:flowerforyou: i am new member and also having trouble staying focused on healthy eating but working on it ! I drink like they say lots of water a day and am in to fruit lately berries are very good for u also am trying to lower my cholesterol was high at doctors last time so i have decided to cut back on red meats, and eat more chicken and fish also load up on veggies ! i love my veggies! one thing I can tell u if your not already doing cut down on butter it is sooo bad for u I use and have for years olive oil in all my cooking and when I eat a salad balsamic vinegar and olive oil for me only I also eat whole wheat bread any way hope this helped add me if able i need to loose 25 lbs and just started new member

Staying accountable using this site has helped me stay focused a lot. I've been on a diet on and off for about a year I had fear of the scale, and didn't weigh myself for that entire period. Even at the doctors I would request them not to tell me. I thought that if I ignored it, it didn't really matter. I lost some weight by "guessing" because I see it in the mirror, but I find that setting smaller goals for myself and actually getting on the scale and seeing the numbers (which I did yesterday), has made me want to do better.

As for right now, my goal is to lose 10 pounds by the end of April.

I've started to do Shape Magazines Drop 10 diet which will help you lose 10 pounds in 5 weeks.

As far as the diet, Shape's plan is to eat 1400 calories, and then add another 200 of "happy calories" tallying up to 1600 calories daily.

Happy calories can be filled anything you want. But it has to make you happy You can have a treat everyday, or save it for the end of the week to have a "cheat meal."

Personally, i choose the cheat meal. One meal a week of pure bliss

I also have switched all of my liquids to water and green tea. Except for milk in my cereal, and sometimes diet soda. I used to drink diet soda all day long, and i have learned to cut it down to a few cups a week.

Exercise: I am doing Shape's plan of doing HIIT three days a week. (High Intensity Interval Training) for thirty minutes. For those of you who don't know about this, HIIT is doing high intensity bursts and low intensity recovery. Like sprinting for 30 seconds, and walking a minute to recover. It blasts calories and also helps with plateau if any of you are having a problem with that. I do this for thirty minutes.

Then, twice a week, I do an hour of strength training. I used to believe building muscle made you bulk up! But it really doesn't. It tightens up a woman's whole body and can make her look fantastic even if she isn't at her goal weight quite yet. If any of you go to 24 hour fitness I highly recommend 'Les Mills Body Pump'.

WE CAN DO IT EVERYONE!! You are worth every good thing in this world, including being happy and healthy Good luck.