<p>Enjoy your party!
I’am off to San Francisco and Sonoma for a few days. Wish me luck on making good food choices.</p>
<p>Have fun!! My s from San Francisco is about to land! If you get to healdsburg eat at madrona manor.</p>
<p>You’re all so busy! I’m envious because I mainly am home doing not much of anything and that makes it so hard to resist temptation.</p>
<p>It’s Flag Day and that means it’s my second anniversary on this thread - many many thanks once again to EPTR for starting it and changing my life, and to everyone who have supported my journey (as they say on reality shows). Most of my changes took place during the first year so I’ve copied my one year anniversary report below for the benefit of newcomers. For me, this is a lifetime commitment to a changed lifestyle, especially since there isn’t much day-to-day change anymore.</p>
<p>Now I’m in maintenance like many of you and struggling to keep from going up in weight - I’m currently about four pounds above my WLFD low (which I was lucky to hit once). I’m just above the goals I set once I knew this process was succeeding but generally am content. I would like to get back into and stay in “normal” range but if this is where my body and I can reach agreement, I guess I’ll live with it. I’ve figured out what I’m willing and not willing to do and understand what it means. As long as my clothes fit! My daily routine is basically unchanged although it’s harder to maintain portion and self control. The daily weigh in keeps me alert and aware. </p>
<p>Just had labs done and everything is still in normal range, including triglycerides which was the hardest for me to achieve. It’s great to have the stamina and energy to physically do what I want in terms of walking, stairs, etc.</p>
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<p>Congrats Marilyn!!</p>
<p>wow, congrats Marilyn! I like the summary of your progress…and you just might get me to get back on the Wii Fit, great idea to just do a short time each day, </p>
<p>I restarted WW a few weeks ag and have lost 12 lbs. Need to lose about another 25 lbs so a ways to go. I am truly trying to consolidate all that I’ve learned through the years, mostly from my mistakes. If I was a regular at the gym I wasn’t watching my food, and vice versa. If I started WW I’d not really track, or skip meetings when I didn’t do well. So all that awareness as a lifetime member has brought me to accept that this truly needs to be a lifetime commitment and not a diet. I am not focused on losing for an event or losing by a certain date, but simply staying on plan. </p>
<p>I’m working out at the gym every other day, which feels manageable, so 3-4 x per week, going to my weekly WW meeting and tracking everything with the WW e-tools. Just back from the grocery store where I stocked up on fruits and veggies…Planning to stick with this.</p>
<p>Lindz, think about what you’ve DONE rather than where you’re headed. You are fully one-third of the way there, soon to be at one-half. Doesn’t that feel better?</p>
<p>Marilyn, I love your story. I can’t congratulate you enough.</p>
<p>New diet plan. Throw a big party where you spend all your time chatting with friends and don’t get to eat much of anything.</p>
<p>Thank you for the recap, Marilyn. Very inspirational. fafnir605 – yes, it is helpful to concentrate on what has been achieved rather than thinking about how much there is left to go. I find it helps me when I remember to do that. Esp. during a 3 or 4 pound backslide. I could (and do!) think, “Oh, no, I’m now even further away from my goal than I was just a week ago.” Or I could think. Hmmm. Okay, I’m still 17 pounds lighter than I was at Thanksgiving. And once I lose three pounds, I’ll be back to where I was a week (or two weeks ago). I find I feel much calmer and like I can get back on track if I stick with the second way of thinking.</p>
<p>I backslid about 4 pounds, and am slowly taking it off. I was trying to think what the culprit might be, that got the ball rolling in the wrong direction, and I am pretty sure it was cookies. Oh, it is a slippery slope once I start with the cookies!</p>
<p>jym – sounds like a very fun diet!</p>
<p>Marilyn, your story is truly inspirational to me. To have lost almost 50 lbs. and only have regained four is tremendous, IMO. </p>
<p>I am also happy to read of your reduction in meds. If I lose significant weight I hope to do something similar. (I too am type II diabetic.)</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your story with us newbies. I would love to be able to have such a success story to share myself at some point.</p>
<p>Oh well, scale was unkind to me this morning. But what the heck-- it was one hella party and one fantastic weekend. Back to the drawing board…</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your post Marilyn and your journey… encouraging 
Have a good day everybody!</p>
<p>Marilyn- I love your story. It reminds me that this is a journey and one we are not on alone.
Jym626- glad your party was great. I think it is good that we don’t get so obsessed with always being on track that we can’t enjoy celebrations. When we allow ourselves to indulge on occasion it is easier to make life long changes.
I am back from my mini holiday. Lots of good food but I guess it was balanced by lots of walking. I ventured to the scale this morning and I am happy to report that I am at the same weight I was at on Friday when I left for my trip. So far today I have had a healthy breakfast and lunch. Have the salad dressing made for dinner and the boneless breast marinading. Just came back from my walk. Added in a bit of running. Not much but it should all help.</p>
<p>Need some advice for a mid 20 year old. Always been very fit but due to height even a few extra pounds really show.
Since starting a new job 3 months ago has probably put on 10 lbs. She is working 10 hour days plus a commute. By the time she gets home it is 7:30, she is exhausted making it hard to make healthy meals and get to the gym. She is not a cook. Adding to that she is allergic to many fruits and vegetables, soy, peanuts and almonds and shell fish. Some days she said she just doesn’t know what to make and eats pop tarts for dinner. She doesn’t drink alcohol or sugar sodas so can’t eliminate those obvious hidden calories.
Do any of you have long hours and how do you handle meals and exercise? Any microwavable suggestions? She is pretty frustrated.
Suggestions I have made is that she try to make some meals on her day off. Have some cut up cucumbers available for when she gets home to snack on with hummus so she doesn’t binge on carbs and sugars.
Would love some easy suggestions.</p>
<p>Bake 3 chicken breasts on Saturday. Eat them all week in a) tortilla wraps b) salads c) chicken broth/soups/vegetables.</p>
<p>If she can prepare meals and freeze them on her day off it will make her life MUCH easier. Serving sizes of meat in ziplocs, and fresh raw veggies in the fridge. My schedule is similar. I ride a stationary bike for 30 min. Every day, and then a short ab blaster exercise. And then I just nuke my meal and sit down and enjoy.</p>
<p>It takes discipline, but once you get into the routine, it’s not hard. I also recommend a multivitamin with a b complex and zinc.</p>
<p>Also drink lots of water all day and watch your carb intake.</p>
<p>mom60–could your d buy Perdue cooked grilled chicken strips, and a bagged salad, throw it together, or make a healthy wrap. lots of good lean cuisine/ww meals that would appeal to a young adult, so easy to nuke and easy to track if she wants to lose weight. </p>
<p>great idea for us to cook and save, can’t picture my kids doing this, maybe your d is different?</p>
<p>lost another 1.8 lb, I am so pleased that I am feeling empowered to “do it”</p>
<p>You can build your stash of fresh frozen over time. Buy a family pack of chicken breasts and cook a whole pan with seasoning, grilled peppers, onions, cheese, dash of fresh salsa a piece, and bag each one individually. The first week, you can eat lean cuisine most of the week, and a couple of days have your chicken dish. The next weekend, cook a pan of steaks…now you have another stash. And you keep building until you can phase out the TV dinners, and you’re cooking only one big thing on the weekend.</p>
<p>Note: I HATE those little TV dinners. Not enough to eat, too much salt and preservatives, and I can make something bulkier, with the same calories and fewer carbs fresh and not still be hungry when I’m through eating it. I have used them for convenience before because I enjoy them more than a shake…barely.</p>
<p>Pinterest is her friend…soooo many great easy recipes.</p>
<p>Soup is easy. Make a big pot of soup. There will be leftovers for days. </p>
<p>If she likes seafood, buy a bag of frozen shrimp (not Gortons…real shrimp). Toss them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes and voila…peel and eat. If she likes fish, there are some really good single serving ones(two pieces per box) at Target…just heat them up in the microwave for a few minutes,really good.<br>
Buy bags of pre-made salad and some low fat dressing. </p>
<p>S2 (recent college grad. with a full time job) lives with us but handles most his own meals himself.
Last night he cooked a pork loin, some frozen broccoli and long grain w/ wild rice in the microwaveable bag. He had it all cooked and ready to eat in about 45 minutes and has plenty of leftovers for a couple of future meals. He was so proud of his meal that he took a pic and emailed to his college friend who had invited him over for the college guy meal of beer and hotdogs.</p>
<p>Mom60, encourage her to track her food on LiveStrong or the other one everyone uses. Since she is young she is probably computer savvy - she can even just download the app - and this will help her to SEE what she is eating and why it’s leading to weight gain. </p>
<p>Can she get a 15 min walk in at lunchtime at work? 15 mins each day would help.</p>