Go on, have courage, do it!

[Helen_Highwater]

No, not another "Just dress and walk out the door" post. This is something far more scary.

Yesterday, having received the skirt I ordered online in the sales, quickly dressed so as to try it on and........ couldn't do the zip all the way up. The top I'd ordered with it felt a little tight. So nothing for it, summoned up all my courage and stepped on the scales. OMG what! How much! They must be wrong, faulty, I can't have eaten that much over Christmas and New Year.

Yep, nothing for it but to start yet another diet. What's really frightening is there's still tins of biscuits and boxes of chocolates we received as presents unopened and sat there staring at me. Willpower I need willpower.

[Secret Drawer]

I have never had a real desire to "diet." None the less, now that my desired "hourglass" figure has become more love handle chunk, is I will "nearly always" cut out between meal snacks. This seems trivial at first, but I always lose a few pounds in short order with this method. Drinking water instead of snacking (unless you are sugar crashing!) is a good way to stave off the temptation. This way it is not a diet per-se, because you technically aren't cutting any specific foods out, just taking in less calories overall. (At least psychologically it works for me!)

Also, we can chalk up this (keeping weight in check thing) as one particularly positive effect crossdressing has: A lot of my cis-gendered non crossdressing friends haven't exactly stayed the course!

[AnnaMarie]

I've gone the other way over Christmas. Lost a kilogram. I'm so paranoid of my weight I did a five kilometres run every day. Works wonders for your self-esteem

[Laurana]

Yeah......I stepped on the scale at the gym yesterday. No matter which way I rocked or balanced myself I was still upper 170's. If I can get to upper 160's- lower 170's I'd be content....actually I'd be content if I didn't jiggle in the middle so much. So time to start watching the caloric intake again.(I type this as I stare at last night Chinese food container and an empty Milky Way wrapper).....*sigh *

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Helen, I have a scale that I step on every day, That helps me keep things in check. ......

[CarlaWestin]

OMG, I feel your pain. My whole life I've been a bottomless pit and never gained an ounce. Then, a couple of years ago, my thyroid stopped working. So now the endocrinologist has to keep the daily meds dialed in. After the holidays, I was shocked to see 160#! That's it! I'm done with beer and bread and cookies and all of that.

[MissTee]

I stepped on the electronic scale and received an error message: One at a time, please!

[Laurana]

I stepped on the electronic scale and received an error message: One at a time, please!

That wasn't an error message. It was the scales way of stalling as it tried to figure out how to tell you you're hurting it without you actually picking it up and tossing it on to the highway.

[bridget thronton]

You can do it - good luck (wish me the same)

[Krisi]

Keeping weight down is difficult many of us, especially around Christmas time when we get so many gifts of candy and cookies. The bottom line is, you have to eat less or burn more calories somehow.

The other way is to get very sick but that has its disadvantages.

[Brandy Mathews]

It is definitely a mind thing, trying to get motivated. A few years ago I got tired of being fat. I started working out, watching what I eat. I lost 80 pounds. Went down a few dress sizes. I feel so much better. Have kept it off, still do the treadmill thing almost everyday. One thing that everyone should do is keep fiber bars around. If you want to snack, eat them, it will really help.
Hugs,
Bree

[Katey888]

I'm with you Helen...

A little too much indulgence of choccies, wine, pudding, Sherry, mince pies, Port, roast meals, Champagne, lounging around, liqueurs, lying in, Madeira.... well, you get the idea. Back to the gym tomorrow - salads and low carbs until Easter...

I've gone the other way over Christmas. Lost a kilogram.

You can really go off some people... :

Katey x

[StacyCD]

I think a lot of us are in the same boat!

[Helen_Highwater]

The world and the pantry conspires against me!!! I open the fridge door looking for something light and healthy to eat only to be greeted by the last of the pork pie whispering, " be a shame to waste it" and the Stilton nodding in agreement. Arrgh

[docrobbysherry]

Diets don't work, Helen. Except in the short run.

Which is why I'm "dieting" now. To lose those 4 pounds I put on during the holidays. More salads and no late snacks at all. One more pound to go.

I like to test myself. Brought back several unopened packages of cookies from Xmas dinner. Have had one of them, sugar cookies, sitting on the kitchen counter ever since. Some evenings I'll have a few. Some evenings, not. This one dam package could last until Valentines Day! I'll give the others away at an upcoming potluck.

Hang in there!

[Pat]

I weigh myself daily and feed the results into the the Health app on my iPhone. There are three distinct peaks -- Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I had decided I wasn't going to freak out -- I'd enjoy the days then fix it (by eating right) after. It takes about a week to lose the weight accumulated in a day () but it basically fixes itself without heroic efforts. I'm not following a particular diet, just a guideline of calories per day and when I have the temptation to stray off that I think about my favorite dress and ask if I'm willing to give that up.

[Sky]

The Holidays are horrible for weight conscious guys. And girls.

I list my weight every day with the goal of having some net loss by the end of the month... and I succeeded every month of the year except for December, thanks to that dreaded last week.

Oh well, 11 great "salad & water" months ahead.