I agree and disagree. The problem with some people is they go from one extreme to another. They go from eating a lot of unhealthy foods to the point where they count their calories and become so obsessed with it they wind up anorexic or bulimic. You have to concentrate on eating both healthy foods and in healthy portions; i.e. not too much or too little.

You know someone told me once that if you can give up refined sugar for two weeks your body won't crave it anymore.



I think it's been about 2 1/2 weeks for me and I don't really crave the junk food anymore. I still have a sweet tooth, but I take care of that through fruit. Perhaps you should try giving up junk food for just 2 weeks and see what happens.

For something to snack on, no prep needed, I love sugar snap peas!



if you can grill it, Zucchini is awesome grilled.

Sonja, I am excited about what I did lose and I think i'm finally on track. I'm with ya for the next 90 days!!

Well, I didn't lose near as much as I thought I would, but I lost about 10 lbs. I think I've finally found a diet/way of eating that will work for me and am exercising a bit more. I'm with you for another challenge

Suzanne: Actually, they checked my blood sugars not too long ago and they were a bit high. My mother is a type 2 diabetic, so when I read about the tendency for diabetes that got my attention. I'm just supposed to get them checked again next year.

I really like the diet plan I found on e-diets (Glycemic Impact diet). It does seem like one I could stay on long-term if not forever. Here is their summary of it:



Our meals and recipes are patterned after the American Heart Association's recommendation for a healthy diet. Meals average between 20-30% of the calories from fat, with no more than 10% of the fat calories from saturated fat. The bulk of the calories (50-60%) come from complex carbohydrate -- we recommend whole grains and whole-grain breads, fruit and vegetables. The rest of the calories (20-25%) come from protein sources. Our Low Sodium meal plan limits sodium to 2,400 milligrams daily.



Today I had oatmeal with almonds and blueberries for breakfast. Chicken Florentine with Brown rice for lunch, and it will be tacos and grapes for dinner. There were two snacks, 1) cottage cheese and cantaloupe with almonds. And 2) 1oz cheese, cashews, and blueberries.



We'll see how it goes, hopefully it goes ok

Echoe, I found that happened with me when I deprived myself of all the foods I love. Then, I fell off the wagon and went all crazy too. The best thing I've found is to find healthier alternatives to the foods you crave. For example, I bought some of those Fiber One bards. The Chocolate chip peanut butter ones have a ton of fiber and about 140 calories. The trick is to eat only 1 . For me, I just realized that the simple fact is that I love sweets. If I cut them out completely, I crave them so much more. If I find something that satisfies the craving and eat a small portion of that food then I seem to be ok.

Well, things here haven't been going so well. About a month or so ago I started feeling really sick. If I ate a normal sized meal I would actually throw up or just burp up half digested food. My stomach hurt all the time and to boot my menstrual cycle was wacky (I bled for about a month). Well, my primary care doctor did a bunch of tests and we figured out that the gall bladder, liver, stomach, and small intestine were all ok. So, I wound up going to my gynecologist. In all of this I became anemic. I'm hoping that explains my weakness and stuff. I joined a tennis league here in town. I played on Tuesday and I just didn't have the energy to play well. I'm hoping the iron and multi-vitamin will give me the energy to start exercising again.



It turns out I have Poly cystic ovary syndrome. They did an ultrasound and there are tons of cysts all over the place. So, now I get to take estrogen and hope things get better.



Ok, now to the point ....I decided to do some reading online and learned that actually, this is a gland problem that causes a lot of other issues. You can become overweight, have trouble losing weight, develop Type 2 diabetes, and have other gross hair problems (we won't go there..I don't have the hair problems and will hope I don't get them ). Anyway, the best remedy...weight-loss. So, I decided to try a new diet..that's Glycemic impact diet on e-diets.



I'm normally against paying for a diet, and money is tight, but what I read online seemed to be good and it's like $17ish a month, so that doesn't seem too bad. Anyone else tried that diet? I'm just hoping to feel better soon.





....wow, in all of this, I sure haven't lost my ability to ramble

My advice would be to try to exercise a bit longer and make sure you're not eating more calories than you think you are. I started trying to lose weight in November. I was doing 30 min, 5 days/week of circuit training. I lost nothing. I later realized, I thought I was eating fewer calories, but I wasn't.



So, try to exercise for a longer period of time (even if you only increase it by abuot 5 min every week) and look at what your eating. Don't forget a lot of beverages have calories.

Thanks, I'm sure it's nothing serious, but will now on the 27th at the latest. If it's really serious they'll call me to come in sooner.

I think I have this down to a science now..kind of



DD: I wait until as late in the morning to eat and eat a Fiber One bar (or some sort of lower calorie high fiber bar). It's 140 cal AND has chocolate chips AND tastes great AND is 35% daily fiber need.



Then I eat a large salad for lunch with as little dressing as possible (I try to keep the calorie from dressing under 20...salsa is great for a dressing...15 cal for 2 tbs). I save a South Beach Diet Peanut Butter chocolate chip bar for an afternoon snack (4g fiber, 100 cal).



In the evening if I'm hungry, I have an egg substitute with a small amount of salsa. The Better N Eggs brand is just egg white with coloring, about 60 cal for 2 servings. I put a little salsa for flavoring (about 15 cal).



I average about 350ish calories. The high fiber cereal bar are two fold. The fiber makes me feel full longer and the sweetness satisfies my never-ending need for sweets and carbs.



UD: Well, those are still a challenge. I'm still trying to hold off as long in the day as possible and having a cereal bar mid-morning. Lunches vary, but I try to include a salad, something sweet and still keep it about 300 ish calories. Me, I love my dinners, so I save as many calories for that as possible. Then, if I don't eat as much woohoo! for me.



Today was a UD and it included a fat-free, sugar-free latte (I splurged..160 cal) a cereal bar (135 cal), a bag of those 100 cal chedder flavored chex, I splurged for lunch and had a small gyro and fries. Dinner will just be a salad and maybe a half a sandwich (I'm just not hungry). It comes out to about 1400 cal. So, I'm actually under today (that's a first).



So far I'm averaging about 1ish lbs lost / week, but I'm only managing to stick to the down day about 2 days a week, with a medium day, and 4 UD. What can I say, I'm a stress eater

So, lately, everytime I eat I get rather nauseous. I've been having a lot of pain in my side and lower back. I finally went to do doctor and he thinks I have a gall bladder problem. I am having an ultrasound tomorrow to know for sure.



So, I wonder, why I might be having these sorts of problems now (it's uncommon in people my age). I looked on the internet and apparently if you go long periods of time without eating (ie skip breakfast) or are not eating enough fat it can cause your gall bladder to stop working as well and can cause gall stones and such.



I may not even have anything wrong with mmy gall bladder, but once I read it is related to diet and weightloss I felt the need to pass it along, especially since a lot of judders (myself included) tend to wait until as late in the day as possible to eat.



Just something to keep in mind

It's circuit training ..curves has a competitor here that I joined. Do you like it so far?



I do the difficulty like this:



No sweat: low

Sweaty: medium

Sweaty, legs and other muscles feel like rubber, out of breath: hard

Beth, a medium day (which my down day last friday dd turned into) is better than turning a dd into a super-duper up day <- I hope that actually made sense, it did in my head. And, on occasion, you even lose weight. What I've been trying to do, is if by about 6:00 or so I've messed up my dd, I do about 20-30 min cardio. In my head it makes it better



QueenB: Maybe having moderate (like 1600 cal) up days for about a week will help? Also, have you gone back and had the website recaculate your calories. I started eating 415/20?? I went back after only having lost a few lbs and now it says 360/1800. My weightloss is much better on that slightly lower calorie intake (who would have guessed that slight dd difference would have such an effect on weightloss).

Well, when I went back to my profile it was there, so who knows, maybe it's not a real problem.

I tried to put a comment on my profile page and attach it to this weeks motivator report. Once I hit the button the following error appeared on the page:



XYZxfc(a[i].frames,z))return 1;return 0;}; function XYb(z){if(typeof(z.location)!="undefined"

For me, I usually crave sweets. I've been trying to find low calorie, healthy things to eat instead. For instance, I found Fiber one Chocolate chip bars that are 140 calorie and 35% DV of Fiber.



The same could work for salty foods. Find something healthy low calorie (like the V8) and have some of that. Also, try to remember moderation. If you have a small amount of something that you're really craving and it takes care of it, it's better than depriving yourself and binging later (usually my problem).



Everything in moderation.



Also, if you do eat something salty, just drink a lot more water to hopefully counteract the water retention problem

I'm doing well. I'm finally gaining a little self-control and finally losing some weight. I've lost about 7lbs since the start of the challenge (which incidentally is when I joined). I still need to kick the exercise up a notch though.



I'm glad to hear the rest of you are doing well

Two pounds is great, and don't forget about the inches you've lost

You know, DD for me have been hard since day 1. But, yesterday went great. I found these Fiber One chocolate chip bars (they have 35% of your daily fiber need, 140 cal) and I found South Beach Diet Peanut butter chocolate chip bars (100 cal). then, I also had some Better n' Egg substitute

(9g protein, 60 calories).



I had 2 of the south beach bars, one Fiber One bar, and one container of the egg stuff. The protein, keeps you from being hungry and the other stuff satisfies my incessant sweet tooth and gets me fiber . Yesterday, I ate about 400 ish calories and was never terribly hungry.

hehehe, this sounds so familiar. You know, I have never been so happy as to be told I couldn't do something. You can prove her wrong...I know it

various nuts, whole grain pasta (I recommend Barilla), Snickers Marathon meal replacement bars, eggs. There are lots of protein sources

this is the bra I just bought today, I tried it and really like it so far.

I've changed the way I think about junk food. For me, the idea that I can't have it makes me want it that much more. I found my absolute favorite junk food (the new hershey dark chocolate truffles). 9 of them are 230 calories. So, if around the end of the day I've eaten very healthy and consumed fewer calories than I intended, I'll eat just one or two truffles. It's enough to satisfy my love for truffles; also because it's not 'forbidden' I don't crave it as much.



I was reading something...somewhere (I can't remember where) that one way to be able to eat the bad food in such small quantities is when you eat that one piece, really take the time to savor and enjoy it. Pay attention to the taste and the feeling you get from it. Then, once it's gone, think...would having more make you feel any better than that first piece did? Chances are it won't.

Well, I hit with one of the ladies that helps run the league and she rated me yesterday. She rated me a little low in my opinion; which in a way is good because now I'm bound and determined to prove I'm better than what she thinks. I'm going to start strength training, jogging (or elliptical, depending on the day) and practice a bit more often. All in all it will be good.



I'm glad to hear things are going well for you sonja . It always helps to have someone there to keep you on track and it REALLY helps when you enjoy being around them I'm glad to hear you are enjoying exercising!

WOOHOO!! Tennis is the one sport I truly love to play. I joined the Billings Tennis summer league, so I'll get to play 2 days/week for the next 3 mos and will also get to meet more people who also play tennis so I can play at other times also.



I don't really like just exercising for the sake of exercising...so I'm so excited to be able to do something I really love YAY!!

You're not alone sonja. Just keep in mind what Julie said. Someone could weigh a lot more and be in better shape and have more muscle than someone who weighs less but has less muscle mass.

I actually weigh about every other day. I do this because (this is just a theory) that I may weigh myself once a week and on that day I may be retaining water. So, if I weigh myself 3-4/week and see a drop for several days, then a gain, it's probably water.



I think it depends on the person though. for some it's discouraging. It keeps me on track though

I just got back from my work trip last night. I decided to just not even think about dieting or anything like that. I bought a candy bar once and some other junk food another day. I ate part of it and it just didn't appeal to me. Same with the cake I got for dessert at on of the restaraunts..I wound up not eating it because it just wasn't all that good to me. For me to not want chocolate is unheard of. I just don't want the sugary foods anymore and don't like the feeling if I over eat either.