Need a motivating buddy to lose 50 pounds with by April 2007

[Stelakate]

well my Red Lobster lunch is on it's way and to tell ya the truth...I am not very hungry. 4 scrambled eggs and 3 strips of bacon for breakfast keeps me satisfied, though I do need to get the egg beaters again, I hate taking in all that cholesterol with the egg yolks. Do you get the flavored egg beaters? southwest is my fav. Have you tried that stallone(?) pudding everyone raves about on here?
sounds good. I need to remember jello and cool whip for the times I need a sweet treat. I used to eat a tbsp of pb and be satisfied. Coffee seems to do it. I like tea's too. Chai and other special blends, but regular too.
I am glad you tried the chicken nuggets. Kate made them 2 nights this week for supper and I loved them. The pork rinds keep them so crunchy and I dip them in dressing. YUM!
My hardest resist is fudge. It will soon be pouring into the office and I have to put it on the Dr.'s desk or I will eat it. We all will.
Just got done with pilates. Did another set of crunches added on to my routine from last night. I could cry thinking how out of it I am. UGHGUGH!!! Oh well, can only do better now!!
Well----off to eat lunch. Ordered steak and shrimp scampi with salad. OK now I am hungry!
talk later girlie!!!!

[cardenas5usa]

I have not looked around on the website too much except to come here to talk to you and look up other users recipes. I found a pizza in a bowl recipe that I am going to try and mix up with my favorite toppings. So it is called Stallone? I'll have to look it up on the web and see where I can get it. Jell-o is great, in the past I havn't like it, but trying it with cool whip changed my opinion. It is good for Efrain too, his favorite dessert of all time and now he is so happy cause I make it all the time. I am going to log onto Jello net and see if I can find some other cool uses.

Eggs vs Egg Beaters. I enjoy Egg Beaters, I have tried other brands and find they have a flat taste. I usually mix 1 real egg with about 1/2 a cup of beaters. This gives them an even better texture, IMO. Plus, like you said, seriously cuts down on the fat and cholesterol. I have yet to try the Southwest kind, but I do like the cheese flavor, but unless they are on sale, I just buy regular, cause I use them for so many things. Like this Caesar Salad dressing: It is soo good (from food network, Ellie Krieger)

1/4 cup pasteurized egg product
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper

Sometimes I will sub one Tblsp of olive oil with mayo.

Mmm...fudge, I like it but it is dangerous, because it seems to just disappear. I love Penuche and choco-PB fudge.

Bravo on building up your routine!! I just finished my walk with weights. Today I used my 3# weights, mostly cause I couldn't find both my 2#ers. I was happy to find that I could do the work out and not feel like I was straining too much. I guess it is time to grad to 3#ers all the time. I added a leg lift piramid, I really need to get these lumps off my hips and waist.

Alrighty Jina, it is getting late, and I am sure Efrain is going to want to go for a cardio push before bed, so I better get the rugrats to bed so we won't step on them. Sleep tight, talk to ya in the morning, Ash

[cardenas5usa]

How are you doing on this cold morning? I woke up with a slightly sore knee. Maybe from all the lunges I have been doing? So my plan was to go to Curves today but I might skip it and go tomarrow. That means another push day of cardio and pilates for me. Last night Efrain was sore so we just did a 20 min pilates routine. I managed to curse my whole way through it!! Just stopping short by 1 rep on only 2 of the exercises.

I have to go to the store today and stock up on the essentials. The fridge is starting to have empty spaces. Well, "I'll be back!" Ashley

[carbjunkie]

I have been looking for the same thing..can I join in? I'm looking for a small group to help keep me motivated. I haven't been serious about weight loss since back in 04 when I lost 38 lbs but gained it all back and now I am humbly crawling back for help. I'm a stay at home mom in Los Angeles so I do have a little free time to keep up with the board and help others who need movitating too. For the first time in months I got on the bike this morning for 30mins.

[carbjunkie]

My beautiful thin sister is getting married in May so I have a goal of losing 50 lbs by April too. This is something..I think we can really help each other out!

[cardenas5usa]

It sounds like you have just about the same kind of goals that we do. It is fine with me that you join, as long as Jina(StelaKate) agrees too.

I am a stay at home mom too. I have 3 kids, 6, 3, 3. I too got serious about weight loss in '04 and lost about 33lbs. Went to mex which derailed me. And I slowly gained back ten of it. But in the past two weeks I have lost about 8lbs. and am well on the way to the 200 threshold. Exciting!

Good job on getting on the bike!! Ashley

[carbjunkie]

Thanks..I have 3 kids too but they are older I'm 40 and they are 16,14,12. I know when so many people join it's hard to keep track but I thought it was so cool that you guys have the same goal as I do. Especially, want to dump the 50 by April. It's going to be so hard to be disciplined through Dec but I know we can keep each other on track. I'm am expert diet/nutritionist but I just can't take my own advice..ya know? I know a lot but I just need to put myself first...for the first time in my life.

carbjunkie

[cardenas5usa]

I hope you are doing good. You must be hella busy workin' off those pounds
Just came back from Costco. I wanted to get one of those huge bags of spinach, but they were out!! Can you believe it?!? The one time I bite the bullit and say I am going to buy one, and none to be had, figures! Well since I was there you know I had to have a polish dog. I cut it in half, gave the other half to Efrain, removed as much of the bun as possible, dumped a huge pile of saurekrawt on it, a whole packet of of pepper flakes, a packet of parma cheese, some onions, and a tiny bit of ketchup. It was so good Ididn't even miss the bun!! Then Efrain and I shared a caesar salad. I am so perfectly full right now.

The kids are watching a movie and playing in the play room right now so I think I'll squeeze in a cardio walk. Talk to ya soon Jin, Ashley

[cardenas5usa]

Ok, I just finished my 2 mile walk with weights, 30 minutes. And then to really kick my abs, I did my core pilates, 20 minutes. Wow, I am pooped, but at the same time I feel rejuvinated!

Jina, when you finish your pilates routine, do you find yourself automatically holding in your stomach? I asked Efrain if this hapened to him and he said yes. Weird but cool! Ashley

[cardenas5usa]

You would not believe what I did last night!! I was so pissed! my friend over and said she needed a margarita, we drink one together every couple of weeks. So I thought sure, I'll make myself a low carb margarita. I made hers, then I started making mine. 4 ice cubes, 1 scant jigger tequila, squeeze of a quarter of a lime, and splenda to taste. I blended it all up and tasted great! As I started to put away the splenda, one of those big bags, it fell off the counter, and spilled about half of the bag on the floor. Normally I wouldn't think too much of scooping it off the floor, but I havn't mopped in about 4 days, and the floor was pretty grimmy, so I didn't. I was so peeved! Ashley

[Stelakate]

I am gone for a day and so much has happened!!! First off, Carbjunkie, the addition is welcoming---but I do prefer to keep our group intimate---when I was in the other challenge forum it got to be where peoples needs/struggles/successes were getting overlooked. The three of us can do this! Tell us more about you and a name! How exciting!

Yesterday Kate got sick, so I stayed home. Worked harder there then I would have here (I am working this a.m. btw)!!! Finally got our computer room unpacked and organized, did mopping, serious dusting, cleaning out frig etc. I am very anal about housework...Kate is always like: RELAX! But I just cant if something isn't done. So between caring for Stela and Kate and the house the day just slipped away! We got 5 inches of snow, that is fun, but means outside cardio is out of the question now! That DEVIL precor is haunting me......MUST OVERCOME THE ANXIETY!
Anyway-was cracking up and feeling sorry for you all in one over the Splenda. That isn't cheap either! UGH!
Good thing not pms time or that is something I would cry over!
How is the knee? Girl!!! I am dying here with the abs/back. I do agree about feeling tighter after doing it and swear like you that results are pretty immediate!
Now I have to contine with it. Will do tonight. I did well this past week until last night. Had tortillas with my dinner adn then a cinnamon bun I baked. Couldnt resist but I weighed today (wasn't going to!) and it was still 252 so i hope I can still get 3-4 pounds off this week before our weigh in!
Carbjunkie-are you up for weekly weigh-in's and accountability??? Our goal now is 3-4 pounds a week and trying to behave through the rest of the year!
Harder for me to do then Ashley-she is amazingly motivated and motivating!!!!!
OK- back to work.
Have decided that if once a week I want to treat myself or have dessert, I am going to do it. That way I can stay the course and not just give up like every other time when I fall off the wagon!

Take care, check in later!

[cardenas5usa]

Jina, I am so sorry to hear about Stela. I know how having a sick kid eats up time, boy do I know. The worst is when all three of mine are sick at the same time. I hope she is feeling better soon!!

Any way, I am glad you got things clean up and out, it feels so good at the end of the day to know you have accomplished something that has been looming on the horizon. And just think, all the pushing and moving things around, you burned good calories!! And if the scale said 252, hey, that is still .2 lbs down!! The way things went for you last week I know you can get at least 3 pounds out of the next 4 days!!! Probably more!! Get on that MACHINE! You know it is haunting you in your subconscience , believe me, when you get done with the work out, you will feel amazing!!! Like, "What the heck was I waiting for?" I dare you to do 5 minutes on it tonight.

I am glad you are cool with carbjunky, it is amazing to find another person with the same goal as us. But I do also agree about keeping this group small. Maybe just keep it the three of us? This way we can really get to know each other, strengths and weeknesses. That sort of thing.

my knee is much better, I only notice it a small amount when I do a certin type of "step-out" in one of my routines. So I am just going to be more careful on that particular exercise.

Splenda!! Even though I was so ticked, all I could really do is giggle, I felt so clumbsy!

I totally agree that a cheat meal can keep you honest and fight the urge to splurge a little everyday. Efrain and I decided that we would treat ourselves to a cheat meal once a week. Which for us usually means eating out at a fave restaurant. That's not to say that when we do go out, I still try to make a sensible choice, and eat the correct amount. I find that if I over eat now, I really feel sleepy, uncomfortable. A good sign though, that means my stomach is shrinking to normal size!?!

Allrighty then, I have to get cleaning, I made a mess in the kitchen at breakfast today, actually more like brunch. Talk to you girls soon! Ashley

PS. Thanx for the props Jina, I am so happy to be here, you are a major motivation to me too, just knowing that you will be here, wanting to hear about my day, food, weight, is so.........refreshing!

PPS. Cjunky, do tell us more about you! Can't wait.

[carbjunkie]

You guys are great..thanks for such a welcoming. I really do need the encouragement. My husband never bugs me about my weight so I don't know if that's a good thing or not. Anyway, I live in Los Angeles, CA and I've been married 16 yrs with 3 kids. I have a good life except for the fact that I just can't lose weight and keep it off. I have battled with my weight since I was 8 yrs old so you can call me a professional dieter. I am very knowledgeable about nutrition and supplements and diet but I don't practice what I preach. I am willing to weigh in weekly..I like to weigh on Fridays because that gives you a boost for the weekend. Whatever you guys agree to I'm in. I am very anal about my house work too I love a spotless house..I can thank my mom for the training even though I hated it at the time I think my body is sensitive to carbohydrates so I keep them low but I believe in fruit so I don't ban them. I am going to be eating clean..no process foods whatsoever except protein powder. Again..thanks for allowing me to be a part of this..I need the encouragement so much.

Teresa

[Stelakate]

We have to. How sucky would it be if we started this, invest all this time and effort and come April we say....well, here we go again. NO F'IN WAY! I admit yesterday was a bad day for me. Can't pinpoint why--started fine and the tortillas won out by the end of the night, followed by a carb binge and wrapping up with a great glass of my favorite wine that Kate's parents brought back from vacation. We had a nice night, Christmas tree lit, the baby fast asleep and what can I say....the time just felt right.
SO! That being said, I have spent a great deal of time this a.m. preparing for the week. Chopping up veges, preparing snacks for those I-need-something-right-this-minute and scarmbling eggs, bacon and sausage for the week. If it's on hand, I do MUCH better. I am lazy when it comes to weight loss, go figure that is why I am 250+.
It is also quite depressing too. I am so outgoing, have a great life here with my girls and family and lots of friends. I am well liked, a cute girl and a great Mom and wife. WHY DO I FIGHT WITH THE WEIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?
I have sisters, 4 of them. There is only one that is thin the other 4 of us struggle with the big boobs, and being plus size. They are much younger. It goes me 30, Breanne, 24, Mary 19, Kristy 16, Tayla 14. It's hard to watch them start the path I did. My Mom struggles too. She is about 200 but doesnt look like it. She was always looking for the next great diet to try and always commented on us when we were losing weight, how great we looked etc. THOUGH NEVER EVER MEAN about it. She thinks we are just great the way we are but it takes one to know one and when you are overweight, EVERYTHING Is so much harder! It sucks!
Anyway, as much time as I waste obsessing over the weight, and dont get me wrong-it is ALWAYS on my mind....I am still somehow still fat. Why cant I get that sh*t together?
WELL-enough of that. Teresa I am glad you are here. Looks like between the three of us we are all doing things slightly different. I am for the Friday thing, if Ash is. Wednesdays were a good day, anyday but Mondays I cant start the week off that way. I am a freakin slave to the scale.
Christmas pictures are supposed to be soon, we'll see. If I am looking and feeling this way Stela can get them by herself. What a waste of time, this obsession.
Well Ash, how are things with your Mom? SHe there yet? You are a rock and I love you for that. SO as much as I thought about your challenge I didn't do it.... BUT today I see your bet and raise you......10 minutes on that devil PRECOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What can I do to push you girls? Let me know.
I will check in later. Thanks for listening. I am such a bawl baby sometimes!

[cardenas5usa]

Well girls, looks like we have our work sized up for us, now we just have to go and do it!!! We can!! And it should be very interesting seeing how weight loss progresses with each of our slightly different methods.

Jina, good rant!!! Do you feel better? I know after I finally put down in words something that has been bothering me, I feel much better. I doesn't matter if I have talked about it for days. months, years, but until I write it down, it still bothers me. When I write it down, I know I can fold it up and put it away and revisit it at a later time when I am not so upset. Agreed, no F'IN way are we going back. And if you guys start to majorly slip, I am just letting you know, I am going to be on you like white on rice!!

I have been "thick" all my life, so for me it is nothing new. I too feel like a prefessional dieter, but have found it hard to practice what I preach. Sometimes I feel bad/unqualified making recommendations to others, ie Efrain, when I know I look as I do. Slave to the scale I am, at times I have felt like that sucker was chained to my ankle, like that commercial.

Jina, all that said, I did splurge on a single homemade shortbread cookie, that my mom brought (see I told you! ), but I figured if I was going to splurge on a cookie that was probably the best kind to go for, more butter, little less flour, and lower sugar. I estimated it to be about 13 carbs for the cookie (per fitday) and could handle it. It put me over my 20 counted carbs, but not by too much.

Glad you saw my bet and raised it, put that rant and rave to work and burn some calories girly, YOU CAN DO IT!! I am going to be doing cardio and pilates, I am going to try for some free weight work today too. Ask me about it later to make sure I did it, and if I havn't, it will guilt trip me into it.

Friday weigh-ins are good too, Wednesday was just it by default since that was the day I started. So Jina, let's weigh in on Wed to get our weight for this week, then lets weigh in again on Fri for a weight to start the next week by and continue with Fridays then. Alright, off to do laundry, Ashley
I'll check in soon!

[carbjunkie]

I believe we can do this too. I haven't got on the bike yet cuz I've been cleaning all morning but I'll get to it this afternoon (I know..not making it a priority is bad) but I will. I ate a cup of nonfat yogurt with granola and walnuts for breakfast. I will have a grilled thin pork chop and salad for lunch. I'm going to have a glass of red wine while I continue to clean around the house (it's such a beautiful day here in L.A...sun is shining at 79 and windy as heck..I love the wind) so I will be coming back one more time to see how both of you guys did today. See you later.

[Stelakate]

Hey girls. I am happy to report in that I did go to my Mom's for brunch which was chili of all things with 4 gourmet breads that I PASSED RIGHT OVER, thank-you-very-much! I had the chili (no bean, no corn) and about 70 ounces of h20!! I had a pickle roll I made this morning and a couple cups of coffee. That's it. Amazing!
My sister (the thin one-who is 3 mo. pregnant w/ 3rd baby and YES STILL THIN!) and I did PILATES! My old routine that was over 20 minutes complete with abs and lots of leg, butt and thigh work. Burn baby burn!!!! I loved it. It felt great. I am feeling like a size 6 already!
OK not yet, but I am proud of myself. SO, that precor thingy.....um....not yet. I swear it's like the big elephant in the freakin room. I was going to actually use an excuse to get out of it that my CD player walkman is broken and I just downloaded some great workout songs too!!! BUT, Katie gave me an early xmas present---an MP3 player I have been wanting!! She even dl all my songs onto it and it's sitting here going.....LET'S GET TO IT! SO, I will. 10 minutes is a long ass time on that thing-it has the arm handles too so it's a complete workout. UGHGIGHGUIGIGIGIGHHHH!
Ashley-one cookie? That is awesome, for me once the flood gates open-it's over for the day so I am proud of you. Want to hear that you DID DO your free weights?!?!?!?!?! You know how good you feel after doing that!
Teresa, I love windy days too! I grew up in Cali. (Berkeley) and have the best memories of my first 13 years living there! You did bike, RIGHT!??!?
Let's make a fitness challenge for the week. I am w/ you Ash about Wed. last weigh for wed's. Then we can do it friday so we have 5 days until then. I am going to say.......250 by Wed. and 248.5 by fri. w/ 4 pilates workouts and at least 2 sessions on the precor.
WHAT YOU GOT GIRLIES??!?!?!?!?!?
You let me know, I will hold your butts to it!
Teresa, we are around the same weight, how tall are you? Will you post a pic?
Off I go, have to work myself up to get on the precor. What did we do before music downloads? That will get me through!
we are going to be FABULOUS by April.

[cardenas5usa]

I know you did it, and with great music that makes it all the more fun!! Burn them calories up!!

Yep, one cookie, and my mom even took the whole bag in the car to eat some more with the kids, but I just stuck a sugarfree citrus coughdrop in my mouth, and was done with it. Not only do I like those vitaC drops, but they ruin the flavor of anything you may be tempted with. One of my little tricks.

Teresa, a glass of red wine while cleaning, how luxurious!! And, heavy cleaning burns lots of calories too, you should look 'em up on fitday.com! Did you get on that bike? Windy days are some of my fave, especially if there is a chance of losing power, what can I say, I am sucker for pioneering it! Except then I would miss you guys so much!

I did do my cardio and pilates yesterday. And I did manage to squeeze in some free weight work, my tricepts are burning today. I got up at 8am and when to Curves this morning. I was telling the owner about us, and she was facinated by the idea of a weight loss penpal. So my workout goal will be: Curves, today, wed, fri, and sat. Plus cardio everyday and pilates every other day. The real push, some free weights on the days I don't do pilates. And I will shoot for 199 flat by Friday!

Come April, we are going to be skinny minnies!! I forgot to tell you another one of my goals. I have always wanted to get a tattoo. But I always think, all of my "real estate" is pretty flabby, so what's the point if I can't show it off. I promised myself and Efrain bet me, If I could get to 170, he would pay for the tattoo. So, I am (as jina says) seeing his bet and raising it. I will be 160!! My dad asked "so what are you gonna get, a bumper sticker?" and I still don't know, but I do think I will go for the sell out location of lower back. I always thought I would get something to represent my kids/family. But I was thinking of what my dad said, and what if I get the Oregon license plate design and a word that describes me or something, kinda a cool idea, and prime placement for a license plate tattoo. Plus, I am a true Oregonian, born and raised, and I love it here! Efrain always calls me "gringa" as a pet name, which means "American" in Mexican slang. You guys probably already know that though, so what if I put that on my "license plate"? I am intrieged by the idea.

If you guys were into tattoos that would kinda be cool if we all got something (small) to mark the accomplishment of our goals. Who knows, we could come up with a symbol that we could all get alike to incorparate into our chosen designs! I am just talking here, but I am excited that I am actully moving forward to my goal, and I am throwing the fat pants away this time!!! There is no going back!!!

Ok girls, I am off to the pool, burn some more calories, and just have fun with the kids! Ashley

[Stelakate]

I did 12 MINUTES ON THE DEVIL!!!
Hooray!!!!!
It wasnt even that hard, or that bad-especially with my Mp3 player. I got through 4 songs and then stretched a bit. It felt awesome. SO! I just finished pilates here at lunch. My ab routine. The longer version. I am so happy doing this, I feel so good already-which is nuts!
I love your goal for the week. Ringing in onederland. I will be shouting from the rooftops for you!!!
A drug rep brought in pecan carmel rolls from a really good restaurant today. They looked amazing and I wanted one after my crappy salad (the lettuce was gross and wilted) but Rebecca talked me out of it and I am thankful for that!
I made a plan of us getting together on wed. and fri. and sun. afternoons (wed+fri are our 1/2 days) for a routine in my family room. Precor, free weights to a dvd I have and pilates. I think it's a great idea. She is in so this wed. will be our first. Very excited!
The tattoo thing sounds awesome. I am no stranger to them I have 7!! Katie started doing them for fun a couple years ago. She cant do real detailed work but little things and she does a great job. I have 3 ladybugs going across my foot. A flower on my big toe (opposite foot of ladybugs) a small flower on my lower back (I agree, good place but that one hurt the worst and this is a SMALL flower!) a celtic clover on the back of my ankle and a shamrock on the side of my leg (the bend of my leg!)
SO! I am in!!! I have wanted to get an E (Estela) maybe something with a J, K and E for the 3 of us....swirled into a circle or something....my little world with my girls........on the inside of my wrist. I am thinking about it. Will get that professionally done-she has no exp. with that area of the body!
Your 160 sounds fabulous and I like the idea of the license plate and gringa! GREAT IDEA!
Well, I am off to get something done. Did you see on here someone is starting a challenge of losing 50 pounds in 50 days? Now that is something I couldn't do!
Have fun today!
Teresa, where are you!?!
Bye girls!

[Pcola Girl]

Hey everyone..............

[cardenas5usa]

to tell you I went to the lowcarb Mart and bought some of that low carb pudding, the Stallone stuff. It was $7.49 for four containers, 6.something ounces each. A little spendy but, at 100 calories and 20 proteins and only 1 carb, they are worth it, and a whole six ounces is more than I would choose to eat at a time, maybe just half. They are really good, I got the chocolate! They have a slight after taste but having that or nothing I would go for having it! The guy at the store said the banana is really good but they were out cause of such a demand. I also got some LC bake mix, can't wait to try it out. I also got some softserve that they make there, real good!

The pool was fun and I did about 35 minutes of swimming/water cardio. I looked in the mirror today and saw my face is changing shape, from round to oval,