Right, here we go again - losing weight because I need and want to. Come and join me.

[StealthPolarBear]

I am at the age where it is just a matter of (short) time before I develop a health problem relating to my weight - joints, Type 2 diabetes or even a heart attack. It really is that serious.
I am sick of not having any "nice" clothes (don't want to invest until I lose weight ).
I did it in summer, stuck to it for ages which is something I have never managed to do. I CAN do it again.

So here's the plan. Back to foodfocus as of tomorrow. No days off (logging, although I may choose to eat more than I am "allowed". Everything must be logged.
No excessive competitiveness with myself. I truly believe this is part of the reason it all went wrong.

3 or 4 lb to lose every week. Might sound a lot but it's easy when you're big - I'm sure I could do it by just eating 3 normal sized usual meals a day. So pathetic if I can't.

Coming back here to report on progress. Caring and supportive thread but not accepting bullshit excuses!
Anyone want to join me?

Inigo - same here, no weight loss but toning with exercise. Biking will be good for dh but just ignore him!

momnipotent - Thinking about being on a diet for the rest of my life is very depressing, so I can?t set out to do anything too extreme, involved or calorie-counting or I just won?t be able to sustain such high-maintenance diet-management - I am not a naturally diet-friendly thin-person it seems. So I?m just trying to cook the healthiest meals I can (and leave the fatty comfort foods for special occasions) and gently rein myself in and make the decrease in food intake as painless as possible - I think that gives me the best chance of getting down to a healthy weight without being miserable. Also? fellow US dweller?

Notveryinventive - A lifestyle change is exactly right and what I?m shooting for too. I can?t think of this as a diet either (which implies impermanence and strictness to me) or I will never succeed. My main issue is with my potion sizes - which (after my initial unrealistic cutbacks) I am now going to decrease slowly rather than shocking myself and my poor hungry stomach. But having actually sat down and written lists of what I eat I realise I stuff down more ?junk? than I thought I did. Logging everything is a very good plan it seems and means I can?t lie to myself about being good if I?ve snacked on a bit of something crap.

MyNameIsInigioMontoya - DH?s are just the pits as weight-loss buddies. I do all the cooking, so mine had no choice in dieting really - but declared that he would be more than happy to shed a few pounds so climbed on my weight-loss train happily enough. He has now lost 6lb and I have lost 3lb The utter bastard. Oh, and he weighed considerably less than me when we started, so now the gap has widened

My new regime is going well though.

I am another one who cannot stand cereal for breakfast (hungry again as soon as I?ve finished eating it, fairly sure special K is an appetite stimulant and no wonder people lose a ton of weight when they eat it two meals a day for two weeks - its borderline starvation! Of course you?ll bloody well lose weight!)

So I normally have several slices of toast and peanut butter, but have switched to a pretty small (160 cal) amount of oatmeal which actually keeps me from chewing the furniture until lunchtime. Then I have a salad sandwich or veggie soup and a single slice of toast. Then some kind of healthy evening meal comprising mostly veggies and lentils/beans.

I am going to do this

well measurements i gave yest were from last week, measured today and have half an inch loss :) I will get in that dress if it kiills me :D nice that clothes are fitting without the little extra 'overhang' too that will spur me on.

measured dress properly (its strapless) and i have to be 34" around the top (over bust) at the moment i'm measuring 35" so once i lose the bit on the waist i should also have lost enough to do it up completely

x-post with piggles there, well done on thinking of this as a lifestyle change, i think that's a much healthier approach than a diet

agree re lifestyle change, your post makes good sense piggles. half an inch is great stacey!

Piggles, great post (I'm Canada btw - close-ish depending on where in the US you are! I'm Southwestern Ontario). I like the way you are thinking and I'm going to have to try something more gentle I think. I cannot get on with this logging and calculating nonsense!

Well done Stacey on your loss!

Before Christmas there was a promo going on locally to get half price off the one month membership of a 'fitness studio' that offers whole body vibration so on a whim I bought it. Now I'm too nervous to call and set it up! I have visions of all my fat wobbling for everyone to see while I'm on this vibration machine!

I don't understand the inches loss thing. Where do you measure from? I don't want to do it as I bet I haven't lost any :(

Half an inch loss is fantastic Stacey :) it sounds like you'll be fastened comfortably into The Dress with time to spare.

Fitting into a special piece of clothing for such a significant occasion must be a really good way to keep yourself focused though.

Taking that as inspiration I might go and have a rummage through the boxes and boxes of clothes I have squirreled away to see if I can find something I want to get back into. It won't be anything as lovely or inspiring as a wedding dress, but still - it might help me keep on track if I keep trying a nice pair of slightly-too-small jeans or something.

momnipotent - Ah, not quite sure why I felt so sure you were in the US. I'm in Tennessee, so not really close at all! I had the right continent though :D

Whole body vibration at the gym though? I am officially horrified at the very idea. I would probably have to have a glass of wine to pluck up the nerve to attend such a thing - which would rather defeat the object I suspect. Also, I might cause an earthquake :D

momnipotent just go for it with the vibration this, you never have to see these people again, and even if you do, at least you are doing something about your wobbling fat :) I haven't tried one as they can be so expensive but i think they look hilarious, just have a giggle

MABS i think inches loss happens quicker if you are exercising rather than dieting, as i know i won't lose much weight atm as i had basically no muscle, and as muscle weighs more than fat my weight doesn't change for a good few weeks.

To measure i literally get a tape measure (soft one not a diy one ) and find the smallest part of my waist, and measure that, then the largest part of my hips (which is prob slightly lower than my hips tbh) and if i do thighs (which im not atm) i measure the largest part. For chest i measure underneath my boobs (like you would for bra fitting) TBH it doesn't matter where you measure, as long as you measure the same place eash time, and try not to measure again for a week (i am Useless at this, i measure at least once a day if not more )

piggles i think a special event/piece of clothing is a great way to do it, i've never been quite so determined before, bought myself a lovely Karen Millen skirt off ebay a few days ago, in a size 10, and that's another thing i am determined to fit into :)

But surely you lose more inches off your waist than you do your wrist with the same weight loss? And when people say 6 inches, are they adding the 2 together?
I am 14lb6 which is the lightest I've been since I started dieting back in the summer. Which is good, btu today I just want to pig out! Have already had a thick piece of toast and butter for breakfast, some sweets and still thinking about what I can eat. Off to mum and dads later so no doub there'll be loads to eat there too. I need to be inspired by my weight loss.

oh and next target, I'm going to be comfortably into the 13s (so not 13lb13 and not able to eat a big dinner :o) by Valentine's day. Hopefully sooner.

you will do that by 14 Feb Stealth, have faith. I my p/t took measurements of my body, thighs , waist, arm etc and then measures them monthly. i only half inch down on each one but my arms are looking very toned at the mo :)

Stealth, I've asked someone else before about the measurements thing because I would see advertisements saying people had lost 50 inches and I'd be like .

My friend told me that they take measurements from chest, waist, hips, both thighs, both arms and then the total inches lost is the sum of the inches lost from all those places.

Well at my WW weigh in I lost 2 and a half pounds so that's nearly undone the bad deeds at christmas. Had a good week, only used half of my weekly points and shredded every day since Monday. Has anyone found any things that are fairly low point/calorie but are actually quite filling? At the moment I'm snacking on ryvitas with light philadelphia as I don't find fruit or 0 point soups fill me up at all.

Well done so far, keep going everyone!

Well done clare! I find popcorn is pretty filling and fairly low point/low cal. As long as you leave off the butter, of course. Here, we can buy these shakers of popcorn flavourings so I use the salt and vinegar one and I find that easier to enjoy than just plain popcorn!

hello...im so glad i resisted the mcdonalds on thursday as me and dh went for a chinese last night! My parents made an offer to have the kids last night and i couldnt refuse that! I was good though and instead of inhaling the lot i ate slowly, enjoyed it and ended up only eating half if that! I think what gave mea boost to not indulge was i wore a pair of trousers that i wore the last time we went out and they were a bit snug but they fit beautifully last night.

mom there's a beauty studio near mw who has tremor boards. They're doing a £15 for unlimited 1 month useage (10 min at a time). Im going to give it ago! I worry about my fat slapping about though! The machines are sortof contained so you can't be seen on them. They have a lady who has lost 6" using them!

Well done stacey and clare for the losses.

measurements im only measuring my hips and gunt as not bothered about the rest!

stealth im struggling to resist temptation today as have both kids today and they're making me want choc0late!!! i have to be good though as its weigh in day for me tomorrow and i hope to be still 2lbs down despite last night!

I put on 3lbs at weight watchers this week (tues) having only lost 8lbs whilst I've been doing, was a huge step backwards. Fingers crossed this weeks weigh-in will be different!

I hate the fact I'm not one of those people who can eat whatever they like and stay slim! slowest-metabolism-ever!

sorry to hear that kate, hope next time is better
only think i find filling is a dinner with a piece of quorn, 2 or 3 new potatoes and loads of vegetables. am resigning myself to hunger most of the time.

Hi, back after a break. :) My Family event did not happen in the end due to a whole bunch of things getting in the way, so now it is in March. I aim to be 9 stone 10 by then and last night flicked optimistically through the new Boden catalogue for a dress that I may be able to wear.

Went sheepishly back to WW this week. 10 stone 10.5, which registered as a 'loss' as it has been so long since I have been back! I have decided to have a Healthy and Filling week all weekthis week as I am tired of points counting. Also have been off the booze since last week as I prefer to spend my calories on food. I am allowing myself 2 glasses of wine on Saturday though. Last night we had a delish meal of roast chicken stuffed with prunes and basted with honey

I was reading the tucker tally thread though and it has brought home to me that my regular diet is really pretty unhealthy- and consists of things I can grab on the go. So this week I am committing myself to eating breakfast and eating properly. So I plan for
B- 1 weetabix, chopped banana, flax seed and skim milk
L- home made vegetable soup
D- lean protein with 3 types of vegetables.

I am not WW pointing it, just sticking to that as a guide. And this week I am heavily into slimline tonic and bitter instead of my more usual gin and tonic, then wine with dinner. I LOVE tonic and bitters, have just discovered it. I am refilled with enthusiasm as surely I can lose a stone in 6 weeks? (Not that I ever have before, mind!).

Also, I do NO exercise, so have decided on a weekly 'nature adventure' walk with the DCs. We are lucky that within 30 mins drive we have a forest, so that is going to be our Sunday treat/adventure.

Hope everyone goes well today.

morning-official weigh in day for me today. Although on wed i was showing a 2lb loss the chinese obviously did it for me as today im showing only 1lb off. So 3lbs in 2 weeks which i think is a bit crap. Feel quite disheartened as i have stuck to 1200 cals a day (sometimes a weeny bit less) and 'earned' over 1100 cals through exercise which i havent used so feel quite pissed off that eating only a small portion of chinese on friday has added a lb on!
i wish id eaten the lot on friday now instead of trying to be good.

stealth i feel hungry a lot of the time too. I know you should use fruit for snacking but it makes me more hungry and less satisfied!

hi red how do you find the pro-points system. Im an online member but have been usinf mfp for last 2 weeks instead. Umming and ahhing over cancelling membership or swapping back over to it instead of mfp.

how is everyone else doing?

Hi Lydia I am not sure what I think of the pro points system. I find that 26 is too little, and I used to use all my weeklies and activity points on wine. So maybe if I am not drinking it will be easier. But I found myself falling into the habit of eating snacky food because I could pro point it out, rather than good food. So this is why I am giving healthy and filling a go. I have not used my online tracker for a bit though as I get depressed being hungry and seeing that i have no points left. I thought I would WI again this week, see how I have gone and then maybe easing back into pointing.

I have been thinking about cancelling, but I like the idea of being held accountable by being weighed by someone else, and I do like the meetings. (That said- I have been a member since April and have only been 11 times!).

lydia - it's 3lb more than me! well done! bad drinking fri and sat eve :( curry last night, no exercise at all. not good w/e...

lydia, if you didn't eat that much on Friday I am going to guess that it is water retention due to salt/MSG/other lovelies rather than actual weight gain, so that 1lb will be gone in a couple of days. I find if I have something 'not on my diet' then it shows up on the scale two days later, which would be about right in your case also.

I'm not sure how WW online is now but I used to be a member too, and then switched to MFP. And then decided that I would cancel my membership with WW because I was paying for something I could get elsewhere for free! But I understand that WW has changed a lot since I was doing it so not sure if that still applies now. I was checking out WW the other day actually with a vague plan to rejoin, but there's only one meeting in my town a week and it's at an inconvenient time and I HATED those meetings anyway!

In the last couple of days I've been reading a couple of different things about us versus animals, and how the only three species of animals that are having weight issues in the world today are us, dogs, and cats, and they all live in human households so.... It's basically all revamped Paul McKenna-type stuff: only eat when you're hungry, don't worry about WHAT you're eating just listen to your body. Animals in the wild only eat when they're hungry, they don't go to the gym but instead exercise by just living their life, etc. I actually do agree with all those concepts, except I don't think my body has the slightest idea of what proper hungry is, versus 'there's chocolate in the house and I want to eat it'.

Have sabotaged any weight loss by alcohol this weekend, I have a couple of days to get back into it though before Wednesday. I did have a go at the jogging on Wii fit yesterday which was quite entertaining. I also like going to meetings so that I have to feel accountable.

you and me both with the vino Five :(