Heh, it was probably before then, but I'm sure I'll enjoy the new crew too.  Going to try to post at least every Monday or Tuesday as I start each new week.

Hello Julie and welcome back! I'm not sure if I was active on this board when you were here, I started my weight loss journey back in 2008 and have been on this board to varying degrees since then! Glad to have you!

I started by doing the core program at the Ottawa Civic Weight Management Clinic where we did Optifast for 12 weeks and had all kinds of classes and support. From there I learned what I should be eating (based on Canada's Food Guide) and "clean" eating...eliminating processed food and restaurant/take out food as much as possible. Surprisingly, cravings stop on clean eating. I still have some processed food (quick cook oatmeal (not the packages), Greek yogurt, less than 21%MF cheese, Bran Buds, Mio for my bottled water). I also drink at least 2 litres of water per day. I track everything on My Fitness Pal (even when I cheat) so if I notice the scale is not moving, I can review what I am eating and exercise diary. I try to stick to 80/20 rule...80% of the time I am "good" and 20% I can slip.

I also had an appointment with a registered dietitian to review my nutritional requirements...highly recommend folks do this. My husband had an appointment as well to help with his food plan.

A typical day is 1300 net calories (total calories minus calories burned by exercise) for my 5'0" frame.

I hope this helps,
Tammy

Hi all,

I used to be an active participant on OH many years ago when I was tread milling and dieting my way down from 244 to 142, but I fell off the wagon in the interim years after letting several external and internal stressors derail me from my plan (my goal had been to get back to my early college weight of 122).

2013 started with me at 237 (almost a complete regain), but I've been working my old plan since the 1st and have lost 15 1/2 of the deja vu pounds as of today. I'm back on the forum for some moral support and "tough love" to help me toe the line day in and day out all year long (although it seems like most of the "oldsters" aren't here any more).

A little about me . . . I'm a 47-year-old, married KS mother of three who's licensed as a PA but is currently staying home to homeschool our middle child who has severe anxiety and ADD issues (I'm also writing fiction; my original degree was a Master's in English). My hobbies primarily involve working dogs (GSDs and Dobermans) and keeping marine reef tanks.

The plan I follow is a hodge podge of the different plans that are out there. I eat five times per day with a daily calorie total no higher than 1,500 (most days fall in the 1,200-1,400 calorie range), shoot for 80-100 oz of water each day, and am currently doing a 400-calorie treadmill session once a day. As my weight drops and it becomes harder to lose, then any week with less than a 2# loss or month with less than a 10# loss triggers an increase in either the intensity or duration of my exercise schedule to get back on schedule.

Right now, I'd like to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet as I've been primarily eating beef and bean burritos, protein bars, lean meat, oatmeal, whole wheat toast, eggs, and skim milk, so I've been falling way below my fruits/veggies targets. I also need to start adding in some other sorts of exercise besides my treadmill. My normal-BMI 17-year-old daughter would like for us to join a gym, so we're thinking about a YMCA membership soon.

Anyway, hello all. I'm going to try to check in at least once a week. Feel free to "crack the whip" when I make bad choices in the coming year. I have a dog trip to CA in October that I'd really like to be a normal BMI for (which is anything under 150# for me), so that's one of my big motivators right now (my daughter wants me to take her down to San Diego/Coronado after my dog week in LA is over for the wild animal park and the beach).

Thanks in advance,

Julie

Probably you will not follow my advice, but anyway I want to say that I had the same problem and I used to take phentermine pills for losing weight.