JenniCH

You have to want it badly enough... it's as simple and as complex as that. No one can GIVE you motivation... you have to truly want to live a better, healthier lifestyle. Either you'll find the motivation and make the changes necessary or you won't. It's 100% up to you.

One thing that really seemed to work for me regarding plateaus were calorie cycling (google this and you'll find LOTS of info). It's something I'll go back to when I'm done losing.... I'd have a range of 1,400 - 2,000 calories e.g. Mon - 1,400 Tues - 1,700 Wed - 1,500 Thurs - 1,800 Fri - 2,000 Sat - 1,400 Sun - 1,600 As…

I know how ya feel... Last May I was 5lbs away from my "goal weight" and it's now 7 months later and I've gained 15lbs, so now I'm 20lbs away from my "goal weight." It's incredibly frustrating but I've realized how easy it is to slip back into old habits and slack on exercising consistently... I'm just glad I only did…

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism when I was 18 (5 years ago) after I rapidly gained about 50lbs (within a few months!) even though my diet and exercise hadn't changed. Unfortunately by then... my habits weren't what they needed to be and the synthroid wasn't enough to keep me from gaining 50 MORE lbs...which led to 4.5…

Any major life decisions/changes are bound to make you nervous at one time or another... You just have to know the difference between normal nerves and feelings of absolute dread and wanting to run away :-P I don't recall ever really feeling nervous before I married my husband (we got married this past summer) but we've…

I feel ya... I went from almost a year of "no cheating" (some indulgences here and there) to the last 1-2 MONTHS being riddled with cheating... some days worse than others.... this weekend I finally laughed at myself and decided enough is enough and that I refused to tumble all the way back down the hill that I worked so…

I love it... I have about 2 weeks left in the 3rd month (Lean Phase) and then I'll do it all over again - Enough work outs so that I don't get bored and I have definitely lost a few inches and a few pounds and gained good muscle and definition. I love Chalene's energy in the videos and I like the cardio work-outs as well.

Okay - just breathe :-) I know how you feel... trust me -- I KNOW... however, I've also been told numerous times that after losing a significant amount of weight you should give your body AT LEAST 1-2 years to re-cooperate... as in it can take that long for the skin to shrink back up - it seems like a long time to wait but…

I drink between 60-80 oz a day and yes, I may make quite a few trips to the bathroom but I just think of it as I'm burning extra calories with those extra trips, ha ha... I've been doing this since... March and I RARELY get headaches anymore (I used to get them every day) and my skin is clearer and a whole host of other…

I drink 1-2 muscle milk lights per day (before or after a weight-lifting work-out) and it hasn't caused me to gain weight...I count it in as I would any other calories... love it :)

I am currently zig zagging --- my weeks look like this... Mon (low day) - 1510 Tues (high day) 1810 Wed (low day) - 1510 Thurs (Medium day) - 1660 Fri (low day) - 1510 Sat (high day)-1810 Sun (medium day) - 1660 I've been doing it for almost 3 weeks and went from losing NOTHING for a month or more to now I've lost about…

I keep a Food Journal to help me stop before I start binging... no it's not a journal I track the food I eat in (That's what MFP is for haha)... it's a journal that I whip out and write down what I'm feeling and WHY I want to eat... I also put inspirational quotes & pictures in it... write down the REASONS I am choosing to…

The scale can be one of the most fickle and inaccurate measures by far..... I used to weigh myself obsessively multiple times a day and realized that it was an unhealthy & often demoralizing habit... Now I only weigh in ONCE a week... same day, same time etc. and my results are consistent and I don't find myself obsessing…

I have considered talking to my Dr. about IBS... guess I'll have to do that if nothing else works. I'd say 1/2 the time I eat ripe bananas and the other 1/2 unripe so I'll cut out the unripe ones from now on... and I'll replace some of my other dinner foods with broccoli & beans :)

Yup - I exercise, at LEAST 6x a week -- I do a good mix of cardio, weight-lifting & running (I just don't log my exercise because I don't trust MFP's calorie burn for exercises).

Thanks for all the suggestions - I'll have to try some out and keep hoping... The only dairy I have is Greek Yogurt (Fage) & 1-3 eggs a day mostly for the protein and those were in my diet before the constipation started. Otherwise I stay away from other dairy (no cheese, no milk etc.) Nope don't take an iron supplement...…

I highly recommend ParaGuard... I've had it for about 2 years and am SO SO SO thankful that I no longer have to have a birth control that has hormones in it (so much research has been done on the negative side effects of women being on hormonal birth control for years & years). Yes the insertion of ParaGuard was painful…

Awesome! Thanks for the resources, checking them out now!

Hmmm I didn't notice that I was having myself doing double-workouts 7 days a week... suppose I should cut it down to 5-6/days a week... I think I just doubled because I'm so paranoid about the days where I'm eating 1,800 calories... I haven't consumed more than 1,800 calories in a day for over a year (when I used to be…

I bought one, wasn't for me. I got bored just sitting there (and feeling kind of perverted) for 6 minutes... I would rather do regular weight lifting exercises (which I now do). I mean it's better than nothing but I'd use it in conjunction with some other activity (walking/jogging)

Under Doctor supervision I actually did Optifast for about a year (decided to ease back into regular food around March), lost 100lbs and I've been able to keep the weight off & continue to lose the last bit as I continue exercising as I should. I took that year to learn A LOT about nutrition, exercise and to prepare…

I like to mix Jillian Michaels with weight-lifting & running workouts as well - can't see how it'll hurt as long as you don't overdo it :)

I'm 3 weeks into it & LOVE IT. I don't dread doing it every day (I was doing Insanity and dreaded it so I stopped doing it) and Chalene is pretty good at keeping you motivated (w/out being annoying). I haven't seen too much in the way of results yet - but I'm sure it's happening - I suspect it'll be another couple of weeks…

QVC offers one just like that (but in different colors) around the same price. I've had it for about 6 months - makes QUITE the difference, I love it!

In case this may help ANYONE -- here are some quotes/guidelines/words of wisdom that I have swirling in my head that help me if I feel a binge mood coming on... 1. Eat good, healthy foods 2. Eat appropriate portions 3. Work on your issues 4. EXERCISE "Everything I put into my mouth will either bring me closer to what I…

Honestly - I do know how you feel. I went over a year without bingeing (lost 120 lbs) and then the closer I got to my goal weight, the more the binges would start to happen randomly... I'm only about 5-15lbs away from where I want to be and I think I'd be there if it weren't for the binges that occur. A couple of weeks ago…

**I think you are right on the money :) Doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the goal as long as we have a goal and reach it the healthy way!! And tinkering definitely seems to be the way to go - because yup, everyone is different - gotta be willing to switch things up and find what works :)

JoAnn - I am 5'7" and weigh 155... Since last June I've lost a total of about 120lbs... so I think my body is just really wanting/needing more calories after having such a huge deficit for almost a year! Congrats to you on the weight loss!! Go us :) :) :) I usually do running/swimming/other cardio 5 times a week but since…

Thanks everyone!!! I think I'm going to increase to 1,500 and see what happens - I expect good results :-) :-) I think I have the exercising down, I know I drink enough water (I don't log it in my diary but I drink at least 65 oz/day) and so I'm thinking an increase in calories will really get things moving again and I…

I've had MANY surprises over the last year - very eye-opening... my most recent one was PICKLES... they are 0 calorie but have 200g of sodium or MORE (depending on the size - and I'm talking about the small ones here)... I was getting ready to eat like 10 the other day because they seemed like a good crunchy snack but I…