Anyone want to join me?

Sure you can.  We're doing a check in thread as well...the last one was called week one.

When I say cheating... I mean going back to the old habits. Shoveling food for 30 minutes straight, or having way too much McDonalds.  [:@]
 
If this is going to be a life change, then you can't go back to your old habits. For me, my old habits, and what I would consider cheating.... eating half a box of cheezits in one sitting, eating a grilled chicken club with a super size fry and a strawberry shake, eating the whole bag of (13-14) pot stickers, eating a box of Brown and Server sausages to myself (10 links). I could go on forever. So if I don't want to "cheat" I can't do these things. If I do it once, trust me I'll do it again the next day!
 
So far so good though. After taking greasy foods out of my daily meals, and eating half as much, I seem to have a lot more energy.

Interesting thread.  I like hearing what works for people. I've discovered South Beach lately and have been really enjoying it.  I seem to be losing weight already (within the first week and a half) and don't feel that this is too extreme.  I feel that I can really embrace this as a life change rather than as a "diet."

I lose weight with high protein and very low carbs.  Carbs tend to be my trouble spot.  South Beach encourages high protein, but less fat than other low carb diets.  The veggies are also pretty much unlimited, which makes sense to me.  Anyone who has a carb addiction--I would suggest trying South Beach. 

Also, I find that lifting weights helps me. Most women worry that lifting will make them big, but I have found the opposite to be true. I build muscle and burn fat.  In fact, my arms get downright scrawny when I lift. Scrawny, but strong. I use free weights and nothing works my core better.  Free weights forces you to use your abdominal muscles and I find that it really kickstarts any fitness routine.  Lifting is also ideal for fighting Ostial Perosis (sp?) and bone density loss.  Can't recommend it enough. 

Oh and I also agree that a little fat goes a long way.  I will eat less (and suffer less) if I allow myself higher fat, lower carb foods.  On low fat diets I cannot lost weight.  At all.  I felt that there was something desperately wrong with me until I started eating higher fat/lower carbs.  It's hard to lose the "low fat = better" paradigm, but that shift in thinking really worked for me.  

I lost 10 lbs since January.  It was slow but sure and I dont feel like I deprived myelf too much. I got a notebook and wrote down everything I ate, and got 1 day a week free day, sometimes 2 when I was bad.. But the other days while I was "on" I ate from 800-1000 calories on those days, on free days I ate fast food and candy as much as I could fit.  I know everyones daily caloric needs are different, I came up with eating 800-1000, I really dont know why I just looked up what I would need to eat to maintain, then based on losing a certain amount er week figured out that.  I am still doing this just upped my "on" day calories because although I still want to lose a bit more its only about 5 lbs. 
 
3500 calories is 1 lb.  If you eat 3500 more than what you need daily to maintain you will gain 1 lb... if you eat 3500 less or burn 3500 more than you need to maintain you will lose 1 lb.
 
For example if you wanted to lose 10 lbs in one month and you needed 2000 a day to maintain current weight you would multiply 2000 by 7 and get 14,000 (so 14,000 per week to maintain )and multiply that by 4 which is 56,000 (so 56,000 per month to maintain.  Now, 3500 calories being 1 lb we multiply that by 10 and get 35,000 (35,000 equals 10 lbs).   subtract 35,000 from 56,000 and you have 21,000 for the month to lose 10 lbs, that would be 750 per day. 
 
I know thats hard, you would have to figure it out to work for you but another good rule of thumb is just to reduce your daily intake by 500 a day and you can lose 1 lb per week.  Thats a lot less agressive than the 10 in a month, that was only my example of how you can figure out what you should eat to get what you want.  And of course adding in extra exercise counts, if you can just burn 500 more than you just stay at your maintain calories. I personally would rather eat less than work out because Im lazy.
 
I would HIGHLY suggest you take your measurements in one arm, one thigh, in your waist and hips, also write down your weight.  Once a week on the same day each week re-measure these areas and re-weigh yorself and write it down.  Its not good to weigh more than once a week because your weight fluxuates.  Sometimes the inches melt away but the scale stays the same, and this way you know you are getting smaller, its very satisfying to see the inches go, and makes the whole process seem easier (for me at least).  Since jan I lost 3 in my hips 1.5 in waist, 1 in my leg and 1 in my arm.  I am basically happy now as my husband and mom tell me to stop losing now (maybe just those 5 more for summer), but its so nice to have roof to yourself that you are making progress.
 
If anyone needs ideas on low calorie meals I have become an expert!  Just ask me,  I learned to get very creative the past few months. []
 
BTW I am late on posting this so how has everyone been doing??

Oh yeah,
 
Has anyone ever tried one of those things that mail you a month of food?  I considered it for my husband and I but have not done it.  Wonder if those really work.

My husband did nutrisystems years ago.  It worked great, but as soon as he stopped using it, he gained the weight back.
 
In my mind, the problem with stuff like that is that you are "on a diet".  It doesn't teach you to make wiser choices in food and change your lifestyle...it just gives you a packaged meal to eat and you "get through" the diet the best you can.  You'll get results, but I doubt if they will last.  They didn't for Todd and he did the diet several times for different radio stations he worked for.

I am working today so I can't read all the posts right now but I am in!
 
I joined Weight Watchers a few years ago and got to my goal weight.  I eventually put a lot of it back on but have been working to lose it again since Jan!  I am half way there.
 
The most important things I have found for me are portion control, being able to snack on zero point foods, and making sure I get enough to eat so that I don't want to snack, not depriving myself of an occasional treat, lots of water, and exercise!
 
So one of my biggest saving graces is vegetables!  I make them with every meal and when I want seconds that is what I can indulge in!  I also use them to fill up my plate.  Maybe I am lucky b/c I LOVE veggies but they are great fillers.  Fruits are a good snack too but are not zero point foods...but still only 1 point so a good snack when you want something sweet. 
 
I also have a ritual that I go to the grocery store every Sunday and I make a menu for the week of dinner, usually Sunday through Thursday...and we go out Fri and Sat.  This means I can plan a healthy meal for each night and I always make enough for leftovers for lunch the next day.  This has a made a huge difference for me b/c it allows me to know what I will be eating for dinner to make smart choices during the day.  It also means I have all the ingredients I need when I get home and don't have to think about what to make and end up making a pizza or something.
 
Good luck fellow I-Doggers! 

Hey Glenda, why don't you post some of your lose-weight recipes in the "human food" section?  I'm tired of eating those liver treats.
 
[sm=rotfl.gif]
 

Anne, I don't have any recipes honestly.  DH is a type 2 diabetic so I watch his carbs, which means I watch what I cook period.  If there is a potato or pasta, its a dark green veggie which is lower in carbs.
 
I basically eat what I want to eat, but I don't do fast food...if I grab a burger once a month it's a lot......I don't do fried foods cuz we both have cholestrol issues and I eat them so rarely that when I do I have the runs....and as I've lost weight, I eat far less.  I eat when my stomach tells me its time, not cuz the clock says it is.  And I stop, not when I'm full, but when I'm no longer hungry.  I do eat a fair amount of fruit...bananas and apples....I drink a LOT of water, and I make sure that I get my 24 ozs of dairy every day....more for my bones than my waistline, cuz I'm so short waisted that when I weighed 100 lbs I still had a little bit of a belly.
 
I honestly found that once I'd lost the first 10 or 15 pounds and was able to get out and move more, that I really was able to increase the metabolism.  And the more I move, the less I want to eat.
 
While I do still make beef stew now and then, I'll do a harvest stew more often.  Same basic thing, but with the addition of zuchinni, green beans and tomatoes, so I'm balancing out the carbs better.  With regular beef stew it's pretty high carb even if it IS a family favorite!
 
And in the winter, when I just HAVE to have stuff like hearty stews, soups and that sort of comfort food, I try to make it more about protein than anything else.  I love making a pot of whatever soup and just letting it simmer all day. 
 
And, I truely LOVE veggies and salads so loading up on that kind of stuff is NOT a hardship for me at all!  Plus, I've never used a recipe in my life....I cook by look and taste and pinches and dabs!

Is it too late for me to join?

I'm a high protein, low carb, doesn't matter how much fat I eat kinda person. I get hypoglycemia if I cut the fat out, and cutting the carbs (reasonably, not totally) helps with joint pain, acid reflux and lots of other things.

So salads and steak. Salads and pork chops. Veggies and meat. No Cheet-os! [sm=uhoh.gif]

So am I in? I need to lose 30 lbs. And I guess I need a to buy a scale.

Funny thing, my boyfriend doesn't even have a bathroom, but he has a bathroom scale!

I don't even WANT to know where BF "potties" or showers.....
 
Of course you're in! 

Like many Alaskans, he has an outhouse. He carries water home in five gallon jugs, just like I did for the first year and a half I lived here. I heated water on the stove to wash dishes. I warmed washcloths in the microwave to wash my face in the morning.

He showers at my house, now, but most people without water (and there are many) shower at the laundromat, or at the swimming pool.

That got old very quickly for me. I hated showering at the laundromat. It was dirty.

The outhouse was okay until it was -20. There are just some things I (and many others) can't DO at those temps....no need to go any farther on that one! [:-]

That's your official introduction to what's known up here as Cabin Culture!