I know what you all are talking about! Staying motivated has been tough–slightly easier since I weighed myself yesterday and discovered that I’ve lost eight pounds in the past month! I thought my jeans felt a little bit looser. But we leave on vacation for a few days starting tomorrow and I’m worried that I’ll be nibbling in between meals again. To all of you out there who’ve gone the distance (so to speak), how did you stay on track the whole time?
lauramarlane,
Try this on your vacation: Eat a good breakfast–something satisfying, with protein and fat, that won’t make you crash in a few hours. Do nibble: Pack some snacks for before and after lunch: Depending on your diet, cheese, low-carb crackers, nuts, or fruit (not too much dried fruit, though). Stay hydrated. For lunch, have a big salad with grilled fish or chicken on it, no croutons, with cheese and oil and vinegar dressing on the side. At dinner or at buffets, ask for no bread. Try not to eat more than 4 oz of protein and get double veggies rather than potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, or other starches. If you want to eat more at dinner, get some exercise afterward. Keep drinking water.
I’m down 32#. I’m trying the DietPower software, which is a little buggy but pretty fun, and much quicker than the kind of food diary I’ve been keeping. I’m hoping to talk my doctor into skipping the followup glucose tolerance test in favor of an A1c, fasting glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol. The last thing I want to do after three months of virtually no sugar is drink 75 ml of glucose unless itr’s truly necessary–blech!
Back up to 238. Been bouncin between 235 and 238 for a month now. Sheesh.
Finally hit the 10 pound mark (yay!). I wish I could say it was because of my diligence. My fiance was in the hospital for a week with a bleeding ulcer and I more or less lived in the waiting room the entire time he was there and didn’t eat much.
I’m back on track now that he’s home, though. I’ll be trying for 15 more pounds.
Well, I’m jumping in rather late here, but it’s not so much for the sake of trying to lose wieght. over the past year, I’ve lost quite a bit of wieght, but I do have a rather big question which I’m sure will be something everyone losing wieght will be curious about:
Now that I’ve lost the wieght, what do I do to get rid of this extra skin? My stomach’s gotten kinda saggy, even though it’s skinny. There’s not much fat left on it, but you can still grab a good handfull. Another good friend of mine has lost a lot of wieght over the past year, but she, too, has a good deal of just skin on her stomach that just doesn’t look good. We’ve both done some exercising over the year, but the majority of the wieght we’ve lost has been more due to the overexertion method.
So, once you’ve lost some wieght, what do you do to get rid of the left over flab?
I just wanna say this morning I was down to 220. That after eating a lot of late dinners for the past week (I went out with friends a few times).
That’s good though. I’m not starving myself and I’m still losing weight. Woo Hoo!
Depending on your age (the younger you are, the more you will firm up), exercise can help a lot. Still, if you lose a significant amount of weight (if you were quite obese to begin with, as I was), sometimes your choices are to deal with the excess, or have surgery to remove it. I know I’ll be left with a lot of excess skin on my stomach and upper arms, especially. (If all goes as plans, I’ll have lost at least 115 pounds when it’s over). Also, the faster you lose it, the less time your skin has to respond, so losing it quickly tends to leave you with more excess skin than losing it slowly.
Quasi,
You’ve been cheerleading for a lot of people on this thread and it sounds like you can use a little yourself right about now. I’m not much of a cheerleader, more of a “tough love” type of guy so…
boot applied firmly to your backward facing, southern assets.
Let’s go man, on your feet and step away from the self-defeating thought processes! You have a lot to be proud of so far and I will not allow you to slip slide n’ away!
Mean “Not really mean” Joe
Well, I haven’t lost much since I started excersizing at the beginning of March. I had lost 6 lbs, but I’m up a couple, maybe just my time of the month. It’s a little frustrating, but I noticably stronger. I can pick up the 35 lb kid and not feel like I’m trying to lift a Cadilac, so that’s a good thing. I’ve also noticed my energy and endurance are up as well. I can actually play with my kids and not suffer heart palpitations now, also a good thing. Maybe the weight will come off eventually in the midst of all the positive changes.
I seem to be in a holding pattern at 185, but it’s mostly due to my succumbing to bouts of frequent temptation lately - a run of parties and eating out. I think this week I can get back in the groove. Also, I’m taking the afternoon off tomorrow to go for a bike ride, which should make my body happy.
sniff Sir, yes Sir!
Thanks, Mean Joe! Can I have your jersey? 
Seriously, thanks for posting this, MJ. Emotions really do play a major role in self-esteem and dieting, and I let mine get away from me. Gonna step on the scales tomorrow and report back what I find.
Thanks
Quasi
Heh… my all time favorite commercial ev-ah!
No problem, and if you don’t like what your scale has to say in the morning just send it my way for a little D-Fense!
Mean “Cries, in that manly love of football kind of way, everytime the kid gets the jersey” Joe
Um… and not to be too discouraging but my previous post about feeling like I’m in a plateau still holds true. I’m still holding at 186.x to 188.x for going on 2 1/2 weeks now. I just can’t seem to re-jumpstart the weight loss.
grr
On the plus side, today is my b-day and my wife and friends gave me a treadmill!
Well… I’m 5’5ish, and I’m 184. I used to be 175, but then I decided “hey, I want to loose weight, I’l go anorexic. And bulemic.” Big mistake. So now, I have this thing where for breakfast and lunch I have only fruits or vegetables, and then I have a normal supper, and I work out whenever I get the chance to.
I just startd yesterday, so nothings really happened, yet…
I think I might want to go on that weight watchers thingy, my antie Gingerofhtenorth sent mom the pamphlets, but I haven’t had a chance to look at them.
Happy birthday Mean Joe! And, the treadmill (or a little extra exercise in any form) may be just what you need to break that plateau!
Okay, guys, last night, I really wanted to eat something sweet and decadent (I really wanted cheesecake). So I made parfaits:
1 and 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries, thawed and tossed with 2 pkts. Splenda
1 pkg. sugar-free instant vanilla pudding, prepared
Layered in glasses, chilled til set.
It kicked butt!
Arrrgh!
I’ve gained three pounds on my pity party! Kickin’ my own fat ass back into gear. 
Q
Thanks Norinew, I’m just worried that now with a treadmill in the basement I’ll be less likely to drive to the gym which will lead to be even LESS likely to get off the couch and walk down the steps. Ha - funny how that works, but it is too possible! The parfaits sound good though, I’ve added the ingredients to the grocery shopping list.
Quasi - Don’t make me come down there… intimidating stare
I have a treadmill in the garage. I’m more likely to use it when I have something to listen to music on. Otherwise, I’m better off walking, where I can’t quit in the middle.
I can echo those sentiments. Even though I’ve only lost 35 pounds, I feel like I’ve lost 100. I think the exercise has been more beneficial than the weight loss. I am not nearly as stiff and I don’t feel nearly as bloated. I am amazed at the work-out routines I am able to do, even though I still am at 235. Think what I’ll be able to do with even more weight loss!