The Cauldron

I started making Pizza's on those mini whole wheat wraps.  Some Fat Free shredded cheese and tomatoe and it's decent.  I think if I was to have a slice of real pizza I would eat the whole pie...or at least 1/2...

---

Avi is my family crest.

I'm liking ths technique. Whenever I was dieting before I was always looking forward to the end of the diet where I could eat the foods I'd missed again. This time I'm already eating them, just less of them, because I want to and I'm satisfied. It's a pretty smart way to adjust long term thinking. I am eating healthily and clothes are loosening and I have more energy. I feel in control too which is excellent - so good so far.

---

Avatar by me.

Losing weight is a state of mind, not stomach...I'm finding that changing my thinking is working much better than changing my eating habits.  Like you said, you can't deprive yourself, otherwise you'll binge eventually.  If I crave something (chocolate...) I just have to find a healthier way of satiating the craving (fat free, no sugar hot chocolate with skim milk or water).

---

Avi is my family crest.

So far, anyway...

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Congrats!  My Weight Watchers meeting was cancelled due to ice and I really wanted to know exactly how much I lost...It will make next Friday's weigh in really dramatic, though!

---

Avi is my family crest.

Aww yeah, baby!!

I just did my measurements, and I am down a total of 8", including waist, hips, chest, bust, thighs, and calves. All the places I really need to lose at!

*Does Hayyp dance, and wonders how many calories it burned off*

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

I like the star!  It doesn't link anywhere, anyway.  Congrats on the accomplishment! 

---

Avi is my family crest.

I also lost 12 lbs, but I have yet to find out if the weight loss will continue. I have had a standstill for two weeks, though I guess it might be because I am building some more muscle. Or then I am just having a standstill...

Still, I feel alot better than I did some months ago.

---

avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

Sil, if you are building muscle, you might actually apear to gain some weight on the scale. Are your clothes feeling more loose, or fitting better? That sometimes is the real test. I think that the week I only lost 1 pound and the week I didn't loose any was because I was really, really working out hard , so I had gained muscle. But 12 pounds is great, Sil! I feel better too.

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

The one thing that our leader @ Weight Watchers said, which really clicked with me is to not starve yourself...meaning eat often, small meals throughout the day.  Her analogy was keeping a fire going.  You start with kindling (you must eat something within the first 1/2 hour of waking, even if it's just a piece of cheese or hard-boiled egg white).  This tells your body you don't plan on starving it and it can start to burn fat.  Then you need to keep putting fuel on the fire (food) throughout the day to keep the fire burning, otherwise it will go out (your body will start hording what you do eat because it thinks it may be it's last meal).  You don't have to have 6 meals a day, just little healthy nibbles to stoke the fire.  Seems to be working.

Sil, how is your eating frequency?

---

Avi is my family crest.

Breakfast (within an hour of waking up), lunch (these two first are my main meals of the day), then something light in the evening. In addition I eat nuts, fruit/carrots, etc between meals to avoid start feeling hungry. I know that once I feel really hungry I will overeat, so that is the stupidest thing to do. I'll rather eat something light an hour before a meal and not be so hungry when I sit down for my meal. So I guess I am alright. I suspect I need to up exercise further though, because I dropped alot when I started walking an hour/day again right after sitting still for three weeks to let a damaged knee heal, but by now I guess my body is used to that exercise. That is at least what it seems to me. Now, just to find the time to do more... without sacrificing other things that keep me sane.

I know however that clothes that I haven't been using for a while fits again, and my face looks different.
And in the end, I am rather content, because although I am overweight I am actually rather fit and strong inside my layer of fat, and healthier than many thin people (now that I am back in shape and again can walk briskly for three hours without much side effects other than a drop in blood sugar which I should have anticipated but didn't because I was distracted by other happy thoughts). So I don't care much what people think anymore because I realised this, and perhaps also because I finally got an answer to why I easily gain weight (same cause which gives me all the allergic reactions although I don't have any allergies). Thus I don't feel so much pressure and guilt about weight, and its subsequently easier to lose it.

But I admit it would be cool to lose more. Like, alot more. But I will take what I get, and I won't starve myself for it.

---

avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

Yeah!! Even stressed out I can do this!!

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Big WOOT, Val and WB, for keeping it up and losing the weight!

Sorry to hear you are stressed out, Val.  *Big Hug*

---

"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

Even though the big rush of weightloss that comes initially has passed, I am still losing apparently. I haven't weighed in for some time, and I haven't been trying to lose either (but keeping to my new sense of balance), and I have now lost 18 lbs+possibly a bit more cause I am not sure what I weighed before I started losing. Feels good! Soon I will need a new belt, the last one I had that was still usable (not too large) I just had to pull in to the last notch. Whoohoo :)

Hopefully all the exercise I will get today (moving day!) will help me along too!

---

avatar drawn by me.

~If the future isn't bright, at least it's colourful~

That's great, Sil!! Yeah, I really think that if you make any positive changes to your activity and diet, then you'll see results. They may be a bit slower, but slow is the way to go when it comes to weight loss.

Good luck with your moving!

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

WOOT!  For you too, Sil!   

I haven't been actively trying to lose weight either, just get myself back into better eating habits.  Eating on the Go has got to stop for me.  I haven't been able to get my rings off in over a year, so I know that when I can get them off again, that I'll be at the weight I want to be. 

---

"No, they're not real, but thanks for noticing"! WoW Dwarf Female /silly
Avatar by Krinsel

Sil, that's awesome!!  Keep it up.

K, I laugh because my rings are swinging around on me now...I've been thinking about getting those sizer things for them until I am done...and my rings are size 4!

Val, doing good!  How are you feeling?  Are you down to the next size yet?

---

Avi is my family crest.

I am probably down to the next size. I've just been changing the notch in my belt! I stalled this week, though. However, it's the week before that special week, and since I stalled this time last month, I'm chocking it up to that. I wish I could move a little faster. I get impatient! But one pound a week is good and steady, so I guess I better be happy, huh?

Up until the last two days, my rings have been driving me nuts because they keep sliding around! LOL

---

Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Congrats on all your progress, ladies! I've been working on trying to eat more produce and protein rather than the oh-so-easy carbs, but it can be hard when some days I'm out of the house for 14 hours. I'm making some slow progress, though, and doing the little bit of slimming down I've wanted to do. I've never been heavy, but my mom's side of the family has a history of diabetes, so I'm trying to make sure I never get into that situation.

Eating slow works for me. I've always been a slow eater, and I've never really been able to continue eating after I feel full.

---

Avatar by me, for me.