weeks ago: 132.2



Scale Dodger

BAD Exercising News

So I just read an email from Jillian. She just dispelled a myth that I was perfectly comfortable believing. She says that 30 min of exercise a day is not truly enough for weight LOSS. Lovely. What does she recommend? Starting at 60 min a day for weight loss but no more than 2 hours a day. Great. Guess I have to start making it to the gym earlier to get in a full work out. By "day" I assume she literally means 7 days a week? Well, I think and a hour a day 5 days a week is the most I can do. I will try to get in an hour a day, though. I wonder if that includes strength training as well as cardio? I hope so.

Nervous. BIG TIME

This weekend, we are taking baby E to New Jersey for her baptism. To me, New Jersey is the land of anti weight watchers. We don't go often, but when we do, we eat our way through the carbohydrate heaven of a state. I'm a HUGE bagel fan. HUGE. And a New Jersey bagel is like nectar from the gods for me. Top it off with bacon, egg and cheese and I'm literally walking on air. I love, love, love, love, love it. But, I imagine that it's probably at least a daily allotment of points and SO not Core friendly. I hope I can make it through the trip with only one blunder (I know it's going to happen, so I might as well admit it now). But, one won't be so bad. Last time I was there, I was pregnant and just getting out of the puking every day stage, so I ate a bagel sandwich pretty much every day...and I wonder why I gained 40 pounds during pregnancy.

I will weigh myself on Friday before I leave to hopefully give myself some motivation to stay on track while I"m there...but, I'm nervous about it. Really nervous.

8 Pounds to Pre-Baby Weight!

Even though today is not my official weigh-in day, I wanted to let you all know that I weighed 118.7 today, which is exactly 8 pounds from my pre-preg weight of 110.7 YIPPEE! After 110.7 I would like to lose another 2-6 pounds if possible, but I will do the happy dance at 110.7 -- I am doing a mini happy dance today! I half-expect to be back up to 119.0 by Friday's weigh-in, though, since my scale seems to enjoy messing with my head.

How was everyone's 4th of July weekend? On the actual 4th I didn't do too bad. We left a little late for the beach party, so I ate some baked chicken in the car on the way over. Of course all the carbs were off-limits, and I was upstairs nursing when they grilled the hotdogs, so I didn't even eat one of those. We had Chick fil A for dinner, so not too bad there either (chicken strips salad). On the 5th we had a family gathering & I was quite surprised that my MIL prepared RIBS saturated w/BBQ sauce & NO VEGGIES--NOT EVEN a SALAD!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe her! Usually we are all veggie people, so I was a little upset considering she knows the diet I am doing. Thankfully we found some brocolli in the fridge.

I have decided to step it up until the impending wedding date (my BIL's wedding, that is--mine was 5 yrs ago and I actually think I weigh less now than I did back then!)...ANYWAY, I am aiming for 30 min cardio & daily arm toning starting today and lasting through August 7th. I want to stick strictly to my eating plan through that time as well, although my birthday is July 30th, so not sure how that will factor in. I think I may have goofed on my eating plan last week. I forgot how high in fat salmon is and I was having it for lunch quite frequently. So for today through this Friday's weigh-in I am sticking to baked chicken & egg beaters for my protein. I had those ribs on the 5th so don't worry--I'm sure I got some good fat in then, and even some carbs with the BBQ sauce!

Cravings?

My sis sent me this link to a chart describing what your cravings may indicate your body is lacking & what you can eat as healthier alternatives: Naturopathy

Have a happy Fourth of July!!!!

Back on track tomorrow...right?

Little bit...

Hey girls!

/It's friday, my weigh-in. I was 119.5, down 0.6 from last week's 120.1. I was hoping to lose a little more, but i think i added too much extra fat by having cream sauces twice in a week. on my diet there is no room for cheating. hoping next week will make up for a small loss this week. but i am not complaining, either!

can't wait to hear how everyone else is doing...pardon my punctuation, btw--NAK--nursing @ keys....

--Mamacita

A bowl full of guilt

So, I started CORE about a week ago. It's my third iteration of Weight Watchers in the last three months. I started out on the full breastfeeding moms plan receiving 33 points. Then Eliza dropped two feedings, so I went down to 28 points. Then I got totally frustrated and panicked about the upcoming bridesmaid dress deadline and decided to do Core, as I lost a ton of weight on this plan a few years ago, and all in all, it's going great. I've already lost a few elle bees (love that name!) but something is torturing my poor little weight watchers soul - it's cereal - big glorious bowls of shredded wheat. Every night around 9, I start to STARVE, and all I can think of is a bowl of shredded wheat with ice cold milk (soy that is) and some blueberries. So, for the last few nights I've caved in and done it. Then I have felt terribly guilty over it. So, this morning, I told my husband that I'm weaning myself of cereal. Last night, I had a half a cup of shredded wheat instead of a whole cup. Tonight will be a quarter cup. Then I shall end with just blueberries and soy milk perhaps. I just have to figure out a way to curb my appetite around 9 every night. I'm totally open to suggestions!

Excitement is in the air!

I am sooooo excited!!!!!

It seems like each day there is a new girl joining our six month slimdown...or I just don't know that it is the same person...lol. Regardless, welcome to all the newbies. We really want this to be a place of accountability and fun! Create your plan that works for you. You can be as tough as you need to be....or go light. Sometimes a slow and steady approach will keep you motivated. In the end you will most likely be able to stick to small changes in your lifestyle. Celebrate each week that you stick to your plan....even if you have a small loss.

I use weight watchers as my way to manage how much I eat. Counting points seems to be what works best for me. However, I am starting to maintain my weight for the most part. The scale doesn't seem to want to budge now. The number on the scale is measurable and it feels good to see it go down, but let me also encourage taking your measurements and taking secret photographs (for your eyes only...do not post.....hee hee). I like seeing that my body looks different and my measurements are smaller even when the scale lies to me and tells me that I didn't lose weight when clearly my pants are loose. Also find out your healthy BMI. Figure out a healthy goal weight and take in chunks. If you have 15 pounds to lose then celebrate those 5 lb. losses. If you have 50 pounds to lose then break it down and celebrate the 10lb losses. Obviously 2 lbs is a reason to rejoice. But a 10 pound goal allows you to celebrate each step instead of thinking....oh 40 more to go.

We are here to encourage and support each other while we start maintaining healthier lifestyles. I am so excited each time a new girl joins our group. I hope we can all make plans to meet for our July celebration. Mamacita and I had so much fun shopping and eating lunch without kids.

Welcome again!
Scale Dodger

Hello! OK, I weighed in today and I lost .2 lbs...hardly worth mentioning. However, I'm not sure what I am expecting, I didn't really try. I am really overwhelmed with the amount of weight I have to lose - 50 pounds. The only thing that motivates me to do better is Olivia, I have to do it for her if I can't do it for myself. So, off to a new week and another new start!

Bridesmaid Dress Diet

Hi there,

First time poster here. I'm five months out from having a baby and truly, truly believed that I would be one of those people who lost all the weight before they left the hospital. Well, I'm not. In fact, I'm the farthest thing from it.. In fact, I actually gained weight after I had my baby girl. Ugh and go figure!

But, I press on to my scenic road to weight loss (I read that somewhere recently and totally connected to it). I'm only 5 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight but 12 from my goal...and I have something even larger haunting me...it hangs in my closet and is sea foam green! Can you guess what it is? It's made of satin, fits like a box, tugs at my boob fat...come on, you know what it is...

IT"S A BRIDESMAID DRESS!!! And I'm not looking pretty in it. But, I've always - I mean ALWAYS - been an "event" dieter. I would crash diet for every bridesmaid dress that I had to wear. I would eat only eggs and cheese leading up to all of my best friend's weddings, only to gain it all back the month after the wedding. Well, this time I have a long range weight loss plan and though I've stepped back into the world of low carb, I will stay on the wagon after the wedding in August!

I look forward to staying on this challenge with all of you!

from dimishing dahlia

DD accidentally posted this as a comment, so just adding as a post...and i think today is DD's weigh-in day, so feel free to update us on your progress, DD--no need to wait for friday!

Hello Ladies! Ok, I've been reading your posts and I have to say I am really impressed! This is really helping me make the final jump, to start taking the plan I've started about a 100 times more seriously. I started Women of Moderation, they recommend different plans but the main focus is on the Setting Captives Free plan. The plan consists of 1 fasting day, 2 half days (all portions of food are cut in 1/2), 2 normal days (all portions are normal serving sizes), and 2 liquid days (drinking all liquids all day [juices, teas, water, smoothies, etc] and having 1 normal meal). Before I became pregnant last year I had started this plan and had begun to lose weight.

So here's the deal...I want to do this, however, my weigh-in date is on Wednesday. What I could do is wait to reveal my results every Friday. And, I don't want to reveal my weight, I am waaaaaay to overweight and would like that to be my dirty little secret! I would prefer to just give the pounds I've lost or gained.
That's my story!
I hope you have a good week!
Love you gals!