Thanks for visiting.

Dawn
I find that fruit is a great way of filling up. Especially if you have a sweet tooth and a good appetite. The great thing is that it takes no real preparation and is really healthy.

It is perfectly normal for women to retain water and not lose weight around TOM. We also retain water if we eat too much sodium - which is why we try to keep our sodium level under 2500.

Every so often I check out my nutrition using fitday.com. It can do so much more than count calories. I personally hate counting calories - but like to think that I am getting the right balance of different nutrients.

It can be a good idea to make sure that you are drinking enough water each day (strangely we retain water if we do not drink enough). The calculation that many of us use is 1 fluid ounce for every two pounds of our weight.

Naturally you drink it after you have weighed yourself as the scales cannot discern between your body and the food / drink recently consumed.

Judy
There are often these little language problems. At least everything makes sense now. I am more than happy to explain.

Kimberly
In all honesty - Wimbledon and rain often go together. You were particularly lucky not to have your holiday marred by rain when you consider that you wanted it to align with Wimbledon.

I have hardly been out since we got the treadmill. It is great to be able to stay dry and do my walking. Today has most definitely been "drowned rat" weather - and I didnt have to go out. I had the door to the back garden open so there was a nice breeze on me as I did a 7 mile walk on the treadmill this morning and a 4 mile one this afternoon. It was very comfortable and it was quite pleasant hearing the rain and knowing that I didnt have to get wet. It rained yesterday too (though not as hard) so I did all my walking indoors yesterday too. At this rate it will pay for itself very quickly.

Thanks for the congratulations! My weight was 9st7.2lbs today (133.2 pounds) in jeans. I am hovering just over the nine and a half stone milestone. I toyed with taking my weight in shorts - but considered it cheating as it is not really shorts weather. I do indeed hope to be in the 120s fairly soon.

Robinsons do a pretty good range of sugar free squashes. In fact - the grapefruit and the peach that I use are both from their range. The cherry is a Tesco's own brand and the apple is an Asda own make.

For some reason a lime drink is often called a cordial here - but you wouldnt really call anything else a cordial. I think it is just based on what the manufacturer decides to print on the label. Generally people refer to them as squashes (when they are the sort of bottled drink that you dilute).

Take care
Love
Margaret

Being a tennis fan, I'm all too familiar with rain and Wimbledon..lol. I like to think the reason the first week had such good weather was b/c I was there. Notice the rain after I left? This is why the tournament should give me free tickets and airfare to ensure good weather every year.

You certainly can put up a good arguement for their sponsorship. You certainly brought good weather here. How come you have not obliterated the rain at home today?

I'm back from my holiday weekend, so I just wanted to stop and say hi. You are still doing amazingly well. I've been considering weight watchers, at your suggestion, although I'd really like to be able to do it myself. But let me know how it goes for you.

Apparently it only works in England..lol.

Got 2/3 of our pics developed today. The one with you and the one with Rod turned out well. Shall I upload it for all to see??

Ooooo, I had a persimmon for the first time today, yum! Anyone else tried these?

Thanks for visiting.

Gonnagetabs
I hope that you had a good weekend. So far WW has been going pretty well for me. In all honesty - my project was going pretty well as far as weightloss goes before I brought them into the loop - my huge concern was regarding how I will cope with maintenance. It would have cost a small fortune if I had lost all my weight with them - but as it is I will get all the same help with maintenance after hardly paying anything. I have had some good ideas from them for food to bring in. Before WW I was not eating baked potatoes, quark or cottage cheese. I am eating them now and losing very well. I am also getting all sorts of lovely low calorie sweets from there. I have decided to try quorn next.

Kimberly
Feel free to upload the photo.
Should I upload a photo of you, Dev and I?

Anke
I am all in favour of yum fruit. I havent tried those - but have made a mental note that I should try them if and when the opportunity arises. It is funny how yummy fruit is and how little we eat it if we are not trying to be health-conscious and / or lose weight.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Monday 07/07/08:

weight 9st7.2 i.e. 133.2 pounds

At least 3 hours exercise walking.
Pedometer readings at end of day:
---Steps = 31,843
---Distance = 12.31 miles

My Food / Drink:
2.5 litres of cold water
some diet cola
3 weetabix, sweetener, 350 ml skimmed milk
oatibix
2 * Shape no fat yoghurt
cottage cheese, 2 peaches, 2 plums
salmon, sweetcorn, peas, small amount of olive spread
1 banana
2 pears
1 apple
sugar free jelly
sugar free gum
some WW sweets

Can you Pm it to me first so I can make sure I don't look hideous?

David says hello and is impressed that you've already lost about 4lbs since we first saw you in London. I'm impressed, too.

I have sent you the PM. You can now post it as and when you decide to post the others. As you can see - the only person who looks hideous is me - and that is because the camera keeps trying to convince me that I look old. At this rate - more plastic surgery is beginning to beckon - hot on the heels of the boob job and tummy tuck that already are queuing up in my mind.

Say hello to David from me too.

I have no complaint about my rate of weightloss. In all honesty - that is going better than I thought that it would at this stage in the game (we hear so much about things slowing down towards the end).

Having said that my weight is slightly up today. More to do with toilet activity (or lack of it) than anything - so not a concern. We know to take our daily weight fluctuations in our stride.

I had a long discussion with my Weight Watchers leader - and she has convinced me to set a goal weight which is 8 stone 12 pounds (i.e. 124 pounds) - five pounds higher than my longstanding ticker goal weight (which has been 119 pounds since I was very big). I will update the ticker goal weight to reflect this.

The reasoning behind this is:
- I am looking reasonably slim now.
- I was last at 119 pounds when I was 19 years old - which is a long time ago.
- I was totally happy weighing 119 in my late teens.
- In my early to mid twenties (before my PCOS big gain) my weight varied between 119 pounds and 126 pounds - and while I did have odd days when I tried to eat more carefully - I never thought that there was too serious a problem.
- With WW you can vary your weight up and down by 5 pounds each way and retain gold membership. That means that I would be able to have a weight between 119 pounds and 129 pounds. This range incorporates pretty much all the weights where I would feel comfortable.
- Once I hit 124 pounds I would stop paying and get hold of all their information on maintenance.
- She says that if I start to look gaunt before I get to 124 pounds I can change things and stop where-ever I like instead - but obviously I would then be working with a higher range.
- The plan is to get to 124 - then try maintenance. If I want to try and reduce a little within the range after trying that for size - that can be an option.

That means that I am nearer to my first attempt at maintenance.

Hey there Margaret. You look very pretty in your pics so we you must be very photogenic then and look better in pics than in real life .

So I thought about something you said to me in my diary, that my skin looks tight and toned though I probably carry more fat than you at this point. May I STRONGLY recommend weight lifting? Just yesterday in the gym I was complimenting this beautiful and extremely toned and fit and muscular, but still very petite and feminine, just defined and strong looking, woman. Turns out the woman is 60 years old, but has the body of someone in her 20's. I asked her how long she's been lifting and she said for 28 years. Her ass is high, boobs high (of course you still need to get rid of tons of skin on boobs and tummy first via the surgery) and legs and back tight as a drum. I have lifted since 1993 and I can guarantee it keeps things firm and strong looking, despite going up and down in weight. I've only lifted maybe 8 months out of the year just two times a week max, and sometimes less.

For maintenance, you will not believe how useful lifting is if you have your appetite under control like you do once you build up some muscle tone and can lift heavier. I used to lift twice a week for 30 minutes and then just do one or two walks a week and I couldn't believe how much food I was putting away without gaining. This is before all my weight gain and dieting (but just about 3 and half years ago) so its not working so well now. But still, even when I gain a few pounds I still feel toned and not flabby and jiggly.

Just a thought for your future maintenance plans.

Claudia - you say the sweetest things - but I am realistic enough to recognise that my looks are not all that I would like - especially according to the camera.

I will definitely look towards toning in order to improve things. I am certainly not going to say "job done" when I get to the goal weight. It has been too much of a struggle to get here - not to make the best of myself that I can. All that I need is some hard work, some plastic surgery, and if possible a time machine to knock off a few years!!!

Weight Watchers sounds great. I am more and more tempted to join. But how would I decide if I need it. I am currently doing alright on this new plan. Should I see it out, and then decide to join? Maybe I'll just do it for maintenance, like you are. I notice your diet doesn't seem to have that much protein in it. I've been trying to add more into mine, but I don't really like it. I much prefer to eat tons of fruit. How come you don't eat that much? Do you think its okay not to? Thanks in advance for your advice. It's always helpful.

I think that's great that you put your goal up to 124. After seeing you in person (how tiny you are), I think that's a good decision. Keep in mind that the loose skin makes you weigh more than you would without it--so you would probably weigh 123-128lbs right now if you didn't have it.

Claudia's suggestion of weights is a good one. Look at the success Rae has been having with her bowflex.

Thanks for visiting

Gonnagetabs
As far as WW is concerned - only you know if free membership is likely to be useful for you. I know that it is the best thing for me - but I know that maintenance is going to be a major problem for me. In England - you need to have at least 5 pounds to lose - and be ending up with a BMI between 20 and 25. Dont leave it too late if you do want to join.

You may be interested to know that I have just fed my food on Monday (most recent day posted in the diary when you made your comment) into fitday. There was 108g of protein in that! I suppose the thing is that I do not list quantities - and have a good serving. Also there is protein in all sorts of things - cereal, milk, yoghurt, cottage cheese, salmon, jelly, fruit and veg.

I consider 108g to be more than enough for someone my weight. Maybe not classed as "high-protein" - but plenty.

Kimberly
I think that the new goal will get me to where I want to be. There is no denying that I am carrying a fair amount of extra skin that I was not carrying when I was young. It is funny - when you have had a goal weight on your ticker for so long - you feel like you are moving the goal posts and massaging the figures to say - maybe I dont need to do quite all that. If I once think that I am getting gaunt looking I will raise it again - but I honestly do not think that is a problem. I do find that I am looking in a mirror more than ever before just seeing how things are going. It does seem really wierd to see someone that people would not think of as big looking back. It is so strange seeing my collar-bones - but I have noticed that you can see those on quite a few people.

Take care
Love
Margaret