Alexis' 5-bite Journey

aww, thanks, mommieof2 lol.

I held strong until I woke up at like midnight and just ate one of the slices of cake LOL. It's like it was haunting me or something. I also decided to eat my 5-bites for dinner so I think I probably had a total of 15-20 bites yesterday instead of 10. I got on the scale this morning convinced that it would be up and I was just curious to see how much the extra bites cost me.

Boy was I surprised when the scale read 239lbs!! I was so sure that I had forfeited being in the 30's with those extra bites. I feel even more motivated to have a good 5-bite day to see if I can be at 238 tomorrow. I have a very busy day so maybe the increase in energy expenditure will help.

Alright, I am so glad you are doing well. I totally hear you about exercising. To be honest, at this weight, exercising makes me feel so FAT and HUGE. It kind of depresses me. Maybe when I am in the 20's I will feel that burst you mentioned. I know when I was on a previous weight loss journey that I did begin exercising when I hit the 180-170's. I loved looking good in my exercise clothes lol.

Ok, I am off. Stay strong everyone. We are all doing so amazing.

Alexis, I am so proud of your resolve over the last several days. Also, I'm glad you didn't gain from your extra bites. That is awesome! : )))))) When the food is haunting you like that, sometimes it's better to just go ahead and eat it and get rid of it and then you can move on...I totally get that! You're back on track now and you didn't gain and that's what matters!

Hi everyone,

This is turning out to be a tough weekend. Mother's Day weekend always brings a mix of emotions for me for a number of reasons. The low feelings make me want to just spend the weekend eating sweets and ice cream and the high feelings make me want to also eat sweets and ice cream. I wanted to be extra good today because I am bringing my mom a cake tomorrow for mother's day and plan to eat that with her. That plan is proving difficult since people are stopping by to bring me gifts (cookies, cakes) and I don't want to be rude and unappreciative so I had a couple of bites. I am not over my bites yet since I only had 5 bites for lunch of real food and 2 bites of a treat a friend brought by. It's only 6 PM and my landlord if bringing the mother's in her building some chocolates. I am not sure I will be able to resists all these goodies today. Resisting the cake was hard enough last night and I still have a slice in the fridge screaming my name.

Alright, I just wanted to ramble for a bit and get all of that off my chest. What do you guys think? fight like mad to stay 5-bite or consider this weekend a wash but still keep an eye on my calories?

Some days are harder than others do your best to resist the temptations but if you give in today hop right back in to it. Try not to look at it as I've already failed and go crazy for days good luck you can do it
I. Think your doing the right thing coming hear writing it out sometimes the cravings will go away hopefully this is one of those times

Do what you need to do...these times come and go and as long as you get right back on you'll be fine! : )))) This is a tough time for me as well and I'm still trying to decide what I will do tomorrow.

Alexis,

I'm having the same delimma I have a pot luck to go to today and these people get offended(cultural) if you do not eat their food. I have just decided I will get something I like and eat 5 bites or maybe 10 but not eat dinner just fill up on water to keep me feeling full. As others said it's good you are coming here for support and even if you do fall just get right back on it, but haven said that think about how you will feel if you eat more than you want to. I know I feel guilty and I don't like feeling that way so that's what helps me to stay straight and just eat the bites I'm suppose to. As I've read though Dr. Lewis says you can have up to 10 bites or more you will just lose at a lesser speed that's all, a calorie deficit is still a calorie deficit and you will lose weight, so if you do slip today and eat like a mad lady, as I would if I ate more bites, just get right back at it tomorrow. Good luck today. I'm sure you will be good and not go all out for sure. Happy mothers day.

I'll start by saying yesterday wasn't a 5-bite day; however, I get the feeling that my old binge (eat all I can eat ALL NIGHT LONG) days are a thing of the past. First, I could barely bring myself to BINGE lol. I was so freaking full lol. I ended up eating the last remaining slice of cake and sharing it with another person. At night the crave attack hit so I just ate 2 skinny cow ice cream sandwiches.

I learned a lot from my day yesterday. Mainly, it made a huge different not having my usual trigger foods in the house. Since beginning 5-bite I haven't bought milk or cereal because I know I can't eat 5 bites of cereal EVER lol. Also, I only bought cake for my mom and resisted buying "party" food because I knew the less I bring to her "celebration" the less I would end up eating lol. That was good because if I had party foods in the house last night it would have gotten UGLY real fast lol.

So it's true what the skinnies say, "if it's not in the house, you won't eat it" lol. Also, "if it's safe foods, then binge all you want". Those skinny cow ice cream sandwiches are full of fluff. They barely hit my sweet tooth and don't cause that STUFFED feeling that I like when I eat regular ice cream so they were a disappointing binge item, which kept me from eating it all lol.

Ok, I gotta run, but I will be back to report on today.

Stay strong and THANKS to everyone who gave me advice. It makes a big difference having your support through the highs and the lows.

Alexis, Lesson Learned are the best right? I say good job, and I'm a super loving cereal eater I love love love cereal.. I have tried to keep my diet bland like the yogurt and bread, plus snickers as it's just easier to keep up with what I'm eating. Yesterday was a bust with me eating more than 10 bites but like I said to snow white that's just one day we still have 6 more to do it right. I have more to say but I'm running late on taking my daughter to school. Have a great day and good job yesterday..

Morning all:

Well my extra bites this weekend cost me the same 4lbs I worked hard to lose last week. Go figure lol. Usually after I "fall" off a diet plan I don't weigh myself for months because I continue the binge indefinitely lol. What I realized yesterday was my weekend ONLY cost me 4lbs and yes that is ALOT but that is way better than regaining ALL 14lbs lost since beginning 5-bite. I was scared to get on the scale this morning, but I realize that if I hadn't then I don't know if I'd have the resolve I have right now to get those dang pounds off again. I have an all or nothing attitude and it works great to get the weight off quick, but I give up so easily that it always brings the weight back on with a vengeance.

Gotta run, will be back on later. Stay strong everyone. Mommieof2 is so right, we have 6 days this week to get to our mini goals and close to our big goals. Let's make this happen.

Alexis, what a positive way of thinking and you can see how much you have grown on the dieting side and what use to make you binge is now giving you motivation to more forward with being more strict. Keep up the good work..

Thanks, mommieof2. I really do feel as if my eyes are finally opening to what this dieting (successfully) thing is all about. I always thought people were nuts when they talk about calories in versus calories out becuase each time I have went on less food I never lost an ounce. Besides, I was always too afraid of "starvation mode" to even give it all a real shot. Now that I know that starvation mode is a myth and it really is about calorie in and calorie out I feel more powerful in this weight loss game.

So the scale read 242lbs this morning. Yes, I know, we've seen that number before lol. Somehow I do feel as if this time will be different. My goal this week is 237lbs and I think I will get there by the end of the week if I eat clean, lean, and stay on plan. Oh i cut out my morning coffee yesterday. I'm cutting it out again today to see what the scale says tomorrow. ST. Thomas is fast approaching. I cannot mess up again.

Alright, I hope everyone is doing great! Stay strong and stay encouraged. We WILL get this done and be on the other side of skinny.

Alexis, I'm with you, you can defiantly get to your goal this week if you stick with the 5 bites this week. I know you can do it. I can't wait to rejoice with you next Monday. My goal is 195 we shall see. That's about 5lbs to lose by Monday.

You'll be fine Alexis, but please eat what you want to eat...no suffering, just pure joy in every bite! : )))))) You will reach your mini-goal soon! : ))))

Hi all,

Yesterday was a good day. I am trying to remember to enjoy the journey and to sloooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww dowwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnn. I want to lose so fast that I often get a head of myself and then feel depressed about the whole thing and give up.

This morning as I was going about my morning routine and getting my daughter ready, I felt my pants literally falling off of me. At first I thought maybe my pants were open and then when I looked I realized they were buttoned and zipped!!! They weren't lose, they were SAGGING! That's when I realized that I need to slow down and stop worrying about all of this. I know I am not binging everyday or snacking all day long so if the pounds don't budge everyday that is ok. They are still moving in the right direction and the inches and *shrinking* is still happening. I still have my mini goals but I won't obsess. Time will bring the weight loss that I so desperately want. No more ALL or NOTHING thinking. I must say that I am enjoying all the things I am learning about myself on this journey so far.

Ok, I hope everyone is doing well. Stay strong. I read a lot of inspiring journal entries this morning so I know we are all doing amazing so far.

Congrats on your clothes falling off and pants at that!!!! I'm shaped like a pear and most of my weight has come off from places other than my booty tummy area! I would be in heaven if my pants fell off! : ))))))))))))))

Alexis Congrats on the loose clothes, people that are smaller and even my fitness teacher said you have to measure your weight loss by your clothes or a measuring tape as we all are built different, right? It's just wonderful when you can just feel it melting off. When you said we are losing fat that's what makes the difference, it really struck me as I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess that's why I can tell the difference because it is the fat that's just melting away not my muscle,which would make the scales drop a lot. Thank you for that word of advice. I'm with you when I saw no weight loss this morning I thought about what you said, the inches are still coming off. Your just a fountain of encouragement with all your insight. Enjoy your day.

I went shopping yesterday, for some clothes that actually fit me at my current size. It's been depressing these last few months still stuffing myself into clothes from my slim days. I avoided shopping for my now larger body because I kept telling myself that I would be back in my slim clothes in no time. The reality is, I wont. I have to accept that and move on or I'll hop from one extreme diet to the next to the next to next and in all that time I'll just continue all this yo-yo-ing.

Anyway, I know I will lose the weight but wearing tight and unflattering clothes isn't the best way to enjoy the process lol. Besides I have a presentation tomorrow and needed to get myself something nice to help with my confidence. Shopping also reminded me of how exciting it was to shop at a smaller size, which is more motivation to stick to this.

Snow white, I have more of a hour glass shape figure. I am either heavy on top AND bottom or small on top AND small on bottom. My stomach is HUGE but soft and flat if that makes any sense lol. I guess what I am trying to say is my tummy is always flatter than my boobies and thighs even at my highest weight of 260 after being pregnant. All of my life I have been a million pounds overweight and when I lost weight last time I learned for the first time that I have a small high waist right under my chest area. I wore tons of those cute dresses that come with the high belts and I looked FABULOUS. Ahhh, I WILL get that back lol.

Alright so this morning I am down to 241lbs. This is really exciting for me because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Also, yesterday I ate a smart ones meal for my dinner 5-bites. First, I can't believe how full I was eating just 5 bites lol and that we actually eat MUCH less than even a tiny packaged diet meal lol. There was sale at Target and all the frozen meals were going for like $2.34-2.50 and if you bought 10 you got a $5.00 coupon. I stocked up because some days I feel as if I do better eating 5-bites if the food I am eating is already a small portion. Then even if I take big bites I know that I was only working with a small portion to begin with and there isn't really much to go back and eat *if I lose my willpower* (which I haven't lost yet lol).

I hope everyone is doing well. We are really making huge strides with our weight loss. Let's keep it up.

Alexis, I'm an hour glass shape as well and I feel like we have it a bit easier because our tummies flatten out quicker, but on the down side we lose weight all over so it seems to take a bit longer to see the result. I keep waiting to buy clothes because I have said for the last year I'm going to lose weight so I don't want to spend money when I'm not going to be in them long, however I had to get some so I had business casual clothes to wear on interviews and stuff.I'm glad you were able to come to this "ah ha moment"and glad you were able to get some clothes for yourself. Good job on the 241 it's coming down... Keep up the good work and great attitude. Also I've been keeping my calories between 500-600 same as two snickers bars, so if it's more than five bites I still want it to be very low calorie that's the only thing that helps me lose weight and exercising helps me burn about 200 extra calories so your small portion meals will help, right?

Alexis, I hate those diet meals...but I have put real food into the Lean Cuisine containers to help with portioning. What I'm doing now is getting delicious take out and cooking delicious food. For lunch I take some leftovers and portion 5 bites using a fork and put it in a container. Then, at lunch I can eat the whole thing and not have to think about it. For dinner, I just serve myself a very small portion and usually have to leave something behind b/c I put too much food on my plate.

mommieof2, the other downside to our figure is I lose my boobies during dieting too. I gain and lose my boobies over and over again lol.

The low calories is why I got the frozen meals too. I know we don't have to count calories per se on this diet because it's only 5 bites but I just want to get use to the idea of small portions and eating well in preparation for maintenance. The other thing the frozen meals are helping me do is see what a reasonable portion size looks like lol. When I open a package I usually think "this tiny bit of food isn't going to do a thing for me" and then after the 2nd bite I start feeling full.

Snow white, I must have bought a million of them. I used to hate them but they have these new versions that seem to taste pretty good to me. A lot more flavor than before and weird after taste. Besides, I feel so tired and worn out at the end of the day that I can't bring myself to cook something for dinner. My family ends up eating dinner 3 times out of the week before I even get home from work so on those nights, these lil things are perfect.

I started saving the containers to reuse too.

Alright so today's weight is still 241lbs, but I will take that. I may need to re-work my mini goal back to just 239lbs lol. We'll see what the weekend brings. I have a binge-free strategy for the weekend too. I need to make it through this weekend GAIN=FREE. My weekend plan is to just NOT GAIN. If I start the week at 244 again I will just go nuts. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results lol. I learned my lesson last weekend and plan to not repeat it. This week these 4lbs should have come from a 239lb body instead of back off the same 244lbs body. That's neither here nor there at this point but a lesson learned.

Game plan: Get rid of cake in fridge from mother's day. I plan to bring it to work to let the co-workers eat it today lol. I avoided it all week but we all know how last weekend went so I can't have it in the house.

Game plan 2: I will be out and about according to the plans I have so far pretty much all day. It's usually very easy for me to stay ON plan when out because I want to spend as little money as possible. When I am off a diet I think I eat everything in Manhattan and pay dearly in my weight and my wallet LOL. We have way too many appealing meals here.

Game plan 3: I will only eat pre-packaged stuff. I can't take the risk of eating more than my bites by mistake or on purpose. I'll get my family some yummy take-out and they can have at it all weekend eating leftovers on Sunday. I will be sticking to my lean cuisines (which are so yummy 2 me) and snickers bars to satisfy sweet tooth.

Game plan 4: I will post on here like CRAZY all weekend.

I know weekends will eventually get easier but my ST. Thomas friend is coming up on May 31st so I also want to make an impression. If I keep going back and forth all month then I won't make the kind of progress I intended.

Stay motivated everyone. I see a lot of good losses around and it's so exciting. I think we have great momentum going.

oh and my back fat seems to be melting lol- i HATE BACK FAT!!!YIPPEEE

Alexis, funny you say that about back fat, that's the worst, I use to have two big bulges and now I'm down one and the other is a bit lower but it seems to be going down as well. Your game plan sounds good. You can do this... I find that being busy all day seems to make you forget about food, well me anyway, and it gets you some well needed fresh air and vitamin D. I'm learning a lot about portion size as well on this diet and the funny thing is the snickers bar is second choice now to my meal, just knowing I can have it is good enough for me. It's funny how the mind works. I see you making it to 239 come monday maybe even lower. I do hate losing my boobs as well and I have will be fixing that when I reach my goal weight, I hate the way they look and it's more me than hubby. It makes me so self conscious. Keep a posting we will be here for encouragement.. Keep up the good work..

You started at 253 and now you are at 241, you're doing great just keep on going. A strategy plan is a great idea to make it through the weekend. I wish you would eat what your family is eating though. I just think we have got to learn how to eat real food. I think the LCs are great for lunch at work, but don't you want to enjoy a meal together with your family and not feel like you are on a "diet" all the time. I just don't want you suffering or feeling deprived b/c you don't have to feel that way. Just resolve that no matter what you eat that you will only eat 5 bites and be done. I know you say you love the LCs, but you know they are loaded w/sodium and can cause water retention which can slow weight loss. I support you no matter what you do and we are all in this together. I post a lot on the weekends, too so I hope to see you around this weekend! : ))))))

Thanks so much, snow white for your thoughtful answer. I have some other brands too and they are much lower in sodium than the usual stuff. It's weird because I am not a foodie and do not like cooking. These LC's are the most exotic/variety meals I've had in a long time lol. I am just tired of all the cooking and stuff and took a break from it this week. If I cook something good like the weeks before last I would totally eat that, but I haven't cooked at all all week besides some crock pot stuff. Besides, 5 bites of these meals won't get me much water retention.

I don't feel deprived at all on this way of eating. I really don't. I think at first I enjoyed the idea of eating all that nutella and tons of desserts but it just all kinda settled down for me I guess. Food tastes wickedly good when you've been told for years they are off limits lol. Now that they aren't, I am able to eat them in moderation. I have really GOOD LC's. It's all these different types of frozen meals too and they look so appetizing to me. I can even read the ingredients and understand what's in them because it's healthier types and organic meals. My food choices otherwise are usually very boring.

I won't weigh till Monday either. I am just going to follow my game plan and now that I know you all are rooting for me I feel even more motivated to get it done. All I know is I feel so much lighter and thinner with each passing day and I know it's in my strut lol.

Alexis, you've got a great plan for the weekend! Let's stay focused together and get this DONE once and for all!!!!!!