It's Never Too Late For A Fresh Start

[2f2f]

Jaz, good luck with your eating and the weather - this tough time will pass.

As to the rest of you - I hope everyone is doing good and staying on plan. I had a couple of slips this weekend - but I'm back on track!

[sarahjw]

Likewise, I'm glad I'm the only one who does the cooking in my house!
Went home for the weekend which made eating awkward as my mum doesn't stock many vegetables so by the time I got back, I was craving them and feeling really rubbish from just eating meat all weekend! But I guess at least I didn't eat off plan. Looking forward to getting back to normal though.
Went out for dinner twice - I LOVE going out for dinner on this plan, there's so much I can still eat! Yesterday I got fajitas and just didn't eat the tortillas but had all the lovely sizzling chicken and onions and peppers. Today was steak and buttery vegetables

Also booked a holiday for the summer (to Turkey again) so that should be some bikini motivation and will give me something to look forward to! I have got 5 months to lose as many pounds as possible! I'm worried that a bikini will still be out of the question though because I feel like I'm going to have some really saggy skin on my stomach - it already looks like it's starting to sag I guess it's my own fault for letting myself get so overweight!

Hope you are all doing well and have a good day

[2f2f]

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Menu today:
B: Ham and cheese Quiche
L: Sheppard's Pie
D: Baked chicken and cauliflower mash
S: Pepperoni and cream cheese

[vli1127]

Sarah, craving vegetables? who would have thought LOL. It's great to be motivated for bikini season, me, you will never find in one at my age. I see you are following Schwarzbein, I have a couple of her books. She has a whole foods approach for sure. Did you ever do any of the adrenal testing or anything?

[Teresa123]

Good morning ladies!

Sorry for being absent, still just working on getting my head and life in order. Swamped at work, big deadline to hit by end of the day Friday. Working from home today since we're in the middle of a winter storm warning...hopefully I can stay focused and get a bunch accomplished! If not I will be spending the weekend working.

I'll check back in as soon as I have more time to catch up.

[2f2f]

Teresa - every time I see your stats - I'm so impressed! Good luck on your winter storm - stay warm.

Happy Humpday everyone!

[vli1127]

Snow Day!! I made a spaghetti squash casserole for supper and baked "focaccia" bread muffins.

I haven't been 100% perfect since joining WW on Saturday. In fact, tracking points (food and activity) has been a bit daunting. I would just assume write it down and not figure points etc. I make so many dishes that use multiple, whole foods, that entering each item is a pain in the rear.

I also broke down and bought nonfat greek yogurt yesterday. I am a full fat gal, maybe that is why I am having weight issues Anyways, it wasn't that bad with strawberries and stevia mixed in.

Teresa, so glad you popped in.

[2f2f]

Happy Thursday everyone. Hope everyone has an excellent day!

[Jazlyn]

Happy Thursday! The snow is letting up and I am hoping to get to the rec center tomorrow. Wish me luck.

[sarahjw]

Vicki - Yep, trying to get in as many veg as possible and as few man-made products as possible. I have been playing around with recipes to liven it up which has been reasonably successful. My only problem is that I can't have any sweeteners and it seems that every low carb recipe for desserts/treats contains sweeteners AND every protein powder/snack! I tried someone's lemon fat-bomb recipe today but without the sweeteners and it's pretty tangy without anything to counter the lemon! I actually dream about sweet things now and wake up panicking that I have ruined my diet! Dreamt about chocolate chip milkshake last night!
As for Schwarzbein, I only read the first book (didn't hear about the others until I had already started) and I don't want to change what I'm doing as it's working! So no testing or anything.

Lost another 2lbs so that's 7 in 3 weeks which I am happy about. Went on the fat measuring machine again but I don't trust it at all - it can't get my height right (or the same each time!) and so my fat mass is just all over the place! It thinks I have lost 7lbs but gone up 0.2% in body fat...I sincerely hope that is wrong!

Hope all your snow disappears soon, ours went a few days ago so I'm getting out and about a bit more now!

[RavenG]

Good Morning Everyone!

I realized that I've never posted any before and after pictures so you guys can put a name with a face. The first one was around my highest and the second one was last week. I don't even recognize my before picture anymore.

I've been tracking my weight loss for a long time and what I'm noticing is that I only lose weight during one week of the month.....the week after TOM. I'll hit a new low during that week and then for the next three weeks I'll bounce around about 2 pounds and then the week after TOM I'll lose to a new low. It's incredibly frustrating but now that I've realized what the pattern is I can live with it....at least the scale is trending in the right direction!

Lisa Before.jpg

Lisa After.jpg

Lisa After 2.jpg

[Jazlyn]

Wow, you look fantastic.

[RavenG]

Originally Posted by Jazlyn

Wow, you look fantastic.

Thanks Jazlyn!

[sarahjw]

Wow!! What an achievement! You look completely different! How long have you been on atkins? Was all of that weightloss from Atkins? I'm so impressed and amazed!!

Today I discovered that i can have 85% dark chocolate which has made me so happy!! Even if I somehow managed to eat the whole bar, it would only be 4g of carbs over my guideline for a snack (which is 15g) and seeing as it has taken me an hour to nibble at one square (one tenth of the bar), i don't think there's any chance of me eating the whole bar! Soooooo happy to finally have found something sweet to eat!

[RavenG]

Originally Posted by sarahjw

Wow!! What an achievement! You look completely different! How long have you been on atkins? Was all of that weightloss from Atkins? I'm so impressed and amazed!!

Today I discovered that i can have 85% dark chocolate which has made me so happy!! Even if I somehow managed to eat the whole bar, it would only be 4g of carbs over my guideline for a snack (which is 15g) and seeing as it has taken me an hour to nibble at one square (one tenth of the bar), i don't think there's any chance of me eating the whole bar! Soooooo happy to finally have found something sweet to eat!

Thank you....I've been on Atkins since 2006....took a break for about a year after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease and now I am more Paleo/Primal. I don't eat eggs, dairy, sugar, grains, gluten, or gluten free processed foods....I limit my nuts because they are like crack to me and I can't just stop at a normal serving. I've mostly given up chocolate except for unsweetened chocolate almond milk that I heat up and drink like hot chocolate.

I keep coming back to this way of eating because I feel great eating like this....when I add carbs back into my life I end up feeling like crap....not bloated but just yucky....I feel so much "cleaner" and energized when I eat this way.

It took me MANY years to accept that mindset....I'm stubborn

[mmahair]

Hi all, new to the group here. I definitely need that fresh start. I have been doing low carbs for about 7 months now and I have lost 57 pounds total. But ever since Thanksgiving I have been slacking. I have not gained, but I have not lost an ounce. So I am trying to get back on track. The time to start is now. I really want to have lost 100 pounds by July and if I keep slacking I will not make it!

[vli1127]

Raven, you look absolutely amazing. Also, how do you keep from getting bored with what you eat?

Sarah, I will take chocolate dark too.

Welcome mm, glad to have you on board.

[RavenG]

Originally Posted by vli1127

Raven, you look absolutely amazing. Also, how do you keep from getting bored with what you eat?

Sarah, I will take chocolate dark too.

Welcome mm, glad to have you on board.

Thanks Vicki! I try to look at food as fuel for my body...it helped get me over the grazing and snacking I used to do....or the eating when I was bored. I try and cook it differently or use different spices...and I genuinely LIKE what I eat....I don't eat things anymore just because they are "supposed" to be healthy. There are very few veggies I like so I mix and match those. I generally only eat fruit in the spring or summer and usually those are berries. I had to come to terms with the fact that there were SO many things I was allergic to and I'd much rather eliminate them from my diet than keep eating them and deal with the consequences later. I feel SO much better when I eat clean. It took me a LONG time to change my mindset on stuff. I tend to eat seasonally I guess....lighter things during the summer when it's hot and heavier things in the winter when it's cold outside.

[Jazlyn]

How did you find out what you are allergic to?

[RavenG]

Originally Posted by Jazlyn

How did you find out what you are allergic to?

Well I started suspecting gluten when I started Atkins and felt amazing...until I started adding in the low carb wheat tortillas and would feel really horrid. Fast forward a couple of years and I started having bad joint aches, a rash on my feet and legs (both sides) that would not go away. I started doing some research and came across the symptoms for Celiac disease and actually had 75% of them. Went to my doctor about the rash and that's how I was eventually diagnosed. What floored me is that when I called my mother to tell her she said I had been diagnosed with that as a little kid but they told her I would grow out of it so she never changed my diet. I grew up thinking all of the issues I had as a kid were normal and that everyone else had them too. I shudder to think how much damage was done to my insides over a lifetime of eating gluten.

I then took a test from Enterolab for food sensitivities/allergies and came up positive on eggs and casein. Once I eliminated those two things as well my health really started to improve. Symptoms I was attributing to my Hashimoto's Disease cleared up with the removal of the gluten, eggs and dairy. I've tried adding eggs and casein back in a few times but I get the symptoms back again so I think I'll probably always have to eliminate those.

[gina7657]

Hi everyone ...... can i please join yall ,..i did atkins yrs ago lost over 100 lbs ,,,, had dumb thoughts that i could do this and slowly add in all the crap i use to eat ,,, that was a joke and here i am 100 lbs over weight . i would love to kick my own a$$ for having to start all over again and to top it off i am a diabetic now .

[vli1127]

Welcome Gina. Congrats on being smoke free.

I am going to some research on Celiac symptoms.

[gina7657]

THANKS FOR THE WELCOME =)
THINKIN ILL BE RESEARCHING THAT ALSO .

[sarahjw]

Welcome Gina and mm!
Raven - coincidently I just bought almond milk and dark chocolate cocoa to have hot chocolate I also bought coconut milk and soya milk to see which i prefer as I read all about the health benefits of all of them. It means i have something different to drink other than water! I can't believe they are so low in carbs!

I found a weight training set of DVDs called Chalean Extreme and started it yesterday and i felt like i had been hit by a truck this morning when i woke up!! Hopefully that means it's working! It's a 3 month plan so lets hope i can stick to it!

[gina7657]

thanks sara
if you in pain its working .lol 3 months you got that =)

[Jazlyn]

Welcome Gina!

I am going to my son's house to watch the superbowl. I am taking mozz stuffed, bacon wrapped mushrooms and chicken wings. That should keep me on track.

I am flying to the west coast on the 12th to stay with my dad while he has surgery and I hate, hate, hate the small plane seats. I'm always paranoid they will tell me I have to buy two seats. That is giving me motivation to stay on plan.

[vli1127]

Hi all, packed up and cleaned out some more this weekend. Including the shed outdoors. We are grateful that it is sunny and in the 30's I can't wait until this is over. The 15th is closing and possession.

I imagine the Super Bowl will be on at our house, who knows. Neither one of us is really into football. My son isn't here, he is at his dad's, so I imagine he will watch the game there. I have homework to do too. I am taking Business Law I, how boring.

Sarah, congrats on getting started with an exercise program. That is one thing I have stuck to for many years now. I usually exercise in the morning, first thing for half an hour on up to an hour. I must have around 50 dvds to pick from along with a treadmill, elliptical and exercise bike. But, I am a good example that exercise alone does NOT take off the weight.

[sarahjw]

Wow Vicki you have so much exercise stuff!! I have ordered some resistance bands so that I can do the DVDs at home but that's about it!
I went for a little swim to try to help my poor aching muscles and I do feel a bit better now - just hope it's sorted by the time I do my next workout tomorrow!!
I'm also trying to stop the flu developing - I have had a bit of a sore throat and a sniffly nose for a couple of days so I'm eating as well as I can to try to stop it fully developing and taking over!! I read somewhere that coconut is really good for the immune system so have been sipping coconut milk all day!

Something that has surprised me about my new WOE is that now that I have control over my eating, I can concentrate on getting control of other aspects of my life like exercise and my uni work. An added bonus!

Another thing that I learnt today is that stress makes you fat around your belly which (other than the vast amounts of sugar that i used to eat) would explain a lot as I'm usually such a stress-head. Knowing that, I'm going to try and go for a relaxing swim and sauna as often as I can to keep me calm and hopefully that will help with managing my weight. Plus, less stress = less comfort eating as well.

Hope you all enjoy the superbowl, it's really starting to gain popularity in the UK as well so I know a few people who are going to be staying up to watch it in the middle of the night! Madness! Not me, I'm off to bed! Good luck everyone with your eating today

[wyterayven]

Hello all,

I hope you dont mind if I join you? I have been away for quite a while. I had lost 70 pounds, but have gained all back again.

I got back on the wagon in January 1st and have lost 17 pounds so far. Goal is to eventually loose 100.

Came back here because the support here is so great.

[alabama sunshine]

Gina,MM,and Dawn.Nice pictures Raven.Hope everyone enjoyed there weekend.I spent the weekend at home grandkids came over to visit and I always enjoy them.I watched the last half of the super bowl,I'm trying to watch two programs at once and missed the 1st half.