I'm glad I found this thread. Didn't know FT had it. Having a support group really does help with one's journey. Bill W and Dr. Bob (AA) really have changed society that way. Support groups really help people in so many ways covering so many different struggles people have.

Didn't want to drop any more, but dropped 2½ to sit at 13 st ½ pound.

Two weeks ago I was Nine stone twelve and a half pounds and last week I only lost a quarter of a pound. But this week ...




Nine stone and eleven pounds !

Lowest I've been for quite a while. I'll be making another post on Thursday, marking a significant anniversary

Way to go, you guys!

And here we are again Today marks my ten year anniversary of my "healthy living". August 2003, I was 14 stone (and probably more!!) and now I'm under ten stone. Funtrivia has been with me from almost the beginning (seeming I joined in January 2004!) so many thanks to each and every one of you who've supported me! xxx
2003 - 2013

Well done, and here's to 10 more years of healthy living!

Down 1 more pound this week. It was a week of many temptations, with visitors bringing desserts and my office had a team building lunch of sandwiches, potato salad and cookies. It's an important pound, though, because that's 10 and I'm down to 190!

My mother suggested to me that the best way to go about starting a diet is to start small: first cut out desserts, then snacks, then reduce meal portions and then add exercise into the mix. I find, however, that the best way for me to go about something like this is to just do it. So from day one there have been no desserts, no snacks, and very few exceptions. Exercise has been introduced gradually, as I didn't want to hurt myself.

I'd be interested in knowing how others feel about the best ways to be successful in one's diet?

I did a different approach, and it has worked, however, what I did may not work for everyone. What I did was just watch the intake of calories and then gradually walk more. In December 2011, I could barely get a mile around Stonebriar Centre without feeling winded. Now, I can go 6.2 miles before my legs tire out!

I still have some kind of dessert every day, too.

I do mostly a lot more exercise and I eat smaller portions of the food I would normally eat. The first week I started was Spring Break and I worked out for hours each day (doing step, boxing, cycling, and walking), and watched calories, making sure I burned off everything I took in. That first week I lost 8 lbs. I kept up a pretty good pace after that first week, losing a few pounds each week (exercising less but eating the same). For the first several weeks I stopped drinking pop (I gave it up for Lent), but have since started drinking it again. I also didn't have dessert those first few weeks, but treat myself after dinner now (it's usually M&Ms). Since I started working I have had a lot less time to work out, but I still eat smaller portions and have managed to continue to lose pounds with almost no exercise routine. I was told that the best way to stick to a diet is to not deny yourself foods, just eat smaller amounts (portion control!). Who wants to be on a diet where you can't eat your favorite foods?! I still have pop, and dessert, chips, pasta...you just have to find the right balance between what you take in when you eat, and what you burn off through exercise.

Dropped another ½ pound to sit at an even 13 st. Absolute low for me would be 12 st 12 pounds (180).

Congratulations, Jane! I remember when you started this journey. So glad for you!

Dave, I swear you're going to waste away. You keep saying you don't want to loose any more, then you go ahead an loose anyway. Wish I could do that! Congratulations! I bet you feel fantastic!

And a hearty thumbs up and congrats to everyone else on their journey!

I am careful not to eat any fried foods. Other than that I eat smaller portions and I've been walking more. I need to loose 10 pounds.

Down another 3 lbs this week. I'm unbelievably proud of myself.

Stayed flat this week at 13 st.

I'm down another 3 lbs these past two weeks. So I'm now at 171 lbs. I haven't weighed 171 since my freshman year in college (5 yrs ago). I can fit into a skirt again that I wore in high school!

I know the feeling wearing clothes that are the same size (or smaller - see my post from 8/4), and I graduated high school 17 years ago. It's a great feeling, right?

It definitely feels good

Well done kaddarsgirl!

I logged in to post something similar: I feel wonderful today. I'm wearing trousers to work which, one month ago before I started my diet, were two sizes too small. I could squeeze into them, but when I sat down they cut quite painfully into my stomach. Now they are perfectly comfortable!

Well done to all!!
I've stayed the same - nine stone ten and three quarter pounds for two weeks now, which is good seeming I've had a few extra goodies, at family celebrations

I've been naughty lately. Not horribly so but enough ...

So I'm going to use the inspiration you all provide and get back into it all.
I started a couch to 5k this week and have set up a bit of an area in a shed to do some exercise. That's been going well the last few weeks.
Just need to stop the arvo snacking!!! No, that's not quite right .. I just need to stop the bad snacking!

You're all doing so well!

I was a horrible bad snacker. And not just snacks. I'd go to Mcdonalds and get a burger and fries just because I wanted something tasty ... I wasn't even hungry.

I haven't had junk food in over a month (a new record for me, I think) as long as you don't count Subway which I go to once a week for lunch when my salad things have run out on my shopping day. But I try to stick to the healthier choices (not the 12" meatball sub with extra cheese I used to get).

It was hard for me to give up the foods I love. They were always a comfort when I was feeling down and lonely. The new, healthier me is trying keep up a more positive outlook. And I have a cache of carrots handy for the evenings where I DO actually feel hungry.

LadyC, you don't have to give up foods you like. I didn't, and have dropped 118 pounds since the get-go.

I've heard several "dieting rules" that one needs to follow, and while I haven't broken all of them, I have broken quite a few (don't eat after 8pm, don't eat your largest meal at the end of the day, don't eat fast food, etc.). It is all about total calories and how much you exercise.

By the way, (this is a US count, but I figure Canada's isn't far off) a grilled sweet chili chicken wrap at McDonald's is 357 calories and 8 oz. of food...tortilla included!

As others have said, I haven't given up the "treats". When it's a family celebration, I "pig out" on the day itself but have a very easy day a few days before and after, to compensate. Fridays have always been my "treat" day, where anything goes, but I try and limit the treats then, to perhaps two small (ish! lol ) bars of chocolate until the following Friday The best advice is to store the goodies outside the house, so you have to MAKE yourself go and get them

I don't have any goodies in the house, except for a bag of jelly beans that was leftover from the trip to visit my brother (before the diet). I have a few for dessert, if I feel like it, after dinner.

I don't miss any of it at the moment. Right now it's reward enough to see the needle on the scale going down consistently from week to week. I'll integrate treats as rewards for the weeks where I know I've done well but haven't lost any weight.

Official weigh-in day: Down another 4 lbs from last week to 183. If I can get into the 170s that'll be my lowest weight since I can't remember when.

No weigh-in for me until Sunday, but did reach a new plateau for steps: 32,718, or 15.008 miles.