weigh in day...

Heather,

You need to get a new scale - a good one, not a cheapie.  And you need to use it every day. 

It's entirely possible to gain 20 pounds in six weeks.  Like Mary said, you need to quit the processed, salty foods and get on a very basic pure food approach - like a detox from salt and chemicals - that should knock most of that off pretty quickly.  

I know you stated that you are very busy but have you considered a rotating food plan?  I've used one for the past three years.  It goes something like this:  If it is Monday, then I'm eating a hard boiled egg with toast and coffee for breakfast, for lunch I'm having tuna salad on whole wheat and for dinner I'm having grilled chicken with zucchini and rice.  On Tuesday, I have oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, etc. 

I have everything memorized, it's easy to prepare and shop and I save money because I'm not eating out or winging it at the market buying stuff that's not on plan.

Good luck, I hope you can turn it around.

donna..love that! I am similar in my woe...I try to stick to basics for "work meals" all week.

Good advice!  There's such comfort - and cost savings - in planning out a hard & fast menu!

Thanks for the advice! I have been thinking about making myself a weekly menu and sticking to it, so that I know what I'm having ahead of time and can prepare things the day before or whenever so that it's ready if I have to fly out the door.

I thought I had a good scale...it wasn't cheap, that for sure!! It's a weigh****chers brand, thats supposed to go up to 420lbs (or something like that) Thats why I originally picked that one, cuase I needed a scale that I could weigh on....Not sure whats wrong with it now, I just replaced the battery, so I know it's not that, and I have it on a hard, flat surface. I can't afford another scale right now, I can barely afford bills and gas back and forth to school, so I'll just have to deal with weighing once a week at the doctors office. That worked for me back in November when I started this journey, so it'll do for now.

 I think preparing the meals the day before is a GREAT idea!! and also invest in a good ol tape measure, keep track of your inches lost, that is sometimes a greater indicator of whats going on than the number on the scale! 

I have been measuring, thats what has me kinda confused, and also why I'm still chuggin along instead of giving up again...

On 3/9 I weighed 388 on my doctors scale. that afternoon at 12:30I measured myself all over
Yesterday I weighed 407.8, weighing at the same time, wearing the same clothes. That afternoon at the same time as before, I  measured the same areas again and I've LOST 2.005 inches!! Yay! but it has me really confused...how can I have gained so much weight yet LOST inches???  

Not sure I care too much, cuase I'm taking it! LOL I hope the scale AND inches goes down come next Monday!!

OK I'm down, my first day on the program,  which was last Tuesday April 14, 2009
I weighed in at 247.(4/14)
I'm now 228.2 lbs after 9 days(4/23)

Wifes on it too, she's dropped 10 lbs in the same time and went down anoher 1.2 lbs today...

(I haven't weighed in today) I've been checking daily though just to make sure the program I'm on is working, and it is! The best thing is my blood pressure which was dangerously high is also down, to 132/76 which is almost normal! I've struggled with high BP all my life, this is the only thing that has helped me. Oh I'm on the Take Shape for Life program, my sites at http://www.info2fitness.com
I feel so much better!

Kale