Wake up call

i really did think that i was the only one here who wouldn't gain more than 5 pounds and didn't want to tell any of you cause i didn't want you all to feel bad. well welcome me to the club cause i've put on 10 in just the past 2 weeks! ok so i'd like to say i don't have any idea why i gained but let me be totally honest here. I OVER ATE I had my son's wedding cake, i had my other son's birthday cake, i had cookies, i ate tiny little packages of tic-tacs, i was a eating machine. i also (reenie forgive me) didn't excerisze for 2 months. Why not? cause i didn' twant to. wellll look who now has 10 extra pounds on her!!!???!!! I know I over ate for mental reasons. I should have recognized that i was going to do it. part of me knew but chose not to listen to the good pam in my head. did you know that sugar free twizzlers have almost the same amount of calories as regular twizzlers? i'm not boyfriend/fiancee free, son's wedding is over, delt with the ex, all of my excuses to not be good are done with. this morning i went on a cleaning rampage. I took all the sugar free (but not calorie free) treats out of my cupboards and bagged them up. Gave em to the people at work. They were so cute just like kids at halloween picking through all those bags. I can control eating those treats but feel right now at this time I need to have anything that isn't waht I should be eating regularly out of the house. At least until I can control it again. It just might mean that like someone who drinks too much needs to not have it in the house at all will be me with treats. I would love to be a fly on the wall when all that sugar free alcohol stuff kicks in ehhehe its given my my share of gas! I packed myself a nice healthy lunch and had a good breakfast of cottage cheese with fruit. stuck to it too alllll day! the odd thing is i do not get hungry when i have misschosen wrong foods i'm just craving. at least now i understand the cravings. I drank the mos****er today than i've had in a long time! so now its day one for me of being right on track. anyone else up for the wake up call? good luck and god bless. pammy

I'm working on it too! You're not alone! The frustrating part for me is feeling like I'm doing everything right and just not losing fast enough. I've gotten past a lot of my cravings. I've completely nixed the office chocolate dish (and for several weeks now) and totally overhauled my eating habits. The best part is....when I got frustrated and sad this morning....my bf hugged me and told me he loves me just the way I am. Instead of losing motivation, I got a huge motivational boost from that! Suddenly, I realized that I've been doing this for me all along. I like eating fruit, so I'm not going to stop. I like working out, so I'm going to do it everyday. I'm not going to defeat myself with negative self talk and fear of failure. I've done that for years and I'm over it. You know what....we should go back to what all new posties do and come here and post our food daily. I'm keeping a food journal, but with extra eyes on what I'm eating, maybe I can be more successful! I'm not giving up either! Jill

Okay - since it's the end of my day, I'll play: Coffee Coffee Peanut butter crackers Coffee Coffee Coffee ::gasp:: Cookies Coffee Coffee Coffee 1/2 roast beast sandwich 1/2 99c bag of Doritos Coffee Coffee Diet Vault soda the other 1/2 99c bag of Doritos Coffee Tab energy drink Coffee Oh wait - maybe I ***AM*** the poster child for this surgery!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!! Okay - I shouldn't make light of my poor choices, but at least I'm being honest. I know my calorie intake wasn't that much, but the kinds of calories weren't healthy. I can do better, and sometimes do. But trying to find lunch at 10:00 at night kind of leaves you with few options. Dina

Thanks!!! Hey, do you, by chance, like coffee? Breakfast: Smoothie with Whey protein, lo-carb Carnation, 1/2 banana, 1/4 light yougurt, 1/2c milk AM Snack: Fruit salad with nectarine, blueberries, strawberries, orange, and green grapes Lunch: 3 oz grilled salmon, steamed (no butter) veggies Afternoon snack: If needed, 1/8c soynuts Dinner: Chicken breast and spinach Ok, WHAT am I doing wrong? I decided to completely cut all starches from my diet, except right after a workout as needed. Complex carbs ok, bread and pasta OUT. I think I need some feedback though. My scale's not budging and I don't want to get so frustrated that I quit. Any advice?

What are you doing wrong? NO FREAKING COFFEE, man!!! Seriously though, I think your body is just hanging on for all it's worth. If I were to change anything it would be the breakfast smoothie. I'm BIG on not drinking my calories unless it's a treat. Perhaps you wouldn't want that morning snack if you ate a good protein breakfast. Protein always keeps the hungries down for me. I'm thinking maybe an egg wrap for breakfast, or better yet, a low carb custard. However, that being said, I look at this and don't see anything wrong with what you are doing. Really I think what is going on is your body is just in protest mode and just will eventually have to give up the goods pretty soon. Also, I know you mentioned before you're working out, and you know the old mantra: If you are building muscle, it weighs more than fat, so you may not see a net loss. Start taking your measurements now and see what you find.... Dina

I used to be the biggest coffee addict ever. I don't even know what happened, but I got hooked on tea. I do have coffee from time to time, but just not daily. Now, when I was a dispatcher.....lol I'll get out my measuring tape (grumble) I guess if I lose inches, who cares what my weight is....as long as I fit in to a size 8 by my wedding day (sigh)

DEar Dina & all, I am so glad that I am not the only one addicted to coffee I drink at least 6 cups a day & that is a good day. Most of it is the half decaf stuff (can't do the all decaf) just not able to stand it. Coffee is my main drink & water of course, but coffee is in there more than the water, I have also gained back 25 pounds so I am much worse than you guys are. Mine is all frutration & anxiety/stress you name it. Gone back to bad habits & that has got to stop. I know what to do to change it. it is just doing it is the hard part. My exercise is just walking at the moment as I had to lose the gym. (could not afford anymore) with no job. And when it is 115 outside the walking is early a.m. or late evening. Marilyn, the Bearlady

Mind you that this is coming from a woman with no clue about anything, but I calculated the protein for your salmon, soy nuts and chicken and it comes out to about 50 grams. I have no clue of how much protein is in the shake you make so didn't add that in. I know that if I'm not getting in around 80 or 90 grams of protein, I'm doomed. Have you tried upping the protein? Connie

Yep, I'm averaging between 75 and 85 grams of protein per day. That protein shake pushes me into my required protein levels, otherwise, I'd never hit 80g. Well, that plus my evening mug of decaf chai with a cup of ff milk. Are my calories too low? too high? I'm always between 1200 and 1450, depending on what I'm eating. My average tends to stay in the low 1300s. And my weight will just not budge. It's so stubborn! What do you think, Connie? Thx, Jill

Jill, Wellllll... Maybe your body needs to be shocked out of stasis. How about changing up the exercise routine? Whatever you normally do for cardio, change it and switch to something that uses your muscles in a different way for a week. If you walk or run, try the bike or swimming. That usually does it for me. You might try upping the calories to 2,000 for a couple of days and then bring it back down to 1300 again. One time I totally stopped exercising for a week, gave my body a rest and dropped a couple of pounds when I started up again. How's the water intake? Connie