<p>Applause for Puzzled!!! :)</p>
<p>Choose your hard is so right. Because once you choose a hard, and figure out - as abasket says - your OWN routine and approach, the hard becomes easier. I have found the discipline of eating well, and eating/exercising to stay the weight that I like on my body, has become almost meditative. </p>
<p>BTW, I like chocolate too:). My trick is to have both milk and extra dark in the house and to sandwich a couple of squares of milk on top of a couple of squares of dark and that satisfies me completely.</p>
<p>Kudos, WLFDers! :)</p>
<p>Psst… Stay away from corn… :D</p>
<p>being fat is hard too . . . being fat is hard too . . . thanks for the reminder.</p>
<p>Welcome to all the newcomers! I’m glad you’re here because I need some new motivation!! I have maintained my weight loss for a few months but just feel …bleh lately. My waistline seems bigger and I just can’t shed that last few pounds. I had originally only wanted to lose 10 pounds but when i git to that goal, I realized that I needed to lose five or so more. JEM, I’m short, like you! Only 5’1". Every pound looks like 5 on my frame.</p>
<p>I Just haven’t been able to whittle off the last five or so it but I have to admit I’ve been a little lazy about it.</p>
<p>I’m going to start tracking again and amp up the exercise.</p>
<p>Thanks for the motivation!!</p>
<p>I have a journal that sits next to the kitchen table so when I eat, I can write it down right away. If I wait til I get on MyPlate, I tend not to remember everything. After the heart attack, I wrote down every bit for about six months. Now I do it when I hit a plateau as a way to double check my perception of eating well vs. the reality.</p>
<p>Something that has helped me get motivated to exercise is that it REALLY is a stress buster for me. I have had a hard time dealing with S2’s recent difficulties, and the difference in my stress level between sitting at home and getting frantic/weepy about it vs. how I feel after 30 minutes on the treadmill is amazing. It took being that depressed and forcing myself out the door to exercise to pound into my stubborn head that working out made a real difference.</p>
<p>Thumbs up, CountingDown!</p>
<p>Welcome, new folks!!!</p>
<p>Popping in to report that while I haven’t been the best, I have lost the weight I regained and an additional 1/2 lb. So I am now, while still 3.5 lbs from my goal and 1.5 lbs up from my lowest point last fall, I weigh 1/2 lb less than the day I married almost 29 years ago, and am feeling good about what I will wear to my big birthday celebration next weekend (turning the big 6-0!!) Treated myself to a clothes/shoes shopping expedition at one of my favorite places ([Fox’s</a> Online Apparel and Accessories - Foxs.com | Catch the Thrill of a Great Buy!](<a href=“http://foxs.com/]Fox’s”>http://foxs.com/) though they don’t have petite clothes so it limits things somewhat as dresses are often too long from shoulders to waist) and came out with a new summer wardrobe of size 4-6 (mostly 6, but will take credit for the 1 or 2 size 4’s as thats a rarity and a fluke)!! In petites I wear a 6-8. I will try, after the house remodel slows down and all the company leaves after the par-teee next weekend, to get back into exercises and see if I can get these last few lbs off. True confessions here-- stressed out yesterday and ate a bunch of pepperidge farm milano cookies. I needed that :)</p>
<p>Alumother–I’m happy with just a couple of squares of dark chocolate! Milk chocolate…meh. </p>
<p>Good for you all–staying on the wagon, getting back on, tracking intake & exercise…it’s all good!</p>
<p>I am off for a trip to lands of good food…hopefully all the touristy walking will make up for any excess! :D</p>
<p>jym … that’s my size! When you shrink another few pounds, maybe you can hand me down your petite 6-8 clothes! 
Congrats on your healthy 6-0 weight … par-tee time for you.</p>
<p>Congrats to all those making the decision to start a healthier lifestyle! That’s the hard part.
I saw this somewhere about running or walking
“You may be slow but you are lapping everyone on the couch!”</p>
<p>Congrats!</p>
<p>Snowflake
For years and years and YEARS I was an 8-10 petite. I am not expecting to shrink below the 6-8 petite. I hope to stay at this size! The few 4’s are regular size stuff. Can I wear the tag on the outside?? LOL. Maybe we can borrow from each others closet??</p>
<p>I started logging my food on Fitness Pal today. Feels good to take charge again!</p>
<p>jym626 … yes, we can borrow. </p>
<p>What the girl told me at Banana Republic is that if you are a 6P pant, and it is too short, then you can move to a 4 Regular and it should fit similarly in the hips. You go down a size in regular sizes. But, if you are a 6R, don’t expect a 6P to fit or you will be sad.</p>
<p>This nes stretchie material has brought a new element into the cloths size dilemna for me. And when they fit in the leg they gap at the hip/waist. Just bought a pair the may caus a slight muffintop 
but I will probably not plan to tuck any top in, so no matter, hopefully</p>
<p>Just wondering… does anybody use the “free day”? When one day a week you can eat anything you want and NO exercise? I tried this and it didnt work for me… I think I am better off, right now anyway, just sneaking a small piece of chocolate here and there.</p>
<p>I think you can do that once you get to maintenance of the weight that you are happy with but doing it while dieting doesn’t work for me either.</p>
<p>What I found is that eating some of the things I crave one day a week while on maintenance is no big deal. Eating whatever I want even for a day, on a weekly basis, actually is awful for me and it makes me feel yucky physically too. So, basically, moderation even when splurging. I eat whatever I want for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter,etc. But even then there’s an element of self-control. Small portions, not breaking the rules simply to break the rules…just moderation.</p>
<p>back in grad school when we dieted we occasionally had a “pig out” day. In the long run we might have eaten too much, letting ourselves go overboard. Episodic treats are fine. Not big pig outs.</p>
<p>The Free day worked great for me when I had a lot of weight to lose. I lost 30 lbs using my version of the free day. I had eliminated bread from my diet but I would allow myself to have some form of a sandwich or burger with a bun one day of the week. Usually that was Friday lunch. On the weekend I would allow myself to not be as strict but to stay pretty true to my weekday diet. I had no problem keeping the weight coming off with that program. I know that the day off is what helped keep me going.
Fast forward- Once I reached a good weight (I would have liked to lose more but if I didn’t would still be happy) with I started to eat more carbs during the week. I have gained back 10 lbs. I am still in a healthy normal weight for my height but I don’t have much wiggle room. Once I got to a good weight I have found it much harder to police myself. The one day off morphs into I am at a good weight so I will order that slice of pizza or burger. Or have the potatoes and toast with the breakfast out. Or a few spoons of ice cream.
What helps is that I know that I can do it. I just need to find the power within myself to make the right choices. One motivator right now is that the clothes I purchased when I lost the 30 lbs are tight. I want them to fit. It helps.
Jym- enjoy the new clothes.</p>