MegSchap's Journal, 13 Dec 13

consider doing a forum search with "motivation" 

Your motivation for continued success will come from having success to begin with. Try drinking LOTS of water to start. That will flush out your system and help to jumpstart the beginning losses. Going to dinner is a hurdle...but you can make up for it the next day after by cutting back. When you need to you can average your calories. Say you eat 3000 calories one day...then cut back to 1200 the next day. That will give you an average of 2100 for each day. try that and let me know how it goes. 

So MegShap you sound like me until I tried something completely new. I planned my meals for the week. I made my list and Sunday my husband and I went shopping and got everything on the list and NOTHING MORE. We went home and he helped me boil eggs and slice cheese portions. We grilled some chicken with great seasonings and packaged them up in portions. I bought a few Atkins breakfast drinks for the rush mornings and great salad makings. NO FRUITS> NO NUTS> NO BREADS FOR 2 WEEKS ATLEAST. I bought cucumbers, celery, broccoli, and cauliflower for my snacks. We bagged up my menu for the week while at work. 1 breakfast 1 snack 1 lunch 1 snack. Had dinner planned out and portioned in freezer bags, lean meats and veggies. No noodles or rice or any grain for 2 weeks. It worked. I weighed in on the 8th day and lost 4 lbs. No exercise. Just low carb. I am now on my second week. Thats how I HAVE TO DO IT CUZ I TOO LOVE FOOD AND ESPECIALLY MY COMFORT FOODS. But it helped me get my thinking and attitude right. You can do it. I also count my water intake. I am not drinking anything with added sugars. Water and flavored seltzer (carbonated) water with 0 calories. I am drinking 6-8 8 oz. servings of water daily. It is real important to cut out all breads and grains and nuts. The carbs turn into sugar and your body burns that and stores the excess, so the result is your body fat never gets burned off. If you cut out these carb foods you trick you body into burning your stored fat. Voila, weight off. Check out low carb diet solutions, like Atkins. I dont know about long term but short term its working great. JUST MAKE A PLAN AND DO IT. YOU CAN DO IT.  

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. It has been a difficult start for me, this new lifestyle I'm trying to acclimate to, but I'm finding that this site has a lot of very nice and helpful people on it. Other sites I've been to just haven't been that way...so if any site gets me there, it will be this one. Thanks from me to all of you who care!!!