Womens Retreat, and DAY 43!!!

Well I must tell you my faithful readers that I have made a CHOICE to go off my diet for Friday & Saturday. I have a Women's Retreat to attend, and there will be FOOD. We are staying overnight, and it is supposed to be a LOT of fun. I will try to make wise choices while I'm away, and when I get home it will be RIGHT BACK TO SS. I PROMISE. So, no running off, I'll be here!

I'm very thankful to all of you who are reading along, and your lovely comments have REALLY encouraged me! Thanks so much for your support. I hope each and every one of you are getting "something" out of this blog. I'm interested in hearing about YOUR successes too! Please let me know how YOU are doing. Drop me an e-mail, or post a comment. I'll be glad to help you anyway possible. I will see you all on Saturday afternoon!
Hang in there!
By the way....I only lost 1 pound this week, so that leaves me with a 22 pound loss. A loss is MUCH better than a GAIN though!

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Saying NAY to the NAYSAYERS!

Why is it that sometimes the people we love most, are the ones who cause us the most grief? They may mean well, and really be doing it unconsciously, but they STILL DO IT. It's hard.

Sometimes you may hear things like..."That diet CAN'T be good for you!" or "You KNOW you are going to gain all that weight back as soon as you get OFF that diet!"
Why do they want to discourage us? What does it benefit them?

Maybe they are afraid that they will lose "us" after we lose a good size portion of ourselves. We won't be the "same" person we once were. Good ol' fluffy, frumpy, friend, who just can't be SKINNY! It just wouldn't be YOU.

OR, Maybe your fat is a comfort to them. People have some of the craziest notions. Maybe it's a co-worker that thinks, "Hey, if she loses weight, she might get more attention from the boss." "She actually could interfere with MY chances of getting promoted, and MIGHT actually stand a chance of getting promoted HERSELF!" "Let's give her some CAKE, or some CHOCOLATE, that should work!"

OR, maybe it's pure JEALOUSY. Yep, that thing has been known to rear it's ugly head in MANY dieter's lives. Suppose you have a friend who is also a bit heavy, and she's thinking, "Oh no, she's losing weight, she's actually looking GOOD." "My boyfriend might start looking at her!" "Gotta stop this train...let's see if I can talk her into going out for Chinese FOOD!"

Or, it could even be your own spouse who's got the silly notion that once the weight comes OFF, and you start turning heads, maybe it will GO to your head, and you'll run off with someone ELSE.

When you are tempted, try to look BEYOND the tempter, and see if you can find a reason for the sabotage. It might not be that obvious, but if you look hard enough, you will FINALLY see it. AND you will overcome it! Be GORGEOUS! Be SLIM, and BE YOU! You can do it, and it will be so worth all the trials, and temptations!
Hang in there!
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Don't Give UP, Don't Give IN, Don't give OUT!

DON'T GIVE UP!
We all have decisions to make. Sometimes we make good ones, sometimes we make bad ones. It is a part of life, and EVERYONE does it. There is not a SINGLE person out there that has NOT made a bad decision at ONE time in their life. Even great men/women of valor, and even PRESIDENTS have made bad decisions at one time or another. So who are WE to go blaming ourselves for a bad decision every once in awhile?

Put it behind you. Everyone has a slip up now and then. Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to get up, and go raid the refridgerator right now, and say, "You said EVERYBODY does it!" I'm saying if you DO have a moment of weakness, and you make a "not so great" decision, don't GIVE UP.

One little slip, or two, or more, is NO reason to give up on yourself, OR your diet. It IS reason to take a GOOD hard look at what is tripping you up, and what you can do about it. Maybe you need to think about some of the accomplishments you have made in your life already. It's time to be your OWN cheering squad. Don't get down on yourself, but BOOST yourself up! You are doing something IMPORTANT for YOU, and YOU ARE SO WORTH IT!

DON'T GIVE IN!
There are so many people out there that want you to fail. DO NOT LET THEM WIN! Don't give in. I have people in my life who may mean well, and try to get me to eat. They just don't understand the damage they are doing. If you tell them "NO", in a firm voice, and let them KNOW that you mean business, it will ALSO empower YOU. Hopefully it will also dissuade any other attempts to TEMPT you into blowing it with food! DON'T GIVE IN!

DON'T GIVE OUT!
Sometimes it just gets TIRING! It can be boring, at times. Just don't GIVE out! You can lose as much weight as you WANT, but it is going to take an EFFORT on your part. This diet is not for the weak of heart! Never wait until you are TOO tired or too hungry to eat. Sometimes, I forget to have my Cambridge, and the day just gets away from me. Next thing I know, it's close to bedtime, and I haven't eaten, and I'm SO tired. I feel too tired to BOIL water for soup, or blend ice cubes for a shake. Instead, I could EASILY grab that bowl of onion dip, and potato chips, and REALLY do some damage!
Cravings are harder to overcome when you are tired, and you may feel like you just want to grab something that is EASY, and call it a day. Don't GIVE OUT! Make TIME for your Cambridge. It makes a WORLD of difference, and it IS important! Every morning could yield a loss or a gain...we want the LOSS!

"LANE BRYANT"

OK, so today I got a magazine in the mail from Lane Bryant. No joke. I'm thinking HOW do they know I'm fat? I've only shopped there a couple of times, and they didn't know who I was! I certainly didn't join their mailing list, and I didn't even write a check! Did they just think my name SOUNDED like a fat chick? I'll have to think about that one.

Nevertheless, I opened the magazine, and LO and BEHOLD....if I looked like ANY of the models IN that magazine I WOULDN'T be shopping at Lane Bryant!
What's up with that? Do they think that we are SO STUPID (since we are fat, we MUST be, right?) that we actually think that if we BUY those particular clothes, they will LOOK like that on us? Give me a BREAK!
If that were the case NOBODY would be fat... but, EVERYBODY would be shopping at LANE BRYANT!

I'm NOT kidding the models ON those pages were all atleast size 5 or 6. OK, MAYBE there was an 8 in there SOMEWHERE. I'm really not as dumb as I look! I know that when I order a dress that is pictured in a size 5, when it get's here in a size 20, and I put it on, I will not look like a size 5! It will most likely look like an
ill-fitting TENT, and certainly NOT the model on the page.

And I know they say that the clothes are all cut to one specific SIZE, so that they can find models to actually MODEL them, but this is my opinion.....
WHY not REALLY help us? Grab a 20 off the rack, and hire some FAT models, and show us how we'd REALLY LOOK IN THOSE CLOTHES. Then we might actually ORDER something, because we would BELIEVE that we might look like that when we put it on?

Should we have to look ridiculous while we are losing weight? Absolutely NOT! I hate shopping for clothes, but I'm NOT going to go out on a limb and order something expensive that LOOKS good on a 19 year old beanpole, with the hopes that I'll magically drop 80 pounds when I put it on.
I will trudge into Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Target, or WHEREVER, and buy some cheap stuff that looks OK right now, and HOPEFULLY next week will fit a LITTLE looser than it does today. And I'll do that again, and again, until FINALLY, I'm HAPPY to go shopping, and I'm NOT buying fat, frumpy looking clothes. In fact if I work REALLLLLY hard, I might just be trying on something that I'd see a 19 year old beanpole wearing in a MAGAZINE! It's ALL up to me!

PICTURES!! DAY 37!! Sorry, I kinda left you hanging!


It is the 37th day, and I've lost 21 pounds! I'm happy. I really WANTED to lose faster than this, but I'm not complaining! I'm planning to UP the exercise this next 30 days in hopes of DROPPING weight in a HURRY! I guess you want to see pictures right? OK, to be honest...I can't tell a difference by looking at the pictures. I CAN tell a BIG difference in my clothes!!! They are SOOOOO baggy. BUT, I don't want to spend any money on a new wardrobe just yet. I want to shrink a BUNCH more, before I do that!...Well, here goes...comparison pic number 1! (Click on the picture for a closer look!)

OK, I guess I've lost some in my face. I always lose there first, and that's a GOOD thing. I hate how pudgy my face looks in that top picture. Even to this DAY, I look at my fat pics, and think..."WHO is that?" I've been fat for 5 years, and I STILL can't believe that is ME in that fat body! I guess it really takes the brain a long time to catch up to what is going on with the body. AND, why is it, that when I look in the mirror, I don't look THIS fat??? I mean I thought the camera was adding like 50 pounds, but then I noticed that when I look at pictures of OTHER people, they don't look 50 pounds heavier. So much for that theory! OK, here's one more picture. See how baggy my clothes are now? I like that! I'm gonna hide in these big clothes, for a few more months, and then drop them, and be SLIM. WOW, won't that shock the socks off some people! Ha ha ha ha

Did you notice my ticker says 59.5 pounds to go??? That is hilarious! It just sounds so much better than 60 more, or 70 more, which it probably SHOULD be, and probably WILL be before I decide to stop! I really would rather be 155, but it's been a LONG time since I weighed that, and the body changes a LOT over time. SO it just might be that 165 is where I'll want to stay. I've been very happy at that weight before, and I'm not as concerned about getting into a size 5, as I was when I was 20. OK, enough rambling. I'll post another pic 20 pounds from now, and we'll see how that looks! Thanks for stopping by!

The Honeymoon Is OVER!

Everyone get's to this point I guess. You start a diet, and it's GREAT! You are SO excited about doing something NEW, and it is gonna GET THOSE POUNDS OFF. You lose a little weight, or A LOT OF WEIGHT, and then it happens. Just when you think it CAN'T. You start getting bored. Maybe not BORED, but just not as EXCITED as you once were. It becomes mundane. It's during THIS time that your loyalties are REALLY tested.

Just like a marriage. You get married, and all is bliss while you're on the honeymoon. Then you come home, and LIFE begins. Back to work, blah, blah, blah! But, you are still MARRIED. You made a COMMITTMENT to your spouse, and you are in this for the long haul!

It has to be the SAME with a diet. No matter WHAT plan you choose. It's gonna take a committment! You can't bail out after the honeymoon is over. It may seem really tempting, especially when the pounds aren't coming off as fast as they once were, but you GOTTA HANG IN THERE!

It's not easy, and it takes REAL determination, but you CAN DO IT. How, you ask? What do you do to keep your marriage exciting? You have to keep the romance alive. Same goes for your diet. Keep the ROMANCE alive! Think about how you felt that FIRST weigh-in. Remember how it felt to see that first big loss??
Remember how it felt, when you resisted that big fattening plate of _________? Remember how empowered you felt? Now think about how much MORE wonderful you are going to feel when you get to GOAL!!! That feeling will be MORE powerful than ANY of your former accomplishments!

Now, how do you keep the diet FLAME BURNING? Positive self talk. If you want to cheat, you HAVE to talk yourself OUT of it! DO NOT FOR ONE SECOND THINK...I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE! NO NEGATIVE THOUGHTS!!!! You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to do, and that includes THIS! Keep your EYE ON THE PRIZE!

Tell yourself "I CAN DO THIS, and I WANT TO DO THIS. I DESERVE GOOD THINGS! I CAN ACHIEVE MY GOALS! I WILL ACHIEVE MY WEIGHT LOSS GOAL! I WILL SUCCEED!"

Say it OVER, and OVER, and OVER. Your mind can be convinced of ANYTHING you TELL it. So tell yourself this OFTEN!

You're in this for the long haul...no food AFFAIRS!!

DAY 32!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE?

Well, to tell the truth it has been REALLY hard the past couple of days! Yesterday was Easter, and I REALLY wanted to EAT. I don't know WHY. It wasn't the chocolate, or any of the Easter goodies. I just wanted some FOOD, BUT I survived! I am on a plateau though, and that is a bit discouraging! It could be one of the reasons I've been wanting to EAT.

But, ONWARD, and DOWNWARD! 32 days have passed VERY quickly, and I can only HOPE that the rest will go that fast! I also hope that the pounds will start to fly off again. I HATE PLATEAUING, but I guess it is going to happen at SOME point! I'm hanging in there, for yet another day!

Day 28, and feeling great!

Well, this is the 28th day with no food! WOW! I can't believe it! Time is just flying by! Ya' Know Tony Little was on to something when he invented the Gazelle. I have to say I LOVE that thing! It is so fun. I never get bored on it, and it's not HARD. It's not like exercise at all, but it sure burns the calories, and fat!

It's quiet, and I can still watch TV while I exercise. When I used to use the treadmill for an extended period of time, my knees hurt. Not with the Gazelle. It's such a gliding, swinging motion, you get NO impact at all. Anyone can do it!

In case you were wondering...Tony Little is NOT paying me to say all this. But, Tony, if you read this, feel free to send me a check!

I feel that exercise is important to boost your weightloss, but ALSO to tone you up while you lose. Especially when doing a VLCD (very low calorie diet) so that you are not just FLABBY all over once the fat is gone!
I don't want to have wrinkled flabby skin, I'm hoping to look SOMEWHAT like I did before I gained all this fat...

I know when you lose weight you look younger, so that is what I'm hoping for! It's amazing how adding fat to your body, seems to also add age! I have a friend who is a high school teacher, and she said she got really tired of the kids thinking she was so OLD. (she's 29) She started dieting, and lost 100 pounds. That is when I first realized that WOW, she really looked young! And she should, because she IS! So, anyway, I'm hoping to get a little younger as I get a little thinner! Wonder how I look now? Certainly not like the picture above, and I'm sure that I won't look like that when I lose ALL my weight, because of ONE thing...I have had 2 kids!! Hopefully I will be recognizable though!

Day 26!

I can't believe how fast this is going. My cousin called me this morning, and asked "How many days now?" I said 26, and she said "Wow! You are already 1/4 of the way there! I never thought it would go by SO FAST" And you know what? It did. It went by fast. Know what else? The time is going to go by whether or not you are doing ANYTHING about it.

DON'T PUT IT OFF!
If you are putting off dieting, because you are thinking..."It will take me SO LONG to lose all that weight!" The days are STILL going to pass. I sure would want to know that 100 days from now I could be 80 pounds lighter, rather than the same weight, or even weighing MORE! You can do what you've always done, or you can DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Make a decision to LOSE weight, and STICK with it! If you are thinking...it will take me a YEAR to lose all the weight I want to lose. Think of this...If you had started LAST YEAR you would be DONE! SO, STOP PUTTING IT OFF!! Start today, and ENJOY the slim new you NEXT YEAR. Besides it's not like you will have to lose ALL of it to be happy! You can...

ENJOY THE TRANSFORMATION!
That's right! As your body transforms, you will feel SO empowered, and each day behind you will make you STRONGER, and make you believe in yourself EVEN more. That is a GREAT feeling. I never realized how much I moped around until I started losing weight. Now I feel GOOD that I am doing something for ME! I'm in a better mood, and it just feels GOOD. I've only lost 16 pounds, I can't imagine how empowered I will feel when I reach 50 pounds! I will be one unstoppable FORCE!

SUPPORT
You'll need support. I have the BEST support system in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD! Or in the World WIDE WEB! LOL There is a group of ladies on this 100 day trek with me, and they are AWESOME. Some of them have a LOT more days under their belts than I do, and they REALLY inspire me. I have to do this for myself, but I REALLY don't want to let them down either! They are my ROCK! When you decide it's "Time." Make sure you have the support you need. It means a LOT, to be accountable to someone other than your bathroom scale. Here are the awesome ladies that have helped me keep trekking on this 100 day trail, and the days that they have been doing this!
You ladies are amazing, and I love you all! Thanks for the support you give me!

100 Day Heroes!
Kelly (11)
Tammy (7)
Laureen (6)
Yvonne (34)
Yasmine (42)
Joy (53)
Teddi (6)
Jo (26)
Monique (57)
Lynne (12)
Kapri (starting soon)
Michele (starting soon)
Special thanks to Pam for funding the support board, and her amazing words of wisdom, you are TRULY an inspiration!!

DAY 21 OVER and DONE!

I'm still sipping my Crystal Light, but after I watch CSI, I'll be ready for bed! Yesterday was probably the HARDEST day I've had on this diet. I was SO hungry. It was HORRIBLE. I HATE TOM. I know that it was the dreaded time of the month taking it's toll, but that doesn't make me feel any better! I will say that usually I have an ALL day binge when that hormone induced day comes around, so the pure fact that I SURVIVED, and didn't mess up my SS routine is a miracle in itself!

I am 1/5 of the way to my 100 day goal. Those 21 days actually went by rather quickly. I can just SEE myself at the END of the 100. I think I will get out my skinny clothes, and start looking through them tomorrow. This is finally becoming a reality, and it IS going to happen this time, so I should be looking FORWARD to it! And if you are doing this with me...you should be TOO!

FFF "Fighting the Fear of Failure"

I guess we all do it at some point. Second guess ourselves. We ask ourselves, can I REALLY do this? Am I REALLY gonna be successful? We look at the BIG picture, and it seems unobtainable. We start doubting our own ability to make it THAT far. It's HOGWASH.

My best friend just had weightloss surgery. The lap band procedure. She told me the other day, "I think I'm going to be the ONLY person in the world who has EVER had weightloss surgery, and GAINED weight." I couldn't help but laugh. To me it's funny. Not because she will gain weight, but because she WON'T, and she THINKS she will!!
In my mind her weightloss is inevitable. She has had the surgery, the weight WILL come off. Maybe not as fast as she HOPED, but it WILL eventually GO.

The mind, and body is a funny thing! I think one reason she's not losing as much is because she thinks, "This is not going to work!" "Nothing ELSE has worked, so WHY should this work?" It will, and she won't be a failure, but her mind is tricking her body into trying to hold onto the weight. You have to be ready to let it go. ALL of it. The weight, AND your preconceived notions that "I JUST CAN'T LOSE WEIGHT!"

Have you ever heard of women who are trying to get pregnant, and the doctor tells them you just need to relax, and let it happen? (I'm talking about women who are fertile, and healthy, and do not have medical issues preventing their pregnancy.) They are stressing over "WHEN" they will get pregnant. Or, "WHY am I NOT already pregnant?" "WILL I be ABLE to get pregnant???" After a few months of trying, they start saying, "I CAN'T GET PREGNANT!" Then when they finally decide to put it out of their mind, or maybe they even decide to put it OFF for awhile. The next thing you know...BAM!...They're PREGNANT.
I'm telling you the MIND is a powerful thing!

There are days that I think..."Anyday now my weightloss is just going to STOP, and I won't be able to drop another ounce!" BUT...I'm eating a total of 420 calories a day. It is absolutely impossible to maintain this weight at only 420 calories a DAY. I may plateau, everyone does. The body has to stop, take a breather, and re-create set points occasionally, but STOP losing all together??? NO WAY. I won't stop losing, unless I stop doing what I'm doing. That is the ONLY thing I have to be on guard about. DON'T STOP.

Even if your mind is saying, "GIVE UP, this won't work, you are depriving yourself for NO GOOD REASON!" "You will NEVER get to the weight you DREAM of weighing!" You've got to put your MIND in it's place! Think of that voice as your BIGGEST enemy! Whenever it comes around, point out the OBVIOUS. "MY BODY CAN'T MAINTAIN ON THE AMOUNT OF CALORIES IT IS RECEIVEING!!" " I WILL LOSE WEIGHT!" "I AM IN CONTROL OF MY MIND, AND MY BODY." NO BODY HAS ANY RIGHT TO TELL ME THAT I CAN NOT LOSE WEIGHT, BECAUSE I CAN, AND I WILL."

Believe it....ACHIEVE IT!

I'm BACK from camping!


This is Day 18, and I actually stayed on Cambridge while I was camping! NO CHEATING! I'll have to admit, that was a FIRST. I've never been able to maintain ANY diet while camping! All the wonderful food smells wafting through the campground is enough to make even the MOST enthusiastic, and devoted dieter go screaming into the woods with a roasting stick, and 3 packs of hot dogs...even if you HATE hot dogs!
And, what is the DEAL with hot dogs ANYWAY? I would have no desire to TOUCH one when I'm here at home. I mean who KNOWS what they scraped up off the floor to MAKE the things. But when in the OPEN air, the smell of ONE little skinny dog on the end of a STICK is enough to make you drool all over your shoes!
Oh well, I survived, and I might add that I was VERY proud of myself. I really wanted to stay on my diet, and get this weight off as soon as possible. I think also the pure fact that people were telling me, "Don't GO, you'll NEVER be able to resist the temptation!" was enough to keep me honest! If someone tells me I CAN'T do something, then you better BELIEVE I'm going to do my level best to prove em' wrong!
I know they had my best interests in mind, but it felt SO good to prove it COULD be done!
So today, I'm back at home, and getting back into the HOME routine. Trying to drink all my water. Exercising while I watch Dr.Phil. Who knew he REALLY could solve one of my problems? That's right...he makes exercising more interesting! Never could just EXERCISE without some kind of distraction! Thanks Dr. Phil, but don't send a bill.
Well, it's about time to whip up my last Cambridge meal, and call it a day! Only 82 more days to go!
Oh, did I mention I lost 2.5 pounds while I was camping??? Makes it all worthwhile!