I’m going to join too. I started dieting at the begining of the year and I’m starting to work out now. I’m planning on getting to my goal weight by June 06, which will be my 10 year reunion. My goal weight was how much I weighed at my last high school wrestling match. 293/269/180
I really, really need this. If I can have some accountability, then I do very well. I am just a huge slacker when I try to get it done with no help. I had already decided to get back into my exercise routine today, so this is just the motivation I was looking for.
198/190/175
Okay, okay, I’m here too, because I need to be. Accountability really helps me out, as much as I wish I had the strength and willpower to just do it on my own. Participating with other people definitely motivates me.
I started more than a year ago, did pretty well, even joined a gym, then completely stopped losing. I got impatient and pretty much quit trying, and while Mr. Saurus has reached his goal weight, I’m exactly back where I started. Now I’ve found out that the BCP I was on for the last year is pretty much death to any kind of weight loss, as well as causing my headaches and mild depression. My new doctor has switched me to a new brand and I have high hopes. I started dieting again seriously two weeks ago, and I’ve lost 6 pounds since then.
Also, I bought a pedometer after keeping an eye on the “Step Project” thread…it’s been interesting to see how many steps I take in a normal day, and I’m starting to challenge myself to find reasons to get up and walk around more often.
S. Saurus
238/232/150(ish)
Yes. I joined Weight Watchers online a couple years ago and lost 29 lbs., which was my goal. I liked it quite a bit, though it is different from attending meetings - you obviously don’t get the IRL group support, plus at meetings you are furnished with booklets, rewards for meeting goals, etc. that you don’t get doing the program online. You’ll also need a good scale to weigh yourself on, and you’ll need to trust yourself to be brutally honest with recording your own weight every week - no fudging!
In addition to buying a decent scale, I also bought a points calculator from Ebay so I could figure points easily while in the grocery store. The best part of doing the program online was the daily planner, into which you could enter everything you would be eating to keep track of points, and the recipe calculator, which would help you figure out how many points were in recipes. I also liked the chart you could make showing your weigh-ins - it can show you if you have a particular pattern of weight loss (for some reason, the 3rd week of a 4-week month would always have the smallest weight loss for me, and then the week after I’d lose a little more than average) and it’s fun to watch that general downhill trend …
I see the same thing - just checking if you’re also female. I think it’s due to water gain before my period.
ugh, okay, here I go. My wife and I totally altered our eating style over two weeks ago. I’ve not had soda or junk food of any kind in that time. (before that, I was a mess) The one exception is dark toblerone-like chocolate. I can have that any time I want, but each piece must be accompanied by a mug of skim milk.
We’ve been cooking all our meals, lots of lentils and tofu and vegetables. Apples too. Once every couple of weeks, we order pizza from a local chain that does a wholewheat/multigrain crust, and keep the cheese and toppings low fat. I’m only drinking water, skim milk and tea.
Two months ago, I was 340. I’m now at 330, but I’m not sure when in the process that happened. I must get to the gym more often. I’m averaging about once every 3 weeks, which obviously is almost as good as nothing. This is complicated by a very demanding 2 year old, and a throughly unpredictable job.
No goal weight yet, but that’s not my focus.
Yes, I’m female too, and you’re probably right.
I’m 6’5" and I weigh 300 lbs. According to the Height vs Weight charts, I’m obese. Thankfully I carry the weight well but my blood pressure has creeped into the high levels and so it’s time I really changed. I’m planning to lose 60 lbs, my goal time is 9 to 12 months.
Being a college student makes this all the more difficult. Time is at a premium, food on campus is not that healthy. But here are the rules I’ve laid out.
-
No binges, eat small all day to keep me from feeling hungry. A carrot here, an apple there, a small serving of goldfish there.
-
No chocolate - Chocolate is my bain, I’ve got a monster sweet tooth
-
Eat slower - I tend to chow down super fast, so I never feel full before I finish eating.
-
Half portions - I’m a big man and we’re trained to believe that big people deserve big portions. And it simply isn’t true. My family always try to shove another burger on my plate at get togethers.
-
Lots of water. Lots of fruit and vegetables.
-
Regular workouts - this one is still in the works because of scheduling. I’m working on it and I’ve got a good routine laid out.
So there I am, put me down for this session of weight loss.
I’m trying again. My story is that I was down to about 255 in summer of 04, then quit dieting around the end of june and didn’t start again until january 8th or so. However during that 6 month period I still ate reasonably healthy, still exercised so I only gained back 1/2lb a week. In the last 8 weeks i’ve lost everything I regained in those 6 months and then some, I am at 250 right now and on the verge of being below 250 for the first time in 8 years.
302/250/225
However my waist is more important to me than my weight. 50.5/39.5/35
This time around i’m not eating low fat like I did to lose the first 50 lbs, i’m eating healthier this time. I eat alot of fiber, alot of whole grains, alot more fruits. I don’t really care about fat (I eat peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread with flaxseed oil, that meal is about 45% fat) as long as I eat healthy my appetite is satiated at about 1000 calories less than I need to maintain my weight.
Also i’m focusing on GI more this time. I’m drinking diet lemonade with some lemon juice in it (to lower GI because acidic foods lower GI) during meals and i’m eating about 30-50g fiber a day now (35-50 is the recommended amount for men. It sounds like alot on paper but if you eat whole grains and fruits its very easy to get to 50g a day).
The goal is to get to a 37" waist by the time school is over for the semester. I don’t know if i’ll make it, but I can try.
This is really what I need now. I am 3 years post kidney transplant, and the steroids I take for immunosuppression have helped to pack on the pounds. I just today cancelled a consultation for weight loss surgery (lap band), because if I honestly look at my weight situation, I know I have not done everything I could to shed the pounds (like maybe get out and walk 30 minutes a day!!).
So here I am, starting in earnest. Thanks for the wonderful motivation.
280/280/220
I had a baby 5 weeks ago, so I am definitely looking to shed some weight! I gained 47 lbs while pregnant and while a lot of that was fluid, a lot wasn’t. Plus I was about 25 lbs overweight to start with.
I’m also considering WW Online. I’ve done WW before but had a hard time getting to meetings, and that was before I was lugging a baby everywhere, so online is a better option for me. I need to see my OB again before getting started (I’m breastfeeding and don’y want to cut calories too much).
Thanks for starting this thread; dieting is always easuier when you’ve got company!
213/213/155
I was in, rather successfully, last year. To those commenting on not making it to the gym, here’s what worked for me. I didn’t go. I bought a half dozen DVDs with weight/cardio/yoga and did it at home. Instead of over 2 hours to go to gym and back I did a 30 min. workout each night and was done. Much easier to work into my insane schedule. And much cheaper. I’ve kept up on my workout schedule for the most part, but my eating habits have been irregular and unregulated lately and the scale’s showed it. Not good.
So I’m in.
233/285/260
How do y’all deal with family lack of support? As I mentioned, I’m on Weight Watchers, and I’m usually pretty disciplined, but once in a while, when Airman or I want to go to eat, we usually end up at some non-diet-friendly restaurant where there aren’t a lot of good choices. I know I’m responsible for what I eat, but I’m really not getting a lot of cooperation or support.
How do y’all deal with that?
Robin
Don’t mind me. I think I want to lurk awhile and send good thoughts your way – and maybe one day I’ll share.
Thanks for the feedback, MsRobyn and romansperson! I plan to join tonight.
I’m getting a ton of support from John, but occasionally I end up in non diet friendly restaurants. You gotta ask yourself - do you really want to lose weight? If the answer is YES, there is always something you can order.
- I ask the server to tell the cook to grill my salmon with the least amount of oil/butter possible. I ask for veggies without butter.
- At Mexican restaurants, I order sides of rice and beans and pico de gallo and smother it with salsa.
- At burger places, I get the veggie burger with mustard, lettuce, tomato and pickle with a side salad (I try to get a whole wheat bun, if they have it)
- I move the chip/bread baskets away from me. I ask John to take out the bread he wants, then I ask the server to remove the bread basket (bread - huge huge weakness).
- Salads are always an option - no cheese, no croutons, dressing on the side.
- At Italian places, I ask for less pasta, more sauce (red sauce only, and whole wheat pasta if they have it).
- Sushi place are great - non sushi lovers can order terikyai or tempura or noodles while I get sashimi salmon or tuna (and edame!)
- I ended up in some trendy steak/grill/sandwich place (like an upscale Chili’s) there was next to NOTHING friendly on the menu, ordered the seared ahi appetizer as a meal.
- I’m not afraid to special order anything. I make Meg Ryan’s “When Harry Met Sally” character look easy going.
Honestly, I don’t know what I would do if John wasn’t helping me out so much. He plans and cooks healthy meals, he keeps junk out of the house, he goes to Qdoba (healthy local burrito place) over and over and over. When I do my work out tape, he comments on how awesome I am and how much he admires me for working out.
My weight loss success is definitely a team effort.
If you are doing Weight Watchers, Dotti’s Weight Loss Zone has a fantastic section on restaurants and what the point values are for their stuff. Just scroll down past all the crap at the top of the page here and you’ll see the restaurant links on the right. She also has another list of point values for basic cooking ingredients, brand name foods, alcoholic drinks, fair foods, Girl Scout cookies (I’m afraid to look at that one!), etc. here .
It’s 10 points more than it would be if you weren’t nursing. So, if you’re normally supposed to eat 26, you would eat 36.
Robyn, as to no family support: I ignored what Dave would eat. And, I allowed myself some splurges from time to time - that’s what those flex points are for. Or, you could beat him ;). I was very lucky that Dave was really supportive of me, and in fact did the lion’s share of the cooking.
Weighed myself this morning.
Starting January 1st, 2004 (but not really serious about it until September of last year):
173/137/128.
My wife decided to join Weight Watchers Online a few weeks ago, so consequently I joined too. I was very dangerously underweight a few years ago as a result of Graves Disease, but once my thyroid was knocked out with radiation therapy, it’s been a steady weight gain.
That was fine for awhile, but I’ve long since gone past where I felt comfortable with my weight.
Now I’m looking to strike a balance between Unknowingly-Close-To-Dying Me and Gettin’-Pudgy-And-That-Gut-Has-Gotta-Go Me
It was very difficult in the beginning – I went much of my adult life being able to eat absolutely anything I wanted and never gain a pound. By the time the Graves was diagnosed, I was eating six to eight full meals a day (mostly fast food), yet I had dropped to 118 pounds. So it’s been kinda tricky, having to pay attention to things that were always foreign to me…things like “fat content” and “calories”.
It’s getting much easier now, though. Most things I enjoy come in a fat-free version, and I find little to no difference in taste. My 8-10 cans of Pepsi per day have been replaced by two or three cans of Pepsi One, and a whooole lotta water. I discovered that I actually like salad, yet it seems like a good thing that I don’t care for salad dressing.
All in all, I’m quite optimistic. I’m adapting to the point system, and still manage to squeeze a little Burger King in there every now and then. 
Good luck, everyone!
180.6/171.4/145