Hooray for you! You are definatelty doing great...and doing it the right way! What you've listed are all the reommendations I give to my clients, except I suggest you take your weight, cut it in half and that is how many g of protein to eat (we get several people in who have 100+ pounds to lose, so they need more protein).

Keep up the good work! I am so excited for you! Thanks for visiting my page.

I am feeling very committed right now...this site and all you guys inspire me every day! I love your quote too, buy the way!

You know, I had my baby girl in college...which looking back I don't know how I did it but I do know that God wanted us to have a baby. (It's a little bit of a long story, but here it goes):

My boyfriend (at the time, now my husband) never really believed in God...it's not that he had any disbelief, his parents just never took him to church or anything. Well, one day (after we had been dating a little over 3 years, by the way we started dating when I was 15), I found out I was pregnant. Our Doctor let us get an ultrasound, and called back a week later to say that we had low-amniotic fluid. I asked what that meant for our baby, she said not to worry and that we would get another ultrasound, but I said I wanted to be prepared so I wanted to know. Well, then she told us that our daughter would probably be handicapped or mentally retarded. Needless to say I cried and prayed all week, and a man my huband worked with approached him and said, "I am a pastor at a small church and I wanted you to know that my congregation has been praying for you."

A week later we went to the University hospital for another ultrasound...only to find that there was nothing wrong AT ALL with our baby.

So, my husband started going to church and I think that one day he would like to become a pastor! Isn't that awesome!?!

And our daughter is like a "super-genius," at least in my eyes. She has been reading since about a week before she turned 3...she is now 4 and can spell tons of words, she is very grown up and very sweet and compassionate.

WE ARE SO BLESSED!

Good luck with all your efforts! I know you can do it! Thanks for the post!

Nataliejo,

Thanks for the post! You know, I think I am a compulsive eater. I mean I am not bulimic anymore but I still do all the bigeing. I really hope that I can lose the weight this time, and I am excited about my progress so far, but you're right about my relationship with food.

You know what I always wonder? When you watch weight loss shows they're always like "I over eat because I had a bad childhood," or "because I was raped," or "because my father never cared about me," or whatever, but I cannot think about 1 thing that ever happened to me that would make me love food so much, I just love the taste of it! I also never feel bad after I eat, I just feel bad that I'm fat. When I'm done eating I just feel nice and full and relaxed, which I'm sure is because food is like a drug to the body.

Anyway, I really appreciate the support. It is people like you who are really helping me do it this time!

Thanks for the humor! I have had to measure a few people who were too big for my measuring tape, but they have been the most dedicated and successful clients I have had! And I know that you will be too!

I really appreciate the support!

Hey there - quickie tip on binge eating.

It's caused by a lack of nutrients in the foods your binge eating.

What????

Ok...let me try to explain.

The stomach is designed to tell your brain to keep eating until your full, right? WRONG!

The stomach keeps asking for food until it gets ALL THE VITAMINS, MINERALS, etc it needs to keep your body functioning.

So, if you're eating foods without much nutritional value, like white bread, candies, chips, etc., your stomach will say, 'mORE MORE MORE!'

Not cuz it wants to make you fat, but because it wants you to eat until you get the minerals it needs.

When you have a binge crazing, eat a handful of spinach. it surprisingly kills my cravings instantly.

hope this info helps! you're on your way girl!

~bry

Hey IWBT, a warm welcome to the forum !

I guess I agree with mal on this one. I just wonder why you dont follow the very advice you give your clients. I also wonder why you prefer to expend between 800 and 1700 cals on liquids like maple syrup mixed w/ cayenne pepper. To each his own so please dont take offense, it just seems like these diets defeat the purpose by not getting us used to a normal lifestyle change, by seriously messing with the metabolism, miss lots of important macro nutrients like protein and fat and a zillion vitamins and minerals, and are not needed to detoxify. I guess I dont believe our systems require these cleanses rather than the body just detoxifying itself (along with trying to go organic and detoxify that way when possible or affordable). I also worry that this promotes your bingey way of life. Instead of being on an even keel calorie wise, you're into big ups and obviously big downs like this. On the other hand, a week wont kill you.

What sort of exercise do you do?

What are these centers all about?

Thanks for the tip.

I actually did know that. This is going to sound really stupid but I do eat really healthy most of the time. Here's a sample day:

Breakfast: Old-fashioned oatmeal with fresh strawberries and 2 pieces of turkey bacon.

Snack: Apple with peanut butter, cup of skim milk

Lunch: Large salad made with dark leafy-greens, 3 oz chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, fat-free cheese and 0 calorie dressing.

Snack: Chips and salsa

Dinner: Lean cut pork-chop, mashed potatoes made with chicken stock and just a pat of butter, green beans with salt and carrots, cup of skim milk.

It's just that somedays I will have all that PLUS hundreds of other calories from junk food.

But before I ever learned anything about nutrition, when I was pregnant, I noticed that I would crave things that I wasn't getting enough of... like dairy or meats. At the time I thought it was strange but I guess it's just our bodies way of protecting itself!

It seems like you also know a lot about nutrition, do you have a weight problem? (Okay, that sounded like I was trying to be cocky, but I am totally not. The reason I ask is because it is really hard for me to be in the business I'm in and be fat!)

Well, if you do, good luck in your struggles too! I really appreciate you letting me know that. I'm sure that most people with binge-problems would not know it.

Thanks!

Blancita, thanks for the post!

You know, I did really well following the exact menus I give my clients, but my weight was all over the place...literally. I weighed myself every day for a month and kept a food log (this was all because I was going to a Doctor's appointment to have my thyroid checked and I wanted to show her that I was not crazy), so anyway like most people I did great Monday-Friday (the week that I started I was at 186 on Monday, 185 by Friday) then on Saturday I went to a wedding pary and the only "bad" things I had were a 2"x2" piece of cake and 2 cups of punch (non-alcoholic). Well, on Sunday I weighed 192. Mon. I was at 192...by Friday I got back to 188 (keep in mind, I was eating 1200-1400 calories Mon-Fri, and most weekend days).

So anyway, any time I would eat anything outside my program I would gain like 5 to 10 pounds. (And by outside the program I mean I ate 1800 calories on a bad day), it was so frustrating. I have only had 2 clients like this and I told them both that I was sorry but did not know what to tell them...I do not think you can eat perfect every day, and I told them to get their thyroids checked since I am not a Doctor. Well my Dr. said that my thyroid was fine, (by the way, after 1 month of eating this way (and I did not "cheat" every weekend either, one weekend was the party, one weekend I went to the movies and literally had 3 handfulls of popcorn, and one weekend was a night out with the family in which I had a piece of pizza, but still stayed within 1300 calories) my weight ended at 189...a one pound gain).

I do believe that our bodies cleanse themselves, but you would not believe how gross some of the things that come out of your body can be after 8 days or so on this. I am no expert on this diet, but there are a couple of books about it that I have thumbed through.

Anyway, in my Centers we do nutrition and exrcise programs for our clients. You meet once a week with our nutritionist, fill out a food log, get weighed, ask questions, set goals, talk about struggles, get measured monthly, and so on. We also have cardio equipment, weights, and "toning tables." Where you lay on the bed and use resistance to work against them to build strength, flexibility...they are great for people with limited mobility. One of my Centers used to be a franchise but the woman who owned it before me broke off, and I opened up the Second this past July.

We also have infrared bodywraps, and saunas.

Personally I like to walk, swim, do yoga tapes, and do some weights. I also bought Slim in 6, which I probably should do every day but I don't.

I HATE going to my Centers to work out because I can never get anything done unless I go after hours.

So normally I would not recommend any kind of fad diet, but so far it is the only thing that I can see the numbers consistently coming down...the last thing I need right now is to see my weight go all over the place because that is so discouraging!

Thanks for the post! I really appreciate the support. And good luck with your efforts! I wil be here if you need anything!

Hello IWBT,

That was a nice story- very touching, I'm glad your husband found God through that experience I'm not very religious but I do believe that there is a God and that He watches over us everyday- and yeah He puts us through a lot of sh*t at times, but there's a reason for it, haha.

Anyways, it's good to write down what you are eating. If anything, you'll begin to notice where you can improve. Or how much you are eating. Sometimes putting stuff like that on paper is way better than going through it in your head.

It's great that you work at a centre! If anything, you're being reminded of why you want to do this for yourself, haha.

Keep up the good work!

Hi I Wannabthin, Just want to say thank you for the support and great ideas! It great to know that there are people here to support you! I'm off to the store right now but will read your whole thread tonight and post back! Hope all is well! Have a wonderful day!

How is the lemonade diet going for you? Are you almost done? How do you picture your daily diet and routine once you are done with the lemonade diet?

Hi there!

Thought I'd pop over to your diary since you found mine.

The lemonade diet? Haven't ever heard of that one, but it sounds sweet and tart all at the same time, it's making my mouth pucker all ready.

I will keep in touch.

Good luck!

Thanks! I am so happy that he found God.

I actually never go into work anymore, I feel like I can't get anything done when I do! Ha ha! But maybe I would be in better shape if I did. Tomorrow I am going to go in and use some new equipment...you are my witness that I am saying it so you'd better hold me to it! I will probably check and see what you all are doing tomorrow morning, but then I'm getting my butt out of the house!

Thanks girl!

It is so awesome meeting other people who have the same goals as you do and who can all support eachother! I love it!

I'm not sure if I realized this before or not, but you have really done awesome with your weight loss! Keep it up!

So far so good. I will stop on January 11.

When I am done I will start eating 1200-1400 calories per day. But now I got some new equipment for one of my centers so I am hoping it will make a difference. It is really awesome and I was the first center (and still the only) to have it in my state.

But I guess I'll have to spend some time at work in order to use it!