For Nikki

Top Ten Positive Things About Phase One

10. You don't have to think much about what you will eat...there aren't too many options to confuse you.

9. You are forced to learn how to cook and eat lots of vegetables.

8. You have few to no cravings for sweets (after the initial 3 day detox.)

7. Although the initial detox is kinda hard, at least you've got a lot of junk out of your system.

6. Increased energy.

5. You start losing immediately.

4. Your clothes start fitting better immediately.

3. South Beach Cookbooks are really cool.

2. Steak, grilled onions and mushrooms and salad is a really yummy dinner.

And the number one positive about Phase One of South Beach is...................

(drum roll, please...)

1. Brussels Sprouts With Garlic! A recipe that I never would have tried unless I had done Phase One of South Beach. And I LOVE it!! :-)

We're in this with you, Nikki! You can do it! :-)

*Link added for the Brussel Sprouts Recipe*

My First Post!

I thought I would right my first post here since I haven't really been around much since the new sight. So here I am. Nikki. A 29 yr old mother of 3 and wife of 1. I was a really thin person up until age 19 then it was up and down a lot. I have 28 lbs I would like to lose but my short term goal is 18 lbs. I am not good at fitting in exercise at all. I want to but I homeschool and my kids are still young and and and I will give you any excuse I can find. So here I am again. Starting phase 1 AGAIN! I really want to get down to 160 by Thanksgiving if possible. That is what I weight last year at Thanksgiving and that is when I went off South beach and never could fully return. So that is pretty much it for me. Yesterday I was successful at not cheating at all and today I plan on doing the same! Have a great day!

Welcome to Monday

The start of another new week. How are you planning to 'fight the fat' this week?
And while you're here, weigh-in!

bonus pic...

cos Boo said I didn't post enough pictures of me ;)

There are...

just over 12 weeks until Christmas.
I'm thinking about some sort of challenge. Any ideas let me know, and I'll get back to you all soon.
Things need shaking up a bit around here!

Introducing Debs

Hmmm, well, where do I start? I guess most of you probably know at least a little bit about me by now.
I'm 26, I'm currently living in London with my parents. I'm weighing in mostly around 210lb at the moment, and in a way my weight loss is on hold for a bit.













I've been dealing with depression lately, and focusing on just trying to stay on track with my
eating and not comfort eat too much.
Couple that with a badly sprained ankle over a month ago, which means I'm not really able to exercise much at the moment, and it's a recipe to be pretty much stuck. I've lost and gained the same 10lb over and over again, but I think that to be honest, so long as I stick around the same sort of bracket, I'm not too worried at the moment. Obviously, I would like to keep losing weight, but I'm trying to be realistic about it.












I probably have other things I should add, but that's all I've got right now. So instead I've included a few pics of me, taken over the past few days/weeks












This is the most recent one - I had my hair cut last Monday.

Presenting Elly

I know that she's not really an official OWOA member anymore, but I thought I'd upload a photo of her from this morning - modelling her recently completed jumper. Doesn't she look good at goal? :)

Pumpkin Pie latte

Oh mylanta! I found an absolutely yummy recipe over at Livin Our Love Song earlier this week. Being a latte and pumpkin freak I had to try it. It was so yummy I inquired if I could share with you and was happily given permission. I know that some of y'all out there like your latte too so this is being shared with you in mind.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Pumpkin Pie Latte

1 heaping T. canned pumpkin
2 T. Vanilla syrup
1 t. Ginger Spice syrup (or sub 1/4 t. ground cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice)
1 cup milk
1-2 shots espresso (1/4 C. espresso or 1/2 C. strong brewed coffee)
To make a pumpkin latte at home: In a small saucepan, stir pumpkin puree into milk. Add syrup and cinnamon. Heat gently until steaming, stirring occasionally.
Blend on high for 20 second until foaming. Pour flavored milk into a tall glass and pour coffee over. Dust with ground pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg.Serves 1.

Thank you Ash for letting me share your recipe and for letting me use your picture!

Heading into the weekend

After weighing myself this morning (yes, after requesting the extra weigh-in to be on Thursday, I totally forgot about it. Whoops!) I can see that I need to be disciplined this weekend and make sure I stay on track with my eating. Cardio exercise is still pretty much a no-no for me - although my ankle is a bit better after some physio, it's still painful. Therefore I need to be extra disciplined about my eating.

I'm gonna try to stay on track, although I'm not sure eating a cold sausage and a portion of blackberry&apple crumble for breakfast was the best start to the day...! I may be going out for lunch today, in which case I will make myself choose something that's on plan.
How are you planning to survive the weekend? ;)

What's the weigh?

Okay, so here we have it. Our first mid-week weigh in. This is purely optional. I'm doing it because I need the accountability. I was down yesterday from Monday but after my 2 small pieces of pizza I'm up to 194.6. I am so determined to see something lighter on Monday.
We can do this you guys! Let's really lean on God and the friendship of each other.

What's for dinner today?

We'll be having fajitas.
Plan something yummy and then RESIST the evening snacks. (Yes, I'm talking to YOU ;) )

Wednesday shout out!

Hey all? How are you guys doing so far this week?
What's been or what do you think will be your biggest obstacle this week?
Mine? I'm supposed to meet my parents and nephew at an all you can eat pizza bar. Okay, first and foremost all you can eat and pizza...just wrong. Secondly, my parents and my relationship is very strained. So, this would lead to major stress eating BUT I am determined to only purchase the salad bar. No pizza or joes or bread or beans or chicken for this chick.

So, talk to me.
One last thing. For those that want to we will have an optionally weigh in on Friday. I know that for me I think it might help me to get through the weekend without blowing the progress of the week.

What's Holding You Back?

I need honesty from all of you chicks out there. You need to honestly tell me ... what's holding you back from consistently losing weight and keeping it off?

I'm just as guilty as anyone. What's holding me back is my food idolatry. :-( I love food, and I love to eat it -- lots of it! Seriously. While I've lost more than 50 pounds since March 2007, I've had the same freaking 20-ish pounds to lose for the past year or more. That's jacked up!

This week I didn't lose any weight, but last week I lost three pounds. So hopefully I can lose a pound or two for next week, and be right back on the losing track.

What's holding you back? (By the way, if you're not being held back, and you're consistently losing and keeping it off, what was your motivation? What helped you say "enough is enough"?)

Monday, Monday, so good to me

It's another Monday morning, the birds are singing sweetly in the trees, the sun is shining, the...
actually, the only thing true in that last sentence is the fact that it's Monday, but a girl can dream.

Weigh in, and tell us one goal you have for the coming week. It can be weight-loss related, or not, I don't mind!

all about me

Hello. I'm Bekki, aka Pig Wot Flies (There's an explanation in this old post). I'm also Debs' sister and Elly's daughter. I've been on the large side (tall and overweight) for most of my life. I've wanted to lose weight for years, but never really felt like I could. Then when Debs and Elly started South Beach back in 2006, and it seemed to be working for them, I thought I'd give it a try. I started in January 2007, weighing 200lb and over the next 10 months or so lost nearly 40lb. My lowest was 163lb, just before my birthday (13 October). I even started going to the gym and enjoying it. However, this year, life started to fall apart. I injured my back in January, which kept me out of the gym. Then in March/April, I had a flu-type virus from which I never recovered. It left me exhausted, depressed and not able to do much. Eventually I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with post-viral fatigue. I was pretty depressed for most of the summer and comfort-eating. I stopped weighing myself because I just didn't want to know.

I think lots of the reasons for being depressed had been building for years. At some level I'd thought losing weight would make me happy, but it didn't. Nothing did. I was covering up the sadness by being very busy. I left my job to start an MA in English in September 2007, which I think was the right thing to do at the time, but by the end of 2007, I was just busy busy busy all the time, with very little time to stop and think and pray and actually think about being happy. Happiness was always delayed, to be found when I'd handed in the next essay or finished whatever was making my life hectic at that moment.

I'm getting better, gradually, with the help of friends, prayer, anti-depressants and counselling. I still get tired easily, but I'm mentally more positive. I'm taking a break from my course. My essays are done, but I've got a dissertation to write which I can't face at the moment. I'm looking for a part-time job; something to pay the bills and give my week some structure without wearing me out.

This morning I weighed 183.4lb. Clearly the comfort eating and inability to do anything have had the obvious effect. But I'm getting back on the weight-loss wagon. I want to take things very slowly, make little changes and not beat myself up for the failures. I still dream of vintage dresses, Tami! I've got a couple I fitted into last year that now don't fit and I'd love to get back into them again. I also have a lot of thinking and praying and sorting out to do. Being ill has left me questioning a lot of my plans for the future and wondering if the things I thought would make me happy are really so good. But, not being able to do anything made me cry out to God more and He's my hope that my life does have a purpose and I will be whole again.

Here's a recent photo of me, with DebbieBoo in Cambridge last Friday. I may not be as slim as I was last summer, but I'm still slimmer than I was when I began this weight loss journey. I've got some way to go, but I've learnt that losing weight doesn't fix me or make me happy, God does.

FINALLY!

I finally have a minute to sit at the computer and write out an intro post. I've been running around crazy for well over a week now, and although it's midnight, I figured it's now or never!

Hi, my name is Debbie, but since my bro, Bird, is also online many have come to know me as Boo. So to avoid confusion (esp since we also have a Debs) I was appointed the name DebbieBoo for the sake of OWOA-ers. Calling me either Debbie or Boo is fine.

Up until three months ago I had been a Kindergarten teacher. I love teaching and loved the kiddos and all the teacher friends I made, but my school was horrendous! Extra long hours, on top of an hour commute each morning and evening, took their toll on me. Plus the extra-curricular requirements -- one or more meetings after school each week, family night every month, fall festival, winter festival, spring festival, hispanic heritage month events, black heritage month events, cinco de mayo celebration, graduations -- you name it, we did it! My coworkers and I joked we were all on a reality show that combined it all - The Apprentice, Survivor, Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance, AND Project Runway. And since our director wasn't the warmest and friendliest of people, that made working there so much harder.

But I wouldn't exchange those years for anything! It's there that I became good friends with Melissa and she's the reason I even attempted a weightloss journey. I wanted to help her because she was very sick and worried she may not be around for her kids much longer (and she was only 35 at the time!). So I began cooking all our lunches and she supplied all the snacks for the South Beach Diet. We started October 8, 2007. Both of us had noticable weightloss at first, but after a few months Melissa's weight melted away. Mine, not so much. Stress and feeling sorry for myself caused me to cheat here and there until I finally got to the point where I stopped dieting all together. And honestly, I'm not completely back to it.

I lost about 18 pounds total and dropped a size, but plateaued for months. Then eventually started putting some back here and there. So today, I'm pretty much back where I started last year, weight-wise (around 230), but am still noticable smaller than I was (I just saw a friend after over a year apart and she said I look smaller all over, so that helped me feel a bit better).

I'm rather comfortable in my own skin, but I'd like to lose at least 70-80 pounds just to be healthier. Heck, I'd settle for 20-30 if it meant I could fit into some clothes in a really cheap shop I discovered yesterday. Boy, the money I would save while still looking fashionable! But the problem is, it's very hard for me to lose weight. My mom's convinced I have a thyroid prob, but we're not ones to always go to the doctor and I don't have insurance anyway. Besides, I was tested a few years back and it was negative (but that still didn't satisfy mom). Anywho, I've tried many different things, many different times, and it's always the same -- I lose about 10-15 pounds and then stall out until I eventually stop trying. But I'm gonna give it a go again, while praying God puts right whatever may be wrong in my body.

Four days ago I moved to Bedford, England to volunteer at an organization that runs a night shelter. I'll start working in the Shelter tomorrow (prayers, please!). It's been something I've wanted to do for many years now, and finally have the opportunity. It's definitely something I felt God call me to, but I still worry about finances and practical living.

As far as my weightloss strategy, I'll be exercising a lot more since I have to WALK everywhere. No car for me, in jolly ol' England. And I'm using the basic elements of South Beach and good old fashioned portion control. No counting calories for me, though, because I stink at math.

I blog over at Decidedly Wandering and can be found on Facebook and Skype for those who know me. I'm single and am ok with it since commitment scares the heck outta me and I'm not naive to think marriage is all fun and games anymore. Not that I wouldn't answer the phone to any eligible bachlors you may send my way (as long as he loves God, is educated, and has a job and a sense of humor; bonus points if he's also loaded and can pay off my school debt).

And finally, this is what I looked like at my friend Greta's wedding back in June (my hair's usually not curly...). Gotta love that camera angle! ;o)


I guess I should add I'm 28 (how did THAT happen?!) and love my hometown of Houston, TX! And my family! FYI, Bird is my brother, as I mentioned, and Brandi is my lovely sister-in-law.

I don't know how long I'll live in England. As much as I love TX, England also feels like home. I'll be here for at least 6 months, hopefully a year, maybe longer if I find a teaching job. If you'd like to send me care packages, I need Stevia and I'd like a copy of the book The Diet Alternative! And I heard canned pumpkin is hard to find in these parts, so I may need some come October/November/December.

Thanks for sticking with me through such a long post!

SPUNK-ed

Yesterday evening I went to a church social at the pub with a whole bunch of people and saw a friend I hadn't seen in a while. She gave me a big hug and I was excited when she exclaimed that she could feel my ribs (at the back) when she hugged me :)

Hi!

Hi, there! I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce myself, and to fill you all in on my weight loss journey.



I've struggled with my weight all of my life, but my most recent foray into dieting came in March 2007 doing Southbeach. At the time I weighed 143 pounds and my goal was to get down to 120 pounds. After a few months, I finally met my goal, and I was so happy about that ... but I soon realized that in order to maintain that weight I had to continue dieting. Something seemed wrong about that.

Along my weight loss journey I learned that many of my eating issues were, at their heart, spiritual issues, and that I needed to submit to God in all aspects of my life, especially in eating. As a result I started a personal blog chronicling my surrendering to God journey, and I changed my eating habits from constantly dieting to trying to be obedient to God in order to eat when I'm hungry and to not overeat. It's been an up and down journey, but God's been so good throughout the whole process ... I've got a long way to go, but I know He's faithful!

I no longer think 120 pounds is a healthy weight for me. I think my true ideal weight range is somewhere between 122 pounds and 125 pounds. Our weekly weigh-ins are a huge help to me. I so need the accountability!

I'm glad to be on this journey with you all, and I look forward to moving from glory to glory with each and every one of you.

OWOA meet in Cambridge

Hey all

Ok, so here is my introduction post. I'm ChristyF and I have a serious addiction to Mexican food and hushpuppies. My plan of choice is South Beach. My current weight is around 140, although my lowest was 135 since starting OWOA, and my goal weight is 125. I was well on my way until I moved back to my hometown after 13 years! Now I am going out much more to dinners with the family and usually about two to three times per week we go eat Mexican, fish, or barbeque(this is where the hushpuppies are!). We also went to Disney World in August and that explains a few lbs of the gain. So, I know what to do...I just need the will to do it!

Well thats the weight stuff....Here is the personal. I am married to a Marine(John) and I have two awesome boys(Cody 12 and Dylan 5). At the present time,the boys and I are not living in the same state as the hubby. He has 3 years of active duty left before he retires, but I had an amazing job opportunity with a company I love and worked for while I lived in PA, that required me to move early. The plan is that we sell our house in PA and start building our final(yay) house in my hometown. We are going to be living separate for a little while longer, but he is supposed to be moving to NC(where we are) very soon. Then we will have weekends as a family! It sounds a little strange to most, but throughout our marriage we have been through a lot of family separations due to FREQUENT deployments with his job, so we will manage just fine. I am a member of the church I grew up in and I feel so blessed to be back home. I have the most wonderful family and friends you could ever ask for and I try to spend as much time as possible with them all. I love riding horses and I have one(Belle). My grandfather has stables and when I was younger we rode a lot. It feels almost like I just picked up with everyone where I left off 13 years ago! Also, my best friend(Hi Hope) and I walk a lot and play tennis.

So I guess that's it...Now I'm off to find a picture. Nice to meet you all(again)!

Random Food Fact

Yesterday, our cat ate a squirrel. 

Hola, Mate!

I've safely arrived in England and our very own Debs was kind enough to pick me up from the airport, even though it is an hour away from where she lives!  We wasted no time in snapping a shot with my MacBook once I excavated my UK adapter from my luggage and plugged in my computer.  

Ok, that's just about all I have the energy for right now.  Just wanted to let ya know I safely arrived.  I just posted a bit more on my blog, so feel free to check it out.  But don't be too expectant, it's not that great of a post . . . 

Introduce yourselves, please

Yeah, I know. I haven't written a proper introduction post either, but I've been depressed and had a sickness bug, what's your excuse?
All I'm asking is a quick hello post, which will hopefully include a photo. I don't wanna have to start being mean, but some people need to be around a bit more, hint hint.
(yes, you do need to email Tami and write a post. Cos i'm mean like that!)

Meet the team page

I just wanted to put up a reminder to everyone to send me an email answering this post.
So far I have received info from:

Missy

Debs

Christy F

Kimberly

Bird

Nikki

Julie

If your name is not on that list please send me an email (tlb81003@normalonline.com) by the end of this week.

Thanks much guys!

Recipes

For anyone that didn't already know, here's a quick reminder that there is a site where all the recipes from the old OWOA can be found. I'm still in the middle of tagging them, so it is a bit of a trawl to look through them, but I'll try to get to it soon. Promise!
Look here.
And for blest's oatmeal muffins you can look here

Tuesday Triumphs

Tell me something that you've triumphed in this week...
Could be getting in exercise, sticking to your food plan, or it could be totally unrelated to weight loss. I don't care! I just wanna see comments ;)

Just me

Okay, okay. So I told Debs like 2 weekends ago that I'd get an intro post written up last Sunday (the 7th). So, I'm a little late. Last week I had a friend from TN visiting and the connection speed on my husbands laptop was not the best.

Okay, all about me...(not). I'm a 26 yr old wife and mother to 2. I'm amazed every day at how quickly my little ones are growing and the continual independence they display. After I had my youngest (January of 2006) I weighed somewhere in the ball park of 260. I've worked (ever so slowly) at loosing the weight. I am now starting this blog with a weight of roughly 193. I'm an avid crafter and recently started school in order to obtain a Bachelor of Science and then a Master of Science in Holistic Nutrition. Sometimes it seems so completely odd to me that I weigh what I weigh and want a degree in nutrition but I do. I learned how to eat from my family and I know that my children watch and learn from me. I want to instill healthy habits in them. I also want to be able to help anyone else that I can particularly people with stories similar to mine. Um...my goal is to weigh around 140. I'd say my maintenance range will hopefully be 140-145. Let's see, I now reside in WA (where I was born and raised) but want to go back home to TN. My Granddaddy was from the South and his blood runs deep in these veins. I'm the only one of his current descendants that this love for the south has come out. My husband, children and I lived in TN until the middle of February.

Last but not least I love to use ( ) and ... .

This is a picture taken Friday at Pike's Place Market. I'm the taller one wearing the black top. I seriously can't believe how round my center is. I haven't had a picture taken of me in a long while and I'm glad I have. It's a reality check for sure.

Weigh away..

Good morning, it's Monday it's time to weigh.
I'm sticking this up and then heading back to bed. I have a high temperature and was sick this morning, which is not good. I know I joked to my Mum the other day that the only way I'd reach my weigh loss goal of losing 100lb in 2 years was if I got some sort of sickness bug, but I didn't actually mean it!

Anyway, weigh away..

Have Your Weapons Ready!

Here is an exercise that some of us in a book discussion on my blog participated in and I have found it to be a big help. We focused particularly on food-related issues, but it could be applied to any area where you are consistently tempted and need a quick "reality check." If you have these scriptures already "ready" in your mind and even on cards, then when temptation comes, you have an immediate weapon to use against the devil when He tempts you to believe lies. Similar to the way Jesus combated satan in Matthew 4.

Below is the discussion question and my answer in bold:

List the three main times or situations where you are tempted to overeat. Some examples are: stress, anger, greed and depression. Next to each tempting situation (or "trigger,") give a Bible verse that you can memorize and call to mind to help you to resist the devil. (See page 67.)

worried: Psalm 94:19, Proverbs 12:25
tired: Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 40:31
food-related gathering...feeling "entitled" or like I should eat since "everyone else is:" Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 3:7-8

Depressed: didn't get to this one...but I'm hoping someone else does this one. :-)

And if you are interested in starting some scripture memory as part of the Habit Challenge coming up, this might be a good place to start. An example of a small measurable habit to form over a 21 day period might be to choose three scriptures to write on index cards. Choose one scripture each week to read, say, 3-5 times per day. Hopefully by the end of the week you would have it memorized. The next week do another and so on.

If You Could Form One New Habit, What Would It Be?

I would like to personally invite you to take part in The 21-Day Habit Challenge over at my blog, Surrender. Habits can range from spiritual to exercise to taking your vitamins and anything in between. The coolest part is you won't be alone. We will be in this together! I'd love to see y'all there! :-)

Thanks for praying!

We made it through ok. A part of our fence went down and we lost electricity for about 16 hours. I'm shocked we got it back so soon. There are at least 2.5 MILLION who are still in the dark, though. We're blessed that there's not major damage to our home. There's only one large tree out front and it is intact. And our pool held together and didn't overflow. It came close, but we were all out there in the rain with buckets scooping out water. Thankfully, our efforts were successful. And now that power is back up, we can drain a bit of water to make room for the upcoming rains.
Just wanted to let you all know my family and I are ok. Thanks so much for your prayers!

Request

Can we make the home page on here to where it shows more posts? I think it's only showing seven right now. 

Also, I kind of figured my intro post counted as my email to Tami. :-)

I've emailed Tami

have you?!

DebbieBoo update

DebbieBoo just rang me to say hi and give me an update on how they're doing. Right now their power is out and they're still likely to have another 4 or 5 hours of the storm coming through.
Please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers that God will bring them safely through.
She's meant to be flying out of Houston on Wednesday to come over to the UK. She has no idea what is happening about that right now - it will probably take weeks for the whole city to get their power back, although of course they do work on places like airports and hospitals first.. Pray that whatever changes need to happen to her plans will go smoothly.
And finally, pray for her as she attempts to try to finish packing in the dark!

Everyday's a thankful day!

Here's our official Thankful Thursday post!  Woo hoo!!!

Ok, I know it's technically Friday, but we can still be thankful, right?  

So here's the dealio -- what are you thankful for?  A new hair cut?  A new pair of shoes?  Not burning down the kitchen when you accidently over-baked that cake?  Friends?  Family?  Your job?  God's grace?  His provision?  His truth?

You can be as specific or as vague as you like.  Just leave a comment and tell us what you're thankful for!

We don't like Ike...

He's MASSIVE:

You can barely even see the coastline!

Galveston's already flooding and not a single drop of rain has yet to fall!  And that's not even the start of the 20 FOOT storm surge!  TWENTY FEET, PEOPLE!!

Sure, I'm inland, but we'll still get 80+ mph winds!  And 8-10 inches of rain.  Did I mention how easily Houston floods?  And that there's a huge water reserve right behind my house.

It's a beautiful sunny day out, but we're all feeling a bit like sitting ducks, as you can imagine.  We'll be rather hacked if it turns out we should've all evacuated when they told us to stay put . . . 

Anywho, prayers will be much appreciated.  Thank you!

Don't forget

to email Tami.
(says the girl who hasn't yet emailed Tami...)

Thankful Thursday?

When we were brainstorming ideas on Debs' blog I tossed the idea out there of doing something that I try to do on my own blog.  I have a Thankful Thursday category and every week (but actually, not recently, so don't go look and tell me I'm wrong!) I make a list of things I'm thankful for.  It helped tremendously when I was at a very demanding job that constantly tried to pull me into a bad mood.  It was good to go back, even when I was having a bad day, and think of all that I have to be thankful for and ways that God has blessed me. 

Would y'all be interested in doing something like that here?  We could do Thankful Thursday or Wonderful Wednesday or Fantastic Friday or Terrific Tuesday or whatever.  Any thoughts???

I figured it would be a good idea to have another consistent post, too.  Like weigh-ins, it will be something that's always posted to get people a bit more involved, and even if I'm not around to post it, someone else can.

So, what say you?

Quick Question

I've added some of the old links from OWOA to the sidebar - including Kalyn's Kitchen. But I haven't added any of the exercise and fat counting type links. I have them, and can add them if anyone wants me to, but I just know that I for one never really used them! Any thoughts?

My Name Is Bird, And I'm A Food-O-Holic

I thought I'd do a quick introductory post for you all. My name is Bird (well, that's a nickname actually), and my lovely wife is Brandi. 

I started out in March of 2007 at 231.5 pounds. Thanks to Blest, our former fearless leader, I had the inspiration and the idea (via Brandi) to do Southbeach, and it took off like a rocket! For about the past six to eight months, though, my weight loss has been slooooooooooooow. I think the overall trend is still downward, but I'm wanting to start losing a consistent one to two pounds a week again. Right now I'm at 184, but I fully expect to lose a couple of pounds at weigh in on Monday. (By the way, Debs, I'm totally for another optional weigh in during the week. I think you had that idea.)

Right now I'm not doing Southbeach anymore. I'm doing the whole eat-when-you're-hungry-and-stop-when-you're-full thing. My goal is to get down to 160 ... so here we go! 

Waist size

Does anyone know - officially, where IS your waist? Is it the thinnest part? Or round the tummy-button? Or what?
Also, how is it that your weight can go down, but your waist size can go up? (And, no, it's not muscle, and I don't think it's water.)

Introduce yourselves

Don't forget, as well as emailing Tami some details about yourself, it'd be great if we could each write an introductory post on the blog as well. Some of us have been around a long time, some of us only a little while, but it'd be a good way to get to know each other a bit better.

Give me all you got!

Okay gals and Bird! I need your info. Could you please spend some time this week and send me an email. Tell me a wee bit about your selves. What is your current starting weight? What is your goal weight? If you so desire you can tell me what your starting weight when you joined OWOA was and what you've lost. If you've been maintaining how long have you been what was/is your struggle. For those that are in the process of loosing what is your biggest struggle? What are you doing to try and loose the weight? Are you exercising and if so what are you doing/what is your favorite thing to do for exercise. Last but not least, I know that at the old site we told one odd fact about ourselves. This time around I would like to know 1 ultimate dream. Like Bekki, you really wanted to fit into a vintage dress. Is that a super big dream of yours still? One last thing. If you are married? Do you have kids?

Just give me a blurb about yourself but please include most or all of the above. You can email me at tlb81003 at normalonline.com. Just remove the spaces and change "at" to @. Thanks ton guys! I won't have the page up anytime this week since I have company from out of state through Monday morning. I would like to start putting it together though.

Surrender

I thought I'd do another shameless plug for my wife's excellent personal blog, Surrender. She's got some excellent insights on freedom from food bondage. I think her wisdom is sound because she's right there in the middle of the struggle for freedom herself. Check it out! 

So, Tuesday...

How's your day going?
I had intended to write a proper post today, but the kiddos decided that napping at the same time is sooo last week, and that put paid to that. Maybe tomorrow...

Walk this Weigh

Welcome to the first ever weigh-in on the new site.
No fancy pics or anything yet, so I guess you'd better all just WEIGH-IN!

Keep it or toss it?

I know that the blog header is nothing spectacular but after HOURS of searching (and even trying my hand at creating) this is the best I've got so far. Are you guys liking it? Is it something that can stay around until something else comes along or are you really wanting to see the apples up top go?

General layout questions..

What order would you like to see the stuff on the sidebar appear?
Which things would you say would be useful to have near the top, what could go lower down. Do we want the list of 'contributers' on the siderbar? It's good to see, but I think it'll be pretty long, would just having the blog links be enough? I plan to have a 'meet the team' page (or however it is you do that on blogger!), so do we need the list of names, or just a link to the team page?
Talk to me people.. pretty please.
(I'm going with time zone as being GMT, so I hope that's not too confusing..!)

The First Recipe!

This evening I cooked this for dinner.









It's Cashew Chicken with Spiced Chickpeas and it's delicious.
Of course, I make it quite differently from the original recipe, but I'll post the recipe and put my modifications in brackets.

Cashew Chicken with Roasted Spiced Chickpeas
for 4 servings

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained (I often put 2 tins in and double or more the spices, because we like it HOT!)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch pieces
2 shallots, thinly sliced (I tend to put in at least two if not 3 onions)
1/2 teaspoon sugar (I generally omit this)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (I leave this out because I don't like fish, and replace it with a couple of tablespoons of hot water)
2 cups baby spinach leaves (we just have a whole packet, and eat as much as we want to!)
1/2 cup roasted, salted cashews, chopped (I use the unsalted ones, and just roast them in the oven for a few minutes while the chickpeas are cooking)
3 cups cooked rice

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the chickpeas on a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil, salt, curry powder, cumin and cayenne. Roast for 25 minutes.

Heat a non-stick wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil until smoking. Toss in the chicken and cook, stirring, until surfaces are seared, but interior is still pink. Stir in the shallots and cook until softened, 1-2 minutes.

Add the sugar, soy sauce, and fish sauce to the chicken and stir. Cook a few more minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Stir in the chickpeas, spinach and cashews. Serve in bowls with hot cooked rice.
(We usually don't stir in the spinach, but instead serve it in a big bowl, for people to help themselves to. That way it stays cool and soothing to cool our mouths from the heat of the spices! Most often we don't bother cooking rice to go with it either.)

(Originally found on FamilyStyle Food)

Welcome one and all

Welcome to the official re-launch of One Weigh or Another.
I've realised if I try to wait until I've got everything sparkley and exciting here, then we won't be relaunching before Christmas. I will try to keep adding to the links and making it pretty and all that jazz, but given that my energy and motivational levels vary, and that I just wanna get on and GO with the new site, I've decided to go go for it.

Welcome! If you've made it this far, leave a comment to say hi...
We'll be weighing in on Monday.
Now, it's over to you....

(I would love for everyone to write an intro post fairly early on, so that we have a good way to get to know one another quickly, grow together as a team, and be able to support one another in the best ways possible)

We're Back In Business!

And we're with Blogger -- right where we belong! ;-)

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