Thank you all for the encouragement to hang in there and the great suggestions everyone has. I have to brag: I lost 3 lbs this past week!! I was SO discouraged-felt I was doing what I was supposed to but nothing was happening.
What I learned from all you guys: stick to it, exercise of some sort daily, better food choices, and eating something small when I come home from work so I don't over eat at supper. Portion control still needs to be watched-I liked the suggestion to add lots of veggies to plate from TruPeach. I don't feel deprived when my plate looks full and they really are filling.
Everyone keep up the good work. Even if the scale doesn't show a loss right away, we're healthier and eventually will show a loss. (Sorry I was whining last week about not losing LOL).
Thank you thank you again everyone and hang in there-congrats to those who lost and congrats to everyone who has made healthy changes!!

Been busy . Sorry I havn't been on the weigh in post very much. Last month I was doing very good. But this month I havn't lost a thing except that I went to the recycling center and lost two vans full of stuff. Been raking and walking. Just got to keep working on losing weigh.

Jan: Congratulations! On the wonderful loss, but more importantly, for not giving up. You are a true inspiration.

Becky: That sounds like a true workout to me. Any movement is good movement for our bodies.

Linda,
Thank you so much for your post. It really is motivating me to continue with my exercising and I hope to see some benefits soon. I have been doing the treadmill everyday for about 30-45 minutes, I guess I have to change it up a bit and do something different every other day. I think I will start doing the Wii exercises and see what they do.

:)
Lori

Sorry sewred I have never heard of that program, but please let us know how you like it. zennia, so glad to hear you are heading in the right direction. Keep up the good work everyone!!
beckyw stay with us, we need you too!
janRN I am so happy to hear you loss of 3lbs. WOW!! That is awesome! :D :D Sticking with your diet really had payoffs.

I have started out today with a better outlook about my weight loss. I have been under some extra stress, started college 2 weeks ago, and the homework load has been overwhelming to me. I let my exercise routine and eating habits take a back seat. Not a good choice :thumbdown: Today I decided I would not let school wreck my life and I would have to start managing my time and come up with a strategy to stay on my eating plan.

I've gotten some excellent advice from fellow "losers" and now I'm back on track! I am so thankful for all the help you girls have been to me and I am not giving up, as janRN showed us how the sticking to it pays off!

At the risk of being an overachiever, may I add another long post?

Sometimes without meaning to we sabotage ourselves with our snacking. Especially during very stressful times. We are careful with our meals, but then the in between snacking, or mindless eating is the thing that we don’t keep track of or we forget about. It is so easy to eat a handful of candy from a dish, or ½ of the bag of chips without realizing it until it is too late. (while doing homework? or preparing our taxes?) This is how I learned to handle it to keep me from going out of control with my snacking. I plan my snacks in advance, and I do not allow myself to deviate from the plan unless it is a very special reason. (Ask me about the brownies that haunted me all week long this week at work)

I eat a good breakfast before I get started with my day. Then I pull out everything that I will eat for my snacks between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. I put it all in a lunch sack. I have an apple, orange, kiwi fruit, or grapes, a WW one point cookie, maybe a WW one point snack bar. Carrots they are free, a cheese stick, maybe some yogurt. I try to change up what I have each day, but I usually have 4 or 5 items. When I get to work, I take it all out and I lay it on top of the lunch bag. Then throughout the morning when I begin to feel hungry, I will reach for one or two of the items and eat it. I enjoy them, and they satisfy me. Then in another hour or two when I begin to feel a little hungry again, I choose another snack from my pile. Usually this one will satisfy me until lunch time. Then I eat a good, healthy lunch (keeping portion sizes in mind). Then in the afternoon, I do the same thing as in the morning. Sometimes I don't eat anything else, because my lunch carries me through. However, sometimes I am really hungry so I have something before I leave the office to go home. I don’t allow myself to ever get too hungry, because then when I do get near and unlimited amount of food, I will over eat.

In the beginning of my journey I limited myself to these snacks and nothing else. I actually used to bring 7 or 8 items in the beginning, but I have cut that down, but it was a natural thing, I didn’t make a conscious decision to do it. My body just stopped craving so much. I am never starving any longer. On the days I have something to do after I get out of work, I will be sure to keep something from my snack bag to hold me over until I can eat dinner. This way I don't have out that of control eating until I can get my dinner prepared (or ordered if I am dining out).

Of course, this takes a little pre planning. A trip to the produce store or produce section of the grocery store once or twice a week. It literally takes me less than 5 minutes to toss these snacks into a bag in the morning). Eventually, your body stops expecting you to keep giving it useless calories, but lets you know when it needs more energy. My suggestion is to try it for 1-2 weeks, and see how it goes for you. Your body will adjust to this type of controlled eating.

Wii exercises are a perfect workout to alternate with your treadmill. Give it some time, our bodies make the turn around slowly, that is why we have to stick with it. I try everything for at least a month to see if I will get any results. And when you think about it, you just can't hang on to the weight forever, if you are seriously eating healthy and you are getting in some good activity, your body is going to eventually give in and burn the fat. It's a rule, isn't it?, if not it should be. Good luck to you.

Aren't you glad you didn't give up?????????? I know I am!!!!!!! 3 lbs great......you are doing so well, everyones body is different it took yours a little time to adjust, but now you will see the benefits of all the work, the lbs will start to melt away!!!!!!!!! doing the happy dance for you!!!!!!!!

Here is a great easy weigh(hehe) to add veggies to pasta. after you fill the pot with water add fresh or frozen veggies, Broccoli and spinach work well but you can use whatever you want. When the water comes to a boil add pasta and cook as usual. When it is done drain and you have everything cooked at once. Toss in your favorite sauce and you are good to go.

I think everyone is doing great!!!!!!!!!!! If anyone needs a little help without asking on the open forum send me a PM and I will do my best to help you figure out a game plan.

I love these ideas!! Planning snacks is a great idea. I can certainly eat an entire bag of sour cream & onion chips in one sitting (and I don't mean a small bag) so I quit buying them. I got some pretzels and portion them into 100 cal bags so I grab them. But I'm also going to do that with veggies. Linda that was a "duh--why didn't I think of that" moment. The simplest things make the most sense.
Peach-I made pasta for dinner and only ate ONE CUP!! Next time I'm going to throw in some spinach (hate broccoli) cause it sounds so good and I don't eat enough veggies.
Ineal: hey!! You come first then the rest of life. If you don't eat right and take care of you, the other stuff won't matter. You can do it-get right back on track.
Great job and thanks again all of you. Remember: I am woman, hear me roar. We rock!!

We can't think of everything, and there are so many things to think of. So that is why having an entire group to support you is so helpful. What one doesn't think of the next one may. I agree, We rock!