I pm'ed you back. where is sandy lake??

WOW!! You're kicking butt!! Congrats on your loss so far!! So...tell us... how have you done it? Well, keep up the good work!! You're now our official insipirational-chick!!!

nothind fancy-no wierd diets for sure!! just try to keep it around 1400 cals a day, eat only when i'm hungry(that took weeks to really figure out-had to distract myself for a few mins to see for sure if i needed to eat) take my time eating, and gave myself one free day a week to eat whatever i wanted-choc chip mint ice cream, tacos, too much pasta, etc, cut out the junkfood(anything high in sugar or fat) and exercise, move more and exercise some more. even if i only ran up and down the stairs until i was winded. pretty simple plan-lifestyle change not a fad diet-but not EASY all the time.

It's 45 minutes northwest of Edmonton. Straight west of Morinville (25 min.) It is a summer village and we live near there on an acreage. Lots of trees and privacy until this idiot put an acreage subdivision next door to us. Next move will be a 1/4 section with a log home (when I win the 6/49 lol).

I'm game! I've started tracking my eating and exercise habits with Fitday and it's really helped. I've been eating pretty much what I want to, but (kinda like Weight Watchers points) when I get to a certain calorie level, I need to choose something else. I'm aiming for 1200-2000 calories per day with enough exercise at work to burn off what I'm consuming. So far, in the last 8 days, I've gone from 178 (peak) to 175 currently. My goal is 145 by June 1. Fitday tells me I need to lose an average of 1.21 pounds per week to meet the goal. I'm thinking I can do that

Okay! Welcome to our "group"!! pretty soon I won't even be able to keep track of everyone!!

Amber

Welcome everyone!! ( I need index cards now!!)

I had a pretty good day...or the start was good. Lots of excersize with my horse today. And ate really good. Until tonight. Hubby and I are moving into a new house....the house he used to share with his ex-wife. He is still paying on it, and she decided to move. So, it sounds great (3 bed, 2 bath, etc...) We have a crappy little apartment now. But we got there tonight to clean, etc. And a lot of her stuff was there. Bed, bathroom stuff, etc. It was just hard thinking of "them" there together in their past lives. I wanted to junk all the stuff. ( Have to save it for his oldest daughter when she moves out. -lives in basement now). It was just too much for me, came home and ate half a pizza!!! It was a small, but loaded with cheese and grease. I know I'll have a better day tomorrow, but moving and PMS and diets don't mix!!!!
Going to bed before I reach for the Ben & Jerry's...that's when I know it's a REALLY bad day!!
Hope everyone else is doing well!!!!!

Great idea! I have been losing since Sept. (30 lbs so far) I have a goal of 40 more by Nov. 2006 (My 50th birthday) but if I get it off sooner with encouragement and tips from everyone I will be thrilled!!

This is what I have been doing. I also track calories on Fitday.com--I try for 1000-1500 a day. I sit all day at work and since it is dark when I get home I don't do much there either. (COLD too!!)
I quit using butter/margarine. I use 0 cal. butter spray only. I buy the SmartOnes or Lean Cuisine meals for some variety and its better than cooking too much. I eat lots of veggies with it to fill up. (mostly carrots, green beans, beets, tomatoes)
I use Splenda on Special K cereal for breakfast or a sweets craving. I've been getting the Oscar mayer baloney or turkey that is only 20-30 calories a slice. Here and there I still eat stuff like donuts at work, a sub sandwich at a local cheese shop. I can't deny myself all the good stuff or it will be too hard to stay on track.

I have slowed down alot on my losing lately. Maybe this will help me get going again!

Count me in too!
but theres a show mid january for me!
I mostly need to loose weight in the stomach/love handles region, haha.

So yes! I'll diet toooo!!



I'd like to look good on my arab for the show and not have people saying "poor horse..." lol


not like 4 years ago when I was known as the "Fat girl on the crazy arab" ... I've lost a lot and grown up since then, but I don't want to be anywhere close to that again!

I've been going to weight watchers and have lost 14 pounds in the last month. It takes a lot of work and the right mind set and I'm hungry a lot but I'm doing it and so happy to be able to tuck my turtle neck in to my ski pants. I want to start riding my horse in dressage clinics next summer and know that too much weight will hamper my efforts. The clinician that I want to ride with said that he expects his riders to be in shape. That was a big motivator.

hey!!! i was the fat girl w/ the crazy arab at a show earlier this year!!(friends horse). Good morning and i wish everyone a wonderful, exercise motivated and healthy eating day!!

Aren't horses a great motivation to get fit? I wanted to go on a trail ride in the local reserve. The place I was going to go through (and ride one of their horses) had a weight limit of 225. I weighed much more so got going on losing. After I had lost enough, I noticed on their site unfortunately they had another rule that still stops me from going through them. They expect you to be able to mount from the ground. (I suppose in case there is a need in the forest to get off and back on) My legs are not strong enough so I have to work on that and maybe get to ride there this spring. (and will be skinnier yet!)

I can relate to it being tough at 'our' age. I just turned 49 in Nov. I have lost 30 so far and am shooting for 40 more (but that is on my high end so could lose 50 and still not be too skinny.

It has been cold here in Wisconsin lately too. It is warmer this week than the beginning of Dec. but I still don't like cold! I have a computer job and sit all the time. I know I need more exercise but it sure is hard. I tried Curves but felt too rushed plus couldn't afford it. I will have to figure out something else til spring.
Good luck to you and everyone else!!!!!!

Here are some ideas for you.

1) Drink a full glass of water (or something like Crystal Lite) BEFORE each meal -- this helps fill you up so you don't eat as much.

2) Split your meals up so you have five meals per day -- breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, evening snack/dessert

3) Have a small green salad with lunch and a larger salad with dinner (also helps fill you up) Use fat free dressing (I like Kraft Free 1000 Island.

4) Make sure you get plenty of fruits and veggies.

5) Your dairy should be fat free - skim milk, fat free cheese etc. "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter" is a good substitute for butter.

6) Eat whole grain foods -- such as whole grain wheat bread, whole grain brown rice etc. Much better for you than processed white bread and white rice.

7) Drink at least 64 oz of water per day (8 glasses)

Good luck guys

ilooked at curves but found it too "sales-y". very high pressure to join and then they(before i even considered joining) wanted to set up a direct deposit from my check account. i was put off by that!! grammadreams-i dont go to a gym, but i started (very slowly) at home. i climbed up and down my stairs as may times as i could(i dont even want to tell you how few i was able to do at first). i found an old used step aerobics step thing and di that for just 6 mins to start. i now do 15 before and after ab/strength training. i watch judge mathis while i do it i "march" in place, jump rope(im too cheap to buy one-lead ropes work fine), even do crunches while on the computer!! hope these ideas help! by the way-i don't really believe in mounting from the ground and i have never been on a trail ride where there wasn't something(stump, log, ditch, whatever) to get on and mount from!