While I was away

Betty,

You have come to the RIGHT place, for a convenient, user-friendly food and exercise diary, other tools that can help you, AND the most supportive group of people for encouragement to reach your goals.

Speaking for myself, this website changed my life. In April of 2009, I weighed 245 lbs., and I was on two blood pressure medications, looked and felt like H3LL!!

I did some research to learn that people who record their calories and exercise are more likely to lose weight successfully, and those that adopt a "lifestyle change" for the long haul, rather than a short term fix are more likely to KEEP it off.

I lost 50 lbs. in less than 8 months. As of today, I weigh 179.5 lbs. less than I did at this time in 1990 (I know this because that was the year I got married, and I had to do an "emergency" crash diet to squeeze into my wedding dress:blushing: ) I went to the doctor last Monday and my blood pressure is 100/74. I have been off ALL BP meds since March.

I did the first 50 lbs. with moderation of diet, calorie counting, and lots of walking. When I got to a point where I wasn't losing anymore, I realized I had reached a set point, where I had existed at that weight for a long period several years ago. I decided to take a more radical approach to loss and am following the HCG protocol. There are some who disagree with this approach, as a "quick fix," and insist the weight lost on it will be gained back, but since I spent 6 months essentially, maintaining at a 50 lb. loss, I don't consider losing fat quickly to be a "risk." The very low calorie diet can, at times, be a challenge to plan for, but I wanted to see some progress and I have, (as of today) going down 15.5 lbs. since July 19th.

I am not suggesting you must to use the HCG plan to lose. You have to find out what works for you. For starters, resolve to drink at least 8 - 8 oz glasses of water each day and start recording what you are eating. You don't necessarily have to make dietary changes, but I guarantee you that recording what you do eat for a few days will be VERY eye opening. Be sure to track sodium as one of the items in your food diary (you can change the settings to record what you want). If you use much processed food, you will be APALLED at how much salt is in everything.

You can start small, maybe you decide to increase your fiber, which has the added effect of keeping you full so you eat fewer calories. Or, if your diet has been really high in fat, moderate it, paying attention to how much saturated fat you are getting, and AVOID trans fats( =bad news for your cardiovascular system).

There are some very successful "losers" on this site. Look at tamishumate --you can search under find members at the top of this post. Last time I saw her ticker, she had lost 176 lbs!!!!!!

Good luck to you

EDIT: PS regarding rewards. I try to make my reward a non food item, but at times there is nothing like a square of dark chocolate, Ghiradelli, 76% cocoa fills the bill, and a square is only about 55 calories.