3jaysmom - Life is Good!

Yes, they have it all day. I'm obsessed! I have been having it twice a day for a few days, and I have to say, I feel great. The snickers definitely help me start off, but I cant do it for more than a few days. I could eat the oatmeal twice a day for a month straight,I like it so much. Plus, it has 5 grams of fiber each, so, unlike snickers, my uh...plumbing still works. It s nice to have the serving of fruit in it, too. I know it doesnt matter what were eating during the diet technically, but I just feel better with something somewhat healthy.

I just got back from my workout, and it was awesome. I love the feeling after a good workout, I feel so energized. The only prob is- now its 11 pm, and I need to get to bed, but my mind is still racing....

3jaysmom,
I had oatmeal for dinner as my 5 Bites too. It was from Jamba Juice because they are having their promotion right now. I had really big spoonfuls so I ate 1/2 the cup. You make me want to workout while on this diet too. I'll see if I can make it to the gym tomorrow.

You did so well today. Get a good night's rest and let's do it all over again tomorrow.

HEY GUYS!!!

kinda missed u all
the oatmeal sounds like a really great idea, i HATE slimey textures so i usually eat my oatmeal raw with cold milk (i know that sounds really bizarre but i love it, especially if u switch the milk for plain yogurt yuM!) and yeah i totally understand the wanting to feel like ur on a diet, when i was on this i was really trying to stay as fat free and healthy as possible cuz when ur eating chocolate ur body doesnt go thru that lovely diet detox where u feel wonderful and u want to keep going. I actually felt fat and horrible and i felt like i wasnt giving myself any real nutrition just eating junk.

Im kinda sorta trying to get this down right now, thing is im not really sticking to 5 bites, im kinda just really limiting what im eating, I have this small tupperware, the night before i cut up some veggies/fruit watever and i say thats ALL ur getting tomorrow so dont even think of munching anything else! I've been focused for the past week and I've lost 4 lbs already (120--> 116.2), so i guess in affect its the same as the 5 bite in calories but its kinda my own thing-ish. I dont know. So im not really keeping a journal since i know its not really the right diet, but I will be here here rooting u all on and sending u all love.

the funny thing is today i had my first "bad" day since starting the diet and my first reaction was to come on here and post and admit to being a loser that cheated but to assure u all that tomorrow is going to be a better day for sure and that i wont let it get me down. Naturally i came to see what u guys were up to.

Tea!!
Good to hear from you! Its good that everyone "checks in" every now and then, it keeps me coming back, and that keeps me in check.....so thanks everyone! Had a GREAT workout again today, I wish the gym was closer to my house so I could go there 6 days a week instead of 3-4. Cardio on the machines always feels so much better than when I do a dvd or "run" (in quotes, because I'm not sure what I do should be called actual running, lol) I think the machines keep you honest. If you set the incline to 3, that what it is. No guessing or cheating. I've been doing terrible with my strength work, however. I just cant find a way to split the routine so its doable. If I could do half in the am- and fit the rest in somewhere else- its would be easier. I just cant fit in 1 1/2 - 2 hours right now. My eating this week end has been better than most, but still not good. I was perfect during the week, i need to make theese weekends happen!!!

Tea!!
Good to hear from you! Its good that everyone "checks in" every now and then, it keeps me coming back, and that keeps me in check.....so thanks everyone! Had a GREAT workout again today, I wish the gym was closer to my house so I could go there 6 days a week instead of 3-4. Cardio on the machines always feels so much better than when I do a dvd or "run" (in quotes, because I'm not sure what I do should be called actual running, lol) I think the machines keep you honest. If you set the incline to 3, that what it is. No guessing or cheating. I've been doing terrible with my strength work, however. I just cant find a way to split the routine so its doable. If I could do half in the am- and fit the rest in somewhere else- its would be easier. I just cant fit in 1 1/2 - 2 hours right now. My eating this week end has been better than most, but still not good. I was perfect during the week, i need to make theese weekends happen!!!

3jaysmom- about the weekends, would it be better to set ureself some rules? like say that saturdays are going to have a "cheat dinner", or a sunday morning "cheat breakfast" if ur a breakfast lover- like one day a week where u have one meal that u can enjoy- not overindulge and over stuff, but just make a lovely meal for the family and keeping the diet in mind, make good choices but enjoy it? I think that makes the cheating less during the week since u have the one meal to look forward to. the task them becomes okay just stick to this diet hard for the week and saturday will be great! Just keep in mind to not make this into a binge day or an unhealthy eating day, just a day where u can kick off the diet slightly and enjoy say 20 bites in a meal full of exactly what u had been craving all week.

You're right, that is the advice I would give to someone else......why cant I follow my own advice!?!?!? Week going OK, my workouts continue to be a top priority, and are great, but , as usual, I'm picking the things that I like to do, not what I should do. Working out keeps you strong, tones your muscles and works yourcardiovascular system, all great, but EATING LESS is what sheds the weight. Date night tonight.....always a tough one for me, 5bite wise

100% Agree with 3jaysmom! Eating less is what make the fat come off. I recently bought a bodymedia (similar to body bugg from the biggest loser) and it is a real eye opener on how much we actually burn during workouts! I thought I was burning 500+ calories during my workouts before (according to me Polar F6 HRM), but I actually burn only 300 calories!!!! I was shocked! I highly recommend the body media to anyone who wants to lose weight.

I don't want to know, I may stop the only thing I'm consistent with As usual, the food thing is so- so. 18 days untill FL. blahhhhhh

Hello 3jaysmom
Just checking in and I am starting fresh again (day 2 now!)
Let's reach our goals!

OK, its been about a year and a half, kept the weight off, but haven't lost any more. Tried several other diets but I gained any weight back that I lost. This diet is the easiest, and probably that's why its the only one I stick to. No carb counting, point counting, calorie counting, just counting to 5. I can count to 5, lol If I could lose 40 in 3 months like last time, that would be FANTASTIC!!!! As long as I lose it, I guess I shouldn't worry about how fast. But.....fast would be good

Agreed! Fast would be good! Welcome back, you're going to do great! : ))))

OK, so day 1..... so far so good. I just bought the COOLEST thing, it's from a website called thinnerview. You upload a picture, tell them how much you plan on losing, and they photoshop it. I'm sooooo excited, I think its going to be a great motivator. Since I've been a baby factory for the past 9 years, I don't have any recent pictures of me at my goal weight. The last time I was at my "fighting weight" was pre-kids, so I want a more realistic view of what I'm fighting for. I can't wait!!!!

AS far as food goes, The last time I did it and was successful I started with snickers, so it kept me from thinking about food. Since then I found out about my dairy allergy, so I can't do snickers. I got a box of belvita breakfast cookies. They're about the size of a snickers, but cut into 4 thin cookies, so I'm going with those. Not 5 bites per se, but the same volume as 5 bites. Now I just have to get through dinner......

Pre-measuring the food I eat has really been helpful for me. I use a 1/3 cup to measure or use this Snickers bar template that I made depending on what the food is. "Insanity" posted this really great article in the "5 Bite General Discussions" about the hungerstat. It was really interesting, one thing it said that has helped me today is that after 3 days the hunger stops, but after 14 days your stomach shrinks down and you feel truly full. A couple of weeks ago I was rolling on this diet and lost over 6 pounds in one week, then I had a cheat...now I see the problem is that I really need 14 solid days to get my stomach to shrink back down and then I can experience the freedom that I had before my cheat. Check out that article!

Great job 3jaysmom! Sounds like you are back on track and ready to shed the weight that website sounds neat! is it free? I have another 20 lbs to lose and I'm dying to know what I'm gonna look like when I get there.

IVe did the picture thing before. They also have these fake models you can do.

Sprying, it 's $15 a picture. I've seen websites that you can get for free, but they just pretty much curved in your sides, and maybe sliced off a line on your legs so they only changed your contour, and didn't do your face- they didn't look realistic. This site does the whole celebrity-type pro photoshop job- your face, whole body. I hold most of my weight in my face and midsection, so if I saw an "after" with a contoured waist and fat face , I'm not sure it would have the same motivation factor. I can't wait to see it.
Herbsgirl- did you use the photoshop one, or the one wit the models? How did they come out?

Yesterday was pretty good, I did have a few bites over when I was putting dinner on my kids plates (terrible habit!!) and a few strawberries. But, I'm not going to get my panties in a bunch about 2 strawberries and a few forkfulls of pulled pork. Even if it was closer to 10 bites for dinner, I probably had at least a 500 calorie deficit compared to regular eating.

I think I'm going to make an effort not to weigh myself as much as I did last time. I reread some of my old posts, and it looks to me like the days the scale was up , and i thought it shouldn't have been always led to a day or two of sabotage. I'm going to do this in more of a thoughtful ways than I did before. I have a business trip on April 11th, so I will have no "cheat days" until then. Easy Peasy. When I'm there, I have lots of client meetings and dinners and all that, so 5 biting will not be an option in front of all those people. I'm going to take Sprying's idea and have 50 per day. And only ONE drink- red wine or margarita per night. I know it isn't ideal, but its a plan that is realistic, and will keep me from going completely crazy.

So, I just got my pics, and love them!! They did a great job, they made my body look very similar to how I used to look before I had kids. I feel the pictures are helping me stay in the right frame of mind already. I have them on my desktop in my laptop so I can pull them up every once in a while, I'm trying to find some info on visualization, I'm curious to see if it will really help to stay on track. The more I think of it, the more I DONT want to drag the weight loss after the first 25 like I did last time. I should put a copy on my phone that I can pull up in case of temptation, like "this body will take longer to get if you eat that!!!"

yesterday B- coffee, soy milk, splenda
L- Belvita cookies
D- Belvita cookies
S- Small Handfull of almonds, and a strawberry

I usually lose the hunger feeling around day 3, so I'm hoping I can get through the day without a snack. If I'm still hungry, I will. I think this was another downfall for me before, after I got out of the hardcore mode from the beginning, I would try to stay strict, and then cave. I think it's better to have a small snack and feel "full" then to wait it out and end up binging. Dr. Lewis said that he's had people eat 5 bites 3x a day, and their weightloss is the same as the others. As long as it's 4 hours apart. I think my snack was only 3 hours, though, I'm not sure if that affects the results. We'll see!

Oh don't tell me I can eat 5 bites 3x's a day, lol I miss breakfast so much it drives me crazy! I haven't had breakfast in 7 months!!! LOL ok I'm not actually hungry at breakfast but I just miss it....

I think your attitude and your meal plans sound and look great! adding in the snack is helping you get through the first few days which is so tough so kudos to you, you are making it work and that scale is gonna be your friend

Thanks Spryng! Yesterday was good, I still had my snack, but, I didn't have any bites of my kid's food while I cleared their plates, and no "testing" bites while I cooked. MAJOR victory for me I always thought if I could have controlled the impulse to finish what was on their plates, I wouldn't have gained so much in the first place! It helps that my boys are getting older and they do nothing but eat, so there's barely anything left....

b- coffee with soy creamer
l - cup of black bean soup with about 10 chips (not bad for a work lunch at Panera, the BB soup is only 110 cals per cup, chips were probably about 100 cals worth
d- Belvita cookies
S- small handful of macadamia, almond, cashew mix, maybe about 10 nuts)

I was not hungry at all, I really could have skipped the nuts, but the devil made me do it ok, ok, I felt like having them. I just need to get myself off the eating 3 times a day thing. I think I need to add a cup of half-caf coffe around 3pm, and that should get me through that snacky time.

I feel really good about this month, and now that I have the 50 bites on "cheat" days trick up my sleeve (thanks, Spryng!) I feel like I'll be at my goal in no time!!!

I totally forgot about St. Patty's Day!! I went to a huge party, and drank a few green beers, then ate some food, and then some unidentified green drinks, then more food, green shots......

Now I have to battle the green pallor that's developed on my face, I've been feeling so sick. I can't believe I didn't throw up. I've been soo good about not weighing myself, and for whatever reason, I decided to this AM. What has been my loss since last Tues? NADA!!!!! I know this isn't real, though, so I'm not freaking out- The alcohol, salty chips, and TOM is in a few days. But, it sucks to see that! I'm going to steer clear of the scale, and hope that next week when Aunt Flo arrives, she'll take that water weight away....

Emoticons make me feel better.

Blah. Onward and upward!!!!

I'm loving the emoticons! Other than St. Patty's Day, you're basically on track. I know it's so frustrating to see no loss on the scale, but of course you're holding water weight after the salty stuff plus TOM. Hang in there and stay on plan. I'm sure next week you'll see a nice loss!

yep sounds like water retention to me too, it will be off in no time, hang in there!

I said I was only on here to read up on what I've done, and not post, but....here I am posting. It's been 3 days of 5bite, and doing well. Just need to get to Friday, 2 more days, and I'll see how far from there. I've lost a few more pounds since my last post, putting me at 55 pounds lost in...... 2 YEARS!!! haha, they were pretty much all in the first three months. But, I haven't gained it back!! Can't say that for weight watchers!

I have a meeting end of Feb/March (not set yet)with some guys in the Army. After literally years of trying to get the last 10-20 pounds off (half assed attempts, I admit) this is really motivating me. People in the Army are super critical of having a "fit" appearance. I know this, because I was in the Army being one of those people MANY years ago. It's not like they are going to think I don't know what I'm talking about if I'm chubby, but I want them to focus on what I have to say, and not be thinking about how fit I may/may not be at all. The best way to do that is to be at a "normal"weight. I have a few goal outfits, something I haven't done before (new strategy #1) I love them so much, I cant wait to wear them. I'm such a dork, I try them on every once in a while (not zippered all the way, lol), thinking "in 20 pounds I will look FINE

So, reading through my journal, I can see that I'll be here writing the EXACT SAME THINGS over and over like last time! Trying a new strategy........why not!?!? In the past, I've been like "Nothing but snickers for 2 weeks!" and then only doing it for 2 days, and then 'failing" This time, its day by day (new strategy #2). 14 solid days would be great, but if its only 3 in a row, so be it. I think my attitude was like, oh, I didn't get to 5 solid days, so I'll take a few days off and start again next week. This time, oh, only 3 days? one meal and put in a solid day TOMORROW. Not next Monday, TOMORROW!!!!! My friends wanted to go out to lunch Monday, and I put it off until the next Tues, giving me a 14 day window. Then, I'll allow myself 20 bites for that meal, and then back to five for dinner. I think the whole 14 day thing is that's how long it takes for your stomach to actually shrink, so day by day, I'll try to make this my first goal. New strategy #3, no weighing myself until I hit my goal (set day by day, of course) so if I make it 14 days, I can weigh then. but, that's in a perfect world, so in my imperfect world, I will only weigh the morning after a cheat, so it will keep me motivated to go back to 5bite the next meal. Weighing yourself every day is like "lost 3, yay!" "gained 2, waaa" . Seeing it only once a week or every two, it will be more like, "lost 4 last week, cool" That way, I wont be obsessing over every half pound lost, gained, lost....... Much more positive

Do whatever helps you lose the weight! Posting daily though could be a great support to others. You may want to consider that. For those of us that are posting regularly we have been a great help to each other in times of both victory and defeat. Good luck and I hope you reach your goal soon!