oh FINALLY. A happy thing this morning, another pound down! Halfway to goal.

10/20

Okay, I am back to my low point. Let's see if I can hit 10 pounds gone this week.

9/20

I am not exactly sure where I am but I have bumped up a couple of pounds. When I eat badly, I might hop on the scale and sort of glance at it but not get a precise number (it is a dial). So I know it is up a bit but not all the way. I am still down between 6 and 8 pounds. I will get on it and start trying to get below that 9 pounds gone point.

I am doing pretty good but need to increase my exercise or even general movement. But I am down another pound, so am celebrating that.

9/20

SubC, keep at it! I was working on this for many months before the pounds actually started to shed. Maybe we are changing on the inside for awhile before the outside reflects the effort.

I went to a couple graduation parties, food-centered events, and ate lunches and dinners out with people this week. I made good choices: small amounts of 'indulgent' foods (like a slice or two of cheese on crackers, only a few chips if any - like 4 chips - and the rest raw veggies sticks, raw broccoli etc from the appetizer trays. Fruit where it was available. Small small amounts of anything that is not a fruit or vegetable. Like maybe 2 bites of potato salad.) Going out to eat I stayed vegetarian and since there were some sauces, cheese, etc involved, I only ate half the food I was served and brought the rest home where Teen finished it off. Lots of water.

Also have had little time for formal exercise so I am just parking a bit farther away and walking, and am trying to be intentional about walking a little faster and not sauntering.

Down another pound!

8/20

Hi Lila!

Nice job!

I feel like I've been doing pretty well on my food choices, but my weight won't budge. Maybe with time..

hi SubC!

I went up a pound and then started back down and today am at a new low. Will keep plugging along and trying to be more active as well.

7/20

Today's treat - low sugar chocolate cake.

Today's snacks - banana and almonds

(I did have egg salad for lunch, so mayonnaise...)

We did not do yoga because I woke up feeling horrid.

Today I limited my treats to a small serving of m&ms (around 1T) and one glass of wine with dinner. I snacked on a banana, some almonds, and some cherries. Dh made a really yummy sweet potato curry for dinner.

Lila, good for you for sticking with this!

Today I planned two snacks - a banana and two carrots to keep me from snacking on junk. It worked a little bit, but I need more snacks. I am a grazer.

Also salty things. I drank a lot of water today and sweated a lot and my body craved salt, but most of my salty things are high carb/high fat.

I was active most of the day. Dh and I took a walk around the property after dinner. Tomorrow we are going to try to do yoga in the morning - it has been a long time.

Finally. A new low. Teetering precariously between going back up, or down another.

6/20

I am up and down and up and down the same 3 pounds so have not cracked the barrier yet. But today started phentermine per my doctor. I hope to get past this stall in the next week.

5/20

Back to update. My weight went up a little and then back down, so I am still at 5 pounds down. Actually the scale this morning was every so slightly more than 5 pounds gone, so maybe this week will bring a new low.

5/20

Another pound off, eating a lot of vegetables and such. This is where I usually get stuck. Will it stay gone and keep going this time?

5/20

Doing better. Went for an actual walk this week. Eating more vegetables, saying no to junk more often, cutting back on sweets, down 2 more pounds.

4/20

May 1, I am still the same weight, but have hope to walk most days this month and I committed to not buying anymore junk.

2/20

Day 2 -

I am trying to go back to not eating after 7, not having junk in the house, and drinking water.

I also was prescribed phentermine and started taking a half dose yesterday. NOT the dangerous phen-fen.

I want to exercise but an so exhausted. I will try to walk today. I ate less yesterday, drank water, ate healthier and was on my feet a lot.

2/20

Time to get serious about this. My weight is affecting my health terribly and is also making everything else in my life harder. My goal right now is to lose 20 pounds. It's a start and I will feel much better. I weigh 245 which is terrible for me. I will keep a pound tally at the bottom of my post.

Today I will go into the kitchen and throw out a bag of gross convenience store candy that I keep nibbling on.

0/20 pounds gone

Oh dear Lila,

Do you like balsamic vinegar? Can you try buying healthier bread? Sometimes it just takes a lot of little steps.

I did not buy ritz crackers at the grocery store this evening. I find the not buying the things is the easiest disconnect. Then I have to eat the food I have.

I did buy lime juice and tonic water because Dd2 gave us the rest of a bottle of gin she had from a party. But Dh won't make he a gin and tonic because it is late and I have chores to do, that that got short circuited as well. (If I had the energy to make my own gin and tonic, I'd have the energy to resist drinking it.)

I did eat a not healthy box dinner that Dh made - and chase it with bread and jam.

More refocusing to do after we get Dd2 moved.

hi SubC, fancy meeting you here again!

I am trying to fix my health, still. Not been doing very great. Someone gave me more tomatoes yesterday. I've been slicing them and eating them on white bread with mayo because I love that, and they are the good, thick, really red eating tomatoes. Today I coated them in breadcrumbs and fried slices of them and they were so good. But that's not healthy.

I am going to do better. I have a knee injury preventing me from even walking or anything right now so it's discouraging.

I am very tired. Dh is working super late tonight so I was on my own for dinner, and the library program was fun, but it left me tired and I used up all my executive function skills making good choices about my house today and I came home late and ate half a box of ritz crackers with cheese and a glass of wine for dinner.

And now I am sorry.

Good morning.

Last night Dh stayed up late eating ice cream.

I resisted the urge to eat chocolate cake and had a peach instead. I am still working on getting enough sleep. I realized when I went to bed last night that that blanket in the corner was actually a mental tax on me at night. I think I need to keep working on my bedroom - it is not too bad, but my dressing table and dresser have stuff piled on them.

Good morning!

I read a book on healthy habits during vacation that included a section on weight.

One of the things it pointed out that influences your weight is cortisol (stress) levels.

For the first time, I actually lost weight on vacation. Yes, I was active, but also, I was so much less stressed. So one of the things I'm going to focus on going into fall is making decisions that lower my stress levels.

Obviously, de-messing my environment will help de-stress my life.

Today's decluttering my waistline activity - my classroom:
No snacks
Lots of stairs
Removing items from my home environment and returning them to my classroom where they belong.
Creating order in my classroom- where I will spend many hours this fall - label, label, label! Not being able to find things is stressful. Cleaning up like a crazy person at the end of the day is stressful. If the item has a clearly labelled home - the kids can put it back!

So, Lila, maybe you need some "do instead" goals.

When you are feeling miserable and sorry for yourself(understandable) you can remind yourself:

Instead of (insert unhealthy behavior) I will:
Pray over the things that are troubling me
Clean an area that in now ex free
Read (good change out for online shopping)
Pet the dog
Or maybe even Put on some music and sing, and if the other people in the house object I will invite them to sing along, help me choose some music with both like, or go outside.

I am having a lovely vacation so far.

SubC, you are doing great! I'm happy you shared.

What brings me comfort that is not eating or shopping? Huh... well let's see:

petting my dogs
reading
praying
talking to some, a very few, people
listening to music in the car

The car thing is weird. It evolved as an escape mechanism. My first husb was abusive and recent one was depressing. My fave comfort thing is to go through a drive thru, buy junk, go park somewhere, and sit in the car eating it and listening to the radio. No one to bother me. Felt like ultimate peace. Even now... no teen throwing things, no clutter to look at, in the car. I find almost as much peace just driving around singing to the radio, without the food... but gas is expensive. I can't put on the music and sing in my house unless no one is home. Thinking about this.

What else? I liked to take walks but I am always in pain. Going to the forest, but it is a few hours away. If I had $$$, I would have a cabin somewhere to go to for respites.

Cleaning. Oddly enough, I realize cleaning gives me comfort. I feel so good doing it. When I have the energy.

Today's food was not as good as I liked, but not terrible. I wanted chocolate bars but didn't.

Breakfast: coffee
Lunch: salad and half a veggie personal sized thin crust pizza.
Snack: there was a farm stand with home made huckleberry ice cream, so I got one scoop.
Iced tea.
Dinner is coming. I made meat for family but I am having the other half of the personal veggie pizza and an ear of fresh sweet corn. Maybe some watermelon.

I moved a lot of boxes today so that's my exercise.

Hi, I'm back (Dh is driving) so my challenge this week is going to be eating healthy foods and moving.

My mom is providing the "24 hour all you can eat dessert buffet" food is her love language snd she baked for the people coming, plus my brother and three teenagers who won't be there.

This morning we had breakfast with Dh cousin and I resisted pancakes - had eggs, fruit, and a small roll with coffee.

Lunch will probably be the apple provided by the hotel this morning, cheese I brought from home, and a squash biscuit - ditto. Not great, but not too bad. Dinner will be with my family. I'm hoping for a walk on the beach after.

Lila, how are you doing? Can you name three things that bring you comfort and make you feel good that are not shopping or eating?

Good morning Lila!

I hope you are enjoying your tea.

Gotta run, but I will cone back here today. Check in!

Hello SubC, sorry I abandoned you. I had a uti that was painful and other drama going on. I got down to a new low weight but then ate myself back up several pounds. Tonight I am really overdoing it. If I had chips I would be eating them. I had some Raisin bran, juice, some fresh fruit. I really want some potatoes. I don't know why I am so hungry.

I will start fresh in the morning with some tea or coffee. I feel best if I don't eat anything else until 11 or 12. Then something fruit/veggies, maybe some beans or hummus or wheat toast. Or oatmeal, yummy.

I hope you come and post too. Let me know how your eating is going! I really miss having a garden. What do you have growing now?

Ok, last night I finally made a good decision.
Actually, Dh made it for me.

We have developed a habit of staying up until ten or later. He watches videos and I surf online and we both snack.

Last night, he came in from the shop at 9:30 and I had just finished as much clean up as I had energy for. I said "I can't decide wether to go to bed or have a snack." And he said "let's go to bed." So we did. And I got 8 hours of sleep!

I don't like to go to bed without him because I can't fall asleep unless I am completely exhausted (I have rarely in my life slept in a room where I can't hear someone else breathing, and I think my subconscious relies on that for security). And he doesn't like it when I go to bed and leave him alone in the great room.

But I think this needs to be a new habit. Even if I bring a book or the iPad to bed and let him watch videos in bed (which he likes and I hate usually because I'm trying to sleep) I need to remove myself from the snacking zone - and try to get to sleep earlier!

So tonight's goal - in bed at 9:30.

Good morning Lila,
What's for breakfast?

Drink your water!

Good morning everyone else too.

I have so much healthy food pouring into the house right now, it should be easy to make better decisions.

Also I am home all day and there is lots of work to do outside.

I think I might be toning up a little, but my weight is not really moving.

Congrats CM! That is great and yes, encouraging!

I find I am eating a lot more for comfort lately. I've regained 3 lbs and my ankles are swollen and my legs hurt. I am sitting here eating cookies. I know the sugar makes the pain worse, but I feel like I "need" the comfort.

It's a vicious cycle. I eat junky, sugary stuff so then I hurt and feel tired and sluggish. I have no energy when I eat heavy foods.

I know what helps.
- eating plant based NOT junk
- staying off sugar or at least reduced sugar
- taking a walk every day for exercise
- drinking water

If I do those things, my energy and mood improve and I get more done. I will aim to do that tomorrow.

Progress update and in case it is encouraging for anyone else:

I'm down about 9 lbs. give or take from the scary high I had reached with my lax habits during Covid and the stressful times (and there are new stresses but I'm going to be vigilant this time around; stress is enough, weight gain makes it feel worse).

The encouraging part is that I haven't done much that strenuous, just stopped doing the excessive eating and that in itself was enough to get the ball rolling. So if you're wrestling with "Do I have to do big hard scary and tedious things?" the answer is no. Start very small and doable, just sneak in the back door with it.

We must find you another form of comfort Lila!
(And me as well)
Dh took me out for dinner last night on my way home from camp. Loaded veggie burger and fries. My weight is creeping up again.

Today was not a good eating day. Eating for comfort. But I will be accountable.

B: egg and cheese croissant from BK, plus value hash browns. An iced sugar free soy latte.

L: half a banana. half a little snack bag of chips. About 3/4 of a small thin crust frozen cheese pizza.

Not good for me!!!!!!

I feel like having a nice cold smoothie so maybe I will make one and that's it for today.

I walked for 30 minutes.

post 2-

ok, instead of pasta for dinner, I had a few green olives and a bowl of fresh cherries. I'll drink lots of water and figure that is a better end to my day than pasta.

hi SubC,

I was down another half pound this morning, but I feel like I ate wayyy too much and unhealthy today.

B: coffee with soy creamer, Starbucks pink drink, impossible breakfast sandwich
L: half a thin crust frozen pizza. M&Ms - I rarely eat candy bars
S: little bag of chips.

Pretty junky type food, but I was sad today and that was my comfort. I think I will have pasta for dinner but I don't know.

Good job Lila!

I hope your tea helps. I am struggling with trying to remember to take my iron again.

Dh made dinner again tonight. He made a boxed rice and beans meal that is spicy and salty. We had a pepper in the fridge that would gave green a nice addition..

Anyway, I came in when it was almost done, so I just treated it like taco filling and had it with a lot of lettuce (but no taco shell) Dh thought that was weird but did not get offended. I also drank a ton of water. My weight will probably be up again tomorrow.

I weighed this morning and am down a pound this week, so that s all the regained weight gone. -14 from my highest. Happy about that, and need to keep going.

My eating is difficult! I keep wanting junk. I am trying. I have mostly stopped fast food. I am eating vegetarian plus fish and an occasional egg, avoiding dairy.

Today was not great, but I had:
B: coffee/unsweetened oat creamer, 1 egg, 1 whole wheat toast with vegan butter, some cherries.
L: baked vegetable empanadas (from frozen) and iced coffee, no sugar.
Then I got some massive cravings. Ate about 3 spoons of vegan ice cream and one hard candy. I really want more but I will drink water and eat fruit if I am struggling.
I am having my son's family over for dinner and making sloppy joes. I will attempt a vegan joe for myself made from those fake meat crumbles. And some roasted brussel sprouts.

I should take a walk. I have no energy. Maybe I will brew myself a cup of this herbal tea stuff that is supposed to give you energy, called Rasa.

Well, after two days of working hard in the garden, planning my meals around what I am growing, and drinking gallons of water, the scale moved down a tiny tick. Still not back to where I was in May, but I'll take any progress.

Somehow I have accidentally taken back cooking dinner. This will need to stop next week when I am working at camp.

The key tie ins with the hoarding here for me are "grow it, pick it, eat it, preserve it, feed it to the chickens, or give it away - keep it moving and don't put so much energy on the production side that you get buried in over abundance", and "don't stockpile processed food at the grocery store no matter how good a deal it is."

I think it's getting off the ground. After we got the big repair done it was easier to settle into a routine, and let go of the stress eating. I'm just being super chill about it, seeing if the weight will start to come off a little bit on its own, and it seems to be starting to.

Then soon I can kick it up a few notches with exercising and little focused eating changes. I don't use the D word. Too many years of that have soured me on it, to the point where it messes with my head.

I am curious, though, about possibly trying a bit of intermittent fasting. Being a picky eater with sensory issues around a lot of foods especially vegetables, IF may be more user friendly for me. And I've seen that people trying to lose SSRI antidepressant weight have had good results with it. I still am on a quarter of the dose, and one of these days hopefully will be ready to get off that and be done. It's just a placebo effect by now anyway, I would be willing to bet. Like a final leap of faith to be completely off it. So ironic to have this need to cling to it when I never liked the stuff anyway. I'll wrestle with it and eventually find my way.

Well, only 3 of tge pounds were water.

I am currently down about 14% of the weight I wanted to lose, after 6.5 months. But I yo-yo.

My current goal is to eat as much of what my garden is producing as possible. Right now that is leafy greens, garlic scapes, beets, and radishes. Peas and onions soon. Also I have stored things.

hi SubC,

Sugar and salt both retain water, so a lot of that is water. Drink more water to flush it out! I know the feeling of UGH from the scale, though. I regianed a few, stalled out, and am losing again. But only 13 pounds down from March now, so I still have one regained pound to lose.

This morning I made my homemade spiced Chai with oat milk. My fridge is in a state of disaster because the produce that was in there when I was out of town for medical appointments is in various stages. My goal this morning is to pull it all out, compost what can't be saved, use/eat/freeze anything that is still ok but needs used now. I should clean the fridge but I am not sure if I will get that far.

It is almost 11 and I am getting hungry. Will make a healthy choice.

So Lila, how are you doing?

I made the mistake of getting on the scale after all the sugar at mil's house. I gained 7 lbs. 😮 I am hoping that some of that is the salt that is also in her food and it will come off quickly.

I would ask how a person can gain 7 lbs in 5 days, but the answer is - trying to fill up on food that is full of empty calories. (And salt. I hope)

After a long break, Dh and I are planning to do yoga again this morning before he goes to work.

Hi Lila,

The hot cereal Bean likes is Bob's 10 grain. He also likes rolled oats. I do not. I put fruit in his and maple syrup in mine. I should put fruit in mine too, but I really LIKE maple syrup.

My day always starts with black coffee. Breakfast is carbs or carbs with egg. The rest of the day is highly variable. Dh makes dinner. Dinner last night was yummy but not healthy.

Today I am eating plain slices of the bread Bean and I made yesterday.

I have a thought for road that I will put here because it is a little off track from the other thread - Road, you said the stairs discourage you from putting things away - the stairs at school are a big part of my exercise routine. Maybe if you think of the stairs as exercise, you can set a certain number of times to carry something up or down and your exercise routine will help your environment. So instead of "I don't want to put this away because I have to go upstairs" it would be "I planned to go upstairs x times - what can I take with me to put away?"

Monday intake:

B: homemade chai tea made with whole spices and oat milk
L: iced green tea with frozen kiwi and pineapple (which I then ate), cold bean salad with chopped zucchini, black beans, corn, green pepper and avocado, eaten with 6 corn chips.
Sn: half of a 100% whole wheat English muffin with a little vegan butter, one half slice of vegan cheese, and strawberries
D: frozen dinner (not ideal but hey, it's a process) - Vegan pad thai

I am staying under 1200 calories a day.
8 cups water
walked 25 minutes

back again. SubC, what hot cereal do you make? I have been making Oat Bran cereal, but I bought some quinoa to try yesterday. I have not tried it yet.

I thought I would share my general diet here. I am interested to hear what everyone else is doing too, if you have a plan.

I have lists of foods not to eat from the doctors (mainly meat and junk and fatty stuff). I have lists of things to include as well, mainly fruits, veggies, beans and legumes, olive oil, and fish.

Breakfast is usually just decaf coffee with plant milk, and/or tea. I try to wait until 10 or 11 to eat food most days. I feel better.

Lunch or very late breakfast: I choose from oatmeal/hot cereal with fruits and nuts/seeds, or whole grain toast with one egg, or some kind of salad/mix of legumes and veggies. And fruit, and green tea or matcha.

Snack is low cal something... rice cake or fruit/veg.

Dinner is either veggies, salad, and legumes or fish. Sometimes a vegan pre-made meal like the spring rolls or a vegan lasagna or sandwich.

I am learning to cook/prepare more vegan meals so things will get more variety.

Working up to walking an hour a day.

SubC, good choices! I have a possible help for the tortillas. When I have time, I buy tortillas from the local Mexican restaurant or the Mexican bakery/store. They sell them freshly made for about $3.50/dozen! They have flour or corn. Getting them there, they are soo delicious plus support local folks. And when I happen to get a nice warm one just made, oh my! So amazing. You just have to ask if they make their own tortillas. Bean would love them!

So far this morning I've had a cup of ginger tea and some homemade chai tea (decaf). I have had 3 c water. I made a walking date with a friend who wanted to get together so we will walk outside if it stops raining and inside if it doesn't.

Will report in later. I am down 14 pounds from March.

My exercise yesterday was moving feed bags, pushing Bean around the grocery store, lifting tractor implements, and fighting (verbally) with dh (that got my heart rate up).

I made pretty good food choices. I had a great salad for lunch. Bean and I shared a little homemade ice cream after dinner.

This morning I'm going to make hot cereal for breakfast because it's easy and Bean likes it. Exercise will hopefully be carrying Bean/pulling him in the wagon and planting sunflower seeds (squats). Lunch will include more lettuce. Probably a tortilla wrap - Store tortillas are not the best choice, but Bean loves them.

It's a process SubC, making small good choices over time yields results! Something homemade is better than fast food or prepackaged.

Today I was sooo tired. Since I walked the last 2 days, I took today off from walking and took a naproxen since everything is sore. I did go out and pick up stray branches and pulled a few weeds.

Food for today:
B: decaf with unsweetened oat milk and a teaspoon of sugar
L: half a whole wheat English muffin, toasted, with half a slice of vegan cheese melted on one side, and a tiny sliver of vegan "butter" on the other side. (I bought these today to try and they are good!). One kiwi, iced green tea, 4 reduced fat triscuits and the other half slice of vegan cheese. And 4 oz poached halibut mashed with light mayo, dill relish, mustard, and seasoning. It was a filling lunch.
D: shared a small mango with son, plus 2 veggie spring rolls cooked in the air fryer and the sauce that came with them.
Snack: Quaker chocolate rice cake, yummy. And one lifesaver.

about 8 c water today. Feel good, but very tired so I am planning to go to bed around 8:30.

After bouncing around, I am three whole pounds less than where I started this thread. 🙄

I have dropped my alcohol consumption to sips of Dh beer.

I think I would have to spend a week in isolation to detox and become human again if I had to give up chocolate and caffeine.

There are lettuce and spinach in my garden. One of my goals is to eat them this week. I am trying to eat whole fresh or home canned/frozen foods with simple ingredients.

So, my breakfast was not "diet food" but it was filling and made from scratch. (Some of that scratch was unbleached white flour and butter)

I am going to try to look for places in my life where I can choose move over sit and healthy food over less healthy.

So right now, I'm going to go do some physical work in the barn.