I started a blog to record my thoughts and progress, but I figure I'll keep a thread going here too and update periodically. If you're interested in visiting my blog, it can be found at:

Life... in progress.

I'm just getting started on this journey, having been overweight my entire life. I've managed to avoid most of the 'fad' diets, but have had trouble sticking with a diet/exercise plan. Right now, my plan is to introduce exercise gradually and increase (yes, increase) my food consumption while adjusting the types of food I eat to cut my fat intake and eat more fruits and vegetables. I'm going to avoid fast food and soda, and stop skipping meals!

Today I bought a ham/turkey wrap for lunch as a healthy alternative to fast food. I was horrified to discover the amount of sodium (2260mg!) when I sat down to eat it this afternoon. I will probably remember to read the label before buying next time. I ended up only eating half the wrap, and suspect I will probably need to find something else to 'fill in' when I go out for more water.

I try not to believe everything I read on the internet but: "The minimum for a healthy person is eight to ten eight-ounce glasses a day," says Dr. Flaks. "You need more if you exercise a lot or live in a hot climate. And overweight people should drink in an extra glass for every 25 pounds they exceed their ideal weight. Consult your own physician for their recommendations."

So... based on that estimate I should be drinking 14 glasses of water a day. And here I thought I was doing well approaching the 8 glass mark...

Just shoot me. No wait, don't. I don't need anything else leaking. *runs off to pee again*

Progress is being made. I went grocery shopping this weekend and got lots of good wholesome food. However, I'm worried I might not have bought enough fruit to get me through the week! Might have to make a mid-week grocery run, which sucks (I hate grocery shopping) but isn't the end of the world.

I had half a grapefruit this morning with my cheerios. It's been a really long time since I tried grapefruit so I thought I would give it a whirl. The verdict? It was good. Sour but with a hint of sweet. I sprinkled a little bit of sugar on it to make it a little sweeter. It was just a pinch, and I've been doing so well I decided I earned it.

I've been having some trouble meeting my intake goals, but I'm working on it. My goal is 1619kcal, and over the weekend I went over by about 60kcal on Sat and was under 200kcal on Sun. Today's projection, with all my stuff entered into Fitday: 400kcal short. So, sometime this afternoon I need to figure out how to come up with another 400kcal between dinner and bedtime. Oh, and it needs to be carb/fat because I'm over my protein goal again.

Since my 1619 goal is for losing 2 pounds a week, I'm not sure if coming in under it will help or hinder my efforts.

I'm still drinking as much water as I can, but not consistently hitting 80oz/day. Both Sat & Sun I had to get up at 2am to pee. I hope that as my body gets used to the increased water intake I won't have to keep doing that every night.

It always amuses me when I go to add salad dressing to my Fitday food tracker it defaults to 1 liter. I'm always like 'zomg... dial it back there, partner!'

hello squeak! welcome to your diary! This forum is a great place to get support and understanding from hundreds of other people who are doing the exact same thing that you are!

How tall are you? and be careful with the amount of calories you are taking in. Too few and your body will go into "starvation mode" and will hold onto every calorie that you put into it.

Other than that, your water intake is great, and keeping a good attitude is wonderful! Keep up the work and you'll see a differnce in no time!

Hi Xorie, thanks for stopping by! I'm 5'6" and ~313. My ticker is off because I screwed up over the weekend and weighed myself without pants on. I corrected it on the ticker site, but it looks like it won't update the ticker itself until I enter my next new weight this weekend. With pants. (Though honestly I'm thinking of just weighing myself naked so I don't have the clothing variable to deal with.)

I'm working hard to meet my calorie goals. Still having trouble with coming in under and having to make it up at the end of the day, but I'm trying to adjust my meals so I don't have to do that. The day I made my deficit up with ice cream was fun though.

On the whole, I just feel very liberated. By watching what I eat I can still eat the things I love (like that scoop of ice cream) in moderation and not worry about what sort of havoc it's going to wreak on my weight loss.

Now I need to go look for that movie theater popcorn thread again, hubby is taking me out on Friday.

It's coming off! I'm so excited. Although I've had some issues with clothing interfering with my weigh-ins, I've settled on a good system (just strip down to my undies every week) and... 308! Woohoo! I'm not sure how often I should update my calorie goals, but I'm now about 6 lbs under where I started (maybe less, since my starting weight could have been 'heavy' due to clothes).

hi squeak!
how is everything coming along?

Hi Skim! Things are going well. I'm down six pounds, but part of that is clothing weight. Next weekend will be the true test, to see if I manage to drop 2 more pounds. That's my goal right now, 2/week.

Meeting my calorie goal has been a bit of a struggle. Too many days I'm coming in under the mark, but I'm trying to do better. I'm drinking lots of water and I think I've finally reached an equilibrium where I don't have to get up at 2am every night to pee! I'm eating better and feeling better. I've been trying to pinpoint sources of stress so I can remove them from the equation, too. Success has been somewhat limited there, but if nothing else I'm trying to take deep breaths and relax when I start to feel the pressure build.

One thing that I am starting to have trouble with is dealing with nights that my spouse cooks dinner. He wants to lose weight too, but he's not going the calorie counting route. He's just trying to eat better, so he's been looking around for low-fat recipes and such. Why is this a problem? I have no idea how to count them! It's easy to count a chicken breast, a cup of white rice and a salad (even though its broken down into components). It's hard to count a 'meat pie' made with extra lean ground beef, various tomato components, and a crust made from canned bread dough. And then there's the great veggie fiasco. I can't seem to keep him on track with a 'one protein, one starch, one green' menu. When we sit down and look at our menu for the week, I'm always having to tack green things onto his nights, and usually he forgets about 'em! Selective memory, I tell you.

I've discovered that my food plan is more difficult to stick to on the weekends. At work, I have plenty to keep myself occupied. When I'm home all day.. I start to get bored and my first instinct is to troll the kitchen. Fortunately there haven't been any disasters yet. Not even last night when I was seriously craving baked goods. I was twitching to bake brownies but... I didn't! Willpower don't fail me now...

I'm trying to eat more things that I don't normally eat but that I know are good for me. For years, I've been a salad purist... give me some lettuce and some salad dressing, that's all I really wanted. Maybe some cheese if I was feeling frisky and croutons if they were on hand. For the last couple of weeks I've been making an effort to add diced tomato, celery and carrot. A couple times I have added diced green bell pepper, which is something I have shunned for most of my adult life, cooked or raw. Strangely, I found that when it's mixed in with diced celery it's not as much of a powerful flavor and I don't notice the texture difference either. I also tossed some thin sliced green bell pepper into my scrambled eggs last weekend and it was OK. I just can't decide if the taste is something I like or not. I'm on the fence.

I've been eating a lot more fruit, it makes a great snack and helps me curb cravings for sweets. And by 'a lot' I mean going from 0 servings to 2-3 a day. I've started eating oranges, which is something that has never been a regular part of my diet. I'm even learning how to peel them without making a complete sticky mess!

I've also been learning some of my triggers. I crave sweets after dinner. I get the munchies when I'm bored or when I'm watching TV. I'm planning to either start working on a neglected knitting project or start a new one so I can keep my hands busy while watching TV.

2 more pounds down! I'm so pumped.

...that is all.

Lol, your posts make me smile ^^
You seem to be coming along great!
Congrats on your weight-loss so far!
Much love,
- Maya <3

Feeling a bit depressed today. Mostly I just feel like an idiot, even though I know I'm not. But some days I just can't help but sit and look around me at all the skinny people and feel like I just don't 'get it' somehow. Like, this whole nutrition thing and being healthy and thin is supposed to be a no-brainer. But here I sit, day after day, counting calories and reading articles on the 'net to try and figure out how to eat healthy and lose weight.

'Want to lose weight? Put down that hamburger and have a carrot stick.' says the narcissistic guy on the radio. Only people who have never had a serious weight problem will say stuff like that, because people who have know it's just not that easy.

Today, for the first time in three weeks, I wanted a cheeseburger. I wanted it so much I could almost smell it. I could almost taste the crispness of the lettuce, the warm melty cheese, the tang of ketchup and mustard. But I knew that it was more than a craving for a treat I used to enjoy regularly. It was a craving triggered by my melancholy, and I knew that I'd only feel guilty about it later. This time, my willpower prevailed. I had a salad. Unfortunately, I'm still feeling down in the dumps but at least I know that cheeseburger wouldn't have solved it.

I understand completely how you feel. I had a phase when I would just look around and notice how skinny everyone were, wishing that I could be one of them, any of them -- just to see how it feels. It was one of the down points of my life as usually I would never even think of trading my life with anyone elses.

I am so glad you fought with your craving and won. I know that I have said this probably a thousand times on here but I just love this quote:"Nothing tastes as good as fit feels". You'll remember it when you fit in those wonderful jeans two sizes smaller you always wanted:-)

Keep up the good work Squeak!

Feeling a bit better today, for those following along at home. My meals today have been a little heavier than usual but I've skipped the snacks and after dinner I should still be on target for my calorie goal.

I've been thinking a bit about what my doctor suggested and reading a lot online. I think I will probably give the low carb thing she advocates a try. It's not a true low carb diet in that it's 60g net carbs per day (a friend of mine says when he was doing Atkins he was down to 12g) but it's definitely lower than I have been at. I am going to finish out the week on my current nutrition plan and put together a menu plan for next week that is more in line with the program my doctor suggested and see how it goes.

One thing that I have learned when looking into low carb foods is that the fruits I have been gravitating toward are high in sugar. :/ And here I was, so proud of myself for eating oranges regularly for the first time in my life! Apples are good though, and I love apples. I've also discovered that apple slices with a sprinkle of cinnamon makes for a tasty variation. I'd never thought of doing that before without baking said apples in a pie or something. I don't know why, it makes perfect sense when you consider how tasty baked apple slices with cinnamon are.

I think the biggest challenge for me trying to cut carbs is going to be sharing meal preparation duties with my husband. As it is, I have trouble getting him to add something green. Now all those starchy vegetables he loves are pretty much off limits to me. So it's going to involve some creativity. We've already talked about getting a food processor. I'm going to try and be sneaky sometime and make him some 'mashed potatoes' out of cauliflower and see what his reaction is.