…Basically put, how long does the support for your new treadmill last?..

The extra weight is all me, too, (around the middle, “When is your baby due?” I’m 50 freakin’ years old! ARGH!!, and not YET on cholesterol med’s. I have to take an a.m. combo of blood pressure, fluid, and, Ahem, ‘happy’ pills.

I’ve started eating flavored oatmeal (just one pack!) like banana bread, for breakfast, and if I have them, I add 2 of the Dark-contains-anti-oxidents-Hersey kisses in after micro’ing, and stir it all up.

Supper is changing effective this week to less red meat and more skinless chicken, turkey, pork. I love my mashed potatoes with gravy and angel hair pasta - gonna substitute summer squash and green beans for starters. Damned triglicerydes!! :unlove: Only kind of fruit I can bear is fruit cocktail in a jar or can, and bananas.

And, I, too, for all my good intentions, usually eat 2 instead of 1 100 calorie pack of Oreos or Chips Ahoy at night with my cup of Sanka.

Doc also told me to start walking at least 30 min.’s a day, even if in 10 minute increments. Like Carly said, it’s TOO COLD in New England for that. Hm…where DID I put that Walk Away The Pounds video…?

Also, I’ve noticed that if I eat more during the day–regular meals with small, light, snacks, like hard cheese, pickles, yogurt, or a few low-fat pretzels in between–I’m a lot less hungry in the evening. (This is my DAILY challenge. If I don’t I go home ravenous and pig out on anything crunchy I can find!)

To satisfy my sweet tooth, I allow myself no more than half a bar of Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate bar. Yummy. Has sugar and fat yes, but knocks the edge off without knocking me off diet. Can’t do this everyday but a couple of times a week is not bad.

Small salad before lunch and again before dinner. About the size of a fast-food side salad. The fiber helps fill you up.

Finally, and this may sound crazy, but when I had gestatational diabetes, I learned that what I put in my mouth last during a meal made a difference. Maybe it’s psychological but it was months before I noticed it. If the last thing in my mouth is carbs — rice, vegetables, sweet potato, whatever–my craving for sweets and other carbs would be stronger than if I saved a small portion of my protein to be my last bite.

Hang in there! Tell yourself you can win and you will win. You will!

ABOUT CURVES: I love it because it goes so fast that I’m done before I have time to dread it. I HATE to exercise. I mean, really and truly HATE it. But you’re switching every thirty seconds at Curves so before I can start to hate, I’m moving on. That’s why I really love it. Also, my Curves is open at 6 a.m. and stays open until 8 pm. I can drop by any time, on the way to pick up my boy at pre-school, or early in the morning. I know it’s a franchise and they are individually owned, which means that each probably keeps their own hours. But I live in the country and there are actually two within my driving range (that is, 30 minutes from me), so maybe you could find a different one, Julie? Also, I don’t know about sweaty machines, but I pick up after the kids all day, so needless to say, nothing scares me. I wipe up after I’m done.

But it is the snacking that kills me. I have gone back to eating 5 small meals a day instead of the usual 3 and sneaking stuff. Lots of ice water too. It has to be really cold. I also quit sitting at the puter all day. I found I was eating more that way then getting exercise. Go figure. So thankfully, the snow has kept me outside shoveling and blowing.

Now I need to get on the cleaning and re-organizing of this house from hell!!That should keep me away.

AND QUIT THE DANGED SNACKING ALL THE TIME. JUST CAUSE YOU CAN DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD!! (those 100 calorie packs are just plain dangerous. Especially the Oreo ones!!!)

But anyway, water and walking are the best thing to do. If it’s cold outside then bundle up and do it anyway. I did it all winter and now I’m used to it and I do it everyday. And remember you want to do a life style change not just a diet to lose a few pounds so do some stuff that you can LIVE with.

Missy

Well, my doctor yelled at me (ok, maybe he didn’t raise his voice, but it felt like it). How can they make you feel so ashamed of yourself I wonder??? The SDD didn’t fly for him either.

So, I totally understand your issues. Good thing is though, I have lost 14 of the 20 since mid-January. Too bad the shape isn’t the same as I shrink this time…

Love ya!