I'm baaaccckkk!!! So much has been going on, it's hard to know where to start. Let's just say... extremely hot summer, bike was stolen, low motivation and three funerals all contributed to my gain of ten pounds!!!!

Extremely frustrating!!! But, I do know what works for me, so feel that I can get back in the swing of things. Looking for a new bike, the weather is cooling off and started counting calories with mycaloriecounter.com today.

The word of the day for me is maintenance!!!

I understand that there are calorie counters. I also have to count the Vitamin K content in any food I eat. This is an experiment that my M.D, and cardiologist have agreed to. Does anyone know if there is a counter for this as well? It sure would help

I'm so glad that I found this site and joined it.

I'll weigh again on Wednesday.

Thanks everyone.

Silversword,

Welcome back. It hasn't been nearly as much fun without you. Sorry about the heat, the bike and the funerals. Don't worry about the 10 pounds. You can lose that standing on your head.

Ivamae,

Sorry, can't help with the Vitamin K, unless you want a copy of my Excel spreadsheet. It doesn't track Vitamin K, but could be modified if you are good at spreadsheets. You'd have to enter all the foods with vitamin data by hand, but it would still be easier than trying to add it up on a sheet of paper or something.

Hi all. Sorry I skipped last week. Now that school is back in full swing, the weeks are just flying by.

I'm doing the walk of shame today. We had a guest for the weekend and we ate like kings as a result. I'm up 2 pounds instead of going down. 139 this morning. Very sad. That puts me about 3 pounds above what had been my goal for this time period. I've got my work cut out for me, I'm afraid, to get this moving downward again. I did exercise extra last night, so I hope to keep that up this entire week.

But then on Sat. we're going to visit family, so there will be a long car ride each way (about 4 hours) and I'll have to try to plan my food carefully.

Congrats again Harold. You really have come a long way. And no, I don't think men's clothing changes enough to be noticeable, except for the tie you choose and the type of shirt collar.

Jasmi, Betty, and Ivamae, you all also had good weeks last week. I hope it keeps up for you!

Thanks for the warm welcome back Harold. I don't think that clothes (if well made and classic cut) go out of style. Especially if you do as Ek says and wear a current style of accessories and shoes.

I lost a pound already on my first day of cutting calories. Yay!!! Now I need to start working out more. My daughter just started soccer, so I can practice with her before her workouts, which will be an easy and fun way to get some exercise in. Other than that... no luck on getting a new bike so far, and that's my favorite exercise. But, I do have Wii fit that I need to bust out of the box!

Ivamae, I looked for vitamin tracking for you and found this website: Nutrition Data. It's free, and you just sign up, then start entering foods, and tracking them. It was a little confusing to me, but I just started with two random things (potatoes and wine) and chose the first two that came up, then fooled around until I got the results I was looking for. If you need help navigating it I'm happy to keep looking through it with you. It tracks all vitamins, and is centered around diabetes.

My new food "discovery" is Quinoa (Keen-Wah). It is wonderfully nutty and has a really high nutrition content, a perfect protein and is non-gluten- for a "grain", that's fabulous!!! My whole family likes it. You can cook it like rice. I used it as a "filler" in my meatloaf the other day and it tasted great, lightened it right up and cut the calories too. I think it would be good in soup, or to cut calories in any dense food creation.

Another thing I'm doing is making a big bowl of steamed veggies, then putting a little tomato soup or mashed potato or whatever the yummy food is I'm serving to my family! and that way my bowl is full before I put the yummy thing on top. I get a full bowl, my eyes are tricked into thinking I get more "fat" than I'm really getting, and I feel full.

I also heard about Chia seeds (yes, like those from Chia Pets!!!!) check them out, they're supposed to be a dieters dream seed, even better than flax and good for diabetics with a glycemic level of 1. I haven't tried them, but a couple friends have and they love them. Not a MLM or anything like the big Acai fad, you can get it at the health food store.

Happy eating everyone!!

Hi everyone.... sorry I haven't been in lately. so much going on. Computer crashed, got new computer. Trying to find all my bookmarks, came down with the crud.
Anyway I am bouncing between 155 and 158 for the past few weeks.

I need to get back on track and start losing again.

Glad to see eveyone is still going strong.

Helen

Well, I got wieghed this morning and I am thrilled. Another 2 pounds is gone!! hooray.

I'm beginning to see a diffeence when look in the mirror and am able to get into some clothes that I couldn't a few months ago.

I surely am pleased I found a place that monitored. I don't stray too far when I have someone to report to. It makes a huge difference in my determination to succeed.

It's good to see the prodigals returning.

Congrats, Ivamae. You're doing great.

Helen, your life sounds just like mine did a little over a month ago! Sickness, computer.

I ran this morning in a 1-mile race with my two older girls. It was really fun. I want to do it again, and start training for a 5K. I've run for myself before but never in a race. It was exhiliarating! Great fun. Adrenalin really kicks in when the finish line comes into view. I love it that my girls are developing an interest in running at such a young age, too (they are 10 and 8).

We're on the road now for the long weekend. Glad I ran this morning because I sure don't enjoy sitting still in the car for a long time. Makes me feel so blah.

I've stayed off the scale this week. I don't know what's going on with my weight, but I feel smaller and clothes seem noticeably loose. I also looked at recent pics of myself and was pleasantly surprised. I did not see a "fat person" in the pics. I still didn't look skinny or anything, but just normal. I looked like a normal person, and that's a really good thing.

I tried the chia seeds. They're really great. If you mix the gel up with food it really fills me up. Worth a try for those like me who like to snack!